Season 2015-16 Opinion Talking Points
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I have been watching Everton for 20 years now. I have seen some decent football being played on Goodison Park. I have seen some poor and average games, home and away. But I don't think I have ever seen as season as pathetic as this one. This season, I have seen the club exactly for what they are: mediocre, lacking leadership and a circus.
The board, managers and definitely the players have been an utter shambles this season. A season which promised so much has turned into a nightmare and a we're laughing stock for our rivals. We only have ourselves to blame.
Nobody at the club takes any responsibility. Nobody knows what the plan is. And worst of all, we have lost the meaning of Nil Satis Nisi Optimum.
Allardyce was a panic appointment and brought in to do one thing: keep us up. He did that, yes. But, surely to god, if Everton had anything about them, the second that final whistle goes at the end of the season, pay him his money and get rid. Along with Sammy Lee, Craig Shakespeare, Duncan Ferguson and please, oh please, Steve Walsh.
Allardyce clearly does not care about Everton one bit. Fans making it loud and clear – they don't want him.
Once again, the only positive this season is the supporters who go, week-in and week-out, home and away, and get nothing in return. Away to Man Utd, Spurs, Arsenal and Southampton come to mind... and many more.
This summer has to be – has to be – the change were we stop being negative. Get rid of the weak links at the club:
Schneiderlin
Williams
Bolasie
Martina
Mirallas
... and others maybe.
The transfer window shuts before the season starts this time round. So it's vital we have that manager in before the end of May, and no fannying about again like November. Hopefully This Brands is in too. If not, whether that means an alternative or no DoF. if it means Steve Walsh will not be here this summer. Then do whatever.
We need players with the right mentality, hunger and desire to fight week in week out in games. And not buying bang average players. Players who will get Goodison going again. And more importantly consistency and leaders.
Two Centre backs, left back, box-to-box midfielder, striker and maybe another winger or playmaker. We need the right manager for it. Whether that is Paulo Fonseca, Marco Silva or Any other decent alternatives.
The club needs a lift. it needs that will to fight again. We're not asking them to be like Messi or Ronaldo. We're asking them to get stuck in, fight and get going. Players do that and Goodison is a bear pit. Especially in the big games. We need players who cherish the big games and not go hiding.
As for the board, if Farhad Moshiri wants this club to move forward on and off the pitch. A couple of the board have to go. Elstone for one definitely. I think Kenwright has done all he can now; time for him to move on, along with Woods and Elstone, and get people in that want to move the club forward. 23 years without winning a trophy is disgusting for a club like Everton.
Surely one club cannot make the same mistake as last summer. If they do, god help us. Get these players in early, get the manager in early, and get the ideas ready now. In fact, they should've been ready months ago.
Has to happen... Make it Happen, Everton!!!
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Reader Comments (18)
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2 Posted 18/04/2018 at 22:56:29
This season I expect we will lose:
- Robert Elstone (although it's all gone quiet on him) – our CEO
- Steve Walsh – Director of Football
- Sam Allardyce – manager
That's all of the key positions from the football club. Therefore, we need to keep other changes (off the field) to a minimum. Past examples of CEO leaving with managers (eg Man Utd) have been disastrous, but those have seen the Director of Football go too.
We are going to have carnage and all kinds of teething problems as a result. Also will it not be difficult to sign players as a result?
I understand that Elstone does a lot of work on transfers and contracts of players. This goes back to the Moyes era when the two effectively ran the club. We need to use this as a way to break up the duties:
- CEO to concentrate on day-to-day running of the club off the field, focusing on marketing and commercial deals and having no input in transfers or contracts
- Technical Director to focus on transfer deals and contracts (ie the negotiation stage and the financials)
- Director of Football to oversee recruitment, youth development, the first team, and generally be in charge of everything on the pitch. But whilst he will identify the targets for the Technical Director to sign, the manager / head coach has the final say.
- Head coach / manager picks the side, coaches the side, identifies areas for strengthening, lets others sign the players, but will have final say on incoming major players.
An example from a few years ago: Martinez signed Lukaku permanently. There was no Moshiri the club was skint. In signing Lukaku, the club spent all of that season's transfer funds and next season's as well. Such a scenario might arise again.
So whilst a technical director and director of football might sit down with the head coach (manager) and discuss this, it should be the manager who authorises such a dramatic move. It should not just be the manager being asked, "Do you want Lukaku?" and then being told there's no money for any more transfers when he tries to get the club to bring someone else in.
I would have no problem combining the role of technical director and Director of Football into one, particularly if the one guy is good enough. My point here is to wrestle a lot of the work away from the CEO, and to thoroughly modernise Everton and make it more professional and less amateur hour.
3 Posted 18/04/2018 at 23:58:21
The gap between the top 6 and rest is wider than ever. Even if we hit the ground running with a new manager, DoF and new players it will takes years to catch them up.
The first time we have had any real money since Walter Smith had the purse strings cut and we spunked the lot. We turned into QPR overnight buying lots of average players on top money swanning around whilst the likes of Jags Baines and Coleman drag them out of the shite every week.
The biggest problem we have is moving these wasters on. We are already paying 95% of Koeman's wages – I bet the same applies to all of our loan players.
Initially I would be happy if we just got rid of Sam and brought someone in who managed and had the final say on transfers. The season can't end soon enough.
4 Posted 19/04/2018 at 12:32:50
Things we need are:
1. New manager. Everyone knows Allardyce has to go. The question remains over who will take the role given the evident risk involved?
2. New board members. This should be one of the easier issues to resolve but Moshiri needs to do what's right, not what Kenwright and others tell him is right.
3. New players. We need too many players to be able to afford them in a single transfer window. Plus it would ravage an already decimated team. Even taking the original list, that's 5 potentially 6 players. Applying an average cost of 㿊m for a decent level player across each position totals 𧵬m and that's the low end. Reducing that to 4 players (CB, LB, MF and Striker) still equates to 𧴰m at the low end and an unlikely outlay.
The team will improve given the right motivation and mentality but other teams will also be improving over the summer.
It's a long journey but the next steps are wholly achievable if Moshiri has the balls.
5 Posted 19/04/2018 at 13:17:55
We need to trim the fat, 2-3 quality, targeted additions and a manager whose charisma and tactical nous will get the best of the players we've already got, many of whom are very good.
The size of the problem is NOT as big as is made out — it's more like we're on the wrong side of a tipping point and need to edge to the other side of it.
As the great philosopher, Terry Venables, once said: “Things are never as good as they seem when you're winning and they're never as bad as they seem when you're losing.â€
6 Posted 19/04/2018 at 13:33:51
This season has been so poor, I am seriously considering heading to watch Tranmere Rovers — at least their players are giving their best and will hopefully gain promotion this season.
7 Posted 19/04/2018 at 13:49:57
The goal is long-term change and positive progress.
I agree with Mike above that a massive splurge on players will not help. We need as much stability as we can handle.
I'd look for a max of 4 high class, first team players aged between 22-27, with their best years ahead of them.
Which positions they are is debatable but I'd say:
Centre-back
Left-back
Box-to-box midfielder
Playmaker (this could be a winger or an AMC or even a MC depending on what formation we are going to play).
The academy will also sign some more players and hopefully one or two may go to challenge for first team places over next few years.
We can lose more than 4 players though. Our squad is big and bloated and will be even more so with loan players returning. No Europe next season so trim the fat. (Yes, I'm looking at you, Ashley and Wayne.)
8 Posted 19/04/2018 at 14:28:28
9 Posted 19/04/2018 at 15:08:15
If we get the right manager, the players we're currently convinced aren't good enough will suddenly look very different. This is especially true if two or three quality players are added, and the squad is trimmed down so that those left actually feel a sense of unity.
10 Posted 19/04/2018 at 15:14:11
All clubs will be looking to strengthen their teams and quite a number of them already have teams that will not need the major overhaul that Everton require, so they should improve them next season.
Reading a number of comments, I am not sure some of our supporters are aware of how poor we are; it is going to be difficult next season – they should prepare themselves for it.
11 Posted 19/04/2018 at 15:47:42
Make no mistake, the history, ethics and foundations of this club are something most others only dream of. We have it, and it just needs finding. again. To do that fresh blood is needed, I think that once Mosher realises and understands, this will come to the fore.
Sadly, you only need to look across the park at the devil's playground, Anfield, they were totally fucked but somehow convinced that lunatic German there was a chance they would sort things out, looks like they are progressing, However, they do not possess what we have, never have, never will. They got shut of dodgy owners, etc etc and offered a vision and got on with it. Forgive me if I come across as a simpleton, but I believe the heritage and quality that Everton FC is will prove to be our salvation. It will take work, effort to remove some of the leeches, but it most definitely can be done.
I have loved the club since I can remember and, sadly, I'm not young now but have faith, this is Everton, a huge entity just having a doze.
BABMAR – born a blue, made a red.
Rant over, incredibly low amount of swearing, thank you!
12 Posted 19/04/2018 at 16:00:13
He was torn apart by the fans and the media before he turned things around – in fact, some of the so called fans went to his house and damaged his property and garage. I believe we all know what he achieved.
In every aspect of running a club, Everton are in a hell of a mess; looks like an Aston Villa case to me.
13 Posted 19/04/2018 at 16:01:04
A feature in The Telegraph today about the decline of Sunderland describes how Ellis Short, despite injecting millions into the club, has been continually let down by the incompetence of the management he appointed to run the business. Sounds familiar?
14 Posted 19/04/2018 at 16:11:26
Get shut of the old farts on the board; this is a business – not a charity or an old friends' knees-up. Boot the rubbish out and get people in at the top – smart, ambitious and have hunger and desire to succeed only. The rest filters down once a new board is in place.
15 Posted 19/04/2018 at 16:18:30
"BABMAR – born a blue, made a red"
What the fuck is that supposed to mean???
16 Posted 20/04/2018 at 07:37:05
17 Posted 22/04/2018 at 19:36:38
I watched the recent BBC video of Burnley, and Dyche in particular, and was well impressed with the general air of committed professionalism in everything they were doing was with a fair share of humility to build their club up from a relatively low base, into a potential force to be reckoned with. A completely different mind-set from Moshiri's ambitious money-fed approach, and the 'get us back to where we deserve to be' values.
Dyche is central to all the success Burnley are having, and I expect will continue to have next season. Not as remarkable as Leicester's championship (that will probably never be matched), but I am looking to see how they fare next season. They may struggle with the demands of the Europa League, but if they don't and they maintain their progress then we will see the exact thing that we are trying to achieve; a good management structure, which comes to terms with its limitations and understands its realistic potential, its areas to improve and so on. The Manager is the most important element of this equation. Look at the Burnley players who have emerged this season literally from almost no-where; Pope, Mee (built on great season last year), Tarkowski, etc., all within a solid team spirit and "never give up" approach.
That Burnley 'product' is so difficult to buy. It doesn't come in bottles, packages or special offers. This is the mistake that Moshiri made when he bought in Koeman to organize the quick fix expensive option. He must step back from the "buy it quick" approach and try the more reasoned and logical method. I believe if Evertonians are really honest with themselves they would prefer the patient (but not too patient) approach instead of trying to buy success overnight.
I hope the imminent appointment of the new director of football is the start and he is a man with a plan, not just another self-serving salesman.
18 Posted 26/04/2018 at 17:25:05
The quality of signings for those 4 positions will have a dramatic effect on our season. Even if we got 2 or 3 of them this window top quality, it would be a step forward.
I agree with Mike that we don't need a splurge on players, we need quality targeted additions.
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1 Posted 18/04/2018 at 21:50:56
1. Who is going to pay money for the overpriced players that need offloading.
2. What suitable players are going to chance their career at Everton? The current Russian player of the year will think twice. Players from the Eastern Mediterranean will also think twice. Young players looking at ignored young players loaned out and outstanding prospects looking for loans away from Everton will think twice.
3. Also, the benchmark of Rooney as Everton's highest paid player, when everyone knows his only other prospect was China or the United States, which he found knackering while on holiday, never mind playing football, perish the thought.
4. We got Big Sam because no other Manager wanted the job, that valued his Career, no matter what the money. Of course, Big Sam wanted his hands on the money and to hell with the career.
5. You need a long-term plan and Moshiri's footballing decisions have been badly advised, short-term plan.
6. Everton are currently managed by a board of headless chickens, a management team of hangers-on and crooks, and a first-team squad that largely consists of overpaid, over-the-hill cheats. .
Sorry, the scale of the problem is huge with no end in sight.