Enough is Enough

Hopefully not being a Devil's Advocate here but coincidentally I just finished writing up a short piece on the new Fan Advisory Board that met for the first time on Friday.

I'm thinking the club will be asking why that new avenue for clear and open communication between fans and the board is not a sufficient step forward for the grievances and concerns to be voiced directly to the Everton Board?

What in God's name is this 30-person whinge hoping to achieve? To demand success based on the most idiotic motto any club ever devised?

It needs doing but, as you say, it has to be done right.

I understand the sentiment of not wanting to draw unproductive attention to the club at the risk of the supporters' spirit but this is what was asked of them in the previous attempts to get support. I think it's time to do the Scouse thing and give some credit for their motivation and action.

Everton are still recovering from last season's relegation turmoil with basically the same squad of players and the same manager, but without Richarlison the star player.

I only hope Lampard can find players who will make the difference for this season coming or the same will happen like last season.

Kenwright is a parasitic, thespy arsehole, certainly – and we have a buffoon for an owner – but how is it helpful to complain before we've even got going? Do you really think they'll say "Quite right, we're shite and we're disappearing"?

Concentrate on the possible and hope that the force of events does the rest, either to overturn our misery or to crystallise our loathing and to give it potency.

I admire and share Brian's anger but its expression in demos just won't work now. It might do later, but the moment will then select itself. I hope it never does.

1) Transparency and clarity around the terms of reference of the football review!

2) The findings of the review;

3) Where accountability starts and finishes for each member of the board; and

4) Finally the actions and recommendations of the Strategic Football review!!

Including the timelines of when the actions are required to be closed out and what are the clear objectives of the football club in the short-, medium- and long-term.

For me personally, the EitC and Everton FC entities need to be separated and Boys Pen Bill can go and play with his EitC toy!! Bring in professional grown-up business people to run the football side of things, cutting our cloth accordingly.

I am sure most have read Danny's post about the Man City owners who Steve pointed out that, after Newcastle, Everton (due to the airport) was their second choice. They offered Bill life presidency of the club, but that was not good enough for Bill, he wanted his train-set and to stay on as Chairman, so they ended up going to Man City… and the rest is history.

Although there is absolutely no proof of the current potential buyers being put off by Bill still wanting to remain on the Board, I would not be the least bit surprised if part of it was to do with Bill, why the takeover has stalled.

So yes, at the moment, we only have 30, but we are not going to just sit back and do nothing. If any fellow posters can attend, that will be great, but at least we are trying to do something outside a matchday, we can no longer sit back and do nothing.

Just one final note: This is being organised by an Everton group of fans, they have put all the groundwork in, in organising this. I am happy to help them out and pass the message across on here, to see if we can get any ToffeeWebbers to attend.

If we are in a relegation fight, then we will be told to support the team and the sweaty-jowled one will clap his hands to Grand Old Team and smile benevolently at us as we get through by the skin of our teeth yet again.

We started disappearing 28 years ago…

I hope by the time it comes around that the numbers have increased to 3,000 and we can really put more pressure on Moshiri or whoever it is that ends up buying us that this Board are well and truly useless to our future.

I am sure also that there are plenty of eloquent spokespeople who can speak on our behalf in a well-mannered way without giving in to the temptation of an F-bomb directed at the current board.

Some posters may have noticed there is already two banners outside Goodison this evening saying "Bill and Co, Time to Go, this is nothing to do with the one Francis has set up and is a separate fan's doing, so hopefully they will join the peaceful gathering.

Anyone who supports Bill, please do not make this a slanging match and respect their choice. Anyone else who feels the time is right to at least try something, please try to make it on Friday 5 August at 7:30 pm.

I think you're one of the more balanced reasonable posters on here so seeing your name attached to this snaps me out of my apathy. It's not enough to engage with a select group of fans.

So, if the board think they can carry on regardless, then this is a good reminder they should not. Talking to the fan group is nice but you know but it's only a move forward as they cancelled the AGMs.

I commend you and all others who are able and willing to make a protest.

The so-called root and branch review has so far only gone as far as a few leaves and I get the impression that was more to do with cost-cutting than review results.

We are constantly being lied to. One minute, Denise Barrett-Baxendale is seeking another job, then she is totally committed. Bill is gonna have to be carried out kicking and screaming and Moshiri is only 5% interested in what's going on.

So much for learning from the mistakes of the past as we sail into oblivion.

Michael K #1 is right (and when have I ever said that before, eh Michael?). We now have a Fan Advisory Board -- elected by the supporters groups -- meeting face-to-face with the powers that be.

If I had a message I wanted to get across to management, I'd focus on delivering it through the people who are talking directly to management.

IMO that's the way to make yourself heard.

Pontiius Pilate and King Herod thought one bloke and his 12 mates couldn't cause much trouble.

Or more importantly, what about all those Chuck Norris films when he took down whole armies?

In truth, the club has promised us nothing for seasons, but the reality of the situation is being hit home by the ineptitude that is being presented as Everton to the supporters now.

Actually, even the takeover was the half-baked fayre that we have seen often, with the inevitable fizzled-out result. Everton is at a particularly low ebb at the moment, with a collapse in confidence in the ability of the Board and owner to show the necessary competence.

This protest is better than nothing and hopefully the #27 Years campaign will also get reinvigorated. Better than nothing is our only hope at the moment. We just can't afford to allow the owner and Board to go unchallenged.

Everything has to start somewhere, so even if there are only 50 (I'm sure more will attend than the 30 cited), it's a start and, with the media present, will grab attention. I see this as proactively letting the new owners (or current one if he's staying) know that enough of Kenwright and this board is enough.

Can it influence? We won't know until we try and have a voice. The alternative is to do nothing and then the frustration spills over during the match if the results don't go to plan and it affects the team. Yet another manager becomes the sacrificial lamb to preserve those who, stadium plans aside, have failed.

I haven't read the link posted by Michael yet, but I'm still waiting to see what the Fans Advisory Board can achieve. Jury is out on that one but let's hope it can influence from within.

We are not far off our new stadium. The current regime has failed. Let's not wait and hope to maintain the status quo or, god forbid, get worse before we do move.

I am involved as a Volunteer aboard the Daniel Adamson, more popularly known as the "Danny". It operates by virtue of volunteers such as myself and paid cruises, either up the River Weaver, across the Mersey to both Ellesmere Port or Canning Dock, and occasionally up the Manchester Ship Canal.

It is a coal-fired converted tug, and the only one of its type in existence. It was almost vandalised completely while at Runcorn Docks and was due to be written off until a campaign was launched, and Lottery Funding applied for, and received at the second attempt, to completely restore it to its former state.

I digress slightly, but basically I am 'on duty' in the Engine Room, on both the 5th and the 6th so will miss the match as well, unfortunately. Can't be in two places at the same time – even if it was to be a public lynching of Boys Pen Bill, or seeing him hung, drawn & quartered, sadly I would still have missed that (drat) too! :-)

I would have definitely been there; unfortunately, I have already booked a day out in Wales for that day, so sorry. I would prefer to be adding my support to this peaceful demonstration. Best of luck to everyone who goes.

😬😬😬 pic.twitter.com/lKVoYBUvXQ

— EvertonHub (@Evertonhub) July 11, 2022

I'll meet up with you and Bill and join you for the protest.

I too have me doubts about whether a relatively small number of supporters will make any inroads into that smug crew's (seeing as Derek has brought a nautical dimesion to proceedings!) belief that they are invulnerable.

I don't particularly like posters who don't put their full name up and I don't care for a supporters advisory group either. But that's just me.

Without a doubt, Everton Football Club, one of the oldest and greatest teams in England, have been sinking into also-rans and are lucky to still be in the Premier League (it was the people of our club who lit the fire in the belly of our players; and our manager, who deserves a Board worthy of a club like Everton.)

We're going into a new home in a year or two. If this man is still here "steering (that's a bloody sick joke!) the ship", I think we'll be like a floosie on Lime Street: "Fur coat and no knickers"!

Our young manager has shown his passion along with the supporters. We supporters deserve a well-run club, not one man's train-set!

This cannot go on, so with all my doubts, I'm coming along – and Brian... it's your round!

The only thing that will force real change is pressure, and who knows, any investors who are looking at Everton for the wrong reasons might also drop out of the race when they realize how much people care about their club.

Denise Barrett-Baxendale, I was told, is looking for alternative employment. This was either a lie, or the lady is struggling through incompetence, which means she shouldn't ever have been put in such a position in the first place?

Mr Moshiri is an accountant, for goodness sake, so how could he have not been ahead of the game with regards expenditure and the rules around FFP?

The list just goes on and on – Mr Kenwright actually said we've had some good times. Surely the man must know what Everton FC are “supposed” to stand for – he's told us enough times in the past.

We don’t belong with not competing but that has sadly been a fact since “plucky little Everton” was invented, and this has helped nobody but Bill Kenwright.

And then there's the decades-long shite delivered beforehand to us fans by that still current chairman.

It worries me that the alleged August protest will seem to have been devised by Moshiri and his board if we fans comply with mere banners, grumblings, and a slow trudge of discontent.

I'm sure such a thing will play right into the laps of the owner, board and media (who all seem to lazily consider Kenwright a legendary Toffee), TalkShite's Jim White also residing inside Moshiri's arse.

If we have a protest, it needs to be legal but vociferous and vigorous. It needs to be reflected in poor attendance numbers, for a good while.

It's not about being anti-Everton.

It's about being against the perennial decades-long joke club who've always been massively the worst among the clubs who, in 1992 when the Premier League began, were rightly identified back then as the Big Five actually behind the new venture.

We folks, with the greatest respect, have watched our club for decades being degraded by mismanagement, to put it mildly, and never more so than since Moshiri bought in.

We folks, with respect, saved our club from relegation just weeks ago. We were raucous.

In protest, we need to be even more raucous IMHO.

It's up to us – as ever!

However; we are where we are. A group have worked on a protest in this manner, they're issuing a press release, they've got a banner. I've written a fair few times about what Kenwright has done with the club we've supported for many years, and our fathers before us. But even on Toffeeweb, you get diehard supporters of Brother Bill. But it's a start, just that.

I'll be going to meet my friends; who felt strongly enough to protest and want to start the ball rolling against Kenwright's Reign of Disaster. I've seen muted protests in Goodison and a picture came up of our beloved leader and he got as round of clapping! Couldn't believe it!

If you come along, we can have a natter about forms of protests, and who it's aimed at. As far as I can understand, it is aimed at potential investors.

You say it's up to us, well.your bloody right there! It's how we plan a campaign but this is a start. Anyway, hope to see you there and we can protest and also discuss among people who want shut of him Just like us.

Back in 2011, the Blue Union held a march before a game... Can you believe it? 11 years ago, and yet the guy is still Chairman! I can understand people being sceptical and what can 30 people possibly achieve? We hope to have a lot more in numbers by then, but we have to try something.

Just by getting a clear message out to the media, it is hoped that, if any new investors come in, they will be aware of the fans' feeling towards the board and will not be on the back foot of Bill saying he wants to remain as Chairman and has the fans' backing.

It might achieve nothing at all, but just by trying then there is a 50% chance at worst of achieving something. If we do not try, then it's a 100% failure.

We will be doing this in a proper manner, there will be no lynch mob or explicit swearing and name calling towards our board. We simply want to get a message across, so for those that have said Yes to meeting up, thank you so much.

Hopefully we can get a few more ToffeeWebbers to come down, meet up, and those that can, we can have a quick drink or two afterwards.

If we get nowhere, then at least we had a damn good go, and I know afterwards, I will be having a drink with some great people I got to know on here. Are you sure it's my round, Jim :-), I will remember to bring cash this time instead of relying on card payment in The Oak.

Well, it only took one person to etch Lampard's name outside the ground and look what that achieved.

I think you'll find that Herod and Pilate did think that one bloke and his mates could cause trouble, after all they did allegedly murder all the new born babies in Bethlehem to try and get rid of that one bloke!

As far as the Blue Union go, it's good news to hear that they are still together.

It's not easy in any circumstances to make progress for any institution, particularly one that is in one of the most competitive markets in the world, and a market that is as rigged as the higher echelons of the football world is.

We've had investment, we've squandered it, we knew the rules, we chose to sail close to the wind and are now stuck in the ocean, cast adrift and looking for a way to set sail again. Similar to the Tory Party cabinet members, now looking to be the leader, the current board members can't pretend that they weren't responsible for helping to get Everton FC into this ridiculous situation and that, by moving a few pieces here and there, it will somehow provide a lasting solution.

I would argue that the form of the team – even if it improved 10-fold – doesn't mask the underlying issues that the club has, because the club is geared to survival and has no real ambitions beyond that. Last season, we nearly didn't survive and at this moment in time there is no guarantee that won't be repeated this term.

We all want Everton FC to be as good as it can be, and for it to improve year on year. There hasn't been any evidence of that happening for a very long time, and until the people who run the outfit decide to put every ounce of energy into making Everton FC the force that it should be, there will always be a section of the fan-base who want to see the people responsible put in the spotlight – and rightly so.

Everton FC and its supporters have been stuck in this spiral of failure for far too long and, until things change at Board level, there is little hope of the club moving forward in a meaningful way.

I sincerely hope you get the press attention on this campaign, just starting, and believe it will grow and grow.

It would be nice if one big name that the media will listen to could come along on the day and increase this attention. I'm thinking of Neville Southall, Peter Reid or someone like them, not afraid of upsetting anybody at the club.

Just a thought, Brian, by the way, it's only a beginning but, at the very least, you are having a go and trying to get rid of a useless board who have got Everton into this mess, with Kenwright having the longest time serving this mess.

Personally I think the only way to get to Kenwright is via his real passion which is the theatre.

I am sure even if a handful of people turned up with a banner outside one of his productions on Shaftesbury Avenue, it would get more attention. Disrupting one of his shows would certainly get under his skin.

He is the main reason why we haven't competed for 30 years. He is out of his depth.

Time to show the world who we are, let's get people in who want success and know how to get it. COYB

I can see the coming season being one of protest by individual and diverse groups.

This summer we have had the maybe dead takeover and maybe other interested parties.

Richarlison, a top player, sold, and the latent expectation of replacements… past experience not being a confidence-builder.

A manager who just survived a relegation dogfight and is now facing into a pre-season and the start of next season relatively untested.

A month to get transfers in, who will miss the pre-season.

The possibility of a prolonged period of Moshiri trying to offload 80% of his shares.

Financially, Everton appear to be now stable, but there are a lot of ifs on the playing side. Whilst fans may not be fully informed on the finance side and may not be interested, they can see how the team are doing and form opinions on what is going on.

They wi!l not tolerate many poor performances and any uncertainty off the pitch will not help their mood. There is also the forming of a collective opinion of reasons and who is to blame.

A change is becoming essential, as the potential damage of the same as usual is a problem which will not be helping Everton.

Once again, we just need to emphasise that it is the Board that we are going after, not anyone else at the Club (other than the Kenwright Entourage under deep cover, of course).

Godspeed and all the very best!

But he can't be a genuine Evertonian because, if he was, there is no way he would have uttered that sickening line outside Goodison Park not that long ago.

He said this is the problem at the minute, and it’s time all these different groups like the 27 years campaign, all came together, and did something as a united force, Brian.

He said look what happened, when people got to the ground with a few hours notice, which helped prevent Pareria from getting the job? Look what happened when over a thousand people got to Finch Farm before the Leicester game?

I think he’s got a good point, and think it would be a very smart move if the people at the top of these different organisations spoke to each other. I’m certain there are a lot more people waiting in the wings, ready to get behind real change.

If the new email confirms our worst fears that Bill and Co are still going to be running the show, now more than ever we need all the support we can get for the Friday evening 5 August at 7:30 pm.

I will try to speak to as many fans as I can for the Kiev game to see if we can get bodies there the following Friday.

Tell every single person you know who is an Evertonian about it.

I think the email the club sent ou might just swell our numbers more.

Enough is enough!

I hate falling out with fellow Blues and maybe I'm too vociferous over this but the arguments got out of hand last season. If we can't force this idiot's hand to at least employ proper people, even if he wants to see it through, I can't personally sit and watch his fake emotion anymore.

See you all on the Friday.

I am absolutely not a fan of Moshiri or of Bill, but I see no gain whatsoever in embarrassing or enraging him. I would urge the demonstration to take place after the window has shut if it is still necessary.

He's bolloxed it up big style, but where is the gain for us in polluting the relationship? It just makes it more likely that,t when he comes to sell, he doesn't give a flying one about what the fans want.

Let's play this diplomatically. Make our submissions in writing, not on bedsheets or through megaphones, however tempting that may be. If last season has taught us one lesson, it is that we gain absolutely nothing from a circular firing squad.

This protest has my full backing, as did the Blue Union and indeed anything that is aimed at improving Everton's lot, and getting rid of Bill Kenwright.

What I don't understand though is what is special about Friday 5 August, when I believe Goodison Park will not have the people we are aiming at, present. Have they been invited to hear our protests or would it be better when Bill and his entourage are present pre-match on the Saturday?

There is obviously support for action – Enough is indeed Enough, but how/where in all honesty is this particular protest better equipped to deal with 'ousting the Chairman' than previous attempts that have failed?

Someone once told me to 'speak quietly but carry a big stick'. Brian W urges us to speak quietly – but where is our big stick?

Are we really toothless, do we really have to boycott matches to get noticed? Banners have been flown over Goodison several times – what did they achieve?

I must admit I am at a complete loss as to how to get rid of the board but, with the worldwide fanbase that we have, surely thousands of signatures to an online petition should not go un-noticed – together with all the other planned protests?

As much as I would want to be there on the 5th, I'm afraid I can't but I am able to sign a petition or email protest.
By the way, does anyone know how many TWers there are? How many others lurking in the shadows that would be prepared to spend a few hours gathering names for a petition?

Just a thought, and my thoughts will certainly be with you on the 5th whether is 30 or 30,000 – good luck!

The reasoning behind the 5th Aug is we did not want to pick a matchday, we are 100% behind the players and Manager, we do not feel that having a protest on a matchday was the right thing to do.

Our protest is solely against the board, and even though no board members will be present on the Friday evening, we are trying to get a message across via various media, not just for fans at Goodison, but also further afield, for our supporters outside the UK.

I said a couple of weeks ago when the Kenyon bid failed, that Bill had something to do with it, a little whisper in Moshiri's ear, if you keep hold of the club until the new ground is up and running, you will get a better sale. Meanwhile, until then, Bill keeps hold of his Chairmanship, is there only me seeing this being the work of Bill?

Why the sudden U-turn?

I'm all for that but I'm out of the country from 27 August until 7 September.

It's my birthday on 16 September, one I share with Neville Southall. I'm all for dusting off the garden pitch fork and marching down to Shaftesbury Avenue.

I'd like to look him in the eye and ask a few pointed questions. I've said before, if he's a supporter, then fine, come and sit next to me. But don't try to run a football club – our football club – when you're not qualified and have failed.

It's a statement and a message with the intent of getting noticed and heard. More so in today's social media-influenced world.

We survived by the skin of our teeth last season and it was incredibly emotional. At times heartbreaking from a personal perspective as I physically watched one of the things in life most dear to me disintegrating before my own eyes.

Brian Murray knows how we both felt as we left to take our seats in that match. My pride was that young kid from Gloucester on what I think was one of his first experiences of Goodison. As he left the Winslow, I told him to bring the points home and he did, bless him. That night will live with him forever. But he deserves success.

But that is gone. It's the past.

If we change the date, I'm all for a catch-up in London. I can host.

I fully appreciate how you feel and accept the reasoning for the 5th – the world is indeed media driven so hopefully we are able to get our story across.

I see that the 27 Campaign have written to Moshiri - such a pity that their attempt is being belittled for the sake of commas!!

Enough is enough from me. Cheers.

We appreciate Moshiri has at times meddled in Managers and signings, but at the same time, he has dipped his hands into his pockets, pumped in £100 Million to generate cash in shares, has continued to push the new stadium through, his downfall is letting over £450 Million being squandered away by our Board and managers.

We want Moshiri if he stays to bring in people, who know how to run a football club, replace the board with experienced people, we simply cannot allow Bill and his board to continue, we need to act now before it is too late.

The group member who has organised this, is now getting in touch on Twitter with the Blue Union, the 27 Campaign and other groups who feel the same way, to see if we can get numbers there.

I appreciate some people on here cannot make the Friday, but if you want to help all you have to do is word of mouth at the Kiev game, if you go into the pub or in a chippy queue, or simply mingling with fellow fans, just drop it into conversation about the planned protest at 7:30 pm outside Goodison Friday 5th August, the more that know the better.

Thanks once again to fellow ToffeeWebbers for giving this article time, feedback and support.

Nothing but the best is good enough.

Up the Toffees.

Tony Dunn said he will go, I'm sure Danny will still be in the country on the 5th, who knows he might even come back on the train with us a day early, for the Chelsea game.

So anyone else reading this who is prepared to demonstrate to force real change, just give us a shout on this thread.

Yes, I'm very serious and I hate him and what him and his sidekick Moyes turned us into. Not my type of Everton.

If this gets off the ground, imagine some of the banners we could make, because not everyone is grateful towards Billy Liar.

The action group have now moved their date so that it is after the transfer window has closed.

I would have preferred it 5 August before the season starts, but they gave the following reason.

We are waiting until after the transfer window, the best date possible is Friday 9 September, 2 days before the Arsenal away game. The banner is on order and statement for the press ready for September. This gives us 8 weeks to get the numbers up.

So there you have it, folks. I was hoping for the Friday 5 August, before the season starts, but it is out of my hands and if we get off to a decent start like last season, it could hamper the longer term impact with less people happy in the short term supporting our board to turn out on 9 September.

I think we have missed an opportunity not getting it out of the way before we kick off our new season, disappointed for a missed opportunity, but I understand the reasoning of waiting until the transfer window has closed by the people who have organised this.

Once again, apologies to all ToffeeWebbers.

A coordinated campaign to unseat Kenwright and Barrett-Baxendale seems more viable to me. If fans can turn on a manager, unsettling these should be a walk in the park.

The big but for me, is that we are still a mediocre team, with a poor squad that is hamstrung by Financial Fair Play in an antiquated stadium waiting for a new one to be built.

What is the desired outcome here? New owner, new management team, new stadium, new players, improved financial position? That looks a tall order to me, and I am as pissed off as the next man.

So scratch 5 August out and play it by ear, closer to the new date.

I'm in the country on the 5th and will go there alone if I need to. I'll gladly tell the greatest Evertonian what it is to be an Evertonian. I'll support this club until I can't breathe anymore. But I'll never put them before my own self-interest.

Time to go. Enough is enough.

The 27 Campaign have now organised one for this Saturday 27th July outside Goodison at 12 midway so be worth seeing what numbers turn up for that one.

Their message says any Evertonian is welcome to join the meet up this Saturday, bit short notice for me, but will see later in week if I make the trip there.