Size Matters

A lot of this piece really resonated with me and this is because I have always had similar feelings with my own view being that Everton have got to become ultra-professional – both on and off the park.

I always say it, but I really feel for those younger Evertonians who have had nothing.

I don't care what anyone says. Everton is a big club. The new owners can make us behave like one. It might look different, but maybe that's what we need.

Best I keep quiet then…

In the same vein, no matter how good Pickford, he sucks big time in dominating the same area. I'd happily swap a goalie who dominates the box for a good shot-stopper!

Problems on the pitch were mirrored by the lack of direction off it. It was obvious Goodison was becoming outdated 40 years ago. Whereas the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea put in place an ongoing strategy to improve their stadiums, our board restricted themselves to piecemeal improvements such as a new roof over the Street End in 1987, seats in the lower Gwladys Street in 1991 and the single tiered Park End stand in 1994.

It is little wonder we fell behind our competitors. Now we are playing catch-up with middle-ranking clubs such as West Ham, Newcastle and Aston Villa. The new stadium offers the prospective owners a once-in-a-generation opportunity to start bridging the gap which has widened in the past 8 years.

One assumes The Friedkin Group will have the ambition to do so but ambition will not by itself be sufficient. Strategic thinking and astute leadership will also be required. Most football club takeovers fail owing to a lack of those key ingredients.

I know you jest, but just to clarify, when I say, "I don't care about objective opinions here", I mean from the big and often southern-based media outlets – Talksport and Sky Sports.

Always interested in objective opinions from ToffeeWeb!

Thanks for explaining, Jon

Good on you for trying to add some substance to your opinion piece, though.

Feud believed that the mind is responsible for both conscious and unconscious decisions it makes on the basis of psychological drives.I this article you are presenting the unconscious thought that Everton is a big club and should think big It is common for Evertonians to say that Everton is a big club.You often come across this statement on Toffeeweb and I have often heard Evertonians say it in the flesh.The innately believe it .Even the Media and other Clubs fans have the sense of a sleeping giant.Recent survival has had many of them ear their words.They think before they mention rerelegation.It has become a affirmation and is the requirement needed on the bases of any arguement for improvement.

There is no doubt that the Friedkin Group will look at all aspects of the organisation , but I expect the School of Science will survive this scrutiny. It is the DNA behind the conscious and unconscious of Everton and Evertonian phycological drives.

Always liked reading about Athletico Bilbao. Local lads have to play.

I want players who love the club. That would be a start. Even when not great teams we’ve had, we had players who loved the club Howard, Jags, Cahill, Baines etc.

Oddly, I can see us coming back under Dyche this season and a good team developing despite shipping goals left, right and centre and can see the makings of a very good side.

Let’s start winning, hopefully from Saturday. COYB.

When I think of Everton I think of my dad - God rest his soul. Despite being despondent many times over the last 2 or 3 years I have never stopped believing what he said to me on one of the last occasions I was with him.

We were talking about our struggles and his disappointment over the Kings dock debacle. But then he turned to me with that mad Evertonian glint in his eyes and said - “We will be great again”.

It was Kenwright since 10th place was the break even point for our finances, hence our continued struggles.

Jon I am glad you realise the limitations of Moyes, which did suit Kenwright.I for one find my skin crawls regarding 'the people's Club'.It was Moyes that originally came out with that sop and Kenwright put in on Goodison Park.Who did he mean by the people. Why just not say it was the peasants club.At least that would have been the truth as far as Kenwright and Moyes where concerned.

Everton is the Evertonian's Club, but Kenwright would have never admitted that.But that was the attitude to the supporters . To bullshit them, while the money went into Kenwright pocket to keep the staff in tow with his patronage and get rich.

Moyes was happy to keep getting his excessive wages and never beat Liverpool or Man United. He didn't have to he had no remit to win any competition.The only planning was based on a wing and a prayer even to qualify for Europe.He was prepared to buy into no money available and feed us the same crap.
It never entered Moyes's head that Everton was a big Club, he just thought he was elected to get big wages.He was never fit to Manage a big club.

I just hope that when the bulldozers knock down Goodison that is the last we see or hear of the people's Club.

I will be writing a letter to Dan Friedkin in Texas to express my opinion regarding that statement.
Apologies regarding the unedited earlier post.When I went to edit the option was not available.

Jon you are right even now has to have the attitude and ambition of the big Club is always has been.The parasite phase of Everton's history has to end now.

A similar opportunity, albeit one that felt less substantial than this as it 'merely' had the backing of one man's wealth as opposed to that of a huge American corporation, presented itself with Moshiri. Due to a combination of incompetence, insufficient infrastructure within the club to deal with their 'lottery win' and there being no actual, you know, plan, money was frittered away 'like a drunken sailor on shore leave' and this opportunity was lost.

This can't happen again and its all in the psychology. e.g. phrases like 'The Peoples Club' (erase it from all comms./merchandise PLEASE), 'knife to a gunfight' etc.. suggests a 'soft' football club not solely focused on what should be its sole focus - winning football matches and silverware - and which, more importantly, doesn't believe it can. They then become self fulfilling prophecies which effectively 'legitimize' non achievement e.g. players who (albeit subconsciously) don't run that extra ten yards to make a tackle, sit back rather than go for the throat etc because, well, we're not expected to win big games and there is no expectation of success.

Take our friends across the park. Unfortunately, whether we like it or not, since the 1960s they have a history of, in many cases, unremarkable players helping them to achieve remarkable things, feats that such players never replicated anywhere else. Its all about the mindset, not just theirs, but the impact it has had on that of the opposition. And, with every 'remarkable' feat, the narrative is lapped up by a gushing media and the myth (e.g. 'great European nights' etc etc) reinforced and perpetuated.

But, unfortunately, they've kind of earned this right by previously instilling a level of expectation and belief and demanding success?

This is the dial which Everton, driven by the new owners, needs to turn.

Big spending on transfers can help but as per Man Utd, Chelsea and West Ham and us - it can leave you treading water or even deteriorating in quality if you are monumentally thick (which all four clubs have been).

Indeed, clubs with their heads screwed on have realised the transfer system is broken and the route to excellent players includes:

- excellent academy (see City, Arsenal and Chelsea)

- youth player (i.e. 14 to 17 year olds) trading (see the RS)

- low cost market scouting (see Brighton)

- use of affiliate clubs (see City and Brighton)

Rather than spend money on mediocre players costing between £20m and £35m, we need to invest our money in the sort of infrastructure described above - and have the patience to wait for it to bear fruit.

Otherwise, there is simply no point being ambitious - because the whole club will be set up (as it has been for the entire Premier League era) to fail.

It's people like you who make this club great. I love the idea that there are so many more Just like you.

John Raftery nails it, for me. Yes we won the league in 87, but that was due to the winning mentality of the players, the manager and the coach. We didnt realise it at the time, but the sale of Gary Lineker was a warning that the ambition which had been instilled by Sir John had been replaced by a destructive smugness in the boardroom. Our club has since become a lucrative gravy train for every passing charlatan. Accountability left with Ambition.

The ambition sir John brought may have left the boardroom, but the fire which burns within the fans cannot be extinguished. In my lifetime I have seen every club relegated (cept Arsenal) and while we have been on the ropes for so many years. We have frustrated our enemies by denying them pleasure of seeing us on the canvas. Thats down to the fire which cant be put out. It's down to the fans. We know what we are and we know who we are. We are giants.

I got chatting to some Leicester fans. last week. They were telling me that our support at the king Power has been more passionate than any other clubs for years. As one of them put it - "If your club ever gets it's act together. They will all start having sleepless nights". He know`s.... They all know.

I think it was Kenwright who drove the propaganda that 10th was alright.

He reduced everything to its lowest common denominator, particularly expectation. He deliberately used emotive nostalgia, rewarded loyalty to him over competency, relentlessly lied and traded in mediocrity.

And he succeeded. How else can we explain our acceptance of an owner who did not invest one penny of his own money to purchase and develop the club? Indeed, he pocketed 20 million + when he sold Everton and managed to persuade Moshiri to allow him to be Chairman.

Allowing Moyes to continue as manager for 11 years without winning a trophy was simply the epitome of the club's culture over all those years.

BUT, there is reason for optimism. A new ownership group who will run it as a business, implement a new football model and reward people based on performance. A glittering new stadium on the banks of the Mersey that will transform our commercial performance, increase revenue and allow us to compete. Our passionate fan base who could sell-out a stadium of 75,000 every home game.

I think proper football people still regard Everton as a massive club - the likes of Shearer, Neville, Wright, Lineker. Of course, some toss-post redshite "supporter" from Tunbridge Wells who thinks he needs a visa to travel North might disagree. Also, bitter Geordies who cannot reconcile themselves to the fact that we have won 4 league titles, 3 FA Cups and a European trophy since they won anything.

We are a BIG club with massive potential who need to be run professionally to a clear strategy for 5 years to get back into a position where we can compete. But, it is going to be a journey and the TFG will not splash the cash stupidly.

Nor should they.

It isn't really a game for realism, it's about dreams, not survival. Lose the dream and you lose the will to go on, at best you'll just mark time, and we are barely doing that.

It's happened to Leeds, Portsmouth, Brum etc who have all had their exciting moments in our period of mediocrity.

As it is, we haven't been set up for success in the whole Premier League era. Maybe it was once upon a time but that isn't something a manager / coach can do. The scale and sophistication of our rivals means that the infrastructure for success comes from club management, not football management. Wenger and Ferguson probably blurred the lines but it's been very clear ever since.

I think Moyes did a good job, and actually laid excellent foundations for what should have been a much rosier future. It has been the idiotic club management (a self-serving Kenwright and the truly bizarre Moshiri) which has held us back - failing to capitalise on the riches of the Premier League and becoming over sentimental about the past instead of modernising - and also being massively complacent about how easy it would be to kick on.

This is really just another way of explaining my comments at 18 above.

Even Moshiri had a dream. "Hollywood manager" and all that bollocks.

Robert #24

"...massively complacent about how easy it would be to kick on..."

Moshiri in a nutshell.

We were a giant, we have the history but right now (and for some time) we do not have a present and we only just recently realised we might have a future.

Part of what is wrong in the fabric of our club is this entitlement that you have that we belong with the best. I really like the way you write Jon and I promise I am not judging or bashing you here. I am interested that you hold this belief given your age.

I share the sentiments that we should reach to the stars and wish to be a giant again. That buddy is going to take a long, well thought out and perfectly executed plan and vision. It will take many years, even if done perfectly.

Top to bottom culture change is required, expectations reset and an investment in youth potential, coaching, a playing style, club ethos etc needs to happen.

Shame we couldn't get Bielsa ten years ago. This is why I think Coberan is the man we should go hard out for, hopefully in time for the January window.

Meticulous and clever transfer business needs to happen, slowly, gradually and patiently. Let's not go rushing in and chuck a load of money at this, we tried that and failed as have many before us.

If we are talking expectations, stability should be our first and only goal for now. Once securely achieved, we need to think about how we can once again be the best.

It manages to distil everything about how the club started, and became a founder member of the original Football League with the other eleven clubs, all originals if not all surviving, and what it means to Evertonians the World over in a mere 1,260 words! And more importantly, it demonstrates where the club has gone wrong over the years since '86 and Kenwright's first involvement at the club! 😡🤬

Chapeau, mon ami, chapeau!

Many thanks for taking the time to write and post this article, Jon, it reminded me of why I started supporting Everton.

Funnily enough, no, not because it was a great club, but because at the time I started supporting Everton, approximately 1974 just prior to the World Cup starting; it was because Liverpool were winning everything. So, unlike my Fylde (local) mates who supported them, I found out who their biggest rivals were, and found Everton!

Followed them ever since and learnt loads about the club as I grew older...

Thanks again, Jon, this article brings back happy memories for me. 😀👍

I agree sir, well said.

Mr Raferty [5]

"I believe we stopped thinking big in 1986. The sale of Lineker that summer was a hint of things to come."

I have to agree in hindsight, and with recent reflection.

Funnily enough, 1986 was the year when a certain William Kenwright CBE was first introduced to the club, before his elevation to the club's board in 1989.

Thank you for only listing the 'positives' around the club and not all the well documented lies and shenanigans we had to put up with ever since his involvement.

I actually feel that, if Kings Dock had been built ca. 2004-05, then Jon wouldn't have had to write this article. (Hopefully, but that is a huge "What if?")

However, as you say, or infer... I hope that TFG become our owners with eyes wide open, and have a solid, sensible strategic plan for moving the club forward, and upwards!

We can hope Jon and John, and all others.

As Jon said in the OT, money will not be the panacea to all our problems, but what it can do is help void the morass that is the administrative, commercial, financial, communication and hospitality side of the club that has been allowed to sink into the swamp of mediocrity ~ due to fear of the Tall Poppy Syndrome and factional division of the workforce, genuine incompetence ~ because of the fear of hiring someone of any genuine quality would show up the established figures in the club, and lack of interest ~ due to being handsomely paid for toeing the party lines (yes, there was more than one Dictator in the club, and there were (and are) many 'Little Empires' within the confines of the Liver Building, Goodison Park and especially at Finch Farm!

As well as providing a much-needed investment in the threadbare playing squad we currently have.

This situation has to be addressed as a priority, in my opinion, else it would be like sowing seed into muddy, swamps rather than into fresh fertile soil.

As myself and Si Pulford discussed elsewhere, the club needs a 'root and branch' review and let the cards fall where they may regards retention and dismissal of the entire incumbent staff, from the tea-ladies (no offence) to the reception staff, to the Board.

Unless the very best possible appointments are made in the critical areas of business, then does it really matter what happens on the pitch?

We've all seen where neglecting the Executive and Directorial level appointments leads to. I for one, do not wish to see our great club continue to slide into irrelevance, as it slowly but surely has under Kenwright's 'orchestration' and I chose that word carefully, as I personally believe that that man had nought but venal, avaricial, self serving purposes intended since he joined the club. (Where's the Lawnmowers!?)

Anyhoo...

We as fans of Everton, our club, can now have hope that TFG can manoeuvre us through the next couple of seasons, steady the ship, and turn us back on a proper course towards the top of the Premier League.

COYB and here's to 3 points tomorrow hopefully!

Plus the strength of personality to oversee its growth; otherwise, it will become a literal repeat of 'job for my boy'.

Are you suggesting he won't? And if not, why not?

Or are you just being cautious?

I realized that I was, in dad's mind at least, his succession plan. Except I was useless. Maybe that experience has clouded my expectations.

I suppose it's just natural concern that the son as our CEO is a lazy or emotional choice on Dan's part. Although, if his recent actions at Roma are anything to go by, my concerns are very likely unfounded.

Where do you think we are now, Robert?

Unfortunately, due to the way the club has been run under Moshiri, it is truly remarkable that we are still in the Premier League. It has been a shocking start but we are 6 points off Spurs and Man Utd with 33 games left to play.

For the fact that we live to fight another day, with professional new owners about to take over, thank the realists. Once proper foundations have been built, then you can start to dream.

I don't see the point in saying we are only 6 points behind somebody else when we have absolutely none. Or rely on the proper foundations being enough to turn the situation in time.

Thank the realists? In this case, would that be the seller?

Oh, you didn't mean that kind of size?!