A long road back

I'm not normally one to knee jerk but tonights 2-1 defeat at home to Bolton Wanderers summed up all of Everton's current problems. It brings to the end a run of four games unbeaten. On the face of it, a positive run but one that anyone who has had the dubious pleasure of watching the games knows has been achieved in the most pragmatic and unnattractive style imaginable.

 I LOVE this guy but should he have been sold?

Injuries to three key players did us no favours whatsoever tonight but even before then there wasn't a lot to suggest that we were going to improve on our recent performances. In fact, I can only think of the Aston Villa game this season where we have looked a genuinely good team.....that was the 4th game of the season.

That we have been able to play so poorly yet still pick up enough points to have a chance of making a Europa League place says a lot about the mental strength of our team, our preparation and also about Moyes' match craft. But to my mind our squad is now back to a similar level (in comparison to the rest of the league) to the one that Moyes inherited in 2002 and as a result he's adopting the same, grinding approach that characterised his early years in charge. In those days most Evertonians were happy to take the points however they came, but after the highs of the 2007-2010 era this feels like a mighty big fall from grace.

When is fair play unfair?

Empty seats at the Reebok

There has been a lot of talk over the last few years about the growing predictability of the premier league. A pattern that began in the mid-late 90s seems to have accelerated in recent years, with the gap between the top teams and the rest of the premier league becoming wider and wider.


The forthcoming UEFA fairplay regulations are intended to redress some of the imbalance, limiting clubs spending to a proportion of their turnover. Theoretically, this would prevent rich owners coming into smaller clubs and spending hundreds of millions on new players without a sustainable business to fund it. However, it's a plan with flaws. Clubs will find loopholes, such as signing massive sponsorship deals to increase turnover. This is supposedly limited as part of the plan but as yet Manchester City do not seem to have been called to account for their incredibly fishy sounding stadium naming deal with Etihad. With the regulations pegged to turnover, it also means they essentially protect the status quo even more so than currently. The rules benefit huge clubs like Manchester United and Bayern Munich who have already invested in massive stadia and set up huge merchandising operations around the world. Smaller/medium-sized clubs who have challenged at the top of European football after investment from rich owners such as Villareal would be less likely to repeat their feats.

The summer of discontent

This summer has seen an increasingly public showing of discontent amongst Evertonians.

Another summer without adding to the playing squad has seen anger rising to the surface and a number of organised groups have appeared to campaign on behalf of Evertonians on a number of issues.

Their efforts appear to be successfully attracting the attention of the national media and the clubs issues have become the subject of several national radio phone-ins and national newspaper articles.

The Old Lady

The aims and objectives of the two main campaign groups, Evertonians for Change and The People's Group, are loosely to strike up a dialogue with the club, for there to be increased transparency around finances and the vision for taking the club forward. There is also a desire for the board to agree with changes to move forward.
EDIT: As of yesterday afternoon all of the main campaign groups have joined forces under the banner of The Blue Union. Their statement is here.

However, whilst these aims are both clear and realistic i'm not entirely sure that satisfying them would be enough for the majority of angry fans that I see writing on message boards and forums. Most of these fans want the board (and/or Kenwright) out and I can see their point - it's hard to make a case that the board have moved the club forward off the pitch in any way during their tenure. Results on the pitch have much improved but most would accept that's down to Moyes rather than the board (although they have obviously supported him in his work).

The problem is that 'Kenwright Out' alone is too short-sighted an objective for a serious campaign. The first logical question by any outside party will always be 'And replace him with who?' at which point realistic answers are required. If the majority of Evertonians really do want the board changed (and I think they've every right to) they need to consider the 'what next' question and come up with some good suggestions.

I've ruminated on this many a time myself and here are my thoughts......

What makes a good owner?

As i've noted recently, pressure is growing on the Everton board to provide some answers as to why the club apparently finds itself in such financial turmoil.

In the circumstances i've found myself wondering what it is that makes for a good football club owner. Here's what i think are the big 3:

1) Financial resources and business acumen

I don't think Everton need a mega-wealthy benefactor to come in and fritter away his billions to be successful. I think the club already has a lot of the ingredients to win things. Whilst they will need a certain amount of wealth (more than Kenwright) to allow the club to access credit on more favourable terms, I believe it is equally important to get an owner with business acumen. If someone could get the club punching just a little above it's weight through running the business more professionally, I really believe it could bring success. It's a travesty that administrative errors led to Everton losing a valuable young player (Gosling) for nothing and that the board wasted millions unsuccessfully pursuing plans for two ground moves. 

2) Someone with vision

For most Evertonians their beef with the board isn't really the lack of personal money they have injected into the club, rather it is the complacent, short-sighted way that they seem to have managed the operation for years and years. This has seemingly led to the club being outmanoeuvred by competitors with similar or fewer resources than Everton. I think we need someone with the vision to be proactive rather than reactive and make the most of opportunities when they arise.

3) Someone who values and communicates with fans
The fans are a football club's customers, the money they spend attending games and buying merchandise is a club's biggest source of income other than from television rights. These days the internet means that fans have access to more information and opinion about their club than ever before. For businesses in every sector the growth in internet use has made it increasingly hard to control the messages that their customers recieve about them. Now anyone can publish, the message that customers recieve tends to be whatever the masses say it is. The phenomena is even affecting dictators!

Social media is about having a two-way conversation and gradually this is what football fans are beginning to expect from their clubs. They want a chance to ask questions and recieve answers, give feedback and receive acknowledgement. The current board of Everton Football Club don't seem to have cottoned onto this yet, but I would like a new board to make addressing it a priority.

Bizarre transfer window puts pressure on Kenwright

In the aftermath of a rotten January transfer window for Evertonians, attention has now focussed sharply on the clubs finances and ownership. The inexplicable loss of two strikers on loan and the sale of Steven Pienaar without any replacements coming in was probably a worse than result than most of us could possibly have imagined.

This bizarre state of affairs, added to a patchy season on the pitch seems to be awaking the national media to the clubs financial situation. On 2nd February the BBC's Phil McNulty pondered 'What next for Moyes & Everton?' and on 4th February Andy Hunter of the Guardian wrote about Everton's 'dangerous drift'. This type of publicity may well push the debate on the merits of the current board from message boards and forums (where it has been raging for years) out into the stands, pubs and living rooms. If that happens pressure is sure to grow on the board and Bill Kenwright in particular to provide some answers as to why the club finds itself in the current predicament.

A new era for English football?

Is it just me or are we starting to see a general shift in playing styles within English football?

It's not so much the top 10 clubs in the Premier League that i'm referring to but those teams that might expect a Premier League relegation battle and even a number of teams in the Championship and League One.

The change in style i'm referring to is a move away from the defence-focussed, direct style of play that for several years, most teams below the top-10 in the Premier League felt the need to use. The style of play synonymous with Sam Allardyce, Gary Megson and even David Moyes early in his Everton career. At the time it was seen as the most effective way of achieving results on meagre resources.