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.
The main questions that most Evertonians are asking are:
1) How is a club with regular attendances of 35,000+, several recent top 6 finishes (and consequently Europa League football) and regular live TV appearances in the richest league in world football unable to spend anything on transfers?
If the answer is that we are living within our means then fair enough.They may well say that we focussing on paying higher wages and renewing contracts rather than purchasing new players, also fair enough. Both are strategies at least. But I would still have to ask whether hand on heart the board could say that they've delivered the strategies to maximum effect. Have we really signed the best commercial deals? Could we have attracted a more high profile sponsor? Could we have increased our revenue in other ways?
We have now reached the stage where despite the manager crying out for reinforcements we have been outspent in January by the likes of Stoke and Blackpool. How can this be? I would imagine that these clubs are spending money they don't have which in the long term isn't necessarily a sensible strategy but it's not as though Everton are debt free. Our debt appears to be killing the club. Why are our loans on such bad terms that they cripple us when other clubs still appear to find credit easy to come by?
- The second big question is of course, why when the board have been looking for fresh investment for several years has it not materialised? Are we genuinely that unenticing as a prospect or is there something else putting investors off?
Some people seem to think that the majority shareholders are asking too high a price, others think that they don't want to sell at all. One things for sure, no-one really knows so there's little point in speculating further here. I'm not sure Kenwright is under any obligation to tell us but it sure would be nice to know.
Most people think your heart is in the right place Bill and i'm one of them. But this isn't personal, it's business. Just tell us the truth....
No comments:
Post a Comment