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The Movable ‘Silent Majority’ – Speak Up Now
As the campaign for change spearheaded by ‘The Blue Union’ has grown exponentially over the past few weeks, it is with a real bewilderment and puzzlement that I have noted the comments of, to use one of their turns of phrase against them, ‘a minority group’ of people who seem hell-bent on criticising and picking holes in any kind of positive action Evertonians have planned.
Aside from the age-old, absolutely pathetic, “you’re like a bunch of Kopites” jibe, there have been a small number of people trawling the official and unofficial Everton sites of the web, twitter, facebook etc ,etc…recycling the same tired anti-any-kind-of-action comments over, and over, and over again.
The thing that really has tickled me about these people though, annoyed me too, about the general attitude they carry (of course not EVERYone is the same), is the huge irony and hypocrisy that is lost on them in the very nature of their often quite aggressive attacks of The Blue Union.
“You are a tiny group, the majority of Evertonians don’t support you”, they will say. “How many people turned up at your meeting at The Casa? 600? There are 36,000 at Goodison..you don’t speak for them”. “You’ll be lucky if more than the 600 turn up for your march..it’s pointless”. Etc, etc,etc.
The insinuation being, of course, that if you are an Evertonian, and you are not actively showing your support FOR The Blue Union, then, obviously, you must be AGAINST them. And, as these people are against The Blue Union, to their (challenged) minds, then obviously..I mean OBVIOUSLY.. you are with them, you are all one. The honourable Bastions of the ‘silent majority’, so they are!!
Now, again I will openly and fairly accept that not EVERYone can be slotted into the same bracket as holding identical views – very much as is the case with followers of TBU, a major crime we are led to believe if you listen to ‘the silent majority’ spokesmen – but it is my suspicion, strong belief in fact, that many of these people opposing protest now, who are still somehow, unbelievably, backing Bill Kenwright’s Chairmanship of Everton Football Club, are many of the very same people who endorsed the highly controversial proposed move to Kirkby.
Now, let’s wind the clock back a little, and recall the efforts of KEIOC to enlighten the fans, to provide the truth, to give Evertonians the chance to make an informed decision as to whether they wanted that move or not..and the spiteful ridicule they were subjected to by many of these very same people.
Despite a well-choreographed club PR campaign that included a number of statements that have since been proven beyond any shadow of a doubt to have been bare-faced lies, the campaign led by KEIOC, to Keep Everton In Our City, was ultimately unsuccessful in it’s short-term goal of convincing the paying public to vote positively against the move. Not by much it should be noted, not by much at all. And I hasten to add, of course not everyone who voted against that move did so on the basis of anything related to KEIOC, they have hearts and minds of their own.
With scare stories like “Goodison won’t get a safety certificate” from the Chairman, brochures selling a “worldclass, iconic facility” – sent out with ballot papers that was later described in official documents as “a mid-range stadia” – to Professor Tom Cannon and his warnings that Everton would end up as Tranmere without this move…despite all that, the vote was as close as 59.27% to 40.73%.
The backers of the move though – essentially the dyed-in-the-wool supporters of ‘Blue Bill’ Kenwright, and anything he suggests – took great glee in telling us how, yet again, we (those ‘anti’ the move) were just big noise from little dogs, and the people had spoken.
Out of 36,662 (Everton’s core crowd, we can safely say) voting packs dispatched, only 15,230 of people who voted responded in favour of the move. That left 21,432, who were either vocally against the move, or chose not to let their voice be heard. Now, i’m not Carol Vorderman by any means, or Desmond Lynam for that matter, but I don’t think I need my abacus to see that one of those numbers is substantially bigger than the other!
Given that a move of stadium, away from the club’s traditional home, out of the city boundary, is a pretty big issue..then morally, surely you have to be fairly certain that you have a mandate to do so, wouldn’t it be fair to say? A move away is a positive action too, and to my mind, rightly I think, a positive action should require a positive response, action or approval..as opposed to a simple ‘acceptance’ of the status quo.
Whilst now, in 2011, a movement for ‘change’, a positive movement, a vocal movement, is underway..we are being told that “if you aren’t for it..you’re against it”. If you don’t speak up in support, if you stay part of the silent majority..then this has to be taken as your acceptance, endorsement, or even positive support of the status quo.
21,432 fans did not vote to move Everton Football Club to Kirkby, and 15,230, after a long, deceitful, and concerted club PR campaign did. A majority did not vote for that move, a minority did. Yet back then..that was OK. If you don’t speak out, if you are silent, then that is your acceptance of a positive action. Now, well that doesn’t suit our argument anymore, so listen, if you are a nice quiet family man, if you are a bit meek and mild, maybe if you just don’t like any kind of disagreement, you don’t want to get involved..then don’t worry..we will speak for you again. Only this time it will be different. Because this time..if you don’t speak out in support, we will just move the goalposts and say that silence is a clear sign of opposition!!
Oh, the irony!
Goodison Park is like a mortuary most weeks now, it has been for the last 5 years at least, maybe longer…but Evertonians are delighted with their lot, we just can’t get enough. Swinging from the rafters, full of vim and vigour..there is not a damn thing that the majority of the 36,000, most silent of ‘silent majorities,’ would want to change about anything, because if they did, we’d know about it…right??
They’d be shouting, swearing, fighting other Blues in the Street End..they wouldn’t just accept it would they? Cos that’s not what Evertonians do..is it??
Well, yes, sadly, it is. I am sorry to report, but that is exactly what the majority of Evertonians, on any side of the fence, do about everything. Precisely nothing. Believe it or not, they don’t even piss and moan on internet sites like this one. They do nothing. They come to Goodison, they sit there miserably accepting their lot supporting a team of also-rans, they don’t find it particularly enthusing – as their body language and lack of vocal enthusiasm would suggest – then they go home to their average wives and their average lives, they bend over and they take it up the shitter, time and time and time again. Because they are good Evertonians, and to do anything else would be just too “Kopite”. We’ve been told so many times, by the super fans, so it has to be true. ‘Top Blues’ don’t protest, we are too kool for skool to be down with ‘Kopite’ shit like that, right?
Well call me an old romantic, but I don’t believe it. I don’t believe that these people are satisfied, I don’t believe that they are happy with their lot, I don’t believe that they back Bill Kenwright’s Chairmanship and I don’t believe that they are happy in the knowledge that it is only a matter of time until the manager runs out of miracles, that the next gem from the academy is sold, or until the next washed up former Everton ‘legend’ is telling them how to think on the club’s official website in return for a plug for his radio show. I don’t believe they like any of that..I think they are just so apathetic and downtrodden by all the shit they have had to take over the years, that they have just given up and accepted that “as an Evertonian,i’m going to get shit on..repeatedly..from a great height”.
There is a phrase I often quote to people less assertive and opinionated than myself, and it is one I believe in a great deal; “If you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything”.
Now, i’m not saying for a second that the ‘silent majority’ stand for nothing, not at all. But I am sending out a warning, that if you don’t make your voice heard, then there are people out there who will make it heard on their behalf..and it is not The Blue Union.
I urge each and every Evertonian, match-goers and stay-at-homes alike, please…look within yourselves, ask yourself the questions that need to be asked, and take the bull by the horns. Let your voice be heard. If you vehemently oppose the aims and ideals of The Blue Union, say it. If you support the Chairman, show it. But if you support what The Blue Union, an ordinary collective of passionate, hard-working, fiercely proud, dyed-in the-wool Evertonians are trying to do…then please, stand up and be counted. Stand up and speak out. Show your support. Don’t let the bastions of whatever their cause is at the time speak on your behalf, as they always do.
The internet can give you a voice, let it be heard. The Blue Union can give us all hope that we can achieve our goals, move this club forward, and secure a better future, one that truly fits with our great heritage and mottos and serves as a fitting tribute to the great men who made Everton what it just about still is. We are The School of Science, The Mersey Millionaires…Dixie Dean’s club, Brian Labone’s club, Alan Ball, Kendall, Harvey…100 firsts, 9 league titles, 5 FA Cups, most top flight seasons, still right at the top end of the all-time league tables..don’t ever forget it. If you believe in protecting that rich history, one that we can all be proud of, one that should be bettered in the future for many generations of Evertonians, then please, for the love of God…don’t sit on your hands any longer.
Tomorrow afternoon, at 2pm, you have a great opportunity to show how you feel, if indeed that is how you feel. My honest opinion, having sat amongst people like you for the last 16 years, is that the MAJORITY are not happy. Whether the majority are ready to protest, I don’t know..but what I do know is that many are, and the numbers are growing daily.
I personally support The Blue Union wholeheartedly. There will be things that individual ‘members’ or supporters will say that I disagree with, likewise me for them, i’m sure. The Blue Union isn’t about train-tracks and ‘party lines’ though. It isn’t a professional organisation, choreographed to perfection by six-figure-salaried PR execs. We don’t have the backing of the local press, the national press, or a variety of current and past Everton players that we can call upon, either by demand as an employer, or in return for various other favours. We can’t go to anyone and say “they owe us” and have them peddle some tripe to fit our agenda. We are just ordinary Evertonians, with limited resources and a voice. Our passion is our currency, not money and spin.
Maybe it will be the case that on Saturday 25,000 Evertonians, or maybe 35,400, will burst into a chorus of “One Bill Kenwright, there’s only one Bill Kenwight”, or perhaps the protest group, however many it boasts in number, will be affronted on Goodison Road by a passionate ‘mob’ with 5 times the number. Somehow, I doubt either. And I doubt too that a lack of will to get involved pro-actively in anything would in any way be responsible for those situations failing to materialise.
The future of our club hangs in the balance. Just as Destination Kirkby was a pivotal moment, we stand upon the threshold of another now. The pressure is mounting, the world is watching, and the club are rattled.
If you believe it is a time for change, the please, speak up now. Don’t let your silence be taken as an endorsement of a regime that you don’t believe in.
The Blue Union speaks for nothing and nobody other than it’s own aims. It’s members, by association, generally at least, endorse those aims. I speak for nobody other than myself. None of us can claim, or would claim, to speak on behalf of anyone else.
You have your own voice, and I implore you to use it.
Don’t let your apathy aid the downfall of this great institution.
“If you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything”.
Tomorrow at 2pm…you have a chance to stand for something. I hope to see you there.
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48 Comments
The thing is, not everyone is either with you or against you, most people just don’t care
Well the sad thing about that Dave is that by not ‘caring’, they are killing the club as much as Kenwright, because they are standing idly by while the ship goes down. I hope the ‘most people not caring’ enjoy Championship football within 5 years, because that is where we are headed, and the speed will certainly pick up once Moyes leaves. People really should care, otherwise… what’s the point? Paying £30 every two weeks for something you don’t enjoy?
Opinionated ..you certainly are,
and like the BU you claim to speak by default for the silent majority , who in point of fact, many thousands of which, will not even see this post, and many thousands who feel despondent about Everton s predicament but also understand that you cannot just sell yourself(or your shares) to any quick buck merchant who passes by, as quite a few other teams have found out to there detriment, and a few more will very soon discover.
not only do you decry the board and goad other fans, you, again like the BU do not attempt to make ANY CREDITABLE attempt at a solution.
I have copied this comment, and fully intend to show any reply/ Non reply for perusal.
**ed – “Opinionated ..you certainly are, and like the BU you claim to speak by default for the silent majority”. Kevin, the article clearly states, in black and white, that the author speaks for no-one else. It spells out very clearly that every individual should let their voice and their views be known. So please, do not bring our website into disrepute with such nonsensical comments or , yes, they will be removed in the future. We aim to maintain standards here, and a basic ability to read will be increasingly fundamental to those **
ive said it before i’ll say it again the only way to get recognised is at 3pm when the ref blows the whistle we all walk out. thats direct action and thats how you get things moving. A few chants and scowls at the board wont achieve anything. direct action and do what any union worth its salt would do and exact a mass walk out only then will we see the reality of this mess we are in…
I stopped reading at you trying to suggest the people who didn’t vote must be oppossed to the move rather than for it. It’s fair to say if people were so against it they would vote, stop trying to twist figures to suit.
If you could say what this protest would achieve on the day of a game then maybe more would join in, our manager has felt the need to come out and speak as he knows this could very well effect the performance. Goodison is silent enough these days anyway without this.
What will happen is everton will be sold very soon to the next serious bidder, not necessarily a billionaire, maybe one of these dodgy chairman we’ve seen send clubs down, but as long as bill goes hey?
Don’t get me wrong, I know its time for change, everyone does, but in the meantime we need to do what we do best, stick together and sing our hearts out for the eleven players on the pitch wearing our colours, we need to get back to that.
** ed – this article doesn’t make the suggestion that you claim at all, quite the opposite. It says that your views will only be known if you speak up for yourself. The views of ‘the silent majority’ are ‘moved’, by other people, to fit their agenda at the time. The author is suggesting that everyone should speak for themselves, as silence can be manipulated to mean whatever other people want **
i go the match with 15 people 10 of them were for kirkby a different ten want bk out 5 of them thought watson was our best striker (joke). But serious the REAL minority feels the need to put none issues with the club online i only wanna search news now everton and find out the NEWS, not you blerts with your mouth full off shit talkin the board this an that, i wanna know what player has made jimmy bullard shit his keks this week. Ok weve got no money but you’d think this shit would have gone on years ago when we were slippin not now while we are slowly gettin back up. But no matter how many msgs you get on ere you think the “MINORITY WILL STAY SILENT” an well all only see 35 an a half thousand gettin behind the team next game . GET A GRIP
…plus I agree with the comment earlier above, complete contradiction to what BU’s open letter states about not being an attack on kenwrights chairmanship…. Awful piece of writing with no intelligence.
**ed – fairly sure the author made very clear that these are personal views, and also specifically covered the point of each individual being entitled to theirs. But then you probably didn’t read it before cluttering up our board with yet another ‘stock’ response **
Yeah I hate the way when bill took over we were average league placing of 6th and now we are fighting relegation every season….. Oh wait……
What are you protesting against? I’ve read all the transcripts and reports etc and can only summize that BU want a hicks/gillette or glazier to buy us. Look what happened across the park, the shite were destined for the bottom of the league until they got a buy out from a professional US sports managing and marketing company and they bough a sellable brand which they can make money from and thats the only reason they done it! Kenwright does not have mega millions no but he has saved us from a Kopite owner who could have happily seen us relegated and almost did! We are no longer fighting relgation but fighting for European qualification each year and nearly won the FA cup against a club owned by a russian mobster. We have a great youth program churning out quality players(where did United get there success from)We are stable, not neccesarily stagnating and in a time when the world economy is so poor then if your not going backwards you are infact going forwards! we are living within the new financial guidelines of UEFA which will be enforced in years to come, so where is the miss mangement that BU talk about? Have they tried to get a bank loan recently? at what interest rate? If all they want is a rich sugar daddy then why don’t they go find him and present them to Kenwright instead of whinging? Do something positive for the club you love not create an atmosphere at the club which is going to hamper the players and our ability to win.
If you really love Everton then sing and scream the boys on to the win for every minute of every match until you loose your voice like I do. Cheer the boys on to the win and get us into Europe. If the atmosphere in the stadium is quiet and tense and we loose the game it will be purely down to BU and their negativity. Be a SUPPORTER and SUPPORT your club, if you are not happy with the way things are then provide a solution, this miraculous billionaire form thin air! if you can’t then shut the hell up.
Time for you to realise most of us want to support what is a very strong team, the best we have had for many a year, looking more balanced with the two signings, Drenthe is what we gave been needing for years… Pace out wide… We all know we need change at the top to compete for champagne league and so does Kenwright, he wants out believe me, I know through my job for a fact. To appoint interim would cost an unbelievable amount… Kenwright has never took a wage or expenses. It will happen, i just hope he’s not driven to sell to someone dodgy.
**ed – another one straight into the trap, speaking once again on behalf of ‘everyone else’! “Time for you to realise most of us want to support what is a very strong team”**
God
what a borish lot of individuals – I take it these ramblings are those of more than one person .. ?
I coming more of the opinion to let these intelligent (sic) individuals have their club, just like Bill and to endure the entertainment provided week in week out, with poor facilities and poor value for money, with absolutely no money to change things and no option but to sell the remaining talented players as and when to keep the banks happy, and continue this cycle from here to eternity and possibly in lower leagues as everybody else overtakes them and …. oh, fuck it what’s the point.
As George Carlin once said – “Never argue with an idiot. They bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.”
ant, only one or two teams can be winning trophies? Says who, Sky?? The old First Division has been won by 22 clubs to just 4 in this PL era. EFC shouldn’t be doing anything other than average? You sort it out, mate. Despite only winning one cup in the last 24 years Everton are still the 4th most successful club in England. No disrespect to Forest fans but are you seriously comparing EFC’s history to theirs? The last time EFC won anything, in 1995, Man U had only just equalled our haul of 9 League titles. Now look at the gulf between the two clubs! Yes, it’s all about money these days. Let’s forget about the Chelsea and Man City takeovers, but why hasn’t EFC been able to keep up with the likes of Man U and Arsenal, we were all about equal in 1992 and were part of the Big 5 that pushed for the formation of the PL, along with LFC and Spurs. It is Sky and the meejah that are trying to rewrite history with this revisionist notion that Everton are an average club and sadly some Evertonians have swallowed it and meekly accepted that this is our lot in life. The truth is that EFC boards have tragically mis-managed the club since the mid-to-late 80s and the current board shows no sign of arresting that rot. Since Kenwright took over we have stabilized from the dire straits of the 90s, yes, but I’d say that it’s despite him not because of him and our progress has been largely due to the appointment of David Moyes. Another manager would have seen us relegated long ago. We don’t need a billionaire to buy the club. All we need is someone with a clue, a sound business plan for the club to maximize revenue streams, and able to reach into his pockets once or twice a summer to back the manager and freshen up the squad. It’s nice to have a luvvie Blue as Chairman but surely there’s another out there who doesn’t take 10 years to understand the club books or yet can figure out what these mysterious £24m ‘other operating costs’ are!? We are Everton FC, proud institution of English football and yes, we do bloody deserve better than this! Nil Satis Nisi Optimum.
Judging by the amount of astro-surfing being done by the PR clowns, the club and Kenwright are very worried indeed. Well done BU, more power to your elbow, I’m just thankful that we’ve got real fans who are not prepared to sit back and let Kenrwight and his cronies continue running the club into the dust.
rory, you have summed it up mate. its time for change.
So protest takes place and Blue Bill goes – what then? who takes over? are you experienced businessmen? do you have an investor? Do you have a solid business plan model? Do you have the funds? and also not forgetting that if Bill goes Moyes will definitely go – I understand your concern but instead of protesting and embarrassing the club in the world media shouldnt you be finding answers then presenting them to the board? I presume your first role as an interim board would be to find a new buyer? so whats stopping you doing that now and presenting them to the board? – I for one will be in my seat at 2pm cheering for the blues louder than ever
I agree with the article entirely. The BK show ran out of steam long ago and if it had beeen headed by Peter Johnson there would have been vicious protests years ago. The board’s job is to provide funds for the manager and to maximise revenue streams by amongst other things improving facilities etc. Everything they have touched as been either il-conceived or failed. Moyes has had to raise every penny he’s had and has papered over their incompetenc and impotence for years. Now we are outspent by EVERYONE and live in the oldest stadium in the league. Even clubs who have spent decades in the lower leagues have built new stands or even whole new stadia and can still outspend us. We now have the smallest squad in the league and can only afford last-minute loans (if we are lucky)….. and yet some still support this regime. Funny how that isn’t reflected on a single Everton supporters website. Could it be these posts are the work of the same propaganda machine that is currently trying to flood the media with pro- Kenwright nonsense?
Chris…. no-one will be intheir seat at 2pm cheering the team louder than ever.
Let’s see how many people you get on your ‘protest’ today then hey? I reckon it will be less than 1,000. Your self appointed ‘Blue Union’ hopefully don’t represent the majority of Everton fans, just a small percentage. I just wish you’d go and support the red shite across the park, they love all this shit you’re into
I despair at some fellow Evertonians,the club is being run into the ground by the present custodians,and people still think everything in the garden is rosy.Wake up and smell the coffee,when will you realise we are heading for the iceberg. Championship football is beckoning. Keep up the good work BU,and maybe the doubters will one day realise that you were right all along
There is a long and honourable tradition of protest within football. Successful protests usually require two things : that they unite the fans, and that they have clear, achievable demands. Typically fans demands centre on getting someone out, be it the manager, the chairman, or in the case of Liverpool, Hicks & Gillett.
Evertonians are frustrated. We all want to see more investment. That’s something the fans and the Board can agree on. But what to do about it ? You can’t have a march to get someone in, that would be a nonsense. So TBU have come up with this idea of an interim board. But that’s not a demand that’s ever going to unite the fans, because it’s simply not credible. I can’t mock the idea any better than by quoting their own convoluted explanation of their aims :
“The aim of The Blue Union is simple, it’s not to get Bill Kenwright out, it’s certainly not some mindless attempt to sack the board; its aim is to promote the concept of allowing the CEO to be left to concentrate on reducing costs, developing our revenue streams and repairing the relationship with the fanbase whilst leaving the board to appoint a fully autonomous group of professional individuals who can effectively develop and implement a strategy that will identify and sell the club to a buyer who can demonstrate an ability and a genuine desire to take the club forward on both a commercial and football level.”
Now try fitting that on a placard !
Yes, I am one of the silent majority,I was 62 yesterday I went to my first game at Goodison age 4, I’ve follwed them all my life,season ticket holder since 1975 does this give me the right to an opinion? The Everton for Change Blue Union KEIOC et al of course have the right to their opion, that’s called democracy, but don’t deride others for in their words doing nothing. We care, we care passionately about Everton, but if these people can come up with a viable alternative and not just chant the mantra “Kenwright out” then maybe they would have greater support. I have read all the current articles in the Daily’s I still support Bill more importantly I support Everton
**ed, many happy returns Peter, that is some shift you have put in. Sadly, the point of this article seems to have been lost on you as a little, as you follow up your claim of being one of the ‘silent majority’ with “We care, we care passionately about Everton, but if these people can come up with a viable alternative”..which seems to suggest you are speaking for everyone who doesn’t speak for themselves again, which I think was the whole point of the article. Maybe i’m wrong??**
“I coming more of the opinion to let these intelligent (sic) individuals have their club..oh, fuck it what’s the point.
Best thing you’ve ever wrote on the subject, “ArryArse”. I suggest you take your own advice. (Now. lets see how quickly I can make up another name and write another “pro Kenwright” post, hey? I must phone Ross to get my commission increased. I bet there are some nutters on this site who think I’m serious)
Spot on Nick Wall. I will watch the march this afternoon, and congratulate BU on their control and restraint if the march is orderly and dignified, even if I disagree with them, provided they don’t let it degenerate into a slogan shouting rabble, and / or take it inside the ground. However, I fear the worst. PLEASE prove me wrong BU
Some of you morons are absolutely incredible. Rory, your post is absolutely fantastic. Some great points made. Part of the apathy is caused by people believing what SKY tell them. Plucky small Everton. The same Everton who have won more leagues than their darlings – Man City, Chelsea and Spurs.
I cancelled my season ticket 3 years ago (I had had it since 1974)
I have supported Everton all my life and Peter, your view “I still support Bill more importantly I support Everton”
kills me. The two are not a given.
I will support Everton till I die.
But if someone was coming to your house and shagging your wife while you were at work would you say its ok co I till love my wife.
This man and his cohorts are destroying the club we all love,
He needs to be forced out.
Al…… that should’ve read….. plucky “little” Everton who have won more league titles than Spurs, man city and chelsea PUT TOGETHER. Now consigned to “also rans” who can barely fund last minute loans. Divide and conquer is the only tactic left to preserve the status quo and how they are going for it! Previously Unheard-of names appearing on forums trying to defend the indefensible….. Mr Ross has certainly been burning the midnight oil. I’ll be there today supporting the BU’s march as a concerned season ticket and share-holding blue. It goes against the grain for me but needs must….. because quite frankly, enough is enough!
I’m against you. I think your motives and ambitions for the club are wholly positive, but I think your negative language and methods are myopic and disproportionate.
You’ve taken against Kenwright in veherment fashion. Cool. Who then would you prefer? Probably anyone judging by the vitriol flying about. Yeung, Mandaric, Shinawatra, Hicks & Gillett – be careful what you’re wishing for whilst the club finishes 7th in the best league in the world – a position that I think didn’t do the squad justice and yet would normally get us into Europe.
I ask myself what would have quelled this movement over the summer, and I end up thinking the signing of Charles N’Zogbia in July would probably have done it. Yeah, that would have done it. Then we wouldn’t have stagnated.
**ed – I haven’t seen any of those ‘scare’ names you mention there listed in this fan article, or by The Blue Union??**
Typical responses unfortunately by being abusive against people for holding their own opinion about a match day protest doing more harm than good, people are morons, idiots and borish automatically for this. Says it all really. I think a lot of you are being confused between not agreeing with a match day protest and wanting bill to stay. We all know its time for change but a little walk down the road will achieve nothing but an ill atmosphere which is likely to spill inside the ground. I know for a fact villa fans are happy about this, the same villa fans who have seen their supposed money bags chairman recoup more money than we have net to repay the banks this summer, 5 England international starters midweek that have been allowed to leave villa park over the last few years too. We are not in a brilliant situation no, but our debt remains one of the lowest in the league (that is a fact) so we are not in a bad saleable position, our bank won’t let debt rise while we are trying to sell and this makes sense. I just hope we don’t sell to just anybody now….
“The Blue Union speaks for nothing and nobody other than it’s own aims. It’s members, by association, generally at least, endorse those aims. I speak for nobody other than myself. None of us can claim, or would claim, to speak on behalf of anyone else.
You have your own voice, and I implore you to use it.” Worthy closing comments.
So, as ever, on both here and Toffeeweb, as soon as any diseenting voices DO speak up, what’s the reaction?
“Divide and conquer is the only tactic left to preserve the status quo and how they are going for it! Previously Unheard-of names appearing on forums trying to defend the indefensible….. Mr Ross has certainly been burning the midnight oil.”
No wonder the “majority” are genarally silent. What’s the point of engaging in debate with the likes of Tom Hughes?
Don’t let your apathy aid the downfall of this great institution.
fantastic article and straight to the point.
@ Peter Rigby
Not meaning to have a pop but “I still support Bill” is really worrying and sadly still indicative of many Evertonians
I said to myself the other week, I’m not goin the match any more ’til Bill & his mob do one. I fear I may have a long wait
John…. everything you praise the club for is attributable to Moyes and him alone. Our net spend over the past 10yrs is the lowest in the league. Our stadium development efforts are infamous. We have the smallest squad in the league and can barely afford last-minute loans. Every other club’s board has achieved more than ours and has given managers more to work with…… it’s the end of the line for this “do-nothing” board.
Well said Rory we need change at everton very very urgently,I am 73 and taking my grandson to the match.but I feel ashamed that our great club is falling apart . well done BU see you at the protest.
we have lost finch farm.belle field.our asstts have been stripped away .Is it true the have sold GOODISON PARK as well.That could be the reason the banks our chasing us as we have no collatral.
good luck to our team today support them and be proud to be a blue..
So what happened to my post – it was No4 behind Kevin Hughes?
It contained no bad language at all plus a valid e-mail account.
I expect you would prefer everyone to have the same opinion as yourselves but the world isn’t like that.
If you want people to leave ‘agreeable’ comments only you should state this on the page.
Censorship is alive and well…
** ed – we are trying our best to moderate comments to maintain a reasonable standard of debate – there are plenty of dissenting voices being heard, so your point doesn’t stand. Your post was deleted because it was beyond moderation. It made too many insinuations, which would have been let go, had they not been followed up by an admission that you hadn’t actually read the whole article. Stock-piled generic attacks on TBU will not be tolerated on this website, so unless you can debate reasonably, don’t waste your time posting such bile..because it will be removed. **
Excellent article, head of the nail well and truly hit. We are the great sleeping giants of football and need to wake up. In my eyes, if you look at what the club has brought to the table of world football since our inception, all the first’s that we have, I believe we are THE most significant football club in the world. We have led the way, the rest have followed. NSNO
You lot are low removing comments on this thread, seems to me you lot just want to be seen as a position of power… even if this comments only up for 5 minutes it will have been worth it, I think it’s just embarrasing the people trying to rock the boat when what has got us here in the first place is stability… it’sd sad but ultimately these people with nothing better to do, and really no game plan at all, well; they deserve to go down in the history books alongside Brett Angell.
Let me start by apologising for a pretty long post (so much so I split it into two)!
I really don’t understand how all supporters are not massively concerned by the current plight of the club. We had the smallest squad in the league last year, and in the past year we have got rid of 6 players (3 of whom are 1st team players) and brought in two last minute loan signings that frankly no-one knows how they will do, but suffice to say they are not exactly established replacements. We have no strikers, to the extent that it sounds like Cahill will be playing that role. It was a glaring problem from last season yet, despite having circa £15m money from Pienaar, Vaughan and the sale of Bellefield early on none of it could be made available to bring someone else in, even on loan. Only the sale of Arteta enabled bringing in a winger with a questionable attitude and a striker from the frankly piss-poor Argentinian league. And does anyone really think the Arteta money will be available in January, or next summer?
Oh and for a comparison to what we could reasonably consider our peers these days, here’s a breakdown of player salaries between us and Villa. Basically showing that they can spend half as much again as we can on player’s wages (so every player we want to offer £30k to, they can offer £45k):
http://www.sportingintelligence.com/2011/09/09/broke-and-blue-everton-seek-hoodoos-end-against-richer-aston-villa-090901/
I am painting this rather bleak picture to point out that despite having the smallest squad in the league, and far lower player operating costs than our ‘peers’, we are still having to sell to buy. And guess what? There’s nothing left to sell. We may be ok this season but the massive downward trend in this club points to more sales to come, either enforced through the repayment of debt or even, not unreasonably, players wanting to ply their trade for a club going somewhere. But how much more trimming can a senior squad take?
So how does this reflect on BK? Well the figures alone make for pretty damning reading in my eyes, and I don’t really see how it can be disputed. But people say ‘well he is trying to sell, he is the best man to do it, so what more can we do except get behind the team?’ Well, and I recognise this is open to opinion, but frankly I don’t trust or believe anything that comes from the club. We have been fed lies, misrepresentations and failures for years now so why should they act any differently over their search for a buyer? To name but a few: We had the lies and failures around the funding for King’s Dock (ringfenced the money eh Bill?), we had the failure of the NTL deal, we had the lie that was Fortress Sports Fund (in the bank in 48 hours?! Convenient that it led to Paul Gregg stepping down before it was revealed to be what it was), we had the utterly unforgiveable lies over Kirkby (effectively free, world class stadium – you do realise that the finances for it mean we would have had to sell out 50000 every game just to make the extra vaunted £10m a year don’t you?), we have the club’s head of comms, Ian Ross, seemingly outed as posting pro-BK rhetoric under pseudonyms in an attempt to coerce fans, we have the continued lies regarding AGMs and EGMs – despite having been effectively banned years ago BK still trumpets those as his platform where he confirms each year the club is for sale (see today’s daily mail article for example), and finally, related to that, we have the lies that the club is for sale – BK has claimed the club has been for sale for years, yet at the Kirkby inquiry it was confirmed that none of the Board were looking to or had been looking to sell their shares at any stage. Our own CEO has now recently revised this timescale to say it has been for sale in the last three years. Yet still BK is peddling the same line about AGMs and EGMs and the club having always been up for sale. For me these few examples are even more unforgiveable than the failure to run the finances of the club properly, because it is showing such utter contempt for the most important aspect of the club, the fans.
So there we go. We’re in a perilous financial state, and we have a club who have a history littered with lies to fans to serve their own needs. So do I trust them when they say there are no buyers out there? No I don’t. If there aren’t then OK, but let an impartial and interim Board disclose that to us, not a group of people who are running us into oblivion and won’t let go.
Sorry in the first of the two posts that should not say ‘having to sell to buy’ it should say ‘having to sell to stay afloat’!
umm, the 3 ‘first team players’.. in case you didnt notice werent all that.. you canonly put 11 players on the field,and when we dont have all first team players available the youth that replaces them always does a good job, hence Vaughan being worth £2M in the first place… Barkleys basically looking quality, but needs first team action.. in Arteta’s position… Bellefield was sold to go towards paying for the world class training facilities that were built by the club (under Kenwright)
I dont see why people want us to be like spurs, just buy every glimpse of talent and then ruin them before selling on to Sunderland… I don’t live in Liverpool so I think that gives me a fairer judge on our position in comparison to other Premier League teams… you know what, spurs could finish 5 places above us and I would still laugh at them and tell them they do it all wrong. Everton is exactly how a football club should be run, most people know that, the powers that be included and I think we are a shining example to more than 50% of the other teams in the league, hence Moyes’ numerous league manager awards, as said before Everton are a club that have set many firsts over the years, in this crazy financial climate the way we are doing things is another thing to be massively proud of. Unfortunately we’re not at a time when £2.7M is gonna break the transfer record anymore… but then look where that got us.. We are the fans, we are who put money into the club, everton in the mid nineties were an embarrasment, years of hard work with a manager who suits the role have got us where we are now, It takes time to build, it takes time to consolidate, and then build again… The only possible good thing out of this is that now the whole world knows that we are up for sale, please please please don’t say the club is badly run though, who was our most valuable player when Moyes arrived, Gazza? Look at what we have now, Arteta was probably the best player we could have sold, and now we have a load of decent players on long contracts to look to the future with, you lot need to shut up before Felli starts looking elsewhere
The three first team players I was referring to were Pienaar, Arteta and Beckford. Now I don’t think THAT much of Beckford but given our paucity of striking options at least he was an option. The suggestion if you meant it that Arteta and Pienaar weren’t all that is absolutely laughable. And hell, I was being kind in not even mentioning Yobo, Vaughan and Yakubu – the issue being not that they were sold, but that the club could not finance replacements in what was beforehand a very threadbare squad. Fellaini won’t start looking to go elsewhere because of the fans protests, he will go elsewhere because we are a club in decline that has not invested in the playing squad for 3 seasons now. And I think relying on Barkley, a 17 year old youth product, to be our creative outlet for the season is actually even more of a damning indictment of the club’s finances, that we now have to rely on our youth set up to keep us afloat because we can’t actually afford to buy anyone.
As for Finch Farm, we don’t actually own it. We sold Bellefield and now we rent Finch Farm, I don’t know the exact terms but suffice to say they are extremely unfavourable in the long term compared to buying it.
I think the phrase ‘I don’t know the exact terms’ sums it all up well mate…
Ok, “In Moyes we Trust…” well if he’s saying leave off why are we doubting?
Could it not be that 3 years ago Bill & David said, lets spend all of our money on the most expensive position in modern football: A top class young holding midfielder. And then over the next 3 seasons we’ll still finish up there but not spend alot of money??
because if that is whats been said then I think they have my backing,
we still have a young squad and they are all signed up for some time, unlike other protests at other clubs the manager has actually come out and defended his chairman, most times other managers don’t do that. This is all purely internet speculation and now it’s in the media we all look a bunch of jerks, can’t we just keep the conversation in the pubs focused on the fact that in Barkley we have somebody that does actually look like he may be able to lift the World Cup?
Dan, the club isn’t badly run?? How did the club get into this financial mess in the first place? Why aren’t we up there in the finances with Man U, Spurs, Liverpool and Arsenal? Why have they kicked on since 1992 and not us?? Who’s fault is that then if not the boards’?! We’ve gone from the Mersey Millionaires to the Premier League Paupers. All our history and tradition, our legion of firsts, our work in the local community, and who the hell knows about it outside of Lancashire?? Why haven’t we been marketed better worldwide as the 4th most successful club in England? LFC have won just as much silverware as us in the last 2 decades. One. EFC don’t do dynasties it has been said. Then we need to be smarter about building our global brand then! Our CEO and Chairman between them couldn’t sell a Big Mac to an Ethiopian. Who’s going to take over if Kenwright goes? Did you know who was going to take over when Peter Johnson was thrown out? Anyone would’ve been better than him right? Why don’t you take the same leap of faith now? Because Blue Bill is one of us? I don’t doubt his love for the club for one minute but he hasn’t the nous to take us further. As I’ve said we don’t need a billionaire to take over, someone with slightly more money than Bill but with a bit more savvy would do.
Ian Ross is writing as Andy Mac now
I think Bill Kenwright is writing as Dan Sanderson!!
I see my comment earlier today was removed – no bad language, just happened to disagree with BU. Did you guys actually read “The Movable ‘Silent Majority’ – Speak Up Now” before publishing it? Still not sure what you guys stand for, what you want to happen and how you are going to help – maybe it got lost in the diatribe…….
Bit of an anti-climax in the end. Kenwright was roundly cheered and applauded when he appeared on the big screen too.
Anti-climax Steven? The protest was a resounding success, went absolutely to plan, great turn-out and no a hint of aggro!! Kenwright was booed and clapped (certainly not cheered!) in equal measure from where I was sat (top balc, so I had a pretty neutral vantage point!).
In any case, Bilyaltedinov stunk the place out and went off to a standing ovation..so I wouldn’t read too much into that!!
The boo’s at QPR were a touch louder, but it just goes to show that when you are winning, some people would clap anything!!