An Open Letter To Robert Elstone

So Everton have completed a signing which involves a transfer fee for the first time in two and a half years, and Everton Chief Executive Robert Elstone has taken the opportunity to publish a blog on the official website.

It´s a contentious article, with a little jab at disconcerted Evertonians thrown in at the end.

So I would like to pen an open letter, from me, Everton fan Tubey, to Bob:

———————–

Dear Mr. Elstone,

I am not a member of the Blue Union, and GrandOldTeam is as neutral as Switzerland on the tit-for-tat currently going on between the boardroom and a militant group of fans.

That said, as a normal fan, I have concerns about the way Everton Football Club is run..

And to be blunt, there are thousands of fans who are exactly the same as me. They aren´t outside Goodison filming Mr. Kenwright on a mobile phone and baiting him into a reaction, which is something I found deplorable. They aren´t standing around reading propaganda pamphlets from a shady group that want Kenwright gone at all costs, and then deciding to take a pressure groups advice and stay away from the game.

Nope. They´re normal people who are seeing several things going on at the club and are becoming increasingly disillusioned about it.

For starters, we´re seeing a side that plays football which is the sporting equivalent of watching paint dry. Every Evertonian inside Goodison Park would have been bored inside 60 minutes of the QPR and Stoke games, to name two fixtures off the top of my head.

These fans are paying big money for the honour of watching the lads in Blue. They´re giving up time away from their families on a Saturday, and in many cases after five days in full time work.

So if a fan decides that watching garbage football and paying for the cost at the expense of relaxing at home on Saturday is a better decision for them, then that isn´t because of sabotage Mr. Elstone, that´s because they have a say on what happens in their own life.

Added to that, there´s been little to no investment in the first team squad in over two years. Yes, I appreciate new contracts cost money, but the fact remains we have an ageing squad who are stuck in their ways, playing familiar football which has grown stale and predictable. You don´t have to be a Premier League manager to understand that if you stop Baines, you stop Everton, for example.

And after two years of the same thing, fans are voting with their feet.

There isn´t a giant anti-Kenwright conspiracy going on here. It´s quite simple – football is sports entertainment. People crowd into Goodison and sit on narrow, wooden seats in a creaking stadium to cheer on a club which is a massive part of their life. And when that club suddenly appears to stop caring about the regular fan, content to tread water, play for the 1-0 win, if not play for a 0-0 draw, without new faces to cheer on or even seeing considerable effort from the same faces, then it´s no surprise when the fans start to turn away.

Evertonians are simply bored, Mr. Elstone. We understand we have a decent Premier League squad. We also know we probably won´t get relegated, in the same way we know we probably won´t qualify for Europe. We aren´t expecting to sign Messi. We´re not even expecting to sign a Championship player actually. We can even all accept not having a pot to piss in. Almost to a man, woman and child Evertonians are the ultimate realists in football.

But what we can´t accept, under no circumstances, is being accused of sabotaging the club because we choose not to attend a game or two at Goodison this year.

In your recent blogs, you have used phrases such as “certain individuals claiming to be Evertonians” to describe anyone and everyone who has a concern about the way the club is run.

As a 27-year-old lifelong Evertonian who has questions about how the board is run, I object to being tagged as a fake Evertonian.

Hopefully, that is not how you intended your words, and it´s being taken out of context. If so, fair enough.

The detailed breakdown of income and expenditure is appreciated, and hopefully this signals the start of a useful and open communication channel with the regular fan. But it has to be done in a far less aggressive and, at times, condescending manner.

The pen is mightier than the sword, as long as the pen is used correctly!

Every Evertonian wishes only the best for the Blues on and off the pitch, as the old Latin slogan we live by as a club indicates. Most sensible fans realise that the custodians in charge of this fantastic club have it´s best interests at heart. We all hope for an upturn in fortunes at Goodison in the near future.

Nil Satis Nisi Optimum, COYB!