Why shouldn't we set the target of playing CL football.
We have just finished sixth and had a realistic chance of fourth up till about five or six games from the end.
Everton are a big club,with a squad of top class players that some of believe are capable of delivering even more than they already have to date.
I want a target set for the manager,I want him to know that we want to go higher in the league.I think he looks at the players he has just inherited and feels like a child in a sweet shop.Baines,Gibson,Jagielka,Jelavic,Mirallas,Barkley,Osman,Pienaar,Coleman and Fellaini.A lot of managers could only dream of having players of that calibre in their squad.
My only concern relates to the future of men like Stubbs,Ferguson,Weir,Sheedy and Neville.
Apart from being able to provide continuity and stability,they are Evertonians,they have been bitten by Everton and will forever bleed blue.I do not want them lost to the club, I welcome new faces,new ideas that will provide a synergy but not at the expense of men who have done well.
We have a number of young players that must now be excited,optimistic,nervous,determined about next season in a way they were not a short few weeks ago.Duffy,McAleny,Garbutt,Long,VelliosLundstram,Barkley,Francisco Junior and maybe even Bidwell.
Some months ago I described David Moyes as a "nearly " manager.I feel that his natural caution will prevent from taking that extra risk needed to acheive great things,I still feel that to be the case,but will probably find out sooner than I expected how right or wrong I was,but I have felt for some time that he had probably stayed longer than was good for him or the club.
I have a level of excitement about this summer and next season that I haven't felt in quite some time.It is the prospect of facing into an unknown and uncertain future as much as anything else.
We are guaranteed nothing,time will tell us how good a manager we have on our hands,but even preseason friendlies have taken on a new meaning.
I am looking forward with great hope ...and this from a man who first supported Everton when the great Harry Catterick was in charge,who remembers men like Billy Bingham,Gordon Lee and I think Dave Clement for a few games,Dave Watson for a few games,the great Howard Kendall 1,2 & 3,the great Colin Harvey, Lee,one of my great heroes the one and only Joe Royle and others besides.I have been on so many journeys...some good,some not so good ...today I have started yet another and I feel just as excited as every other time
