Everton News

Status
Not open for further replies.
Koeman on Valencia via GrandOldTeam

valencia1-150x150.jpg


Ronald Koeman believes deadline day signing Enner Valencia will prove to be a smart acquisition by the club.

The Blues boss made it known that he was disappointed with the way the summer transfer window ended after deals for Manolo Gabbiadini and Moussaka Sissoko fell through on deadline day.

However, during his press conference at Finch Farm on Thursday he insisted that he was pleased with the clubs business overall.

Included in that was Valencia, who signed on a season-long loan from West Ham with the option of a £14.5m permanent deal next summer.

“He will bring that competition that all the players need,” Koeman said. “He has pace, he’s physical, he can play in different positions across the front, and he can press.

“Of course we have Romelu as a number nine and we have tried Deulofeu as a nine in pre-season. Valencia can play as a nine too.

“He gives the team more options to start, and that’s the competition that we need.”

Ecuador international Valencia arrives at Goodison Park on the back of two seasons at West Ham which saw him score only ten goals in 66 appearances. This may explain some fans apathy towards the signing.

“I cannot say anything about what happened at West Ham,” Koeman continued. “But he was interested in coming to Everton and we were interested in him.

“He was one of the options earlier on in the window. He can play as a nine or behind the striker and that is good for us. We need that versatility.”

The arrival of Valencia, coupled with the club failing to find a suitor for misfit striker Oumar Niasse, means Koeman has plenty of options in forward areas this season – something the Dutchman says he is pleased about.

“Now with Valencia we have seven strikers for three positions in the team,” he said. “It is a long season and a difficult season and I need competition.

“The best eleven will start and they all need to fight for the chance to play.”

The post Koeman on Valencia appeared first on GrandOldTeam.

Read Full Article

Continue reading...
 

Everton’s Neglected Image: Public Relations in the Modern Game via GrandOldTeam

goodison-park-view-150x150.jpg


Public relations are more important today in top flight football than it has been at any time in the past. Being able to work the media and frame narratives is becoming a vital piece of the puzzle in the leap to becoming a ‘big’ club. In this case big club has nothing to do with history, or even money, but wholly to do with the perception of the club by the vast majority of the footballing public. That vast majority are not the sort of fans that follow everything going on and go to the match week in and week out, but people that take their opinions from commentators, analysts, and talking heads. As the Premier League become the major global player in football it is more important than ever to sell the club as a brand, or a club risks falling ever further behind the richer, more glamorous clubs. Brands that stay in the public eye increase their commercial earnings potential, leading to being able to spend more on players, who are more willing to come to a club where they will get a lot of press and sponsorship opportunity.

It’s very easy as a diehard type fan to blow off all of the pomp and circumstance of the Premier League era as unimportant and to dismiss the commercial side of the football business as a vulgar modern excess, but time moves forward inexorably and to compete for the honours that befit a club of Everton’s historical stature the club has to move forward in this department as well. Presently Everton’s public relations seem to be in a depressing state. The club remains silent on nearly every aspect of…well everything. Everton are very rarely in the news above and beyond match reports or the same sort of minor coverage every Premier League club gets. Compare to West Ham and the nearly wall to wall media coverage they’ve had over the past year. That alone makes West Ham appear to be a big club in the eyes of the many, many new followers from around the world. That makes them a more attractive team to follow, which leads to them making more and more money. There is every chance that they could pull away, much like Spurs have been able to do over the past decade. This is largely due to competence on the business side of the club. And that competence reveals itself in the club’s ability to stay in the public eye. West Ham’s long term success will likely be driven by their ability to stay visible. But who cares about West Ham anyway? Everton is why we’re here.

Everton are in particular need of a decent public relations team at the moment, after the made-in-Sky catastrophe of the Transfer Deadline Day slamming shut with us looking morosely, with an empty jet and a target in London. It doesn’t even matter whether Sissoko would have been good business, or whether the transfer window was a good one overall. At least not in the realm of public relations. You’re only as good as your last success after all. Obviously as a football fan, I don’t care how much we spent or when we spent it, I care about points and we seem to be on a decent track with those. However, with the long game in mind I can’t really take that view so comfortably. Everton looked a bit like fools at the end of the window. The summer started with rumors of Axel Witsel and even some cheeky glances at Jose Mourinho. It ended with a, admittedly brilliant, player from relegated Aston Villa, Ronald Koeman, some solid veteran Premier League players and a negative net spend. It certainly looks like the club have overestimated themselves and failed badly. Not exactly something the masses with no connection with the country of the United Kingdom, let alone the city of Liverpool are likely to see as a beacon drawing them in to support our grand institution.

A bad deadline on its own is nothing to sweat. The problem for Everton is that it follows 15 years of standing still commercially and sliding backwards in prestige. Evertonians are not quick to trust the club after three failed ground moves, a number of shady seeming business dealings, poor commercial performance, a history of sell to buy, and, worst of all, no silverware. This has led to a vocal subset of the support distrusting everything related to the club’s hierarchy. A new owner brought a wave of optimism but things have not leapt forward in any visible sense. Robert Elstone is still the CEO, and is now on the board. Bill Kenwright remains Chairman and clearly involved in the daily running of the club, and no real money has been proven to be spent. This is where the new ownership should be working on framing the message. A public relations team should be blitzing the media and the support with information. Not news, per se, but content to keep the club positively in front of the story. A perfect counter example of this strategy is the post-deadline day text from Farhad Moshiri to Jim White. The narrative had run away from the club with the idea that we a bride left at the altar, and by a Newcastle player no less. Moshiri likely tried to reframe the message, but he’s no professional and botched the job. And then silence. As far as I know the club never addressed that text message. The story was entirely Sky’s and Everton look like fools again.

There is a lot to be happy about happening at Everton today. The product on the pitch looks better than it has in at least two years, and that’s before Romelu Lukaku gets going. Ronald Koeman seems to be the sort of manager that Evertonians will love with his brisk, straightforward attitude and no nonsense approach. Moshiri’s ability to go out and pluck Koeman off of a Southampton that finished above us two years running and Steve Walsh off the champions gave a lot of hope early in the summer. Regardless of the failure of this deadline day it seems clear that money is there to be spent, we just need to learn how to spend it. The rumblings, although nothing official, about a new stadium set Evertonian hearts a pitter-patter. Even the Goodison cladding touch up is something to feel good about. Yet the general feeling about Everton seems a little dimmer today than it did two weeks ago. Nothing truly changed in those two weeks except a bad day and a learning experience. But the bad day lingers while the positives seem so far away. This is the fault of the public relations department at Everton. They should be out there every day hyping the club, building the support, tending the fires of hope rekindled in the hearts of Evertonians by the promise of a new dawn. Yet they stay silent. It is a symbol of Everton’s lost generation – a generation weaned on mediocrity and ultimate failure.

The post Everton’s Neglected Image: Public Relations in the Modern Game appeared first on GrandOldTeam.

Read Full Article

Continue reading...
 
Ashley Williams reveals Ronald Koeman was major factor in Everton move as he hails boss as ‘one of the best ever’ central defenders via Daily Mail

Ashley Williams believes his manager is one of the best ever central defenders to play the game. This was part of his motivation to move to Everton and soak up Koeman's knowledge.
Read Full Article


Continue reading...
 

Cast Your Votes For Gwladys Street’s Hall of Fame via ToffeeWeb

It’s back. Gwladys Street’s Hall of Fame is back. Hosted jointly by ToffeeWeb and NSNO.co.uk, the internet vote is now open at EvertonHallOfFame.com from 11 September to the night of 17 September, 2016. All Everton supporters are eligible to vote for FOUR canidates — but once only.
Read Full Article


Continue reading...
 
Sunderland v Everton Preview via GrandOldTeam

David-Moyes-150x150.jpg


Hello we’re back again, more Everton coming your way. The thrills, the spills, yer dar’s espadrilles.

It’s been a while and the pity of it is that literally no one you know is arsed has been arsed about international football since the nineties, very much in the same vein no one is truly arsed about eating at Wimpy’s since the nineties.

Let’s put it out there from the start – gherkins maketh the burger. It’s proven science and if you’re reading this shaking your head then consider the environmental impact from the millions of gherkins lashed out the window at 60mpm bombing down the East Lancs and Edge Lane alone each year. Why not give them a try?

If gherkins maketh the burger then wins maketh the Everton.

463.jpg


After a couple of seasons of Everton shithousing potential points it’s been refreshing to see Everton picking up good points despite not really getting going. Which in fairness indicates if we don’t get going then we’ll dip soon enough.

The Stoke game was enjoyable as it was Everton grinding a one nil in a game that left us with sixteen days to ponder it. Koeman is bringing back the backbone to a prior jellyfish type Everton. It may take some time, there will be pitfalls and of course it will all go to utter ratshit when he leaves us in two year’s time but that’s your Everton.

Transfer window was built up and then came and past without too much going on, I wrote a few words on it if you click this hyperlink and when the dust has settled it was pretty middle of the road transfer window. Sissoko seems like an uber beaut so I’m not too arsed, the lack of a proven striker up front could be a problem but there’s no point beating your brain too much of stuff that may happen or your doctor is gonna be writing that prescription of mirtazapine quicker than you think.

Len-Shackleton.jpg


So sixteen days later we are about to roll up at the Stadium Of Light and see a familiar face or two. None more so than David Moyes our manager for 11 years who then jibbed us for Man Utd of which there’s no real hard feelings. There are some hard feelings over the words he used to pat lil ol’ Everton on the head when subsequently trying to purchase Baines and Fellaini a short time after. Evertonians have ridiculously long memories for such things so we’ll no doubt see some comedy goading but all things considered we’ve moved on and so has he, and he wishes he had it as good as it was with us.

So let’s cuckold with Koeman ploughing us without mercy while he holds his hand, or however they do it on Top Rated with the duration set to 30 days to eliminate all the really old stuff but no less than one week lest those Chinese spam bots auto-rate their own ad-bongo to the top and you click on it, only to dampen a start as much as a Ford Capri with a dodgy choke on a cold winter’s morning, 1983. Whatever your genre, you’re alright by me.

Sunderland+twb22.blogspot.com+9+(11).jpg


Again the season start curse strikes again as I can’t bring myself to dislike Sunderland which naturally makes for an even duller preview. In fact, out of all the Premier League clubs around they are the ones I probably have most time for. Their fans are reasonable enough – save for a few hysteria driven scruffs but hey who are we to talk – and they have a good appreciation of history and going the game for a pint with your mates and not to #BANTERPARTY. Also they score double points for having a lamentable near neighbour with collective ADD and delusion issues.

We feel their pain. Although it must be noted that Sunderland have won more league titles than the half Scottish black and white ritalin hooked relegation monkeys. Well in Sunderland, until you lose your head over McCarthy injuring one of your players we’ll continue on this amicable basis.

There’s not a lot in Sunderland, save for some really nice countryside around it in County Durham. There’s some Scandia Green at 10am types on the streets but a fair humoured people and, well, how did they vote in the Brexit? They’re the anti Merseyside I’m afraid with 61% voting for xenophobia and a [Poor language removed] economy for 25 years. The impact worryingly may fall on the huge Nissan plant up that way but hey at least there’ll be less Polish supermarkets, and all the stunning Polish girls to perve off.

img386.jpg


We move onto a list of selected players to quickly get towards the end of this dirge:

Defoe – gap toothed bling pixie who nets like a champion and will pain us unless Ashley Williams reminds him that he was playing in Canada not so long ago.

Watmore – ginger skillful local lad up front who must have a gooch like yer nan’s two month old brillo pad.

Januzaj – is he any good? A Schrodinger’s Cat type of winger. Play him behind closed doors and who knows?

Khazri – If there’s a casting couch for a North African Despicable Me then he’s on it for Gru.

JS70869612.jpg


Kirchhoff – would take at least 2nd prize in a Pontin’s Xabi Alonso look-a-like competition and meant to be good.

Pienaar – bass voiced wee God loving sex pixie who I will love a long time. Hope Baines hurts him though.

Kone – pleased he gave Sunderland some more time rather than being a 6 month shithouse. If he’s any nick then we’ll make them an offer too good soon enough.

Pickford – Moyes kept swiping on Tinder until he could swipe no more. Toey it from distance Everton.

Ok Everton then.

trevor-steven-and-andy-gray-celebrate-against-sunderland-in-1985-428360895.jpg


Big Ronald Koeman sporting a face like an overnight soaked hock of ham has a few options with which to approach this. Being as comfortable with tactics as a dog with a firework my best guess of a line up would be worse than any of yours.

Lukaku will start, fresh his two goal salvo against Cyprus and the enthusiastic words of Koeman ringing in his ears promising he’s almost at his best. A good time to start scoring loads of goals then, they’re much missed. You’d guess that Barkley will play behind and – once again – this is the type of game he should make the difference in if he’s arsed about England camps.

Mirallas is in favour – nice to see too – so I reckon him and Bolasie, who has thoroughbred glutes if you haven’t noticed and could squat your mother all the way home from the Lomax, will start. Do hope Deulofeu gets a few sub appearances as you feel that would suit him best at the moment and then take it from there. Least it’s not Cleverley, Kone or Eto’o out wide anyway.

tumblr_nftnrqdJSX1rctpiwo1_1280.jpg


Barry will be nailed for midfield as he’s probably our most effective player and the little royal blue Power Ranger Gueye making sure absolutely no one gets to the edge of our box without being pestered like a Mediterranean hornet all over your Solero.

It would seem that if a four is played then Williams and Jagielka will be preferred, Baines at left back because the ghost of Bryan Oviedo is haunted by fibula plates and at right back there may be a conundrum – do we stick with young ace Holgate or plough the returning Irish captain straight into right back on his return. Up to Koeman that but I lean towards the fight for your place Seamus lid camp.

Stekelenburg in goal who of course we don’t want to talk about much unless he’s a mirage of a good keeper in the way Tommy Myhre was until we got up close.

cahill-scored-the-winning-goal-in-the-semi-final-against-sunderland-which-took-his-millwall-side-through-to-the-fa-cup-final-in-2004-it-also-landed-him-a-contract-at-epl-club-everton_w95vtp2ba7m21ujf8gcu3u5z0.jpg


That’s what’s cooking.

And we’re back to the beginning. Making a successful Everton will be like a recipe with the right ingredients thrown in at just the right time. There’s a long way to go yet, but with some luck we’ll find ourselves a gherkin or two.

The post Sunderland v Everton Preview appeared first on GrandOldTeam.

Read Full Article

Continue reading...
 

Status
Not open for further replies.

Welcome to GrandOldTeam

Get involved. Registration is simple and free.

Back
Top