You seem to be suggesting that Kendall came in, waved a magic wand, barely spent and got things right straight away. In HK's first season in charge we finished 8th.
We spent around £1.67M in the 81/82 market. Comparing that market to todays is ridiculous. Our spending was in excess of many sides who finished comfortably above us and the RS won the league spending £2M so it's not like Kendall's Everton were not spending to the same degree as our immediate rivals in that market. A few teams spent less and did much better.
You can repeat that for his second season. A finish of 7th place and although the spending dropped to less than 500K it was the same story for many rivals who did better. Again, including those from over the park who won the title and Man Utd who finished 3rd spending less.
That season also included a 0-5 drubbing in the derby at Goodison which was the epitome of a rudderless ship lacking talent and leadership. Again, second season, not first.
HK's 3rd season got off to a terrible start and he was on the verge of being sacked. 6 wins from 21 and a board were being vilified for a lack of ambition and sentimentality around a former player as manager. Another flat defeat at Anfield. Fans were staying away and graffiti was on the training ground walls. That sounds a bit worse than the current malaise.
That is not the story of a manager coming in and fixing things for buttons. That's a manager coming in and taking 2-3 seasons to get it right while being financially backed to the same level, and sometimes more, than most of his rivals. He brought in a player here, a player there and eventually changed the mentality at the club.
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“When you inherit players who are under contract you are stuck with them. He was trying to balance things. It does take time for a manager to make the changes he wants and it was no different for Howard.”
“He did not find the right blend in midfield at first, which is why he played himself. It was later on, after he signed Kevin Sheedy, Peter Reid and Trevor Steven that things really came together.”
Kevin Ratcliffe
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Names aside that's pretty much the same spot Ancelotti is in with this current squad. If Ancelotti doesn't have a pot after 3 full seasons and the team is still looking lost then the comparisons to Kendall's reinvention might start being relevant.
