Apologies - this will probably morph into a front page article, but I thought I'd try it out first:
My way?
News that the proposed bid by Moores and Noell is moving towards its final stages has prompted an interesting array of emotions from blues, regardless of being pro or anti the current Board.
I’ll wait for the deal to be completed before commenting further on the current Board, but I am reminded of the song “My Way” - nothing is more perfectly suited to their reign…..
And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I'll say it clear
I'll state my case, of which I'm certain
I've lived a life that's full
I've traveled each and every highway
But more, much more than this
I did it my way
Regrets, I've had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course
Each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way
Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall
And did it my way
I've loved, I've laughed and cried
I've had my fill my share of losing
And now, as tears subside
I find it all so amusing
To think I did all that
And may I say - not in a shy way
Oh no, oh no, not me
I did it my way
For what is a man, what has he got
If not himself, then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels
And not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way
Yes, it was my way
The biggest issue is not what was though, it is what will be. What will our new owners offer?
From my perspective it has to be far more than we’ve had, otherwise what is the point? The idea that ownership alone will provide an investment return and winning ways on the pitch, on the back of massive increases in broadcasting revenues is fundamentally flawed.
Without increasing match day revenues, commercial revenues and sponsorship revenues our new owners face an ever increasing battle that broadcasting revenues alone will not win. There has to be improved performance on all four fronts.
I’ve mentioned it before, but acquisition funded by debt will not work at Everton - to use modern lending terminology - affordability is so low, we can not afford to waste income on debt repayments. Every pound the club earns has to be re-invested in either the playing staff or income producing assets. We have to start bridging the gap across all four segments of income - broadcasting, match day, commercial and sponsorship. Only when we close those gaps can we comfortably start to compete without the over-reliance on “punching above our weight” - the hallmark of our current Board.
Going back to the initial theme though “My Way”. Everton has its own way - we are to use one of Bobby’s words “unique” - genuinely and far more meaningfully than he perhaps knows.
Our history, our significance on the game of Association Football, in the home of football (England) and more specifically the North West of England, is so great that it’s not just about the past, we actually represent more than history, we represent values that perhaps only we can now carry on - we’re the link between the past and the present, and as always in our history, the future. No club in England, possibly world football can lay so many claims to shaping the modern game, at least until the era of the Premier League, the Champions League and global broadcasters. Under new ownership, new direction, and with adequate resources perhaps we can pick up that mantle once more.
One last thing - whoever becomes our new owners gives us the opportunity to become united as supporters once more, to present a common front. We’ll (hopefully) no longer have issues and characters in charge that divide us. We can put the past to bed and get on with supporting our team, our shirt, our badge to greater things than we’ve achieved before.
Let’s do it - embrace new ownership and move forward more united than at any time in our recent past.
COYBs!
