I wasn't trying to talk about who is the bigger club etc. I wasn't implying anything.
Southampton are a well run club and have been for some time. They've been doing really well in recent years, progessively building the club to first consolidate a position in the PL and then to start competing. You've got an excellent infrastructure and what seems to be a competent board.
Losing players and managers to other clubs is part of football. It happens to every club apart from probably 3 or 4. United lost Ronaldo etc.
I'm not going to get into the comparative merits of both clubs but from an everton perspective, are relative underperformance of the last couple of years masks the fact that we aren't a badly run club in turmoil. There seems to be an assumption at the moment that we are all over the place. That might be correct on the pitch but off the pitch we have some truly excellent areas (youth systems/training facilities/charitable organisations etc) and a competence in others. This has all been built on the back incredibly restricted finances.
The takeover and the resources (some pure financial, some commercial etc) that come with it removes that restriction and it means that we can go after managers from competitors and a better calibre of player. It means that we will no longer be turned down for purely financial reasons.
That alone provides a reason for optimism for the fans.
But now we also seem to have leadership who are genuinely capable and decisive and that pushes the optimism to excitement. If we make the right appointments and improve the relevant areas (which we are seeing signs of), we can be built to compete for the first time in a long while.
It's like taking stablizer of a bike. The restrictions are gone. We could either speed off or go flying on our faces! Either way, it's more interesting that the status quo!
