Your examples of this summer and this January... well, in seasons gone by, we've spent money in the summer and started badly, and spent nothing in January and ended brilliantly.
When we spend money it's because we've sold someone. I could understand a squad being more unsettled by the Lescott transfer saga than they would have been encouraged by the unknowns (at the time to the squad on a personal level not literally unknown players) we got in his place.
Losing a key player, a friend and proven quantity for the team is always going to have more of a negative impact than an unknown coming in (we don't sign typically sign players with enough of a reputation to give morale a boost). Losing your mate from the squad (not Coleman's mate) in a high profile and messy sale is more likely to harm morale than the players looking at a profit and loss sheet and determining that yes we technically spent most of the money from the Lescott sale on new players.
So when the likes of Lescott and Arteta leave it's going to hurt morale even if we technically balance the spreadsheet by bringing in some new faces.
So we generally have lacklustre summers; in recent years we've had Jan lifts from the likes of LD and Pienaar loans. That's our typical pattern (and our results follow those); this year we had a good summer and bad Jan (and the results flipped).
Even years where (in hindsight) we had a good summer were actually regarded negatively at the time. For instance the Fellaini buy was generally considering a late panic buy where we spent too much. I recall that being a negative summer for fan (and likely player) morale even if in retrospect it worked out well.
I could go year by year I guess but in general we do well after we get people in (and don't lose any first choice players) and badly when we get nobody in. Again, I don't think this is the only reason we have that pattern but you said Moyes tactics was the only logical explanation which I do not believe is true (and his tactics wouldn't explain why it's flipped this year).
You may disagree (which is fine) but I don't think my position is wildly illogical.
Fourth Post Quoted: The overall point about the Premier League era is valid and well you know it. The game has changed markedly, but those who now think Everton are a small club do so based on the Sky era alone and nothing else.
Another way to say "don't base you opinions on the Sky era" is to say "don't base your opinions on the last 20 years of factual evidence." Doesn't sound as elitist though so probably won't work.
By the way to save everyone some trouble ... when people say "big club" they generally mean a current (or last few years) CL side. You may not like that (hell I may not like that) but it doesn't make it any less true.
A player isn't going to sign with us because we have the second most points in top flight history (or wherever we are on that table). They will sign with Man City because they are a title contending CL side with tons of cash in 2013.
Everton are still a big club by any measure other than financial criteria, which is the one most poignant change the modern game has seen since 1992.
Players don't care. So when Fellaini says he has to move to a "big club" it means he wants to play CL football. A history lesson about Everton in the 60's is not going to convince him to stay. If you want to win some semantic argument about "big clubs" then maybe you can win it ... but you need to convince players (not us) for it to change anything.
If every fan in the land agreed we are a "big club" but none of the players did then what does that get us? What's the end goal of winning the "big club" designation? The players don't believe we're a big club so we're not a big club. Blame Sky if you like but it won't get us anywhere.
Fifth Quoted Post: Yes. There's many people on here who flat out refuse to acknowledge Moyes has any faults whatsoever, that he's achieved 100% in everything he's done at Everton and couldn't have possibly done better.
I haven't noticed any real "100%ers" but fair enough.
... by the way I am to the point when I think Moyes should leave. However I do not think we should let him go ... I think he should leave. I do not think it's likely that we will improve after he leaves.
Why would we want Moyes to stay? Moot point. Why would Moyes want to stay?
1) Money - If he can make more here than elsewhere maybe he'd stay. Doesn't seem like a recipe for success to have a manager who has given up (because realistically he knows this board won't back him) and just wants to cash in.
2) Love - The idea of a player or manager staying somewhere because they love a club seems antiquated. Plus love only goes so far ... at some point you have to acknowledge the relationship isn't working.
So he should leave ... maybe having our expectations lowered for a few years might make us all enjoy football more (or make us care less). Either way.
