The Everton Board Thread 2014/15

[RaleighBlue]

That's all true but the signs are positive in my book. We're going in the right direction.

With each new crisis that befalls another club it's one more reason to be appreciative of Kenwright. I'm sure if you scrolled back through the old thread there would have been chat about Southampton and their new stadium etc etc. Or Newcastle under Ashley.

I don't disagree that we should want more and it is right to look angrily at the cash spent season after season by our Top 4 rivals. But you can't spend what you don't have without risking the whole thing.

Our best chance in my book of making the step up to the top level of English footy is for us to continue playing beautiful football across the continent this coming year. Maybe then with a supposedly better economic climate also to hand we might genuinely get a new owner/investor to move us on a notch.

I'm not unappreciative of Kenwright. He has steadied our ship. And we could have worse chairmen (shock, horror!).

However! I also am not going to accept that this is our place. We are currently highly successful on the pitch relative to the investment off the pitch. This can be chalked up to two very good managers handling the transfer market like wizards. My problem with the board stems solely from the lack of income. Spurs brought in double what we brought in last season in revenue. Double.

I get that there is a London premium, but until we can bring in more revenue then we cannot expect a larger expenditure. It seems that the club is happy using television deals, players sales, and the hope for Champions League qualification as our primary revenue boosts. This is what I take issue with.

We are steadied. We are stable. Now we must push on to greater heights, not just on the pitch, but off of it. We need the stadium situation dealt with and we need to improve Everton's profile and image. Without that we're swimming upstream to win anything. It's not impossible, of course, but it's a hell of a lot more difficult.

I question whether this board will ever have the ambition to reassert Everton as one of the biggest teams in the world, or if they're satisfied with Everton being the best of the rest.

 

[dholliday]

I'm not unappreciative of Kenwright. He has steadied our ship. And we could have worse chairmen (shock, horror!).

However! I also am not going to accept that this is our place. We are currently highly successful on the pitch relative to the investment off the pitch. This can be chalked up to two very good managers handling the transfer market like wizards. My problem with the board stems solely from the lack of income. Spurs brought in double what we brought in last season in revenue. Double.

I get that there is a London premium, but until we can bring in more revenue then we cannot expect a larger expenditure. It seems that the club is happy using television deals, players sales, and the hope for Champions League qualification as our primary revenue boosts. This is what I take issue with.

We are steadied. We are stable. Now we must push on to greater heights, not just on the pitch, but off of it. We need the stadium situation dealt with and we need to improve Everton's profile and image. Without that we're swimming upstream to win anything. It's not impossible, of course, but it's a hell of a lot more difficult.

I question whether this team will ever have the ambition to reassert Everton as one of the biggest teams in the world, or if they're satisfied with Everton being the best of the rest.

Sounds like you and Dell Boy are on the same page, to be fair

Me too.

 

[Goat]

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Bill Kenwright for ALLOWING our Manager to spend money which our Manager brought into the club by selling the players that were brought in by the previous Manager who bought the players by selling players brought in by himself.

Let us rejoice.

Hail BILL.

 

[Dell Boy]

I'm not unappreciative of Kenwright. He has steadied our ship. And we could have worse chairmen (shock, horror!).

However! I also am not going to accept that this is our place. We are currently highly successful on the pitch relative to the investment off the pitch. This can be chalked up to two very good managers handling the transfer market like wizards. My problem with the board stems solely from the lack of income. Spurs brought in double what we brought in last season in revenue. Double.

I get that there is a London premium, but until we can bring in more revenue then we cannot expect a larger expenditure. It seems that the club is happy using television deals, players sales, and the hope for Champions League qualification as our primary revenue boosts. This is what I take issue with.

We are steadied. We are stable. Now we must push on to greater heights, not just on the pitch, but off of it. We need the stadium situation dealt with and we need to improve Everton's profile and image. Without that we're swimming upstream to win anything. It's not impossible, of course, but it's a hell of a lot more difficult.

I question whether this board will ever have the ambition to reassert Everton as one of the biggest teams in the world, or if they're satisfied with Everton being the best of the rest.

I'm not wanting to accept this is our place either. I want to be the best and return the club to where it belongs.

The stadium/city issue has been talked to death. There's no chance of any wider returns from a development either at Goodison or likely anywhere much in Liverpool as a city. It's just too poor. Spurs on the other hand can sell almost limitless corporate tickets and milk development profits from every turn given their base in North London.

Aside from some Arab billionaire or a dodgy Russian I think our two realistic bets are:

1. Play great footy and become a "brand" alongside the Premier League. Some sports investment company might see us as a viable option
2. Do something like Athletico Madrid and put two fingers up to the mega money clubs and win the league thanks to a great manager and great players

I think there's a limit to what the board/club can do whilst we're at Goodison. Of course there's been loads of mistakes and I agree the commercial arm of the club leaves a lot to be desired but I question whether there are any golden opportunities the club are missing. It's more frustrating that the club don't get the basics right on a small scale (e.g. the shop and ground catering). Even if we had a great commercial team it would only make a small difference to the overall picture given how huge player wages and the TV cash is.

Realistically only success on the pitch will change the club's commercial fortunes. That'll get kids from around the globe behind us. Of course you can speculate to accumulate but isn't that what happened at Leeds for example?

The best thing the board can do is pick a good manager and back him. I actually think the be all and end all of cash is mistaken. All our players are at a great level. The margins between top 4 and top 7 aren't huge. We seen last year against Arsenal or Man U just how good this squad is.

 

[Prevenger17]

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Bill Kenwright for ALLOWING our Manager to spend money which our Manager brought into the club by selling the players that were brought in by the previous Manager who bought the players by selling players brought in by himself.

I don't think he's looking for gratitude mate, that's the way the transfer market works.

 

[RaleighBlue]

I'm not wanting to accept this is our place either. I want to be the best and return the club to where it belongs.

The stadium/city issue has been talked to death. There's no chance of any wider returns from a development either at Goodison or likely anywhere much in Liverpool as a city. It's just too poor. Spurs on the other hand can sell almost limitless corporate tickets and milk development profits from every turn given their base in North London.

Aside from some Arab billionaire or a dodgy Russian I think our two realistic bets are:

1. Play great footy and become a "brand" alongside the Premier League. Some sports investment company might see us as a viable option
2. Do something like Athletico Madrid and put two fingers up to the mega money clubs and win the league thanks to a great manager and great players

I think there's a limit to what the board/club can do whilst we're at Goodison. Of course there's been loads of mistakes and I agree the commercial arm of the club leaves a lot to be desired but I question whether there are any golden opportunities the club are missing. It's more frustrating that the club don't get the basics right on a small scale (e.g. the shop and ground catering). Even if we had a great commercial team it would only make a small difference to the overall picture given how huge player wages and the TV cash is.

Realistically only success on the pitch will change the club's commercial fortunes. That'll get kids from around the globe behind us. Of course you can speculate to accumulate but isn't that what happened at Leeds for example?

The best thing the board can do is pick a good manager and back him. I actually think the be all and end all of cash is mistaken. All our players are at a great level. The margins between top 4 and top 7 aren't huge. We seen last year against Arsenal or Man U just how good this squad is.

I could be wrong of course, I just feel like English football is stuck in the dark ages when it comes to branding. The exception is United (and I suppose Liverpool, but their branding is vile).

I honestly think that with clever branding and partnering there is no reason Everton couldn't bring in £15-£30 million more a year in things like a kit sponsor that pays us a reasonable fee, training kit sponsors, decorative mug sponsors etc. The deal with it is that Everton are not glamourous. And we're not glamourous for a couple reasons:
1) We are not based in London
2) We are not Manchester United or Liverpool
3) We are not one of the nouveau riche crowd

I think many in the English game accept that as insurmountable. I frankly think it's silly to see those as major obstacles. If we brand ourselves well and partner correctly and sell the club to fans/papers/partners/television etc. Really get into the PR nonsense then we become fashionable. When you're fashionable, sponsorships start flowing.

I just feel like this board half expect the opportunity to present itself to them, rather than going and creating the opportunity. I have no qualms with this board in matters of football. But once you look at what's happening off of the pitch it's hard to see them as anything but failures.

I could be wrong, it could be insurmountable without a sugar daddy. It just seems like we should give it a try at least, because the sugar daddy is no guarantee.

 

[Steve Wigan]

[/QUOTE]
Never heard of it Magic ! Sorry! I can't sing or dance or drive a horse drawn caravan so I wouldn't be much use. Maybe they could use davek as an old Gypsy Fortune Teller ?

 

[Steve Wigan]

Are you in that gyspy wedding show Steve?

See reply above. Think my pc supports Davek !!

 

[Steve Wigan]

I'm not wanting to accept this is our place either. I want to be the best and return the club to where it belongs.

The stadium/city issue has been talked to death. There's no chance of any wider returns from a development either at Goodison or likely anywhere much in Liverpool as a city. It's just too poor. Spurs on the other hand can sell almost limitless corporate tickets and milk development profits from every turn given their base in North London.

Aside from some Arab billionaire or a dodgy Russian I think our two realistic bets are:

1. Play great footy and become a "brand" alongside the Premier League. Some sports investment company might see us as a viable option
2. Do something like Athletico Madrid and put two fingers up to the mega money clubs and win the league thanks to a great manager and great players

I think there's a limit to what the board/club can do whilst we're at Goodison. Of course there's been loads of mistakes and I agree the commercial arm of the club leaves a lot to be desired but I question whether there are any golden opportunities the club are missing. It's more frustrating that the club don't get the basics right on a small scale (e.g. the shop and ground catering). Even if we had a great commercial team it would only make a small difference to the overall picture given how huge player wages and the TV cash is.

Realistically only success on the pitch will change the club's commercial fortunes. That'll get kids from around the globe behind us. Of course you can speculate to accumulate but isn't that what happened at Leeds for example?

The best thing the board can do is pick a good manager and back him. I actually think the be all and end all of cash is mistaken. All our players are at a great level. The margins between top 4 and top 7 aren't huge. We seen last year against Arsenal or Man U just how good this squad is.

Thats a great post...good explanation of the situation. I appreciate Raleigh s comments, as always, but think that there isn't the same commercial prospect in this country for 'sports personalities' unless youre a Beckham, and it costs a fortune in PR and presentation to make him the 'icon' that he is.

 

[RaleighBlue]

Thats a great post...good explanation of the situation. I appreciate Raleigh s comments, as always, but think that there isn't the same commercial prospect in this country for 'sports personalities' unless youre a Beckham, and it costs a fortune in PR and presentation to make him the 'icon' that he is.

Thinking too small.

The Premier League is well on its way to being the global football brand (if it's not already). Don't worry about money you can't make in the Northwest. Worry about money you can make in other markets.

 

[Steve Wigan]

Thinking too small.

The Premier League is well on its way to being the global football brand (if it's not already). Don't worry about money you can't make in the Northwest. Worry about money you can make in other markets.

Don't mistake realism for thinking small. Of course football is a global brand. And there will be money to be made eventually from commercial exploitation of 'stars'. Its the media that makes 'stars'...the public are just taken along for the ride. Beckham may well have been a special case, but he is the only case of a player achieving top commercial superstar status, and he went abroad to confirm his position. There are very few footballers who could be considered to be a brand in their own right. I agree that there could be work to do in this area for Everton...but can't see anyone on the playing staff at present with the charisma of Beckham. By all means promote Lukaku as some sort of symbol of the club, but he has to achieve a higher position than he currently has in terms of world football before there is a chance to do this with world wide success. I'm not focussed on money from the North West of England...youre right about looking for commercial opportunities world wide. One of the first things I would do is get Everton TV onto the Sky epg, for many times the current exposure. Everton reserved a channel a few years ago but gave it up because they at that time could not justify the expense. Get the Everton TV channel onto TV sets world wide, not just online. And start from there.

 

[RaleighBlue]

We differ.

I don't think it requires David Beckham. Obviously, Beckham, CR7, Neymar, Zlatan and Messi are the pinnacle of this concept. But you don't require them to make money. You require them to make stupid money.

Just because you cannot sell something for millions doesn't mean you shouldn't sell it for thousands. Especially when it's low risk and you don't lose an asset.

There is legitimately no good reason not to brand Everton with the stars and with Roberto (who is every bit as charismatic as the aforementioned players).

Lukaku would need to score 30 to sell bucket loads - yes. But he's handsome enough, bright enough, charismatic enough, and good enough to sell something. Not doing that is leaving money on the table because it's not enough. Which is frankly ridiculous from a club that needs as much incoming revenue as possible.

 

[roydo]

We had a superb opportunity this summer to reach out into the US. Tim Howard, the marketing of Everton as the alternative to Arab/Russian money, the working mans club.

Loads of US guys on here confirmed the american sports fan would lap it up; oldest ground/tradition/skint/underdog. They love it.

We even had a sort of film/documentary sort of lined up. Pretty sure we made suggestions to the Club as well.

Would have cost zippo, but could have been ace.

But the WC is old news now.

Hey ho.

 

[Steve Wigan]

We differ.

I don't think it requires David Beckham. Obviously, Beckham, CR7, Neymar, Zlatan and Messi are the pinnacle of this concept. But you don't require them to make money. You require them to make stupid money.

Just because you cannot sell something for millions doesn't mean you shouldn't sell it for thousands. Especially when it's low risk and you don't lose an asset.

There is legitimately no good reason not to brand Everton with the stars and with Roberto (who is every bit as charismatic as the aforementioned players).

Lukaku would need to score 30 to sell bucket loads - yes. But he's handsome enough, bright enough, charismatic enough, and good enough to sell something. Not doing that is leaving money on the table because it's not enough. Which is frankly ridiculous from a club that needs as much incoming revenue as possible.

i don't think we differ that much. I said it was certainly an area that deserves consideration...and I do feel that the Everton TV channel on television sets as well as online would boost our chances of developing our brand using the personality of the players...and you make a very good point about Martinez....I think it is already happening with him...just as long as his main focus is on the playing side of the club.

 

[Toffeelover]

I'm not wanting to accept this is our place either. I want to be the best and return the club to where it belongs.

The stadium/city issue has been talked to death. There's no chance of any wider returns from a development either at Goodison or likely anywhere much in Liverpool as a city. It's just too poor. Spurs on the other hand can sell almost limitless corporate tickets and milk development profits from every turn given their base in North London.

Aside from some Arab billionaire or a dodgy Russian I think our two realistic bets are:

1. Play great footy and become a "brand" alongside the Premier League. Some sports investment company might see us as a viable option
2. Do something like Athletico Madrid and put two fingers up to the mega money clubs and win the league thanks to a great manager and great players

I think there's a limit to what the board/club can do whilst we're at Goodison. Of course there's been loads of mistakes and I agree the commercial arm of the club leaves a lot to be desired but I question whether there are any golden opportunities the club are missing. It's more frustrating that the club don't get the basics right on a small scale (e.g. the shop and ground catering). Even if we had a great commercial team it would only make a small difference to the overall picture given how huge player wages and the TV cash is.

Realistically only success on the pitch will change the club's commercial fortunes. That'll get kids from around the globe behind us. Of course you can speculate to accumulate but isn't that what happened at Leeds for example?

The best thing the board can do is pick a good manager and back him. I actually think the be all and end all of cash is mistaken. All our players are at a great level. The margins between top 4 and top 7 aren't huge. We seen last year against Arsenal or Man U just how good this squad is.

That is so right, enough of all those wags who keep going on about BK and where is the money.