The Everton Board Thread (Inc. Bill Kenwright / Blue Union)

[sirblue57]

Dave Prentice got a good shoeing over that article Neiler linked earlier. Oh dear:


blooboy


8:47 AM on July 8, 2011
You've mis-judged the mood mate. This appeal to Evertonianas to be prudent, and that 'we're a different case to Liverpol FC' wont wash anymore.

11 years of zero investment is telling now and we slip further behind with no real hope of advancement - unlike 'back in 2004'.

blueworld


8:55 AM on July 8, 2011
couldnt agree more blooboy, Davids completely missed the point, we are the fourth most successful club in the country and have to sell to buy, we owe bill for relieving us of Johnson, but we are stagnating, when teams like stoke are throwing fifteen million at two players who have just been relegated you know times are bad, why should we accept mediocrity theyd have marched numerous times now if tis was the other lot
Wykey

9:12 AM on July 8, 2011
Wow. Good thing we've got hard hitting no stone unturned investigative titans like Prentice to carry our standard into battle for us.

Amazing isn't it, Liverpool get bought, have a record amount of money spent on transfers and the Echo not only leads the march to demand more, but lights the torches and brings along some pitchforks.

Well done Dave.

May I ask, who was it that wrote the article for you? And what were you promised in return?
mooliecosmos

9:22 AM on July 8, 2011
Dave, just what most Evertonians expected to hear from you. Totally unbalanced, totally out of touch to what most Evertonians think and embarassingly biased towards 'poor' Bill not being able to sell the club. What about the 11 years of fiasco's - Kings Dock, NTL Deal, Fortress Fund, Kirkby and now collaspe of Office and Retail Development at the end of the Park End. Is the Echo really that afraid to raise their voice for fear of being 'barred' from Goodison again like you were earlier in the season? Or would you just prefer to continue to be a Red paper - there are some Evertonians in the City Dave!
Embarassing journalism, you even put NOTW reporters to shame
Blue4Life

9:40 AM on July 8, 2011
Your not trying to mend bridges with yourselves and the club are you Dave ???. How and why can you even think about pulling the wool over the fans eyes , I've watched Everton for years up and down the country , and When wolves can be bought who are just down the road from Aston Villa then Everton can be bought , what do you think our chances would be Dave if he lowered the asking price from that of 125 million what Keith Harris ( blue bills ) mate said last year live on radio city , if say he halved that figure ??? , I'll tell you Dave there would be people Queing down the street , plus why hasn't there been a company hired Dave in order to travel the globe to search for buyers because everytime I hear Robert Elstone on the matter he says " where still waiting for that rich sugar daddy to come knocking on our door " well unfortunately for Robert it doesn't work like that , in life you need to go looking for things , just like our friends across the park , look at them now making massive signings , how you can defend him Dave is beyond me , where's the money gone from the sale of Bellfield ??? Pienarr money ??? , James Vaughn money , the Kit bag deal money ???? , the money from Chang 12 million over 4 years ??? , it can't be to pay off debt we shouldn't have any because we've not had a net spend since I can remember if ever
BigBadAd

9:42 AM on July 8, 2011
Sorry Dave, but that was truly dreadful. Totally ignored the reasons why so many Evertonains have had enough of our current board, the numerous examples of why our board are not fit to run a Premier League football club and yet another piece about our board that totally ignores Philip Green’s influence.

Why is the Echo so scared? Why are you so scared?

Don’t want to get banned? Oh, they’ve already done that, and by the looks of it they really put you in your place.

Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.
wiseblue

9:55 AM on July 8, 2011
How can a local journalist be so out of touch with the local fan base? The club in effect is stagnating, no major player signing for close on two years and were told to be patient?

The strategy of the clubs senior management is so poor it's untrue, I was half expecting Michael Winner to pop up a make a comment as well along the lines of ''patience dear''.

It's sad that a local newspaper remains so passive towards a regime that is bringing the club to it;s knees.

Watching the club at the moment is like 'death by a thousand cuts' as we struggle to make any sort of signing. Players arn't mugs, when they see a club failing to invest in ANY new players in the close season, that club is going just one way, backwards.

But are local newspaper tells us all is well apparently!

Astounding..
ragga

10:08 AM on July 8, 2011
Any respect you had amongst Evertonians has gone. You are clearly toeing the party line so to speak. Such a shame that the local paper is so out of touch with the fans. If you and your paper had any backbone you would highlight the catastrophic failings of this Everton board. Is it because you dont want to be excluded from Goodison? No free matches, no complimentary sandwiches? Man up and write an article that looks into exactly who is pulling the strings at Everton. Ask questions of Robert Earl.
cantosis

10:20 AM on July 8, 2011
Totally agree with the majority of comments. A really poor artice from David. I used to respect him as an Everton journalist but not anymore.

We are sick of the lies and the lack of funds. we see teams constantly finishing below us with smaller crowds but spending more money than us. Last year we loan out players when we have one of the smallest squads and didnt replace.

We wre not going to be buying anyone this summer unless we sell the likes of Yobo and Yakubu and even then it will just be bargain basement time again unless we sell one of our big players which we all know will happen if we get an offer of 20 million but will Moyes get that 20 million back to spend???? of course not it will be 7- 8 million if we are lucky.

The club is a complete joke when it comes to finances and transfers and what we do need is a bloody revolution before Moyes hops it and then our troubles will really start.

get a grip Prentice!
Andyefc1

10:34 AM on July 8, 2011
This article and others like it is the reason why many Evertonians won't buy The Echo.You continually print what the club want you to when they want you to or they deny you access to stories/interviews etc.You have sold out Prentice.
Iin 12 years the board have invested £0
Kenwright told an EGM they had brought in Keith Harris to find a buyer then denied this to a Public Inquiry
Kenwright said Goodison was about to fail safety certificates,it wasn't
Kenwright told Everton fans he could raise the £35m for the King's Dock,he couldnt
Kenwright told Everton fans and shareholders he had found investment through The Fortress Sports fund he hadn't.

Go and write a real story for once in your life instead of writing what Ian Ross wants you to write.
ReverendJonTLaw

10:53 AM on July 8, 2011
You've got some brass neck writing that, and the Liverpool Echo has got some brass neck publishing it as a news article.

I've never rated you as a "journalist", you have previous for completely ripping off other work and passing it as your own, but this, this is amazing. This is barrel-scrapingly bad.

Did it come straight from EFC's press office into your inbox?

While you fail at being a journalist, at least your cut/paste skills are up to scratch, you fraud.
awd1878

11:49 AM on July 8, 2011
Complete and utter disgrace of an article. Nice to see the club's official spin paper move so quickly. Only yesterday a twitter and facebook campaign starts trying to raise awareness in Everton's plight and low and behold almost instantly the local newspaper that should be seeking to find out what it's local readers feel quickly does the usual... Posts the same old rubbish no doubt paraphrasing some statemnet the club has told them to write.

You should be ashamed of this article call yourself and Everton fan. The echo is part of the problem we have. As Marx called Relgion the "Opium of the people" the Echo is the Opium of People's club fans. It is ok you sit back and suffer you should be glad good old Bill is in charge.

What annoys me is fans swallow the stuff this

I call all Evertionians to boycott the Echo until it does what it is supposed to do and listen to local opinion not just spout the club official line...

​

<tears> not one positive comment,brilliant.

 

[davek]

<tears> not one positive comment,brilliant.

Laughing at that one from the ReverendJonLaw:


"I've never rated you as a "journalist", you have previous for completely ripping off other work and passing it as your own, but this, this is amazing. This is barrel-scrapingly bad.
Did it come straight from EFC's press office into your inbox?
While you fail at being a journalist, at least your cut/paste skills are up to scratch, you fraud."

Nailed.

 

[Neiler]

Laughing at that one from the ReverendJonLaw:


"I've never rated you as a "journalist", you have previous for completely ripping off other work and passing it as your own, but this, this is amazing. This is barrel-scrapingly bad.
Did it come straight from EFC's press office into your inbox?
While you fail at being a journalist, at least your cut/paste skills are up to scratch, you fraud."

Nailed.

Laughing here at the fury to be honest, he makes some great points, one in praticular no one has ever been able to explain.

everyone wants to spend a fortune - me included - but is that worth the club getting knee deep in debt and putting the club overall health in jepordy. Secondly there are no takers for Everton - yeah there may have been interest, but no ones put money on the table or come out publicly and said we have bid this much for Everton and its been turned down.

So basicly what people are advocateing for is a takeover thats not there or putting the club overall viability in jepordey by accumalateing debt.

Ill be honest here, many Kenwrongers i wouldnt trust with pocket money given some of the takeovers that have been envied and advocated on here at other clubs as a shining beacon of footballing progression. To put it bluntly more are driven by their frustration into hate and because of that are incapable of making a rational judgement on the situation - for me anyway - thankingfully they will never have to.

 

[davek]

Laughing here at the fury to be honest, he makes some great points, one in praticular no one has ever been able to explain.

everyone wants to spend a fortune - me included - but is that worth the club getting knee deep in debt and putting the club overall health in jepordy. Secondly there are no takers for Everton - yeah there may have been interest, but no ones put money on the table or come out publicly and said we have bid this much for Everton and its been turned down.

So basicly what people are advocateing for is a takeover thats not there or putting the club overall viability in jepordey by accumalateing debt.

Ill be honest here, many Kenwrongers i wouldnt trust with pocket money given some of the takeovers that have been envied and advocated on here at other clubs as a shining beacon of footballing progression. To put it bluntly more are driven by their frustration into hate and because of that are incapable of making a rational judgement on the situation - for me anyway - thankingfully they will never have to.

You fell at the first fence - as did Prentice. You run ahead with the notion that fans want fortunes spent. They dont. They want a board that can attract or invest themselves a few million per season to improve the squad.

You just dont get it mate.

 

[Neiler]

You fell at the first fence - as did Prentice. You run ahead with the notion that fans want fortunes spent. They dont. They want a board that can attract or invest themselves a few million per season to improve the squad.

You just dont get it mate.

Good luck with that mate, your living in a dream world, either way this fan doesnt want to touch that kind of model, no way do i want the club drip fed by a private equity bubble and get into the state of Sunderland, Villa, Fulham, Newcastle, Bolton etc etc that they get themselves into so much debt that they cant exist without their owner. Do Chelsea exist without Abromovich, City without the Sheik, should the owners be bigger than their clubs. Most clubs under that system dont exist without their owneres simple as.

If you really beleive that owners pump their own money into clubs in the long term without a measure of debt burnden your in dreamland.

 

[thebluefox]

Nowhere, because he and his underling(s) will get banned from FF.

File under *hack protecting his livelihood*

100 per cent spot on dave .kenwright tells him what he can say, and what he cant

 

[davek]

Good luck with that mate, your living in a dream world, either way this fan doesnt want to touch that kind of model, no way do i want the club drip fed by a private equity bubble and get into the state of Sunderland, Villa, Fulham, Newcastle, Bolton etc etc that they get themselves into so much debt that they cant exist without their owner. Do Chelsea exist without Abromovich, City without the Sheik, should the owners be bigger than their clubs. Most clubs under that system dont exist without their owneres simple as.

If you really beleive that owners pump their own money into clubs in the long term without a measure of debt burnden your in dreamland.

Your argument is running on fumes now mate, there's no gas in the tank. You know that simply by improving the preferred business model of growing the commercial side of the club enough funds would be generated season-on-season to operate in a relatively decent way, with a few million to build the squad up over time (in fact, that was the stated aim of the Kenwright/Moyes pact back five years ago - and I dont think the manager wanted that to be reneged on, do you?). The reality is, though - and I know you know this so it shouldn't need restating - the regime in control of EFC have FAILED to bring that commercial development. If after 11 years of proof that they cant increase the organic growth of the business, which can give us a chance to get an edge on our peer group (or the ones we used to think were our peer group but are now running away from us and over the hill and out of sight), I and many others think that's just about enough time for them to have. We are stagnating because of them.

You just dont get and never will.

 

[davek]

100 per cent spot on dave .kenwright tells him what he can say, and what he cant

Cheers mate. Puppets the lot of them.

 

[Chang Elephant]

Bad state of affairs when only RS will speak up for real Blues in the media......... Mr C Bascombe, soon to be redundant. I've highlighted some parts Mr B Toffee may find interesting:

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/notw/nol_sport/nolsport_opinion/nolsport_bascombe/1346561/Everton-fans-lose-their-patience-at-long-last.html

Everton fans lose their patience at long last
July 7, 2011

I'M NOT entirely sure what or where an individual's tether is, but it is fair to say we all somehow locate it eventually.

Collectively, Everton fans are now firmly established at the end of theirs.

After years heading into a new season with the same fears and frustrations about where their club is going, a sense of revolution is palpable.

Fatigued by their club stumbling along, failing to attract investment or build upon seriously promising team foundations, a number of fans have formed "The People's Group".

Their aim is to crank up the pressure on the Everton board - and indeed the media - to offer a more thorough explanation as to why a giant of English football has found itself stuck in an economic straitjacket.

Everton are, by their own admission, skint. They are, by their own admission, for sale.

They are, by their own admission, desperate for a investor to end the cycle of "sell to buy" which forces their best manager in decades to consider his position at least once a season.

You sense it is with the greatest reluctance the blue half of Merseyside feels compelled to organise into a fans' movement similar to those at other clubs.

There has been a stark difference between Liverpool and Everton fans' recent agitation at their boards.

A simple illustration. If you packed a pub with reds and blues, the Liverpool fans would leave after an hour to begin their march from Stanley Park, while the Evertonians would order another pint and mutter: "Look at that lot looking for the nearest Sky camera again."

The various fans' websites have long reflected a different sentiment among Liverpool and Everton fans. There is a culture of rage on the Kop, with a sense that some supporters wake up each morning, immediately find something or someone to be outraged about and head to the nearest media outlet to vent their fury.

Everton message boards are infinitely more varied and witty. A thread where supporters discussed at length why you never see white dog muck any more sticks in the memory as being especially laugh-out-load.

There is almost a cultural resistance within Everton's fan base to be perceived as "the type of fans who go on marches", which is is actually referenced in the opening statement the People's Group released.

When Evertonians did last mobilise to oppose their club (despite being covered in nowhere near as much depth as the Liverpool or Manchester United debacles) it was one of the most successful campaigns of any by fans fighting to preserve their club's future.

In the aftermath of Everton wanting to move to Kirkby, the Keep Everton In Our City (KEIOC) movement formed.

Typically, they were swiftly dismissed by the club, and even some of their own fans saw them as agitators who were actually holding Everton back by refusing to move with the times.

After years of campaigning, it turned out KEIOC were 100 per cent correct on just about every concern they'd raised.

Every month which passes without a new signing or a promise of investment raises the probability of placards and banners

In fact, they'd systematically exposed the economic folly of pursuing the Kirkby plan to such an effective extent that when it collapsed, even the Everton hierarchy was privately relieved.

The only minor flaw of the campaign was it was wrongly perceived about being about history and sentiment when it was actually a brutally admirable expose of why Everton would have been in a worse financial state had they initiated ill-considered plans.

There was little fanfare, nor congratulation, for KEIOC when their campaigning was proven devastatingly justified. There is no recollection of spokesmen being interviewed by the Sky TV men outside Goodison on an hourly loop.

The Kirkby opposition showed what is possible when intelligent, well-organised protests are executed. But there is a big difference between stopping something ridiculous from happening, as in the Kirkby Stadium, and forcing a regime change.

Only banks and interested buyers can do that.

The signs have been there for several months that the broader Everton fan base senses no alternative but to up the ante before it is too late. They fear David Moyes will eventually say enough is enough and a promising squad will be dismantled.

Everton owner Bill Kenwright is already under intense scrutiny, but he will recognise every month which passes without a new signing or a promise of investment raises the probability of placards and banners, albeit with reticence, finding a frequent home at Goodison Park.

The fans, understandably, want answers. They want them from their board and, it must be acknowledged, they want them from journalists.

There aren't any so far. Just a well-established and ever increasing series of questions

 

[The Equaliser]

I'm interested in your plans to make him go and for someone else to have another chance. Can you share them please.

Plans to make him go ? Course nobody can "make him go." His track record of failure would suggest he is not up to the job of Chairman. We don't have to wait around for mystery buyer for ever, he should step aside and give someone else a go at running the club and finding investment, even if this is only an interim or temporary measure. Worked for the RS didn't it ?

 

[uknightbreed]

prentice is right in saying ' the blue board doesnt spend money it doesnt have' but he ignores the question why we havent got any money to spend in the first place ?


the reason we have no money to spend is becouse of 2 things ..... 1. a chairman who has made bad financial judgement since day 1
and 2. a chairman who has failed to find any new investment or fix the stadium issue to even try and help our situation.

so we are 50/60 million more in debt than when he started , have less assetts and are no better off in regards of transfers , a stadium and success.

its all very well applauding the club for being prudent , but lets not forgive or forget the reason why we have to be prudent currently .... kenwright has been a desperate clown with our finances .

 

[Chang Elephant]

Plans to make him go ? Course nobody can "make him go." His track record of failure would suggest he is not up to the job of Chairman. We don't have to wait around for mystery buyer for ever, he should step aside and give someone else a go at running the club and finding investment, even if this is only an interim or temporary measure. Worked for the RS didn't it ?

Even Bascombe, operating with two brain cells has nailed this one:

"there is a big difference between stopping something ridiculous from happening, as in the Kirkby Stadium, and forcing a regime change. Only banks and interested buyers can do that."

 

[kenada_blue]

Your argument is running on fumes now mate, there's no gas in the tank. You know that simply by improving the preferred business model of growing the commercial side of the club enough funds would be generated season-on-season to operate in a relatively decent way, with a few million to build the squad up over time (in fact, that was the stated aim of the Kenwright/Moyes pact back five years ago - and I dont think the manager wanted that to be reneged on, do you?). The reality is, though - and I know you know this so it shouldn't need restating - the regime in control of EFC have FAILED to bring that commercial development. If after 11 years of proof that they cant increase the organic growth of the business, which can give us a chance to get an edge on our peer group (or the ones we used to think were our peer group but are now running away from us and over the hill and out of sight), I and many others think that's just about enough time for them to have. We are stagnating because of them.

You just dont get and never will.

And that's the big point.

The other point is that we dont need 100s of millions to rebuild a squad ala. chelsea, Sunderland, villa, city, etc....all we need is someone to see that a small investment to buy 2 players or so of quality with selling a key member would turn a club from "almosts" to actually being there competing.

This has been the case since 2005 and the board have done nothing to change that

 

[davek]

Bad state of affairs when only RS will speak up for real Blues in the media......... Mr C Bascombe, soon to be redundant. I've highlighted some parts Mr B Toffee may find interesting:

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/not...on-fans-lose-their-patience-at-long-last.html

Everton fans lose their patience at long last
July 7, 2011

I'M NOT entirely sure what or where an individual's tether is, but it is fair to say we all somehow locate it eventually.

Collectively, Everton fans are now firmly established at the end of theirs.

After years heading into a new season with the same fears and frustrations about where their club is going, a sense of revolution is palpable.

Fatigued by their club stumbling along, failing to attract investment or build upon seriously promising team foundations, a number of fans have formed "The People's Group".

Their aim is to crank up the pressure on the Everton board - and indeed the media - to offer a more thorough explanation as to why a giant of English football has found itself stuck in an economic straitjacket.

Everton are, by their own admission, skint. They are, by their own admission, for sale.

They are, by their own admission, desperate for a investor to end the cycle of "sell to buy" which forces their best manager in decades to consider his position at least once a season.

You sense it is with the greatest reluctance the blue half of Merseyside feels compelled to organise into a fans' movement similar to those at other clubs.

There has been a stark difference between Liverpool and Everton fans' recent agitation at their boards.

A simple illustration. If you packed a pub with reds and blues, the Liverpool fans would leave after an hour to begin their march from Stanley Park, while the Evertonians would order another pint and mutter: "Look at that lot looking for the nearest Sky camera again."

The various fans' websites have long reflected a different sentiment among Liverpool and Everton fans. There is a culture of rage on the Kop, with a sense that some supporters wake up each morning, immediately find something or someone to be outraged about and head to the nearest media outlet to vent their fury.

Everton message boards are infinitely more varied and witty. A thread where supporters discussed at length why you never see white dog muck any more sticks in the memory as being especially laugh-out-load.

There is almost a cultural resistance within Everton's fan base to be perceived as "the type of fans who go on marches", which is is actually referenced in the opening statement the People's Group released.

When Evertonians did last mobilise to oppose their club (despite being covered in nowhere near as much depth as the Liverpool or Manchester United debacles) it was one of the most successful campaigns of any by fans fighting to preserve their club's future.

In the aftermath of Everton wanting to move to Kirkby, the Keep Everton In Our City (KEIOC) movement formed.

Typically, they were swiftly dismissed by the club, and even some of their own fans saw them as agitators who were actually holding Everton back by refusing to move with the times.

After years of campaigning, it turned out KEIOC were 100 per cent correct on just about every concern they'd raised.

Every month which passes without a new signing or a promise of investment raises the probability of placards and banners

In fact, they'd systematically exposed the economic folly of pursuing the Kirkby plan to such an effective extent that when it collapsed, even the Everton hierarchy was privately relieved.

The only minor flaw of the campaign was it was wrongly perceived about being about history and sentiment when it was actually a brutally admirable expose of why Everton would have been in a worse financial state had they initiated ill-considered plans.

There was little fanfare, nor congratulation, for KEIOC when their campaigning was proven devastatingly justified. There is no recollection of spokesmen being interviewed by the Sky TV men outside Goodison on an hourly loop.

The Kirkby opposition showed what is possible when intelligent, well-organised protests are executed. But there is a big difference between stopping something ridiculous from happening, as in the Kirkby Stadium, and forcing a regime change.

Only banks and interested buyers can do that.

The signs have been there for several months that the broader Everton fan base senses no alternative but to up the ante before it is too late. They fear David Moyes will eventually say enough is enough and a promising squad will be dismantled.

Everton owner Bill Kenwright is already under intense scrutiny, but he will recognise every month which passes without a new signing or a promise of investment raises the probability of placards and banners, albeit with reticence, finding a frequent home at Goodison Park.

The fans, understandably, want answers. They want them from their board and, it must be acknowledged, they want them from journalists.

There aren't any so far. Just a well-established and ever increasing series of questions

Good peice that from Bascombe, and now it becomes clear why Prentice did *his* article...to counter it and try and put a lid on dissent.

Bought and paid for Prentice and his crew.

 

[davek]

And that's the big point.

The other point is that we dont need 100s of millions to rebuild a squad ala. chelsea, Sunderland, villa, city, etc....all we need is someone to see that a small investment to buy 2 players or so of quality with selling a key member would turn a club from "almosts" to actually being there competing.

This has been the case since 2005 and the board have done nothing to change that

And that was the plan a while back wasn't it...buy a couple of young talented players each year and build up squad strength. But even that modest ambition was ditched.

The board have only ever had a get rich quick stadium scheme as a plan throughout the 11 years they've been here and there failure to have a plan B when that failed is now going to see us mid-table bound for the forseeable.