Homepage Article Whatever people say I am, I am not

[Azza]

That's for that @catcherintherye great read, really got me going for the start of the season now, can't wait in fact. Cock.

 

[kenada_blue]

Thanks mate. And yes I think we were reeling. It looks like the board, not just the fans went "all in" on Ancelotti and that was a big mistake really.

I don't think it was a mistake. If Real didn't knock, he'd still be here and we'd have a clear plan for next steps to improve.

Him going was a shock from top to bottom of the club and the fans. There's no revisionism or conspiracy about him wanting out or leaving...he just got offered a better job out of the blue.

Also...if you can't go all in for a manager like Carlo, when do you do it?

 

[catblue]

Brilliant article, makes you wonder was Ancellotti just tired with us ?
Rafael for all his faults seems to be a people person so I hope things go well for him here......the thoughts of looking for another Manager in 12 months or less is honestly embarrassing to think about..
Come on Everton ...

 

[jazzy]

@catcherintherye's latest article is now online;

Whatever People say I am, I am not - Grand Old Team

It’s difficult to think of a season that has been as unanticipated as the one Everton are heading into. Much of that centre’s around the manager, who represented an uninspiring choice having failed in China in his previous role and has a history of ridiculous previous comments about the club...

www.grandoldteam.com

I'm not sure there's anything in Catchers article that any right thinking Evertonian could disagree with. Chapeau sir.

 

[Charles Hawtrey]

great read - coupled with chicoazul's preview it has set us up nicely for the new season. Your points are all accurate and well made and as the hatred for Benitez morphs into ennui, the results will start to set the tone at the club. It won't be another 'spirit of the blues' moment though....

 

[Verbal Kint]

Interesting article and good.

On another note, spoke to an agent of a player today on holidays struck up a conversation when he seen my lads in Everton gear, he said that his player has absolutely no idea what Benitez thinks of him, doesn't know where he stands if he will still be a first team player, doesn't know if he Rafael likes him, doesn't know if he wants to keep him, he has absolutely called out so many players in training regarding performances including his client. Has made them all watch individual tapes of good things and bad things they have done the last 3 years . It's so different to other managers he has played under since he joined and Benitez might just be what they need.

 

[Dymak]

I am glad Ancellotti’s gone. His football was drab and ineffective, and his management style seemed half arsed and not suited to Everton.

 

[Lloydystark]

I tell you what - every single person connected to this club, be they players, managers, owners or fans, need to acquire a humbleness that's been absent from Everton since Moshiri came in.

I think if I were watching on from another club I'd be repulsed at the stunts that a classic English football club like Everton have been getting up to in half a decade of waste and profligacy and claims of imminent success. In fact, if I were a fan of another club I'd be cock-a-hoop at a club that's tried to be the new rich kids on the block and ended up as sad and humiliated parvenus falling flat on its face looking down the back of the couch again for cash to spend because they'd been spectacularly mis-governed.

It's time we rediscovered our identity as a hard working organisation that makes every opponent earn the right to take a single point off us...and every club need to pay top dollar for one of ours if they want one for themselves and we need to play hardball with them when they want too much for one of theirs.

That's not to say we cant achieve, just that we need to close the door on the tone and strategy of the first failed five years of the Moshiri period.

Asceticism, prudence and honest hard work. That's what we should be looking to. Players who dont want to be here can GTF out now because we have no need for them. And fans need to ditch the dreams of spending our way to success. That ship has sailed and sunk.

The moyes era was so much better despite what these idiots say, played with passion and fight. Too many people think we are a top club just because we had a few quid when mosh came in

 

[Daytripper]

Good article, straight to the point. Totally right about the silence when things don’t go well, it’s not the sort of custodians I like us to have .

 

[Zatara]

Interesting article and good.

On another note, spoke to an agent of a player today on holidays struck up a conversation when he seen my lads in Everton gear, he said that his player has absolutely no idea what Benitez thinks of him, doesn't know where he stands if he will still be a first team player, doesn't know if he Rafael likes him, doesn't know if he wants to keep him, he has absolutely called out so many players in training regarding performances including his client. Has made them all watch individual tapes of good things and bad things they have done the last 3 years . It's so different to other managers he has played under since he joined and Benitez might just be what they need.

Same as weve heard from his former players aside from Andros Townsend. We'll have to see if the players respond.

Regarding the snippet where @catcherintherye mentions new signings and also the wasteful spending on players...obviously this is also related to the Premier league version of FFP / Profit and Sustainability (whatever).

With this being a rolling 3 year calculation, I wonder how we would look next summer if we didnt spend any money now, other than re-investing from sales.

If lets say we were able to spend £100mil next summer and potentially cash in on some players then we could actually have another push for top 4 or top 6.

Could that be the carrot which has attracted Benitez? Is this summer enough for a reset, or will we still be scuppered next summer due to the rolling 3 year calculation?

As it stands, were 5 players away from having a really good squad. That means £150-200mil worth of fees if were going for young, quality high potential players.

That kind of money you could invest with Ancelotti for an immediate push. You may also be comfortable giving it to Ashworth and Potter of Brighton if they were the duo at our club with a long term vision.

Do you give Benitez £150-200mil? Its a very tough question as while hes signed some players who went on to become world class--almost all of these were well known names before he signed them. The majority of his signings flopped.

Benitez has to beat 59pts. Hes added 3 players into the squad who are being paid wages and the return of Kean and Gbamin makes us stronger to the tune of 5 men. With the loss of Bernard being minimal.

In short, we have to finish in 6th or 7th and attain Europe to keep some of our top players. Additional games to blood youth and increase sponsorship should also be welcomed.

Chelsea, City, United, Leicester,Liverpool will be the top 5 and then 6th and 7th are up for grabs...

...is the difference between 8-10th and 6th/7th going to be a right back?

 

[wm02]

Enjoyed reading that.
Thanks!

 

[PhoenixFirebird]

I tell you what - every single person connected to this club, be they players, managers, owners or fans, need to acquire a humbleness that's been absent from Everton since Moshiri came in.

I think if I were watching on from another club I'd be repulsed at the stunts that a classic English football club like Everton have been getting up to in half a decade of waste and profligacy and claims of imminent success. In fact, if I were a fan of another club I'd be cock-a-hoop at a club that's tried to be the new rich kids on the block and ended up as sad and humiliated parvenus falling flat on its face looking down the back of the couch again for cash to spend because they'd been spectacularly mis-governed.

It's time we rediscovered our identity as a hard working organisation that makes every opponent earn the right to take a single point off us...and every club need to pay top dollar for one of ours if they want one for themselves and we need to play hardball with them when they want too much for one of theirs.

That's not to say we cant achieve, just that we need to close the door on the tone and strategy of the first failed five years of the Moshiri period.

Asceticism, prudence and honest hard work. That's what we should be looking to. Players who dont want to be here can GTF out now because we have no need for them. And fans need to ditch the dreams of spending our way to success. That ship has sailed and sunk.

Right... I agree, but wasn't this what we had with Moyes.

An identity, hard graft, hard working players. TEAM ready to run themselves down to ground. If I recollect, with graveson and carsley in the middle, we were called "Dogs of war". We abandoned that for flair and glamour promised by Martinez et al. What came of that? Lots of people on here have shown their hate(?) for Moyes, but you gotta admit, he had us playing as a hard-to-beat baxxxxs, who wouldn't mind a scrap if that is what the other team was looking for.

Moyes lacked the killer instinct against the "bigger" teams but seems to have learnt from his mistakes and improving (possibly, this season will confirm that) at West Ham. I still believe it was a good decision for Moyes to leave when he did (He was in a comfort zone with us). Just pains me to see that he took his opportunities and leant from them, Everton as a club hasn't...

Maybe I am digressing, but your post reminded of days under Moyes, hence....

 

[davek]

Right... I agree, but wasn't this what we had with Moyes.

An identity, hard graft, hard working players. TEAM ready to run themselves down to ground. If I recollect, with graveson and carsley in the middle, we were called "Dogs of war". We abandoned that for flair and glamour promised by Martinez et al. What came of that? Lots of people on here have shown their hate(?) for Moyes, but you gotta admit, he had us playing as a hard-to-beat baxxxxs, who wouldn't mind a scrap if that is what the other team was looking for.

Moyes lacked the killer instinct against the "bigger" teams but seems to have learnt from his mistakes and improving (possibly, this season will confirm that) at West Ham. I still believe it was a good decision for Moyes to leave when he did (He was in a comfort zone with us). Just pains me to see that he took his opportunities and leant from them, Everton as a club hasn't...

Maybe I am digressing, but your post reminded of days under Moyes, hence....

We had that honesty of endeavour under Moyes, yes. We needed more cash to make it work. If half the cash supplied to managers after Martnez left had been handed to Moyes then maybe we'd have broken into the top 5 on a more regular basis than we did. The other argument is that the type of players you pay for to get you over the line and into the CL places would have been distrusted by Moyes and he'd not have the tactical nous to steer us to the 70 odd point seasons you usually need for CL qualification. We needed to get shut of Moyes and look for a better coach playing more expansive football who knew how to set up and go for it. Martinez was the manager we should have got when Moshiri came in rather than the last of the Kenwright managers who were hamstrung by lack of resources to get into the elite. Bad timing.

What we need now is not a return to Moyes but a turn toward a Bielsa type set up of hungry and mostly unsung younger players who are full of movement with one or two class players. That should be what we're aiming for right now. You can do that without spending the half a billion we've seen wasted in the last 5 years here.

 

[tonka1878]

I'm not sure there's anything in Catchers article that any right thinking Evertonian could disagree with. Chapeau sir.

Where do you expect to find such a person?

 

[PhoenixFirebird]

We had that honesty of endeavour under Moyes, yes. We needed more cash to make it work. If half the cash supplied to managers after Martnez left had been handed to Moyes then maybe we'd have broken into the top 5 on a more regular basis than we did. The other argument is that the type of players you pay for to get you over the line and into the CL places would have been distrusted by Moyes and he'd not have the tactical nous to steer us to the 70 odd point seasons you usually need for CL qualification. We needed to get shut of Moyes and look for a better coach playing more expansive football who knew how to set up and go for it. Martinez was the manager we should have got when Moshiri came in rather than the last of the Kenwright managers who were hamstrung by lack of resources to get into the elite. Bad timing.

What we need now is not a return to Moyes but a turn toward a Bielsa type set up of hungry and mostly unsung younger players who are full of movement with one or two class players. That should be what we're aiming for right now. You can do that without spending the half a billion we've seen wasted in the last 5 years here.

I am not so sure about Martinez' ability to set us up defensively. It is my personal belief, that Martinez' first season was down to Moyes' defensive discipline rather than any thing Martinez did. I grew increasingly despondent after the 6-3 shellacking that we received by Chelsea that broke Distin completely, he wasn't the same after that game .

What I would have loved was a combination of Moyes' fuxx-you-ain't-getting-one-in and Martinez' fuxx-all-we-gonna-score-one-more-than-you attitude. I know that would be impossible to achieve, but as an aside, do you see anyone who had that kinda skill (Mourinho-mark1 maybe?)