Reading the tea-leaves, I think it's clear that if we are to do any business, it's going to be on the last day when managers - not just Moyes - start to panic. This is frustrating and tense, but given the club's current finances it's the only time that the kind of deals we can afford become feasible.
If Moyes really doesn't have striking targets in mind that he thinks are possible then he's being remarkably ballsy by letting Yak, and to a lesser degree Vaughan, go. It seems at odds with his evident natural conservatism. There are clearly options out there if he simply wants a change of faces to choose from - Vela, and possibly Tuncay, the latter of whom I personally rate - but if he's looking for a bargain then maybe declaring the season a washout and keeping his powder dry until the summer may not be a bad idea. The only issue is avoiding relegation, or possibly trying to put together a cup run; it could be that waiting too see if we get past Chelsea isn't so bad a ploy.
On the subject of Kenwright and the future - I take LCAB's missive about his unproffessionalism at face value. I can believe it. However Kenwright is not the only member of the current management, and he's not even the majority owner. As a result, if the fans were to force him out, who would be his replacement? A faceless unknown like Robert Earl? How about an Indian meat-packing company a la Blackburn? I mean, what's their game? Are they really going to stick around if success doesn't arrive? Personally, I don't blame Kenwright for not selling to people whose motives do not clearly start and end with the success of the club. Of course, that assumes offers have been made...
It's clear to me that for Everton to progress, one of two things needs to happen:
- a run in the Champions League; or
[*]a joint stadium with Liverpool is constructed.
(1) Means we
need success in order to buy success. We are simply NOT an attractive proposition otherwise I'm afraid to say, the result of two decades of poor performances and our proximity to the RS. Other teams in the country that have famous neighbours - Spurs and Citeh spring to mind - both have things that we don't: population density in Spurs case, so that the neighbours don't soak up a majority of the surrounding fans, or in Citeh's case a modern and large stadium.
(2) Is just the stark reality of the state of both clubs' finances and the difficulties in trying to build a world-class stadium in one of the poorest areas of the country. A joint stadium would be used every week and would almost certainly be in line for money from the local development agencies.
Literally the only technical reason that it may not work is concern over the quality of the pitches. All else is emotion and is this changeable if the clubs were to make an effort to form public opinion instead of reacting to it.
