A lengthy and boring intro from an American, some questions, some infantile thoughts

[The Equaliser]

It's 'YIZ' where I'm sitting. And it's offspring 'YIZZER', as in "yizzer gonna get bate at the weekend."

 

[spikeman]

All American posters should be required to use a Toffee + State Nickname format.

So I guess that makes me ToffeeTerp?

 

[Uscrulez2001]

Only Carolina wears Carolina Blue.

There's only one Carolina, and they wear Garnet and Black

 

[wm02]

So I guess that makes me ToffeeTerp?

Ahh...you beat me to it. I'm assuming there can only be one per state (ala Highlander).

 

[whiteshadow]

(1) I see a lot of Moyes hate, and that is simply always a byproduct of struggling. Would a more aggressive manager be able to make this team more competitive (say top 5 in the table), or does our current squad lack the playmakers to make this happen?

No, our team isn't good enough.

We have some really good players. Baines is easily good enough to play for one of the top teams in the EPL and probably will at some point in the future but you need substantial amounts of money to get in to the top 5.

I've been critical of Moyes recently but to be fair to him he's overachieved with us and that's why he's getting alot of stick now because people forget how bad we were before he came.

Is an ownership change to the crazy-spending foreign companies the only thing that can make this a top-table club, as obviously the support, history and class are in place?

Financial Fair Play rules are coming in over the next few years which, over time, will stop clubs from spending more on players than they can generate through their direct income. It will effectively stop billionaires from pumping tons of their own money in to teams they buy, so a rich benefactor won't be as usefull anymore although I don't think the fair play rules have an impact on stadium finance which is what is key to Everton generating the extra money they will need to compete with the new rules in place.

 

[wm02]

There's only one Carolina, and they wear Garnet and Black

Amen!

 

[ToffeeVol]

There's only one Carolina, and they wear Garnet and Black

You guys tried to give us a win last Saturday. We are so turrble.

 

[Uscrulez2001]

I still can't get over how bad Spurrier's offenses have been at Carolina. On another note, while I didn't get to go this year, Neyland Stadium is far and away my favorite road trip to watch a game. Great tailgating and there is nothing like 100k people watching a game. My wife's from Livingston and is also a part time Vol Fan.

 

[ToffeeHeel]

There is only 1 Carolina, and we don't use mustard in our BBQ.

 

[eaclou]

I'm a northern New Englander, so not much in the way of high-end collegiate sports, with the exception of hockey. I guess that just leaves UNH Wildcats or UVM Catamounts -- so some sort of untamed feline...

And we don't really have a good plural "you" up here. Pittsburgh has "Yinz", but i've never even heard "You'uns" - glad of that too... sounds ridiculous.

With New England Sports buying Liverpool, i'm probably in the minority around here being an Everton supporter. that derby sucked hard - hope we take them at Anfield.

 

[TX Tiburon]

Frankly, living here, I am sick to death of Americans suddenly loving United (who are the New York Yankees of the EPL and the easiest team to bandwagon) and City (who are the Dallas Mavericks of the EPL - spend, spend, spend).[QUOTE]

Toffee Vol, Good on you for joining in. Now.... I must sensure you on your Mavs comment. You must be thinking of the Heat. You can't say that the Mavs bought a championship when two of their main players were Mav draft picks (Dirk & Kidd) and the other 3 starters were Tyson Chandler, Jason Terry, and pick a 5th.

The Heat are more analgous. They tried to buy a championship. They have Aguero, Silva, and Tevez.

 

[broudie]

You guys tried to give us a win last Saturday. We are so turrble.

You sound like Cleveland Brown.

Welcome

 

[chicoazul]

Welcome lids, the more Americans on here the better. You capitalist bastards do well on here.

As for the North Carolina, I have a good mate from Charlotte and regularly take the piss out of his y'all thing. Madness.

 

[Uscrulez2001]

For all of my new American brothers on the site, I'd like to give you a pointer. chicoazul is one of the best posters on the site. His pregame writeups are always very well written and he frequently links to really interesting newspaper articles from around the internet. So if you see a link from chicoazul, make sure you click it.

 

[trigger the blue]

Hello to you all. An American here, more specifically a Tennessean, who is going all in for Everton.

Two quick things - my uncle is from Liverpool who spent many a Saturday at the Grand Old Lady, so liking Everton seemed a naturally fit for me, a Yank who is growing more and more obsessed with Euro club futbol. And, as fate would have it, my undying passion is Tennessee Vols college football, and the similarities between the Vols and Everton are frankly too lengthy to enumerate. I will say the most glaring shared trait is talent-deficit; the Vols have no recruiting base to compete with Florida and Alabama (not that yall care) and Everton is obviously hamstrung by finances as compared to teams owned by oil moguls and Russian mobsters.

Which leads to my thoughts on my brief and inexperienced career of being a Toffee - it has seemed painfully clear to me that while we are a scrappy and determined team at times, especially in the back, we simply do not have the elite and creative play up front to keep up with the top table teams. Now this is obviously the most basic observation an Everton fan could make - but bear with me, I'll learn quickly.

So now questions: (1) I see a lot of Moyes hate, and that is simply always a byproduct of struggling. Would a more aggressive manager be able to make this team more competitive (say top 5 in the table), or does our current squad lack the playmakers to make this happen? (2) Is an ownership change to the crazy-spending foreign companies the only thing that can make this a top-table club, as obviously the support, history and class are in place?

Frankly, living here, I am sick to death of Americans suddenly loving United (who are the New York Yankees of the EPL and the easiest team to bandwagon) and City (who are the Dallas Mavericks of the EPL - spend, spend, spend).

Thanks guys, and perhaps I'll make it across the pond one day.

Welcome to the Royal Blue Family mate,its gonna be a bumpy ride!