By Jove, he said it. HE SAID IT.

chicoazul · May 22, 2009

“To me it’s about clutching at straws,” he said. “It’s about anything but Kirkby. Twelve months ago it was all about the Loop, six months ago it was about the redevelopment of Goodison.
“We knock the Loop over, we knock the redevelopment of Goodison over, so the next straw to clutch is the shared stadium.
“It’s a very transparent strategy, if you were generous enough to call it a strategy. It’s all about keeping Everton out of Kirkby and not about progress for this football club.
“The people who don’t want Kirkby are just intent on throwing anything on to the table that can try and deflect us from what I believe is a very strong proposition.
“The reality is that the proposed stadium on Stanley Park to my knowledge is going to cost in excess of £400million. If Liverpool Football Club came to us and said ‘we’d like a 50-50 partnership, you need to find £200m’, this football club couldn’t find that.
“We’ve been asked to find £78m for Kirkby, which will be challenging but we believe it’s deliverable. To find a further £122m to go into a shared stadium is not an option.”
Elstone added: “As far as I can see, a shared stadium is not deliverable. The people who don’t want us to go to Kirkby are shying from one key word which is deliverability, within which I’d mention affordability.
“Kirkby’s costing and funding strategies are not set in stone but they are sufficiently solid to give the club confidence that it can deliver it. None of the others have any solidity.
“I suspect many of those against the Kirkby move wouldn’t have a problem if it was a few hundred metres over the city boundary, which to me underlines the flimsiness of their case. How can a few hundred metres mean so much?”

Over to you Mr K.

Gazdalf · May 22, 2009

He's a good bloke that one.

But he's not the messiah, he's just a very naughty boy.

davek · May 22, 2009

There isn't an Evertonian on the planet that should have to listen to that tripe from a rugby league loving bean counter who wouldn't have been able to tell you what city Everton was in prior to getting the assistant CEO job. I've forgotten more about the club today than he'll ever know. The sooner interlopers like him fall off the end of the world the better.

Nebbiolo · May 22, 2009

It's anything but a flimsy case. The point is that there is a serious concern over whether moving to Kirkby will damage Everton's ability to retain and recruit, a fanbase. Plus, the ground can be redeveloped anyway. And £78m would make a massive inroad into doing that.

chicoazul · May 22, 2009

Davek has very quickly developed into one of my favourite characters in this soap.

kenada_blue · May 22, 2009

Nebbiolo said:
It's anything but a flimsy case. The point is that there is a serious concern over whether moving to Kirkby will damage Everton's ability to retain and recruit, a fanbase. Plus, the ground can be redeveloped anyway. And £78m would make a massive inroad into doing that.

No point in redeveloping anyway. We don’t have 50,000 fans.

Rugby Toffee · May 22, 2009

We will next Saturday..

steevie · May 22, 2009

Still an open jury is out on Elstone. Many feel he talks sense but i have'nt read much that impresses me since he took over the reigns.

kenada_blue · May 22, 2009

Rugby Toffee said:
We will next Saturday..

No we wont. KEIOC said so.

Dom1878 · May 22, 2009

Elstone hasn't really done much wrong here. He's been good so far.

steevie · May 22, 2009

Dom1878 said:
Elstone hasn't really done much wrong here. He's been good so far.

What good has he done so far??

GrandOldTeam · May 22, 2009

steevie said:
What good has he done so far??

I like how he tells it straight.

That, and how he looks like Quagmire from Family Guy;

davek · May 22, 2009

Here's the thing with that dumb comment 'we've knocked the redevelopment of Goodison over': Autumn comes along and Destination Kirkby is knocked back; we have a CEO who's already stated that the only option left then will be to look at what can be done with Goodison. Is that him then? Is he off in a huff to overhaul Hull Kingston Rovers and make them a bigger draw than the New York Yankees? He and his unlamented predecessor have almost made shooting yourself in the foot an Olympic sport.

GrandOldTeam · May 22, 2009

davek said:
Here's the thing with that dumb comment 'we've knocked the redevelopment of Goodison over': Autumn comes along and Destination Kirkby is knocked back; we have a CEO who's already stated that the only option left then will be to look at what can be done with Goodison. Is that him then? Is he off in a huff to overhaul Hull Kingston Rovers and make them a bigger draw than the New York Yankees? He and his unlamented predecessor have almost made shooting yourself in the foot an Olympic sport.

Dave it really is special how you can interpret anything he says to fit your own agenda.

The man can't say a line without you meticulously analysing it for fault (y)

davek · May 22, 2009

GrandOldTeam said:
Dave it really is special how you can interpret anything he says to fit your own agenda.

The man can't say a line without you meticulously analysing it for fault

There's no need to interpret too much, it's explicit. Just humour me for a second:

You're the CEO of a club who has a stadium move on the boil that is in the balance, do you a) keep your own counsel on the stadium subject whilst the delicate decision making process is underway; b ) crack on with the Kirkby option whilst making a diplomatic response that doesn't alienate a section of the fanbase and certain public bodies; c) burn all bridges behind you by insulting all and sundry in an effort to out-Wyness Wyness and look like you're in control of events.

His arrogance is staggering. 'We've knocked this over and that over'...as if the people putting them forward had the worst intention for EFC on their mind.

At least Wyness was the obnoxious real deal; this feller's just Wyness-lite.