If you don’t mind, I’d like to talk about last season for a little bit. I’m still slightly in shock as initially, it looked like we had one of the greatest managers ever to grace the game only for me to turn my head and he was gone! I guess I’m still looking for some answers as to why it happened. I still feel betrayed by his lack of loyalty and betrayal because I bought into his great legacy and wanted to believe my club would become a part of it.
As always, a liberal dose of scepticism must be applied to my words as not one of us knows, or will ever know, what gets said behind the closed doors of Toffee HQ!
It is comforting to speculate though is it not?
A lot of us were shocked when Carlo masterfully ejected himself out of the Goodison hot seat. Like the ease from which you smoothly spread warm butter across your toast, there was no resistance at all from Mr Moshiri! Well, you ask, what do you expect? The ‘Los Blanco's came calling after all! Who would be foolish enough to turn down such a ‘gilt-edged’ opportunity?
It had previously been reported that his home had been breached by a bunch of opportunistic thugs whilst his daughter was still at home. Who could blame them if he wanted to leave? Did this fortuitous event influence his departure? Maybe, but probably not!
Let us look at why he came here. All was not well with Napoli and our owner wanted a ‘Hollywood’ manager. One last chunk of change was ready to be splurged in his pursuit of instant gratification. A win/win situation for Carlo, the club and the fans. This was meant to be Carlo’s one last payday before retirement and what a payday it was! We, at last, dared to dream of challenging for honours. Never mind the nepotism of bringing in his son for coaching duties; this was surely an oversight that could easily be forgiven/overlooked! He got us some decent players as well. We’d never seen such skill on the Goodison turf as displayed by James Rodriguez.
After bolting out the gates with a tremendous start I remember thinking, we’re going to do a ‘Leicester’ here! I cringe at how embarrassed I now feel by having dared to get excited at such lofty heights of expectation. Unfortunately, after that first flourish of free-flowing ‘school of science’ football, the tables indomitably and abruptly turned. Once the inevitable injuries started occurring all over the gaff it was as clear as day the players taking their places were simply not good enough. Lazy, entitled, and crabs were just some of the labels pinned on several of our expensive flops! The lack of pace began to severely expose us. It didn’t help that our beloved James didn’t fancy playing when he realised the premier league was tougher than he expected. I always wondered if he had in place a gentleman’s agreement with Carlo that he could take a break if he felt like it! Carlo, being the tactical magician, we know him for, plugged the glaring holes the best he could by playing a highly defensive formation. However, it meant placing players out of position all over the shop. It worked for a time. It was like Fat Sam style with a sprinkling of oregano! I didn’t like it but begrudgingly understood the method in his madness. Winning by a goal or drawing every now and then shored up the gaping chasm in the quality of the squad. However, it was never going to be good enough when you couldn’t win a home game to save your life! Such a strange season, a statistical anomaly of sorts. There was the record away wins and a first derby win in what felt like a generation! However, even though I longed with every fibrous muscle to finally overcome the red terror I didn’t feel anything much when the deed was finally done. I don’t know why but I can only guess in hindsight that I could see things weren’t right at the club I loved. The players seemed unfit and upon doing a little research sure enough this had been a problem mooted at some of his previous clubs. Goodison stunk of entitlement and a safe harbour to safely run down your contract whilst privately living like a King. Where was the hunger, the battle, the ‘dogs of war?’ There was no doubt this was going to be a massive job for ‘the Don’, something he perhaps didn’t really have the ‘spaghetti balls’ to follow through!
He knew we lacked depth; he knew we struggled to attract the right quality of players; he knew there was a lack of heart and desire but above all could see the ‘FFP’ storm approaching on the horizon. Fate then dealt its card as the Galactico’s swooped in to save his day! His legacy would surely now be protected, and his pension pot inflated to gargantuan proportions! Job done for Carlo and his son I guess!.
What next?
Enter Rafael, a most unlikely appointment but could this, at last, be the right fit as we march ahead to a new home?
I would love to hear your thoughts, if like me, you are still wondering what led Carlo to jump ship. Was it simply just a case of an offer that came in that he simply could not turn down or is there more to this than meets the eye?
