Reality and aspiration

[evertony]

For a long time there's been argument and counter argument about what Evertonians should aspire to, and what is really possible - is top 6 an achievement or is top 4 still realistic etc. When RM arrived many were saying we'd fall into obscurity and he wouldn't compare to Moyes.
With what has transpired this close season, and the last few weeks do we really stand a hope in hell of getting to the Top 4-6 or has football finally hit financial Armageddon? When you look at what Spurs, the Sh1te, Chelsea and City have spent and added to already over-crowded squads, and compare that to us having to fight tooth and nail just to keep two of our best performers from the ginger bollock can RM be expected to do anything notable, just by footballing philosophy and belief?

For me, it has become almost impossible, unless by some strange occurrence the top teams all negate each other to a point where a dark horse can slide in at the final furlong unnoticed.

I still aspire to being Champions and winning some silver, but what is ultimately realistic now?

 

[davek]

We need investment to stand still. And when you get club owners putting zero in, and not even investing any of the new massive revenues coming into the club, it's a recipe for freefall.

We do have some very good players though and we wont plummet bottom half of the table overnight. But it's looking grim if Kenwright and the people he fronts the club for aren't ousted.

 

[bourneblue]

Surely Newcasle should be competing for a European slot given the money they've spent over the years.

 

[nigelcoyb]

The big problem is a team could do a "one off" threaten the top 4 maybe even win the title via a crop of talented youth players coming through with a talented coach getting the absolute max out of them.

But straight away the squad gets eviscerated the coach goes to Real Madrid etc and your worse off than before as supporters lose heart.

Not good enough for the 4th most decorated club in the english game imo, but indulging these few majority shareholders gives you just that and quite frankly fans are fine with it - mid table expectations continue.

 

[allen]

Quite frankly fans are fine with it - mid table expectations continue.

That's the core of the issue. Too many of our fans are happy with what we've got. The ambition has gone, replaced with 'realism.'

 

[MickM86]

I'd take this league cup this season and the season after etc. This is our only realistic chance of Europe unless we finish 5th

 

[Essex Blue]

We have failed to capitalise on opportunity after opportunity, and that has a lot to do with both incompetence and a very apparent lack of ambition. In fact, Everton have been marketing themselves as a small club with no ambition for over 10 years now. You would think we were Blackburn Rovers the way our board, and in-turn, the media go on.

Spurs were not always in their current situation, we have been well ahead of them in terms of team/squad strength and footballing progress on quite a few occasions over the last decade. People were saying then that we NEED to invest now or they will overtake us, and they have been proven correct.

It's annoying the way some people view a clubs size and status as if it was as a result of natural evolution, when there are so many examples that prove a clubs fortunes are actually determined by just one or two people in the boardroom. Our board of directors are LAST, there's been no investment for ****ing YEARS, and we will continue to suffer as a consequence.

 

[Foot Long Hot Dog]

Times have vastly changed since we were last at the pinnacle of the English game in the 80's.

Now the league has developed into the biggest in the World & attracts top stars from all over the planet.

The sums of money that are now required to reach the pinnacle are obscene & the harsh reality is, that without a benefactor of Oligarch proportions the likelihood of us getting back to the peak during this era are practically zero.

 

[bourneblue]

Yes we need a Man City style benefactor to buy us out,build a team and a new stadium.

 

[Chang Elephant]

In 2003 we just needed a competent board and would have landed a stadium better than an oligarch could have dreamt up. We'd now have had 10 years benefit from the income and status the Kings Dock would have given us and would be well set.

Bravo Bill

 

[allen]

Praying for a billionaire gets us nowhere - especially if we're constantly belittling our own status in the top flight and consistently lowering expectations. A top 7 finish has become a "fantastic achievement for a club like Everton." I HATE that kind of small-time language.

We're one of the biggest and best clubs in England. That's the image we have to carry on projecting if any billionaire is even going to consider looking at us.

 

[AussieToffee]

all i know is how I've always felt.

Even in 04/05 when we finished FOURTH after it was all done and dusted looking back it still felt like we had only just dodged a bullet. I can't think of any other club supporter who would feel like this after such a good season. If anything they'd be seriously thinking that can win the league the following year. Not us.

EVERY year we finish well feels like a bullet dodged because the truth is we can't have an average net spend of 14th or 15th over 10 years and keep hoping to finish between 4th and 7th year in year out. One day our luck is going to run out.

If we don't get investment we're sitting ducks treading water dodging bullets, EVEN if we finish 4th.

The thought of Tottenham having 100 million to spend just boggles my mind. What will this mean for us ? Can we keep coping with ever strengthening squads around us?

to answer your post mate, the reality is we can't but we'll aspire to anyway because we're used to achieving everything with nothing.

 

[Eggs]

...I think we are generally glass half empty folk, completely opposite to our neighbours.

 

[allen]

I read somewhere recently that Evertonians were more liked than most fans of 'big' clubs because we've had the arrogance knocked out of us after 25 years of under-achievement. I think that's probably true - but it's not exactly conducive to pushing us on by expecting more. Let's get a bit more arrogant.

 

[MACCA75]

Yes we need a Man City style
benefactor to buy us out,build a team and a new
stadium.

An Ellis Short will do, cheers.