The Everton Board Thread (Inc. Bill Kenwright / Blue Union)

[magicjuan]

Good column
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/bill-kenwright-isnt-perfect-scheme-2903949

Not really, very one sided, to use Gaydamak as an example instead of the others, who some will claim, like Gaydamak, are conjecture, is to paint Bill as shrewd, yet he went to DD with the dude in a bedsit by his own admission.

McCarthys deal was to be financed by Fellaini, or others, the same model used for years.

None of the well documented and factual failures or genuine reasons for displeasure at his handling of 'schemes' are put forward, so, all in all, just one sided guff, from a friend.

The old 'be careful what you wish for' line is tiresome and patronising as it has been for quite a while now.

He has managed to achieve the square root of jack as a chairman, hardline negotiator? Ask Stetford and whiskey nose, or Bill's phone call to his old girl would put paid to that.

 

[Toffeelover]

BK has been problematic as Chairman, but has no money, Green is not interested and Earl wants to keep his money in the bank in some tax haven. The club has difficulties and we would like to see a new owner with loads of cash to restore the club. But that could have a downside - Everton Red Bulls or Red Bulls Everton anyone.

 

[Dell Boy]

You can tell things are going well on the pitch when you have to scroll through six pages to find this Board thread!

I haven't posted in this thread in ages, but back last year some time, I pointed out the board/Kenwright deserved some credit for identifying Moyes all those years ago and then backing him for 10 years. The response at the time was that "Bill got lucky" and "Moyes has saved his arse" etc etc.

A question I have is now that we've got Martinez - and Moyes is on shaky ground at Old Trafford - does the board/Kenwright not deserve some credit for picking the right man? Clearly it is very early days but the signs are positive for sure. Similarly does Moyes look like a fish out of water at United and could it be said that the board/Kenwright gave Moyes the platform he needed to be a (relative) success?

The board/Kenwright have made loads of mistakes I accept but sometimes a bit of credit is due. As to the new manager I was fairly indifferent to Martinez to say the least and wanted Lennon. A fair bit of that was my green tinted specs but I also clearly undervalued the team and thought we needed to mix it up with fire and passion in order to stay competitive. I didn't think for one second that Martinez could come in and get us play sexy football quite so easily.

To give balance, I think the board and Kenwright handled Moyes' departure terribly. We were made a laughing stock when Kenwright was spotted blubbing on the street and then giving him a ticker tape parade for the West Ham game when he'd already signed for United. They did at least handle the Fellaini/Baines crap from United well and transfer deadline day ended brilliantly in flogging Fellaini and Anichebe and bringing in Mccarthy plus the key loans of Barry and Lukakakaku. But equally it was high risk and we'd probably be screwed a bit now if the final day of the transfer window had gone against us.

We still need to have a war chest for transfer funds and we'll see what's on offer in January/next summer.

We seem no nearer a new investor or a new stadium so I accept we're still operating with one arm tied behind our backs. I also accept that it is the board and Kenwright's main responsibility to achieve these two aims and after all the years they are still failing.

But maybe a little credit is due sometimes?

 

[neil999]

i'll judge the board after january really

 

[roydo]

Fair point that mate. The BK factions will never see eye to eye, but on this point, it would be churlish to the extreme not to give him/the board some credit on manager selection.

 

[Furey1878]

Credit where credits due and all that...

But really other than Martinez the only realistic options were Neville, Stubbs, Weir, Mackay and various jokers like Hughes.

And while Martinez certainly wasn't my first choice at the time, I'd have taken him over all of them in a heartbeat at the time.

 

[milkshock]

We will see how the board deal with Barkley, somehow I don't think they will get as lucky as they did with Fellaini signing a new contract with a get out clause. I can see a Rooney style situation developing there.

 

[milkshock]

Credit where credits due and all that...

But really other than Martinez the only realistic options were Neville, Stubbs, Weir, Mackay and various jokers like Hughes.

And while Martinez certainly wasn't my first choice at the time, I'd have taken him over all of them in a heartbeat at the time.

Not sure about that, Rangnick was in the frame if reports were to be be believed, and the Porto guy would have come had we made proper overtures to him.

 

[Moomin]

I'm one of the boards biggest critics, but i have to give Bill credit for selecting Martinez and selling Everton to him. No doubt the rest of the board done sweet fa, i wonder if Robert Earle was involved? I doubt it.

 

[Furey1878]

Not sure about that, Rangnick was in the frame if reports were to be be believed, and the Porto guy would have come had we made proper overtures to him.

Rangrick dismissed rumours, and Pereira went to a mega-bucks job in the middle east. Hence why I said the only realistic options.

 

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

I wiss they'd put their hands in their pockets like, but in general I think they deserve credit for their actions since about August

 

[njligernj]

I always hated the "could be worse" argument. If you have to compare a person or situation to literally the worst examples of something that exists ... then the person you are "defending" is already condemned by the very nature of your argument.

I bet if I got a head injury and forgot who BK was (but remembered everything else) and I had some beers with Bill and we talked about Everton we'd have a grand old time and I'd walk away thinking "what a top bloke." Doesn't mean I wouldn't fire him if I could. I don't hate the man; he's just not as shrewd in business/marketing as I would like and he's not as rich as I (nor he I imagine) would like. It's like firing people at work: sometimes you really like the person but they just can't get the job done and at some point you have to try out someone else for the greater good.

It's not over-the-top to suggest BK's choice as manager plays a big role in whether he can continue to own Everton Football Club. Moyes had his faults but he mostly kept the wolves from BK's door. RM is now doing the same.

I'm fairly anti-BK but you can find me in the past give him credit for Moyes hire (plus BK is a blue ... not a RS ... which is a plus). RM obviously looks like a great hire too.

I'm not 100% sure what people want here though. Just that he gets "credit" ... sure. Why not? Doesn't change my opinion that we need better ownership. If you want us to admit other clubs have had worse owners? Sure. Why not? It just doesn't change anything. If the man had literally zero positive attributes he'd be out already -- hell he'd have never been able to assume control of the club in the first place if he was just a drooling simpleton who sat in a corner all day with a colouring book.

He's a blue and in a sample size of two manager hires he's 2-0. Fine. If I had a billion pounds + I'd happily pat him on the back for a "job well done" (even though I don't 100% believe that) and give him a nice ceremony at Goodison so the happy clappers can have their moment and I'd give him a ceremonial Chairman position where he can help out with some situations (but would have no serious power). I feel no desire to "punish" him -- I jut want us to have the resources to compete (not even billions -- 5-10m a year would do wonders).

Does this argument get as many pages as it has here if the rest of the billionaires on the board were willing to kick in 5-10m a year? To some extent BK is hung out to dry by the rest of the board (who do have money) with their lack of investment. Sadly for him that still doesn't really change anything.

If he could convince them to invest more it would change my opinion of BK to some degree.

Don't get me wrong though: the KD fiasco was a disgrace and it set the club back decades. I'd find it hard to forgive him for that ... getting me to admit he has a positive here and there won't erase that memory.

I'd find it hard to sell Everton Football Club if I owned it too. I'd like to think I would if I was holding the club back.

 

[banno]

I wiss they'd put their hands in their pockets like, but in general I think they deserve credit for their actions since about August

He has to support the manager or we will be also rans again. During Moyes tenure there was a couple of seasons where we needed to kick on but we seemed happy with what we had. Need to take the bull by the horns or we will just be knocking on the door again being told we don't belong. A bit of money may also aid keeping the vultures away from our players.

 

[Dell Boy]

I always hated the "could be worse" argument. If you have to compare a person or situation to literally the worst examples of something that exists ... then the person you are "defending" is already condemned by the very nature of your argument.

.

I don't disagree with that. My point was that for certain fans Kenwright is the anti-Christ and has not done anything good for the club. Likewise some did not give him any credit for Moyes.

I think Kenwright and the Board could and should have done better for the club by now. I think the stadium and the club's location in L4 are major barriers to any new investment and do hold the club back. But they should have done better by now.

 

[Librarian]

Nowhere to hide if the manager is not supported in this window.