When did it go wrong ?

The Esk · January 16, 2012

5 people met ITV's Greg Dyke in 1991 to discuss a break-away league - Noel White of Liverpool, Irving Scholar of Spurs, David Dein of Arsenal, Martin Edwards of Manchester United and our very own Sir Philip Carter.

Need I say any more?[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
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evilwebby · January 17, 2012

It's not just one thing; you don't go from being at the top to an also-ran just in once incident. Bad management and failing to address the challenges of the modern game have taken their toll over 25 years. They're still taking their toll.

davids · January 17, 2012

trigger the blue said:
When Howard left for Bilbao was the beginning of our downfall.
Colin Harvey buying sub standard players Neil Mcdonald,Stuart Mccall,Pat Nevin and Tony Cottee simply were not good enough!

Oh for a TC in the team now

teppic · January 17, 2012

Criminal lack of building on the cup final team.

Clint Planet · January 17, 2012

the esk said:
5 people met ITV's Greg Dyke in 1991 to discuss a break-away league - Noel White of Liverpool, Irving Scholar of Spurs, David Dein of Arsenal, Martin Edwards of Manchester United and our very own Sir Philip Carter.

Need I say any more?

To be fair, it was Dyke who invited them all round for a friendly chat. What was Carter supposed to do?

The Esk · January 17, 2012

stupid giraffe said:
To be fair, it was Dyke who invited them all round for a friendly chat. What was Carter supposed to do?

Protect our interests and ensure that Everton were best positioned on and off the field to take advantage of the new Premiership.

We did nothing whilst other clubs invested in new stadia, and their teams. United, Arsenal and Spurs raised cash through listing their clubs on the London Stock Exchange.

What did we do?

If a new league was formed now would we be one of the elite 5 invited to sit around the table?

evilwebby · January 17, 2012

Small-time thinking.

I remember when Crystal Palace sold Ian Wright, I think it was for about Â£2.5m.

They were faced with who to replace him with - the choice was between Marco Gabbadini for Â£1.8m, and Alan Shearer for Â£2.8m. They chose the first option, and the rest is a case of unfortunate history. You cannot accept 2nd best in this business. An attitude of "He'll do" or "That'll do" will not do.

I don't blame anyone else but those who run our club. Continual bad management, underinvestment, and making too many short-term choices have left us where we are now.

billybinghamsboy · January 18, 2012

Walter feckin Smith, signing 35yr+ players all over the shop, his defeated body language on the touch line, his bland boring brand of football. Why did we stick with him for so long?

steele · January 18, 2012

JohnHogg said:
Villareal game for me.

Me too...we were SO close..

TyphooToffee · January 18, 2012

Azzurri said:
The thing is, they had less to lose.

United's players didn't leave for European football because they wouldn't be getting it anyway. Same with Liverpool, Tottenham etc.

But the rest of your post is a very good point.

Exactly!