George McKane: New Season
By Ryan G • Jul 20th, 2008 • Category: Opinion |George McKane: Looking Forward to the New Season – Mailbag Submission
The Fixture Lists have been out for a few weeks, my 2008/9 Season Ticket has arrived – looking better than last years – and there’s daily speculation on the web and in the press of who Everton are about to sign (normally followed by a Newcastle bid – what is going on there), rumours about David Moyes’s contract, Bill selling or not, Wyness upsetting everyone, Kirkby or not Kirkby, Terry Leahy even Warren Bradley getting onto football websites – yes the football season is due to start in a few weeks time.
I was thinking about the coming season, some people are already saying the most important season in our history but surely every season is that, and asking myself why have I renewed my season ticket. Not only mine but my daughter and 2 grandsons who attend every match with me. Of course, the answer is simple isn’t it?
I am an Evertonian. For better or worse, richer or poorer (interesting thought) till death us do part.
I say Evertonian because I find it difficult to actually say I like football nowadays. Or more to the point what football seems to stand for. Consumerism run wild but where the consumer, that’s us the fans, seem to be the least important elements of the whole system. It seems we are geared just to ensure that the machine keeps going oiling everyone pockets except ours.
Before a ball is kicked it sis time for contemplation, for thought, to draw a line on last season and look forward. There are it seems to me, two main issues facing Everton and Evertonians. One off the field and one on the field.
On the field, it is the football, the players and the manager that I am thinking about. I am not going to speculate about who we should sign, sell or loan, whether Moyes is the manager to move us on, back to the top. That’s all been written about. What concerns me is even deeper. Can Everton in the near future or in my lifetime ever win not only The Premiership but any trophy? For me this is the biggest dilemma…
First the Premiership. Do we honestly believe that in these times where money is king and it doesn’t seem to matter where the money came from, that Everton in their current financial situation could seriously challenge the Big Four. I believe that we cannot. And so, some may say, let’s sell to an American, a Russian, a bent eastern ex-premier, as long as we get the money to get us back to the top. Not me and I seriously hope not the vast majority of Evertonian’s. After all being an Evertonian stands for something doesn’t it. If we are not to buy into the Executive Murdoch/Sky Club, and to paraphrase Grouch Marx, “I wouldn’t like to be a member of a club that would let me in”, then what is the point of going to watch Everton’s League games and of course on spending my money on 4 season tickets. Well believe it or not – entertainment. That’s what football is – of course with a competitive edge. I want us to finish as high as possible in The Premier – we improved on last season, moving up a place so can we move up again. But I want to watch good football – attractive football, the ball played around to feet, pass and move, skill and skilful artistic players. Of course, all of this goes out of the window when we play certain teams (no mention of RS here). If we cannot buy the big names in Europe and surely we cannot compete with the £30 million for one player then buy the up and coming, ambitious players who have something to prove, go for the playmakers, the young players, make our scouts work for a living. Let Evertonians enjoy watching the football played by our team, let’s have a feeling that maybe its our team with players that have some rapport with us the fans who pay their wages.
If we cannot win the Premiership then what can we win. Well, I believe mistakes were made by Moyes last year. I believe we, well he, made a big mistake in the first leg semi final against Chelsea, wrong tactics. We, again he (and certainly the players as well), blew the FA Cup, wrong team, wrong tactics and also we gave too much respect to Fiorentina – we had more than an hour at Goodison to get the winner and didn’t. A trophy, some sort of silverware, is important to us, the fans, the club, we need something in the showcase. I want us to concentrate this season on winning something – go for it. Do not play weakened teams in the FA Cup or league Cup – go for them. The drive for playing your best in The Premiership is again a management objective aimed at making more money not at entertaining the fans. I would love to see us in a final this coming year and not merely throw the opportunities away. We deserve it – the greatest thing about Everton is its history and its fans and we are one and the same thing, The Club and the Fans.
Talking of history and Dear Mr Wyness, “If you know your history…….”, onto my second dilemma. Kirkby.
To move to Kirkby is to sell our soul, even our History, to the modern devil. The moneymen, consultants, consumerists, profiteers, soulless, passionless, money grabbing, quick buck, tricky dicky, powerpoint nothings. As you can gather I am against the move.
Please don’t tell me I have to move on – move on with who. Its not so much the idea of a new stadium that saddens me – yes I would love to see historic Goodison redeveloped (not an impossibility in my opinion). Don’t we ever learn – somewhere along the line in this City we allowed the Politicians and Planners to build a car park where the Cavern used to be and then when some plantpot then wanted to make money they rebuilt a replica. No replicas for me – the real Everton, the real Goodisn with a history that’s what I believe in, we are not plastic Evertonian’s or merely followers of the new fashion, the latest winners – what am I this Year a Red fan, or ManU or Arsenal or Chelsea because they are on Sky and have won a few things recently – no I am an Evertonians once and forever). We were born here in the City and we should stay here. My daughters, my grandchildren and my wife, who is from Poland, and all my European visitors, and I have many, are all taken to the top of Everton (yes its called Everton) Brow and shown the little keep which is on Everton’s Crest.
This is history, you do not wipe away history with the signature on a Planning officers Contract. My mother used to say to me “The planners did what Hitler couldn’t do and bombed the centre of Liverpool – never trust them son” and I don’t.
Everton, The Club, The Ground and The Fans stand for something in this City, don’t we? Well let’s stand firm – Keep EVERTON in the City – it’s our Club and it’s our City.
So, see you all at GOODISON on 16th August to watch OUR Team, The Blue Boys and we love them.
sensible article george ,well thought out,although you will have your crytics and synics telling you to move on,because of your opinons and fears of the stadium move,dig you heels in mate,i for one wish for a rich sugar daddy to take over are club and push into the realms of the sky4 if only to wipe the smirks off the scandenavians across the park,four season tickets is more than enough to give you the right to voice your concerns,as they say, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, have they not heard of artheritus,as you said you don’t believe we are capable of challenging the sky4 but would appriciate if we passed the ball along the floor and become more entertaining.
yes, should we go for silverware or try to consolidate 5th/6th and get UEFA cup football for another year. Big Question, of course we all want silverware, but if we manage to get to a semi or final then lose, and we end up in 10th, it wouldn’t be a great season.
great article George, tried to send a message last week as a reply to your article but site wasn’t working properly a little bit like Evertons transfer activity. Looks like we have managed to get a few on board lets hope there’s a few more before monday! Also the big four are just a set of franchises owned by global rogues teetering on the edge of collapse if they after each champions league defeat. Did you see that lot across the park the other night frightened half to death that not only were they nearly going out of the champions league but the double cheeseburgers who own them would have tightened their belts to avoid revealing their precarious pants coming down.