Everton Aren't a Serious Football Club

You’re not alone in your frustrations, we’re just going through the motions season after season and eventually we will be relegated and rightly so, you can’t just expect to plod along like we’ve done for so long with no consequence, we’ve had some close scrapes and you would think that would be enough to change things but to no avail, its arrogance and above all it’s starting to tarnish Everton as a club, brand and business. We are in regression.

It all seems very unstable and on the brink of collapse, the stadium, the new owners, the manager, all just papering over the cracks, it’s absolutely disgraceful how far we’ve fallen over the years, we’re a laughing stock, other teams use to fear playing us but now they can’t wait, Nil satis nisi optimum? You are a disgrace Everton! Relegation beckons and I fancy it to be this season.

Totally agree with you Ell. I'm a little older than you, approaching 44 and 1993 away at QPR (3-2 win, Andy Hinchcliffe free kick winner at the death) was my first game.

But I feel exactly the same - total apathy where I used to shake like a leaf every time I listened to Everton on 5 Live, let alone watched them when I'd be a complete nervous wreck.

I walked out of my cousin's Barmitzvah ceremony to listen to the last half hour of the 1995 cup final on the radio in my mum's car, so desperate was I to know what was going on!

Now? If we ever even reach a cup final again, which it is hard to conceive of, if I already had some other conflicting event on, I would just check the result and watch it on catch up if we won!

Covid was what started ruining football for me - that season and a half of pointless games in empty stadia was soul destroying. But I think that merely accelerated a decline already in motion.

Everything that has happened since, including the multiple on and off field injustices to Everton, especially as compared with the pathetic sanctions or total lack of punishment meted out to other teams guilty of the same and much worse, has been the final straw.

As the new season approaches I feel. nothing. I can't go with your regularity as I live in Oxford, but after doing two games at HDS last year, I really find myself wondering if I want to bother spending the considerable money a day out at the match takes this year. Impressive stadium visually for sure, but the disconnect between the fans, especially the older guard, and this moribund club is so obvious you can all but touch it...

I said a few weeks back that, if we start the first game of the PL season with JOB or Merlin at right back, I will boycott Everton for the season. I stand by that - I'm not slogging up to HDS from Oxford at all if that's the case. I'm not willing to spend my hard earned money on a club that criminally neglects to fill a vital position, where the need is so obvious that Mr Chips on sodding catchphrase could see it, for nigh on two months during yet another wasted transfer window.

Love Everton the institution, hate what it has become through its own negligence and lack of ambition and buffered by deeply unfair, biased external events. For me, it always come back to the almost primordial thing - until the age of about 25, I shook watching or listening to Everton and screamed / beat the ground when we scored. Now, I can barely muster a shrug either way. How can that be...?!

It's gotten to the stage for me that reading and contributing on this website has become a bit of a paper exercise in being a fan. I'll read match reports on games I haven't watched one second of, games that I've had no great interest in watching live, even though I could make the time to. Sure, I'll watch the three minute highlight reel on the sky sports website when we win, nice little rush that, but then I'll instantly go to something else. I'll write articles on aspects of the club whilst never having set foot in the ground, or seen Everton players in the flesh. I'll write about the ups and downs of being an Everton fan, without really living it in reality. Thats where I'm at now.

At the start of each new season, I keep promising to myself that I'll start making more of an effort, show more of an interest, at least watch the games like I used to. And it never happens. It's all gone flat, stale and repetitive, and Ive disconnected to a large extent.

Perhaps if we had finished last season strongly, the close season may have felt a lot different. The fan base would have been given a new lease if life, fresh impetus in their support of the club, renewed passion. While it may have papered over other issues, these issues would have been greatly diminished by the value of European football. A rising tide as they say. Start the season with a new and bigger stadium, finish it with European football. How not Everton that for a change. Instead, we yet again failed miserably, and the issues have only been magnified.

Will this season by any different? There's always that little bit of hope, still a tiny bit of excitement, dare I say even anticipation with the approach of a new season. Logic says that there shouldn't be, and I'm surprised at myself. But I know that come mid September, it will be the same old nonsense, with chickens coming home to roost already, fail to prepare as Eli says.

Ell, you know a bit of my backstory, so you understand when I tell you I'm an instinctive optimist. But believe me, I understand your pessimism.

I grew up a baseball fan of the Chicago Cubs, who wore a near-identical shade of blue and played in an honored, traditional old ballpark, the American version of Goodison -- and they won nothing. Ever. When I was born, it had been a half-century since they had won a championship, and it would be another half-century before they would again.

The Cubs were lovable losers, and on the rare occasions they were good enough to challenge for top honors, something sick always happened -- the most famous home run by the greatest player ever, a pitcher injury, a simple error, an inadvertent fan interference at a crucial moment, even a black cat walking in front of a batter. I disengaged, to use your word, many times over the years as my heart was repeatedly broken and I tired of watching a dismal team get dismal results.

But in 2009, the skinflint family that had owned the Cubs since 1921 sold them to businesslike billionaires, who refurbished the old ballpark, replaced the old guard executives with the top professionals in the field, and authorized spending on top talent. And in 2016, desperately ill, I cried like a baby as I watched them celebrate their first championship in exactly 108 years.

The parallels to Everton are obvious. Our club now has by far the wealthiest owners in its history, people with a background of unbroken success and unchallenged integrity. We have the most dazzling new stadium in Europe. And we have, according to their resumes at least, our most highly qualified executive team ever.

Nothing that happened before TFG matters anymore. The dysfunctional incompetents who allowed the club to drift for decades and snow-jobbed the fan base are gone. The people who signed Kroldrup and Maupay and Martina are history. We are 20 months into a whole new world at Everton.

I don't believe that because the Friedkins are silent about their intentions, it means they don't have any. Or that because nobody has spoken publicly about right backs, they're not pursuing them. I believe these are the most professional, businesslike owners the club has ever had, and longtime supporters simply don't know what to make of them because they won't say anything publicly and don't show up to games. (I don't understand that approach, but given their success with their longtime business model, I think they have every right to use it.)

I may the only fan here who believes it, but I think TFG will restore Everton to its rightful place among the league's elite and return us to contention for silverware. I have no illusions about how long this process will take -- the Cubs' new owners needed 7 years and they didn't have a rigged Premier League system and SCR to overcome. So we will have to be very, very patient. But at age 70 I believe I will live long enough to see an Everton trophy parade and a serious league title challenge.

Hey, I was right about the Cubs. And ten years on I still shed tears thinking about it. I will cry for joy over Everton too.

It’s all very simple - in the whole of the Premier League era we have been run by poor and / or incompetent owners.

Joe Royle - as you point out - put together a good side but how much in today’s money would Kanchelskis and Speed cost? About £120m for the former and about £90m for the latter? What about Ferguson? Again, probably north of £100m.

But that was a very brief and not very successful spell of spending competitive sums.

Every single other club in our position has been relegated and some have spent long spells in the wilderness.

What we can do much better is develop young players and source high quality players from cheap markets. But that’s not a way to get success - teams doing this well just hit the same glass ceiling Moyes did (doing his own very basic prototype version of what Brighton etc do).

To get success you need to spend competitive sums on your squad. It is that simple.

All the 8 clubs who have been doing this since Covid have all have Champions League runs and most have trophies.

We can’t do that yet because our revenue levels are miles adrift of the richest 8. But we will catch up.

So I agree with Mike G - I don’t read TFGs silence as lack of intent. It’s just plain obvious that rebuilding Everton will necessarily take time.

As you point out - we don’t even have a RB ffs. It’s a hangover from being run financially as though we were relegated in 2021.

But bulking up the squad with low cost but good quality players (as per the 4 already signed) and finishing the job with 3 or 4 more (maybe more than that) in the coming weeks will hopefully give us a shot at getting back into Europe - which will be a competition we can win.

Everton have become a Zombie Club.A new stadium cannot mask the poor infrastructure and the same old Management themes.This coming season has all the hallmarks of a Crisis point, something that forced TFG to act at Roma.I say bring it on.

We all get It, Ell.

I went to my first game in 1971. I've known highs obviously but it's mainly been lows.

This sort of article is one of those that misery-guts Michael Kendrick loves to publish on TW.

Struggling to understand why it's on here, Lyndon.

Tend to agree, Mick. I’m definitely not a happy clapper by any stretch, but ffs - I’m capable of waiting until the transfer window shuts before pre-judging an entire season.

I’m almost 70 yrs old and a Blue since 68’

Compared to some posters, I’ve witnessed some real success.

Since our last league win, it’s been absolutely grim, if you discount our FA Cup win.

But, even since that win, it’s been Downhill Grim.

Every, pre Season brings new hope.

There have been some really awful signings along the way, albeit some gems. Including, Arteta, Stones,both of whom were sold and went on to achieve the Success, that they would never have found here.

Now, it’s Blatantly obvious that Ndiaye will move on, as he seems disinterested by a new contract.

But, at the same time, we offer an extremely average player like Mykolenko a new Contract.. maybe improved.. for what?

We, still have the knack of signing Thirty-somethings, to add to Keane and Tarkowski !

Then some will say, « It’s good Business! »

I hear also, that it’s rumoured that we are in for Wan Bissika!

A player that we were rumoured to be interested in, about six years ago.

If this is true, then that’s Typically Everton and there’s no Kenwright to blame.

Stones, Richarlison !.. anybody..

The biggest problem here is that the same pattern is being repeated post Friedkins as it was with previous regimes. We have obvious weaknesses in the squad and our recruitment people are either unwilling or unable to do anything about it in a timeframe which allows integration of new faces. I hope I’m wrong but history tells us the new season will start with us on the back foot with the same issues which have plagued us for years. The first few games get written off and then we will get suckered in to the farce of the transfer window deadline day optimism. The supporters have simply had enough of this as nothing seems to be indicating this season will be any different. Other clubs have optimism based on new personnel we simply don’t unless something unexpected happens soon. If Moyes is the problem/roadblock to some of these deals then his days are numbered as he has zero credit in the bank even with his most loyal fans. His stubbornness has been reinforced by his brief success at West Ham but any failure to deliver in this pre-season I fear will lead to him and several first team players facing the backlash almost from the first kick of the ball. I have the optimism of over six decades of being a blue and hope there will be an avalanche of signings any day soon but history tells us this won’t happen. The overwhelming feeling I have by the new owners is that as a paying customer of the club is that I’m getting rinsed with every passing season and the entertainment served up no way justifies the cost both financially or emotionally.

An evocative article Ell,capturing the mood of many Evertonians I would guess.

I’m 82, my first game at Goodison was October 1963,an evening game against Arsenal.
We won 2-1 with goals from Alex Young and Derek Temple as I recall but my memory is not what it was!

Since then I’ve seen good times,bad times and a lot of mediocre times.

I think that what depresses Evertonians most is the Groundhog like season after season repetition of apparent lack of transfer planning.no forward strategic aims, transfer targets being lost to other clubs for the sake of a few million,large contracts and high wages being given to older players,often with a dodgy injury record and no sell on value.
I could go on,the unbalanced nature of the squad,the square pegs in round holes policy etc.etc.
It all adds to the feeling that the management and owners of the club are at the very least incompetent and unprofessional.

Thankfully Mike and Robert give a reasonable and objective plea for patience,Wait till we have the funds and then have the belief that all will be well.
Easy to say but very hard for long suffering fans to take.

Mike says everything before TFG is irrelevant,that the incompetents running the club have now gone and we are on the road to a bright new dawn.Maybe we are Mike,but the situation of the club before TFG appeared on the scene does matter.
It laid the foundation for supporters feelings of dissatisfaction and a growing dissolusionment amongst supporters which is the underlying theme of Ell’s article and unfortunately,to date,there has been little evidence on the part of TFG to dispel this.

Pretty much no Premier League club will have done their business in time to integrate players before the season starts. That’s just not how it works. It’s not a good system but it’s the same system for everyone.

At 4 completed deals already we are certainly not amongst the slower movers so far.

Nail hits head. Spot on if sobering assessment of the last few dreary decades, punctuated by the failure this summer to proactively address some glaring holes in the squad.

To those going glass half full - I get it, and if we beat Palace with Jake O’Brien and Mykolenko on either side, pessimism can feel premature. But we’re not talking about a transfer window that ends before the season starts in earnest.

Judging our business by the close of the window loses us valuable time to bed in new signings, develop patterns of play, arrest those concerns over defending set pieces, work on converting and creating more chances - everything we saw in the pathetic, limp ending to last season and much of what pre-season has unsurprisingly served up.

The continued silence from a manager reverting to type and with less than a year to run on his contract, the fringe players in limbo between the exit door and needed to make up the numbers in pre-season, NOT SIGNING A RIGHT BACK, all of this wouldn’t be an ideal start to any campaign.

But as Ell says, it’s not an isolated incident. It’s season after season. The right back issue sums it up perfectly. Even when we were splashing the cash, we never signed a specialist, long-term successor for Coleman. That our best option in that area over the last five or so seasons has been a player closer to 40 than his prime is damning.

Moving to a new stadium is complex, and it’s easy to sway from bittersweet nostalgia to optimism to “one £6 donut, please.” But when we’re still carrying the weight of all of this discontent, I think Ell has summed it up a treat. Let’s hope ahead of that Palace game that new faces and a belated sense of urgency, ambition and not this “happily dissatisfied” mindset means we have something to get behind in 2026-27.

My first game was in 1990, but it was part way through the '93/94 season that I really fell for this Club.
I was there to see Joe Royle appointed, saw the the FA Cup win in '95 but August 17th 1996 is still my favourite ever day at Goodison.

I left the ground that day, a week before my 15th birthday, convinced that we going to do great things under JR. There was no doubt. A feeling I'll never forget.

We didn't win another game until September 28th!

Everton, that.

Woaah there Ell

That entire article is a little too close for comfort. But where do we go ? what do we do ?

This club is our life

I believe Ell's words represent the thoughts of many Blues. But I try to share in the strained optimism of Mike G and Robert T.

Perhaps what worries me most at the moment is that after the first five league games, there is a three-week international break. That is going to seem a very long period for whoever is in the bottom four or five.

It's about time though we started to get the rub of the green and a few decisions going our way.

In a final note of optimism, I can see Barry getting at least ten PL goals this coming season. I liked the way yesterday that he won that pen, picked up that ball and slotted it. Beto will chip in too.

But, yes, fundamental institutional issues remain.

La Vie, cest la vie.. Everton is a work in progress and its gonna take time and the new owners appear from the outset to be business men.
Another 3 or 4 years of living within means, could be a soild foundation, in the near future?

On a different note I hope Everton don't trade McNeil for Johnson, but lets see.
Hopefully a new RB and a striker, but kets see.

The fan base needs to accept that over the last 30 years, the club has seriously lost its way and is extremely fortunate to be in the top division.

We are no longer a big club. The utter shambles of the Moshiri era copper-bottomed it. Personally, I think we ceased to be a big club at some point around the late 90's/early 2000's. The game moved on and we were stuck with Kenwright. We have become a mediocre football club. These days Everton is a byword for mediocrity.

There is little point in people losing their shit and throwing their toys out of the pram. It happened and we deserve it.

Under new ownership, the club is attempting to recover from a monumental battering and move forward. We will need to get a lot of decisions right for a long time to get where we want to be.

A return to basic competence in the form of regular top half finishes and challenging for Europa League qualification (it must be a decade since we troubled the top half) is the first port of call in my view. Get up the table. Stop being shite. Gradually improve. Get back some respect.

Disconcertingly, the fan-base seems to prefer endless negativity and doom-mongering. Some revel in it.

Mick (8): As a baseline, Evertonia publishes well-written articles by Everton fans for Everton fans; there is no agenda either way and my publishing any piece doesn't imply any endorsement or agreement on my part.

In Ell's case, he has given me permission to cross-post all of his Substack pieces here while they are free to access which I enthusiastically do because he is among a number of Everton writers I was hoping would publish here when I started the website.

In this particular instance, it's been a while since an article by a fan has resonated so widely on social media. There have been numerous retweets and posts in agreement on Twitter over the past 24 hours, a clear indication that Ell has tapped into a frustration and feeling that is prevalent among a significant section of the fanbase.

Should the club's transfer business between now and 2nd September suddenly reveal an as-yet hidden level of ambition by the owners, I'm sure Ell will be the first to hold his hand up and be drawn back towards a bit more optimism.

But the very thrust of his argument is that we've seen the movie so often that few expect to be bowled over once the deadline closes because, as yet, there hasn't been a lot of evidence that the club has changed much under new ownership. Again, he could be proved otherwise and I'm still prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt but we shall see...

I believe that one of the main things the club has unforgivably neglected in the past decade or so has been a proper decent striker. You know, that player that no matter who you play, you know you've always got a chance because they are on the pitch. That player who all the kids want to be when they are having a kick about.

Since Lukaku, let's face it, every striker we've tried (and invested very very little money in) has been average at best. A bit like the club in general as Ell portrays it. Just a bit "meh".

It looks like we are now going into another season with a couple of lads up front who are the absolute pinnacle of "meh". How many kids do you think scream "BETO!!!:" or "BARRY!!!" when they score a goal in the playground?!

The great Everton sides of old had them. The Everton of recent years hasn't even got close. Have they even tried? It appears that we have been content with the most vital of positions being filled with bang average.

Yes we desperately need a right back, and the mind absolutely boggles with what is happening there. But for the love of God, could we please please please at least try to find a striker worthy of wearing the Royal Blue number 9?

I remember that game against Newcastle. It was the first game I went to after buying my own season ticket with my own money (it cost £50 - student rates in the Top Balcony) - though my dad bought me my first season ticket in 1985.

I agree with a lot of the article. As everyone here is no doubt aware I think I'm right in saying we are the only club in Europe that has had nothing to celebrate this millennium - no trophies or promotions.

The recent injustices with regards how we've been treated compared to other clubs does compound the futility of it all.

The constant mid-week night games last season were incredibly frustrating. If I knew now that was to become the new norm I'd seriously consider packing in my season ticket.

I actually love the new ground though I hate the drinking choices outside it.

But I do think we're on an upswing on the pitch. Last season's 13th place finish is galling because my honest opinion is we were better than that. Yes Moyes fucked it up but he's also got a lot right since he's come back.

I think we'll see a lot more of Dibling and Aznou this season and they might even be good players.

I'm more glass half full.

Lyndon, I actually don't think it will make any difference to most of the fan base whether we do sign a right back and a striker and pull off the highway robbery of a McNeil-for-Johnson swap. It won't be good enough. There will be a listing of who we should have signed instead, Mayo Clinic-level explorations of their injury records, and a chorus of nobody-else-was-in-for-them. The pessimism runs too deep.

It's the same philosophy that insists that because we finished 13th last season and 13th the season before, there is stasis. Last season was the first in five years where the word "relegation" was never mentioned (I didn't lose a single night's sleep worrying for the first time since 2021), but nobody else considers that an improvement.

We can choose our path. We can choose to be optimistic or pessimism. It's not a choice being forced upon us anymore, not by Bill or by Koeman or by Russian oligarchs or by Morgan Effing Schneiderlin. As Bobby says, most Evertonians now seem to choose the latter, thus the Twitter response you mentioned to Ell's article. It's understandable, yeah, but it's also kinda sad. If this does turn out to be an inflection point in the history of the club, most fans will look back and realize they were too immersed in their misery to see it.

Mike, what will be more pertinent is what standard of right-back or striker we sign even if we manage it. The mooted McNeil-Johnson swap might strictly make financial sense but taking a struggling winger from what is regarded as a smaller club isn't quite what those pleading for ambition would have in mind.

This is probably worth the article I'll no doubt write after the window is closed but while TFG would argue that they are painstakingly putting their ducks in a row, many Blues will point to what Villa, Newcastle and now Spurs did in the wake of their brushes with relegation to quickly mount challenges at the right end of the table.

It might be that our situation was that much worse — and that the rebuild will, therefore, require more patience — but in the absence of what many perceive to be adequate communication from Everton's hierarchy, the absentee owners, and a shortage of convincingly stated ambition, apathy and frustration is festering.

It doesn't help that we're still waiting for that right-back signing less that 2 weeks before the new season kicks off or that Moyes, a visible link to the old Everton, remains in charge, either.

You may eventually be proved right when this slow progression yields success at some point down the road but Ell's piece taps into the fact that fans are just tired of waiting and the club just seeming the exist while the price of watching them take tortoise steps forward keeps going up.

Lyndon, Palace may be a traditionally smaller club than Everton - but financially they are our closest peer in the Premier League. We are not bigger or richer than them at the moment - and they have been investing in their squad over a period in which we had to dismantle ours - which is why so many of their players are better than ours.

Johnson could be a very good signing. An experienced Premier League player of great pace and versatility- still fairly young and in need of a fresh start. Sounds encouraging no?

I generally like Ell’s articles and can understand where he’s coming from with his latest opinion but I can’t agree with his opinion.

Yes we have been mediocre, or worse, for far too long but I’m in the same boat as Mike and Robert, things are slowly improving.

It’s easy to look at the squad and demand we need a right back (which we do) and a centre forward and to replace Tarkowski, Keane and Mykolenko but it all takes time and serious money so we have to be patient.

Right now I’m not particularly looking forward to the season and think we may struggle but let’s see who else we sign and make judgments then.

So many mistakes have been made over the years that will take a lot longer to overcome but we will get there.

Great article Ell as usual, my first game was 1971 so many more seasons than some of the youngsters on here, there’s been success and plenty of low points along the way, I believe the current malaise around supporters lies more with the establishment running the game than with the club itself, certainly from my point of view the introduction of VAR, the disproportionate sanctions on clubs like ourselves,Forest,Villa, Newcastle et al is both confusing and frustrating as we see Chelsea and City spending at will with no regard to rules and regulations, and getting away with it.
Football has changed so much commercially and even the last World Cup was an indicator of things to come, games now quartered, Politicians (ahem)becoming involved in the rules etc, it’s all becoming too much for long standing fans of football, who in August thought their team always had a chance of finishing at the top of the pile.
Teams like Everton,Villa, Forest, Derby QPR, all used to give as good as they got back in the day, anyone and everyone had a chance, now its the usual suspects every single season, survival has become the first target, it’s no wonder long standing fans are drifting away.

This could still be a very progressive time for Everton. I think we will have one of the best central midfields around, and with strength in depth. I hope Moyes shows faith in his young wingers and gives them a prolonged run in the side even if results aren't immediately great and the terminally morbid section of our fanbase kick off.

For all their faults the one thing our strikers can do is score goals, a fully functioning midfield will create more chances and there's no reason to think that with more chances B & B won't score more.

There's even enough rumours knocking around about right-backs to have faith that even Everton can't start another campaign without signing one.

If anything is going to stop us from progressing and mounting a serious assault on a Euro spot it's central defence. My concerns that we are in for a 'typical Everton window' is the lack of any rumours of reinforcements in this department.

We have a top class defender, who has recently an atrocious injury record, a good defender who has been off playing right-back for a season and that's it. Tarkowski's deterioration over last season from capable to liability was plain for all to see. I can only assume it's age related and permanent, this guy should not be starting multiple games for us. Keane has defied his ageing well but is another that should be no more than an emergency back-up. They should never both start together again.

At least one of these needs needs to head off to a Championship club, and at the very least, one player capable of starting needs to be brought in, either permanently or on loan. Another left-back, premier league capable and useful going forward, would be nice too.

Everton's actions over the next few weeks will determine if we have turned a corner or if we are in for another 'meh!' season.

John the fundamentals are there in the squad.We just need the right Manager and TFG to implement the changes they are capable off, as can be seen from their wider organisation.They probably to know that infrastructure does need significant investment, but they seem to have over did the stability bit and tolerated the Manager dominating the football side, over a weak Chief Executive, which is not sustainable.They need do push on with sustainability and tackle the main cause of the deficit : youth development in the first team squad.I think recruitment is right except for the defence, where Moyes would have alot of say and would make sure he had.It is the bases of his model.

Jeff # 28 - our points penalties were outrageous yes, but clubs are not now spending whatever they want. Essentially spending on transfers is linked to your revenue as a club. The rich 8 are miles ahead in this regard. West Ham were significantly ahead too until their relegation. We’re in a group of mid table clubs that includes Brighton, Palace, Bournemouth and Brentford. At the moment we cannot outspend these clubs - see Brentford’s recent acquisition of quality midfielder Sangare for €48m.

Our low revenue levels stop us from spending big on transfers. And a big transfer spend these days starts at around £250m in a single summer and goes up to about £500m.

City, Chelsea, the RS and others generate additional revenue by trading a high volume of youth academy players (many bought from other clubs).

That is why the most important thing by a mile for TFG to do is raise our revenue. The good news is that once we do that we can expect the same Champions League runs of all other clubs with big revenues.

But Robert that is my point, it’s not a level playing field,and never will be again if revenue is the precursor to what you can spend on transfers, the rich, well supported, well sponsored and TV revenue darlings will simply pull further and further away from the mid table clubs and the league becomes a boring snore fest season in season out, as it is now btw.

What chance do clubs like us , Bournemouth, Brighton, Palace have of moving into this elite? Zero, oh we can dip into Europe every now and then like these other clubs have done last season and this, but it purely temporary, not sustainable and frankly depressing.

Jeff # 32, we are still recovering from years and years of mismanagement and nearly going bust. Our revenue levels are artificially low for that reason. However they won’t stay so low if the owners are remotely competent.

Our natural revenue levels should be more like that of Villa and Newcastle at least and a good distance north of the well run mid table clubs.

In the immediate short term (ie this coming season) we can expect cup runs and European qualification. We were only 2 wins off Europe last season which we’d probably have got with a fit Grealish and Branthwaite.

Within 3 seasons we should (if recruitment is sufficiently well thought out and long term in nature) be able to put together a Newcastle / Villa standard squad and expect similar returns (ie Champions League).

Longer term than that, look at where Arsenal were in terms of spending power etc when they were building the Emirates. Now they can afford to bid for the likes of Vinicius Junior.

It is not out of reach at all.

For the first time in Premier League history it’s looking like it might be within reach.

John@29 You’ve nailed it - the RB situation wont be an issue soon enough, and you’ve correctly predicted the area which will collectively gnash teeth next season - relying on O’Brien and Branthwaite to form a solid partnership for most games. Tarkowski and Keane as backups scare me - there’s more goals to be lost there than missed opportunities by B&B at the other end, imho. I’ve always felt Moyes isn’t ruthless on veteran players, I wish there was chatter about being in for central defenders rather than more midfielders.

Great piece by Ell, even if it’s rather gloomy!! But there’s no escaping the fact that it generally does sum up how many of us have been feeling about Everton, and indeed football itself, for a good few years now.My first game was in September 1969, a 4-2 win over Southampton with a Joe Royle hat-trick.I was 7 years old and in the Upper Gwladys.And of course we went on to win the title at the end of that season.I thought following Everton would be wonderful back then…if only I knew!! But now, at 64, it saddens me knowing that all we’re doing at the moment is making up the numbers.And in recent seasons we’ve struggled to even do that.But you’ve always got to keep hoping and believing that better days are ahead, even if you suspect they’re not.Otherwise, what would be the point?
I tend to agree with Mike Gaynes here.I think the club overall IS in a much better place than it has been for a good while, but it’s that dreaded word patience that’s now seriously coming into play!! We have to be realistic and accept that we’re not going to be challenging for the title any time soon.But I think most fans are prepared to be patient as long as they see some degree of progress being made and better players being recruited, which I also think is happening.
As for the level playing field??…Well, I very much doubt things will ever go back to how they were when I was a kid falling in love with the game.I tend to use 1966 as a bit of a yardstick for no other reason than it’s obviously viewed as the most significant year in English football.But from 1966 until 1972, seven different clubs won the title in seven consecutive seasons.And the FA Cup saw 13 different winners in the years between 1966 and 1978.Plus the likes of QPR, Swindon and Stoke all won the League Cup during this period.You’ll never see those days again, unfortunately.Back then, a lot more clubs felt they had chance of winning something, which simply isn’t the case now.And it’s one of the aspects of the game that truly saddens me.But as I said, you have to keep hoping that we’ll win something again one day…and as a bit of an optimist,I think we will!!

Great article, Eli.

I fluctuate between love and almost hatred. Hating myself for yet again getting optimistic over some small sign of improvement. Sometimes we briefly get the belief back that we are onto something because we'll have just seen a good performance or result. Then, we'll lose games we are expected to win and all hope is knocked out of us.

I am genuinely worried about this forthcoming season, given the horrendous end of season results and performances. I think we had a few outstanding results last season which I can't see us repeating; away victories at Old Trafford, Villa Park, Bournemouth, Forest, Newcastle. That means, we are going to need to improve our home form massively. A lot rides on the atmosphere for home games. Sometimes, the crowd are up for it, the ground is like a bearpit and we can compete. Examples being Chelsea and Man City at the Hill Dickinson. Too often though it is flat and the team are lethargic. We don't have a team to play attacking football and I don't see where the goals will consistently come from. I was hoping we would address this during the summer and get some pace, guile and goal threat as well as improving both fullback positions. It just seems perplexing that we are less than a fortnight away from the season opener and you can still see Moyes' preferred back four including Tarkowski and Mykolenko (and probably Jake O'Brien at this rate). What other club would retain Michael Keane? He will be in his tenth season, when in truth, he should have gone after 2 or 3 seasons. He'd be useful at Coventry City but not for where we aspire to be. Surely?

The big frustration for me is that we have no identity. What is our playing style? We don't press aggressively. We don't break quickly. We're not a long-ball team. We're not entertaining. We still rely on the KITAP1 approach which is great when it comes off but means that we don't kill off games. Our recruitment "policy" targets players where we continually fail to get them over the line and then turn our attentions to a completely different kind of player. There seems no plan. The recruitment staff change, the owners change but the lack of a plan persists.

The Man City home game summed up life as an Evertonian. 2 goals to the good with minutes to play. Europe beckoning. Tarkowski and Keane switch off at the restart. 3-2. From that moment on, everyone in that ground could have scripted it. The only surprise being we didn't end up losing it 3-4. Pride turning to despair in a matter of minutes.

Moyes' to-do list for me which would affect my thoughts on this forthcoming season:

Need a reliable goalscorer.

Need a right-back.

Need a left-back.

Need more pace.

My suspicion is we will be scrambling around, in vain, on deadline day. Again.

Jerome #30 That's the strange bit, it unlike Moyes to neglect the defensive bit.

I am not anti-Moyes (that's Michael Kenricks's Toffeeweb's job), it's not his fault we're not the financial powerhouse we were, and has yet again stabilized a club destined for relegation. He isn't a manager who will deliver a Premier League title, but we aren't a club with the infrastructure to currently challenge for it.

I am looking for steady improvement, and I see the center of our defence as the major issue purely due to the lack of any incoming player rumours. At the moment, if Branthwaite stays fit, we can challenge for Europe, if he breaks down again, were looking at bottom half, not a risk I want to take.

Much like the right-back issue, it seems an easy fix. We don't need a great right back to improve, because we don't currently have a Premier League quality one. The same applies to a back up in central defence.

John # 37, that makes total sense. Hopefully we will never see the awful partnership of Keane and Tarkowski ever again. There are plenty of rumours re CBs with the most persistent being Harwood-Bellis.

Along with a new RB (Johnston, Spence, Lewis, Norton-Cuffey etc) that would give us a materially better looking defence compared to last season.

Premature I know but it sounds like Brennan Johnson really might be on his way. I’d be pleased with that.

It could be that Moyes is in place to make do and take the flak.He is probably comfortable taking the flak and make do with the defence than any other positions in the team.If premiership survival is the objective Moyes has nothing to worry about. Whoever comes after him can worry. Last Summer it was the same in needing a right back.Moyes said Everton didn't need a right back.

Ell,

I really feel for fans of your generation.

I have been following the blues since 1959 and my father and grandfather before that.

I have seen some of the highest moments in my life countered by a few low years but nothing to touch the last 30+ years.

Kenwright in particular threw away the opportunity to gain from the Premier leagues riches while ensuring his personal wealth and ego were enhanced.

We are no longer considered a big club, no matter what our fans feel, and it hurts me to read other clubs representatives and agents calling us a second rate Premier league club.

But if the cap fits our owners and executives seem pleased to wear it and our manager proudly proclaims we are plucky LITTLE Everton and to highlight that we even appointed a manager who once described us as a small club. How NSNO was that.

I don't post as often these days due to age and frustration but your article and the fact that Lyndon runs this sight, a man I look up to for his literacy and dedication to Everton, inspired me to air my frustration too.

I would like to point out to Robert and Mike, who are rightly asking for patience that I was once told by a mentor when putting a 5 year plan together that unless the short-term plan works there wont be a long term.

While TFG fawn over Roma they seem happy to let the so-called elite team ruin the goodwill that prevailed on the takeover by declaring they were Happily dissatisfied.

Well let me report that hundreds of thousands of Evertonians all over the world are "Unhappily dissatisfied" at this moment in time.

Mediocrity begets mediocrity and nothing good evolves from that but a revolution has significant effects and that is where we are heading unless we see some signs of NSNO from the hierarchy.

Jay, TFG produces worldwide revenue of $16 billion, which ranks them in roughly the top 30 of America's privately held companies. They have never reported a single down year in any of their properties and have never divested an asset, so none of those revenues are inflated by selling something off.

No disrespect intended to your mentor, but whatever plan TFG has in place is good enough for me.

As for "fawning" over Roma, they have currently spent a bit less on Roma in this window than they have on Everton, even though Roma just made the Champions League.

I am almost 70 yrs old and have been supporting Everton since 68’

I done something last may, after the last game of the season, after having watched that pathetic capitulation, in the last seven games … I turned off!

Yes, I decided to give myself and my health a break.
For the first time in my football loving life, I decided to ignore all things Everton.. no Evertonia, no Newsnow, no BBC football ( World Cup excluded), no Gossip, no Transfer news, no nothing.

I had decided that I was going to give Everton a break, until the kick off of the new Season !

And then, like all addicts, I sloped back.. only last week.

I Discovered that we had been beaten by Stoke, drew with Bolton.
I saw that we still have no top quality right Back, Moyes Beto and Barry are still here, all of whom, in my opinion, are a huge part of the problem!

I Watched the highlights of the Hamburg Game and the Stuttgart Game.

It has now Dawned on me that, supporting Everton is a hopeless love affair and is probably on a par with self Harming.

Hello, my name is Paul and I’m an addict!

Jay # 40, I do agree by the way - obviously there needs to be something worth watching in the immediate short term as we develop the side. What I am really not sure about though, from the more negative posters, is what you actually do want to see this summer.

Would you rather we had not signed any of Hackney, George, Rohl or Norgaard?

Who would you want us to have signed, that has already moved to another club (and would be realistically within reach)?

Mike,
I have no qualms about the way TFG manage their finances and nobody could criticize that, in fact when I learned of their interest I was delighted, but football is a different world to high finance as TFG are finding out and my frustrations are with the way Everton are being run especially by the so-called elite team.

Any CEO of mine who claimed to be Happily dissatisfied would be looking for another job the next day.

Anyone in the recruitment team who failed to identify and help get a Right back for over 12 months would also follow him out of the door.

Any set piece coach that oversees our disastrous performance on set pieces would not be rewarded with a new contract.

As much as I thought it was right to bring Moyes back when we did he should have been fired for the end of season collapse. There were plenty of good alternatives around.

My main concern is I don't see the desire to become a big club again and act like one.

We seem to be concentrating on marketing the stadium as opposed to marketing the Everton brand.

Robert,
I believe you would agree that apart from Norgard you wouldn't see any of those players playing regularly in a top club.

Hackney had a good reputation in the championship but will take some time to adjust to the Prem from what weve seen of him.

We have got rid of Gueye and Grealish and already had George and Rohl here from last season so I see the squad as weaker than the one that started last season and Tarks and Keane are getting older and slower.

It has been obvious to all and sundry that we struggle to score from open play and we desperately need to beef up our full back quotient.

To be in this state two weeks from the season opener is a dereliction of duty imo, especially after Moyes admission last season that we had tried and failed to get a full back over the line. FFS we should have been working on that all season and have someone lined up as soon as the season finished. I went on record as saying we should have been straight in on Wan Bissaka even if we still pursued a better quality RB.

How long does it take for the penny to drop about Bill and Ben up top.

I do respect your knowledge of players and wish our recruitment team had an even better knowledge but I don't see it.

What I see is Joe telling Fred "There's a lad playing in the championship we should look at unless you know anyone else that we might be able to get"

Where are all these agents that other clubs use, why would some one like Nick Cox leave Man U to come to Everton if not for an easier life on a grand salary with no pressure. It s still jobs for the boys now and these are expensive boys.

Rant over.

Jay, to answer your question I honestly don't see any of our new signings including Norgaard playing regularly for a top club (i.e. Champions League regular / contender). However, I think all of them can help us get to that position - and certainly help us get back into Europe next season.

In terms of business done by other clubs, I'll answer my own question. I think the following are good signings that would have done well for us:

- Fatawu (Ipswich)
- Yirenkyi (Coventry)
- Muhamarevic (Leeds)
- Silva (Bournemouth)
- Juanlu (Bournemouth)
- Garcia (Fulham)
- Sangare (Brentford)

None of these look like absolute stunners by the way - although one or two of them may really kick on. Some of them will probably flop too. Only one right-back in there - and lets see how Juanlu gets on compared to whoever we go on to sign as our own RB (because we will surely sign someone).

Whilst I expect David Moyes would have been delighted to sign the likes of Morgan Rogers, Elliot Anderson, Andre Santos, Bruno Guimaraes and Matteus Fernandes - we just don't have that sort of money.

Ell, I totally get it. It always amazes me you youngsters have never actually seen Everton win a trophy. Unfortunately I have suffered a bit longer than you — and to think we used to think from 1970 to 1984 was a awfully long barren spell!

Last year while my car was in for an MOT test (at least I think it was 2025 anyway) I walked up to the Goodison Road ticket office to get a ticket for the game against Peterborough and a few of us old timers got talking of teams of the past and agreed we had seen the best. But I had to add that now we are watching the worst! Not much has changed.

I went to 4 games last season but from1969 to 2026 is enough so EFC are not getting any more of my money. We have circled the plug hole of relegation with better squads than this current crop. No, I said crop! Let's hope there are 3 worse teams again.

Unsure that sacking everyone is the way to move forward really, Jay.

I feel your pain Ell. It’s amazing you still retain so much passion after decades of tripe.

The problem my generation of supporters have is that we were spoiled with success. We were a huge club who won trophies, broke transfer records and were part of an elite group of higher echelon football clubs. Often the best in the land. We didn’t expect this to end.

That’s gone now and it’s a hard pill to swallow. Even harder, I think Ell, than for someone like yourself who has experienced no relative success.

Mike G may well be right about the way TFG conduct their business and with it a strategy of non communication. We all hope so if somehow it brings success. I guess we need to keep hanging on in there, even you Ell, because unfortunately there’s no escape from supporting this lot.