milky71

Posts: 9,136

November 2011 Okay, I’m not writing this from pro-Kenwright perspective as such, this is my opinion and I’m just expressing my views as a Blue!

I’ve sat in the same seat for 17 years and the day Kenwright took over sticks in my mind. Before that, Peter Johnson. Okay, Johnson rebuilt the Park End and increased our crowds from 25,000 or so on average to 30,000+ on average. He bought us Duncan (then sold him, this I’ll go into in a bit) he bought us Kanchelskis and Limpar, he brought Joe Royle home and this decision alone won us our only piece of silverware since the 80s.

Joe instilled the “Dogs Of War” attitude – something which I strongly believe we need right now, players that play for each other and the fans, risking injury just to win the ball. By all accounts the reason Joe left is he was promised Tore Andre Flo and then Johnson changed his mind. Johnson then brought back Howard Kendall – now I love Howard and he’s one of our legends and most successful managers but this was not the right decision – a backwards move that brought a huge drinking culture to the club and we saw the likes of Gary Speed move on, due to this – not money! Drinking all the way to and from away games and players playing either still under the influence or hungover didn’t bode well with our former captain.

Anyway, I digress here. Johnson sold Duncan against his wishes, behind the managers back and in secret, for what? £8million stirling! Devastating Evertonians and Duncan alike. He did not want to go. We did not want him to go. Everton was HIS club, the fans were like family to him, we supported him when the SFA “made an example” of him. We loved him and he loved us. He still does and the feeling is mutual! I remember I’d just bought the white one2one away kit with Duncan on the back, paid with my own birthday money (I was about 8!!), it cost me £58! The club refused to give me a refund as I’d bought it 10 days previously rather than that week. I still have that shirt and I’m glad of this as I love Duncan, probably more than any male that isn’t family, ever! Still in Primary School and some would say too young to “get it” but I got it! They’d sold my Duncan and I was heartbroken.

Then we bought Steve Simonsen from Tranmere for £3million. Don’t get me wrong I like Simmo and I wish we’d kept him, but THREE MILLION? At the time, the record fee paid for an English goalie. Needless to say it was Johnson’s doing as he remains the Tranmere chairman to this day. Anyway, Johnson sold up (anyone remember that Coventry game where thousands of fans invaded the pitch afterwards and the police had to intervene as many were after Johnson?) and Bill Kenwright took over.

For me, the most important and long lasting thing he did for us back then was bring Duncan home. My Duncan. How I cried, tears of joy! We lost 2-0 away to Leeds first game of the season, Alan Smith got a brace. Then a night game at home against Charlton. Duncan took his place on the bench and in the second half, the board went up, number 24 was coming on. DUNCAN FERGUSON! I cried again. And then he scored, I cried even more, and he scored a second. That night will live with me forever, not because we won, but because he was back, DUNCAN WAS BACK!

Anyway, I’ve digressed again.

Back to Kenwright - a good friend of Walter Smiths and he backed him, but after that Middlesbrough cup game where they thrashed us 3-0, enough was enough and Walter and his assistant Archie Knox were sent down the job centre.

Bill convinced Moyes, a young upcoming and successful Division 1 manager to leave his job at Preston (where he took them to the verge of the Premiership) to come and see what Everton was all about! Needless to say I believe Moyes fell in love with the club the second he arrived in Liverpool, the welcoming of the fans, “The People’s Club!” – now we must remember, the team he inherited included many players on the brink of retirement – after one last pay day maybe? David Ginola, Paul Gascoigne and Mark “Sparky” Hughes. Gazza quickly left with Walter.

I vividly remember Moyes’ first game, my beloved Duncan, who Kenwright had brought home, was captain. Admittedly Andy Holden chose the team that day as Moyes had just arrived, but even so, he won my heart there and then! Unsy scoring after 27 seconds, UNSY of all people. We felt alive again, we began to hope.
He kept us up that season and without Kenwright’s intervention – changing the manager at a critical point, I honestly believe we would have been relegated!

Moyes was given funds, infact, up until the past 18 months or so, he always has been. Okay Moyes has had some fantastic buys but even so, its all money that Kenwright probably never had – Cahill, Neville, Lescott, Baines, Jags, Heitinga, Richard Wright, Howard, Pienaar, Arteta etc… he beat the club record transfer (which if my memory serves me right was Kanchelskis) four times signing Beattie (£6million), Johnson (£8.6million), Yakubu (£11.25million))and Fellaini (£15million)! He’s also signed Bilyaletdinov for £11million (all these figures are from memory so apologies if I am wrong) so noone can argue that Moyes hasn’t been given spends. Okay much was financed via the sales of Rooney and Lescott but even so! Kenwright could have insisted on pocketing a bit and paying bank loans with the rest, but he didn’t!

What I’m trying to say here is that every (most) chairman does good, especially when they first arrive at a club, like the aforementioned Peter Johnson, and inevitably after a while a section of fans will turn against them but even today – 30th October 2011, I’d rather have Bill Kenwright and his penniless wallet than the likes of Ken Bates (think of the debt Chelsea were in before Abramovic and what he did to Leeds – declared bankruptcy and bought them back for £1) I’d rather Kenwright than Peter Ridsdale (I read an excerpt from Dominic Matteo’s book saying how he’d been loaned to an American company with other players just to finance Rio Ferdinands transfer, and how all the kids were on silly money even though they were nowhere near the first team, and they complained to only be getting “£8,000 a week”!!!!!)

As for foreign take-overs; look at Portsmouth and Southampton, taken to the brink of none-existence through a succession of poorly vetted foreign chairmen. Look at clubs like Plymouth and Chester (when they were in the conference) and Portsmouth again, can’t even afford to pay their utility bills let alone player wages.

Yes I’d like investment in the club, but not any old fella (or lady) who claims to have a few bob in the bank, I want someone who knows about our club, who’s willing to develop the club and not sell off all our assets and leave us in despair!

As for all the Kenwright slaters, take a look at Lord Grantchester, supposedly one of the richest men in Britain, from the same family who founded John Moores University, both him and Kenwright own approximately 25% of Everton but no-one ever mentions him, or asks him to dig deep do they? NO! Kenwright has given us everything he can whilst Grantchester is sat on a pot of money that he wouldn’t even consider investing in our club so in my opinion its time to stop pointing fingers,

I’ve not even mentioned the 50% of the club that’s owned by others either, to me it seems like this – because Kenwright is our chairman and the face we all know, he is expected to perform miracles, lets give him some leeway, he admits himself he’s desperately trying to sell the club to a suitable investor, so lets let him do it! If anyone thinks that the Blue Union, or other groups and organizations like it, doesn’t have a knock on effect on the players then they’re wrong, just shut your mouths for the time being, or find investment for Kenwright! Maybe a fan based takeover where X amount of fans donate X amount of money to purchase Mr Kenwrights shares off him and clear the debt. No? Didn’t think so…