After the dust has settled.

You can argue this all goes back to the refusal to give Everton permission to build on Kings Dock. Whether we had the funds or there was another reason for us not to build, Everton should have done everything in their power to make this happen if the club wanted to move with the times. Once again the board have decided to sit back with no “Plan B” and watch the club stay stagnant. Did this signal the beginning of the end for Everton trying to maintain a push for the Holy Grail and be regulars in the Champions League? Who knows, but quite possibly?

Even though the Kings Dock was a massive blow to the development of Everton Football Club, this should not detract from the magnificent work that David Moyes has done over the past 11 years, but for me it is now time for a complete change to the managerial and coaching staff at Everton FC.

I, along with the majority of Evertonians, thought we were in for a promising season after the start we had. We played free flowing attractive football week in week out which was a joy to watch, now it’s just dire. There just doesn’t seem to be the fluidity that we showed at the beginning of the season, even Steven “Mr Reliable” Pienaar looks slow, off the pace and just basically dis-interested along with other “big game” players like Fellaini and Jelavic. Moyes puts this down to a lack of squad depth, which for the record I don’t agree with. Poor Ross Barkley must sit on the bench week in week out and think to himself what do I have to do to get a game ahead of the ever ageing Phil Neville? Yes, Barkley is inexperienced but the only way to get experience is to play. I don’t expect him to play every week and become a world beater over night, but what I do expect is for him to be given a fair crack at the first team, then make a judgement. We have to many players who are 30 or the wrong side of it:

Jan Mucha (30)
Tim Howard (34)
Phil Jagielka (30)
Sylvain Distin (35)
Tony Hibbert (32)
Phil Neville (36)
Thomas Hitzlsperger (30)
Leon Osman (31)
Steven Pienaar (30)

I would say 6 out of the list above are regular 1st team players. This more than re-enforces the point that Kenwright needs to invest more money or at least find alternative avenues to produce enough revenue to compete at the very top level which at the moment isn’t going to happen.

36 year old Distin has been an ever present for the Blues this season.

When you read between the lines do we have the quality in the starting 11 to push for the Champions League spots when you compare us to the likes of Spurs and Arsenal? I don’t think we do. I think us as Evertonians put too much pressure on the players to do well, when in fact they know full well they are not up to the standard that they should be. This could be down to the lack of activity in the transfer window in January when the deal for Leroy fer fell through, from what I believe to be an Insurance issue. If this is the case where was Plan B? Or it could be that the players have lost all confidence in the manager since he won’t sign a new contract at the minute. I believe it to be the latter. If this is the case it would be best in everyone’s interest if David Moyes did the honourable thing and left the club, or at least give the fans an answer as to why he won’t sign a contract. For me the fans deserve a lot more respect than they are being shown now from Moyes and the club as a whole for putting up with this debacle for so long.

Ever since Moyes has said he’s not signing anything just yet, performances on the pitch have been nothing short of Championship standard and possibly worse than that. As a massive blue, I don’t mind being beaten by quality and the players trying their best, what I won’t stand for is players not trying and being turned over by “lesser teams” i.e. Norwich and Wigan in the last couple of weeks. I am paying my hard earned money to watch the likes of “Superstar” Fellaini (or so he thinks) and Phil Neville week in week out and not give a toss about what the fans think or feel and this is just totally unacceptable i think you would agree.

So how do we overcome what happened in the FA Cup Quarter Final against Wigan on Saturday? Is it a change in manager or is it up to Everton to make things crystal clear and tell the fans what the plans are for the coming years? I for one think it’s time for a change as I have stated above. The players have lost all confidence in the manager, the players seem to have a love hate relationship with the fans and we have the likes of Fellaini walking down the tunnel after being hauled off in the FA Cup and apparently gesturing to the Bullens Road shows a complete lack of respect to David Moyes and more importantly to the club. If we do get a good result against Manchester City next week I for one won’t be forgetting the shambolic showing from Everton in the FA Cup over the weekend and I will still want change.

Players come and go but the club will always remain. I will always support the club and will do until the day I die but I don’t want our club to stay stagnant, I want us to progress and bring the glory days back to Goodison Park.

Thanks for reading my first blog.
@seddo1984