The Invisible (Chair)Man

Despite the inevitable shouts of  'tell us something we didn't all ready know,' the series of articles concerning what the future holds for Everton Football Club currently being run by the Liverpool Echo, should at least in my mind be generally applauded.

If, like my good self, you happened to take more than a passing notice of the very recent Destination Kirkby debacle, and in particular the shameless one-sided reporting before the now infamous vote, you can not be anything but a little pleased by the current change of tack chosen by the local rag.

Don't get me wrong here, you'll find nothing earth-shattering within the articles, we know 'the club' has been slowly dying on its arse for years. Neither do I believe for a nano second that our very own Claude Rains will be knocking at the knees at the thought of the Old Hall Street hacks flashing their penlights in his general direction.

This being of course, in stark contrast to the Echo's use of WWII searchlights during their apparently relentless pursuit of 'Dem Yanks MKI.' It is nevertheless, a beginning.

[caption id="attachment_126" align="aligncenter" width="366" caption="AWOL"][/caption]

So far we've had a 'Supporters Poll,' the 'Experts View'  and on Thursday we'll be able to digest the 'Fans Having Their Say.' What we'll be afforded in Friday's edition is anyone's guess although I can reveal, as a certainty, that nobody representing 'the club' will be making an appearance. Despite an invitation to contribute from The Echo, 'the club' have issued a plea of  'no comment.'*  No great surprises there either then.

Thankfully 6000 Evertonians will be very much visible when they make their way down to West London for this Saturday's FA Cup 4th round replay with Chelsea. Notwithstanding the ridiculous 12.30 kick-off time, they've been warned by those awfully helpful chaps from Scotland Yard to 'turn up early,' otherwise they risk getting turned over big style by a wounded Chelsea team. Something like that anyway.

*there is an (as yet) unsubstantiated rumour doing the interweb rounds that the players
of Everton FC have been instructed not to speak to the Liverpool Echo. More on that later, or not.

Planet Everton

 

Apparently two very clever  astrophysicists; John Matese and Daniel Whitmire, who, when not blowing our collective minds are playing up-front for the University of Louisiana's over-the-hill-mob at Lafayette, have discovered a colossal new planet in the far reaches of our Solar System. At almost four times the size of Jupiter it is, to quote London's yoof of today 'fackin massive innit.'

According to the free-scoring boffins, who as of yet are still to observe the planet named Tyche, the titanic and somewhat shy ball of gas consisting mainly of Hydrogen and Helium, is 15,000 times farther from the Sun than the Earth and has been hiding within the Oort Cloud - itself a hypothesized spherical cloud of comets which may or may not lie approximately,  almost a light-year from the Sun.

Massive Blue

We may have to wait a year or two to see whether Tyche will officially be promoted to the Solar System Premier League (after the relegation of Pluto). It seems Louisiana's MVPs Matise and Whitmire are waiting on the data captured by NASA's WISE telescope, the analysis of which they believe will catapult Tyche into the big league of planets.

Meanwhile back on Planet Everton, the Liverpool Echo have this afternoon published its own data based on the findings of its week-long poll, enigmatically titled:

 

'Everton FC in focus:

Just what does the future hold for the Blues?'

More than 1400 Evertonians exercised their view by answering amongst other questions:

Do you want Everton FC to be sold?

Do you believe Everton will be able to retain their best players this summer?

Following the publication of the club accounts, do you fear for Everton's future?

To quickly summarise:

88% of fans do not believe enough is being done to find a wealthy new owner.

78% do not think the club will be able to hold on to its best players in the summer.

56% want the club to be sold, another 40% insist it depends on the identity of the potential owner.

87% say they've given up on a new stadium.

71% say they fear for Everton's future.

78% don't think club will be able to hold on to best players this summer.

There you have it then, a conclusive set of results as one could reasonably wish for but (and this is the problem with all polls) whilst they can be useful and even successful, poll results can and will be taken apart, dependent of course on which view you hold in principle. The inevitable bottom line thus being; polls remain a flawed medium. Having said that, it could be argued that it is not only the poll results but the change of focus from the local press that is of prime importance here. Continuing on from last week the paper is apparently running with a week-long series looking at the future of Everton FC and in particular the well-worn issues of the stadium and the club's finances.

No doubt, they will also roll out and dust down a token rent-a-quote 'expert'  (or two) who predictably, will once again attempt to bedazzle the plebs with their oh so very well-worn rhetoric.

[caption id="attachment_99" align="aligncenter" width="298" caption="Expert"][/caption]

Just for balance like.