Everton chairman Bill Kenwright deserves praise, not abuse from radio show callers

By David Maddock

Published 11:46 10/11/09

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In the car the other day, I swear I had to pull over and, well, err, swear at the radio.

Some punter calling himself an Everton fan was on a phone-in, saying that the club's injury crisis showed that it was time for chairman Bill Kenwright to go.

His - frankly mental - argument went along these almost unintelligible lines. Everton have 11 players out, but should still have the resources to cope, and they don't because Kenwright is standing in the way of a sale that would bring massive investment in the club.

Apparently, there are loads of billionaires out there, queuing up to buy the Blues and throw sacks of money at the cause to make them biggest club in the world. But Kenwright isn't interested because he only wants the glory of running the club he has supported for 50 years.

Hmmmm. Some argument.

I'm sure Liverpool, or Newcastle, or Portsmouth, or another 15 or 16 Premier League clubs would love to meet these billionaires, as indeed the doughty Kenwright himself would, after searching relentlessly and passionately for new investment into the club he loves.

Now let's examine the other side of the debate. Without 11 players, nearly all of them first team regulars, Everton drew against Aston Villa two weekends ago, after outplaying them for large parts of the game, and deserving victory. True, they were then outclassed by Benfica, with the same number of players missing, and then they beat West Ham at Upton Park.

This is an Aston Villa side who will go into the top four if they win their game in hand over the clubs above them, and a club that has pretensions of playing the Champions League next season. It is a West Ham side who took points off Arsenal at home.

When the freak injury crisis that has hit Goodison is over, they will have so many top class players to choose from, that manager David Moyes will have a genuine headache about who to leave out. Why?

Because Kenwright has shown remarkable skill in stewarding the club and providing support to a remarkable manager in Moyes, who has built a powerful squad that the rest of the Premier League would be envious about.

Virtually no other club could cope with such injuries as Everton have done. Just look at Liverpool and see the effects of injury problems on results. Yet Everton remain in a good position in Europe, and not too far off the pace in the league.

It is because they have a fine manager, and a fine chairman, who balances his love of his club with the financial realities of football in the 21st century. And for that, he deserves praise from genuine Everton fans, not the nonsense that was spouted on the radio last weekend.

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