SAY what you like about Keith Wyness, and let’s face it most blues need no invitation, but he inherited a massive job when he took over as chief executive at Everton.
The club was in financial disarray, with stifling great slabs of debt all over the place and we were bleeding money at an alarming rate.
I remember interviewing Trevor Birch in 2004 when he, very briefly, took the job before Wyness.
In his own understated manner he was brimming with positivity about the task ahead. Six weeks later he walked, presumably after realising how bad things were.
So there were some who felt it was quite a coup when up-and-coming business doyen Wyness was head-hunted from Aberdeen.
Now, although there have been plus points like our impressive deal with Chang, the jury is out. And anyone who read our recent financial report would have noticed some alarming trends.
After his arrival, Wyness got busy out-sourcing various elements of the Everton business, like the Goodison catering and the merchandising operation.
There is no doubt that both areas needed improving. But the jury is well and truly back in on the results (so far) of both experiments and the verdicts are guilty.
Guilty, unfortunately, of making the situation worse.
Anyone who has waited 25 minutes in a ridiculous queue at half time for a pie and a Chang while only two staff are serving will know the catering could be better.
And that frustration can often be compounded when you finally get served only for them to have run out of basics on the menu.
Maybe you can bite your lip and put those little gripes down to Goodison’s unique charm (admittedly not when you’ve had to miss five minutes of the second half with only a Bovril and a left-over kit kat to show for your efforts).
The real problems for me are with the merchandising - in particular the way JJB have performed since taking over.
First of all it’s worth saying that any contract (like with a new player) is a risk (Andrew Van Der Meyde anyone?) but JJB have even made the Heathrow Terminal 5 launch look smooth by comparison.
No sooner had our flagship city centre store on Ranelagh Street closed, the first symbol of JJB’s mismanagement surfaced.
Our main city centre merchandising outlet was moved to the JJB store in Queen Square.
Slap bang next to Liverpool’s bright red (and dedicated) store - we simply could not have looked any more like the poor relation...
Until you go into the store and find their football merchandise section split evenly between Everton and Liverpool. And their shop IS NEXT DOOR.
The frustrated blues who posted on an interesting BlueKipper thread this week know it gets worse when you get inside.
Some posters comments included; ‘I went to the one in Liverpool City Centre - LIVERPOOL and they hardly had anything. The assistant did tell me that they had baby kits for Liverpool FC though!’
‘Went into town at the weekend to buy me little lad a kit just for now till the new one come out. Seven different sport shops later still no joy f**ken p*ss poor.
‘Not the home , away , or the third kit in any kids sizes.
‘Every shop had the sh*te in every size .
‘alright business wise with the new kit coming out in a few weeks it doesn't make much sense to have old stock lying round
‘the place but for you not to be able to buy a top or shorts or even socks in a city centre as big as Liverpool is a joke.
‘So JJB announce a massive new store in the centre of Birmingham - one of the biggest in the UK apparently. I turn up on Saturday to check it out, hoping to buy Everton kits for my newborn twins only to find ..... NOTHING !!!!!!!!!
‘A’ Man Utd STAND ... not rack ... a massive STAND! A Chelsea stand, a Liverpoor stand, a Villa stand and a Birmingham stand.’
‘Everton? EVERTON? Not a single bloody item !!!!!!!!!!!!!!’
‘What an awful decision by Everton to make JJB our 'official partner' for Everton merchandise.’
‘I went to the one in JJB for a shirt for my mates baby once.told me to try the everton megastore.’
‘Employ someone with a modicum of competence to sell our own products, to a captive audience and, make a profit for the club's benefit?’
‘I think the club had more important concerns to deal with at the time and wanted to focus on the stadium, etc. rather than ploughing money into merchandise sales and having the risk of it not coming back or not coming back quickly enough.’
It makes frustrating reading. What’s more it is out of Everton’s hands - like it was when JJB tried to hike up shirt prices just before the start of last season (and only backed down when the club intervened) and when the Wigan-based company messed up with the popular Pink ladies shirts.
Indications are that our new 08/09 home shirt will not be released until June/July, meaning we won’t be playing in it for the last game of the season (a commercial tactic all clubs use to boost summer sales).
Once again, it looks like we’re left counting the costs in limbo.
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Anonymous wrote...
To make things worse, the JJB store Everton window display in Williamson Square has a A2 poster of Steven Gerrard posing in the new Liverpool Kit so you can't even see the display because of the Huyton Hypocrites' kite is in the way!
Posted by: Anonymous | May 8, 2008 4:46 PM