From Jim Johnson : Everton
Hi Myles
Your comments about Everton prompted me to respond in the wake of the death of Howard Kendall.
I may have missed something, but for my mind, the under reporting of the passing of one of the great post-war managers is a sad reflection of the Sky dominated EPL.
For many of us football did not start in 1992, and for most of us, our love of the game is one that is handed down from father to son.
We’re currently living with the in-laws while we do a full house renovation, and my wife’s family are split down the middle, Nerseyside red and blues.
My father in-law used to take his youngest son to Goodison in the 70’s which resulted in my brother in law switching to the red side of Stanley Park.
Anyone who knows their history will tell you just how far Everton had hit the doldrums by the time Kendall was appointed and indeed, how close he was to being sacked before the board, led by Philip Carter, backed him to the tune of half a million quid and the talismanic signing of Andy Gray.
During that time, they came seriously close to challenging the dominance of Liverpool. As you rightly point out, Heysel and the ban changed all of that and Howard was denied the opportunity to showcase that squad that he had lovingly crafted and the Gwladys Street end was denied the opportunity of heady European nights where the likes of Sharpe, Sheedy and Bracewell would no doubt have flourished.
I’ve gone on about the public flogging I witnessed nearly thirty years to the day when Kendall’s Everton surgically dissected an Arsenal team packed with England internationals 6-1. That year the Toffees didn’t even win a trophy, losing out to the neighbours in both League and FA Cup.
What the the Secret Footballer said about Liverpool is interesting in terms of them being England’s premier club. Five European titles underpin this and no one from Old Trafford or N5 should ever forget this.
The fact that during England’s premier club’s golden era, there was a noisy neighbour over the park, keeping up with them neck and neck and were denied to showcase what would have almost certainly been a triumphant European run of their own, only goes to underpin the brilliance of Howard Kendall and the genius within that Everton side.
And it’s a shame that our Mourinho-obsessed media couldn’t stop being in love with the latest shiny thing and remember a true footballing great.
Myles says :
My dad lived in Liverpool in the Thirties and said, “Dixie Dean could head the ball harder than most players could kick it.”
But he never encouraged me to support Everton.
In hindsight, when I first met Kendall his way of thinking reminded me of George Graham. Both were succinct, both talked about right and wrong, insisted on good habits.
Howard was more mild-mannered, not as menacing as George.
Everton played a more compact continental game than Arsenal, so it was hard to play through their 4-4-2, difficult to put in a good cross because they defended wide areas so well, and almost impossible to chase a long ball and out-sprint Kevin Ratcliffe. If you did that and had a good shot, Neville Southall would save it.
So Everton gave me the feeling that they wouldn’t concede.
When they got a goal, I’d think : “It’s over.” Very few teams gave me that feeling.
I saw loads of Charity Shield games and have previously mentioned the 1985 game.
A posse of reporters were waiting in the Wembley tunnel for Howard Kendall to come out and I was standing next to ITV commentator Clive Tyldesley.
Myles: “Whatever happens now, he’s won the title and they can’t take that away from him.”
Clive: “I had lunch with Howard on Monday and that’s exactly what he said.”