Sometimes it's really easy going down the boozer as an Everton fan. Nine championships, five FA Cups, nine Charity Shields and one Cup Winners' Cup - not a bad record with which to sit smug in the snug.

But for the past few years there really hasn’t been too much to get excited about. Yes, we think David Moyes has generally been good for the club but for a club of our history and stature, we really should be at least on the fringe of challenging for something. Those heady days of the mid eighties seem all too distant and with the rich getting richer, including our neighbours over Stanley Park, we have to ask ourselves if we will ever hit the big times again.

Yes, before you all come back at me and say, ‘hang on pal, sixth in the Premiership, Europe again, trips to Tallin and Tel Aviv’, I can tell you that it might look good on paper but from where I’m sitting, the quality is nothing to write home about.

'Those heady days of the mid eighties seem all too distant and with the rich getting richer, including our neighbours over Stanley Park, we have to ask ourselves if we will ever hit the big times again'


One thing that worries me is our lack of what I call real star potential. You look at our squad for the coming season and there are no names that stand out like a Wayne Rooney, a John Terry, a Dimitar Berbatov, someone who can turn a game on their own. We might have expected more than 11 goals from Andrew Johnson, after all when you pay that kind of money you expect a better return from 31 appearances. He may well have been scoring goals for fun at Palace but up against Premiership defences is a different ball game, literally.

OK, Moyes has done well to land Phil Jagielka from Sheffield United for what could be a snip at £4m. He’s quality, but where will he be played by Moyes? Another so-called big name is James Beattie who has hardly set the world on fire for us (68 goals in 204 appearances before he came to Goodison, 13 in 76 after). If he was a pair of shoes from Clarks you’d have them straight back to the shop. Let’s just hope Steven Pienaar is all he is cracked up to be. Above all, I want Moyes to start playing attractive football and not grinding out results. Sure, points are the lifeblood, but so is quality and entertainment. That’s what the fans want.

Last season it was left to Tim Cahill and James Vaughan to show the way, but again, it wasn’t exactly riveting. I wonder if we are like one of those ‘also rans’ types of team, steady Eddies, not doing too much while never really looking in trouble. My dad used to tell me about the great team that won the Cup in 1966 and the League in 1970 with class acts like Colin Harvey and Joe Royle, and I grew up in the Gary Lineker-Peter Reid-Neville Southall era when Howard Kendall produced a team that took on Liverpool and a lot more.

So what am I going to tell my three-year-old when he starts asking difficult questions, like: Why do you support Everton when we live one mile from Charlton Athletic? Well I will be answering him: Your granddad supported Everton all his life until they made this daft move to Kirkby. I may be miles away but I’m having my say as an Evertonian and like a lot of fans I read on the blogs, I am against the move.

Still, come August 18, I’ll be there in person for the Wigan game and as the computer has been kind for the next games at Spurs and Reading. It’s going to be a long campaign, but I can’t wait.