Posted Mar 21st 2007, 7:26am

Kirb Your Enthusiasm

Excuse the mis-spelt title, just to make my pun fit!!!

Anyhoo, I have some interesting points to raise following the comments of Professor Tom Cannon on the 'Ground Move' situation at Everton.

They signed an exclusive deal towards the building of a new stadium in Kirkby, in December of last year.

The Blues agreed that the move four miles from Goodison is now their preferred option, and reached formal agreement with Knowsley council and Tesco to start the project.

The news of the deal was formally announced to shareholders at the club's AGM at Goodison Park, the Blues home for 114 years.

And today Prof. Cannon answered some questions posed by former BBC Sport Online Chief football writer, Phil McNulty.

When asked about Everton's attractiveness to any possible investors, Prof. Cannon's response was less than assured;

"It depends on the type of investor. If you are looking for a bankable asset probably not because bankable assets are probably the top four clubs, with one or two others who are single town clubs such as Newcastle.

If you are a speculator and you think you could invest enough to turn a club strategically in another direction then they might be attractive."

So obviously on these terms, it seems to be unlikely that the Blues will benefit from a big cash-influx in the near-future? Don't be so sure.

Why would Terry Leahy - a die-hard Evertonian, who runs Tesco, arguably the best run company in Britain, Prof. Cannon's words, not mine - want to collaborate with the Blues and Knowsley Council if they were a lame duck, no matter how much passion he has for the club?

He has a sound business mind and I think he would wait for the development to materialise and then think about putting a stake into Everton, as it would never be turned down, and he would be in a great position to see how the club is running and how he could improve on the business side. Bringing key personnel in at the top level is something that the Blues have been lacking in recent years. Bill Kenwright is a great Evertonian, but loyalty unfortunately counts for nothing these days, and money, marketing and results are all that counts to succeed.

No club can afford to run itself nowadays, the top clubs have all been bought out bar Arsenal, although their new ground at Ashburton Grove is currently making the most profit on a matchday than any other in the world.

So they have also 'sold-out' in order to keep up with their rivals. They obviously have some great young players and the future on the pitch looks great as well, so long as Arsene Wenger gets his scouts continuing to work wonders.

Arsenal Chairman David Dein is a close friend of Kenwright and the latter needs to take some advice from the Gunners supremo to help plan for the future.

Back to the ground, and with Merseyside neighbours, Liverpool sorting out their own home and financial matters, Everton need to keep up with the Joneses and move away from the shadow, as I can only see the current domination of the city's honours continuing with the lack of funds.