Recently by Chris Smith

For years now, Everton fans have been dumbfounded as to why no investor has come forward to purchase the club. This is not simply a case of blind favour or bias, but a view which incorporates the club's history, huge fanbase, international appeal, current staff and ability to progress. Last night's Dispatches documentary on Channel 4 may now finally shed light on the issue.

The documentary showed England legend Bryan Robson wheeling and dealing with, at best, delusional, at worst, corrupt and powerful Joe Sim, describing in harrowing detail the ease with which a football club can be bought and sold for profit.

The clubs mentioned as potential investment opportunities - Leicester City, Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United for example - all represent teams that have slumped through relegation to a lower league not representative of the clubs' stature. In business terms, if these clubs can be returned to their former states ie the Premiership, they have a large potential for profit.

The question Evertonians ought to ask themselves in light of this is can the same be said of Everton?

To explain what I mean, it is best to contextualise Everton's status relative to other Premiership clubs. If the top six (Man Utd, Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool) are taken out of the equation for a second and 14 Premiership clubs are left in a hypothetical mini-league, Everton would represent the best performing side in this league over the last 5/6 years.

Past Europa League campaigns have indubitably taught Everton fans that in order for Everton to progress in both football and financial terms, Everton need to be qualifying for the Champions League at least, and ultimately challenging for the Premiership title.

Put simply, this is completely implausible such is the inability of a team like Everton to compete with the financial muscle of teams like Chelsea, Manchester United and recently Liverpool and Manchester City.

Everton cannot be bought cheaply in the way that a Sheffield Wednesday can, and even if investment were to come, Everton could not offer anything like the same potential for profit that a team like Wednesday can.

Since money was heavily injected into football to revolutionize the game, Everton have been at their highest peak during the Moyes era, their top market value you could say.

The cruel irony of this all is that if Everton and David Moyes weren't doing as well as they are, they would be a more attractive proposition for a potential buyer. As they slipped down the league table, their value would fall and their potential for profit would rise.

This means that the club are truly stagnant: bereft of the investment needed to progress, and needing to fail to become investable.

For several months now - you could argue the entire season - Evertonians have been desperate for the season to end. The team's abject displays, clear lack of quality and poor results rapidly eroded the bedrock of optimism that previous years had created. There is a feeling that the club must now start again.

But this is easier said than done. David Moyes and Bill Kenwright, more publicly than any other Premiership manager and chairman, bemoan the lack of funds the club has to bolster the squad. Therefore, the issue is quite black and white: Everton must sell to buy.

This is a sore issue for Everton fans having seen important team members like Rooney, Lescott and Pienaar move on in recent years. With this sort of transfer, managers must balance the negative effect of losing the player with the potential to rebuild for the better, and to be fair to Moyes, he has done this each time. To have received over £50m for those players and also established Everton as a team regularly challenging for Europe is both good business and excellent management. So credit where it is due.

But for now, which of the current squad falls under that criteria? Which player could raise funds without destroying the team?

Leighton Baines? No chance. His 5 goals and 11 assists (the only defender in the top 20 with only Nani, Fabregas and Drogba ahead of him) demonstrates his essential contribution to the team. So no chance.

Marouane Fellaini? Although Everton fans would admit to being a little dissatisfied with him at times, there is a clear consensus that he has definite quality and further potential. Evertonians would like to see the team built around him as he is young, powerful, versatile and dynamic. Moyes too sees him this way so again, another non-starter.

It seems there is only one player who could be sold for a healthy sum without damaging the team: Jack Rodwell.

Rodwell has undoubted potential but frankly, he has had undoubted potential for the last four years. And though Evertonians are immensely proud of their youth academy and respect Moyes' faith in the youngsters, most would be indifferent, if not happy about Rodwell's departure.

To hear constant speculation about teams like Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea reportedly ready to offer £20m plus for Rodwell is baffling to me. He has to date only two Premiership goals and only two assists, and though his seasons are frequently blighted by lengthy injuries, this is a very poor return. Compared to, for example, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, who most Evertonians would be happy to see move on (8 goals and 3 assists) and Seamus Coleman who has only just broken into the team (4 goals and 2 assists), it is clear that Rodwell is not an essential part of the team.

So like I said, it is black and white: sell Rodwell and buy two strikers, a creative midfielder, and a centre back, and give the club the chance to push one again.

During last week's disgraceful performance at Bolton, I more or less wrote off the rest of this season as meaningless. To be honest, I doubt whether any performance or run of form for the Blues will change that, so frustrating and embarrassing has this season been.
However, such is the miserable joy, or perhaps joyful misery, of being an Evertonian, Saturday presents us with an occasion to once again raise all hopes and expect a decent performance from the boys.
Now call me ridiculous but for some strange reason, I fully anticipate one. There are many factors which have led me to this conclusion. Firstly, the irrational nature of the games this season - winning superbly away at Manchester City one week and drawing with West Ham the next, losing to Stoke one week then beating Tottenham just four days later. Surely, after such an abysmal performance and result, the opposite will occur.
And, as foolish as that sounds, there is certainly something in it. Everton have tended to bounce back well this season. For example, the great Manchester City victory coming after a disappointing draw at home to Wigan, and the very credible draw away at Chelsea following the humiliation at home to West Brom. Moyes is certainly the kind of manager to let the players know exactly how they let everyone down - as he should - and seems fully capable of provoking a response.
Another factor is something I thought specific to Everton, but in light of this season, I will call it 'the Wolves factor'. That is that Everton produce their better displays against the better teams. It is something that I have really respected about the Blues in years gone by, something which gave me hope, false hope I now see, that we could compete with them.
Europe is completely out of the question. And, incidentally, to go against what Phil Neville has said this week, so is relegation. Therefore, the FA Cup is Everton's last chance, not for silverware or success - though either would be welcome - but a last chance to give the fans something to cheer, something they deserve after this drab year.
And let's be honest, this Chelsea team is beatable. Well not only beatable but actually quite poor. If anybody caught their recent game against Liverpool, you will know exactly what I'm getting at. They lack cohesion, rhythm and confidence and before anyone retorts 'so do we!' (which would be hard to contest), we have to pin our hopes on the Everton spirit to prevail, as it so nearly did in the first game.
Surely, the boys will be fired up after dominating the game and conceding a lucky equaliser. The absence of Louis Saha will be a big one, we all know his great record against Chelsea, but there are other reasons to be cheerful. Tim Cahill will be fitter than he was during last week's poor showing and keen to make amends. Seamus Coleman too will be looking to once again get the better of Ashley Cole, whereas on the other side, Leighton Baines will surely want to show the England full-back just how close he is to matching his standard.
One further point to make is that I feel the ridiculous time the match is being played may suit us. Aside from the scandalous delay which has allowed Chelsea to recuperate, the early kick-off will help to negate some of the atmosphere from their fans, something which was apparent at Goodison, in the first match. If Everton can make a promising start, possibly even nick a goal, then it will be difficult to win back the crowd.
So this is it, as I see it Everton's last chance saloon, a chance to not only put in a good shift and secure some confidence, but also obtain a relatively straightforward draw in the next round. Come on boys, don't let us down.

The news that Jack Rodwell will be out of action for at least a month comes as a big blow for the Blues. The midfielder had one of his best performances for Everton in the game against Blackpool and seemed all set to push on and firmly establish himself in the team.

Currently, David Moyes is utilising Rodwell in an advanced role. For me the jury is still out on whether or not this is his best position, it smacks a bit too much of the 'never-going-to-drop-Arteta' policy that is perhaps the manager's biggest weakness.

Ultimately, with a bit of luck, Everton's team will be built around Rodwell and Fellaini - the Chelsea away game which together they bossed demonstrative of what they can offer. However, for the time being, it seems the first choice central midfield partnership will be the Belgian alongside Arteta, for better or worse.

Now admittedly, I am not Arteta's biggest fan. Don't get me wrong, I used to be - he was once my favourite Everton player by miles. In seasons gone by, he, along with Leon Osman and Steven Pienaar symbolised the tremendous raising of standards that marks the Moyes era. But for whatever reason, be it aging, complacency or merely an extended run of bad form, Arteta has been too poor for too long.

I have long been of the opinion that Rodwell should be given Arteta's starting role, both for the good of the team and the future of the individual. But rather than bemoaning this or attempting to quantify it with statistics, I will attempt to be more positive and suggest that Arteta ought to grab this chance to dispel any doubters such as myself and make the position his own in Rodwell's absence.

This will mean a hopefully a return to the Mikel of old; the masterful, gifted footballer who could barely play a bad pass or control the ball without dazzling the crowd. To fight the Spaniard's corner, I will suggest that his usually shambolic corners have started to improve recently -though I wouldn't say the same for his free kicks - and he seems to playing with more urgency than usual which is essential to his and Everton's game.

The return of Everton's talisman, Tim Cahill, will be a great boost for everyone - the manager, the players and of course, us fans. Hopefully, it will galvanise Arteta's performances, the good friends that they are. Frankly, Cahill could not be arriving at a better time, as I see it. Starting today, Everton's next six league fixtures are as follows:- Bolton (a), Sunderland (h), Newcastle (a) Birmingham (h), Fulham (h) and Aston Villa (h).

In recent years, I would genuinely have expected Everton to win all of these games but now I will settle for anything between ten and twelve points. Anything more will be a bonus, anything less will be criminal.

So from one hopeful Evertonian speaking to who knows how many others, today I will put my faith into the stalwarts of Moyes' tenure: Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta, and hope during this game, these two players can return to their lofty heights and Everton can finally (finally!) begin their long-awaited ascent up the league table.

Steven Pienaar has left for Spurs and the aftermath has begun already. Undoubtedly, the winger will be missed, not least for his fantastic partnership with the ever-impressive Leighton Baines. However, his departure need not be destructive, it is not as if Everton are void of options in this position. The best of which, in my opinion, is Diniyar Bilyaletdinov.

The Russian arrived at Goodison Park 18 months ago with a hefty price tag around his neck. A reported £8.9m is, in Evertonian terms, a Fellaini-esque acquisition for the Blues. Despite featuring less prominently than the Belgian, Billy did however manage to match his teammate's debut season return with seven goals which - it is worth considering - is one more goal than Billy's compatriot, Andrei Arshavin's debut season with Arsenal, and in only three quarters the amount of games. Following this, the Russian had an effective pre-season. Notably, scoring two fantastic goals against both Norwich and Everton de Vina.

Is it not therefore absolutely necessary for Billy to be given the chance to develop in such a way? To become if not as integral as Fellaini, at least as impactful as Arshavin? In my opinion, Billy's debut season not only justifies more games but demands it, and Moyes is simply fooling himself by not facilitating it. Time and time again I have seen Billy being brought on post-85 minutes -if not being completely overlooked - and wondered whether there was something up, hoping we weren't dealing with another Van Der Meyde situation.

Steven Pienaar's consistent form and high productivity are of course crucial factors in Bilyaletdinov's limited football. Everton simply revolved around the South African, who happened to play in Billy's favoured position. But I would throw into that argument that Victor Anichebe who, despite some excellent recent performances, is not and will never be a left-sided midfielder, has been given far more opportunity than Billy to stake his claim this term.

Beyond this, Bilyaletdinov is often rumoured to prefer the right midfield position, his much-adored wonderstrike versus Manchester United a clear statement of potential. And though seemingly all Evertonians have been pleased if not delighted with the emergence of Seamus Coleman in this position, can any of them honestly say they would have resented Billy being given a few games here, if for no other reason than resting the Irishman which increasingly evidently is looking to be required.

But for his part, and in contrast to the unreliable Van Der Meyde, Bilyaletdinov's attitude has been first rate. Any opportunity to voice his natural discontent has been ignored in favour of praising the club and reiterating the current goals for the team. And this after Russia's national coach Dick Advocaat stated in August that Bilyaletdinov may have to move in order to retain his place in the national side. This displays exactly the sort of humility and team spirit Moyes aims to instil into each and every Everton player, and it therefore deserves rewarding with a good run of games.

With the coffers at Goodison all too predictably and publicly bereft, how can a player that cost the best part of £9m sit on the bench? It is worth noting than Bilyaletdinov is Everton's third most expensive acquisition. After costly flops in the form of Beattie, Johnson and now seemingly Yakubu, Moyes owes it to Kenwright and the tens of thousands of Evertonians, disappointed time and time again by the manager's regular transfer excitement snuffing, to get the best out of the player. Were Billy not here, surely we could go out and buy two or three decent players to improve the squad. So that not being the case, let's make the best of what we have and play him.

Come on Moyes, the boy has served his spell on the side-lines and has passed the test. Turn that great goal against West Ham into momentum, and get him in the team. Who knows, it may just save this torrid season.