An Everton fan who has published a book answering the all-important Everton questions, revealed how former boss Roberto Martinez performed a mind trick on him!
Jim Keoghan wrote ‘Everything You Wanted To Know About Everton (But Were Afraid To Ask)’ with the idea of explaining the reasons Evertonians feel both negatively and positively about the club.
Toffees supporters have been put through the wringer in recent times and are currently in a battle to regain 10 points deducted in November due to alleged breach of Premier League profit loss and sustainability rules.
But this book explains the more nuanced factors of being an Evertonian.
Fans can read about the clinical finishing of Dixie Dean, the elation of beating Bayern Munich in 1985 to the lows of Mike Walker’s tenure.
Jim said: “I wanted to explain why we are the way we are.
“Why do we have that kind of sixth sense and we can say a last-minute corner against the likes of Luton is going in, knowing in our bones it’s going to be a goal – why is that the case?”
The book contains humorous passages that supporters will relate to with one section titled ‘Five Great Everton what ifs?’ providing ambiguous but equally important questions that fans may wonder about.
The passage says: “What if Russia hadn’t invaded Ukraine? What if we hadn’t sold Alan Ball? Plus, what if we’d paid the rent and stayed at Anfield.”
Another section raises a question uttered by many Everton supporters over the years, “Where’s the Arteta money?”
The Ten Great Everton Mysteries will interest many fans with questions such as “How is Goodison able to produce tea that is hotter than magma?”
During the production of the book, Jim met and interviewed over 50 former players, managers and owners.
But he cited Spaniard Roberto Martinez as an individual who stood out.
“I interviewed Martinez not long after he’d been sacked, obviously when the manager gets sacked you feel negative towards them in most instances.
“Martinez is such a kind of weirdly positive man. He’s pretty charismatic.
“And so by the end of the conversation, he’d convinced me that he was amazing and that his Everton era was fantastic. It’s like a Jedi mind trick.
“So, it took me about half an hour after the conversation to kind of realise.”
Since leaving Everton in 2016 with the club in 12th position, Martinez has managed Belgium and Portugal and will be hoping for a successful European Championship this summer.
The most recent book is one of many published by Mr Keoghan, who has previously penned titles including ‘Punk Football’ in 2014, explaining the rise of fan ownership in English football alongside ‘How To Run A Football Club’.
He added: “I wrote a book called ‘How To Run A Football Club’, which was essentially a journey from junior football and grassroots up to every single layer of the game right to the Premier League.
“I wanted to get a snapshot of what football is like and what it takes to run a club at every single level and just how kind of awful football is at a business level
“So I write something that interests me. It’s just that Everton tends to interest me the most.
“You can appreciate why players buy into him because there’s just something quite magical about him.
“And even if it’s he’s not performing well as a manager he’s got. X Factor where he can call it where he can just he can just convince you of things.
“So that was that was a really interesting conversation.”
Mr Keoghan is hoping to publish more books in the future with a particular emphasis on the Farhad Moshiri years at Everton.
The club announced Mr Moshiri as a 49.9% stakeholder in 2016 later increasing his stake to 94% in early 2022.
However, Mr Moshiri has not attended matches amid unrest from supporters.
“I think the impact is going to be felt for years to come. I think there’s probably a book there in maybe three or four years when we can look back on when he first arrived and appreciate the horrendous impact he had.”
‘Everything You Wanted To Know About Everton (But Were Afraid To Ask)’ can be purchased via Amazon costing £5 on Kindle and £8.99 in paperback.
