We've definately moved forward in terms of stability: buying young exciting kids, consistant top ___ finishes, europe regulars (now), financialy sound...so i think we have. We were soon to be relegated if you think about it, i remember when i was a bit younger, gettin excited about finishing 15th...now i wanna win stuff!? Thats moving forward in my opinion. We are solid. You can't really move backward Tax when you buy players who are ment to good (in the cases of spurs, newcastle, portsmouth) They all bought, at the time, very good players, if it hasnt worked out its not going backwards, its just everyone else has the stability, the slow generative growth that teams respect Everton for. We dont go out and buy 8/9 players like your sunderlands, tottenhams...its a slow process...look at United, they buy 2/3 quality, team players who work well together, most of their better players came from their academy. We've got our super-trooper Rodwell to blossom, Baxter, Duffy, Gosling (many people disagree) and loads more...our futures bright (abeit the bankrolled arabs), we have the foundations alot of teams crave for. I like where we are, i love the support, the forward moving ideas, the team...i really hope it gets better but all in good time me thinks