Well, I asked you for your views, and you have certainly let me have them! I have had a steady stream of responses to my last blog entry on Friday about Everton FC's Kirkby stadium proposal.
Thanks very much to everyone for all your feedback, even to the one or two of you who decided rather sadly to go for abuse rather than constructive debate.

So, where to begin? I won't try to deal with every point you raised, but here are a few of the key ones.
For the record, a blog is not a news report, and I am as entitled as anyone else to express an honestly held opinion in that context. I've been accused of bias, but opinion is not bias. Think of it like a columnist in a newspaper. It would be pretty dull if they didn't express opinions, wouldn't it? As editor of this newspaper, my "bias" in this regard is in favour of the success of our local sports teams. I want to see them all prosper and do well, in the interests of the communities we serve.
We are not in the pocket of Everton FC, Liverpool FC, Knowsley Council, Liverpool Council, Tesco, the Mafia, the Chinese Triads, or the Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club.
Some of you criticised our journalism, because we accurately reported in our news pages and on our website what we were told by the people at the heart of the stadium move issue. Shooting the messenger is an ancient sport, and one which journalists live with as an occupational hazard, but to suggest there is anything lazy or inappropriate about doing that is to live in the land of the conspiracy theorist. We have given everyone a pretty fair say in this debate, and we will continue to do so.
I can well understand the healthy scepticism of many of you about this stadium proposal, given the false dawns of the past, particularly surrounding Everton's Kings Dock plan.
What is more surprising though, is that those who criticise the Kirkby plan so vehemently don't seem to have any coherent suggestions as to a viable alternative. Some would prefer to remain at Goodison whatever the cost. That means a future of gradual but inevitable decline, as the rest of the Premiership gallops ahead in terms of resources.
This deal sounds excellent for the club, in pure commercial terms, and nobody has yet suggested an alternative that would be anything like as financially attractive. Those who assume that, because a deal is attractive, it must be a lie, really have lost a bit of perspective. There are benefits in this package for Tesco and for Kirkby, as well as for Everton. That is why it is such a good deal. Do people really believe that Tesco, under its massively successful Evertonian chief executive Terry Leahy, and Knowsley Council, which has won awards for its work as one of the most go-ahead and business friendly local authorities in the UK, are involved in some kind of sinister conspiracy to destroy Everton? Sorry, but healthy scepticism is one thing, paranoia quite another.
As to the suggestion that it is a done deal before the consultation process with the people of Kirkby and the fans has taken place, I certainly hope that is not the case. Consultation should be exactly that. The first big mistake in the whole Fourth Grace fiasco was the decision of the powers that be to completely disregard the views they had sought from the public. The fans' vote, and the views of the Kirkby public, are crucial in my view.
If there is a better deal for Everton FC out there, I would welcome it, and so would the Liverpool Daily Post. But right now, based on the information of the honest and straightforward people who have presented it to us, this appears to be not just the best deal, but the only deal on offer. That's what I think, but I'm sure you will let me know if you disagree!!

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