Bailey

I think the Championship is a step too far at the moment.

I think formations are most relevant for defensive structure where you will see that a lot of team line-up in a 4-4-2 variation even if they are only playing with one recognised striker.

Not looking match fit is how Gomes always looks so it is hard to tell!

I expect we will see Garner over Gomes but I have my doubts as to how much better Gomes really is than Davies. Im looking forward to Danjuma too and seeing how he fits in.

I am not sure what to take from yesterday's game. Bolton are a decent technical side who came to attack us and they did that pretty well forcing some good saves out of Virginia. It was noticeable how many chances we created on the counter and how much space we had to play. In particular, Dobbin looked a really good prospect in that scenario, but when the tempo dropped in the second half and the game became more compact, he lost the ball far too often when he shouldn't have. For a long time I hadn't realised Gomes was playing he was that non-existent which was a bit of a disappointment. It's early in pre-season but I would have expected him to be a bit more prominent. The prospects of him being an upgrade on what we had seen the previous year look slim. The intensity just isn't in his game any more. I think we will see how well we can attack teams against Stoke at the weekend, as I can't imagine Alex Neil will set his side out in the same way Evatt did at Bolton.

I thought he initially looked quite promising when he started the second half last night but after that initial promise, he was quite disappointing. He is someone I would like to see more of though.

I only saw him for the first time yesterday and I would say he is still a long way from the first team yet!

I would love us to be a bit predictable for a while!

I missed the first 20-25 minutes but the highlights looked like we played some decent stuff. I didn't really see a lot after that, bar a chance for Dobbin that McNeil created. The latter was clearly the stand out. You say we havent seen anywhere near our strongest 11 but I doubt it will be too different to last night as things stand depending on Dom's fitness. Maybe 2 or 3 players to come in?

No you can't but for the young lads this is their chance to impress. For some it might be their only real chance and I don't think any of them looked like they had enough about them yet. Dobbin was decent first half but woeful second. I expected him to stand out in the second half for us, but that might have been because he had a hard session in the morning.

I don't think any of the young lads really stood out. Warrington clearly has talent but I am not sure he has the intensity or potentially the ability to press like you need to at the top level. Very much like Davies, I feel like he will too often find himself that yard too far away or off the pace. I certainly didn't see any rising stars coming through the ranks and standing out to suggest they will be staking a claim this season.

Hunt can also take a decent freekick. Okoronko should have scored by the looks of it.

Dobbin has been really poor at the start of this second half.

Big let off. Higgins doesnt stop the cross and Godfrey well off his man. Not quite sure why he was so easily beaten.

Sharp save from Virginia after Bolton got a couple of lucky breaks.

Really solid start to the second half from Mackenzie-Hunt (LB) and Warrington (CM).

Commiserations to him!

I have only seen the second half of the first half and I found it quite concerning! Take McNeil out of this side, who has been great, and its a bit of a shit show. Tarkowski and Patterson have been particularly poor. Watching Maupay try and dribble past someone and knocking it 5 yards ahead of him into another opposition player was at least quite amusing. Dobbin seemed quite lively, just lacking a bit of quality.

I don't see what Man City have to do with it. If its to do with having 3 options, I am not saying they are likely to be quality ones! Look at Dyche's Burnley. Thry had Barnes, Wood as the main two (Weghorst after) with Rodrigues and some other feller (Vydra?) After that as options. We haven't had a plan A, let alone a plan B. Let's just walk before we can run. Get some consistency in our style of play and then we can look at how we mix it up, when its a choice rather than out of necessity.

Are you sure? At this stage, I'd imagine showing scouts he still has two legs is probably helpful!

Interesting to see Gomes in there. I think that back 4 is the most likely bunch to start the first game of the season. I expect it will be Dobbin right, with Maupay up front but it could be a 442 with them both up top which would probably work better.

I disagree, I think you want a back up striker to fit a very similar profile to your main man. You can't go changing your whole game plan if one player gets injured. Like we were last season, you would be fucked. Maupay didn't fit at all and nor did Simms. Gray's pace gave us something, more akin to being able to stretch defences like Dom can, but not a lot. After your main two strikers, that is when you start looking at your options and what other qualities they can bring to the team. That might be for a one off game, or just as an option off the bench to bring something different.

Myers said no known contact with Southampton over Che Adams if that helps!

I think we can be fairly sure that Everton next season are going to be very similar to last season. If you are expecting it to be much different, you will be disappointed!

I think Italy and especially Atalanta would be a good move for him as I would worry the Premier League would be a step too far, especially if he was just thrown in at the deep end.