Cornish Steve

Agreed. Knee-jerk reactions don't help anyone.

And a note to our friends living in Britain: Des Plaines and Marseilles (both in Illinois) are pronounced "Dez Plains" and "Mar Sales", respectively.

Pulling a Kenwright: "I can get you into Europe."

But, as it is, he's on his way to Hull.. http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/28442322

(1) Drop ball where the ball was picked up by the assistant ref. (2) Other than tell him he's an imbecile who doesn't deserve all the money he's paid? Nothing, so long as it doesn't interfere with play. (3) Play advantage and award the goal.

I really don't get the whining about this. Yes, we need a striker - we all know that, and the club will deal with it without paying over the odds - but we also need squad depth, and that's what this move is all about - as well as planning for the future. This guy not only plays for his national team, but he was voted their best player at the World Cup. To get him for the quoted price is a steal.

I'd hold out for more, until the savings amount to the increase they applied. There are clear laws against advertising one price and insisting on another, and they know it.

Not at all. It's called making people look good in public so they'll work with you again in the future.

The more this argument rages, the more convinced I am that I want to sell a car to Paddock. "The other buyer is out of the country right now but he gets back this weekend. If you don't buy today, you know you'll never find another car like this one. You'll regret the delay for years to come."

You don't think the manager and board don't know that? If there was a risk, they'd act now. If the deal is mostly done, it's safe to negotiate the price down. Patience! With financial fair play, I would hope that every club will be forced to do business more carefully - although the rich usually find a way around any restrictions. Wasn't it Rockefeller who was asked the most effective and reliable way to get rich? "Slowly."

Long-term, long-term. Our defence is aging. This would be a good signing.

I've been going to the projectfree.tv site to watch some recent British series. Of course, I'm a Sherlock fan, having read all the original stories as a teen and watched all the Jeremy Brett episodes in previous years. These last couple of weeks, though, I've watched all four episodes of the second series of 'Endeavour' - because I was an avid Morse fan (again, having read all the original books by Colin Dexter). I thought they were all well done. Also, I'm a fan of Friday Night Dinner and have been watching the latest series. Episodes 2 and 4, I thought, were the best.

Well, that's this season's goal from a corner.

Both he and Oviedo need a little more time to reach full fitness. He's not shit - just wait and see.

Welcome from Atlanta. Re underdog status, the British press just assume that the Big Six financially will always claim the top six spots in the table. These six are Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool (three teams from the north) and Chelsea, Arsenal, and Tottenham Hotspur (Spurs), all London teams. Everton upset the applecart last season by beating both Manchester United and Spurs. The national press, though, never seem to learn their lesson, and few seem to believe that Everton will make it above seventh this season. While much stayed the same last season (Martinez was careful not to stray too radically from the approach of his predecessor, David Moyes), there were some important changes, too. One of the biggest is the emergence of some younger players, especially Ross Barkley and John Stones. Unlike David Moyes, Roberto Martinez allows young players to sometimes fail because that, in the long-term, is the best way to get them to succeed. It's clear to me that Martinez is building for the future, not only making short-term progress but also establishing a young core of players (Barkley, Stones, McCarthy, Coleman, Oviedo, and maybe Lukaku) that could build a lasting legacy. With new links to Barcelona (and the opportunnity to loan players from there), Everton is moving away from the ordinary to the daring, from the cautious to the bold. One thing to note is Martinez' motto: sin meido - without fear.

If Britain had a half-decent youth program and more homegrown players were as good, I'm sure we would have brought in someone local. As it is, four local players coming through our own youth program may soon make it to the first team, so I don't think the addition of one Belgian is going to hurt.

Let me look: c-r-e-t-i-n. Yup, I can read a font-size of 10. I assume your comment was an eye test. If instead you were being obnoxious, please ignore my response and consider for a moment that the world might be a little better if we didn't throw insults around so liberally.

Being a physics bod, I'm very attached to the subject. These summer holidays, my younger daughter is getting ahead with classes and decided to take high school physics online. Great, I thought: Someone who may follow in my footsteps. When learning about vectors, she asked for my help with a quiz question: "A river is flowing south at 99 meters/second. A boat is traveling east at ...". Stop. 99 meters per second is over 200 miles per hour, which is faster than a jet is traveling as it lifts off the runway. What idiot is going to go out on a river with that strong a current, let alone sail perpendicular to the current? So, my gripe of the day is incompetent physics teachers and question setters.

Honestly, I don't know that much about Gibson, although I've heard comments that his potential is limited by his lifestyle. If that's the case, I hope he decides to change. For individuals who make so much money, it's hardly asking a lot that they follow a strict diet and regimen.

Borry?

Ahh, but there's progressing and then there's progressing.

Then I misunderstood and apologize.

Passion is good, but beware that looks can be deceptive. Where were you when Everton played WBA in the 1968 FA Cup Final? (I saw it live - albeit on a B&W telly.) And I'm sure johnh will be here soon putting us all to shame. Just because someone has followed the team for just one year while others have followed the team for many years shouldn't in any way devalue the former's worth as a supporter. Indeed, in some ways, maybe he deserves extra credit for changing teams.

So you'd rather get a 15m striker in early July for 20m instead of a 22m striker in August for 20m? Patience! It will work out in the end.

Spot on. This is exciting.