Cornish Steve

My guess is that, behind the scenes, the deal has already been done. Whether it's both Fellaini and Baines or Fellaini only, time will tell. This would explain why RM has three or four players already lined up to join the team. My only concern is that some will moan and gripe about bringing in more former Wigan players (e.g., McCarthy and Moses). If they are the right guys for the job, though, I don't see why their former teams should matter.

Thanks dad. ~George

You really think that if Moyes was at Everton and made the same kind of pitch and financial commitment then Deuofeu would be on loan at Everton? No.
 
IMO, there were two prerequisites: the coaching philosophy of Martinez and the stability of Everton FC. The fact that RM speaks Catalan surely helped, too.
 
Incidentally, as long as Deulofeu plays in at least 50% of games, there is no financial commitment - which is quite amazing really.

It would be nice, though, if passing accuracy increased to 80% and cross accuracy increased to 40%. There's always room for improvement.

It would be nice, though, if passing accuracy increased to 80% and cross accuracy increased to 40%. There's always room for improvement.

Doesn't the thought of this really get you excited? It does me. The average number of goals per game could be double that of last season.

I'd suggest the following criteria against which to judge players:
 
1) Longevity with the club
2) Demonstrated commitment to the club over personal ambition
3) Strong bond with the fan base
4) When the person's name is mentioned, only one club comes to mind: Everton

Hey, wasn't Baines a Wigan player? Why ever would we want to recruit another Latic after his experience with the team?

I'm sure the US government could ask Verizon or Google to find out for them.

I'm sure the US government could ask Verizon or Google to find out for them.

so a little birdie told me

I had to smile when I read that! Fireworks are legally not allowed around here, but everyone buys them and sets them off. Indeed, the person who usually organizes our local neighbourhood July 4th street party, and who cheers with the rest of us, is a local police officer. Some laws are made to be broken, as they say.

But this is where we have to accept that the UK and the US are culturally very different. The fact that we share a common language is very deceiving. Having lived in the US now for nigh on 30 years, I understand completely why guns are so prevalent. I wish there were more regulations, but I understand completely why there are not.
 
First off, even living in the suburb of a major city, we get a lot of wildlife. Friends of ours had a bear in their back yard not so long ago, and we had a rattler on our front path just last week. Guns are necessary in many parts to protect from wildlife. When you realize just how remote much of the country is, you realize a gun is not for recreation; it can be a matter of survival.
 
Second, and maybe because of this, there are millions of guns in the country. While it's very simplistic to think in terms of 'good guys' and 'bad guys', it's a fact that those many millions will remain in the hands of bad guys no matter what regulations are introduced, so new laws will mainly take guns away from the 'good guys' - and that will lead to much more crime. How can I say that? A town close to use mandates that all home-owners own a gun. They have one of the lowest burglary rates in the country. If regulations were introduced to ban guns in homes, burglaries and personal attacks would sky-rocket.
 
Third, almost all Americans have a healthy respect for guns. They know how to keep them safe and to handle them safely. There are some tragic cases where children get hold of guns and kill someone by accident, but they are rare. Many many more children drown in swimming pools, but no one cries out for regulations against swimming.
 
Fourth, it is comforting to know that, if I'm attacked by a person or by a wild animal, there's a good chance that someone around me will have a gun and will come to my rescue. Overall, concealed carry permits have probably saved more lives than they have taken. If a teacher had carried a concealed gun in Newtown, for example, fewer children would have been killed.
 
Personally, I'm all for more regulations - but sensible regulations - such as limiting some of the extreme weapons sold today and keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill. Indeed, if there really is a problem to solve, it's the abysmal treatment suffered by the mentally ill in the US.
 
As for Piers Morgan, the guy simply doesn't understand gun culture in the US, and he makes rather a fool of himself on TV when talking about guns. Of course he's applauded by people in Britain, but that's because our culture is so very different. Morgan shouldn't be on TV in the US clammering for gun control any more than Ted Turner should be on TV in the UK calling for mandatory singing of the national anthem before all sports games or the abolition of the monarchy. We should respect cultures and not simply compare them with our own. For sure, we shouldn't be demanding that other cultures be like ours. I saw rather an amusing bumper sticker last week: "Respect America or we'll export our democracy to you." Piers Morgan is doing the same in reverse: "Accept my opinon or I'll use my TV program to make you just like Britain." That just builds resentment.

Numbers? You had numbers? We had stripes whipped into our backs. A head? Luxury! We had to catch a T-Rex and cut off its balls if we wanted to play. :shaking fist:
:shaking fist:

This thread now reminds me of the Four Yorkshiremen.
 
Well, I'm 126, so have seen the worst shite management of our team, including McIntosh, Kelly, Carey, and Catterick. Me great aunt Obadiah's next-door neighbour's cousin's friend got me a ticket to watch Dixie Dean score 35 against ManU while suffering from a hamstring and torn ACL. But I loved Moyes so much more. I named my four sons after him and let him sleep with my wife every night.

126? I passed 126 on the way up 'and' the way down once they'd run out of numbers, and the only chance we got to play a game of footy was if somebody was squashed by a Brontosaurus and their head was still intact. Kids nowadays don't know they're born. :shaking fist:

So let's put some meat on the argument:
 
1) Fellaini and Baines leave for £40m plus maybe a couple of youth players from their academy
2) Follow-on fee for Fellaini, agent fees, etc. bring this down to £32m
3) Bring in Clement Chantome, Toby Alderweireld, Jorginho, and Victor Moses for £8m apiece
4) Bring in two or three young squad players with what's left of the TV money
 
Now there is one powerful team for the future.

Look at the skills and goals in these two videos. One is almost a carbon copy of the other - while 40 years apart.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp7cTlvHgUQ
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85g-GLdFkN4

Plus, she's known for enjoying different positions and likes to experiment. Some of her positions are rather unusual, but they lead to a really enjoyable form of play.

And a few days after she moves in she brings all of her friends round to join in!

Plus, she's known for enjoying different positions and likes to experiment. Some of her positions are rather unusual, but they lead to a really enjoyable form of play.

Plus, she's known for enjoying different positions and likes to experiment. Some of her positions are rather unusual, but they lead to a really enjoyable form of play.

The golfer's opponent hit his ball into the same bunker. Unfortunately, both golfers use the same brand of ball and neither marked their ball to identify it as theirs. In other words, it was impossible to distinguish which ball in the bunker was which. In this case, both balls are ruled as lost, a stroke is forfeited, and both golfers must return to the tee.

Maybe it's time for tee.

Honestly, I wouldn't want to suggest players. I'd feel like those old-school punters in 'Moneyball', sitting around a table discussing average-midling players as if they had some magic insight - while complaining about lack of funds. Instead, Billy Beane came up with a strategy and chose some of the most unlikely players to build a winning team. I don't have details of the strategy or the player profiles that RM must have come up with, but I trust his approach. I have no doubt that we'll question some of his transfer decisions, but what matters is results - especially results during the second half of the season.