NYBlue

Martinez was pretty straight forward in his assessment that he feels Lukaku needs to play through so he will start. I'd prefer to have Eto'o start and then bring on Lukaku second half.

Inclined to agree. I don't this Ross's absence has helped either, give him a break, get him right and get him firing on all cylinders again.

I'm hoping that this one is the one where Gerrard has a mare against us and it finally sinks it that's he's lost it. Goals and more goals. We definitely should't be fearing them, just need some pride, passion and belief. We'll get the result.

You raise a good point there. I think the timing of the injury on the eve of the season really disrupted things simple because of the focal point he plays/was going to play from the off. Doesn't excuse the mistakes that are being made but definitely hit us harder than we probably think.

That was unfortunate. Eto'o looked good but to give away those as goals is absolutely dreadful. Atrocious defending.

Why don't they just hand them an empty net.

I keep seeing conflicting reports about Costa. He's out then maybe out, I guess we won't know for certain until the teams are announced. Doesn't help the fantasy football. Agreed on the above, 433 with that lineup would be excellent. Eto'o on at 70, score at 90+4 and then 'hobble' over to Mourinho with his zimmerframe celebration.

Hopefully he is out, I am a little worried about Costa going up against Jags considering Jags form at the moment.

Good post. Definitely in line with what we should have been doing. While Moyes did bring down the overall playing age of the squad I feel that this current strategy is getting more recognition because Martinez is willing to take on the risk that comes with playing younger players than Moyes was comfortable with. Continuing that strategy will be wholly dependent on what progress we make this season. Make good progress then we'll be able to keep Ross, Rom, Stones. Stutter and the offers will come in for those players.

Eto'o joining seems more likely than not if as things go the RS sign Mario. I'd rather have Eto'o over Traore and I can't see us being able to manage another largish fee which would rule Remy out.

Is this the same injury that Kone has? have a bad feeling it will be a lot longer than 4 or 5 months.

I'll join you.

I'd be surprised to see them both start, maybe 1 of them but nothing has been said.

I just clicked on the news and saw this…gutted. Have my Barkley shirt ready for tomorrow as well.

Same, we got a great deal for him. Can't believe that Sunderland would consider paying that much without it being a loan to start with.

It will be interesting to see how much we actually spend. All the contract extensions will be eating into the money available. If we do sign Rom then I'm sure he'll be at the top end of the wage bracket as well.

The first I heard about this news was when I got a notification on my mobile. It's only when I came on here that I saw that the press conference had been planned. Slightly strange that we went all out on Ross signing the new contract but taking a step back it clearly states that the team is being built around him and that he is very happy at Everton, it's a huge statement. It may seem strange to an event such as that but surely in a few years we'll look back and say that it was a defining moment in the club's recent history.

The Shite have been linked with Lukaku - http://www.caughtoffside.com/2014/07/12/exclusive-liverpool-in-talks-to-complete-26m-deal-to-sign-chelsea-forward/

Same. I see the reasoning being back at Barca, common sense would dictate that it would have been better for him to stay with us. Hope it does turn out like that, would be a great addition in January and would be a huge lift for the club.

Entirely dependent on how the transfer window goes. Europa will obviously be more of a burden on the squad but top 6 would be my league expectation. A good cup run and if we do go out at least make it a loss with our strongest team and with a bit of luck a good luck an extended trip around Europe.

Maybe they'll consider buy one get one free.

Think he would be quality for us but we ain't gonna match his wages at Chelsea. I'm all for them paying half if they want though.

With the United players that we got on the cheap I think that was more of a reflection of United's appreciation in their desire to play elsewhere. They did it for a number of players. I can't believe they are paying a reported 34M for Luke Shaw, in that case I guess the price being quoted for Cleverly isn't too bad.

Funny, few people mentioning the price. It's not cheap is it. Their currency conversion is a tiny bit off which makes it a bit more expensive in $. I was intending to get a first shirt for the mrs but not at those prices. Anyone know when the squad numbers are announced?

If it's as much as 8M then I would hope that the full 8M is payable on us winning the Champions League or him earning player of the PFA award for player of the season. 4M-5M would have been about right.