AlbanyNYToffee

Good call! They were both impending free agents (I know Zakaria was, didn't look at Tecatito but have to assume) so nominal fees to cover the next few months so they weren't lame ducks. But I agree if history is any indication we'll pay more than we should.

If rumors about Dele are true we have to sell first. The only realistic options at this point are Holgate and Kenny. Gomes and Gbamin are possible I suppose but far less likely. If this day ends with Dele bought, Gueye and Jovic on loan, and Holgate sold i'll piss myself. If we found a loan for Iwobi on top it would rival my wedding day.

Brighton need cover after selling Dan Burn. This would be best for club and Mason.

Loan yes. Deal through end of next season yes. Anything longer than that no. No more long-term contracts for players with a point to prove. All the risk falls on the club.

When Rafa was sacked I was firmly in the Dunc til end of season camp. What we’re seeing makes that look foolish. I’m incredibly encouraged by what’s happening. If this comes off it means moshiri isn’t owned by Kia, Frank has laid down a marker on day one by getting rid of Dunc. Barry is by all accounts an amazing coach and the toffee connection I still think is critical for our club. Cahill is my favorite footballer ever so having him around will be outstanding but beyond that it means Moshiri is still trying to get the DoF model right. Even if it’s not Tim directly there are more voices being heard. Is it possible we’ve actually become a club we can be proud of again? P.S. I love Dunc, I think we all do, but it’s absolutely time for him to move on. I wish him all the best and hope he wins every game he manages except any against us.

Yea i get that but our sports teams aren't set up like businesses. First most of our companies that have boards are publicly traded and therefore rarely have a single 'owner'. The board also is typically 15+ people serving in an advisory capacity and not employed by the company directly. Furthermore our board chairmans are typically voted on by board members not assigned by owner or CEO. I'm not sure what our board of 4 is exactly set up to do when half of it is also club employees. Denise and Sasha should be ex-officio and there to report on club happenings - to your point about the board meddling I agree from what we can see on the outside but that seems like all it can do as it's currently set up. Bill and Graeme should be thinking about long-term strategy, but we need a dozen more Graeme's for it to make any fucking sense.

Been hesitant to ask this question for awhile cuz this thread is well oiled machine haha, but if you guys wouldn't mind can I derail for a second so someone can help me understand this. What actually is the board? It is a completely foreign concept to us here in the States. We have an owner, a president/CEO who oversees the entire operation, a general manager (DoF) and coach (manager). Sometimes the general manager reports to the president and sometimes they report to the owner but other than that one difference pretty much every organization in every sport is run this way. I understand Denise's role clearly but wtf is the point of a chairman and other board members? What do they actually do or in our case what is it they're supposed to be doing? And lastly, does every club have a board like ours (just one more highly functioning)?

Not sure if The Athletic is available in the UK but it's the only site I turn to for decent writing. https://theathletic.com/3090803/2022/01/26/everton-not-too-big-too-good-go-down-have-to-get-this-right-manager/?source=dailyemail&campaign=601983

Hall of fame post right there. We haven't addressed this since Moyes left and our continued unwillingness to do so leaves us in peril.

P.S. we've often used back 3/5 however you want to define it out of necessity, whether it be to cover for injuries or the manager thought it might help us tactically for a particular game. We've never committed to it over a long period. Hopefully doing so would solve us leaking goals. Big risk though in a relegations scrap.

For a very long time I loathed the idea of 3 CB's but now, after watching other competent teams do it well, it's not 3 CB's I loath it's 3 Everton CB's. Michael Keane has shown dozens of times now he cannot function in a back 3. I wonder if we could make it work with Godfrey Mina Branthwaite (holgate as cover). Godfrey and Branthwaite have both shown the ability to take the ball forward and are balanced right/left footed. Godfrey actually strikes me as perfect in a competent back 3. Leave Mina in the middle, he should never be trusted with the ball at his feet. It could also help Patterson and Mykolenko settle in. Gosh darnit would Digne have been perfect for this.

Haha I don't disagree about Dier (although I'd absolutely take him over Keane) and thanks for pointing out he wasn't homegrown, my mistake. And I also agree City is a stretch as Foden is really there only one but he's going to be top 5 player in the world. Curious when you say you don't like the argument what is it you don't like? I'd guess you think the academy is of some importance but not critical?

For me the absolute most important thing that needs to come out of this strategic review is a commitment to aligning the academy with the first team. Whether that means we have a DoF or not I don't care. We see it all the time here in the States, the best organizations bring through talent and supplement by buying. We're always left the holding the bag in the transfer market because our academy either hasn't produced talent or when it has they've left. It's long been a fallacy to suggest the big clubs just buy their teams. Sure they spend a shit ton more than we can but they also have incredible homegrown talent. Utd: Rashford, McTominay, Greenwood, Lingard Arsenal: Saka, Smith-Rowe, Martinelli Chelsea: James, Mount, Hudson-Odoi Spurs: Kane, Dier and Skipp the Shite: TAA and Jones City: Foden and a few others knocking It's taken City a while but they've stayed committed and are reaping the benefits. It's not too late to get the academy right and move into the new stadium with a well-balanced successful squad and budget.

Everton 1 - 1 Villa Richarlison

With all of the references to relegation whether they're serious, joking or somewhere in between, just curious where folks think we'll finish the season. I voted for 11/12

Not naive, know full well what the ramifications would be. And I'm in no way suggesting I want it to happen of course. The club is completely lost right now. Completely. The only way out of this is to solve the dynamics between the owner, board and next director of football. We need: Moshiri to step back from footballing decisions The board to effectively serve as the caretaker of the club whose sole focus should be on the health of the organization (financial, stadium, community). Again no decisions that directly impact the first team/football. A Director of Football whose given the authority and autonomy to do his/her job correctly and prioritizes the academy as a vehicle to bring players through. A manager who truly truly truly understands the ethos of the club. Look at the track records of the manager's we've sacked. They're great managers they just weren't right for this club. I think the only way to begin this process is to appoint Dunc or Rooney as manager. Moshiri can't meddle with them because they weren't his first choice (he's always chasing the big name) and both are true Evertonians who the fans would back. The board will stay out of Dunc/Wayne way so as not to be seen as a hurdle to progress under Evertonian leadership and frankly I'd expect Dunc/Wayne to feel more comfortable having a go at the board behind closed doors than any of the outside managers we've had. And Dunc/Wayne would also likely embrace the importance of the academy, and DoF structure which would reduce the power struggle we've seen in appointing managers and signing players. Clubs like Villa, West Ham, Newcastle and even Watford have been able to bounce right back with more stability after being relegated, but of course you run the risk of becoming the next Sunderland, Wigan, Blackburn or Bolton.

In the simplest terms, a manager's job is to get the most out of the players he has. Basically there are 3 ways to do it: Tactics Development Leadership/passion/culture One of out three are you're a very valuable coach. Two out of three make you a good manager. All three and you're world class. Roberto has 1 and 3, Koeman has 2 and some 1, I suppose you can give Fat Sam credit for 1, Silva has some 1 and 2, Carlo has all 3 of course but Madrid came calling, and Rafa has 1 and some 2. I'm under no illusion we can lure an established world-class manager so I don't give a flying f*** which two our manager is good at but by the looks of it it's time to give someone a chance who has 2 and 3. Maybe we don't know if Wayne has the tactical ability yet but he's already proven he's got 2 and 3. What he's doing at Derby with geriatrics and academy players is nothing short of miraculous. I've no reason to think he can't do the same here.

It is a goddamn miracle we're still standing after these two windows: ARRIVALS 17/18 Players Club Transfer sum Gylfi Sigurdsson Swansea $54.34m Michael Keane Burnley $31.35m Jordan Pickford Sunderland $31.35m Davy Klaassen Ajax $29.70m Theo Walcott Arsenal $24.75m Cenk Tosun Besiktas $24.75m Nikola Vlasic Hajduk Split $11.88m Henry Onyekuru KAS Eupen $8.80m Sandro Ramírez Málaga CF $6.60m Cuco Martina Southampton free transfer Wayne Rooney Man Utd free transfer Eliaquim Mangala Man City loan transfer ARRIVALS 19/20 Players Club Transfer sum Alex Iwobi Arsenal $33.44m Moise Kean Juventus $30.25m André Gomes Barcelona $27.50m Jean-Philippe Gbamin 1.FSV Mainz 05 $27.50m Fabian Delph Man City $10.45m Djibril Sidibé Monaco Loan fee: $2.75m Jarrad Branthwaite Carlisle United $1.21m Jonas Lössl Huddersfield free transfer

Been thinking a lot about this and wanted to get something down on paper. Transfer success is subjective so I'm sure (and rightly so) folks will debate the lists below but hopefully it's good enough for context. The point I've been thinking about is who we should be recruiting and I've always always always felt buying up (player who has not yet played a club the size/prestige as Everton) is better than buying down (player who's coming down from a bigger club). Worst transfers in the last decade: Eto'o-Chelsea Tarashaj-Grasshoppers Niasse-LokomotivMoscow Williams-Swansea Schneiderlin-ManU Bolasie-Palace Cenk-Besiktas Walcott-Arsenal Klaassen-Ajax Siggy-Swansea/Spurs Gbamin-Mainz Iwobi-Arsenal Best transfers in the last decade: Jelavic-Rangers Mirallas-Olympiakos Stones-Barnsley Rom-Chelsea Barry-City DCL-SheffU Gana-Villa Pickford-Sunderland Richarlison-Watford Digne-Barca Doucoure-Watford Gray-Leverkusen There are exceptions to the rule on both sides but I still think this shows who we should and shouldn't be buying. Cast-offs from the big boys aren't good enough for our level either and poaching 'smaller' clubs top young talent has served us well. Watford arguably the only reason we haven't been relegated yet, while Arsenal and Swansea have done their best to get us sent down. We've also had very little success with players from abroad relative to what we've invested. P.S. Don't get me wrong I was mesmerized by the idea James would sign/play for us and I'll always remember his impact but I wasn't supporting it from a strategic perspective.

Keane is a microcosm of the club. No leadership. Inconsistent. Lost in a sea of managers (what's he on his 5/6th manager now?). I've been saying/thinking this for 5 years. I get it's a numbers game and a squad is a squad but we've been playing guys who we know are not the answer for far too long. It's not just Keane. Schneiderlin, Walcott, Holgate, Bernard, Iwobi, Kenny etc. For me it has to be Mina and Godfrey rest of the season and when Mina gets hurt it's gotta be Branthwaite. We need to know if Mina and Godfrey can pair together and whether Branthwaite has a future. Right now we don't have any answers.

This is where I landed as well. My ideal world is Dunc til end of season and then Rooney. I'd love it if Dunc stayed on under Wayne but wouldnt expect him to. In addition to everything said about him I also think he adds the ability to recruit rising stars. He's the largest name in world football that is a Blue. I think it's important Wayne's finishes what he started at Derby, whether he keeps them up or not it says a shit ton about his character and leadership. Ultimately I have little faith in the club until the shit storm at the very top between owner and board is correct but since this is the manager thread I'll stick to that. Roberto absolutely not - we just had a manager who divided the fan base from day 1, we don't need that again. And as others have said any good manager with half a brain who is currently employed would be a colossal moron to take this job so we're picking from the unemployment heap. From that lot if it can't be Dunc/Wayne I'll take Favre. I'll admit up until this morning I was on the Potter train but I've jumped off. Lampard, Nuno, Gattuso - hell no. One name that hasn't been mentioned but I'd be willing to take a flyer on is Roy Keane. A decade away as 'the man' just might make him a pretty decent manager.

Dunc end of the season no matter what that means for our future. This is a complete rebuild and we have to go all the way down to the foundation. This is the only way to do it.

For the first time in a long while we have just about everyone to choose from. Rafa better get this right. Here's what I'm hoping for: Pickford Coleman Godfrey Keane Mykolenko Allan Gomes Doucoure Gordon DCL Gray Get 3 in midfield and not 5 at the back. If Richarlison can come on in the 2nd half great but I doubt he's ready (same with Mina). If he's not get El Ghazi out there.

Sure did. Big difference, thank you! My apologies on that one.