AlbanyNYToffee

It's a tribute to his Ajax teammate. Sure can.

Haha yea just bustin' chops. I tend to agree on the scale of games that don't really matter but do this one is WAY up there. Rafa will be under enormous pressure if he doesn't win this one and as bad as Norwich has been there is no easy win away from home.

Norwich 1 - 2 Everton DCL

IN: Mykolenko, Patterson OUT: Digne (Fabrizio says its happening) LOAN IN: El Ghazi (Fabrizio says its happening) LOAN OUT: CONTRACT ENDS AFTER SEASON: Lonergan, Kenny, Coleman, Delph, Siggy, Tosun Squad for rest of season: GK: Pickford, Begovic, Lonergan DEF: Keane, Mina, Holgate, Godfrey, Mykolenko, Coleman, Patterson, Branthwaite, Kenny MID: Allan, Doucoure, Gomes, Davies, Gbamin, Delph FWD: DCL, Richarlison, Gray, Townsend, Gordon, Iwobi, Rondon, Tosun, El Ghazi

Normally I'm the first one to vote against stop-gap options that don't appear to have any strategy behind them, however this will keep Iwobi further from the team so I'm absolutely elated.

Surely if this is true it's for family reasons or something of the like, and Rafa isn't going to stand in his way. That said it's entirely possible those family reasons got worse with Rafa's arrival. I like Allan but as @Romey 1878suggests a sale would be good thing provided we buy someone else. We will get relegated if Gbamin/Delph are the solution.

Huh who knew? Thanks for that, good to know!

Sorry but had to find out for sure. Turns out we're both right haha. They absolutely had bigger players than us but our average was a lot better as they had the 3 smallest players on the pitch. I forgot how big of a pain in the arse Eaves was in the air. Hull starting outfield players: McLoughlin (6'3) Eaves (6'3) Bernard (6'2) Greaves (6'1) Smallwood (5'11) Docherty (5'10) Smith (5'10) Williams (5'8) Honeyman (5'8) Lewis-Potter (5'7) Everton starting outfield players: Keane (6'2) Gomes (6'2) Rondon (6'2) Godfrey (6'0) Gordon (6'0) Mykolenko (5'11) Gray (5'11) Coleman (5'10) Kenny (5'9) Allan (5'9) Last point on height though and this exercise helps solidify. Would anyone on this forum have guessed Keane Gomes and Rondon were the same height? Keane's best attribute is his aerial defending while I wouldn't trust Gomes or Rondon to win a header against my grandma. Also sorry for the imperial measuring system. The USA is dumb.

Your point is well taken but height is not the best determinant of aerial prowess/defending. Those two traits are jumping ability and aggression. Us blues should know as Tim Cahill was a legend. Give me a 5'10 pitbull over 6'2 poodle every day of the weekday. We lost seemingly every set piece against Hull and I guarantee you we were the taller side.

yea let’s blame Rafa for this. Squad is a joke. Brands had a lot of wins but the task of overcoming Walsh’s misses and overspending, Big Sam, and a few glaring misses of his own is still happening.

If true another feather in Rafa's cap. Don't want us anywhere near this, loan or not.

Completely agree. And I'd add Richarlison. DCL and Richarlison have only started together 3 times (the first 3 matches of the season) in 20 matches so far. In those matches we scored at least 2 goals in every game and won 2 and drew 1. I know we are all quick to react as fans but even into October without DCL we were still ok. Then the watford capitulation happened and we've been horrible since. Until Rafa proves he can't get results with a darn near or fully healthy squad I'm not giving up on him. P.S. If i had my choice for manager it would be graham potter but having said that we won 2-0 at brighton so let's not pretend rafa is being totally outclassed.

While one win in 13 is horrendous by any measure, but throughout this awful run I've been impressed that we don't get down after conceding. From what I remember the Koeman and Marco teams would totally quit. That's encouraging sign that he hasn't lost the dressing room in spite of his seemingly selfish grudge against Digne.

Take a CB first but perhaps a good CM on loan is easier to find in January. I know trades/swaps are more of an American thing but man would i love to see kenny and holgate swapped for mcneil. by the way in addtion to Digne's imminent sale, kenny delph gylfi and cenk contracts all up at the end of the season. The clear out is gaining momentum. Iwobi and Gbamin next please!

The 3 shirt?! Gotta admire the young man's confidence. He's got more in his left pinky toe than i have in my entire body apparently.

Me too and Graham Potter. But the answer is nothing because our biggest issue has never been the manager.

Agreed and neither does the fact Patterson is way younger than Dumfries and slightly older than Livramento. With Brands gone it would suggest Rafa is picking players and surely Patterson does not have the experience he was supposedly demanding.

Agree with everything except Godfrey. I think he is the answer as the complimentary/#2 CB. We need a stud to pair with him. We missed out on Koulibaly 2-3 years ago. Everyone seems to be high on Botman (not seen him), and all the big boys are after Ginter since he's on a free but if we could sneak in there he could certainly be the answer.

Now I know how a hamster feels and I can certainly sympathize. How long are we going to keep doing this? The issues at the club are in two key areas. The leadership and the players. Brands and Rafa are/will be sacrificial lambs. We've been leaking goals for damn near a decade now because our CBs are shit. Keane is a goddamn f***ing parking cone. If I see one more f***ing stat lauding his clearance rate I'm going to vomit. It's not anything he does well the other team is just allowed so many opportunities to cross the ball a blind squirrel occasionally finds a nut. Martinez, Koeman and Marco are all decent enough managers, certainly not as bad as we've made them out to be. The only time we haven't conceded regularly is Fat Sam and the end of Carlo - where we all pissed and moaned about the football. Our defense is shit and until we sign a truly great CB that will continue to be the case. None of us truly know what's going on between Digne and Rafa. Rafa may have been justified in dropping him. However what he did yesterday is horrible management. If Digne is available to play he has to start. If you're not going to start him don't put him on the teamsheet. There is simply no middle ground whatsoever when you march out a back 5 and play JJK. Then you leave Godfrey out there at LB when we're chasing a goal. Absolutely ridiculous decisions. Not to mention throwing Rondon on. I was fine with signing him as there was a chance he still had something and it cost us nothing other than some wages. He clearly has nothing left. Simms or Dobbin would have offered slightly more than nothing. They would have at least been able to run and try to force Brighton to lose their shape. I've been in Rafa's camp since the beginning but yesterday was brutal. Going back to the top the problem is any manager with any common sense knows not to touch us. Graham Potter would be awesome but he knows better than to come here, as do all the others with any potential apparently. Here's hoping to a cup run.

Wtf is wrong with me? Why am I so excited to get disappointed? COYB. Let’s start 2022 with 3 points and set the tone for the rest of the season.

As a yank seen quite a bit of him in MLS and for national team - great signing for West Brom and think he’ll help them in a big way. However he seems to me like a ‘tweener’ - he’ll score 20 in the championship but struggle in the premier league. I could see him constantly being on a promotion chaser, similar to Dwight Gayle for a while until he stayed at Newcastle and can’t get a game. Hopefully I’m wrong, he’s amazing and signs for Everton in 2 years.

Can someone confirm if this is the first time we have officially signed someone on the opening day of a transfer window? It feels so damn good to have a target and get it done with urgency.

Everton 2 - 2 Brighton Doucoure

They should be without vardy Maddison ihenacho ndidi and amartey. Will make a draw more painful.