AlbanyNYToffee

I ask a brief, fairly poignant question that struck me as Howard conceded the penalty...is it better to be a fan of Everton or say Stoke/West Ham?

By that I mean is entering a season with aspirations of European football only to be constantly disappointed better than entering a season expecting to finish 10th? 3 seasons into Martinez I thought by now i would have the answer, but like most things with him, I still have no clue.

Everton 3 - 2 Leicester

Barkley

Also i know im always the over-positive one but i will say this: board complaining last year about squad depth. Depth was improved. The festive period is where squad depth really makes a difference. I can see us getting more points than expected during this upcoming 30-35 days.

McCarthy/Lennon in for Kone depending on who is fit. Only change that improves the team. Cleverley better suited for LM now that Baines is back.

This is a ludicrous argument. Rooney is still world class. He is suffering from the LVG effect like the rest of the squad. Surely Rooney could do 5x the job Kone does as "LW/ST". Anyone saying they dont want Rooney is completely insane. Boyhood evertonian would never risk the clubs financial position, if he comes back its because he wants to and he will play for the crest not the wages.

Norwich 0 - 3 Everton

Deulofeu

The biggest takeaway for me, and largest cause for optimism, is the team spirit. Last year Eto'o and Mirallas seemed to break up the squad. This year totally different story. We have the team spirit we had under Moyes or RM year 1 when Lukaku scored against Arsenal. Its finally back and it will propel us up the table. Draws are always disappointing but that game was my favorite of the year thus far. Had everything i want to see as a fan. I am fired up moving forward and have high hopes for the festive period. COYB

Results from the weekend have placed even more importance on this. 6th place and within two points of Tottenham on the line. Teams that want to play in Europe win this game. Teams that are good enough to play in Europe win this game. It's really straightforward.

Much rather face City in the semis than the final. Likewise much rather face the shite in the final than the semis. Sure stoke would have nice but i like the city draw.

Everton 2 - 1 Crystal Palace

Lukaku

Bournemouth 2 - 4 Everton

West Ham 2 - 2 Everton

Deulofeu

Everton 1 - 0 Sunderland

Naismith

Joel

Coleman Stones Funes Mori Galloway

Cleverley Gibson

Mirallas Barkley Naismith

Kone

Howard sucks right now, Joel is worse. Joel is not and never will be the solution. Howard has to play until another gk is bought. Im an american and im ready for howard to be replaced...but never by Joel.

Arsenal 2 - 2 Everton

Deulofeu

Only solace, i feel, is that it cant possibly go worse than last saturday. Other than that im basically hopeless for a point let alone three

13 points from Home to Watford, Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Away to Southampton, Spurs, Swansea and West Brom is a big accomplishment. 2 or more points against Man Utd and Arsenal would be big as well. Season off to a great start as far as im concerned.

Everton 3 - 1 Man Utd

Barkley

Everton 3 - 2 Liverpool

Lukaku

Swansea 0 - 1 Everton

Barkley

Everton 2 - 1 Chelsea

Mirallas

Wasn't sure which thread was most appropriate so started a new one. With the endless complaints about our lack of spending I wanted to track the results of the season based on transfer spending. Here is NET SPEND and TOTAL SPEND for Summer 2015:

Man City: 101.3; 154.2

Man Utd: 43.4; 115.3

Newcastle: 42; 47.8

Chelsea: 38.1; 73.3

Watford: 31.6; 35.7

West Ham: 29.6; 34.6

West Brom: 24.8; 31.5

Bournemouth: 23; 24

Liverpool: 21.7; 88

Leicester: 20.4; 26.9

CP: 18.5; 25.3

Everton: 15.1; 15.6

Sunderland: 14; 23

Tottenham: 12.3; 53.2

Arsenal: 10.7; 13

Norwich: 9.9; 10

Swansea: 9.6; 10.1

Aston Villa: 8.9; 53.4

Stoke: 3.3; 21.3

Southampton: 3.2; 41.7

Spent less than us NET SPEND: Sunderland, Tottenham, Arsenal, Norwich, Swansea, Aston Villa, Stoke, Southampton

Spent less than us TOTAL SPEND: Arsenal, Norwich, Swansea

When May 2016 rolls around let's see where we stand in comparison to those who spent more/less than us.

My biggest pet peeve in the world is people complaining about things they cannot control. It is such a waste of time and energy that could be put to better use.

Here is the only fact about Everton at present that truly matters: Whether or not Everton has money to spend on transfers is completely irrelevant. The board has proven in its current format over say the past 10-15 years that it will not spend a lot of money on transfers. The board is running Everton as it would any other business. As such there are other costs/investments that take priority.

If you want to complain about the board members and structure please do so. We, as fans, can have an impact on that. But please for the love of god stop complaining about transfer spending. It is such a waste of time.

8/10 for reasons mentioned above.

Good

Distin, Alcaraz gone - only minimal covered needed in Funes Mori. Trust/faith in Galloway/Browning

Deulofeu complete steal at price

Cleverley on a free is a top 10 transfer in the whole PL.

Lennon another shrewd signing

Kept Stones which looked impossible in June

Investing in future with Henen/Rodriguez/Holgate

Still think Barkley can be the solution in the 10 role. I know that opinion is not shared by many.

Bad

No capable backup striker signed. Not a fan of Kone's at all and Naismith has too many weaknesses to be consistent threat.

McGeady not sold. Really wanted him gone.