AlbanyNYToffee

Given ET on Wednesday i could see this Howard Coleman Stones Jags Barry McCarthy Cleverley Deulofeu Barkley Kone Lukaku No chance Oviedo/Besic start. Dont have much choice at LB. Cant see Mirallas starting after 110mins. Whats the deal with ozzie? Not listed on injury list but wasnt included in 18 yesterday. Anyone find that strange?

Im fully aware Barnsley are the opponent but right now Deulofeu looks like Messi. On this form he should start in the prem

Serious question: can we literally give McGeady to Celtic for free?

FFS that's our 4th shot from the 18 out of the stadium. That is not on RM. Someone put the ball on target.

Enough with Stones. He misread the situation simple as that. Either thought is was going wide or joel wasnt a complete fool and would save it. Few and certainly not Stones are daft enough to intentionally allow a goal.

McGeady Cleverley Naismith off Barkley Deulofeu Kone on All at halftime. Send some sort of message. Something. Anything

Not a single mention of Joel. Shocking goalkeeping. Every player on the field staring at him in disbelief that tells you all you need to know

Absolutely spot on!

All comes back to that "definition" of insanity. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Too much evidence to suggest we will not turn this into a successful window. This settles it, most of us are offically insane.

Supposedly willing to pay 20 for Yarmolenko without the stones sales - shouldnt change with it.

40 million sell him get three in. Yarmolenko, van Dijk, Austin. Take cloud hanging over situation and turn in into sunshine ASAP.

Spurs 2 - 2 Everton Barkley

Sorry forgot about 5/6 5. Lukaku on an island almost the entire game. Received little help from Kone because of his defensive duties. Can't find much fault in his performance. 6. The substitutions were absolutely shocking! I cant remember a game where i was more disappointed in the subs which for an everton fan to say is alot because we are consistently the most frustrating team in terms of subs. RM has shown a willingness to play Barry at LB. Play the final 3 mins of the half with 10 and take your time to think about the sub for Galloway at half time. Bringing browning on was such a knee jerk reaction. Naismith for kone? WTF is that. Has to be mirallas there and i dont even like mirallas. Gerry with 5 mins left? Why bother? First appearance is PL in 2 years he needs more than 5 mins to find his feet. What a waste. Most disappointed in the subs and brownings performance. City simply the best team in the league right now.

Main takeaways for me - not much that hasnt been said already. 1. Man City are simply a much better side, especially at this moment. I'm a firm believer in the old adage its not who you play its when you play them. City will be beatable at some point this season but in this form they could challenge the Arsenal invincibles. 2. Coleman, Stones, Jags, Barry, Barkley, Cleverley stood out for me. 3. Browning was a complete disaster. I totally understand that not being his natural position and him im sure not expecting to play but come on lad at least put a shift in. His effort was abysmal. Truly shocking even from a youngster. 4. Howard overall had a great game and made some unbelievable saves but there is no question he is at fault for the first goal. Cannot ever happen. Who knows what happens if we dont concede that soft goal.

Robles Browning Stones Jags Barry Besic Osman Gerry Mirallas Naismith Kone I believe Oviedo is injured? If not slot him in at LB.

Pedro to Chelsea. Chances of landing Cuadrado on loan? I would piss myself if it happened.

Everton 2 - 1 Man City Cleverley

Just two semi-quick points and im done: Preface: I still support RM but by no means am i his biggest fan... 1) Like most i am unbelievably frustrated that Gareth Barry continues to be in the starting XI. Surely his contract says he must start and play 90 mins in every game he is fit. That is the only logical explanation i can come up with. I would get it if we were keeping clean sheets all the time and he was the rock in the midfield - but we arent and his isnt. With the addition of Cleverley sit McCarthy in the deeper role and be more dynamic going forward. Also taking out Galloway makes no sense. You have to chase the game - leave in the young legs and ability to get forward. 2) The human element of this team/league cannot be ignored. Losing baines hurts from a lb perspective tactically but it also affects the mindset of the entire team. Especially given it happened in the final training session before the match. No question Everton are fragile mentally - need a boost with new signings. Get lennon in this week.

Southampton 1 - 2 Everton Lukaku

Everton 1 - 0 Watford Barkley

Please stop complaining about how much we've spent in the transfer market. PLEASE. Spending doesnt equal success at "our level". We got a full england international on a free and took Barcelona to the cleaners on the Deulofeu signing. Yet we still complain. I swear this board would be happier having paid 10mil for Cleverley and 8mil for Deulofeu just to say we are trying to spend money this summer. The club recognizes next summer is massive overhaul (chances are Stones will leave and many players will be on the fringes of retirement) and is saving up, rightfully so.

It's a morning of rants apparently. I'm beginning to truly despise the transfer market. The expectations set forth by the fans has become unbearable. We aren't going to sign a new goalie. We have Howard and Robles. We aren't going to spend 7-10mil on a backup RB. Coleman is staying. 7-10mil (Byram) buys you a starter not a backup. Hibbert/Browning will be trusted to do the job. We aren't going to spend 10-20mil on a backup CB. Jags/Stones clear starters. 5mil appropriate backup range. 15mil when Jags leaves maybe. Browning/Galloway trusted. Set at LB - Baines, Galloway, Garbutt, Oviedo Set at CM - Gibson/Cleverley/McCarthy/Besic/Barry/Osman W - McGeady/Oviedo/Mirallas/Deulofeu/Pienaar AM - Barkley/McAleny ST - Lukaku/Naismith/Kone The only realistic things that can happen until the deadline are: Cheap cover CB (Free-4mil) Sell Stones for 35mil buy CB, AM, ST that add up to no more than 50mil Sell McGeady buy winger for 5-7mil Sell Mirallas buy winger for 7-12mil Buy AM for 7-10mil Sell Kone buy striker for 5-10mil And as the transfer market has shown, typically less than half of those things will occur. In my opinion the biggest need is another striker. Cover for lukaku mostly but it also allows you to chase games late. Right now if we are losing by 1 we cant even really go to 4-4-2 and have any tangible effect on the game. Kone is so bad it wont change a thing. Need a 2nd striker to come off the bench and change the game.

Agree wholeheartedly with Pete0 - Everton are stuck between a rock and a hard place. We need specific type of players who have the talent to be in a champions league squad but not the profile (as champs league teams will pick them up). And CornishSteve - Anyway, I have a totally different perspective on this. As a team without a billionaire looking to waste money (thank goodness!), we must have a different strategy. Why not invest half of our available funds in exciting new talent that will come through in two or three years time? I have many pet peeves in this world but none larger than complaining for complaining's sake. This board is full of it. We don't have a billionaire owner and we don't pay crazy wages. That immediately eliminates a large number of names available in the transfer market. Everton has been and will continue to be successful if they focus on youth development and finding the right budget-conscious transfers. Our biggest transfers are Lukaku, Felli, McCarthy, Yakubu, Bily, A Johnson. That is hardly a ringing endorsement to spend big. Whether or not you want Barry/Osman/Pienaar/Hibbert on the team is a completely different conversation from they need replacing. You can't replace them until they leave! Once again we aren't in Champs league we cannot afford to have a 35 man squad. As long as those older players are on the roster stop talking about replacing them. They will be replaced when we dont have to pay them anymore. The argument that you shouldnt focus on youth development because there is no guarantee they take the next step is LUDICROUS!! The benefits far outweigh the risks and that has been proven time and time again. The youngsters understand the club, the atmosphere and most importantly what it means to pull on that blue shirt. Sure 8-9 out of 10 don't make it at this level but you save more money and perform more consistently going about it this way than failing with 5-6/10 transfers. Perhaps im naive or stupid or ignorant or all 3 but as far as I'm concerned Chelsea can keep their titles, Liverpool can keep sucking and spending gobs of money, Man City can keep their titles. I like the way Everton do things. I like that it's a family club built on tradition and hard work. I certainly haven't been a fan as long as most but for me achieving CL football would be the highest of highs. To accomplish that with the way football works today would be an achievement of epic proportions. And i believe it will happen. Maybe not this year but in the next three and I'm willing to be patient.

Loss to Arsenal has done absolutely nothing to lower my excitement for this season. I believe strongly RM has prioritized match fitness/sharpness over winning a completely meaningless Asia Trophy. I would rather see Kone look like the worst footballer in history, barry/cleverley/mccarthy struggle now than during the real season. We need everyone to be ready by August 8th which means everyone needs to be playing in preseason and that includes starting games. August 8th cannot get here soon enough. COYB

The CB argument is pretty simple. Would you rather have Browning/Galloway step in or someone of Alcaraz's quality? I could go either way but to pretend we could get a quality CB to come in with the understanding that they are 3rd choice at a "mid tier" PL club is madness. Complete madness.