Keith B

We are what we are: A mid-table side that is about as far away from the Champions League as we are from relegation. This is an opportunity to invest in process, not players. We absolutely shouldn't buy in-their-prime players in January. There are very few of those players that would actually lift Everton into the top six and even fewer that want to play for Everton and fewer still that we can actually afford. The ones that are for sale will demand exorbitant fees. The bottom line is that Everton is not in position to buy in prime players as a way to make it into the top 6. 
We can, however, invest in youth development and youth talent identification. We have very few players that have come from the Academy...off the top of my head DCL, Davies, and Kenny. All three of those are too young to make final judgments on, but they don't look (to me) to be Champions League quality players. Our academy has to improve. Further, club leadership needs to have a pathway/plan for the club. Are you confident that Moshiri/Kenwright  have a vision for how to lift us into the UCL? I sure don't...so far Moshiri's plan has been to buy in-prime players and hope for the best. It is hard to say how much of that is on the previous coaches and directors of football but the owners are the accountable parties for vision and club culture. Maybe Brands and Silva have taken steps in that direction--it is hard for me to tell from where I sit. 
The bottom line is that we are not going to be able to compete with the same strategies as nation state supported clubs and plutocrat owned clubs like Manchester City and Chelsea. But even worse, I'm not sure Everton has a strategy to compete with those teams at all. Not even a bad one. A well run club doesn't buy Cenk Tosuns and Omaur Niasses in January. (And I like both of those players more than most people.) In neither case were we a striker away from the UCL or relegation. 
That's why I think we stick with Silva and Brands. The purchases we made this summer were much more savvy than in previous years. You'd hope though, that those purchases would be a reason why you'd expect to beat Leicester City at home. We didn't do that (and haven't beaten Newcastle and Watford at home either), which is disappointing but it shouldn't lead us to panic and bring in an overpriced and mediocre striker this January. 
 

We are what we are: A mid-table side that is about as far away from the Champions League as we are from relegation. This is an opportunity to invest in process, not players. We absolutely shouldn't buy in-their-prime players in January. There are very few of those players that would actually lift Everton into the top six and even fewer that want to play for Everton and fewer still that we can actually afford. The ones that are for sale will demand exorbitant fees. The bottom line is that Everton is not in position to buy in prime players as a way to make it into the top 6. 
We can, however, invest in youth development and youth talent identification. We have very few players that have come from the Academy...off the top of my head DCL, Davies, and Kenny. All three of those are too young to make final judgments on, but they don't look (to me) to be Champions League quality players. Our academy has to improve. Further, club leadership needs to have a pathway/plan for the club. Are you confident that Moshiri/Kenwright  have a vision for how to lift us into the UCL? I sure don't...so far Moshiri's plan has been to buy in-prime players and hope for the best. It is hard to say how much of that is on the previous coaches and directors of football but the owners are the accountable parties for vision and club culture. Maybe Brands and Silva have taken steps in that direction--it is hard for me to tell from where I sit. 
The bottom line is that we are not going to be able to compete with the same strategies as nation state supported clubs and plutocrat owned clubs like Manchester City and Chelsea. But even worse, I'm not sure Everton has a strategy to compete with those teams at all. Not even a bad one. A well run club doesn't buy Cenk Tosuns and Omaur Niasses in January. (And I like both of those players more than most people.) In neither case were we a striker away from the UCL or relegation. 
That's why I think we stick with Silva and Brands. The purchases we made this summer were much more savvy than in previous years. You'd hope though, that those purchases would be a reason why you'd expect to beat Leicester City at home. We didn't do that (and haven't beaten Newcastle and Watford at home either), which is disappointing but it shouldn't lead us to panic and bring in an overpriced and mediocre striker this January. 
 

We are what we are: A mid-table side that is about as far away from the Champions League as we are from relegation. This is an opportunity to invest in process, not players. We absolutely shouldn't buy in-their-prime players in January. There are very few of those players that would actually lift Everton into the top six and even fewer that want to play for Everton and fewer still that we can actually afford. The ones that are for sale will demand exorbitant fees. The bottom line is that Everton is not in position to buy in prime players as a way to make it into the top 6. 
We can, however, invest in youth development and youth talent identification. We have very few players that have come from the Academy...off the top of my head DCL, Davies, and Kenny. All three of those are too young to make final judgments on, but they don't look (to me) to be Champions League quality players. Our academy has to improve. Further, club leadership needs to have a pathway/plan for the club. Are you confident that Moshiri/Kenwright  have a vision for how to lift us into the UCL? I sure don't...so far Moshiri's plan has been to buy in-prime players and hope for the best. It is hard to say how much of that is on the previous coaches and directors of football but the owners are the accountable parties for vision and club culture. Maybe Brands and Silva have taken steps in that direction--it is hard for me to tell from where I sit. 
The bottom line is that we are not going to be able to compete with the same strategies as nation state supported clubs and plutocrat owned clubs like Manchester City and Chelsea. But even worse, I'm not sure Everton has a strategy to compete with those teams at all. Not even a bad one. A well run club doesn't buy Cenk Tosuns and Omaur Niasses in January. (And I like both of those players more than most people.) In neither case were we a striker away from the UCL or relegation. 
That's why I think we stick with Silva and Brands. The purchases we made this summer were much more savvy than in previous years. You'd hope though, that those purchases would be a reason why you'd expect to beat Leicester City at home. We didn't do that (and haven't beaten Newcastle and Watford at home either), which is disappointing but it shouldn't lead us to panic and bring in an overpriced and mediocre striker this January. 
 

That's right--we had about five days this season when we thought we might be top six quality. But other than that, most of the last five seasons have been mid-table futility. We lucked into a Europa league spot two seasons ago and flamed out fast. Doing more of the same will net us more of the same. 
Spurs are battering Cardiff as I type this and another thing we lack is player development. Two or three seasons ago we thought we were getting Mousa Sissoko but he changed his mind and went to Spurs at the last minute. I was actually happy about that at the time--I thought he was overrated. However, after a couple of seasons under Poch, he's improved his game and is a valuable piece for a top four side. Does anyone believe that he would have improved playing for Everton? Can you name a player in the last five years that clearly improved during his time in the first team? Something has gone wrong on that front as well and is something that can be addressed with proper prioritization and investment. Or at least more easily and cheaply addressed than "We need a striker that can score 20 goals."
 

We are what we are: A mid-table side that is about as far away from the Champions League as we are from relegation. This is an opportunity to invest in process, not players. We absolutely shouldn't buy in-their-prime players in January. There are very few of those players that would actually lift Everton into the top six and even fewer that want to play for Everton and fewer still that we can actually afford. The ones that are for sale will demand exorbitant fees. The bottom line is that Everton is not in position to buy in prime players as a way to make it into the top 6. 
We can, however, invest in youth development and youth talent identification. We have very few players that have come from the Academy...off the top of my head DCL, Davies, and Kenny. All three of those are too young to make final judgments on, but they don't look (to me) to be Champions League quality players. Our academy has to improve. Further, club leadership needs to have a pathway/plan for the club. Are you confident that Moshiri/Kenwright  have a vision for how to lift us into the UCL? I sure don't...so far Moshiri's plan has been to buy in-prime players and hope for the best. It is hard to say how much of that is on the previous coaches and directors of football but the owners are the accountable parties for vision and club culture. Maybe Brands and Silva have taken steps in that direction--it is hard for me to tell from where I sit. 
The bottom line is that we are not going to be able to compete with the same strategies as nation state supported clubs and plutocrat owned clubs like Manchester City and Chelsea. But even worse, I'm not sure Everton has a strategy to compete with those teams at all. Not even a bad one. A well run club doesn't buy Cenk Tosuns and Omaur Niasses in January. (And I like both of those players more than most people.) In neither case were we a striker away from the UCL or relegation. 
That's why I think we stick with Silva and Brands. The purchases we made this summer were much more savvy than in previous years. You'd hope though, that those purchases would be a reason why you'd expect to beat Leicester City at home. We didn't do that (and haven't beaten Newcastle and Watford at home either), which is disappointing but it shouldn't lead us to panic and bring in an overpriced and mediocre striker this January. 
 

As usual, there are a lot of good points made in the most recent comments above. I could scarcely do better. But here are my thoughts and concerns with RK:
First, I don't have a sense of what he wants to do to win matches. What is his preferred style? He talks big on having a solid foundation on defense, but it's 8-0 in the last three matches. If we were grinding out 1-0 or 1-1s, I could see it. But absent a solid defense, what is his preferred attacking style? (And honestly, there might be an answer to this that I just haven't seen or don't know.) Lukaku seems to have covered up a lot of our attacking issues, and if losing him is even 33% of our dip in form, he's got to be considered one of the best strikers in the world, no?
Second, why is it that the team doesn't look like it knows what it is supposed to be doing? I don't feel like this was the case at any point last season. We had our dips in form, but it felt like players knew their role and knew what was expected. Why are there so many headless chickens right now?
Third, our best players aren't playing up to their ability. Morgan Schniederlin was one of our best players in the second half of last season. Now he seems like one of the worst. What is going on there. Why is it that Ronny isn't getting even average levels of performance out of players that we've seen perform better recently? Absent tactics, this is the managers biggest job. 
Lastly, he's brought in a bunch of players that aren't gelling. Why is that? They are his guys? What was his vision for Gylfi, Klassen, and Rooney? Did he think he could play them all together?
I remarked on twitter that we'll have to hire Big Sam in March to keep us up. I know we've had a difficult schedule, but I am terrified that my prediction might be right.
 
Up the toffees!
 
 

As usual, there are a lot of good points made in the most recent comments above. I could scarcely do better. But here are my thoughts and concerns with RK:
First, I don't have a sense of what he wants to do to win matches. What is his preferred style? He talks big on having a solid foundation on defense, but it's 8-0 in the last three matches. If we were grinding out 1-0 or 1-1s, I could see it. But absent a solid defense, what is his preferred attacking style? (And honestly, there might be an answer to this that I just haven't seen or don't know.) Lukaku seems to have covered up a lot of our attacking issues, and if losing him is even 33% of our dip in form, he's got to be considered one of the best strikers in the world, no?
Second, why is it that the team doesn't look like it knows what it is supposed to be doing? I don't feel like this was the case at any point last season. We had our dips in form, but it felt like players knew their role and knew what was expected. Why are there so many headless chickens right now?
Third, our best players aren't playing up to their ability. Morgan Schniederlin was one of our best players in the second half of last season. Now he seems like one of the worst. What is going on there. Why is it that Ronny isn't getting even average levels of performance out of players that we've seen perform better recently? Absent tactics, this is the managers biggest job. 
Lastly, he's brought in a bunch of players that aren't gelling. Why is that? They are his guys? What was his vision for Gylfi, Klassen, and Rooney? Did he think he could play them all together?
I remarked on twitter that we'll have to hire Big Sam in March to keep us up. I know we've had a difficult schedule, but I am terrified that my prediction might be right.
 
Up the toffees!
 
 

This sort of thing happens all the time in the US with professional athletes. I've actually discussed the drunk driving issue with a friend of mine who had a cup of coffee with a professional American football team. He told me that every team he played for had a phone number that players could call and they'd be picked up and taken home, no questions asked. (This was before Uber/Lyft.) Many players didn't use it because they didn't trust the coaching staff/management promises on the issue. But anyway, I'd be shocked if all of the top professional sides in England didn't have similar arrangements. And if they don't, they should. Which makes it all the more irritating.
And even so, dude makes, allegedly $300K per week--he could hire multiple full time drivers for one week's work of salary. I've driven drunk in my life, but not since my very early 20s--I'm 37 now. But I've never had the money Wayne has. I hope he has learned his lesson. I've got no problem with him having a few drinks, especially on an international break, but I hope he never puts himself (a soon to be father of 4, right) and other people at risk like this again.

An additional point: Some of the monuments are relatively recent phenomenon--a lot of them weren't installed until the 1960s during the Civil Rights movement. These things weren't intended as historical markers, they were outright symbols of white domination and power installed to intimidate people of color. Case in point: there are a bunch of monuments in Arizona, which wasn't even a state during the Civil War.

An additional point: Some of the monuments are relatively recent phenomenon--a lot of them weren't installed until the 1960s during the Civil Rights movement. These things weren't intended as historical markers, they were outright symbols of white domination and power installed to intimidate people of color. Case in point: there are a bunch of monuments in Arizona, which wasn't even a state during the Civil War.

An additional point: Some of the monuments are relatively recent phenomenon--a lot of them weren't installed until the 1960s during the Civil Rights movement. These things weren't intended as historical markers, they were outright symbols of white domination and power installed to intimidate people of color. Case in point: there are a bunch of monuments in Arizona, which wasn't even a state during the Civil War.

Easy. The European system is far superior to our "system." The US development system is improving but it is still miles behind what works in Europe. There are all sorts of cultural issues at play. Among them: American insistence that everyone go to college; obsession with ensuring that billionaires don't lose money on an investment (which is the most significant obstacle to pro/rel in the US); existing professional sports models that rely on the NCAA system for development; and general resistance to anything labeled "European."

Some days everyone gets it wrong, and today was that day. Koeman got the formation and squad wrong. Joel and Coleman were poor. Lukaku invisible. Barry basically cancelled out every positive thing we were trying to do in the midfield.

Today's results make tomorrow crucial. A win puts us in the mix for the top six. I expect our boys to come out and play accordingly.

Everton 4 - 0 Palace
 
As they say in the great American city of New Orleans, Laissez les bons temps rouler. Let the good times roll.

Taking the wife to brunch tomorrow morning for our anniversary so I'm going to be recording the match and watching it later. But this is a match Everton should win. I don't see a sit back and counterattack type match so there will need to be some creativity in the final third.

Been watching highlights all day. Amazed with Davies. He's such a breath of fresh air.

He is the ultimate piece of shit and I'm fairly confident that "we" will have buyers remorse. How we are going from a man of amazing integrity and wisdom to a narcissistic bigot in the matter of a few months is enough to make me vomit diarrhea. The irony is that the rust belters who felt they needed a voice and are looking at a womanizing multi-billionaire who doesn't pay taxes as their savior is beyond a fucking joke. He doesn't give a flying fuck about anybody but himself, but he is an outstanding snake oil salesman. There are going to be a lot of empty promises.
 
As for the folks saying we all need to come together and be united - sorry - not this time. Not with this low-life scum. Not gonna happen. I will refuse his legitimacy and I unequivocally reject his bigotry and hatred for the sake of my children and all of humanity. My kids already see through this asshole and have learned that being a whiny entitled cunt isn't the way forward in most cases, but unfortunately it was this time. Its time to get WAY more involved in the Democratic Party this time around. The party needs a bit of shake-up. God fucking help us. The shock hasn't really softened yet today, and boy does this one sting.

We have a really stupid system of selecting a president. The actual vote count doesn't matter. The state by state vote is what matters and Hillary starts with an overwhelming advantage just by carrying California, New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington. If she wins Pennsylvania, and she's up by 8 points there, she wins. That's the key state. Ignore the national polls.

Yep. I've got no patience for this sort of thing. He's got the money--make good on your responsibility. Not the sort of behavior I want from anyone, let alone a player for our club.

Yep. We play Swansea in 3 or 4 weeks. I am not a fan that week.

Yep. We play Swansea in 3 or 4 weeks. I am not a fan that week.

We weren't good. And that's a bad sign. Totally winnable game that we dominated for long stretches that we probably should have lost.

Trump doesn't support any charities. He used his own charity to pay legal settlements. (Legal settlements for things he promised but refused follow through on. Like a payout for a hole in one at a charity golf event. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-used-258000-from-his-charity-to-settle-legal-problems/2016/09/20/adc88f9c-7d11-11e6-ac8e-cf8e0dd91dc7_story.html)
 
Trump is a cancer. He cannot become the president.

Trump doesn't support any charities. He used his own charity to pay legal settlements. (Legal settlements for things he promised but refused follow through on. Like a payout for a hole in one at a charity golf event. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-used-258000-from-his-charity-to-settle-legal-problems/2016/09/20/adc88f9c-7d11-11e6-ac8e-cf8e0dd91dc7_story.html)
 
Trump is a cancer. He cannot become the president.