Isaiah

A lot I think. United create a lot of chances in and around the box, they just haven't had anyone clinical to put them away recently. Falcao, Rashford, Lingard, Martial and an unpredictable Ibra wasted so many chances and led to so many 0-0 draws against lower league teams. Rom will put many of those away. I think Kane will win the golden boot again but Rom will push him close and take 2nd place. My predication for him is between 20 and 25 league goals.

Head over to the relevant thread on the Man United forum (redcafe.net) for their take on all this. It's pretty fascinating, the power plays going on here. Lukaku's agent seems like a real piece of work. Apparently he wants Rom to go to United but Rom is set on Chelsea, and this slimey toad is playing both sides against each other. Whatever, let him do that. But get 100 mill, Everton. We are in such a strong position here, I'll be annoyed if he does now go for 75 mill.

Chelsea have bid 75 mill. Time to fleece someone now. The very fact United and Chelsea are locked in a bidding war for Lukaku speaks volumes about the dearth of available strikers. The media keep talking about how 75 million is a "fair price" for him. Fuck 'fair prices', we need to commit daylight robbery here. If City spent nigh-on 50 million for John Stones, then Lukaku should be going for twice that.

I've been fairly ambivalent to the whole thing. If he stays, great. If he goes, so be it, he's replaceable, we'll just shift tactics slightly and the club will go on, like Spurs did when Bale went. 75 million plus add-ons is a decent price, and I really hope it'll be invested in a couple of other forwards. I get the impression Koeman is looking to recreate the kind of style he fostered at Southampton, albeit with much higher quality players. To that end, I really hope we take a look at 2 Italian lads, Bernardeschi at Fiorentina and Belotti at Torino. I know Italians rarely make the grade in the Premier League, but these two are very special talents imo.

Not a single quote in the entire article. Plus, it's a word for word re-write of the same piece that has been doing the rounds on all the main tabloid sites and which seems to have originated on the Daily Mail's gossip (i.e completely made-up on the spot every morning) section.

Aside from the footballing qualities, I'm also really happy to see the type of character Koeman seems to be looking for in the players he's bringing in. Plenty of leaders in the team now, assuming Keane signs. Klaasen was Ajax captain, Keane was Burnley captain, Sigurdsson (assuming he signs, which I think he will) has been Iceland captain. That ought to help with all the young players Koeman is also trying to blend into the team.

Now there's a name (along with Bakayoko, Nyarko and Li Weifeng) I hoped I'd never again be reminded once got paid to wear the Everton shirt.

The same applies to Deulofeu though, and frankly I'd rather have him back for free than spend 18 million on Niang. Then again, if Koeman sees something in him, then fair enough, he knows more than I do about these things.

I can see this being another year where nobody actually comes in for him. The two French teams (often cited as candidates) are over-loaded with amazing young striking talent of their own these days, which leaves only Chelsea who can pay a 60-70 million fee, and I can't help thinking that if Conte wanted him, he'd have come after him by now, especially given how Chelsea's rivals have started getting their business done already. Plus I'm not sure Lukaku is the kind of big fan-pleasing striker signing Abramovich favours, I can see him pushing for someone like Morata or Icardi (Conte rumoured to be a fan) or one of those young French kids, Mbappe or Dembele. Long story short, I'm expecting a new contract signed in late August and declarations of love for Everton and the fans.

+1 to this. When there's an exceptional goalkeeping prospect available, you get him. People on other boards are saying "Butland is better" (I disagree), but he's at a Premier League club and he isn't for sale. Others are saying "City got that amazing keeper who nobody had heard of until a week ago but he has a cool-sounding foreign name so must be amazing". With keepers from other leagues (especially Portugal, a low level) you're taking a big risk. I'm really happy with this. One position taken care of hopefully for the next 10 years. Plus, we have an English defense, and hopefully will for some time to come given the talent in it, so that'll help with communication.

On a related note, what the hell ever happened to that David Henen kid we moved heaven and earth to sign, and then promptly never played the guy?

He's off at the end of the season, I think Koeman's just letting him say goodbye.

Disappointed with that. Rom should have been taken off, if only to send a message that he's not unsubbable (that's a word now).

If DCL is really a number 9, then let's check that. Get Rom off and move Dom into his position. Give him a half there to show what he can do. The players - other than Holgate - have quit for the season anyway, so there's nothing to be lost anymore.

Possibly the worst half I've ever seen Everton play. Zero creativity, energy levels non-existent, whenever we have the ball players are running into packs of Swansea players as if to say "Don't pass it to me, I'm marked", we can't string more than 3 passes together, and I can't remember a single shot, let alone on target. Just rubbish.

I think the same. I haven't seen anything in DCL to get especially excited about. He may be one for the future, but to put him up against that Chelsea defense today was...well, strange. I think even Lookman would have offered more today in that position.

I can identify all those players in 5 minutes on Football manager. Every club's main forums are calling for their clubs to sign those strikers this summer. We won't get them. And so this is why we're paying Steve Walsh millions. It's his job to identify players which will suit Everton and bring them in. He'd better do it this summer.

Other than sentimentality, I can't think why we would ever accept Rooney back. I'll be annoyed if we do. He will never be our main striker, and we have other options for the bench. We're supposed to be a rich club now, so whatever marketability potential he still has shouldn't factor into it either. If United offer 60 mill plus Rooney I'd tell them to piss off. I read their forum, Redcafe, they want his absurd wages off their books more than anyone else's. He's costing them a million a month to do fuck all. We're supposed to be happy they throw him into a deal for one of the most exciting and consistently prolific young strikers in world football? Sod that. Dumping him on us in lieu of more transfer fee for Lukaku would be taking the piss. United spent 90 mill on Pogba. They have cash. They don't have top class strikers. If they want Lukaku they can pay 90 mill. That's my armchair appraisal of the situation.

Can Valencia play this game? I think loan players are prohibited from playing against their parent club.

A bit risky though, because he'll have only 1 year left on his contract by then, we'll be lucky to get half his value. If he wants to leave, let him leave this summer, with our best wishes. He's been a great player and, despite what some are saying, i don't feel he's disrespected the club at all, and until I see one actual direct quote of his to suggest otherwise, I'll continue to consider him a modern Everton great. If Koeman stays, we still have a lot of pull in the market I think. There are plenty of exciting young strikers out there. Belotti, Icardi (why can't we aim high?), Mbappe, Lacazette, Alcacer, Inaki Williams. Yes, none of them are proven in the PL, but that's half the fun! Who would have predicted Kante would have been the player he is. We pay a fortune to people to find gems. Let them earn their pay. I don't want to hear any whining from the club, no excuses, no crap about how there's nobody available to replace Rom. get out there and use the money from his sale to get in 2 new strikers (because we need 2, not 1, with the Europa League next season). edit: and needless to say, tactic number 1 is to stick a non-negotiable 70 million price tag on him. When nobody comes in for him at that price (and they won't), Rom may be chastened once more into staying.

On the eve of Hillsborough too. Trashing not only Ross but the entire city of Liverpool. I can't believe Kelvin MacKenzie didn't have an agenda here. Such an attention-seeking vile c*nt.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/39601728

Could someone, anyone, stop with this weird cryptic stuff and just directly say what is meant by the guy who hit Barkley being "dealt with"? What does that mean? Someone else beat him up? The police have picked him up? He sleeps with the fishes? I'm not on any social media, so if that's where you're getting your info from, could you post it here please.

It's hard to get some fluency going against a team like Stoke, who hack the shit out of the opposition every 15 seconds. They did it agianst Man United last game too, and it worked for them. That said, we are way below par tonight.

Not really. Berahinho has scored 3 goals in 18 months and Bony is a "flop", as you say. Our "18 year old" is as exciting a player as any side have on their benches, and I hope he comes on at the 70 minute mark.