Isaiah

Eh up...Witsel to Juve broken down at the last minute....

Fan psychology is a funny thing though (I'm guilty of this too by the way, I'm not 'blaming' anyone here). When it looks like we're signing him for 30 million - "Fucking ridiculous, I'll cry if this goes through". Then another rival club comes in for him: "Twats! He's ours, we saw him first! He'd have been a great signing..."

I'm starting to come to terms with it. Fuck it, I'll trust RK. 30 million sounds a lot I guess but when you consider Sunderland spent 16 million today on some guy even the BBC pundits had never heard of, it gives an idea of how nuts the market is now. A consistently great player in the premier league simply can't be bought for 30 million it seems. I still hope we don't sign him, but the second he puts his name on a contract with the Everton emblem on it, he'll have my full support (until that moment I'm still praying it's an elaborate ruse to throw other clubs off our real target and not get fucked over like we did on the Lucas Perez transfer).

Having a few half-decent games for a 3-week spell in that France team alongside the likes of Pogba is one thing (and it should be said they only beat one good team all tournament). Doing it in the Premier League on a consistent basis is something else and he has shown he doesn't do that. 30 million is fucking madness. Really hope this doesn't come off.

If by "ok" you mean "absolutely gutted" then yes.

The idea of Tony Pulis working with Carvalho. "Right lad, welcome to West Brom. Now then, we've paid a lot of money for you kiddo, so we want to see all your talents. When you get the ball, fuckin' hoof it. Ok? Hoof, hoof, it means belt it. Whack it. Fucking hell, can we get a translator over here please, someone? New lad doesn't know what hoof means...."

But Zenit can't possibly be paying him more than Everton would, the club is broke right now, Gazprom have pulled the plug. And would Juventus really be in a position to offer him better terms? The Italian league has nowhere near the financial power of the Premier League.

Bizarre if true. Who the hell would turn down a chance to play in the Premier League in order to stay in the Russian League travelling to half-empty and dilapidated stadiums in places like Krasnodar and Rostov? And alongside 2 of his national team-mates (Lukaku and Mirallas) as well. Weird decision, again 'if true'.

The great thing watching this match was, not for a second did I think we were a poorer side for not having Stones in it. Holgate has more than stepped in for him. Brilliant defensive display. We're a proper team again.

Very satisfying win. West Brom and Stoke picked off in a week, both of them very irritating teams. Well placed going into the international break.

Lucky, but with this performance we deserve a huge slice of luck. We should be 3 or 4 ahead.

Even better - "Zlatan doesn't do auditions" was how he phrased it. Would have loved to see the look on Wenger's face when he heard that.

Voting for Kone, because I enjoy doing things I so rarely get the opportunity to do.

My take on it is that I'm hoping his 2 goals tonight add another few million onto his price tag for when Xiaogang Rovers come calling.

Give that lad a contract extension.

Turns out he's a decent one. Very satisfying result, Pulis is one of the managers I most like to see get beaten.

75 minutes to break down a Tony Pulis defense twice. This'll be a good chance to see how Koeman is as a tactician.

What a bizarre transfer. Unbelievable Liverpool got their money back on him. They bought him when he was hot property, sold him when he was a washed-up nobody, and still came out pretty much even. Palace are morons for folding, if they'd waited till deadline day they would have got him for 10 million less.

Freudian slip?

Post-match interview, Koeman says he's hopeful 2 or 3 players will be signed next week.

He was injured in pre-season.

Some great touches from Gerry.

I thnk we'll keep him. There doesn't seem to have been the mad scramble for his sevices that his agent was trying to drum up. Hopefully this apparent lack of interest will be a chastening experience for Rom and he'll focus on becoming the striker he imagines himself to already be.

Christ almighty, the over-reactions in here are bizarre, you'd think Koeman had said "He hasn't been given a squad number because I don't want that shower of shit anywhere near the stadium, lest the aura of absolute footballing wankness that he exudes infects the players. Fuck him and every single one of his relatives. Next question..." He was asked a question, he answered it plainly and succinctly, without any bullshit. For Christ's sake Niasse has come from a league where he was making comparatively little money and in half a year he's been made a millionaire several times over by Everton for doing almost nothing. His signing on fee alone will have been more than most of us will make in our entire lifetimes. And yet some of you now are feeling sorry for him because Koeman didn't pussyfoot around with words? You're worried the 'spirit of Everton' is being lost because a manager spoke plainly? You're worried he might have 'upset Niasse's friends in the squad'? Nonsense. What would upset me if I were a hard working player would be the Martinez approach, of molly-coddling people who aren't pulling their weight (while publicly chastising someone like Baines for having the balls to speak his mind). Koeman was not classless and he was not cold, he was merely behaving like a proper manager. In any walk of life, in any successful business, that style works. You want 'nice kind Everton', fine, but then don't complain when we win fuck all for 21 years.

Delighted with this. By the way, why is the BBC today saying the Stones fee was 49 million (yesterday it was 47.5)? Is it just piss-poor journalism, or is that now the official fee being quoted in other sources?