Isaiah

Suspending the season until the end of the January transfer window seems the most responsible course of action to me. 

Chelsea team's been gutted by Covid apparently, chance the game may be called off (Tottenham against Leicester is due to be called of soon according to reports)

Iwobi should have done much better there. 

Would have been a travesty if that had gone in. We've dominated every minute of this half. 

I won't give too much of a shit if he goes but I hope we'll fleece the Saudis for the next 3 years' transfer budget if they really want him. They're going to be signing the likes of Raheem Sterling for 150 million in January so I figure they can send some of that oil cash our way.  

I have a feeing he'll go. Only a week ago he was talking about how he'd never really had a big transfer budget no matter where he's gone. The prospect of going to a place he's loved and which is now also the richest club in world football, dwarfing City and PSG, will I think be too much for him to turn down.  

Credible rumours circulating that Rafa's agent has been talking to Newcastle, who are preparing a "generous" compensation package to buy him out of his contract and bring him back to St James'. I don't doubt Rafa's commitment to his job here (and to be fair to him he has always been loyal to his clubs) but would his head be turned by the prospect of a blank cheque book at Newcastle and a fanbase that for whatever reason seems to adore him? 

No. This is the kind of shit Newcastle are going to be buying up in January. Leave them to it, let them make the same mistakes we did when we first came into money. 

Shout out to Allan too. The United fans on their forum are complaining that he's everything they wish Fred was. 

Petition to introduce a "The Whole Team" option for games like today! 

(in the meantime I went with Doucoure. The friggin' engine on that guy) 

6 hours ago, RuffRob said:

https://www.allnigeriasoccer.com/read_news.php?nid=41031

sound like he is getting more help and direction from Benitez than he ever did from Ancelotti. Finger cross what they are working on bears fruit. He seem to have improved from last season, and its still early days. 

I now shudder at how much poorer this team could have got under Ancelotti this season if he hadn't walked on us. Real Madrid may have done us a massive favour. 

I agree. Of all the bad managerial decisions Everton have made since Moyes left (primarily Koeman and Allardyce), I'm starting to think Ancelotti may have been the worst of the lot. Not because he's a bad manager (he clearly isn't, he's world class at what he does) but because he was absolutely the wrong appointment for Everton's current squad and current needs. 

Rafa's desperate to succeed here and James wants to play in next year's world cup. I'm optimistic both will get their heads down, set aside whatever personal differences they might have, and do the best they can.  I'm happy James is still with us. 

We'll be fine until January. I'm optimistic. I think we're doing this very carefully window to window. We've spent a combined 1,7 million on players that 2 years ago we'd have spent a combined 60 million. We're learning! Bring on the next match, I'm impatient already, bugger this international shite. 

I live in Russia and follow the Russian league closely. He's a decent player but still nothing special. I can't stress enough how much lower the standard is here than in the Prem, more so now than even when we were signing Billy. We're not missing out by not signing Vlasic for the reported fee (30 million euros is way too much in my opinion). 

Agreed. Chelsea have spent the summer shipping out the likes of Tomori to Milan for 30 million euros (fucking 30 million for him!) and Tammy Abraham to Roma for 40 million (?!?), Liverpool are mugging teams off for their dross like Shaqiri and Harry Wilson...and we're sending this kid out on a 2 year loan. I dunno, I'll have to trust that the board think this is the best we can do, but it's still annoying watching Chelsea build up a war chest on the backs of players who barely ever made their bench.   

Richy's antics put unnecessary pressure on Dom to score. Needs a fucking bollocking for that. It's a team sport Richy. 

Sad to say but the financial-doping likes of Man City and Chelsea, with their 2 sets of world class 11s, own this cup now. It's a waste of time anyone else even competing for it. Field the squad players for match fitness but treat the competition with all the seriousness and integrity that City and Chelsea treat Fifa Fair Play rules.

The media are absolutely desperate for James Rodriguez to leave little old Everton. James Rodriguez has never at any point expressed a desire to leave Everton. Stop siding with the media and support our player until the day he's not our player anymore. Nobody celebrates an Everton goal with more passion than him. Sick to death of us giving the benefit of the doubt to the fucking Everton-loathing media rather than him.  

Next year is a World Cup year and if he wants to play his way back into Colombia's team then half-arsing it through this season simply isn't an option. It's reason #287 to keep him. Being snubbed by his national team clearly upset him. Having a barn-stormer of a season for Everton will see him back in his national team. Said it before and I'll say it again, we'll be mad if we let him leave. 

Welcome, and very glad to see a 2-year contract and not some stupid 5-year thing we've been known to hand out to all and sundry.