Zoo 2.0

Walsh would have been decent for us had he arrived pre-Moshiri, some of the deals (such as signing N'Golo Kante from Caen) for Leicester was outstanding. If I remember rightly they paid absolute buttons for Riyad Mahrez too - he worked wonders when up against it financially. Trouble with Walsh was that he suddenly had hundreds of millions to spend and just spunked it up the wall. A proper kid in a sweet shop mentality, as fun it was that we were signing what seemed like good players at the time I had my concerns about how many we were signing - it's literally impossible to sign 10-12 players and expect them to suddenly gel together, unless you're playing on a PlayStation.

"...and as we kick off Gary it's worth noting what a topsy turvy season it's been for the Toffees. Winning in dramatic fashion in the Camp Nou before losing a game of heads and volleys in the car park to St. Maria's Year 8's".

Generally in the US and Japan work is the priority, ahead of family and anything else. The company is basically your life. It does seem to be the opposite (in my experience) in Europe which is the way it should be. I work so that I can live, I don't live so that I can work. I may has misunderstood your post, so sorry if I have the wrong end of the stick but if the vibe is that Brands should be under some sort of pressure due to JPG's injury record then that is absolutely bonkers thinking.

When your home form is that shit, it doesn't matter how you win - just that you do. Made up to have finished the campaign off on a high, I think we could have actually got more as we looked good in the second half but one goal is all that matters when you keep a clean sheet. So pleased for Richarlison too, one of the biggest ''confidence'' players I've ever seen and looked a different beast after his goal, keep that form into the City game please !! Genuinely pissed off that we've won, absolute clampet ...

I think it's a mentality thing, basically we went on a bad run at home which is harder to shake off with no crowd getting behind the team. If we had a poor away record then it could have been the same, but we've managed to do exactly the opposite so are mentally better prepared for those games. Don't get me wrong, you shouldn't need the crowd to get you up for a game - you should be playing at your best if nothing else for your own personal pride. Without going off on a tangent, we have too many players who are OK with losing or drawing whereas you look to the likes of City and see winners - of course they have world class players with other outstanding attributes but for me, you can play in League Two and still be as mentally determined as a Kevin De Bruyne or a Sergio Aguero, it all comes from within.

Don't think he was as bad as people made out, but was never going to hit the heights that we wanted to push us back into the European places. Southampton, especially because of his history there is a good fit for him and Theo always came across as a good lad, nothing but good wishes to him on his (expected) move now being confirmed.

Sheffield United. /end post.

Allegri has held talks with them this week, it'll be him. I think they're just waiting for the end of the season to announce it. The second favourite is Raul, who would have been a mistake IMO.

Wait wat

That's the season done then, not arsed about the next two games. Could go into detail on what needs to happen this summer but I can't be arsed, plus everyone on here knows it anyway - so dissapointed but the sad fact is that I'm not even surprised. Would the fans have dragged the team over the line? Probably, but not good enough to not take points here if we were playing on Mars.

Noah Baadhi.

I don't need to say how good Ben Godfrey has been this season, but what the fuck is he doing there? Silver lining is they've scored really early, but ffs.

Thanks mate !! Thanks mate! I did speak with Matt before she was born and even though he was initially quite angry with me we managed to come to a settlement agreement (£22, a Curly Wurly and a one year supply of Freddo chocolate bars). Haha indeed mate! Thank you, we're both so happy (two good minds and all eh !) If you hear a little girl screaming Portuguese as we win yet another league title, then you know who it is !! Thanks buddy. What a feeling indeed, thanks bud! Cheers matey! Thank you John, speaking from good experience there no doubt! Life has certainly changed, but it has gone to another level! Best Wishes to you too!

I became a Dad for the first time today, already feel like my life has changed but so happy. My wife gave birth to a beautiful girl who we've named Eleanor. Can't wait to take her to Goodison already, she's been born into a football loving family (the wife's side are all FC Porto mad) so she will fit in the same I think - might even be the Everton Women's #1 in 16 years time ...

Spent the 2008/09 season in League One too. It's amazing what they've achieved and as you say, I'm jealous of them in truth. Could be us, could be anyone. The league win was a one in a million, but the decisions they've made means they can stick around the European places and win trophies like they have done so today.

I'd be sad to see Mina, Gomes and Bernard leave but would understand such a decision. Richarlison I think could be lethal with a better XI around him, one we must keep hold of IMO (if even only for a season longer).

They're bottom of the league, James or not we should be taking three points here. There are no "easy" games in this league, but this is the closest we'll get.

As there were two Villa players injured (and both needing treatment) the laws allow both players to remain on the field. The goalkeeper wouldn't need to leave the field anyway, but as he went down it meant that Mings could remain on the pitch.

Absolute shite.

Spurs have Wolves, Villa and Leicester. West Ham have Brighton, West Brom and Southampton. I don't think either side takes maximum points, although of course West Ham's final few games are a lot friendlier than Spurs'. Personally, I think we might just miss out on the Europa League (given that we have City on the final day) but may just sneak into the new Conference League which I'd be happy with. Any form of European football is better than what we've had this season and gives us something to work on, plus we would hopefully be one of the big teams in the new league, as they rest is surely made up from the same positions on the continent plus the likes of small nations "top" teams.

Obrigada.

Keep meaning to ask, but do you have the winners for previous seasons @MikeO? Would be good to see who have been the ToffeeTalk Players of the Season for the time that this place has been around (which is surely a good 10-15 or so years now?). Would be a nice little nostalgia trip. On topic, Ben Godfrey.

Not that this was ever really on the cards, but news gathering pace that Aguero has signed a two year deal with FC Barcelona that will be announced after the Champions League final, for those that are interested Memphis Depay (Lyon, ex-Manchester United) is close to joining too. Both are out of contract so will cost Barcelona £0 in transfer fees.

Doucoure and Allan in the middle makes me happy . Hoping that Charlie can get a goal tonight, would really boost his confidence and get him going again, he seems to be doing everything right but scoring at the moment.

I don't think that Marco Silva is a bad manager by any means, I just don't think he's an elite manager - something that we all wanted to get us to the next step. I have to say I was a bit uninspired when we signed Silva, but respected the clubs thinking and got behind him. Whereas I wouldn't go as far as to say he was a total disaster I do think that he reached the limits of what he could achieve and probably wasn't going to take us further, by the time he was sacked it was beyond time to go too as we'd clearly been to a crossroads and the players had taken a different direction to Silva and his coaching team. His time at Estoril cannot be underestimated, getting a small club that was fighting relegation in the second tier into the top flight is a great achievement and he's had success with Sporting and Olympiacos since, it's just that those are the clubs that I think Silva's level is at. Throw him back into Portugal or Greece and he'll probably do very well, managing a team in England or Germany that expect Champions/Europa League football? Questionable. I hold no ill feeling towards Marco I must say, comes across as a very nice guy and seems to have no ill feeling towards Everton - he just wasn't good enough IMO. Thinking back I was under the impression that JPG was intended to be Gana's replacement but I could be wrong, he's been injured for that long so I've totally forgotten what his purpose was - probably a replacement for Alan Ball when he retired.