Zoo 2.0

Today is the 23rd July 2019. Last season we made our first signing, Richarlison on the 24th July 2018. In effect, this time last season we had signed nobody yet this season we have signed two (Lossl and Delph). It constantly baffles me as to how people can hit panic mode and/or have a moan about us being ''lastminute.com'' without actually sitting back and looking at the facts. Throughout the past 18 months fans have been in agreement that we need to shift the deadwood that is costing the club a fortune due to inflated wages and it is perfect common sense to focus efforts on reducing this wage bill and shipping off the players that need to go as opposed to signing twenty-five new players in the hope that somehow it'll fix the problem. Brands' stance from the beginning has always been clear, reduce the squad size and add players as and when we need them. Last season, after making our first signing of the summer on the 24th we then went ahead and added Lucas Digne, Joao Virginia, Yerry Mina and André Gomes in what I'm sure you will agree was a productive summer for the club. If we replicate what we did last year (and I see no reason why we wouldn't) then alongside existing signings we'll have added four new players to the squad (which again, I assume you will agree is a successful summer). I can't speak for everyone else but I trust Silva and Brands a whole lot more than Koeman, Walsh and Allardyce. The opposite of what we have now is signing players left, right and centre which is how we ended up with Sandro Ramirez on over £100,000 a week, Davy Klaasen arguably out his depth in the Premier League alongside Wayne Rooney and Nikola Vlasic. Four players who have all since departed, admittedly Sandro on loan. You have to remember that this isn't FIFA or shopping in Tesco, it's simply ludicrous to assume that we can catch a plane to Italy, knock on Juventus' door to sign Kean before hitting ''speed-dial #01'' for the Ajax reception so that we can get Neres too and save on petrol. The signings that we want of excellent, hard-working players take time as we'll need to open and close negotiations with the player, his club and agent himself. Not to mention that there will be other clubs at the table doing the same and all the legwork in-between of the player going on holiday, taking time to think about his decision, viewing the club/city/houses etc. If we are heading into the Crystal Palace game with what we have now then yes, it'll be a disappointing summer but there's two weeks left and it's only now that teams are getting into the swing of pre-season. As an example, we're rumoured to be interested in Malcom and FC Barcelona only starting their pre-season today, with Malcom himself in the squad. They're not going to let him go without having a last look at him which will delay the transfer that we so badly seek. Another club to look at is Manchester City, out in Asia at the moment with just the one signing in Rodri, Liverpool I believe haven't signed a single player yet? Don't panic.

Funny you should mention Ryan Gauld as he's just been released by Sporting and in turn has signed for SC Farense who play in the second tier of Portugal. He played quite a lot for their "B" team but never made it to the top class, even struggling to get game time for Hibernian when he went back on loan. Everyone is the new Messi these days, the only player looking remotely capable of being like Leo is Kylian Mbappé but he won't be as good because nobody can touch Messi, the absolute GOAT (greatest of all time) when it comes to football. We won't see another like him no matter how much the press think otherwise so let's just enjoy him while we can.

Palace have money in their pocket after selling Wan-Bassaka, so I do expect them to start throwing money at players. Hopefully with them having a bit extra cash we can sneak the price of James McCarthy up - Bolasie and Niasse too if they're serious about them. Tosun won't go as he's injured and it's just a lazy rumour as Allardyce wanted him at Palace before signing for us. Regarding McCarthy, it's only when you sit back and think about it that this move makes sense. At first thought there's no way I'd let McCarthy go, he's an incredible player but then when you sit back and think about it those fantastic games are many seasons away and he's been injured for a lot longer than anyone probably realises. To get a fee of around £8m for a player that hasn't played much for us in the past two campaigns and is heading into the last year of his contract is good business and takes away from the cost of the incoming players Gomes, Delph and Lossl (plus whoever we decide to bring in further). He's been worth every penny since joining and goes with my highest blessing if the move materialises. Once of the players that you'll definitely applaud when returning to Goodison.

We are heading in the right direction, looking to have moved up a gear against better opposition in Monaco. Good to see the youngsters getting minutes too although Lewis Gibson is showing his inexperience, caught out a few times and gave away a silly penalty that would have probably been buried in a Premier League game - great save from Stekelenburg though and again a few minutes later when they broke through. He won't get ahead of Pickford in the pecking order but it's good to have a solid number two in case of emergency. Michael Keane was caught in possession at the start of the game but seems to have found his rhythm, Nathan Broadhead continues to impress me as I thought he was fantastic against Sion. Oumar Niasse up top is struggling again, a handful of chances have fallen to him and he's failed to convert them. He doesn't even look that convincing linking up with the midfield, a definite weak point for us. Let's get Kean/Costa or whoever else over the line ASAP.

To put this into context, we signed Gomes for £22 million so selling Lookman for the above price means we've essentially acquired André for free. I really liked Ademola and had high hopes for him, especially after that goal against Manchester City but three managers have had a look at him and neither are willing to give him a run in the first team (remember that Brands will have had a big say in his Everton career too). Whilst I do think that he can go on to be something special I trust the powers that be at Everton to make the right call. Since Brands and Silva started working together they have got a lot of things right so let's hope this is another wise move to fund other signings in areas we need to strengthen. Let's not forget that Lookman hasn't had his heart set on Red Bull for a while either, it's a miracle he didn't depart last summer.

I am watching on the official site (STH's get the game streamed) and they've been saying that there were technical difficulties leading up to the match - the official broadcast went live a minute and a half late so keep trying if the YouTube links are dead, chances are they are playing catch up and behind due to the official stream being poor. @Shukes @Matt We've just scored too, but ruled out for offside! Not sure what the reasoning was as it looked onside, pretty much all Everton too in the opening 15 minutes. André Gomes and Morgan Schneiderlin with Tom Davies at the top of a midfield triangle - Nathan Broadhead getting a lot of the ball on the left wing which is good to see. Not seeing much of Kevin Mirallas although he has been wedged as a makeshift right-back. Despite putting in the effort there's nothing up top from Oumar Niasse who appears to be a second behind to each ball, hardly influencing the game at all.

You have to look at the sides that will get worse over the summer which unfortunately in the Top 6 isn't many. Manchester City and Liverpool are surely going to compete for the title and won't be anywhere near P5, nevermind out of the Europa places altogether. Chelsea, even with a transfer ban should be good enough to keep European football. I don't know if I'm in the minority but think that Lampard is the best appointment for the situation that they are in, Eden Hazard gone and a transfer ban means they need someone who knows the club inside and out and there's no better than Frank, especially after doing a year getting his managerial feet under the table with Derby County. Spurs will be up there so that's four pretty much nailed above us but then you look at the potential fallers, Arsenal and Manchester United. Both have always been up there but it's anyone's guess as to how they will do next season, there are real problems at Arsenal (captain Koscielny is on strike at the moment) and obviously United have their own problems with Pogba and Lukaku wanting to leave alongside a relatively unproven manager in Solkjaer, someone who started well but crawled to the end of the season with a bucket full of poor results. I don't know if we are good enough over the full season to better these teams but if anyone it's going to be those two. Around us, there's the unknown of Wolves, a great season after promotion and without losing any big players they should have the capacity to do it again, it's just a question as to whether they can keep it up or whether this is just "first season syndrome" and they drop back down. They've got quality in Ruben Neves, Rui Patricio and Raul Jiminez but haven't strengthened too much which might come back to bite them on the backside. Leicester on the other hand have spent arguably well with Youri Tielemans and Ayoze Perez but I just don't think that Brendan Rodgers will improve them in the time that he stays there, he fluffed a league title with an outstanding Luis Suarez and a five point lead and since then managed to win a one-team league with Celtic. I expect them to still be behind us, as will West Ham (who finished 10th and have sold three of their strikers). Looking into the bottom half, there's nobody that I can see making the leap into the top 10. Watford, Crystal Palace and Newcastle United who finished the highest in the bottom half won't challenge and the latter two have worse squads at the moment than when they finished 2018/19 with the departures of Wan-Bissaka, Benitez and Perez. Therefore, wrapping this post up. I think we will be 7th. It's an uninspiring prediction but the most realistic one, if anyone drops out of the top 6 then we look the best outfit to pounce but if we don't have a ridiculous fall from grace then there's no reason why we should be worrying about anything 8th and below. Hopefully that's enough to give us the European nights at Goodison again that I've been craving. Edit: Regarding players that will have an outstanding season, Richarlison on the back of Copa America triumph will be on fire. We still need a striker, but he's going to be tough to handle in and around the box.

Wayne Rooney was a supposed ''bad egg'' in an era that was riddled with incompetence from Koeman, Walsh and Allardyce. Even though I don't think he would have dragged us to a league title I do think Wayne still had a lot to give in an Everton shirt and despite the deal to sell him being a good one financially for the club, I would rather he stayed at Goodison as part of the squad. A great figure to have in the dressing room and a presence on the pitch, he managed 11 goals in a season that we were absolutely shite which speaks volumes (especially when you consider he played in the centre of midfield). It's no surprise that he's head and shoulders above most in the MLS for DC United, I just hope that he comes back in a coaching capacity once his time in the US is up. Any excuse to post the above video too, had a great view of it in the ground and was blown away. Take a bow.

Brands is more than likely trying to work Malcom into the deal. The Yerry Mina transfer was delayed in order to sign André Gomes as we wanted to loan and Barcelona wanted to sell. Barça are really interested in re-signing Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain and are still desperately trying to put a deal together for Matthijs De Ligt from Ajax. In order to do so and meet FFP they are open to offers for the likes of Umtiti, Cillessen, Coutinho and of course Gomes and Malcom. I'd bet confidently that the deal for André is complete, but there will be a sticking point on Malcom as Barcelona try to recoup as much money as possible.

Ajax have already confirmed that Ziyech will be leaving. Apparently he enquired about a transfer last summer and was promised that he would be sold should an acceptable offer come in and if he continued with the club for another year. Ziyech kept his side of the bargain playing the 2018/19 season with Ajax and Marc Overmars (Director of Football) confirmed a few weeks ago that Hakim would be leaving as a result. He's currently on international duty with Morocco but as soon as that's done and dusted he'll be off for a new beginning. He's being chased by Arsenal but he could do so much better than them, he needs to move to a Champions League club IMO to continue his development. Promes has been signed to replace him and it is true that they are also looking at Bergwijn (another young star who will be at a top club in a few years). The fact that they are looking at another winger suggests that Neres could be off but the fact that he could quite literally play for the likes of Madrid and Barcelona every week means that I refuse to get excited about his transfer. There's absolutely no way that he comes here unless Richarlison can somehow convince him to use us as a stepping stone for a season or two.

You do realise that Arsenal, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle, Sheffield United, Spurs and Watford haven't made signings either? Ironically, we are one of the teams that have signed a player so far this summer so I'm confused as to how with all of this information at hand predictions are being made about the window being ''last minute'' and criticisms of Brands are coming to the front for not acting fast enough in the market. No South Americans will be signed as the Copa America is currently underway. It is incredibly unlikely that national teams will allow players to skip training to discuss contracts and transfer fees with domestic clubs which is fully understandable. We've also had the Nations League taking place recently so anyone taking part in that (basically the best players from the top leagues of England, Portugal and the Netherlands) will now be on holiday and thus not available for negotiation. As an example, look at Matthijs De Ligt who is absolutely nailed on to leave Ajax this summer but as of today hasn't moved anywhere. If the rumours are true, André Gomes is set to sign within the next few days which will take our signings up to two for the summer - not bad when you consider all of the above. If we are sitting with just two signings come August then by all means throw some criticism at Brands, Moshiri and the rest but at the moment I think it's borderline bonkers to be panicking about our summer business. Take a deep breath!

It's hard to say considering it's my own club that's involved but is there really anywhere else that he should go? After making his dream move to Barcelona from Valencia he stated in an interview that he was too afraid to leave his house due to the shame of under-performing with his new club. He even said whilst still at the club last season that if he could sum up his situation in one word it would be ''Hell'' so with all things considered would he want to go anywhere else than a club that has allowed him to love football again and play in front of a crowd that want him to do well? Don't forget that the whistles and jeers Coutinho has been getting this year were doubled in intensity when André Gomes stepped onto the field. He was despised and continues to be, they don't want him anywhere near Barcelona and would like the deal done as soon as possible. With Everton he's guaranteed to be supported at the very least. We might not have the Champions League football that Spurs would offer but we do have the security and comfort that he has been looking for ever since he left Valencia. It's easy to think that this deal will go pear shaped and that he will end up elsewhere but I honestly think it would be a rather foolish decision to turn his back on Goodison considering what has happened since his move to the Camp Nou. £30,000,000 would see Barcelona re-coup all of the money that they spent bringing him to the club so I can see that figure (or something similar) being accurate.

They can't afford it, but they will spend it. Turkey's "Big 4" (Galatasaray, Fenerbache, Besiktas and Trabzonspor) have mounted debts that combined reach around the £1bn mark however the government has bankrolled the four of them for years and don't look like stopping. There are serious whispers that the bubble is about to burst on Turkish football where we could see the four teams mentioned literally removed from existence as we know it but for now they are operational and free to spend so long as the state back them. Galatasaray would happily spend £30,000,000 on Onyekeru and give him as much money as he wants regardless of whether it is sustainable in the long run, given the fact that we won't get a work permit for him and he himself has stated that he wants to stay in Turkey I think this deal will be done over the coming months. It's a shame what has happened with him because he sounds quite the player but I'm sure we will live without him just fine considering he never set foot in Goodison Park.

It's just the typical anti-Hamilton brigade which makes me like him even more. You've got a young kid with a terminal illness and Lewis sends over his car along with some signed stuff and that's not good enough because he didn't go in person? Have a word with yourself. Just be happy that he's took the time to do anything rather than constantly looking at the negatives and why it's not good enough. As for the second, drama queen? Seriously? He's flying around Monaco, arguably the hardest circuit on the calendar when you consider how close the walls are, he's got tyres that are literally shredded (did you see them at the end?) and has Max Verstappen all over him who's desperate to get past. How else is Lewis supposed to behave? You'd be concerned in the same situation and had it been Max, Charles, Seb or Bottas who was saying the same nobody would bat an eyelid but because it's Lewis it's a massive problem. He did 17 laps more than what Pirelli advised, I totally get that it's Monaco and easy to defend but in that situation you have to applaud him. Don't get me wrong, I can see why some people dislike Lewis but the constant overreacting over anything that he does it laughable in the extreme. Can't wait to see him lift another World Championship to see the amount of rattlement it generates.

See the top quote for an insight into how Barcelona and Real Madrid operate when it comes to South American talent. Most of them are bought for commercial reasons and it was no different with Yerry Mina. He was never going to get ahead of Gerard Pique, nor Clement Lenglet that had just been signed from Sevilla. As for my personal opinion I really like Mina. An absolute unit that could do a really good job alongside another centre half, he's been dogged with injuries this season which has held him back but he's got plenty in the tank to do a job for us.

I'm surprised that there isn'ttt already a thread for this lad as according to some sources this is all but confirmed. According to one outlet he had a medical this Friday and is set to sign for us this week, Huddersfield have confirmed his exit after relegation and he's available to sign on a free transfer. I'd expect João Virginia to be loaned out, back home in Portugal or in the lower leagues with Stekelenburg either hanging up his boots or settling for a final season as third choice. With Lossl being 6'5 it certainly gives us another option with the "small" Jordan Pickford as our current 'keeper! Considering it's a free and it's for the bench I don't think we can complain, he came highly rated to Huddersfield and I think their problems ran much deeper than who stood in goal.

Never like the last home game of the season, always hard to say goodbye to Everton properly for a few months. Despite this though, I'm looking forward to what should be an attacking and fluid display from us and a convincing win. Burnley are very good at what they do, don't get me wrong but a Friday night, the last home game of the season and on the back of a 4-0 win against Manchester United? I'm expecting a good performance with three points to go with it. Pickford to start in goal as expected with Digne (I believe he's fit?) and Coleman covering the left and right, the final game at Goodison for Zouma (as I don't think he will stay) alongside Keane or Jagielka. A goodbye to Gueye in the midfield alongside a goodbye to Morgan, or Tom Davies pushed forward in his place that I would probably prefer. Bernard and Richarlison on the wings to get inbetween the lines with Gylfi in the hole and DCL up front, another chance to prove himself before we look to sign a striker in summer. Can't wait to hear that siren again UTFT.

Absolutely embarrassing "debate" on here this afternoon, proper Evertonian of some people to actually get up in arms about a player having the audacity to run into the box with the ball and stick it into the back of the net. I can only imagine the the trauma and upset that has been caused by Everton comfortably beating Arsenal, Chelsea and United - fingers crossed we get battered by Palace at the weekend to put people back in a good mood. I suppose by the logic of some at the moment we should also be hurling abuse at Lucas Digne for shamefully volleying a ball from the outside of the box rather than looking for a pass, looking to sell Gylfi for shooting from miles out when it would have been more sensible to wait for a striker making a run and I personally don't want to hear the name Richarlison after a ridiculous bicycle kick that nine times out of ten wouldn't have worked. Unless he's dropped and improves his decision making I won't be setting foot in Goodison Park ever again. I don't post on here much but when I do log in there are some proper weird agendas knocking about - Liverpool and City forums will have rants about how they can win the league, United fans will be debating if Ole is the right man for the job and on ToffeeTalk there's folk booting off about us scoring. To be perfectly honest as the goal panned out in the ground I thought that Theo should have passed but fair does for putting it into the back of the net, when viewing it back on the TV he made the right choice as DCL was under pressure and probably wouldn't have got to the ball. If we ever win the league, I'm convinced we'd have complaints on here that Jagielka didn't hold the trophy high enough - Jesus absolute wept.

Right then. I'm home and calmed down so time to wrap this wonderful afternoon of football up. The pubs around the ground were absolutely bouncing before kick-off, most likely due to the heatwave and Easter weekend but it did set the tone for the start of the game, people were up for it and when the crowd are acting as the cliche ''12th man'' than things like today can happen. The stadium was buzzing from the first kick and we really put pressure on them from the whistle which was great to see, Charlie should arguably scored from one of our earlier corners but was denied by De Gea with a great save - good of him to keep his head up and get on the scoresheet a few minutes later when Phil Jones (who's proper stealing a living) didn't get near to the cross and a great acrobatic kick makes it 1-0. The second goal was a rocket, really poor from De Gea who had a bit of a nightmare but take nothing away from the finish. Right into the corner and bouncing just before the goalkeeper, an awful shot to try and save although the 'keeper should have done better. At 2-0 you really got the sense that it was game over despite just being over half an hour in, United just didn't seem to want it and the performance tonight could have been copied and pasted from the Moyes, van Gaal or Mourinho eras. There are some deep rooted problems at Manchester and it's going to take more than Solkjaer, Woodward or a new Director of Football to sort it out - there's so many players that simply should be starting for United that it hurts. Second half and we should be comfortable but remember that this is Everton. I thought for the first 10 minutes we were awful, let United right back into the game and had they scored then it could have been a very different afternoon. Luckily we snatched a goal through a world-class strike from Lucas Digne (my MOTM) and once again it's game over. Funnily enough as the ball bounced to him I begged him not to shoot (I think it was Bernard who was free on the wing) but what do I know? Sensational. Gutted that both him and Richarlison went off but hopefully it's just a precaution than anything else. Amazing that we turned it into a proper drubbing with a fourth goal on the hour mark, pleased for Theo who's had a tough time in recent months. He's off the pace for us and will more than likely move on in the summer but I'd like him to finish his Everton career on a high, netting like that will hopefully set him on the right path to do just that. Although it would have been nice to be really sexy and push for five and six fair play to the squad for putting a foot on the ball and taking it down a gear. United were chasing shadows for the last half hour and wouldn't have scored with an hour extra for injury time. Martial and Matic should have been on the scoresheet but blazed wide, Rashford was completely useless (but will get a free pass because he's young). Laugh all you want but I actually thought Lukaku was the only decent United player this afternoon, won most of his headers but had absolutely nobody to link up to and can't do it all himself when you've got Zouma, Digne, Keane, Gueye and their Nan chasing him down because of who he is and where he is playing. Funny to see the crowd giving him grief although I don't understand why Romelu got so much stick and Barkley just got a few boos? Should have been the other way around but that's just my two cents. As for the rest of them; Pickford didn't have much to do but saved their only shot on target well. Coleman, Zouma, Keane and Digne didn't give United a sniff with the latter getting my MOTM, if he wants to stick around he could be the replacement for Baines we've been crying out for. An outstanding signing so far and someone who could quite easily go back to Barcelona if Jordi Alba wasn't who he is. Gueye was fantastic in the midfield and we're really going to miss him when he goes to Paris, another fantastic signing. Schneiderlin not bad alongside him although quieter of the two - shoutout to James McCarthy for getting back onto the field, a great roar from the Gwladys Street when he touched the ball for the first time. Bernard out wide was lethal, made an absolute fool out of Ashley Young all game and great work from Charlie out on the right. DCL up top really deserved a goal for such a good, hard-working afternoon. For all that they're stealing a living he made a mug out of Smalling, Jones and Lindelof who came on at half-time, just a bit disappointing that he didn't get a clear-cut chance to add himself to the scoresheet. My ''Worst Team at Goodison Award'' is like a London bus this year, Arsenal took the unwanted prize but United have snatched it off them. For all we were brilliant they were dreadful; Jones, Smalling, Lukaku, Martial, Young and Pogba nowhere near good enough for the squad let alone first team and there's riddled deadwood behind the scenes with the likes of Sanchez on about £842,000 a week. For all I think Ole is a limited manager (don't buy into the theory that he should be given a free pass regarding Cardiff) there's so many problems at United that it would be foolish to point the finger at the boss. David Moyes, Louis van Gaal andJose Mourinho have failed at Old Trafford so there is a common denominator, not all of those managers can be terrible and when you look at the CV's of the last two (and arguably Moyes) it just doesn't add up that it's always the managers fault. The next league title isn'tt coming anytime soon, City and Liverpool are light years ahead as it stands.

Ross Barkley .

I celebrated at the end, not because we had drawn against Liverpool but because this is another piece of the puzzle in us getting back on the horse and hitting form again. The win against Cardiff along with the clean sheet was us turning the corner but it would have meant nothing had we lost or been battered here, we've come away with a draw so are ''unbeaten in two'' which is a great platform to build from in what is a very winnable game against Newcastle United away. I thought it was a very scrappy game which was probably to be expected. Gueye and Schneiderlin were very good in the middle forcing Liverpool to go long and the back four really handled their strikers well. Digne was caught out in the first half but kudos to Pickford for that massive stop from Salah and keeping it at 0-0. Other than that I don't think they had any clear-cut chances, there was the Fabinho slice but I think that was down to luck as opposed to poor marking or individual error - on the subject of Jordan his kicking was awful tonight, he must have put 50% of his balls straight into touch? Not happy with him staying on his line for what turned out to be a scramble in the box towards the end - personally, he has to be either catching it or punching it down the field. Walcott unfortunately looks lost at the moment, he had a good chance in the first half when played through but froze and then spooned it over the bar. There was a massive shift in tempo and attack on the wing when he was taken off and replaced with Richarlison who didn't get on the score-sheet but caused a lot of problems for Robertson - so much so that he took a yellow card to try and take him out of the game.

Frustrating that I can literally copy and paste my post from the Wolves game and it applies here. As soon as Gueye tripped the lad over and gave away a free-kick you just knew we were going 1-0 down. The lads did well today, a much better attitude and with a quality striker up front (Lukaku in his prime springs to mind) then we would have caused Ederson problems and arguably won, as it happens we did very little in the final third and come away on the wrong side of 2-0. The silver lining is that this obviously helps City in the title race which I can live with, I couldn't stomach actively wanting Everton to lose but I can live with it if it upsets a few Kopites and stops them from winning the league and declaring a national holiday. Shout-out to Silva for mixing things up too, Kenny was an improvement on Coleman, Bernard was much better than Richarlison has been and the middle three worked well for the most part without Sigurdsson. Walcott had another game to forget, the only player for me who didn't really get going so perhaps a spell on the sidelines would do him good. I like him as a player but for too long he's not really contributed - would honestly start the likes of Lookman or Bernard instead.

Says it all when a stray cat covers more ground than half of our team. A truly apawling result meaning that Wolves didn't win by a whisker, furrmidable in front of goal. Anyway, cat puns aside that was dreadful. Another bollocks result at home which makes it all the harder going to the game next week. Walking up to the ground in the ice and snow to be served that level of football is infuriating and I said before the game that we would lose 3-1, gutted that I didn't throw £20 on it to at least make some money out of the afternoon. Before anyone jumps on Marco Silva though, our problems run much deeper than him. What we are seeing is the end result of Koeman and Walsh sticking bang average mercenaries on stupid contracts and riddling the club with poison. Most of the lads in our team simply don't care and will never understand what it is to play for Everton. I said it before in another topic but we don't have any Tim Howard's, no Tim Cahill's and no Duncan Ferguson's. Just eleven lads in blue jogging around wondering where the next drubbing is coming from. Our season is over, the two cups have gone so the best we can hope for is another mid-table finish, give Silva and Brands the summer to clear out some more deadwood and actually start putting together a team; Richarlison, Gomes, Bernard, Mina and Zouma have arguably been our better players this season (I actually like Yerry) so for all the results and football is shite it was exactly the same under Ronald, Unsworth and Gravy Tits so sacking Marco will not solve the problem, we will just be another club that gets laughed at for sacking the gaffer every six seconds. As for on the field today we were truly appalling, played totally off the park. Had it not been for Pickford it would have been more, made some fantastic saves at 1-0 to keep us in the game but couldn't do anything about the ones that went past him. Did well to even get close to the third considering how close the lad was. Keane and Zouma did OK but neither is a leader and in the summer it's key that we find someone that can organise a defence - having two followers in these two (although Kurt will more than likely be gone in May) isn'tt productive. Kills me to say it but Seamus might be done, just offers nothing down the wing with his pace anymore and gets caught out going backwards, totally lost Jiminez for their second - same with Baines although to his credit he was playing through injury - don't know what he was doing pulling down the lad five minutes into the game though, set us on a downer straight away. Absolute stunner from Andre Gomes, came from nowhere and gave us something to shout about. Davies alongside never really got into the game, didn't control the midfield at all and looked like a very much second best Idrissa Gueye. Walcott on the right offered the square root of fuck all with Richarlison on the other side just as bad, whilst he started the season brilliantly with a keen eye for goal he's turned so lightweight that he's quite literally bullied out of most games. He really needs to either bulk up or get his head sorted for next season because at the moment he's not cut out for English football. Up top, I felt sorry for Tosun, didn't do much but had absolutely nothing to work with. It probably felt like pulling out teeth for him this afternoon, Gylfi behind him I thought did OK but again, both wings was completely useless so he was having to do it all himself or bounce off Cenk who was in and out of the game. Overall just one big horror show that is turning into the theme for our season, we're a total mess. Set-pieces might aswell be penalties against us. Absolutely mind-numbing how many times we concede from them and it's honestly baffling how Silva can't see it and switch to man-to-man marking. What was the definition of insanity again?

According to Sky Sports he's asking for £160,000 a week which is putting a lot of people off including Betis and West Ham. I'm glad that we're not in for him, I didn't want him to start with as he's shite and don't want him even more now that he's just another mercenary after big wages. Our biggest problem is that we don't have anyone in the squad of the "Everton mould". No Tim Howard, no Tim Cahill, no Duncan Ferguson so I'm happy for us to swerve this. Play DCL, Tosun or Charlie until summer and then actually scout someone that wants to be at the club and has the capability of putting the ball in the back of the net. Zouma said at the start of the season that he sees his future at Chelsea and to be honest can't see how he can look at our performances this season and think that this is the place for him - no way he signs permanently.