Hafnia

I did notice that Lescott got out of jail last night, dived in for a header, missed it and the player turned and went in on goal but messed up. I felt really gutted for Joleon.

I don't know for sure but this is the first time in ages we have had someone who can deliver a proper ball into the box. "Proper" meaning it comes in from high and leaves the keeper in two minds whether to stand or come out for it. Dunc would have had 30 a season if we had him in 95/96! We can do some serious damage with this lad, as soon as he starts a prem game, i'm putting him in my fantasy footy team. Got a feeling he may have a few direct free kicks coming his way too...

The above mentioned players for United had either had past their sell by date with Sir Alex, and he deemed them surplus to requirements, or they had achieved all there was to achieve in the premiership. Not one of them was sold to a Premiership rival and all were sold for a major profit. None of our players could leave stating that they need a fresh challenge after achieving all the trophies they could at Everton (I would love it if that was the case). Seeing Rooney sign for Man U was arguably one of the toughest things I have had to stomach as an Evertonian, when someone becomes the saviour of a team, it's usually because they great things on the pitch, Rooney unfortunately was the saviour for Everton because he was sold to ease our debts. I want to see the day when we have a team consisting of Arteta, Rodwell, Jagielka, Gosling, Baxter (and Billy) lifting the Premier league trophy, the only way that will happen is if we have a different financial model, because as they get better, the big boys will come knocking. I totally agree that there are chairmen out there who have rolls of cash with no intention of spending money, however I also know that there are chairmen out there who's hunger and desire not to mention the all important EGO that made them successful in business wants to be played on on a bigger stage, and none are bigger than the premier league. The reason Lerner bought Villa was to compete with the Glazers, some of these people have more money than they will ever need and are generally bored, but the satisfaction that they can gain from turning a club having to operate shrewdly into a major player must be enormous. I agree, on the pitch things are looking good, it's the ominous feeling generated by those at a higher level that causes us fans to question every piece of information that we are fed. The proof is in the pudding, we seem to be getting decent gates, the fan base is there, we achieve solid league placings, FA cup finals, excellent transfer turnovers, a great manager - yet................... On a refreshing note it's nice to hear the the red s&^*te will have to suffice with a £20m transfer budget p.a for the next 5 years. Hopefully Man City, Spurs and Arsenal can keep them out of the top 4 and mess up their budget further (£30m per year based on champions league)

Without being analytical to the point of using google we are running a sell to buy business. The major saleable assets we have now are ones that would form part of a first team of a title contending team. Taking two or three steps forward without taking one back is what we need. If we had strength in depth we would have had champions league football. We have been hindered by our weak right hand side and inabilty to cover injuries. By the way as an fyi, we were on the decline in 89 as we had sold our title winning players of 85 to the likes of rangers, marseille etc as they had european cup aspirations. 20 years, 24 years whatever. Nil satis nisi optimum looks a nice bit of latin, it's what it means that we need to remember.

Osman captain?! If I was Mr Osman I would be worried, it's a bit like getting the dreaded vote of confidence. I like Leon and feel he's been a tremendous servant, I hope he can progress to the level where the team are hopefully heading otherwise I feel he will be a sub going forward. Maybe this is Moyes method of trying to get him to show a bit more ownership on the pitch. Would like to see 2 strikers tonight with a view of how we play with balls coming in from the byline from Billy and Pienaar.

Beat me to it. Eloquently written, highlights many of the points that have driven me insane. Expect it to be removed from the feed at some stage if one of his points are true!

Intelligent post, pity it will be lost on some! I think alot of people on here are intelligent, sometimes intelligence can be overlooked when your heart is totally in full support of the club in every aspect, and it does smart a little when you see people being critical of someone who has put alot of energy into the club and been to an extent a figure head so I understand people support of Bill and Elstone. Unfortunately history tells us that to make an assault on the top 4 you need to be extremely lucky with some bargain buys (arteta, lescott, jags) or you need some serious financial backing. We will need backing just to ensure we do not lose our top talent alone.

Mike, whilst Moyes is doing a fantastic job at coaching the team and getting results on the pitch any weaknesses displayed by the board need to be aimed at the person who represents them. Whether he bleeds blue blood or cries at the emotion of being a true blue he is answerable for what goes on at the club at boardroom level. And there are many questions... Refusing to answer a shareholders question when asked how much the club is 'valued at' out of "boredom" is awful. Things are very grey to say the least at board level, and the fact that we are all left guessing and analysing snippets of information from Elstone, and linking it to Moyes's evident annoyance at the budget only confirmns that there is something wrong. Before Lescott was sold, we were told that our transfer plans were 'exciting'. Selling one of our best players and spending the money we got (on quality give moyes dues) from him didn't excite me to be honest. Transfers like getting Kanchelskis and Yak did.

The wheeling and dealing Moyes has done has been outstanding without him where would we be, answer is the championship - does that mean this is what it will always be like? i.e selling proven quality to buy potential quality. Yes is the answer unless things change at the top. Elstone who I admire is being honest to a point, the real message is - that despite enjoying a cup run, running a lean squad, finishing 5th we are skint. Things are unlikely to get much better financially unless we are sold. Does anyone actually believe that we wanted to keep Lescott when we knew that there was a potential £20m big ones on the table? I for one think it was great business although it further reinforced the fact that all our players have a price, Moyes does not have the financial backing to be able to refuse such big offers, both from a business sense and a reinvestment sense. If we had a budget that didn't rely on selling our players it would be a different scenario. I'm not a Bill Kenwright basher, I am a fan who sees that unless things change quickly then the massive potential that this team has is not going to be realised. We have the likes of Arteta and Rodwell who could form the best midfield partnership since Reid and Bracewell - indeed one of the best in the prem, and whilst we are under the current ownership these players are at risk of being sold. 4th place has been there for the taking the past 2 years and I now fear that we have missed the best opportunity to get into the lucrative group stages of the champions league and the added kudos in terms attraction that it brings. Would we have struggled for a buyer if we managed that? - highly unlikely, and the more clubs that are being bought makes me think that we are not going to be sold until the Kirby decision is announced which is when the most profit will realised for the current owners.

the 5 and the 2 are close together!!! sausage fingers!!!

I think it's not the case of who spent how much - it's a case of how much did they need to spend to strengthen their squad adequately. Man u NO - Sold Ronaldo and lost Tevez, bought in Valencia, Owen, Obertan and already have a massive squad - 52 players per position at least with Hargreaves coming back. Arsenal NO - Sold Adebuyor and Toure - bought in Vermaelen and have an outragous number of youngsters coming through Chelsea NO - big squad already, borught in zhirkov - £18m Liverpool NO - lost alonso - brought in Johnson and Aquilaini to add to an already decent sized squad. Everton: Struggled through last season having to play the same players with little rest. Injuries meant threadbare squad relied on youngsters with little or no premier league expreience sitting on the bench. Lost Valente, Castillo, Jacobsen and Lescott as senior players. Brought in: Billy, Heitinga, Distin and under the realisation that we are still threadbare Lucas Neill. Yes we have strengthened in quality a little maybe, the damning fact remains is that our nearest rivals such as Villa and Spurs have strengthened what were already stronger squads than us. If we are to continue to look to improve we need to get strength in depth. We are always 2 injuries away from a disaster - our first 11 is great, how often do the first 11 stay fit? I applaud those who continue to look at the glass being half full - I wish I could. Fact is history has a way of repeating itself at this club. The only thing that keeps it positive is the work that Moyes and the boys do. We are being let down at a higher level. Burning question: "How much is Everton up for sale for?"

I heard Kenwright took it down, he wanted to change it from "The peoples club" to "Bill Kenwrights club"

The very fact that you are assuming we need to get rid of players in our threadbare squad to get other players in suggests you have become used to the manner in which our club is being run. Which should never be the case as an Evertonian. The people that need to leave this club are those that can't operate it in the financial manner that it should be run - board members with big pockets and short arms. If that means Mr Kenwright and a few of the others, then so be it. Kenwright has a very high maintainance girlfriend, admired by many and used to being treated to the best. Bill has tried to beg borrow and steal to keep this love affair going - he's even lied! If she continues to go out with Bill whilst her best friends are going out with Billionaires, her reputation will fall. As the saying goes - if you love someone set them free. And it wasn't Jenny Seagrove I was refferring to!!!

It's there for all to see, a grand old club with far more history, success, fan base than all of the other clubs around us being snapped up is waiting patiently for a sugar daddy to come in and rescue it. We are playing minor league in the transfer market and all the other teams and players know it, we couldn't secure Elm and Senderos (fee agreed - personal terms)- hardly blue chip players. It's amazing that Moyes has secured the players that he has. We are never going to be run as a profitable business if we are to buy the types of players that will see us break the top 4 - so the choice is: A: Stay as we are, Cheap and cheerful, hope for a few cup runs, maybe top 8 and sell the likes of Rodwell to Man U and Chelski to keep a transfer float once the player becomes disillusioned with not playing champions league. B: Get the club sold to someone who has money to throw into it.. someone who can fund a transfer war chest which will satisfy the managers and top players ambitions. Break into the top 4 and start generating the type of income that has seen the current top 4 establish themselves as Champions league contenders year in, year out. Does anyone actually believe someone with more money and financial ambition than Blue Bill has never sounded Mr Kenwright out?

I think you should hold hands up and be happy that pienaar is proving you wrong. The logic behind your issues is not there. Find a better player in his position, compare stats, and compare value and compare our expenditure and budget. There is no one, you can't compare billy after one game against a sub standard team, although i was very pleased. Saying pienaar is good but you want more is a contradiction, he is good because he ticks the boxes. Let's just put this one to bed, there are other players such as osman who deserve your over analysis.

I hope it does, we have had no support from those clowns. Forgot about Bellefield needing to be sold. Liverpool were practically given a chunk of stanley park................

His 25 yarder was a fluke, so was his work rate, that was lucky as well. I think Moyes must have him confused with someone else when he said he was "brilliant" and a "revelation". I'm thinking transfer also "Let's keep what we have, let's get the board to get money out and let's strengthen in depth and have a real crack at the top 4"

Blimey Romey - ahead of Rodwell, Pienaar and Billy?, I thought he was better than he has been but for me he is still sooo one paced he looks laboured. He looked tidy enough although he doesn't tend to pass the ball forward. Once or twice he was muscled out of tangles which I found strange, still has a way to go for me. It's a case of looking for small victories with Felli at the moment which is a little tough to take when you consider he was our key signing last year. let's hope he continues to improve and his lack of mobility is less of a hinderence. I thought Rodwell was outstanding, his pass completion must have been 100% and that includes switching 20 yard passes to the flanks over opposition heads. He broke up play, takes the ball either foot and basically ran the show, 18 years of age, the lad is priceless for me at the moment, a true genuine world class midfield prospect. You could see that they were afraid to let him have the ball at the 25yrd range in fear of his shooting from the previous euro game. To own the midfield and have such evident command over his team mates at his age puts him ahead of Gerrard at the same age. I would say even now he is on par with Michael Carrick, Carrick may be slightly ahead with his through balls etc, but Rodwell tackles better and is a bigger threat in the air.

I think they did pass, Bily tended to get inside whilst Baines overlapped and they worked a couple of nice one two's. Baines did pick up the ball deep a few times and you could see he wanted to see a central player making a run so he could play a long ball , whilst the crowd egged him to run forward with it and play to feet. Bily seems to be able to look after the ball, nice feet, excellent delivery (almost Hinchcliffe like - little less pace on ball) - but nice to see the ball beat the first man and keeper, Fellaini and Tim shall be doing plenty of set piece work with him to maximise opportunities. Something tells me his technique should see a few direct free kicks come his way. I'm thinking of putting him in my fantasy footy team based on his corners alone!

Can you repeat that please, I fancy seeing Pienaar cracking home another 25 yarder after running the right flank for the past 45 mins.

I'm sure the thread poster will say fools seldom differ!

What a cracker, between that quote "better than Jags" and the thread "let's sell Pienaar" i'm going for a lie down.

Pienaar is one of our most talented players who combines talent with workrarate. His versatility, ability to beat a man, work for the team and to also make decoy runs makes him one of our best options going forward. To replace him would cost somewhere in the region of £15m. He also outperformed KaKa in that confederations cup match. Rumours are Arsene Wenger was interested in taking him. Actually, Yeah lets sell him for £5m make a 100% profit and then spend £8m on a player no one has heard of and then get told that the deal cost £10m because of signing fees, wages, train fares and the cost of gettin a shirt printed for the press photos.

Not to say that any Everton fans are called Nero, but he did play the fiddle whilst Rome was burning. What is absolutely (our CEO's favourite buzz word)critical is that fans continue to look and question the grey areas of what is going on in this club. The problem we have is that when genuine and logical questions are asked, we are met with differing answers or in the case of Blue Bill (i'm bored of that question, i'm not answering it). There are parts in that article that you can scoot past, however there are parts where you think hhhmmm yes. You don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to give any of the points consideration. Bobby Elstone stated that we had paid £8m more than the Lescott transfer fee, Moyes then came out and said, "you can work it out - and summarised that the club had not spent £8m more" There will be a point after all of this when Moyes scoots off and the Moyes loyalists (most of us) who are content with the prudent (lies) board approach will soon voice their anger. We shall see what has been played out when the Kirby decision is announced. His net transfer spend per year since he started has been £2.8m give or take a few thousand (that includes loan fees too) - KPMG