gethinO

3 points away from qualifying. Israel home on Sunday ao hopefully that'll be the one. Say what you want about Bale but I've never seen such a quality player live. He is world class and has carried us this campaign. That's not taking away the glory from the likes of Ashley Williams though who is simply quality at the back.1958 was the last time we qualified so naturally, after all the near misses including hand balls and missed penalties, I firmly believe we're prepared and ready to take that next step and qualify!!!!

Smash and grab tonight! Bale had a poor game but mark of a world class player and match winner is when that one chance does eventually come he bloody takes it! Absolutely buzzing again. Never has Welsh football been on such a high. We are not going to crumble this time! #Togetherstronger!

I think this echoes how we all feel right now. Fuck off Everton. Had enough of all this bullshit lies.

Agree. If that 7-8 million would help us get someone like Yarmolenko then it's a no brainer.

You just know that Martinez will come out with some shite about Barkley's early form has persuaded him not to invest in a number 10 or a fully fit Kevin Mirallas will be able to cover the position. Don't really blame him either as he's obviously had players in mind this summer but we're too skint to buy anyone to actually move us on to the next level. Nothing new here really is there?

Shocking. No excuse if we don't sign this playmaker even though it's blatantly obvious we need one and Martinez has said numerous times that a number 10 is our priority. Piss poor transfer window. Yet again, no ambition shown by this board.

This club drives me up the wall. Honestly, I'm so pissed off right now. I'm giving them 1 hour 48 mins to sign a quality number 10 or I'll be absolutely fuming. All this bullshit about needing the right character and correct type of player. Clock is ticking. Get out there and sign him!

What a disaster of a window this has been. Honestly, what have we been doing since May? We've brought in four so far but have we really improved on last season? Cleverley: Great bit of business on a free. Looks to have settled immediately. Calm with the ball, hard-working and can pass forward. A welcome addition. Deulofeu: Again, for 4 million you can't really go wrong. I want him to get more minutes after the international break though. However, there is a buy back clause, so I don't know if we can relax completely over the deal yet. Mori: No-one knows much about him really. Read some reports that he's going to struggle while others say he's a decent player. An unproven South American coming into the premiership hardly strikes me with confidence though. We'll see. Rodriguez: Again, unproven. Not a great record in Uruguay. Not expecting much, if anything, from him this season. What makes me laugh is that Martinez has said numerous times in interviews that what we need is a number 10 and that we need to look abroad for one as homegrown players don't fit the type of player we're looking for. We knew this since probably christmas last year so I'm assuming that our scouts have been looking abroad for this player for at least 6 months and yet I'm writing this on the 30th of August, with two days remaining in the transfer window and still no number ten has been brought in. It's laughable really. What the hell have we been doing? Edit To add to the misery, looks like Yarmolenko is off to Dortmund for 15 million.

What's up with Osman? Surely would have started against Barnsley but wasn't even on the bench. Same tonight. Don't think he's injured either. Heard whispers that he want to move to play in the States but his family aren't convinced.

Still doesn't make up for the fact that it's 27th of August and he's given our manager pittens again to spend and strengthen the squad. First time he's said a word this summer. Keeping Stones is huge but what he needs to do is back our manager with funds so we can build a team around him.

Everton 1 Man City 0 Lukaku

Anyone know anything about this Mori then??

Agree. Looks a brilliant player. Great with the ball and chips in with goals as well! Genuinely think West Ham took our main targets in him and Ogbonna. Money talks.

Llongyfarchiadau mawr!! (Huge congratulations)

Lukaku all day long. Unplayable today and to be fair I've never seen him play so well.

I've voted no because he has a few months to convince me before I go to the 'yes' option. Regarding his appearance on MNF the other night a few things did alarm me. First of all, he seemed to justify Carragher's point about Utd's risky formation in leaving themselves open at the back by saying "but they kept a clean sheet". He misunderstood what Carragher was saying as he pointed out against better opposition, especially in Europe, Utd will be caught out if they keep leaving their defenders in one v one situations. The fact that they kept a clean sheet was irrelevant as Carragher was trying to point out this will eventually cost them but Martinez's stubbornness came across there in his attitude being "so what they still kept a clean sheet". Secondly, when they went on to talk about set pieces, Martinez in a very sarcastic and mocking himself kind of way responded with "Ooh my speciality". I mean, come on, get a grip will you. Set pieces are very important, especially in the premier league, but as we kind of already knew that he doesn't pay much attention to them as our defending and attacking of set pieces since he's been our manager has been dreadful. May he should give more time to them on the training ground so that it does become a speciality! As I said, he's on thin ground with me. He said that in the premier league now you have to be flexible. The irony in him saying that statement was incredible. He has one philosophy and that's it. He is in no way a flexible manager as we saw last season. Got a lot of convincing to do between now and christmas.

I think we've reached the stage now where all of our main targets have gone elsewhere because we couldn't compete financially for them. Something seriously is wrong at our club.

We knew since May that both Alcaraz and Distin would be leaving (possibly before that as Martinez released them) and with 3 days to go before our first game... WE STILL HAVEN'T BOUGHT ANYONE IN TO COVER THE CB POSITION!!!! How shit is that??

Everton 1 - 0 Watford Jagielka

Love Dzeko's reaction there. Proper captain. If you want Mo, you have to go through me first. Jags needs to be more nasty. Too nice at times.

Yet nothing's getting done about it. So bloody frustrating. Omens aren't good for this season. Honestly see us starting like we were last season again. Exactly the same team more or less.

He's finished and has been for the last season or so. Why pay a guy who will maybe give you 10 games a season at most? Constantly injured and leaves us short on the wing. Good player and good servant but age has caught up with him I'm afraid.

Well as you say he should be fired then. If any of us don't do our job properly then we're gone so the same applies to him however we both know he won't.Correct we don't know how much we have to spend but the signs aren't good are they? Ideally you get the business done early so we're up and running by the first game but that doesn't look like happening either.

I'd have him here in a heartbeat. But QPR, and rightly so as he's a goalscorer, will demand at least 10 million for him which is money we haven't got.

What saddens me is that I see other clubs progressing and it just seems that we're in the exact same situation as we were when Kenwright started. I'm not his biggest fan but I'll try and evaluate what he's done for us. Positives: 1. Moyes appointment was a good one. 2. Good relationship with managers. 3. Never been one to sack a manager when we're going through a bad patch. Very loyal. 4. He's an Evertonian (clutching at straws here). Negatives: 1. No progress has been made in finding a new stadium. We've had rumours and near misses but the fact remains we're still in an extremely old stadium that brings in little revenue for us to move forward. Compared to other stadiums Goodison Park is becoming an embarrassment. 2. He's said himself that he hasn't got the finances to compete with the top clubs so has stated numerous times that the club is for sale and he's working day and night to find the right buyer for our club. He's been on our board since 1989 - second largest stakeholder in 1999 and then chairman in 2004. So since his stint as chairman, 11 years have passed and you're telling me that no-one has expressed interest in investing in Everton FC - one of the biggest clubs in England (history wise)? If that's the case then he's obviously asking a ridiculously high price for us. Or of course - we are not for sale and he has no interest whatsoever in selling. I think the latter and it's been all lies over the years and unfortunately for us, he's been getting away with it. He never wants to let us go but is more than happy to watch other clubs spend and surpass us while doing nothing. Whichever is the case - something is not right. 3. What are the others contributing to our club? Elstone, Woods, Carter etc. Heard nothing from them and they're part of our board. Are they, like Bill, happy to sit back and call themselves part of our board but then offer bugger all towards us? Again, something is not right. 4. I know how much you spend is not everything but so far we've spent a pitiful 4 million on a player who can be bought back in his first 2 years while the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, Utd, Arsenal are strengthening their squad again. Clubs I, as a supporter, feel we should be competing with and what's more frustrating is I feel we're not too far away but the players we need to move us forward cost money. We can't even compete with the likes of Newcastle who are showing ambition and strengthening. Frustrating. Conclusion: They need to go I'm sorry because they're holding us back and anyone who doesn't see it is being very naive. How it's going to happen I don't know but I just can't handle them anymore on our board and the farce we've become in every transfer window. Big, big pressure needs to be put on them as they're not going anywhere soon I'm afraid.