Calico

Oh he must be about twenty-four now. Can't be bothered to check.

Seriously, he is wasted at RB! I hope people know he is a CB first and foremost

Looked competent enough. I have personally been desperate to see Moyes decide to play him there even when Hibbert is fit, just to see if we have a viable attacking alternative without needing to shell out money we don't have.

Hullo

That injury sounds bloody painful.

Oh man I wish but I think this kid is destined for the very top level and, as we've already seen, it would appear that some footballers do not see Everton as a route to that.

Yar, I reckon Distin is a better player right now than those other so-called targets. Youth and potential is wonderful but we do already have plenty of that so I can see where Moyes might be changing his mind with this kind of signing. His experience could be vital and, quite frankly, something which that back line has been missing since the likes of Weir left.

Our money - for what little there is - doesn't come from a sugar daddy or anything so I'm not sure how much we'll be effected. I mean, I may have misunderstood this when I saw it but didn't our balance sheet come out looking quite good this past year?

lol, we have been known to indulge in such a thing under Moyes but I can just see it more likely to happen if we keep the best players we have whilst adding the likes of Bily and Banega.

Platini has already said that Scotland are often the ones who start these complaints-turned campaigns so it seems you're right about the SFA, jamie.

I'm also glad Mike quoted the beeb because I very much agree with that opinion. I'm sick of the ancient, repetitive sentiment that quite frankly ends up being little more than xenophobia or the spiel of unintelligent, bias people.

I agree with the idea of diving being treated in the same way as handball. A red card. It is using a sledgehammer to crack a nut but, frankly, that is all footballers seem to respond to since the vast majority of them are little more than spoilt, petulant children if their behaviour on and off the pitch is anything to go by. Diving is, as has been said, cheating and so needs to be stamped out; it is rife in other countries thanks to it being treated as an acceptable method to winning and it could very well end up being treated the same way here when everybody just thinks of it as 'what happens all the time'. Apathy will, and is already starting to let this run riot.

I vividly remember getting outplayed at home. It was like they were giving us a lesson in how to pass the ball. This is what I'm referring to and, for me what happened then out-weighs Collina's mistake.

I'd like to see us reach a minimum of the last 8 of the Europa Cup and to achieve a top 6 finish. That would demostrate ongoing overachievment given the resources.

Entirely agree. Maybe also a view at some good attacking football given that we now have two wingers who can hopefully persuade Moyes into pushing Areta into CM.

Master stroke? I dunno, but a good move possibly

I think when he has fallen to pieces, as it were, I have often thought that if he was surrounded by better players then it wouldn't happen so much if at all. I just kind of think that he will likely fit in very, very well with not only the squad but the first team.

does anyone know if he is "owned" like Manny was?

Yup. They bought him our-right for somewhere in the region of £18million.

We havent signed him no, we applied for a work permit (which was granted) but that was as a precautionary measure.

 

Everton probably dealt entirely through Banega's agent and thats where the confusion lies. The agent is now trying to negotiate a deal with Valencia and Banega and neither of them are that interested.

 

Valencia will want a replacement however, and if they do finally say yes then it wont happen untill the day of the TW shutting

Aye, I don't doubt that we worked through his agent. This is why I'm not a fan of how influential agents have become in football and how clubs still bloody well work with and through them. Bloody crap it is >_<

In terms of a replacement it kind of looks like they're going to buy Jonathan de Guzman from Feyenoord so hopefully this will bring them to the negotiating table with a view to at least agreeing a loan deal with us.

Valencia are a bloody revolving door.

Harper left!? When did that happen? Wow.

I still can't believe Hunt got bought by a Premiership club

I think Man Utd might actually struggle, if not simply find it no easy job to progress.

Any way, onto more important matters. I just hope we don't get Either of the Spanish teams mentioned above or Roma. I think we'd get embarrassed in a similar fashion to the way we did the last time we played Villareal.

He's not a RB. He plays there because there are no alternatives for Holland and/or Atletico Madrid. Rather, I would say he is a class CB who can cover RB.

Sadly, I can see him going to another Champions League club next rather than to a club like us

The only thing that bothers me is the combination of his age and the fee but then, beggars can't be choosers and Everton *are* beggars as we all well know.

For the issue of his lack of pace: I hope we're able to sign players who aren't defined by whether they can run quickly or not. Even in the "quick and hard Premier League" players in wide position do not need pace to survive or even play well IMO.

I would also like to agree with the sentiment that he is one of the more composed defenders in the league and that is exactly what we could do with alongside Jags or Yobo.

So yeah, overall, I'm quite happy with him. And like every single player wearing our shirt I will be supporting him and looking for him to prove his worth.

Please no. Not what we need and not good enough, no matter what some dodgy-account using person says.

I think Distin may prove to be a canny signing but that's another thing

Wow. If we actually enquired about Luisao then I am impressed since I think this is the level of Moyes' ambition but wasn't sure the board would meet it. As long as they continue to back him in his efforts for this level of player then we'll be okay.

Double post, but --> http://goal.com/en/news/10/italy/2009/08/26/1462159/inters-victor-obinna-agrees-to-join-malaga-on-loan-report

Maybe Grarghsies is speaking from their own experience?

Probably in better shape than expected since he has to be kept on his toes what with Saha's form. Competition causes improvement in attitudes at the least, or so I think it might be the case here.

Hullo

haha I said the same

As for Tony hibbert, shame on you all, he's been our regular right back for 8 seasons, yes he's got his limitations but he's been a great servant to this club and is when on form is a reliable, tough-tackling, hhard-working full-back who could do a job in any side. Not his fault the Brazilians invented wing-backs in the 90s...

Carlos Alberto thanks you

I reckon he'll end up at Arsenal. Yes, I realise this may have been already said but I'm being lazy right now