pete0

I can't see him going anywhere to be a bench player. Great finisher, underrated at United IMO.

What will be best of all is watching all the moneybags' waste their fortunes on super-sized egos only for Everton to finish above them in the league. Last season, we watched Spurs close to 100m and still finish below us. This season, it will be Liverpool and van Gaal's United that we'll beat. We will do so because a team is much more than a bunch of individuals.

Did anyone have a clue we were bringing in Deulofeu before it was announced? No. Did anyone have even a hint ahead of time that we were recruiting Lukaku? No. Was there anything in the press about Everton loaning Barry ahead of time? No. The fact that there were loans and not buys is irrelevant. Real business is conducted behind closed doors and not in public. What appears in the papers is designed to sell those papers to the gullible - full stop.

I bet after Howard's heroics the organisers of the "International Champions Cup" (that we played in last year) are kicking themselves for not inviting us back.
 
http://internationalchampionscup.com/schedule/sch/
 
We'd have drawn big crowds.
 
Also strange no US team this year.

Matija Nastasic's apparently surplus to requirements at City. Struggled a bit last season but was excellent the year before & still only 21. Left footed so possible long term replacement for the milkman? Fee & wages would obviously be restrictive but the idea of him & Stonesy as our CB pairing for years to come sounds pretty exciting to me! Thoughts?

Brief one but a couple more positives today.
 
Feeding tube that I've had in my stomach for six months because I couldn't eat properly was taken out (eating still a major chore rather than a pleasure but getting better); and the MRI scan I had last week came back clear . Still not out of the woods but on the right track.

I think there is a valid point in there though.
 
At the time of some of these players coming through, we were playing some pretty crap football and on several occasions we were playing other guys out of position just because they were the senior players instead of getting a little competitive game time into them. Baxter is probably the most obvious case of this because he missed out on some key years of first team football (I think it was roughly 3 years between his debut and going on out on loan). A player like Baxter needed that education, just like Barkley did and Im not suggesting he would have ever have made it at Everton but that regular exposure can either speed up his development process and make him into a first team regular or it widens his appeal to other clubs so whilst he might not have made it with Everton we could have got a fee for him and included a massive sell on clause.
 
As an example, look at Jay Spearing. Very limited player who was still deemed good enough to play half a dozen games for a top 4 side. He never had the match winning potential of Baxter (which generally increases value in a player) but after falling out of the first team picture and going out on loan, eventually sells for around £1.5mil to Bolton(£1.75mil offered by Blackburn). That might not be a lot, but they gave him a chance. It didnt work out and at the end of it all they get a small fee for him. Id imagine by that time that his contract was running down as well.
 
When you look at some of the players we have had on the books and released on a free and then look at our financial position its very frustrating to think that we didnt make a bit more of our academy.

I really think he's not going to be as good as everyone thinks, hope I'm right now he's going there

He's supposed to be but I've not seen anything of him to judge for myself.

What a finish...
 
Bailey, I know what you mean. I just want to see him on MOTD every week if he plays like he has been!

For not being exceptional in any one area, Thomas Mueller is such a good player. Probably the best striker/second striker in the game.
 
I'm not even going to start on Neuer.

If people criticise Lukaku for his first touch then he'll be getting some abuse here! His first touch is atrocious, and it definitely will not improve at his age.

There's been a thread like this every summer since I've been a member here, sometimes lots of them, predicting our imminent demise. Not happened yet and I think in general there's more optimism for the season ahead than I've ever seen.
 
You can't say Bill's sums don't add up because you don't have any idea what the sums are, and we may be at this moment worse off in the player department than we were last season, but we're better off than we were at this time last year; ie before pre season has even started.
 
I'm relaxed about it.

Its no secret I like the lad, I dont think Ive argued someones case this much ever. But I started thinking; maybe I'm letting my admiration for the lad get in the way of a proper analysis of him. So, rather than concentrate on the positives, which I think are clear (Ive summarized them with links to proof where required), I decided to pick up on this negatives put forward...

Pros Goal scorer & Creator 15 in 31 apps (2 subs) + 6 assists. Responsible for combined total of 21 from 61 goals Premiership goals (33%, a large portion of them being winning game deciders) http://www.espnfc.com/player/139437/romelu-lukaku?season=2013 http://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=56521&season_id=143 http://www.evertonfc.com/first-team-stats-2013/14 21 Strong Fast Sell on value Rated by Martinez Proven over 2 EPL seasons "Super Sub" or starter Ability to score in most scenarios (head, both feet, 1 touch, driving run, inside and outside box) http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/players/profile.html/romelu-lukaku Cons Price tag Never been argued that its inflated, I've always said 15m + potential add-ons up to 20m. Can go missing in games Who doesnt? Not a great argument but he will only improve and Martinez is the man to get the best out of him. Even the games where he isnt scoring, hes making an impact a lot of the time. Same argument can be applied to Barkley. Can have a poor touch Who doesnt? Some times its great, sometimes its terrible, like any developing player. I wont argue that this will be perfected but it can and will be improved upon but this is a matter of opinion and no point arguing individual beliefs. Again, Barkley can be used as a comparison here. Struggles as a target man Agreed, but then play to his strengths. You dont take a player like Barkley for example and play him on the wing or a holding midfielder to improve his all-round game, you play to his strengths. Same applies to Lukaku - let him run on to it. For when running through isnt working, use him as a distraction / battering ram to open space for others to exploit. Attitude Such a strange statement - "thinks he's better than he is". You want him to have the mentality that average is ok? He wants to be the best, he is aiming for the top. Its called ambition and good on him for being positive. However, he now has to walk the walk more consistently, which he has admitted is up to him. Martinez has repeatedly praised the lad for his mentality, praising his constructive arrogance like he has done with Barkley and Gerry. "1 goal in 11 games" - 1st game into that run, he setup Oviedo for the winner (under pressure, turned his man - Im sure the argument against this will be "he was trying to shoot", which is irrelevant - he setup a goal). The next game, against Arsenal, he setup Deulafeu and again not intended, but occupied defenders and got the slightest of touches to take it to Gerrys feet (who then did the hard work). 3rd game into this run, assist for Barry goal. Nothing to note in the Swansea or Sunderland game but then his 1 goal in 11 was the winner against Southampton. So, out of the first 6 games of this terrible scoring streak, he is directly responsible for 4 goals. Not bad going. Nothing to mention in the Stoke game, assists Barry for opening goal against Norwich. The next game against WBA, assists Mirallas. Liverpool game, disappears along with the rest of the team. So 11 games, 1 goal and 5 assists - responsible for 6 goals in those 11 games, no matter how intentional or not. All that I can conclude is that people are understandably seriously put off with the price tag, because it represents the majority of our budget, and so are trying to find any little thing to justify why we shouldnt invest the money. Thing is, to address the negatives, you can get your chequebook our for 40m+, because you're talking about a Suarez / Ageuro/ etc quality player. Or we can invest in a youngster our manager believes in and enjoy the benefits we already have seen. I mentioned Barkley, who we would be wanting for around double the 25m City recently offered, despite the fact he contributed less goals and assists. You want to argue more technical proficiency? I understand why, but then Barkley is wanting in a few areas of his game too. The point Im trying to make is, I cant help thinking the critics of Lukaku will be as harsh on one of our own. edit: sorry its a bit rushed, called into a meeting sooner than expected

I think Tim Howard has done more to further Everton commercially in 120 minutes than that lot at the club have done in 15 years... I'm being serious.
 
You would like to think that the likes of Elstone and co have thought "hey up! Obama ringing Tim up, US sports starts tweeting about him - lets get his club involved in this.... can we maximise our exposure in having the US hero in our team in a country where the game is likely to take off"

For me he falls into the category just under world class. I think he is a great keeper but there are quite a few in a similar bracket.

Kev's been great since he came on.

I'd heard of him, plenty of others had, he's always been highly thought of.
 
He was their captain then as well and felt he owed it to them to stay and help them build again. He's paid his dues to Southampton.

Identical triplets separated at birth and put into care due to drug addicted patents; we found each other on TT, No big deal.

If I remember correctly he was scoring for fun in the U21s, some absolute peaches too. Hopefully just a late bloomer

He knows where the net is, lively and clever runner, lets see how he does.

John, maybe start an online petition to the council, if you do we will all sign it.
 
Just give us a way to help and we will all get on board.

Hi all,
 
My name's Frank and I'm an American living in New Jersey. My parents moved here from Italy and I was raised as a fan of the Italian national team (although I eventually defected to the US team) in a household split between fans of Milan, Napoli, and Fiorentina. Given the limited accessibility of Serie A football in the states, as well as the conflict that picking a side would have engendered, I remained unattached to any club side. Having recently subscribed to a channel on TV that will grant me access to English soccer every Sunday, I've decided to shift my focus towards Everton.
 
Although I do love Tim Howard and have great respect for Roberto Martinez, the real reason I'm partial to Everton is that the first EPL match I ever saw was one many years ago in which Liverpool's goalkeeper kicked the ball into the back of one of Everton's players and it rolled into the net, only for the goal to be disallowed by the referee. My pre-adolescent mind was unable to process this blatant injustice and I've considered Everton my favorite English team ever since.
 
I've watched a lot of football in my life but it's been mostly international or Serie A, so although I feel as though I have a solid understanding of the tactical elements of the game my familiarity with the Premier League and its players is still somewhat limited, and I'll be looking to absorb as
much as I can over the upcoming season.
 
Thanks for having me!

.Fitness aside... A rolls Royce of a PLAYER. Best young player I'd seen at the time in a mature role. Those two feet. Class.

That's the only one of theirs I like!