The Regulator

To a degree yes but all the other teams bar tottenham got games at the weekend and we didn't, I think Moyes wanted us to be as fit as possible for the first game against QPR. Even though it was an injury risk, Moyes did put out quite a few youth players, which was good to see. Duffy seems to be quite composed and could very well deputise this season if we get injuries which is promising, and Arteta getting some game time was essential, as it was for Felli. In my view our 3 most important players this term are Fellaini, Baines and Arteta in that order. If Fellaini can get back to his best form he will be an immense asset, breaking up attacks and bossing the midfield. Baines is always going to be an attacking threat down the left as well as at set pieces, and if Arteta can get his form back we have a creative fulcrum to the midfield and we could be looking at a fellaini, arteta, coleman, barkley and rodwell midfield down the line, which to be honest I very much like the look of. Not to mention we'd still have Ossie, Cahill and other people on the bench that could come on and change a game.

I don't quite understand the clip you used to illustrate your point, it started with Jags blocking a Torres shot and then saving David James from embarrassment by clearing it. David Villa did then score a goal, which happened to be a world class goal from a world class striker who happened to be in world class form, and in the rest of the clip (which I presume are highlights of the most important or noteworthy bits from the game since I can only half remember it?) I don't see Jags making another "mistake", although like i said, i don't see how one of the best strikers in the world turning you inside out is a mistake or in any way jags fault. i don't think terry or ferdinand would have done a lot better. In my own opinion, Jags won't be worth 20mil to anyone a season from now. Man City, Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea have all pretty much got their defenses sorted, it's only really arsenal and tottenham out of the teams above us that need defenders and out of those 2 arsenal are the more desperate for a strong, commanding centre back. If arsenal are willing to pay 20mil for him then I would take it, use the money to invest on two 10mil wide players and trust that Saha and Beckford, as well as a goal scoring midfield will be enough. Heitnga is a central defender for Holland and if its good enough for them its good enough for us. If however arsenal don't come in for Jags, or don't make a good enough offer, Jags is still a top defender and any team around us would gladly have him, it's not that he won't be worth 20mil in a season, he could have a stormer and end up being worth more than that, but if he wants to play for England he needs to play for an English side and a top one at that, and all the teams above us, have got fairly big, expensive defenses, so to them there is no need to spend 20mil on a defender, theyd rather spend it on a winger or striker. jags has always given a good account of himself, and all football players go through patches of bad form, I honestly think that if we put out a consistent defense this term with fellaini in front of them we won't concede that much, and its highly likely jags will recapture the form that saw him touted as one of the best centrebacks in the country. 18-20mil is a fair price for him, if other teams are willing to pay it fair enough, but if there not, i'm not that disappointed we haven't sold him, because he's the best centre back at the club. In my opinion it goes: Jagielka Heitinga Distin Yobo To that end Yobo is surplus to requirements and given that he''s already thrown in the towel we need to get shot of him quickly and try and raise some funds for a late dip into transfer pool.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2025767/Arsenal-renew-bid-Phil-Jagielka.html#ixzz1UwxymTcv

Well that's a shame All the same I'm sure he'll get his chances this season so it's not too disappointing. I guess because we're not signing anyone I'm putting more hope in the youth than I should.

He could cut in from the right for sure, but he's naturally left footed and knowing that both he and Baines could whip fast, accurate crosses into the box seems more dangerous. Plus he could still cut in anyway, and to be honest I just remember how much I loved watching games when I knew Pienaar and Baines were both playing on the same side, because I knew we would at least be attacking them a good few times down that side during the game. Now if Coleman were right back and he played in front of him I would agree, but given coleman's injury and that we won't get any players anyway, if we did get johnson, I'd rather see him on the left. Besides, I think Barkley showed promise on the right and we could have a formation like: Howard Coleman Jagielka Distin Baines Barkley Fellaini Arteta Johnson Cahill Saha If we had that team, fully fit for most of the season, we could win the league....again I'm dreaming but I'm allowed to, I'm an Evertonian.

http://www.metro.co....n#ixzz1Uq1EKH75 Right, two things from this: 1) It seems like, amidst many other rumous, total bollocks 2) If it is true and Villa are interested, should this result in us also upping our interest? Getting AJ on loan would be a stroke of genius for any club, but seeing Villa get him on loan when he is exactly the type of player we need would be heartbreaking. He would be in our starting 11 every week, and I can only dream of the attacking partnership he could form with Baines; and surely there's another reason to come here. Baines will easily overtake ashley cole at left back for England, and if he has a strong season again, he may even edge him out anyway. Since Johnson is normally picked in the England squad as well, wouldn't it benefit a lot of people for him to come to us on loan? Worst case scenario, he gets injured and doesn't play a lot of games so it was a waste of time. Best case scenario, he plays week in week out with Baines and forms a deadly partnership and helps rocket us into the Champions League.... okay so I may have started daydreaming then but my overall point is if it's between us and Villa, why in god's name would he choose Villa???

This to me is a great opportunity for Rodwell, Barkley, Gueye and Vellios. QPR and games against other promoted teams are the perfect platform for our young players and given our injuries, Moyes must be looking to implement these players in those games. with that in mind, getting them a good run out in this friendly will put them in good stead for saturday and I certainly hope at least Barkley and Gueye are more involved in this game. If we aren't able to get anyone they may have to be the players we look to in the squad this year to add something, we all know Ross's quality and potential, and Gueye certainly looks to be a fine player as well, so fingers crossed the friendly will be just what our younger players need, a last chance to prove they deserve to be involved with the first team in games such as saturday.

Although I'm not Old 'Arry's biggest fan this is one area where he is an expert when it comes to the media. He's always straight up, and let's people know exactly what he's doing on most occasions "Yeah we spoke to that player, no chance of that happening, yeah he's good we might look to put a deal together" etc... Moyes has always been one of the quietest managers in the game, and although I'd love him to be more open and honest looking at it objectively, everyone knows Everton don't have any money and therefore may have to sell to buy or loan/free players, and it would probably make his job even harder by letting everyone know who he's after knowing how careful we have to be when it comes to money. Looking ahead though, if we can get some money for Yobo maybe we can bring someone in towards the end of the window you never know, but this is always the time when every Evertonian starts hitting the bottom of the pit.

Dear Ross Barkley, Every time you have the ball at your feet, I get semi-erect. Sincerely, The Regulator But no in seriousness after Coleman went off I was screaming at the box wondering why we made change after change that restricted us completely. I'm sorry but a midfield of Cahill, Rodwell, Neville and Heitinga?? 3 defensive midfielders and one attacking, we couldn't put a 2 piece jigsaw puzzle together with that let alone an attack!! I'm hoping Moyes was just giving game time to the people he thought maybe starting next week, and given Fellaini isn't up to fitness and Bily and Coleman won't be eligible I'm guessing next week we'll start with: Howard Neville Jagielka Distin Baines Osman Heitinga Rodwell Anichebe Cahill Saha Bench: Mucha, Hibbert, Fellaini, Barkley, Gueye, Beckford, Vellios I honestly hope he starts Barkley but it seems Barkley will be playing a more advanced central role if Moyes has any faith in him. He was linking up play all the time, so calm in possession, he only gave the ball away once maybe twice the entire time he was on the pitch, and did anybody else notice for the opening 20 minutes all our players were looking to play it to Ross every chance they got? He's going to be an outstanding player, which makes me doubt Moyes brandishing him this season, in fact I think he'll make more sub appearances than anything. But we still clearly need a winger, that left hand side is going to be so weak this season if we can't sort it out. Cheebs is not the answer!!

I can understand questions/ideas regarding Stadium plans, as there could always be a diamond in the rough to come out of that. I also agree with fans helping (in whatever way possible) to assist in a takeover that would benefit the club in the long term. However anything else is really none of the fans business. Just because fans are frustrated that there is a lack of money for transfers, it doesn't mean they have any right to view details of Everton's business, and besides, as much as Moyes could do with millions to spend on high profile players, if the Premier League positions were based on which team had the least ego's we would be top every year. Moyes has always done well at taking players for relatively small fees and maximising their potential (Arteta, Cahill, Jagielka etc) and yet we have spent money on bigger transfers, and even then some of them don't pay off (Bilyaletdinov anyone?). I think it's a good idea to get a united supporter's group to open up a free and hopefully beneficial dialogue with the Board and higher ups at Everton, but all the same the best thing we can contribute to the club being fans is just that, being fans. Go to the games, support the club whatever way we can and that goes double for when the club is in difficult situations, because that's what real fans do.

He is more likely to get struck by lightning than end up here. We broke the wage cap for Arteta (70k), whilst Bellamy is on 90k a week. He already stated that he wouldn't go back to Cardiff unless Man City subsidise his wages again, which they would most certainly have to do if he went to Celtic, and to be honest we have a better chance getting Johnson than Bellamy. Why would he come here? His family and friends are in Cardiff, and he has already stated he wouldn't move to another Prem club. This. Will. Not. Happen.

With Diaby out, Fabregas seemingly moving this summer, and the likelihood that they may lose Nasri, as well as already sending Denilson out on loan, they are certainly lacking in CM's, and Barton would give them the physicality they need. Since he's free, I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see Wenger jump on this opportunity.

I'd love Duffy to get a loan to Cardiff City. City being my second team, I'd love to see a young everton lad come in and develop, and with our lacking of strong central defenders and a new manager with a rebuilding job on his hands and a need to add some real steel to the back four, he could be just what Cardiff need. Plus City are always up and around the top of the table competing for promotion, and look at what a loan move to a promotion chasing side did for Coleman. Alas, it probably won't happen, but a Toffee/Bluebird can dream...

http://news.bbc.co.u...ll/14366074.stm While I wouldn't pay for a player with barton's attitude, this could solve a few problems. We have no money, he is on a free. Our squad is consistently ravaged with injuries, and we need good cover. While the wings and striker positions are our priority, having a central midfielder of Barton's quality means we are in a position to sacrifice a central player, be it Arteta or Rodwell, should the right offer come in. He was easily Newcastle's most consistent performer last season, however given the situation, i assume he'll be holding out for a team in Europe (Tottenham, Arsenal), but if we did land him, it would be a solid transfer and i would be more than happy with it considering our inability to spend money without selling.

Didn't Beckford score ten goals? Not 8 as the article suggests? In either case, Beckford is a strong positional player, if he had simply put away some of the clear cut chances he had last season, as well as scoring some of the wonder goals such as Bolton, he could have easily had 14-15 goals last term. Considering how little we have to offer up front there is no chance Beckford will move on in either this window or January.

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/transfer-news/Everton-line-up-move-take-Adam-Johnson-on-loan-from-Manchester-City-for-season-article778611.html This would be more than a coup if it happened, it would be one of Moyes best deals since he became Everton's manager, if not the best deal. Johnson is EXACTLY what we need, which is why I believe that this will never possibly come off. It's just too good of a deal. Can you imagine the partnership he and baines could have down the left?????

Yobo's proposed move to Fenerbache is off, and as such I haven't heard one other rumour as to another club even looking to buy him, and the Yak seems to be wearing a number 9 shirt, or at least he was in the Bury game, which suggests Moyes actually may have him as part of his plans for this season. All the same, I doubt we'd get more than £3m for Yobo, and given his wages, not many teams will be willing to spring for him, and the same with the Yak, only we might get closer to £6m for him. As much as I'd like shot of both, if Yak can get his fitness and form back and bag us 20 goals, I'd be happy to keep him given Saha's fragile nature. Yobo, well, I suppose having a proven premier League CB can have it's advantages as well, seeing as how I doubt Duffy is ready to make the step up, and we only have 3 first team CB's to choose from, any of whom could easily get injured and leave us short.

She's purdy Good artist too

If we got enough money from Jagielka to get N'Zogbia and Onuoha I wouldn't be too disappointed to be honest.

So not to over-egg the omelette here but is anyone else hoping we see a lot more of Barkley next season? Given his age it would be foolish to think he'll be starting many games this season, but we also have to take into account other factors. Cahill referred to him as the best player he's ever played with. Ossie last year I remember was quoted (among others, the manager included), as saying how unfortunate it was about his injury, in a sort-of, "we were going to use him" way. I also remember seeing his name a lot on the BBC match info pages before games under injured, and at the time I thought it was strange that they felt the need to include a 17 year old who had never played for the first team before. However, looking over his performance last night and all the hype around him, is it possible Moyes had plans for him as early as the second half of last season? And if that's true, given our penchant for slow starts and spates of injuries, could this be the season we see another Diamond in the Rough come through? After all, Arteta is already injured, Cahill doesn't look match sharp yet, and Felli is still out. Barkley seems like an attacking midfielder, so playing him alongside Rodwell and Osman could be quite a midfield to cope with, if Ossie maintains his form and Rodwell continues his progress. The most exciting prospect however, is even if he doesn't see much action, a lot of other teams and especially teams fans won't know of him or his ability, and like Coleman did last season, he could effectively use that lack of knowledge to springboard his career. Coleman pretty much surprised everyone last season, after only being a £60,000 acquisition, I could see Ross doing the same, but standing out even more given his talent and his seemingly natural ability to create time and space for himself and others. Several times yesterday he was just spinning back and forth waiting for people to make runs or get in good positions, and he almost always chose the best pass. Aside from the fairytale of us getting 4th without spending a penny over summer and all our great young players rocketing us there on the back of reckless ambition, what should we realistically expect from Barkley? Is he too young to be counted on in important games, or would throwing him in the deep end (which could be necessary) work out to be in the best interests of everybody?

Yet even more speculative journalism. Of course we want £20m for Rodwell, of course we want N'Zogbia, but I didn't see one quote in that article that made it worthy of being called news. Just the recycled thoughts of a lazy journalist and the knowledge that Everton fans crave transfer gossip.

FULL TIME: DC UNITED 1 - EVERTON 3 well deserved win, lagging at times, but in the 99 degree heat its understandable. Mucha was fine in goal, couldn't have done much about DC's goal, it was down to poor defending. Defensively, Coleman looked strong, got forward but also held his own, Distin looked impeccable, didn't put a foot wrong. Baines was solid as always but the real letdown was Jags. Just didn't look up to it, again I'm gonna go with the heat for the main reason. Tired and sloppy in parts. Whilst Heitinga looked comfortable and in control so it would be good to see him and Distin partner up again in the future. Neville didnt have much to do. In midfield, we'll start with the bad. Bilyaletdinov looked lazy and brilliant at the same time, so the usual. Giving the ball away far too easily but then producing decent passing and shots at times. No other real sub par performances otherwise. Cahill looked energetic but lacking match sharpness. Osman who came on at half time looked fine after the knock he picked up, but the real talking point is the young players. Barkley looked sublime. His passing, movement, vision and industry looked incredible, his attitude seems very positive and most of all he's only 17 and already looks more than comfortable at first team level. He certainly looks ready to step up and frankly I'd have him in the team ahead of Bily anytime. He looked effortless at times. Gueye was also very sharp and so too was Rodwell, both of them showing theyre calm in possession and Gueye taking his finish well. Finally up front Vellios and Anichebe made a good start, a lot of holding up the ball and tracking back. Anichebe looking fitter and more aggressive, which only lends to his now quite built frame. I would expect both to be a part of next season, but hopefully they'll leave that to the bigger boys. One of them being Beckford, who looks more confident than last season, having a few deft touches and setting up the goal as well as a few shots himself. MacAleny was the other striker who couldn't really get into the game, though he had a few good moments. Overall the youth was the main positive of the match, showing a lot of potential and looking like at least 3 or 4 players are knocking on the door. Hope this was good enough for all those who couldn't see the match.

Mucha looking every inch the shot stopper as he makes a great save and a few more comfortable ones. Nice to know if Howard gets injured we have good back up.

Beckford showing a lot of confidence and Disitn showing the DC strikers no restraint. Macaleny then seizes the flick on from Beckford and is unlucky to put it wide on the first time volley.