nogs

Damn, busted, and I did English at uni as well! Take it that's revenge for me pointing out you'd put Neil McDonald in your worst five signings ever list?!

£4 million for the Yak? I'd be disgusted if we sold him for the £6 million being quoted. The timing of his achilles injury meant he pretty much lost two seasons of regular competitive football, but that's no reason to offload him for peanuts. His record stands for itself - he has scored more than 100 goals in English football, he's 27 and an established international player, where the hell are you gonna get someone like that for £4 million?!? Gold wants to take one the implements his daughter pedals and shove it right where the sun don't shine, anything less than the £10 million we payed for him would be a travesty.

Amen to that. We've only got two international class strikers at the club at the moment, shouldn't we be looking to add to that? I hope i'm proved wrong but Beckford to me just isn't in the right league ability wise for where we want the club to be heading

ROFL!!

More bullshit from another parasite agent, if you wanna sum up eberything that's wrong with modern football then just read the comments from this prick. It's up to Pienaar, he can trust his own judgement and listen to a club that has made him into a world class player and which worships him, or he can listen to his wanker agent who just wants to make a fast buck using him. If it's the latter, he can fuck off, I've said before he's far from irreplaceable

I'd offer them Pienaar on the same deal if he doesn't want to sign a new contract with us

I think the club is doing exactly the right thing trying to tie down all key players to long-term deals as quickly as possible, I expect Baines will follow as soon as he's back after the World Cup, and if Arteta signs it will have been a good summer from that point of view. What is going on with these players should have no bearing whatsoever on Pienaar's contract situation, he is not bigger than the team and it's not like we haven't been trying to get him to sign an improved contract for the past 12 months. I'm sure he has been offered top money as well, and tbh from the noises he's been making, I'm pretty resigned to him leaving. Which is fine, let's just not get drawn into a Lescott saga, if he wants to go, get rid, he is replaceable and let's focus on what we've got ahead of the new season.

Great stuff, and hopefully they'll be plenty more news like this to follow. I think it is testament to Moyes' belief in this squad that he has moved to offer so many improved contracts so quickly, i think he knows that, injuries permitting, he's got a side that can really go places next season. As for Rodders, look forward to him playing an even bigger role next season, definitely a superstar in the making, here's hoping his next five years are littered with trophies and honours at Everton!

Just been on SSN, freak accident in training, suffered laceration to his liver, now in intensive care. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article7133786.ece

Bit odd that he says 'best players in my memory' - and then picks Dixie Dean! In terms of all-time impact on the club in terms of winning trophies, gotta be something like: Dixie Dean Graeme Sharp Neville Southall Alan Ball Alex Young In terms of best signings I remember the club making (i.e. none of the above, Sharp and Southall were already there when I first remember watching us): Tim Cahill Mikel Arteta Nigel Martin (bit harsh on Tim Howard maybe, but Martin was class, such a shame we didnt get him younger) Gary Speed (don't care what anyone says, I fucking loved him and for me the blame for his departure will always lie squarely at the door of that despicable cunt Johnson) Tommy Gravesen Honourable mentions also to Big Dunc, if nothing else for the talismanic effect he had on the fans in dark days, and Barmby, who might have made the list if he hadnt left for the shite, but probably played his best football for us

Don't remember Robinson, I'll bow down to your 'senior' wisdom

You've got to admire and love his passion and commitment, I'll never tire of him talking about standards and the level he expects, and I really do believe his determination rubs off on the players. Interesting that he talks about expecting the players to play his way whether he's there or not - what he has done is build side now that is absolutely immersed in his way of thinking and his approach to the game, and which totally believes in that approach. It's something that defines most of the great teams over history, i just hope we see it reap rewards. Also interesting that he singles out Ossie as one of his 'managers' on the pitch, just shows how important Moyes considers him to be to the squad even if he isn't automatic first choice all the time.

I think the point is we can and do attract top class players to this club, we're not just dealing in the Cahill's, Pienaar's, Arteta's etc who we take cheap and turn into class players, in the past three seasons we've landed some big names, Johnny H being the latest of them. Do Manure/Shitty/Chelski really want to pay a fortune to bring Ben Harfa to the Premiership? Or is it more likely that those three will be chasing the likes of Ribery, Di Maria and Silva? It will be touch and go whether Ben Harfa even makes it to the World Cup, if he doesn't, the rich clubs will definitely be looking elsewhere. I think he's exactly the level of player we should be looking to add to the squad and don't see why we havent got as good a chance as anyone of getting him

Is that the same Neil McDonald that won player of the year in 1990/91? I remember seeing him loads when I first started going to Goodison, he wasn't a bad player at all!

That's assuming he has taken a significant pay rise - maybe at this stage of his career, and given his obvious love for the club, he was just looking for a bit of security for the future. And if he has taken a bit of a pay increase, good luck to him, he's still the top goalscorer at the club, he deserves rewarding for that. You can't be suggesting we shouldn't reward trusting, loyal, outstanding players like TC just so we can offer Pienaar, who might decide to leave anyway, massive wages? It's a team game, if Pienaar goes, he goes, we'll move on.

Brett Angel - just an embarrassment to professional football Vinnie Samways - Prefered sun-bathing at his Villa in Spain to turning up for training and/or matches Andy Van der Meyde - Doesn't need an explanation Per Kroldrup - Gotta go down as one of the biggest failures in the Premier League, nevermind Everton Mike Walker - We paid Norwich for the man who brought us Angel and Samways, utter shambles

The article says "on a contract that will swiftly rise to £40k a week". To me that suggests the contract will start at some point below £40k (for argument's sake, say £20k) and be structured to include a series of incremental rises, triggered at fixed points in time or maybe depending on appearances. I think that's fair enough - we all hope he's gonna be at least a £40k-a-week player in a season or two, don't we? The other thing is we've got to dangle some sort of big wages carrot to him because if Manure, Chelski or Shitty were to snap him up, he'd be handed that kind of money no problem. People on this site have been calling him 'future England captain' since he was still in nappies, and now no-one wants to pay the lad top-class wages! I think we'll see plenty of him next season, and if Moyes didn't see him as a first team player, that kind of offer wouldn't be on the table.

One of the most committed and driven men in football if you believe what you read, all his bust-ups with team mates are meant to have been over him having a go at people for not trying as hard as him. Could fit in really well with our work ethic, and has the pace and quality to add a whole new dimension to our team. On the other hand, he could end up in a punch-up with the Yak in the first week of training, and might be just a little too opinionated and hot-headed for Moyes.

Vaughan also hasn't ever played a full season of football. I'm not saying he's the answer for us up front, I think unfortunately injuries may have wrecked his chances of a top-flight career. I agree with you on Beckford though, his scoring record is impressive but he's played most of his career in the third tier or below, he gets a hell of a lot of chances to score those goals which he just wouldnt get a sniff at in the Prem

Put it this way, he's no better than Nugent, and at least with him we'd know he'd pour his heart and soul into playing for the club. I'm not sure I agree with Craccer, I don't think he is any better than Vaughan, bit quicker maybe but Vaughany works harder, and they can both be equally suspect when it comes to finishing. Yeah he scores goals, but in the third tier ffs - who we gonna sign next, Rickie Lambert or Billy Paynter?!? I hope I'm proved wrong but even Leeds fans don't think he's that good.

Hang on - we've got a quick, skilfull, young up-and-coming fullback who has already shown he can cause problems for Premiership teams with his direct running and quality delivery, and we want to ship him out for a year just so we can sign another player with a 'gifted left foot' who nonetheless has no pace whatsoever? Does Moyes think Bily might be getting a bit peeved off being on the bench and think having a clone sat next to him might cheer him up a bit? Sorry, this will be a complete waste of time if it goes through. Adams would offer nothing we don't already have in midfield, and is not good enough to get in our first XI anyway, whereas Coleman I reckon has done enough to earn a chance in our first team next season. Unless Moyes is thinking in terms of someone to fill the gaping void Pienaar would leave...

Well as someone to play on the right of midfield is probably our main priority, Eagles would be worth a look, as would Faubert and Lee if West Ham and Bolton are willing to listen to offers.

Our midfield is as good as anyone's in the Prem, even without an obvious first choice on the right we've got a fantastic mix of touch, vision, technique, tenacity and strength which has seen us outplay pretty much all of the teams above us in the league at some point this season. What we've got to do is stop leaking goals and start getting a lot more from our strikers and we can do something very special next season.

Personally I want us playing in Europe every year, we've not exactly got a great record in Europe under Moyes, the only way we're gonna improve is keep playing in it. If we did qualify for the CL next year, I'd feel more confident going into having had another chance to iron out some of the obvious tactical flaws that have cost us in the Europa. Not qualifying is just a lost opportunity for progress I reckon. Saying that, I won't be complaining if we win a domestic trophy next season.

Reckon the Mail has started sourcing its stories from TT!