RuffRob

I don't think it is just money to be honest - Pains me as a say, but bigger and more succesful comes in to the equation as well. At the moment big and successful we are not. I must be honest wouldn't like to see Grav's coming to Goodison in another teams colours. But if we have really only got limited funds to bring players in, a striker or two is a must with Grav's a luxery we probabley can't afford.

Hopefully - Evertons transfer dealings are like a duck in water. Not much visable movment - but out of site working like f*ck.

Very true Fozzie, And as I said on the other posts, a lot of the money in the game is so heavily slanted to the top 3 or 4 clubs, that clubs like our have to put ourselves at huge finacial risk just to hang on to their tails. And for a club like ours and the majority of clubs like us, it is the fans that have to be 'squeezed' to produce these revenue streams to keep the clubs paying the wages, for what in the main is pretty ordinary football (and that is not just Everton). Looks like Birmingham are going to be parting with around £1M in wages for Chris Sutton in 6 months. Thats 40,000 fans parting with £25 each to cover that. But what do you do? Boycott and its only one club that would end up suffering.

He WILL be a Man Utd player by the end of the transfer window. He is a very good midfeilder who is cheap as chips and a stocking filler by Man Utd transfer budget standards If he really wanted to come back to Everton - the deal would have been all but done buy now.

don't know so much about DM not nowing what his is doing, but not wanting to pay a 32 year old who has only been playing scottish football for the last 5 year, £32,000 to £38,000 a week is not that difficult a decision. Would you have conducted a deal to make Chris Sutton the highest paid player at the club? He could come to Birmingham and score a shed load and be worth the money. But I haven't got hindsight so can only go on the immediate fact. At this moment in time, I think almost £1M wages in 6 months on Chris Sutton isn't the best option. He will have no residual value what so ever. Is there anybody who thinks we should have pulled all the stops out and signed him and made him our highest earner? I doubt it very much If he was coming for a more normal £15,000 to £20,000 a week then fair enough.

He will be playing for Cardiff against Arsenal this Saturday - So it may give an idea of how well he may cope with Prem football - Trouble is if he has a good game or even gets on the score sheet, then you will probabley find his price go up by £1M. Hope, he is a player Moyes is considering. Get on offering in before the Arsenal game to show the player you are interested.

I think both Spurs and Bolton had poor 10 or so games run without a win, then went on blinding runs. Not saying we will go on a blinding run or anyhting like that, just that other than the top 3 or 4 teams and perhaps one or two right at the bottom, there is VERY little between the rest of us. Even half way through a season there are only 6 point between a team battling for a UEFA place in 9th (Man City - 28 points) and a team close to the relegation zone in 16th (Middlesbrough - 22 points) Its a fairly even in the middle of the table and you also get te feeling there is more to come from our team, and we have the players in the squad that are capable of the pushing the team on. Rather than seasons gone by when you look at the squad and thought 17th will do me come May.

Sound very much like he could be on his way to Birmingham now. But if £38,000 a week is what it is going to take to bring him to Goodison, then good luck to him I say. Chris Sutton - top earner at the club - will never happen, and neither should it. Shame though, I thought he would be a decent squad player.

I think both Tekke and his club have turned down Wigan more than the other way around. Sounds a prolific scorer and the old rumour mill is talking £2-3M, the same money as banded around for Bent. In Sutton - Big lad, English, free or minimal fee Tekke - £2-3M Nugent/Jerome/some other young hotshot - £1.5M Toldo - free/minimal Goncalves - Young left back - £1M or less Total - say £6M Out Wright - £1.5M Naysmith -£500,000 Bent - £2.0M Total say £4.0M Out lay of £2M 3 better strikers than Bent and plenty of competition, better keeper and a left back as cover and for the future. That would cheer me up this january and not in dreamworld.

I would say Davies is a central/right sided midfeild player rather than a right winger if you get my drift. More inclined to drift in from the right than hug the by-line so to say. But I agree he was bought to play on the right. Again Moyes going for a more physical hard worker rather than your fancy dan 'Lauret Robert' type of winger. Those who can do both, the 'Giggs' of this world cost more than £3.5M.

F*cking Hell Fozzie - I agree with you Paying £6-7m is to much for him now - we need to be buying player that will be the 'new' Dean Ashton. Cameron Jerome (£1.5M) and Nugent (£2M) - cheap wages and the potential to make money on them both. Both player for half the price of Ashton, and all possibility both are just as good maybe even better. Ashton's a decent enough player, but had half a season in the Prem and a hatrick the other week. £6-7M we would be suckers to pay that.

No, I am not saying we could get a Euro place (we f8ck that chance up in the first 8-9 games). I am just saying form wise, over the past 13 games Everton are a top 8 rather than bottom 5 side, with out playing to what most of us consider our true potential.

We have had a very very poor start - but I think we all know the squad is much better than the result we have had as we have given both man U, Chelsea and Villareal good games this season. We just need that consistency and that second decent player up front to kick on in the second half of the season. We have had a nightmare start, but yet half way through the season we are only 3 point from mid table. You could also argue we are only 6 point ahead of Portsmouth and the relegation zone, but consider the fact we were rock bottom of the table at the end of September with 3 point, we are definately moving in the right direction. In the last 13 games we have taken 20 points. (multiply that up for a 38 game season would give us 58.5 point (we finished on 61 last term). Middlesbrough got there UEFA cup place of 55 points. We may not be firing on all cylinders yet but we may not be as bad as we think.

We all knew VDM came with a bit of injury history -But we have had him for less than £2M and it was going to be a bit of a gamble. I remember at the time we were all please he came - and pretty much behind the club in this gamble - it may pay off or it may not. Just look at Newcastle - Emre, Owen, Luquie and Parker all crocked for a fair amount of the season by the looks of it. We could have had £20M invested in three of those player, so I can grumble to much at Kroldroup and VDM to much. Sh1t happens.

What is our best midfeild then with everyone available: Davies - Arteta -Cahill - VDM Arteta - Cahill - Neville - VDM Davies - Arteta - Neville - Cahill - VDM If we had pretty much our whole squad fit - I would say we have got plenty of cover over in the middle of the park. I would still like to see another out and out winger (either left of right) with speed on the books. VDM is the only decent (from what I have see of a half fit player) player for the left hand side, but he is natuarl right sided and can evern play as a forward if we had other decent wingers (look at Henry - join Arsenal as a winger, Andy Johnson was also w winger to start with) I would like to see another left sided attacking player on the books, but decent one are a bit like hens teeth to be honest. I wonder what Valente would be like as a out and out winger with limited defensive duties, I am sure he will do as well as Killa at times. I would be keen to see him have a 30min at the end of a couple of game at some time or another.

http://www.eatsleepsport.com/news_details....&l_id=1&t_id=31 These journalist are just about linking us with everybody - even though we have no money.

CARDIFF CITY hotshot Cameron Jerome is being dubbed the "best value for money" signing Premiership clubs can go after when the January transfer window opens. Sky TV pundit Chris Kamara, a regular watcher of Championship football, made the assessment as he ran the rule over the leading strikers outside the top flight likely to attract big-money offers next month. Kamara pinpointed six Championship hotshots as obvious targets for the big guns. He bracketed Bluebirds goal ace Jerome with Andy Johnson (Crystal Palace), Dean Ashton (Norwich), Theo Walcott (Southampton), David Nugent (Preston) and Kenny Miller (Wolves). But, believing Cardiff would put a £2m price tag on Jerome, Kamara insisted the Bluebirds ace was the player most Premiership clubs could get value from. He makes the assessment based upon Jerome's youth, pace, goal-getting ability and what Kamara dubs "the player's massive potential".

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0400eve...-name_page.html Very interesting stats considering our overall results this season. Shame the big guy isn't 3 or 4 years younger.

If anybody comes anywhere near £3M, we would have to be mad not to snatch there hand of for a player we only paid £450,000 for. We got more than our moneys worth out of him last season so any money for him is profit in my eyes. I am afraid Bent is not really Premiership class to be honest.

Sheff Utd are making a £1.2M bid for Cardiffs Cameron Jerome. He is surpossed to be a sh1t hot youngster. Probabley one of the best young striker in the Championship (some say better than Nugent). or at least the best value for money wise (rather than your £6-7M Ashton and Johnson. If he is available for that sort of money, we should definately have a crack at bringing him to Goodison. http://home.skysports.com/topscorers.asp?cpid=10 http://home.skysports.com/player.asp?plid=...clid=97&cpid=10 http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/....html?gusrc=rss He is a raw 19 year old talent with both power and PACE. With our budget - these are the types of players we should be bringing to the club (just look at the value of Andy Johnston, Dean Ashton and Darren Bent now, even WBA will not lose much on Earshaw should he move on) If we would have bought all of the above for say around £3m each at the right time - we would have at least doubled our money with them and scored a shit load of goals in there time with us. Look at Harewood at West Ham, Jason Roberts at Wigan all scoring plenty of goals in the Prem. Pacey Players who can find the net at Championship level more often than not can also score in the Prem. There are some exceptions to the rule, but given the cost of them and how there value increases you can afford the odd dud. Get rid of Marcus Bent and bring in both Jerome and Nugent and don't mess around with the odd £200,000 here and there.

DAILY MIRROR * Portsmouth have entered the race for Celtic striker Chris Sutton and they are set to pip Everton to his signature. * Sampdoria are likely to make a shock £3million bid for Everton striker Marcus Bent. THE SUN * Graeme Souness could be sacked as Newcastle manager in the next 72 hours. DAILY STAR * Everton, Fulham and Aston Villa are chasing Austrian international striker Sanel Kuljic. DAILY MAIL * Bolton and Everton will fight it out to land out-of-favour Blackburn striker Matt Jansen. £3M for Marcus Bent!!! (are Sampdoria getting him confussed with Darren Bent - )

To be honest its this type of thing that is starting to put me off football a bit. To a extent the glory days of football have well and truly gone. You look at how many teams won the League/FA Cup/League Cup/Did well in Europe between the mid sixties to the mid Eighties (20 years). If you had a good manager and he bought wisley (not just all the best player available) he could have a decent chance to deliver a piece silverware or two , I am not just talking Everton, I am talking almost any team. Compare that next 20 years (mid eighties to now). Since 1992 Everton are the only non top 4 team to win the FA cup, all the other 14 cups have be shared by Man U, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool. Its not a level playing feild at all to be honest. Will Everton EVER win the League again - not if the current status que remains. How would we ever win it again - It doesn't matter now many world class home grown youngsters come though, they will just be bought up. - A decent season playing well and again the best players will be bought (al la Gravs). In a way it good that Cahill hasn't played as well the first half of this season as he did last, because his head could be turned by a triple your money deal offered by one of the big spenders. The only way we could compeate is that if some suger daddy comes in and we spend spend spend our way to glory. But somehow, doing it that way just doesn't seem right and to me would not be same as building a squad like in the good old days of a reasonabley level playing feild. Last years 4th spot (a reflection that 4th spot is deemed such a great achievment in modern football) did bring me a lot of joy, mainly down to the fact that is was done the 'old fashion way'. but without pumping lots and lots of money in, these sorts of 'acheivments' are always going to be few and far between, not just for EFC, but 80 -90% of league clubs in the country. £20m+ SWP is the perfect example of a bit part player at Chelsea, who would be a hero at almost every other club. So the real goal in the modern football world is to find somebody to throw money in to the club.

Haven't heard Valente is injured again, any link to the story. I thought Valente was decent in the last two game. and he was also looking good just before he got injured last time (if he is injured again)

I bloody hope so, because any luck we had last season has been paid for in full in the first half of this.

To be honest if he is half decent, free and on low wages then he could be a reasonable squad player. But centre of the feild is probabley the best covered area, out wide (both left and right is an area that could be improved given our injuries) Can he play out wide I wonder.