nutmegwolf203

What muted, understated, and patronizing reporting from the major news outlets. What about, for example...

"This is a huge coup and statement of intent by the Everton owners and management team. The crop of exciting youngsters on which the team now relies will soon be challenging for a European spot with the added presence Allan and Rodriguez, two skilled and experienced players who've garnered enviable reputations among the world's elite and are among the few sufficiently worthy to play for a team with Everton's history and pedigree. Watch out those in red: the blues are about to turn the tide in Liverpool and the country as a whole. These transfer moves will be seen as a pivotal moment as Everton returns to its former glory in English football."
 

What a great argument to have! 

If you didn't realise just how big Rodriguez still is...
 
 

Guys I went to bed last nights and have just woke up..... it’s STILL TRUE!!!!!!!

Best comment ‘What Monday?’ 😂

Honestly, I don’t see him as a progression player. He looks like he is a senior player already. 
Makes a few mistakes, but certainly no more than Coleman and Digne do. 
 
love the way he is ants to burst forward. Almost like a slimmer, faster Unsworth!

Tbf we played most of the games after the restart using a 4-0-2 formation so may as well have gone 4-2-4 

Done
 
 

Because he doesn’t live in the UK and was also staying in the Titanic hotel 

Being sold to Tranmere.

Professor Ancelotti !💙💙
 
And I particularly like this quote
"A strong part of my game is marking and the desire going in to win absolutely every ball," he explained. 
"I believe with my desire I can put in really good performances to win the fans over and I hope to win things as well. There will be a tremendous amount of dedication from me, a lot of dedication – a lot
 

Perhaps it has been mentioned elsewhere but someone expanded on Allan’s characterization of Ancelotti as “professor” to make it “Professor Ancelotti and the School of Science”. It sounds like a lost Harry Potter volume but if there is any chance we can make it a thing I think we should.

Thought he looked very promising today, big strong lad with surprisingly good feet and used the ball well

Really like all three kits individually, but when you see they are all the same it’s just disappointing. 

https://www.evertonfc.com/news/1788802/nkounkous-pride-over-ancelotti-conversation

Currently half way through his autobiography he co-wrote called Quiet Leadership. It has snippets of what players said about him when interviewed for the book. Ronaldo was very fond of him and Zlatan says he's the best manager he's ever worked with, at one stage carlo says to him 'so where are you going next in your career' and Zlatan replies 'I will go wherever you go, apart from Russia!' 
It just shows the influence he seems to have on players. They want to work for him. He runs the club like a family and everyone seems to love him. 

Joyce juat reported that too. Looks like all that needs to happen now is he flys over to England, we book in the medical and prepare the photoshoot and unveiling and then he will get off the plane at Heathrow and sign for spurs. 

We’ve got young centre backs with potential. 

As good as this guy might be, I don’t really see the point in him coming here for a year and taking minutes away from our young centre backs only to go back to chelsea a better player.
 
If we sign any centre back, they need to be a first teamer and ours.

Carlo isn’t going to bid for Zouma. He is looking for either young players with potential, or experienced players that can improve our team.
This move makes sense, bring him here, show him some love and test him out.

https://www.grandoldteam.com/2020/08/13/a-brief-analysis-of-marcel-brands-signings-for-everton/
I thought this was quite a fair article.
The two things that caught my eye were the effectiveness of Mina when he played and despite them both being frustrating, Iwobi and Bernard were two of our most creative outlets.
I also read an article the other day which trumped the virtues of Mina. The interesting point that was made was in respect of how Ancelotti will want us to play in the future. At the end of this season we sat quite deep and soaked up quite a lot of pressure and that is something that suits Keane but not Holgate. Holgate's strengths lie with his ability on the ball and using his pace to and reading of the play to get back in and cover. Keane's strengths lie in sitting in a deep block and making clearance after clearance. Mina has the more all round game to either play deep or nearer the half way line as he is deceptively quick. Whilst Keane may have played really well after restart, there must be a question mark over whether that form will continue should we try and squeeze up the field a lot more next season.

I put as much trust in those sites as I do in the fact that Prince Andrew remembers visiting a Pizza Hut in Woking 20 years ago or whatever it was.

January 

We haven’t spent on big name players though. We’ve spent big money on average players, who have been targeted as good enough to push us on. They just haven’t been good enough. 
Gylfi if probably the only one you could say was a big name, but even that should just be considered big price, as he was still only coming in from a small club and hadn’t achieved much. 
 
The reason any of us have hope that it’ll get better? That’s what supporting your team is all about. Why would you not have hope it’s gets better? Go watch the Sunderland documentary on Amazon. Relegation after relegation. The fans turn up thinking this could be our year. 
Liverpool fans every year for the last 30 years have turned up thinking this is the year we’ll win. You’ve got to have that, otherwise what’s the point? I turned up at the golf course yesterday thinking I’ll grab a couple of birdies today. I only made one par. You’ve got to have that hope that the next time it’s better than before. 

Throw into that mix that we know we are a club with money to spend, in the current climate there won’t be too many, so we could have a little advantage there. We also have Brands, he’s been involved in championship winning teams before. And the biggest, most different reason to anything we’ve had at the club since Howard in the 80’s, we’ve got Carlo fucking Ancelotti. He’s not here to grab a top half finish. 
 
I’ll say one thing though. If, with a billionaire owner, a successful DoF and Carlo, we still can’t be successful; then it’s time to give up. We’ve got everything in place now. Everything to give us what we’ve been craving for so long. For decades. It’s all here, we just need them to get it right. 

I just think he keeps what he's thinking to himself. Gives the press very little. 

Sounds very bitter? He sounds fantastic in my opinion. Very level-headed and respectful. He made a casual comment about being rejected by Everton and Liverpool by way of expressing his gratiude for the club and people that have taken him to where he now is.