Steve_E

Possibly one of the best puns ive ever seen on TT

Sounds like he's fighting tufan nail to come to Everton...

Errrrmmmmm..
 

Don't think it's about being a mercenary or greedy. He's just looking for the best option. Human nature.

The journalist can know this because they have sources at the clubs and with agents.
There won't embe any sources because no one wants to be the one to pipe up. I'm not saying everything is true they print, but not everything is bullshit either.

opposites on the spectrum, so they technically go together perfectly

I can't believe people are saying the club has sold it soul just because we are now paying the same kind of wages the upper mid table sides are
 
If they scrapped EITC or the former players charity then yeah I would say we have sold our soul
Youth will still get its chance , that was a major factor in why the board chose Koeman
 
 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the 1990s-2010s period more of an exception than it is the rule in our history? Weren't we one of the clubs that paid players and made record signings before the Premier League era? Didn't we have a reputation as a moneyed club? So, maybe the provincial notion about us really being a club of crafty penny pinchers who know how to punch above their weight on a shoestring budget has less depth than we think.  
There tends to be a correlation in this world between one's place and practices and an ideology that justifies, legitimates and rationalizes them as morally superior and just. Sure, maybe we've been convinced of our moral victories in a world gone crazy with cash, as at least we still haven't sold out. But, football is about winning and losing on the pitch. Those who manage the club need to please the fans. If they can't win on the pitch, they need to do whatever they can ideologically to make the fans continue to care about and even believe in the club. This takes the form of media campaigns that tell us how special this club is and how it's unlike those other clubs who lack the integrity (or class, understanding, belief in certain principles, etc) that we have. Thus, many of us can point to loving Everton for some reason or another that only makes sense in a field of other clubs that are unlike Everton in X/Y/Z ways. "Those clubs are soulless. They have no heart. They're plastic. Etc." But, whether or not these statements are accurate, they say more about US than they do about THEM. What I think we are dealing with and will be dealing with in this transition (from "plucky little Everton" to being a club with major expectations and money that allows us to compete in the contemporary game) is a change in culture and mindset and coming closer to what we've all trained ourselves to hate and made the butt of all of our inside jokes for years.
 
The soul of the club, or of any club (if there is one), has never been the players (at least not since this became a game that you didn't have to work a side job to survive in). Their job is to go out and compete as professionals and bring home a win (or a performance worthy of winning). The soul is in the people who give their days, weeks, months and years to caring about the club and its fortunes as if their own personal happiness depended upon it. The soul is in the people who go to the games (if they are so lucky), wake up early or go to bed late to watch from afar, participate in a community of other supporters, and who support the club through thick and thin as if they have a familial connection to it.
 
Sure, money has changed the nature of how clubs and players operate. But, it's really always been about the fans and the community. And, this is something that (for all their failings) I think Everton have recognized and done a solid job with. As long as the club remembers that it is ultimately about delivering something the fans can be proud of, then it will still have its "soul."
 
That said, I'm not convinced Witsel is worth what we are apparently going to pay for his services. Though, I admittedly know very little of him as a player beyond his work history and appearances in international matches, where he's looked decent but not world class.

I see him as an option for another reason.... Ross Barkley, Mirallas and Deulofeu. Each one of those a goal threat.
 
How many times have we been unable to advance them because Rom isn't good enough at retention and lay offs? It's not that he can't do it... it's that it's a gamble. He simply can't consistently control and look after the thing.
 
Pelle has allowed the Italians to advance their midfielders because of his excellent hold up play. We may actually score from set pieces too.

He was poor after the assist. Shots were wild, control was inconsistent. Hopefully he's not one of the "big" names.
 
I believe he's played better in other games but if him vs Portugal is anything to go by, he's just another Mirallas.

Thought Dier was the best Englishman this tournament. Don't get that sub.

It is in Belgium as well.

Stop splitting hairs will you Dunc :shaking fist:

Might be important to keep in mind that the only ones from the continent congratulating you are Le Pen, Wilders, Lega Nord, Orban.. Not one mainstream party has said that a Brexit is a good thing.
It's OK to be proud of your victory, but patting yourself on the back for having united the facsists of Europe is taking it a step to far for me.

Slow news day at the Echo apparently.

Slow news day at the Echo apparently.

I hope Everton go in for Riechedly Bazoer:
 

Not good enough anymore imo. Can't really move anymore.

Barkley hasn't had a good enough season. He's not playing and at the moment rightly so. Can you honestly say you'd have Barkley in ahead of Alli atm? Barkley slows the game down far too much.

Start by shifting 5kg of hollywood muscle that he doesnt need. I said a while ago i was concerned about how bulky he was. Brilliant physique but not suitable for his role.
 
A hard pre season, some mentoring and management and hopefully we see the player i know he is.

Good all round midfielder, be happy to have him sit in place of McCarthy

That Hamšík's not too shabby is he?

It doesn't sound like it's been written with a bitter edge, at all. (sarcasm)

Makis, where is your info that the £100m is inclusive of wages? So far the £100m has only been a rumour so stating it includes wages is just making things up.
 
Everton had enough money to spend £30m last year before the increase in TV money, so how much was the increase for this season?
 
Apart from us buying two or three strikers if we shift the current crop, I don't want us buying back up players. Buy players for the first team, let the current first team players become the back up.

The Scandinvian countries would be in my top five (collectively).