Quinn31

Southampton all but saved themselves - needed to beat Swansea in all honesty given that their last is against City. They can tie on points to Huddy and Swansea (if they beat Stoke), but have a far superior goal difference. Thought Hughes had really turned them around. They were far too good to be in this position - the right additions in the summer and they should be back to midtable, but they'll be right back in the mess if they don't make the right additions.

A point against Chelsea or Arsenal will keep Huddy up, or Swansea NOT beating Stoke. I still quite fear for them given their tough fixtures and inferior goal difference, but would love to see them do it.

Swansea are still in it, and Stoke is one of the best teams they could play right now, but Swansea have been terrible since the honeymoon with Carvalhal ended. No better than under Paul Clement, which was the most doomed looking side around January.

1 hour ago, Cornish Steve said:

I meant Dowell. Sorry. 

Will be interesting to see if he gets a go here - not sure we need another 10 if we keep Klaassen. If Klaassen goes, I would worry about depth at 10 behind Gylfi. 

13 hours ago, Cornish Steve said:

We need only one clear-out, and that's of the manager and his assistants. Honestly, I don't believe we need wholesale changes among the players. There's a lot of talent there, especially young talent.

First, we need a team spine. That's Pickford, ANO, McCarthy, and Tosun. The ANO in this case is a key buy: a hard-nosed defender that's something of a young Vincent Kompany. Ashley WIlliams was supposed to be that person, but he needs shipping out.

Next, we need wide men. Coleman is still putting in a shift (with Kenny as backup), but Baines is sadly fading fast - so a younger replacement is needed there. Bolasie needs to go, and I'm not convinced of Walcott either. We don't need to buy, though: Lookman and Vlasic should be trusted and given their chance. So, in this area, we need a talented LB.

Backup keeper? I'd like to see Robles given a chance to become #1 elsewhere; he deserves it. Let's bring through one of our own as backup to Pickford. Who else in defence? It's difficult to know whether Funes Mori will recover completely from his injury, especially mentally, but I think we've been unfair on Holgate this season: He deserves his chance. Keane will be just fine with a different manager and a mentor beside him. It's a good time for Jagielka to join Baines in retirement.

In midfield? My vote is for Davies, Klaassen (who I believe will soon become a leader if we give him the chance), Baningime, Dowling, and Sigurdsson. I'm not convinced of Gueye, to be frank, but there's talent there. I would keep Besic, although he'll want to stay with Boro if they are promoted.

Up front, we need to invest in a proven goalscorer. Keep Niasse as super-sub, bring through Onyekuru, and loan out DC-L. 

Who should go? Many candidates are obvious: Mirallas, Williams, Schneiderlin, Martina, Mangala, Stekelenburg, Garbutt, Tarashaj, and (sadly) Rooney. I'd make the latter an assistant coach.

So, what do we need? A dominant CB, a replacement for Baines, and a proven goalscorer. Investing wisely in these three positions - together with a new manager - would make the world of difference. Finally, keep investing in young talent for the U-23s.

Would take Charlie Austin from Southampton if they went down, though he is probably too much of a like for like with Tosun. We could use a center-forward with some pace and dribbling ability (Niasse lacking the dribbling bit).

Signing a competent centerback and a replacement for Baines are the most important transfers of the summer. Think both Baines and Jags will be in the squad for at least one more year though, though we can't rely on either. I thought Holgate looked composed, so I'd like to see Williams move on and maybe Funes Mori.

Convincing Lookman to stay is crucial, and Vlasic will need to be evaluated in the summer - I've not sure he's earned "a shot". Would love to move on Bolasie though and wouldn't rule out buying a winger. 

Joel Robles needs to leave the club for the sake of his own career and we need to bring in another backup - Stek could hang for another year since he's at the stage of his career where being cover isn'tt a bad thing.

Besic should leave also for his own career. Too many managers have not rated him for him to stay as 5th or 6th central midfielder - if this loan spell has kicked the dust off his game, then let him fight for his chance.

Steve - who is Dowling? Also think Onyekuru is having continued work permit issues. Not sure he'll ever wear our shirt.

1 hour ago, TallPaul1878 said:

Jonny Evans is coming to the end of his career. He would offer very little compared to what we already have at the club.

We need more athletic defenders. We are hamstrung by the lack of pace there.

Distin and Jags' combined pace saved our asses so many time in that partnership. 

Great news. It will be interesting whether his further development involves first team action or we look to send him out on loan.

With Cenk finally firing, I greatly look forward to Gylfi giving him some service...

15 hours ago, Bailey said:

If he had another yard of pace I think he would be one of the top scorers in the league year in year out. Generally though I think is just a very good all round player. 

This. Top forward - good in the air, two footed, and excellent in link up play. If only he had the pace to be a threat to break from his own half like Lukaku or take a man one on one - but if that were the case, he'd be playing for Real Madrid.

I don't believe any reports of an extension.

45 minutes ago, markjazzbassist said:

i'm with you Haf, not to mention who is the idiot negotiating contracts that didn't put in clauses for relegation?  they were bottom table damn near all year last year when they signed him.  no brainer with even a hint of relegation and their financial issues.

 

side note:  mcgeady has scored 7 and assisted 5 for them this year.  found his level.

Rodwell signed for them in 2014, though your point stands as they have been consistent strugglers since about 2012.

Shocking what's gone on at that club.

1 hour ago, Bailey said:

I don' think those two defenders are any better. I watched Tarkowski all over the place at the weekend, and it' the same issue as Keane. If he isn'tt in the system Dyche builds and they get exposed they look like the average defenders they are. Never buy a CB from a defensive team unless I suppose you are a similarly defensive team. 

Tarkowski has done well enough all season to get a call up from Gareth Southgate. Completely different defender to Keane, who is much bigger and less mobile.

49 minutes ago, MikeO said:

The Greek league is considerably lower in standard than both Turkey and France so if he can't perform for the side that has won the league there nineteen times in the last twenty-one seasons then he's no chance of succeeding in either.

I'm going to be in Greece two weeks today and pretty much everyone I know over there is an Olympiakos supporter, wearing an Everton shirt over there always got me into conversations about Kev, they loved him; be interesting to see their thoughts on what's gone wrong this season.

I understand this but think the issues may be as much turmoil at Olympiacos as it is him not being good enough.

50 minutes ago, markjazzbassist said:

sam's style suits him more as dyche is also a parked bus and counter type guy.  no surprise here.  let's hope we can recoup the cost this summer if we decided to offload him.

No way we'll get 24m.

Amazing as it seems we could've bought Ben Mee or Tarkowski off Burnley and have been far better off. Particularly Tarkowski...

Keane hasn't done because he's not played in an in form team nor had a consistent partner at centerback, but dear God I don't see how much better it gets given how limited his mobility is. Whoever is paired next to him will always have to do his job and cover Keane's arse for when he gets beat.

He's been stuck here for a few years too long when his heart has been elsewhere - I think he's lost a step of pace which has always been key to his game. He's a direct player who likes to get in behind from the wing and is great at making diagonal runs to add to his great if finishing - I loved him in his heyday, but he needs to sort himself. 

Olympiacos as a club seem to be in a bit of turmoil, so maybe not the wisest move to go back there, but I think he needs to take a step down to a lower league like Turkey, Portugal, *maybe France* and ideally at a club where he can be one of the top players. Clearly prefers to be a big fish in a small pond, though maybe his love for football has gone entirely.

Huddersfield has been struggling to score more than a single goal in most of its matches since Christmas - they've scored 3 or 4 once or twice in the league, but they don't strike me as the most dangerous side. Given how we will set up, this screams 1-1 or 1-0 unless there ends up being a calamity of defensive errors that causes it to go 2-1.

20 hours ago, Finn balor said:

He is the type of player I want us signing 

Agreed. I think he has the constitution to play for a big club like us.

5 hours ago, Bailey said:

He did have Saha and Yakubu, both easily as capable of scoring as many goals. In fact you would argue that Saha was a far better footballer than Lukaku.

He had the chance to take a punt on Lukaku... He was £10mil (plus add ons) when Chelsea signed him. That was the Arteta money

I would also add that Martinez should get huge credit for improving Rom to the player he is now. Yes he could always score goals but his all round game improved dramatically in the 3 years under him. I doubt you would have seen that improvement under Moyes or whether he would have even signed at all.

Moyes also produced some of the biggest dross I have ever seen (bar this season). We definitely did go through spells of playing decent football but it never lasted long, so yes whilst there were some games were it looked like we were turning the corner and evolving into a team that could really compete, we always reverted to type with negative, unadventurous football and ultimately that is all he has been able to do since at other clubs.

Saha is one of the best footballers I have ever watched - absolutely brilliant and overloaded with talent. A total damn shame that he was injured for what seemed to be at least half his time with us, and grossly out of form or playing in an out of form team half the time he played. When the team was on and he was on, it was unreal. Would've been Man U's number 9 for sure had he been able to stay fit.

The Yak blew hot and cold, but he certainly new where the back of the net was. A lot like Lukaku, minus Lukaku's pace.

On 17/04/2018 at 12:40, Romey 1878 said:

Meanwhile, we do fuck all in Yemen because our friends the Saudi’s wouldn’t like that and neither would those raking in the money selling arms to them. 

It’s all fucked. I hate people. 

Which is a scarier danger to the west, or especially Americans at least since we've not suffered near as much ISIL inspired violence as Europe.

Yemen could truly be the catalyst for a war between the Saudi's and the Iranians, and importantly, is the home to AQAP (Al-Qaeda Arabian Peninsula, the remnants of the Afghan group the launched 9/11) and the home to most of the advanced bombmakers and other plotters who could launch largescale terrorist plots against Western cities on their homeland.

Moyes: Was more successful than any of those listed because he was able to either bring in or win over a core element of the dressing room who were able to buy into his plan, which he clearly had. Stubborn? Yes, for sure. It will be interesting thing to see how he does going forward, because I don't think he is a tactical dinosaur and I think when given funds, he is good in recruitment (Sunderland promised him funds that never came, so he bought what he knew and could get cheap), but I think his totalitarian/tough guy man management doesn't always work in this day in age, especially with millennials.

His tactics were often negative away from home, but we also played some great stuff under him. The problem under Moyes was that we were never able to get a consistent goal scorer/#9 who we could rely on to finish the chances we created (One could argue that he whiffed on a few signings, others would say we never had the money to buy a truly proven striker). When we had a striker blowing hot, Moyes was willing to play with some flair, when he felt we didn't, we tightened up and scraped out low scoring matches. 

All in, some would say that things went stale under him, though we did have a pretty great final season under him. I wish Moshiri had bought the club in 2010, because we would've gotten that goalscorer. Also, is it just me, or is Moyes the only manager where I felt like the squad would be consistently fit and able to maintain a high work rate for most matches for most of the season? Hugely underrated because under both Martinez and Koeman, some times it felt like the team either had 1) low energy or 2) the feeling that they didn't need to commit to a high work rate.

Roberto Martinez: Kicked on immediately from Moyes, introduced some great passing and movement to be combined with finally getting a reliable goal scorer in Lukaku, a maestro in Gareth Barry, and also James McCarthy - these three signings immediately and drastically improved us. 

Completely stubborn (I think most managers are) in his belief that our results lived and died with our ability to pass and move and create chances and he completely disregarded 1) set pieces 2) poor positional play defensively 3) not committing enough men to defense either by letting fullbacks both push up the pitch all the time and also with wingers and not having them track back at all.

He also missed more than he hit on a lot of his signings after the first season and he never got the true apple of his eye, Andriy Yarmolenko. Maybe with Moshiri's money, we would've been able to buy some true quality players who could play in Martinez's style. He had a plan, but it either had fundamental flaws or we were never able to execute it due to not having the right players.

We all liked Roberto - he's clearly a lovely man who would be a joy to spend time with, but it was obvious to see his naivety and romanticism and it wore tiring when performances had been worse consistently for two years and clear issues weren't be addressed. I don't care how many nice things you say when things aren't being fixed.

Ronald Koeman: Immediately sorted out the defensive issues under Martinez and instituted some pressing tactics that I thought were effective. He clearly had short term fixes to Evertonident problems but didn't have a plan, or wasn't entirely in control of it due to the new director of football - in addition, we pulled a 20+ a year goal man out of the club, so it was always going to be a struggle to find the right balance given the loss of Lukaku, though that doesn't dismiss the rest of the squad being poorly balanced (Completely short at fullback beyond Coleman and Baines, no backup goalscorer we were confident in, too many no 10s and not a few pacey wingers with real quality).

His man management tactics appeared to leave a lot to be desired, though if he had a personality slightly better than a bath towel, may've been appreciated more by the fans, but in a disciplinarian sense. "We" vs "Everton" or how a manager celebrates goals is the type of nonsensical issues fans create when things aren't going well. Martinez and Moyes were given time to sort out bad runs, Koeman wasn't to be honest - we looked like absolute relegation fodder, so I understand the move to sack him, but it looks like more of a panic each and every day, especially since relegation this year will likely be in the low 30's for a points total - Oh, and given the crap we've had to watch under Allardyce.

David Unsworth: Not much to say about him since I don't really consider him an Everton manager and don't think he has any real track record to analyze. Definitely a nice guy and he brought in Baningime and solidified Kenny's place as the #2 rightback. It would be a waste of time to write anything further on him.

Sam Allardyce: The good, the bad, and the Allardyce. Results wise, he's not been horrible. Stylistically and how he's handled the job has been beyond atrocious. Not setting up with enough guys in midfield against passing sides like Spurs, Arsenal, and City was suicide and then to blame the players is an absolute joke. He's been taking the piss out of us and been nothing short of a dickhead since he's gotten here. His tactics are nonexistent yet he gloats about himself like he's fucking Cruyff any time he gets a positive result. Things go negative? He absolves himself of ALL blame. 

He took over a crap heap that was never going to be a good or pretty side, but it has been awful to watch. I will be happy when he's gone. Not fit for the shirt.

Had Stoke been able to hold onto the win against West Ham, it would've made this relegation battle a whole lot more interesting as they would've moved only 3 points behind Swansea (17th). Still, Southampton are playing better stuff as are Stoke and Huddy and Brighton have terrible run-ins while Swansea are starting to really struggle again.

I'd be happy with Benitez believe it or not. I like Dyche and wouldn't be opposed to Howe.

Lots of good young coaches in Germany, good tacticians in Italy.

Top man. Hope he continues to acclimate and score.

https://www.blackpoolfc.co.uk/news/2018/april/club-statement/

Portsmouth finally found a worthwhile owner in Michael Eisner who wants to take the club forward and will be a good stewart. Now it seems Blackpool have found somebody to take the club away from Karl Oyston, a man who makes Mike Ashley look like a saint. Good for them and hope it works out. I have a soft spot for both clubs and hope they both can climb the leagues again.

3 hours ago, hafnia said:

I don't see the issue.... Walsh may well be a decent scout.  A DOF role may place too much on him.

If we are paying up his contract them just utilise him as a specialist scout in France or wherever it is he has a good network. Brands will be the decision maker. 

Having a skill and being useful in that skilled role is completely different to managing folks with those skills. 

8 minutes ago, Romey 1878 said:

 

 Ladies and gentleman, this is the barometer of success for chippy tits.

 

 

 The doubters are everywhere, you fucking melt.

While he certainly is underestimating the disdain towards him, I will say that journos and Evertonians on social media are for the whole, a bunch of morons. 

When I look at what football fans post on Twitter, I want to vomit. So much cringeworthy and asinine interpretations of the game.

2 hours ago, Romey 1878 said:

I was wanting to get butterflies as I walked up to the new stadium, to be impressed. Instead I’ll just thinking I’m living in the Victorian age and I’m just on my way to the factory to work some fucking cotton. Needless to say, I’ll just be looking to get inside the stadium so that I know I am actually living in the 21st century. 

Actually, instead of only going with the ridiculous idea of sticking a few wooden seats in the middle of a modern stadium why don’t we go the whole hog and just reuse ALL of the materials from Goodison and just rebuild the whole thing at BM? I mean, people seem so terrified of change that it’d put them at ease.

God I hope it’s much better than I’m expecting. 

Well, I guess we've all learned that you're a fan of contemporary architecture