blueblood

We bought Bakayoko on the back of a video of his "greatest clips" and he turned out to be less than Pele, and I'm always wary of players that come straight from the French league as I, personally, don't think it's strong enough. Plus, if they want a fee, as is widely mentioned unlikely. I noticed earlier that Landon Donovan has gone to Bayern Munich. seeing as their league has finished, and he and Beckham have come over to Europe for a few months is there anything decent in that league we could nab on loan? Or is Brian McBride as good as it gets??!?!?!

This kid was the next "big thing" last season with a few wonder goals, rave reviews etc. Sounds as though he's become a big time charlie and fallen off the rails. Makes more sense for him to go to West Ham if City are after buying Parker, plus he'd be too big a gamble for us with no cash. We've already got a pile of players earnnig decent money that don't play, don't really want to add to it. Shame, Arsenal, Liverpool and other 'big' clubs were all over him last season

Don't know much about him but his stats look decent... do you think they'll take a 3 year loan agreement and we'll meet 25% of his wages?!?!?!

The player is clearly an idiot but it is disappointing to learn that you're not considered a big club by foreign players. Had he looked at the previous few years table positions then he'd say we're a lot bigger than Villa, and standing 6th is hardly relegation dog fight fodder. Think this comes down to how much money he wants at the end of the week and the minimum wage we're offering doesn't appeal. Let's see if he changes his mind an hour before the window closes if nobody else comes in for him!!

BBC gossip pages linking us with a £350k move for Lita. Bearing in mind he's been passed around the Championship like an unwanted teddy bear I can't say that he'll add much/ anything to the squad. Would rather continue with Cahill up top than play this lad.

BBC website: Everton manager David Moyes could be tempted to cash in on Arteta to fund a swoop for CSKA striker Wagner Love. (The Sun) Let's hope this is a vicious nonsense rumour...

Not sure how "cheap" Doyle would be and he didn't really set the Prem alight last year. to be fair I think he is a decent player but reckon Reading would want silly money for him

I agree with an earlier post about the month hingeing on the Hull game. I think the wheels are beginning to fall of Hull's season now so hopefully we'll give them a spanking and go into the derby on a high. Derby- anyone's guess and will depend on who the 12th man is for them. Get some headline hunting loon who throws yellows about after 5 minutes and it could be tricky Arsenal- I can see us beating these if we continue to get at them, they struggle when chased down and as long as Fallaini doesn't pick up another yellow and gets suspended (unlikely after the derby!) then he will be the key man. Utd- think a point would be a fantastic result. Let's just turn Macclesfield over first and get the cup run going

Not only would a replacement cost a lot more but our lack of attractiveness to players means we'd struggle to bring anyone in unless offering untold riches

Especially if City then come in with a silly money offer for Lescott on dead line day

If poor Feillani so much as looks in the direction of the opposition he gets a yellow card so we don't want anyone who shows real aggression otherwise we'd play with 10 men every week!!!

One question... is he an international regular with the correct quote of caps? At 27 we won't get any dispensation for him (not that we did with Obinna anyway!!) so unless he's a Nigerian regular he won't get a work permit

City fan pal of mine reckons that it's all over their fansites Lescott going for £10m PLUS Jo!!!! Bearing in mind that they signed Jo for £18m 3 months ago that is one heck of a lot for a Centre Back/ Left Back. Granted, Jo hasn't shown to be worth £18m but even so... lot of money and if Moyes has people lined up for CB this could be good business. Can't see Jo being involved personally (unless on loan???) but Lescott continues to complain at having to play LB (the position he got into the England squad playing in) so maybe he wants to jump ship for a big pay day. Saying that, once Richards is fit, he and Dunne will be City's first choice centre back partnership so he'll probably end up fighting with Michael Ball for their left back space

bbc website linking us (along with a few others) for Hertha Berlin striker Marko Pantelic. £1.5m price quoted. Shall we start the whip round now then?!?! Don't know much/ anything about him myself...

No drive, no passion, no leadership, no creativity, nothing! This was an awful display, there was nothing shown last night to give me any sense of hope for the next 4 games; Spurs, Man City, Chelsea and Villa. Potential 5 game losing streak which could see us bottom 3 for Christmas. Arteta doesn't look interested and hasn't for 2 seasons, Lescott is simply awful, spent all summer talking himself up as a centre half- I don't even think he is a defender on recent showings. Feillani only seems to pass sidewards and gets lost in the game. Osman's attacking abilities are lost as he's the only midfielder that tracks back and Cahill should not be played in any formation other than 4-5-1 We need to get back to what works, 4-5-1 and fast. Playing 2 up top with Cahill is always going to weaken the side. Play Cahill behind the lone striker or drop him. No defensive midfielders mean we lose the ball too often and fail to track back. Castillo or Rodwell need bringing into the side. I'd say Baines does too but he's played poorly when given half a game here and there (possibly because he's only getting half a game at a time). We lack anyone in the back 4 who is talking/ screaming at others when things go wrong. Overall, very poor display, same as previous weeks but I think the last 2 games have gotten worse... I am fearful of the next 4 games and what could happen against any team that has wingers that are told to run at Lescott as the Boro game and last night shown that as a massive weak link

Sunderland are second from bottom so Keane isn't doing that well.

According to the gossip pages on the BBC website Mancienne will be called up into the England squad by Capello.

MikeO, I don't think the fundamentalist ideologies of Hitler to something as intrinsically motivational as money is a fair comparison, but I take your point. Jamie, I agree that Moyes isn't known for his happy demeanour, but even his furrowed brow looks to have deepened since pre-season. Look, I don't want Moyes to go, I just want him to perform, which I do not think he is doing at the moment. Add to that the questionable timing (at best) of him signing his contract and I think it is a valid point for discussion. Every interview he has given has been negative and he has really looked unhappy with his lot. My comments are mainly out of frustration. Last season was our best for 20 years, we should be pushing on towards the top 4 yet we have stood still. Which, with everyone around us making massive leaps forward means that we are going backwards. We are now out of the 2 competitions that I thought we had the best chance for success in and are out of them before September/ the start of October. I had another European jolly planned the same as that outside the team hotel in Germany last year which was absolutely amazing. Alas, it's not to be. I'd love to remain positive and think that European qualification is still up for grabs, but unless this contract signings injects a new lease of life into the team I cannot see it. I think our best chance may be the Man City route of the fair play league- which if that is the way to go Moyes had better tell Feillani to stop getting yellowed every game Here's hoping for aq kick start to the season at the Emirates this weekend

At the end of the day it's an opinion, we all have them. Has Moyes looked happy at the club at all this season? NO! Has his body language read that he is happy in his job? NO! Does he sound happy with what is happening with the club? NO! Up until this week, has he said anything along the lines of the club matching his ambitions and pushing on this season? NO! All pre-season and so far this season he has looked like a man who was ready to either leave the club or jump off a bridge. Now all of a sudden he signs a new 5 year deal... does that not give someone the right to be suspicious of his motives? All this 'poor judge of character' talk, do you know him? Unlikely, if so ask him wtf is happening at the club, cos I'd love to know why after the best season in 20 years the club has failed to back Moyes and allowed us to go backwards massively. The club has failed to back him due to financial constraints, i.e. we have a chairman with less money than an average Prem player who can't attract investors whatsoever, and the rest of the board refuse to stump up any money for the club. The flip side could be that Moyes has been told of a takeover, the plans for the new owners and the trillions of pounds that will become available to him. Which, would be the club matching his ambition. I just think that it's very odd that for someone who has looked/ sounded so depressed and unhappy in his job suddenly signs a new 5 year deal. The fact that a contract only means something when the club tries to get rid of you is a worthy point to raise. The man is/ was not happy at the club, this is the top and bottom of it. If he needs trillions of pounds to spend to be happy in his job, and this is what has been promised to him then this brings about a whole new raft of questions... which I'll not bother raising now- I'll leave them til January!!!! Sorry if I upset all you Moyes lovers, but this is a forum for opinions. If we all thought the same and that the sun shines out of Moyes' ar5e then this forum would be quite boring, no?! So far this season we have been nothing short of dreadful, partly because established players have failed to perform, but this may be down to internal matters and the fact that the manager looks like he'd rather be anywhere else than Finch Farm throughout the week. Don't get me wrong, I'd love a billionaire to come in, but I'd also like Moyes to prove his worth. He finally managed to bring players in but the team is falling woefully short of its potential based on last season.

Why did Moyes take so long to sign the contract? Has anything change in the months that he's been holdiing the club to ransom? Has Bill turned around and said, "Go on then Dave, I'll give you £50m per year for transfers"... NO! Nothing has changed whatsoever. The cynics (of which I am one) will think that he's finally jumped on this 5 YEAR contract because all of the talk of someone buying the club could mean that they'd happily let him go and replace him at the end of the year. Now he's signed he knows that if they try and get rid he's £16.5m better off. He's done nothing to deserve this contract based on this seasons performances. £3.3m per year, not a bad increase from the £300k he got when he started 6 years ago. I wish I got a 1000% pay rise over 6 years, the credit crunch won't be biting at Moyes' heals will it? Season over and he decides to sign... cheers Davey.

I thought Castillo did a good job, like others have said his distribution is not 100% but he's the round peg for the round hole that we need. Jags back in the back 4 was a must and he's showing how well he's suited to that position. Lescott is a liability. I have said on other threads that I think there's something going on with him. He was far too regularly quoted as having something to say about transfers in the summer, how he's a centre back etc, yet given the chance there he is poor. Even pushing him out wide now he's a defensive liability when Pienaar isn't there to track back and help out. Far too much went down the Liege right and Dalmat made Lescott look a mug. Arteta is far too wasteful with corners and free kicks. Hits the first man every time with corners, which considering his ability to pick a pass in open play is a mystery. This is the 3rd season it's been going on for now though so maybe someone else needs to be given the opportunity to try and whip the corners in (anyone exc. Neville!!!) Yak, great finish... again. Vic, full of running and improves with every game so far this season. The Olympics seem to have done him the world of good. Hopefully someone in the back 4 or Castillo (when his English improves) will start to scream and shout at players to get into position and will fill the void clearly left by Cars. The defence so far this season has been mind blowingly bad, only saved by the fact that we look like we can score. I'd prefer not to concede though, at least then we know we're not chasing games so early on.

Stephane Mbia has pleaded with his club Rennes to let him join Arsenal in January after the Gunners failed with a bid for the 22-year-old during the summer as the French club are holding out for £10m. (The Times) I think this story should just leave a blank in the team name and allow this guy to plead with Rennes to let him leave for anyone that will quadruple his wages! I don't blame him mind, earn what you can, there's no (rarely) loyalty between clubs and overseas players anyway. He must have got whiff that we only have enough money for one midfielder this year and have already signed him, therefore has moved onto the next interested party.

Sporting- would you mind selling us one of the 'solutions' you had lined up in case JM left?!?!?! Anyone will do at this late stage

Lots of rumours earlier today about Diarra from Pompey going to Spurs, which would open up a space for Barton there. Barton has shown complete disregard to Everton football club in the past by showing his backside to us fans and assaulting our young fans. He has turned his back on his 'boyhood club' in favour of playing elsewhere, and has been less than complimentary of the club and DM in particular in the past. Add to that the fact that he tried to set fire to/ stubbed out cigars on youth team players and assaulted a member of his own team in a training ground bust up and you get the picture of a less than savoury character. Newcastle have stood by him throughout his prison term and him leaving them at the first opportunity would be a massive slap in the face to them too. Undoubtedly a player of ability, but there are others out there who I, for one, would prefer to see in an Everton shirt. This is no ordinary football club, this is Everton football club.

I reckon this will go through for £5m. Not sure if this is a good price for him but with less than 4 hours to the close of the window, and every club in Europe knowing how desperate we are for bodies then the selling club can hold out for whatever they like really. I've said earlier that I think he'd be a good acquisition, the cost means nothing at this stage in proceedings. Let's just get a squad capable of competing for 50 games throughout the course of a season and buckle up, it's going to be a rocky ride!!!