efc1111

My likely outcome:
 
 
Stones will stay. We will get Yarmolenko. We will have a successful season. Chelsea will not win the title and next season Stones will have the chance to leave but we will improve his contract and he will commit to Everton.

For our American friends looking at UK accounts (in case you haven't caught on yet, you probably have!!!)...All UK Limited companies are obliged to submit an annual accounting document for anyone to see (usually costs about a quid to download). But the detail doesn't have to be 'itemised', it's just a basic summary document. I'm no expert so excuse my terminology etc. I guess only the taxman and accounting firm will get the real deep diving info on all costs etc.
 
With regards to Peter Johnson. I'm not sure if Haf or anyone is defending or what, but this bloke turned into a 4 year nightmare. Under his stewardship, we had many poor commercial deals, broken promises, dodgy goings on etc that put the club on its knees. The Rothschild report for the sale of the club back in 1999 proves as much. He almost bankrupt the club. The debts (for that era) were huge. The club was losing money every year. We were a farce. We had to sell players quickly, reduce wages quickly and increase ticket prices quickly just to survive.
 
Every fan wanted him gone.
 
I'm sure most fans were over the moon for Kenwright to do all he could to get in. But it was clear from day one that he couldn't personally bankroll the club.
 
Unfortunately, with him not having any serious personal coin to throw our way, we've seen a number of short term deals being pulled off to keep cash flow going. Such as undervalued (in our one way minds) sponsorships and certain services being given to 3rd parties.
 
I'm not wanting to defend Kenwright because there has been some dross, but I also think that there is a lot of over the top bully boy type shite getting thrown his way. I think at times he can't do right no matter what.
 
We've been sinking since the late Sir Jon Moores demise. That was in the 80's. 30 years ago now.
 
As fans, we seem to be stuck in 2 minds. One...we feel we are a big club who should be able to attract these mega investors, get top notch sponsorship deals etc. But then when it comes transfers, we act differently...we talk of 'big' clubs taking our players, better players choosing 'big' clubs over us.
 
What are we?

I wouldn't sweat it SteveO - I've had my rant. I dunno who irritates me more, the board or the people too thick to see through this nonsense.
 
Kim Jong Un apparently wants his government to follow the Everton PR model.

I had a shit stream for about the first 15 minutes game; it kept stopping every 5 seconds! So I'm not really sure what was going on for that period of the game. It looked like Southampton were having more of the play but, as I said, I really don't know. What I did see of the first half was very promising. Where we lacked tempo and movement last week we had runners all over the pitch and our passing was crisp and had intent - there were very few passes for passing sake. This meant we could be more positive with the ball, moving it forward far more often rather than pointlessly passing it sideways and backwards. There were no better examples of our movement and passing intent than our two goals in this half. When Barkley picked up the ball on the edge of our area from a Southampton corner he had Cleverley, Lukaku, Kone and Galloway (I think) streaming up in support of him. Last season he'd have probably only had Lukaku with him and would have ended up turning back and the ball would end up with Howard pretty quickly. And then for our second goal Lukaku wins the ball back on the half way line after some excellent tracking back, gives the ball to Barkley and drives forward with him to receive the ball back from Barkley to finish first time. We got the ball and then bang, bang we've scored. That's the type of football we thrive on - quick and incisive. None of this fucking around with it and be on a go slow. We're no good at it. Full throttle is when we're devastating. Those two goals may have been breakaway goals but they were by no means undeserved - Southampton may have had more of the ball but they weren't really a threat, whereas whenever we got the ball we looked like increasing our advantage.
 
The second half wasn't as industrious, but more of a professional performance where we played within ourselves but could have gone up a gear or two if we'd needed to. We probably invited a bit too much pressure on ourselves for my liking but thanks to the work of McCarthy and Barry and the defence we managed to restrict Southampton from testing Howard too often. We didn't really test them very often either though, so it kind of felt like the second half didn't get going for us. That being said our third goal was wonderfully worked - the ball was played to Lukaku with his back to goal, he controls it well and quickly lays it off back to Coleman who plays it across to Barkley who kept his cool and finished coolly. It was a thing of beauty and something that should get us all excited.
 
A big pat on the back has to go to Martinez. He got our tactics absolutely spot on and the players carried his ideas out on the pitch to perfection.
 
 
Howard - He probably only had 2 or 3 saves to make in the whole match, but those 2 or 3 saves were superb and vital. He did well to keep his concentration and actually make those saves. Especially the first of those saves at 0-0 to give them the corner that we eventually scored on the back of.
 
 
Coleman - Probably the only disappointing performance of the day. Defensively I didn't think he was much cop tbh, and could very nearly have gifted them a goal due to his brainlessness. But he did grab the assist for Barkley's goal, so it wasn't all bad.
 
Stones & Jagielka - I thought the pair of them were brilliant. Pelle is a difficult striker to deal with because he's incredibly physical but they both shepherded him all afternoon. He was limited to half chances and barely chance. He'll have been feeling very frustrated thanks to these two. Not much even reached Howard because they were just on it.
 
Galloway - Caught out a couple of times defensively but showed good recovery when he was caught out. And I just feel so much sympathy for him when I watch him trying to attack, and his crossing... let's just not go there .
 
 
Kone - Another promising showing from him which gives me hope. He worked his arse off all game long, even when he only had fumes left in the tank, he was a willing runner, he gave support to whoever had the ball, when he had the ball he used it intelligently, he held the ball up well. And he grabbed an assist! The only slight on his performance was that quite a few times he didn't perform his defensive duties, but thers were on their game to compensate for that.
 
McCarthy & Barry - They were a proper team yesterday. Something we really struggled with last season, and last week, was getting to the loose balls in front of our penalty area. Not yesterday though. These two prowled in front of our defence and mopped up pretty much everything. Barry barely moved from our own half all game long and just gave the ball to a team mate when he got it, while McCarthy was the one who would bring ball out further.
 
Cleverley - Slowly but surely he's winning me over. Yesterday he helped Galloway out a lot more, which shows he realised what he needed to work on from last week and did it. Also, every single time we got forward he was busting a gut to support whoever had the ball. He showed tremendous energy levels, very much like what we see from McCarthy. I also thought he used the ball brilliantly - he moved it well and quickly too. He looks like he could be a key cog in our wheel if we want to have a quicker tempo. Probably the biggest factor to winning me over was the way he celebrated Barkley's goal - he's definitely settled in quickly here and wants to play for us. It means something to him, and to Evertonians that means something to us too.
 
 
Barkley - I have to say, it was an absolute pleasure to watch him play yesterday. It really was. He was so positive and so confident and that's the Ross Barkley that can be up there with the best. Anyone who watched him yesterday and thinks he's over rated is a fool. He was magnificent and I felt a bit giddy tbh. I complained last week that he was very negative in possession with the ball; constantly just passing the ball back to where it came from rather than turning with it and using the ball positively. Yesterday there was none of that - he was constantly passing forward or driving forward with the ball. And while he's not the quickest player, he has one hell of a burst of speed to get away from players - just look at what he did for our first two goals. He was absolute dynamite. I also noticed him helping out defensively more too - on one of the occasions Galloway was caught out it was him that was there. We've all said he needs to score and create more and he did both yesterday - such a cool finish for his goal (to equal as many as he got all last season!), and a perfect pass for Lukaku's second goal. That was the first time he's ever assisted and scored in the same game!
 
 
Lukaku - It is no surprise to me that Lukaku had a stormer of a game yesterday because we had players around him, supporting him, rather than him being isolated against two or three defenders. Yes, he probably could do better in those situations but that's a tough one for any striker, never mind one still learning to manage his own limitations. But we made it so that he had more room to work in and boy did he take advantage of that room! He showed what a monstrous forward he can be, and why we paid big money for him. He was such a bully, he just fucking bulldozed Southampton all afternoon. There will be plenty of bruised bodies in their ranks, that's for sure! His thought for yesterday must have been "I'm going to get goals today and if you're in my way I am just going to run over you." Some of our fans have said he lacks desire but you couldn't level that at him yesterday - he showed incredible desire to make sure he was the one to score our first two goals, and played a big role in the third too. The fact that Kone's cross for the first wasn't quite on the mark probably helped Rom. It meant he had to head it it awkwardly and the only thing he could with it was to head back in the opposite direction, which fooled the keeper. And then a typical Rom, first time finish for his second goal. Get him the ball around the penalty area and he's deadly. Give him the ball on the half way line, or have him having to get the ball on the wing, and you'll get half the player at best. His involvement and importance to us really shouldn't be questioned.

I'm still of the opinion that, not only will we not sell him this season, we will still spend 25m this window....

Lots of people are born into a club because of locality or parental influence.
 
I live in London and my Dad is a gooner. Not sure how I found Everton - I guess I was chosen.
 
Don't get me wrong the club drives me mental sometimes but I've been reflecting lately after watching Chelsea's behaviour.
 
Publicly trying to influence a player to leave
Manipulation of the ref and general cheating
Embarrassing a poor medical professional in public
Etc etc
 
Compare that to:
 
Lukaku giving that woman a hug and apologising
Naismith buying unemployed people tickets
John stones was named as the top charity footballer
 
We may not have the best football club but I wouldn't sell out to be like Chelsea for a 1000 champion league medals.
 
Hopefully we can do both.
 
COYB

The best thing for Stones is to stay at Everton and play every game he us available for. At Chelsea, he'll get a fraction of games and therefore less nurturing of his obvious talent. Too often the English youngsters are moving to 'big 4 clubs' to soon and stagnating.
 
Stones still only has 4 England caps and only 56 (?) Appearances for us. Loads left to learn.
 
He seems a level headed lad. I think he knows what's best. But what about his agent? Those vultures smell payouts more than skanky dole street residents.
 
If we really are no longer a selling club, if we really do not need to sell...and if we really have turned down £30 million...than an extra £5mill won't cut it for me. It has to be around the £50 million mark. That's not to say I think he is worth that much. But natural economics say that if you want to buy something off someone who doesn't want to sell, and you really want it...you have to pay a shit load more than the market value.
 
For me, far from being angry with Chelsea and Jose (although it is annoying for other reasons), I'm glad they've spoke out about him and put in a few offers. Because it shows how much they want him. That puts our club in the driving seat of all negotiations. We'll, so long as everything being said is true.

He might want it Marco, but for him to do it, it will probably need Martinez.What I mean is he probably wanted it against Watford but how we played didn't best suit his style, even at home on the first day of the season the build up was slower, we passed it across the park too much, also Lukaku was again a lone striker, things improved when Kone came on.
 
If he gets more freedom (product of a partner), better service, whilst the team is more dangerous (product of faster more direct play), then, I think he could well be unplayable.
 
Get the crosses right (Kones was a beaut ), get the through balls right (the one for his second goal was excellent).
 
When suddenly opponents are on panic stations with a flying Lukaku, there's going to be more room for Kone, Barkley, Gerry, Mirallas etc......
 
Back to Martinez, he can't just get us charging at every team we play, sometimes playing across the pitch is the right move, but will will get more out of Lukaku and win more games playing like we did against Southampton than we did against Watford and how we played last season in games such as the home fixture with Hull etc.
 
I think it's what the fans have been saying for months.

Aaaaah, thanks! Knew it was a strange name

I seen that video on my break today. Felt proud that a player representing Everton would act in this way. Real gentleman.
 
At least he found the back of the net in the game if not in the warm up!!!

Have to say the team made me eat my words, they were brilliant.Played with intent and pace that Southampton couldn't live with. McCarthy, Barry, and Barkley were great in midfield, and as the game went on their confidence and expression grew.
 
Cleverley was really impressive and I am so glad we have signed him, his movement was impressive and so was his passing, Kone was good, took a while to get going but got the hang of covering for Coleman and was a real help to my MOTM, Lukaku who was a beast and terrorized Southampton and was unplayable.
 
A real confidence boost going into some tough games. I hope the crowd at GP gets behind the team, even if the team start slowly.

Take a look at @thefootballcafe's Tweet:

Martinez has said this morning he is not for sale and that is that. How much more definite do the fucking rags want before they let this go.
 
It's pissing me off now.

This morning's press conference:
 
Manager Roberto Martinez also ruled out any sale for John Stones who has been linked with Chelsea and Manchester United. Martinez is determined to keep the 21-year-old at Goodison Park.
 
"I have said before the player is not for sale and that is the end of it," he said.
 
Sounds pretty categorical to me. Now can press and pundits kindly fuck off and stop talking about OUR player going to Chelsea, it's an absolute disgrace.

I went Kone, solely because after missing that header, he could have hidden from the game. Instead he wanted it and got us back in the game twice. Delighted for him.

Yet it's looking like we'll be lucky to have £10m to spend. I just can't understand how! And why more questions aren't being asked.

Simple to pro football player?, actually it wasn't,it was a tremendous touch. And his goal was a great take, the only place he could beat the keeper and score.
 
Sorry I can't add in with any further lukaku apologies cos the lad just strengthens my arguments all the time.
 
touch or whatever aside, he is a lazy fucker who thinks he's doing us a favour. And I beg anyone to argue otherwise.

Hi former part-time poster here who still dips his head in now and again, all the Stones stuff has got me narked enough to commit thoughts to screen again...
 
This Matt Smith fella, where the frigging hell does he get 'Everton won't be able to stop Stones signing for Chelsea' from? Unless I'm living in some parallel universe, I was under the impression we had him under a long term contract, which means WE have the power to say if, when, to whom and for how much he goes. So, and please correct me if I'm wrong, how the fuck can we be 'unable to stop' him? I'd love to put that one to our genius crack reporter and see what he says...
 
This whole saga and our general impotence in the transfer market is killing my interest in PL to be honest. If this hack is right, if Stones has decided he wants the bright lights of a club funded by a gangster and supported by racist thugs, and we, instead of reminding the boy he signed a 5 year contract and needs to knuckle down, cave in for way under his potential worth (50m plus as a starting point), I don't think I can be arsed with this season. Top level football is becoming a racket backed to the hilt by a snide, classless media. Clubs like ours need to start to take a stand against it, starting by defending our key assets from what has amounted to poaching in public. I'll be interested to see if our board has the spine to do it.
 
Rant over.

It does kind of feel like "groundhog pre-season".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33769723
 
Fuck off, Rio.

For those with an aversion to analogies
 
Its a simple matter of this:-
 
1. What is his minimum value??? - for me he is actually worth £30m "NOW"
 
2. What is his likely status to be in the game within 2 years when he will still have 2 years left - England regular and a player who has alerted the likes of PSG, Real, Barca - because lets face it he's class and will get better and in that time the likes of Ramos etc etc will be getting past their best.
 
3. What sort of value is that? - in todays market that is £50m+
 
So why would you sell for anything less than £50m???
 
We hold all the aces for once, lets stop thinking like the clowns who have been running us.

Agree wholeheartedly with Pete0 - Everton are stuck between a rock and a hard place. We need specific type of players who have the talent to be in a champions league squad but not the profile (as champs league teams will pick them up).
 
And CornishSteve - Anyway, I have a totally different perspective on this. As a team without a billionaire looking to waste money (thank goodness!), we must have a different strategy. Why not invest half of our available funds in exciting new talent that will come through in two or three years time?
 
I have many pet peeves in this world but none larger than complaining for complaining's sake. This board is full of it. We don't have a billionaire owner and we don't pay crazy wages. That immediately eliminates a large number of names available in the transfer market. Everton has been and will continue to be successful if they focus on youth development and finding the right budget-conscious transfers. Our biggest transfers are Lukaku, Felli, McCarthy, Yakubu, Bily, A Johnson. That is hardly a ringing endorsement to spend big.
 
Whether or not you want Barry/Osman/Pienaar/Hibbert on the team is a completely different conversation from they need replacing. You can't replace them until they leave! Once again we aren't in Champs league we cannot afford to have a 35 man squad. As long as those older players are on the roster stop talking about replacing them. They will be replaced when we dont have to pay them anymore.
 
The argument that you shouldnt focus on youth development because there is no guarantee they take the next step is LUDICROUS!! The benefits far outweigh the risks and that has been proven time and time again. The youngsters understand the club, the atmosphere and most importantly what it means to pull on that blue shirt. Sure 8-9 out of 10 don't make it at this level but you save more money and perform more consistently going about it this way than failing with 5-6/10 transfers.
 
Perhaps im naive or stupid or ignorant or all 3 but as far as I'm concerned Chelsea can keep their titles, Liverpool can keep sucking and spending gobs of money, Man City can keep their titles. I like the way Everton do things. I like that it's a family club built on tradition and hard work. I certainly haven't been a fan as long as most but for me achieving CL football would be the highest of highs. To accomplish that with the way football works today would be an achievement of epic proportions. And i believe it will happen. Maybe not this year but in the next three and I'm willing to be patient.

I really don't subscribe to the doom and gloom in this thread. Even if we were like other clubs, there's over a month to go before the window closes. No team is going to broadcast, "Hey guys. We have 40m to spend!" That would add a few million to every price tag right away. You go about your business quietly and under the radar. If it means waiting until the end of the window to get the best price, so be it. Frankly, who cares what other teams do or who they buy? It's totally irrelevant.
 
Anyway, I have a totally different perspective on this. As a team without a billionaire looking to waste money (thank goodness!), we must have a different strategy. Why not invest half of our available funds in exciting new talent that will come through in two or three years time? Why not upgrade Finch Farm to help these youngsters? Why not establish links with one or two teams in the Championship or League One so these prospects get the chance to develop? Oh, wait a minute - that's just what we're doing!
 
And why not establish links with one of Europe's top teams? Liverpool have links with Roma because they have the same owners. Why can't we establish links with, say, Barcelona? We can take some of their top youngsters and give them a chance to play and develop. Some might even enjoy the experience and make it clear they want to join us for less when other top Premier League teams come sniffing. Oh, wait a minute - that's just what we're doing!
 
This is how we play on a different field. We can't compete if we go out there and buy players like everyone else. The top talent goes to the moneybags. The rest pick out the dregs or has-beens or injury risks. We've don a bit of that. For backup players or to use experienced players to bring along the inexperienced, that's just fine. But we have to be smart and do things differently. And we are.
 
The only issue is that this is building a legacy and not instant gratification. It requires a little patience. And it means letting the other teams do their thing and not allow the latest headlines and rumours get us worked up.

I agree we need a few additions but a very big squad his a lot of unhappy players thinking they should be playing.
It would be hard trying to convince a quality striker to sign if they were likely to be sitting on the bench, I can't see Roberto playing 2 out and out strikers unless we're behind with 20 minutes to go.
Cleverley will be a good addition due to the fact he can play in a few positions, obviously was rated by Sir Alex and at 25 should be in his prime.
He's looked good preseason, so lets give him a clean slate and judge him after he has has a chance to play some competitive games for Everton
 
Keeping a settled team and without the distraction of world cup before and europa league during the season will help and I can see at least a top 8 finish.

I will be extremely disappointed if we sell Stones for less than £50 mil after the whole Chelsea ordeal.