efc1111

very good!  
Loved the bit about arguing with his wife too

Thanks for sharing that

Although I'd still like to see us add another central midfielder (two if Fellaini is sold) I think we have three 'extra' bodies in Barkley, Oviedo and Stones. They hardly featured (not at all in the case of Stones) last season but in pre-season and international action they look very capable of stepping in when needed and I think we'll see more of them this season under Martinez.
 
I think we'll finish somewhere between 8th and 4th depending on how quickly everything gels, and I'll be hoping we have a good cup run too.

Maybe I should have posted this link here rather than in a standalone thread. It's a decent read
 
http://sabotagetimes.com/reportage/a-liverpool-fans-guide-to-evertons-season/

Maybe I should have posted this link here rather than in a standalone thread. It's a decent read
 
http://sabotagetimes.com/reportage/a-liverpool-fans-guide-to-evertons-season/

I'd put a different spin on this:
 
- Baines is staying
- Fellaini is staying
- Barkley and Stones are ready for the big leagues
- Three new players brought in
- One new player on loan
 
Even without additional transfer activity, this looks good.

I think the point made by many is that we are trying to make a welcoming forum - if every new member gets some comment regarding their ability to structure, sentances, paragraphs, make spellings then they will be off before we know it.
 
This new member is the type of blue we want posting - a well tenured, passionate sort. I just think your reply was rude basically.
 
Anyway... we move on...

well iam amazed that the im 49 but supported everton 39 years bit caused a bit of a stir,let me explain,i was 10 years old when
I started to get into football big time.i wanted to follow a team different to everyone following bloody Liverpool ( even then I knew a bad
lot when I saw them).and I don't like the colour red,so it was everton for me cos no one else I knew ( at the time) followed them.
as you all know everton are addictive and a life long thing.
also someone commented on my lack of paragraphs etc.well put it this way a computer buff I aint.must admit surprised to see fellow
blues squabbling about it.that stuff belongs to fans of the other lot.
anyway hope ive cleared things up a bit and my computer use gets better..cheers all...mike

Not another almost former Wigan player? And Baines too? Relegation!

Martinez believes Man Utd pursuit of Baines is over. Hope he's right! http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/exclusive-manchester-united-ended-pursuit-5717027

Martinez believes Man Utd pursuit of Baines is over. Hope he's right! http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/exclusive-manchester-united-ended-pursuit-5717027

Anything less than £18m for Baines means that I would sooner keep him for another 3 years and maybe get £7-8m for him if and when we have someone near his quality (Garbutt/Ovideo).
 
Left back is a niche position, you can look at far more ways of replacing fellaini than you can baines. Apart from that, Baines for me gives us an identity - a local lad who is an icon. Fellaini isn't the loyal consistent sort that a player of his transfer value would warrant fighting to keep. On the contrary - Fellaini is possibly one of the most frustrating players we have, he has ability but lacks the desire to make the most of that ability.
 
If we keep Baines, sell Fellaini for £24m and bring in McCarthy for £12m and maybe bring in another player or two then I would be happy.

I agree with DK!!
 
Marie Curie, Simone de Beauvoir, Mother Theresa, Indira Gandhi, Florence Nightingale, Emmeline Pankhurst, Rosa Parks, Benazir Bhutto, Aung San Suu Kyi....curse the lot of them for spending all their time buying shoes when they could've been making a useful contribution to the human race :shaking fist:

Money, money, money! That's why.

1. david moyes,good but not that good.not being churlish,but in every big game tha really mattered we came up short.an fa cup final,the semi,and last seasons 2 cup competitions prime example.we just threw too many games away from a good position,never seemed to have a plan b.we threw away so many games last season in the final minutes,and I,ll never forget the infamous 3-0 anfield surrender.and of course we never won at old Trafford,anfield or the emirates.4th spot seemed far more important to moyes than a trophywe had our chances and I was devastated by our cup exits last season.our best chance for years was blown.overall he,s a good man but we needed a change and so did moyes.
 
2.delighted with Roberto Martinez.in reality we were never going to attract the big big names,our only options in my opinion were Roberto
or Michael laudrup and in no circumstances neil lennon.i was rooting for rm the best available,like his football philosophy and a true gentleman.which is good media wise.already we are more of a passing outfit,and he needs to keep our traditional hard to beat ethos.
my only worry is wigan were kamikaze at the back ,great to watch but so slack in defence.really wish Roberto all the very best and pray he does well.
 
3.the money question the great everton mystery ! why do investors never go in for everton ? is it because whoever came in would immediately be faced with funding a new stadium before they even start on forking out on players.is that the reason,and it has never been
explained why we are so skint in the first place,does it all stem from peter Johnson chairmanship ? and also there is a man called lord
grantchester on the board supposed to be one of Britain,s wealthiest men.so why the hell has,nt he ever put is hands in his pockets for
everton ?money isn't everything but the gap between the have and haves not is getting worringly larger.
 
4.the new crest is a disgrace,like something drawn in a school competition.and actually it is very relevant because of the big drop in merchandise sales as so many fans including me are disgusted with it.simply cannot believe ithat bill kenwright didn't stop it.
 
5.wayne rooney,first game back at goodison he was kissing the united badge,i,ll never forgive him for that.its blatantly obvious him
and moyes don't get on.and I imagine moyes is furious tha his arrival and settling in period at old Trafford has totally been ruined
by the rooney situation.and rooney is hated by evertonians and now he,s hated by united fans.does,nt that say it all.
 
6.city have got their signings in early no fuss and that gives them the advantage,chelsea have their prodigal son back and they will be strong.united have the squad that just won the league.a good start for arsenal,spurs,liverpool us or anyone else and who knows,
but you cant see beyond the usual suspects.
 
7.obvious advantage of a settled title winning squad with ferguson upstairs to offer advice.but the big question is if moyes has a
bad start or a bad run later on,then how will united fans react,will they give him time ?
 
8.finishing above Liverpool is nice and no more than that.it only really matters if we were 4th and they were 5th say.but overall the form
and performance of everton is all we care about,trophies are a dam sight more important .but of corse if we were doing well and they
were having a struggle then im delighted
 
9..if we could get a top 6 finish I,d be delighted,it isn't beyond us,but that's if we can stay more injury free than the usual carnage
everton seem to suffer,the cups must be taken very seriously,because a trophy would mean the world to us.i just want us to do well
play good football,and im totally behind Martinez,and for 1 am prepared to be patient.
 
10.united will do well,they always do,but I hope moyes respects us enough not to try and nab bainesy'fellaini I expect to leave.
he,s been making come and get noises for a few seasons now,totally sick of it.dont wont to sound petty.but if moyes comes back
for bainesy,i hope he fails at old Trafford.im not one of those united haters.tts just I passionately love everton football club,always
have always will.

no door to Europe should be sniffed at. I know its the Mickey Mouse Cup but theres a chance of European glory.

I've said before, I would sacrifice the extra bit of oomph you get from a fully focused felli for a player who gives a little less far more often. McCarthy looks a proper player to me, with the likes of Gibson and Barkley around him he can be a real string puller.
 
He reminds me of Danny murphy, better in terms of athleticism and defensive play. But murphy was a ridiculously under rated footballer - someone fans ignored. I would have loved him at Everton. This lad seems to have more in terms of potential. Yes from me. £10m max, £8m plus add ons.

I'd take Europe via winning this cup, to be fair For clubs not competing in Europe the extra fixtures aren't too onerous and I think Martinez will rotate the squad a bit more.

If he comes in, it would be for a holding midfield role in all probability. You can use Squawka (a free service which uses Opta Sports stats) to compare him to players who perform a similar role at the top clubs (Barry, Carrick, Arteta). In terms of raw number of successful passes, McCarthy is 6th in the entire league and he has a very good completion rate of 87% (Barry has 86%, Carrick 88%, Arteta 91%). He's made 34 key passes which means he's 55th in the entire league (Barry is 56th , Carrick 57th, Arteta 112th).
 
On the defensive side of the game, he had 74 succesful tackles last season which means he's 17th in the entire league, he also had a very good 75% success rate. Arteta was 15th in the league and had a 69% success rate, Carrick 42nd and had a 70% success rate, Barry 54th and he had a very good 80% success rate (if he had continued on the same minutes per tackle rate he'd have finished only a bit below McCarthy if he had played as much as he did: Barry had a succesful tackle once every 47 minutes, McCarthy once every 46). McCarthy isn't as succesful in headed duels though as he only wins 42% of them and didn't win a whole lot of them in raw numbers (Arteta won 52%, Carrick 55%, Barry 58%). McCarthy was 38th in the league for blocked shots at 19, Carrick blocked 19 as well but if you'd adjust for time played he'd have done better than McCarthy, Arteta 7 and Barry 6. McCarthy made more clearances than the others as well. McCarthy was 17th in the league for interceptions at 76, Carrick had exactly the same amount but did so in a bit less time, Barry had 43 interceptions (at a rate of once every 56 minutes, McCarthy made an interception once every 44 minutes), Arteta was 5th in the entire league in intereceptions.
 
If we're gonna buy in England, he's about the best we're gonna do.
 
EDIT: one reason for McCarthy's heading stats being a bit below par, might be that Wigan played 3 at the back a lot so one of them probably steps up for a majority of the hoofs from goal keepers etc.

<br />To be fair, I don't think that's his game. He's more the 'assist the assister' glue of the midfield who breaks up play and redistributes the ball to the attacking players. His stats for interceptions and completed passes were way up there last season.<br />

I know some of you will think right away I am brown nosing a bit here. Well that is ok. (I am not by the way)
 
I have been a mod on a fair few sites over the years, and to be honest I am pretty grateful to not be one these days. The job is payless and thankless. You are always wrong/mistaken/lying and it sometimes feels awful to have to deal with shit that happens. AND no matter how you feel you need to do it without bias to the best of your ability.
 
So (here is that brown nosing bit I am not doing) Grateful thanks to all admin and Mods. I appreciate what you do and the site wouldn't be what it is without you.

I don't feel we should spend more than £10m on McCarthy, but this constant reference to him as a "championship player" is a little over the top. He performed well in the premier league and should be thought of accordingly. It's not as if he couldn't hack it.

He's a 22-year-old who could be our midfield glue for the next ten years so I'd be comfortable with us paying £10-12m (preferably less, of course!) , which would leave the same again for 1-2 other additions.

I agree and I just had to check when he's contracted to. I'm relieved to see it's June 2017!

He's a 22-year-old who could be our midfield glue for the next ten years so I'd be comfortable with us paying £10-12m (preferably less, of course!) , which would leave the same again for 1-2 other additions.