Recent Reader Comments

• This move has several interesting parts; the straight swap that some TWer stated actually improves our books, a probable bounce off the bottom for Johnson with asset value upside, and a beginning profile of squad depth for potential transfer exits in the future. The straight swap is an unexpected gift of things lining up. The players are represented by the same agency. The valuations, from the original clubs, were comparable when wages and time left in contract are considered. Most importantly, the receiving clubs see value in the players deployed into their systems. Johnson seemed overwhelmed at Spurs, even as he was piling in the goals one season. I never saw him looking like he enjoyed the football. Maybe I missed better takes, but I saw some angry celebrations on some of those goals. I haven't followed him at Palace. That was a 35mill record bit of business though. Now he's out and yes, there are many asking how the hell that happened. There is immense upside for him and th...
  Dale Self in “You can see this is a club that wants to go in the right direction” — Brennan Johnson on why he chose Everton move
• Darren #50,rnI don\'t rate Beto at all. He\'s not at the level I would like to see playing for our club. And I have no interest in stats which say he\'s scored 1 in 2 or 1 in 5 games. rnrnHowever, what I posted before was unrelated to how I feel about the player or about his stats. It was merely to correct you on the error you made suggesting only a few TW posters calculate on goals per minute. And I did so by pointing out that Opta and others calculate the same way as those posters. It doesn\'t matter whether you dismiss their calculations as that was not the point I was making. I don\'t care about Opta\'s stats or the others\' either. Like you I prefer to judge on what I\'m seeing and against Stuttgart I thought Beto was lucky to still be on the field after 20 minutes. rnrnIf you can be bothered to respond, would it be possible to stick to the theme of what I\'ve been saying rather than writing about something I haven\'t actually posted?rnrn...
  Stan Grace in “I haven’t shown my best yet”: Dibling determined to make Everton impact after confident Stuttgart showing
• Johnson is not only damaged goods but also strikes me as a bit of a shrinking violet, like Dibling, which is why he likely got some stick at his last two clubs. Tends to disappear in games.rnrnBut to be fair, this is a fairly low risk punt and there is definitely a very good player in there, way better than McNeil, we saw that at Forest, and he offers the sort of pace we are desperate for. After a couple of ropey years, maybe he just needs a bit of TLC to blossom again, though that doesn\'t tend to be one of our manager\'s big strengths.rnrnMunoz would be a great signing, despite his age, though I\'m happy if they can find someone of equivalent quality and preferably a bit younger. And as we get ever closer to deadline day, I\'ll probably be happy with just any real right back with a pulse. I think the die is already set for O\'Brien still at RB, even if we bought this week, Moyes likes to take his time \'integrating\' them into the squad.rnrnWe could really...
  Mark Taylor in “You can see this is a club that wants to go in the right direction” — Brennan Johnson on why he chose Everton move
• Jack #67, it\'s not a matter of us affording Spence. Inter offers Champions League footy. We don\'t, and likely won\'t next year either. No contest.rnrnAnd honestly Spence went off my list after seeing him at the WC. His athleticism and pace are spectacular, but those forward rampages are totally non-productive -- no goals or assists last season for Spurs -- and he knows less about defensive positioning than I know about lyric opera. The headless chicken routine we saw at the back for England was the reason his lost his place in Spurs\' 11. And probably the reason they\'re selling him off....
  Mike Gaynes in “You can see this is a club that wants to go in the right direction” — Brennan Johnson on why he chose Everton move
• Everton are pushing to sign a right-back in the next seven to 10 days, with Celtic and Canada\'s Alistair Johnston, 27, West Ham and DR Congo\'s Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 28, and Genoa\'s 22-year-old Englishman Brooke Norton-Cuffy among targets....
  Paul Kossoff in “You can see this is a club that wants to go in the right direction” — Brennan Johnson on why he chose Everton move
• Paddy Boyland and Chris Weatherspoon of The Athletic point out that this kind of swap deal is now an extreme rarity because of the difficulty in matching up player values -- the last one was Sanchez for Mkhitaryan in 2018, and both players flopped. rnrnExcerpts from the analysis: rnrnBut here we have a genuine example of a swap deal between two Premier League sides, brokered by the same agency — Johnson and McNeil are both represented by Unique Sports Group (USG) — and with the players involved valued at the exact same level.rnrnThat valuation is still expected to be assessed by the Premier League under its fair market value protocol, but no money is expected to change hands.rnrnAnd both Everton and Palace are likely to argue, to varying extents, that they have achieved a good outcome — or at least one that works for them.rnrnPalace had residual interest in McNeil after that collapsed winter-window move, while Everton were keen to offload a pla...
  Mike Gaynes in “You can see this is a club that wants to go in the right direction” — Brennan Johnson on why he chose Everton move