NICK ARMITAGE COLUMN
Fernandes
By Nick Armitage : 29/08/2007 : 
Comments (62) :
This was one ?signing? that really got me excited. In spells last season he was utterly mesmerising and for those with short memories, he settled into Everton far quicker than Mikel Arteta ever did. When I heard through the grapevine that we were signing him ,I was thrilled; he was just the type of player that this football club needs. Who knows what the future may have held with him pulling the strings in midfield. But as usual with all things at Everton, it all turned to shit.
Comments (62) : Fernandes and his representative, Pini Zahavi, came to England on 14 August to set the wheels in motion on a transfer from Benfica to Everton. Zahavi flew in specifically with the intention of pushing the deal through. Now if you?ve got a player who wants to sign, an agent and club who both want to sell and a manager who would welcome the kid with open arms, why on God?s earth did the deal not take place? All we got was two weeks of half truths, rumours and piss-balling around to get back to square one with egg all over their faces.
The club and the Echo can feign dismay and claim they are the wronged party in all of this, but you?ll never hear either of them answer the pertinent question of why Manuel Fernandes wasn?t an Everton player weeks ago. Manuel Fernandes had been on our books from January until the end of the season and after that the club have had until the end of August to structure some sort of package and contract to enable him to sign. Despite the ?next 24 hours? claims the club has sat with this elephant in the room for eight fucking months.
The about-turn has truly left me stunned, but I suppose the fact that the club tried to sign him in the Everton Way didn?t help matters. If he had been signed weeks or months earlier at any one of numerous opportunities, Valencia would not have been able to hijack the Everton transfer. Valencia categorically should not have gotten a sniff of Manuel Fernandes, it is as simple as that. All this cocking around has just let one of the most gifted young footballers in Europe slip through the club?s fingers.
If this was the first time that the club has demonstrated such unprofessionalism then perhaps they could be given the benefit of doubt. But sadly this is another balls up in a depressingly long list.
Hopefully the Yakubu transfer will now proceed without a hitch, as this time the club must surely have learnt its lesson. Yakubu?s agent will no doubt exercise due caution as he will already be aware of the Everton way of doing things ? because Yakubu?s agent is also Pini Zahavi.
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Couldn’t agree more. We should have sorted this ages ago. If only the club would learn a lesson from it.
Tremendous loss for the club.
Even so, I have a hard time believing Everton had the money until just before it bad. (Underasked question: Where did the money to buy Manney and Yak come from?) I believe, but have not proof, that once EFC had the money, they tried in earnest to acquire Manny.
The wheels started spinning too late...
Who’s fault? I don’t know.
It’s tough to speculate on the culprit when you don’t know the facts. We’ve heard from the club and the club’s critics. Manny and his advisors know the rest of the story...
Even so, I have a hard time believing Everton had the money until just before it bad. (Underasked question: Where did the money to buy Manney and Yak come from?) I believe, but have not proof, that once EFC had the money, they tried in earnest to acquire Manny.
The wheels started spinning too late...
Who’s fault? I don’t know.
It’s tough to speculate on the culprit when you don’t know the facts. We’ve heard from the club and the club’s critics. Manny and his advisors know the rest of the story...
Nick, what you forget to mention is that Zahavi is one of the darkest and most powerful people in football. He can even make Roman Abramovich blush.
Fernandes had surely been touted to many football clubs from day one. When Zahavi had smelled money in our purse, he came instantly. When he had found out Valencia have even more cash, he went for the jackpot.
He doesn’t mean it personal, it’s simple maths. He proceeded to sell Yakubu to us and I bet he smiled all the way like nothing had happened.
Fernandes had surely been touted to many football clubs from day one. When Zahavi had smelled money in our purse, he came instantly. When he had found out Valencia have even more cash, he went for the jackpot.
He doesn’t mean it personal, it’s simple maths. He proceeded to sell Yakubu to us and I bet he smiled all the way like nothing had happened.
Who cares how good he played for Everton last season, and how good he is supposed to be. I’m personally glad we didn’t sign him, if he jumped ship for no real reason other than a slightly improved offer - zero loyalty shown to the club he played with - i.e. us. He would of been just another greedy foreign star who would have got lazy and left after a season anyway. Better off without him, and I’m way more excited that we have signed the Yak. Lets get an exciting winger, we haven’t had a good one of those since the days of Kanchelskis. Then, we might stand a chance of doing well in Europe!
It makes me want to vomit, really.
I have not been this sick since Duncan joined Newcastle.
It’s horrible!!!!!
I have not been this sick since Duncan joined Newcastle.
It’s horrible!!!!!
While I agree he showed in flashes that he could become a great player last year in the Arsenal and Man U games, I dont think we should have been paying £12m for him and it appears neither did the club.
We agreed to pay £6m to Benfica for their 50% but faced two problems with the other half.
We didn’t want to give the middle men £6m so tried to negotiate them down. Secondly the Premier league didn’t want a repeat of Tevez/Mascherino ( and we don’t have the same clout as Man U /Liverpool either)
It seems Valencia have paid the full £12m and in any case the league in spain don’t care if someone is part owned by dodgy middle men.
Therefore his transfer went through very quickly compared to our protracted negotiations.
We could have signed him at the end of last season ... but only for the full £12m.
The lesson to learn (again) is not to trust any of these dodgy agents / middle men. we claim to have agreed with all parties but if they have not signed their word is worth sweet f... all.
We agreed to pay £6m to Benfica for their 50% but faced two problems with the other half.
We didn’t want to give the middle men £6m so tried to negotiate them down. Secondly the Premier league didn’t want a repeat of Tevez/Mascherino ( and we don’t have the same clout as Man U /Liverpool either)
It seems Valencia have paid the full £12m and in any case the league in spain don’t care if someone is part owned by dodgy middle men.
Therefore his transfer went through very quickly compared to our protracted negotiations.
We could have signed him at the end of last season ... but only for the full £12m.
The lesson to learn (again) is not to trust any of these dodgy agents / middle men. we claim to have agreed with all parties but if they have not signed their word is worth sweet f... all.
I think Manu would have been a great acquisition but the simple fact is that Valencia offered more money. I don’t think you can just blame the board for the delays. Manu was unable to sign on the dotted line before the deal could have been agreed with the Premier League. They also took too long to go through all the details off this deal especially after all the problems they had with the Tevez contract at West Ham.
Anthony Jaras: Truly pathetic! Stop bleating about it and move on. He had a lot of potential, but so did McFadden when we signed him, not to mention loads of other foreign players who all turned out to be overpriced crap. Newcastle usually cop them ( Hugo Baiano for £9m, Alberto Luque for another £8m ), except they have no money this year. And Spurs fans got a nasty shock when they splashed out a Club record fee at the time on Helder Postiga, another Portuguese ’class act’ who failed miserably.
The club messed up, but at anywhere between £12m and £18mI reckon we had a lucky escape. Now stop vomiting, you tart and get behind the Team!
The club messed up, but at anywhere between £12m and £18mI reckon we had a lucky escape. Now stop vomiting, you tart and get behind the Team!
The fact of the matter is we didn’t have the moeny until Earl joined the board. he may not have given us the money himself but with him on our board the bank was much more likely to loan us the cash. Once it was clear we could access the money Fernandes was clearly not Moyes first choice. Why was that? We can all speculate be he knows the lad much better than any of us. If when we did bid for him his agent came over on the 14th that means we had 10 days to push it through. Utd took 4 weeks to sign Tevez. Blame the club all you like but this signing was complicated and relied on a lot of things being in place. I am gutted but life goes on, there are more important things than football.
There’s no need for strong language. Comparing the collapse of a transfer of a talented youngster who had played 9 matches in the royal blue to selling off an Everton legend is plain over the top and that’s that.
Becky, so McFadden no longer has any potential ?
I beg to differ
I beg to differ
i was one of the the people who was hugely disappointed that we never signed fernandes, but we need to move on and look forward to signing someone who actually wants to sign for us, people may say we should of got him earlier but who’s to say the exact same thing would’nt of happened in july at the start of the window, there are midfielders out there that fit the bill, its just if we can get them in on time, it should be an interesting couple of days
Wake up, Steve Lyth. He signed for us 4 YEARS AGO this week. His best ever game was in the 4-0 beating of Leeds 3 weeks later. That day we saw the ’Scottish Rooney’, but since then we have been limited to one or two golden moments a season. That’s not enough though when you are unable to beat a defender with skill when played wide left, prone to holding on to the ball too long and lacking in the necessary pace to play up front.
Don’t get me wrong, I like the lad, but you can’t tell me he’s ever gonna be any more than a squad player at any Premiership club. He has the potential to be.... the greatest Super-Sub this cub has ever known!!! (: .... A LATTER DAY ALAN HARPER.... ok, that was a joke - honest ;)
Don’t get me wrong, I like the lad, but you can’t tell me he’s ever gonna be any more than a squad player at any Premiership club. He has the potential to be.... the greatest Super-Sub this cub has ever known!!! (: .... A LATTER DAY ALAN HARPER.... ok, that was a joke - honest ;)
Listen, Becky Blue, If I want to bleat about it I will bleat about it, the fact of the matter is that most of the prople coming on here were genuinly excited by the potential signing of Fernandes.
Now, unless Moyes pulls of some kind of miracle, we are going to have a midfield with no craft in the centre of it at all, you name another succesful team who has two workmen in the middle????
Also, in my eyes there has not been a transfer since the Duncan one that has pissed me off so much as to feel sick over it. This Fernandes move to Valencia has done that cos I know how close he was to becoming a Blue on a permanent basis.
He would have become a very very good signing indeed based on last seasons exploits.
So stop your bleating.
Also, how does me being sick over missing out on the midfield craft, youth and potential make me pathetic????
I want the best for this club and when I see how Ronaldo and Nani perfom, I would not have minded a punt on another exciting Portugese youngster while we can afford it.
Now, unless Moyes pulls of some kind of miracle, we are going to have a midfield with no craft in the centre of it at all, you name another succesful team who has two workmen in the middle????
Also, in my eyes there has not been a transfer since the Duncan one that has pissed me off so much as to feel sick over it. This Fernandes move to Valencia has done that cos I know how close he was to becoming a Blue on a permanent basis.
He would have become a very very good signing indeed based on last seasons exploits.
So stop your bleating.
Also, how does me being sick over missing out on the midfield craft, youth and potential make me pathetic????
I want the best for this club and when I see how Ronaldo and Nani perfom, I would not have minded a punt on another exciting Portugese youngster while we can afford it.
Andy - Do you actually think we can get someone in on time. I really hope so. 2 day medicals an potential for work permits!!!!
I think Vogel would be a good addition to the sqaud but again this is another signing that could have been sorted months ago.
I fear many supporters will bleat on about the Manny situ for a long time to come, but as far as I am concerned he (perhaps pushed by his owners/agent) went for more money.
Yes, we should have tied the deal up well before Valencia had time to sniff around but the FA wouldnt give the go ahead.
Does anyone really think we didnt sign him when we had the chance. Its mad how many consipracy theories come out of these everton fanzine sites. I often think about trauling through other clubs fanzines to see what thier views are on particularly controversial issues such as this.
The best theory acounted to the board creating the whole transfer in am agreement with Valencia to forge the way for Mikey to sign for them in January.
Please...... can we not just agree that most footballers are greedy money grabbing bastards. The exception to the rule is a very rare breed and one I take my hate of to.
I think Vogel would be a good addition to the sqaud but again this is another signing that could have been sorted months ago.
I fear many supporters will bleat on about the Manny situ for a long time to come, but as far as I am concerned he (perhaps pushed by his owners/agent) went for more money.
Yes, we should have tied the deal up well before Valencia had time to sniff around but the FA wouldnt give the go ahead.
Does anyone really think we didnt sign him when we had the chance. Its mad how many consipracy theories come out of these everton fanzine sites. I often think about trauling through other clubs fanzines to see what thier views are on particularly controversial issues such as this.
The best theory acounted to the board creating the whole transfer in am agreement with Valencia to forge the way for Mikey to sign for them in January.
Please...... can we not just agree that most footballers are greedy money grabbing bastards. The exception to the rule is a very rare breed and one I take my hate of to.
Anthony: ’ It’s horrible!!!!’ That’s what 4 year olds say when they don’t want their tea. I can think of some expressions to sum up the Fernandes deal, but that aint one of them. You can come out from behind the sofa now!
Seriously, when Cahill returns in a few weeks time and plays advanced midfield with Yak and AJ up front, we will have Cars or Neville ON THEIR OWN playing holding midfiled with Arteta on the right and take your pick from Pienaar and Osman on the left ( not including that Dutch waster ). so we have cover everywhere with Jagielka and Arteta able to come into the middle and Osman able toswith to the right. If we are weak anywhere, I still think it’s on the flanks and a class left winger / midfielder is still desirable.
Seriously, when Cahill returns in a few weeks time and plays advanced midfield with Yak and AJ up front, we will have Cars or Neville ON THEIR OWN playing holding midfiled with Arteta on the right and take your pick from Pienaar and Osman on the left ( not including that Dutch waster ). so we have cover everywhere with Jagielka and Arteta able to come into the middle and Osman able toswith to the right. If we are weak anywhere, I still think it’s on the flanks and a class left winger / midfielder is still desirable.
I quite agree with Becky Blue regarding McFadden. He is bloody useless and the sooner he goes the better.
Potential ? Don’t make me laugh !
Potential ? Don’t make me laugh !
Sorry Becky got your name back to front !
martin
i honestly don’t know if we’ll get anyone in, are our board capable of signing a player in 2 days? id like to believe so because we have to, its essential that we sign a creative midfielder if we want yakubu to blossom,
i also agree about vogel, he would be a good addition and would solve the defensive midfield spot but i would’nt mind jagielka playing there if we don’t get vogel.
i honestly don’t know if we’ll get anyone in, are our board capable of signing a player in 2 days? id like to believe so because we have to, its essential that we sign a creative midfielder if we want yakubu to blossom,
i also agree about vogel, he would be a good addition and would solve the defensive midfield spot but i would’nt mind jagielka playing there if we don’t get vogel.
For what it’s worth, I’m sceptical about Fernandes being the answer to our midfield creativity issues - sure the lad can play when he has the ball, but his abilities when we didn’t have it were woefully lacking. That’s not to say that as a young lad, he wouldn’t have learned that important aspect of his game.
However, my view is irrelevant as clearly DM and the Board do rate him, otherwise they wouldn’t have tried to sign him.
The most important issue here is how abysmally they failed. Lets look at the timeline that Everton themselves published:
- 10 Aug EFC make sustained efforts with both Benfica and Fernandes
- 23 / 24 Aug Everton work day and night to reach agreement with the 3rd party and the Premier League.
BUT ... what the hell happened in the 13 / 14 days in between??? Clearly the Board dragged their heels and tried to negotiate a different deal than the 3rd party wanted with the result that we opened the door for Valencia. Who can blame Fernandes or the 3rd party for accepting a better offer than the one that we offered - would you choose £6m now or £2m for each of the next 3 years??? Also Valencia acted totally professionally and simply got in there and got the deal done - no messing about.
Clearly the Board are embarrassed about this hence the spin to blacken Fernandes’ name but the real problem is that the Board are amateurs in negotiations and because now everyone knows it, we’re all left embarrassed! And to think 15,230 actually trust the Board!
However, my view is irrelevant as clearly DM and the Board do rate him, otherwise they wouldn’t have tried to sign him.
The most important issue here is how abysmally they failed. Lets look at the timeline that Everton themselves published:
- 10 Aug EFC make sustained efforts with both Benfica and Fernandes
- 23 / 24 Aug Everton work day and night to reach agreement with the 3rd party and the Premier League.
BUT ... what the hell happened in the 13 / 14 days in between??? Clearly the Board dragged their heels and tried to negotiate a different deal than the 3rd party wanted with the result that we opened the door for Valencia. Who can blame Fernandes or the 3rd party for accepting a better offer than the one that we offered - would you choose £6m now or £2m for each of the next 3 years??? Also Valencia acted totally professionally and simply got in there and got the deal done - no messing about.
Clearly the Board are embarrassed about this hence the spin to blacken Fernandes’ name but the real problem is that the Board are amateurs in negotiations and because now everyone knows it, we’re all left embarrassed! And to think 15,230 actually trust the Board!
I wouldn’t mind betting that you will be sitting here in the not too distant future with Robert Earl playing a much bigger role in things with Kenwright staying in the background and Bully gagged to prevent any more gaffes. Money talks...
Right. Manny didn’t sign. END OF.
Will we manage to bring in a top quality central midfielder before the close of Friday? I doubt it because we’ll be paying well over the odds if we even get a sniff of parting a club with what is likely to be a prized asset when they will not get time to sign a replacement themselves.
So, what do we have...well, Pienaar still has the calibre to fit the bill. He still needs to adjust to the Premier League, as any other signing is likely to do anyway.
Personally I liked what i saw of Jagielka in the midfield "holding role" when he came on against Blackburn. He’s good on the ball, can tackle, has the proverbial "good engine" and i believe he can not only pass, but pass forwards! Even without any further signings the sound of an Everton first 11 of Howard, Neville, Yobo, Lescott, Baines, Arteta, Jagielka, Cahill, Osman, Yakubu, AJ pleases me. And with Faddy, Vic, Vaughany and Pienaar in reserve the foundations are certainly there.
What annoyed me about the Blackburn game was not that we are a team who can only play route one up to the front. It was that we CHOSE to. This team that Moyes has created is more than capable of playing football the right way and have done on many an occasion. That’s what annoyed me more. It’d be easier (but not easy) to accept if we were simply a route one side but we’re not.
Will we manage to bring in a top quality central midfielder before the close of Friday? I doubt it because we’ll be paying well over the odds if we even get a sniff of parting a club with what is likely to be a prized asset when they will not get time to sign a replacement themselves.
So, what do we have...well, Pienaar still has the calibre to fit the bill. He still needs to adjust to the Premier League, as any other signing is likely to do anyway.
Personally I liked what i saw of Jagielka in the midfield "holding role" when he came on against Blackburn. He’s good on the ball, can tackle, has the proverbial "good engine" and i believe he can not only pass, but pass forwards! Even without any further signings the sound of an Everton first 11 of Howard, Neville, Yobo, Lescott, Baines, Arteta, Jagielka, Cahill, Osman, Yakubu, AJ pleases me. And with Faddy, Vic, Vaughany and Pienaar in reserve the foundations are certainly there.
What annoyed me about the Blackburn game was not that we are a team who can only play route one up to the front. It was that we CHOSE to. This team that Moyes has created is more than capable of playing football the right way and have done on many an occasion. That’s what annoyed me more. It’d be easier (but not easy) to accept if we were simply a route one side but we’re not.
Becky,Jonn A, I think McFadden more than showed his potential last season and has not done bad at the start of this one.Get off the lads back, he is a far better footballer than some would give him credit for. For your info Becks I am awake from 6.30 am weekdays and around 8.30 am weekends, John A your comment was nothing short of useless. Nighty Night.
Why there is such a need to link thr Fernandes saga to the Kirby vote is beyond me. Fernandes had a choice. He choose Valencia. I don’t really have a problem with that (ok he sat down & broke bread with the Everton family & then turnded his back on us. But at the end of the day HE choose not to come to Everton.
riquelme has phoned moyes and asked if he can play for us this season honest ...
Thousands of words, yet the word ’Kirkby’ hasn’t cropped up once (except now)... just an observation ... don’t shoot the messenger !
Brendan, the points are:
1. if the Board were not such a bunch of amateurs, the deal would have been tied up long before Valencia had woken up. Simply, Fernandes would not have even had an alternative to consider.
2. Having got the vote out of the way, the Board explicitly asked everyone to get behind them.
So do you see the common theme? It is the Board that unwittingly linked the vote to the Fernandes fiasco!
1. if the Board were not such a bunch of amateurs, the deal would have been tied up long before Valencia had woken up. Simply, Fernandes would not have even had an alternative to consider.
2. Having got the vote out of the way, the Board explicitly asked everyone to get behind them.
So do you see the common theme? It is the Board that unwittingly linked the vote to the Fernandes fiasco!
except Brendan just said it now... :-) doh !
Fans want Fernandes
Board needs the Fans
Board ’get’ Fernandes
Fans ’on board’
Just a thought... trying to think like Bully would !
Board needs the Fans
Board ’get’ Fernandes
Fans ’on board’
Just a thought... trying to think like Bully would !
Take it from me,the ’new’money has nothing to do with Robert Earl and everything to do with the bust up over funding Moyes had with Kemwright a fortnight ago.Some journos were briefed on it and then told to ’pull’ the story when the Chairman agreed to make £20M of the Sky money available as soon as it was to hand.
Moyes had no alternative but to string the Fernandes deal out until the funds were physically available and thereby lost out at the very last minute.
Believe me,funds are still going to be tight at Goodison!
Moyes had no alternative but to string the Fernandes deal out until the funds were physically available and thereby lost out at the very last minute.
Believe me,funds are still going to be tight at Goodison!
Pete, If that was a fortnight ago then how come we bid 10m (confirmed by Porto) for Gonzales weeks before ? ... you seem to be in the know... can you enlighten me..
there will be aleast 2 to 3more signings for us before deadline day
It seems to me that the club did everything in its power to bring Fernandes to Goodison but the absurdity of this 3rd party ownership crap held up the proceedings.
The bigger problem to arise out of this mess is again, agents and middle mens involvement in football in general and how there greed and pursuit of personal gain is ruining the game.
Although I’m gutted, for a club that prides itself so much on loyalty do we really want a player that jumps ship so quickly?
The bigger problem to arise out of this mess is again, agents and middle mens involvement in football in general and how there greed and pursuit of personal gain is ruining the game.
Although I’m gutted, for a club that prides itself so much on loyalty do we really want a player that jumps ship so quickly?
a fully fit team howard yobo hibbert lescott neville stubbs arteta cahill pienaar jags baines vaughan anichabe johnson yukubu mcfadden osman carsley wessell
I’m not that bothered to be honest.. just think of all the targets we have missed out over the seasons in that position.. Parker, Emre, Barton and now Fernandes.. and we would have been better without them anyway.. hopefully it’ll be the same with Fernandes. Yeah, there’s one example.. Lucho Gonzalez.. I would have loved him to join.
But can you say you were surprised once you heard of Valencia’s interest? Valencia are an equivalent of a top four club in Spain.. and I know we’re not far off from that in England.. but it was still obvious.
We could easily get a winger and play Arteta centre midfield? Or Appiah as the centre midfielder. Or probably the best option.. PLAY PIENNAR.. he’s awesome!
But can you say you were surprised once you heard of Valencia’s interest? Valencia are an equivalent of a top four club in Spain.. and I know we’re not far off from that in England.. but it was still obvious.
We could easily get a winger and play Arteta centre midfield? Or Appiah as the centre midfielder. Or probably the best option.. PLAY PIENNAR.. he’s awesome!
Bring Back Earl Barrett.
And if we balls that up make it Marc Hottiger.
And if we balls that up make it Marc Hottiger.
is appiah goingto sign then i have heerd we are going for him and Gonzalez do u think it could be a double singing?
right , the board did all the could to sign fernandes did they ? thats just bull crap !
1.we have had 8 months to tie him to the club but didnt even try untill an outcry over lack of transfers had passed , the season had started and ballot papers were sent out regarding the kirkby vote.
2.at end of last season the strongest area of the squad was defence.our weakest was midfeild especially a playmaker.
so what do the club do ? buy 2 defenders for a total of 10.5 million.
so the club had long enough and they also had the money to buy him outright for 12 million (100% ownership) all along.
3. 12 million , too much money ? well the club offered £20 million to try and save the transfer on thur/friday.how can he not be worth the 12 million gamble 8 months ago but 20 million this week ?
4.also the amount of so called effort over the thursday and friday night coupled with the so called improved bid , if all true , means that the club board must have known that valencia were in pole position to buy the player ..... before the vote deadine.
ps watch the money available for fernandes , 20 million , change into 5 -7 million and the rest vanish.
pps . you can pay 11.25 million on as many quality strikers as you want , without a decent passer in midfield they are just gonna turn into beaties ,not score much and fall in value.
1.we have had 8 months to tie him to the club but didnt even try untill an outcry over lack of transfers had passed , the season had started and ballot papers were sent out regarding the kirkby vote.
2.at end of last season the strongest area of the squad was defence.our weakest was midfeild especially a playmaker.
so what do the club do ? buy 2 defenders for a total of 10.5 million.
so the club had long enough and they also had the money to buy him outright for 12 million (100% ownership) all along.
3. 12 million , too much money ? well the club offered £20 million to try and save the transfer on thur/friday.how can he not be worth the 12 million gamble 8 months ago but 20 million this week ?
4.also the amount of so called effort over the thursday and friday night coupled with the so called improved bid , if all true , means that the club board must have known that valencia were in pole position to buy the player ..... before the vote deadine.
ps watch the money available for fernandes , 20 million , change into 5 -7 million and the rest vanish.
pps . you can pay 11.25 million on as many quality strikers as you want , without a decent passer in midfield they are just gonna turn into beaties ,not score much and fall in value.
no doubt manny was quality and abilty wise probubly worth 12m but i was never sure about his everton credentials and whether he was in the ethos of the team.It could of been attitude I dont really know but it beggs the question to why benfica kept loaning a player of his class out?the Dr still orders an attacking midfielder who can shoot from distance
I don’t think that Moyes, Kenwright or anyone else were solely to blame for this, I think the Tevez affair was the real reason we didn’t move quicker. I believe the money has always been there, it’s just he hasn’t spent it. We’re Everton, and if we take on the Premier League over third party ownership - we’ll lose. The outcome of the Tevez deal had a great impact on this whole affair - and just as it turned to roses with Tevez being given the green light, and our blue wheels went into action, Valencia pissed all over us by signing him on a better deal than we’d offered. At the end of the day he went for the money - who knows what he gets paid by his ’third party’ as well as his wages from his current club. If he’d signed for us under the 100% ownership deal that was mooted, he’d have got what we paid him and nothing else.
Mc Fadden HAD potential, he is,at the moment, UNFULFILLED potential and may yet move on to fAILED TO LIVE UP TO potential. He is a player in search of a position, which he mightn’t even find in this team. If he is very lucky and perseverse he may in the twilight of his career turn into some sort of McCallister
Has everybody forgot that it was Fernandes that actually chose to go to Spain? How is that the board’s fault?
The money simply wasnt available earlier on, so why are people saying he should have signed ages ago? Signed with what? We didnt have the finances! For those who actually know what they are talking about through actually doing some research, they will know the SKY money wasnt released until just before the start of the season. All of a sudden, we are being linked with big names as we have the funds to go for big players. Understand?
There is only one person at fault here, and that is Manny. This player was guest of honour at Blackburn, knowing full well he was going to Spain the following day to sign for Valencia. Are we meant to be dissapointed that a person like this hasnt signed for Everton? He will be just another Sean Davis, Emre, Nugent etc. who will fade into oblivion.
Its time people started supporting this team and manager as your constant whinging is like a disease that is spreading. You are doing more harm than good and spawning an era of moaning toffee’s. For the record, lets look at facts. This is the best squad we have had for over TWENTY YEARS. Broke the transfer record two seasons on the bounce. What the fuck is there to moan about?
The money simply wasnt available earlier on, so why are people saying he should have signed ages ago? Signed with what? We didnt have the finances! For those who actually know what they are talking about through actually doing some research, they will know the SKY money wasnt released until just before the start of the season. All of a sudden, we are being linked with big names as we have the funds to go for big players. Understand?
There is only one person at fault here, and that is Manny. This player was guest of honour at Blackburn, knowing full well he was going to Spain the following day to sign for Valencia. Are we meant to be dissapointed that a person like this hasnt signed for Everton? He will be just another Sean Davis, Emre, Nugent etc. who will fade into oblivion.
Its time people started supporting this team and manager as your constant whinging is like a disease that is spreading. You are doing more harm than good and spawning an era of moaning toffee’s. For the record, lets look at facts. This is the best squad we have had for over TWENTY YEARS. Broke the transfer record two seasons on the bounce. What the fuck is there to moan about?
Well said Dan.
I admit I am very dissapointed, I would have loved to have seen Manny back this season. I back Moyes not to pay £12m for "potential" and I also back him for making sure all the "3rd party" issues were resolved beforehand - West Ham anyone! I also feel that Manny himself put on a great show at Everton to make sure he was signed by someone. No one came in for him, then when we do all the hard work, Valencia waltz in, offer him a bag full of cash and that is that. I think he would have been a great signing, but we now have the cash to secure 2 high quality "proven" players to strengthen the squad.
I say feck to Fernandes and his dodgy greasy slimy bastard agents.
The club did the right thing, went through the right channels to get everything sorted and then his dodgy agents are still hawking him around to every club in Europe.
Rather than wait for the move to Everton, Fernandes decided that he was just gonna go back on his word and feck off to Valencia. This only 48 hours after telling news reporters and fans that he was looking forward to playing for Everton and he was really happy.
If a player doesn’t want to play for the club then tell him where to go, we don’t need players like that. Money-grabbing, third party owned plonker.
The club did the right thing, went through the right channels to get everything sorted and then his dodgy agents are still hawking him around to every club in Europe.
Rather than wait for the move to Everton, Fernandes decided that he was just gonna go back on his word and feck off to Valencia. This only 48 hours after telling news reporters and fans that he was looking forward to playing for Everton and he was really happy.
If a player doesn’t want to play for the club then tell him where to go, we don’t need players like that. Money-grabbing, third party owned plonker.
My god, there is so much moaning going on about the club. If you hate it that much then stop supporting them!! So what, they missed out on an overpriced player who obviously is in it for the money. We still have great quality players, much better than a few seasonas ago!
Come on Blues!
Come on Blues!
Derek Thomas, so when is potential not potential, when its unfulfilled ?
Sounds like the lad still has potential to me.
Sounds like the lad still has potential to me.
Manny will become a superstar in the near future and it is a great shame he didn’t sign for us.
I do think the club acted a little late on his prospective signing but, if he REALLY wanted to join EFC he would have turned down Valencia. I think he is just another footballer after the most amount of money possible.
Anyway time to move on and welcome The Yak to the ranks and wish him well in his new EFC career.
I do think the club acted a little late on his prospective signing but, if he REALLY wanted to join EFC he would have turned down Valencia. I think he is just another footballer after the most amount of money possible.
Anyway time to move on and welcome The Yak to the ranks and wish him well in his new EFC career.
Manny had potential, he did well for us when he was here, but lets get this into proportion hes not a "Roony or Ronaldo". If he was that good all the top sides in Europe would of been after him, and Valencia wouldnt of left it so late to buy him.
Valencia baught him as they lost out on most of their 1st choice targets this season and got tonked at home by our equivalent of Wigan, panic buy, panic money, I dont think Manny had much choice.
Im sad he is not here but I think we should only have players who want to play and are not being told what to do by their agents.
Lets also not forget that we have Tiny Tim who will be back in 6 weeks to add to Arteta, Pinnar, and Osman who all can be creative.
We need a creative midfielder who can play in the centre or left, be interesting to see who we go for.
Valencia baught him as they lost out on most of their 1st choice targets this season and got tonked at home by our equivalent of Wigan, panic buy, panic money, I dont think Manny had much choice.
Im sad he is not here but I think we should only have players who want to play and are not being told what to do by their agents.
Lets also not forget that we have Tiny Tim who will be back in 6 weeks to add to Arteta, Pinnar, and Osman who all can be creative.
We need a creative midfielder who can play in the centre or left, be interesting to see who we go for.
Fernandes
What question no one has asked here is why do Benfica seem so happy to sell him if he is going to such a superstar
Any answers?
What question no one has asked here is why do Benfica seem so happy to sell him if he is going to such a superstar
Any answers?
Dont think they had a choice, the investers who own 50% wanted him to generate money from him, he was shipped out to the UK as our leauge is cash rich. Benfeca had good players in Mannys position and were happy to get as much as they could from their 50%.
Do you know what I think’s funny?How some people say we shouldn’t blame the board for the Fernandes transfer,because we don’t know the true facts.Then in the same breathe they are saying Fernandes fucked off for more money and is a greedy bastard.I would like to ask these people,how do you know this was the case?We don’t know why he chose to go to Spain.Because,we don’t know the true facts.
Sorry Nick, but to have a 3rd party transfer completed in 2 weeks show your complete ignorance in this. United took almost 6-8 weeks, Fat git from across the park complained it took longer to get Mascherano.
Cop on and realise that Spain has no 3rd party rules so they could finalise it immediately.
Cop on and realise that Spain has no 3rd party rules so they could finalise it immediately.
I would like to know where the 25m arrived from? Is it because we are moving to Kirby and we are spending the money we saved for a new stadium on players.If so bring on Kirby... Tony if Manny has the potential to become a superstar in the near future why did megabucks Portmouth bomb him off, and why did none of the major clubs in Europe have any interest in him? Personally i never ever saw anything special about him, he was poor in the European Championship and i think it would have been a very expensive waste of money (AVM).
You could buy Appiah,Nolan and Diop for that kind of money.
You could buy Appiah,Nolan and Diop for that kind of money.
forget a boy with potential, Fernandes ( with rooney) was the besat yuoung player to set foot on goodison park. Have you seen what he did to 4 Arsenal players and to man united that goal was magic. He could turn defence into attack in a blink or an eye and had a real spirit about him.
I have never understood the way we go about signing players. the medical process seems to take 1-2 weeks other clubs kidentify their target and snap them up in 2-3 days.
Loyalty is bollocks in this day and age its quality that counts.
The same thing happened with momo sisoko and the shight. He was having a medical at us and before we knew it he had signed for the shight (apparantly benitez picked him up from bellfield). The only time this dilly dallying happened that actaullly worked out qwuite well for us was when sean davis failed his medical. he was crap anyway !
lastly i have to express my relief at the signing of YAK. he will couple really well with AJ and link well with Mikky,Tim etc.
Heres to Appiah ! Great player lets go get him.
I have never understood the way we go about signing players. the medical process seems to take 1-2 weeks other clubs kidentify their target and snap them up in 2-3 days.
Loyalty is bollocks in this day and age its quality that counts.
The same thing happened with momo sisoko and the shight. He was having a medical at us and before we knew it he had signed for the shight (apparantly benitez picked him up from bellfield). The only time this dilly dallying happened that actaullly worked out qwuite well for us was when sean davis failed his medical. he was crap anyway !
lastly i have to express my relief at the signing of YAK. he will couple really well with AJ and link well with Mikky,Tim etc.
Heres to Appiah ! Great player lets go get him.
Fernandes was he such a big loss, classy but I thought he seemed to be missing in most games last season! Harry Redknapp let him go because of the double ownership & he knows best. As a loan player I feel we needed longer before we splashed the cash 12.25 million is he really worth that? Also if he had of signed 7 became a great player the first bid & he would have been off like a shot he is a mercenary player & I hope he flops. EFC did everything above board & he trained, dined with our chairman made promises & flew to Spain the next day! Good riddence we do not want players with attitudes like that at EFC!
Forget Fernandes. With him it was all about Potential and he chose another club over us.
I actually think a box to box player like Appiah is more like what we need. When Cahill returns (I assume) we will still play a 4 man midfield. Someone like Appiah who can boss a game would allow players like Arteta and Cahill to get forward and pose more of a goal threat.
Carsely and Neville are both good ’spoilers’ but they don’t get up and down to be classed as a box to box player.
We should spend £6-8M on Appiah and put the other £4-5M we saved on Fernandes but towards a class wide player. We would have to spend more then £4-5M to get a class wide player. But at least we could maybe do one of our usual buy-now pay-later efforts.
I actually think a box to box player like Appiah is more like what we need. When Cahill returns (I assume) we will still play a 4 man midfield. Someone like Appiah who can boss a game would allow players like Arteta and Cahill to get forward and pose more of a goal threat.
Carsely and Neville are both good ’spoilers’ but they don’t get up and down to be classed as a box to box player.
We should spend £6-8M on Appiah and put the other £4-5M we saved on Fernandes but towards a class wide player. We would have to spend more then £4-5M to get a class wide player. But at least we could maybe do one of our usual buy-now pay-later efforts.
We’ve finally got a team to be proud of after waiting 20years we’ve got real options and some money left in the kitty to spend when the right player comes available.
Bring it on !!!
Bring it on !!!
Money Manny Money, dont blame the board, dont blame moyes, better money, easier game (physical). and nice villa on the Med. I know which one i would you choose. His loss our gain.
All these people who blame the board and praise the Spanish club for the way they dealt with the transfer so quicly are showing a shocking lack of knowledge.
The Spanish FA allow joint ownership, the English FA do not. Everton had to find a way to avoid a £5m fine or a point deduction (like West Ham should have got), which accounts for the long delay.
To be honest, if Fernandes can attend on Saturday, with all the emtion of that game and then could turn his back on the club, he does not deserve to wear the shirt and we are well rid.
The Spanish FA allow joint ownership, the English FA do not. Everton had to find a way to avoid a £5m fine or a point deduction (like West Ham should have got), which accounts for the long delay.
To be honest, if Fernandes can attend on Saturday, with all the emtion of that game and then could turn his back on the club, he does not deserve to wear the shirt and we are well rid.
I think re the Manny mess we are not seeing the one salient point that (A) stopped us from signing him as early as last year and (B) eventually scuppered the expected deal. He is still partly owned by a third party. The third party leveredged us out of the deal. The reason why this rule exsists is exactly why we could not sign him, it is currupt.
Think McFadden could be worth about ten million now and rising... a couple more goals like he has scored for Scogtland for Everton and he could become a sublime player in the Daglish mould, if the crowd get behind him. That chip that hit the post tells me he has real vision and talent.
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1 Posted 29/08/2007 at 21:27:48
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Chances are it was Moyes who decided not to pursue Fernandes months ago, instead he attempted to lure a more established player (Gonzalez) to the club.
Only after it became clear that Gonzalez wasn’t interested did Moyes settle on Fernandes.
Moyes was too ambitious, he tried to sign a world class player (Gonzalez) but then when that didn’t happen he eventually settled for a player with potential (Fernandes) but unfortunately left it too late and allowed another club to steal him.
You can argue that Moyes should have settled for Fernandes earlier but you can’t blame Moyes for shooting for the stars.