Come on, Simon... If you are playing FM, let's be naming all seven subs please. You know the rules!

Personally I cannot say how happy I am to see the back of one Andrew Johnson. He had become totally and utterly useless to us. How many times did the camera zoom in on him after yet another pointless cormner flag foray, and he would be happily jogging back, thumbs up get again in appreciation of yet another lofted mortar shot that he chased down like a faithful mutt. I can't really wish him well playing ofr one of our direct competitors... He did show some promise in those first few games, but lost it far too easily, to the point where it made me wonder if he ever really had it in the first place.

Onward and Upward, Evertonians!

Any doubters about Jao Moutihno - have a look on YouTube - you wont be dissapointed!

I hope the management have a replacement for AJ lined because our squad looks really thin and if the Yak got injured we would be in a bit of trouble.

Overall, I think the money we are reportedly getting is good business. I liked AJ but he didnt possess the strength or control to play upfront on his own. I will say that in his defence, some of the service he did received at times was poor ie the balls over the top into the corner flags and the high balls to his head when playing up on his own and being marked by two giant centre halves!

Hopefully, the money can be invested wisely and spent on the sort of quality to help us further capitalise on the progress of the last two seasons. Fingers crossed!

Has anyone noticed Moutinho’s wikipedia listing? Pay special attention to the last sentence...don’t believe everything you read!



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_Moutinho

£10-12 million for AJ is fantastic buisness in my opinion, especially for the reasons you give, Simon. I am not convinced DM ever wanted to sign him in the first place nor do I believe he has treated him shabbily, who knows what went on but Fulham is hardly the place a player with any ambition would go, which may give an insight into the player we might not have seen.

Dave, Sky Sports now say we have taken £8m now rising to £11M on appearences and success ? I don't think that's good buisiness, mate, I think that's desperation.

See the ££££££ signs and accept. Total bollox... but that's just typical of our club, being turned over by Fulham is a disgrace.

Not really a betting man myself. Could someone tell me where and how I can place a bet that Fulham (Johnson) wins more than eight penalties this season? What sort of odds should I be looking for?

Who knows what has happened behind the scenes? It is sad though to see AJ leave under acrimonious circumstances. But almost a 50% profit on a player who is more endeavour than craft does represent good value.

Will Moyesy even reinvest in his forward line when he has 5 strikers with bags of potential (Vaughan, Anichebe, Jutkiweicz, Baxter and Agard) vying for a place alongside the Yak? It would be a very brave move not to go for another experienced striker but any newcomer would find themselves on the bench more often than not and would possibly stand in the way of the development of our crop of homegrown striking talent.

As another poster put it: signing the Yak for £11 million (given that Robbie Keane is worth £20 million) and getting rid of AJ for £12 million, does represent shrewd transfer dealing.

Simon, yes I had noticed the Beckham similarities, especially when they wear a hat. Nice one. Good luck to him, and Brian. will you find out the odds on him winning a pen at Goodison?

Glad to see the back of him to be honest. I've never seen a striker run to the corner so many times. He had a good start to his career with us ? I'll never forget them 2 derby goals ? but after that pretty average. 22 goals in 74 games, a good strike rate? The Yak is only 1 behind him & he never had a full season. Thanks for the memories though & good luck.

I am chuffed to get that kind of money for him. I expect Moyes to re-invest the bulk of that cash in midfield and bring in an old cheap experienced striker as cover.
Andy is shit anyway...always be cautious of players who are only any good for 2-3 years of their 15 year career...so thanks to Fulham for buying more of our cast-offs.
On the Sky point..I hate them because the feeling is Mutual. In the Moutinho article they failed to mention that he was quoted as wanting to come to Everton. They left that bit out to make us look small time and now they are knocking a few million off AJ’s price to make it look like bad business.

People slagged Beattie off... now Johnson, I think Moyes's tatics should be to blame. Johnson with a good run in the Fulham side and the team playing to his strenghts will score goals this coming season, just has Beattie has at SUFC.

I think it's very good business! AJ's strike rate isn't bad but the yak got as many in one season as AJ did in two! The one out-and-out striker works well for us and other people employ it like Chelsea and Utd so it can't be bad!

Steve Ely, don't believe Sky Sports on the figure; we may not agree with the Board at times but they are definetly money men and will get the most they can. You say £8M but on Five Live they said near £13M so let's just wait till tomorow!

At this rate, we are going to be starting the season with Yakubu as the only fit able-bodied forward at the club. It's a complete disgrace that we have sold AJ for £8M not £12M as was noted... Moyes said at the end of last season that we hoped to close the gap on the top four next year, so far all I can see is the gap widening more and more each day. Liverpool have a strike force of Torres and Keane whilst we have Yak on his own who has any experience of scoring regular goals in the Premier League...

McFadden, Stubbs, Gravesn, Gardner, Carsley, Johnson, Fernandes all leave the club and we don't replace them. How on earth is this squad going to cope with the amount of games we may play again next season? I am very very dissapointed and we now need to really do something big in the transfer market to prevent even more unrest amonst supporters. Incidentally I notice Moyes still hasn't signed his contract yet??

Over the last week AJ?s price has been £10-12 million from a variety of sources, suddenly one report from Sky (who are well known for getting things wrong) and everyone believes it and slags club off ? get real.

Differing reports on the AJ fee.

The generally accepted fee being £10-12m. Sky says it?s £8m rising to £11m, BBC says its nearer £13m.

Funny how some people pick the lower one as fact and the higher one as fiction. It?s almost like some of us can?t wait to have the usual tedious rant isn?t it ?

How about waiting and seeing what the official line is before going off on one.

To assess Johnson?s true worth look at the clubs that came in for him: Sunderland, Wigan and the graveyard that is Fulham. Say no more.

I wish him nothing but good luck in the future. Shame he's gone to Fulham really because the bastards always beat us in London. Will be interesting to see how he celebrates when he inevitably puts one past us at Craven Cottage.

In this strange time of the year (I follow the Tour de France myself, much more like real sport than the rumour mill) odd things happen - or don’t happen.

Andrew Johnson - as loyal servant to Everton Football Club as any contracted player in our proud history - is probably by now a Fulham player. And good luck to him (except, of course, against us). From what I know, he has said that he would move, but only to a London club. Seems like he can live with that, which hardly adds up to shabby treatment.

Now what happens to the incoming £10m or so? Look to Iberia - Lisbon and Valencia. Something is going to happen, and our fine club is going to see the best football we have seen since the mid-80s on a regular basis.

Or at least, that is what I think DM is thinking.

Dah dah dah dah... Andrew Johnson!! I for one will be sad when I hear the Fulham fans singing that when he scores against us, probably to beat us again at The CCottage!!! Darren Bent would be an ideal replacment, I see he scored another 4 goals tonight whivh takes his scoring to 7 in the last 3 friendlies that I have seen. Maybe Ebanks-Blake or Fraiser Campbell would be good additions?? We need something soon!!!!! Come on Moyesy make us proud!

Let?s be realistic - of McFadden, Stubbs, Gravesen, Gardner, Carsley, Johnson and Fernandes only Carsley and Fernandes were in a fit first team at the end of last season. Many fans preferred a fully fit Vaughan to AJ, and Faddy certainly had his critics.

I think we should trust Moyes on this one and I don?t believe he?s suddenly turned on AJ and he didn?t turn on Beattie. Vic & Vaughan when played instead of Beatts scored goals and looked a threat when Beatts didn?t so you can?t really blame the service. As for AJ he?s struggled when Yak has scored goals. Even Lescott has looked more lethal in front of goal.

I think a decent bid came in for AJ, who has been on the fringes since we signed the Yak. It?s only because AJ then spat his dummy out that Moyes froze him out because of his attitude. It?s PROGRESS. And EFC are moving forward and slowly but surely improving in all areas.

On the OS it says Vaughan?s fit so not all doom! Also where does it say that we sold AJ for £8 mil? ? on Sky Sports website it says £12M.

AJ gave nothing but 100% and people have such short memories regarding how incredible he was for us in his first season. 2 goals in the best Derby in years, last minute winner against Arsenal and he would probably have set up an extra 5 goals last season if referees didn?t believe all the hype about his ?diving? from clueless managers and media. He had a decent season last season but was a victim of a formation that brought out the best in Osman, Pienaar and Carsley especially and the best football we?ve played in years. In a 4-4-2, AJ may have had a bigger impact but just wasn?t to be. I agree it is excellent business getting £12M if that is the case, though you can be sure it?s £10M max with add ons, but personally I?ll miss celebrating an AJ goal at places like West Ham away and Sunderland away last season. Good Luck AJ, you deserve nothing but respect and praise from every Evertonian.

I am guessing with the funds we have to spend on new recruitments with Sky money coming in, plus the sale of Faddy & AJ plus wages from Wessels and Tommy G, I hope/have a feeling we will have the following by kick off vs Blackburn:

Moutinho = £17-19m
D Bent = £8-11m
Manny = Loan or - £6-8m
Topal =£6-8m
Keeper ??? probably on loan

At a maximum this will be about £46-47m which I think should come under the Sky plus the outgoing fees.

AJ was piss poor after his first 4 months so he won?t be missed. If we are playing 4411 then Cahill would be up front with the Yak anyway. If it is 442 there is a fair chance it would have been Vaughan getting a run.
AJ?s confidence had gone, his first touch was shocking and his goals return after his great start was, for an £8.6m record signing, pretty poor.
Great business on the back of great business for Beattie and McFadden. I just wish we could spend some of the money now. Lets break the bank for AA.

£12m for AJ would have been good business but £8m plus add-ons is not. What are these add-ons? Its like the Rooney deal all over again £30m turning out to be £23m. This is not good news. AJ did, as many have said give 100% but he did not score enough goals to justify a starting place. This is not all down to AJ either. Everton have not played to his strengths (similarly we didn't with Beattie either). AJ would have scored more had he had someone to play the cleaver, defence splitting passes (someone like Moutinho we are told). Sorry to see him go but wish him the best of luck.

@Terry Smith. £46-47m - are you mad? The Sky money for this year is long gone. That probaly helped pay for the Yak.

I can't see us getting Moutinho and Darren Bent is no better than AJ but is currently being paid about twice as much as AJ. Manny for £6m would be good but I know very little about Topal.

I too will be very sad to see AJ leave the club.
I suspect the only reason he was often seen chasing the ball towards the corner flag was because muppets like Jagielka kept on kicking it there!

None of this makes any sense; if Johnson has gone for £8 millon as some of the later reports say then this is madness.

Vaughan is still maturing and by far from the finished article, and if the lazy version of Yakubu turns up for the first half of the season, I think this could turn out to be a big mistake.

Simon, I dont think Arshavin would be a better bet than Moutinho.

Both are talented players, but Arshavin is 27 so after his 4 or 5 year contract is up, he wouldn?t be worth much. Moutinho is only 21 and is still improving so there could be serious profit to be made if the club decide to sell him after 3 or 4 years as he will be in his prime.

Arshavin is probably destined to go somewhere that will pay his exhorbitant salary in any case.

The OS said "8 figure fee" and Skysports are so blatantly dumb to think that means the fee starts with 8. That?s all.

I actually can?t believe some of you people slagging AJ off.

You have pathetically short memories and for his attitude, unselfish play, goals against the Shite, playing through the pain barrier with that ankle injury, and being so proud to play for our Club ? you should be grateful and show a bit of respect. He also scored a good few goals, especially away from Goodison where he was a very good counter-attacking striker.

Compared to the lazy Ginolas, fat Gazzas, overweight Beatties, lunatic Fergusons of yesteryear he was streets ahead.

Good luck AJ, except when you play us of course, but I have a feeling you?ll be doing a Brian McBride against us in the future!

Personally I believe Johnson was screwed by the refs who took to heart what rival managers said about Johnson diving all the time. Add the shitty service he was getting from midfield to that and a lack of playing time, his goal tally was bound to go down. Yes the Yak appears to be a better player, but I do hate to force players out like Johnson who to me is an asset to the club and I believe will have a better season barring injury ahead of him. Furthermore there will be a period in the up-coming season where we will wish he was still wearing an Everton jersey! Due to the paper-thin squad we currently have. Anyway, lets hope Moyes can pull a rabbit or two out of the hat!! (or even a great player or two!!)

Sad to see him go; never once did he give less than 100%. I hope Moyes gets a decent replacement ? not Bent, he's over-rated and with Keane gone I can't see Spurs selling him any way. I wish AJ all the best for the future and I am certain he will score against us although I would rather he didn?t.

£12 million for AJ... is that the biting off of hands I can hear???

I was never one of the "AJ out" camp and I'm certainly not going to slag him off now he has seemingly gone. I thought injuries aside he was a good servant to the club and I wish him well.

However I also think that an eight figure sum for a player who has failed to progress in the 2 years since he joined (and some would say has gone backwards), represents great business for the club. Moutinho would be a terrific use of the money if we could pull off his transfer.

All you mugs who say Johnson is no good have short memories. He was loyal to the club and worked hard. He often laboured in front of a toilet midfield with only one creative player - Arteta. We will miss him - especially when lazy bollocks Yakubu goes missing again. I understand we sold AJ for a lot less than the 12 million cash reported but have "add ons" in the fee. As usual these will take years to materialise.

Good business my arse - I am getting increasingly irritated by Moyes - he buys a decent player and then destroys him with his crap tactics. The midfield is the problem and always has been, midgets and lightweights who get steamrollered by the Sky 4. Moutinho won?t score any goals if he dosen?t get the service. The same people saying Johnson is shit now will be saying the same in six months about Moutinho.....

AJ will be sorely missed :( Just wasn?t to be.

Not a fan of him as a player but you can?t doubt his attitude, commitment and workrate. He?s gave his all, tried his best and sadly that wasn?t good enough. Good luck to him and I hope he does well at Fulham.

No one can doubt it?s good buisness though. There?s no point in keeping a squad player who we can get £12 million for, it would be quite stupid actually. We have Yakubu and Cahill who are better options, Vaughan has a lot of potential and Victor, despite not being the best, has the ability to chip in with 5-7 goals a season. One more and we?d have 5 strikers really.

Personally I think we will get a replacement in, Moyes isn?t stupid, he knows we can?t go into the season with just Yakubu and I?m positive he?ll get the man he needs. It doesn?t even have to be a world beater, just someone who can come in and do a job when others are injured.

I don?t think it was Moyes?s tactics at all to be honest. AJ failed to make the grade because technically he wasn?t up to it and he was one-dimensional. Defenders had sussed his game out and he never varied his game to keep them thinking. He?s a marked man, you stand off him and limit his space and he?s useless. All workrate and aimless running really.

AJ wasn?t excellent in his first season and I think people need to realise that. He scored 12 goals which for 9 million isn?t brilliant, his all round game limited us at times and his consistency was very hit and miss. Young Vaughan came in towards the end of the season and looked the more accomplished striker.

With our history of what happens to strikers under Moyes?s Everton, I wonder why any striker would want to sign for us now. 2 seasons max. We will be playing 1 up front under Moyes and Yak will be shown the door - when the midfield is left blameless. Let?s go for Torres or Luca Toni, who are the only strikers that can play 1 up front.

£12M for AJ is good business only if £12M go back into the pot to buying players. And how come Fulham can cough up £12M? Should we migrate to London then?

For the guys who don't know that much about Topol, he had a hit in the sixties with "If I where a Rich Man," this now has been remade by the pairing of BK and Bully Beef.
Storm clouds are heading this way????

I championed AJ's cause when he joined us and I still think he should have stayed. He's gone. That's showbiz. However - for all those crowing 'good business', I'd be interested to know what sell-on percentage Simon Jordan got in the small print. If it's around 7.5-10% over our buying price, we've just about broken even. He may come over as a 'peroxide ponce' at times but SJ has thrown his (not borrowed) money at the Palace and he's prepared to take on the footballing powers when he thinks they're wrong. OK, he's looking to get out (so he says) but when it comes to looking after his own, - including ground issues - BK could learn a few lessons from SJ, who not only wears his heart on his sleeve but knows where his business brain's located too.

Victor Anichebe scored ONE premier league goal last season. I believe that it was in our first game of the season against Wigan Athletic.
Hardly prolific!

Simon, where do you get your information from that Moyes treated AJ shabbily ? You are as guilty as the gutter press raking up stories that have no foundation.

Part of me is sad to see AJ go but if the fee widely reported is correct I would have sold him to. I think part of his unhappiness is the formation we played and asking him to run the channels chasing lost causes. He is much more suited to 4 4 2 football and dont be suprised to see him score 20 goals this season alongside Zamora.

Pretty much agree with what you say, Andrew Fletcher. AJ has been a terrific trier and nice guy who we’ve warmed to. One thing tho, yeah, he may score 20 goals for them, just - as another bloke points out - as Beattie has done (apparently) for SUFC. But so what? SU is in the Championship and the quoted odds are that Fulham will be joining them there in 2009/10. True, our system together with the fact that we have gumbies like flying Phil who can’t pass straight, means whoever we have at ’1’ has the job of ’chasing lost causes’ like - to use someone else’s words - ’a faithful mutt’. But some faithful mutts - the Yak, for instance - regularly convert lost causes and other’s (AJ, Jimmy Mac, Bent) can’t. Last season AJ missed some real sitters. Part of Moyes’s brilliance IMO is his decisiveness and cunning in shipping sow’s ears off for silk purse prices.

The money we will get from AJ this summer will only go halfway towards pursuing Moutinho and we are not in a million years going to be able to afford him.
Sporting made it clear its 19 million or nothing and the buy out claus only exists until June 15 each year.. Personally as much as I woul dlove him here I dont see any realistic hope of signing him..
My biggest concern now is who the hell are we going to replace AJ with?. We are going to need tobuy someone with the pace Johnson had because we are going to be back to looking a very very pedestrian team once more especially away from home , as someone pointed out Johnson did very well on the road for us last season as the outlet..
Yakubu is better goalscorer but he doesnt have the same pace as AJ, he is no slouch but he doesnt seem to use his pace to the same affect as in chasing down defenders, he is what we know he is, a penalty box striker which is why he will always be our top scorer whilst he is here.
Im sorry to burst peoples bubble but the dury is still out on Vaughan until he has played a full season with the first team.. Its ok him making a good impact from the bench or the five or six games he starts now and then but he will need to show his fitness this season as like Van Der Meyder there is only so many times you can read "injury setback" next to their names.. Our other striker Anichebe is not really good enough for a regular starting birth.. The thing will Victor is he hasnt really pushed on from when he became a good late substitute and I worry that he can spend too much time giving up on lost causes..
Basically I dont care what people say, I sat down and wathced the season review DVD at the weekend and Everton F.C will miss Johnson, it will miss Carsley and it will miss Fernandes( who started really improving in the latter games). Granted the others that left were never regulars but they were still called up to play in Europe and we had a smallish squad last season, no its even smaller.. I dont know who we are going to sign, if anyone but we sure do need to start making things happen fast. its ok playing warm up friednlies against average to poor opposition but when the real deal starts thats a different story totally.

I feel for AJ but we can't afford to carry dead wood these days. That's one thing that Moyes does sort out when needed. I like AJ, great attitude, awesome work rate but all that is totally pointless unless there is an end product.

As it has already been stated, he has not been the same since the first 6 months of his first season, then it's been all down hill. You only have to compare him to The Yak to see what being a rutheless finisher is all about. One on one against a keeper, I would back Yakubu 100 times out of a 100. I wouldn't be able to call it with AJ.

Look at last season with the exception of the Brann goal; Most of his goals twatted him in the face without him knowing (Newcastle, Fiorentina) or he?s took a pot shot and it's come off luckily, even the Sunderland goal (Home) was over ran but he got lucky last minute and the away goal hit his elbow when he ducked!

With the Yak, he finishes, AJ doesn't know how too. I am sorry to see him go because I like him as a person but I won't miss him being included on our team sheets. We need another natural finisher like Yak but with AJ?s pace and I?ll be happy as Larry. Darren Bent is the obvious choice but with what's happening at Spurs, that looks a no go-er!

Moutinho is a must at £16M(ish), Manny (£7M) which is practically all of the McFadden and AJ money anyway plus £5M. I am assuming we already had at least £20M without the sale of anyone so Topal would be nice. I?d even have a look at Scharner as a squad player or for the Carsley role.

Scharner anyone????????

COYFB!!!!!

AJ had to go for his own sanity. Being asked to chase long hoofballs to the corner flags must have done his head in. At the end of the day, Moyes must take a lot of blame for the failings of AJ. The lad had pace to burn, and what do we do? We twat balls up, and ask him to run like a chicken with no head. Surely for a player with pace, you put balls down the middle (along the floor ) so he can use that pace. Also,Beattie and AJ where quality strikers before they came to us, and now look at them, Sheff utd and Fulham. But, there will be plenty on here to defend Moyes.

Can I just say there is a difference between ’an 8 figure sum’ and £8m.

I think some people are getting confused about the fee. SKY quoted ’an 8 figure sum’ not £8m - as per the official website.

Unless we out of nowhere sign at least 5 really good players before the start of the season, we really are going to struggle next season, bottom half probably. Nowhere near 5th. Big mistake selling AJ. Should've been building a really strong squad after a really good season; instead all we?ve done is give a new 4-year deal to a mediocre player, sold a good player and signed no-one!! Brilliant stuff Everton!

12 million squid?? Bite their hand off Blue Bill! He?s quick but he?s a scuffer - his first goal vs Watford was off his shin and the only really good finishes in two years were at Spurs and that late winner against the Arse... chasers don't win games - finishers do.

Moutinho, a holding midfielder (Topol? Bradley?) and another striker ... and we?ll be fine!

In Moyes we trust??

I really do hope we pull off the signing of Moutinho, the kids class and just the kind of high profile signing that could really kick start us as a club on the European stage.

Topal would be another class addition and would really cement our midfield, and give us options. The Moutihno deal is looking more & more likely now the player has said he’d like to leave Sporting - I just hope we can get the cash and a bid in quickly enough.

Darren Bent would also be a great player for us, and a fine foil for the Yak. Couple those players with Cahill being fit, Vaughany coming back from injury and even the possibility of VdM making some first team appearances, and we have a decent team at least - plus some of the younger players could/should start to make an impact this year.

Ever the optimist me.....

You lot make me laff

"He was a trier"
"He ran his little heart out"
"He was a nice guy"

HE IS A SHIT STRIKER! IT'S NOT GOOD BEING A NICE GUY WHEN ONE-ON-ONE WITH THE KEEPER YOU HIT It STRAIGHT AT HIM!!! IT'S NO GOOD BEING A TRIER WHEN YOU HAVE THE FIRST TOUCH OF A RAPIST.

How can you all hang on to a purple patch years ago and that derby match?

Onward forward and goodbye to all the deadwood.

Fulham will defo stay up. In fact I reckon they?ll have a decent enough season. Zamora is generally pretty shit but he?s a confidence player and if he?s gonna be paired up with AJ I can see them getting 30+ goals between them. Don?t forget with Bullard and Gerra and dare I say it Davies (who in contrast has done very well for them) they have a lot more chance of staying up and finishing mid table.

I'm not one for slagging off players with any association with the club, but I was never impressed with AJ bar the first two months. 20 odd goals in 70 odd appearances: just not good enough Im afraid. Always felt he had problems connecting with foot and ball myself. No power in the final shot.

By the way, he hasn't actually signed for them yet!!!

Knowing how good BK’s business acumen is, we’ll get £2 million for AJ, and £10 million in add ons, when Fulham win the Premier League, Champions League and World Club Championship by 2010.

Have a read of this what was on the echo website, i know he’s a former redshite but i do agree with what Mark Lawrence says in this piece!.
The sale of Andrew Johnson is one of those transfers that should work out best for all concerned. For Everton, for Fulham and for the player himself. Johnson has previously rubbished rumours of him leaving Goodison Park, while David Moyes and Bill Kenwright have both, even during this current transfer window, vehemently denied they want to sell him. But when you look at the facts selling him makes perfect sense - especially at a profit on what they paid Crystal Palace for him two years ago. The main issue for me is that Johnson is simply not going to get any better. At 27-years-old he has done all the improving he can. If he stays, he’s not suddenly going to get 20 goals next season. He did that when he first came into the top flight with Palace but it was very different then. He was an unknown quantity and defenders weren’t used to his pace and movement. And about half of his strikes were penalties because he had one of those one-off campaigns when every time he went down, referees pointed to the spot. And back then, he tended to score all of them because his confidence was soaring higher than one of his penalties against Metalist Kharkiv- but confidence is something he was sorely lacking last season. Apart from in his first seven games for Everton, when he scored six goals, he hasn’t looked like that same player since. And in reality, Johnson is now more of a 10, 11, 12 goals a season player. Which is useful when your team is trying to maintain a challenge to get into Europe. But let’s face it, that kind of tally is absolutely essential to a side like Fulham whose main priority this year will again be retaining their Premier League status. Basically, he will feel more wanted there - and that was another problem Johnson had at Everton. As the club record signing he was the main man, the hero, the one leading the line. But he had all those roles stripped from him last season with the capture of Yakubu and that left Johnson in the kind of environment he can’t really thrive in. He wasn’t the focal point. But if Roy Hodgson is telling him that if he goes to Craven Cottage he will be, then Johnson will be there like a shot. Plus, he’s back in London and anyone with a young family will tell you that being settled somewhere familiar is vital for getting your game on the right track. So Johnson and Everton can be pleased with this bit of business and both should be able to move on. The concern Everton fans might have on that score is that they should be getting players in before they start offloading. But put things into perspective for a second. David Moyes is not someone you can ever accuse of over-spending. He likes to bide his time and make the right deal at the right price. I reckon he’s done that with Johnson - and he’ll no doubt do it again when he wants to bring new players in as well.

I like paragraphs

"Always felt he had problems connecting with foot and ball myself. No power in the final shot."

In fairness to AJ, he had that problem with a bone is his foot for the second half of his first season, where it was painful for him to kick a ball.

Secondly, quick, pacey strikers are best supplied with quick passes through the middle, as soon as you win the ball, while the defence isn’t quite organised. Did you see that happen once in the last two years?

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a good deal for Everton. AJ proved to me he’s not mentally a top striker when he didn’t take a penalty against Fiorentina. It’s just that Everton do not play to Johnson’s strengths at all - our creative players are out wide, so he never got the supply straight through the middle. And he doesn’t have the touch to play any other way.

Prediction: If Fulham keep Bullard fit, Johnson will score 15 goals this season for an otherwise very poor team.

(Ironically, I was watching a preseason game the other week, and Rodwell won the ball, and with his next touch tried to play Johnson through with a 50 yard ball. I thought at the time "he hasn’t had that in 2 years")

I think its great business AJ’s goals tally is average but he still had lots of chances fact seems to be he’s not a finisher something underlined by the yak’s form in front of goal. If we can replace him with a proven finisher Darren Bent perhaps? then were going to be a stronger side and if that leaves cash to bolster midfield too then so much the better.

The starting fee is £10.5 million rising to £13 million.

When he first came he looked the business, sharp on the turn with a good first touch, then came the dive slurs and his arse fell apart, then last season he missed those two penalties and it happened again, well as much as he is a great worker and seems a nice fella so what! Major strikers are selfish and don't give two hoots, would you see the Yak and that fella across the park go into one for months like AJ did?

I never thought I would agree with Lawrenson but his article in todays Daily Post was spot on, AJ is 27 he is not now going get much better and if we want to make the next step up we need a better level of forward and not ones who crumble under the slightest bit of pressure.

Simon Skinner, I’d call Osman and Fernandes creative midfielders personally. Osman is a very decent passer and Fernandes supplied AJ with alot of through balls. The one against Arsenal last season, the one against Spurs at Goodison and about 3/4 in the Arsenal game the season before.

How are you supposed to play it through the middle when naturally your striker drifts the the wings. I’ve watched AJ’s game closesly and when the midfield has the ball his natural instinct is too make a run between the fullback and the left centre half. He rarely ever ran between the two centre halfes down the middle.

It’s not always about the midfield, could it not be the strikers lack of intelligence? You can be as quick as lightening but if you haven’t got the experience, know how and intelligence your not going to succeed.

I look at Robbie Keane when he was at Spurs or Yakubu last season. Neither are as quick as AJ but both read the game well and know when and where to run. Keane was playing with a centre midfield of Jenas and Zokora, neither are creative at all.

AJ’s game just pissed me off, he was so technicallly inept that his pace at times was worthless. You’d be shouting at him to run at someone a outpace then but all he’d be us cut back inside and look for the short pass.

His goalscoring record wouldn’t bother me if he did other useful stuff but he never did, he was very one dimensional.

Have you noticed that the RS had Keane at Anfield, gave him a medical, signed him with the vast majority of the fee being paid to them there and then and announced he would go straight into action, and all on the same day?

Meanwhile on planet Everton....... AJ goes to Fulham and spends the entire day having a medical, doesn't complete the move but probably will become a Fulham player "within the next 24 hours", we accept a fee which turns out to be a paltry amount up front and the rest on the drip.

Even our transfers-out are shrouded in doubt, delay and mystery! God I am losing faith in us!

The following appears on the OS. "Although Everton chief executive Keith Wyness denied at the time that a bid had been received from the Cottagers, Johnson's days at Goodison Park have been numbered ever since an angry exchange with Moyes at Deepdale." I liked Andy Johnson. Although his finishing suffered over the last year, his effort for the club could never have been in doubt. I thought the OS comments graceless. Why would the club consider it necessary to hang out their dirty laundry in this way? Bye bye Andy and thanks for your efforts.

It would appear that certain rumours are abounding about the resignation of Bully, I have just spoken to a member of staff at Everton on Main number and they have informed Me that there has been no official Comment to the contrary From Everton FC???
Could this be linked to Project DK being called in and He has chosen to walk rather than fall on his Sword, or maybe it is more of the speculation that seems rife around our once great Club!!

Andy Johnson was our Dirk Kuyt.
Can’t fault his workrate but he could’nt get a goal for toffee(s)

Connor

It’s not just a case of having a creative player, it’s when the passes come. You must understand what I mean - when we win the ball, it takes 10-15 seconds for a through ball to come - usually Carsley wins the ball, knocks it to Neville, who knocks it to Jags, who knocks it to Hibbert, and HE looks for AJ with a long pass. If you watch Spurs, you see the passes for Keane come much, much earlier.

If you take too long, the central defenders have backed off 10 yards and moved a few yards closer together. There just isn’t any room down the middle against good defenders.

I’m not making AJ out to be a world beater. The slow passes wouldn’t matter if he had Keane or Yakubu’s touch in tighter situations. But he doesn’t, and we didn’t use AJ as we could have in an attacking sense. The fact that you can specifically remember a couple of through balls, and the fact that I know exactly which ones you are talking about , sums it up really.



Don’t confuse being a limited player (which AJ is) with being a bad one. Carsley, I’m sure we all agree, was a very limited player. But if you utilise him correctly, he looks much better.

BTW, the Spurs through ball you mention shows exactly what I’m talking about - it was a through ball right on the edge of the area after we’d slowed the game down completely. It didn’t utilise AJ’s pace at all, which was his main strength.

Hi ToffeeWeb,

You don?t seem to be publishing my comments again. Made two posts this morning.

Is it because my IP address is unknown or something technical like that?

Yes, Briam, indeed it is. I'm putting them up when I get to them. In the meantime, I don't know what causes the "unknown" IP ? maybe try using a "regular" ISP? ? MK

Martin I dream that you are right, this man has to be the most wrong person to have graced the corridoors of Goodison.

why don’t you just publish the comments instead of worrying about IP address?

Has anyone heard anything that he's actually signed for Fulham yet and we have our £12m available for Moutinho.