And who's fault was that? Seems the money was available by all accounts, but the problem was Moyes dithering over his future and spinning things out for months of uncertainty before finally signing his obscene contract. In Moyes We Trust indeed...

If Saha carries on like this its time to bring out the Kinsman’s 1964 classic ’Louie Louie’. All together now ’He gota goal - yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah’ - and so on.

If anyone except soon to be ex maestro Bill or a CEO or two comes onto this site to say where the money was in the summer, I still don’t know. Anyone else? Whatever Moyes went through then he seems to have some composure back, and we have ten more points.

Have "all" (or any) of those "accounts" told you, Michael, which of Chris’s "right people" were, at the "right time", ready, willing, able and with their bags packed waiting to sign on the dotted line for us, and for how much?

I agree with you, Chris.

I think we’ll be fifth by this time next week and that’s on the back of about ninety minutes of decent football all season.

Just how bad are the other teams outside the top four?

You?re right Richard. Outside the top four,any team can beat any other on a given day. For part of last season we were just behind the top four but clear of the rest. That?s why I think Michael makes a very good point, I think we could have moved up but for the dithering of our coach. Instead we have rejoined the pack. I really believed it was time for Moyes to go but he?s here for the foreseesble future so I?m going to try and be optimistic.

If Saha gets a few more games behind him, I think he?ll prove to have been a great deal (credit to Moyes). Three very fortuitous wins will surely have boosted confidence. James Vaughan might finally fulfil his potential.

There are, broadly speaking, three types of Premier Leaguefootball:
Poor football and poor results.
Poor football and better results.
Nice football and good results.

A few weeks ago we were solidly in group one. Now, thankfully, we?re in group two. If we aspire to group three, we can move out of the pack once again. But this is Everton; we?ll probably start to play well and find all our luck is used up!

LOO LOO SKIP TO MY LOO, LOO LOO SKIP TO MY LOO, LOO LOO SKIP TO MY LOO, SKIP TO MY LOUIS SAHA !

I think you’re right. The reason is simple. The top 4 teams are stronger than ever, mainly due to (even) more increased revenue and the fact that they can now name 7 subs on the bench. Now the top 4 are going to sign even more top players as they could possibly use them by having an extra 2 spaces in their match day squad. It’s an insurance policy for them. If the top 4 are stronger by signing players from other PL clubs, then those other, ’bottom 16 clubs’ will be weaker.

By the end of the season, the points gap between 4th placed and 5th placed teams will be bigger than between 5th and 20th.

Louis Saha, Saha
Hes big and hes fucking hard
Hes bettee then Steve Gerrard
Louis Saha Saha



Sing it to the tune of Que Sera

Michael K. - Spot on with that assessment IMHO. Moyes? behaviour between May - August was unacceptable. His press conferences were a joke, he was otherwise invisible and it doesn?t take much than a half-wit to work out the effect on the players.

To reward this ridiculous self-importance and wasted opportunity with such an obscene contract is disappointing in extremis. I?d got to the point when I would seriously have lookd for a replacement. I feel we are where we are in the league this season despite Moyes, not because of him.

Even with yesterday?s result, great though it was, we have still only played one half of football the whole of this season. This "ends/means, only about results" nonsense is just that, nonsense. The idea that it?s great to watch & support a team playing turgid shite for 89 mins every week and then grabbing a late goal against the run of play is unsustainable.

I walked out at half-time in an Everton game (Fulham) for the first time in over 40 years as a fan. It was making my eyes hurt. Simply diabolical fare. The idea of paying to watch that week-in, week-out is ridiculous.

There is good news & bad news. The good news is, one hopes, that our performances (passing, accuracy, movement, style etc) can only get better. The bad news is that I?ve been thinking that since Blackburn on the first day, and it hasn?t happened yet. We look like we are devoid of motivation, energy and confidence. We?ve been lucky this season & that luck may prove to be a false dawn. 2 or 3 defeats and we?re down in the mix again.

For me, Moyes has a fuck of a lot to do to win back my support & confidence. He?s a lucky boy right now.

As happy as I am that we are now getting results and moving up to a respectable position in the table, the fact is our recent victories havn?t been convincing at all.

I feel the team has potential to be better than last year's but at the moment it isn?t clicking. That 2nd half against Man Utd can give us all hope though.

I hope like hell we can find that form again but as the season stands at the moment it hasn?t been good. We worked so hard to secure Europe only to get knocked out at the 1st hurdle, Out of the Carling Cup, etc etc.

Considering the platform last year provided us, the club has failed to capitalise thus far. Anyone with an ounce of common sense can see this. The club failed the players and the fans over the summer and we are still trying to get back on our feet. On the plus side we have played like shit but aren?t in a bad position. I?d love to see us get a real winger in to let Arteta take over from Osman in the middle and send in some crosses.

To Michael, Alan et al

do you honestly think Moyes sat on £15M all summer and refused to spend it until the very last hour of the last day of the transfer window?

I accept he dithers sometimes but he clearly isn't stupid. IMO he was towing the party line and protecting his "superiors" by saying there was some money to spend. Funny how he didn?t say how much though ? until the new TV money arrived!

He should've had those funds (and more) provided to him straight after the trasnfer window opened, so he could pursue all his targets.

Do you honestly think Moyes in a press conference is going to say;

"Dont blame me! I wanted to buy but Uncle Bill wouldn't give me any money."

The shambolic running of this club begins at the very top. Starting with BK.

It was a great result at Upton Park, there's no doubt about it and three points is all that matters. We have now had three not so good displays after the Manchester United game but we have won all three, games which maybe two months ago we would have been losing.

From what saw on Saturday, we were never going to be giving West Ham a footballing lesson, I mean I still cannot figure out after all this time how we managed to put a midfield out on the park with so little shape or pattern to it: Cahill, Rodwell, Arteta, Osman??? I just couldn't see how that midfield was going to take the game by the scruff of the neck; effectively all four players not playing in their favoured positions. No natural width, and no pace but at least Moyes was bold enough to throw on a striker and sacrifice a midfielder, he could have taken off Anichebe or Saha but didn't.

Some may say if we had lost that game that he should have changed it at 0-0 but, whilst we were not playing well, West Ham were not exactly swarming all over us like the media will have you believe; yes, they were the better team and looked more likely but it was only a touch of genius from Parker's backheel which took us out of the game for 1-0.

Moyes could well have pulled out bargain of the season in Saha. Let's get things straight, when he signed, I was more than pleased because I know how classy a player this guy is, I know he has done it year on year in this league, and every time I saw him play against Everton I was very very impressed by what I saw, unlike some players who you hear all the rave about but when you see them play live they leave you disappointed.

Not Saha... Be it for Fulham or Utd, that touch of class on the ball has always been there and, whilst the raw pace of four or five years ago may have gone slightly, he still has the ability in abundance. The biggest concern when he came was his fitness... well here's hoping he stays fit ? not just for his sake but for Everton's sake ? because, over this next month, we are going to need him fit and on fire all the way.

And maybe true to what Moyes said, if we can get him out there 18-20 times a season then that gives us a chance of winning. On that one, Moyesie, I have to agree with you.

When does the whinging stop? If we leapfrog Villa at the weekend? Get some perspective and balance in life, you?ll enjoy the footie more and also occasionally get laid.

At last a voice of reason in a sea of morose posting. Well said Phil.

So it’s Dave’s dithering is it? Not that we had no money until the Sky backhanders were received?

Kenwright, I know he is economical with the truth, and Moyes confirmed that he had given to the board his list of transfer targets in April/May so hoe then is it Moyes’s fault that the board screw up his wish list by offering a packet of polos and a pen for Moutinho?

Usual Moyes bashing and for something that is out of his control. All the manager does is try and sell the club to player A when he sits down with him, he doesn’t negotiate wages and signing on fees.

The league isn?t poor outside the top four, but everyone is working close to the same levels so everyone is beating everyone else.

Three points from 4th after 12 games... beautiful. Why do we have to find reasons to knock this position? I?m taking it.

I couldn?t agree more Joe Johnson. Well said.

Well I don?t think Moyes is dithering for January... was spotted scouting Ajax in the Uefa Cup last week.

Knowing me, knowing Louis......Saha,
There's nothing that he can?t do.
Knowing me, knowing Louis.
He?s the best and a blue.

Sung to to "Knowing me, knowing you" by Abba.

I disagree that the league is weak outside the top 4 - my opinion is that its very competitive this year; if you look at it, everyone keeps beating each other and there's nothing in it points-wise from about 8th to bottom.

We?re storming up the table, only 2 opints behind Villa (who were tipped by everyone to be the ONLY TEAM worthy of breaking into the top 4) and only 3 points behind Utd ? if that's not good enough for people then I give up!

Quite amazing that so many people can see no wrong in Moyes but are so quick to put blame for all the Club?s shortcomings at Kenwright?s door. The absolute truth is that Moyes did not expect to be Everton?s manager at the opening of the season but plying his trade elsewhere. He was, however, ?decent enough? not to spend the club?s money whilst the uncertainty existed. Kenwright was at his wits end and should have shown him the door in July - but I guess he was afraid of the backlash.

I have not the slightest doubt that it will all be in his autobiography,?Blue Bill?, which is expected out soon after the takeover is completed.

Where did you get that "absolute truth" from Lawson? Do you have a source, or is it just a theory?

Lawson Tremagne,


"The absolute truth is that Moyes did not expect to be Everton?s manager at the opening of the season"

What?! Where did he expect to be then? Did he an offer to be the new face of Gardners World or something? Despite hinting all last year and summer he wanted to stay and sign long term. You are saying he actually wanted to leave?

More likely he wanted to see the board?s ambition match his first... rather than sign a long-term deal and commit prefessional suicide by contracting himself long-term to a club ran by an idiot with absolutely no money to spend.

Lawson, I look forward to reading "Blue Bill"... The story of a man from the back streets of Wetherfield who became custodian of the greatest club on earth. I?ve criticised Bill quite a bit but he really is living the dream. Unfortunately, the takeover won?t be happening, so we may have to wait a while.

Phil, David Moyes treated Everton poorly last summer. He was in a very strong position but it seems to me that money was more important to him than Everton.

Believe what you want to believe. I know what I know. Bill Kenwright is not the villain that you all make him out to be and certainly not over transfer funding. All will be revealed in good time.

Andy Crooks, and you other lads, how dare you fucking have a go at Moyes! Don?t you know the man is a tactical genius? He is the envy of every football club in the whole universe, and he has single handily saved us from the depths of oblivion. The man has already forged his name into Everton folklore. Also, it takes a lot of tactical nous to play the way we do, so lay off the man, FFS!!!!! Maybe you all want to go back to the days of Walter Smith?

I just don?t understand the mentality of you guys, we all should pray to god every night, and thank him for sending us the messiah.

That?s a bit over the top for you, Brian, but well said. It?s amazing how one or three wins changes people?s perceptions, isn?t it?

Brilliant, Brian!!

Phil Martin, I agree that your version of events became the accpeted one during the summer... but that was before we heard the man himself expressing reservations about his future at Goodison. Remember the story Moyes coughed up about changing his mind after hearing Sir Bobby Robson? You don?t have to extrapolate far from that to get to exactly the point Lawson is making... and realize just how totally we were stitched up this summer by Davey Dithering over his contract.

I admit at the time I thought it was all a silly fuss about nothing... now I realise, belatedly, that it explains everything about the dreadful summer of inactivity on the transfer market and ? far, far worse ? the total abrogation of his duties as Everton manager when it came to readying the team for the new season.

I didn?t have a very good opinion of Moyes even when we were playing great footy last season, but these latest revelations have taken it to rock bottom.

You just don’t like him, do you ?

Michael Kenrick, Andy Crooks,

Moyes served his apprenticeship with Everton a long time ago and he does not owe us anything. He has proven with the club's league positions over 6 years that he can manage the club very well.

If after 6 years of relative success (compared to anything else since 1987) he decides to take a step back and consider if he has taken the club as far as he can. Then so what? He spoke to Boby Robson in passing about his dilemna. So What? It's a fucking big decision!

Did you expect him to sign a long-term deal when there was no guarantees he would have money to spend? After all the bull BK has spouted in the past, do you blame Moyes for saying "prove to me you have funds, before I sign"

His "dithering" was related to the time taken for the board to produce those "Watch this space" signings. Which they never did AGAIN!!! Our budget this summer is that of a mid-table outfit yet AGAIN!!! Is that DM?s fault?

The fact he has to carry our (and his own) CL ambitions on 2 freebies, 1 loan, and a last minute purchase is a joke. Would SAF put up which such appalling boardroom antics. Would he hell!

I admit his style of football doesn?t attract plaudits even from his own. But would/does any team in the Premier League play class football on a net spend of £4M a year?

.....and could we reasonably expect to have our team playing decent football if the manager is only paid £65,000 a week for his input?

Phil, the answer to your final question is: Yes, Everton ? under David Moyes, October 2007 to February 2008.

Crapping out in the Uefa Cup, Moyes then completely lost it and the team went to pot. He was still being paid as the manager of Everton FC but he patently stopped doing the job.

If, as you claim, he was going to leave unless he got the funding he needed, what the hell?s he still doing here? Aren?t we still on a net spend of around £4M, Fellaini included?

Wasn’t Lawson Tremagne the name of the conman romantic novelist played by Sir Ian McKellan in Corrie a couple of years ago?

Marco, magnificent.
You must now accept that he knows Betty Turpin's son better than any of us.

Lawson, any inside knowledge on the recipe for Betty’s hotpot?

Michael,

"If, as you claim, he was going to leave unless he got the funding he needed, what the hell?s he still doing here? "

Maybe he knows something we dont?!

"Aren?t we still on a net spend of around £4M, Fellaini included?"

Yes AJ sold for £11M roughly equates to a small net spend including Fellaini. We all have different opinions, I just don't see how we can be all up in arms about the quality of football when we are 3 pts behind United and consistently limited to a West Brom-esque budget.

Sorry to correct you, Marco, but Sir Ian?s character in Coronation St was ?Mel Hutchwright? as any good thespian would know. Me thinks it is you is the ?con artist?!

Is just a coincidence that once the rotund Keith Wyness left the club that the transfer activity really started, once he had gone DM (re)negotiated his long awaited new contract and the signing of players seemed to start.

Was it KW who was trying too hard to keep the money under tight control??

Have we now entered into a new era of spending or will the controls be brought back??