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This is not what I want but...
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In my view, Everton need a new coach and more importantly a new chairman. This isn't going to happen. So, what happens in the next six months? This is how I believe we can make the best of an appalling situation:
We get 42 points as quickly as possible. David Moyes makes a few experiments with the playing staff. Give Rodwell a run in the side in a clearly defined role. Give Duffy and Baxter some experience. See what Mucha can do.
At the end of the season, cash in as quickly as possible on our players out on loan. Maybe £4 million for Yakubu, £2 million for Yobo and £1 million for Vaughan. Pay that money immediately off our debts. It eases the pressure and lessens the 'crisis club' label.
After that, it is time for some tougher decisions. Well, the first one isn't so tough. Get £2 million for Vic from a newly promoted club. Sell Hetinga for say, £6 million. This is the one I regret most, I believe Bily hasn't had a fair chance but he isn't going to make it under David Moyes. We could get £4 million for him back to Russia.
Finally, Rodwell. I think he will be a great player but sadly not at Everton. If he plays well between now and the end of the season we just might get overpaid before the season starts. £18 million plus add-ons and a percentage of any future sales.
That brings in about £30 million. Some more of that goes to the banks, say £10 million. We buy Chris Eagles, a striker (don't know who yet) and get Joey Barton (who will be reformed and take this as his last chance).
We will be seen as a club tackling our problems. The Fans Trust will take off, demonstrating to a potential buyer that we have a fan base willing to back their support with money.
In an ideal world, this is not what I would want but...
Andy Crooks, Posted 08/03/2011 at 23:54:50
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Barton doesn't fit into the DM mould of player: too disruptive. Freebies, unknowns, kids for buttons (most of whom won't make it)... or no new players at all as we can't afford salaries for new players or loans; season ticket renewals are going to drop, so even less money...
Brilliant! Funniest post I've seen on ToffeeWeb for a long time! :-)
DM's idea of experimenting with his playing staff is changing the brand of the half time tea bags.
Elmander on the other hand...
If we win tonight (and we really should be beating Brum at home) we will be 8th in the league. That is within 1 point of Bolton in 7th (potentially Europe depending on how the places are distributed) and within 3 of the Shite in 6th. That gap could be bridged in one game.
Incidentally, on the version of Champ Man that you are playing here, have you made yourself manager of Everton AND Newcastle? Otherwise I don't see why Pardew would want to sell probably his most important player - especially when that player is happy and when there is no financial strain forcing him to do so.
otherwise good shout.
ps: Yakubu should NOT have gone out on loan ? terrible decision to let him leave.
Birmingham took a Europa slot by virtue of beating Arsenal a couple of weeks ago, and the last place would go to the winners of the FA Cup.
So I think, only 5th guarantees Europa League. Doubt it for us.
It's not how I'd want to get in, but I also read that, because of their financial problems, Brum might not be allowed to play in Europe next year (a la Real Mallorca, this season). Given that they played Arsenal in the final who will qualify via the league, that would open another entry route via the league (7th).
The league won't get an extra place from either cup this year, because of Birmingham's victory in the Carling Cup and the unlikelyhood that both FA Cup finalists will have already qualifed (as Utd and Arsenal are paired together).
However, here's food for thought; should the RS or City win the Europa League, I think that presents an additional place from the league, so who's for cheering on the Shite?
Still plenty to play for.
If we play these players and results don't improve, moral will be even lower and it will have a negative effect.
I can't see Fellaini signing another contract (and nor should he), unless he sees a change in direction regarding ambition in this club.
JR on the other hand is still very young and has already stated his desire to continue his progression with Everton, so hopefully we can keep one.
I'd love it to happen, but it's not looking likely now that they seem to have renewed their pact with Satan.
Barton was absolutely a done deal a couple of seasons ago, only the outcry from Evertonians gave the board and the manager cold feet... not sure what's changed.
If Duffy and Baxter can't get into the side now, they are clearly not good enough.
Chris Eagles struggles to get into a Championship side.
Yakubu was in our class ? nobody will pay £4 milllion for a crock of his age. Vaughan was available for £1m in the summer but there was NO takers ? not even Palace.
Yobo will be about as cooperative as Pienaar... and I really don't get why every man and his dog comes on here to say what a worthless sack of shit Anichebe is... then expect to sell him for anything between £1-4 million. WTF ???
Dropping Howard shoulda been done ages ago, not now when he`s finally found some form.
You were recently telling us all, Moyes has got us embroiled in a relegation battle... now ? with 30 points still up for grabs ? you want him to declare at 42 and play people who are clearly not good enough? We are already doing that in 2-3 positions.
Also, the players I mentioned as possible targets are only examples. My main idea is that the squad needs to be freshened up and, as Gavin said, buying kids in the hope they might make it is like hoping to win the lottery to pay off your debts. Without radical action in the coming months, I fear for next season on and off the pitch.
How many times have you heard Osman and Hibbert called Championsip players?
There are much, much better wingers than Chris Eagles who is a poor man's Seamus IMO.
If Rodwell and Big Mo are staying, I think the solution to our left side is Mikel.
I would like us to try and replicate what we have on the left to the right hand side, I'd love N'Zogbia to play in front of Seamus.
Or even if we don't sell any of our key players, I would imagine he will demand at least a few million quid to play around with, bring in a couple of rookies for £3 million each say.
I don't buy the theory that he is happy to go through the mid-table motions so long as he has his £3.5 mill a year to count. He is a proud man, still young for a manager and he knows we need him more than he needs us.
After watching Barcelona's passing technique, I hope we can copy tonight! But I won't wish for too much!!! Finding our own men will do for starters!!!
We get to 42 points. Moyes sets up a press conference and resigns. In his resignation speech, he spills the beans on BK and his mismanagement of the club. Apologises to the fans and states he can't manage a club of our stature whilst being lied to season upon season.
Win-Win that one.
There are a lot better players in the Championship than Eagles. I like the looks of Scott Sinclair the former Chelsea lad who is now at Swansea. Think he would make a good wide man for us.
Not sure about playing our reserve team either by the way.
We won't finish 6th, when have we ever finished above the Shite in recent history apart from when they were really piss poor when we finished 4th? It won't happen, trust me; 7th is a possibility and 8th or 9th seem more realistic.
Besides what exactly do we get out of the Europa competition? It doesn't bring in much needed extra revenue and only adds to the number of game and cup competitions we already have. Not to mention we have a squad which is forever shrinking in each windows that passes by.
I think we'll know exactly where Everton are heading come the 2nd week in August. New players? new manager. All will be revealed then.
I remember taking a half-time pee at Goodison a couple of years ago and an old pissed guy shouted: "What a load of shite. We need to sell Pienaar and buy Eagles..."
Needless to say, everybody started laughing.
Seeing it again here makes me think I may be missing something hilarious. He is, after all, a very average Championship player...
In fact, if we had balanced our squad 12 months ago, as I have often posted, I believe we would be challenging for a CL place now.
I am always bemused at why so many of our fans believe it is so shamefull for us to sell to buy ? most sides have to do this as football is generally a loss-making industry that survives on assets and cash flow / turnover.
What we need to do is manage our squad. We are not in a financial position to have high-value players sat on the bench. Our main assets need to be on the pitch. For instance, would we be a better team with Donavan in the team or Heitinga on the bench?
Personally I would sell one of Rodwell or Fellaini along with the loaned players eluded to in the original post. I would buy Donavan (£6m), Kranjcar (£3m) and a top-class striker (£15m). This would return a profit on transfers over the summer and we would have a far better team than now. If Heitinga wanted to leave, I would let him go and buy a replacement of equal value or less.
Osman, Hibbert & kids would be our only academy products, with Neville, Jags, Baines & Beckford also counting towards it as they came through other English clubs.
That's 6 + kids to make up the required 8.
Anyway, relegation has never been an issue for us this season. People get carried away with the odd bad result (Cue protests, 'how can you say this when ....?' and, 'up with this I will not put' reactions.)
For me, your error is about the cost of experimenting. You have mentioned that we need to reduce our debts ? well, playing our reserve squad to see who can make it could cost us a fortune in the league stakes. There is an approx £500k difference in league money per position in the table: therefore, if we finished 7th we would get approx £2.5mil more then if we finished 12th and £4mil more than finishing 15th.
I cant see how you can argue against fielding our strongest team given our financial situation. Either you didn't factor it in, or your suggestion is one big contradiction?
I think Rodwell and Fellaini, will definitely go, along with Yakubu, Vaughan and Yobo. If Moyes is still there, knowing him, we will spend whatever little money we have on a centre back or utility player.
Barton is a piece of shit; I wouldn't want him anywhere near the club, plus I think he's totally overrated, an average player at best. He gets headlines because of the way he acts on and off the pitch ? not because he's a great player.
Will Moyes go? I personally feel he will walk as Rodwell and Fellaini will probably be sold with none of that money going to him. So say Bill does take the cheap option, which I'm sure he will, and appoint an Allardyce, where will we finish next season and will Arteta and Cahill want to stay?
As for the young players being given a go, what about Hallam Hope? I have watched this lad at the Milk Cup and thought he looked a class act, a natural finisher with good movement.
I for one am not looking forward to August as much as I was this time last year... it's like returning to them bleak days of the 90s.
Dave Wilson says that if these lads were good enough they would be in. With David Moyes that isn't necessarily true. It took a while for Coleman and Baines.
BK won't sell the club this year, and the club is steadily moving backwards into mid-table crud at best.
Sorry but Coleman isn't good enough either.
Baxter and Duffy have had games and both been cruelly exposed, Duffy is at the center of a very poor Reserve team defence.
People slag of Ossie and Hibbo but they have made carreers out of qualifying for Europe, no matter what.
The flavours of the month ? Coleman, Heitinga, Bily and Beckford have all failed to get anywhere near doing that.
Why do you suppose that is?
"Play Mucha"!?!?! ? Howard is one of the top keepers in the league and Mucha has looked awful and let in goals by the sackful in the reserves!
"Easing the crisis club label"! ? Let the media label us as they will, it doesn't change anything and besides, if we start selling off players left, right and centre, we will be labelled a crisis club even more as we we have even fewer players!!
And for everyone beating themselves off over Rodwell and Coleman, they are both part of the TEAM and SQUAD that has performed so miserably this season, yet players like Hibbert and Osman, who haven't actually played that much this season, still get slagged off. People forget they were major parts of the TEAM and SQUAD that have qualified for Europe, finished fourth and got us to an FA Cup Final!!! UNBELIEVABLE!
On the subject of Rodwell and Coleman, Rodwell looks like has has ability but has done pretty much nothing, he reminds me a bit of Stephen Hughes...
And Coleman, whilst exciting when he gets his head down and runs at defenders, looks incredibly limited. Hopefully they will blossom but I do wonder just how good they really are; Fellaini is twice the player either of them are yet is another one some people on here like to slate!
And as for signing Joey Barton..........!!!!
Heitinga has played in virtually every cup competition there is, including the World Cup Finals; Bily's old side were also regulars in Europe. Seamus is a young lad in his second season, first proper, who may yet qualify or Europe? Hardly fair comparisons.
I think the young lads need a bit of exposure to top flight football or their development will be stalled and they may even go backwards (Duffy). Duffy, Mustafi, Baxter and one or two others have been playing regularly for the reserves for near three years. If they are not good enough why are they still at the club at all?
My own opinion is once they are 19-20, the genuine prospects should go out on loan to a Championship side for at least half a season and it's sink or swim time.
Duffy, Mustafi and Baxter haven't had a look in all year, we would know a lot more about them if they were coming to the end of a season in the Championship, this is my gripe regarding Moyes and the young lads.
A lot of the Moyes stalwarts are coming to the wrong side of 30 and he needs to plan ahead, as we all know and have discussed ad nauseum, how we've got fuck all to spend.
I'm aware of Heitinga's and Bily's records before they came, but they have clearly failed to improve us.
Agree with you about the youngsters, it's too early to give up on any of them yet. I also agree about fostering them out, tbh I`m beginning to wonder what purpose a reserve team serves, but if players are struggling at that level, does it make sense to throw them in to the first team for the sake of it? You used to have to earn your place in the first team, I`d like to think that's still the case.
Why can't Bilyaletdinov do on the right what Arteta did against Newcastle, or better yet just do what he did on his debut against AEK, his best game for the club? Why have him and Coleman both suddenly started looking for the nearest blind alley they can find and throwing themselves into it?
Sell Fellaini ? he probably has the highest price-to-talent ratio out of our squad, meaning a massively inflated price for not a whole lot of talent.
Agree that they may not be ready but if there isn't much riding on it there's only one way to find out for sure. May even work out cheaper in the long run as if they look poor your saving £5-10k a week on the likes of Baxter and Duffy.
With our finances, as you rightly pointed out, that's never going to be an option with millions at stake with league placings. Makes it all the more strange that the fringe players don't go on loan.
English football is in crisis financially, not just Everton. Unfortunately, nobody wants to talk about it so we are hardly likely to attract any more attention on that front than anybody else. There are some far bigger crises coming down the tracks for other Clubs in about 18 months time.
Barton? You are having a laugh, surely. Let's have Nolan as well, eh? With Big Vic gone to Cardiff or somebody, nobody will mind! Now signing those two ? that would indicate a club in crisis ? with no morals either.
Duffy, fair enough, you haven't seen much of him. However, the lad suffered a life threatening injury and I think you are harsh. Frankly, Bobby Moore would look shite in Everton reserves.
How does a young player get a chance at Everton? Moyes will never drop his favourites. It will be through injury only. I actually like both Osman and Hibbert but how about giving new (Beckford) and the young players a break?
If you believe, which I don't, that our kids are not good enough, then, what do you think of the system that signed them? Shane Duffy will be a top class centre back. Let us hope it is at Everton.
Morals? Yes, Duncan (who I loved, by the way) what was your view on him? If you are concerned about morals then quit watching Premier League football because it stinks.
So it was Moyes who labelled us a crisis club? If so, will he stop doing it because he sells 7 and buys 3? Not very likely! :)
Barton ? Leopards don't change their spots.
And, as you mention Big Dunc. Great, almost unplayable, player when he could be bothered ? about half-a-dozen times a season. Otherwise, irresponsible, impetuous, injured, suspended and a contract that bumped his pay up to equal the latest big signing's money if it was more than his. Not really a compelling CV. More of a wasted career if we are honest with ourselves. For me, getting sent off at home to Bolton in Moyes's 4th game when he had been made captain for mindlessly punching that Bolton player in the stomach in a game where we were desperately fighting for survival, was the final straw.
And, yes Premier League football stinks. My journalist friend who covers Everton and other North West clubs for one of the Sundays has told me many times about how money rules and he has had a far better insight than most of us. However, it's hard to break a 40-year habit and Everton have occupied a slightly higher moral ground than many others which has just about made it bearable. But if we start buying in the likes Barton we won't even have that.
If we raise £30m in the summer (by selling 7 players), £10m-£15m should go on the debts which leaves £20m-£15m for 7 players!
Two to three of these players should be strikers, a right-winger, back-up left-back, and a left-winger. However, we need quality to improve the first-team but on a limited budget. Catch-22 I'm afraid.
Revelation? We are meant to be the School of Science, not the school of head down run like hell and be totally oblivious to anyone else on the pitch.
Like I say, not giving up on him just yet, I hope he does improve but if he does, it`ll be the first time I have seen that happen in a player who never lifts his head.
Are you serious. The lad is in his first season in the Premier League and by all accounts has performed well above expectation.
This is a lad who helped Blackpool's promotion push last year, so much so, they wanted to buy him. Has scored seval goals from open play, difficult to do that if you don't raise your head, and has made his debut for his national team. To say he isn't good enough is a fucking joke. We need to get behind our younger players not be harshly critical of them at the first opportunity.
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1 Posted 09/03/2011 at 07:04:15
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I'd say Rodwell and Fellaini are interchangeable, either one of them for £18 mill.
Elmnader is on a Bosman come the summer, he had a great first half of the season with Bolton.