Everton’s Stones stance makes a refreshing change

Call me a cynic if you will !

However, I've said all along that every player at Everton has their price, if we worked out the cost of a new stadium to be £250M and someone offered us £250M for a player they'd be sold and we'd start work on a new stadium and be happy about it. The question is how much less than that would they be sold for as well.

In my view though, Stones is now worth more than money, and the more the media talk about this, and considering the dirty tactics Chelsea have tried to employ, the figure we should accept would have to be truly absurd. Given that David Luiz was sold for £50M, I wouldn't consider that to be enough money. If we were to accept any bid below that then I, and I think many other fans, would be completely and irretrievably disillusioned with Everton for a long time to come.

It’s obvious Stones is still with Everton and has not met with any Chelski people nor has Kenwright accepted any offer as yet. Hopefully it doesn’t happen but we all know money talks and everyone has their price.

They are a club with absolutely no class. Stones is far too good a man to be infected by that lot.

I hope we stand firm and don’t give in, so far we’re doing that. Roll on end of August to show Chelsea and the media that you can’t roll over Everton.

These pundits think they are so clever predicting a sale, and telling us that we will sell at £30 million or whatever, make my blood boil. I do hope we keep him.

I notice that West Brom have reportedly refused a £15m offer from Spurs for Bera-whatsit. Could it be, that with all of the telly lolly, that little us, and little West Brom could actually afford to say "No" in these situations? I really hope so.

What I take issue with is the overt support of Kenwright as some kind of saviour of our Club "but Everton are fortunate to be under the stewardship of men who still see football as being much more than a business"

Is this man being serious???? Green, loves football. I’m sure of it! Earl? another feller who cant wait for the match to start. Kenwright. Well, there’s plenty been said and still more to come no doubt.

"Fortunate to be under the stewardship" Greay Zeus above, give me strength! I nearly spat me pint out there...and I haven’t even got one yet.

There are a significant number of fans who would argue the point about " we are fortunate" me includsed.

Yep, it is great if qwe keep Stones but if we do, it’s because the Sky money has copme in and, to a degree, saved us from the Bankers. Though it’s likely that we still owe the Gods know how much.

We still have no plan to either improve/redevelop Goodison, or well this bits just a mirage, a new stadium.

There was in my view a major role played by the present and last manager in gathering together a nuclerus of good young players.

As for the boys at the top... dearie me.

Wouldn’t it be brilliant to see this young player grow even more with us this season, just imagine if Everton were to win a trophy or push for that top 4 place,maybe just maybe John Stones might fall in love with Everton. No, I know I’m talking complete bollocks and my cynicism is down to many years of experience of what goes on at our football club and football in general, probably like Phil.

I totally believe that we will be unable to hold on John Stones in the long term unless the unthinkable happens.

I think that the way Chelsea and their manager have gone about this has in a way galvanised our club and if they want John Stones they are going to have to pay way over the odds. I genuinely believe Martinez when he says that John a Stones is NOT FOR SALE and is an important part of what he is trying to build, but poor Roberto will have no say if the magic figure is offered (it’s in Bills head) and if that happens let us hope another money rich club enter the race,I so don’t want him to go to Chelsea.

If we can beat Man City this weekend with John Stones playing well, the figure goes up once again. If we can get a couple of good signings in, then who knows!

lf BK and Bob do a u turn and sell John they will have lost all credibility.

We need to demonstrate that we are not just a club to be plundered by a Russian mobster and ego maniac manager! We cannot be bullied and I would implore all at the club to hold their ground whatever the offer! Otherwise what is the point?

I hope September 2nd arrives and JS is still at the club then we can flick 2 fingers to all these idiotic pundits who have fallen into the belief that football started 23 years ago with Sky! We have the backing of every club and supporter outside of the jumped up bullies of the Sky 4/5.

Huge few weeks for our club!

I still don’t understand why Chelsea have not been warned about their continued illegal approaches for another club’s player after being told he is not for sale.

1) We don't want to sell Stones but if we have to, ie, the player wants the move, we want the best possible price, so we act the way we do when haggling abroad, we pretend we’re not interested.

2) We won't or can't buy new players until the Sky money is in, or we sell someone.

3) The probable reason for Stones being a good boy is he isn’t a definite starter for Chelsea (maybe Jose subbed Terry to say something to John) with the Euros in mind.

4) After the plane protest Bill and the board want some positive spin.

5) According to the latest reports, Bill has said it’s up to Bobby (ie, it’s not down to me).

Now £40M is a hell of a lot of money, I’m not sure if Chelsea would pay it upfront or would say "We’ll knock it off Rom's bill or just pay installments" (which would probably cover Rom's bill).

The thing is we appear to be looking abroad for players which would mean cash upfront. As a club needing one, maybe two centre-halves, a playmaker, and another striker at the very least, a backup right-back and a keeper would be nice though. We could do with this money if we wanted to buy quality players for these positions. Dick van Dijk, Austin and Yarmelenko would cost £40m (Yarmelenko would be great for us). Now I’d like to keep Stones but I’d prefer to get those three in.

There is a massive need for cash at Everton but hopefully the additional TV money and Everton's improving situation has allowed them to turn their backs on it for now. He will go of course but when he does it will hopefully be for twice the current Chelsea bid and that it'll be to a class club rather than the Soho chavs. I believe that once again we've shown our great strength in identifying and developing talent. When he goes I'll wish him well and remember our part in his rise to the top which is inevitable; so far he's the best defender I've seen at Everton (in nearly 60 years) at his current stage, a real gem.

Way to go Blues, what a board.

"WE are the entitled," was their cry.

Now we have to put up with "newer masters" (with the media genuflecting at their feet) not understanding the word, "NO".

We’ll, if Martinez threatened to go public and say something like "If John Stones is sold, I will resign" -- that may make a difference, but I think we both know that is highly unlikely to happen.

It will, I hope, take a ridiculous amount of money for BK to let John Stones leave this season, simply because as others have said he would be doing himself no favours with us supporters etc.

We have accumulated a pretty impressive squad of players especially now we don’t have the distraction of the Europa Comp. this season. What I’m getting at is, if we repel all boarders for young John we might just be on the way to at last winning something!

On the other hand if we sell Stones how long will it be before their knocking on the door for Barkley who had a real return to form against Southampton.

Another factor is, is it fair for us to want these young players to stay when they could perhaps get substantially more money else where?

We've seen it all before with Lescott etc. Even the quote. "Not for sale at any price" was trundled out then, and prior to that (Rooney). So take no notice of that.

The worrying thing is whether we will have time to find an adequate replacement (s) if the deal goes to the wire. You can bet the contract is already agreed and that Everton have a replacement identified.

The transfer window has become a ridiculous farce which always favours the rich clubs. The Premier League and Sky wouldnt have it any other way.

Add a new keeper (next season maybe), along with a CB (Mori soon?) and a left winger/no 10 (Yarmolenko hopefully) and an extra striker (not sure about Austin though ... reminds me a bit of Beattie), mix in a decent loan or two over the next few seasons and I’m optimistic... unlike a lot of ToffeeWebbers!!

We all hope he is still with us come September but as mentioned ,if not then one hopes someone is already pencilled in as a replacement.

I detect also some tones of optimism for the future based on probably the game at Soton which was not apparent the week before.

Caution is the key word but if they can follow up with a good result against City then just perhaps we will all have good reason to feel optimistic.

Stones should show his hand and put in a transfer request or tell the board he does not want to leave.Each party appear to be waiting for the other to act.Martinez has already come out with strong anti sale quotes so the board should back their mouth piece if they are to be trusted.

Personally I am sick to the back teeth with the lack of business and only the great result at Southampton has given the board breathing space for a few days.If we suffer one more injury we will be really screwed, especially if it to Lukaku or Jagielka.

I just hope that Stones is picked to play against City at the weekend as this should put some sort of marker down.These money clubs must be stood up to otherwise we may as well throw the towel in as far as ambition.

Apart from the guaranteed playing time alongside players he clearly enjoys playing with, Roy Hodgson is guaranteed to be watching us frequently with Jagielka, Baines, Cleverley, Barkley and Stones all likely to be going to the Euros. Stones is a young lad. He’ll need and appreciate having these guys around him day in day out, and especially on England duty.

We won’t sell unless he wants to go, and I don’t believe he does.

Why not buck the trend? Refuse £34M; wait for £40M, then invite offers from the Manchester clubs?

FFS, whoever pulls the financial strings at EFC... you hold ALL the cards. Grow a pair.

This boy is Bobby Moore with aggression and pace.

No idea who wrote this piece but it is suspiciously fawning towards Kenwright and the buffoons in charge of running, badly, Everton Football Club. John Stones is Moyes’s last cash gift to Everton.

The only difference that would make is a change among a portion of Evertonians who would suddenly want to sell Stones.

(Martin -- if you’re reading this, I don’t know if it’s a minority, majority, or some other form of plurality acceptable to you; it is a prima facie statement, or if you like, a guess.)

Absolutely. People say we’re a club with history! How true! Was it Kay etc we bought for big bucks at the time?

Other clubs spend money because they desperately need to to get to the level of Everton. We are ahead of the likes of Newcastle and they constantly chase us by signing people. The players they sign rarely make much of a positive impact by the way, and they keep having to do it again. This is especially true of Sunderland, who seem to quietly spend obscene amounts without getting noticed and remaining relegation candidates.

It was Hull last summer, look what happened to them. This year Stoke and Crystal Palace are mentioned. Well frankly, Crystal Palace are basically a team of Championship players and in need of the likes of Cabaye. Stoke have sold something like £15-20M worth of player as well. There's a different club or clubs every summer who seem to outspend us, yet don't out-perform us.

This is because we are far more stable. We keep the same players together for longer so that they know each other, are settled and become part of the club. We then increase their wages significantly, meaning a lot of our money goes on contract extensions for existing players rather than big transfer fees on new players.

I for one think this is a much better way of going about things, and our performance in the league seems to bear this out over the last ten years or so. This is why every summer there is so much focus on keeping players, rather than signing new ones. We have players who are good enough to play in the Champions League and win trophies, we need to make sure they do it with us, not the likes of Chelsea or Man United.

Of course we still want to sign new players, but they have to be carefully chosen and fit in with the type of person we have in the squad, and be someone we believe will be a success at the club for years to come, rather than some random who will have a good August then fade away.

Everton cannot stop Chelsea from buying Stones, in the same way Barnsley couldn't stop Everton buying Stones to begin with or Holgate for that matter.

There is NO correlation between transfer spend and league position. There is a correlation between wage and bill and league position. Get good players. Pay them well and keep them. It's a bit dull for the journos and agents but that is the way to punch above your weight and that is exactly what Everton have done for the last decade (with a few exceptions such as Rooney and Lescott, but Stones is not going anywhere this window, it's not a Lescott/Rooney situation on a number of levels debated ad nauseum on another thread)

Everton have not been punching above their weight for the past decade; quite the opposite. If you think that then you are one of the growing number of Everton supporters that have been brainwashed into a new acceptance of life on a par with Stoke and Southampton.

Neither of these comparative youngsters have ever been exposed to the heat of battle in the Champions League and although they've won soft caps in Internationals neither of them have, in any respect, stood out in that company.

Of course, they both have the P word in spades and we all hope that they will go on to fulfil it but, please, please, don't catch Martinez disease by exaggerating where he/they are at.

The sad thing, of course, is that we shall never know what the likes of Stones can eally achieve until he moves to a club who play on the big stage.

Everton should have been sold when Uncle Bill got out of his depth. Real investment with a proper business plan. Until that happens, we will never compete with the top 5 or 6 rich clubs. They just buy their way to the top.

Unless he is a throwback to the age of club loyalty, Everton can’t offer him the chance to try his skills against the best and we need to accept this. He is very young and I expect to see him in the blue for a couple more seasons. Why anyone would want to go to Chelsea with Big Head in charge is beyond me, what a completely classless act!

It is stated today that Chelsea may offer £40 million but only if Stones states he wants to go

In the scramble for players which has followed the collapse of Chelsea following Roman Abramovich’s deportation to Russia, Everton look odds on to get Eden Hazard’s signature on a free transfer. Roberto Martinez and Bill Kenwright’s brave stand to refuse the desperate £40 million bid for John Stones just before the deadline last year.

This was seen as the beginning of the crack in the dam which swept away Jose Mourhino’s team, who lost their next four matches and led to reports of fights on the Cobham training ground and of talks of two irreconcilable camps. The team went on to avoid relegation on the last day by losing by fewer than two goals in front of 15,000 spectators, of whom around 13,000 were Leicester supporters.

Chelsea are expected to enter receivership on Friday when the wage bill for the 40 or so players out on loan comes due.

Meanwhile in other news, Liverpool’s former owners are believed to have been spotted in Pyongyang which appears to be because there is no extradition treaty with the USA. Temporary manager Kenny Dalgleish said something no one could understand.

Chelsea presumably want John Stones because it will make their team better. It is not in Everton’s best interest to make Chelsae better.

If John Stones is worth say £40 million to Chelsea who already has several competent center backs then he must necessarily be worth more than that to Everton who has no one to back him up at present and a 33-year-old playing next to him (also without backup).

As to Everton’s interest in obtaining additional center backs this has nothing to do with John Stones leaving Everton. Two centre-backs left over the summer. Everton needs to replace those centre-backs.

I stick by my prediction that he will be gone by next weekend leaving Everton panicking to bring in a cheap over the hill replacement, with the majority of the incoming money disappearing into the Bermuda Triangle that is Everton's financial setup.

RM can say what he likes but until Bullshit Bill speaks out anything goes. Silence is Golden.

Personally, I think Stones is too level-headed to want to put in a transfer request and he is smart enough to know that if he waits another season or two, he can make a really ’big’ move to Barca, Real or Bayern.

Right now, I am hating this uncertainty – if Stones does leave, even if we get in a good replacement (and I don’t believe that there is no-one with the same ability out there), our season is screwed because it means the defence will have to readjust plus it sends out a signal to the other players that, if they want to win trophies, Everton is not the place for them.

On the other hand, if Everton do fend off Chelsea’s advances, I can see it giving a huge lift to Roberto, our players and the fans and Everton’s stock in the eyes of football supporters throughout the world would rise immeasurably. If we manage to keep Stones and sign 1-2 class players (Yarmolenko + a CB), maybe just maybe, we can achieve something spectacular.