Leeds duo on Everton's radar

Speechless, eh, Paul? We have been linked to at least six Leeds players now so probably all rubbish paper talk.

I suspect, until Kenwright has gone and 30 June passes, we will be buying nobody from Leeds or anywhere else.

I haven't got my reading glasses on and saw £2M for Summerville and thought that was about right.

£20M is insane and just crap paper talk …

Summerville has got all the potential in the world. Could be a top player. But we can't afford potential at the moment. For £20 million we need players that can go in and do a job from day one. We won't get world-beaters but we need solid players who will give us 7 out of 10 most weeks for that kind of money.

Jack Harrison is probably the profile we will need more even though Summerville could be a better player in a few years.

We just don't have the budget or time to take risks.

We need more players like Dwight McNeil and less like Moise Kean.

Garner at £15M was a gamble (some reports saying far less than that…) that looks like it has worked, but his reputation in the Championship was very good so he was arguably ready for a season as a squad player in the Premier League. I'm looking forward to seeing more of him next season.

Pass on Summerville.

Do we have a scouting system? Or do we just look for players who got thier teams relegated but that team are willing to let them move for rediculous transfer fees.

You don't rate Harrison? By all accounts, he is a decent player and would fit well with what we have on the right.

Of the Leeds youngsters, Summerville has looked good at times, but pass on him; to me, Gnonto looks like he has more potential.

Gnonto plateaued a bit towards the end but the Leeds side were tanking. It may be an opportunity to get him, whilst his form has dipped a bit due to the circumstances he was operating in. There's more to come from him, could be a very good investment.

Mid-twenties players (26) like Harrison and Man Utd's McTominay are solid signings and getting them in would help no end in keeping us safely in the Premier League, and with a good cup run.

We'd need to sell to afford them, but if Moshiri wants to protect his investment in the stadium with EFC in the Premier League, these two or similar to virtually guarantee it.

Along with the striker of course, Gyökeres maybe.

Not having a go at anyone about whether or not we should buy players from a relegated team, but what is the difference between buying a player from a relegated team, as opposed to buying a player who has spent a few years playing in the Championship, or even League One?

We constantly read, and are told, that there are a few bargains to be had in the Championship etc, and just because a player plays for a team that's been relegated, doesn't mean he becomes garbage overnight.

There are a few decent players at Leicester, and one or two at both Southampton and Leeds, so would people turn their noses up at them just because they got relegated? Who would turn their noses up at the likes of Maddison, Harvey Barnes or Vardy, or James Ward-Prowse?

I actually think Jack Harrison and Summerville are decent players and could be good acquisitions for us.

Summerville got all his goals in 1 month. Looks to have potential, but no idea if he will be good enough either. In the last few appearances I saw of Leeds, he came off the bench and looked way off the pace.

Harrison is a solid 13th- to 8th-place Premier League player, he'll score 5-8 goals and get a similar number of assists, also a hard worker. Generally seen him play off the left, and our priority is right, so can he be as effective on the right? Has a low release fee apparently, so that would fit.

Gnonto looked unreal when he broke into the team at the start of the year, scored a couple of worldies, then looked ineffective afterwards. Looks to have potential, but would be a risk and probably a fee we can't afford to risk.

Yes Fran, and also plays predominantly on he left. We need a right-sided forward.

I'm with Rob.

There are many who often suggest we should look for talent in the Championship.

Cahill was signed from the Championship. Jagielka from a team that had been relegated from the Championship.

There's just two examples.

Maybe not everyone agrees, but I thought Tarkowski was great for most of last season and McNeil eventually came good.

A bit of snobbery going on. Let's face it, we're not shopping in Waitrose this summer.

I would say all of those relegated teams have players who would walk into our team.

Rob, agree and would also say that the Leicester squad was better than ours last season. They did us a massive favour in sacking Rogers.

Harrison worth a look if a sensible deal could be structured, better off buying Jimmy Summerville as it would be less of a risk...

Seriously though why would we want to buy a player from Leeds? Especially given they are part of a group of teams waiting to take EFC to the cleaners if the club is found guilty of P&S breaches due to be heard circa October this year.

Fuck Leeds and fuck the other clubs trying to fuck us over because they were even shitter than we were this past two seasons and got relegated.

Please God we don't go after that pineapple-headed bum
Luke Ayling. I can't remember a bigger carthorse…

I swear I'll stop supporting Everton if he signs.

We seem to be linked with at least half of the players on Leeds Utd's roster at this point. Well, we finished 17th and they finished 19th, so if we merge squads... we should finish 18th next season!

Because a team is relegated doesn't mean they don't have good players but nor may it mean they have any top-class players.

We already have 5 players who have been with clubs that got relegated and we've been in relegation struggles for the past two seasons so make of it what you want.

I suppose assessing players to transfer in is a matter for Thelwell and Dyche who themselves might have experience with relegated clubs, it does seem though to be forming something of a pattern. And shortly we may be able to add our Chairman to that list.

Rob #8,

On reading your post, my immediate thought was that it was far too well considered and might cut down the number of responses. However, it has started a run of reasonable responses.

IMO, when you ain't got no money and are having to buy in the bargain basement, I've shopped at Filene's basement during a few trips to Boston and, I can honestly say, I've found some cracker bargain buys.

I think we need to be really careful to let Sean Dyche select players who will fit the plan, which will include fitting in with the other players he has decided he wants to build the team around. Not an easy job but, hey, that's why he's paid the big bucks.

I think Dyche will make sure we have strong players who are not likely to be injury-prone because he knows we can't afford the be changing the starting line-up, week-in & week-out.
This might sound basic but we are in that position currently.

From the players touted on here, I would certainly look at Harvey Barnes and Ward-Prowse from the relegated teams. We need goalscorers and this will need a good striker, maybe Gyökeres.

Even if we sell Pickford and Onana, we're unlikely to be able to afford the likes of Ward-Prowse and Barnes. These are good players, but they are unlikely to be bargain basement.

We do need a few "mid-twenties" types – but we should really be looking for very low-cost deals in this respect – like we did with Tarkowski. That might include Harrison, if Leeds are prepared to let him go for about £15M.

As for potential, we shouldn't be paying more than about £5M for that – just as Leeds did for each of Summerville and Gnonto. Buying potential after it's emerged at a Premier League club is an extremely expensive way of doing business.

Agree Robert. I do think our scouting system must be the worst in the Premier league. So many other teams seem to be able to find this talent and sell it on at huge profits, why can't we?

Hopefully Dyche will be vetting every signing to see what kind of man they are and whether they are prepared to roll their sleeves up and get stuck in.

If we could pick a team of players of Pickford's quality in their respective positions from relegated teams, we'd be doing all right.

Can someone remind me how much we paid for him?

Alan J Thompson — right on.

When we keep signing players from relegated teams, why are we surprised that we are fighting relegation?

Any of the players people know will not be bargains, because they're known

The bargains will be someone you've never heard of from a league far far away. Like Coleman, Arteta, or Cahill.

Of the players that went down, I'd have the following (GKs only as backups):

Leeds: Tyler Adams (CM), Rodrigo (FW), Pascal Struijk (CB/LB), Harrison (LW/RW)

Maybes: Gnonto (FW), Illan Meslier (GK)

Dream: None

Leicester: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (CM), Wilfred Ndidi (CM)

Maybes: Patson Daka (FW), Jamie Vardy (FW), Iheanacho (FW), James Justin (RB/LB)

Dream: Harvey Barnes (LW/RW), James Maddison (FW)

Southampton: Kyle Walker-Peters (RB/LB), Gavin Bazunu (GK)

Maybes: Tino Livramento (RB/LB)

Dream: James Ward-Prowse (CM), Romeo Lavia (CM)

Harrison has always looked a good player to me. From what I've seen, he is better than both Gray and Iwobi and he would improve us. I don't know too much about Summerville.

I would think that the only way we can buy players is if we sell either Onana, Pickford or both.

Dyche and Thelwell have their hands tied until we get a new CEO and Board in place. Then the priority will be to sell what we can to raise funds for signings and reduce our deficit.

In the meantime, it's all speculation and window shopping.

Yeah, keep up the tradition of buying relegated players, because that always works wonders.

We're currently 4/1 to get relegated next season - there are 5 clubs with worse odds which I find pretty amazing given the creek we're currently up with no paddle in sight.

Who does our scouting these days? Anyone who can read by the looks of it.

It's also quite telling that when you scour the Internet, there are actually very few meaningful links with players, other than the ones we're probably selling (Pickford, Onana). The red top rags can't even drum up a decent link this time round apart from Johnstone the 'keeper from Palace to replace Pickford.

Jordan Pickford was half an hour away from becoming a relegated player. If that was at another club, would we be put off from signing him because of that?

There has been more decent options relegated this season than there has been for a while.

Nothing inherently wrong with buying relegated players, and the fact is, we can't exactly buy from mid-table teams as for them, we'd be a step down.

Leeds went down due to a woeful defence, and 3 woeful managerial appointments.

But Harrison has been a solid player for 2 seasons in the Premier League; not a world beater, but a solid player who would probably suit Dyche's style.

But it's currently all a moot point as I really can't see any incomings until mid-late July.

I'm also with Rob H on this topic. Maddison, Barnes etc. Plenty of good players have been relegated. Tarkowski is a good example of this and he had a good season for us. If Maguire can get in the England team then Tarkowski should also be in the squad.

It looks very much like we will be doing our business at the end of the window, which does not bode well. By that time, we will be looking for stocking-fillers again.

I saw the start of the headline from the Yorkshire Post 'Leeds United set to make ten-fold profit as Everton circle' and I thought "Yes! We're back in business!"

What has happened in the recent past, everyone knew we had an owner (Moshri) who know diddly squat about football, who threw money around as if it wasn't his (well sadly we know it wasn't his)!!

Managers, Agents and players not only robbed Moshri,
they also robbed this great football club and its supporters.
It has left us in a position similar to a supermarket, where
you have to bend down and buy from the bottom shelf.

Let us hope, that Dyche can put a collection of players together who can keep us above the relegation zone and and give us a platform to progress over the coming years.

I agree, there are good players relegated, but we won't be anywhere near the good ones - we'll be lucky to buy the average ones.

Everton is probably the least attractive club in the Premier League to join at the moment, and it shows in the players we're linked with.

No money to spend, selling our best players to buy, a mish-mash squad made up of players bought by various regimes, up shit creek financially with P&S rules breach, clubs (potentially) suing us, an ex-manager suing us, potential sanctions at some point, a manager who runs his players into the ground, and almost relegated two seasons on the trot – what exactly do we have to offer over the rest of the league?

Oh yeah, we have Chairman Bill to entice them in!

(I actually think Dyche is the best man for the job, despite that comment.)

Leeds are crap, that's why they went down.

I wouldn't touch any of their players.

I've seen us linked with Robles, Adams, Harrison, Gnonto and Summerville from Leeds. I'm interested how anybody feels like any of those players don't improve our squad. Obviously it has to be for the right prices.

James (32). 10/10 for your bottom line.

All of the players Dyche inherited had played for Lampard and when we he was sacked we were heading for the Championship.

With Dyche and his coaches, we looked fitter, more determined, pressed and created lots more chances which probably would have been converted with better and fitter strikers.

The players certainly responded to Dyche, and along with us the crowd, we dragged them back from going into the Championship. I think Sean Dyche and his coaches deserve a lot more time to show they can be here for quite a while.

James #32, apart from the minor points you made, Everton is a very attractive Club for elite players.

Indeed, Dave, I don't think any of us can hold Dyche responsible for anything other than keeping us in the Premier League.

Our problems I mention above seem to me to make it impossible for us to sign anyone decent this summer. It's like we're being cut adrift in many ways.

Even with teams like Chelsea unloading their huge squad, most of their best players are buggering off to Saudi for the dirty money so we can't even expect to get any of their cast-offs.

I'm just happy to be sodding off on a month-long trekking expedition on Monday so I won't have to think about this anymore!

Andrew #27, we weren't put off buying Pickford when he was a relegated player.

Good point Eric and it sort of proves my point.

Last season we got saved (literally and figuratively….) by a relegated player. Perhaps we should have got rid of him and got Lloris in… (he's won the World Cup).

Three of our best players last season have been relegated. Our keeper, our best defender and our top scorer.

The idea we can't find a relegated player that improves our woeful squad is insane.

Looking on the bright side, we're now well over a month unbeaten...

Can't get my head around the idea that we should steer clear of players from relegated clubs while looking to buy players from other clubs in the league those players clubs are now in.
Some of our better players last season, Pickford, McNeil, Doucouré, Tarkowski, came from relegated clubs.

Football is a team game so it seems like a stupid idea to pass up the opportunity to buy a good player at a reasonable price just because he was part of a side that was relegated despite the best efforts of the player. It is virtually impossible for any one player to stop a poor side getting relegated.

So, if a good player that would fit in at Everton becomes available at a price Everton can afford, then – regardless of what league the players club is in – we should be trying to get them.

Pat @36.

I'd be interested to know which elite player you think we could sign, and why?

Si (40),

If Dyche hadn't come in, we would have gone down – no matter who was playing and no single player saved us from relegation. They all helped from a very poor squad which became worse with injuries and a suspension, further helped by us, the crowd.

The season before last, another ‘scapegoat’ was one of the main players near the end of another pitiful season who helped us stay up: Delph, a player who stayed calm and kept the play going forward. I think he is retired now.

Paul #43,

I wrote that in case any elite players were reading ToffeeWeb…

I have no problem signing players from anywhere (Gueye from Villa was a great buy for little outlay which went under the radar of other clubs).

However, it's the constant unimaginative / Championship Manager type signings that irk me. Jack Harrison may be okay. But why don't rather than going, he looks okay, we have scouts find players, cheaper / potential and develop them? Haaland a prime example who we let go when nobody had heard of him.

We should make Everton the place to develop and come to and get experience of playing first-team Premier League football. Signings like Onana I can see make sense – potential huge profits. If we can sign other gems like we have previously, Arteta, Cahill, Coleman etc… great! If we could somehow find a goalscorer (like Sunderland finding Philips all those years ago; Leeds I think found Viduka etc), then brilliant.

However, buying average or okay players such as Harrison (or previous buys of Garner, Bolaise, Mykolenko, Allan etc) each year for tens of millions is very wasteful and will end up in relegation, in my opinion.

It is actually a good policy sometimes to go for relegated players as the better ones are more likely to want to stay in the Premier League and therefore be available at affordable prices.

There are numerous decent players who have been relegated. Off the cuff, I can think of our own Pickford, Tarkowski, McNeil and previously Jagielka, McCarthy and Baines. Then there's Maguire, Robertson, Gallagher, Henderson and Ramsdale (twice) and now Maddison, Harvey Barnes and Tielemans.

If we'd gone down last season, Richarlison would have been available. If Forest had dropped this season Gibbs-White and Johnson would have been available. Raphinha went to Barcelona last season. That Lavia at Southampton looks a great player too.

So, it's foolish to discard such a talent pool because they happened to be part of a team that went down.

I think Harrison and Gnonto could be decent additions. Obviously, the Leicester trio are probably going to end up with better teams but there are some decent players out there! Just buy the right ones! No to Buzunu and Meslier.

I'd test Leicester for Vardy for a small fee.

I know he's 35 and not the striker he was but I think he'd give us enough games and goals to make sure we aren't in a relegation battle next season. He still has that acceleration and hunger to play.

I think it would be a good buy, if we could get him! And get a couple of players who know how to create chances and score a few themselves.

Good points, Ray.

I'd imagine Leicester would want to keep Vardy.

I can see him scoring lots of goals in the Championship, 35 or not.

Harrison and Gnoto would be excellent signings IMO.

Totally agree that HArrison would make a good aquisition. HAvent seen enough of Gnonto or Sumterville to make a judgement but theve both looked good in patches. I see were also being linked with Tyler Adams who I don't think would be as good as Onana or Gueye.

On another note I see that Iwobi is reluctant to sign a new contract and if thats the case he could be on the outs although nobody seems to be considering him as a player to be sold. Personal point of view although he is like the energizer bunny and contributes a lot his lack of goalscoring ability is a big problem for me.

Personally I think both Harrison and Summerville are decent players. First a solid attacking mid with good work rate and second bags of potential and pace. Whether they want to come to us is another matter though. They’ll be a lot of clubs after them.

Whether a players been relegated or not should not really be a factor (Gana mark 1 came to us from a relegated villa side and was a revelation, Coleman came to us from a club most had never heard of). Main thing is that the player fills a role needed and is decent enough.

Also, Leeds and Leicester primarily went down due to crap defences. They both scored a lot more goals than we did….

We’ll be linked with a million players as usual so time will tell who we get. I’d really prefer to be linked with strikers though…. Getting nervous on that front as the lack of a regular striker was our main weakness last season.

All of this is just blah, blah, blah to me currently.

We need to finalize our Board composition and the merger with MSP before anything gets done. Once we do that, hopefully there's funds to sign a striker - the only position I honestly care about and the one that must be the top priority.

This guy? That guy? We won't do anything but trade away or release players until the merger is completed.

Gnonto is better than Cornet and Dyche would know how to deploy him.

Never a truer word spoken, Jamie.

I'm afraid I'm getting rather tired of checking each day to see if Kenwright has gone yet, as nothing is going to happen until this MSP (or whoever) business is sorted. 48-hour Bill – he has never done anything that quick, has he?

Silly of me to believe it when it was published, wasn't it.

Jamie, you are totally correct but my concern is if we wait too long all the decent players that wanted to come to us (and there can't be that many) will be snapped up.

I'm pretty sure if MSP are coming on board they would be involved in the decision making. The only worrying thing is if Kenwright is involved. AAAArggghh.

The world starts and ends in the North of England as far as Everton's scouting team is concerned.

We'll probably pull out of the Gyökeres deal, stating that the player couldn't get a work permit and doesn't speak the language or understand the culture.

Jamie,

If it's blah blah blah to you until the MSP deal is confirmed, why comment until it's confirmed?

No offence like but some of us like a bit of daft speculation!

Just realised that sounds a bit confrontational (wasn’t meant to be!) not meant to be I promise!

Yes to Harrison, no to the other lad, but we need goalscorers...

Sign the lad from Coventry and lad from Boro too...and most importantly boot out our waste-of-space Chairman — Pronto!!!

Ray 47,

I really like what I've seen of Romeo Lavia too, if there was any spare money, he'd be a brilliant acquisition.

Small possibility if Onana is sold and a player who could easily increase in value with us.

Tony, Lavia will be expensive and looking for a better opportunity than we can offer. If you want a Lavia, then you need to buy them before they've had a break out season in the Premier League - like Saints did last summer. He's been a better buy than Onana for a fraction of the cost. Shea Charles is the next one who might get released at low(ish) cost from City's academy (or Tommy Doyle who is older but more experienced). That's more our market.

Tony, I think Man City are already sniffing around Lavia – no doubt as another bench warmer.

Yep Ray, they have a buy-back clause in the contract. Doesn't get activated until 2024. £40M seems steep too.

But also a clause that allows them to automatically match any other team's firm offer. So he may well go back there for £25M or so.

I am reading this morning that Newcastle are potentially loaning Neves for 2 years from the Saudi Arabian league. If this is true, this cant be allowed to happen as they are getting round FFP this way.

I've also caught up on Clearlake who own Chelsea having links to PIF and the Saudis are paying over the odds for Chelsea's dead wood to help them out too. Premier League is dead in the water if this is the case.

Dan @ 67

Football stinks these days and the Premier League should look at itself for possible reasons why.

It is no good them saying that clubs' actions to circumvent the rules is the cause as they will have known, or should have known, that once a rule is in place it is quite natural that people will look for a way to circumvent it.

The answer is that the Premier League has to be much smarter when putting these rules in place. The whole Saudi money 'sport washing' hasn't finished yet. They are just starting.

Kenwright thinks he is clever but he isn't. He is just incompetent by today's standards.

The whole matter should have been looked at some years ago when Watford took nearly a full team on loan from an Italian club as the two clubs had the same owners.

But hey, they wouldn't have been £105M in debt after 3 years… priorities, you know. Unless of course your Accountant is interested in football.

We are being told there is no money to spend on players. Is this correct and why is the club not more transparent about this? Where has the money gone? Gordon's fee and money for Moise Kean, for example.

Not much confidence with Kenwright and Moshiri and several non-football people on the Board and Thelwell in charge of recruitment (eg, Maupay) to waste any money we do have.

And what happened to the TV money!? £135 million to be exact.

I can honestly see us kitchen sinking the whole thing, selling all the saleable players and taking a couple of relegations on the chin now the stadium financing is mostly in place with the hope of wiping the (so-called) slate clean. It's kind of how these bastards work and think.

Fuck the supporters and all that. Once Moshiri came on board with the roubles, after years of Kenwright mortgaging off everything, we were like a fucking pisshead on an all-inclusive.

Eventually it all comes back to bite you, and in our case because the management was so utterly incapable, out of their depth and lacking in experience, it bit hard.

I think there is worse to come, and I also think given what's gone on before with these, that we'll be made an example of ….. and not complain or fight one bit.

Kenwright is most definitely NOT a scouser.

That's the spirit, Nick. Although I do get and agree with some of your sentiment, a ball hasn't been kicked yet. Who would have thought Leicester would be relegated at the beginning of last season? Who would have thought Brighton would qualify for Europe? You just never know.

If I read into the rumours and take them seriously, which I don't, I take them with a pinch of salt, it would appear we are circling and possibly in discussion with Leeds. For who, I don't know. The media seem to be throwing names out there, hoping one will stick.

From the BBC this morning, we are linked with a Sheffield United striker.

It's silly season.

Nick #72,
Your second paragraph made me laugh out loud.
That perfectly sums up Everton right now- an absolutely clueless laughing stock of a football club.
I am dreading next season. It's going to be grim.
Kenwright has singlehandedly destroyed Everton.

Fuck the supporters? Really?

I get you follow on statement that we all got optimistic, but fuck the supporters?

Glad to see you are going into the new season in the top flight of English football full of optimism Andrew.

Like Nick, you make some valid points, however football is an unpredictable game. Leicester won the league from nowhere having been in a relegation scrap the season before, although they ended up comfortable.

We were in dire straights in the winter on 1983 before rallying to finish 7th, win the FA Cup and go on to win the league twice.

Anything can happen.

Hopefully get to me you and Nick at a match next season. The spoken word often comes over better than the written.

Why is everyone so negative? No one from the club has said we’re skint. From June the 30th our rolling losses are reduced and we’ll have at least £70M in the bank from the Gordon and Kean sales.

We don’t need to announce this, be quiet, snap up some good players who suit the tactics from Championship clubs: Gnotto, Ndiya, Rodrigo would be very exciting additions

Bring in some cash from Maupay, Gomes, Simms, Keane, Godfrey etc and buy a new LB and covering CB

Branthwaite is like a new signing and Warrington can step up to take Davies role.

A preseason with Dyche, a well drilled team with players who suit his tactics and there’s no reason we can’t be pushing for a top half finish.

Danny,
I love the club as much as anyone and I have had some great times following Everton but it really is hard to be optimistic while Moshiri and Kenwright are still running the club.

I don't doubt that for one minute Andrew. We are all Evertonians. I am no bigger a supporter than you or any other.

I just get protective about the supporters when mud gets slung. Not from you.

The important thing is we do what we are best at. Stick together and don't let divide and conquer rule.

We are all frustrated. Believe it or not, me as much as anyone.

Keep the faith Andrew. Not long until the next season starts.

Andrew #76

Tell me you can’t read a set of financial accounts without telling me you can’t read a set of financial accounts.

We are in a dreadful place financially, better than if we had got relegated of course but still in a big hole.

Expect further reductions in our payroll and we certainly won’t be making any major acquisitions.

The best we can hope is there is a significant amount of recycling that allows Dyche to bring in players that make us more competitive.

Andrew (76),Andrew you make some good positive points but the negativity will stay with a large majority of fans with each day Kenwright is still any part of the club.

Well Andrew, I think that when hard times come, and it looks like they certainly have, we look for signs of hope. I think tyhis new board...even with Him in it, can start getting this club back on its feet, at least off it's knees.
I can only see what happens during the summer recruitment season, as can we all. Until that's over, I'll continue to try and be positive until it ends. If not hope then I'll support them anyway, like we did without any board. withour help, our team avoided relegation. Esopecially those supporters who went all over the country to shout them on.
Let's just see what happens before we judge this "interim" board.

Harrison may be viable as he has rumoured to have an escape clause 16m , we need to be exploring more players with one year left or value escape clauses . Rodrigo is another 3.5m . We seem to be interested in these two so just maybe get some value on proven players . Then, the next trick is to keep a lid on the wage demands.

Leeds bought Gnonto for £5m last year, Summerville for £2m 2 years ago and Harrison for £12m 2 years ago.

We need to stop buying from PL clubs once players values have doubled or more after one or two decent seasons.

Financial restrictions may force us to be a bit cleverer in the transfer market this summer. We’ve really struggle to find good value for the last 5 years or so (with a few exceptions of course)

Here’s one for you:
Barring free transfers, can you name the last 5 first team players we bought for less than £10m?

Kevin, Idrissa Gueye ( Mark 2) Demarai Grey, Fabian Delph, Sandro Rameriez, Idrissa Gueye (mark 1)

Rameriez may be pushing it to claim he as signed to go straight into the first team but he probably was signed to feature so it would be Aaron Lennon in to replace him if not. That’s a list stretching back 8 years, Frightening!

Did we have to pay for Sandro Ramirez? If not Vlasic? 9.5m.

That rules out Tarkowski then.

Without going into too much detail or looking too far back.

Gueye

Gray

Calvert-Lewin?

Phil Neville

Tim Cahill

Jagielka

Depends how far back you want to go.

This Leeds lad cost them 1.5 million and is now apparently worth 20 million.

I'd rather we tried harder to find such players at source.

Celtic, Brighton (and how), Leicester, Arsenal and Southampton have all had success in scouting the J-League, for one example, but our scouts seem reluctant to leave the UK.

Fulham are asking £35m for Antonee Robinson!!!

Totally Peter.

Have an effective scouting system in place.

Be that to improve the team short term or protect the club longer term.

Or both.

I think the business term is return of investment.

Peter, given our signings since Moshiri took over, I'm not sure we have a scouting system? I'm pretty sure we'd have had a far more successful hit rate with transfers if we'd had one lad playing championship manager and recommending players who are good on that.

At this time of year with no games to report on journalists have to write something to fill the pages, so its usually filled with Journalists speculating on possible transfers. Some may be based on good information but most are pure speculation, and with no football fans will always read about possible transfers for their club.

Before we can even speculate on possible incoming transfers a lot will depend on what budget Sean Dyche will have and will the budget be solely made from player sales. We still don't know if Gomes will come back from Lille or Gbmin will return also what decision Dyche will make about Delle. Then there is Cannon and Branthwaite that were both on loan last season. The only defernites we know is Tom Davies and Begovic are moving on.

Tony - Sandro cost us £5.2m as he had a release clause that we activated. Having scored 16 goals in 31 games the season before we signed him, Since then he’s managed 21 in 148 games.

To quote Alan Ball : Once Everton has touched you, nothing will be the same.

I know we need to look forward and hope our future is brighter than our present, and recent past, but the sad truth is I don’t think we have either the money, the ambition, the knowledge or the people in charge to realise these fantasies and that’s what they are - fantasies.

Everton is a club in turmoil. No one will want to touch us with a barge pole. We have an absent, tax dodging owner, a universally detested (interim?) chairman, a manager at a fucking pop festival dad dancing, a chronically weak and unbalanced squad, a stadium that’s crumbling, a stadium we can’t afford to pay for (currently), we are under investigation for ffp and might be up shits creek without a paddle and I could go on and on.

I hate pissing on people’s parades but we are not in normal times. We had a player walk out on us the day he was supposed to sign ffs. That should be a massive red, flashing light about how players see us once they walk through the door. We are either a dysfunctional basket case or, a place to put your feet up and relax, be part of the “Everton family” and all that.

The point I’m trying to make is, under current circumstances, the only players we will attract be either has-been journeymen looking for an easy pay day or no mark players who nobody else wants. Any young player worth his salt wouldn’t touch Everton right now. The place is toxic and it’s not getting any better anytime soon.

Colin, is it toxic? Or is that the narrative you chose to spin?

We’re on the verge of moving into the best stadium in the country, we’re getting a significant capital investment, a new board is being formed. We have a new manager who has taken a lesser side to Europe who wont tolerate players ‘putting their feet up’. We’re being linked to exciting youngsters. We have the spine of a very good team.

I’m not saying there are not problems, but the doom mongers on here make it a depressing site to visit. For me supporting a club is about hopes and dreams not just telling each other how shit everything is repeatedly for a year.

Sam #83, You realise that what you are talking about is Tom Cannon, Ellis Simms, Stan Mills, Lewis Warrington, etc.

Dan and Danny - I think our scouting system has gone to pot since Moyes left and Moshiri took over. Starting really with Koeman we had 'marquee' signings like that lad from Iceland, who was already 'proven' and therefore cost a wedge, or we've paid the UK premium for players from clubs here.

This isn't new, Joe Royle notoriously would only sign foreigners that had proven themselves in the league (leave aside Claus Thomsen for a minute) but that landed us the likes of Kanchelskis and the big difference is that they didn't cost a relative fortune as today.

It has been alleged that Moshiri is swayed by the likes of the so-called super agent Kia Joorabchian, and sure an agent will have enough players on their books to fill recruitment needs, but at a price obviously.

The days of picking up someone like Coleman for 60k seem very far away indeed - and yet, quite obviously, other clubs are doing it and doing it well. I mention the J-league because Mitoma cost Brighton a mere 2.7 million and I think Celtic paid no more than than for any of their Japanese internationals. What are they worth now?

It is a model that can clearly work and one we should really be adopting in these times of limited resource.

Would anyone be surprised if we bought Antonee Robinson for 30 odd Million with the Board claiming it was outstanding business? But then again that would be dependent on having money to spend. I honestly believe the club release snippets of info about we are connected to in order to deflect criticism and keep the fans thinking things will get better. I hope I'm proved wrong.

It’s a very long time since we had hopes and dreams Andrew, and when you read the leaving notes of the two players who have just decided to leave Everton, then it’s obvious the club has got some very major problems.

I just hope the club can make the necessary changes otherwise it won’t be long before we are in another relegation dogfight imo.

If saying this makes me a doom-monger, then I’m sorry, but you only had to listen to Sean Dyche speaking after we beat Bournemouth, to understand we are currently a total basket case of a club, although it was very refreshing to hear that our manager wasn’t in denial.

We are definitely going to need Dyche’s pragmatism, but without some new players, I think it’s going to be a very depressing season, especially whilst the toxic chairman remains.

My time is up, I’ve been writing in a very negative and downcast way whilst constantly browbeating the despicable chairman, so unless I’ve got something positive to say, I think it’s time to stop contributing towards making this website so depressing. I know it won’t be easy because ToffeeWeb seems to have become an addiction, but I will try and give it my best shot!

It’s sad that we are going back to 2017 and Gueye mark 1 as one of the last 5 transfers for under £10m when clubs like Leeds and Brighton can pick players up every year.

Just shows the shift in mentality since Moshiri joined from scouting to throwing money around hoping for the best.

Also puts Brands in a bad light since this is what he was brought here for.

Tony- it's totally understandable. I think we were all waiting, hoping that the changes and investment would solve the immediate problems but as we know nothing of the inner machinations of the club, it is depressing that the three(Directors) were used as sacrificial lambs and the main man remains.
Of course Moshiri has proved to be out of touch with the fans. If Kenwright can be so deluded living in London, then an Iranian living in Monaco is bound to be even more so.
The big hope for me is that the new investment will lead to sensible decisions by the new board. Bill has his romantic side but Moshiri is a man with no idea about football. He may well have been badly advised or he might have simply demanded his own way with Kenwright, previous board members and managers/directors of football.
It is usually frustrating at this time of year, hoping for new arrivals, and we have often been left with undermining purchases.
This time we can only hope that the essential ingredients are in place in time for Dyche and Thelwell to do some business.
To think we avoided the spectre of relegation and still had such a mess on our hands is testimony to the absolutely catastrophic leadership of this club over the last seven years.
I hope that before we kick a ball, that Kenwright can be prised out of his shell and we can all be united behind the club as one.

Colin (94)—Glasto not my thing, full of tedious capitalist hippies pretending to be cool for the weekend.But….given the hard work he has put in and will be again, good on Dyche for enjoying a moment of relaxation there.

Tony, don’t stop posting mate, we are all feeling it at the moment but TW without you would not be TW.

Despite all the doom and gloom I remain optimistic and positive about the future. Obviously the news about Bill was not what we wanted to hear but I think there is some reason to the madness. The increase of 4 to 5 board members with 3 accountants is a purposeful move. Although I am only speculating, this tells me that MSP will bring in 2 of their own in place of 2 interim people. I think 1 of those will be a finance guy and I am praying that the other will be Bill. I can dream.

In respect of player recruitment, why do we have a DOF if Bill is needed to help with transfer negogiations? Sounds like BS to me. Let Thelwell do his job properly, he may surprise us.

I don’t think we will see any incoming players until 1st July onwards. Rodrigo would be decent but not worth paying over the odds for. As I say, let Thelwell do his job,

As for Dyche dad dancing at Glastonbury, isn’t he allowed a few days off? What exactly is he expected to be doing at the moment? Hopefully he will come back refreshed and fired up ready to get us into shape for a top 10 finish.

UTFT!

Tony, don’t go, just don’t lose hope. Change is a foot, the green shoots are there…

Tony, we will get through the current awful state of play, BK will go, we will acquire competent people to run the club and SD will turn things around on the football pitch.

Believe!

Tony #99. No! Keep posting, Tony. I don’t respond to all your posts but I do read them all. Most of them. Some of them.
Seriously, if it’s should I go or should I stay, it’s got to be stay and post.

Tony A , you are looking at it the wrong way. Your posts and many others are not depressing, just totally passionate in their content. Real dyed in the wool, life long Evertonians trying any way possible to get the club back on an even keel. Every post counts, we can’t just sit back and take it.

Tony 99

I very much share your pessimism for the very simple reason it is not unfounded as things stand. I have written elsewhere that we are in the gutter, a laughing stock of a club- that is the feedback I get from my football loving friends. We are an object of pity, a bit like Man City were in the late 90's, hapless and relegated.

But perhaps that comparison alone can bring some hope. Things are reversible, even if they may take a fair amount of time. There is flux in football, just as there is in life. Maybe right now, we are at our lowest ebb.

There has also been some talk of supporters being powerless, however much they moan and complain. At an individual level, that is true. But I was struck by that fan survey linked to on here a few weeks ago and surprised by the near unanimity of the views of the fans. We are not owners and cannot control but I believe we can very much influence and I think recent events indicate so. We all play our small part in that happening. And in the meantime, there's no harm in venting from time to time...

Tony, well mate, I believe you hit the bottom of the barrel, and you know what they say, the only way is up. I know your at the bottom because I was already there. Oh I still post, not as much, but do so with sadness as I know these bastards are done, dragging out the final act.. Moshiri is using Kenwright, Kenwright can't let go.. but he will go. So the Ian's,Barry's or anyone else can say what they like. We have our truth and whilst it's not verbatim it's pretty real. So sit quiet buddy, don't let them get to you, it will soon be over.

Tony A - don’t let the bastards grind you down or it’s a win for them 🤡🤷💙

Mike @110 I think that you have just found our new motto "ne nothi tere te"

If Sean hadn't spent his £3m keeping us up bonus on a couple of Glastonbury tickets maybe he could have bought us a centre forward instead.

Interesting players from the relegated teams who we may have a chance of signing : PL games only. ( Values Transfermarket ).

Jack Harrison, Leeds. Age 26, left footed. Value £22m.

Position LW/RW/AM. Games PL - 206. Goals 34 Assts 32.

Season 22/23 - 36 games 6 goals 10 assts.

Kelechi Iheanacho, Leicester. Age 26, left footed. Value £18m.

Position CF. Games PL - 206. Goals 55 Assts 33.

Season 22/23 - 35 games Goals 5 Assts 5.

Luke Thomas, Leicester. Age 22, left footed. Value £12m.

Position LB. Games PL - 56. Goals 1 Assts 2.

Season 22/23 - 17 games.

Carlos Alcaraz, Southampton. Age 20. right footed. Value £15m

Position Midfield. Games PL - 18. Goals 4 Assts 2. ( since Jan 23 ).

Tony #99

As Ghandi said, Honesty is the best policy. So what you write is your honest opinion and you cant have followed a better teacher.

A lot of people who write on here do it on a spur of a moment and sometimes realize it was a mistake after they cool down, and there are others who just want to be noticed and write negative comments, and getting more positive contributors to stop entering their comments means they are winning.

Their is no doubt that since Moshiri took over there has been a decline in Everton FC. that thankfully may be slowly turning into a positive , and it needs contributors like yourself to be able to write about it in your honest opinion manner.

Personally, I think there is a little cause for optimism this summer. The main thing is that we have a manager who can get a tune out of mediocre and / or mismatched players. I'm genuinely interested to see what he can do with the squad he has after a full pre-season. The second thing is that we will, one way or another, get a few reinforcements in this summer - particularly the forward we desperately need to cover / compete with DCL. We just will. Finally, our problems are largely self-harm. We've been run appallingly badly for about 8 years now. If we can get our act together, we could bounce back relatively quickly. It won't be immediate - but within a couple of seasons we could be competing for cups and hosting the likes of Fiorentina again but in a magnificent new stadium. That obviously won't satisfy those who still yearn for titles etc but it'll be a marked improvement and something to actually enjoy again.

I don’t want to go all pollyanna about this but this looks so bad because Moshiri has run out of optons. MSP will squeeze him rather than appease him and he isn’t coming to the mic to let us know about it.

A more stable departure would have meant more time with Bill and Farhad. The uncertainty is hell but I cannot see where Bill or Moshiri have improved their position. MSP eventually gets terms that allow them to justify being dragged into this shitshow.

I doubt Dyche would be at Glastonbury (good take Larry) if he wasn’t being given some assurances. He could easily be shopping offers if he did not think Everton were moving fast toward functionality.

Don’t stop Tony! You have to get it out of your system and this is the place. We are all aware of the psychological condition we’ve developed supporting this club. None of us make it through a season without an episode of some sort. And besides, “wot the fuck are we goina do. Fight the Cuts!”is a Mekons line we can all get right with.

Come on! Dont let the old man’s tricks bring you down. We fought his intransigence and have him in a limited and fading condition. You can move to the next set of anxious concerns or celebrate the obvious. Bill is the past, he’s only there to the cleanup for the next owners.

Dale #116, that last line is very good mate. I hope he has plenty of bleach!

Rule 1 of transfers; don't believe anything until the player appears in the shirt and the scarf. Having said that there appears to be a pattern in the the DoF's recruitment policy (speaking of our Kev, does anyone remember Ian Brady the Invisible Man?), which prioritises Premier league experience.

We've seen it with the McNeil & Maupay, was consistently linked to Che Adams etc and now linked with players from the relegated teams. So Premier League experience should have after it, didn't pull up any trees or set the world on fire. So so players make so so teams.

I think it's a worrying trend and ignores the path similar cash strapped teams have gone down, the likes of Brighton & Brentford; go out into the world and look for young, hungry talent from around the globe.

I starting watching Toffee TV about 4 years ago, and at the time they had a regular guest on the show, Andy aka The Piv. He was a professional scout using stats and matrix and regularly trotted out names of up and coming footballers, some of who are now in the £40-50 cash bracket.

I simply do not believe that we haven't got anyone in the backroom staff that doesn't understand the moneyball approach. Having said this, this is the same team that didn't identify a striker even though they had from the beginning of last season to look for one; which nearly got us relegated.

Out of all the parts that make up EFC, the recruitment and scouting is the most abject-and that's one hell of an achievement.

The kind words are appreciated, but I’m totally fed up constantly calling Bill Kenwright, every name under the sun, because he his a man who I would genuinely love never having to read, write or talk about ever again.

I want to be positive but as I’ve said on too many occasions, the man is nothing but an absolute curse, so whilst he remains, I believe positivity is in very short supply.

I remember one of my mates telling me that Bill Kenwright was all over them (this was confirmed by his partner, when I was laughing and honestly trying to defend cheap Bill) when they were selling Jarg Prada coats. But it didn’t surprise me, that this particular devil, even wears Jarg Prada!

He’s a conman, and a fake, in the sense of how he kidded so many people into believing that his best and greatest intentions, were all about putting Everton above everything else, and until he leaves, my anger will remain, and it’s getting stronger by the day.

I hope Moshiri is using Bill Kenwright, Christine, but only in the short term, because if he remains for much longer, the toxicity levels are going to gradually keep on increasing, and let’s face it, both of them have been absolutely appalling, and it would be much better if they both just left our club.

I’m genuinely not sure if this is the case though, because I think it’s the very negative and extremely self centered Kenwright, who is holding the upper hand, but speculating is getting me nowhere, except involved in silly debates, with people who know about as much as I do on such matters, but seem to enjoy arguing the point, whilst trying to defend a man who is simply not defendable imo.

As I said ToffeeWeb has become an addiction, but because there is nothing positive to talk about, I believe my repetition is adding nothing that people haven’t heard at least ten thousand times before.

To finish on something positive, I have been going out of my way to drive past Bramley Moore, and it’s slowly getting bigger and better and closer to completion, and if my prayers are answered, then the curse won’t be around to witness his holy grail🙏💙🤞

David #118 "Rule 1 of transfers; don't believe anything until the player appears in the shirt and the scarf."

And even then... was it Didi Hamann stayed just one day at one club?

And if they cannot manage a smile at the photo op cancel their contract. Looking at you Aaron Lennon, pfft

I’m with you Tony, I’ll keep me trap shut unless I can find something positive to say about this former football club.

Let the good times begin.

Well I don’t really keep up with all things universe but didn’t God or whoever you have managing things have a big day yesterday stitching up Vlad?

Bill is on the list so give it some more time.

Brent - I don't know about Didi but I'm pretty sure Unsy's ears are burning.

Totally in harmony with you Tony.

I was in 7th heaven when the gang of three resigned and it was announced Bills position would be announced 48 hours later but in typical Everton fashion they raise your hopes and then destroy them.

On the day it was announced that not only would Black Bill stay on as chairman, but Moshiri would join him. I was so devastated I couldn't do anything the whole day.

Imagine Kenwright being in charge of transfers and then expect more "passed his sell by date" incomings such as Rooney or crazy deals like Delle Alli.

Imagine trying to get a decision past those two Gobshites.

Like you I'm getting more depressed the more I think about it.

Peter #124 Ah yes, Unsworth, another short-lived move!

Villagate!

Further to my post @83 we've been linked today with Ayman Kari of PSG. He's a central midfielder whose only 17 but has great potential.

We need to start trying to get players before they really crack the bigger leagues and become over-priced.

Some won't work but some should if well scouted. Clever transfer operating involves buying young and cheap and then selling once the hype train has got going. Exactly what Brighton are doing with Caciedo who we could have bought (i posted about him a few times before he went to Brighton!) for £5m and will be sold this summer for around £70/80m.

A combination of cheap/well-priced experience (Rodrigo for £3m), good younger players who can add something now (Boniface for £8m) but will be worth more in a few years and excellent young players (Kari for £2m) who might be brilliant in a year or two is what's need to get this club turned around. That and selling well. We have sold really poorly in the last few years mostly and letting the likes of Mina and Davies go for free is more evidence of that. Have to start selling some players (both useful and useless ones) at the right time.

Hi Tony [119] I know that the circumstances are different, but I have been in a situation similar to yours. I considered that I was being treated in an unfair manner on this site on a couple of occasions, and I was ready to walk away from something I enjoyed being part of. Thankfully fellow ToffeeWebers rallied on my behalf and persuaded me to continue posting, I'm hoping that you adopt the same attitude in your situation.

The people on the website are not really a problem John Mc, and even if I find some people very outlandish, I think it would be a very boring place if everyone just agreed with each other, mate.

My problem is that I’ve exhausted my feelings, and because I will not be going inside Goodison Pk again whilst Mr Kenwright remains, (I would make an allowance for the last ever game at Goodison Pk, - God willing) then I think I’ve said everything more than enough times regarding the currently very sad predicament.

Maybe I’m cutting my nose off to spite my face John, but what we have been allowed to become under Bill Kenwright, has been slowly making me feel sick for years, and although not everyone should be like me (definitely not because I believe that Everton Football Club, have never needed their crowd as much as they do right now, imo) but maybe a total no show for the final pre-season game at Goodison, might be the biggest statement the great supporters of Everton, have ever made?

Maybe I’m a militant, but it seems to me that both Kenwright and Moshiri, have got no respect for us Evertonians, even if we are the biggest reason why the club will still be playing top flight football next year.

Tony, keep going, though it’s a slog, all, Evertonian, Die Hards, will have their days, the next big special day hopefully celebrating the departure of BPB, and real team of Board people who will run Everton, professionally, and not as a chore, can’t be arsed thing to do.

This past 30 odd years since Evertons last title has been mental torture, and plays havoc with the mind.

There was a joke bouncing around a few weeks back, after the Conference League win, and some West Ham, fans, I have known, for years, were taking the piss out of their club, in view of how many days since their last trophy.

Well out of the list of clubs, on this sketch, it was an interesting statistic.Everton weren’t on it, but I told them, 28 years and counting.

But soon Everton, will get deliverance, in the Board room, and then to develop and hopefully become a consistent team.

I don’t write on TW, as often, but I enjoy the read, and adding my 10 bobs worth, now and again.

My lad and his mates, have a great sense of pride and belief in Everton, and the Spirit of Everton.
They rise to every challenge and it’s refreshing to see such passion, and belief.

The virtues of youthful spirit, perhaps or blind to the obvious, of the way Everton, has been brought to its knees, ravaged by decades of neglect and poor management.

I carry on for myself, and for them, I carry on, and I hope you carry on writing on TW, as your knowledge and insight on all matters Everton, makes this international Everton forum, all the better.

But pragmatism, and hope is needed, hopefully the Sky’s will be Royal Blue rather than Grey, over Everton FC, very soon.

UTFTs!

Tony,

Music!

The Good Times Are Coming: Mama Cass
Hi Ho Silver Lining: Jeff Beck
The Devil's Answer: Atomic Rooster
Mess Of Blues: Elvis Presley
Blue Moon: Marcels
Cakewalk Into Town: Taj Mahal
Waiting For The Cards To Fall: Guy Davis
Even A Dog Can Shake Hands: Warren Zevon
Into The Mystic: Van Morrison
Big Yellow Taxi: Joni Mitchell

Go where it takes you.

Always Chris, and that Joni Mitchell song, always makes me smile mate!

Growing up I used to love Peter Gabriel - and the opening lyrics to his Excuse Me classic, are how I've been feeling today.

Excuse me - you're wearing out my joie de vie - grabbing those good years again - I want to be alone!

Tony, please don't think I was trying to chase you off the site. You probably bore the brunt of my frustration, it was aimed a little wider than you. Both yourself and Colin are much-valued contributors, not only by myself, but evidently by this much wider and addictive community.

I think after the depressing nature of the last few years the only time I don't feel the weight of disappointment, negativity and fear is the off-season.

Now should be a time for hope (however hard to find that may be). If we don't have hope, what do we have?

Andrew, if you could chase me off this website, you would honestly be doing me a big favour mate. That's not disrespecting Lyndon and Michael, who both run a terrific website, but more to do with how much time my ToffeeWeb addiction is taking away from me.

I didn't mean to say I was leaving, Andrew, rather that I was only going to post things which make me feel positive. I've met some very good Evertonians, through coming on this website, and some of the people I haven't met also make me smile for different reasons.

Paul B, is an Everton fanatic, and Chris W, who seems to have a lot more control these days over his own ToffeeWeb addiction, always makes me smile with his musical knowledge.

I might just turn up one day in one of Chris's son's bars in New Brighton and let the music take us to where we both want to go Chris, as I sit here listening to one of my favourite ever songs.

You did not desert me, my Brothers in Arms. 💙

My Alexa Playlist...

All right now.. Free
Brown Sugar.. The Stones
Superstition.. Stevie Wonder
Driftwood... The Moody Blues
Papa was a rolling stone.. The Temptations
Harlem Shuffle... Bob and Earle
Shoeshine boy... The Humble bums
Mule Skinner Blues... Jimmie Rodgers
Lady Maddona.. The Beatles
What becomes of the broken hearted.. Jimmy Ruffin
Six months in a leaky boat... Split Enz

Plus quite a few more!
Always

Christine - not bad:

1. Same as it ever was - Talking Heads
2. Teenage Kicks - The Undertones
3. Virginia Plain - Roxy Music
4. The carnival is over - The Seekers
5. Hot Love - T Rex
6. Penny Lane - the best ever band in the world ever
7. Waterloo sunset - The Kinks
8. Eleanor Rigby - as above.
9. Wuthering Heights - Kate Bush
10. I saw her standing there - the Beatles again.

Follow-up list..

Long cool woman in a black dress.. The Hollies
I dreamed last night.. Justin Hayward and John Lodge
Mister Blue Sky... ELO
End of the line.. The Travelling Wilburies
Apple scruffs... George Harrison
Oh Well... Fleetwood Mac
Sledgehammer... Peter Gabriel
Don't give up... Kate Bush & Peter Gabriel
Rag momma rag... The Band

Heck..this list goes on and on.. not bad Mark, Tony, if that lot don't get you off your chair, try the opening notes of Z-Cars!

Mark, Waterloo Sunset started out as Liverpool Sunset!
Here's some good Blue tunes for the playlist:

Bowie - Sound and Vision
Captain Beefheart - Her eyes are a blue million miles
Belle and Sebastian - The blues are still blue
Nick Drake - Way to Blue
Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes
Neil Young - Revolution Blues/Ambulance Blues

In this proud land we grew up strong
we were wanted all along
I was taught to fight, taught to win
I never thought I could fail

What a song, Christine, and if you are interested in watching a fantastic happy piece of music, then I would suggest you type in Shaking The Tree, secret world tour by Gabriel. Try it, girl!

Tony @130,

I think I have said it before but, although I read nearly every post, I feel drained by the sheer helplessness and frustration of being a Blue, not only that but being as far away as you can get on this planet.

It hurts, Tony, it actually really sodding hurts being an Evertonian. It used to fill me with pride, but that shame and ridicule of the last two decades (yes, decades) of "a world class influencer". (Isn't another term con-man? Same thing isn't it?)

I too am fed up trying to hold up the banner until everyone gets it… so take a break, ease up, let the negativity go. But don't let them win, Tony, don't you dare let them win. Chin up lad.

Yesterday, I got half-way up Mt Taranaki and thought of you and smiled, sat on my bum and looked around at the view, utterly spectacular.. Blue sky, 3 degrees, cleared my head.

Find your mountain again Tony, enjoy the view!

ps: To those who complain all the posts are not football related… if all you read about on here is Everton and nothing else, you would jump off this bloody mountain! This site is for Evertonians, what they believe, how they cope, who they are and all things club. It's what makes us tick, the variety of life is here, the smiles, support, the laughter and tears. We may support the club, but we support each other too.

We are family...

Tony son,

Breathe, or you'll turn blue!

Wedding Day Blues: Laura Nyro
Blues in the Bottle: Lovin Spoonful
Living with the Blues: Southside Johnny
Misty Blue: Dorothy Moore

You'll always be welcome in the Beagle Pubs, Tony. About to open the fourth! But you'll have to go over the water.

Christine, I know exactly how you feel.

But way too many gave Bill too much time because he was an Evertonian (a poisonous one, yes), and from Liverpool. He talked about the good old days and for many that was enough.

Meanwhile, the Premier League was growing and evolving along with many different clubs; Everton just stood still.

Tony, that's going on my list this morning.

But how did I leave out Rise, by The Christians – watch it on YouTube!

Great Liverpool band...

Joe, too many people today just read headlines not the story. When reality bites, it's often too late to do anything about it.

People like Kenwright know this, that people rarely look for the small print. The Premier League grew as we went backwards, hanging on to others' coattails. Wrong owner at the wrong time got us Moshiri, whose legacy is the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, no matter who he sells to.

Kenwright should have gone when Moyes left. He stayed for the money and forfeited any respect of the fans.

I nearly lost my life on that mountain, Christine, and it was only when I read that Mt Egmont had claimed 79 lives did I actually think how absolutely stupid I had been, climbing that mountain in an arl pair of Reebok Classics!

We think we are dead clever, us city kids, but someone was definitely looking down on me, even though I was thousands of miles away from home.

I haven't watched the telly since Everton survived against Bournemouth, but I'm going to switch it on now and watch Sir Elton John playing Glastonbury. I hope he sings the song that always reminds me of watching Everton win the first piece of silverware I ever seen them win, and I hope he sings Daniel, because he has sung it for me once before!

It's one of my claims to fame, reminiscing about the time I met Elton John, but football has always been very kind to me, and has left me with a lifetime of memories, and helped me meet so many great friends. I just want our kids to see Everton win again, and witness the absolutely fantastic joy, that this will bring. 🤞

Okay, sorry about my joke about possibly being recruited by Wagner FC. I hope he adds some class to that league and has a fine second phase of his career.

It has always fascinated me that people have such diverse musical tastes although musical talent is a gift given to so few.

Of course one doesn't always need talent to have some success in the music business, the internet has seen to that.

Many people in the recording industry have their ''five minutes'' of fame and even more so these days thanks to the greater exposure worldwide if only from a curiosity standpoint on the internet.

Very little produced today stands the test of time as a bigger percentage of the recorded product is sub-par – as in certain other ''entertainment'' genres.

People sometimes change their music tastes as they mature but they will always be faithful to some artists and recordings throughout their lives as they become more discerning about what is really good and what was just a whim.

However, that Doucouré goal and the roar that greeted it will remain at the top of list ahead of all that's gone before.

This thread was about potential signings for the club and hopefully there's somebody actively trying to do just that for what looks to be mission impossible to avoid the drop.

However, this thread has turned into something a lot better than that as fellow ToffeeWebbers open their hearts and allow us all to get to know each other better.

Christine. You mentioned the other week that you had traced your heritage in the dockland area of Liverpool back 250 years. That's both amazing and beautiful at the same time. Imagine that some of your family may have witnessed us as St Domingo FC beating Everton Church Club 1-0 in our first ever match or winning our first Championship in 1890-91!

Yet here you are now, near thebottom of the world, nearly 12,000 miles away, still wrapped up in the emotions of everyday life of being a Blue – even whilst you're hiking.

My Auntie Kitty worked in the Beehive. (No, not one of the two pubs in Liverpool city centre.) She worked there for 35 years and I dropped in to see her in Wellington and borrow her old Datsun a couple of times. Once doing more kms in 2 weeks down the South Island than she had done in 12 years. God bless my Auntie Kitty.

Tony. I don't post half as much as you but my posts are generally in the negative too, mostly having a crack at one of the two dickheads who are destroying us. I generally do my posts off the cuff when I'm not too busy or trying to get my fat fingers to play a proper chord on the guitar to a Dylan or Young song.

I do think that the club has been stolen from us and believe that we punish ourselves by still following them. I can't even imagine what the likes of Danny, Rob and the rest of the travelling Blues give up in order to see the Toffees play away games.

This goes for all supporters really and we are long overdue for some success. We're getting a new ground so hopefully we'll soon have a new team, new owners, new songs and a vibrant bouncing Dock Road again.

I'm pretty sure if I were home I'd still be making a fool of myself in trying to get rid of these idiots. They could possibly use me as a reason to stay away from Goodison although it would be Bill in a headlock rather than Denise.

I still miss match day though because, win, lose or draw, it was County Road then into town to drink, sing and dance the night away. I'm looking forward to being home for my 60th next year.

Keep posting, Tony (and all ToffeeWebbers) as it helps us all get to know each other and understand that we're all suffering in different ways.

I love Peter Gabriel too and have to say his duo with Kate Bush is still one of the best duos ever. Saw him in Earls Court just on 30 years ago. Brilliant.

Playlist:

In the rare old times - Dubliners
Tangled up in Blue - Dylan
Out on the weekend - Neil Young (live)
Sympathy for the Devil - Stones
Baba O'Riley - The Who
Wish you were here - Pink Floyd
Evil woman - ELO
Simple Man - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Clampdown - The Clash
Seven Seas - Bunnymen
Band on the run - Wings

I read your post about two hours ago, Pete, and then decided I'd listen to one of your favorite songs by Neil Young, and I've been watching street singers perform all over the world since them mate.

I think the two most powerful things in the world are music and the ocean, and watching two little old rabbis singing Shine On You Crazy Diamond on the streets of Jerusalem was absolutely brilliant, mate!

Leicester were relegated but I can think of 4 or 5 of their players that I would take.
Have Villa got a bad player in Tielemanns?
Don't see the issue getting Leeds best players, Tarkovski and ONeil were relegated with Burnley but argueably our best outfield players last season.

Tony. I stumbled across that video a few months back and it is indeed beautiful. Better than the Floyd version.
Listening to buskers in the street is just as enjoyable if not better than having to pay big money to watch the big names play live and in a similar way it is just as enjoyable to watch a game of footy in the park as it is to watch Everton play. Free of stress anyway !

I’ve really started enjoying watching my youngest son, playing Pete, and although he still wants to beat as many players as possible, I’ve told him that as long as he keeps putting the effort in, he will eventually work it out for himself. I’ve had to say this because he doesn’t want to listen to an arl moaning basket, like me!

Seriously I would have went to the end of the earth to watch Everton, but I’d choose watching either of the two kids playing, over watching Everton, at least 50% of the time now.

Maybe it’s an age thing? But being honest and all serious, the only thing that might have put years on me - over these last few years, has been Everton, and more specifically, the self centered antagonistic bastard, who has just stayed on for the good of the club.

I don’t know when you left Liverpool, Pete, but an old group called Groundpig, now cover a lot of Bob Dylan tracks. I watched them outside in the afternoon sunshine, (jury’s inn hotel) before Dylan last played in Liverpool and without doubt they were much, much better than the greatest poet, I’ve ever heard, and who played live, that same evening.100% better better imho.

Tony (153),

Groundpig had a huge following on Merseyside, I wonder how they never made it nationally.

I never heard or saw them but reading the Echo, at that time, there was loads of excellent reports about their gigs,mind you they never played at The Goblin or The Clock, local pubs, so maybe they were not that hot!.

Anyway for a a good lively song that will make you happy try this one from a great performer: Jump in the line by Harry Belefonte.

Tony. Been over here near on 30 years but still been back and travelled quite a fair bit. Not quite an Aussie yet but my lads are.
Groundpig, or formerly Groundhog, were going strong back in the 80s / 90s and one of their favorite songs was Jokerman. I’ve seen them loads of times in and around town and the old Scottie Club. Deliverance was their signature song if I remember correctly with Jon on the banjo.
Doesn’t take much to perform better than Bob but that’s not why we go to see him. He’s just a brilliant poet and lyricist whose songs are eternally great.
I never saw a basketball as a kid but my youngest lad loves it and plays for a team so that’s what I watch nowadays when he’s involved. He wasn’t coordinated for footy although my older lad was and played a bit.
I can stop and watch a lot of different sports in the park here and enjoy it. Football, AFL, Rugby, Hockey and whatever. One thing over here is they love their sport and have the perfect climate to play it in. ( except for summer when it’s too hot )
There’s plenty of blues over here and for years my good mate Jimmy Dygney ( Dingle lad ) and his wife Elaine were the ones who brought them all together at their house for any old excuse for a drink but mainly to watch Everton play. If we’d have had any success then I reckon I’d be dead now because we drank enough regardless of the shit we were served up by Our team which is mainly thanks to the way Billy Liar ran the club.

It’s a terrible thing to admit but Kenwright has defeated us all just by being there. I loathe the guy but yet still feel guilty that I wish him bad health just so he’d piss off and leave us alone. He’s certainly caused enough ill feeling to most of us with his shenanigans.

I went to New Zealand around the same time Pete, and if it wasn't for that Mount Egmont, my life would have probably went a different way. My intention was to try and go from New Zealand, to your adopted country, but I never got there and any regrets I might have had have more than been compensated for, when I think of my kids!

Groundpig have changed their name, but the way they covered “blood on the tracks” eased my disappointment whilst watching Dylan, but that's his problem, he's been that good I struggle to think of an artist who has wrote as many songs, but one day when I win the lottery, I am gonna invite him to my little campfire, and let him play!

Imagine that Pete, a few of us sitting round the campfire with a few tinny's, listening to Dylan. I'm going to invite you, Chris Williams and Chris Hucknall, and I'm even going to invite Chairman Bill, and let him listen to the great man sing Positvely 4th street, with greetings from me!

Thanks Tony. A great invitation. Accepted. I’ll bring the Rioja and my iPod. 18500 tracks. A jukebox in my pocket.

I’m reading Dylan’s latest book, The Philosophy of Modern Song. He writes about 60 odd songs he rates, and tells you why. Writing it since 2010 seemingly. He’s just bloody good at everything, because it’s superb. You might enjoy it Tony.

I thought I’d take a few of them and dedicate them to various figures we will both know, from over the years. A bit random, and a bit of fun. Hopefully it’ll bring a bit of a smile.

The Pretender (J.Browne) Mr W. Kenwright. Apologies to a great songwriter

Ball of Confusion (Temptations) Mr F. Moshiri

Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood (N.Simone) Our Littlewoods Tories, Sir Philip And Sir Desmond. Throw in Sir Shifty while we’re at it.

Year Of The Cat(A. Stewart) West, Southall, Martyn, Pickford.

Pancho and Lefty(T. Van Zandt) Baines and Pienaar

Money Honey (E.Presley) Nick Barmby

Mack the Knife (B. Darin) Steve McMahon.

On the Road Again (W. Nelson) Andrei Kanchelskis, But take your pick.

London Calling (Clash) Mikel Arteta

Blue Bayou (R. Orbison) Duncan F. A song of longing for a time and place

My Dirty Life And Times (W. Zevon) Andy VdM

It’s All in the Game (T. Edwards) Colin Harvey, the best pure footballer in Blue, manager, coach, decent man. I also prefer the Levi Stubbs version.

Strangers in the Night (Sinatra) Keane And Holgate, But I’ve had flashbacks of Rankin and Heslop. Plenty of choice though.

Take it easy, listen to the music, let life unfold.