Recent Reader Responses

Below are the most recent comments posted by readers to threads across the website. For context and to add your own reply, you can access the article in question by clicking the link appended to the item in question.

• I'm with John Keating, the doyen of full backs was Ray Wilson. better than anyone I've ever seen. He could keep George Best quiet effortlessly. Because of his quiet temprament, it is often forgotten how good he was....
  Rick Tarleton in Soccer Boss? You’re Joking – I Want to be an Undertaker
• Kase # 48 - no way known we are going to sell my favourite player.The Gomes deal is great. He is pure class. I forget who we were playing but I can still see in my minds eye a curling 40 yard pass he pinged up the right wing at Goodison to I think Theo Walcott. It was a thing of beauty.Up the Blues!!!!...
  Laurie Hartley in Gomes's £22m switch from Barcelona officially complete
• "Every Barca sale comes with a buy-back clause."Not true. Barca's buy-back policy is for young players who are considered to have the potential for future stardom, like Yerry Mina (who reportedly carries a £55m buy-back option in his sale agreement). Players who are perceived to have failed at Barca are sold without buy-back options. Gomes's tenure there was considered a complete failure and, with the arrival of Frenkie de Jong, I believe there's no way in the world Barca would consider a buy-back. If there was a holdup, IMO, that wasn't it. ...
  Mike Gaynes in Gomes's £22m switch from Barcelona officially complete
• While I agree with Annika about Bernard being an integral part of our set-up, and in all fairness has only had a year with us to 'acclimatise' to the Premier League, he has never been a regular goalscorer throughout his career. It would be a bonus if he could manage to get on the score sheet, even if it was only 5-6 a season, but I think we have to resign ourselves to him being more of a wizard and provider. Having said that, I believe this coming season may be a make-or-break season for Calvert-Lewin; we all love the lad, his enthusiasm and effort can't be faulted, but strikers are measured in terms of goals. As he has shown so many times, he gets in great positions, but too often fails to convert....
  Derek Knox in Gomes's £22m switch from Barcelona officially complete
• Dave 32.Agree wholehearted with your comments, clearly Gomes was a done deal, we took him for less than West ham bid, that tells me our business was conducted correctly. I'd imagine we will sign a few more soon, but imo we will need to clear the decks too, Besic, McCarthy, Niasse, Tosun, Garbut, Miralas, Bolasie, Sandro, Martina all to be cleared off the wage bill one way or another (loan, free or sale) before we take too much on, but once we clear up a bit of mess I'd imagine us to start to piece together nicely.Vlasic, Williams, Jags and a group of youngsters cleared out, Lossl and Gomes in, moving along nicely....
  Si Smith in Everton announce pre-season tournament details
• Typical TW never happy.For pre season what a cool format, a chance for the boss to field upto 4 teams, 4 formations all for a full 30 minutes.Youngsters will get a chance that may otherwise be another year off, we might even see someone like Ellis Simms sparkle when surrounded by first team squad members.Again, what's not to like here....
  Si Smith in Everton announce pre-season tournament details
• Great news!! Pleased to finally hear we have finally got this one over the line.Kase @48, I don't think selling Bernard would be a good move, especially if we replaced him by any of the players you mention. Bernard now has a full season in the Premier League behind him and all the players you mention are unproven in it....
  Annika Herbert in Gomes's £22m switch from Barcelona officially complete
• This is a terrific signing and a modern day replacement for Arteta. Took a while!Well done to all involved at the club, a good fit for both parties.Brands still is our most important signing of the last few years. Knows what he’s doing....
  Dan Parker in Gomes's £22m switch from Barcelona officially complete
• Two things told me he'd never sign for us:- My dad speaking of players that have endless time and space without (apparently) moving a muscle(which Gomes has).- Steve Ferns pointing out the fact that he'd bury the ball into Digne's midriff, knowing it was safe, vs a slow, safe ball into the (majority of the) rest.I hate the comparisons with Arteta, but he's the only one we've had since, I reckon(!).Now he's ours! For cheaper than Bolasie 3 years ago, no less??Congratulations again, Blue Bill 🤷‍♂️...
  Chris Davies in Gomes's £22m switch from Barcelona officially complete
• The good CEOs in the companies I have worked for had a clear strategy, good leadership and a strong commercial team. I think those are more important than qualifications. I agree with many posters on here that all three have been severely lacking at Everton over the last 20 years, but I think early signs of DBB are that she has a coherent plan and an improved team working for her....
  Steve Brown in Everton CEO says Liverpool's Champions League win is 'fantastic' in business terms for the city
• Rob (34) - I reckon Ndomebele is going to be one of the very best central midfielders in world football for the next ten years. He's got everything. We've got Gomes for a good price, but Ndombele might end up being a bargain for Spurs too....
  Andrew Keatley in Gomes's £22m switch from Barcelona officially complete
• What a surprise! They kept this one quiet. Welcome aboard Andre, and a an even bigger thanks (again) for Marcel Brands, our best signing of the lot in recent times.The pieces are gradually coming together nicely, I said on here a while back that I believed it would be £23M so it's slightly less, which is great news in terms of the new crazy prices that are being bandied about.Hopefully Zouma will not be that far behind him, as Neil Copeland mentioned, with it looking increasingly likely that Lampard will be stepping into the Chelsea hot-seat if Zouma has said as allegedly reported, that he wants to make the move to us too. It would be rare for any Manager to want to hold on to players who weren't fully committed.Even with Chelsea's Transfer situation being as it is, they are not exactly short of players, and with Zouma's history there, he has been loaned out more than played, that should also send a clear message, both to Zouma and Manager alike....
  Derek Knox in Gomes's £22m switch from Barcelona officially complete
• Every Barca sale comes with a buy-back clause. Maybe that was the hold-up. I will wait to hear the finer details but a great bit of the business for a very classy midfielder....
  Justin Doone in Gomes's £22m switch from Barcelona officially complete
• As others have inferred, what's in Gomes's (and any other player's) head? Does he have the desire to go "pro-active" in pursuit of trophies with us or is he just another complacent millionaire footballer happy to merely turn up, as and when, whilst his bank account continues to bulge? Time will tell....
  Don Alexander in Gomes's £22m switch from Barcelona officially complete
• Great deal at a great price. I hope he can add consistency and goals to his game. We can't afford Gomes, Gueye and Bernard to all be non-goalscorers. In fact, if we got a great offer for Bernard, then I'd replace him with Bertrand Traore or Neres or Malcom or someone else that scores goals. Bernard in a front 3 needs to be hurting teams moreBut I massively digress: Gomes to dictate play, score 5+ a season and please oh please beat the shite (and dominate them again, like you did last season)...
  Kase Chow in Gomes's £22m switch from Barcelona officially complete
• Excellent! Now, all we need to do is get our hands back on Zouma... in order to just keep what we had last season. We can then attempt to sign players ready to improve and expand on what we had....
  Iain Johnston in Gomes's £22m switch from Barcelona officially complete
• What a load of nonsense about the pre season training schedule and who we play etc. I don't give a damn about who we play and for how long so long as the squad (or in modern day parlance, the group) is fit and raring to go when the real thing kicks off.I seem to recall that in the 1969-1970 pre season build up we played Rochdale. and lost 4-3....
  Bill Watson in Everton announce pre-season tournament details
• I like this deal but it will be even better if he shows everyone why Barca were prepared to invest up to €55 million three years ago.An important piece of the puzzle but there are a few more to bring in this summer if we are to really threaten the top 6.Nice to see Eugene R may be emerging from his period of dormancy....
  Si Cooper in Gomes's £22m switch from Barcelona officially complete
• A bargain! And he will be an outstanding player for us. ...
  Martin Berry in Gomes's £22m switch from Barcelona officially complete
• This is excellent news and such good value. The man has already proved what he is capable of, and now hopefully, we will see him play even better next season....
  Eddie Dunn in Gomes's £22m switch from Barcelona officially complete
• I'm actually made up with this! This is a fantastic signing for us. I think we all figured he would move elsewhere once he had performed to his highest ability with us, and essentially propped himself up in the shop window.Maybe this is a turning point for us where we can actually attract players who I truly believe are world class. Gomes is world class. So elegant on the ball, skills like we haven't seen in a long time in a blue shirt. And make no mistake, Blues, for £22 million in today's disgustingly inflated market this is a steal. I don't think I've been this excited over a player since we signed Lukaku permanently just because he had already banged the goals in for us and he was exactly what we needed at the time.Maybe the days of Tosun, Bolasie, Vlasic etc have gone and maybe we can now aim towards the very best. This is a great signing. How about another two loan signings this season like Gomes/Zouma. Go and get players who are sitting on the bench at big clubs such ...
  Graeme Beresford in Gomes's £22m switch from Barcelona officially complete
• A year of Premier League experience under his belt now too, proved he could get stuck in and take the knocks and the pace of play. Made up. One thing that does intrigue me though, Klaassen gets a lot of stick on here, for being a flop. From what I understand, he has been doing well in Germany, looking to be the player he was before joining us. Not to say he was a good player for Everton, but I don't ever remember him getting a serious run in the team in his best position. But hey ho. He has gone.Hopefully we can add some players who compliment Gomes. ...
  Jim Harrison in Gomes's £22m switch from Barcelona officially complete
• Christy, agreed although a new manager will not want unhappy players either (assuming that the rumours about Zouma wanting to join us are true)....
  Neil Copeland in Gomes's £22m switch from Barcelona officially complete
• It looks like Lampard is heading back to Chelsea, and I can't see him selling Zouma....
  Christy Ring in Gomes's £22m switch from Barcelona officially complete
• Again men, thanks for replys, but I mentioned some of the lads wont ever make it.That said, Chris @20.If the lads make a very good career at a team like Bournemouth, and go for fees like the lads from LFC, then we could potentially be in for a windfall of £35m+ from JJ and DCL, that would be a huge achievement for the club, that type of money bought the red shite Salah with change.Players like Callum Connerly and Dowel may fetch half that money which would pay for Gomes (give or take) all of which is an excellent progression for the club/youth squad.We need the youth to top young players as Alexander-Arnold has become at the reds, and make us good money like Solanke and Ibe did for the shite.That's what will make Everton bigger as we don't have the man city funds or the income of a man utd.We look at all these past kids and the fees they have commanded, but all please remember that none of them have won world cups, look at the fees being branded about last s...
  Si Smith in Excellent Kenny strike not enough for England U21s