ToffeeWeb - Season 2007-08

James Elliott
1 Posted 08/04/2008 at 21:55:00

What the hell are we playing at? Pienaar has been the player of the season for me, now we are dragging our heels and the guy might have to look else where! How many fuckin times do we have to do it "the Everton way" as basically piss the player around. BUY HIM NOW!

Rob Hollis
2 Posted 08/04/2008 at 22:11:11

The club can fuck off if they mess this one up. Our best player for loose change.

If we don?t sign him the board and management should get out!

Erik Dols
3 Posted 08/04/2008 at 22:18:24

In the comments of another Pienaar-mailbag thread some time ago someone said he had it from a reliable source that Pienaar demanded to have the highest salary of the squad and a signing fee of 2 million...

Tony Marsh
4 Posted 08/04/2008 at 22:19:27

Let him leave. He is too small and a headless chicken most of the time. He has the odd 20 minute spells in games but is mostly a passenger. It shows how easily we Everton fans will readily except average players and treat them like superstars. Why, I don't know but Pienaar is just another Osman and we cannot afford two in the same team

roy coyne
5 Posted 08/04/2008 at 22:22:09

If he prices himself or rather his agent prices him out of our budget,what are we supposed to do ,yes hes a good player and the transfer fee is very reasonable.But if we give in to excessive demands the other players will want some thing similar so its not that easy is it.

James Elliott
6 Posted 08/04/2008 at 22:29:48

Tony Marsh,

Can you tell me what players you do like at our club, and who you would bring in? It seems that no one is good enough for you. Pienaar has been unbelievable for us this season and has given us some much needed creativity. We need him.

Rob Hollis
7 Posted 08/04/2008 at 22:28:58

Tony

You complain regularly about the way the team play (hoofball) and have a poor opinion of the best passer of the ball we have?

If the total is four million he is a snip. We could of course just watch him playing for Arsenal and think or what might have been - or resign ourselves to the usual hobby of remembering great teams of the past.

John Grills
8 Posted 08/04/2008 at 22:34:50

Please God we have to sign him.
If the board are serious in their intent he has to be signed and no excuses.

Tony, I'm sorry but I can't agree with your assessment of Pienaar. He has been great for us this season and it would be a travesty if he ends up at another club

Adam Doyle
9 Posted 08/04/2008 at 22:38:15

Don’t worry, he’ll be signed by Friday.

And if not, then next Friday.

And if not, the Fruday after that.

And if not then, Moyes ’hasn’t seen enough to warrant a permanent move’.

I love this club, I really do. That’s my main downfall.

John Grills
10 Posted 08/04/2008 at 22:43:11

Exactly Adam!

Sometimes I wonder why we support Everton its not as if it makes me happy - lol

When other clubs are eating Caviar at Marks and Spencers

we are rummaging through the discount shelf at Tesco’s

Gary Tudor
11 Posted 08/04/2008 at 22:40:56

I cant believe what I'm reading on the Pienaar issue! He is one of the most natural players on the ball at the club and has great awareness. If he wants £2 mil to sign and the fee is £2.2mil then I think it represents great business for EFC.

A player of similar quality would normally be in the £6-8mil bracket.

It would be a very sad state of affairs if Everton don't sign him...

Tony Williams
12 Posted 08/04/2008 at 22:50:36

Come on Marshy, even you must realise that your post was shite and just after a reaction.

He has been up there with our best performers this season, the AcoN fucked him and he hasn;t played well since then.

But to say he is a passenger if just ridiculous.

Declan Burke
13 Posted 08/04/2008 at 22:39:33

Tony,
I don’t know what you are doing wasting your time contributing to this website. You should be out scouting for players at bargain prices. Don’t know where you will get a player of Pienaar’s class for 3 mill, but you can let us know where they are. If Peanuts is not signed by us we will regret it. But hey, we never done any thing easy. It’s our nature.

PS. TM, what is wrong with Ossie? He is a blue like us and gives his all.

Stevey Peece
14 Posted 08/04/2008 at 23:10:23

Tony Marsh

You are utterly ridiculous. How you spite your incessant unfounded rubbish and still get serious responses on here is a joke. I really don’t know why the editors continue to print your crap tedious nonsense about how terrible the club is. How can you criticise Pienaar? - he’s been excellent this season and will almost definitely be signing bar some hitch. I think every fan is happy at that news. Why don’t you find a new hobby rather than you constant personal attacks on Moyes, Kenwright, Pienaar, Osman and seemingly anyone at the club at the present time who are doing a great job at turning into a consistent top 6 club, possibly more.

Steve Guy
15 Posted 08/04/2008 at 23:12:16

Pienaar would be a great signing. He provides width and takes pressure off Arteta and Osman as a playmaker. If it doesn’t happen then the Board and Moyes had better have someone even better lined up !

Kieran Kinsella
16 Posted 08/04/2008 at 23:32:37

Tony Marsh wanted to sign David Nugent for £10 million last summer if you recall which basically says it all about his opinions. I think with Peanut that we are dilly-dallying as we did with signing Arteta when he even trained back with Sociedad before cheapskate Bill coughed up at the 11th hour.

John Andrews
17 Posted 08/04/2008 at 23:46:44

Words fail me. How can we not sign this player?

Matt Bone
18 Posted 08/04/2008 at 23:54:57

Surely if we agreed a fee upfront with Dortmund, we would have discusssed wages with the boy. He has been a country mile better than Arteta this season (and I really rate Arteta) so we MUST sign him. He wants to stay I gather then surely he will make reasonably wage demands. I don't see EFC fucking this one up surely???

Jay Harris
19 Posted 09/04/2008 at 00:10:21

Matt
you surely dont know Kenwright sufficiently well.
He?d fuck up a kids birthday party.

Colin Wordsworth
20 Posted 09/04/2008 at 00:10:38

I believe that there is truth in the rumour of the large signing on fee and being made the highest paid player at the club. Good player but do we break our wage structure for him? Possibly having a knock on effect with the other players and upsetting the applecart? ...so to speak!

Anj Stamos
21 Posted 09/04/2008 at 00:10:47

Peanuts for me has added a new dimension to the team and yes, there are times hes been poor but so have others esp Arteta. Everton must sign him or we?ll rue that later on.

Stuart Reid
22 Posted 09/04/2008 at 00:11:41

I think this confirms once and for all that Tony Marsh is, in fact, a complete idiot.

As will Moyes be if he doesn’t tie up this deal. We’re talking about two million for a probable eight million pound player. If he’s demanding more money than anybody else it’s probably because he thinks he is better than other high earners like Phil Neville. I’d say he’s got a point.

Jay Harris
23 Posted 09/04/2008 at 00:37:07

Also seems strange that all of a sudden "Manny needs to settle down" when a couple of weeks ago the word was we would not be interested after his loan spell.

Si Page
24 Posted 09/04/2008 at 00:26:55

Just want to play devil?s advocate here for a minute. Now I know just about everyone on here has slated Tony Marsh for his view, but I do kind of understand where he?s coming from... and before everyone has a pop, hear me out...

Pienaar is very lightweight for this league and doesn?t score nearly enough goals, or even have nearly enough shots (although that can be levelled at just about every member of the midfield). He does have a tendancy to drift in and out of games a bit and I would personally guarantee that he?s not going to grab a game in which we are losing by the scruff of the neck and turn it around.

That said however, he is very good on the ball and the team does seem to play a lot better football when he is in the side, but I think a lot of this is down to the fact that the other members of the team who can actually play football feel more comfortable when he is on the pitch... but this doesn?t mean that any other player with ability could not do a similar if not better job. He looks brilliant when we?re twatting teams but goes missing in some more high profile games.

However, the fact remains that when we have looked good this year he has undoubtedly looked one of if not the best player on the park, and if we can get him at £2.2m then we should be buying him... end of. If however, the wage demands from these ?reliable sources? are to be believed then I wouldn?t be shouting sack the board if he didn?t sign permanently.

That?s my opinion anyway.

Peter Bradshaw
25 Posted 09/04/2008 at 00:23:55

One of the most annoying comments to come out regarding buying players was from Colin Wordsworth "do we break our wage structure to sign him?" ? err, yes
If he adds the value that we are looking for to take the club to the next level, it's a no brainer, it's clear that Bill doesnt posess one (a brain) of them so as another comment, "I believe he will fuck up his own kid's birthday party."

We need not just class players but one or two world class players its the only way forward instead of hoping for 5th again and a good cup run.
The club is desparate for investment that we can use.

Santosh Benjamin
26 Posted 09/04/2008 at 00:46:14

I cant believe that we are actually wondering whether to sign Pienaar. I think he has been a revelation for us this season. After coming back from the Afcon, his injuries have made him less effective but he still is class in my opinion. How long will we make the same mistakes and delay in signing a good player who really wants to play for us? So what if he is expensive? If we want to progress then we need to start spending money wisely... and Pienaar is surely a wise choice!

Si Page
27 Posted 09/04/2008 at 00:53:05

Santosh.

From my perspective, it?s not a straight decision in the way you make out. If Pienaar is asking for big money and maybe we know we can?t afford his wages and some other yet unnamed midfielder?s (please let it be Arshavin) wages. Maybe it would be for the best we don?t get him. I personally would not break the bank (I know the initial cost is low - but wages might be an issue) for him.

Richard Murray
28 Posted 09/04/2008 at 00:51:28

@ Si P, spot on.

And, Tony Marsh has a fair point here. We can?t have Osman/Arteta/Cahill/Pienaar all in midfield, it?s too small.
Is Pienaar the worst of the four? Possibly.

You guys just love having a go at everything TM says.... This all said, £2M is a snip.

Michael Hunt
29 Posted 09/04/2008 at 01:07:02

Pienaar is a Champions League quality player. If we are serious about breaking into the top 4 it is simply a ’no brainer’ as he wants to stay and is settled at the club. He is young and only getting better and more valuable.

Jason Lam
30 Posted 09/04/2008 at 02:38:36

I find myself agreeing with Tony Marsh. Break the bank for Bentley and Manny.

Bentley - Arteta - Cahill - Manny

Our central defenders should push up and press the midfield. Turn Cahill into Scholes in the summer. Replace AJ with Ossie as required. Give Cars his much awaited send off.

David Barks
31 Posted 09/04/2008 at 03:24:46

So we couldn’t afford to spend 2 million on Pienaar to have in that lineup for when the inevitable happens, players like Cahill get injured? Who would be on our substitute bench then, 4 defenders and a keeper again. If we don’t sign him then I will have lost all confidence in this club. He has been tremendous for us all season until he went to the African Cup and came back injured. Since then he hasn’t been the same but neither has the rest of the team. No doubt the fact that every week it was a different line up due to injuries and suspensions had something to do with that. He needs to be signed and signed quickly. We did it with Howard why the hell can’t we do the same with Pienaar and get him signed before the loan is up.

Robin cannon
32 Posted 09/04/2008 at 04:12:29

Peter Bradshaw -

I’d argue "er...no". Decent player that Pienaar is, no he’s absolutely not worth breaking a wage structure for. For no other reason that he’s not good enough to threaten our overall team spirit. At least half the current first team squad would no doubt consider themselves to be hard done by if Pienaar was suddenly signed on a significantly better contract than them - so then we either limit our future mobility in the transfer market by offering big wage rises to everyone, or we have disillusioned players agitating for a move for more money. Pienaar’s decent, he’s not worth that impact.

Nick Xenos
33 Posted 09/04/2008 at 04:18:49

Turn Cahill into Scholes???....Jason Lam, it seems as though you have no idea. Tim Cahill does his best work further up the field, I would say drifiting just behind the front two. If the midfield were to be Bentley, Arteta, Cahill, Fernandes as you mentioned, who would be winning the ball for us? Cahill is not a good tackler and Arteta is too light-weight to be winning balls (in the air and on the ground) in the middle of the park. This midfield would just not work. Next season if Manny is still around and has worked a good pre-season, I think that Moyes will stick him just in front of our back line which should allow him a little extra time and space to put his excellent vision and passing to full use. With a little work on his tackling, he could become our very own Makalele.
My preferred team/formation (4-5-1: Howard, [new right back], Yobo, Lescott, Baines, Bentley, Arteta, Fernandes, Cahill, Pienaar, Yakubu).

Jason Lam
34 Posted 09/04/2008 at 04:50:02

Nick, it was worth a try though :-)

Scholes can’t tackle either but does a fine job of short passes and cleans up the midfield. I feel (out of the 4) Cahill is most suited for this job, and relieve Cars of his misery. He has fire in his tackles and he’ll need to work on other aspects of midfield other than bombing up and scoring from midfield (something that Scholes used to do quite well) to prolong his career. It would make Cahill less one-dimensional. Manny can fit in the hole whenever Cahill goes on his runs.

Bentley is in no way a certainty of course. Manny and Peanuts are currently wearing the shirt and have better chances of signing for us. But I feel Peanuts doesn’t give us enough, unless he’s in direct competition with Arteta or Osman. Having said that, Arteta and Osman too need to be less 1 dimensional. We should play 4 in the middle whatever happens. My 2 pence worth.

Steve Carter
35 Posted 09/04/2008 at 05:05:20

I have to agree with much of what Tony Marsh says and those expanding on his line. Pienaar is too small. Granted he has played well against lesser sides, and was particularly effective against Fiorentina in the second leg, but Ferguson, Wenger et. al. have worked out that he’s easily bullied and beaten up by bigger thugs in the EPL. Next year won’t be nearly as effective and we’re not going to be able to select him and Osman together IMO.

Pete Gunby
36 Posted 09/04/2008 at 05:29:31

Jason Lam had it it right the 1st. time. While we’re at it lets turn Neville into Ronaldo, Osman into Fabragas and AJ into Torres. This will save us so much money over the summer, I can’t wait for next year( just hope BK doesn’t bollock it up and flog em all to Utd for 5 mill. and Gary Neville). In the meantime, I think i’ll turn my wife into..... you get the picture. COYB

Jason Lam
37 Posted 09/04/2008 at 05:55:20

It’s not Scholes at 34 is that spectacular honestly speaking, though is a job that needs to be done. I can’t see Arteta, Ossie and Peanuts developing 20pounds in their thighs and evading tackles like Maradona. Lescott got converted to left-back and is now targeting 10 goals. It’s probably easier for those player upgrades you mentioned to get a sex-change though. Other than that let’s scrap the midfield altogether.

Ricardo Humphries
38 Posted 09/04/2008 at 06:00:03

Yes, I do think DM is fucking up this deal; and NO, Pienaar never wanted a sign on fee! The lad just wants to play football!
The fact that other Premier League clubs are lining up to just in if we don?t complete this deal says a lot about the quality we?re getting for £2 milliion pounds!

Personaly I think Pienaar has been a fantastic player this season. Before he went to AFCON, 80% of the goals we scored this involved Pienaar. After the knock he took in Ghana and a few problems he picked up with illness he?s been looking very off. Please notice when Pienaar was playing with skill and flair, it always resulted in us scoring.

Ricardo Humphries
39 Posted 09/04/2008 at 06:15:49

I meant allow sh!t supporters line Tony and Erik come and crucify our players like that!

Connor Rohrer
40 Posted 09/04/2008 at 06:46:50

I think he’ll sign to be honest. I’m not too worried at all.

Why are people even responding to Tony? He blatantly trying to get everyones attention like always. I’ve told him time and time again that his lack of knowledge of our current players is there for everyone to see and he shouldn’t even bother commenting.

What I don’t get Tony is you moan about the quality of football ans then have a go at the likes of Pienaar and Osman. There not perfect NO but they are two of our better footballers in the squad.

Stick to your obsession with Moyes, Tony it suits you more.

My personal view on Pienaar is sign him up. He’s a good player and at 2.5 million he’d be a bargain whether he’s a squad player or a first teamer next season.

For me Pienaar’s one of those players that the more technical footballers you get around him the better he gets. He showed that at Ajax in the Champions League aswell as the Dutch league. Having players like Zlatlan Ibrahimavic, Rafael Van der Vaart, Christian Chivu, Andy Van der Meyde (in his prime), Wesley Sneijder etc. If you get him round the likes of these players then his performances improve.

Pienaar seriously was a wonder kid a few years ago when he had good players around him and whilst he’ll never reach the level he was once capable of he’s still a good player.

He does drift in and out of games but so so alot of our flair players. Osman, Fernandes and Arteta also do.

A lot of this is down to his position. He is naturally a central attacking midfielder. Positioned in the middle of a three man midfield or behind the front two. He’s had to adapt his game to play on the wings and he’s done it well. 15 assists in 32 games proves this. There aren’t many players who have racked up that amount of assists this season. Only Ronaldo, Fabregas and Ashely Young spring to mind. Whats also important to mention is that everyone of his assists have been from open play. He doesn’t take set pieces like the other players mentioned.

He’s not as lightweight as people are making out and he’s been very consistent bar the last few games where he has been picking up knocks. He’s played well in the bigger games. He had a good battle with Sagna at Goodison and away at Man utd until he gave the penalty way he was our best player.

He’s a must buy for me. I think we need to buy him and a winger with pace in the summer. Both giving us different options so we can mix it up a little and change.

Good player and at 2.5 million he’ll be a bargain.

Ciaran Duff
41 Posted 09/04/2008 at 07:18:54

Hey Tony,
Maybe we should just buy players based on size now - forget all this skill stuff. The taller and bigger they are the better. Oh and if they are British even better!

Seriously folks, I think most people would agree that Peanuts is a great player and a steal at 2.2mil. However, we don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors, so why don’t we just leave it to Moyesy?

Andy Callan
42 Posted 09/04/2008 at 09:15:00

Sign him FFS.

It would speak volumes to me if we let this one slip and it becomes another Everton transfer shambles.

GET IT DONE.......

Paul Lenehan
43 Posted 09/04/2008 at 09:21:08

You would struggle to find a championship player for 2.2m. Pienaar has been excellant for us Tony and if we mess this up, its a fucking disgrace.

Tony Waverleas
44 Posted 09/04/2008 at 09:39:02

Perhaps Tony Marsh has got a point and from this day forward we should only sign players who are 7 foot tall, 18 stone and, here’s the clincher, natural born Evertonians, (Everton tattoos preferred but optional).
Or failing that just go for the entire Barton clan.

Dominic Duerden
45 Posted 09/04/2008 at 10:08:47

Whilst I think Piennar is ok I am not bothered if he stays or not.

He gives the ball away far too much and continually gives away fouls.

If we can get him for a million fine, if not get rid. Lets concentrate on signing Manny.

Seamus Murphy
46 Posted 09/04/2008 at 10:03:14

I really cant believe what im reading. 2.2M cant be the problem, so there must be some other reason. He has probably been our best player this season apart from Lescott.
There has got to be something in this wages rumour - what other reason could we have for not signing a quality player like him? I’m sure it will be sorted out though.
By the way, him being light doesnt always matter, sometimes it does but the majority of the time it doesnt. Its all down to his opponent and surely he shouldnt have to play every game anyway?
Sign him up, i’d hate to be looking at him playing for Arsenal next season. I fully expect him to be even better next season, this was his first season in the Prem after all.

Seamus Murphy
47 Posted 09/04/2008 at 10:11:14

Dominic - you say Pienaar gives the ball away too much and then go on to say "concentrate on signing Manny".

I’m lost for words i really am - nobody has given the ball away more than Manny (and its not as if he has played a lot).

Why does it have to be one or the other anyway? We need both imo

David Edwards
48 Posted 09/04/2008 at 10:05:16

If we do not sign Peanuts (for what is effectively ’peanuts’ in this day and age), I will be seriously pissed off with EFC for the first time in quite a while. I think he’s been a smashing addition to the team this year and while his form has dipped of late (possibly due to injuries), I think at his best he provides a spark on the left we’ve been missing for ages. In our great mid-season run of form, he was involved in most things.

He’s not the complete midfield answer to need to improve our service to our strikers, but like Ossie, he’s an integral part of our squad/team for next year. Given the fuss and hot water we got into over his ACN participation, to not sign him in the next week or two is surely inconceivable - especially as the majority of fans have made their positive view of him well known to the club hierarchy.

Get a bloody grip EFC and sign him sharpish!

Mike Whittaker
49 Posted 09/04/2008 at 10:15:24

With out trying to sound condescending, the transfer fee is just the publicised cost. Stick on the signing on fee, his wages, government tax and his agents cut and you can see in fairness, why Moyes and BK may be dragging their feet.
Take Mcfadden for example, on the face of it, it looks a good bit of business. But if you take all the above and his weekly wages Everton still lost money on him.
I’d like to sign him, but I also believe there will be better players than him available in the summer. Whether we have the finances and the ambition to go for them is another thing.

Erik Dols
50 Posted 09/04/2008 at 10:29:15

Ricardo humphries, big guy you are for calling me a shit supporter. I was merely stating something that I read in the mailbag a few weeks ago, as a possible explanation why he hasn’t signed yet. I was NOT giving my opinion you twat.

If you can’t read or understand that, fuck off to nickelodeon.com as that might be more of your level.

I defended the signing of Pienaar from the very first second as I saw him play in Holland for several years. Don’t black sheep me into some Pienaar-basher when I quote someone else. Geez.

Greg Doyle
51 Posted 09/04/2008 at 10:54:23

He’ll sign, Everton are just doing their usual trick of fighting them for the last 50p. Think Arteta, Yak, etc.
If he doesn’t come I’ll be gutted as he is a good player. It isn’t the end of the world though, Moyes has let players slip before to maintain the financial stability of the club and he’ll do it again. It’s the right way to do business - simple as that

Joe McMahon
52 Posted 09/04/2008 at 11:00:38

Please get a grip - everyone who keeps thinking Bentley is going to sign for us.....he will be going to Liverpool, they can afford him, they can afford his wages, and while they keep getting ALL the refs decisions, they are going to keep winning Silverware.

Paul Williams
53 Posted 09/04/2008 at 11:48:55

Just a thought,

Are we holding back on signing Piennar because of the South African FA issue?

I remember about a month ago reading an article on Teamtalk about them wanting ALL Interational Players to train, FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS, in South Africa in preperation for the World Cup.

Could this be the reason why we are stalling?

John Ballinger
54 Posted 09/04/2008 at 11:57:45

I, for one, will not be renewing the two season tickets I pay for if Everton fail to sign Pienaar. Why do we always have to go through this kind of thing every year just at the time they are encouraging us to take out next years season ticket at this years bargain basement price? Wake up Moyes, Kenwright, Wyness!

Ben Aston
55 Posted 09/04/2008 at 11:58:01

shocking if we let him go through our fingers it seems he wants to sign hes been one of our best players this season2.2 is a steal.

Ben Aston
56 Posted 09/04/2008 at 11:58:01

shocking if we let him go through our fingers it seems he wants to sign hes been one of our best players this season2.2 is a steal.

Ant Mill
57 Posted 09/04/2008 at 12:11:49

Moyes is proving to be an idiot again, any other manager would snap him up but Moyes has to wait around so that other clubs can come in and nick him from us (Fernandes, Sissoko) . Pienaar has the highest assists in our squad this season. 2 million would be an absolute steal! If we lose out on him we’d have to be looking at paying around 8/10 million for someone with the same qualities as him. Please just sign him Moyes! It’s never simple with Everton is it!

Paul Lenehan
58 Posted 09/04/2008 at 12:24:20

I have no doubt we will sign Pienaar. I would guess Pienaar has gone public to add a little bit of pressure on the club. Moyes is not an idiot and I have very confidence the deal will be sorted.

Terry Doyle
59 Posted 09/04/2008 at 11:24:48

I’m pretty sure he’ll sign but this ’Everton Way’ lark defo isn’t what Kenwright makes it out to be!

Pienaar is one of the finds of the season. We’ve played our best games with him in the team, actually been good to watch & scored plenty of goals. You only have to look at the assists he has to his name to see he’s an absolute steal at £2.2m. As he’s young & this was his first season it’s also a fair assumption to say he’ll get better. Get him signed asap BK!

Liam Reilly
60 Posted 09/04/2008 at 11:44:55

I don’t think its because of Pienaars excessive wage demands. On Football365 http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_3402634,00.html he states:

"Obviously they will only give me this permission when they have reached an agreement with a club that wishes to buy me, but so far I have not been informed by Dortmund that they have reached agreement with Everton."
This says its the club haggling over the price to me.
Bad times!

Mike Homfray
61 Posted 09/04/2008 at 12:46:59

Pienaar has pace - and that is still what we sometimes lack.

I think that is why we so often appear to be much sharper when he is playing - he enables a game to flow faster

Lee Spargo
62 Posted 09/04/2008 at 12:46:10

I hope we sign him.

However, if we dont, whether that?s down to finances, or whether Moyes doesn?t want to make the move permanent (for whatever reason - and there could be many, we dont manage the club) Then I?ll accept it and get on with my life. All of this slagging the club, DM, BK or KW off, is ridiculous. ?the club can fuck-off? or ?we?ll fuck this up?. Really? Managing a football club isn?t just about deciding whether a players good or not gents.

Piennar is a decent player, and like I said, I do hope we sign him. But it wont be the end of the world if he?s playing elsewhere next year.

Paul Sherlock
63 Posted 09/04/2008 at 12:40:03

Pienaar is by far the biggest bargain in world football, so let's all watch him play for Arsenal next year and watch them rip us to shreds! Pienaar, to any team, is a threat. Some of you have been saying he goes missing against the big teams but he?s only 26 and I'm sure over the next few years we could see him bloom in an Everton shirt and become one of the better players in the league. He is a player with class, shown by the fact he has played for the likes of Ajax and Dortmund (and now Everton). Buy him for £2M and then, if he?s useless sell him for £5M, but hopefully that won?t be the case.

Monty Carlo
64 Posted 09/04/2008 at 12:59:19

Pie-arse is good value for money and his ability suits the team at it’s present level.
If more investment is made and the team gets better after the summer he would then be a good option on the bench.

Alex Storm
65 Posted 09/04/2008 at 12:39:20

If Everton are looking to not only consolidate their position in the top 6 but reach the holy land of the "Big Four" then buying quality players the likes of Pienaar is a no-brainer.

Our Captain was signed for a fee of around £3.5 Million and made one of the highest earners at the club so a young, talented international class attacking midfielder signing for a similar fee(inluding signing-on fee ) looks like a bargain.

He?s had to adjust to a new country, a less technical style of football than he?s used to and played out wide when he?s a naturally central or a floating midfield player. And he?s still come up with performances and assists and greatly added to the level of football that we?ve played this season.

Signing Pienaar for an intial fee of that which we roughly paid for, for Arteta or Cahill arguably or our two best signings pound-for-pound (not including Martyn) makes sense.

David Yates
66 Posted 09/04/2008 at 12:44:48

I think Pienaars been tapped up...!!!!

Think back a few months when we were all on Moyes case to sign him, and he himself said hed love to stay, the club was saying nothing will be done until the end of the season, and Pienaar seemed content with that.... no mention then that the fee changes on the 30th of April, and the season still has 2 weeks to run after that hasnt it....

Now suddenly we have to do things by a certain time, and the player himself is pushing for that, why didn't he say to Moyes in January that he needed to be signed before April was up..!!!!

I'm a fan of Pienaar, I believe he brings us something, and would love us to sign him. It makes sense because he's good on the ball, the way we all want to go.... I don't like what's happening here, somethings amiss, we are getting fed shit again, we need the club to come out and be up front with this...Nil Satis

Brian Lawlor
67 Posted 09/04/2008 at 13:29:27

The reason he hasn?t signed is because him and his agent want a £1 million signing on fee on the basis that Everton are paying a small transfer fee. He also wants to be the highest paid player so the deal has stalled and it won?t be resurrected until they have lowered their demands.

I don?t care how good he is or isn?t, we sholdn?t be held to ransom. After all, there wasn?t exactly a queue of clubs wanting to take him on loan.

Amit Vithlani
68 Posted 09/04/2008 at 13:33:37

The signing deadline is news to me. April 30th seems a bit random. Anyway, if indeed the club has to sign him by April 30th to take advantage of a lower price, there may be a simpler explanation for the delay in resolving the issue - Moyes Contract negotiations.

Reading the quotes from Moyes on this subject it appears that he has made the Transfer Budget a key component the Contract negotiations. If this presumption is true, then it would seem logical that no deals will be agreed until the Budget is sorted. Otherwise Moyes may have to prioritise. Personally, for 2.2m he is worth it, but if I had to choose between signing him or using his fee as an instalment for signing Fernandes, the latter represents a better acquisition, IMHO. Ofcourse, ideally, Moyes will hopefully be able to do both signings (and more). Whether he will be given the budget to do so could be the problem...

Alan McGuffog
69 Posted 09/04/2008 at 13:47:07

To paraphrase Corporal Jones..." Don?t panic". After all if we don?t sign up Pienaar we can have Carsley and Neville in mid field and maybe bring back Alan Stubbs so that we can have Jags alongside them.
Mmmmmm
Oh and I see Dean Windass is still playing...

Tony Williams
70 Posted 09/04/2008 at 13:49:22

I have read a few post here saying that Moyes is responsible for this farce. Do you honestly think that Moyes is the one arguing about the signing on fee or the lad?s wages?

Get a grip, it is the board who decides all that shit, the manager simply points out who he wants and then it?s down to the board to get the dough to buy him. Do you think Moyes is standing in the Boardroom shouting the odds about a players conetract (AP) get real.

It wouldn?t surprise me if the wages thing is the problem, as Pienaar does come across as a miserable, arrogant person, great player but I would believe his demands are too high than EFC quibbling over a paltry £2.2M.

Brian Richardson
71 Posted 09/04/2008 at 14:05:12

Tony Marsh, you’re always good for a chuckle. It’s a bloody good job you aren’t scouting for the Blues, or we’d have Nugent up front and some big cumbersome clown in the middle of the park.

At least everybody has now been given an insight to your remarkably poor understanding of the game.

Connor Rohrer
72 Posted 09/04/2008 at 14:22:00

I bet if we don?t get him a lot of fans will come out with the "he?s a money grabbing disloyal bastard" like they did with Fernandes and Gravesen.

Personally I think he will sign.

Martin Barron
73 Posted 09/04/2008 at 14:28:31

I also hope he signs. What I think is really worrying is that we are talking about spending our summer budget on players we already have this year (even if they are only on loan). How will this improve us? We need much more quality brought into the squad - in my opinion about three players minimum - right full back, central midfielder and striker (somebody good in the air).

Derek Thomas
74 Posted 09/04/2008 at 06:46:20

Bill, sign Pienaar NOW ! none of this I'm not paying them to sit on the beach shit. It's an offer we can't refuse. The price is right!

Nick Wall
75 Posted 09/04/2008 at 15:04:40

This club’s PR is appalling. This story has been all over the media all day, and not a word about it on the OS, no briefings to journalists, nothing. Surely some response from the club is called for here ?

Ricardo Humphries
76 Posted 09/04/2008 at 19:31:59

Erik Dols, please get a South African to translate the following.

Jy is n dom naai ondersteuner, en ek dink jy moet jouself n klein bietjie laat naai boet!