ToffeeWeb - Season 2007-08

The Mail Bag

AJ on his way?

Just a quick comment really with regards to Andy Johnson. How on earth in this day and age, with inflated prices left right and centre, would the club consider selling Johnson for anything less than the £8.6M we paid for him?

I like Johnson, his work rate is second to none and in an ideal world I'd like to keep him. However, his touch is pretty dire and if we need to sell to improve the team then so be it. Personally I'd like to see us get Downing in from Boro on a part exchange if not a straight swap.
Ray Lupton, Glasgow Posted 23/06/2008 at 11:19:37

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Dan McKie
1 Posted 23/06/2008 at 14:23:52

I like AJ but you have to admit he has become quite ineffective! Even when we had the spell last season where we went 11 or something unbeaten and were playing great football, if that had been AJ up on his own instead of Yakubu it just wouldn't have worked as well because he hasn't got the touch or hold up ability of Yakubu and although he has pace, so do most defenders nowadays!

George Duffin
2 Posted 23/06/2008 at 14:40:25

Despite at times often running around like a headless chicken, his pace is often an effective outlet for us down the flanks. Also, when you consider that only last summer we reportedly turned down a £15m bid from West Ham for him, to sell him to Boro for £7m would be nothing short of a disgrace.

We would be far better off keeping him as a squad player than making a loss on him by selling him to Boro. Also, does anyone really think he would be up for swapping us for a mediocre, crap supported, run-of-the-mill club like Boro?

Aidy Dews
3 Posted 23/06/2008 at 17:01:36

To be honest I wouldn't be too disapointed if we did sell AJ because for a season and half now he just hasn't produced the goods even when hes been given the chance. Don't get me wrong, his workrate is second to none but goals-wise he just hasn't done it for us, I?d love him to go and prove me wrong next season and bang the goals in but for some reason I haven?t got the confidence in AJ for him to go do it for us so I think we should try and get as much money for him as possible and try our damned hardest to get Arshavin in to the club!!!

John Andrews
4 Posted 23/06/2008 at 17:31:31

Suggest you read the rumours page Aidy. Apparently Moyes has admiited that we cannot afford Arshavin.
Got to agree with George here. Why on earth, money apart, would he want to go to Boro?

Marc Williams
5 Posted 23/06/2008 at 18:25:57

Ray, you ask why we would sell him for £7 million when prices are currently inflated & we paid £8.6 million. I?ll tell you why ? because our Board are an absolute disgrace who are not fit to run a cake stall at a jumble sale let alone a multi-million pound business! We could have supposedly got £15 million last summer so this looks shambolic to my way of thinking.

I spent many years training retail managers in how to make their stores more profitable. I always taught them someting I?d learnt on the 1st day in the job from a highly successful muliti millionaire owner i.e: that any idiot can sell anything if its cheap, the knack is buying at the right price to be able to sell for a big profit. Everton have for years (under a succession of managers) bought expensive & sold cheap which is financial suicide. No wonder we?ve got no money.

I posted last night about Jimmy Mac: we sell him for £5 million (when the squad is wafer thin & couldn?t we have done with him in the run-in?) & yet Celtic are offering Birmingham £5.5 million plus Bobo Balde (a £2 million rated defender). Billy Liar & Bully Bullshit got us a great deal there didn?t they eh!

Look at Darren Bent, Moyes could have got him for £4 /5 Million when Ipswitch were skint yet now we?re going to buy at £8 million. Arshavin rated at £8 million in February when only we are interested & he?s little known to everyone else, now £20 million & out of reach.

If it gets any worse we?ll need the BBC?s Dominic Little from ?Don?t get done, Get Dom? up at Goodison to teach them how to haggle.

Jon Beck
6 Posted 23/06/2008 at 20:07:52

Marc, EFC just need you mate all the answers, all that nous and they can’t spot this rare talent under their noses. Shame on them!!!

Alan Flynn
7 Posted 23/06/2008 at 21:01:44

Makes me laugh - "I wouldn?t be bothered if he went" and "keep him as a squad player." West Ham wanted him for £15m but apparently he isnt good enough for us anymore. Everton Fc are so fucking superior to Middlesboro that he should be grateful to warm our bench to the end of his career!!!

What a joke; AJ dosen?t score enough goals because he plays in front of a midfield that isn?t good enough. As a result we play 4-5-1 half the time and expect him to hold the ball up or tear arse toward the corner flags from hoofs up to him. Tim Cahill benefits from this tactic, AJ does not. He needs to be played in behind the back four - unfortunately we do not have the players to do this in a 4-4-2. Plus he is being robbed of probably 5 penalties (and goals) a season due to that twat Arsene Wenger. His confidence dropped but he will recover - get a couple of decent centre midfield players and maybe a winger and judge him then.

Darren Jones
8 Posted 23/06/2008 at 21:10:02

I was at Everton today, I am a postman!!! I got talking to a few people I know who work there and they are saying Moyes does not look to happy of late, not one of them thinks he is signing.

Marc Williams
9 Posted 23/06/2008 at 20:53:25

Jon Beck, Well I set myself up for that one Jon & you?ve got me.

I guess what I?m trying to say is that I?m no expert on football transfers & even if I had millions probably would stay well clear of investing but I know a poor deal when I see one.
Too often EfC seem to be so desperate for either cash (usually for a short term fix) or for a player that they?ll do a deal at any price. What I know from experince is that if a deal is not right, then you need to walk away from it & stick too the ones that are, its often all in the timing.
The last deal I did on Friday had a gross profit of 3000% (which if I could do weekly I would have millions) & I never turn a loss on a deal so I do credit myself with some business acumen.
Shit there I go again setting myself up, I?m getting as bad as Billy Liar & Bullshit Bully.
Ah well in for a penny in for a pound I?ll say one more thing that You can judge me on in the future: Destination Kirkby is NOT a good deal & is a potential financial quagmire under the current economic conditions.

Danny Broderick
10 Posted 23/06/2008 at 21:34:32

Marc, I seem to remember pretty much every fan on this forum thought we got good money for McFadden. I will say again that I think we did well out of that deal. I think Moyes also did well selling Marcus Bent for a profit, Kevin Kilbane also. And I think we would make a huge profit on half the squad (Lescott, Yobo, Jagielka, Cahill, Pienaar, Arteta to name a few) should we wish to sell them. I also think Moyes would tell any club who offered £7,000,000 for AJ where to go. I think we would make a profit on him also should we wish to sell him.
I think our transfer record over the last 5 years (under Moyes) stands up to most people?s scrutiny...

Marc Williams
11 Posted 23/06/2008 at 22:45:23

Danny, I wouldn’t disagree with some that you list but I think people forget that Moyes record is much more mixed & I think that only after he’s gone will time give an objective verdict on his buys. Let me just say that overall I think he has been fantastic for the club in stabilising us & I would be sad to see him leave.
I didn’t think we got good money for jimmymack & given squad depth & time left on his contract felt he should have stayed until the summer. I think this had all the hallmarks of a desperate to balance the books/ cashflow shortfall sale & when buyers know you need cash you don’t get a good price. I think the current valuation approx £7-7.5 million that Celtic seem to be floating shows this. I think the same is happening with AJ, we need cash to strenghten midfield, Billy Liar is hiding as he’s got no cash, so we’re looking to raise capital quick. Boro’ can see we’re desperate so are chancing thier arm for a bargain.
Look at the current sums being mooted for Arteta £8 million, I know this would be a good profit but for the best midfielder outside the top 4 ( optima stats ) with the time left on his deal this is cheap we should be talking £10-12 million.
Also when looking at our transfer record lets not forget : The Rooney deal was nowhere near as good as some other clubs would have held out for especially when the Neville/Howard ( undisclosed ) deals were put into the mix. In reality we saw little of the spun headline figure for Rooney & don’t forget the payment mechanism effectively resulted in Everton ( then one ot the EPLs poorest teams ) giving Manure ( then the worlds richest club ) a £10 million interest free loan for a year.
Also don’t forget the Biffa Beattie £2.5 Mil’ loss, the £2 mil’ loss on Kroldrup or the £5.5 million black hole ( £3.5 mil’ fee/ £2 mil’ wages ) on Van De Meyde. What did we get for that ? 3 games was it and some very happy bar managers.
Like I say Danny agree with some of what you say fella just don’t forget the clangers that make his record to date mixed.
Personally I think If he had the right financial backing at the right times now he would have learnt from his mistakes & would spend wisely.

Danny Broderick
12 Posted 24/06/2008 at 11:31:54

Marc, we took a loss on some players we bought - Beattie, Kroldrup, Van Der Meyde etc, but the only thing I would say is that all clubs have done this at some point. Obviously when you buy a player you hope it will work out and that he will be worth more than you paid for him should you decide to sell him. However, as we all know, it doesn’t always work out. But I think Moyes record would match most, if not all in the PL.
Regarding the Rooney deal, I honestly think the club were in a difficult position. Had he handed in his transfer request 3 or 4 weeks earlier, instead of just before the deadline, we could have had a bidding war. However, there was only 1 club in for him, and this affected the price undoubtedly. Given the fact that he hasn’t pulled up any trees at United since (in my opinion) again I think we did ok out of that deal.
The potential sales you are talking about Marc are just that - potential. Do you honestly believe Moyes would sell Arteta for Â£8,000,000? Until you see them parading another club’s scarf, I would suggest you take what the papers say with a pinch of salt. It is silly season after all!

Marc Williams
13 Posted 24/06/2008 at 16:18:16

Danny, I don’t fundamentally disagree with you mate. I think Moye’s record is comparable with many other managers & like I say I personally rate him very highly.
I just feel that sometimes he is lauded as a great genius at uncovering gems & adding value in the tranfer market, especially by the media which just is not true. He’s ok ( good & bad deals adding value but also big loss’s ) so objectively his record is mixed.
The Rooney situation was difficult but it was criminal for our board to sign up to a payment schedule that resulted in us giving Man U effectively a 12 month interest free loan of 10 million pounds. Some of the financial press picked up on this at the time but it passed the attention of most fans who focused on a false headline Sale figure ( spun by the clubs & picked up by the media ).
I know the potential sales are pure speculation but I’m just using them to hihglight my point about our boards short termism. Regretably I think we’ll find out which of us is right over AJ & potentially Arteta and yes I do think we would sell for close to the figures quoted.