I want players who want to play for our club. Nobody is bigger than the club!!! Fair play to Jack the lad, showing true class for such a young lad.

The papers jump on it and then the supporters of all those clubs do as well, hence all the BS. The problem is that you know that 95% of the speculation is just garbage, but it turns out that the other 5% comes to fruition. So the difficulty is trying to separate the two.

Then you have the stuff which is partially true. For example, we spent a lot of the 2008 summer chasing Moutinho and a lot of the 2009 summer chasing M'Bia, neither of which came to fruition. The other difficulty then comes when you get direct quotes from a player or his agent, as in this thread. You don't know what to think. It's a minefield, but it sure as hell (as you guys would say) keeps us entertained during the close season!

Tony Parsons (11) said it all for me so fuck them if they have that attitude.

Firstly, footballers (like the majority of us out there) are paid employees. I'm happy where I work and I get a decent wage, but if another firm called me up and offered more money? If we're being honest, most of us would take it.

Secondly, there's been no official approach. Citteh haven't come out and said they fancy him (personally, I think he's too similar to De Jong) so this is good old-fashioned page-filling shite (you may have noticed there's not much football about at the moment so, unless the shitepress are going to do 12-page 'exclusives' about Dag & Red v Rotherham, we'll have to suffer stories like this).

And finally, put yourself in the shoes of a footballer and you’re asked by a journalist to comment on a story that Citteh or the Arse or whoever is coming in for you. You can hardly reply that you wouldn’t play for them cos they’re a right load of old shite, just in case you end up seeking employment with them — burning bridges, anyone?

What we’ve got to hope for between now and the World Cup is for John Terry to be caught in a gay bath house with David (call me Dave) Cameron, Nick Glegg and a goat, or Cashley to be copped snorting Charlie while roasting a lap dancer with Berlusconi... in fact anything, any fucking thing to keep this shite out of the papers.

So The Yak looks set to be off to West Ham to be fed a larger pay packet, and if that happens, then good luck to him, thanks for the memories and hopefully he won't bundle one in off his moobs against us — of course, if he stays then great... and let's hope he bangs one in gainst them (well oiled athlete that he is!).

The same goes for Pienaar. If our official Player of the Sear doesn't receive the contract he feels and he does go off to ply his trade elsewhere, then it will be sad, as certainly he has been good for us. I hope he stays, but if not then I still don't understand this "we must get it sorted by June 12"... why? His value will not go down whilst at the World Cup, unless he gets seriously injured. On the other hand, his value may go up significantly. We signed him for next to nothing, so we'll be quids in either way.

We look likely to sign Beckford, but some people have already written off the tiny old-third-division striker... maybe we should just give the 6-ft 2-in pace merchant a go (subject to contract), Brett Angel in disguise he may turn out to be, but give the guy a chance.

Because the Board, management and a significant section of our supporters accept mid-table mediocrity doesn't mean the players should; they are at the front line, they see day-to-day the relative paucity of the Everton setup.

Ken Bates was right...

That'll do for me if he's now publicly advocating NSNO — a smack in the eye for the `realists'. Let's hear Doddy argue against what David said...

By the way, I saw Riquelme in Aldi in Smithdown Road with Robert Elstone — is he our next signing or does he like their selection of chilled meats?

Johnny H's alleged comments merely confirm what some suspect, the club in it's present form is a sort of Premier Coventry City with history and expectations should be tailored accordingly until it changes.

Maybe people think we are living in the past but the only bigger clubs than us are the three who have also actually won more than us, clubs like City may be richer but they are richer than Barcelona too.

If there is one club who could benefit more from this burst bubble in football, it is us.

As a previous contributor said, we have a factual position of being the 4th most successful club in the country but in my opinion are not seriously acting like a club willing to protect or improve upon this. Very precarious situation, but I hope I'm wrong

It seems to me that, as fans, we scrape the money together for season tickets and travel to games home and away, sometimes abroad, to support our team and every time you think that these players love playing for the club and you read all the comments on their relationship with fans etc.

Yet the first sign of a bigger cheque at another club and they'd walk over you to get it. Is this football now because I for one am getting fed up with it. I love Everton but a can't take much more of these mercenaries using the club and the fans to get their next signing-on fee. How much is enough? Does anyone become a footballer now because they love the game or is it only ever about greed? If it is, Why should I pay for it?

I believe wages should be capped, transfer budgets and fees should be capped and give the savings back to the fans so the average man can take his kids the match without paying £100 plus to do it. It would help bring back the atmospheres and get rid of the leeches.