A Window of Opportunity Slams Shut

We tried to get Fer and were unlucky. Credit to the club finding the 8.5 million. That was a big surprise in itself. The Sevilla player was never going to really happen in the time left and him playing a cup semi that night.

Good luck to the lad Stones - sounds a very good prospect.

We do have a lot of away games at the clubs above or around us - but I don't feel unduly worried. We can do anyone on our day.

COYB.

I think we will have European football next season one way or another. I am banking on an FA Cup win but also a good enough showing to finish in 4th spot and then choose the Champions League. The board will make money available and it will be up to the Moyesiah to assemble the right players to get through the qualifying stages.

Fer & Negredo would certainly help but there are others out there and a stronger backup keeper is a must . Come on you blues.

If I were Victor Anichebe on the other hand, I would see this as a chance to realise the massive potential I have, and to give the Everton fans a reason to love me rather than be continually frustrated with me.

I wonder if this signals the end for Moyes, and dread next season if we do qualify for the Europa league, as I reckon his successor would be left with a squad without Fellaini and Baines being suitably replaced.

Article is written down to a Tee. A wasted opportunity... However, one major factor also is the potential departure of Mr Moyes due to the lack of backing this window. Why couldn't we have started our transfer activity on January 1 instead of the 28? Farcical!

It's a shame Donovan wasn't available this year, a month or two of Landon's enthusiasm, enterprise and skill (plus ability to play wide or up front) could have been a real filip.
That said, I would of course have welcomed Fer, another battler in the midfield who can play a bit would definitely help, I also remain mystified about Ofoe, if he as good enough for a year long loan in the summer why didn't we go back now for 6 months? Bloody FIFA really stictched us up there I think, another example of some poor 'officiating' that went against us. Then again, maybe that's all part of the story, triumphing over adversity and battling against the odds seems to be the Everton way these days.

The final point I would like to make before people put the boot into the board/Moyes too hard is that we have did have a very good summer - bringing in some players who've made a difference (Mirallas and Pienaar especially) and we have at least got one new face here who could add some youthful enthusiasm in a problem position. (With Coleman injured and Neville looking increasingly off the pace, the right back slot needed sorting).

However I do have two issues - 1. why was our business left so late and 2. why where we wasting time on the final day tring to sign Negrado when they wanted about £5m more than we were willing to pay ?

The Negrado saga reeks of propaganda by Kenwright - he will no doubt feed us the standard line of 'we tried hard and just ran out of time', although these words will be uttered through his irritating puppet Elstone - we wont see the self proclaimed best Evertonian in the world anywhere near an interview given our shambolic transfer window.

Moyes has been badly let down by Kenwright in this window. Forget the signing of a promising 18 year old full back, we have effectively added nothing to boost our hopes of a top 4 finish and FA Cup success. Moyes asked fro a bit of ambition in this window and Kenwright and his fellow tossers on the board have shown what ambition they really had. Mind you, why would 2 Spurs supporters want to help our chances of a top 4 finish ? Synical ? Me ? YOU BET !

Every player has injuries during his career and most carry on playing until they are 30 plus.
A lot of players end up arthritic and that is the result of injuries sustained throughout their career.
Lots of players including our own play with pain killing injections otherwise we would be far worse off than we are.

The fact is FER is playing regularly in Holland and every player that is costing money has some sort of injury during his career.
Many of our current squad are playing with minor injuries and that go's for every team.
If we are confining our searches to players who are not then we will get no one.

Any former player will tell you the same.

Mike, I agree with your comments apart from the first paragraph.

If DM leaves I do not blame him..He must be as frustrated as any supporter.
Our first eleven when all fit are a match for anyone and that is what makes this board so inept.
They have totally failed their manager and more importantly us fans !!

Everything left until too late and that is unforgivable in my book

I would find the idea ridiculous anywhere but here.

' They ' do as is said have previous

Anyway, I understand what you mean regarding the Fer deal, it all comes down to my issue of us always leaving our dealsongs so bloody late !

Totally agree with you that Kenwright has let Moyes down badly.

What also grinds me is that if we had somehow (?) bought Fer and Negrado Kenwright would have been all over Sky Sports with his big soft grin all over our screens, going on about how great our club is blah blah blah. now none of this has come off we wont see the slimebag.

The biggest we have now is the long term effect all of this will have on our club, in particular Fellaini, Moyes and maybe even Baines and Jagielka.

As I said on the Transfer Day thread (and Adam @526 hinted at) there are clear positives to keeping the same bunch of players. Team unity, morale, tactical coherence to name but three. I do not for a moment think our existing forwards would have been "delighted with the competition" - no matter what their public statements were - if we had bought a Spanish striker. They would have been thinking "Shit, I'm not going to get a game. The manager obviously thinks I'm dross". I just don't buy the idea that players welcome competition and that it invariably improves them. It can do sometimes, sure, but just as often it can undermine them.

In fact, I don't "buy" the idea of transfer deadline "buys" at all, really. I'm bloody sick of the financial circus football is rapidly becoming. As I said on the other thread, I think fans are being trained to expect clubs to spend big every transfer window as a form of entertainment.

I'll put my Marxist hat on. (Take it out if you like, Lyndon, but it genuinely bears on the subject in hand).... Late capitalism perpetually stimulates desire without ever offering satisfaction. Not happy? Buy this! Still not happy? Buy that! Spend, spend, spend - consume until you drop and work round the clock, borrowing like mad, to fund it. Never mind the things you've already got - in this case, promising young players such as Barkely, Velios and Duffy who might do the job very nicely - what you need is something new... but it'll cost ya!

OK, I have now taken off my hat. COYB!

A definite positive is that we lost none of our big players. But then who's to say they won't go in the summer anyway. This was a very quiet window for the big four, the teams who would want to buy our best players.

Another positive for me is that Gueye got shipped out on loan. I am hopeful that this means that Oviedo will get bumped up the queue and will hopefully get more game time.

A negative is the obvious one that we didn't strengthen. When you see some of the quality picked up for a couple of million by other clubs, I am bemused that we have spunked what little cash we have on a player for a position we don't need to strengthen right now.

Over the last couple of weeks I have been more concerned with how we are pulling ahead of our rivals for fifth and sixth, e.g Stoke and Swansea, than I was about pulling ahead of our rivals for fourth, e.g Spurs and Arsenal. My expectations for the season have been lowered, given our lack of quality. As we haven't strengthened, I worry that Moyes and the squad will now lower theirs as well.

As with others as mentioned above, I am hopeful that we stay injury free for the rest of the season.

Whatever you personally think about the transfer window it was an opportunity to give our club an injection of much needed fresh players.
Almost all the other clubs did something and we did nowt !!
Which is probably as much use as you quoting Marx.

I think the gap between the top and the next tier has reduced dramatically over the last 2/3 years. Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal are not a patch on the teams of 3/4 years ago and quality players are in short supply all over. We have not improved dramatically, yes we played well at the start of the season but the last few games puts that form into perspective. My great fear is that by not strengthening now and showing our intent to push for a top 4 place on a regular basis, we have lost the opportunity to keep players like Baines and Fellaini. Utd and chelsea will come calling - how do we stop them leaving if we cannot give them Chapions league football next year?

Its hard to get excited about deadline day knowing full well we are skint.

Certainly didn't entertain the idea we'd pull off the transfer for Negrado once the Fer transfer went to the knackers yard ( sorry, couldn't help myself).

Yeah we needed a couple of signings to bolster the squad but with the Fer deal falling at the final hurdle (sorry again) you just had that feeling it wasn't going to happen. I wasn't the least bit surprised but still a little disappointed, we will be up Shit creak without a paddle if we don't keep everyone fit in maintaining the push for Europe or even top ten if injuries mount up.

Then we will see an exodus of players and staff alike.

Am I delusional? Am I a conspiracy theorist? In all things non-Everton I am definitely not, so why am I so convinced about what I have posted above?

I've said it before, I think this was a genuine attempt to get Fer, but when it came up that he had had this minor operation (You have to remember, Fer DID pass the medical) BK saw it as an excuse to try and fuck Twente over with the money being on the drip, drip.

http://www.evertonfc.com/home/

Have you ever seen him looking more miserable? That is the demeanor of one beaten man.

Now convinced he will walk.

Thing is though, it was only the other day Moyes was on the radio praising BK because he had found him some cash to spend, and how pleased he was with the board for backing him etc.

I can't believe you guys seem to think it's so simple. Just buy a new player and everyone will get a lift and the whole team will play better. It's not that easy. It's bloody difficult to buy a player who will make a real difference, not only in the short term but the long term. Think of the players we've bought in the last ten years. How many have been really good buys? Maybe a third? That's not because Moyes is rubbish but it's because choosing the right player to buy is a really hard thing to do. (Actually, DM is a bit rubbish, but not for that reason.)

Look at QPR. They have spent a bomb on Samba. To replace Onuoha perhaps - who they bought to improve the team and replace someone else, who.... Etc

What a miserable get. Moyes, not you. I can only imagine he'd had a Smiths/Leonard Cohen CD compilation on to get over the death of his dog. But because he's just brought in "One For The Future" Stones he may be thinking of staying.

Kev Johsno@696.

Yep. That's his job, and maybe we'll get to see a bit more of the reserves you mention. I rather thought his transfer record was a bit better than 1/3 rd, though. Odemingie was available, apparently.

We could be finishing the weekend in 4th spot so balls to anyone who is perpetuating the belief we're not good enough to compete. Small squad? Yes, and injuries all season have us up there anyway so where's the logic in dismissing our assault on 4th?

And if it were a simple choice between Fer and Negredo coming in or the fitness of Gibson and Mirallas - I'd take the latter. And they're back playing already! How long for? Who knows but if they ended up with season ending injuries tomorrow we'd still be fighting for 4th as fighting is what this team does.

The stitching up of the wound which because it was so recent had not yet fully healed but was not deemed to be an issue except the doctor felt he had to put that in his report.

However Fer stated that he felt the problem was finance not the injury.

That together with history suggests to me that this was another smoke and mirrors event in an attempt to keep Moyes here and placate the supporters.

As a lot of posters have already said they knew he had an injury so why leave it until 2 days before the dealine to give him his medical and if the injury was a "genuine" concern why not pull out of the deal immediately and go for target B who should have been lined up in any event not some spurious bid for someone that was twice the price we were willing to pay.

What they fail to understand is most supporters accept that we will never have money with Bill in charge and would have settled for a couple of loan signings to help and boost a tiring squad.

Knowing how frustrated most supporters are imagine how Moyes and the players feel.

IMO this will certainly damage morale and divide supporters which seems to be Bills modus operandi i.e. divide and rule.

I for one cannot wait to see the back of Kenwright who in 50 years of watching Everton has to be by far the worst chairman in history with his constant lies and deceipt.

If he can set them out right and instill some confidence into them, who knows?

Looking like he had just had a pay cut in his interviews hardly sets the tone, does it....

I am neither a Moyes lover or a Moyes hater, but I have always thought his media work was absolutely disgraceful. He has always got a face on him. Talking to the press/tv, is a way of communicating with the fans, but he just doesn't care. There's a lot to be said for Scottish manageres, but they are almost invariably dour in interviews. Lambert, Clarke, Moyes - bloody grim, the lot of them.

Reporter: "David Moyes this transfer window has been disappointing given that you just missed out on your No 1 target, failed with a late bid to strengthen your forward line and only managed to bring in a promising right back?"

Moyes: "Och aye...but that reminds me of a very funny story, back in my playing days......"

To use the house purchase analogy yet again, why would you organise a survey on a house as soon as you fancied it? Make a provisional offer, which might take some time to get to an agreement, and then survey. And once the survey shows a problem, then see if you can protect your dosh by getting a price reduction (or in Fer's case, paying part upfront and making the rest provisional on the knee holding up).

What I am struggling with is the apathy, we should be glad noone was sold, at least the board tried to back the manager blah blah blah.

That is bollocks, for months everyone has known that we needed extra bodies with quality to sustain our challenge as we have no strength in depth.

Well for me we have just witnessed a piss poor attempt by our inept board to pull the wool over our eyes again. Guess what though, they have done it as the majority will still clap when his smugness appears on the screens and accept that we are doing well to be a club that finishes 6th or 7th every year. The big question is will Davey Moyes accept that?

If, like a lot on here say we really do not have any money then surely it is time to step aside to let someone else have a go. Oh I forgot he is searching 24x7 and noone is buying football clubs anymore.
Oh and if we really are that skint the the bids for Fer and Negrado really were just taking the piss out of the Manager and us then?

"What I cannot understand and what I find unforgivable is the FACT that Fer was scouted and watched for months, so why wasn't the deal/medical etc carried out at the beginning of the transfer window so that alternatives could be pursued earlier?"

This is (imo) a question that the club/BK/Elstone should be asked (and forced to answer).

That is what happened but unfortunately the entertaining factor did not raise its head.

The whispers around the club this month were one of excitement as to who we were going to get in but, unlike past windows, these transfers seemed to have some legs. I was made up at the thought that David Moyes had looked at his squad, identified the weakness in central midfield and was being backed by the board to do something about it. He, like the rest of us, could see that the responsibility of being the sole striking option was weighing too heavily on Jelavic's shoulders and he needed a striker of similar quality to push him and share the load.

With these two additions, I could really see us making that 4th spot our own, Arsenal aren't good enough, Chelsea are slipping and Spurs don't look like they are up for the fight. This was our chance to push on and become real contenders, greeting our familiar end of season good form like an old friend.

Even if the money for these two players would have added to the outstanding loan amount, could you have imagined getting to the end of the season, finishing 3rd/4th, getting the additional £20 million for Champions League Qualification and the extra £60 million from the new TV deal and let's face it a good deal of money from Fellaini (I do believe that he will leave in the summer and I for one don't blame him; he deserves to, having left the club in European dreamland, he'd forever be a hero). This would have been Moyes’s biggest test: a settled squad and a huge war chest to establish us as a top 4 team.

I hope that all of the above happens and if it does we won’t have the burden of the added debts but it’s going to be a hell of a lot harder. Let’s get ready for another bumpy ride! COYB.

You have knowledge of Moyes bonus scheme then, I'd be really interested to know.
The only people giving up on 4th are you and your fellow pessimists. I think 4/1 is probably a fair price although quite a few bookies will only go 7/2. As it happens transfer window activity has had no noticeable difference on the odds on offer.

Fight for 5th and Europe, then onto a dismal season and finishing 13th because all the players are knackered or sold.

God I love being an Evertonian......and I'm an optimistic one!!!!

We always need a couple more, especially, in my opinion, Pienaar/Mirallas types. They make the best substitutes, the people who can come on against Swansea or Southampton and have a fresh legs moment against tired defenders that turns one point into three.

But I thought we'd all got used to the way things were, it seems too many sit by their computers waiting for updates and getting annoyed when it doesn't come. This behaviour is irrational, illogical and if, as Lyndon suggests, it leads to frustration and anger, then its possibly harmful.

Every single blue I have spoken to today feels deeply disappointed, not negative, deeply disappointed. The overwhelming train of thought in my neck of the woods is why did we leave it so late, what were we doing from Jan-1 on, if we had some cash to splash when did it come on board and if so late in the day why so late in the day, are we not able (like the shite) to spot targets in a timely manner before the window opens and move at a decent pace once it does?

Now, these are also deep concerns expressed over and over again in this thread. They are not negative as you say to castigate and label. It is, in fact, pathetic to call them negative. They are the genuine concerns of disappointed true blues who hoped for something to give needed energy to our excellent drive for top-4, who know that our squad is thin and, just as bad, key players are injury prone.

Ha, I'd rather have Miralles and Gibson back then have bought Fer and the striker called world class as he scored again yesterday. Complete twaddle. I doubt that Miralles and Gibson will play 14 games between them in what is left of this season. I'd rather have two injury prone players back than beef up a thin squad with two class players.

I rest my case.

And choose your words/characterizations more carefully in future and not just to try and tar and feather disappointed true blues.

Oh, by the way, if you want to read some unbelievable shit about the disappointing window from the point of view of bright and cheery blues pop over to the over thread: 'Underwhelmed'.

Have watched the interview on the OS. Don't think he came across as particularly more miffed than usual but if body language works the way it is supposed to then the manager's demeanour during this press conference tells us that he is uncomfortable / defensive with questions about the lack of first-team ready players recruited and Darren Gibson's fitness, but a lot more relaxed about Villa and benching Jelavic.

Oh, and he loves talking about what a trouper Pip is!

Please, your having a laugh aren't you about why cant we do as the shite in planning transfers. Do you not remember the last transfer window when they sent Carroll out on loan then couldn't get a replacement before the window closed. Rodgers stated 2 weeks before the Summer window closed that he would be mad to let Carroll go out on loan then 2 weeks later proves he is mad by sending him out on loan.

So castigate our manager and board all you like but check your facts before saying we should be more like them.

And Paul Ferry (793), Nick's use of the word "negativity" may offend your sensitive feelings, but it is absolutely appropriate for your prediction about Mirallas and Gibson not playing 14 more games between them. That is pure negative shit, no other way to describe it. And I'll take that bet.

I would just love DM to believe in the guys, throw off the shackles and really go for it, and grab third.

If Negredo was genuine (and nobody has officially said it was, then again, why not a second or third choice?

Both of these signings would have been for the here and now. Surely he didn't say "fuck it, if I can't have those two I don't want anyone. Get some young lad for the future."

None of it makes sense to me at all.

As for saying 'why didn't we try and sign him earlier in the window?' Well, maybe we did but Twente didn't want to sell him then but were persuaded to do so when out offer reached a certain amount or when they thought they had a chance of getting someone to replace him that they actually wanted?

The final thing is none of us had ever heard of the lad before this week. I'd not read anyone on here clamouring for his signature. No other club seemed to be after him, as far as we know, and no one else bothered to come in with the original fee package we had agreed once we didn't go ahead.

Brendan, if the reason we hijacked Wigan's deal for the lad was to put a gloss on an otherwise barren transfer window then those running the club are even more cynical than I would have thought.

If we were genuinely interested in securing the lad why didn't we speak to him first rather than waiting until Wigan had had an offer accepted and then making a move.?

There is simply not a hint of anything to suggest this ...

"As for saying 'why didn't we try and sign him earlier in the window?' Well, maybe we did but Twente didn't want to sell him then but were persuaded to do so when out offer reached a certain amount or when they thought they had a chance of getting someone to replace him that they actually wanted?"

Keyword - 'maybe'.

So let me get this straight.

We secretly (on or before the 1st of Jan) we put in a bid of around 6m but get turned down.

Although it's an official bid, the press/Sky etc never get hold of it.

Then we secretly put in a bid of 7m but get turned down (again we keep it secret from all media).

Time's moving on but we keep upping the bids while keeping it a complete secret.

Then a couple of days before the deadline (nb: almost a full month later!), we put in a bid of 8.5 which is accepted and details released.

You must think we're all as daft as...well, as BK thinks we are.

The only times if my memory serves me correctly when we've done that before is when we havent ended up signing the player e.g. Manny Fernandes "will be signing in the morning" only for the 12 nillion to disappear up Bill's arse and never be seen again.

If Fer has a serious problem then why wouldn't Twente make a show of negotiating and ultimately accept a lower amount up front to off-load him? If he breaks down between now and the summer then Twente will get nothing (unless they have been able to insure this supposed crock).

I love the idea that everyone should have been in the market for the lad, otherwise it is a sign he is damaged goods or not really very good. On what basis? It is not as though a shed load of defensive midfielders have been bought and he is the only one left on the shelf. Simply put, there were not enough clubs with money in the market for good midfield prospects for it to have been impossible to find a possible deal.

There are multiple potential targets and none of us expected something other than a loan deal, so why should it be a prerequisite that a player's name have been bandied about the message boards before he can be considered to be good enough to join us?

From what you posted it seems that he became a lot more interesting to us because we knew he was available and the other deals had failed to bear fruit, rather than it being necessary to move quickly to secure an asset we were desperate to have.

It was announced mid afternoon that Wigan had had an offer accepted by Barnsley for the lad and he was on his way to sign for them. Hours later (after it became obvious that nothing else would happen) it is announced that we have had a bid accepted and he is en route to Finch Farm. Do you really think we had tabled an offer before Wigan? We could have asked Barnsley to let us know if anyone came in for the lad, but we obviously didn't and had to react to the press announcement.

I picked on your post because you have been vociferous in defending the club hierarchy's actions during this transfer window, and yet your post is like a Freudian slip.

The comparison between the way we have conducted ourselves over the last couple of days and the way the Shite handled Sturridge's acquisition have been made by others on this site and on the forum yesterday.

It's the sort of mindset you exude that also seems to be pervasive in the boardroom that leads to the sort of disappointing dross we had to put up with yesterday and people, like you, will rush on here saying "Eh, we're one point off 4th and lost a handful of games, stop castigating the board and the boss, don't try to fix things that don't need fixing."

Well there are things wrong deep down in this club and we saw more of it yesterday. By the way, if you think all is hunky dory, Mr Harrison, take a quick look, a few seconds will do, at the gaffer's demeanour and all round general mood in his interview on the OS.

And, lastly, get your facts right next time you post something, Mr Harrison, and don't put fucking words in the mouths of others, okay?

Ironicly, I heard an irate Spurs fan on Talksport post-11pm last night saying their lack of signings had 'handed 4th place to Everton'.

I suppose it's possible that none of these players were available but I just find it very difficult to believe.

It was reported on Sky Sports that Wigan had a bid accepted and the lad was going there for the formalities. This has never been denied or refuted, so I see no reason to doubt it. If we had registered an interest with his agent or Barnsley to the effect that we would like first refusal it wouldn't have got that far.

It was then a couple of hours before it was announced that we had tabled a bid and he was on his way to visit us.

You say Wigan forced our hand. For that to be true you have to assume that he had been identified as a must-have acquisition. The actual sequence of events doesn't support that, unless you think good practice wouldn't include putting a contingency in place to ensure he didn't sign for someone else. What if Norwich had been the ones who had gone in for him and he was half-way there before we realised? Could we have wrested him away from them in the same way?

Do you honestly think that this lad is so special and so key to Everton's future that it was crucial for us to make sure we didn't miss out on signing him up? Or do you think that it is perhaps more likely that the sequence of events was like those outlined in your original post ("Leroy...failed; Negredo...failed; so lets spend a little & bring in this young lad we like the look of") where it is at least implied that he was essentially an after-thought?

Perhaps I should apologise as the re-emergence of Martin Mason has got me on high alert for comments that are used to support one position when close examination and the use of context make them as effective in supporting the opposing view.

Thanks for the offer but don't bother...oops I see you did anyway. I assume you read something in one of my earlier posts where I "implied"that I would ?

1st ' 2 ' Fer is a direct replacement for Fellaini.

2nd ' 2 ' Nobody came in for Fellaini ( not for the first, second or third time either...up yours Dad / Agent )

4...deal ' falls through ' there may've even been a consolation prize for us if we could've wracked the price down even more.

QED, we had no real intention unless forced by Fellaini's sale...who say's Moyes is an upright calvanistic dudley do-right, more like Scrooge McDuck.

Many a mickle macs a muckle