Everton land Kevin Mirallas in £6m deal

And Pienaar instead of Rodwell.

That's a huge squad improvement - don't you think?

Great bit of business.
JR out for £12m and Mirallas in for £6m.
And he's only 24.

Fear the Blues.
FEAR THE MIGHTY BLUES!

I bet this guy will be brilliant

No lets hope Niang is this smooth... And that he is as good as th hype.

As it says on Sky "I am Greek(Athens) and must say that eveton fans are very lucky persons,you took our best player and you will enjoy watching him..good luck Kevin!! "

Happy days !

Top 4??? Anyone agree? Man City, Man Utd and Chelsea nailed on top 3, then choose from us, Newcastle, Spurs, Red Shite and Arsenal. Arsenal looking weaker, average and don't have RVPs goals, red shite... shite! – and don't have goals in them.

I watched Spurs against Newcastle yesterday and both sides looked decidedly average. COYB!!

So first 11 this season? Howard, Hibbert, Jags, Heitinga, Baines, Gibson/Neville, Fellaini, Pienarr, Naismith/osman, Mirallas, Jelavic.

Bench of - goalie, Neville, Coleman, Osman, Anichebe, Junior, Distin and..?....the bench is the problem I think. If we add one or two more though, I think we an approach this season with as much optimism as we use to 3 or 4 years ago. Plus, if we can get Donovan and Cahill back in January, when other teams are dreading the African nations, we can benefit from it.

All I could do with now, is a mighty trashing for Liverpool...oo hang on!

Also, I know this should all be about Everton..but I can't help showing people this: http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/10-facts-about-oussama-assaidi - Look at number 9...they've actually referenced Fifa.

Does anybody else agree that this could POTENTIALLY be our strongest and most potent first 11 under Moyes' stewardship?
I'd like to see it in action but it does get me a little excited. We do need to bulk the squad up though, as our subs bench may need a few 'rabbits out of the hat' to come on and change a game.
What do you think folks?

It means also that next year we should only have to strengthen the defence, which is cheaper. So hopefully we can hold on to our best players and not have to sell.

Finally we can be optimistic before the start of the season.

Rodwell starts for City! that's an interesting one...

Naismith and Mirallas playing alongside Jelavic will give any team a run for their money.

If Jelavic can weigh in with 20 goals this season, who knows where we can finish ?

Rodwell was never going to be a prolific scorer, so this may prove to be a very shrewd move. Good luck Kevin and now let's ruin the Sky love-in for the Mancs tomorrow.

P.S. Thank you Mr. Henry for giving £120m to Kenny to waste on utter shite !

Not convinced about Niang, not sure we can spend 6 million on a player who will maybe make it, prefer to spend it on a player who goes straight in the team.

Kev Tully, depends if you call 4-2-3-1 (as I hope to see us this season) or 4-1-4-1 the same as 4-5-1. 4-4-2 is stone dead. It's a very long time since any successful team used it. Even if two strikers are named on a teamsheet, one will always be behind the other or on the wing.

After that - no excuses really. Moyes has done a good job shipping Bily, Saha, Rodwell and Cahill and bringing in Jelly, Gibson, Mirallas and Nais with change left over to bring Peanuts back.

It will be our most interesting season so far if we do. Moyes played Cahill behind our main centre forward for many years, but he had to cover midfield duties trying to break up play etc.

I definately think Moyes has had a change of heart by signing the top scorer in the Greek League, we may see a real 4-3-3 in some games - something we have been crying out for on here for some time, mix it up a little !!

Sounds deadly on paper, hopefully we can execute it properly. Pre-christmas last year the was problem was an utter lack of movement, if everybody is just standing around it doesn't matter what formation we use.

As long as he is quick and technically sound he will add another dimension to our play.

I definely agree we should line up with a 4-2-3-1 formation.

I've got my ticket for tomorrow night and I can't fucking wait.

Pienaar to score first and us to win 2-1.

105/1......definitely worth a quid. COYB.

Having a few players who can weigh in with 10+ goals is a real possibility. I'd love to see Jelavic (20+) and 10+ from Pienaar, Naismith, Mirallas, Fellaini....and Baines from all those lovely free kicks were going to get outside the box. I just really hope we get off to a good/reasonable start.

It's going to be a big year.

If you are referring to Straqualursi as a top centre forward - I have seen better players turning out for Cammell Laird's !! He was a last ditch loaner because he was the only option - along with Drenthe.

Can't wait to see him in action great business!

What if we lucked out and happened across the next Messi in a lowly Continental league when everyone else was looking the other way. How much would you pay to bring him to the club even if he wasn't ready to go into the first team straight away? I am not saying that Niang is THAT good, but he may be worth the £6 million we currently have to spend in the long term. If that leaves us a little weaker this season, but a lot stronger 2 or 3 years further on I would hope the club weigh things up very carefully.

And Ray Roche, Kevin Campbell was not The Bolloxs. He had a good loan spell where he scored 9 goals in 8 games. That was the stuff of legend and helped save us from relegation but in the years that followed he never managed to score more than 12 goals a season.

And personally I think 12 goals a season is very average. To put that into context, Andy Johnson got 12 in his debut season and James Beattie got 11. You would hardly call Johnson or Beattie 'The Bollox'.

THANK GOD!!! Now hopefully we can get a few more in

COYB

I fully expect Leighton Baines to be a Man Utd player before 1 September. I think Moyes will be sad to see Baines go but the cash will be a big bonus and I also think Moyes might already feel that Luke Garbutt is ready to step into the hole left by Baines.

Ray Wilson: hit!
Gary Raysmith: hit!
Joe Rayal: hit!
Andy gRay: hit!
Ray Atteveld: shit!
Ray Roche: shitter!

A bit like I thought it was less likely Baines would leave once we re-signed Pienaar.

Seriously people, I believe our squad as it stands has the potential to be something quite special. Please don't let us lose another big name, and then hopefully bring in a couple of decent loans to add depth and this could actually be an exciting season to follow the Blues!

The team looks strong, even to the point where we've arguably got the ideal players to convert 4-5-1 to 4-4-1-1 and even the fabled 4-2-3-1 when we attack. Pienaar is made for those positions. The attacking 3 behind Jelly all completely interchangeable if we need to mix things up. Options - Fkin hell where did this come from? And the best part... no prospect that big Fella plays anywhere but smack bang in the centre of midfield where he can be one of the world's best rather than an awkward gangly forward.

I'm excited. And I just can't hide it.

Furthermore, where will Ross play?

Isn't that 7-7-7?

Isn't 7 a lucky number?

I've got feelings you know.

You're definitely on the list of all-time Everton greats (called Ray) – somewhere between Rayne Rooney and and Ray Kanchelskis.

Agreed he looks like Ronaldo on Youtube, looks quality!

I'm a qualified coach and some of the multiple formations some of you lot have come up has tied me in knots!!!! I think one of you mentioned football manager earlier.....too much watching dots on screens and thinking its real!!! That said, at least many are now realising that 4-4-2 is gone; by throwing on another striker in the traditional "subuteo" style formation you expose yourself in other parts of the pitch.

Who said 3-4-3? Sorry, despite Wigan's risky but impressive and gung-ho escape last time around, over the course of a season that is footballing suicide.

Michael or Lyndon - how is possible to post anonymously? It's not in the proper spirit of things, surely?

If you recognise your comment, could the author of Post 682 please contact us as your identity seems to have been stripped from your comment.