Baines: Transfer rumours are nothing to worry about

And maybe that's why Moyes is stalling on his contract negotiations until after the window closes, a bit of blackmail perhaps to ensure he gets to keep his best players even if he gets no new ones in?

Steven, exactly why my point was that players won't be determining whether they stay or go, the banks will.

This is the best footballing side we have had for years and survival is not good enough. We need to live up to the club motto and back the manager by strengthening our really sparse squad.

Our bench is ridiculously weak and we do not seem to have youngsters pushing for places. Virtually all of our first eleven can play if they want to as they have no competition. This is not a good thing from either a business situation or a playing one.

The strength of every side lies with the ability to be able to bring on a players who can provide different options on the field if things are not going well. We do not have that luxury. We have defenders who can come on to attempt to hang on to slim leads but no-one good enough up front to change things and win games.

And given that our only current assets are essential and we have so few of them (i.e. players) we can't afford to lose a Baines or Fellaini to pay off debt at the moment.

There will only be an issue with the bank if Everton start to default on any of those installments and fall into arrears. Even if that happened the bank would send litigators to negotiate a reduced repayment program to ensure they get their money. The only way the bank would have any say whatsoever on what Everton do with their own incomings would be if Everton continued to default to the point where legal action was taken.

Maybe I am being pedantic but it just seems ridiculous that some people have taken the view that any funds not reinvested in more transfers have automatically gone back to the bank. I am pretty sure there are other outgoings for every football club, from training equipment to wages, stadium maintenance etc, so to suggest we don't control our own budget is infantile.

Now I am by no means ITK; I am a normal Evertonian. Can I ask that if anyone else wants to post a 'fact' about any of our extra income going straight to the banks can you please provide evidence of when Everton defaulted on their agreed repayments to the bank and how far in arrears we have become and when the banks are taking us to court? Alternatively if you're like me and haven't got a clue, why don't you try and refrain from posting mind-numbing speculation? Just a suggestion.

And calling Moyes a liar when he said the Arteta money went to the banks?

There have been confirmations at various times over the past few years were the CEO has declared that funds from player sales have been paid directly to reduce debt to keep the bank happy.

They have one hand in our pocket and the other around our neck...

It's also quite possible that we have accounts at both Barclay's and CoOp.

http://www.toffeeweb.com/season/11-12/news/19875.html
http://www.toffeeweb.com/club/business/finances_11.pdf

Kenwright says "the Pienaar money went to the bank" in the Blue Union interview.

Elstone is on record saying our debt levels are static.

Not reduced, static. We reinvested little or none of the Yobo, Beckford, Yakubu, Vaughan or Arteta money in players and were loaning out players.

Seems the Bily deal freed up cash for Jelavic. Rodwell freed up cash for Pienaar and Mirallas.

We continue to lose money. So where's it gone? Show me where the cash I refer to has been "reinvested".

People draw the conclusion money is going to the bank when the chairman utters the words himself!! Leaked emails referred to the need to sell at least one player before Arteta left, things were "tighter than ever".

Your challenge to Christine is a Masonesque position of inherent weakness.

"Bottom line for me is that at 31 May 2011 we had £24m of loans falling due within 12 months. £9.1m of overdraft (repayable on demand) and £14m of bank loans. The banks have clearly indicated that these loans (or a portion thereof) are not going to be rolled, as would have been the case pre-Lehman."

http://www.toffeeweb.com/season/11-12/comment/fan/18804.html

All the above does not cover the club's current operating costs.

The board have flogged all saleable assets – including players – to keep the debt at manageable levels.

There has been no investment in the club from the board, since their original purchase cost.

Luckily, there is an even bigger percentage of TV money payable next season, so we may be able to pay some of £45-50m worth of debt down.

The banks can withdraw their borrowing facilities as they see fit, so of course they can insist we pay down the debt.

Now seeing as the board refuse to invest a penny, how can they raise capital?

Mmmmm..... let me think about that one.

I like the music....perhaps at that pace some budding lyricist may be able to adopt something suitable.

The financial fragility of our situation only serves to underline the need for a very resourceful and capable manager.

Yet each season, our squad gets stronger! Nobody knows the status regarding the banks, as there has not been a financial report for a long time. So all this suggestion that MF or LB has to be sold to appease the banks is just idle speculation, that we see off the same people, season-in, season-out. When I look at our figures of debt and wage ratio in comparison to the rest of the Premier League, I don't think we are managed that badly and recklessly.

If we end up with a stronger squad — which was weaker and weaker until last January — then it's down to Moyes in the transfer market, being allowed the luxury of a zero net spend the last two transfer windows, when, in the previous four, he was unable to make a cash signing and found £18m go out in one year without a penny to be seen in his direction (except Gueye and Vellios).

Dan, the starting XI gets stronger, yes, because of Moyes's shrewd buying... but the squad is still pitifully weak from its lack of depth. In January, Moyes shipped out one fringe player (Bilyaletdinov — admittedly one of his few failures — and replaced him with three first-choice starters in the form of Jelavic, Gibson and Pienaar (on loan) with the proceeds.

He sold another fringe player (Rodwell) and reinvested the proceeds in more first-choice talent in the form of Mirallas, Pienaar (permanent acquisition) and Oviedo. This team strengthening owes everything to a manager managing his resources impressively well.

We are no longer managed badly or recklessly (the global credit crisis enforced some austerity measures on the Board) but, while our financial state is stable, it remains concerning — the club's short-term lending/overdraft facility may be under control from the bank's perspective but comms director Paul Tyrell recently admitted that overall debt (presumably rolling loans and long-term secured) will show as unchanged in the next accounts — and still precludes any further squad building without having to sell one of our big-ticket players.

This is why I am surprised when people have a dig at Moyes's salary. Not only does he have to get the team to compete and win, he is also our financial strategy, by bringing in young players and developing them into valuable talents that can manage the debt where necessary.

Of course, the ideal scenario is to be self-funding and have future vision in the same way that Arsenal are going. But the reason that they were able to get the finance to have a big new stadium, was because they could demonstrate that they could fill the ground due to waiting lists etc. Even at the Emirates, they STILL have a waiting list of 40,000! We cannot even fill our current season ticket capacity (even with the 95 quid junior programme) so it's a hard business case to justify.

But yes, I agree it is a woefully thin squad in comparison to other teams. But this is more out of necessity, than choice.

Out: Cahill, Bily, Saha, Rodwell, Yak, Yobo, Beckford, Arteta.

In: Mirallas, Jelavic, Gibson, Oviedo, Pienaar, Naismith.

Numbers down; efficacy up.

I bet the wages are half as well. At £2 to £3m average that's fair money.

What is key for me is that Moyes has to trade. As strong as the squad is, he has to continue to trade, upping the quality and dropping the average age. Being complacent with the squad leaves us where we were 12-24 months ago.

Pointless whinging about it because, as the Blue Union proved, most fans aren't arsed. Nobody is listening and the days of having years to build teams has long gone – football success is measured in months now.

Barry... Johnson, McFadden, Neill, Lescott etc etc etc...

The boy Rathbone needs to up his game friggin' tyre-kicker.