Moyes rueful but realistic over transfers

Three questions Davey:
1-when did the 8.5 million materialise
2-if there were a couple of targets in mind why wait until almost the end of deadline day by which time they were gone
3-if it was because your priority was to sign Fer, why did we not try and sign him earlier in the window or was it that we tried to sign Fer so late because your other targets had gone

Moyes cannot afford not to use some of his best youngsters, the oldest of them can do a job if they are being played, but Moyes is afraid to try anything that involves using young talents.

Give our oldest youngsters a spell of playing time here and there David Moyes and you might very well be happy you did.

Thanks for that can all ease up on Kenwright now because Moyes is hitting his target of reaching the top half of the league.

How incompetent that the end of this transfer window crept up on them we were threadbare at the begining of the season and have been throughout so we should have bolstered our squad in early January not buying kids at 10pm on the final day.

No shit, Dave?

Three answers Barry:
1. When Kenwright and them said so;.
2. Because it's not his money;
3. All of the above.

If the club have aimed financially at a top half finish and come 7th at worst then that is potentially 3m more than projected.

Surely thats a good thing provided its invested sensibly?

I would love to know what this statement actually means in terms of how much earlier and what factors mean that he can say 'maybe'.

It is also unnerving to think that looking to buy the 'something extra' we need right now (paraphrasing a bit) precludes the equally necessary building for a slightly longer-term future, since bringing youngsters in and turning them into saleable assets is apparently one of our main business strategies.

What I don't like is the negative vibe he is sending out to the players and fans, even though it is understandable that he would be a tad annoyed and let down. The other thing that is crystal clear is that he has no intention of talking about his contract until the end of the season.

Glad that we can rest easy knowing that DM would have got similarly stroppy had the collapse of the Fer deal been due to comparable shenanigans.

Flitcroft. Barnsley manager. Radio interview. Friday.

" John Stones is a great prospect and a wonderful human being. He is a Phil Jagielka type player,very consistent, adaptable and mobile. Eventually he will become a centre back but at the moment he plays fullback in the modern manner which necessitates him being proficient in three positions. ie. fullback, right midfield and winger. This move will be just as important for England as it will be for Everton because that is his assured destiny."

Moyes interview. Friday. " He is one for the future. ".......and we all know what that means

Akpan has spent the last season and a half at Crawley, distinguishing himself only with a leg-breaking challenge and posting anti-gay comments on Twitter. Now he's a substitute on a side likely to be relegated.

He had a great six minutes the other day, and now he's The One That Got Away... or The One Moyes Gave Away... or whatever. What a crock of crapola.

Reading DM's comments I sense a man seething with disappointment and frustration.
He now for the first time has a serious chance of europe with a team that definitely will make a better showing if we get there.
But we have no backup and its now even less with Gueye gone.
What will our bench be against Villa and for the rest of the season ?
Im feeling sick to my stomach at the thought of us falling away due to fatigue and injuries with no genuine premiership class players on the bench.
This board is a shambles !!

There's a strong message to the board expressed in his dissapointment and resignation. At the same time he knows how well the team have done.

I'm more convinced than ever that's he's off in the summer.

We all know that Moyes scouts every player many times and then takes a lot of time looking into them as a person. Is it dithering as some put it or Ferguson like planning??

I blame Kenwright, Woods and Earl for not putting a penny into EFC and not planning for the future but Moyes clearly decided that if he couldn't have the players he had watched then it was pointless buying/loaning players like Jenas etc to fill the numbers

He will live and die by that decision while Kenwright/Elstone will Spin and blag all the way through it...

Stones could be a really good player for us, id have him on the bench today

Of all the points ,speculation, gnashing of teeth and whatever else we've been reading on TW since Thursday, the outstanding and obvious question for me is - why did the board wait so long into the transfer window before they became active?

We did not learn from last summer and that frustrates me. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Moyes stays and that the board get their act together and we get some much needed players in early in the summer. Yes, it may cost a bit more at the start of the window but this waiting on til the last few hours hasn't worked so we need to try something different.

Bang on Sir

Moyes probably has had it and who can blame him, maybe Bill was trying to save on wages so bid at the last minute...

At least he hasn't come out saying how he was on the phone till 10.59 pm or desperately trying to fax places at the same time etc etc bleeding etc

He knows that this season we could and should be in a position to push on, without the players needed being brought in, the chances are that much slimmer.

The questions being asked by posters are on the money, But the key ones for me are,

1. When was the money available?
2. Why weren't approaches made earlier?

It may well be that the first question explains the latter, in which case it's inexcusable of the financial management of the club OR in the management of approaches, assuming as written, that all targets had been identified. In which case it's not Moyes fault but sadly, how the club is managed. If someone from the club, can explain the background then we could all understand, but given Moyes obvious annoyance and frustration, it's clear heels have been dragged.

If its not incompetence then why did it not happen? We know well in advance when the window occurs, if it was discussions with the bank the what happened?

If memory serves me correctly, Moyes said he would be discussing his contract at the end of January. He certainly has little appetite for further discussion and it's understandable to see why.

He has done all he can, the players have. The board clearly hasn't. The end of Jan may prove to be the end of days for David Moyes and Everton FC he certainly is taking the stance that he and his team have done all they can.

David Moyes delivered a side that has challenged for a top four position, whilst the board are happy to be in the top half. Says it all.. No ambition, no desire. He has been let down somewhere along the line and I think it's the last time.

Spot on with the summary Christine.

I wouldn't begin to predict where.

David Moyes will 100% definite sign a new contract.

Now, unless something has happened between BK and Moyes during the last few days of the transfer window, in his interview, he sounded content to me.

The message is crystal clear, and any praise Moyes reserves for BK is just the usual relationship maintenance you would expect from a manager.

If it goes wrong today and Everton get knocked out of the FA Cup by Oldham, BK should seriously think about biting the bullet and asking Moyes to sign or resign, that's not what I want to happen, but if we lurch through the rest of the season with a manager and squad who have given up it will do serous long-term damage.

In fact the best way that Moyes can answer the board's incompetence is to squeeze every last drop of energy out of his team and try and win as many games as possible, after all he's done that for the last 10 years, so it's only for a few months more. Then if he decides to leave, he can do so with his head held high and the focus of more supporters will be switched to those who are truly responsible for the position the club finds itself in.

So whether you like or dislike Moyes, get behind him and his team for the remaining games, see where it takes us and then BK can squirm in his seat as the fans realise who and what is holding the club back.

Moyes is sweating the asset. When he goes I believe we'll sink.

Brian, you maybe right and it could be groundhog day, but I just get the feeling Moyes has seen enough this year.

However I'm glad we got a really good promising youngster as opposed to a loan with no real view to sign him long term. We should only but quality players or real prospects and this is what we tried to do and I'm if r with that.

Well, it wasn't much of a flurry but I think if you want people you sign them asap in the window. It always seems in the summer that we leave it late rather than pay wages from June

i wouldn't be surprised if Bill went for the 31st Jan idea to save a few grand

Moyes is a mid table steady Eddie manager and we have him because that's what we deserve because too many of the fans are content with him and Kenwright as they base their views on the Premier table and odd snippets from Hansen on MOTD. For those of us subjected to his negativity week in week out we can tell you now he is nothing special and wouldn't get a job as the Chelski coach driver never mind their Manager.

Quite what supporting a push in Europe means I'm not sure, but if we qualify for the group stages that's £7m just for turning up. €1m for a win, €500k for a draw, and the window will still be open upon qualification.

Plus the extra TV cash and it would be the perfect year to qualify. Doesn't want top 4, there's another shit circling around BK so making stuff up isn't needed.

Now if Moyes doesn't renew his contract and goes to another club then we get no compo and no 'no poaching' clauses for our players.

You're not advocating that Moyes shoud 'sweat the asset' are you?

Fergie has always stated that DM's best signings are the ones he managers to keep but these achievements have ripped the bottom out of our transfer basket. Between them, Moyes and The Board have made a huge financial cock-up and the slowly,slowly recovery began with this latest transfer window. Do not pick up the brush and attempt to paint a niaive, innocent portrait of DM. I,for one, will not buy it.

Whatever, I still stick to my guns. They are all in it together and at 78, I am far too old and experienced to allow them to pull the wool over my eyes .

Yeah Sissoko for £1.8m didn't look a bad alternative, pity we left that to Newcastle while we were scraping scratchcards for most of January.

Turning that debt into equity means that he took shares in the club to the value of the debt, so it comes off the books.

If you're thinking we can do that then we can't because our owners have never put a penny into the Club but loaded the debt from external sources.

The excuse to not sign Leroy Fer indicates to me that this board is not far short of criminally inept. If a club seriously is committed to bringing in fresh faces then the deals are not left to the last minute.

We have taken on plenty of players with injury histories far longer than Fer's and I know as an ex-player that there is hardly a pro footballer who would not show up an old injury when a scan is performed. The fact is Fer is playing for his club and is not being subbed. The lad plays midfield so cannot be nursed.

Ofoe missed out through lateness in the last window so what happened during this window? Did the lad lose form or get injured??

Newcastle signed five players some of whom cost very little and Sissoko looks a bargain at half what we payed for a player of the 'future'. We badly need good players NOW not at a later date. Newcastle who consistently finish below us are making a laughing stock of our board and by contamination our supporters.

I'm sick and tired of reading articles by fans who are actually making excuses for this board. I do not believe we are as broke as we are led to believe. DM is a punching bag for them and should be supported not castigated.

The present first eleven when fit and fresh are a really good team but now they are carrying minor injuries and are jaded. Every other team carries a better bench than we do and it's not good enough. We deserve better and so does the team who have done so well this season.

The failure to add to our number when there were obviously prospects out there, like Sissoko and Yoan Gouffran, a midfielder and forward, when we are apparently looking for strength in those positions – and who could BOTH have joined for less than we were supposedly prepared to pay for Fer – leads me to suspect that we weren't serious about signing him in the first place. Unless, of course, we could re-jig the payments to suit BK's empty pockets.

Incidentally, I am NOT usually a conspiracy theorist; I believe man landed on the moon; I believe there was a Holocaust... and I believe that Leroy Harvey Osman shot Kennedy...

He might as well have judging by the stick he gets on ToffeeWeb.

I do not just believe all the defeatist, "short of money" excuses for this board of multi-millionnaires. I have never in the past seen EFC fall short when chasing transfer targets. Our gates a regularly high and we consistently finish in the top 8. DM has done a hell of a job with very limited support and he is the frontman taking all the vitriolic abuse that should be directed at the board.

They fall into a few categories, one of which is total ineptitude in dealing with transfers IN. If they are not inept then they are liars. How this manager can continue to pay lip service to this bungling board beggars belief.

Our players look jaded and some need a rest but we have no adequate replacements. Newcastle signed FIVE and that's what we need — not "one for the future". Our bench is now even weaker because one backside is on loan in France.

As much as I'm a flag waving MOBster, I'll try to be as balanced as I can here. What happens at the end of this season will be probably the most pivotal in the next five-plus years of the club. Firstly, how Moyes (to an extent the board too) reacts to where we finish will say a lot about his ambition (and the board's) and expectations. If we finish 5th and hear anything but how disappointed he is, it won't fly. Secondly, if he signs a new contract (which I think he will) knowing the board haven't and won't back him when he needs it most, then no one can have sympathy for him. He knows what he's getting into, and if he CHOOSES to work under the same conditions, then expectations MUST rise.

If we finish 4th, I'd back us to make the group stages, but that's about it. People keep saying how next season we get more TV money and ECL gives us x amount of money from playing and extra TV coverage, but none of that extra money from either source is going to be paid on day one of season 2013-14. I am sure it will be sprinkled into the club over the course of the season, which, let's face it, the board will pump onto our interest bill and into the "other operating costs" which is obviously their kick-backs and junkets that they are too tight to pay for themselves.

On the transfer window that just happened, if Stones doesn't get a start before the end of this season, then the club has really fucked up by spending 3m (a lot for us) on nothing.

He doesn't need to work ever again but if he does leave, I doubt he will be out of a job for long.

Also, if Moyes signs a new contract,that must then mean he is happy with BK and the rest of his cronies, because if he isen't, then the only thing he can do is walk. IMO though, and I said it the other day, I think he will sign a new contract, get a pay rise and then say he was always going to sign his new contract, but he needed to concentrate on more important things.

One question, if Moyes does sign a new contract after the board not backing him etc, what will it say about the man?

Brian, as I alluded to in my last post, if he signs a new contract with us I think it's because he knows his limitations as a manager.