Something to that German connection?

The biggest question is whether it is true? And as with most sport newspaper stories, probably not

Football aside, DM doesn't have much of a sense of humour which [consults Book of National Stereotypes] means he would fit in quite nicely in Germany.

With strong rumours emanating that Guardiola could be set for Bayern Munich, Moyes may be make the move at the right time. There's a feeling that the Bundesliga is going to copy the Premier League model, and go for a collective global TV deal. If successful, on top of the large corporate sponsor deals with German brands the main clubs enjoy, they could also be a mercenaries paradise in a few years!

I remember him waiting for the 11th hour last time before squeezing every last penny out of the club, don't forget other than I think Pienaar and Fellaini, he's the biggest earner at the club. Well I'm sorry enough is enough its time for Billy boy to show a set of balls and call his bluff, put the contract in front of him,set a time limit and stick to it. If he still won't sign then tell shake his hand,thank him for all he's done and show him the door, there are some great managers out there not least Di Matteo who would jump at the chance of managing this great club of ours.

No doubt I'll be castigated for the above, but I know a lot of people are thinking the same as me. I'm not a Moyes hater far from it but I'm sick of the mind games and brinksmanship, either sign on or get lost Davey lad, if it was a player doing this we wouldn't hesitate in saying this so why should he be afforded anything different?

I was under the impression that he just wants some assurances.

Will he have to sell certain players?

Can he strengthen the team?

Will the board match his ambitions?

Probably Yes, No and No.

He'd be mental to sign. I'd run a mile.

Why would Moyes be shown the door?
So what if he's the third highest paid at the club? Point being?
Is he really playing brinkmanship? Its not about wages this time that's for sure.
Di Matteo a good manager? Why?

Its not about gaining a bigger contract, its about gaining the backing to get into the CL and if BK doesn't then Moyes will walk in the summer as he is entitled to do. Flogging a dead horse comes to mind if he continues under BK's restraints.

It all seems black and white to me, not sure where you get mind games from. And isn't Fellaini doing the same with a transfer request?

Ps, don't say Hater, you're not a 14 year old Valley girl.

Until a buyer is found or wants to come in, he will be in the same boat every year!!! However, he doesn't do to bad with us though, does he? The highest paid at the club!! That's why he stays... UNTOUCHABLE!

I'm not a luvvy or his biggest fan, but FFS if nobody wants to buy us, we're stuck!!! So stay or go, Moyes, but he should get it sorted NOW!

All this conspiracy shite that he overvalues the club and that its not really for sale!! UTTER BOLLOCKS. Not one serious bid has come in so what does that tell us?? No-one wants it at present.

This is the man who has been at the club over 10 years and knows exactly how much the club have got to spend on players! He should know exactly what he will have to spend on players as he claims he is in constant contact with the chairman and chief executive.

He's the highest paid person in the club and has had time over the years to build a squad whilst managing Everton sides gaining the fewest points in the premier league and fewest goals scored. His success is built on stability and patience he will be lucky to find elsewhere.

Sign the contract Moyes and stop holding the club to ransom! Thanks Martin for the excellent points you have raised here.

As I said before, any other board would have sacked him before now and certainly wouldn't have shown him the loyalty that this club has, and to quote the man himself: "The grass isn't always greener after Everton" — maybe he should heed his own words.

And far from talking us up about our chances of Europe and the FA Cup, he's being negative. Also, all this guff about him giving youth a chance... really? Every time a kid looks like breaking through — Barkley, Vellios, McAleny — they disappear from view.

I used Di Matteo as an example but (to repeat myself) there are plenty of decent managers who would love a crack at this club we love.

The managerial merry go round is due to start soon and he's bought a ticket.

Yes, he has worked wonders on what has been made available to him, but he has also up until probably last January put some awful Everton sides out with negative tactics!! I do like him by the way but enough is enough: he needs to get this sorted and put it to bed. IMO.

Moyes: full of promise but, as it turns out, no end result. Well, what's sauce for the goose...

And McAleny? When did he look like breaking through? because a kid comes on when we have injures, and almost does something, they are on the verge of breaking through? Barkley is a talent... but for the future not now. He has shown his naivety, and is not ready at 19, after missing a year of development, to play in the centre of midfield in Premier League. I think he should have come on last night, but realistically, he is not getting near the team and should go back out on loan.

And absolute bullocks that any other board would have sacked Moyes by now. He came to a club who had in general finished in the bottom six in the previous few seasons, who were fighting relegation, and with a net spend of £500k has turned us into a, in general, top six/seven side, who are fighting for top four this season. All whilst three quarters of the clubs in this division spend more than us every season, and on occasions, all of them. Most clubs in this division would kill for so much progress for so little spent.

Martin - Avram Grant was a John Terry slip away from winning the CL, is he a good manager? Its all very well taking over one of the top squads in Europe isn't it but he 's proved nothing genuine. And Moyes won a championship with Preston. 15th 5th 1st and 4th isn't decent?
Andy - He knew day one he had little money... 3649 days later does he need that the same?

Your reply seems to indicate handing money to Moyes the club does not have just to keep hold of him?

You also dismiss stats you don't like and forget watching seasons of negative football!

If Moyes wants more money then let him go to another club because I for one don't want the future of the club put a risk.

If Moyes has this wonderful relationship with Chairman and Chief Exec, don't you think he has an idea of funds available. I just don't know why he would not have an idea of funds available. As Martin has said, he wants an even better contract.

Jim, If you think Moyes handled youth correctly then you think he handled Rooney well. Played him sparingly, then he goes to Man Utd and plays every game. Need I say more??

The best left back in the league right now only started playing regularly because we sold Lescott, McAleny is ready to play, Barkley is ready now he's only 19 yes but no one said that Rooney and was only 16, Duffy is 21 and definitely ready ,as for Vellios he's been ready and has scored goals in the PL, by your reckoning these guys wouldn't get a game till there 25/26!

Nick stop obsessing on Di Matteo he was used as an example! At best Moyes is a very good manager not a great one, at worst a negative, defensive one. At least twice on the big occasions he's bottled it Wembley 09 &12 his record against the worst Liverpool teams in living memory is abysmal, his substitutions are mystifying at best sometimes.

As good as Moyes has been he isn't a Ferguson or a Mouriniho or Guardiola. And he most definitely isn't a Kendall or Catterick.

This club was here before him and it will be here after him all things come to an end maybe this is Moyes's time and for every end there's a new beginning!

If BK had pulled the trigger in 2003 then we wouldn't have returned to European football the next year. If he'd pulled it in January last year then we probably wouldn't be challenging for fourth at the moment with Mirallas and co on the books.

As for giving youth a chance then I think people on here argue different things. They say that he never gives anyone a chance and then rattle off a list of names that came through but didn't play again. The usual reason is because they weren't good enough. Half of them shouldn't have even had a 'chance' at Everton. If they're good enough – Rooney, Rodwell Barkley, then Moyes keeps them in and aorund the first team. If they're your Baxters of this world then they get shipped out eventually.

We've all seen the young guns we have at the moment. The sad truth is that as of yet none of them are good enough to displac people from the starting line up. Our games have been so tight that they often haven't been trusted to come off the bench either. Unfortunate but that's the Premier League. Fergie just bought supposedly the best kid in the football league in Nick Powell – how many games is he getting? Macheda, Ravel Morison, Chris Eagles – all had a go, all left. We are no different to any other club in this way.

He has taken them into a serious challenging position, playing the best football for ages with a great team spirit and work ethic. The fans should be agreeing with him and should be baying for a show of ambition from our miserly board, not castigating him for wanting to win things with Everton.

He has been banging his head against a brickwall and he is obviously frustrated that this decent team is suffering injuries and suspensions which are the norm at this stage and he does not have adequate reserves to sustain the challenge.

We are always picking up scraps from whatever is left after other clubs have been sated. I have said for ages that I cannot believe this club cannot provide a regular budget for transfer activity from the money taken at the gate plus the bonuses for finishing in the top 8 or 10 each season and the Sky money.

Why can teams with lower gates and finishes in the league be able to be active in signing fresh players much quicker than we can. Why did we allow Ofoe to miss out due to a lateness in the formalities? Why do fans believe the club when they say we have no money, but disbelieve everything else they say.

I have seen stats produced in my own work which reflect whatever argument a company wants to present. An example is the media who only talk football since the premiership began as if that was the birth of football. It's never mentioned that Man Utd spent 27 years between title wins before the Premier League was formed. Our board produce stats which are biased to whatever argument they wish to present and these stats are produced by experts.

Money must be given to the manager to enable him to complete the job to the best of his ability. I reckon DM is fed up with promises which are not kept and sees this present first eleven as the best chance he has had to really make a big impression this season. If he is funded to strengthen the squad with good players and attains a top 4 position then this club will get lots of money and good players will want to join us.

I also see this team as good enough to have a good run in Europe. Speculate to accumulate !!!!

"So far it seems unlikely - at least so the fans from Schalke I know think so. He wouldn't have much money to spend: Schalke are very much in debt and will not be a big-spending side in the near future. Apart from that the chair of Schalke's manager/ coach has been an ejection seat since the Bundesliga started in 1963. He would be mad to join them."

Moyes signed his £16.5m contract in 2008. There will be all sorts or rumours like this and then he'll sign another because it's the best job he's ever going to get and he's not stupid.

Rooney won't play much beyond 30 or 31 because United and England flogged him to pieces between the age of 18 and 22.

Secondly, for the comments about Moyes being lucky to keep his job in 2004 – he had saved us being relegated in 2002 and for much of the next campaign had us in the top 5 before we eventually finished 7th. By 2003-04 we were on our backsides financially (Marcus Bent anyone?) so BK had two choices:

1) Sack the young manager who is still trying to shake up the squad he inherited and bring in who exactly because our dire financial status would attract nobody...

2) Hope the blip season was just part of the learning curve for a young manager and that he was able to take the blues back up the table...

There's no point in saying he was lucky because he wasn't. He had earned that chance to redeem himself and boy did he do so. Perhaps he was lucky he wasn't at a free spending club with massive resources but then he probably would never had finished 17th if we were.

"PS: Schalke is not the "people's club" in Germany as someone wrote, they are more like the German Newcastle. Inpatient and obnoxious fans, the lasts championship was won in 1958 – all other six were won during those famous 12years, when we had that famous Austrian, who organised trips for young German men to a lot of different countries in Europe and Northern Africa."

Anyone who has a drink in the Dark House after the game may have met Oliver and some of his mates!

Strange that, this time around, it's been allowed to drag on into January. When will it start to affect the players? And what chance do we have of signing anyone with such uncertainty in the club? Big month ahead.

Obviously it would have to be a loaner or a free transfer. It's going to be a real fight to finish fourth against the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham and consolidating the squad in the middle of the park is the key.

Others like Gueye, Barkley and Oviedo are not really a viable alternative.

And Martin... re your paragraph:

'The best left back in the league right now only started playing regularly because we sold Lescott, McAleny is ready to play, Barkley is ready now he's only 19 yes but no-one said that Rooney and was only 16, Duffy is 21 and definitely ready, as for Vellios he's been ready and has scored goals in the PL, by your reckoning these guys wouldn't get a game till there 25/26!'

Where exactly do I start with that... well firstly, Baines didn't only start playing when Lescott left... he made 31 appearances with Lescott in the season before Lescott left.

Next... if you think McAleny and Barkley are ready... well, what games have you been watching exactly? And surely you can see the difference between Rooney and Barkley? Aside from talent, a central midfielder, and a striker are completely completely different.

How many 19-year-old central midfielders are playing in this league? Jack Wilshere has been the only regular recent example I can think of off the top of my head...he though was 1) far further along/more talented than Barkley, 2) hadn't lost a year of his development 3) has since missed a whole season through injury...A possible link to being overplayed, but probably unrelated.

And no idea where you get a conception that I think these guys will be ready by 25/26 from. Probably from the steaming pile where the rest of that paragraph originated. I personally think Barkley will be ready within 18 months, but he needs at least six months of Championship football first. With respect to Vellios and McAleny... jury's out on those. They might make it; they might not.

Under the current board, how much further can he take us? It's groundhog season every year; maybe he's thinking it's time for a new challenge.

I have total respect for the man, I was there in the 90s and saw a lot worse than the past 10 years. He has made us difficult to beat, we aren't the walkovers... he gets the best of out players and we have a fantastic family team spirit. We have got into Europe and may even break the Champions League again this year if we can keep the 1st team injury free.

In a few words I think he has put us back on the map.

If he does go, Di Matteo would be a fantastic replacement...... but why would he come if he can't move the team forward without the necessary funds?

ps: Ian Holloway (ToffeeWeb favourite)... NO, THANK YOU!!

Readymade replacements are just not out there. Matteo never rated Daniel Sturridge, which is a plus, but he's not for me. I would rather have Poyet or Laudrup. Big Sam would help fiddle the books and keep us up. Maybe that makes him favourite.

Four years and how many millions of pounds wasted on that... Waster!

David Moyes has driven me to distraction many times over the years with his team selection, tactics, substitutions, etc etc but I have to say that he finally seems to be on the verge of getting this club back on the financial map. Success will attract money.

I also believe he loves Everton Football Club more than most of us and by holding back on the signing of his contract he is acting in the best interests of the club, the players and the fans.

Was it not long ago Moyes said that he would like to manage a team in Germany? - Im surprised a story like this has taken this long to come out from idol paper filling jerno’s

This has got BS written all over it IMO… Why would the likes of Jags & Coleman be signing contract extensions if they thought for one minute that Moyes wasn’t going to be here next season.

I think you are wrong in your assessment. If Moyes was to walk and we needed to find ourselves another manger, Do you think that Di Matteo would “LOVE” to manage our beloved team with the financial restrictions we have in place? How much would you think a new manager would have to spend bringing in the players he thinks the team needs?

Moyes leaving is not just about easily finding a great new manager; it’s about having funds available to provide this new manager. Funds we clearly don’t have at the moment, so if Moyes were to leave the club, where do you think the funds would come from?

Player sales probably, Baines, Fellaini, Jelavic… We could easily make £60 / £65m from the sale of all three players: Baines £20m, Fellaini £30m, Jelavic £10/15m

This would rip our team / club apart from the seams & undo the great work that has found us to be real contenders of a top 4 finish, not just 4th, but 3rd too, possibly even 2nd.

Back to you Martin (#409).

BK made his money taking chances on theatre productions so he has speculated in those instances without a guaranteed return. Why not speculate a few million on the Blues because if they gain a top spot the club will make a lot of money.

Also, I see this team making a far better fist of the venture into Europe if it happens. I reckon the present best eleven we have would run any side close. With a little speculation, we will be able to fulfill this promise.

I'm as frustrated as anyone because I have faithfully supported the club since 1948, through relegation and championships, and to see this board fiddling while Rome burns is criminal. Are they waiting until we have more burn outs or injuries?

Give DM the wherewithal to realise the potential of the best footballing Everton eleven since the 60's.

What happened to the funds that were made available for Ofoe?? We constantly ship out assets and loan out lots of youngsters every season to lower the wage bill. Bringing in the likes of McFadden, Hahnemann and Hitzlsperger is insulting the fans. These players are cast-offs from clubs BELOW us.

How can anyone tell me that there is no money? I do not believe it!! If DM leaves then its 100% the fault of the board.