Martinez will strengthen in January

I think this current 11 still needs a midfielder in the Arteta mould, or a real number 10 if Barkley is ever dropped deeper besides Barry/Gibson. If we boguht one though it might use up the funds and then we'd be left short upfront and outwide when summer came and the loanees went back.

I think it would be great saving it all to just give Chelsea whatever they want for Lukakau but I can't see them ever selling him unless Mourinho has one of his weird stubborn episodes.

One crock defender, one hopefully not over priced Midfielder and an average striker.

On the Kone front, why pay all that much if a better striker was available on loan? We've essentially swapped Anichebe for Kone paying a hell of a lot of money for a bench warmer.

He will certainly want a replacement for the departing Baines and perhaps a striker if he can unload Jelavic,

Of course a lot will depend on how we are doing at the half-way mark. Who knows, we might be calling for a new manager by then!

On the point about January, it would seem that LB is destined to leave and we'll have to hope that we get a better offer than the one we refused in the last transfer window. I too share the view that it is unlikely we will sign Lukaku on full terms but perhaps he might stay another season if the special one doesn't think he is ready for Chelsea duties.

More likely, we sell another player- Baines or Barkley- and buy replacements for half the cost with the rest 'banked' alomg with part of the Fellaini money.

Keep going like that and we will be in one hell of a fix when our two most exciting players, Lukaku and Delboy, head back to their respective clubs at the end of the season.

If there really is any spare money that doesn't come from yet more selling off of our prime assets- which I seriously doubt- we would be better to hold on to summer when we are going to need to conjure up as much as we can to replace the two loanees we have.

If like last season we are very close to the top 4 then another player or two where needed in January would be a boost. Otherwise I'd save it for the summer where there is more choice at better prices.

When Kone was purchased, the availability of potential loan players such as Lukaku was not known, in fact Lukaku did not become an option until the last hour of the window, it showed great awareness by RM to bring him in, so to level it as a veiled criticism of RM is just a cheap shot.

If Baines goes it has to be for £20million+, but I actually think that we should hold off on a diret replacement. Oviedo is a good player and works incredibly hard and Luke Garbutt is coming through and looks to have great potential.

The priority for me is to strengthen up top by either securing Lukaku permanently or bringing someone in of that standard on a permanent basis.

We have supply in the form of Mirallas, Coleman, Barkley, Barry (who I believe will sign a perm contract next summer), Gibson, Pienaar and Osman, even if Baines does go, but in terms of people who get themselves in positions to finish chances off we have Naismith, Kone and Jelavic as the only permanent squad members.

I think we need to be less cynical about the board, after all they provided Moyes with money to buy players when it could have all gone to pay off the debt.

Trust me, LB won't go in January unless Man Utd come in with an offer about 20million plus and that won't happen.

My friend's son is a policeman, he was on duty at the Manchester derby, between the 2 sets of fans (rather him than me). The vitriol against Moyes and MF went on the whole match, all that money for that rubbish etc. so I can't see Moyes wanting to go through the whole thing again with Baines.

He'll sign his new contract either January or the summer, COYB.

Make a list:

Although I was frustrated by the last minute nature of the Fellaini deal it does mean we have a transfer fund. Add to this the Anichebe money and the money we had to spend on McCarthy that was not dependent on sales and we could do a few decent deals.

In some ways it is a good thing Roberto didn't get all the money early in the window and brought in more players who would all need time to bed in. This way he has time for the new additions to settle whilst maintaining the continuity of the squad and assessing who fits in with his plans. In January he will know exactly where he needs to strengthen.

Any good General keeps a reserve ready to throw in at the vital moment in a battle. For us this could be January, and unlike last January where we had an opportunity to push for a Champions League spot but had no cash to throw behind the bid, Roberto could bring a few quality players to give the team the boost they need!

If Baines does decide to move on and United come in with a serious offer (surely we shouldn't settle for less than £25m) then Luke Shaw looks like a quality replacement. I sincerely hope he decides to sign a new deal though. As the West Ham game showed, Baines is more than a defender, he is a match winner. I don't think this speculation is going to go away unless a new deal is done.

Our bench has been the weakest in the division until this season when we have had genuine reliable subs who can come on and change games. Unfortunately our best acquisitions have been the loan players although I want to see Kone tried. I believe he would be a proper impact sub or starter in the absence of Lukaku for any reason. Jelavic has had lots of chances and although I like his effort Im afraid he lacks the ability to upset defences. I have said for ages that he badly needs support upfront and cannot do the target man role. I think that Kone is stronger and more mobile and deserves at least as many chances as Jejavic has had.

We still badly require a proper playmaker though and Arteta is NOT the one ! Perhaps with experience Barkley could develop and improve his vision and passing ability. I hope so as it will save the club money. I don't see anyone else on the books who can do the job, Im afraid Ozzie has less impact and Pienaar lets himself down with his final ball.

With any money left from selling these players and money saved on wages, we should buy a top young talent like Tom Ince.

The majority of our transfer activity needs to happen in the summer when Lukaku, Deulofeu and Barry's loans have expired. These players will definitely need replacing.

As for signing Lukaku or Deulofeu on permanent deals - dream on! This will definitely be Lukaku's only season with us. At a push, we might get Deuofeu on loan for another year.

Lukaku is interesting because Mourinho doesn't rate him and Chelski might want him off the wage bill. They may also want a tidy fee.

With Kone, Alcaraz and Pienaar up and running and Gibson eventually match-fit, it will put a different slant on things and, personally, I would prefer to wait a while before trying to second-guess the targets Martinez has in mind.

He's a lovely bloke but somehow I fear that might not be the best outcome for either party, do you?

This is football in 2013 not 1984 !

His body position was all wrong tracking the Fulham striker in to the box on Tuesday and I would be shitting my pants with him at the back every week if I were Syl or Phil.

I don't know what to do with him to be honest, he's not a winger and he can't defend.. His best future position is probably left back of the two but he needs such a lot of work on his game that I don't know if he's worth the time investment.

It's like he's never played at the back when you seem him there.

Our biggest problem at the moment is putting the ball in the net, I'm not bothered how they do it but we need goals, I think more shooting practice is in order!

It's increasingly looking to me like Stubbs was telling it like it is, and Leighton wants to go to Man Utd; the game at West Ham told us, if we didn't already know, how valuable Baines is to us.

The question is how much is he worth? Well it's a great deal higher than £15m after those two free kicks — any team in the world should want a player that can do that. It's no less than £25m for me, even though he's 29, he's 3 or 4 good years in him yet. Seems likely there will be more than Man Utd interested in buying him; if he has to go it should be for £25m+.

i) half a dozen games into the season, unbeaten in the league (the only side that is!), ii) a future world class striker in the squad, iii) Barkely finally being given the freedom to play, iv) a young kid from Barca who's the best dribbler we've had in.....20 odd years? v) 27.5m for Fellaini, vi) baines not sold, vii) 5m for vic! viii) stones looking like a top player

And yet there are people having a go at the manager, whose only been in the job for 2 months.

Really guys, finally deal with the fact that Moyes has gone and give the new man a chance FFS. If (well when actually) we beat the barcodes on Monday, we may be in the top 4 after 6 games - and still be unbeaten.

Stop moaning about the fact that Lukaku and Delboy are loanees - SO WHAT? They are with us for the whole season! Lets just enjoy the next 3 months and worry about Jan when it comes.

Jeez.

Lukaku will probably go back to Chelsea, unless they go for another striker in the meantime.

Deulofeu may well stay for another season if he's getting some game time, he won't be playing for Barca's first team next season.

Or alternatively, it's all shite, and we're doomed.

That sounds like a man who knows it's going to be very difficult to keep hold of Baines in January, but is going to make the best of it if we don't.

Up front we need one or two top class strikers if both our loan signings are gonna leave, but naming realistic targets for them is a challenge!

I read FourFourTwo this month as well... But I hardly think our current crop rate highly enough for either of the Milan sides to be mentioned alongside them. The Martinez quote shows he is getting to grips with the Bill Kenwright regime: one window slams shut, Bobby is actually in not too bad shape and, just as the rest have, Bob has just realised it is going to be Ross or Baines off down the road next.

I am not having a pop at the chairman here: he has more cash than me, less than Ambramovic, he hasn't sold us to a chicken magnate at least. [Although free KFC would be better than free Crabbies.... just saying.]

Anyway, if we are losing either or both of Baines and Ross, then there has got to be some money kicking about for replacements – as indicated by RM.
I am wondering who we actually could get, genuinely. Shaw is a no (Saints don't need to sell), Ince apparently doesn't want to come because of lack of first team football). We can't really offer guaranteed European football and so would we attract a top end player?

I did see a call for suggestions at replacements though so here goes:
Rooney back, after another season of being taught his defensive responsibilities, not training with a ball and snide references to books, Mr Rooney throws toys from pram, packs bags and comes home. He will move (we all know it) and you cant get alphabetti spaghetti or chicken nuggets in the shape of dinosaurs in Paris, Madrid, Barcelona or Munich.

Lukaku, enraged at Jose's public pursuit of Rooney, decides to stay at Goodison where he is loved –- a season in which he scores 30 league goals helps.

Cesc Fabregas – can't even think how that would happen......
Robben? ah now I am just being daft

Like some others, it's the loan signings of Lukaku, Barry & the Barca kid that have really got my interest; and while not a big fan of Kone, I'd have happily taken him in exchange for Vic, which in financial terms is effectively what happened.

If Baines stays the left is fine, as Oviedo has shown in his last two games that he is going to be a good option when the manager finally realises that Pienaar is finished. We still need a right winger though, as Mirallas is a striker and will not stay put for long if he is stuck out there. With him and Lukaku we have two good strikers, and Jela and Kone are squad players now. For the record I think signing Kone was a massive mistake. Hope I turn out to be wrong. Deulofeu, I think, will be with us on loan again next season if he does well enough this season.

On Lukaku, I think the best thing for us is Mourinho stays at Chelsea for a long time. He's only ever going to play one striker if any, and he obviously has his favourites. I can see him bringing the Spanish style to Chelsea and playing three midfielders and three attacking midfielders, which means we have a better chance of picking up the "scraps" that are his strikers.

As for changing the way we play. I think he had to. The way Wigan ripped us apart in the Cup suggested we had weaknesses he could exploit and my God. He did just that. We were annihilated good and proper.

Right now it's early days and he probably hasn't had his strongest team together yet. He's still learning about the squad members and studying the various partnerships. How players knit together and hit off one another appears to be a big thing for him.

Personally, I find it all very exciting. A bit like living on the edge. The guaranteed safety stuff of recent seasons is all well and good but I much prefer to ride on the Martinez Mystery Express and see where it takes me.(sound of speeding train and high pitched whistle).

Would like it for once if we spend the whole lot on a striker... if we can't get Lukaku, what about Benteke? - Villa purchased him around $1.2m Euro... Maybe $20m will do the trick. Would be the same price as Lukaku right and a step up for Benteke?

With every penny left and the carry over from the summer transfer gains, I would offer Chelsea £25m for Lukaku – it is only that type of quality striker, with Premier League experience, who will move us to the next level. If he goes onto even better things, he is only 20, so his resale would be on another level.

I'd be very surprised if Baines left in January. Martinez is not likely to sell his best player half-way through the season unless a ridiculous offer came in which Man Utd would have made this summer if they were going to.

To raise funds for players, I think Hetinga will go in January. I wouldn't be surprised if Jelavic went as well. I think we will get some of the profit from the summer window. Not it all but enough, along with money from player sales, to buy a decent striker. Tony Hibbert is the one player that I will be watching with interest over the next couple of windows. I would like to see him finish his career at Everton. Half of me says that this is what he would like but I could also see him going to another local club such as Bolton for a season or two just to keep playing.

I would like to see us buying a striker as we just don't score enough goals. However, I wouldn't write off Naismith just yet though. He now has two goals in the space of a couple of games, is getting a settled run in the team and his confidence must be up. He may not be Messi but if he was close to double figures for goals come January, I would give him the rest of the season to see what his final tally is. If a striker is in form and scoring goals, you don't drop him. It will be interesting to see what Martinez does with Naismith when Kone is fully fit.

Likewise for Kone, I should have qualified that signing him for five million was a mistake. It's money we scarcely have, and should be very careful with. Quite frankly, that much money on a striker from a club in the champo who is then about to go on a month long fast is quite ridiculous. Did people expect him to come through that month in good health and up to scratch? For me, when you pay good money for a player, and regardless of how much the money clubs are paying, five million is good money, you should be getting a player that is ready to play.

I've reserved judgment on McCarthy, but at 13 million, it seems as though we've been stitched up royally by the Wigan. I think he could be a good player for us, but the games I've seen him play so far, I'm a bit disappointed that he has commanded our second highest ever transfer fee.

The best teams strengthen even when they are doing well, that has been a weakness in Everton's thinking for years. When we had trophy winning teams we broke them up and signed poorer players and that is why we have never established continuity. We have never replaced Arteta as a central midfield general. Pienaar did an excellent job in Arteta's absence with injury but his best position is left sided in front of Baines. Im afraid that Arteta is on the wane and I have not been impressed by him at Arsenal. He is overshadowed in midfield by other players there. He plays much deeper and does not make defence splitting passes, he tends to play short passes which do no real damage. His stats for accuracy of pass is good but he plays safety rather than with real attacking intent. With us he was a star when at his best but not at Arsenal.

I definitely think that Kone will come good and I would brinbg him on from the bench rather than Jelavic. If Lukaku is not available for any reason then I would start with Kone as he is much stronger and more mobile than Jelavic. Jelavic would possibly do better if he was played alongside Lukaku or Kone but certainly not up front on his own.

Talking of Baines, if he doesn't stay what is wrong with playing Stones at left back ? He is a better defender than Oviedo and is fast enough from what I have seen. I maintain our most important need is for a playmaker and if McCarthy is not the one then why did we buy him ?

Alcaraz is a good player. He'll surprise people when he's given a chance. He should also allow the sale of Heitinga, who should still fetch £3M and a fair old whack off the wage bill.

You voted and the man who so far has changed our season in the four games he has played, came out on top. It looked like the Paraguayan defender Antolin Alcaraz would miss the entire season, but his return in the second half of the Liverpool game has sparked a four game unbeaten run.

Antoilin Alcaraz featured in all four of the games in March. His return against Liverpool was timely and he stopped the flow of goal as we held out for a 4-0 defeat. Then in the next three matches of March he started all three and helped the team to conceding a single goal against Newcastle United.

The man has been an inspiration, making last ditch tackles and vital game winning interceptions. It shows how much we have missed the player with how well he has performed in recent months, had this man been fit all season, we may not be where we are now.

Mix that with his possible partnership with Ivan Ramis and we could have had a brilliant defensive line up. The two of them would be a defensive partnership that we have been crying out for in recent years, and I hope the club see that and will get Alcaraz tied down to a new long term deal.

If anyone deserves a new deal, it is this man. He helped the side to a 1-1 draw at the weekend, as he was vital in controlling a QPR side that was quick to break on our defence.

Alcaraz is a deserving winner of March’s award, and I hope he can continue his fantastic form right to the end of this season, and help the team lift the FA Cup and gain Premier League survival.

Does anyone know what is up with Kone? Presumably he has some sort of injury but how serious and for how long? Could really use some penetration up front to aid Lukaku who will presumably be first choice starter from here in.

That'll free up around 90-100k a week for a new signing or two, maybe someone whose contract is expiring in the summer, or simply to give Baines and Barkley substantial increases on new 4-5 year contracts.

Next summer Martinez can look to trim the likes of Hibbo and maybe even Ozzie from the wage bill - two great servants of the club but who are getting near their sell by dates. Think Hibbos contract is up next summer as it is and Ossie has until 2015.

Jan is still a way off, lets hope we can pick up a load of points up to xmas.

Chris, a friend on mine in work echoed the same sentiments just after the relegation.

Rant begins,

The whole subject of Baines leaving or staying has been brought back up because Alan "moron" Stubbs decided to open his big fat gob and spout crap we already knew.....

Not long ago there was a story on here about how Baines had said that he would love to stay but that if an offer acceptable to the club came in from Gollum, he would go, at the time I thought fair enough the lad is being both honest and also loyal then the window shut without any sign of him playingup or going on strike or biting anyone and I thought that's that until May then......but oh no Stubbs had to go and spout off a load of regurgitated shite, he may have been a loyal player for the club but surely he's been hauled over the coals for this, what a tit.

End of rant.

I've crossed swords with Roman in a previous existence; he's actually quite a nice bloke; but does tend to polarise himself by taking up extreme positions..viz. "Alcarez is old and shit".

I think Alcarez is 30, I wish I was that old.

I may be wrong but I think Roman is a yank who lives in Queensland (or has some similar "colonial" background), so when he says he "watched Wigan a few times last year" he means on Foxtel.

If he does go we need to shell out a fair bit on a decent replacement for left-back (Shaw or Bertrand both look promising). We won't find another left back as good as Baines is right now. But if we can find a solid replacement with a long future ahead of him I think we stand a better chance of replacing Baines creativity and free kick ability with someone extra in midfield where flair players are in greater abundance.

If Baines does leave and we add that money to the Fellaini money and any other funds we have Roberto can do some serious business in the market and reinforce the team with players who will thrive under his system. Quite a different situation that the one he has been used to at Wigan. So far I'm impressed with his dealings. The only serious cash he has spent is on McCarthy who I believe will develop into a super player for years to come. Kone was a little pricey, but at the time we purchased him we were in need of a goalscorer with premier league experience. Not many of those around for £6m! I think he will also make a big contribution this season, though I'm glad Lukaku has come in to get lions share of the goals.

From what I have seen of Alcaraz pre season he looks very comfortable with the new system and I expect he will surprise a few once fit again. Even if he fails to make an impact there was no fee involved, so no great risk.

Robles looks decidedly dodgy to me and McCarthy is yet to start a Prem game,I think.

Left-back will be the priority in January as Oviedo has failed to impress in that role and they don't rate Garbutt, I hear.

I disagree also on your opinion of James McCarthy. He is good on the ball and not scared to make himself available for a pass. This is what the three players purchased from Wigan have in common. None of them are ever looking to hoof it.

It was Distin by the way.

You show zilch knowledge of Alcaraz and Wigan last season when he played a grand total of eight games and when he got on the pitch around Spring he looked very good; have you forgotten his top-drawer display against us in the cup?

Alcaraz is not in your words 'shit' okay? It is your judgment that is 'shit'. Quite frankly I don't believe that you watched a few pie-eaters games last season with – what? – your eagle eye trained on Alcaraz?

Alcaraz looked very good in the one decent stint he has had on the pitch for us so far and – if you wish to be shown how wrong you are – read the post-match comments on these boards about his performance.

Bobby is being interviewed on Sky Sports News at 7 by the way.

As I said, if I am wrong about Alcaraz I will be very happy. If the reviews Phil has dug up are replicated by Everton people after he's played a few games, then that's great. But at the moment, any player taking a wage out of the club that isn't contributing, in my eyes, isn't worth it.

On McCarthy, what do you disagree with that I have said? All I've said is that I am disappointed that he is our second most expensive player, and he comes from the champo. This is true and I am disappointed about it. Nothing to disagree with there.

Ken, thanks for the character reference. I think you're spot on - I am a nice bloke, but can polarise my opinion. For the record, Queenslander living in Canada. And yes, foxtel was how I watched my football in the first half of last season, so I was able to watch every single game in the EPL. Knowing that Bill would go for someone like RM when Moyes pissed off, I went out of my way to watch Wigan on quite a few occasions.

It disapoints me why some people such as yourself make posts slagging off players abilities, when you don't really have a clue, having only seen a very small amount time while their playing.

He is similar to Baines in a few ways. He is a similar stature, he is left footed, skilful and likes to get forward.

For those of you who may be thinking "What are you on about?" I am thinking about potential, as Baines was when we first signed him. Do not forget that Baines spent much of his first seasons at Everton on the bench.

Just something to think about.

Raymond, I am fairly happy with RM as well, and think all the signings he made in the window that weren't Wigan players were very good business and foresight - and I wouldn't even say all the Wigan signings were bad signings. I wasn't excited about Kone and remain so until he gives me reason to feel otherwise. I don't think we have room in our budget for a 31 year old centre-half who has barely scraped together 200 games in 13 years. And I also think we overpaid for McCarthy by about 3-4 million quid - I guess the extra four we got for Fellaini (ha!) makes that less of an issue. Robles will probably be a good 'keeper - he looked good when I saw him in Miami.

On the first three, I will keep repeating, I hope I am wrong. I want to be wrong.

I think everyone has raised at least one eyebrow over the figure we paid for McCarthy. It is an awful lot by our standards and I can't say he's ever impressed me. That said, I don't think Gibson, Barry, Distin or Jagielka impressed me before they established themselves at Everton. What I will say is that Martinez was clearly desperate to get him. I'll hold my judgement but I can understand your viewpoint.

On Alcaraz I can only conclude that you either watched Wigan games that Alcaraz didn't play in or are just guessing at how he played having not paid particular attention at the time. He has had some ridiculous injuries, but the guy is a very good defender...and bloody good on the ball for a centre back.

Kone is a mystery. I mean, what is going on there? He was treated as the marquee signing when he joined and now there is virtually no communication as to the reason for his absence. That said, when he finally plays I am quite sure he will be a big success for us.

Our side is probably as well-balanced as it ever has been over the past few years; but perhaps the two biggest areas of concern are replacing our loanees at season end, and there is still a need for a creative Arteta-esqe midfielder. The centre of defence will require a bit of succession-planning, too – Distin won't be around forever, and Heitinga I'd like to see move on, his wages don't justify him as a bench-warmer.

However I would expect that in January we are in an improved financial pposition and would not have to force Baines out the door either to balance books or fund incoming transfers.

Summer may be another story altogether though..

Simply put - the higher we are up on the league table come January 1, the better our chances of retaining our best players from admiring suitors. Bainesey signing a new contract between now and then wouldn't hurt, either.

Heitinga and Jelavic could also be shown the door in January but considering Heitinga's contract is nearly out we wont get much for him now. Can't believe we have held on to him for this long.