Same Old Bill's Everton

I had hoped for me this time but I don't get the witch-hunt mentality of ill-informed fans looking for people to blame. It's a complex business.

We have money... but money is not enough. Our reputation/brand is not strong enough and we face a bit of a Catch-22 in improving it. But signing new players is only part of the story and we have already replaced almost half the team.

1. Transfer kitties are a myth. If the players can be found fitting the managers requirements, money will be found. There was no 𧴜m wedge burning a hole in Koeman's pocket. Finance would be arranged to cover case by case. There was 㿊m for Sissoko, though; we know this as we agreed to give it to Newcastle.

2. TDD exists as a thing because it's the point in time where there is a fixed reason to have deals done. Things will always be left to go to the wire when there's a lot of moving parts in a negotiation. We're not a hugely attractive team at present, that's been proven, but we still need players who would fit in at Champions League level teams. Many of these players are also already very wealthy. Just offering sackfuls of cash isn't always going to swing it.

So agents often advise players to hang on for offers later in the window as Champions League clubs' squads change. They do so knowing clubs like Everton, Spurs, Stoke, West Ham will come in with early offers and put their boy in the spotlight; see what happened with Witsel.

3. Smaller clubs get greedy. Like when we got the huge payday from Rooney, sudden large wedges of cash can save precarious clubs or launch them to the next level. Porto got greedy with Brahimi. They thought we'd have to roll over and pay out their suddenly jacked-up demands. We offered a daft sum already and stuck to it. Which was the right thing to do; we don't want to pick up a reputation as mugs – Moshiri isn't that rich! Now Porto have to explain to their fans and Brahimi's 50% owners why they passed up 10s of millions of euros and have a sorely pissed player still on their books. Everton did nothing wrong.

We've had a good window. There are gaps in the squad. The Sissoko thing does grip the shit more than a little. Koeman knows the score though. He said 2 years to get the squad set the way he wants it. There'll be triumphs (Gana) and setbacks (yesterday); we're going in the right direction, though –you can't not see that.

It would've been nice to have signed a couple more but 4 or 5 new players in the starting 11 is enough to integrate for now.

I would certainly hope so because for the last two season's we've had to watch a team / squad which was heading South at an incredible rate of knots. The fact that we have done reasonably well in the opening fixtures is a good sign, but I fear any European ambitions will have to be put on hold for at least another twelve months, due mainly to not strengthening in key areas and lacking any consistent creativity in the team.

It probably is too early to judge the new owners regime and perhaps it will take them another twelve months to properly get a grip on the club and how it operates, but if this transfer window is a guide to how they plan to move the club forward in the coming years, they have got off to less than thrilling start.

Evertonians could do with the local media being a little more probing and questioning of the club and its owners. They should ask the hard questions and stop making positive headlines by taking any rumour or tweet and turning it into a story, which turns out to be mostly unfounded rubbish. The coverage of the proposed ground move being one such example in recent days, but who knows? That one may actually turn out to be true?

Actions speak louder than words and so far the actions have been pretty underwhelming for a club who are supposedly on the brink of a brighter better future, but there is still time for that to change, we'll have to do what we always do wait and see.

You can't see that we've changed direction drastically just because deadline day didn't go to plan?.

Are you serious?.

On the pitch the scrubbing away of Martinez's crap and the introduction of Koemans aggressive direct style couldn't be more obvious. You look at the pieces he was trying to add yesterday and the plan is glaring in its clarity. It's an exciting one too.

Off the pitch there is negotiation with Peel for a docklands stadium. Do you want to have a think about that in light of what you said about 'no change'. The simple fact that we're talking about it as a possibility is a total step change from the hang-off-Tescos-coat tails approach under the last regime. You have to see that.

Even without Moshiri's arrival we would have had to have changed the manager, so nothing that fantastic there about a change of direction. Admittedly the old regime may not have attracted Koeman so I'm willing to concede that may be a sign of some ambition.

Centre-half sold, replacement purchased, veteran goalkeeper leaves is replaced by another experienced goalkeeper, nothing radical in that is there? Two other players purchased, one looks great value the other yet to prove his worth, pretty standard signings for Everton FC's old or new regime?

When and if the types of players we were chasing actually end up in an Everton shirt I will gladly admit that Everton FC is showing ambition and that things have changed. When and if the club produce a tangible plan for a new stadium and how it is to be funded, I will gladly admit that the club has changed and is moving forwards.

I did say that it was too early to judge the new regime and that it may take another twelve months, but I don't believe it is healthy just to believe that things have changed because we want it to be so, we've all been down that road too many times at Goodison Park in the last 20 years.

I feel foolish for being so gullible sometimes. There was the rumour about Usmanov a few weeks back and I had visions of us competing with Chelsea and Man City. When will I realise that having followed all deadline days, I've only been left not disappointed on maybe 3 occasions? I can still picture Martinez emerging from Finch Farm in his black Merc telling us he was happy with McGeady and Lacina Traore on loan and that they were great additions.

As others have said, I wasn't that enamoured with Sissoko but it's more the principle that we are being rejected at the 11th hour with no possibility of implementing a plan B. During the Euros I was anticipating the likes of Witsel and Mata not a West Ham reject.

It isn't all bad. I said last season that we should get rid of Stones and get Ashley Williams. Idrissa Gueye has impressed so far. Stekelenburg has looked better than Robles. Bolasie can tear teams apart on his day. Holgate has looked great in what I've seen of him. However, there is too much mediocrity at our club: Kone, Cleverley, Gibson, Oviedo, McCarthy, Robles etc. Would these players get into the RS or Spurs teams? If we want to do better then we should be asking this question with every signing.

The biggest asset we have is Koeman. We need to match his ambitions though. The waterfront stadium is Everton's final chance for me. If that does not materialise then I'll have to go to counselling and break this addiction once and for all.

Koeman is a massive step forward on Moyes and Martinez. The impact he's had already...with a misfiring Lukaku... is clear. We all saw that, last weekend, had we had our existing strike force firing we would've torn Stoke apart. Fitness is up all across the board and the signings we've brought in have made us better.

The factors that hurt us bringing players in will still hit us next window and the window after that. Lots of players targeted by the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal didn't move this window even Juve missed out on Witsel after all that pissing about. It happens accept it.

What evidence do you need to see at this stage on the stadium? JCBs onsite? You know its too early for that as well as I do. I tend to agree with the Mayor though... we're looking closer to a real solution and by this I mean a commercially viable one, not some contrived rebuild of the stadium or a tin shed on a spur road off the motorway, than we have been since Kings Dock.

Undeniably we will know more in 12 months. Why work so hard at being miserable for those intervening 12 months though when, despite setbacks like TDD, we've actually got real reasons to have a bit of hope for the future?

When we sold John Stones we did the same. The team is better.

However, I feel we have been here before. We are undergoing transfer business at the last minute. We just used the Stones money, no new money was forthcoming. We have re-named the stands, put up different flags etc. All cosmetic!

Meanwhile I look across Stanley Park and see a new stand, not flags. See them actually buying new stars and putting their hands in their pockets. Not rhetoric and spoof, hard evidence. They did not sell one of their star players to do this.

I do not wish to hear the usual soundbites coming from our club. I want to see hard evidence. We have brought in an excellent manager but we needed a few extra players. Gutted about missing out on Perez. We have some great youngsters like Tommy Davies.

I am confident about the manager but I still need to be convinced about the Boardroom. Time will tell. COYB

Ins
A veteran defender (Williams), a (so far) dependable Keeper (the Stek), a talented attacker (Bolasie), a solid, dependable midfielder (Gueye) and and another forward (Valencia) Plus a couple of promising kids (Dom C-L and the dude from Coventry whoes name escapes me, Bassou I think?)

Outbounds -
Stones (gifted square peg in a shaky round hole and a decent price tag)
Pienaar, Ossie & Hibbert (Seasoned pro's, have served with distinction, but now too injury prone and too old.) Ossie & Hibbert to come back as coaches maybe?

Howard - Great Keeper (mostly) but now homesick, and want to be near his kids. Put out to pasture at the right time. Who can blame him for bowing out with the grace he did.

A couple out on loan, a couple of kids that didn't quite make it and a couple of others who never will.

Surprise retention - Gibson

Not-surprised we could not get rid - Niasse (Who would buy him??)

Except, Steve #10, that simply isn't true according to Sky, who have Everton down for a net spend of -£1.05M versus an RS spend of -£14.5M

Link

I sincerely hope Koeman is okay with our last-minute embarrassments; I'm sure this wasn't part of Moshiri's sales pitch to him a few months ago.

Even if we were prepared to spend that amount in one window, top quality world class players will not be coming to our club any time soon. We have to face the fact that we have been a mid-table club over the last two seasons and are viewed as such by the wider football world.

The squad is stronger now than it was in May. If we can strengthen again in January and next summer we have much to look forward to.

We got some transfers in early as well that year. Deulofeu on a loan. This time, we also did some work early.

I don't think you should be deflated. Things have changed. It will just take time. Some of us thought that we may be on our way back after Martinez's first season. I think the club is in better hands throughout.

There is a post on TW. Yellow Tie Blues or something like that. I suggest you read that post to get you in a better frame of mind

Enjoy the season.

Sissoko would have burnt us and he was only a last minute maybe deal as his reps contacted us, using us as the lever to his ambitions to get Champions League football with spurs. Good luck to him. Him not answering Koeman's phone call speaks volumes about his persona.

Fact is we've finished in the bottom half of the league for 2 seasons running due to the woeful mismanagement of phenomenal Bob Martinez. These things take time and that's difficult to stomach in these days of instant gratification.

Am I pleased with the direction our club is now taking? Yes! Do I want it to happen straight away? Of course I do but I'm realistic, it'll take time. The foundations are being laid for a marked improvement. I'm glad they're being laid on solid ground.

If we get the new stadium at the docks Kenwright will have a gold statue of him self with a halo on his head and arms outstretched, welcoming all to the new ground, like the saviour... so long as he doesn't have to put his hands in his pockets.

The team is a work in progress, but I feel we are in a far better position than last year, so I am not disappointed with the window purchases or lack of them. We needed a marque signing but got a few wigwams... not sure how well the new guys will do but I do think Koeman has his head screwed on.

Phil Neville next?!

I hope he has a long and healthy retirement. I will always be appreciative of what he has done for our club.

An Evertonian and a gentleman.

Steve Walsh and I think Moshiri will take the lead from now on is my guess. All part of a dignified but inevitable process to move Bill into a pure ceremonial role

As for the legendary Moshirigram, if it exists at all then the contorted logic could only come from one place. You can imagine Bill saying "Don't worry, Mosh, I'll put a statement out on your behalf to clear up the entire Sissoko episode."

I don't mind Bill sitting in the stand in a club tie like deadly Doug did at Villa, but buy out his shares now. And then sack Elstone.

Summed it up perfectly for me!

Keep the faith.

The crucial point is that as fans we want Champions League standard signings who are already established but those players don't want to go to a club with our recent performance history. As a result, there will be a lot of players we miss out on and we have to build methodically with what we have, the players we CAN get and bring through a few of the youngsters.

As results improve, so too will our chances of attracting the more established players. If we are around the top 4 in January, our chances should improve but, til then, I am happy with what we have and in a manager who looks like he can improve them.

Undoubtedly he will do a good job for us but whether we have a squad good enough or big enough to get in the top six is another matter.

I am now pinning my hopes on the new stadium plans as I think if they are ambitious enough our standing will change dramatically.

We will then be a far more exciting proposition for players and sponsorship alike. Generating a greater income that will enable us to compete at the top table.

When I was a kid Everton was a huge club attracting big name players and challenging for honours every year. Now after many years of mismanagement we have a hell of a job to catch up.
I really believed it was going to happen now but I think it's going to be a slower process than we anticipated.

Sadly the last day of the window did smack of Kenwright's ineptitude.

The majority of footballers are mercenaries. Put all of the squads from the Premier League clubs on a lie detector machine and ask them "Do you really have any loyalty to your club apart from financial gain?" I would say over 90% of results would be no.

The same applies to Everton, apart from Jags, Baines, Barkley, most of our squad would be off as soon as their agent said they had a better contract at another club.

The only loyalty, real loyalty is from the fans not the players, not even Kenwright.

People come on here and make statements like they're facts; if they are repeated often enough, they become accepted as facts by many, even though there's no proof. A la the last manager.

We do not know how the transfer business was carried out, is it likely that Moshiri would let BK carry out the transfers on his own? What about Koeman, what input did he have? The facts are we don't know.

What I think we can say is that the club is in better shape now, even though we were hoping for more in the window.

Actions speak louder than a thousand words and we've seen none again and it stinks. No wonder we can't attract the best players with our shambolic approach to the football business.

How many more trophyless years do we have to endure before most people just can't take anymore bullshit?

Up shit creek without a paddle is where.