The Cull

1. Not sure when you actually wrote this article, it is dated 24 June. Funes has of course been sold already, so in that respect you can whittle down your list abit..

2. Your inclusion of Theo Walcott did raise my eyebrows, but a well reasoned argument to let him go might have been interesting to read. Unfortunately, on this particular name, yours is not it. These lines in particular: "At 28 his game will never get any better" and "He is not the future for Everton and should be sold." Those arguments would also apply to Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Idrissa Gueye. Why should 28 be the cut-off for determining who or who is not the future of the club – why not 29, or 26?

Suddenly it looks like we should be selling our whole first team squad!

Generally, I agree with your sentiment that the squad needs to be culled. Listing the names makes for a partially interesting read. The other thing I would be interested to see is how we go about it. We have a lot of players to shift, and selling them across 2 windows at least would make a lot of sense.

Does that mean we limit the number coming in? Do we farm players out on loan as a means of reducing the wage bill? Is it better to strive for permanent transfers out instead?

What is clear is that colossal cock-up by Walsh and Koeman, in particular, has loaded the club with a squad which might weigh us down in the short term.

Perhaps part of the answer might lie in Silva actually trying to coach at least some of the players we have to play better. Michael Keane would certainly fit into that category, whilst Sandro and Klaassen may just surprise us if Silva can mould them.

Niasse is one of the best impact subs in the league. If we get a big offer for him or the chance to buy a great striker, then fine... but at the moment he deserves to stay for his goals last season alone.

I'd also like to keep Connolly around a little longer and I'm curious to see what Silva could do with Sandro and Klaassen. Keane will almost certainly be staying though I'd happily take 㿀m for him tomorrow – he's a very mediocre defender as I see it.

Theo shouldn't be part of a cull because we have no-one good enough to replace him. If we buy a replacement, then that's fine... but only a fool would make the first team weaker just to save wages.

The Joe Williams and Callum Connolly shouts are bad enough but sell Walcott !?!

Oh dear.

And are you just keeping your options with Michael Keane?

A cull is needed for sure but let's keep it measured.

I would also add Tom Davies to your list. Mainly because I can't bloody stand watching him touch his hair every few seconds.

Gana whatever his name is, also makes my blood boil and Calvert-Lewin should never be allowed back inside the training ground. I hate Pennington as well.

On the plus side, Rooney looks like he is leaving (another one who shouldn't have been allowed back anywhere near the club) and Funes Mori didn't even wait around to be asked.

Walcott being included in that list is comical.

Here we are, 12 months and two coaches later, looking to get rid of a large portion of that squad. Whatever happened to the coach getting the best out of players and squad? Or has that aspect of the game disappeared in favour of just buying in more "talent"?

Niasse should be retained, he makes things happen in a positive way when he gets a chance.

I would also persevere with Bolasie as it takes time to get over a injury like he suffered.

I still have a soft spot for Galloway, I thought he was certain to make a first team player. Maybe he has off-field issues... who knows?

I don't agree with you on Walcott either – we can't afford to ditch players as good as him.

As far as your other picks to sell are concerned, I largely agree.

Sure in an ideal world we'd get rid of all of them because right now only Coleman is good enough for the top 6.

The reality is the players you want rid of the most are the ones hardest to sell and the players you think can do a job are the ones we actually can sell and, in trying to flog everyone, we end up with a squad even more imbalanced than Koeman left behind.

The key is surely to sell the ones we really want rid of, when we can, without he haste that will see us pay for them to leave, and that might mean keeping the likes of Connolly, Pennington and those other youngsters you'd get rid of. Sure, they're unlikely to really make the grade, but they are cheap and they can fill the bench until their contracts expire and we have the next batch of youngsters to fill their place.

Patience is key to ridding ourselves of these players and it will take 2-3 years. That's not to say we can't make a go of things in the interim and, if we play well, then maybe some of the guys you listed will play themselves into a move.

And allowance has to be made for the three at the World Cup even if they are there for only another week as they must be entitled to some sort of break. Perhaps any cull might be a lot shorter list, at least for the time being.

We have some very highly paid players. Many, including Schneiderlin, Klaassen and even Ramirez are on ٣m or more a year. Even Bolaisie is on ٢m plus. And Williams has another year collecting 㿷k per week because who is going to pay that salary for him?

However we got here doesn't help much. The problem, as Brands himself has pointed out, is that once you are signed by a decent-sized Premier League club, you are very difficult to move on if it doesn't work out simply because there are only a handful of clubs that can afford these wages.

We could probably shift Niasse and especially Besic because their wages are affordable – the latter even to Championship teams – and their transfer cost is mostly written down and negligible. But most of the others

Unless these guys are willing to take a wage cut in order to play, I can't see us offloading them unless we also pay part of their wages, which kind of defeats the point. It certainly means that people like Walcott – and probably even Klaassen – have to be given a chance to see if they can improve under Silva.

It's ironic that Seamus Coleman is one of our lowest-paid players, he's on less than half the wage of most of the wasters above yet, injury notwithstanding, it is hard to see how that can be an accurate reflection of his value to the club.

If we were signing a side to compete for Champions League this season, I just think he's a little bit less than what you need. Sure, he can get there over the next couple of seasons.

Walcott and Michael Keane do not belong on this list, and neither do Niasse and Stekelenburg in my opinion, as they are decent back-up for the striker and goalkeeper positions. Without Walcott, we are a slow team – we need his pace to help us attack at pace if nothing else.

And I personally am backing Michael Keane to come good. He's not the first defender to struggle at Everton initially – Dave Watson, Phil Jagielka are good examples of that. But he has the ability to become a success at Everton if he steps up next season.

Let's shift the deadwood, but I feel we need more evolution than revolution.

They are perhaps already planning their futures with less pay; those with kids are probably looking for new schools, doubtless happy to be culled.

"Get rid, ship them out, cull them"; utterly redundant phrases that ignore the fact that, like it or not, we are talking about people here. Some of them and their families might just like, say, where they live, even like their team mates. They might not want to be part of Football Manager fantasy.

Ludicrous contracts were negligently handed out and they won't be torn up because someone on ToffeeWeb wants a cull. Why on earth would any club want to pay big money and wages for anyone deemed not good enough to play for what was, last season, an utterly woeful side?

Who the fuck is going to think: "Everton are going to cull Schneiderlin, Mirallas, Klaassen etc – let's get in touch and match their wages before the top six find out about this fire sale"?

Just utter pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking. This "cull" will cost more than our club will pay. Expect some of your wish list to be here next season.

There's precious little evidence to back it up, I grant you, but if Silva took the time with him that Koeman was too shellshocked for, The Fat Controller was too busy stuffing pies in his face to take, he may find the player I believe Klaassen can be.

A stay of execution may be warranted here.

It's often said that your biggest assets are your employees, or in this case, your players.

Problem is, they can also be your biggest financial liability, and boy do we have a lot of liabilities right now.

That pace makes poor defences very jittery. It affects the commitment to attack and offensive play by their teams.

All season, we were crying out for some pace and some threat. When we got it we got better results despite the awful Sam Allardyce set up.

If he can stay fit, he will be a welcome and valuable member of the first team for the next couple of seasons.

Nice piece; however, I disagree about Walcott, the only bright spot in a dark season. The other one I would keep is Galloway, he needs to be under a better manager than the last muppets; I think he would flourish.

As for the rest, excepting the youngsters who I doubt you've ever seen play – I wouldn't quite shed a tear if they never made it to next season.

Rooney looks like he is going. Who would want to spend a 𧴜k a week on wages for Ashley Williams, Mirallas, Bolasie, Klaassen, Sandro, or Schneiderlin?

The 5-year contract that we gave to Garbutt making him a multi-millionaire is probably the reason why lower league clubs aren't interested.

We will be lucky to move 4 out of the 6 above and bring 2 quality players in.

Players are all about opinions that's why we have a number of shouts for keeping different players in the comments. Connolly gets quite a few shouts and I do say I'm not averse to Silva & Brands running the rule over him. Other names mentioned: Bolasie, Joe Williams, Klaassen, Niasse, Galloway, and of course Walcott — all about opinions and this is my frank opinion of the squad.

Steve at 10: I don't mention how much I assume we would get for these players. I don't even think we would get 𧴜 million if we did off-load most of them. For me, it's going forward — do I see the players listed as the future? The answer is No.

Rob at 30 makes a good point about the contracts given out, which is one of the reasons why we have ended up with the mess of a squad we have. So that makes it harder to move on players.

As for Walcott, let's wait and see next season. Most comments seem to rate him; I never have. Like Schneiderlin, a half-good start following a January move... but, just like Morgan, the real Theo will show himself as an average Premier League footballer next season.

Pete at 28; I've seen them play plenty of times.

It is painfully obvious that Sandro and Klaassen will not make it in the Premier League so we need to cut our losses in the best way possible which may involve just covering wages until their contract runs out.

Rooney was a disastrous decision. To even think he could replace Lukaku shows how poor the decision-making was over the last few years with too much influence from you-know-who.

Bolasie is totally inconsistent, even in the same game, but may not be that difficult to shift if Palace are interested – but again, we will take a hit on that.

Ashley Williams (suffered from being the boo-boy) and Michael Keane were not good value but both can play a lot better than they have shown and might be worth another season if Silva can get a tune and/or if they are difficult to move on.

Schneiderlin may be going back to France if the media are to be believed but again we will take a big hit on that one.

I haven't mentioned any of the youngsters because their costs are relatively insignificant and the ones we want to move on will be easier to accommodate.

I also haven't mentioned Walcott because even having him in the conversation is ridiculous.

Culling is only part of the equation, however, because we desperately need a new left-back, centre-back and goalkeeper and our midfield needs beefing up with strength and goalscoring ability.

The game has moved on from the days of Alan Harper. Back then you had one sub per game. Alan Harper was a brilliant sub because he could play anywhere. Also you had much smaller sqauds and less player rotation.

Today there are 2 (Specialist) players for each position (just read the posts on here about back-ups) and 7 subs per game. The need for Alan Harper type players has gone. Look at Martina!