Gracious Cleverley among confirmed departures

The time I'll always remember is when the crowd (quite a lot ) applauded when it was announced he was being replaced as the sub, not a good memory either.

Good luck with your future career, Tom, wish you well.

Nice guy and I'm sure most of us, if not all, would wish him luck at Watford.

All the very best to you, Tom.

Well, you wouldn't want that name on the back of your shirt!

But I am now like a little spoiled brat. I want more transfers! I want more spending, more deals, more insane wage agreements!!!

I also want to be released from this ward.

Good man for the gracious departure.

Good luck to all the departures, especially the young guys. It's a great life for the few who make it – and a very uncertain one for the great majority.

Kone was always just a cone. Pretty useless.

I hope every ground gives him a big cheer next season. I met him when he was at Portsmouth, total un-starry, down to earth regular guy.

Class from Clev... he was actually a better player than I gave him credit for before we signed him. And he was one of our better players in that Wembley semi-final.

Good luck to him.

Wishing him all the best.

We'll also always have his at-the-death header against Newcastle on Boxing Day.

Hard-working, class act. Seems like a good move for all involved.

He should do well at Watford and best of luck to him.

Enjoy your career and may there be many many, more years of it to come.

It's been my genuine pleasure to have watched both you a Steven Naismith in recent years. There are many ways to dignify The Royal Blue Jersey, you two guys certainly did. Take care.

I just don't think we knew what his best position was - maybe he doesn't either. He didn't seem to be a playmaker, certainly wasn't a defensive midfielder and not quick enough to be a winger. Maybe he was a box-to-box type which meant the emergence of Davies was the end for him.

He got played out of position a lot; shunted out to the left from memory which is where Mirallas seems to be going now with similarly muted results.

We've been quick into the market in the areas we need and similarly decisive in terms of getting those who aren't going to play for the manager off the wage bill (as well as being clear/fair with them also by the sounds of things).

Always a shame when you have to let youngsters go (I did think McAleny could maybe have had more of a first-team chance), but it's a tough business and to be fair we have a fair number of kids who have broken / are breaking through in terms of Calvert-Lewin, Lookman, Holgate, Davies, Galloway and Garbutt plus Kenny and Dowell.

I'm also content to see Del return to Barça in return for a bit of cash back – he's obviously got talent but not sure he has quite as much as he thinks he has and certainly lacks the work ethic and toughness to compete in the Prem so I actually think his best value to us would've been in Europe.

With McGeady looking likely to shift to the North East, that leaves a smaller (but still notable) pool of players with question marks over their heads:

Definitely off (90% + sure)

> Niasse – Has enough talent for lower echelons of Premier League as he proved with Hull. I'd expect some interest later on in the window when desperation starts to set in among the lower clubs. If nothing else we should be able to shift off for ~㾶M or on loan.

> McCarthy - Although he had a great first season for us and has the talent to succeed at the top level he's clearly not in Koeman's first team plans, so I'd expect him to shift for ~㾸-15M in this window, maybe to one of the promoted sides.

> Lukaku - Much as I'd like him to stay, it seems his mind is made up (or at least his agents') and if we can command 㿷M+ for a player who's heart isn't in it, then I say take the money and run.

Probably Off (60% + likely)

> Robles – With Pickford in, the question is whether Joel fancies a number 2 slot, I suspect he'll not be keen and Koeman has made it plain he doesn't rate him as first choice starter. Has done enough to command a half decent fee, of ٣M+.

> Besic – Like McCarthy, another player who seems capable of playing at the top level and one I'd be tempted to keep around as back-up, but his injury issues and fact Koeman doesn't seem to rate him suggest he'll likely be shipped out for c.٣M or at the very least loaned next season.

> Barkley – Obviously the ball is in his court as there is/was a contract for him to stay, but it looks like he thinks he can do better and Koeman isn't someone who tolerates nonsense. If money was no object,I'd like to keep him; if it was a choice of him or getting another top quality playmaker, then it's bye bye Ross for a realistic fee of 㿅-30M. Possibly Off (30% + could go either way)

> Barry - I expect we'll keep him on for his experience/influence around the team and as a sub to calm things down, but you'd have to expect his first team starts to be very limited and he won't get a new contract, so its possible he could move/be moved on – not with any fee of course.

> Lennon – For work effort and pace alone I'd be tempted to keep him as a squad player if there's no incoming interest as he could be a handy option in Europe/cups. If he goes you'd expect a ~٣M valuation.

> Jagielka – Probably the most divisive name on here as he's been a brilliant servant to the club who can probably play at the top level for another year or two... but last season the years were clearly beginning to tell. Could definitely do a job as back-up option in the league (or again as a starter in Europe/cups), but won't get a new contract and could maybe get a small fee of ~٠M and save some wages.

Assuming they all went (and our supposed signings for next week come in) we'd be left with a first team squad something like this...

Keeper:
> Pickford (new)
> Stekelenburg

Defence:
> Baines
> Coleman (Injured)
> ?? Keane ?? (new)
> Williams
> Holgate
> Funes Mori
> Browning
> Kenny
> Garbutt
> Galloway
> Pennington

Midfield:
> Schneiderlin
> Gueye
> Davies
> Klaassen (new)
> Dowell
> Mirallas
> Bolasie (Injured)
> ?? New Playmaker ?? (Sigurdsson?)

Forward:
> ?? Sandro ?? (new)
> Calvert-Lewin
> Lookman
> ?? New Lead Striker ?? (Dembele / Giroud?)
> ?? New back-up Striker ??

Obviously it's highly unlikely all nine players would go; more realistically I'd say we'd say goodbye to around 5 of the 9 meaning a little extra strength in depth.

Ultimately though it does underline the key remaining transfer business needed for me being focused solely on quality attacking options (from midfield and forward positions). I'd expect at least 3 signings in these areas (on top of Sandro) and to be fair the noises in the press around Sigurdsson Dembele, Muriel, Giroud etc all sound sensible.

We definitely should have the cash for it, even considering a c.㿣.4 reported spend so far + another supposed 㿊M for Keane + Sandro, we'll have recouped in the region of 㾾.5M from Cleverley + Deulofeu, meaning a net spend of ~㿯M by end of next week.
However that would surely be eclipsed by Lukaku alone and should we sell the rest off at anything near current market values we'd be looking at more like 𧵄M coming in and equivalent of 㿲M of transfer cash to play with before we even dipped into a net spending budget.

He would probably be entitled to feel ever so slightly aggrieved with the way he was utilised after signing on a free, bearing in mind Martinez made out he was so exceptionally gifted he should probably, by rights, have been replacing that boring bastard who could fire laser beams from his eyes as leader of the bloody X Men. Yet, he never saw fit to give him an extended run in the side, hardly ever played him in his favoured position and instead asked him to flit between sitting on the bench and filling in all over the shop, like a modern day Alan Harper minus the ability and facial hair.

Still, he never seemed to sulk or feel sorry for himself and always tried to put a shift in, even while struggling to make any sort of telling contribution in a number of games.

Wish him well at Watford.

Alexander, also right that Tom and Naismith always acted with nothing but decency and reflect well on our club.

Not his fault he was over-hyped by Martinez.

Seems like a good guy and good pro.

Best of luck Tom.

Pickford
Baines, Keane, Williams, Kenny
Schneiderlin, Klaassen, Gueye
Sandro, Sigurdsson
New Lead Striker ??

Subs: Stekelenburg, Holgate, Funes Mori, Davies, Mirallas, Calvert-Lewin, Lookman

Youngsters to rotate in: Garbutt, Galloway, Pennington, Dowell

Injured players to come back in: Coleman (for Kenny), Bolasie (for Mirallas)

Unfortunately he arrived at a time when the wheels were coming off Martinez's reign and clearly wasn't the kind of player Koeman is into. Hope he does well at Watford, just not when they're playing us!

I wish him well and an extended run in the Watford first team.

Other first teamers gone or about to go:

Valencia
Delofeu
Niasse - if we can find him a home
McGeady
Lulkaku?
Barkley?

So with Kone and Valencia already gone and Bolasie missing the first half of next season lets hope we are in the market for a few more forwards than just Sandro.

Saying that, I feel his main problem at Everton was that he was brought in after the worm had turned regarding Martinez as Everton's manager. Then Roberto piling on the superlatives about him to a fan base that knew better and was well-tired of Bullshitting Bobby.

Just a bad situation for Cleverley; none of it his own fault.

He always comes across as a sensible kid, and good luck to him.

I wish him well at Watford.

Good luck to Tom; nice man, nice hair cut, looks like an altar boy... and played like one.

The comparison with Lukaku is classic, you'd think Cleverley had been some sort of talisman, a key player, whilst Lukaku just a journeyman. I know who I think is going to be a much bigger loss to our team and who I will be much sorrier to see leave, even though he doesn't say nice things about us to the media.

I know it might make us feel nice as fans when they say how lovely our club is, but nowadays the multi billion game we love is about winning and doing whatever it takes to be the very best you and your team can be.

He's shown respect to one of the great football clubs in this country, one who we are lucky enough to support.

As far as I'm concerned, our club has never been solely concerned with winning and our motto says it all. Without doubt we will miss Lukaku if he goes, he's a top class goalscorer and if he stays he will score more.

But as a man? He's streets behind Tom Cleverley.

If you want to pay me around £50k a week to sit on the bench or worse still, play like a twat, then I would get my agent to say what ever sweet things you wanted to hear. Let's get real!

Cleverley's saying how great the atmosphere was at Goodison, well what game was that? For me, most games under Martinez, Goodison was like a morgue with around 40 thousand fans sitting there looking totally pissed off.

Seems these were 'touched'. In my eyes these players are proper professionals. Expect they managed to think of a few things to say without checking with their agent. I cannot remember John Stones saying many great things about us this past year.

As Alexander has pointed out, he will be running out to the Z-Cars theme at Watford. Must be the reason he chose them.

The lad has shown a little bit of class in my opinion and let's not forget was a free transfer that suited Kenwright's budget.

I remember over whelming positive vibes on here that his signing was a "no-brainer". When he was on the pitch he tried his best. And because of this, he is getting ripped to pieces by some on here.

There have been many a worse player that played for us. I say good luck to him.

Here is another classic case, of a fairly decent player, being signed by a manager, who subsequently is sacked; the new manager doesn't see him fitting into his style of play.

How many times does that happen in football?

As far as Cleverley is concerned, he was never quite up to it at his 'three great clubs' but comes over as a decent guy who will have a full if not fulfilling career.

Good luck to the lad!

Where do you think it all went wrong for him? :-)

Tom is actually a technically accomplished player, with a good engine, but lacks pace and creativity. Like a number of others, he languished stuck out on the left, which did not play to his strengths. Sure, we can do better and we have, but a little bit of respect goes a long way in life and respect is a two-way street.

Well he loved being at Villa as well, he probably loved their fans so much he played his part in getting them relegated so they could play Birmingham and Wolves. Fucking class.

Watford is probably his level, though I seriously doubt he picked them because they were playing Z-Cars during the interview,; I'm guessing Koeman told him he's now at a club who are thinking top 4 and aiming to win cups, so that's you finished at Goodison.

We will miss Lukaku's goals far more than Cleverley's love fest with the fans, but yeah, I would say good luck to the boy but I think he already has luck in bucket loads.

Now I read all your "we are going finish 7th" posts and I thought "what a load of shite" and then, bang, 7th it is. So well done you and it really showed how mediocre Everton really were.

However, the players made Everton mediocre and Martinez stubbornness for selecting players like Cleverley, who lets be honest was shite wherever he played, left wing, right wing, centre mid or probably even in goal. If he didn't disappear then he would take part in Everton's 80 percent possession "passing game", usually in our own half and usually against the likes of big rollers like Stoke, West Brom or Villa.

Now, Tom Cleverley's comments regarding his stay at Goodison are for him to spout, but I can state as a matter of fact that his comment regarding "a great atmosphere at Goodison" is a load of bollocks. Most teams came to Goodison, took all 3 points and then we had the joy of watching around 3,000 away fans taking the piss.

Well, the atmosphere at Goodison was not "great" it was totally fucking shite. You could usually hear a pin drop and you could definitely hear all the abuse aimed at the likes of Tom. I took the rest of Tom's comments as just blah, blah, blah...

Here is a player who we got on a free, sold on for ٦ million profit, I could understand had we paid 㾶 million, but he never once sulked, tried his best, got stuck in without hands on his hips and walking around the pitch. Yes, he was not good enough in the position he was at times asked to play, but saying he was shite and enjoyed his wages sat on the bench is laughable.

Like I have said previously, Stones, Rooney, Lescott are no different on wanting to better themselves; each got rightly slated by Everton fans, yet a certain player by the sound of some will have the Red carpet rolled out when he returns with the rent boys next season.

It's all about respecting Everton Football Club and, for me, Tom Cleverley has done it with dignity and class.

Pretty sure he started his sentence about Goodison with the words "Before I joined" (pedantic perhaps, but when countering pettiness...) and began the 2015-16 campaign as an Everton player.

He still hasn't revealed his whereabouts on the night Annie Chapman was killed though, if that helps.

Fear not... some transfers next week and, if you give it half-an-hour as a mark of having a brain, you can slag them off too.

What the fuck is the problem with that?

Whether he is/was a shite, wank, player is now immaterial, so why not accept the compliment? It wasn't his fault you could hear a pin drop, it was happening under Moyes.

I would love to see the reverse happen and players rate the fans.

"See the shit in the Lower Bullens is late sitting down again!. Every match 10 minutes late, then spends the game on his phone. Leaves early as well. Where is his commitment to the blue shirt?"

As for the academy boys I do hope they find their way, it is a huge disappointment to be so close only to be told that you are not good enough for a big team like Everton; I wish them the best.