Unhappy fans, terrible team – Farhad Moshiri’s cash fails to revive Everton

How can you ever get a stable side when you keep on changing the lineup on a weekly basis?

How can you keep throwing millions of pounds on players that you clearly know little about?

Tosun clearly will never prosper as lone striker but at Everton we never play two strikers, it's like a unwritten rule, so why the hell pay £27 million on this fella?

Whose idea was it to sanction three Number 10s for a combined £70 million last summer?

Why did we squander a combined £20 million on Vlasic and Lookman?

Why did we pay over £20 million for Schneiderlin?

Why didn't we go for players that we possibly could have prized away from Premier League rivals that know the league, Shaqiri of Stoke, Arnautovic who is now doing really well at West Ham, a midfielder that can actually run with the football... wow, remember them?

Why did we put all our eggs in the Olivier Giroud basket when it was clear he wouldn't come up north?

When really we should have offered Leicester for Jamie Vardy what we offered Swansea for Sigurdsson!!!

Why did we not try to get Kurt Zouma on loan from Chelsea instead of shelling out £24 million on a defender from Burnley who turns like a tanker and can't seem to head a ball straight?

Why didn't we try to get Andy Robertson before Liverpool as a replacement for a washed-up Leighton Baines?

We have become a standing joke in the transfer market, the amount of money we have squandered is unbelievable, the amount of careful planning on players is completely negligible.

Did anyone do their homework or character references on the likes of Schneiderlin, Klaassen, Sandro and Tosun before paying ridiculous money for them? Nearly £80 million those four players above cost us!!

We needed a striker to hit the ground running in January so what do we do? End up wet-nursing yet another unknown shot in the dark from abroad, from a notably weaker league!! A striker that looks so unlikely to succeed as lone front man it's unbelievable.

The days when Moyes was here, it was all about adding one or two pieces to the puzzle every transfer window, be it Cahill, then Arteta, then Pienaar, then Fellaini then Lescott, followed by steady striking improvements each window from Bent to Beattie to Johnson to finally Yakubu. It was team building.

This nowadays... well, I don't know what it is but it doesn't resemble a team – nor does it look like any planning ever goes into transfer targets anymore – and the results and performances on the pitch are perfectly reflecting it.

Calm down mate.

Baines has been a loyal servant, one of my favourite players but let's look at a bigger picture please.

He has never won a medal at Everton in 11 years and grew up supporting the Reds.

It's sentimentalist fans like yourself that holds back Everton from being the hard-nosed club it needs to be successful.

If loyalty to a dedicated Evertonian makes me a sentimentalist then so be it; however, I suspect that I am far more bottom-line orientated than you.

I mentioned in another thread that Moshiri needs to take full control. He needs to appoint a top experienced CEO, divest Bill of any sort of day-to-day Club operations and leave him as a PR figurehead.

Once the top management structure is in place, sort the management, coaching and overpriced overpaid players out asap.

Oh yes, and bin Walsh out immediately!

Give Bill a box set of Corrie and Dave Hickson on his way out.

Baines has been a steady servant, a very good competent performer between the years of 2008-2014. The last four years, he has not been performing to the highest standards because of age and injuries etc.

I admit that I loved the Baines of his best years but the truth is he is past his best... was 'washed up' too cruel a phrase? Maybe... maybe not. Is Rooney also washed up? Arguably yes!?

I'm not sure Baines has had an illustrious career at Everton, more a steady one. If you are looking at illustrious careers, he needs medals or big moments.

I even believe the likes of Danny Murphy at Liverpool had a more illustrious career over there and a reason to be idolised more. He won three Cups and scored the winner at hated rivals Manchester United on three separate occasions and a winner at Goodison in 2003. If our Leighton had scored a winner at Old Trafford or Anfield, I'd be saying that's something to look back on fondly.

Baines has had a solid career, at times he's been a really good left-back, but to suggest he's had an illustrious career here any more than the likes of Hibbert or Osman did would be rose-tinted.

"I'm not sure Baines has had an illustrious career at Everton, more a steady one. If you are looking at illustrious careers, he needs medals or big moments.

"I even believe the likes of Danny Murphy at Liverpool had a more illustrious career over there and a reason to be idolised more."

When in a hole, stop digging!

I think it's unfair to single out Klaassen, Sandro and Tosun. They haven't even had a fair crack. In fact, I reckon all of them, particularly Klaassen, have the potential to be very good players.

The problem is how we ended up with so many expensive players who have no chance of getting a game.

Bolasie, Vlasic, Lookman and now Walcott all vying for one position. Central midfielders coming out of our ears. Meanwhile, we have no fit left-back. The transfer policy just makes absolutely no sense.

Who is making the decisions? It's got to be Walsh, surely? How on Earth is he still in a job? And how has Moshiri allowed so much cash to be flushed down the pan?

It's really quite concerning for the long-term future of the club.

When we were making expensive signings last summer and 'doing our business early' many said this was a sure sign that Moshiri was putting his stamp on the club and that Kenwright was now just a figurehead with no influence or power. With the summer window having proved to be the most disastrous in our recent history, some fans now find it more convenient to blame Kenwright.

It is hard to see our club currently being an attractive prospect for a top European manager which many supporters crave. For potential candidates, the club might appear dysfunctional and a likely graveyard for reputations – especially when the top of the league and domestic silverware is monopolised by five of the top ten clubs in Europe. For sure, if we offer £10m a year, there will be plenty of takers but money alone does not guarantee a field of top quality candidates.

If we use the revolving door approach with a regular turnover of managers and players, we are at risk of following Leeds, Villa and Sunderland into the lower leagues and, unlike Newcastle, may not return quickly.

With the possible exception of a fit Seamus – and Pickford – maybe young Tom, it's difficult to see which of our squad would be of interest to the 'top 6' even as squad players.

Faults aside, have any of the players we've bought improved a squad that 2 years ago included Stones, Ross and Rom?

During our chaotic summer buying frenzy, I don't recall us competing with any clubs of note for the players we bought. Can't remember any "Everton in battle with Man City to sign (insert name of any/all players)" headlines in the red Echo.

Most players will struggle to look anything other than average when all they get is the odd appearance or a few minutes here and there. As an example, look no further than Mo Salah across the park – looked pretty average in his short stint at Chelsea but now looks a world beater (so expect him to be off to Spain soon!).

LFC generally are not shopping at the top of the market, but their recent recruitment certainly puts ours in the shade. I thought they'd struggle without Coutinho – but they look better.

If Big Sam is still here next year, expect him to pursue his usual transfer policy of buying players who have outlived their usefulness at the top 6. If he isn't, I will have more confidence in whoever Moyesie buys.

Our hierarchy, as I write, is planning ahead a clear out of the dross involving cutting our losses and taking a hit. New players being identified to play in the positions that have been a problem, eg, left-back. An intelligent modern ambitious feisty manager being sounded out. All in good time for proper preparation for the new season.

Or, our hierarchy is staring into space with its collective thumb up its arse hoping that Joe Anderson will deliver the goods re Bramley-Moore Dock and should it be called "The Dave Hickson Stadium" or not?

Nobody can criticise a charity, but you can look at how it is promoted and used as a crutch by the club for our lack of on-field success. I completely agree.

Bill Gates earned his money by refining his core product and that enabled him to do great charity work Nothing but the best off the pitch, but we're miles away on it if he had attempted to do it the other way about he would still be sitting in his garage relatively penniless.

Another Alan Myers post on the same site makes some good points about ownership of football clubs:

It's not all about the money when it comes to club ownership…

As a club and fans, we have for far too long accepted survival and mediocrity as an end of season target. Recently pointed of by Allardyce: "If we finish top half of the table, it has been a good season."

We just don't possess a must win mentality and have become far too nice on the pitch. I would love to see a Van den Hauwe type player, maybe not as brutal but a fighter. The team lacks leaders on the pitch that are neither prepared to put the hard tackle in, or make go searching for the ball and influence a game.

For far too long, the board have hid behind the excuse of lack of funds. This has now been laid bare. It wasn't funds we lacked – it was a business plan, direction, and general nous.

We have great stories about Boys Pen Bill crying when we sold Wayne, how about him crying because we can't win anything. The expectation to win needs to come from the top, we are lacking in that dept.

I almost got sacked in '85 for going back to London late after winning the league. I would embrace that sacking now.

The cynic in me is not as diplomatic as Mr Myers, but the self-promotion of the charity at every opportunity does wear a little thin. Nobody has a problem with the good work they do, how could they?

Rather like that person in an office surrounding who takes every chance to tell you they put a tenner towards a charity – it kind of cheapens the whole act of kindness in the first place.

How hard-nosed do we have to be?

Let's try this – sack under-performing managers. Bring in a big name that will attract top players. Spend £200 million on players to improve the team because we can.

Ignore anything within the club (unless forced into it) because we are hard-nosed Everton with no room for sentiment. Sack the manager if this doesn't work. Appoint another manager. Spend £50 million, again because we can and we're hard-nosed and we can ignore anything currently at the club unless forced into it. Wait until that manager is a waste of space. Appoint another, do the same...

I'd give a lot for 11 players of Baines's calibre at the moment. Can you name more than 3 left-backs in Everton's history who have been better than him?

I suppose that Latchford didn't have a decent Everton career, or Duncan McKenzie, Dave Hickson couldn't have done much. Amokachi on the other hand, with his FA Cup Winner's medal, was an Everton legend.

The rest can fuck right off.

In terms of EitC, for me it is one of a few things which make me proud to be a blue. A lot of work they do deserves to be trumpeted. If you take that away, then about the only thing we have left is a proud history that gets more distant with each passing season.

One suggestion I have is for our multi-millionaire first-teamers to join the next EitC Sleepout with the U-23s. Maybe sleeping out in the Park End might show these wasters what other, less fortunate people have to endure. It might act as a reality check in helping them realise what a privilege they have in representing our club and getting extraordinarily well-paid to do so. One of the many problems we have is that our players don't really know what it means to us, the fans, when they lose.

Another suggestion would be for the players to financially reward the legions of fans who represent us around the country at away grounds because the players have failed to represent this club at all over the past two seasons at away grounds.

Then he was stuffed by an ex-England Manager who left after a week or a month (I forget), because of dodgy dealings. No wonder he was so keen to get in the frame for the Manager's job, with the help of the Director of Football, who needed help with the stuffing. Already there was Rooney, who now also has a pundit job, so he doesn't give a fuck (already knackered) in the American sun.

All managed by Kenwright, who gave us the pantomime 'The Goose with the Golden Egg'. We have Club full of people who could not care less about the Club (Unsworth the exception), who will sabotage anyone who tries to bring the pantomime to end.

Baines probably is in that top echelon of left-backs to play for Everton – I say "probably" because I only came to the party this century so can't really vouch for players past – but that doesn't mean he isn't past his use-by date now. And there is a difference between a decent career (even an excellent career) and an illustrious career. An illustrious career should contain multiple trophies.

Don't get me wrong; Baines was an excellent player at the height of his career, but those days are done now. Would I have him in the side ahead of the current "left-back"? In a heart beat. Is there a better left-back available that the club could afford and persuade to join? I truly hope so.

I think it was last season that the Swansea players paid for the last away game of the season for their loyal away fans, can't remember the details, but I remember it fondly. They had been relegation certs, Clement came in and saved them and they treated their away fans to free a day out, knowing what they had put the fans through.

Hopefully Siggi has the balls to remember this and bring it up before we play those wanker Hammers and their bullshit bubbles. Our away fans are the best in the world. COYB

Absolute nail on head, mate.

I can't give you three left-backs better than Leighton Baines, but one I can give you was Keith Newton (late 60s & early 70s), with Tommy Wright as right-back.

Absolute dream to watch such a cultured player, who played for us for about 3-4 seasons. Cost about £80k.

Played for England in 1970 World Cup in Mexico. Tragically died of the big C in his 50s.

Anybody else remember him?

Another left-back who was in many ways Baines Mk 1 is Andy Hinchcliffe. Good, but not the greatest defender by any means but way more than a handful when going forward and with consistent brilliance in delivering accurate Exocet crosses into the opponent's box that provided more than a few goals. He played in the first incarnation of Kenwright's never-ending series of "bog standard at best" Everton teams too.