Kanchelskis has high hopes for Silva era

We all have high hopes this season, same as we did under Koeman and Martinez and look where that got us... hopefully third time lucky under Silva.

Forget finishing top four, even top six for now. He needs to be a realist; we are not going to compete for those positions with the six sides above us in the immediate future.

I agree with you. As I and others have said before, the first step is to make the "top six" a genuine "top seven" as it's unlikely that any one of them will be pushed off the gravy train – what we must do in the short term is create another seat for ourselves on that gravy train!

Hope Andrei is right about next season but I do think we need to give Silva more the the 10 games suggested.

Time that our players started shouldering responsibility now and not just chopping and changing managers every few months.

I don't have any worries about our fans getting on Silva's back, if we see the manager setting the team out to win both home and away, and it is clear that the players are motivated, then the manager has done his job, it's up to the players.

Those who have clearly not performed well enough need to show some dignity and accept transfers and loan moves to allow the club to re-build, but we all know that it's far more complex than that.

I'd say top 7 next season with a few big scalps, a decent cup run and some attractive football on show would constitute a good debut season for Silva. The next year or two will be ones of transition as we move away from an ageing, underperforming squad and a defensive, practical footballing philosophy full of fear.

I expect there will be some bumps along the way and we'll probably get a few tonkings but we might also occasionally see our team go genuinely toe-to-toe with some of the best in Europe rather than hoping to sneak a gritty draw or jammy win.

Brands work will take longer to come to fruition and he had slow starts at Alkmaar and PSV before their title wins. My hope is that in 2-3 years we will see a club ready to truly compete at the top table consistently.

I agree with that and to be honest after what I've watched over the last 18 months, I'd be quite happy with top 7 and along the way a couple of decent scalps (maybe a derby win or win at Arsenal, Chelsea etc wouldn't go amiss) and a good Cup run.

I couldn't tolerate another season of inferiority complex every time we set foot on the pitch against the top 6 home and away.

It's about time Everton starting getting things together and at least making some waves rather than being the dead wastewater of a team we saw last season.

This is Moshiri's third summer here and whilst nobody was expecting the League title inside 3 years, I think steady progress and a more ambitious mentality should have been well and truly in place by now.

It's a big season for everyone but perhaps Moshiri more than most.

Presumably these are decisions on which he has taken advice from people with more football savvy than himself? At least he has not suffered these mistakes to hang around too long and hopefully we now have the right management team to move us forward on and off the pitch.

I agree that we won't be ready to break into the top 4 for a while – the stranglehold on the elite positions from the media darlings is a closed shop at the moment and we're not yet in a position to challenge that. But the pieces are falling into position (wealthy owner, new stadium, revised management structure, new coach and developing squad etc.). It'll happen but not in the next couple of years.

He obviously is a lot wiser – and unfortunately poorer – now. This is a crucial time for everyone. If Moshiri has his pants pulled down on players again, I have stated many times he'll do a Lerner or Short and cut us off.

We must improve on last season, in terms of results, performances, and entertainment. I strongly believe we will. Even if we sign no one. I think this guy is that good as a coach, that the players will respond and the team will hit the ground running and will challenge the top 6, and maybe overtake a wobbly Arsenal or Chelsea.

Even then it's a big ask to get there considering the fourth placed club had a goal difference of +60 on us last season. For me 7th is par for the course, sixth is an improvement. Top four would be an exceptional achievement. I'd be happy with solid incremental improvement for his first season, a cup final and a 6th place finish.

Three weeks in (or is it four? ) and I think Brands is starting to see the size of his task and Andrei is highlighting the importance of it.

Emery has a very difficult task at Arsenal who are in a mess and Emery will make significant changes. this gives us an opportunity.

As brilliant as Sarri is, Chelsea are in a complete mess right now. Sure, Abramovich might sort everything out very quickly, but there's unrest at every part of the club right now. I wouldn't be surprised if Hazard leaves and sparks an exodus.

I don't expect us to finish above them, I just think there is an opportunity there to do so.

I know you have nailed your mast to Silva being our man but personally I would rather finish below 7th with a team trying to play joined up footie than finish 7th with a team Allardyce put together.

Yes a minimum of 7th would be nice but I will be happy to see this season out as a platform for better things to come and that will be evidenced by how we perform; how we grow in confidence and how Silva gets some of the players last year who simply didn't turn up, to play to their potential. If Silva can achieve that this season, results will naturally follow.

On a separate note, I see Schneiderlin is being rumoured to be making a move back to France.

Sounds good, but no basis in realty!

It's the hope that kills you.

As for where we will finish this season, I think it will be very difficult to break into the top 6. Emery and Sarri will make huge differences to Arsenal and Chelsea, the big advantage for Chelsea is yet again they will appoint one of the best in the World. Chelsea players are used to managers being changed every 18 months, but doesn't seem to stop them winning the Premier League. I think Arsenal will be a more aggressive side under Emery, and if he can add some steel to their footballing skills they will do well.

Although I don't believe this season we can break into the top 6 I will be looking for a much-improved playing style and putting the blocks in place to enable to capitalize should any of the top 6 falter

If Silva, can really wake up our crowd, then I think anythings possible. We forget how valuable a roaring Goodison can be, and this is my biggest wish for the coming season.

Ten whole games, huh? And then the fans should feel free to bring out the knives if we haven't stormed the top six?

Funny old game. Jumpers for goal posts.

If we as fans don't have minimum expectation then we are in trouble. 7th is minimum for me. We have let things slide for too long and the incumbents have to be held accountable. We should always expect to win every game even if it may be unreasonable to expect it. Yes, I understand the mess we have been left with but Everton should have lofty expectations. It's the fact that we have downplayed our expectations for years that we find ourselves without any trophies for years.

As it stands, I am quite excited by the prospect of Silva and Brands, they are making all the right noises but now have to show that they can make all the right noises on the pitch. Of course they should be given time to get it right but given the quality or lack thereof of the Premier League then 7th should definitely be a minimum expectation.

It was the way the teams at the bottom and in the middle were positioned that led to 8th position, besides too defensive/ cautious football and the odd win.

Steve Ferns, it would be wrong to put Silva's and Allardyce's football in the same context. The odds are that the Premier League will not be grouped this season like they were last time, so it would be a wrong comparison to make if Silva could manage 8th. It comes down to the players and recruitment at the end of the day – coaches can give instructions and show players how to play it's whether Everton (the team) can or will comply.

Let's hope Silva's 7th position (if he gets it) this coming season is intended (by him) and applied (actual results).

I fail to see how people can make judgements on Silva's style and tactics until such time he has worked with the players made available to him at Everton. What he did or didn't do at previous clubs is more or less irrelevant.

I'm looking for a 'good' seventh or eighth with at least 60 points come next May!

If we get the recruitment right this summer, in some ways it's re-assuring that they haven't dived into the Transfer Market straight away, but frustrating too.

I appreciate the need to trim down and jettison the deadwood, but some targets are being snapped up in the meantime (Maddison, Diop) to name two.

I do hope as well that some of the targets we are being linked with are wide of the mark, Carvalho, Gelson to name but two, look pretty poor in the World Cup. I am sure we can do better.

We need to be realistic. There is a major squad rebuilding excercise to be done and the players need to adjust to yet another style of play.

We are also competing with Burnley, Watford, West Ham and Leicester for the quality additions that we need and so far have no improvement whatsoever in the squad so it is premature to even imagine where we should finish although I doubt it will be top 6.

Notwithstanding the acknowledged need to trim the playing staff, maybe we are not diving into the transfer market because Silva and Brands think that with the right coaching they can make something of Funes Mori, and by getting Dowel and Lookman back from loan, we have cover at right / left wing and at No 10. With Gueye and Schneiderlin (the latter being given a possible second chance) staying, we have adequate cover in Benny Baningime and Tom Davies.

We also have Pennington, Browning and Galloway returning from loan. All three have previously played in the first team and Browing and Galloway did extremely well – but started to go downhill when they went on loan.

Maybe back at Goodison they can resettle and progress into the type of players they initially promised to be.

I am sure there are others in the ranks of the U23 and below that may be well enough equipped to make the step up – if only someone will put trust in them to do so.

After all, one of the players we have been linked with is an 18-year-old centre-half from Brands's old club and he is being valued at 㿞 million.

For my money, Holgate played well enough in the few games given to him in his natural centreback position (and also acquitted himself well enough as a stand in right back when called on), to warrant the step up next season.

Why risk, 㿞 million on a young Dutch centre half that, like poor Davey Klaassen, may not be able to make the step up to the Premiership - when we have Holgate who is older and tested at that level, kicking his heels in the U23s?

We also have Matty Foulds and others of a similar age to the Dutch boy, who are coming through our ranks.

Great player for us. Would be in my all time Everton XI. Most exciting player I've ever seen in the royal blue.

Looks like the mature love child of Robert De Niro and Gerard Houllier's mum.

As to league position next season, I think that's not even the 10th concern right now. We have such a massive imbalance in the squad and a lot of senior players who are not needed/wanted/good enough. First focus needs to be on bringing in 3-4 new quality faces in key positions. Second is to trim the squad, especially the vast number of midfielders we have. Then give the manager and new coaching staff time to get the players used to their way of playing. All the above will take months not weeks so right now any league position targets aren't really relevant.

Let's hope we get some decent players in by the end of August and see where we are come Xmas. We need a centre-back, left-back, creative midfielder and a striker imo. Don't have any Europa League games but I question how much longer Baines can go on for. He can't play, week-in & week-out this season.

Also, we need a new long-term decent centre-back with pace. Jagielka and Williams shouldn't be starting on a regular basis and Holgate isn't ready imo. Then we have the usual issue of left midfield, which hasn't been addressed for the best part of a decade. Add to that the need for a decent pacey striker, all be it Walcott could do a job off Tosun.

We don't, actually need that many players, just 3-4 of quality in key positions. The list to ship out, on the other hand, is extensive!

It's not that I think the top four are that good, but they are at the top four level and stay there, though not achieving the level to win the Champions League. As I repeatedly posted last season, Everton swam at the shallow end of the league and sunk when they moved into the deep end.

I would be looking for a improvement on that front first. To achieve this, Brands and Silva have their work cut out for them reshaping last season's squad.

Kanchelskis is grateful to Everton, who have remembered and appreciated him.

I think the job this season is to start playing football, bring a good system of playing in, a couple of defenders and a playmaker that the team can be built around. In the meantime, try to get rid of the Koeman rubbish – Klaassen, Williams, Martina, and Schneiderlin would be a start. I think Rooney should go too.

Silva and Brands have a huge task, but I do sense that they will be the real deal, despite Silva not being my preferred manager of choice.

The RS are in usual overdrive, about next season but, if we can send a signal to the rest by beating Wolves away, then I'll take that as a good start. But I don't expect top 4 and, for me, top 6 would be an achievement bar a miracle.

Now to off-load more dead wood... Hopefully to get some proven signings in.