Ronald Koeman never understood Everton; that won’t be a problem at Barcelona

Koeman might do okay at Barca. He's quite good when he gives a shit.

I can't get happy about Koeman, he's a complete tosser and never wanted to be here.

He also has the charisma of a dead fish.

We should try and flog Sigurdsson and Keane to Barcelona.

Seriously, how the fudge did he get that job?

Koeman to Barca, more fool them.

Fran, Bartomeu and Koeman are the same sort of self-important pompous asses. They'd appeal to each other.

I assume the appointment will confirm Messi's departure. No way in hell he would want to play for Koeman.

Unbelievable Barca are considering Koeman as next manager, err good luck with that.

Koeman at Barca is another indicator of how sparse genuine quality is in all aspects of footy and what desperate times these are for the game.

Terrible shame to see the continued demise of a once great sport

I think he might do okay, but they have a shit load of deadwood and internal turmoil to clear before they can start being competitive.

Stop me if you've heard this one before.

I agree Barry, there's a demise of sorts afoot. Not an inevitable demise but one of too much tinkering, monetizing and politicizing by interests who now have too much influence.

A lot of people (and family members) have said they're becoming bored and disillusioned with it all. Whether they stick to that standpoint will be seen later, but the game needs to be careful, I'd say. The enforced break has relaxed people's attention.

I agree too about Koeman. Even more strange since it's been mooted for many years, God knows why as he's never shown anything to indicate some esoteric talent that would fit with one of the world's great clubs. It all feels weirdly engineered to me, as much as lack of an alternative.

All this said, the game is still about crazy enough that he could be a stunning success!

They could even rival us for picking dud managers!

Klaassen just waiting to get the call...

James, yes! Imagine if Koeman took him to Barca.

Though I believe he admitted to Klaassen being a mistake.

Barcelona don't have the excuse of not being able to read Spanish newspapers, unlike Everton who hadn't a clue anyway. i hope Barcelona aren't getting him on the cheap, wages supplemented by Everton to keep him at the level he was accustomed to, as per his Everton Contract.

Barcelona are in decline and Koeman will him them on their way. Really needed to be thinking rebuilt after Messi. Koeman will talk about tactics he hasn't a clue about, will fall out with players via the press, and will spend a fortune on has-beens.

Sad to see European Football go into the doldrums. There will be a revolution in Catalonia, they are not as nice there as in Liverpool.

I hope he fails miserably and they kick him out after his first game. He didn’t care and his lack of tactical nous and poor, expensive signings were a major contributory factor in continuing and deepening the malaise we find ourselves in now.

In fairness, Koeman has done well with a Netherlands team who were terrible before. He seems to be successful at every other job.

I don't wish him any ill will; the problem was he had his eyes on Arsenal. Everton didn't appeal to him until we made an offer he couldn't refuse. That was our error coupled with him, Kenwright and Walsh all going on uncoordinated spending sprees.

His contract at Everton would have expired in June 2019, Jerome.

The talk is that he will only last one year. The overwhelming favourite for next summer's Presidential election is wholewheartedly committed to bringing in Xavi.

He is a Barcelona talisman isn't he? Someone who could potentially appease a fanbase in the short-term.

I blame Koeman and the failure to stand up to him, as being key to Everton's demise.

He had no interest in the long-term of the club. That is fair enough. But for Walsh not to be given license to boss the relationship, and Moshiri and Kenwright not to put their foot down – criminal!

When appointing a manager, it isn't like a player for me. I can live with players being mercenaries. But with managers, you simply can't afford that to be the case. When Koeman had to be bought into the job simply for the pay packet, it went wrong. He had no interest, knowledge or desire for the project from that moment.

He pushed short-term signings, lazy ones such as Sigurdsson, then swanned off abroad at will.

He was then replaced with Allardyce who was given over £40m to spend despite it being clear to all that he would be gone the following summer – spent on more short-term players on massive money. Crazy, crazy management.

I don't think any manager has ever had his contract terminated because he didn't apply himself seriously enough to the job, didn't give the necessary time and attention that he should have done, given the fantastic wages he was receiving: this all applied to the way Koeman worked (?) at Everton, yet he received all the wages as though he had completed the full contract.

How would Everton's case stood up in court if they had just sacked him for not completing his duties and refused to pay him anything after the day he was fired? Has any club anywhere done this?

Dave

How do we know how he worked? Beside some misplaced comments I don't see evidence he didn't work.

As opposed to Sam who went on holiday when we had a game... or Martinez doing TV commentary all summer, or Walker in his sunbed.

I think the red tree decorations and him talking about Everton in the third person are his only proven crimes.

Adam,

You are correct – we are still paying big style for his over-inflated purchases of poor-quality players, his seeming disinterest in Everton extending to his due diligence of recruitment overview – especially the character of the player being purchased.

Kieran (19), yes fair enough I don't know how he conducted himself on the training ground but there was a lot of evidence in the way the team performed or didn't perform in his second season. He looked like he had washed his hands of Everton and was in a hurry to get away from the mess he had a lot to do with.

Not enough to find him guilty of not trying hard enough, or even trying, but enough for me. Guilty as charged... and at least he should have been paid monthly until his contract was up or a different payment if he took another job.

Adam #16

Glad to hear his contract ended last year, it was beyond a joke.

Personally I thought he was useless, and would have bust Everton, if he had had another transfer window. He came across knowing what he was about and arrogant with it. His management in most teams ended with acrimony with players and fans, following a similar pattern. Barcelona needs an experienced manager to turn things around. No way Koeman has the abilities required and they will regret appointing him.

Wonder if Barca will get the "I'll be there when I've finished my holidays" routine?

The daft get was clueless from day one; the arrogant slob had to walk on water after that little stunt. Instead, he sank without trace. Brain of a pea.

I'm not going to sit here and wish ill on Koeman as I just don't care enough.

When he got the Everton job, it seemed like the fan pleaser at the time but I think we all knew that it was just a stepping stone to bigger things and he will have known it too.

At the end of the day, he's still the last manager – and bizarrely the only Everton manager over the last 6 years – to finish in the top 7.

Koeman leaving us was no loss because he was here long enough. If anything, it hurt more losing Martinez because I do believe Roberto genuinely did care about Everton, you only had to look at how he physically aged in three years when the struggles became apparent.

As I understand it, he is being appointed for the one season and have a permanent replacement next season. I suppose we are still paying his contract out?

Evans, as per usual using a storyline to dig Everton out. He's a top grade divvy.

If he can't shoehorn them over the road into an article, he will use any old stick lying around to beat us with. He is predictable and unoriginal.

Koeman was a bellend, he did get that right and no more than him passing through. Frankly, I'd put his appointment up there with Walker's. It would be easy to say Allardyce's tenure was worse but it was purely functional and we both got what he wanted from it.

Moshiri completely failed to recognize Koeman's motives or thought his motives to be the Barca manager would sweep Everton up in it. Either way, I wouldn't blame Koeman, it was Moshiri's appointment and it hinted at an owner with poor judgement.

Koeman always appears a cold fish but he did well until Kenwright started to interfere, letting Lukaku go, not replacing him, and then bringing Rooney back on ridiculous wages – all I am sure without Koeman's approval.

So he did the Dutch thing and just decided if he wasn't "managing" the squad, he might as well play golf.

It will be interesting to see if Carlo puts up with his shit.

The 2nd half of Koeman's 1st season, at home at least, started to help me get over Martinez's reign. 2nd season and the summer that went before it, was awful. Not sure I, or Everton, have recovered since!

Bye Bye, Barca.

I don't think people can just switch talent on and off then want to win at the top table. I think his lackadaisical demeanour at Goodison is probably not far off his full capabilities now.

Real winners do not accept second best at anything. That drive is instinctive and not something they bother switching on occasionally.

He may look driven when he starts but my feeling is he is now a conman and won't be anywhere near the calibre required by Barca.

Another Koeman issue was Barkley. Kenwright was lauding him as the new Gazza while Koeman had to handle the reality of a mentally weak guy who couldn't keep possession. That created conflict also and made Ron's job harder.

Chipsh without mayonnaise is not chipsh.

Kieran, absolutely. The new Gazza, yeah right Bill.

I do think Koeman is the best manager we have had since Moyes, apart from Ancelotti obviously.

First season we did well, but we were poor away and very defensive. A lot of this had to do with the injury to Bolasie who was on fire before the Man Utd game at home.

2nd season either him or Walsh bought junk, I'm still not sure who we should blame. I never wanted Rooney back and it was like a punch in the face to us. "Here, have our food when it's rotten!" Basically what Man Utd were inadvertently saying. He would probably do well at Barca.

Jim Bennings

I think you hit the nail on the head. As much as he was equally as clueless as Dutch Ron, Martinez cared about the club and seemed proud to be the manager. Still bemused me how he got the Belgian job, however.

The article makes a very good point about how Koeman never really "got" this club and I think most of us knew that at the time; this was supposed to be the stepping stone towards the Barca job. It just galls me that the mistakes he and Walsh made, still haunt us now.

Bolasie, Sigurdsson, Keane (albeit improved) were all expensive mistakes. Even Schneiderlin who hung around the place like a bad smell, and Martina who we have only just got rid of.

When Gerard Pique questions Koeman over tactics, will Ron the Con respond with, "Have you ever won a Euro Champions Cup?"

Apparently, that was his go-to answer for any challenge or disagreement at EFC!

Sukhdev #34

"A lot of this had to do with the injury to Bolasie who was on fire before the Man Utd game at home."

Really? I must have missed that... and I go to all the games; home and away.

Bill #37.

It's true, mate, he had an accident in his kitchen with a rogue toaster!

Intriguing to see what type of a job he does, because he has been doing well with the Dutch national team, did well at Southampton, but was appalling at Everton, Benfica and Valencia.

I hated him when he was our manager, he had no personality and this is exactly how his team played.

If the rumours are true that Kenwright said he couldn't bring Sammy Lee, then his first impression must have been bizarre to a man who has managed all three of the biggest Dutch clubs, but I wish he had never taken the Everton job, because him and Walsh, put us back years imo.

I read somewhere that he will be out on is ear after a year because the incoming club president wants to bring Xavi in as his man, which makes Koeman taking the job a bit weird as his Dutch team may actually have a shot in the Euros next summer.

Sure his immense charm and tactical genius will persuade Messi to stay.

Bill Watson @37,

Wasn't Bolasie our best winger before he got injured? Mirallas was decent too but Gerry was horrific.

Koeman can fuck off.

His legacy is the Everton we see today with the burden of some shit players and their associated wages.

I wonder how long it will be before he tells a star player to move away from Barca if they want to win things, like the idiot did with Lukaku. The remaining players will then down tools and he'll be back in the Netherlands.

He is a total nonevent where man-management is concerned. He will also have to get rid of yesterday's man, Messi, who has far too much influence in the dressing room.

Apparently Barcelona want Michael Keane. That must be a wind up.

Michael Keane, no way. Stoke City maybe.

I tend to agree with the general point that, while Koeman didn't appear to "get" us, he may well have an affinity with Barcelona that works.

Having said that though, while he was part of a glorious Barcelona era in the early 90s, he did leave there in '95. A long time ago. Football has obviously moved on a lot since then. Can't even be that many people still at the club who were there then.

My sources tell me (the smoke is blowing in the right direction from a distant neighbour's bonfire) that Sandro is a makeweight in a deal which also brings Lionel Messi to Goodison Park.

This is all by way of Ronald's apology for his performance as Everton manager.

Tony #48, I think someone has been blowing smoke up your direction

Pat (50),

Now I understand what Paul Hewitt (45) meant by a "wind up".

It is funny how ex-Everton managers seem to land the biggest managerial jobs – Moyes to Man United and Koeman to Barcelona. Silva and Martinez must be licking their lips in anticipation.

By the way, does Messi still have a locker?

He was found out at Everton and ended up clueless. His substitutions were often due to him being inept as to how the opposition played. His tactics were questionable, the five at the back against Chelsea when we had never played that way was embarrassing as you will ever see.

Good players don't always make good managers but many inherit a good team and a Chairman with money. He has been a lucky manager by the look of this appointment. I have no animosity towards the man but I can't see him lasting long at Barca.

Ajay #52, Martinez is managing Belgium, the #1 ranked national side in the world right now, and commentating for Fox Sports on the side.

Silva has turned down big-money offers from Flamengo and the Chinese Super League, but apparently can go back to work anytime he wants.

It's beyond me.

Mike 54

I don't know how Martinez convinced the Belgium FA he was the right man for the job, but the side he inherited you or I could have managed them. When he took over, what a squad he had: Hazard, De Bruyne, Lukaku, Kompany, the 2 Spurs centre-backs, Courtois who was rated as the best goalkeeper at the time, plus some other excellent squad players.

Ajay #52,

Perhaps it is their reward for messing Everton up that results in the fantastic jobs they manage to get after leaving Goodison. There are an awful lot of our neighbours in every walk of life, from banking to media, politicians and everything in-between. I'm only left wondering how Boys Pen Bill isn't a Sir by now.

I remember, back in his playing days the Catalonian press referred to him as the fat old lady. Not far wrong as it turned out.

I think the appointment of Koeman may not have been Moshiri's choice, despite the commonly held belief.

By his own words at the time, he relied upon his friend to advise him of all things Everton and football in general. We had 3 x No 10s: I suspect Sigurdsson was the No 1 choice; Klaassen was 2nd choice, and Rooney was Bill's.

Out of all of them, the only successful one was Rooney and he was dispatched without thought or consultation. That hurt him and us. (Despite what you may think of him, he loves Everton still and was streets ahead of the other two choices).

But Koeman was disgraceful. He didn't care. Say what you like about Martinez, or Moyes for that matter, they cared and bought into Everton.

The Independent piece is a thinly veiled hatchet job on Koeman. Richly deserved.

Brian #55, all true, but exceptionally talented teams have flopped before. Martinez has won, I believe, 34 of 43 fixtures since taking over. He has kept all those huge egos happy and playing fluently together, and he has sent out the right combinations of players. And he deserves full credit for that.

He may, in fact, be the ideal kind of manager for a national team – a guy that doesn't have to manage a club on a day-to-day basis, doesn't have to field the responsibility for balancing and pleasing club management and supporters, doesn't have to deal with agents, doesn't have to juggle lineups through three fixtures in eight snowy days.

If Roberto is smart, he'll never be a club manager again. He can't handle it. But he could take Belgium to a World Cup Final.

Barca simply doing what all the top clubs around the world have done since the game began.

They are hiring an ex-player.

I can't stand Koeman either, I can never resist a bitch and moan about his and Walsh's "spending spree" and what an unmitigated disaster it was for us.

Lots of rumours of him wanting Keane!!!! ;) Maybe he's been schmoking the local wacky baccy and it's true!

We're not very good with managers these days though, are we? Carlo's current win percentage so far is the worst for a permanent appointment since Walter Smith. Even Fat Sam's was better.

Still, he's fantastico and magnifico isn't he? His wages certainly are anyway. Which is why he's here, and why Koeman was here.

Everton paid him 25% more than Barcelona are willing to.

He came to Everton purely because he had dollar signs in his eyes. He had no intention of putting in the necessary commitment or hard graft to improve the team and foundation of the club.

What followed was terrible management, terrible recruitment and a demoralised entire staff on the field and off.

The fans and Mr Moshiri himself would have expected professionalism and commitment; we got lazy indifference that has set the club back 5 years.

I despise this parasite.

Martinez is clearly a far better coach than a manager. I'd say Mike G has him spot on. One very good season with us, rightly said he needed more players, didn't get them and was left with a squad that had been told they weren't quite good enough. And he then lost the plot and had to go.

As for Koeman, 7th place and Europe in a functional first season, stated he wanted a spine with players off it, got the peripheral players and no spine. Hard to tell who's fault that was, but nothing excuses the snail's-pace football, Koeman losing the plot, sulking and waiting to be sacked.

For all that, the two 'shit' managers got us into Europe, two semi-finals and our best finish for years. Haven't seen that since, have we?

I suspect the people now employing them are aware of how badly run we are (easy to do the research) and may think the pair could do better in a well-run organisation.

They'd be right.

Koeman left Everton three years ago. Why is there a thread about him, as I thought everyone despised him and was glad he'd gone (me included), so the last thing you'd want to do is talk about him.

I suppose in 3 years time, there will be a thread about Marco Silva.

Maybe he might try and buy some of the players he acquired for us during his time; it would solve a lot of problems for us.

If this doesn't make you laugh out loud, nothing will, The Daily Mail are reporting that Koeman wants to bring Michael Keane to Barcelona.

If only, and before you check – it's not April 1st.

Old news, Dave.

And Fake News according to the Echo. Keane is not on Koeman's wishlist... so they claim.

Michael (70), I know, and I'm not laughing – I'm bitterly disappointed.

Moshiri made the oldest mistake in the book – Koeman couldn't be arsed but came to Goodison because his 'mouth was stuffed with gold'.

Rule Number One: if a manager or player doesn't want to come, don't pursue them with ever-increasing amounts of money. It never works out.

Somebody asked Gerard Deulofeu for a comment on Koeman going to Barca. His response:

“I can tell you about Koeman from my personal experience. He provided me absolutely nothing.”

Thoughts on Keane to Barca???

If we can get £35M, I would take it. We need money and think this will help strengthen in more critical areas. Gbamin remember is still to come back and I think (but could be wrong) could add as emergency cover in this area.

Andy, I’d be astonished if there was a single grain of truth in the Keane to Barcelona gossip.

Keane is very decent but, if anyone bid over £20M for him, I’d sell as I’m not sure he suits us and both Mina and Holgate are better and play right centre-back. He was good after restart so it's possible that, with 2 years left on his contract, his value will never be higher than right now.

There's a clip on YouTube of Koeman a year ago saying Pique, Busquets, Suarez and Messi all over 30 and on the wane. You need 4 world class players - and one of them irreplaceable. He ends with 'good luck with that'. But maybe if the camera kept rolling he would have said 'but Michael Keane will replace Pique at least'.

Obviously utter bollocks!!!

Playing Devil's Advocate for a bit, it's possible that Everton still owe Barcelona significant money on the Mina, Gomes and Digne transfers which means both clubs could benefit by a Keane to Barcelona transfer? They get Keane for buttons by forgiving the debt, Everton free up the ringfenced debt payments to fund other transfer business?

When Ronald said: 'We need Keane' to the Barca board, he actually meant the BBC journalist Fergal Keane, so that they could get more favourable write-ups in the media. Somehow, wires got crossed... !!

Koeman wrecked Everton. No manager ever had so much money and wasted it all. Any manager can make a mistake with a player but to know a player inside out and then make the mistake is criminal.

Schneiderlin and Martina are a case where Koeman had managed both. and both were terrible. Klaassen also he knew well again a major mistake.

This had implications for the current manager and the last manager. It will take years to improve the club

Looks like Messi and Suarez are already packing their suitcases after one-to-one chats with Ronnie.

I hated everything about this guy, from his signings, to not giving a toss about our club, rather be on the golf course, and the complete shut-out from the U23 squad, and the eating routine at Finch Farm, right down to the Niasse incident. He set our club back a good 3 years with most of those shite signings.

Martinez, for all his faults at not defending and set-pieces, at least felt proud of Everton. He gave us probably our best season for that first year in charge, before it went pear-shaped, going toe to toe at Arsenal and Man Utd; so, although it did not work out, he never singled any player out, or isolated anyone.

Some are saying Ronnie was our best since Moyes. For me, he destroyed everything about our club, splitting the first team and youth. His arrogance and the knowledge that we were just a club of convenience, until something better came along... His transfers mainly were a disaster; it will be a long time before the stench of Ronnie drifts away from Finch Farm.

I actually rank Koeman as a worse manager than Big Sam, his man-management skills are non-existent.

I remember people defending his attitude towards players that he alienated from the club. It seems a conversation with him leads to the exit door pronto.

I cannot believe he acted without Barcelona's board consent, but it is the arrogance and sheer bloody-mindedness of self-importance that makes him one of the worst managers we have ever had.

Get on the wrong side of him and you may as well pack your bags or hang about for a few months until the fans revolt makes the board act.

I wonder if Messi will be cast in a bad light for not toeing the line or kowtowing to Koeman as happened with Niasse, Mirallas and others? I would not like to be a Barcelona supporter right now...

I agree, Christine.

Koeman will be held responsible if Messi leaves, which makes his position untenable, so won't last the season if Messi leaves. And Messi won't stay if Koeman stays, and probably won't stay anyway (see above). Popcorn anyone?

Julian #83, no, Koeman won't be held responsible if Messi leaves... Bartomeu will (and is), because he and Messi were already at near-war. Barca fans are smart enough to know that it's been Bartomeu and the departed Abidal who didn't do a good enough job of bringing in a new supporting cast for Messi. Besides, Koeman still has a reservoir of goodwill at Barca because of his great playing career there.

None of it matters, however. Bartomeu will be voted out in March if he doesn't quit earlier, and Koeman will inevitably fail (only partly because he's an arrogant ass) and be replaced next summer by Xavi.