My Fulham pals rate him highly and, at 29, he's a spring chicken compared to Young and Coleman.

Free agent, came through at Ajax, played for Lyon and obviously Fulham. And a right-back!!

It could be good business if it materialises.

O'Brien will be first choice there, with Branthwaite and Tarkowski in the middle. Or am I missing something?

Not played loads of games a season. 25, 20, 34, 19, 22 over last 5 seasons is a bit of a worry.

I'd have taken Walker tbh, but it's a potential low-cost option, in an area where we need something.

A free agent with sensible wages, some fans will like the fact he scored against Liverpool, a twat of a goal although a goal is a goal!

Jake O'Brien is a centre-back. He filled in at right-back admirably last season, and can do when required. His future is centre-back.

We shouldn't be looking at him as first-choice right-back.

If we have O'Brien, Tarkowski and Branthwaite, along with another (still possibly Keane?), then that is healthy competition, depth and cover for injuries.

We need a right-back, whoever that ends up being.

I guess he'll now be cover for right-back and centre-back.

Sounds like a Spanish tit!

Dyche made two really poor errors of judgement. One that O'Brien was only a centre-back and couldn't play anywhere else. And Two: that golden boy Tarkowski was irreplaceable. Those decisions went a long way to him losing his job.

Results picked up dramatically when O'Brien was given a shot at right back... They sky rocketed once last ditch Tarkowski was injured was taken the fuck out of there.

Oh and Brian

If it wasnt for the whingers on here, you would have nothing left to whinge about

A Fulham fan I spoke to said if you keep him fit he’s in top 5 right-backs in the Premier League. The downside is his injury issues but I’m much happier with him personally as I think Walker is on the wane whereas Tete should have a couple of years in his prime.

We could have two Branthwaites on our hands.

Players need to be flexible these days.

If it wasn't for the whingers on here, you would have nothing left to whinge about.

Very Zen, Colin.

I don't have a particular issue with O'Brien playing right-back for a game or two. He has done well.

However, what a proper right-back could offer going forward needs to be considered in adding attacking goal threat to a team. Passing, crossing, overlapping is going to be more on point, admittedly at the expense of more goals against.

Seen him give us a hard time on a couple of occasions for Fulham, surprised some haven't heard of him.

Injury record a bit iffy though.

Patterson can leave for Glasgow Rangers or QPR, some club like that.

Pickford
Tete
O'Brien
Branthwaite
Mykolenko
Ndiaye
Garner
Gana
McNeil
Alcaraz
Beto

4-4-1-1

Already looks better than last season.

CF, CM, and another winger will be needed.

Let's see how he comes back from the injury. 33 in November, he might find it a struggle, or certainly might succumb to more niggles.

He's been a good signing. He's had sone ropey games, but overall hes done really well. That said Obrien and Branthwaite are the future, and that's where we should be heading.

Still waiting on news about Gana though. Likewise Calvert-Lewin, but I don't think that is happening. Who knows? I'd be happy if he stayed personally.

In other news, I see the project to finish off laying the 36,000 stones behind the South Stand is nearing completion by the end of this week. Complete with maps, so you can find yours. I have a joint one with my son. We didn't have access at the 2nd test event, but you could look through the fence and it's really impressive.

It does take more than one poor player, but when relegation fights follow the same player to different clubs. His part in it needs to be scrutinised.

I also agree that he does organise the defence, but when he plays we tend to play with a back 9-10.

He would be a far better player if the words "drop five" were removed from his vocabulary.

We lost our first four league games conceding 13 goals. Not only was his leadership qualities exposed. He was personally responsible for at least 7 of those goals with howling errors...We didnt really recover.

His injury was treated like a death in the family on here, but although we were playing both Fulham and Newcastle away. I was supremely confident we would win our last three games without him.

Most players are more productive if they are not spending 90 minutes listening to their skipper telling them pick any opposing player who ventures a few yards forward

We need another left back for cover, a tricky winger, maybe a creative midfielder and an old fox up front-possibly Callum Wilson- although 3 years ago would have been better in his case.

I would keep Chermiti in the squad he has that quality look in what little we have seen.

I thought he was the cornerstone for our improved form under Moyes. If not he, then who gets the credit on the pitch?

But we are also very far apart on Ashley Young as well. Admittedly a consummate professional and had it all sussed in his head, but I thought his much reduced mobility meant he had to be conservative in the extreme which had ramifications for the balance of the team overall. At times the image in his head was clearly shattered by the sudden realisation he was treading water when he used to able to rely on pace to burn.

I’m not saying Jake has cemented the centre-back spot yet, but he did alright for me there as well, especially as he generally had to deal with having one of the lesser right-backs alongside him when he did.

The defence has to function as a unit and weaker links will limit everyone around them.

And you can’t judge a whole season on selecting the first four and last three matches. I can think of numerous games when Tarkowski’s presence won us points.

He doesn't have it in for any Everton player. Similarly he called out Branthwaite earlier last season when his performances dipped.

But then he was playing in a poorly performing team.

On Tarkowski, it was obvious to me he was carrying a knock early on. You could see it. But that's a manager decision.

I was concerned when he got injured, as he was important to us. But then I was delighted when the two young lads hit it off straight away.

Colin, and I mean this genuinely, you'll have have to explain that last comment to me.

As a former defender, you were always instructed that the closest player to the oncoming opposition player pressed and went to the ball. The others denied space to runners.

Personally, I don't think Tarkowski gets credit for how he can play. Like any Everton defender of late, it depends on what options are in front of them.

It's improved though and throught the team, we've started playing good football often in tight spaces.

However, very few people are immune to confirmation bias and there are players Dave seems to have a hard time giving any credit to if they haven't impressed him from the start.

I'm not counting our chickens but I think Branthwaite and O'Brien are a couple of players we could build a competitive team around.

Jake O'Brien is a centre-back. The spell he has spent at full back, the experience he will have gained, will do him the world of good. I hope he will become a partner to Jarrad Branthwaite, my fear is that he will be an eventual replacement.

None of us are right, or wrong in our opinions. We can all see it different.

I don't like it when it get's abusive to either a fellow poster or a player.

I've criticised Michael Keane over the years. Did I have it in for him? No. I judged him as a player. When he played well, I called it. I've even given him man of the match on occasion.

It wouldn't surprise me if he stays, providing he doesn't mind being back up. Realistically however, could see him going back to Burnley or one of the other promoted teams. Who knows?

Back to us. I too agree with you and Peter. I want to see our centre back partnership built around O'Brien and Branthwaite. I don't think there will be many who won't agree.

Only a week to sort out existing contracts due to run out, so surely we will receive news this week? Then there are discussions with Jarrad taking place, which could take a bit longer.

If you're fighting for your life he is the man to have beside you. I am hoping that from now on we will not be in a position to depend on a player like that- we will be controlling the play.
Looking at Colin's line-up up I can see two positions that would benefit from top class signings: McNeil and Garner.

Two good players there who are comfortable on the ball and can see a pass would transform the team.
For me games are won and lost in midfield.

I still think he's got 2 seasons left in him. Pace has never been his strong point, so that won't affect him too much. Even though he's been relatively injury-free over the seasons, he will inevitably start to pick up a few.

We can expect to see the transition to Branthwaite and O'Brien, but it will be a nice dilemma for the manager to have. I still think that if we release Michael Keane, we'll need further back up. I've been impressed with Welch when I've watched the U21s, but not sure he's ready to step up just yet.

A fourth centre-back would be a nice to have, not a priority.

I've never been a fan of Michael Keane but, when he signed for Everton in 2017, it was Tarkowski who replaced him in the Burnley team that went on to qualify for European football.

Football, now more than ever, is a squad game, so for Everton to start getting back on track, then it's obvious we need to go and sign some good players.

I'm really looking at the long term regarding my comments about the existing players. They all still have a great deal to offer.

If we get this window right, we could have a much better season this time.

Now what was his name?

Apparently, we're now going to be controlling the play! Meanwhile, back on earth, Tarkowski is the leader and organiser we'd lacked for a decade in that position.

His partnership with Branthwaite is the first centre-back partnership of substance since Jagielka and Distin, which feels like a lifetime ago.

Long term, I would like someone quicker and slicker on the ball to replace Tarkowski. However, right now, his character, determination, leadership and very solid defending are integral. He will be playing.

I think at the start of the season, players all over the team made mistakes with the defence conceding goals from stupid mistakes, this carried on even with Moyes's improvement, and you could point the finger at everyone in the defence with Pickford as much to blame as anyone.

I also think most players are better listening to quiet remarks which are constructive rather than listening to a player who is constantly screaming remarks even when the ball is sixty yards up the field.

Si (34), I always look at new players when they start for Everton especially young players and the first time I criticised O'Brien was when fans were going overboard about him and making him MOTM in one game.

I remarked that the only reason he could be otM was because of the goal he scored – otherwise, he had a very poor game and that happened again when he scored a late equaliser v WHU (?)

For me, he plays the easy game of passing the ball to his fellow defenders and goalkeeper with the occasional pass down the line, I don't think he reads the game well and I have doubts that he will make a good centre back, I truly hope he proves wrong and if he makes it as good as Tarkowski I will more than happy.

All the above doesn't make me right, just my opinion, and I listen to and understand other fans opinions which are different to mine and I've been wrong plenty of times, like we all have.

It is disappointing to see a player I have boosted when they turn out to be not so good but far from disappointing when the player I thought wasn't so hot proved that he was!

One example of that long ago was Brian Harris in the sixties who was a winger left or right who turned out to be a very versatile player for the Blues over many years.

I did a fair bit of work in Burnley at that time. They were surprised we overlooked Tarkowski and Ben Mee to sign Keane, their 'third best' centre-back.

He had some really good games, in others he looked a bit hesitant and misjudged the situation, getting caught out with the reverse pass. It tended to be early in the game as he settled.

But then did Mykolenko on the other side, probably more so. On more than one occasion I recall, the Ukrainian got caught the wrong side of the opposition player, on the outside. As a full back, you're always in trouble when that happens.

I give Jake a bit of leeway. Along with Branthwaite, who you and I know had a dodgy patch earlier in the season, but as you also say many of our players did.

We have to remember, they are both very young for central defenders, who generally don't peak until 28 years old on average. There will be mistakes, but I can't think of a player who doesn't make a mistake. It's football.

In O'Brien's case, I thought he did well at right back, but looked better (for me), when he moved to centre back for those few games. But having that versatility is a benefit to the player and Everton.

I'd also put it down to him adjusting to playing at the highest level of English football for the first time and in a different position. The manager must have spotted it at Finch Farm.

Tarkowski will still feature. Both of those young defenders, and Mykolenko to that end, have benefited from having him alongside them, guiding them rather than barking like a Sergeant Major. I obviously don't know, but he may have be an influence in calming Jordan Pickford down!!

In some ways, although different, and I wouldn't call Gana a leader, but he too quietly goes about his business and leads by example. As good a season he had, he made the odd mistake. They all did. Football is a game of mistakes. I can't think of a player who never made one.

Keep them together and I think Jarrad and Jake will develop into a really good partnership. And, maybe just my view, but football is about partnerships. Centre backs, centre midfield, full backs with their wide midfielders and centre forwards. Or centre forward and Number 10 as tends to be the case more often now.

Watching Guardiola's interview very early this morning after winning 6 - 0 against someone, he once again reiterated he wants to operate with a smaller squad next season, so will be releasing several players.

Two ways to look at that. City players available? Or if he wants to work with a smaller squad, get yourself to Everton Pep.

Don't take that last comment seriously by the way!!!

Man City were playing one of the Als. I watched the 2-minute highlights – the defending and in particular the goalkeeping was horrendous.

We could maybe have finished 10th or 11th if Moyes had been in charge earlier.

What I'm getting at is, yes, we do need some signings, but we are not a million miles off a decent side. Personally, I think we will miss Doucoure even though he got slated on here regularly.

I thought it was actually quite a subtle tactical tweak by Moyes at the time. Or maybe I'm just overthinking it?

We definitely approved overall with Jake in the team, we were a lot more solid down that side and better in the air in both boxes. But probably agree that he isn't a natural full-back.

I've said elsewhere, maybe even on this thread. If we had the wing backs, and appropriate midfield cover, I could see a back 3 of O'Brien, Tarkowski and Branthwaite.

The above is assuming Gana and Branthwaite stay. Keane is also good enough for back-up to Branthwaite, Tarkowski and O'Brien. O'Brien is good enough for back-up to right-back.

Yes, agree about the two centre-backs being young and also it being O'Brien's first season in the Premier League. I also think quite a few players benefitted from having Tarkowski alongside them.

Gana Gueye will make a lot of mistakes, possibly because he is in the game a lot more than any of the other players and I know he is a player you have a lot of time for.

As you say, the two young centre-backs might become a consistent pair in the future if Branthwaite stays at the club and that will be part of a good spine down the middle of the field with Pickford at the bottom of the spine.

We all await a very good striker to complete the spine and of course a right-back and a right-winger and most of us will be happy – although we have a long way to go before we get that combination!

Some players are suited to that backs-to-the-wall, fight for your life relegation style of massed defence and hope to nick one football.

Aren't we looking to get away from that?

Michael Keane is definitely not good enough back-up after watching those. I'd have him nowhere near this club.

I said it when he signed, I said it when he renewed, and I'll say it now: too many mistakes in him, loses concentration, and goes to pieces.

Hopefully now we are onto better things where we never have to worry about relegation again, and can address the quality of football at last.

One player who really caught my eye yesterday was the Danish Under-21 central midfielder Noah Nartey. Only 19, he's already played a full season for Brondby, and looks incredibly calm and composed on the ball. I think he's going to have a very bright future.

Hamstrings are tricky to come back from, especially if serious. It takes time.

That's why I have a nagging thought that we will extend Michael Keane's stay at the club. Not my choice, but it would be a quick fix for the manager.

If we do, I'm going to have to talk my son down. He's worse than me.

All players are different, in terms of recovery from injuries. Seamus came back amazingly. James Garner did well this season once recovered after a fairly lengthy period out. Others don't.

No matter, as we all know from our own experiences of playing, eventually those old injuries come back to get you when you hit a certain age.

I hope Tarkowski is ready to lead the team next season and having the 3 (or 4) of them, gives Moyes options in that department.

He can concentrate strengthening elsewhere.

I know not everyone agrees but the tall striker Woltemade, although a bit raw, looked a real handful. I also liked the look of the player who scored the winner, Rohl.

The secret is fighting for your life whilst adding more quality, imo mate, and on that basis I think the last area of the team that currently needs replacing is in the middle of our defence?

Unless of course we have got a fortune to spend on new players Andrew, although with one of the first things Moyes acknowledged after he had managed Everton for a few weeks, was that he had inherited a team that was defensively strong, my own guess is that he will be looking to spend money in the areas that we really need it.

I thought he was very poor and was taken off around 65 minutes, but I remember thinking to myself it is unfair to judge a player over 1 game and he must have something about him to have generated so much interest.

I did think he was poor in the air for such a big fella though.

By that I mean experienced professionals who are not going to set the world on fire but can do a job for us in the short run.
I'm a bit concerned about his injury record, but that's the market we're in. Very few get to the age of 29 in the Premier League without having any injury history.

Yes, Woltemade is getting a lot of attention, and I suspect his price will have shot up by £10 million off the back of his performances thus far.

I'm really keeping my eye out for those hidden gems that might be gettable without that sort of premium. Rohl certainly impressed, as did Rocco Reitz – but they are a few years older than Nartey, therefore more established and would probably cost twice as much.

Nelson Wieper took his goal very well, and looks like he'll have a good future. And the German right back Nnamadi Collins also looks like to have a promising future.

Even so, saw 3 games hes played in the last few weeks and not seen anything to say he'd improve us.

In the regular starting XI, Tarkowski's relationship with Branthwaite is probably our only proper functioning partnership.

I'm expecting that side of things to improve further under Moyes. Although not especially exciting, Alcaraz and Tete are filling in key pieces of the First XI jigsaw. If we can get a really high quality Right Wing / Forward too, then the optimism can really start building.

I don't remember reading it, but you could see he was carrying a knock.

Alcaraz, if he can play consistently, excites when on the ball. Likewise, Ndiaye. He can weave his way through several opposition defenders like they are static traffic cones.

I know Martin personally.

Unless your being ironic that is very very wide of the mark.

Good, this looks like a good target.

Less than a week left until 1 July marks the dawn of a new Financial Year at Everton Football Club!!!

Just in the last hour, ESPN reports we're in a battle with the Manure over Ndidi. Apparently they want him to replace Casemiro.

Elanga, Wan Bissaka, Mctominlay, plenty of good players in the £10-25m bracket.

Has a lot of skill but tends to try to take on one player too many imo.

I quite like the look of Onyedika, though there are lots of interesting CMs out there. Hutchinson is another talented player who can do better than last season.

It seems mainly we are being linked with talented young players in the 20-24 range with potential to grow on the PL stage which is a good sign.

I like Thierno Barry though given we already have Beto it would be a curious use of money, unless the plan is to sell Beto. Not sure we're quite at the stage of having a £30m striker on the bench given the other holes in the squad but lets see.

Someone is going to get a cheap defender there, and make money on him.

I remember seeing us at Aston Villa at the beginning of the 77-78 season, Duncan McKenzie scoring both goals looking totally prepared for the forthcoming season. It's so important to be well drilled from the off.

So often in recent years, we have taken too long to get going.

This will be Moyes's first pre-season back in the saddle. Has he learnt from his experiences while he's been off in other climes? Will he implement the perfect blend of creative inspiration and disciplined gradual restructuring combined with tough Highland grit and determination?

Or will he have 'em just running up and down the sandhills on Formby beach all day?

I think Ancelotti started the season pretty well but finished it pretty poorly — well, crap, to be honest although he had us in the top two on Boxing Day — a lot of good half way through the season, it's where you finish at the end of the race that counts.

Still, we were top of the Premier League in October — when did that ever happen?

I still believe it was extenuating circumstances (the burglary of his home, terrorising his daughter), and the useless administration of Moshiri and Kenwright, that completely undermined him and saw Carlo delegate team matters to son Davide… with less impressive results.

We started the season in great form, we were deservedly in the top four at Christmas, but then we had a tough couple of months, when it looked like he was flogging dead horses, before finishing the season quite strongly after going out of the cup without a whimper against Wigan.

Starting the season without Branthwaite would have contributed to our poor start a lot more than a few arduous training sessions, especially in this day and age when the players are all given a training plan for the summer and all arrive back to work already fit.

I honestly didn't know Ancellotti passed over the team to his son?

The players are all given a training plan for the summer and all arrive back to work already fit.

You seem to understand him better than most, Tony, so why the fuck did your mate Sean have to bust their balls with that Gaffer's Day nonsense?

You forgot to mention, in you're last paragraph, that Carlo was a brilliant manager who won countless honours with other clubs but was not very good at Everton.

As for his son Davide, he wasn't very good but don't put the blame on him and the other excuses — Carlo had made his escape excuse before he even got here!

That's a new one on me as well, Tony, Carlo handing the team over to his son — what a dirty rotter if he did, letting his poor son take the blame for his lack of success — Boooooo and more Boooooos.

Where did you get that one from, Michael?

Fitness and non-football work is a part of that, but it doesn't mean "beasting" players. It should be gradual. As I've said previously, there are simple exercises.

For example, 400m track pyramids or the bleep test.

It may not be with a football, but that type of training builds fitness that is more aligned to being on a football pitch. Intensity and recovery.

Just two examples of relatively short exercises that don't require players to be hammered for an entire day or days.

It would be ideal to get as many players as possible in to start pre-season, but inevitably, there will be negotiation and there are always late signings.

The pre-season games should ideally take care of the football. I like the look of our pre-season. A couple of warm up games against Accrington and Burnley and then what should be competitive games (in the context of pre-season), against Bournemouth, West Ham and Manchester United, followed by AS Roma.

I bought a ticket for Accrington yesterday and will get one for Blackburn when on sale. I will also attend the Roma match.

It is about consistency over the season and where you end up that matters. We didn't get off to the best of starts in our 84-85 title winning season.

What is important is to build up points before Christmas and not put ourselves under pressure going into the New Year. I confident that we won't do so and I'm also looking forward to the paths to Wembley..

I was explaining what happens with regards professional footballers being given a training plan to implement for the summer, and giving my opinion that a few very hard training sessions shouldn't really destroy a player's fitness levels.

I don't know why Dyche does his "Gaffer's day", but it would suggest to me that he's got a little bit of an ego? I might be wrong but any player who doesn't want to train hard isn't worth having, although this would be a completely different debate.

Funnily enough, he's now Assistant Coach with the Brazil national team.

I think it's more about gelling as team tactically rather than ridiculously strenuous training regimes.

His Gaffer's Day isn't working.

Worked for Red Rum?

Yes, training has its part in the plan but tactics and how they are used are the most important part of the plan — as are buying the right players!

I'll stick my neck out here as I'm starting to forget last season and get into the spirit of pre and next season.

Not being a gambler, restricted to a £1 each way on the major horse racing events, I would wager that Forest won't compete with us next season.

I've done well lately, making a a whopping £12 gain on Ascot. My online account that I hadn't used for ages now stands at £19!!

The downside though is that, once they reach their sell-by date, we can't sell them on, and so have to replace them with other oldies (always a gamble you'll end up with a Delph) or have to go into our precious funds to get them.

If we've got a budget of £100M, that sounds reasonable after the last few years… but then we've got to replace about 10 players. So, if we fill out the team with £10M players, it's gonna be another tricky one, unless Moyes works his magic again.

And we can't really get the key ones in until late in the window, cos that's when all the bargains are had.

Just thank God we got him in in January, Imagine a new guy coming in now and having to deal with all this.

Train hard. Fight easy.

That can apply to football.

Shows what a brilliant impersonator Jack Nicholson was!

I say this because the only time I ever saw a Forest team physically wilt was in the FA Cup Final, they lost against Spurs and it wouldn't surprise me if there was a lot of nervous energy around the team because it was Brian Clough's only ever FA Cup Final.

We definitely under-trained at Forest. It might have been alright for senior professionals who knew the way around their trade but sometimes you had to walk around the dressing room after midweek games and whisper to a few of the lads to come in for a game of 5-aside; otherwise, you would just be going for a run by yourself.

Dyche must have also obviously felt his introduction to professional football wasn't quite demanding enough, going by the rumours about his "Gaffer's Day'. Just like Clough, I think he gave his players a lot of downtime to recover… but this mustn't have applied to pre-season because his record in August isn't good!

There's no exact right way and no exact wrong way. I remember reading Mike Lyons telling his old Everton teammates that they wouldn't live with Sheffield Wednesday because of all the running he was forced to do at his new club, whereas Howard Kendall preferred to get his players fit with the ball.

Andy Cole said in his book that Man Utd scored so many late goals because of Brian Kidd's training, saying there was a little part of Carrington where he used to physically batter them and end the session with the words “There's another one in the bank, lads!”

I think if you were to ask a lot of old professional footballers what they would have done differently, I am sure at least 90% of them would say they wished they would have worked harder, rested better, and stayed in the house more… but I suppose they could get away with it all those years ago.

Should we meet up at some time do you have any of your old player contracts handy for me to have a look at? Or maybe your agent has a copy? (lol)

It's unbelievable, genuinely unbelievable, and makes me wonder why kids are still starving in many places throughout this world.

I hear a lot of theories about what is wrong in the world, but in my view, ultimately, it comes down to 99.9% of wealth being controlled by 0.1% of the world's population. All the rest is smoke and mirrors.

Still it proved an old saying was absolutely correct — if you work for nothing, you'll never be out of a job!

Tumbleweed…

Colin. Exactly that.

I don't mind talking about it, whilst waiting for the pre-season games, but they are just rumours until we hear something concrete.

The one that seems to have the most legs at the moment is Barry, but that could easily take a left turn as there will be no doubt his agent is talking to other interested parties.

What seemed to be imminent with Tete, has apparently took a twist with Fulham allegedly looking to keep him. If any of that is true, smells like playing mum off against dad to get the best deal.

Ifs, buts and maybes.

Brilliant – that's started my day with a laugh! Hahahaha!!!

However, some ToffeeWebbers refer to some of our past players as donkeys.

Been a while since I've been up that way.

Give me a shout if you get the chance.