Sam #OP

You appear to phrase it as a choice rather than the reality of:

We're strapped for cash.

We're not a draw for many players.

Hopefully the apparent Dibbling signing points to better times.

My frustration has been because, after finishing last season in a much better frame of mind, I honestly expected us to have signed a few more players because this usually helps the players to create a much bigger bond within the squad.

It's why I thought it would have been much better if more players would have been signed for the tour of America.

Preparation is massive, and I've never really understood anyone who doesn't understand how important it is, especially at a time when we should all be feeling excited about moving into our new home.

I hope we sign Dibling for this reason (that it should help the feelgood factor) but being ultra professional usually means you are never underprepared and rarely caught short, so this has got to be my long-term wish for Everton.

My long-term wish should be trophies but I genuinely believe, if we get those other things right, then Everton are ready to become a major force once again, and this is why I've been feeling so frustrated.

Things seem to have changed significantly since 2013.

Top clubs have perfected a highly lucrative approach to player farming, hoovering up the lion's share of talented young players.

Second tier clubs must scrap it out for anything left behind, or pay a premium for the players who don't quite cut it at the elite clubs. This makes the market much more competitive earlier than previous; we can't afford to wait until the last minute.

In fairness, the club has been active and would have liked to have been more so. This Summer has been a perfect storm of needing a lot of players at the same time as undergoing a major upheaval in the recruitment team.

Hopefully some lessons are being learned and we will find ways of doing more of our business earlier in the future.

Forest have also been a significant ingredient of the perfect storm we find ourselves in. They have massively raised the temperature in the second tier market with a very aggressive approach to recruitment.

Sam, I'm one Evertonian who's not disappointed -- because I carefully managed my expectations. Never has this club needed to find so many replacements for so many departed players at once, and I have never had the slightest belief that we would get it all done in one window. Or even two.

In fact, I've been pleasantly surprised how much we've had available to spend. With Dibling, we'll have splashed £120M, and there appears to be plenty more room left under the PSR limit. Plus the new owners have committed to pay Grealish double the club-record salary. I didn't see any of that coming.

And while I know it's a fun academic exercise, comparisons to the past are pointless. This is a new ownership and new management team. Everton's recruiting failures in previous years aren't remotely relevant, except perhaps to the mood of the fans ("Here we go again"!).

Mike 5,

Why even entertain Grealish in the first place? He is the icing on the cake, he isn't the foundations the team need at right-back or right-midfield.

"Comparisons to the past are pointless" may well have been Kenwright's unspoken idea of a new club motto decades ago.

Our past is the cement that keeps non-charlatan fans joined to each other.

Pursuing the achievements of our past, and then improving on them, is key to present-day hope, fortitude, and ambition.

In terms of significant world-savvy professionally accomplished club ownership, Friedkin exposed himself to "mediocre" long before buying into Everton as a potentially profitable, for him alone, new venture though.

Will he change his ways owning us?

Apparently not.

17th or above will be a bonus by the season's end.

Sigh.

Others (including the Dour One himself) have explained there's now a hierarchy in the Premier League and we are Tier 3 at the moment. The Sky 6/7, the others who scraped into Europe, then the rest. Maybe the promoted clubs are a Tier 4.

We could have gone balls out and signed a load of bang average Joes, recognising we weren't first choice. Imagine the frustration then when one of our ideal targets is suddenly available late in the window?

It's the reality of where we are in terms of status. This season had a "mini" transfer window because of the ludicrous Club World Cup – everything is geared for the big media-drawing teams.

My concern is twofold:

1. We dithered and left it late to move in for players; and 2. I am disappointed about the calibre of Barry and Aznou although I would love to be proved wrong.

We needed players in to bond and get used to each other's style of play pre-season and, with the number of departures and late or non-existent arrivals, we look exactly what we are: a shambles.

Hopefully Dibling and a quality right--back will alleviate the paucity of the squad but we do also need a left-sided defender. Ake would be ideal for that but apparently we were not interested in him.

And Jay, David Moyes would tell you:

“I see Everton as a huge club and a great attraction. We finished incredibly strongly last season but my take on it is that we are probably going for players who are already playing for teams in the Champions League, or they want to go to teams who are in the Champions League or Europa League. A lot of the players we want are at that level and don’t want to drop away from that.”

"I don’t think we will cure Everton in one transfer window, I never thought that was the case. We brought one loan player in in January, so we didn’t do any business then. We waited until now but it has proved to be a difficult summer for Everton because there have been a lot of players we fancied who we have not been able to convince it is the place to go at the moment.”

As fans, we can rant and rave... or we can accept what they tell us. Hmmm Tricky one!

The big problem with leaving it late in the window is the impact it has on the starting XI. Especially this year, where we are so short.

It seems as if every season we are simply not ready and struggle in the first month or two. I was shocked at the pre-season performances as we looked so unorganised, unfit and clueless.

In any football team, at any level, being ready, having clear tactics, partnerships, defensive shape, attacking patterns etc are absolutely crucial. In the USA games we were so short on players that we were unable to do any of this.

There's often talk of changing the way we play, becoming more attacking and possession based. But how is that possible when you don't have the players in the 6 week pre-season period where all the hard work is done.

If we get Dibling, then the last 3 transfers look to be exciting. However, the start of the season has a massive impact on your outlook for the rest of campaign.

20 years ago we finished 4th and qualified for CL out of nowhere. Mostly because we came out of the gates firing, were well drilled and built up belief and confidence.

Perhaps, this summer, with all the inevitable change, it was always going to be this way. But to make real improvement on the pitch, we need to be ready from the first week of the season.

Why leave it so late? Because it's a sellers market - the selling clubs and agents deliberately leave it until the last minute/last day so they can pump up the prices and fleece as much money as they can out of the buying clubs.

Selling clubs get the highest fees, players get the best contracts, and agents get the most they can for their clients.

Why is this even a question for people?

Why do so many people blame Everton, the buying club with well documented, desperate need for numerous new players? It's basic economics. Supply & demand.

Everton have NOT dithered, we're just not as attractive as Evertonian like to believe. Nobody else gives a toss about our 'istory, or this self inflated notion of being a 'big' club. It's just words, none of it holds any weight outside of our own heads and the fantasy we've been sold by winning loads of stuff 50 years ago - jeez, half our titles were getting on for 100 years ago yet everyone thinks they're somehow relevant.

Kicking a pigs bladder about while wearing pyjamas and a flat cap is pretty meaningless to my mind. We're not attractive to the modern player, and Moyes said it yesterday - without European football and modern day relevance we'll continue to be seen as a relic, and not an attractive place to come & play football.

I'm so sick of banging this drum and reading the same comments on here about how big we are, how we're such a great club - we used to be, but the world has moved on without us.

Preparation is everything if you want to succeed.

We are not prepared yet.

If and it’s a big if we can sign our targets we will be ready by October.

For me an exciting and effective team needs two fast wing backs, a commanding deep lying midfielder and a deadly striker.

It’s late in the window now so it’s unlikely we will make all of these signings but if we could get even two of them things would definitely improve.

Certainly it’s going to take some time for the team to gel.

I think Moyes's comments yesterday about going for 'big targets' were a dose of reality. He's essentially saying we're not big enough for those sorts of players at this time and we need to be in Europe to have more chance of acquiring them. Fair and honest assessment.

If Dibling comes I think it's been a potentially better than average window. I would expect other signings or loans, based on what he said, will be made to add squad depth and nothing more. I think he wants numbers now and has added enough flair for the time being.

Not sure quite what folk expected at this stage of the window but, from my perspective, the big issue is a failure to get a right-back.

Whilst I get that it is difficult to get good, established attacking talent with our current status, surely it should not have been beyond us to get a half-decent right-back by now?

I strongly believe we will end up having had a decent window when it finally "slams shut" on 1 September but this is the one area of criticism for me.

I honestly don't think that our new owners will be paying Grealish more than Moshiri paid Rodriguez, never mind double!

Maybe it looks like I'm just picking arguments with you, Mike, but I seriously doubt that our very savvy new owners will be paying Jack five-sixths of his Manchester City salary?

Let's just be happy – I know!

I'm not disappointed. Yet.

I think we're underestimating the moment we're in. It wasn't just farewelling Goodison, it was supposed to be the start of a major transition from ailing sleeping giant to Premier League force.

So there was a nice feeling of positivity – but the hard work is just beginning.

This summer is the start of reversing decades of decline that culminated in the club spending a few seasons where they couldn't make the purchases that would allow them to own a full squad.

If the big turning point ended up being a quick fix to fill up the squad with whatever was gettable, then I think we will have missed a massive opportunity.

As it is, I see us signing young players and not rushing to fill gaps; instead pursuing more talented young players.

Personally I see the next few years being a bit challenging for supporters. Most teams have found the transition to a new stadium tough, we'll be bedding in and developing young players who will make mistakes, and we'll probably have a few years of midtable obscurity.

Delivering to strategy tends not to include some silver bullet quick fix answer to all problems. Often it's about staying the course.

James @ 12, that's a very good post, I can't disagree with any of it.

You can't force players to sign, you can offer them more money and see if that works, but it is in their advantage to wait for the best offer.

The clubs in Europe have a huge advantage in that they can afford to pay more, the player gets more exposure, and a better chance of winning trophies.

James @12,

Whilst it was sad and disappointing to read, it's also the truth. One of the best posts I've read on here for a long time.

Moyes more or less said, some of the bigger players they went for, preferred to join Premier League clubs who were playing in Europe, and now they're looking at lesser players?

I still can't believe we haven't signed a left-back with Mykolenko still out, and the youngster from Bayern is more for the future. I'll still wait and see who we bring in before the window shuts, with Dibling on his way, we still need a No 6 as Sam says, left-back and striker.

We need a defensive midfielder, another right winger, a right back, & centre forward in my opinion.

Only 1 loan position used so far.

I think we need a right-back next, if the Dibling deal is done, that is. We've got enough cover at left-back if Moyes has a word with himself and stops fannying around by playing Garner there.

Mykolenko will be fit again soon enough and has a good injury record anyway. Dwight McNeil can play there if Moyes thinks the new signing isn't ready. I'm still baffled by that selection on Monday.

O'Brien is not a right-back, he doesn't stretch the game, overlap, offer a genuine attacking option, look comfortable on the ball, get a decent cross in etc. Yeah, he can defend, but that's about it. He's a square peg in a round hole.

We need a specialist right-back to give the team proper balance. Yeah, another defensive midfielder would be good, but not a one-paced lamp-post like Soucek. The team is slow enough as it is.

A right-back who can get up the flank would be a huge boost to the starting eleven. It was meant to be Patterson; it seems that ship has sailed.

James @12,

I think this is true to a degree but too simplistic. There are plenty of good players who moved earlier in the window. There's no shortage of players but it seems Everton like to hold fast to their targets which could be a weakness or could be a strength.

But there are certainly choices to be made.

Good article Sam.

If you asked TFG I think they would say - hang on a minute, we've already signed 8 players! What do you mean we've left it late? We've only got 2 or maybe 3 slots to fill and we'll that out next week like everyone else.

However, if you raise your eyebrows at that sort of response then it's two things.

1. Mostly money (which is the answer to pretty much every searching question about our predicament)

2. To some extent, disrupted preparation with the takeover and departure of Thelwell.

There is possibly a third issue, which is holding out for a certain calibre of candidate rather than going for easier targets. We could, I am sure, have got the following players this summer:

- Ouattara (Brentford)
- Doak (Bournemouth)
- Adingra (Sunderland)
- Talbi (Sunderland)
- Milambo (Brentford)
- Stach (Leeds)
- Xhaka (Sunderland)
- Diarra (Sunderland)
- Ugochukwu (Burnley)
- Mukiele (Sunderland)
- Tchatchoua (Wolves)

All of these are good players and good signings in the £10m to £30m bracket. I guess we'll be able to judge that against our own business when the window closes.

I think there's two complete myths repeatedly pushed about slow business which is (a) Moyes dithering and (b) we can't attract good players because we're not in Europe. As I said from the off -– the big issue is money. Europe or not, if you can spend big on wages and fees, you will have no trouble whatsoever in attracting good players.

We need a versatile defender, favorable a ball distribution rb who can tackle like the king of tackles, Tony Hibbert.
Then a rw or a suitable player who can play there, and elsewhere, a tricky one with good pace.
We could also do with a striker who can run with the ball and score vital goals.

Also needed is another cb and a midfield terrier. For when the injuries come.

Kasper Høgh, a dane playing for Bodø glimt is selling for 10 m €.
Hes a forward worth a look.

Bid rejected for Souçek according to Jacob Steinberg. I hope it wasn’t much money.

I hope we don't sign Soucek. I am looking for a more technical player, than a Doucoure Mk2.

It would also be a gamble if West Ham get rid. They could be bang in trouble this year.

Dibling done.

If I remember a few weeks back there seemed to be a groundswell of support for signing Hamza Igamane from Glasgow Rangers. I hope this is not true after his refusal to play this weekend, shades of Iask at the Barcodes. Talking or singing about the Geordies, one song comes to mind,

But I know he's a moron,

Gordon is a moron

Gordon is a moron,

Gordon is a moron