Blues come up short in momentous game at the new gaff

Strange that so few players now pick a shirt that is 1 to 11... too much pressure?

I guess to be fair there is only 3, 4 and 8 available. And No 8 is hallowed.

Yes, John @4, I haven't seen much reported but he didn't feature at all against Man Utd. I didn't think he was injured.

Fuelling my fear they are going to farm him out for a season in the sticks somewhere.

Our squad has the depth of a puddle and we will need him.

Oo.... I'd better check my report, Ian!

Iroegbunam (84' Armstrong),

Really surprised — and very pleased — that they have gone classy with blue seats everywhere, no attempt at mundane 'messaging' that is de rigguer at every other football stadium!

Mine's working fine, as it did for the previous game.

Zaha's hold-up play is world class and we have nothing of his type in our side. We don't have anybody to stretch play at all. No pace whatsoever.

Some French is in order (coz I don't know any Italian): C'est la Vie. Plus ca change. Le Grande Merde!

Hopefully someone is going to watch and record for posterity what transpires in the so-called Legends game but at that I draw the line. Please volunteer below and post it when you're done or as you go.

I fear our striking options are still very light.

Beto and Barry both very similar and one is at a very inexperienced stage of his career especially in the British game.

In an ideal world you'd have someone like Chris Wood on loan for a year to help out but that will never happen as Forest won't want to lose him.

If we are going after Grealish and Dibling, can we just hurry up and get it done and stop scrimping on a few weeks wages.

Doughty would've been worth the £4m or so that Millwall have paid for him and he's got an assist today.

I don't know what the fee for Sargent would be, but he's an accomplished and dangerous forward with a good all-round game. He has Premier League and international experience and we should sign him. Whilst he will never be a 20-goal-a-season striker in the Premier League, he is definitely capable of double figures and would hit the ground running.

I hope it's just nerves and once settled in he can show what he can do.

They deserved the win based upon good opportunities created.

Signing him would be a waste of money.

Our forwards were all poor and scoring will be a problem.

If that wakes up TFG and Kinnear to the need to strengthen the squad, then I'll accept it. We simply do not have enough quality and depth in the squad, and the replacements are not good enough.

Looks like we will have to go full Ancelotti and play 4 centre-backs in defence against Leeds given Mykolenko's groin strain. Aznou will be a good prospect but he is not ready for the Premier League.

We ain't getting a striker in, so nothing much changes.

The new lad looked lost.

The scouting report on Barry was that he's incomplete as a finisher, and that's certainly true. Ndiaye, Garner, Gana and Charly all bungled open shots as well. And Charly had a great header well saved.

A blank, but to me a faster, more aggressive attack. I like it.

I doubt very much there will be many supporters watching the veterans game unless a few wake up after watching the main game.

One time we could always sign a proven Premier League goal scorer with relative ease.

We signed Yakubu from Middlesbrough when we were simply a top 7 side nothing amazing.

We signed Andy Johnson from Palace and of course James Beattie from Southampton, not amazing returns but you got a centre forward who knew how to score and hold the ball you equally

These days we can't seem to do that so always end up having to take a shot in the dark from a European league and hope it works out.

It's too early to say with Barry, nobody can judge him yet but when you have had the fingers burnt that many times with the likes of Moise Kean, Cenk Tosun, Sandro etc etc you do always feel sceptical.

Take no notice what anyone says and I'm also saying, regardless of their ages, both John McGinn and Jack Grealish walk into this Everton side and instantly make it look a better team.

Sargent at Norwich could definitely do a decent job for us and he looks like the kind of player that I think Moyes could improve.

Chermiti not ready, looks like he never will be.

Beto clearly will never be ready.

Are we going backwards? We need some more proven players like Dewsbury-Hall. We can't rely on prospects and promise.

Just what we needed.

We were quite pleasing with the ball, intricate neat passing, but found it much more difficult to get the ball back.

If I was Moyes, I'd be feeling a bit anxious. We look a bit powderpuff.

Even Lukaku was down to Roberto, and the manager did well getting him as the signs were looking good after his WBA loan.

No striker with any ambition would sign for David Moyes as he's never had a striker bag 20 Premier League goals in the 20-odd years he's been managing.

His teams don't play football to score goals. They play to stop the opposition and try and score with a counter-attack and protect any lead acquired for the rest of the match.

If you're a striker wanting braces and hat-tricks throughout the course of a season, being managed by Moyes is not for you.

Strikers move for money, not managers.

If we had a big kitty and paid the biggest wage, a mercenary like Osimhen, Toney or Duran would happily join Everton to play under Moyes.

Barry in fairness looks an astute signing for only a bit more than Burnley just paid for Broja. But he needs a while to settle and develop.

To not even score in the match is so disappointing.

Definitely needs a player on the right. Not sure Barry is ready to start.

Otherwise nothing new. Tarkowski and Ndaiye missed good chances, they got their goal, game over.

Complete lack of pace and conviction in the final third. Definitely need more craft and goal threat in that team.

Two interesting games of brinkmanship with Southampton and City over the next couple of weeks. And who knows who else will join us in the inevitable pre-deadline dash.

We have midtable written all over us, unless we recruit particularly well.

But we need new additions next week, the players we've been linked with would definitely be an upgrade, but for me Sargent isn't Premier League standard.

It's worrying that Mykolenko could be out for a while again.

More like a statue. Won't score 10 goals for us … ever.

We don't have time to allow Barry to settle. If we don't have 12 or so points from our first 10 games, we are in deep trouble as we head towards late autumn and winter.

If we don't expect to see anything from Barry in the next 6 months in terms of him being our main striker, then we need some more options.

Sargent, although not a world beater, could come in and be a threat and would take no time to adjust. If there are better and more achievable options, then who are they?

I'm not suggesting we sign him as the solution to all our problems but we cannot carry Theirno Barry and all the signs are pointing towards this being the case.

Failing that, we need 2 players minimum with pace in the attacking third.

The point made about Doucoure and us missing him – we don't miss his ability because he didn't have much of it. But what is missing is the desire of someone to make runs towards the opposition play and stretch the play. Doucoure could do this.

I haven't seen us linked with a single player capable of such. Which is worrying. And suggests to me that Moyes feels he can navigate this season through stalemate football and the hope of nicking the occasional winner through individual quality, rather than having a team with an attacking threat.

If Moyes doesn't get at least 4 good souls in this week, we are really in deep trouble.

[Bruce Hornsby and the Range, circa 1986]

Not much goal threat in the team.

Squad is way short in quality and depth.

Been a poor transfer window thus far.

As Moyes said, we are not ready…

The stadium is amazing, the team… not so much. Dewsbury-Hall did well and looked like he could be a bit of playmaker.
Barry looked really raw, hopefully a player can be shaped out of him but he looks like he may play second fiddle to Beto for now.

We're desperate for an attacking right-back and some pace out wide.

The concourses were rammed at half time but was probably because lots were trying it out. As we get into the season, I reckon that'll ease off.

Contrary to the doomsayers, there was absolutely no problem exiting the ground albeit I don't know how many stayed for the legends game.

Similarly with Sandhills. No issues or queuing although that doesn't take away the need for a new station, somewhere near Blackstock Street or The Titanic and, in the meanwhile, a shuttle bus to and from Sandhills.

New surroundings, I think it'll take time to for things to bed in.

I was excited about Dibling, but I now believe that our immediate need is to get a better finisher. I would drop our interest in Dibling and go for Højlund who is reportedly available for £30M. And then go and get Grealish on loan.

We also badly need a better quality right-back than O'Brien. He is not the long-term solution for that position. Of the additions we have made, I would say that only Dewsbury-Hall definitely improves the team. The verdict is out on the others - Travers, Aznou and Barry. (I count Alcaraz as last season's signing.)

1. The stadium.
2. The Everton Way etc.
3. Great if you're counting your steps — nearly 19000 today so far!

Lowlights:

1. The match. I won't repeat what others have said.
2. The refreshment “service”.

I left my seat at 15:38 to get a half-time pint. Stood in a queue for 20 minutes. Almost at the front when the manager shouted “no alcohol”. So that was that.

The choice was pretty poor - cider, Bud, San Miguel, Boddies and Camden Pale Ale. I'd have gone for the latter though someone told me later it was crap. They can surely put a better offering on than that.

They'd have increased revenue with separate bar / food counters. Loads of people just wanted a pint or two.

If they're going to have these bars outside, then they need to be quadrupled for the demand.

Only a few hundred Roma fans but their noise reverberated so hopefully it will be our voices that fill the ground once the season starts.

Dewsbury-Hall looks like a decent player, always trying to play forward. We're still desperately short on quality, right side especially. Need first eleven starters — not just squad bolstering.

Unconvinced by Chermiti in his brief appearances; same today — loan him out rather than bench warming?

Excellent views from our seats. Overall a positive day except for on the pitch. Friendly or not, the result and in particular performance show investment is needed. Get a few quality signings in and we'll look better. Hopefully some of the rumours materialise.

Did anyone get the much heralded WiFi access working, we couldn't.

He's a good ol' worker bee. Is that what you want? Thought we had enough of those.

Kunal #54, we've made three offers so far, and Dibling was held out of their squad for their game today. Is that what you call "faffing about"??? Geezus.

Great Stadium, phone connection? Top notch. Speakers around the ground are very loud. Atmosphere? Nowhere as good as Goodison.

Half time refreshments? Be prepared to miss a good portion of the second half.

ps: Thank you, Liverpool City Council, for fuck-all. You bastards. Clueless.

And was Sooty shagging Sue or Sweep?

What I will say as I fret over our unbalanced squad and lack of depth is what I felt a few months ago, which is that we should've waited in splurging £30 million on a striker of Barry's level, and instead spent it on real quality on the right side (plus central midfield and fullback cover).

We should've gone to the loan market for an Evan Ferguson type or taken a Vardy type on a free, then cross our fingers Beto plus a proven old starter can bag us 15 goals.

Well whatever happens in the next few weeks, it's got to be clear where we need to fill massive gaps. The question is whether we'll be able to pull it off. At least it sounds like we're creating chances — hopefully they start going in the net next week.

While I don't expect a clinical striker to develop, I think there will be enough quality chances created by Dewsbury-Hall & Co to get him into double digits.

Going to seat in club view and walking up stairs, as no escalator. Very surprised by that tbh.

40-minute queue for a beer, with both bar outlets closed. This is going to be a real problem if fans are going to miss minutes of games before and at half-time. The ticket comes with food and drink credit, but it looks a challenge to spend it.

Temperature was unbearable until aircon eventually kicked in. Fans were very unimpressed sweating like hell in the sauna.

Lots of staff stood around with little guidance and clear not enough beer taps running. Concourses remain very basic. No club shop facilities, bookies, seating etc.

The stadium from the outside is impressive. It clearly should have been bigger. Inside it remains basic. The lack of parking facilities will impact the club shop outside of game day.

It is clear that there is a lot of work ahead on the non-playing side, as much as the playing side.

Someone is going to need a grip of this and set the bar.

We signed Chermiti because Calvert-Lewin wasn't very good at scoring goals and we needed a replacement.

Then we realised Chermiti wasn't ready, so we bought Beto to score the goals that Calvert-Lewin wasn't scoring.

Then we realised that Beto wasn't very good and not ready to replace Calvert-Lewin, and we let Calvert-Lewin go to be replaced by Beto.

Then we realised that Beto will never be good enough so we buy Barry to score the goals that Beto won't get because he will never be good enough.

Now we realize that Barry isn't good enough to replace Beto… so we are, actually, fucked!!! Am I right, or not?

What did annoy me was a few of our forwards were in positions to score, but chose to pass out wide, which inevitably ended up with nothing. Roma defended well but also took their opportunities, well supported by a decent number of their supporters.

Dedication that, travelling to support their team a week before the big kick-off, fair play and kudos to them. There was no aggression, just sporting honest support, and continuous singing.

Whilst the stadium is magnificent, the concourse area should have been bigger. Queues galore everywhere including the toilets.

Hopefully teething problems but visually (I was above the Roma fans) the stadium is like a vast blue cathedral. The atmosphere will come with time.

Or, like with other clubs who allegedly walked away, baulked at his supposed wage demands?

There were lots of long queues for the concession stalls, the club shop, the programme seller, and they were all at 90 degrees to the flow of people walking around the outside of the stadium. That needs sorting.

I had to climb 98 steps to my seat which was 4 rows from the front of the upper tier of the West Stand. I was okay doing so, others were not. There was no indication of this outside the turnstiles.

I spoke with an Exit Steward, he said I would be allowed only through that turnstile on my season ticket. If I wanted to be able to use an escalator, I would have to email the club for them to alter my season ticket via another entrance.

My seat, and all the seats around me, were coated with a thick film of concrete dust. It would have been nice for them to have been cleaned.

Everyone was saying how chaotic it was on the inner concourse of the South Stand, both in terms of buying food and drink or simply passing through.

I didn't like it when the Budweiser adverts lit up on all the stands – there was far too much red in the stadium!

Our poor performance.

Some plus points:-

The walkway with all the names on stone flags is handsome.

The stadium looks great when it's (almost) full. There wasn't a great deal of noise but, in time, I think a decent atmosphere will develop, although I have my doubts it will be a bear pit.

There were a lot of stewards.

Sandhills Station worked very well – they were even dishing out free sweets!

Dewsbury-Hall.

It was a proper game against strong opposition.

Hill Dickinson will not feel like a proper home for some time; bringing our statues from Goodison would help.

Regards the game, it wasn't a great watch… the lad Barry seems to be a moody fecker! Now it's really early days… but what I have seen of him hasn't got me excited.

I hope he gets off to a better start than pretty much every other striker we have brought in these last ten years – we haven't had much luck! Mitrovic should have been considered – a proven finisher who definitely would make us better up front.

Upon entering the upper South Stand, there was plenty of food / drink outlets and had no problems in getting served. Anyone who thinks there were problems in getting served is just moaning for moaning sake. Also plenty of screens dotted around to watch the Southampton v Wrexham game.

At half-time, it was probably the same as every other ground in the country at half-time….you have to queue for the toilets and refreshments, though when you're in a stand that holds about 8 - 9,000 people, what do you expect?

So, overall opinion: entrance to the stadium and food / drink outlets spot on, and there was so much space away from the food / drink outlets without anyone knocking into you, unlike the Upper Gwladys.

Unfortunately need a striker who's ready now... over to our DoF...

As far as I'm concerned ,we should have brought in a proven goal scorer, not another Chermiti. But if we get a right winger and get him to actually cross the ball, Barry may prove a good buy.

But anyone (ie, Moyes) who plays Jack Harrison because of his work rate, for two seasons, then I don't hold out too much hope.

And remember, we said the same about Chermiti: "Oh, he'll be ready in time, give him a season or two." But even the best strikers need service and we just don't got none.

Do you honestly think Doucoure would have made a blind bit of difference today — or any other day for that matter?

A very limited footballer whose skillset we do not miss. Yes, he popped up with the odd goal… but don't they all? Even McNeil does and he's absolutely useless — one-paced, one-footed and just basically ordinary.

Let's not make excuses for average footballers, please, just to suit the narrative, because it's not true. I go home and away and I could count on one hand the amount of times Doucoure has ran the game.

We need pace — pace on the flanks, pace through the middle, and pace up top… not Doucoure's fault obviously but please don't make a case for him when there isn't one to make.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, mate.

The usual songs came on prior to kick-off, that will annoy some people but, to me, it provided some continuity.

One of the biggest cheers of the afternoon came for Ndiaye's lovely bit of skill near his own corner flag. It was that moment that made me think the stadium can be loud in the right circumstances.

Once the Premier League is underway, we"ll get motoring!

Let's not jump on a youngster like Barry after his first start in pre-season for godsake; he was always unlikely to hit the ground running and – like 90% of young foreign players – will need time to adapt.

Though I agree with those who say it was odd to prioritize him. At the end of last season, I wrote an article saying we needed more goals, more pace, and a functioning right flank. Not sure we've really addressed those needs and I'm not sure Grealish will help towards them enormously.

Dibling could be a great signing but is another one who will probably need time to adapt if it happens.

For me, jury is very much out on the transfer work done by whoever is in charge of these things now (Kinnear? Moyes? Hammond?).

We shouldn't have let Calvert-Lewin go. We should have got a winger in to provide chances for him, he would have got more goals.

He was an important part of the team which we don't have now in Beto or possibly Barry.

I was thinking about one of the characters from The Punch and Judy show which used to perform at the side of St George's Hall on Lime Street when I was a kid. I didn't realise there was any sex in that show — mind you, I was a bit naive about sex when I was 7 or 8!

I think those final 7 games came after we had won 1 in the previous 10 games!

Remembering this was another test event, you could have predicted issues with entry and catering, and there were some. But a bit of patience and understanding and all fine. Not everyone will feel obliged to go in the shop or sample the food at all future fixtures once the novelty wears off.

Alcaraz gave by far and away most time to fans downstairs after the match onthe way to their cars. Most others walked straight out to the disappointment of many.

Someone earlier commented on the sound from the Roma fans (a couple of hundred?) and how it filled the stadium. It will be unbelievable when home fans are on voice.

That was my biggest question coming away today, not being a regular: how did Goodison get its atmosphere? Today it seemed people only cheered when something (vaguely) good was happening, whereas Roma crew chanted enthusiastically throughout. Is that an away fan thing? Asking as I'm not a regular.

This team should be fine as it is. Obviously we should be aspiring to more than 'fine' and that's why I'm disappointed the biggest shortcomings have not been addressed. A starting right-winger with pace and a No 6 who controls midfield better than Garner would help.

Outside the stadium at 12:30 after seamless soccer bus from L1. (Same going back, although staggered departures with two games going on is not a true reflection 50,000 leaving at 5 pm experience.)

Holy Trinity Bars (x6) right opposite ground completely empty, £6.75 a pint, which was fine but more security and bar staff than punters, should have had tables and chairs cos absolute massive space, could've got a couple of balls out tbh and had a 5-aside game going on, such was the space and lack of people there. But next door both ways, Bramley Moore pub and Blue House absolutely rammed and 5 deep at bar. No thanks.

Outside, the external concourse queues where massive for food and drinks. We went up to our section inside ground, concourse queues much less at 1:45-2:30. Easy enough to get served but I thought there was a lack of perches to put your food and drinks on once bought.

Massive spaces would easily accommodate wall counters and lots of columns without counters when other columns did have wrap around counters. A massive crunch corner between East and South Stands too, with a food outlet in the most ridiculous narrow spot.

Overall, a good day out, car binned off for weekend games going forward, and pubs, buses and food outlets the new matchday experience.

The stadium inside feels a bit like a slightly smaller Wembley.

I bet the he was moonlighting on Mr Corbet, the bastard.

Roma defended well, with a back three marshaling the solitary striker well enough.

Not enough final product, not enough hitting attempts on target. Barry didn't shoot when played through, Ndiaye should have scored.

Could we not use the £50M we seem to be contemplating spending on Dibling and get someone who knows where the net is?

I think it was 1 in 10 and Moyes seemed to be going back to the keep it tight and nick one. Those three away wins when there was no pressure to win helped to get us to a respectable position.

While I don't blame Moyes for the lack of decent signings, if we don't get some in soon, we will struggle with this very weak and depleted squad.

Our transport via Bootle New Strand and the Soccerbus worked perfectly. Those of us in the Lower North Stand found it easy to enter the stadium and find our seats. The lower, quite narrow concourse at that end was comfortable before the game but unsurprisingly rammed at the interval.

The main gripe concerned entry to the north west corner upper tier. Some of my family were in a queue for over half an hour to enter one turnstile with the stewards lacking the knowledge or wherewithal to marshal the queue. That will definitely need to be addressed before the first league game.

After three decades of being deafened by the loudspeaker system in the Park End it was a relief to find the new sound system didn't trigger the noisy environment warnings.

As for the team's performance, it is evident the manager has much work to do with not a great deal of time left to do it. We continue to look goal-shy.

Dewsbury-Hall made a positive impact in the forward midfield role. Alcaraz is not the answer on the right flank. Young Aznou looked more comfortable running forward than running back. Barry looked raw, pretty much a younger version of Beto.

I spent the last 7 minutes of the first half and the whole of half time in a queue – and still did not get served. It was chaotic and inefficient.

Entering via gate 2 at 1:55 pm for upper West Stand took almost half an hour in a long, slow-moving queue.

You were in the South Stand, I was in the West Stand, so my experience was different to yours – and not “moaning for moaning's sake” – just highlighting areas for improvement at a test event.

I wanted to spend my money before and half-way through the match… but the club did not allow that opportunity today. Hopefully they improve that facility in future.

Mike @92, you're correct, different experiences in different parts of the ground give a different perspective in each area,

Club View was chaos apparently.

Absolutely amazing stadium, the arena is outstanding.
Pictures and videos don't really do it justice.

Few things I'd thought would be better. So crowded in south stand, I expected more space to mill around. Was easy to get a pint! (Priority)

Food!! At half time, no food left, in any outlet in South Stand.
A bit disappointing, when the club advertise all the offerings to get there and nothing left.

Considering there was a legends game too, I'd have thought they would have had extra on. Wasn't even a bag of crisps.

It's a last test, but if you want fans to spend their money at the ground, this needs sorting.

And Hibbert didn't shoot!!! Who do I contact?

Thanks for that.

There's a lot of dithering. Clubs don't want to hang onto players any more because of PSR and we just don't seem to be in the market for any Premier League players.

We have funds – if we aren't prepared to spend £50M on Dibling because it's a risk, then take less of a risk and offer £50M for Semenyo. Offer £50M for Watkins or Gabriel Jesus.

Imagine what it would be like under the lights in a league game with a top opponent in front of us to get stuck in to, a volatile atmosphere against rowdy Geordies or Man Utd getting all the decisions, riling the crowd.

I'm sure it will all come.

We've shot our bolt on Barry. Having realised Beto and Chermiti are duds, we brought in a kid who's nowhere near Premier League ready.

It was 8 league games. Liverpool, Palace (the win), United, Brentford, Wolves, West Ham, Liverpool, Arsenal. Also a loss to Bournemouth in the cup.

We didn't especially struggle last season under Moyes so I don't see why we would now with the same starting XI mostly. There will of course be more players in by end of the window.

Even now I think we probably have enough talent to get 14th-17th. But I think of all of us are hoping for a little better than that.

That is very much an away fan thing. It's the same at every ground I have been to. Usually home fans need something to happen on the pitch to get going.

I watched him make some good runs today and he wasn't played in. He showed some touches and a bit of aggression.

He drops very deep, so we will need to get Ndiaye and other front players running beyond.

He's young, let's support him, not knock him.

Dewsbury-Hall looks impressive, decent debut, looked sharpest on the pitch.

The right is our weakness, we all know it. O'brien can do right-back but he's limited, Alcaraz isn't a winger.

When the real stuff starts, it's a different game. Players playing on the limit changes everything.

Jarrad back, so I think with our defence we always have a chance.

The American owners won't be happy with people not being able to spend their money. This is pivotal to their motivations for owning a football club. I would expect that to change. A McDonalds level of efficiency and delivery is what they will certainly aspire to.

I know for a fact that a club not too far from home had an American owner sample a matchday experience undercover as a supporter and was appalled that he was unable to spend his money. A complete overhaul of their concession match day operation was required and implemented.

Everton appear to be slow in making this happen at the Hill Dickinson despite having a blank canvas for the infrastructure.

I expect that WiFi and internet access will be key to all this so I am surprised to hear there were issues with this today. That needs sorting.

What also needs to happen is behaviour patterns to be established so that the service can reflect the patterns of demand. People panic when in strange and unusual places and when they don't know what they're doing. The majority of people will simply follow what others are doing and hope for the best. Like lemmings.

So it's only natural that people start bunching and not using the facilities or space properly. Add to this people's inability to operate simple and established technology properly – and fear of modern methods of payment, and you will get these issues to begin with.

You don't need to be American to fill the freezers with chicken & chips mate! Crisps??? There should be boxes stacked to the ceiling...

Yes, people may have got in early to soak it up, they maybe getting in on the novelty of it, but they should have the foresight to see this would happen.

Me and my lad, walked past so many places for food on our walk from town, saying no, we want to see what's on offer at the ground. Turns out, couldn't even buy a bag of crisps.

It will get better, as patterns and habits evolve. It was the space around the South Stand concourse that surprised me most – I thought it would be more spacious; that may improve too, as fans find their spots, their routines etc.

That decision to bring him off was terrible management by Moyes, who apparently is now an old school, experienced manager.

Terrible man management imo.

The yanks will be using catering and hospitality providers. It is them who have got it wrong.

And it'll be the owners demanding better of them as per the contract they have entered into. ‘Partners' as they are referred to.

The partnership will end quickly if they don't do what is required and train the staff and management of these concessions to deliver properly.

Okay...

Have I missed anyone?

1) The self-service beer needed labelling for which beer it was;
2) One outlet had no beer at the end and was using cans to make up pints;
3) No food at outlet at end of game when people needed it when waiting for legends.

The new guys weren't that bad, Dewsbury-Hall was best. Our problem remains the same: no pace, no proper wingers. It was too slow and the long ball from Pickford doesn't help.

Chermiti would grace that list.

Of course! I know Dan Friedkin isn't filling the freezers himself. It's a last test event. It's a chance to iron out these issues.

It didn't seem an issue where my mates were in the North Stand, so who knows what the root cause was. However, I seen many Blues unhappy with it, disappointed when they could have sold twice or 3 times the amount of food available. As you say, outside providers probably scared of being left with unsold product is probably the cause.

They have to get it right quickly or fans will lose confidence that there will be the food they are promised on offer, and spend their moneys outside the ground.

Ridiculous number of steps up to my seat. Where are the escalators? My fault for picking the East Stand but I can't even see Moyes let alone shout at him. Atmosphere zero.

As for the football, why was Garner playing central defence? I hope it's just an age thing. If everyone else thinks BMD and Moyes are the bees knees, then Everton will live happily ever after, which is all everyone wants at the end of the day.

Enjoyed the occasion. Getting food for my son was completely shite. Didn't help having a divvy in front trying to get served with cash, then arguing when told it's card only. The variety of food was not very good also.

Loved the vets game with "Shoot!" every time Hibbo got it. All in all, ground: 10/10; experience: 6/10. Oh and we need a striker and a new manager – just my opinion.

For a modern ground in a big city to not have escalators or a dedicated rail station is nothing short of a disgrace really. And it's as simple as that.

Had the chicken nuggets x 3 with chips, but they ran out of chips, so 6 chicken nuggets with bbq and mayo £9, no chips.

Just thought I'd share the food experience, Oh, also had a steak pie earlier before the first game which was excellent but overpriced at £6.50.

Glad I used the stairs! 😉

I would imagine that there is still a large snagging list that they are working on at the stadium, given how recently it was completed, hopefully things will improve quickly in the areas that had issues.

Thought there were positives to take from the performance, Dewsbury-Hall in particular has the potential to be a cracking signing given his hour. Mykolenko injury is a blow.

I wanted Aznou to do well but he looked like he wasn't quite ready for it yet; fingers crossed it was just nerves and the newness of everything.

We all know that we desperately need a right-winger, we do still have the option of making plenty of loan signings too – I think loans tend to happen at the end of the window though?

It's been the same for decades. KITAP1 has been the mantra. Strong defence is the priority. Attack a secondary thought. It's going to take a long, long time for things to change. If it ever does.

We desperately need a different mentality.

There's nothing more depressing than scoring 3 and conceding 4, à la Roberto. It's been our defence that has been the key to our survival these last few years.

Dewsbury-Hall is exactly what we've needed, he goes forward!!! Ndiaye is the Number 10 we need once we have someone who can fill his wide berth (Grealish and/or Dibling).

And get Jamie Vardy up top for fuck's sake!

Dewsbury-Hall did well, shown good promise. Aznou struggled, Barry was more of the same from his pre season so far. Alcaraz did a job, worked hard and looked hungry.

After the subs, one thing stood out massively: our midfield without Gana is shocking. Garner can't dominate, he needs Gana, and as much as I want Tim Iroegbunam to do well, we look wide open when he plays.

We need to make chances count. Tarkowski off a corner, Barry off Dewsbury-Hall's clever pass, Barry's shot from outside the box, Ndiaye off a Barry pass… We have got to take 1 or 2 of them chances and we can relax; keep missing and we will keep losing or drawing games.

Looks more of the same from last season, we have to improve on chance conversion to kick on.

Said it on another thread, I'd take a chance on Greenwood, natural goalscorer and right-sided player.

Never. Never. He would disgrace us.

I just want players who can score and assist in the top end of the pitch. I've only got so much patience watching McNeil and Harrison etc.

A match report from the ever critical Michael Kenrick that describes an exciting affair. Followed by comments describing a Walter Smith era borefest played out by two lousy teams in a half-empty stadium. Which was it?

We still have some weaknesses and everyone on here knows about them. They have a good striker who could have had a hat-trick. We do not (yet).

Then Peter Reid came on and stole the show. Well done Everton old boys.

The magic incantation for Sooty's conjuring (said by Corbett) is ‘Izzy whizzy, let's get busy!' which is a slogan the Everton recruitment team need to take to heart.

Dewsbury-Hall was excellent in patches today, best of the incomings so far. Thought Barry showed a bit more today but is obviously still settling in and adjusting. Time will tell.

3 or 4 more decent recruits still essential, as we've known for ages. Hopefully it will all pan out in the next couple of weeks.

Dewsbury-Hall in contrast had a great game and showed his commitment and passing ability. The new kid at left-back showed some good signs but will take a while to adjust to the Premier League.

I thought Ndiaye has looked out of sorts in the last couple of games, which is a worry. For fuck's sake, TFG please hurry up and get us a right-back and a right winger who can score goals and create chances.

Bainsey still looked like he was at his playing weight!

Positives:

Stadium looks great from outside.
Pitch view great from 001 Lower West. My area.
On pitch Dewsbury-Hall looks like he will be a great signing.
Rest of the team looked patchy this close to the start of the new season. I will give the other new boys a pass as this was their first outing.

Also, legs worked well on the walk to and from the stadium. They managed to get me to Azvex for a few drinks after the game.

Negatives:

If Aranmark are one of the inside stadium caterers, then I have just been charged £20 for a single pint of lager according to my Bank App. Swipe your card then the camera follows your progress around the pick-up area and loads someone else's food onto your card apparently. Yes this will be my next contact with Everton.

Please all check your bills if you have used this system at the game.

Lower West stand catering areas quite chaotic as similar queues to Goodison Main Stand, with queues for food blocking the thoroughfare for anyone getting to their seating areas. Thought this would be a thing of the past moving into a state-of-the-art stadium.

Got the impression that the steep stadium design was introduced more in the hope of shoehorning 53,000 people into a small footprint than improving the atmosphere (call me cynical).

Walking to my seat only requires about 30 steps but I did experience sitting in Row 54 in the upper tier over the away fan area for the second test event and feel sorry for anyone who isn't pretty fit sitting near the back of the top tiers. No escalators nor lifts for them it appeared. Half a dozen flights of steps up to the seating area and 60 or 70 steps to their seats. I know Newcastle can be horrendous for fans but this is a new stadium.

I was quite impressed with our efforts in the Man Utd match so still optimistic we can start the new season well.

Let's hope we can get a few more experienced Premier League players in before the Leeds game. COYB.

That is the reason why I always pay with cash and I'm disgusted that Everton aren't catering for cash users.

I hate that everywhere is going cashless.

Cannot see why a seat shouldn't be transferable without handing extra cash over to the Club via "membership" schemes. I know it's moving with the times but the words "rip off" come to mind.

On the negative side, the squad is way too thin and very hard work is needed to bring in quality players in short order. The stadium looks great but it's easily clogged on the inside and, once you've wasted 25 minutes queuing for food and drink, it's piss poor and expensive.

Still need more pace and spark up top. Someone like Soule (who cost Roma £23M last summer) would be very useful. Grealish and Dibling would help, the latter especially as he is a right-winger which we still lack.

I hope that is not the dedicated away section for the stadium going forward!!!

Transport to the stadium via Sandhills was fine although people drifting away after the main match certainly doesn't represent a true test.

The Stadium itself is great. The relative lack of atmosphere isn't a concern just yet. With a full complement of season ticket holders in place, once they've got to know each other and there's a competitive match with points at stake, things will improve.

Downsides? It really does depend on which part of the Stadium you're sitting in. It didn't help yesterday by people doing their touristy bit wandering around the concourses, but the point at which the East Stand meets the lower South Stand is a real bottleneck, not helped by the position of the food outlets.

In general too, the excessive queues for food and drink stretched across the concourses blocking the thoroughfares. That needs to be re-considered.

Just a query. Why was a whole section of seating left empty next to the corporate section in the West Stand? Similarly a smaller section where the South Stand meets the East? I thought it was a sellout?

There are lifts in the East Stand. You have to look for them as they're not signposted as you go in.

I found them after I'd climbed up to the upper level so got one back down to see where they were at the entrance level.

My entrance gate is 14 and the lifts are at gates 15 and 21 which, I was told, you can use instead.

Maybe comments on there being none is understandable unfamiliarity with the ground. Wall maps indicating their locations might help for those with mobility issues.

Probably "six of one and half a dozen of the other".

However, I see in the gossip columns today that he has now sacked his agent and is doing his own negotiating.

It has been said on quite a few forums that it was the agent that was the problem all along.

No issues or queues at the turnstiles; maybe that was timing? I took my seat and caught the warm-ups.

A random, but funny moment was pre-match, when they brought the 4 mascots (3 x Everton, 1 x Roma) onto the pitch. After their names were announced, the 3 Everton kids started doing the Beto goal dance, much to the bemusement of the poor Roma girl!!

The acoustics in the stadium are very good, but I do have a slight niggle. The Goodison play list, with the addition of the Las' "There She Goes" was played, but the sheer volume drowned out the crowd, which was a shame, because they were singing..

I was looking around and it may have been a 50,000 sell out, but there were plenty of empty seats, even though most of the ground looked full. The Roma section wasn't sold out, but they'd taken probably over half of their allocation. Maybe some of those seats could be accounted for by it not actually being full capacity.

I thought Roma looked good. You could tell they are a team that only missed out on Champions League by 2 points last season, so it was a bit more of a test for Everton. Their supporters were very noisy throughout, even during the warm-up, but those who have experienced live football in Serie A or the Bundesliga will know it's like that start to finish.

The match was nothing to write home about. It still had the mark of a pre-season friendly, but had a bit more intensity about it. We showed some decent football in parts, having more effect with link-up play from the midfield and playing it on the deck, because Roma's centre-backs were very commanding.

I'll just pick out a few players.

Aznou was thrown in after 11 minutes when Mykolenko went down and signalled to the bench straight away. He looked okay going forward, but was caught out a few times defensively. Not ready just yet, but he looks a good player with potential. I can now see a back 4 of O'Brien, Tarkowski and Branthwaite, with Keane slotting in at left-back against Leeds.

Alcaraz was a bit hit and miss. Worked hard and, when he did link up with Ndiaye and Dewsbury-Hall, there were some slick moves. Seemed to get frustrated a lot, playing out on the right, which is not his best position, but I suppose that was to accommodate Dewsbury-Hall.

Barry looks strong and quick. Good on the ground, and inevitably will be used as a target man. Another that needs to settle in and develop the raw aspects of his game.

Dewsbury-Hall had a fine debut. Lots of positive forward running and would have got my nod for our best player, but for more than one occasion when he could have pulled the trigger, but either kept running to be crowded out or played in the likes of Barry. Looks a good signing though.

But for me it has to be Ndiaye. We are going to miss him when he disappears in January. As mentioned, that magical moment when he was pinned in by 2 Roma players near the corner flag right in front of me, only 7 rows back. People around me screaming for him to "do something".

I was thinking "What is he supposed to do?" He stayed calm, retained the ball, then through awareness, or getting a shout, played a cheeky backheel pass between the two pressing him to a midfielder to get us back up the pitch. Genius.

So, that's pre-season over. Onto the next one and where it matters. Unless we get anyone in this week, Moyes has his work cut out with this still threadbare squad for the first few matches.

You're an honest man, so I'll take your word that it was one league game in eight which we won.

I've got to disagree though if you think we have enough talent as it is to get us to a 14th to 17th finish in the table, especially when injuries and suspensions and the African Cup of Nations start to diminish that squad.

We need some quality when these new players are signed… and the quicker the better!

We need a striker in who knows the score.

I guess predictions for the future are always a little pie in the sky but we picked up points regularly under Moyes and, even during that no-win patch, we drew almost all the other games.

The bookies have us at around 15th (though maybe that builds in the assumption of new players). I think we are all so used to relegation battles that maybe it becomes built-in but I reckon things would have to go pretty drastically wrong for us to be in Bottom 3, even with current squad which is solid defensively though a little short on creativity. The Afcon will be a test without Ndiaye and Gana.

Either way, it seems certain there will be more additions. Wish we'd had them sooner. But I guess I'd rather good ones than fast ones. Let's see what they manage.

I actually queued for 20 minutes only to be told I was at the wrong gate. The steward wouldn't let me in so I queued another 15 minutes at the right gate, No 16. Definitely no sign of any lift there.

Got nowhere near the Club View facilities (even more stairs)
although I believe it was only half open and chaos.

No stadium for old men.

1. Dewsbury-Hall
2. Gana
3. Our defence
4. Leighton Baines looking the best left-sided player on display – and probably the fittest – and the same age as Ashley Young.

There, that was my first Hill Dickinson experience.

Barry and Aznou don't look ready for the Premier League.

In reality, the only player brought in who is Premier League ready is Dewsbury-Hall.

We are one of a large group of clubs who won't get many/any players in before the last few days of the window – so Moyes's pre- & post-match press conferences for the first few games will be entertaining.

Just out of interest... Who do you think 3 worse sides than us are?

All of the non-promoted clubs have sold their best player by some distance.

I'd have us at 15th or 16th currently. But hope new additions could get us aiming at Top 10.

So you can imagine my disappointment to find on entering entrance 2 at the West Stand there were no escalators and even more steps to climb than in the Upper Bullens!!!

I have to say not impressed with the queuing system to get into the stadium, they had 3 queues for gate 2, an absolute nonsense.

I went down at half time to have a look round the concourse but everywhere was rammed with no proper queueing system in place, and like at the test event there didn't look to be enough toilets – I don't know how they solve that problem.

I also think with the closing of roads and making 2 lanes into one doesn't make travelling to the game a happy experience; hopefully, over time, that gets better.

But sitting inside the ground, you can't be other than massively impressed with what must be the best stadium in the Premier League, although I haven't been in Spurs' new ground which looks impressive.

I can't wait to hear 50,000 Everton fans singing and roaring the team on. Yesterday was a lot quieter than it will be on matchday.

You can't help but be impressed by the building itself.
But being at the game, I felt that the crowd didnt 'feel' at home if that makes sense. Sitting in new places, next to people you don't normally and maybe a bit unsure. It was like the crowd were waiting on someone else to start the atmosphere not knowing where that was to come from.

I gave up trying to get a beer at 4:10 and then also after the game when I finally got to the front of the queue only to be told no more lager!!

Shit service, sorry!!

Seen Charly making runs, but no one had the creativity skills, passing ability to pass the ball to him. Square, back, square, back.

Alcaraz and Garner don't score many, Ndiaye for all his skill isn't prolific, and we have had a host of centre-forwards who just don't score enough goals.

I said over a week ago I think Moyes will sell Beto before the window closes, but leaving young Barry to carry that role alone isn't going to work.

I felt sorry for young Aznou having to come on after a few minutes, Roma certainly targeted him in the 2nd half and every time they attacked, they had loads of room on Aznou's side of the pitch.

The close season has been disappointing to say the least, our only victory was against Port Vale behind closed doors and even in that game we had to come from behind. I know they are pre-season games but only 1 win in 7 games hardly does much for your confidence.

Only better players and a more expansive mindset will change that. Otherwise, forwards will always struggle.

Fix the abysmal right flank (the worst in the Premier League for at least two consecutive seasons) and I would be pretty confident that Barry and Beto will register decent goal hauls between them. Not Isak level of course, but a marked improvement on recent seasons.

Interesting as Sunderland and Burnley have signed a number of players and have large squads. In the assumption that all these new players of theirs turn out to be duds, then maybe you are correct.

If a couple of them for each side actually turn out to be really good, then we are in trouble. Because we are weakened compared to last season.

Barry looks like he will take time and, even if we get Dibling, he will take time to settle into the side. For me, getting Grealish is a must – a top quality player who, playing in his rightful position, could make a huge difference to this team.

Not saying this is good or bad as it depends on your circumstances. But that queue moved quick. Bar the gents nearest my gate, I didn't really queue. A short walk round the corner from south towards north there was loads of room and loads of facilities with short fast-moving queues.

I had lager all the way to 5 mins before the end of the legends game in South Stand where I had touristed up to to see the view from my ticket spot in the East Stand. Not sure what had run out for some but beer was flowing well past the senior game.

I do think the South Stand is an attraction to others sitting elsewhere (as it was for me after the main game) and the large food counter on the South East corner acts as blocker to folks walking further. I didn't get round to the South West corner. Is there a similar food place there?

For all the stick Moyes and Barry are getting, I'd look at the Roma set-up - and conclude they aren't much better. The striker did little against Branthwaite and Tarkowski of any note all game. Franca wasn't that impressive, and the manager was similar in style to Moyes – perhaps even more defensive.

I know just a friendly. But a lot of average footballers about or they're just going through the motions of a friendly.

Having not played a competitive game, it's way too early to judge him just yet.

A season in the Championship or League One should determine whether he has Premier League potential or not.

I think it's debatable how weakened we are to last season. The biggest loss was Doucoure, for whom Dewsbury-Hall is hopefully an upgrade. Barry should get more goals than Calvert-Lewin did, and Aznou, once settled, can offer what Young did and more. Harrison needs replacing but didn't offer much last season.

Certainly by the time the window is closed, I'd be shocked if we aren't significantly stronger than last season. Bringing in Grealish or Dibling alone would arguably achieve that.

Fans could collect their food and go back to their seat, instead of waiting in an overcrowded area.

We have lost our best striker. That equates to weakened in my book. Gana is not getting any younger and we will lose him and Ndiaye in January. They are our best 2 players. With Branthwaite and Tarkowski just behind them.

Any injury to Tarkowski and/or Gana and we are in deep trouble.

Tarkowski is a penalty box defender which means we have to sit deep and tight so as not to expose him. To play like this, you have to have outlets and pace for counter-attacking play. We have zero pace in our side and neither Barry nor Beto are capable of holding play.

The rest of the players are Championship standard, with the exception of Dewsbury-Hall, and we don't have a right-back. I don't include Pickford in this who is top class and largely mistake free for the last few seasons.

The lack of business we have done is completely negligent and it seems like a really bad move to have ousted Thelwell who seemed to be able to get business done.

I still think we will add at least 4 by end of the transfer window.

We should have enough to beat Leeds first up.

I don't see why he would receive any in all honesty. Moyes picked a team that was tactically good and competitive for 60 minutes - the issues arose when he had to replace Mykolenko and withdraw Dewsbury-Hall and Gana after 60 minutes. We simply lack any depth or quality in the replacements.

Most supporters have sympathy for him as our recruitment is too slow. We need another right-back, right-winger, No 6, and a left-back with one week to the start of the season. If anyone was in any doubt, young Aznou is not going to be able to provide cover for Mykolenko this season.

I have joined others in saying "Be patient, it's a tough market this summer and TFG should not overpay to their valuation of a player". But when we are coming in £10-15 million below a club's valuation of a player, then we have not done our homework.

The Afcon will test us but we'll have a bigger squad by then.

I agree on Thelwell. I think he'd have got more done by now. It seems strange that we've gone big on a striker and attacking midfielder when right-wing was and still is the biggest need. But I still don't think we're worse than last season or struggling compared to other teams.

Right-back a must too. Too many times yesterday, things broke down with O'Brien not having the ability to pick out a man or go past someone.

2 players: right-wing and right-back would make a huge difference in my opinion.

Then there's the depth... or lack of it. I'd expect to see a few loans and a few bodies just to boost numbers before the window shuts.

Damsgaard would be a player I'd like.

I didn't buy anything, but went for a leg stretch at half time. Yes, there were queues in some places, but you could walk around and find places less busy. The Passover seemed to be working well.

It's not like Goodison was a queue-free zone, with many not getting served as the shutters went down before the second half.

The only "crisis" I heard of was the bloke next to me, who disappeared with his son well into the second half. Thinking he had left early, they returned 15 minutes later. He had apparently been led around the lower concourses by his son until they found somewhere that still had blue doughnuts!!

Now I was nowhere near their biggest fans. But Doucoure, Young, Harrison played 30-plus games last season and Lindstrom 29. Mangala, who I liked and is definitely Premier League quality, played 21 until his injury.

Dewsbury-Hall has come in to cover all of those players. And we have replaced them largely with nobody. We have replaced Broja and Calvert-Lewin with Barry.
It's as simple and as stark as that. 7 players replaced with one apparently good signing and a completely unproven entity whose early signs are not the most promising.

The old saying is that you should only sign players that improve the squad. Any player with some kind of Premier League experience, proven fitness record, and a decent age should already be in the building. They don't have to be world beaters – just people who can come in and put in some kind of a performance and not be a disaster. And we needed 3 or 4 of them early doors.

Until 1 September, we cannot judge anything.

We will have played 3 winnable games by that point. 2 against teams people are citing on here are worse than us.

If we lose to Wolves and Leeds because business hasn't been done, then those 6 points could be worth hundreds of millions at the end of the season.

Stuff the squad with players we didn't really want and have them on the books for 4 years?

I think Grealish will sign this week.

Start loaning players. There are players in relegated sides that would more than do us for a season who those sides would be grateful to get off the wage bill for a year:

Jack Clarke
Philogene
Leif Davis
Mavididi
Ricardo Perreira
Matteus Fernandes

You don't know if any of their clubs want to loan them anyway.

You're just playing Championship Manager.

McNeil at left-back… or three at the back maybe.

Firstly, Barry is only back training. He has come in for a lot of stick but I imagine the plan was to start Beto for the first month and use him off the bench. He should not be judged so harshly now.

We have enough quality in the squad to cover Mykolenko. Moyes can go to a five with Garner and McNeil as wing-backs and that will also help Alcaraz. and get Ndiaye further up the pitch.

We have 5 in and 4 or 5 to go so we will be in decent shape by the end of the window. Only the top teams are ready to roll from day one and the rest of us have to wait until their business is complete.

Tommy has put forward a name who I think would be perfect for us in Matteus Fernandes. I was so impressed by him last season and thought we should be trying for him along with Dibling. I think he would be a bargain for the price being quoted and looks a complete central midfield player to me. I can't believe we haven't looked at him.

We're going round in circles now but as I've said Dewsbury-Hall replaces (improves on) Docuoure, Aznou replaces Young, Harrison needs replacing and Lindstrom, Broja and Mangala barely featured for Moyes. We've also got Armstrong coming back from a good loan and Chermiti back from injury.

Like you, I would have far preferred to get players in early and am not hugely impressed with the business we've done. But it's not that bad. For years we've had disasterists predicting we were certainties to get relegated and they have been wrong. Things would have to go very awry (always possible) for that to happen this season.

As Ryan says, the better loans are not available till later in the window usually. Let's see who we have when the window shuts. Sounds like Grealish may be happening sooner rather than later.

It would seem he is not a favourite of the Elland Road fans.

A good start is important, but not the end of the world. There will still be plenty of points to play for. We've had some good recent starts under Ancelotti and even Benitez, although the latter's turned into a nightmare from October that lasted until March after he had gone.

Conversely, we've had some poor starts only to turn it around. There will be many examples, but last season is the obvious one.

So you'd rather have nobody than any of them players? Sorry, Ryan, but I can't get that logic.

Dibling and Grealish may give us more creativity, and overall I am optimistic about the new season.

That's not what I said.

If you're getting a taxi from Lime Street, a top tip, they can get as close as the Tai Pan restaurant, which is a short walk to the northern most gate on Regent Road. I'm sure many already know this. Cheaper than getting to County Road!!

There are also the buses from Communication Row, which go to the same place. Depends on your preference.

It seems TFG are not inclined to shit their pants this window and are pleasingly showing genuine ambition in their bid to improve our shocking right flank. They are also planning longer term which makes sense too - albeit it's disappointing we're still waiting to get back in the big time.

The busiest period of the window is yet to come. Deals will happen. If we cannot beat Wolves without their standout best players outside – Cunha and Ait Nouri – it is not because of recruitment.

The one thing I thought he would not have is the ability to put the correct weight on his passes, but he shows he absolutely has that yesterday.

So he's got pace, height, strength — the three key ingredients. He's young, and whilst not a natural goalscorer, he's getting better and better.

That's the most exciting thing about him, you can see his progress in real time. He was playing in awful leagues a couple of years ago, and started scoring hat-tricks and now here we are.

Plus, he's a nark. What's not to like?

Take Dibling for instance.

“Everton are feeling 'frustrated' in their pursuit of Tyler Dibling, according to The Sunday Times.

The Toffees have now made three separate bids for the Southampton winger but there remains, says the Sunday Times, a 'huge discrepancy' between what Everton are offering and Southampton are demanding.

We obviously made the bids with some expectation of success, having talked to the agent and the club before we lodge them. Something has gone wrong here when we are coming in £10-15M below a club's valuation of a player.
This doesn't sound like strategy, planning or sharp commercial acumen. It actually reminds me of Moshiri, Walsh and Kenwright.

Didn't have his shooting boots on yesterday but you can see the quality. We're way better at going forward than last season and should've scored 3 yesterday. We're going to be fine.

Spot on.

I've been growing frustrated we've not not signed a right winger.

However, on my calm days, I would rather wait and Improve the squad for the next 1-5 seasons than have players we can buy previously but don't improve us.

I don't pay much attention to the press reports. With Dibling, I think what you can safely say (a) we're interested and have made opening bids; (b) Saints haven't yet accepted; and (c) Saints are gearing up for sale, having left him out of the matchday squad for the opening round of Championship games. All the rest is largely made up / skewed to maintain reader attention and generate advertising revenue.

I might be wrong, by the way – no problem with that – but all of this is so routine for the transfer market that I'm struggling to get worked up about it at the moment. To me, it looks like a sensible approach to rebuilding a rubbish squad with a fairly modest kitty. We'll all be able to better take stock when the window closes.

What have you got at BMD? Budweiser, a couple of pretty poor London ales, and Guinness which should only be served by somebody who knows what they are doing at cellar temperature.

As for Budweiser? Frozen John Smiths comes to mind and that's being very kind. Save the drinking for the town on the way back, at least you will end up happy.

He won't pays the gets the most.

The deal might still take place, but a delta of £10-15M in terms of valuation and bid means something has gone wrong. Otherwise, we have made 3 bids significantly below Southampton's valuation of the player, irritated them for no reason, and made the likelihood of a deal more unlikely.

You seem to have confidence in the professionalism and commercial acumen of TFG as football owners, so I hope you are right.

Even if it's gospel, it cuts both ways — Saints could equally have irritated us (and significantly, Dibling himself) by demanding too much.

I have some confidence in TFG given they have invested in the club, loosened the purse strings and hunted out decent value / longer term additions in the 4 major signings so far.

As to what happens next, I don't know. For the time being I am open-minded about TFG and will judge them once the window closes.

Something has gone wrong in the process if there is such a gap between the bid and the valuation. 90% of the work is done before the bid is made, and the detailed negotiations take place to gain some small advantage around the margins.

I am not blaming TFG completely, but the onus is on the buyer to do their due diligence. We should have known Southampton's valuation before we bid – if we were caught by surprise, then it is on us. The fact that the deal is now further away today than last week is proof in and of itself.

Dibling will likely move in this transfer window. Honestly, I wouldn't lose sleep if he went elsewhere. He seems to have morphed from a young player with talent to mini-Messi since we showed an interest in him.

As for TFG, I will have confidence in them when they do something that merits it. As FSG have done at Liverpool.

You make assumptions about Southampton being "irritated" and a deal more unlikely because of it. Any basis?

And remember how TFG like to negotiate -- put in an offer, walk away, then come back in late and close. Worked on Roma, worked on Moshiri.

In this case, you know none of those things.

Nor do I by the way!

None of us do.

Also, since you're not daft, in striking a deal I expect you didn't leak key details about your position to the press or otherwise to your negotiating counterparts. So let's just take things in the press with a pinch of salt and see where it lands.

He seemed to be playing very deep, often behind Ndiaye. Whether this was as instructed or a lack of positional sense, I don't know.

Lastly, his touches in the box were very poor.

I hope I am very wrong but, if we are going to rely on him and Beto for goals, we are not going to have the season many anticipated.

On a separate point, what the hell has happened to our set-piece plays???

We used to use Tarkowski to great effect and, with Jake and Jarrad in there, I was expecting better especially now the deliveries are better. Maybe Moyes's buddie ruined that with his set-piece expertise…???

I'm not sure the purchase of football clubs is analogous with the purchase of players. If you are advocating that we nip in at the death and steal away Dibling for a rock bottom price, nobody will be more pleased than me if that comes to pass.

But this is extremely high risk. And we need players. What do we do if our bluff is called? Well, we can have a Plan B for 2 September… but what happens if someone else wants that player too?

You have a point that we are all to a degree removed from the actual negotiations, and so are only trying to read the runes. But what concerns me is Moyes. He's not happy, which tells me the negotiations are not going well.

Now, that could just be Moyes covering his arse so that any blame rebounds to Angus if it all goes wrong, but from my knowledge of him, I don't think he is so dishonourable. I think he believes we should be handling the whole thing differently.

If I was Moyes, I'd get Baines to register as a player, because he still, even at 40, looks a better player than Mykolenko will ever be.

Problem solved at left-back until the Ukrainian is fit, because I for one certainly do not want to see the one-paced McNeil start another game for us.

Your main point, such as it is, appears to be that we should never believe the press and you hope/expect/pray (?) that TFG are simply being commercially astute.

Of course, there is zero evidence to support your view and it has less reliability and validity than the reports in the press. I quoted the Sunday Times, and the same facts are being reported across multiple media sources.

But, I am sure you are right.

As for Dibbling, I reckon Southampton are just seeing how far they can push us, knowing how desperate we are for a right winger. Time will tell, it's a lot of money for a young lad who is yet to really prove himself at this level.

They won yesterday without him and another player or two that are yet to decide their futures, they'll want the cash to invest instead of unhappy players. Good luck to their manager too, a highly rated young chap.

Firstly Moyes comments preseason were ridiculous to make public and have no doubt in my mind weakened Everton's negotiating hand while simultaneously strengthened Southamptons belief in getting what they want as opposed to what they can.

Southampton will know on what he's done it's a more than fair offer but they believe that he could go right to the very top because he is such a unique talent and want a piece of it. Ideally they would want to keep him for another season as his price would rise if he tore up the championship but the key thing is that he won't sign a new contract and has only 2 years left.

Diblings stock fell in the second half of the season and so they know the figures they hoped for are unrealistic.They also will have seen that the big clubs have had other more pressing areas to address so no bidding war has ensued.

This deal will get done as Southampton get more desperate, realize they are in a poor position with Dibling wanting to join and so Everton may just have to offer a small sell on clause to get the deal over the line. I don't think the clubs are in reality that far apart.

You assume Southampton would have only accepted what they now want from the start. I'm not sure that was the case (initial reports suggesting they wanted 40-45 million)..

Anyway, my main point (which I think I've made quite a few times) is that none of us know how negotiations between Saints and Everton are being conducted. If it has morphed into something else for you then hopefully this at least clarifies.

On that basis, I don't think I need evidence for my view - because my view is that I don't know how the details of how Saints and Everton are conducting negotiations. I am, however, willing to be open minded and reserve judgement until the window closes.

Certainly, I don't think a few press reports and some fan guesswork is evidence of TFG's lack of commercial acumen. That's your opinion though, and that's fine.

Goose Island IPA is owned by Budweiser and at least has some taste.

It's all marketing mate. When I was at uni in Manchester we used to sell Heineken 50 pence a pint. Budweiser was “imported” so it was $2 and lo and behold students would snub the Dutch crappy beer and buy the American.

Years later, living in the US, it's the opposite with Heineken “imported” priced 4 times as high as Bud. Both are crap but mugs here drink Heineken like it's champagne.

But it reaches parts other beers cannot reach, especially if you suffer from haemarroids! :-)

Heineken is popular in Thailand but Chang far outweighs it in market share and is a better beer. San Miguel light is also very popular which is drinkable.

Indonesia, it's Heineken or the local Bintang which is a Heineken product.

All three countries market Budweiser and it's available in supermarkets but limited in bars, but I don't see anyone drinking it except maybe the 20s lads in Viet Nam.

When I get to BMD I certainly won't be having a pint in there if that's all that's on offer.

I suppose if there's a sponsorship tie-in all the concessions are forced to sell Budweiser? Or are the beer stalls separate from the food?

One good thing in Viet Nam is I can get the original Czech Budweiser which is good, and I used to get it draft in Abu Dhabi.

Tyler Dibling has the talent but is an instant Premier League return the right move for him?

When the Championship season got underway over the weekend, one of the most talented young players in the country wasn’t involved.

England Under-21 international Tyler Dibling was not injured or suspended. Instead, a player once said to have been valued at £100million was left out by new Southampton manager Will Still because he was “not in a headspace” to feature.

“There are a few players who are where they’re at in their career and making choices,” Still told ITV Sport when asked about Dibling, while also referencing Samuel Edozie and Joe Aribo, who didn’t play in the 2-1 win against Wrexham on Saturday.

Dibling, 19, is the subject of intense interest from Everton who have seen a couple of bids turned down, the latest being worth £40million ($54m) including add-ons. Southampton have made a counter-proposal of £45m plus £5m in add-ons and a 25 per cent sell-on clause, a package that might be too rich for Everton’s blood.

Everton are more confident of bringing Jack Grealish to Hill Dickinson Stadium, which is a little ironic given how much Dibling is reminiscent of Grealish at his free, flying best while at Aston Villa.

The pulled-down socks lend themselves to the comparison but Dibling is also Grealish-esque in the manner of his gliding, jinking running style. Able to beat a man with the nonchalant drop of a shoulder, there’s a bit of Chris Waddle about them, too.

Ball-carrying is his outstanding attribute but anyone who saw Dibling often single-handedly carry a dreadful Southampton team up the field last season will have spotted how fearless, tenacious, inventive and almost impudent he was when taking the game to the opposition.

Dibling made 20 Premier League starts, mostly from the right wing but also as an attacking central midfielder, showcasing the talent that had already been evident for many years on the south coast, including when he scored a hat-trick of near-identical goals for Southampton’s B team against Newcastle in a 4-2 Premier League 2 win three years ago.

Dibling is keen to return to the top flight and has also earned admirers at Newcastle United and Aston Villa.

Even in the second tier, Dibling’s contract running until 2027 means the ball is in Southampton’s court. They will not be minded to accept anything less than a premium price for one of English football’s most exciting young talents.

The situation leaves Dibling at a career crossroads for the second time in his young career.

A couple of months after he was named on the bench for a Premier League game as a 16-year-old by former Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl, Chelsea enticed Dibling to London before Southampton could offer professional terms when Dibling turned 17.

In July 2022, via a lucrative financial package that Southampton couldn’t match, Dibling moved to Stamford Bridge. However, the shy 16-year-old struggled to adapt to his new big-city surroundings and was said to have felt like “an outsider”.

By the end of August, having played just two games, Dibling returned to Southampton on reduced terms, with credit due to both clubs for facilitating the move, given the difficulties a homesick teenager was experiencing.

“You have international after international from the first team down to the under-15s at Chelsea, and it is a ruthless environment,” former Southampton B-team coach David Horseman told The Athletic in 2022. “Tyler wasn’t ready for it.”

Three years on, he looks set to move on again, but Southampton might ask whether the time is right for Dibling, who first joined their academy at eight years old, to fly the nest.

Everton and their manager David Moyes have a history of moulding, trusting and nurturing young talents, so Dibling would likely get more playing time there than he would at other top-flight clubs, such as, well, Chelsea.

But would Dibling benefit more from a year in the Championship, consistently playing week in, week out, in what is likely to be a winning team?

Dibling may be worth £40m but he is still at the very start of his professional career, with only 2,404 minutes of senior football (in the Premier League and domestic cups) under his belt, the equivalent of just 26 full 90-minute matches.

Many young English players honed their games in the second tier, not least Grealish with Villa, but also Morgan Gibbs-White, who flourished on loan at Sheffield United in 2021-22, and Mason Mount, who came to prominence during a fabulous season with Derby County in 2018-19 before winning the Champions League with Chelsea two years later.

Dibling also has plenty to improve in his game, particularly his end product.
There are still three weeks left in the window and all parties will want a solution sooner rather than later.

“Ty’s just not in a headspace and not in a place that allowed him to get on the pitch today,” Southampton boss Still said on Saturday. “I thought that Ty wasn’t quite there and I understand it. He’s still young and there’s a lot going on, so we will see how that goes.

“If nothing happens, then he will be a part of what we want to do and be important as well, but time will tell. It’s standard transfer window stuff.”

Dibling and those around him have to work out where his potential will be maximised, a crucial decision.

“Sometimes it’s better to stay in an environment where you feel at home and where everybody does everything for you,” former Southampton manager Hasenhuttl told reporters after Dibling had returned in 2022. “There’s a reason, in England, you say the grass is not always greener somewhere else.”

Will Hasenhuttl’s words be prescient once more or will Dibling show he is ready to leave home?

Probably… Dibling should be fine joining a tight knit unit who look after the young players, Saints are being disrespectful to the player in holding out for more money, Dibling has already shown his stuff in the Prem and a season in the Championship is a backward step for him.