Reports: Blues close in on Besic

With the blues, we can only believe it when it’s signed sealed and delivered me thinks. Apparently a promising young player though.

Muhamed Besic and Ferençvaros sets my pulse racing, does it yours?

We have offered £2.5m. West Ham and Swansea £4m.

Yes, a done deal. Well done once again, Billy Bullshit. We couldn’t agree terms, ran out of time, the agent messed us about blah, blah, blah...

I wish our supporters would wake up and hound Kenwright out of this club.
Good Job he is one of us, hey... WTF!

We’ll be okay once we sign a top striker and all the weight will be off our shoulders. IRWT

I have always said you cannot have too many players.

What we need now though is a striker, probably two strikers really.

I would accept Traore as back up if we got Lukaku or Bony, or another proven goalscorer, by proven I mean someone with the capabilities and the facts there on paper of having scored near 20 goals.

Then we need some pace on the wings.

I really wanted another year for Deulofeu but obviously that’s dead now.

It ensures that his signing wont be anytime soon.

Perhaps the Magyars will let us have him on loan !

When I read it first time, I read it as if Swansea offered three things: £4m AND West Ham United AND Sevilla. Which of course makes no sense at all.

Can I blame the languague barrier and do all English read it correctly first time?

I have been bigging up Besic since I saw him play in the World Cup and he would be an outstanding addition to the squad and step above Gibson in the pecking order. If we got Sanchez too then Gibson could be on his way out.

Although I prefer your interpretation for comedic effect. I wish clubs could do things like that. I’d like us to offer some pocket fluff and Liverpool FC for a choc-ice and a packet of flea powder for my dog.

I think it could have been put better as:

"Besic is also being strongly linked with both Swansea City — who the Mail say - have offered £4m, West Ham United and Sevilla." Or

"Besic is also being strongly linked with both Swansea City (who, the Mail say, have offered £4m), West Ham United and Sevilla." Or

"The mail reports that West Ham have offered 4m for Besic, who has also been linked with Swansea City and Sevilla."

No doubt many other more correct ways too. However, loved the humorous approach - maybe he really is a very very very good player. And pinching Chris’ nice idea, I couldn’t help but imagine the response to the offer.

"A good offer, but we need another £5. Throw in Liverpool FC and it’s a deal!"

Muhamed Bešić
Personal information
Full name Muhamed Bešić
Date of birth 10 September 1992 (age 21)
Place of birth Berlin, Germany
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Playing position Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
[Everton FC]]
Number 39
Youth career
2004–2009 Tennis Berlin
2009–2010 Hamburger SV
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2010–2012 Hamburger SV II 38 (0)
2010–2012 Hamburger SV 3 (0)
2012– 2014 Ferencvàros 47 (1 years4= 2014- Clubs 4= [ [Everton FC] ] Caps 0 = 0 goals 3= 0)
National team‡
2010– Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 10 (2)
2010– Bosnia and Herzegovina 12 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of

Ferencvãros often used him as a central defender, though he is not good enough in that position at a higher level. He is fast, technically good, better in midfield. He can lose his cool too easily. I’m not sure if he is good enough for us as a regular player, but we need a bigger squad so he can be a good signing.

He sounds like my kinda guy.

So £2,5m plus Europe v £4m and no glory. We are Everton. Woods and Earl have millions to spend - let’s offer £8m

What’s wrong with Besic and Ferencvaros?

Besic is a good young player with World Cup experience.

Ferencvaros have produced great players, like Gyorgy Sarosi (one of the greatest players of all time).

Every player has to start somewhere.

2. I never there was anything wrong - except Ferencvaros are not the feared team they were 40 years ago.

3. I was simply saying that being left out of the squad means he will not be cup-tied if he is sold and so therefore his sale is a probable reason to leave him out

4. Chris Smalling is a young player with World Cup experience - that is not a good reason to sign him. In fact I can’t think of a single reason I would want to sign him.

2. Besic looks a tidy, energetic player. He looks comfortable on the ball and likes to get stuck into a tackle.

3. People go on about signing these "hidden gems" for nominal fees. I agree that this is a great business plan, albeit a lot more difficult than some realise. I’m not saying Besic is going to a world beater but, he certainly appears to possess the tools to be a solid acquisition, good squad player, and one for the future (and Europa League).

Hope it’s true though, young talented player who us probably as good as if not better than Rodwell and will cost half the price.

Classic example was Rooney.
When had was asked to tidy his act up he was half the player.

Trust me this guy is a steal at £4million

I hope that's a tongue-in-cheek comment.

If not, on behalf of ToffeeWeb, thanks for that insight and wonderful analysis of the player!

Is it too late to petition the board and stop this ridiculous transfer? Would they even listen?

Now that we’ve good Muhamed, let’s go and get Victor Moses and Jesus Navas. It’ll be the new Holy Trinity.

I know it's a much lower quality league he plays in but YouTube highlights show some silky touches and a decent free kick on him.

Link

Very complimentary article; if it is even remotely on the mark, we will do well to nail this kid down.

We need that one quality signing: Lukaku or Bony please – our depth upfront is alarming! Let’s hope Roberto gets tightwad Bill to cough up the dosh for Big Rom and with Traore on loan and Kone fit – plus youngsters like Long and McAleny. Then we will have some depth.

What happened regarding Galloway? We haven’t heard a word about him training in Austria. Everton are more secretive than the KGB.

Must pay attention to detail, Phil, the whole world doesn’t revolve around you and your opinions!

I hope this rumour does come to fruition. Bosnia looked a half-decent team with some better-than-average individuals. Wolfsburg had to buy Dzeko off someone; now he’s considered a top-class striker... Why can’t this lad make the grade?

What are these indications? I have not read anything on it anywhere reputable... but I hope it’s true anyway.

’Before the World Cup started, Roberto Martinez – in one of his television roles – spoke about the competition and the scouting opportunity it presented for clubs. He was right, of course, because the tournament is essentially a big shop window of global talent.

Less than a month after that interview, Martinez is poised to add Bosnian holding-midfielder Muhamed Besic to his Everton squad for a paltry £4m. You can almost imagine the Spaniard sitting through the first half of Argentina against Bosnia, excusing himself at the interval, and getting straight on the phone to Bill Kenwright.

Like many people – myself included – he probably fell for Besic at first sight and recognised him as being a perfect-fit for the style of football he’s preaching at Goodison Park.

After watching this player in the World Cup and taking in his age the fee of £4m does not seem overly expensive so I take it that Mr Martinez is going to prefer as he states young players at the club. Mediocre players no longer come cheap and the fee that is quoted to me seems a bargain for this player with his experience and ability over our younger players.

Have a read of what Gergo Acs says in post 31?

He kind of backs up my lack of excitement and he watches the bloke regularly.

This opinion is based on looking at one 2-min clip of the Mexico game. He’s a mixed bag, he looks alive that’s for sure and has good movement and awareness when not pressured and also found some good passes.

Under pressure, though, he can be forced in mistakes; in the clip he was on the edge of his own box and passed the ball right across it nearly giving away possession (that’s a no-no).

The Premier League is very fast-paced, he’s going to need a gentle introduction by Roberto.

He looks so much like another McCarthy type player, I’m curious about this one?

At £2.5m he’s probably worth a punt (if he is that cheap).

What players would I buy?

Messi, Schweinsteiger, Kompany, Vlaar, James Rodriguez, Neymar, Kroos, Schurle, Muller, Lavetzi, Hazard and Aguero.

But not Lukaku!

It’s a simple equation.You trust Roberto.

Gotta trust Bobby seeing a few tasty attributes in his game. Must say I watched a 4-min clip v Nigeria and his passing looked crisp, although he had a tendency to fly into tackles in a few dangerous areas... but, hey, that’s something we can work on ironing out.
Get him in and roll on signing Number 3!

Do any of us have any choice?

We’re in Roberto’s hands and he’s in chairman’s!

A quaint little notion you’ve got going on there fella, but let me assure you that Martinez did not excuse himself at HT and get straight on the phone to Kenwright. He stayed and fulfilled his obligation to ESPN, thus earning the money they were paying him. The notion that Martinez HAD to be working for a TV company in order to do a bit of scouting is frankly ridiculous.

Managers from all over the world were able to watch the games without the distraction of having to work. Perhaps if he wasn’t working for somebody else at the time, this deal would have already happened before other clubs were able to declare their interest. Who Knows?

One thing we can say with some degree of certainty is that Robbies moonlighting certainly didn’t speed thing up. Martinez can do everything in his power to make up for those two weeks, but he can’t get them back.

Anyway, he’s back behind his desk now, we are doing business, so this "tiresome" argument should be done, confined to the past. Not sure what point you are trying to make by resurrecting it.

Oh and BTW, Besic is an international playing for one of Hungary’s top sides... do you really believe he wasn’t already on Robbies radar? That he would be dumb enough to blow a big percentage of his kitty on a player he has only just come across?

It’s incredibly obvious that managers do buy based on World Cup/European Championship performances, whether rightly or wrongly. Would Valencia have gone to West Ham for £8-12M before the World Cup? Of course not. Would Ozil have gone to Real when he did? Probably not. Drenthe got a move to Real in 2007 because of the European Under-21 tournament. (He was fantastic btw... I watched him and hoped he’d come to Everton. He eventually did of course, but had not got any better.)

With respect to Martinez representing ESPN: It’s hardly ideal for us. That is time spent by him at the World Cup, when he could be working on targets for next year. That said, it has to be put in perspective. Managers do not primarily scout players, nor do they usually negotiate with teams (although they will/should with the player).

The ridiculousness of the Wenger bench pictures illustrates the absurd caricature of football transfer business which the press looks to pedal to the fans which it suits their agenda: Wenger, on a beach, isn’t working hard enough: Arsenal have brought no-one because Wenger is on a beach: Wenger holidays whilst title rivals improve their squad. The subsequent transfer of Sanchez (an incredible buy) who is soon to be joined by Debuchy and possibly Khedira illustrates the pointlessness of that ugly side of sensationalist journalism.

Martinez’s situation is obviously different, and more extreme, because he has spent several weeks as a pundit. That said, there is more to transfer business than the coach, and his time spent at the Dutch training camp may well have been facilitated by his role with ESPN.

Managers also get time off to do what they want. He has worked for us the whole year, and will work for us again now, and the beginning of the summer is his. If our manager is going to take a month off from Everton business, I’d rather he spend it working at the biggest International football tournament in the world, rather than on a remote beach somewhere.

You contradict yourself in the post above.

- Would David Luiz have gone to PSG for £50m after the World Cup??

As I’ve said before, Everton have got a very sophisticated method and team for tracking players from around the world; they won’t have just been watching him at this World Cup.

Martinez’s knowledge of players even down the lower leagues is well documented. If you’re making a living playing the game, Robbie will be aware of you.

Besic is an international, mate, there is absolutely no way he would have gotten under our boss’s radar.

Lots of people (me included) would have been watching Besic for the first time – not Martinez.

I suspect when Martinez was watching players, he was looking for confirmation of what he already knew. It’s not enough to know the guy has talent – you need to know he can do it against the best

"It’s very much an important period, but it’s not one where we need to panic. We don’t have to make decisions just to bring numbers into the club."

Martinez insisted that the players he has targeted must be able to fit into the ’special’ squad spirit he has fostered at the club – and that players would not be targeted simply to bolster numbers.

"Recruitment is vital," he added. "It’s one of those moments of the season where you recollect the good work you’ve done over the last two windows.

"The recruitment department have been working tirelessly to get the reports and to highlight the targets and players that are going to fit in our football club. You can imagine it’s a long process."

Maybe... just maybe the manager knew who he wanted before the World Cup? Nah – that would drive a massive fucking tank through all the shite being spouted on here, so he was clearly just bluffing.

I would have thought that if he is as decent as the general opinion of him seems to be, there would more completion for his signature, plus his club could have cashed in some more!

Maybe our silver tongued manager has worked his magic on him, or maybe they just want shut quick!

Besic plays for Ferencvaros in the Hungarian league so he’s not on big money to say the least. He had a buyout clause which we have met plus a few added sweeteners.

My son was backpacking in Bosnia a few weeks ago and made quite a few friends over there. It’s these guys who are telling him it’s being reported on Bosnian TV, and in the press, that all parties have agreed to the deal. Expect him at FF next week for his medical.

For the record, I like the look of him. That cultured defensive midfielder is the lynchpin role in Roberto’s tactical setup. The more cover we have there, the better. We desperately missed Barry last year whenever he was unavailable.

Can you suggest a few folks to follow on Twitter? Possibly list their Twitter handles? Only the "reputable" ones please...

See https://twitter.com/BH_Dragons - it’s the most legitimate Twitter source that I have come across so far.

However, @BH_Dragons does. Guess we will probably find out the truth tomorrow.

The bloke who told me is reliable and then, after he told me, the likes of Tony Barrett, Alan Nixon and Tony Scott were saying it’s very close. Even Tony Scott, who freelances for the Echo, basically said it was done and posted a pic on Twitter of Besic with ’Welcome to Everton’ underneath it a day or two later.

Fingers crossed he develops well and with him, McCarthy and Barkley in the central spots we will have a technically gifted, very athletic midfield trio for years to come. Exciting stuff!

If we got them both it would be two characters from TV comedies... Rodders out of Only Fools etc and Kramer is in Seinfeld. Let’s just hope that we collect a few fresh faces who are of use and not just bench fodder who just make up the numbers.

For all the comments on here about scouting, and the copied quotes re. our scouting network, I think it’s also important to acknowledge that scouting is not a science, and that we have limited means. How many of our potential signings do you think our management/scouting network has seen play in person for their clubs? and how many times have they seen them play in person?

I think it’s good at this juncture to finish by talking about Bebe. Ferguson signed him for over 7million having never seen him play in real life or in video, because of ’personal’ recommendation. At that point despite securing a move to Vitoria De Guimaraes on a free a few months early, Bebe had only played for a lower divison team in Portugal (he had therefore never played in a top flight match). The example is an extreme one, but it illustrates that even the ’biggest’ club in England sometimes acts in a manner which the large majority of schoolboys would condone. Maybe Martinez has seen Besic play before the World Cup, maybe he hasn’t. Maybe we would have signed him if there had not been a World Cup, and maybe we would not have (And still won’t?). I think though that both circumstances, and binaries, are possible, as a brief look back at football history demonstrates.

We need the 4 signings we are apparently going to make, to be top quality players that take our first 11 up to the next level. This attitude of "Let’s get the numbers in, he will bolster our squad," is frankly a waste of time.

Towards the end of last season, we managed to clear out a lot of dead wood that had nothing to offer us, so I hope we are not going to bring in more just for the sake of numbers?

BK and his cohorts will provide adequate excuses why we have not bought anyone of note very shortly. For example, work permit issues, medical problems and possibly the onset of Ramadan. We never move quickly and sometimes I almost wish we had ’Arry the barrow boy Redknapp’ as our negotiator.

We are stuck with Ebenezer Elstone who can hear 50 pence pieces dropped in sand at ten paces.

They haven’t actually offered any insight into the Besic situation at all (yet they want us to believe that Spurs head the queue in front of Chelsea for John Stones). All they’ve done is base an entire report about a potential transfer on the reactions of Evertonians moaning on Twitter about the fact that the move for Besic hasn’t been completed in a timeframe almost entirely established on Twitter by unsubstantiated tweets.

Nothing has been bungled. The transfer is probably taking its normal course but everyone’s getting their knickers in a twist because a Bosnian football account on Twitter said the deal would be announced today and then someone claiming to be from BT Sport tweeted that he’s undergoing a medical tomorrow.

If it’s going to happen, it’ll happen when it happens...

The Rumour Mill is where the unsubstantiated nonsense in the red-tops and their online equivalents (talkSPORT, etc) goes.

Even then, we have a limit that excludes the likes of CaughtOffside, most stories from the Sunday People and some from the Express, Metro, etc).

We don’t pretend -- and never have -- that anything in that section holds any water but, in this day and age where complete secrecy is almost impossible, transfer stories start somewhere and sometimes they start in the Rumour Mill. It’s our most popular page in terms of traffic behind the homepage so there’s an audience for it.

That way, if you only want actual news, you know how to avoid what isn’t actual news.

Now, if we believe a story has any merit (and from what I’ve heard, the Besic story does) or has enough media weight behind it, we’ll post it to the main news section but always with a qualifier like "Reports:..." in the headline. I try to be as responsible as possible with this stuff so that our readers can trust us. We’re not after baiting links for traffic; we want you to come here for the right reasons.

I’m not confused at all. Besic has been mooted to sign for Sevilla, Everton, Spurs, you name it. If it happens... great; if not, then it just goes down as another player talked up by the media to keep us all logging on to their websites and taking up bandwidth fretting on fans sites.

I love it, what else are you going to do with the summer months without football now the World Cup is over? Watch cricket? I tried that, it was shit.

I get frustrated by the nonsense peddled by lazy journos and meddling agents under the heading of ’rumours’ but do I come on for my daily fix? — Yes.

Is there a worse website for shovelling baseless garbage? — Yes... loads. Try Newsnow for starters (I visit them every day too).

I agree with James; cricket is not the antidote. Think I’ll reach for my trusty Bayern Munich ECWC Semi-Final video

Personally, I’d be very disappointed if the best unofficial football website did not relay sensible rumours, and I check ToffeeWeb every morning/early afternoon to check who has been linked. This is where a lot of the fun is, especially during a summer window when we will surely have a record breaking spend (my fingers are crossed anyway).

Exactly, Jim. That’s why we have a section devoted to it. Those who want to speculate or discuss the merits of the mooted targets can do so; those who don’t can – and should! – avoid the Rumour Mill altogether.

I can’t get my head round the fact grown men still get sucked in and wound up by media bull that is the ’transfer window’; if our club is trying to sign a player, then they will or they won’t – no matter what the ’rumours’ say.

I preferred it when the way you got to find anything out was the local cab drivers, somebody in me arl’ fella’s work knows someone at the training ground and the dinner time Echo and that was about the order of merit.

Now get your finger out, Roberto, and sign some boss players so we can win a derby and a trophy before World War Three!

The indications were last Friday that talkSPORT, in their desire to be first with confirmation of the story but not necessarily right, had jumped the gun. I’d rather the Echo hold fire and reported news on which we can rely. Lord knows there are plenty of places we can find bollocks stories if we want them.

Plenty of time for Roberto to get the players he wants; if he starts signing them in the next couple of weeks, that will do me.

The manager was back in time for pre-season training so what’s he getting stick for, Darren? Signing players on other people’s say so?

Where would you want our manager to be during the summer? Home, beach, Finch Farm or working at The World Cup? Come on, mate, criticise by all means, but stop and think before the contradictions start.

(Easy mistake to make, done it meself... albeit at a Golf tournament, not football!)

That is a good point you make. Most other managers took a break from football and sat on a beach. Or at baseball games in USA, like Brendan.

Our Roberto was hands on at the World Cup.

If you didn’t like cricket, it’s because you didn’t fully understand or appreciate it. Tut tut.

I don’t get it, surely the English groundsmen should be setting up a pitch to seam for the home team, given that our bowling attack is all about our seamers? Complete madness. It’s telling when Jimmy Anderson hits 81 in a record last wicket stand of 198!

Anyway, sorry to go off on one about cricket, I’ll shut up now!

Anyone else look at Robben and think ’how come the older he gets, the faster he’s getting?’

Just an observation like.

[Folds arms, gives knowing look, winks, mumbles ’Oh aye, deffo’.]

Shows how desperate for a signing I am, as he actually stood out for me in the World Cup as a player I wasn’t keen on.

I see Norwich have rejected a £3.5M bid for Redmond from Stoke.

Joking apart, lads, this WILL go through this week.

That’s if they are fit by then!

However last season they showed signs of becoming a more forceful unit and with Barkley getting a full season under his belt and the World cup experience one can only hope this will translate into a terrific season coming up.

Injuries are always the key and of course having quality players to fill in is so important. Everton have the defensive side in McCarthy,Gibson and Barry with Oviedo later who can do a left sided job. Offensively they have Barklay and McGeady coupled with the bench experience of maybe Pienaar and Osman.

Certainly a young, talented quick lad like Besic would be a bonus.

Perhaps try some yoga or a little meditation as well.

Just how many "crocks" did Robbie sign last season?

I can only remember Alcatraz being unfit. Kone was injured in a match, as was Traore. McCarthy was no crock, the lads he signed on loan were no crocks... so I think we ought to get things in perspective a bit here: Martinez doesn’t sign crocks.

I hope we have got this lad. As well as looking a decent player, the body language he showed makes me think we’ll have a player with a Tony Kay or Alan Ball attitude.

The way the manager has revitalised the club... the signing of Barry... the spirit that is obvious among the players... the record amount of points last season augurs well for this season. Etc etc.

In a few weeks, all will be well. Admittedly while we won’t be spending £30-40-50 million, i have complete trust in the manager to improve the team from last season.

As for the transfers, of course it’s still quite early in the window but it’s a shame to have only brought in one person for the start of pre-season training whilst having lost three. Getting in a good pre-season makes a big difference for a new player, I think, and early business would be preferable... but I guess that’s the nature of bargain hunting.

The previous season Ramadan actually overlapped with the season and he managed OK then.

Anyway, is the young lad we hope to get a Moslem? I wonder how it does affect training generally for them. Still hope we get him though, he looks a good one.

Young, large upside, relatively inexpensive.

This type of signing along with our own players coming through and excellent team chemistry is how you compete with £147 million a year sponsorship behemoths.

Make this official!

It does seem strange the lack of friendlies – but perhaps that is the way Roberto works? In his last pre-season at Wigan, they played six matches and five the season before that.

Last year’s pre-season would have already been arranged prior to Roberto taking over but I would have thought that more games would be necessary to gain match sharpness for the upcoming season.

I get the feeling listening to our esteemed leader, that he is a bit backward at coming forward with injury news though!

Ramadan hasn’t finished yet but it should not affect a player for months afterward like we heard occurred with Kone. I point out that all the Algerian and Iranian players were fasting during some part of the World Cup as were several French players (Benzema for one), Belgians like Hazard and Fellaini and Germans like Ozil and Khedira. Lot’s of Muslim players playing in the Premier League fast during Ramadan and still play high quality footy for their clubs.

I do really hope it’s a goer... But by God it’s ratlled on as a rumour.

So, if and when we do sign him, we have to trust in Bobby M. I doubt many of us had heard of Deulofeu before last summer; if it hadn’t been for his injury, I think he could have been one of our star players last season.

Come on admit it, you only post on here for a laugh.
I can just picture you pressing the submit button and smiling thinking that’ll wind the buggers up again.

I must admit you get me going sometimes, but you cant be for real, can you?
Or, it could be your a masochist who likes to get beaten over the head every time you pop your head over the parapet, which one is it?

I have to agree though, that talk of winning the league this season even though I am one our managers biggest fans as you well know, is bleeding barmy to me.

Yet some perennial naysayers here reckon that:
Known quantity, Lukaku isn't good enough to splurge £20M+ on;
Kone is a waste of £6M ('cos he got a serious injury which could have happened to ANY player) and is a Muslim who selfishly insists on observing Ramadan
Traore who picked up an injury warming up.

I'll remind us all that:
A young 'Keeper from Bury had 4 stuffed past him when he replaced the injured Jim Arnold and was absolutely bloody useless, thank god we only paid £150k for the ex Winsford Utd Welsh disaster! Subsequently referred to by Howard Kendall as his best ever signing !

Keep yer powder dry!

The reason we post on fans forums after we come home from work is ...........'Cos Roberto Martinez DOES know what he's doing and most of us (especially the whiners) just know bugger all! TBH, there are some on here who no matter what Everton were to achieve in a single season would still manage to post something miserable.

Personally, I just detest phoneys. Phoney players, phoney managers, phoney refs. Just all phoneys!

Me Dad tells me what a terrific player Tony Kay was, IDGAF, he was a phoney.

Either way he is the sort of player we need. Even if he does not displace either of Barry or McCarthy from the first team it gives us cover in a position we had no cover for last season (which cost us in the end as they ran out of gas). And of course there is the extra 300 games with the Europa league

Liverpool could easily come in with a £4.5M offer just to fuck with us.... It makes you want to rip your hair out.

All I know is it finishes nearly a fortnight earlier than last year so he should have more time to get match fit, if this was the reason he wasn’t match fit. I doubt it though.

The fact is; EVERY other team moves transfers far quicker than we do. Daily there is business being completed and some clubs have signed five and six players already. WE are unique in having regular difficulty with virtually every player we try to sign. This is no coincidence, boys!!

I’m often hungry and my knees are fine.

If it is a dispute over £150k holding up the deal then it is ludicrous in this day and age.

The biggest problem I have seen with a couple of colleagues this year and last is that they have been knackered from the early wake ups.

The fast (sawm) begins at dawn and ends at sunset. In addition to abstaining from eating and drinking, Muslims also increase restraint, such as abstaining from sexual relations and generally sinful speech and behavior. The act of fasting is said to redirect the heart away from worldly activities, its purpose being to cleanse the soul by freeing it from harmful impurities. Ramadan also teaches Muslims how to better practice self-discipline, self-control,[36] sacrifice, and empathy for those who are less fortunate; thus encouraging actions of generosity and compulsory charity.

A proper multi culture persona Eric

"The right characters need to come to the club. It is going to take until the last day of the window to finalise the squad. It is a World Cup year and things will get delayed and certain situations will be worth us waiting until the last second to see if they happen or not and that is something we are well in control of" - Roberto Martinez, 19th May.

Looks like our patience will continue to be tested until late on the 1st of September!!

If we trust him we should bear with him

Guardian today mentioned that Chelsea are likely to want to keep Lukaku as they have lost 2 strikers, leaving only Torries as a spare.

I was very keen to have Lukaku but I don’t think he will come now and realistically we would have been the last choice.
I think Roberto now needs to look elsewhere for at least 1 striker and have all in place ideally before kick off.

Too much to hope for I guess

The frustration comes from the situation he is forced into by the club’s finances and miss-management at the boardroom level. Why are we the only regular top 10 club that has too deal this way? Every bloody year!!

You and I know that while we have the current inept chairman and board, any success we have will be in spite of them,not anything they will have contributed to.

Same old , same old mate

We should have that money from previous sales and TV income but I don’t know...

Vellios to Lierse by the way http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlA-JuRXyxk, easy league to bang in some goals.

"Of course the financial details played a large part in securing the move"

So Ba agreed to sign for the Blues then we were gazumped by him ?

Better off without the standard of character shown there.

With Everton, I have always thought it a definite policy aimed at saving money on summer and early season wages. I don’t blame Roberto just as I didn’t blame Moyes. It suits BK for all his managers to be seen as ditherers, it really does!

Roll on 31 August !

The "Everton way" seems to have become even more frustrating lately.

However the good news is SKy Bet still have us as odds on favourite to get Lukaku and apparently the club have developed a fitness plan in anticipation of him coming.

At least that’s one of the potential 6 or 7. Dont know where the hell the other’s are coming from or whether Lukaku will actually happen.

Adel Taarabt 6-1
Andros Townsend 4-1
Jack Rodwell 7/4
James Milner 10-1
Theo Walcott 10-1
Victor Moses 5-1
Yeltsin Tejeda 8-1

A few wingers there, three centre-mids.

Paper talk is just that. It’s filling column inches and time and time again people on here fall for the rumours and then slag everyone from the kitman to Kenwright.

Martinez has already said things will go to the last minutes of the transfer window so why all the gnashing of teeth? Jeez! I’d hate to have some of you guys in my poker team!

You are wrong there. We have missed out on loads of transfer targets.

It’s in the Daily Star, so it must be correct.

Can you please name any of Roberto’s transfer targets we’ve missed out on? Just curious, like...

Please.
Not you as well.

An old saying.
Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit .........

Useless!!

Not having one bit of that, being an arl cynic, I’ve always believed that Kenwright buys loyalty from his managers, if he wanted a ditherer he could get one for a fraction of the cost.

Stupidity comes cheap, Complicity usually costs a little more

I’m not saying it isn’t this boards policy to buy late, but never once did Moyes complain about it and neither will Robbie

Until the club announce something this is just rumour so not sure why there is such a lot traditional BK bashing....

Unless someone really knows what is happening then I shall enjoy some of the banter and the slightly odd view of Ramadan

I do have one question though. Eric what happens if the Muslim works nights?

Or more likely, I’d fuck it off and just eat when I want... don’t they do a version of ’confession’? Most of the Arabic fellas that my Father-in-law worked with in Oman pissed it up and frequented brothols despite it being forbidden for Muslims... so a cheeky big mac when the sun’s shining is feck all!!!

I’m beginning to feel suicidal now. Think I will wait another 47 days before checking again as its always deadline day when we complete any deals.

Also Pardew at the bar-codes watched who Moyes was lining up, then jumped in before us.

Better to keep it Quiet until the deal is done.

Have faith in our Manager He didn’t do to bad last year.

Link

They also, believe it or not, quote a source saying saying the Everton shop have been told to prepare a batch of shirts with his name on it. Like Ripley’s...........

Are you really that relaxed that by 18th July, our only signing is an aging mid-fielder who was here last season, anyway?

All other top spot aspiring clubs have done business to strengthen but we look weaker than we did last term. I repeat that I don’t totally blame our man but he seems just as compliant in BK’s last-minute philosophy as was his predecessor!

The truth is history tells you transfers can take a few days but they can also weeks, that isn’t just Everton it is common place. No one knows what stage of the transfer the story came out, hopefully we will sign him but if it takes another week so what? As long as we sign the lad thats all that matters. No one at the club has made any ’48 hour’ promises so lets pick the toys up and put them back in the pram! I fully expect us to get this lad and 4 or 5 others this window, including at least 1 striker but in reality at 3 of them will come in the last week as Roberto as aluded to.

I think I'll stop checking the net for transfer news and go cold turkey for the next few days.

Glad to know our board is doing it bit to keep prices down!!

On the other hand, it looks like we might get Hernandez on loan from Man Utd. Chicharito hasn't been named in the 25-man squad which goes to the USA tomorrow. I can't wait.