Expect to see Pickford in midfield, Rooney right back and Calvert-Lewin in goal on Thursday for a new cunning tactical masterclass.

I too watched the Watford game until just before injury time and it seemed to me that their opposition played a lot of kick and run football albeit they have quite a few speed merchants.

The football on Saturday was atrocious and so were the tactics. Does Koeman know what he is doing, seriously? It's all very Moyes-esque. No cohesion, no fluidity, no penetration, and no pace. I am totally baffled.This was exactly the same as our away form last season – indescribable.

I still can't believe we let Lukaku go so early in the window without replacing him. I reckon we would be getting £120 million from Man Utd around now. There has been some really stupid business done this summer and the Romelu deal is the most annoyingly pathetic of the lot. What was the rush to let him go?

I can't see it improving this season no way. More games to play with aging first-team players like Baines, Jagielka, and Williams mixed in with youth and players not good enough – and now no goal threat!! May be it's a good idea we get knocked out of the Europa League – it is already becoming farcical. The last round was embarrassing.

Ah well... there is always the new stadium to cheer us up lads. Ha Ha – What stadium? he asks...

Most clubs are struggling to do business at this stage so I expect a late rush of signings. There is talk of Kalinic from Italy. We definitely need somebody.

I also expect Barkley, Robles, Niasse and McCarthy to go out. Possibly Barry too given he understandably wants to play and was out of the squad Saturday.

I fear for us given we have an arduous European campaign and several promising youngsters out on season-long loans. We are one serious injury away from a crisis of personnel and I don't trust the board to deliver the bodies necessary for progress. I live in hope but not expectation.

The result turned out okay but the performance was less than expected, a lot less. But on to Thursday as you say and we will start all over again. Let's hope Koeman gets the selection right, for a start, then a good lead.

His cross for the goal was excellent but he looked far more comfortable in the second half playing as an out and out forward. We have other players better suited to play the right wing back role, Kenny and Davies being two of them.

It is interesting to see Pochettino trusting one of Kenny's England Under 20 colleagues, Kyle Walker-Peters, in the Spurs team at Newcastle yesterday. He looks a decent player but I thought Kenny was better than him during the summer.

Indeed of all that Under 20 squad, Kenny seemed to be the one most ready to step up into the Premier League. We have a glaring weakness in that position and many fans would have thought now was the time at least to give him an opportunity. Plainly Ronald feels otherwise.

From an attacking point of view the performance in the first 45 minutes was as dire as anything served up under any Everton manager in the last 50 years. Defensively we look very strong but entertainment appears not to be on our manager's priority list.

In some ways it brought back memories of Billy Bingham's reign in the mid seventies. With the squad as it is currently constituted I guess Ron and the Robots will happily settle for many more 1-0 victories.

Stoke are an awkward opponent, not a pretty watch, apart from the sheer top class showing of our new number 10.

A win, clean sheet and our outstanding talisman off the mark in great style, I am very happy with that. Delighted we have Wayne back and able to make a huge difference in the pitch.

Here's to a season to savour. Come on you blues. Thanks again, Ken, and thanks again, Wayne!

The initial team selection was a reet dog's dinner, as pretty much all - including the manager! – have commented on.

Having watched the game again, I still can't determine who fulfilled what role on our defensive right in the first half. As Ken comments, Calvert-Lewin barely ventured into his own half so if he was the designated wing back, he didn't play to orders!

At times Gana seemed to fill the role. At others, when Gana or Calvert-Lewin were absent, Keane shuffled across to that flank. The whole set up had a knock-on effect and it's hardly surprising the team lacked any sort of coherence.

The goal was a thing of beauty and the one shining beacon in a largely turgid affair. It actually starts a lot earlier than Ken describes, deep in our defence on the left when Jags wins a header from a Stoke throw-in. Seven players were then involved in the resultant Rooney goal.

Marked improvement in the second half with a better balanced set up, but not a game that will live long in the memory, other than the goal.

They are a work in progress and have the depth at the moment to be a competitive outfit but are crying out for that extra playmaker to help Rooney.

It is good to hear Seamus is back to light training as he has been a great extra attacker for the Blues over the last few years and is missed. However, we may not see him for a few months.

Sandro has some nice touches, is lacking speed but will do a good job after slowly settling in. Big Ron is doing it his way although many of us still question what way that is with some of his strategies.

We will know better in just over a weeks time how good or bad we'll fare this season.

Hajduk Split will be no pushovers especially over there so we will need all guns blazing on Thursday and cannot afford a poor team selection to lose 45 minutes opportunity.

Likewise with Man City, we need to show we deserve to be on the same level and take the game to them.

Like Marshy, I am concerned that we have known Lukaku was going for the last 6 months and have done nothing about a top class replacement except sit on our asses waiting for Giroud to decide to stay at Arsenal.

Why weren't we sniffing around Lacazette or even offering £60m for Vardy instead of which we are now being linked with an injury prone Welbeck and a Premier League flop in Kalinic. We should be looking to improve on players we sell not getting poorer quality.

It seems like we're back to the bad old days of Bill's sofa – unlike the start of the window, when we went out with real intent and got Keane and Pickford.

Of course we've known Lukaku has been leaving for months. The fact is that there aren't that many proven 20+ goalscorers around. We're not likely to be first preference for them, so we have to wait till close to deadline day while they weigh up their options.

In the meantime, we take a cheap gamble on Sandro. I'm guessing we'll be taking another gamble and I'm expecting to see it at the end of the window.

Over to you, Lyndon/Michael. Can you oil the wheels.

1. Rooney has still 'got it'.
2. Calvert-Lewin is an old-fashioned centre-forward.
3. Pickford is the best keeper since Lev Yashin [who?!]
4. Martina isn't all that bad.
5. Schneiderlin should be told that a football pitch has 2 halves, and you're welcome to set foot in both.
6. Keane will be worth £75m, by May 2018.

It is looking more and more likely that we needed the money to spend. That said I still think we have done some good business but it is not the investment we hoped for.

I know not all of us were welcoming Rooney back with open arms, but just imagine yesterday's game without him.

*shudders*

With all the money spent since last season and this, I don't believe Everton have got value for money when Stoke have spent very little yet sold their best player for 20 odd million to West Ham but are at the same level as Everton.

62% possession.

Not a great game to watch but to put Stoke on our level is stretching the imagination a bit.

It won't really be till another 6 months or so that we can tell which teams are on the same level and I expect Stoke to be several points and places behind us by then. But time will tell.