Coleman's preparations disrupted by hamstring injury

A "tweak" sounds like a Grade 1 strain. If so, he may only have to rest it for a week or two. Hopefully itÂ’s not worse.

IÂ’m assuming Stones would start at right back if Coleman is out. Not sure where Hibbo sits on the depth chart.

Stones looked awful there last season before moving inside and blossoming

Then re read it and managed to calm down again - still not great but a lot better than I originally (incorrectly) thought!

Get well soon Seamus - more respobsibilty on KM down the right to produce something. Hibbo might actually get a game!

This is a warning signal for us though. As positive and realistic as I am about the upcoming campaigns, we really all need to factor in having less than a full squad to select from, because that just never happens.

Seamus was a great performer last season so letÂ’s hope that he takes his time and returns free from repeat injury.

Too tough.....or too soft?

Look on the bright side Phil, if we really get stuck, we can always negotiate with Wigan, to see if they have any more Â’ gems Â’ ! Simples :-)

We notice the absent players more because we have a small squad and an even smaller pool of first-team players and because we are Blues we notice it more because we are interested in all things Everton.

I have no idea how many players of other Premier League teams will miss the start of the season but there are bound to be a few. I donÂ’t know whether you believe most of what you write Phil or just like to see a reaction but on the whole that old maxim - if you canÂ’t say anything good say nothing at all is probably a useful one to bear in mind.

WasnÂ’t this window supposed to see the end of that excuse?

What about all these young stars just queuing up to be selected?

Yes, it would be easy to say Â’its only pre-seasonÂ’, but anybody who hasnÂ’t recognised Van GaalÂ’s Â’win every gameÂ’ mentality would in my opinion be a bit foolish. Anybody who has played football at any level, knows that you go and have a look at the results of your opposition before you play them, whether it be friendly or whatever. And I am quite sure that before a ball is even kicked in anger, Leicester will be feeling a lot more comfortable than Swansea going into their first match.

Ultimately all that matters is what happens on that first day, but going into the game full of confidence in your own level and those around you cannot be a bad thing. Lets hope we can step it up during the next two games and give ourselves a confidence boost, and the Leicester players something to think about. I think having Lukaku leading the line will be a good boost just by itself.

The young stars if they come through will be a bonus and we canÂ’t rely on them over long stretches of the season. Perhaps Roberto is more careful with soft-tissue injuries than some other managers due to his knowledge of those type of injuries from his physiotherapy training or perhaps he knows he canÂ’t play fast and loose with important members of the first-team squad.

I am not as bullish about the coming season as I ought to be, more due to our lack of dynamism in attack not because I believe that Roberto has the wrong training methods in force or because he has taken his eye off the ball.

If the buying has come to an end for this window I also believe that the board has failed another manager as the drip payment terms for Lukaku doesnÂ’t really represent the necessary investment that an Everton FC manager requires to take the club to where it wants to be.

Anyway whatever the starting 11 in a couple of weeks time we shall see and by the close of the transfer window we will have a better idea of what sort of season we may be in for.

I just hope that we put a few points on the board early doors because I wonÂ’t be able to visit TW as regularly, if we donÂ’t, mostly due to the few who will fill the boards with total negativity at the first sign of problems and who forget that we are still a club that finds it difficult to provide Â’realÂ’ money for the manager.

I guess the training staff will be more aware than us and checking to see if there is any correlation....

And with regards to pre-season, whilst it doesn’t count for any points I tend to lean towards agreement with Dan (25).... we haven’t won a pre-season game yet, and it is not only about fitness, there is the mental approach too... so far we don’t seem to anything close to ready, either physically or mentally... hope we can pick it up soon.

...and no, this is not panicking, looking forward to seeing if we can maintain at least the level of last season and even go one better.

Will LeicesterÂ’s right back be quaking in his boots with the prospect of Tony Hibbert? Suppose having the defensive side covered is a plus but not what we want in our opening game.

OK , so I do seem to see the negative side of things but how the hell is a team - and its supporters - supposed to get into positive mode with such a dysfunctional preparation. For crissake, some of our players haven’t got back to action until this week .....I bloody ask you !

Please don’t hammer me with all the ’you hate Bobby’ shite because I don’t. I just think he’s acting too half soaked for his - and our - good !

Not the greatest news but not the end of the world either - our team should still (hopefully) be good enough to get a result against Leicester. Hibbo can cover and we need to stop overly relying on Seamus and Bainsey on the attacking front - the AMs need to step up.

As for being under prepared in pre season, we still have a couple of friendlies and a week and half before the big KO.

Lets bash preseason once we’ve played the first couple of games....

I have not seen much promise from any of our youngsters apart from Garbutt.

Is it ’make sure you don’t get injured, but get plenty of sprinting / running in.’ With such a small squad, maybe they are under instruction to keep away from serious challenges, running too hard etc.

As a qualified physio, you would have thought Bobby knows more than most regarding pre-season conditioning. We’ll soon see if this relatively relaxed approach pays off.

Got to agree, we haven’t looked as sharp as you would like, but as stated above, they may be under instruction to take it easy at this point.

but it has to be said that our pre season so far, has been shambolic. its been embarressing watching us cobble together a handful of Matches at the last minute.

If Roberto has his boys ready, everyone will slap him on the back. . . .But if we blow our CL hopes in the first few games because the team isn’t ready, there will be hell to pay.

Thems the stakes when you manage at the top

The Regulations allow us 25. How many players do you want the Club to sign before we have a full roster ?

If we look out of shape and we’re not sharp in our first few matches you can criticise the manager by saying our pre-season was insufficient.

On the other hand, Martinez could be calculating that to give the World Cup guys a few extra weeks and taking it relatively easy at this time, might earn us points in April and May when everyone else is flagging after playing so much football in the last 18 months without a rest.

I bet half the people moaning about our pre-season here were moaning last week that we didn’t have a striker, wouldn’t be getting a striker and were being out-spent by [insert name of shit team].... again.

Martinez hasn’t let us down yet, so let’s have a bit of faith.

I’m convinced that we’re undercooked in the second category. Sorry, but the likes of Man Utd, Liverpool, City, Arsenal will hit the deck running. I sincerely hope we do too.

Why have we let some of our top players come back so late, Chelsea’s, Utd’s, Liverpool’s all returned early and have ready got 4-5 games under their belt , our top lads 2 at most . Roberto might be right and the rest wrong but I feel distinctly underwhelmed this pre-season.

less than a fortnight to go. Is that enough time ? I donÂ’t know. the game is played at such break neck pace these days

Perhaps somebody who has studied or works in this field can give us the benefit of his / her experince

ItÂ’s not just Roberto who says whether a player is ok itÂ’s the whole back room medical team. They will know the condition all our player are in. Have faith brother and fuck the rs and the Man U"s of this world. Even monster head at Man U wonÂ’t risk van persie for the first few games so why shud we be different. HeÂ’s looking at the big picture to have van persie fit for most of the season after the World Cup.

Roberto also said he may do a behind closed doors match to help get players match fit. Trust him and his medical team, for GodÂ’s sake.

Those of us who express concerns should not be dismissed as moaners because we voice our fears. TW is a discussion board, after all.

Roberto will know how to prepare a football team better than the negative posting doubters on here.

Wait until the season is started before passing judgements on his methods.

The spirit of Dodd lives on – another manager beyond any comment or criticism.

Be specific, please.

Does anybody seriously believe Martinez himself wouldnt have been a little concerned at how far ahead of us Porto are right now

Maybe not, heÂ’s only back for a little over a fortnight himself, Maybe heÂ’s trying to ensure that nobody leaves their best work in the gym

I think weÂ’re over-analysing our pre-season performances to be honest. You would obviously want us to win all our pre-season games convincingly given the choice, but I doubt the players or the manager will be thinking about any of these games come the 16th.

Whilst I like Roberto, I do think itÂ’s a little too soon for that sort of treatment and would have preferred a collage of Everton greats past and present rather than a single person representing the club albeit an amiable and knowledgeable person.

God help Martinez, when he does get things glaringly wrong.

It might sound picky highlighting this, but at the end of the day we just want whats best for the team. Nobody is saying that the manager does not, but as fans we have the right to question things about how our club is managed. We have a really tough set of fixtures all the way up to Christmas, so a good start is going to be critical in putting a challenge in for a CL place. Roberto has spent more than 㿞 million since taking over, without having to sell a single player that he did not see as part of his future plans so we should be optimistic and have high expectations.

Better weÂ’re ready for the start of the season, rather than "look" ready during practice games. Players, especially a veteran crew as our lads, donÂ’t give a shit about pre-season "games". They save it for when the bell rings.

Coleman and Garbutt healed and no other injuries. THATÂ’S a successful pre-season.

If we could guarantee that return, I would take it now.

Am more worried that Colemans injury doesnÂ’t get bad as opposed to whether our players will be ready for the 16th. TheyÂ’ll be just as ready as LeicestersÂ’ players.

Some bollox spoken on here.

IÂ’ve been taking a sneaky look at Man UtdÂ’s teamsheets in their recent friendlies, mainly to see who LVG fancies and who he doesnÂ’t. In all of their matches, theyÂ’ve replaced most of their team at half time. Yeah, sure, itÂ’s partly so he can have a look at everyone, but itÂ’s also because none of them are fit enough for the full 90.

I will go with KevÂ’s prediction of 5-7 points for the first three games. This will be the kind of start needed if we are to really be challenging top 4 by Xmas. If we get off to a bad start, I donÂ’t see any run of games that I would consider Â’ more easyÂ’ until January. But I guess this is just typical Evertonian pre-season nerves kicking in......

(wakes up)

Listening to coach Dennis Lawrence during the Austrian stint, it would seem that everything is being monitored carefully and scientifically with gradual increases in workload aimed at producing a fullyfit squad when the season commences. Rather like a top trainer getting his colt ready to run for his life in the Derby. Sharpness will be honed at Finch Farm and eleven supremely fit athletes will stride onto the pitch at Leicester.

IÂ’m far from being an expert in this particular area but, according to all the interviews, that is the plan.

Just be firing on all cylinders come Sept 27. ItÂ’s my birthday and IÂ’ve already let the lads know that if they get me 3 points across the park, they donÂ’t have to get me anything else.

Hell! That would be a birthday for the ages.

IÂ’m with James Flynn. forget the excuses before a ball has been kicked, 9 from our first 3 is very doable.

Leicester are exactly the sort of team we need to be beating if we are serious about next season.

I agree with all you say there mate, but without sounding too pessimistic, the pre-season has not exactly inspired any confidence thus far ! Before anyone jumps on me, positive displays and results do affect the mentality aspect. It has to !

The other factor to take into consideration, is that most sides take a few games to get into gear, especially those who have made wholesale changes to their side during the summer transfer window, or indeed brought a new manager in. ( different style of play etc.)

This is something we should try to guard against, last season we had three games which on paper Â’ looked like three pointers Â’ largely due to not having our team fully assembled, and having a reliable frontman, result six points lost.

We have the armoury now(though could do with a bit more) so we must guard against complacency, there are no easy games in the Prem. whoÂ’d have thought Crystal Palace would beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (last season)

It is exactly teams like these, who will take the points off us if we donÂ’t approach them with respect. Thankfully these teams will also surprise our rivals too, letÂ’s hope they do !

Crystal Palace didnÂ’t beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last year. I guess you are thinking of Sunderland.

Sure, part of the preparation is mental and a string of defeats is not ideal from that point of view. But I donÂ’t think Martinez will be debriefing players from a results perspective, bloody hope not anyway.

An examination of Prem stats since we last achieved 4th place shows that on average the final Champions League place goes to a club who manages a record of W21 L8 F68 A37.

Now when you see that in 2013-14 Everton managed W21 L8 F61 A37, it becomes clear as how very much Â’there or thereaboutsÂ’ we were and that in all probability only a marginal improvement will be needed to see Bobby deliver us to the promised land.

Now who says IÂ’m a negative force on here?

Now surely nobody would ever think that of you, Phil.

Statistics are all very well and good but tend to be retrospective (by nature of the subject) and can be no more than a speculative punt on forthcoming fixtures.

I do hope however that this season we can, ruthlessly, relentlessly, rigorously rodger the Redshite on no fewer than two occasions, more if we get drawn in a Cup!

Now that would be a statistic!!!

I really believe that the RS will struggle this season without Ratboy and trying to gel so many new faces. I predict theyÂ’ll not make the top 4 this season.

As for Man Utd, they really under-performed last year but I expect a big improvement this year and they also donÂ’t have Europe to worry about. Then again, they also have a new manager and a few new faces to integrate, nevermind a completely new defence to sort out.

If both these clubs get off to a wobbly start (and we donÂ’t) then weÂ’ve got a sniff. I cannot see any way in which weÂ’ll finish above Man City or Chelsea and Arsenal will be better than last year having added Sanchez and with Ramsey and Walcott back. (I am not too worried about Spurs although Eriksen and Lamella will be better and they have a really good manager now.)

Assuming no major injuries and a couple of decent additions before the end of the window and a massive amount of luck – I don’t think 3rd is an impossible target. Looking at the fixtures, I firmly believe that the first 5 are winnable; if we manage to beat both Arsenal and Chelsea at home in August, that would put down a massive marker for the season. I would be disappointed with less than 10 points from the first 5 games tbh.

(IÂ’ll get me coat.....)

As long as we can keep that two points per game average up, we should be right in the mix. Even Sky & Shoutsport have begrudgingly admitted there is now a Â’top 7Â’ in the Premier League. There is no way all 7 teams will perform as expected, so letÂ’s hope we can take advantage. I personally think the shite will buckle under high expectations and Champions League football. Spurs will fail to deliver and Arsenal always have a wobble. Man Utd are in another Â’transitionÂ’ season, so that only leaves Chelsea and Man City as nailed on for the top spots in my view.

Matchday forums will play host to the majority of these battlegrounds as live games dictate emotive outpourings, heated debate and borderline slanderous accusations and assertions! I particularly enjoy some of the more trivial spats, for example, when the likes of Entwhistle take serious umbridge to the audacity of Ferry for spelling his surname wrong on purpose.... I love it when a small disagreement escalates to ridiculous proportions and ends up in the school playground! God bless ToffeeWeb.

Tony Marsh is another we miss badly. Nothing Moyes did or said received his approval and criticism of his anti-hero seems to have been TonyÂ’s reason for living.

Who remembers Richard Noble? Now you can call me a miserable bastard but Nobby was different class. His pet hate was Bill Kenwright although Moyes and Wyness followed close behind.

I do hope Â’they are all still with usÂ’, their contributions are sadly missed... if only because they often got up my nose!

COD - "Pedant - excessively concerned with minor details".

Â’Getting off at Edge HillÂ’ is probably my favourite Liverpool slang. A couple of weeks back I was returning to sunny Kent after a visit to my home town and I found myself giggling happily as the Lime Street to Euston train went through Edge Hill station. I drew some funny looks, I can tell you.

I actually... and unbelievably... kind of miss the mad musings of Martin Mason, the man whose only means of proving a point was...erm... proudly proclaiming himself Â’AN ENGINEERÂ’... like it was the most impressive superpower since some shortarse with massive sideburns got an adamantium skeleton and razor sharp claws.

Maybe he meant Â’an EngineerÂ’ like in Prometheus? Judging by some of the stuff he used to come out with, he was definitely a fucking Â’space jockeyÂ’.

"I found myself giggling happily as the Lime Street to Euston train went through Edge Hill station. I drew some funny looks, I can tell you."

Were you fully and respectably attired?

No laughing when you get to Edge Hill – the whole point is to be able to control yerself!

Brent - now youÂ’ve confused me all over again!

I canÂ’t see any way of predicting our final placing at this point. To repeat myself: weÂ’ll be strutting our funky stuff in the 4th to 8th zone. IÂ’ve tried to narrow it down a bit more, but the tea leaves are shrouded in mist... Peering intently, I thought I saw the shape of a cup somewhere in there, but it might have just been the, er... well, you know, the tea cup, like.

Can anyone tell me whatÂ’s the point in that? Also, where the hell is Traore? apparently we kept him all second half of the season because we were getting him this season thrown in! If he does arrive 1 September 14, then he wonÂ’t have trained with his team mates when they needed him most.

Do any of the Â’glass ceilingÂ’ teams run their club this badly?

That almost explains it then.

Tous pour un, un pour tous! – All for one, one for all !

You canÂ’t beat a swashbuckling Evertonian, let alone a ToffeeWeber! Still canÂ’t figure how you drew some funny looks though!

2nd Team: Robles; Hibbert, Oviedo, Stones, Alcaraz; Gibson, Besic; Osman, McGready, Naismith; Kone.

Subs: Garbutt, Duffy, Stanek...

Obviously many of the second team are either unfit or likely to miss many games due to injury – but it indicates that we do need another couple of players before the 16th August.

By that, I assume you meant he Â’cameÂ’ early, ie. the match wasnÂ’t till the day after!

Shane #117

I donÂ’t know about you, but I would certainly welcome him with open arms, it wasnÂ’t that long ago, that they were talking 㾶M+ for the same player, he has always impressed me when I have sen him in the past, plus he can play in any of the defensive positions as far as I know.

The other minor bonus would be that he wouldnÂ’t have to move domestically, with his family etc. Not too keen that the RS are in the running too, letÂ’s just hoe there is some mileage in this one.

He could even be used in goal if Tim was unavailable, although that is not his position, heÂ’d be better than El Teflon! (Robles)

Sam, he was far from "spot on most of the time" but some points had merit but were lost in the tirade of mad ramblings and swear words.

I would prefer Stones instead of Hibbo especially as he has more height to aid Jags when free kicks and corners come in.

Hopefully Seamus is back soon but he shouldn’t be rushed with this kind of injury.

Tony J; Doddy and Marshy, we won't get them back as a regular feature as their main raison (deliberate) d'etre – OFM / TGT – has gone. Doody has no need to defend him and Marshy has no need to berate him.

I didn't think Marshy was a nutter (as I agreed with him) but jeez Doddy was seriously pollyanna about Moyes and Bill, but good enough fun for all that.

Maybe with the rug pulled out from under them, they feel their quest is over, I do feel them lurking though...waiting... As for Mr Mason, I fear he's been sine died.

Now then, where's that Cardinal Richelieu? I'll have his guts for garters...

Kevin Tully is desperate to get in touch with him to invite him to join him in the Alex Young Suite next season. Can anyone shed any light on why he has not posted for ages?

Bring back Tony Marsh!

Anyway, itÂ’s probably a few fellas with too much cash looking for an available right back to cover Coleman that has seen the price slashed.

Doddy I am still convinced is some kind of social experiment.

Sam #128, I'm convinced that Phil Walling is really Doddy and it's his sick way of getting us all back for all those years of complaining about his constant sycophancy.

Finishing before anything has really begun and deliberately 'alighting' before the end of the line are not really the same thing.

On the subject of the football, whilst you cannot easily replicate the full 'blood and thunder' of a competitive game Roberto's training methods are supposed to maximise the players confidence on the ball. I have been more concerned with the reports of our apparent wastefulness of possession and lack of quick, slick passing - which I had hoped the players would have been better prepared for than 12 months ago - than any signs of less than perfect physical fitness.

To break defences down and get the good start we want we are going to have to be much sharper and more incisive when in possession.

I note your comments, which were intrinsically directed at Brent, following his comments regarding a certain Liverpool Railway Station, which in turn were initiated by our mate Kev Johnson.

So before we descend into, in the famous words of one of my fellow Scots, namely : Walter Scott " Oh what a tangled web we weave, when we first practice to deceive " if I can, without, complicating the issue, but at the same time referring to it.

Suggest that we get Vinny Garstrokes involved !

Doddy once bollocked me over a post saying Moyes played 'Zombie Football' in which he removed the players' free will even down to screaming which player a throw-in should go to. I found Doddy to be humorless and pretentious with constant reminiscences of 'The Freshy'. He seemed more of a Moyes fan than an Everton fan.

Although some of the old hands may have not posted for a while, this site has had some cracking contributions over the last 18 months and some of the live forum banter has been hilarious.

He talks like that because he talks like that. No phoniness in him at all. Unlike others (including our former centre forward) who take elocution lessons. I know which version I prefer.

So, it's all very well and good saying our pre-season has not been up to the standards of other teams, and that we're not breeding a winning mentality, but what exactly do people expect Martinez to do? There doesn't seem to be a lot of meat on the bones of the complaints other than "it's shit" and "the team aren't prepared".

So, do you think he should've brought back our World Cup players earlier? Maybe not waited to buy Rom and got 2 or 3 "okay" players instead a few weeks earlier to provide numbers that he could use in pre-season? Something else maybe?

The teams we're fighting against have a ton more money than we do to buy a first class first team. Their squads are deeper and they have vast benches of players who have to be loaned out each year just to get some football. I'm sure Man City, Utd or RS aren't short of a right back, or a striker, even if their first and second choices were out for some reason.

On the flip side, against Porto, we had Tyias Browning playing out of position at left back, and brought on 3 not very good u21 attackers towards the end. At right back we also had the aging hibbert who is barely adequate on the pitch, and Besic playing his very first game for the club.

Of course to top it all, Martinez was changing the formation around, perhaps trying one or two tactical things, and rotating the team on the pitch so everyone got some game time and players got rested before they got injured. So do we keep our better players on the pitch risking injury just to get a better team performance? Perhaps Martinez should use the actual League games to experiment with different tactics?

When you take our World Cup players out of the squad, add in a few key players recovering from injury, we don't actually have much depth or quality and the performance is therefore necessarily poor.

We were always going to struggle against quality opposition like Porto who've won the Portuguese league 7 times in the last 10 years and are a constant in the Champions League. Quite why people are surprised we struggled baffles me.

I spent my first 18 years in Liverpool so I am not unfamiliar with the lingo. However it is a conscious effort of will trying to extract any nuggets of information or insights from the man, in the midst of the incoherence.

You have to listen really closely, and when you finally understand something you realise that you have heard whoopee cushions making more sense.

I like the Carragher v Neville slots on Sky. I am not looking for them to educate me; I can use my eyes for that.

I could name all of the people I've had run ins with, and believe me, it is an incredibly long list, but this is what makes our site great. The contrasting opinions and arguments on one single thread. Fantastic stuff.

I remember Paul Ferry describing one particular row between me and Nick Entwistle last season as being similar to Scargill v Thatcher.

Doddy, if you do read this, please come back mate. And you too Marshy. As much as this site is great, debates aren't quite the same without your presence.