Mourinho mocks Martinez amid tug of war over Stones

This latest mockery of our club is only making him look more of the spoilt prick most of us already know he is.
Don't sell Bill - please.

25 years ago your Johnny Come Lately Russian Husky club were playing at a dive of a stadium with a greyhound track circling the pitch, you had shit players, shit managers, no history and even now, you have to laugh when you hear Chelsea or Man City labelled as big clubs in Europe, neither of these two are even in the same stratosphere as the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.

Money doesn't make you a big club.
Nor does having the most pathetic plastic "yob snob" fans.

This article contains all the quotes from the above, not The Guardian link.

Many would say he's right.

You are right, market is open and market demands 𧴜M from phenomenal managers like you. It's open for a few more weeks. I've instructed our manager Bill to keep an eye by the fax machine.

Your's truly,
Roberto.

Therein lies the issue, bar Baines, our board doesn't have the best record for withstanding the attentions of other teams on our key players.

If this does go badly & Stones goes, if it isn't for a substantial amount then I think it could backfire on the club. That or he goes at the end of the window, with no time to get any replacements.

I hate to say it, but we need look no further than Castle Greyskull and the way they dealt with Raheem, as to how we should negotiate with Chelski.

NO means NO Jose, stop taking the Bill Cosby dating approach to transfers.

A very misleading headline! as there are no quotes from John Stones himself saying this in the article at all...

All made up by Simon Johnson 'Football Correspondent in New York'

Apprently according to the Correspondant in New York,
the 21 year old is excited at the prospect of playing in the Champions League...
Stones will not try to force a move and is unlikely to hand in a transfer request but is hopeful the two clubs will reach an agreement...
Everton value him at £32 million...
Chelsea are prepered to send a player on loan to Everton to tempt them to do a deal...
Chelsea are prepared to treble his wages of £30 grand a week...

Everton and John Stones need to put a stop to this now. They both need to say he isn't going anywhere for any amount of money and if Chelsea persist in their pursuit of Stones that they will report them to the FA for illegally tapping up a player.

Otherwise It's going to be Joleon Lescott all over again.

I may not be Roberto's biggest fan, but he IS the manager of Everton FC and does not deserve to be publicly belittled by Mourinho in thus way. We should now tell them in no uncertain terms that Stones in not available to them, at any price, nor do we wish to do any business with the in the foreseeable future, as long as loud mouth Mourinho is in charge.

I will say this for Roberto Martinez, the man has charm and manners and would never stoop to such tactics and the board of Everton FC should now close ranks behind him and tell Chelsea to stuff their offers for Stones where the sun don't shine.

Nothing has angered me so much for a long time in the football world as this behaviour of Jose (The Mouth) Mourinho. Hopefully the backlash to his personal attack on Roberto will serve as the death knell to any move to his club, as we would look proper idiots if we just sit back and allow him to get away with this.

Come on John Stones, too. Let's hear you publicly back up what you say last week, that you're happy at Everton and want to stay and go on developing under the tutelage of Phil Jagielka.

My blood pressure is seriously rising at this blatant attack on Roberto's integrity. Integrity... something sadly lacking in Mourinho's personality. Chelsea should also sanction him for his public attack on another manager, not that they will, of course.

We are basically now the 'smaller other club' that he refers to. Obviously I can blame the board etc but I think also to blame are the fans who have essentially allowed this board to oversee our decline into irrelevance.

It's the people who staunchly defend this board with the mentality of staying put in the risk of becoming 'another Leeds' instead of willing a change of ownership.

My apologies Lyndon if this is off topic but we are now an irrelevance in modern football. Mourinho is absolutely spot on. And we can say how Chelsea have bought trophies and all that and they have no history which is correct to a certain extent, but look at the success they've had in the last decade compared to us.

10 years ago, Chelsea won their first PL title, their first for over 50 years. We finished 4th. Since then they have won everything there is to win. What have we done? Bottle a semi final and reach 1 Cup final. Well done us...

Yes, they 'bought' their success and do bend the rules which makes them hated, but they're successful. We have a reputation as a club that 'does things the right way', the nation's '2nd favourite team' if you like. We have nothing.

I feel we care too much about how we're perceived and how we want to do things 'the right way', rather than go for victory and success at all costs, whatever people may say.

Mourinho is right about us being'a smaller club'. We are. That's just where we are in the modern football food chain.

This saga will roll on. Let's just end it now shall we?

But we have a huge opportunity to refuse Chelsea and any other club who bid for any of our young stars and we can build for the future with these lads as the nucleus to a big future.

Unfortunately I think this will end up a pipe dream and Stonesy will be sold within the next 7-10 days.

The board will not hold strong in my opinion and too many greedy board members will want there hand out.

Really don't see why some on here are getting so het up about a situation that you have no control over. If he is sold, they pay the price, if he stays it won't be for long if the young man keeps on progressing.

If I had more faith that we had compelling new recruits along with 2 new center backs on which to spend the money (of course, assuming that the selling clubs wouldn't bleed us for every cent knowing we've got cash burning a hole in our pockets), I'd say this could end up being a great piece of business. But I don't have that faith, and so especially given Stones' contract situation I'd say that barring a bad injury there is absolutely nothing to lose by standing firm for another year.

Stones seems to understand from his statement and general attitude that the money will still be there a year from now, but he has a guaranteed first team place at Everton where he can grow and show what he's made of (and still make perfectly good money). Staying at least for the season makes good sense for both club and player, even if the bids continue to escalate.

These days BIG has nothing to do with history, pedigree or fan base. As used in the Sky TV vernacular it simply means "big commercial presence." As such, we are not a big club when compared with Chelsea in part because of the much maligned Kitbag deal. It sucks but that's what Mourinho, FSW etc mean when they make these disparaging remarks. Commercially, we're small fry.

It can go 2 ways...our stance is either a real 'No Sale'.

Or it's to ramp up the price. In that case Jose isn't making him any cheaper.

If it is a ramp up, we must / should have a figure we won't go below and they will have a figure they won't go above. If we must sell Bill, make them go all in at 50+Mill., no add ons. No, we'll knock some off for Lukaku.

Harsh? not too harsh Jose, as you say "The market is, where it is."

Sure, according to The Guardian, Stones is keen on the move, but who wouldn't be, tripling your wages and playing in the Champions League is a no-brainer. But I suspect, if Stones doesn't get his move, he wouldn't make such a fuss about it, and go about his business professionally.

We have to accept that football is a dog-eat-dog world. No professional club has a right to live in its own oasis in peaceful surroundings; sharks will always come sniffing around. Even Bayern Munich have to contend with players wanting to leave. Money always talks, folks. All we can ever do is negotiate.

Seriously. They make their bid and we simply give zero answer, and thus zero credibility. They can keep making noises, keep paying journalists to make up stories etc.

In the meanwhile, we ignore them. Do our business and prepare for the season.

If a journalist asks anyone, have a club order players and co to say 'what are you talking about?'

Mourinho is essentially a troll. The best way to deal with trolls is not give them attention.

It's obvious and I know they were only pre-season friendlies, fitness excercises etc but even at this early stage against Premier League opposition we are screaming out for a creative midfielder and a striker to play alongside Lukaku.

He's been doing this for years. Managers have been doing this for years. It's nothing new, it's just highlighted more these days due to the mass media hysteria being so much more 'in your face'.

Players have been tapped up and 'unsettled' by opposition clubs since the day transfers came into being. In a way I applaud him for his attitude - he reminds me of Brian Clough in the way he creates an 'us against them' mentality at his clubs.

Big club/small club, really? Who gives a shit? My Dad's bigger than your Dad.

Everton are not one of the bigger clubs in World football anymore, and that's a fact. So what? The waiter said it as well, and are they right? Yes, they are right. Chelsea are a World name with pots of money, Everton are not = they're a big club by today's standards and we're not. Move on. Do you think that people who are passionate about say, Scunthorpe Utd give a shit about being viewed as a big club? Are they any less passionate about the team they love & support?

Big club, my arse. I support Everton because I love Everton, not because they're the biggest and best club out there. Real supporters don't follow their club for glory, they follow them for the love of it. Nothing more. With this in mind, Mourinho's comments mean nothing.

I'd also like to point out that the Lukaku deal probably has certain legal aspects to it which mean any other deal can have no dependency on it at all. And the deal is highly likely to not be able to be changed or interfered with by either party at any point in the future. This is real life, not a computer game.

On the Stones issue, I would suggest (again) that selling him at any price at this point would be footballing suicide. We need one more centre half as it is, so selling him would leave us with one first-team centre-half at the club on the eve of a Premier League season – if there are any sane minds in our boardroom, they will block this transfer at all costs because the money means nothing if you're not in the top division any more, and without a pair of settled, recognised centre-backs, you're screwed.

We need to be buying someone to back up Stones & Jagielka, not losing one of them. This is glaringly obvious but ignored by the massive media smokescreen when they talk about this transfer. John Stones is an integral part of our team that we cannot afford to lose, and have no financial reason to sell. On this basis alone, I have a feeling we won't sell him. Not this summer anyway....

We cash in or we keep Stones, but don't let's get all moral about it.

"At the moment we don't want players. It's simple," he said.

Link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33617716

None of this should be a surprise to anyone, nor should we get all moral about it (as Rick says) because Everton act in a similar way to clubs lower down the scale.

It's all part & parcel of the beast called football.

(I would be gutted if we sold Stones by the way.)

We used to be a great flea, now we're a lesser flea, and if Kenwright continues we'll soon be a smaller flea.

He also needs to understand that if Man City decide that they are going to bid then, because their dad is bigger than Chelsea's dad, Chelsea as the smaller club will need to stand aside.

I would ask the board to conduct themselves with dignity and not get involved with this little chap.

Mourinho has every right to bid for our players. It's the way he's gone about it that's out of order.

Very good comments, which I agree wholeheartedly.

Pre-1992, we were a big club by any standard. In this brave new Sky-induced feeding frenzy, we are but shark fodder.

Arrogant as he is, the Premier League is a more colourful place for his tomfoolery.

I disagree with the view that we should get into a public slinging match with him as we know who will come out top. A wall of stony silence would be the perfect answer to his ranting and raving. In other words, just ignore him.

If we really were a big club, we'd stop all this moral high ground nonsense and come out on the front foot saying 'This is the price, pay up or shut up', or 'Not for sale at any price'. Other than that, say nothing.

We may well be disadvantaged as far as money is concerned but we are not a small club and if we allow ourselves to be labelled as such then that is what we will become. Mind you, the current owners could show a little more ambition to stop this steady road to Sheffield Wednesday and Wolves territory.

It's like the RS and their cringeworthy gloating about being 'the best club in the world' or having 'the best fans in the world'. Do me a favour. It's a joke.

We're no different to anyone else, we're just blinded by blue-tinted specs all the time.

I live & breath Everton every day of my life, like the rest of you, but when all is said & done, so does the supporter of every other club on the planet. There's not really any difference other than our own self-created, self-perpetuated romantic notion of our football club.

How dare they put in a bid and try to buy one of our best players... DON'T THEY KNOW WHO WE ARE!?!?

Time for our scouts to review the entire Chelsea squad and see which young exciting players are there they will likely never use and add these to the deal. If Stones ends up going, then lets at least get a player or two as well as the cash. Note to scouts - please do NOT sign Victor Moses!

Main issue now is that this may turn into another Lescott saga which runs all the way to the end of August and so messing up the first 3 games of the season as everyone's distracted – no less the player himself. The board should come out now and state a firm "not for sale" or name a number.

Stones must be thinking of the riches and glory of playing for Jose, who wouldn't? We need to make it clear that a bright future lies within EFC, and investment in 2 quality players would signal that.

If we sell, I doubt that Roberto would see much of the cash, and with Chelsea being clever operators, it would probably happen too late for us to get anyone decent in. All the aces are in Jose's hand, and the pressure is on Martinez and our board. Perhaps Roberto thinks it is best not to get any further into Jose's mind games, and silence is the best antidote.
Mourinho is a spoil brat, and will no doubt get louder and louder if it seems he won't get his man. Ignoring this bully is probably a good tactic, but I would rather we just told him that they couldn't afford him.

What's wrong with that?

Martinez is pissed off because he doesn't want to lose Stones any more than we do; that doesn't mean Mourinho has done anything that's against the rules. It's not a gentleman's game of cricket we're playing here!

Firstly, Everton informed Chelsea by letter before their bid that John Stones was not for sale. It doesn't matter that Chelsea in the form of Mourinho wish to publicly say "But they didn't say this or that, so we can do what we like". They know the position.

Secondly, there has been no subsequent bid and consequently Everton have nothing new to decline or discuss. They know the position.

If Chelsea were to make another increased bid, then Everton would do very well to simply reissue the original letter. Just so that they know the position.

Finally, when Mourinho first arrived at Chelsea he was all smiles, funny remarks and not a target because he was new. By the January that season, he was frequently scowling, offhand and petulant. Then he left. So then, last season he returned and exactly the same pattern emerged. How long before he blows again?

John Stones is potentially a world class centre-back and he won't fulfill that potential with us. Hard to admit that but it's true, so let's stop delaying the inevitable and put a price of 㿏 mil on him. If Chelsea want him, pay it or move on.

Class players like Stones who don't spout off to the press in situations like this you can't begrudge them their big move. It's players like that useless pudding Lukaku who have done absolutely nothing to warrant a big move that piss me off more.

If he sells Stones now after Jose's jibe, what will that tell us about EFC?

I personally get frustrated that as soon as we have a little gem on our hands the club will be hit with the likes of the Mail and Mirror trying to sell him for us. Clubs come in as they and the players know we cannot afford to build an instant team to challenge. One step forwards and two backwards.

My issue is, with the money we might get for him, how much is going to be spent on players, and what quality of player are we going to get to replace him? Finally, surely being awash with cash then puts the price up of the player.

At the end of the day, we know Chelsea can afford him, so we need to make a statement like we did with Baines. Publicly state he is going nowhere, we have 4 years left on the contract, or name an astonishing price in the press if Stones says he would like to go.

Where is BK when you need him to speak up?

Mourinho is a cut throat winner. His teams would do anything to win, and it seems that he would sink to any level to push a player for a transfer. However, without the sycophantic UK media, his tactics would be less useful. The Spanish press were not so supprtive of the Chosen One's ego, and so he left Spain when he easily could have stayed for the long term. I would appreciate if they would beg him to return.

If this deal comes off, he can allow RM to get these in and still keep his money down the couch.

That would keep us in their good graces and we might be able to get some more La Masia players on permanent deals as a sweetener.

Stones is fantastic and would be really disappointed to see him go. We need to try our best to keep him or make sure that any deal for him to go is in our best interest and truly a 'deal of the century' (unlike the Rooney deal).

The key question here, is Everton a big club or a small club? If we end up selling to Chelsea for anything less than 㿔M then we are a small club.

A big club would either fuck Chelsea off or set a minimum figure to the football world of circa 㿨M. A lot of people have already mentioned that if Side-Show Bob left Chelsea for 㿞M to PSG then Stones is worth at least the same or IMO a lot more.

This time next year, John Stones could be worth 𧴜M? Let's think like a big club for a change at look at the bigger picture.

Price next year? You could not even imagine given the absolute vertical rise in sky money. If given he fulfills his premise, ie, England captain, mnaturity, mind-blowing confidence fully potentialised... = 𧴜M+++?!?!?

So we sell now for 㿞M?? ...Shite!

It's the same money in retrospect as the Rooney money of old. The canny bastard, Mourhino knows this, just like Alex Ferguson did yesteryear with Rooney. In fact we may see the same historical theatrical performance resurrected from the skint weeping bell-whiff yet again sometime soon.

If Everton sent this same letter to all the other Sky 4 then I could understand it (only a bit) more. But if only to Chelsea then that's almost like saying they should put a big bid in for him.

Having looked at Chelsea's squad, I'd do a straight swap of Stones for Remy, Salah and Zouma. Striker, AM and CB. Transfer-wise they are probably around 㿏m in total, only issue would be wages and if the players wanted to come. I think Chelsea would happily get rid of all three.

The difference now to those days is that there were no unscrupulous agents running from club to club to get the best pay packet, there were no clowns like Mourinho trotting to the press, deals were done chairman to chairman and clubs owned the players registration. Consequently there were no Bosman deals.

If a player wanted to move, he asked for a transfer. If a club wanted to buy a player, they asked the club. If the club wanted to sell, then they did at an agreed price.

What we have now is a circus with Mourhino as the Ringmaster.

With reference to Rooney, how can anyone begrudge him a fulfilling career, massive bank balance, creaking medal cabinet and years of playing for a gigantic football phenomenon? I don't get that.

Everton should not need to have to sell Stones. We should have sufficient Sky money etc to not warrant the sale of our best players. We also need another CB, we'd be in shit street if we have to scout two new players.

An enquiry from any club regarding availability in principle wouldn't require any fee to be disclosed.

West Ham's bid for Mirallas has been killed. Totally dead. West Ham have been told he's not for sale and to basically fuck off. They bid twice, the first being ٤M and the second bid was obviously higher. Everton are not in any way interested, end of. It would seem that "Everton will gladly run his contract to the full 2 years then let him go on a Bosman". My source: Do some research and you will see that Everton are playing total hardball as far as Mirallas is concerned.

Now Stones, a total class player, probably world class player and he's English. He's got a transfer fee of 㿎M to 㿔M sitting on his head, well, this really is something for BK to get his teeth into.

Maureen latest comments regarding Everton being a "small club" have probably added a few million to the fee but you can see that Chelski want the boy and they have got a chairman who will pay the price.

Stones's valuation, as Mourinho says, is market driven. Other players go for a certain fee so we can see a similar amount for what we regard as a better player.

We also don't appear to be linked with anyone at the moment. I'm very concerned.

I would suggest its best to sell, also as someone has already said Man City, Man Utd, Arsenal are very likely to get involved for him, we could get silly money for him. Don't get me wrong: I don't want us to sell him... but, if he does want to leave, we have a problem.

As far as financial muscle is concerned, we are now a 'smaller club' unfortunately. Support-wise we are 8th best supported club in the Premier League with Man Utd by far the best.

At the end of the day, if Stones wants to go, we have to let him go. It's pointless trying to keep a player at a club he doesn't want to be at these days. There's only one loser...

All down to you, John.

One look at the history books will show that clubs like Everton and, say, Aston Villa, were there at the beginning, won a great many honours and, given the odd season or two, have remained in the top division playing in front of generally good crowds.

However, in the Premier League era, much has changed. No honours, poor directors, lacking a money supply from ego massaging owners and, for whatever reason, total failure to attract one.

In the meantime, a half-dozen clubs have fared better. Man Utd (in spite of a somewhat dubious ownership model) have continued to garner the pots whilst Arsenal have always been 'there or thereabouts' and Liverpool, due to their huge global following and massive Sky bias and propaganda have somehow managed to 'hang in there'.

Very much the new kids on the block, Chelsea and Man City have re-drawn the map by virtue of funders whose wealth knows no bounds. Brash, arrogant (particularly the former club), they trawl the world for the top talents and, because of the rewards they can offer, EXPECT the very best of British players to queue up to join them. And they do.

In the last 12 hours, the CEO of the Premier League has been bragging about what a prefect model he has developed. The nearest thing to a money-tree in the history of sport. No regard for the concept of fairness, good governance or the national interest to have a successful England team. And Financial Fair Play, don't make me laugh!

In the context of all this, Everton just cannot be seen as one of Sky/Scudamore's BIG CLUBS. We just lack the money, owners' tenacity and know-how. Just like Stoke, Newcastle, Southampton et al, we are there to make up the numbers and the likes of the objectionable Mourhino will delight in telling us so.

We, as mere devotees of our club, can do nothing to change those perceptions or shut his egotistical trap. But, for all that, WE know, just know, that EVERTON will ALWAYS be a BIG club.

Isn't that all that matters?

Moving on to the Stones saga, Steve Bremmer in The Guardian today claims that Stones is 'keen on the move if a fee can be agreed'... he doesn't substantiate his assertion however. It's now up to the club and Stonesy to put this one to bed either way.

We have no need to sell. He will be worth more this time next year. He's not the sort of lad who will throw a strop.

It makes financial and footballing sense for the club and the player for John Stones to stay at Everton for at least another year or two.

Short term he will earn more there but the way he is progressing here he has the world at his feet. He needs a couple of years to fulfill his potential and establish himself not only on the Everton/England stage but on the world stage as well.

He will have a far better opportunity to do all that at Everton where he will become a legend.

BUT first things first – ask the player...

If he is pushing for it (and I doubt he's that kind of guy), then we simply have to look at what these moneyed clubs are willing to pay for young English talent.

㿝 million for Sterling. That to me is the benchmark. I would be gutted if he went for anything less than 㿔 million. He's 21 and has years ahead. Make them pay through the nose.

Roberto has to show his cajones to José (and to Kenwright) and say "We will not sell for a penny less than £X mil". No compromise.

We still need a central defender as it stands – never mind two if he goes.

Where is the much vaunted playmaker from abroad? The Arsenal game showed how devoid of ideas we are. It was painful to watch.

Kone is a waste of space, so we need another striker. He only dyes his hair so that people know he's on the pitch.

If McCarthy and Mirallas are indeed wanting out, then Martinez has an awful lot of work to do in a short time.

It's all rather depressing. Normally I feel optimistic at this time of year.

Still, Southampton amazingly pulled it out of the fire last season after a seismic amount of turmoil – perhaps we will....? Maybe Liverpool will offer 㾻M for Kone; 㿀M for McGeady; er... maybe not.

Perhaps it's best to go to a soundproofed darkened room until the transfer window is closed; then emerge to find out where we stand. I can't stand the uncertainty and gloom.

Please, Blues – give me something to smile about!

"Chelsea have no history"... Much as I am outraged at them, statements like yours are just parroting Kopite nonsense. I think a European Cup win and four Premier League Championship wins in the past decade IS history, never mind the Cup Winners Cup wins (among other successes) they enjoyed before all the money from Russia.

The bottom line here is Chelsea are trying to sign a guy who will be worth at least 㿞M in coming seasons for a bargain price now. That's where the focus of our concern should be at – along with the state our club is in.

Now if (and I say 'if') Stones has indicated he would like to sign for Chelsea, then all we can do is get the most we can and identify where we spend the money.

It's easy running a football club!

So he buys John Stones for 30 million now pays his wages for 2 years then sells him to Real Madrid for 㿣 million.

He makes 㾶 million profit after JS's wages taken out and has him services for 2 years. Surely better use of the money in the bank.

And while he's at it why not buy 10 great youngsters from around the world for small fees (because he has it in his back pocket) then loan them out for 3 years to help develop them (huge laon fees and don't have to pay wages... simples) then sell them for a fortune after 3 years, à la Lukaku.

Or leave it in a TSB top notch long-term saver account........

James, I might misunderstand your point but Stones hasn't been sold for 㿊M as we've rejected the offer – so the market has already operated.

If a higher offer comes and we accept or reject, likewise that's the market in operation.

The media's obsession with the Sky 4 or 5 baffles me – surely to have 'the best league in the world', having 8 or 10 'Big' clubs is greater proof of such a claim. Should they not be promoting us, Villa, Newcastle as equally big clubs (just poorer and not as successful at this time in history), rather than talking such clubs down and trying to sell off their best players?

Money talks, but it doesn't give you class, style or dignity, not that there is much of that left in football, and on another note we have got another hamstring injury!

All our business will be done on transfer deadline day.

We are a big club in respect of 85 other clubs in the English League but not in comparison to the riches of the top 6.

We were Big in the 70s and 80s based on the same attributes as above and no one complained then; but we're paupers now in comparison and we've been left behind. Sad but true.

Also, when Kenwright was interviewed when he was trying to form a consortium to buy Everton for 㿞M (eventually 㿅M) from Peter Johnson, he stated that he could have had Everton several years earlier for ٣M and it told me he did not have the business acumen or foresight to take Everton forward. In this regard, my opinion has not changed.

In reading the views on the Stones saga, I would say that Everton need to show that it can play hardball, business-wise, with any so called "big clubs". To do this we should, quite publicly, tell Chelsea that the price for Stones is 㿞M cash plus the outstanding debt from the Lukaku fee and player "X", preferably a central defender who can play alongside Jagielka until he retires, Browning or Galloway are ready, or we sign another central defender.

Obviously, this would not be one of their big-name first-team players but the deal would include Chelsea making up the difference between what they pay him and we agree with the player.

Meanwhile, Kenwright & Martinez tell Stones that he should agree terms with Chelsea and ask for 10% of the transfer fee while Everton increase his wage, if he stays, by say, 㾶k a week. And make their response public or even make them do it.

Will it end the matter? Possibly not but it is a statement of intent and on our terms.

Martinez needs to ask Stones the question: "Do you want to move to Chelsea, yes or no?" If he says No, then that is that; if he says Yes, give Stones a piece of paper to write his transfer request on and let bighead know the asking price is now 㿔 million.

Start to source an established defender from somewhere. Stones came from Barnsley he was Moyes's last but so getting someone to join should not be impossible; however, we are very short of defenders at present. Remember, Stones is still learning but, if he wants to go, let him go.

Everton at best, like most of the other clubs, have a chance of winning a cup and that is about it. As fans, we don't count for much and I am as sick of all this as I am the Labour Party at present!

We are not a big club in terms of trophies and are unlikely to win the Premier League any time soon so let's get this over one way or another.

I'm sure we have players in mind to buy, but not the money to do so. If it means sacrificing Stones, I'd say sell him.

I have turned around my original thoughts of keeping him because I realised my heart was ruling my head. We have to live for today, and not who we might be in the future. Sad as an Evertonian, but the truth.

Spot on – there is a world of difference between the old First Division and the money fuelled Merry-go-round that allows foreign billionaires to pluck clubs from obscurity and transform them through a distorted market and media manipulation.

As I understand it, Old Man Moores did not bankroll Everton as Abramovich does at Chelsea or the Mansour family at Man City, he loaned the club the money and it had to be repaid. This may have given Everton the edge over some clubs in the market but the top flight was not characterised by the obscene distortions in finances we see today and, as you say, players were not unsettled by orchestrated press campaigns on behalf of managers howling outside the sweetshop because it's closed.

Unfortunately Maureen seems to be getting the reaction he's looking for – just look at the response on here!

There are many reasons for this but primarily the buck stops with BK and his useless Board of Directors.

I was lucky enough to meet John at the Swindon friendly (he and Garbutt were watching the game together near me). I only had a brief chat with him, but thought he was a very down-to-earth, polite fella (as footballers go!). The fact that he's a nice bloke however, doesn't mean that he's an Evertonian for life (hard to imagine for us fans obviously). He's a Yorkshire lad with great talent and a level head, no Everton connection till we snapped him up, so why would he turn down a chance to step up another level?

I certainly don't expect him to put Everton before his career as a footballer. But from looking at previous big transfers of our young players, I'd suspect that at least another season or two with us would help him get to that next level (Champions League / England first choice).

If we look at those big money transfers of the recent past, it's only the Rooney deal where we feel hard-done-by. In the last 20 odd years, the likes of Michael Ball, Barmby, Big Dunc, Franny Jeffers, Arteta, Rodwell, Lescott have all been sold at seemingly the right time for good/great money, and despite feeling angry at most of those transfers at the time, the club were right to sell them.

As it stands, John Stones hasn't pushed for a transfer but, if he does (and I wouldn't blame him), I don't think Blue Bill will have his pants pulled down as he did with Rooney. 㿏M or so would probably end up looking like a very good bit of business if we look back in a few years.

I would argue that we may have missed the boat in terms of sale value of both Barkley and Coleman. This time last year, they would have been worth a fair bit more than they are now... of course this will change if their form (especially Ross's) improves this season.

I would never begrudge him that, however, does he feel the need to go right now? Who knows, if he doesn't publicly agitate for a move, then we hold all of the aces.

As an aside, Jose's schtick got old ages ago, he's a parody of himself now, his 'outspoken' behaviour is just tedious and a bit embarrassing. Good manager though.

Having said that, if he's so adamant that prices for 'interesting' English players are over-inflated, we should bid ١M for Gary Cahill as a Stones replacement.

Again, we've not heard from Stones himself; who knows what he is thinking. He's not a local lad, but he does appear to love the club.

If its true they are offering him triple his wages, AND a chance to play in the Champions League, then we'll struggle to convince him otherwise.

We've said we don't need to sell; however, I can see us only getting a few loans in till the end of the transfer window.

I guess we should be thankful Stubbs still isn't at the club to 'advise' him like he did Rooney.

Martinez needs to come out and say (as suggested by Mourinho) John Stones is NOT for sale and no bids will be accepted for him, no bids at all......will he say that?

When have you ever heard him talk about our future or plans for the future? He tried to sell us a cow shed in Kirkby and fucked up the Kings Dock. He has now gone quiet on WHP.

He never really convinced anyone these projects would/will become a reality; instead, he opines about the Boys Pen and the Golden Vision...

He is living in a time warp, you know the type: "I remember when you could leave your front door open, blah blah blah...

I remember his comments following a game against us many years ago where he said "It was a special game against special opponents".

He was also instrumental in Nuno Valente joining Everton (presuming you see that as a positive...)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/e/Everton/4195310.stm

Anyway, 㿊M+ is good business; the kid is young and ambitious and it was likely a better funded club would come sniffing around him – reality in the money orientated Premier League. How about some re-investment in Dzeko from Man City?

Mickey Mouse club with shitbag fans, awful owner and Gobshite manager but owner has deep pockets. That's all they are.

Don't normally like John Cross and his pro-Arsenal and pro-London views, but this is spot on. Why would we accept anything below 㿔M for Stones?

He seems to look at our board through rose tinted glasses a little. We will see if they are really tough negotiators....

Or, if he is for sale, state what price you want and then see if Chelsea match it.

ps: While you're looking for it, we'll be talking to anyone that'll listen, so don't spare the horses."

In all seriousness, we must have told Chelsea he's not for sale and we won't negotiate and this is the result – otherwise, it'd be all going on behind closed doors.

If this is the case, the best thing to do is do what we are doing and flatly ignore him. He's a child, he'll soon get bored of getting no reaction. We just need to keep an arm around Stones while he's at it.

Rooney, Lescott and Arteta are just three who were in bad odour when they moved. Football is a short career by any standards and I, for one, don't begrudge them the chance to make what they can from the game. Particularly if we have previously attracted them away from other clubs by dangling the carrot!

As for Chelsea being a big club, is this the same Chelsea who sent back half its Champions League semi-final tickets for the game at Barça a few seasons back? 1,400 returned from an allocation of 3,000. The season before, we took thousands of fans to Benifica in a dead rubber match...

Chelsea are a small club with a rich owner compared to Everton who are a big club with a skint owner and board. Still, let's not let wads of oil cash get in the way of history, eh, Jose...

Stones or no Stones, we're going into the coming season with problems galore, not least the reverting back to the slow motion side and back stuff in our own half even when under no pressure, and the constant backing off instead of getting tight and closing down. All this coupled with continually losing possession does not fill me with hope for the months ahead. In fact, after last season's debacle, it fills me with anger. Let's hope it was a temporary blip caused by the heat and lack of fitness.

I met a couple of Blackburn supporters when I went to Uni in 64, they hated Everton and I mean hated them, much like many of our fans feel about Chelsea, Man Utd (Rooney), or Man City (Lescott and Rodwell) because, as they saw it, we "robbed" them of Vernon and Pickering.

Fans see their own club in a special way; directors, managers and players do not have the same rose-tinted view of their club. Players in particular see it as their place of employment and, if the next firm offers more money and more opportunity, they'll go. Agents didn't create the situation, they facilitate the process, at least that's how players see it.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/kenwright-stones-is-the-best-31396226.html

On another note, just watched the highlights of the Dec 2013 Arsenal game on YouTube – God, that Everton was exciting! Where'd that go? Please come back!

It's only two weeks until the season starts! Our problems with formation do not seem to have been resolved, we have two centre backs (possibly one if he's sold!) two other key players being linked with moves elsewhere and the players we are being linked with are underwhelming at best!

whilst I'm looking forward to Rooney's return cameo, it's also a distraction we could probably do without! I was hoping for our transfer business done early and then a clear focus by the players and management on starting the season well! I can't imagine anybody is focussed on this at the moment!

This is not something to be ignored, as Fran stated earlier. This is something which could derail the opening of the season. The speculation will not effect Chelski, because they do not need Stones now as badly as we do. He is our essential to us, and one of only two CBs at our club.

I'm frustrated by Martinez, because he needs to put an end to this or let Stones go. 㿎million would be a massive fee, and those who suggest otherwise are picking our select buys who have been inflated, without looking at the general market. The same market where Zouma, Varane and Alba went for less than the quoted fee for Stones. The same market where the likes of Hazard, Isco, Fabregas and Thiago have gone for less than, or around, 㿊M.

Stones has wonderful potential, but let's not look at him with blinkered vision. He makes too many mistakes, and is far from the finished article, even if he may become the next Rio Ferdinand. The problems in his game may be less fundamental than those in Barkley, but plenty of Everton fans were willing to ignore his (or just didn't realise) amidst the absurd figures quoted in stories linking him from a move away from Goodison last summer. In the vast majority of cases, a young player going for above 㿀M will have proved themselves consistently, or on the highest stage. There are certainly examples to the contrary, but Stones is nowhere near a 㿎M defender yet. If we are forced to sell him for that, then we have done very well.

But we should not sell him, not just because of his potential, but because we are utterly lacking at CB. That is Martinez's fault, and this weakness should have been sorted now. It's quite possible that Stones will turn around and tell us he wants to leave. Then what will we do? Rush through a buy for a CB? Stick in an utterly unproven Galloway, who Martinez claimed several months ago would play games at left back before being considered for CB? This situation is not good enough. Mourinho is asking like an arsehole, because that's what he does.

As someone stated earlier, he is a troll, and he is a tactician. He is controlling things at the moment so we need to take some control back. If we are willing to sell him, then we need have 2 replacements lined up pronto. If we don't have another CB through the doors by the end of the weekend, and this Stones speculation is still going/or we are negotiating for his sale, everyone involved should be ashamed. It's the kind of failure that should lead to sacking.

Clubs have to deal with this – De Gea will leave United for free next summer. Ronaldo left them, just as Suarez left Liverpool and Sterling too. Arsenal have lost a host of players, whilst Spurs lost Modric and Bale. Southampton have lost too many over the past 2 seasons, and we have lost them too. We must be prepared for the loss of Stones, because it is looking increasingly possible. If we are not prepared to lose him this summer, for any price, then we should be making that explicit. This speculation is damaging to the club and will be damaging to our season if it is not sorted soon.

It's not just about how much we get, it's about how we spend it.

It already has derailed the club's preparations for the season, of course it has. I agree with most of what you say but would disagree on the price. I don't think 㿎 million is enough if we do sell, and if we sell, it should ONLY be because the player himself wants to go. Absolutely no point in having a player at the club who is not 100% "connected".

Now we have Chelsea players coming out and telling Stones what a great a club they are and Mourinho this and that. They are doing all they can to turn Stones head; no matter how level headed this young man might be, money changes most things!

If for no other reason other than our club badge, Bill Kenwright has to say something and soon.

Jagielka, Baines, Distin, Coleman, Pienaar, Mirallas, Naismith, Oviedo, Lukaku, McCarthy, Besic, Atsu, Deulofeu, Traore, McGeady, Garbutt

Even Martinez himself said in January that he'd revamped the medical department after we'd had 20 (TWENTY!) hamstring injuries in just the first 18 months of his management. Obviously that has yet to happen since we've had at least half-a-dozen more since then.

There is something very suspicious with all these injuries given they are happening to almost every player we have and not concentrated to a few. Granted hammys normally happen to sprinter types but you can hardly describe Naismith or McCarthy as 'sprinters'!

Denis #171 – good point but they're "soft tissue injuries" not "hamstring injuries".

I don't trust Boys Pen Bill for one minute... it would be just like him to sell Stonsey on the last day off the transfer window and tell us it was to late to buy anyone. Now it is time for Kenwright to really show us what Everton means to him and tell the rent boys he is not for sale.

On a serious note, Chelsea are notorious for buying up young talent on the cheap and letting them rot on the bench til they make some kind of profit, however small. Stones should have a word with Lukaku and ask how he felt warming up the bench not so long ago.

We all know how this story would pan out for the young starlet if he went to Chelsea. If he values his career, he'll stay at the club or at least wait til Man Utd, Real or Barcelona turn up with a serious offer.

And he is impartial you know...

Instead of putting a firm stop to these bids, he remains silent knowing the bids will increase, that eventually lead to a sale, this to me is not backing his manager who is trying to build a young team.

In today's inflated markets, plus we require a backup centre-half, to sell Stones is being irresponsible. Bill Kenwright, if you want to represent yourself as chairman of Everton FC, start acting like the chairman of a large club,and show other teams, regardless of who they are "We are not a selling club" run by a selling chairman with no ambition.

Everton this season have one of the strongest squads they have had for a while, and with a couple of signings for critical areas, should be competing for European places. This will never happen if you continue selling off young players who are considered the future for Everton FC.

Martinez will talk with the press pretty regularly. Is is that hard to say Stones will definitely not be leaving this summer? Cahill has commented about Stones today, and the stories will not stop until we stop them.

And I also have little faith in Martinez's ability to spot a bargain. Moyes made some bad buys, but I feel that his transfer record is one of the best in the history of this league, if not the best.

By selling Stones, Everton would be not only backing up the Chelsea theory that they lied, but also footballing suicide by selling one of only two recognised first-team centre halves at the club, with only a month to go until the season begins.

I fail to see how Everton can sell him and come out of it with their heads held high on any level at this point.

Even a large sum of money is going to make them look like a bunch of jesters.

Uncle Bill has come out and said Stones is the best English centre half out there, which is a bold claim (but a reasonable one in some respects), but why has he said that now? Driving the price up a bit more? Or is his comment about building a strong, stable, young squad more telling? I'd like to think it was the latter and that Kenwright & Co. are actually going to stand up to the bully-boy tactics of those down in London who think they can steal away our best young player just because they have the money & (so called) glamour to do so.

We all know these tactics are nothing new, it's been debated at length for a few days now, but I would absolutely love it if we hung on to him and told them to forget it.

Gary Cahill can go get fucked (sorry Ed's) as well for the shit he's spouting about Stones joining them. He's talking as though it's almost a done deal which make me want to vomit down the back of his shirt. Wanker. Sorry for the language TW'ers, I'm a bit pissed off with it all now.

I really don't want Stones to leave.

That's a big ask considering the amount of money the other teams have spent and continue to spend.

Good luck Roberto.

All it would take is Stones expressing a wish to leave or putting in a transfer request to give the board a way of selling without losing (too much) face.

You'll hear the usual rhetoric of how it would be self defeating to try and force a player to stay against his will, and Bill will come out of it smelling of roses for making the best of an impossible situation by forcing them to fork out a more sizeable fee than they were originally prepared to pay.

So they should simply put a high price on Stones which will indicate he may be sold and will likely get some more bidders involved. Also put in a cut-off date of no sale after August 5 for squad continuity reasons. Then tell Martinez that he will have a stated amount of money immediately available if a sale occurs to use for replacing Stones. Martinez then can make plans to get in an experienced starting centerback and maybe another for back up without having to scramble to even identify a target and to make preliminary inquiries.

Martinez should still be proceeding according to his preseason plans for player acquisition to bolster the squad regardless of the Stones drama. Heck RM should just publicly start identifying the players he wants and putting out bids in the press for those players.

As people have pointed out we may lose Stones in the very, or not so very, near future, but we likely will lose him at some point in the next four years. However, we don't have to sell him right now. The squad as it stands at the moment can go into the season with the players it currently has and expect to finish no worse that it did last season and possibly a whole lot better with it being a non-WC year.

Off topic, I am thinking that I know what the infamous "other operating expenses" are. I believe that alot of the extra cash we all suspect Everton has, or should have from the TV money, has been spent on expanding the medical facilities. Heck, given the long list of injuries, we may have a full hospital wing by now.

I'd be surprised if Stone's head has not been turned though. I think we have to accept that one or two of Mirallas, Stones, McCarthy and Coleman will go before the end of the season.

"One player manager Jose Mourinho has yet to sign is Everton defender John Stones with Sky sources reporting the champions are set to increase their offer for the 21-year-old having had an initial bid of 㿀m rejected last week."

Yet to sign? Twats!

And then Cahill goes on to talk him up for Chelsea. It's a joke.

If he does want to leave its counter productive to refuse him in my eyes, some might disagree with that statement I know.

Even with Stones in the side were not a top 4 side, when we finished with our record points total, we were 7 points adrift at the finish.

The only way we'll escape from being plucky losers will be if we are taken over by an owner like Chelsea and Man City have now
.

Jags could say something like he's great on England duty and I'd like to develop the partnership at club level! He'd love it here at the fourth most successful club ever, according to our paymasters at sky! I'm sure Stonsey could pick up from tips from him in training too!

Martinez could then talk about Cahill developing his game next to Jageilka and Baines and it being for the good of the national team.

I wasn't suggesting that a player should be kept hold of if they want out, nor that this is the case with Stones.

My post was merely a response to James M, who said he couldn't see a way for Everton to sell without looking like right tits (after claiming to have sent a letter ruling out any possibility of a sale). I was just suggesting a way in which the club could still sell this summer and come out of it without too much egg on their face.

"Really don't see why some on here are getting so het up about a situation that you have no control over. If he is sold, they pay the price, if he stays it won't be for long if the young man keeps on progressing."

If that's the case, can anyone please tell me why I've been supporting Everton for the last 50 odd years?

Mediocrity, don't you just love it.

They even had the temerity to liken us to Barnsley.

Where's Guido Fawkes when you need him?

If Morhino starts being nice to us..,,

As for Jose, he may be playing an end game that is brilliant. Chelsea truly do not need Stones at this point. Stones is not ready to step in ahead of the players they have. But they don't want to lose out on him for three or four years either. So, by making these comments about no one saying he isn't for sale, maybe JM is forcing the Everton Board to make the comment to settle things down.

This in turn guarantees that Stones won't be sold to anyone else this season so that Chelsea can come in next season and buy him, albeit at a higher fee which they can obviously afford. Not to mention that the fee and wages will be offset by the off-loading of a player for a fee or not, and his wages, for whoever's position on the squad he takes. Just a thought after re-reading his comments again.

Something has gone VERY wrong since 1999 when we became a selling club.

I wonder what it was...

The team looked dispirited, listless, unfit, and almost incapable of playing against a not too superb Arsenal. WTF!

Jose is right. Under RM, we are a smaller club, and, sadly, Bobby Bullshit will make us even smaller, given the chance.

I despair and the season has not even started.

I've lost the will to live.

I give up

In reply to the Martinez out fans, we finished 5th with a record Premier League points total in his first season, last season it wasn't great admittedly, but 11th is hardly a disaster of mammoth proportions! I blame that waste-of-time Europa League tournament for 3 or 4 places drop in the league.

This business with Stones and rumoured interest in McCarthy and Mirallas hardly helps our preparations does it, but it's par for the course for teams outside the mega-rich such as the usual top 4 or 5 clubs.

Johnny, we were a selling club when we let Ball go. And Lineker. It's not just a recent phenomenon.

It's what always happens in football. And say it quietly but it's not the end of the world, Stones is a long way from being 'the best central defender in GB' as some would have it!

I'm sure we all feel that (all too familiar) dread of inevitability when one of our prospects gets an England call up and it shouldn't be this way.

Raymond (#209), I agree mate but it's hard to find positives about the club when the most consistent thing about us in the last 16 years is the continual selling of our brightest prospects.

I thought the aim of a football club is to win trophies? The current incumbents of our club seem to think we should be grateful just surviving. FFS, Kenwright, let's see some ambition eh.

It also, as stated by others on here, increase his valuation considerably. This time next year would see a bidding war for his services.

If the board decide to sell now they are fools.

You are of course,

Talking about a car?

Why won't Spurs win the league, why won't the RS win the league because they are selling clubs. They have exceptional players and they sell them. If we want to play for 6th place and a good cup run let him go, but you are sending a message to everyone Everton's days of winning are over.

(Similar statements applied to the young Jack Rodwell and most are probably happy we sold for 㾸M.)

However, Stones's potential is huge and it would be great to watch it develop with us. If a really big offer came in, I think we would sell though.

Yes

Another Moyes financial legacy for Martinez to piss up the wall.

Don't you think there's a lot of posters on this thread that are quite new....

Had that happened, he'd have been another one of the Wigan contingent Martinez brought along to Everton. Wonder if some on TW would be valuing him at 㿊M+ then.

Derek 45 - 100% Agree!
Phill 60 - Exactly!
Colin 64 - Don't forget to lump Moyes in there too for the Fellaini and Baines crap!

Lads, the fact that Ball and Lineker were sold "on our terms" does little to warrant the sale of the, at the time, arguably best English players of their generation. Ball, in many fans eyes the greatest Everton player ever, and Lineker, Golden Boot winner, England forward who set the World Cup alight....Everton saw the glint of the money and they were gone.

Bill, yes, no one is immune from losing their players these days, but the sale of Ball....? Some lads on here still haven't got over it yet!

What affection or loyalty does John Stones have to Everton? How do you think Barnsley fans felt when we pinched their home grown talent?

I hate it as much as all of you but we need to get real and face facts this is our lot and under the current regime I see nothing being put in place to change that fact.

We need to start worrying about who we get in as replacements and do you trust the current regime (Chairman and Manager) to get it right?

It hurts to say, this is going to be a long, long hard shite season for us, 2 weeks to kick off and Dell boy injured already, the team will be unsettled with all this crap about Stones, McCarthy, Mirallas, Coleman, Lukaku... etc....

I can just see us probably bottom 3 come the end of our 1st 10 games.....and we'll no doubt take some beatings.

Don't mean to sound negative but does anyone truly have any hopes for this season? It will be another trophyless season fighting relegation, with shite tactics and players like McGeady, Gibson, Hibbert, Osman, Barry, Kone, Naismith who in my opinion have to go, they are too old, not good enough, too injury prone. They will not take us forward. We would save over 㾸 million a year in wages alone just getting rid....

Stones will no doubt leave - either play it out to the shite we have, ie, Barry, McGeady, Osman, Kone or play it out to players like Fabregas, Hazard, Willian, Costa whilst tripling his wages, winning trophies etc.....

WTF must he think looking at the shite he has in front of us.......Martinez needs to get rid of this dead wood and the board need to grow some big hairy King Kong bollocks tell these so called "Big Clubs" sorry, wealthy clubs with fuck all history to fucking do one, lah.

There's one absolute about Jose Mourinho, his ego.

By making this personal Jose will just have to get his man. I wouldn't be surprised to see Martinez up the ante again in the coming week or so.

Finally at the point Mourinho's told everyone what a big club Chelsea are and how small minded Martinez has been and little Everton are etc etc RM can just publicly name a price and at that point Mourinho has to either pay it or lose, when the stakes have become so high, it's as simple as that.

Martinez is using Mourinho's ego against Chelsea in these negotiations so that he can name a bigger price when the time comes, the more Mourinho is personally bought in the less he will want to back down when we name a >£40m price tag, at which point we will be in a no lose situation.

But before we even go down that route, why should we care what stones thinks. He is a quality player and contracted to Everton for four years. So I don't care what he thinks the club should stand firm and say he is going nowhere. Stones will be professional and play.

Lot of exposure Everton getting in USA with Howard, when the commentators do not even have a clue who Stones plays for.

Roberto might throw out a take it or leave it offer that would be hard for Chelsea to swallow (could be risky though if Jose called our bluff). But I disagree that Jose would "lose". He's already planned out his escape route if necessary in his Sky interview when he accused this "smaller club" of infuriatingly inflating the price of our English defender.

He would find some reason to bash us for how we handled the transfer window, and continue with the "smaller club" jabs. Ultimately he would find a way to make himself look like the winner in this. If that's the case, he can give himself all the credit he likes; just so long as he goes away... forever... and that we hand him his ass when he comes to Goodison. I did like your analysis though.

If by some miracle, Gibson's legs are still under him come January, I could see him being offered a deal or another club willing to take a chance on him. But, if any of the others are extended, we really do have problems. Add 36 year-old Barry still on the roster.

So, we know whose pockets the money is NOT coming from. Which leaves selling someone and we all know it.

HARRISON, NJ. After conceding four second-half goals and losing to a New York Red Bulls side that was essentially their third-team, you would think Jose Mourinho would have some concerns.

You're wrong.

After the match, Mourinho said Chelsea has "no fragilities," and believes if they were to play the Red Bulls nine more times, they'd win every game.

Despite calling the second half a "disaster," Mourinho scoffed at a reporter in his post-match press conference when it was suggested that Chelsea may have some frailties in their side.

"You are speaking with the manager of the best team in England. We don't have fragilities."

"We are a top team, we have top players. We started training six days ago and we did 11 training sessions in six days. We don't need other players."

"We play ten times against Red Bulls, we win nine. The second half was a disaster, but I'm not worried."

"They gave us a good training session. If we came here today and won 10-0, I'm not happy with that."

Despite Mourinho saying Chelsea doesn't need any other players, the Blues have been linked with a big-money move for John Stones.

In the end it won't matter if we have John Stones under contract; if Stones wants to go... he probably goes! If he wants to stay... there's a good chance he stays!

I really don't think the club wants to sell him, but if Chelsea offer silly money; you never know. If he does go, we can't seem to find two quality replacements for Distin and Alcaraz, and they weren't even starting. Finding 3 is going to be next to impossible.

I guess we'll have to play a unique formation, Jags, two fullbacks, five midfielders, two wings and a striker. Jags was timed as one of quickest players in the league; he can cover the back. Right?

Well, guess what, you don't even have to be Jose Morinho to come up with this joke.

But has the damage been done?

Okay, if it's important to you set the value at 㿔M and if anyone bites then discuss it. But he has four years left, there is no need to sell. We hold all the cards and everything I have seen and read about John Stones tells me that he's level headed and won't be kicking up a fuss if he is told that we are blocking any deal.

There has never been more money in football, even at Everton. We don't need to cash in, that mentality needs to stop. We don't need to sell to buy either and if anyone says we do then that's on the board not backing the manager – a totally separate issue.

If – and it's a big 'if' – Stones was to put in a transfer request, a step I personally don't think he would ever take, then the issue turns on its head. Until then, there's no reason whatsoever to sell.

For them to admit that they did receive the letter confirms that they are unethical scumbags without a shred of integrity. In no way should this be acceptable.

At the centre-back position at the moment we have Stones and Jags and two kids whereas the RS have Caan, Skrtel, Toure, Lovren, Sakha, Llori and Gomez... oh yes, and 3 good kids in the Under-21s.

Up front we have Lukaku, Naismith and Kone, guess who now have 8 internationals up front to pick from? Okay, they are the Devil's Spawn... but we are getting so far behind it is a joke!

And don't get me going on the wages....

"Sorry John, but because of what Chelsea have done this week the price for them is 㾶M above what anyone else bids. I'm sure you understand we can't let it look like we'll be bullied. If you really want to leave now, we need to engineer it as a victory for the club, I'm sure you understand. And by the way, stick with us for a bit and it could be Real Madrid or Barcelona rather than a bunch of flash London wannabes."

By all accounts, he's a level headed lad, and won't do a Lescott anyway.

Perhaps the Echo can now repair some of the damage to the relationship between the supporters, the club and the paper by making a big journalistic issue of this... a full back-page article telling how a club that thinks its BIG because it fell over a Russian's wallet containing considerable ill-gotten gains (read the stories about Abramovich) tries to unsettle another club that it thinks is SMALL because it's a bit skint at the moment and asking the football world the question: "Is this really what football should be about?"

Another aspect of the article could be about how so-called BIG clubs seem to get ample assistance from certain sections of the media in their attempts to undermine their SMALLER rivals and achieve their objectives. Despite the Echo being a local paper, this would be a big story if somebody was brave enough to write it correctly and it would spread... it would certainly spread to the Daily Mirror, part of the same media group.

This sort of thing is turning me off football. One of the best examples was two years ago when Man Utd announced their acquisition of David Moyes before the season had ended. The whole of the national media seemed to think this was okay, not one outlet to my knowledge asked anything like, "Is that fair... the right thing to do?"

To rub it in, that well known Manure fan and otherwise fat bastard Eamonn Holmes, when asked about it during his morning news programme on Sky on the day it was announced, pulled a face as if to suggest it was no problem for Manure or for him and nor should it be for anybody else.

Perhaps the Echo could also remind its readers and the national media just how small Chelsea used to be! They were 24 hours from going tits up before Abramovich rescued them and with virtually no history at that time (and not that much more now because history is not about trophies alone) who would have missed them?

To finish the article the Echo could provide lists of both club's histories side by side, starting at 1878. Chelsea's would be pretty bare until the last 10 years or so.

What the latest Glastradamus? We still getting Sergi Roberto?

And surely there must be at least one if not two CBs coming in? Dragovic anyone? Our squad definitely needs a couple more first teamers....

What do you mean "We haven't got any money"? There's never been more money in football. After the massive hike in TV revenue, every Premier League club is spending like crazy: Stoke, West Ham, Swansea, Newcastle etc are all spending the new money. You might not like who they've signed but the TV money is being spent.

This isn't 2004 when the "we're skint' line was being thrown about; this is 2015. Things have changed and, just because our board have refused to change their strategy to keep pace, doesn't mean that the money isn't coming in.

Sorry, the buy-to-sell policy is inflicted on us by a board with zero ambition. But not because there is no money. Sounds to me like you want Stones to be sold because you've bought what this board has tried to sell. I disagree, not that we need the signings you mention, because we do, but because we shouldn't be accepting the sale of yet another top asset to fund it.

Give me strength.

It is beyond belief (therefore quite likely) that Martinez and Kenwright have not planned the 2015-16 season on the basis that someone will come in with an unmissable offer in the current period.

I should have hoped that Martinez's supposedly excellent contacts with Barcelona (and for all I know, Real Madrid too) would have resulted either in genuine or feigned interest from that quarter.

What I would hope has been well and truly war-gamed is:

1) Screwing Chelsea for at least 㿞 million by sounding out and making public interest from Barça, Real Madrid and a few in this country;

2) Having an established alternative-to-Stones plan fully costed and in place;

3) An established course of acquisitions from a 㿨 million, 㿔 million and 㿊 million sale for a replacement centre-back, a creative midfielder and a goalkeeper who neither flaps, drops the ball, nor punches it straight to the opposition (and who doesn't get dizzy outside the goal area).

The point is, once you have decided that a star player has at least a 50:50 prospect of leaving, you plan and scheme to rake in the maximum (especially when it's from a Russian), and, at least on paper, with as many pre-agreed contractually binding options as possible, plan for both Stones staying, and Stones leaving.

For their duration, contracts should be under FIFA's control. Prior to signing, players, their agents, and clubs, would be aware that contracts could not be altered by any party.

Some might say this would be a step back toward the old cry of contract slavery. I wouldn't mind being a multimillionaire slave if only for a max of 5 years.

Whether he has poisoned Stones enough already or he has been told to back off, I couldn't say, but it certainly takes the media pressure off the situation.

Can you imagine the "fees", not to mention the oceans of backhanders, bribes, swindles and sheer corruption that would follow.

It’s a bit off topic, but I’d be happy to see all international football shut down for a decade, to see the "Champions League" go to exclusively Sky (and die there, unwatched), and for there to be a properly audited spending cap on teams. Say 㾶 million a year on players wages per team, and, like American football, a limit to squad sizes for mature players. 30 players over 21 should do nicely.

We might get a bit of competition then instead of the dreary progression which is the Premier League these days.

They have left room to up the ante to help smooth over hard feelings in the hopes the player will agitate for a move in the process. We will always be vulnerable to this strategy as long as we have small-time Charlies running this Club.

Mourinho has now shrugged his shoulders in an interview and shook his head when asked if they're going to bid again, which could mean they're either not going to bid again, or he's been told to keep his mouth shut by the powers that be at Chelsea. I'm guessing it's the latter.

Whatever they do next, Everton hold all the cards. Literally every one of them, so as far as I see it, whatever happens it will be down to our club to decide if he's sold this summer.

It would be a brave man who does sell him in the next few weeks because we're well short of a full complement of defenders already and losing another one at any price will leave us in a very bad place defensively. I cannot for one second see Martinez backing this sale. Not for all the tea in China. Sadly it wouldn't be his decision.

Jose wants Stones. Roman tells him, "Have a go." Our owners reject the price. Higher price offered or not. Rejected or not. In the end, neither Jose or Roberto determine if the sale is agreed. That's money and it ain't theirs.

Mourinho has more say, of course. His owner wants every piece of silverware out there and has proved it. Roman needs to listen to his manager's requests for the right players to go get the trophies. Stones fits the bill. Fair to add, the deals Chelsea have done since Mourinho's return (in or out), have been profitable on and off the pitch.

Roberto, unfortunately, is like you and me. He's sitting and wondering what will happen. Certainly, he has inside information regarding the goings-on which we don't. But, no "blinder" being played. More than anything, his silence is worrying because it can only mean the Club is considering the sale and getting the best price.

If the numbers don't work out and young John isn't sold to Chelsea somewhere in the next few weeks, then and only then, will Roberto be permitted to meet the press saying, "He's committed to Everton." "Building our future around him.", etc.

Jose and Roberto jousting on the money end? No such thing.

I think half the time with Jose he does it to unsettle teams and the spirit they have in the dressing room. I wish Roberto would just tell him to fuck off.

Oh and as a point on "big clubs", Jose: if Stones was to see out his current contract at Everton and walk over to Chelski, and in the intervening period Chelski were to win every League title until then, he would still be joining a club with no more League titles than the one he has just left.

If you know your history !

Go away, Chelski, we were here first and will be here a long time after the bubble bursts.

Surely Kenwright has a deadline day for Chelsea to come back with an acceptable offer and we move on if this doesn't materialise.
And if they do, I still think both Manchester clubs will get involved.

If we want to finish top 6 this season we need to keep players like Stones. It is that simple.

I still like Bobby a lot. It's not his fault at all. We charge 600 quid for season ticket holders to sit in wooden seats with a restricted view.... wonderful old place that Goodison is. No trophies for 20 years and very well run, for a club that aims to just stay in the Premier League and the occasional cup run.

We have become Sheffield Wednesday with a Premier League badge. Jose has been very very complimentary of Everton and Goodison Park in the past. But he's a highly accomplished and intelligent man who is merely stating facts. Sack the board and show some ambition. I'm a season ticket holder by the way. Upper Gwladys St.

30/40 years ago the headlines would have been about us going after the brightest prospects. Now, it's other clubs who spent most of that time outside the First Division. Jeezus... WTF has gone wrong !?

There is NO WAY that a World Cup winner like Alan Ball would consider coming to us nowadays and successive boards in that period should be ashamed that they have squandered the legacy.

Don't give me any crap about not having any money. The game is replete so speculate to accumulate. Our board have no ambition and are unwilling to take risks because winning trophies is no longer the priority, its' all about balancing the books.

Time to let go, Bill.

If this is so I can see the board saying sell Stones, clear the Lukaku debt with a few quid to spare. I sincerely hope I am wrong... can anybody clear this for me?

In my opinion, Stones can become the best centre-back in the country, and we don't want to sell our best assets. Come on, Bill, think of the supporters before you think of your greedy board.

It's gone all quiet now... let sleeping dogs, I say. Perhaps it will all become just a bad memory.

Nothing sinister, just about his memories of the 1966 World Cup.

I would prefer to think he would be coming to supplement Stones, with it being great if McGeady went the other way!

...That said, I believe we'd be a better team next year if he went for £50M and we spent the money well.

I truly believe Stones will be great and I love to watch him play. However right now I think that his defensive qualities could be replaced by a £5M player.

I want to keep him, I want him at Everton for the next 15 years. We can't sell for any less than £50M.

My nightmare scenario is BK letting him go for £30M - which in today's market is cheap for a player as good as Stones is going to become.

I'm all over the place...sorry.

Who at Chelsea has asked him to reassure Stones that he will still be considered for England if he moves there?

I really hope this is lighting a fire in the belly of this 'small club'!

I remember in the 1986 World Cup when the pundits where asked for their views on how Lineker would adapt to playing for Barcelona, managed by the over-rated cockney wideboy Venables.

Good old Laurie McMeneny jumped in and stopped the discussion saying that this was not honourable to discuss a player who was under contract for another three years at another club, in this case Everton FC.

Hodgson should learn to keep his mouth shut. It seems he wants all his players at a handful of so-called elite clubs to save himself time in selecting his teams.

Therefore, we have an older Jags throwing himself into every challenge and a reticent John Stones with his agent probably telling him to 'take fewer risks'... The management need to sort this out and now!!!!

I have never considered us Evertonians to be hyper-sensitive but this thread is beginning to change my perception!

He's been a club and international manager for a long time, he knows how the press works; he should not even have entertained discussing it.

Those who seek to be offended will be offended whatever he might say. 'Bitters', somebody called us the other day. We certainly have thin skins over this issue.

Although I don't like what he said, I don't take offence. But I do think we have a right to be appalled by how we are treated by the media. I don't think that makes us bitter. I think we are proud fans who don't like to see our club pushed around.
Regardless, I guess this thread is getting rather tiresome now.

Set a deadline and a minimum price of £35million and see how what's happened,

There has to be a deadline, we can not let this drag on.