Koeman hints at further transfer movement this month

I wonder how the player's will react to that statement until the end of the season.

I'm all for saying it as it is, but a bit blunt just before a match. Don't you think?

Not much left is there? Reality check though... he may not find adequate replacements for some so expect to see a few given a reprieve.

He said "most", Chris.

On Radio Merseyside.

I hear many players say they prefer it when a manager is straight up with them so they know where they stand. Ronald certainly tells it how it is.

With two more to potentially come in plus whatever we do in the summer, next season the boss will have "his team" on the pitch.

Lennon, Mirallas, Oviedo, Funes Mori, Gibson, Kone, Robles I wouldn't be too sorry to see the back of. Deulofeu, McCarthy and Jagielka, I don't want to go, but they haven't been good this season and could leave... if not in January, then in the summer.

Doesn't leave us with much, though!

That the likes of Cleverley, Niasse, Kone, McGeady and probably Lennon, Besic, Jagielka, Barry etc don't have a future at the club can hardly be a secret. None have played regularly and/or are old and coming to the end of their careers. Hardly a big miss if they leave.

The squad needed someone to come in with a big black bin liner to chuck away a lot of the rubbish Martinez collected. Add to that the many Moyes signings who needed replacing as they've reached their expiry dates.

Koeman is telling it how it is and if any players' feelings are hurt, well truth normally does. They've had it far too easy for the last 3-4 years with very little competition and a massive cloud of complacent has been hanging over the club for far too long.

On with the clear out.

However, personally I have found his brutal honesty and abrasiveness to be a refreshing change. Koeman calls it as he sees it, he has a mandate from Moshiri and is evidently prepared to execute it with ruthless disregard to those players who he feels do not measure up.

The latest statement continues with the theme of honesty; if we want to win, then the process of ridding the squad of the deadwood needs to continue unabated. Koeman is a proven winner and we need to get behind him and hope that the Club will reap the rewards.

I would speculate those he means have no future include Gibson, McGeady, Lennon, Kone, Deulofeu & Oviedo. In his shoes, I would add McCarthy & probably Barkley, although I know many would disagree, especially re Ross.

Players get a genuine chance to sort out there futures, rather than just picking up a wage and sitting on our bench.

I respect the likes of Tom Cleverley for his willingness to move around looking for the best club for his own career rather than being a no-mark fringe player at us.

Some of the players futures look clear already:

Jagielka is past his best and due to retire or down grade his club as he's not first choice.

Barry has been given a new deal so I'd guess Ron wants him around the club.

Gibson, Niasse, Kone, McGeady, Garbutt, all clearly have no future at the club.

Cleverley has already gone.

Oviedo is obviously not first choice.

McCarthy needs answers, unless he's already had them as Ron has brought in two players in his roll already.

Lennon, Deulofeu and Mirallas clearly aren't convincing Ron when they play as they can't retain there place.

None of the two keepers seem to be convincing either although Ron seems to favour Stekelenburg.

Ross is the biggest enigma at the club atm as I don't think Ron is convinced, I don't think many fans are either, but imo he's easily in my favoured starting 11.

I think it's refreshing that he appears to have told the players that he doesn't rate that they need to find new clubs.

There are at least six players that need moving on, sadly that won't happen all in this transfer window. We will probably still need the likes of Oviedo, Jagielka, Lennon, Deulofeu and Mirallas to cover for suspensions and injuries. Koeman will have to be patient and wait until the summer before he can get all the deadwood out.

Let's get rid of the deadwood throughout the club – from top to bottom.

Including Kenwright.

Bollocks. He actually held the board to account last weekend and publicly too. And so he should have and now he's letting it be known publicly what we all know. This lot are not good enough,fit enough, hard enough or sadly, not young enough any more. A mighty wind is starting to blow.

As Colin has said, please let it blow out Bullshit Bill and his mate Bobby.

His refusal to drop Tim Howard, for example, when his career was obviously in serious decline, was symptomatic of his fear of upsetting the older pros in the squad. In a nutshell, we lacked strong leadership under Martinez.

In total contrast, Koeman has shown the strong leadership that many of us were crying out for. He is not afraid to drop the more senior members of the squad, Jagielka and Barry come to mind, or face down the board as he did in his interview after the Leicester game.

Okay, results haven't been perfect, but I for one find him a breath of fresh air, and find myself quietly confident that he may do a good job for us. Which, as a devoted Everton fan of nearly 35 years, is what scares me. As many on these pages have observed before, it's the hope that kills you.

I await with eager anticipation his next pearl of wisdom about how we aren't pressing enough, fit enough, it's the boards, Martinez's, Donald Trump's fault when we lose another game. It can be Ronnies can it?

His peerless record as manager is beyond reproach and I have no time for those on TW who say he is money grabbing, negative, arrogant, clueless tactician – who are these people and why should they be moaning when they have the privilege of paying a small fortune to watch this wonderful football???

You never know. Maybe getting knocked out of the cup might turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Everton have got more deadwood than the rain forest. Time to fire up the chainsaw.

This club is no longer a gravy train for under performing players not worthy of the Premier League and when he gets 'his' players in then I see a rosy future.

Apart from being firmer defensively, and decent signings, especially Gana which was a great signing, I can't see much if any evidence of real progress. This is not negative, it's just realistic, based on observation.

So for me the jury is out on Koeman's performance thus far, but I'll still give him time, subject to review. The review includes some of the odd statements made to the media, which to me look unprofessional. Perhaps this doesn't matter if it doesn't affect the performance of the team on the pitch, but it does matter otherwise.

Yes, there was bullshit with Martinez. But beware, those TWers who think Koeman's honesty is a breath of fresh air. It might well be, but it might be another form of bullshit.

The latter comes in various guises. I have to be a little sceptical about any manager who appears to direct blame to everyone except himself. It can be a classic sign of the politician. But I'll remain hopeful, if not realistically expectant.

He doesn't need to pander to anyone as he is a bigger personality than all of them. He isn't afraid to take on the players and he isn't afraid to take on the board. He is exactly what we need during this transitional time.

Quite a few individuals have liked to use Costa as the model professional and team player that Lukaku should be. Funny development with him being dropped from the team of the league leaders and now being shopped to China.

It's crazy the amount of money the Chinese are offering. It can't be sustainable... can it?

Totally agree, Ronald is just what we needed. However, I hope the faithful look at where we are at the start of the next season,as it will take the January and summer transfer periods to bring in the final pieces, and also move out the fringe/end of career type players.

This is not an easy task and patience is required!

That totally depends on the country. The NFL is the behemoth in the US and moves franchises across the country with ease. History means nothing and they continue to be wildly successful. If the Chinese league buys the best players, and more and more players see their friends get that money and decide to follow, the country has the numbers to support it.

It is crazy but they're going for it. In many ways it's the Premier League getting a taste of their own medicine. England started spending massive amounts to grab players from all over Europe, Africa, South America. Those players didn't give a damn about the history, it was the pay check. But get enough of those quality players and yo build a product worth watching. It's going to be interesting.

I agree, though, it will be interesting to see what happens.

The NBA in the US spends a massive amount of time marketing their sport in Asia and you will see NBA jerseys all over the place, just as you will see Manchester United jerseys in China. They don't have a tie to that community.

The yanks tried to do it in the '70s with Pele, Best, Marsh, Cubillas etc... and failed. The Arabs have tried to do it as have the Russians with mixed results.

I love baseball but I know it would never really take off here even if we could bring over the Babe, Gehrig, Di Maggio, Aaron, Mays, Jeter, Clemente, etc in their prime because the vast majority of people over here prefer watching football or, heavens forbid, cricket.

I'm not sure what the main sport in China is (mah Jong?) but I bet it isn't footy and, if it wasn't for the government pressure, this wouldn't even be an issue.

Top players agents will be wanting a piece of the pie. They'll all be trying to convince their players to take the money on offer while it's still there. It's crazy to think that some of the best players in the world may end up playing in front of a few hundred spectators in a rubbish league.

£600k a week! Just got to stick it out for a couple of seasons and you're rich beyond your dreams.

We're already there, in truth, aren't we? And some of us, me included, were recently thrilled at the prospect of the Russians depositing their fortunes at our club.

You pay your money, and you take your choice.

I would like to say 'Only Joking', but, sadly, I'm not!

Why does being a great player make you a great manager?

Wenger, Mourhino, Klopp, Ferguson weren't great players but they are better managers than Ronald by any measure – trophies, dealing with the press, fans. quality of football, etc.

Read my post again. I didn't say it did make him a good or even great manager. I said he was a better player than our players and can tell them they're shit if they're shit.

I'm not going to argue his merits with you or anyone. I believe he is the best man for the job.

That nothing genuine will be done to stop it reinforces that globalism is being actively engineered into everything. Natural evolution it certainly isn't. Sport is no longer a bastion against the burgeoning "Change" ethos, and will become (even) more of a poster child for it.

In other words, enjoy our football as we know it, while it lasts.

He's come in and assessed the squad and decided there's a fair number that don't fit his plans. Although most of these have been given at least a chance (I feel a bit sorry for Niasse tbh) he has remained clear to them in their status in squad and communications Now he's shipping them out on loan/sale.

Maybe we won't all agree with his decisions or evaluations, but as it stands he's in charge and has the owners behind him.

Ron has been here what? – 6 months?

He may not turn out "as good as" Klopp and the other greats (wtf??) but let's give him more than 6 months eh??

Most people are Asian. So I think the most the Chinese can attain is a football system with the global pre-eminence the Premier League has at the moment. They wouldn't need to make an early impression in the European market.

It would lead to the Premier League deflating a fair bit. That will happen some time, inevitably. Right now though there has to be a possibility that Lukaku will be off to replace Costa this window.

Seems like Chelsea are taking a hard line with Costa – he's out of the squad claiming injury but the club have said they don't believe him...

If Costa wants the money (if?!) the only thing that would stop the deal is Chelsea's sense of their own importance – admittedly a mighty obstacle.

It's obvious both Koeman and Moshiri are fighting an ingrained culture of mediocrity at every level at the club and this will take time to root out, starting with our Beloved Leader.

We are not a museum, we are not a charity case to be pitied and liked, we are not everyone's favourite "2nd team", we are Everton and it's about time we stopped fucking around and started to get serious again.

Cheerio to the acceptance that we are punching above our weight. It will take a little time.

I guarantee Koeman and Moshiri will improve this club. On and off the pitch.

I also knew a Chinese lad at school, and he was good at footie.

Koeman is quoted as saying: "most of the players know the situation, some of them actually in the squad now don't have a future at Everton".

This is something quite different to the way you have interpreted it. And let's face it, I realise that most of these guys are wrapped in cotton wool but if they haven't sussed that out yet then they really are as thick as pig shit, whether there's a match coming up or not!

The Costa move will not break down; Costa's agent Mendes is in China and the only debate is when Costa moves not if. I think this is the beginning of China taking over from the Premier League of the place to be to earn money.

I am sure that Chelsea will move for Lukaku, and maybe they might move before this window closes. I mean even if they agree to Costa leaving for China at the end of the season could they be guaranteed that he would be the same player till the end of the season?

Also would it upset the team spirit, so maybe Chelsea will buy Lukaku in the next 2 weeks and let Costa go right away.

Spend the money on Dembele and a Number 10?

That would do me.

Exaggerating of course.

China, imo, are on the same level as Thailand, Malaya and Burma i.e. Shite. But if these guys want to go for the money, good luck to them.

I have to agree with Stan though, the Chinese chippies with their chicken chow mein and chips were special.

A while back, talking about breaking into the top 4, I was bemoaning the vast amounts of money available to the top teams compared to even what we may now have access to with Moshiri. I was complaining that the paying fan at the game is only valued as an aide to the atmosphere for the TV audience to enjoy.

Gone were the days where you could rock up to goodison, pay a few bob on the gate and watch your team. The club valued us because we paid the bill, and the clubs with bigger attendances had more clout in the transfer market.

I added, that if there was a serious economic meltdown, or a war, then the TV money could decline, and as that was all that was keeping most clubs afloat. If China starts to pay daft money for the star players, then eventually they will have a product worth watching and we will benefit because it will make it a more level playing field at home.

Obviously, at first, the likes of Man City, and Chelsea would try to cream off the best of what was left here. However, the gulf in class would be less obvious. Of course the Premier League, and the top European clubs could attempt to compete with the crazy money over there, but for how long?
It might actually help some of our home grown kids to have a career, as the mercenaries drift East...

Perhaps Klopp, Guardiola et al will find the attraction of Shanghai too great to resist... wouldn't it be nice?

Even better. What a bit of business that would be.

Do you think HE saw the £ signs or do you think he was offering to go and help train the referees over there, purely for expenses and solely in the interest of helping a fledgling League get a foothold on the global market.

Or is he a money grabbing shit...? As opposed to a biased shit...?

I recall the best Chinese chippies (imo) were Yee's on Breckfield Road North (just as it turns from Robson Street), and Jimmy's on Smithdown Road (near Halkyn Avenue), both in the 1970s.

Jimmy's was so good that I used to get fish & chips, and a steak & kidney pie. Koeman would have liked the pie, it was one of Holland's.

There was a chippy by Grant Road in Dovecot, at the end of Western Avenue, run by a German couple (they sounded German to us anyway) and they'd put the steak pies in the fat, along with the fish! I doubt if Jamie Oliver would approve but they were the dog's danglies.

But I would hope long term that Everton were possible invest in a younger set of players. When you buy 28-year-olds for big money and usually pay the player top dollar, then when they are no longer a regular first team player it makes it very difficult to move them on. So you are left with an ageing squad as we have now and some of the older players had their contracts extended last year.

Now who sanctioned Gibson getting his contract extended, he has hardly kicked a ball for us in the last 2 seasons. So what club are going to take 30-odd-year-olds who will probably be on more than their existing players.

So we have a host of players around or over 30 that must be costing this club millions in salaries and little or no chance of moving them on.

So my plea is to start looking for younger players, for 2 reasons. First if after a couple of seasons they don't work out you can still sell them on and secondly having a lot of older players in the squad tends to stifle young players coming through the ranks.

They saw how popular it was among Brits so they decided to 'Shanghai' it, to make a tidy profit. I blame Marco Polo!

There was a chippy on Westminster Road who put pies in the fat, but I can't remember what they were called (the chippy that is, not the pies).

I had a deep fried Mars bar a couple of years ago. It was after lunch, so I had it as a dessert with coffee. It was very nice.

There is no history and no demand for Chinese football. I can understand players wanting to cream it while it lasts, although if you're already earning £150k a week, earning £300k plus a week isn't going to change your lifestyle any more. Someone like myself though, doubling my wages would allow me to get a bigger house, nicer car etc, it's not the same for these footballers.

The players with ambition who care more about a legacy and prestigious trophies will stay in the main top leagues, the money chasers will end up in China.

But in thirty years we will say "Do you remember Axel Witsel?"... "Who?"

A long time ago, Dave. If I remember right, you could sit down at white stone tables?

Clattenberg is a biased money grabbing shit. Always a bit of an odour around him.

Really good interview with Koeman in today's Guardian. One thing he makes absolutely clear is how well he works with Walsh, and how they get on. Which makes it pretty clear who he was getting at in last Saturday's rant.

He's not messing about – that's for sure.

I don't miss the soggy Lpool chips, unless I'm half-cut and/or eating them on the way to Goodison.

Yes there was one long table in the shop, don't know if it was ever used because there was always a queue in the shop and no room to sit down.

It is rumoured that plenty of stars appearing on the Empire would send over to Johnnie's to order their tea from there.

You can send any one of those Stonehaven chippies to Nairn, not so good here!

Surprised the chippies in Nairn are no good. Making chips is like football isn't it, simple really, but difficult to do well.

We do need fresh players, or should I say better players, I just hope we do not swop like for like. We need a couple of outstanding players to really make a difference.

As far as players going to China is concerned, you can't blame them, 2 or 3 years over there, earning the silly money being offered, adds up to a very large retirement sweetner.

We would often see Ken Livingstone in there, who was always happy to give and take banter and eat the people's food!

I've got a funny feeling another chippie thread will start up around half-time tomorrow.

They are missing one main ingredient which they cannot duplicate.

The UEFA Champions League.

Paul, I'll check out that chippy in London.

Brady/Brody got battered as usual, Mike.

It would mean Everton have the chance of either Lukaku or Benteke should Koeman want to play just 1 striker. It would also give the option of playing Benteke in the current Lukaku role and allow Lukaku to play in a slightly wider role were his running inside at players could be really effective.

Benteke is much better in the air than Lukaku which means we should start to score more from crosses and set pieces. Go on Farhad, £35 million (a £3 million profit for Palace in only 6 months) and maybe throw Kone in as well.

All over the show.

Dear God, please get someone like Eriksson... say Sigurdsson, to play alongside Barkley. We've tried everything with the lad... apart from giving him some support.

China will change the face of football forever. Yes they can sustain it with the wealth they have as a nation. But I don't think their league will ever be a threat to the Premier League.

Now back to topic. Ronald was spot on in what he said about certain players not being in his plans. But I don't agree that he should have said that in public. That's a private conversation between him and those players. I also think he should transfer list them if they are not in his plans. After all it's only fair to the players.

He is brutal which I don't always like. And he has said things which wind me up. But he is very honest which I do like in a person. And I'm glad that he challenged the board on signing players, it's about time someone did. So here's to a positive window. :)

Yes, the Chinese government wishes to raise the profile of professional football in the country, but that is only one part of a broader program intent on getting more Chinese participating in active sport.

Statistically, basketball is the most watched sport and has the most active participants – 300 million regularly play the game! Unsurprisingly, table tennis and badminton are also played by 100s of millions, principally because they are cheap and easy to set up and play. For this same reason, cycling and martial arts are also popular participation sports.

In this regard, football is a long way behind with facilities for the general public to play limited. Indeed, it is only since November 2014 the government declared football should be part of the national school curriculum. It will surely take a generation or two before a steady stream of Chinese football talent emerges from that initiative.

As for the 'draining' of talent on mega wages to China, yes, the headline names are catching and the supposed wages eye-watering. But in the main there is a lot of dross amongst the foreign players recruited to the China League, a miniscule number of genuinely top, top players (and not one of them currently in their prime, but rather, close to midnight in their careers) and then a sprinkling of players – such as Oscar and Witsel – who have clearly taken the coin over professional ambition.

Check out this full list of foreign footballers plying their trade in China. It takes some filtering to pick out any players of note. Most leave you asking: Who...?

Link

Yes, the Chinese are avid followers (and gamblers!) of European football, but there has actually been a fall-off in interest in their domestic league and the national side because – basically – whilst the Chinese are outstanding in many sports, they are crap at football!

The Guardian recently ran a good article on the phenomena. Read it here:

Link

I think the fatted cow of the Premier Leaguewill continue offer good suckling to its members, unchallenged, for quite some time yet.

I can predict what's going to happen in the future – Chinese wealth (Communists my arse) will lead to Premier League and Champions League matches being played over there, and a few greedy bastards will destroy our national sport for filthy lucre

When I asked him why he served crap towards the end of the night he laughed and replied "You scousers will eat scabby dog when you've been drinking".

I was outraged and turned to me arl fella who just looked at the fella in the next bed and they both said together "He's got a point lad" ... all three of them fell about laughing

I didn't go near that chippie again!

Hilarious that, and also probably true of Lukaku, when the top teams, are looking for a top forward!

Ah, the old "dogs in the freezer" tale... tail? If I had a pound for every time someones said "They raided so and so's chippy (but usually an Indian restaurant for some reason) and found dogs hanging in the freezer", I could by a new stadium in Bramley-Moore Dock.

I think when they first went full-time they were on a £70k a year package. Previously as "amateurs" they had to get agreement for time off from whatever profession they were in and only got expenses.

The money out there would be a life-changer for someone like him. Especially when you consider how much he could top it up by giving / not giving certain decisions in games...

We all know that he's a personal fucker though, having been on the wrong end of it ourselves, but Clattenberg strikes me as being the only ref out there who might have actually played the game?

That last sentence, Matt? Couldn't agree more.

However, Gibson, Kone, McGeady, Cleverley and Niasse are clearly surplus to requirements. Lennon, Deulofeu, Rodriquez, Ovideo and McAleny are obviously not fancied either!

I think there will be more players leaving in January and in the summer. We need proven quality players not bargain-basement free transfers