The Chickens Come Home to Roost

Worst case scenario is that we are a bad run of injuries away from really struggling.

As for the reset button, what exactly are we resetting? A few years ago it was about qualifying for top four, then resets for Europa League, now another reset for a top 10 finish? To me it seems the targets are lowering on every reset.

New stadium in a few years time, the key is probably going to be stability with minimal outlay in the transfer market until we play in BMD.

The one to watch will be James. Can he and Benitez find some way to make it work? A front four of Richarlison on one side - James as a no. 10 - Gray on the opposite flank - Dom up to gives us another option to the 4-4-2 and if he's motivated and fit enough to prove the doubters (and pointedly his manager) wrong, we might have a fun farewell. The more likely scenario is we rip up his contract as Spurs did with Serge Aurier last night.

Either way, next year we can trim the last remaining bloat from the Koeman/Fat Sam days and hopefully be in a better position to add real quality in the areas we lack. The signing of Gray and Townsend (although it's early days) show that shopping in the reduced section isn't always the worst thing in the world. If the likes of Iwobi can be improved, along with Gomes, Gbamin, Davies, Kenny and others, we might actually turn some of our duds into diamonds. Well, at least pop them in the shop window.

Onwards and upwards!

Who knows what the future holds with regards our owners? I could probably do a list of one to ten different scenarios right now, although it wouldn't do much for my schizophrenia.. But if the chickens are coming home to roost, I personally hope it's because Rafa Benitez, is slowly going to make us a lot more professional, and also has assurances that if/once he helps sort the mess out, then nothing but the best is going to become our motto, once again!

The frustrations of being an Evertonian summed up perfectly.

We now have a first team squad of 27 but in reality (and Huddersfield as some proof) we can expect limited use/performances from Delph, Sigurdsson, Kenny, Branthwaite, Gbamin, Lonergan & Tosun plus hope Gordon can jump to the next level.

The use of James going forward will be the most interesting factor of this under cooked transfer window.

History suggests if Rafa wants to make use of James he has to do it in the next two months before James begins his customary hibernation in the winter period & his likely acrimonious departure in January.

Our solid start suggests (injury allowing) that our limited squad will be of sufficient quality to get results at the normal Premier League “also rans” and target topping the “mini league” of ourselves, West Ham, Villa and Leicester.

On the footy front the transfer window is a joke with everyone scrambling around. I am convinced it is a sky imposed thing on the clubs.
You cannot tell me that Everton could not have done the Rondon deal earlier than 11pm last night?

As for Everton's right back search over the last few years, it is comical.
We never seem to have a plan which brings in to question the role of Brands.
I accept that the continuing change of manager must make that difficult as he probably never knows what he should be planning for.

Buckle up its going to be a bumpy ride.

I'm going to stay positive and live in hope that this is the summer where the big reset was actually needed and that we just get that massive bit of luck that is needed to keep our important players fit enough until January.
A real shame that mainland-Niles wasn't doable as he would have provided cover in both full back positions and midfield when required. Obviously negligent not to have had a back up option and to have put all of our eggs in that basket but maybe they were shafted by Arsenal at the last minute, who knows. I'll watch on with interest to see how much game time he does get between now and January as I rate him and think he'd have been a fine addition.

Big challenge for Mr Benitez now to utilise James and for the player himself to do his best to contribute whilst he's here. I'm sure he'll want to get back in the national squad so let's see. I'm glad that I may get to see him at Goodson at least.

My biggest regret is that Everton always and I mean always, never seem to capitalise at the right time. After this positive start it would have been bloody brilliant to get in a couple more, especially Diaz just to give everyone that little boost and more optimism.

Still, onwards we March.

As for our current manager making the most of what he's got, could someone please explain to me how naming 2 keepers on the bench last weekend helps matters.

With James having no choice but to play he will have a very effective attack. the midfield is more determined, pacer , with better interchanging movement and not as walk through. The defence did improve last season and should this season.

Squad depth, in that players have played in different positions, is just about adequate with a bit of luck and hopefully a extended early run. The beginning of next year will be critical and I expect transfers still to be worked on for the January window. The end of season run in will need to be determined and based on effort and hard work.

I expect Everton to do well this season. Every squad player knows they will get game time and are a integrated part of this seasons effort. Benitez maybe Everton's most powerful Manager at the end of this season, who will ask questions. This Everton can progress further as accountablity wealds its force.

Sacking Martinez - Compensation paid
Poaching Koeman - Compensation paid
Sacking Koeman - Compensation paid
Sacking Allardyce - Compensation paid
Hiring Silva - Compensating Watford even though they fired him!
Sacking Silva - Compensation paid.

Bolasie - write off
Klassen - lost 50% in months
Rooney - write off
Williams - write off
Sigurdsson - not sure we are entitled to even a minimal insurance pay-out in the worst-case scenario . Write off.
Walcott - Nominal fee
Tosun - write off

When our Chairman told the AGM other boards around the league are envious, and often ask themselves: "What would Everton do?“ it's surely to confirm they are not doing exactly the same.

We are a complete shambles. The big reset isn't the summer just gone, it will be next summer. Out of contract players alone are sucking half a million a week out of the club. If we were to sell one of Richarlison/Digne/Calvert Lewin/Godfrey we will be a little healthier, but still a long way from a well run club.

Luckily, our current manager is quite adept at getting the most out of the players available to him. He's probably disappointed with the summer window but he'll crack on and see if anyone is available in January.

As in when a player is crocked, how much can be claimed from insurance? Or how about the amount we can claim when a player has been suspended?

Honestly what a cluster-fuck

Two people who are absolutely blameless in all of this are Moshiri and Rafa. Moshiri has put his money where his mouth is. And Rafa has accepted the job with all of these constraints imposed on him.

Bizarrely, I don't think the squad is as bad as Lyndon suggests.

In goal, Begovic has come in as back up to Pickford.

In defence, I don't think we need a centre half - not while we have Mina, Godfrey, Keane, Holgate and Branthwaite on the books. At right back it would be easy to bring in someone like Aurier on a free and pay him £70k a week - but that's what got us in this mess in the first place. I'd rather have JJK. At left back, Delph can fill in when not injured(!) Godfrey also played there at times last season.

On the wings, we've swapped Bernard for Gray and Townsend, with Iwobi as deputy. In midfield, we have Davies and Gomes as understudies to Allan and Doucoure.

Up front, we've kept Richarlison and DCL, with Rodriguez and Rondon in reserve.

I think we have probably got another 12 months of trying to shift the likes of Tosun and Sigurdsson. Rodriguez and Gomes will probably go also. But hopefully we have learnt some lessons from paying top dollar for shit players on massive wages that we can't get rid of. Hopefully our Director of Football will not commit the same mistakes that both he and Steve Walsh made in the past.

Its all Frustrating as I feel Rafa could be very positive for Everton, but he does need a capable squad with cover in all positions.

In the short term I think that this could be beneficial to us as a club. In a way we perform better when we're not suffering delusions of grandeur. We should all accept and embrace a dogs-of-war mentality until the books are better balanced and the stadium project is complete.

That may mean accepting mid-table finishes and losing frustrated superstar players along the way. The stadium revenue will at least allow for a wage bill closer to what the big boys are running.

I do feel, in this sense, that Benitez is the best man for the job insofar as he has vast experience (like Ancelotti) but is highly motivated to keep his job at Everton because of his roots in the region (unlike Ancelotti).

What I fear, and what every other supporter of a non-big-six club must be fearing, is this consolidation of the hegemony. For all the good that financial sustainability regulations might bring for the long-term survival of football clubs, I've never heard any suggestion of how a club outside the big six are supposed to break into that club.

As you pointed out, Lyndon, the big revenue boost is in Champions League football, though the super league clubs find it inadequate (and inconvenient that it requires qualification).

This leaves the rest of the league (and lower leagues too) with only one strategy for revenue generation: developing academy players for sale. £100m from selling Grealish has given Villa an opportunity to take a step up. Of course the self-evident irony is that it hands Manchester City another superb talent with which to consolidate their power.

Personally I'm disappointed with the Everton academy. Not only are we not producing talent capable of challenging for the many open positions in our first team but we're not producing any sellable assets either.

Brands was touted as the man who brought through superb talent at PSV. Now it seems that his focus is more on shifting out dead wood than unearthing gems to develop into first team players (Nkounkou, perhaps, the exception).

We have a couple of keepers, a capable back up right back, 4 centre backs, 5 centre mids, 5 players who can fill the 3 in a 4-2-3-1 and a couple of strikers. We're in a far better position now than at the start of the window with players who look like they actually want to play for their money. I'd rather be optimistic at the moment.

I am yet to be sold on Brands though. He doesn't shift the ‘deadwood', he generally doesn't unearth any gems and a lot of signings seem to be at a managers request. He's done well with a couple, but needs to show more.

He clearly has no knowledge of football at all but has repeatedly insisted on bringing in his choice of manager and DoF. Anyone who's first choice picks were Koeman, Allardyce, Silva and Walsh is very much to blame for what has happened in the past 5 years.

My Arsenal mate, texted me last night after I asked him if it's time to give Arteta, a little bit of time. We have just spent £160 million, and you could argue we haven't improved the first eleven.

He went on to say that in ten of the seasons Arsenal, finished in the top 4 under Wenger, the club was 18th or lower in their net spend!

I only want Everton to spend again once we've got stability, and the players coming in are part of a plan to improve the existing team, even if this doesn't mean I'm not disappointed that we never signed another top class central defender, last night!

We've let 17 players go since the end of last season, some on loan, some released, some bringing in fees. Most if not all of them were on our wage bill up to the end of last season. Still a few still to go. There always is. But at least a decent start has been made, part of an ongoing effort.

While there are still gaps in the squad, I struggle with the idea that somehow the squad is weaker than last season. Every player signed ticks a box. We needed pace out wide, where we had none last season. We signed 2 wingers, one of whom can play through the centre. They can both provide some goal threat by the look of it. We needed another one but failed, but we've still got 2 more than last season. We needed experienced back up to Dominic, we had none last season. We signed a centre forward. And we needed experienced goalkeeping backup. We didn't sign a right back, but we tried hard by the look of it.

As a couple of people have said, the interesting one might be James. Fit, firing and committed, he might feel he has a point to prove, to the fans, to Benitez, to Colombia and to those teams who didn't think he was worth signing in this window. I hope so, because we need goals and assists from him.

The most important signing might prove to be Rafa Benitez. Experienced and obsessive, he has taken on quite a challenge, hopefully with his eyes wide open.

The initial signs are encouraging, with pace out wide, energy and positive intent. More direct football with minimal fannying around at the back with futile possession. Goals being spread around, and the bare minimum being absolute maximum effort for 95 minutes,, so maybe improved fitness. We're winning games with a lot less possession as well, unsurprisingly.

Nothing has personified this approach than the roles and contributions of Doucouré and Allan. Encouraged to support the attackers, they are showing a lot more than last season. I hope it continues. Iwobi showing the odd glimpse too.

So here we are, at the start of a challenging new season, the likes of Villa, WHU and Leicester all looking stronger. Is it the start of something positive, or something negative?

Interesting times.

I think I can detect a tinge of disappointment that we're all feeling: whilst this new avenue may be necessary and perhaps even sensible….we don't watch football to be sensible

We watch because we want our team to win and to compete across the season. We want to entertained. We want to achieve and finish in high positions and hopefully win things/qualify for Europe

We don't support Everton because we like the way they run the books so it's galling that it's something non football that's left us bereft on the playing side

Kunal #3 is right - every reset seems to be reduce our ambitions and that's a disappointment

Your article was very balanced Lyndon: we seem to have had such awful luck. On this score I do feel for Moshiri. I do however also think he's mismanaged us to a degree: the DoF doesn't appear to have a clear or specific remit. Instead he blows in the wind towards whatever the new manager wants

Additionally we just don't produce good youngsters: see the Reds: Trent Alexander, Harvey Elliot, Nathanial Philips…..they have more

Is our youth scouting system poor or is it our coaching? Can we expect Ellis Simms and/or Lewis Dobbin to get decent game time this season? What about Branthwaite and Gordon?

I think this is my issue with the club: I don't know what the long term plan is. I know the long term goal is Europe and success - but what's the plan??

- Is it emphasis on youth development? No

- is it emphasis on youth scouting (find uncut gems, develop and sell for profit)? No

- is it buy proven players for a quick fix (by proven I don't mean Iwobi, Tosun, Bolaise etc)? No

What is our actual plan because it feels like it's been a mix of the above (ie no plan) and therefore we are exactly where one would expect if they unemotionally analysed our activities over the last 5-6 years. It's been crap

Hopefully Rafa INSTILLS a plan and the other numpties listen to him because frankly I don't think he can do any worse than they have

It's been a total mismanagement

I'm thinking now if the loan deal for Niels, cover at RB, for Seamus and LB, Digne, and CB.

What's the long term plan, albeit for the deadwood players to see out their contracts, and a fresh start next summer?

In the mean time unless Everton break on through and achieve success on the park, unless there's some commercial windfalls and profitability is boosted, this season, will Everton be in a better position this time next season, on the basis the wage bill will be trimmed significant with players out of contract ?

It seems that FFP, looks at a clubs 3 year cycle of operating profit and loss, and not the net financial trading performance of a club.

So yet the likes of Real, could consider going for Mbappe at Monopoly money, considering their so called financial predicament, makes this look like a rigged industry, but I'm no finance expert or economist.

There's no simple game of football any more.

Time to get on and knuckle down, and let's hope Everton can keep the good start going v Burnley after the internationals.

We've made a good start to the season albeit against teams unlikely to threaten the top third of the table.

Injuries will kick in but on the other hand we've not had Godfrey, Gomes, Gbamin or James to call on and we now have Rondon.

Also, I'm probably over-conscious of the conspiracy theory element of this site, and whilst I'm not saying that football is a level playing field, the comparisons with Chelsea, Man Utd, PSG and Real Madrid are pointless as we're likely dwarfed by both their prize money and commercial incomings.

So for me it's a case of back to plucky little Everton. A team we can trust to give it all on the pitch with steady progress over the next couple of seasons.

Then we can see if we might be more careful with our (Moshiri's) cash.

Oh and if we're really paying Sigurdsson at least £100k per week then we're surely screwed.

- Net spend and sell on value are critically important. Our long term transfer strategy needs to revolve around this.

- Our short term transfer strategy is to find players to fill positions who are not just good value but also cheap. We probably can't switch strategy until we sell one or both of Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison.

That said, I think Everton have done remarkably well to bring in 4 players of adequate quality for just £1M net. In previous seasons we'd have spent much more on the same sort of quality.

The crushing blow is that because of really serious mismanagement at all levels of the club, we remain miles off being competitive despite spending more than Champions League giants in recent years.

We may pick up, say, Aurier on a free to tide us over. That would help because though he's not stellar he is experienced and athletic.

Circumstance may also be the making of Branthwaite and Gordon – they both have quality.

But big picture it doesn't really change things. We have a largely mediocre squad which is very light in a few areas. A quality right-back would help but it's hardly the final piece of the jigsaw.

Look at the first 11 player for player and we're well off the pace. Look at the second 11 and it becomes really stark.

We have a mid-table squad which will finish 6th to 12th. Probably should finish 8th or 9th. If we go higher it will be down to underperformance of better teams and good management by Benitez.

It seems likely from reports (although the only people that really know are those involved behind the scenes) that our first choice was Dumfries and that we had moves for second and third choice options (Patterson, Maitland-Niles) fail too.

The reasons for those transfers not happening are completely unknown – but I do know I'd rather the club take a long-term approach to recruitment.

If that means a season with Coleman and Kenny as the right-back options and getting a quality first choice in a future window, then I'm fine with it.

The club should be learning its lessons from giving high-value contracts to players that don't materially improve the squad and that are then difficult to move on through the term of the contract.

We have to make do with what we have got and get behind the manager and the team.

The sins of the past have come back to bite us this summer and nobody wants our deadwood, not even on loan. The only players we were able to move out were ones who have potential in the long term. No takers at the end of the day for James or Gomes or any other members of the deadwood club.

A big season for some of the younger members of the squad who were loaned out last season, hopefully, they can make an impact and we find ourselves in a better place at the end of this season.

Walsh and Keoman have departed but Brands remains and so has a chance to make amends in the years ahead.

Good point regarding Benitez getting in his own men. Elements of this squad have lost interest in previous regimes.

Let's hope this new manager can continue on the good start he has made. The work ethic of Townsend was good to see, and Rondon is another hard worker. The team looks to have good morale... onwards and upwards.

It comes to something when a fan such as Paul the Esk has a greater awareness of Premier League and Uefa financial rules than any one of our Board of Directors seemingly does.

5 years ago we were all convinced we had this new rich owner with his mega-wealthy contacts and we were going places. Since then we've had one disastrous crack at Europe, not one Top 6 finish, and one domestic cup semi-final.

The Moshiri era has not been what it should have and I can't help feeling that a lot of those still pointing the finger of blame at Bill Kenwright are the ones most struggling to accept that.

Moshiri clearly knows little about football. This is why he appointed Directors of Football. Not just any Directors of Football, he went out and got 2 of the best out there. One who was credited with unearthing Vardy and Kante for Leicester, the genius behind their recruitment as they won the league. He could not have known how badly Walsh would then spend his money, surely you agree with that?

So he then brought in Brands - a respected DOF from PSV. He oversaw their recruitment that saw them win the title for the first time in many years. Overhauled the youth system. Well we are still waiting for Brands to properly deliver. For every Lucas Digne, there's been a Gomes and a Delph. For every Godfrey, there's been a Bernard and an Iwobi. But Moshiri has clearly backed him!

Aside from the DOF model, if Moshiri is guilty of anything, it is the appointments of Marco Silva and Sam Allardyce. But can you really blame him for appointing Koeman, Ancelotti or Rafa? One is managing Real Madrid, one is managing Barcelona and even Rafa has won the Champions League in the past.

In my book, if Moshiri is guilty of anything, it's of backing very well qualified football people who have failed him to the tune of £500 million.

We will have a time now of relative austerity while we build a new stadium and unravel the catastrophic damage done by recent player purchases. If we finish in the Top 6 for several years now, it would be a major achievement but our future can't be based on trying to improve by buying expensive flops and has been players.

We don't have the income for FFP purposes to compete with the top 4 who seem to operate under different rules but we can still do well by being the best of the rest using homegrown and value buys. Leicester showed what is possible and that needs to be our model, exceptional close season and transfer window for me.

The key thing for me is that the performances have so far been very good. The team look fit and very motivated. The challenge will come when we get the (inevitable) raft of injuries and the odd suspension. The manager is not given to hyperbole, he is interested only in whether those selected do their job properly, and that is the way it needs to be.

I really don't think it here is any merit in going down the “woe is me” channel as regards he impact of FFP on Everton. This is clearly a season of consolidation, and it is next season that we will see the loss of several high earners, and that will go some way to allowing the manager scope to sign his own players, and our job as fans is to get behind the team and the manager, as we were left with a bit of a hot mess by Ancelotti.

My only bugbear is this business of two substitute ‘keepers on the bench. Daft.

With the exception of Ancelotti, not one of Moshiri's managers was regarded as 'the right man for the job' by supporters on this site.

Again, with the exception of last summer's window, Allan, James and Doucouré, few thought we did well in any window since Martinez's summer of Lukaku and Deulofeu. In fact, the vast majority of the fanbase were absolutely horrified at the end of the infamous '4 Number 10s' summer window.

If it is that obvious to the average fan, it should of been obvious to people competent in Moshiri camp, only he never appointed anyone.

Moshiri has messed up badly as far as the output on the pitch is concerned which is of course the actual end product of the business that he is running.

1. Can we stop talking about right-back ‘cover' please? We've got loads of right-back ‘cover'. Coleman, Kenny, Holgate, Godfrey and even John. What we needed wasn't ‘cover' but a high quality, long-term committed successor to Coleman. We tried for Patterson but Rangers wouldn't sell, I believe Dumfries wanted Inter anyway.

2. In defence of Brands. I don't blame him at all. We clearly haven't followed Brands's strategy in player acquisition, instead allowing about 7 different people to decide who to buy. Ancelotti bought his own players. Brands wouldn't have signed James or Allan as he sees his job as bringing in 19- to 24-year-olds who will improve and increase in value. He's not been allowed to pursue this strategy. Far from getting rid of Brands, the hierarchy need to get out of his way and let him do his thing. This is, of course, in partnership with Benitez.

To criticise Brands for not shifting ‘deadwood' is unfair. He wasn't hired to do that and why would he be any good at it? He's never had to do it before.

3. We suddenly lack ‘cover' at left-back. Beyond Digne, only Delph and Godfrey have ever played there. One is never fit, the other is a right-footed centre-back. I wonder if Branthwaite and Townsend will be options.

4. We have players who've under-performed last season but can be expected to improve this season. Iwobi and Andre Gomes top this list but you could include Richarlison and Holgate. Ancelotti seemed to indulge his players where Benitez will demand standards. Gbamin and Delph are potentially very good players, no-one has any idea what they will or won't contribute. I have high hopes for Gbamin although he'll need time and support.

5. The squad is still big. With the exception of left-back, we have two players for every position, more in some. However, we suddenly seem to be short on promising youngsters, only Simms and Onyango seem to be anywhere near the first team and I'd be surprised if Benitez put his faith in either.

6. We still have James Rodriguez. We've started talking about him as of he's some kind of millstone weighing us down. He's actually one of the most talented players in the league. If handled correctly he can still be a huge asset.

7. Four big contracts are up next summer. Sigurdsson, Rodriguez, Delph and Tosun will be off the wage bill. This, combined with the frugal summer we've just had, will leave us in a strong position, hopefully having learned from past mistakes.

So, as so often, the wailing and gnashing of teeth is misplaced. We'd all like to be better, but we have a top keeper, strong defenders, a variety of midfielders with different strengths and forwards who can create and score goals. Those are the things that matter, not net-spend. The players we've got are a lot better than they showed under Ancelotti, so if Benitez gets some positive momentum going, we have cause for optimism.

As others have said, we get some expensive players off the books next summer and can start building again, so really anything we achieve this season is a bonus.

But still having no successor for Seamus is very poor. Even the players that we didn't get – a raw youngster from Rangers, and a wannabe central midfielder from Arsenal – weren't exactly ideal.

Moshiri appointed people to manage the football club for him. Surely you can see that. He identified Walsh and Brands as the men to take us forward. Very respected people in the game. Save your anger for them. They are the people who failed us, not Moshiri.

Benitez has been forced to look for bargain basement prices and loan deals that did not come off, because Arsenal and Man Utd did want Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Donny van de Beek to go out on loan.

So was it a good transfer window? Not when there are restrictions placed on the club because of spending rules, which may affect the whole season.

This is the sort of management that this club needs. He is focused, intelligent, inspirational, hard-working and hard-headed. We have lacked this sort of direction for years.

Now the belt strings have been tightened, he has shown he is a shrewd operator in the transfer market. With limited resources, I believe he will deliver more than most could.

I think we should back him to the hilt as the Board's hands are tied (self-inflicted). Onwards and upwards. COYB.

I'm not sure about the practicalities of that though. Maybe some kind of rule where an owner can pay out of pocket and 'gift' a player to a club so that the club doesn't become laden down with debt?

We now have a choice as supporters. We can, as the majority of Premier League teams' supporters do, accept where we are (hopefully in the short-term) and get on with it and support the team.

Or we can do what a good number did on the transfer day live section and bleat like spoilt kids who didn't get what they wanted for Christmas.

At some point, you just have to get on with goin' the game, shoutin' for the team, celebratin' the wins, and bemoanin' the losses.

But the constant and over-the-top self-pity is nauseating.

COYB!

Profligacy: ‘reckless extravagance or wastefulness in the use of resources.'

Our belt has not just been tightened we have got the screwdriver out and had to make another hole.

Everton are a bizarro club though where nothing is normal. It is the ultimate irony that this summer we have spent zero and reduced the wage bill and yet we now look like more of a team than at almost any stage during the £500M splurge.

The addition of Gray is inspired, I would be made up if we'd signed a £30M player and he was playing like that, Townsend a good professional with the right attitude and a solid squad signing, and another squad signing, Rondon, will give us solid back up for Calvert-Lewin and allow us, to an extent, to keep our drilled shape and system when Dom is injured or needs a rest. Begovic too is good back-up on a free.

We've kept Richarlison who is still improving, Calvert-Lewin is also still on his upward trajectory. I think we will see more goals from both this season.

The manager and his staff are organising the team behind the scenes, making them understand their roles, position and shape. They are instilling focus, desire and professionalism. So far it's working.

However, It's a big disappointment that the right-back position was not sorted out. Dumfries, Patterson, Maitland-Niles all slipped through the net. Dumfries would have given us a real boost, Patterson would have enthused the fan base and have been well supported and loved here. He sounds like he could have been a natural successor to Seamus, he must have immense potential.

So all is not lost and there a some reasons for positivity. Optimism though, for me, is tempered. The squad is short in depth in crucial areas.

We needed Diaz or similar to provide more strength in depth from wide attacking positions. We really needed a right back. Cover for Digne is an odd one too, with Small gone and Nkounkou on loan, it falls to Godfrey. I don't want to even contemplate Delph playing there.

A fig leaf is that we can mange until January, then get one or two reinforcements in, probably on loan, maybe even just until the summer. Then next summer, more players are out of contract and there will be some serious adjustments to the first team.

So it is right to expect that this season is one of consolidation, and hopefully a great cup run. Next season, with expected summer ‘22 investment, there will be another opportunity to kick on to the next level.

That's if lessons have been learned; I'm not counting my chickens just yet.

Weird that no team would take a chance on Rodriguez. We'd have probably paid half his wages, so to pick up someone like him for £100k a week, if you wanted to get in a game-changing signing, it's a no-brainer.

Hopefully we reap the benefit. Only problem is, I think there is genuine coldness between him and the manager. Still, not uncommon in football. Got a feeling Rondon is going to be liked by the fans as well.

The fact that these days the rules seem to favour the few not the many, does not really deny the correctness of the principle of FFP, just its application.

The notion that organisations or people should be allowed unlimited expenditure is a gross distortion of what sport is about, ie, a competition with a level playing field. We're a long way from that these days but I don't think any of us like it so much.

If the expectation (of the DoF) is to recruit players that you develop into first team players and / or sell for a considerable sum, then Brands has performed poorly when compared to his counterparts at Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd, Arsenal, Spurs, Leicester etc.

FFP has hamstrung the progression and development of many clubs, including our own, favouring the top clubs who continue to spend money like its going out of fashion, despite crushing debts. On this backdrop, Benitez is looking like a shrewd move.

We've spent terribly over the past few years. It's not what you spend, it's how you spend it is what I keep saying.

I have no idea whether Moshiri has had his fingers burned and is waiting to see if he can trust the current manager or we are genuinely in danger of breaching the rules. I don't claim to know or understand them to be honest. But it seems odd that the elites can seemingly flirt with and circumnavigate them even though they are burdened with apparent huge debts. But I guess they point to revenue and income from their global brand and European football. Something many Evertonians view as an inconvenience rather than progression.

I guess gatecrashing the Champion's League it is then!

I agree with all of that apart from the comment that net spend does not matter. You're right that quality on the pitch is what ultimately matters. But net spend and resale value is what allows any club to reinvest money into the squad quality and improve.

We won't improve if we're shopping for free transfers every summer. It's been very astute business this time around but you wouldn't want to have this sort of budget every summer.

I'm sure there will be work going on behind the scenes to earmark ins and outs.

Rafa is a shrewd man and will be planning his next move.

However, I believe that Moshiri wasn't going to throw more money at the club, with or without FFP, his priority is to get that stadium built, and by funding the first phase of the project, he has made his priorities abundantly clear.

What this summer has shown, is that trying to get into the elusive Champions League places, is as difficult now as it was back in 2004, in fact, it's probably harder due to the richer clubs tightening their own expenditure and thereby depriving clubs such as Everton of picking up bargains or benefitting from player sales.

One good aspect of the window this summer, is that we have managed to keep Dominic and Richarlison in the squad but we are bound to lose one if not both in the next summer window, which means we'll have to find equal talent for less than we recoup for them.

A reliable right-back is still required and has been for three years, other players will have to be moved on too and replacements found, which will mean another transitional season.

Unless the manager hits on a miraculous way to get Everton into Europe during his tenure, the club will never be able to truly compete at the top end of the league and that is the most frustrating thing to us as fans. We've been down this road so many times, and the place we'd like the club to be remains as far away as ever.

One game at a time, sweet Jesus!

Candidly, I see little chance of this season proving more rewarding than last and, as per usual, the shit will hit the proverbial as soon as we lose a couple on the trot. Never thought I would say it but the redeeming feature which will keep Everton out of a relegation battle is our manager. No fool is he – and the idiot brigade who make up the Board had better believe it!

Managers come and go. Benitez will go at some point. They shouldn't be making decisions that affect anything but the short-term.

Brands should have been stronger. If managers convinced him to buy these players then he should have been stronger. If he was overruled from above then he should have been stronger. He was the guy that was tasked with overseeing football operations and he failed.

If I was Moshiri, I'd reflect on that appointment and vow to do better. Sack him.

The problem isn't that we're out of money. That's the outcome. The problem is that we blew what he had on poor recruitment.

If you're going to have a DoF model then implement it.

It almost becomes irrelevant then who the manager is because they can come and go. You would be hiring head coaches, not managers.

I get your point about him being stronger but, like many English clubs, we've taken a half-arsed approach to the DoF model as I understand it.

Maybe I understand it wrong.

The jury may still be out on Rafa and his hands may be tied somewhat regarding funding for players but Leicester proved some years back you can make a silk purse from a sow's ear.

There is undoubted quality in the squad and, if he can get the likes of Rodriguez back onside again, then he could have this team in a good position soon. As someone mentioned, maybe more money will be freed up for January if needed.

Righ-back is obviously a gap in the squad but hopefully Coleman plus one or two of the centre-backs can cover until January, when we'll eventually succeed in getting Patterson or someone else in.

To get Gray, Townsend, Begovic and Rondon for £1.7m is quite incredible. If we'd paid £10M for Gray I don't think anyone would be complaining in this market. Keeping Richarlision was also very important. Bernard was on £90k a week and barely contributing so good to get him off the wage bill.

Overall, not pulled up any trees this window but has been a very satisfying one to rebalance the squad, bring pace in and get some deadwood out. Just James's massive wages still here the only downside but the club tried hard to shift him but just couldn't find anyone that interested.

We've made a very decent start to the season and don't have any major injury worries going into the first international break. Fingers crossed we can continue with a win against Burnley next. I feel we're heading in the right direction with a balanced hardworking team that also now has pace on both sides. As long as we can remain free of any major injuries, we'll do just fine I think.

Things looking good for now – Rafa just needs to figure out how best to use James. Too slow for our normal game but I can't see Burnley attacking much next up so maybe he can start in these types of games.

What's the U23s stock looking like? Are there any gems coming through who have the potential to fill in?

Centre-midfield cover is my concern; Gbamin is clearly not right with Davies and Gomes not having the legs or bite to dominate in midfield.

At 5, I'm more alluding to a generation of young players who've moved on without making it. I don't think Brands is to blame for this either. There was a time we looked at Kenny, Connolly, Dowell and some others as future first teamers. Davies and Calvert-Lewin did make it. Having lost Thierry Small there aren't many others who look anywhere near ready, Onyango may be an exception.

I therefore don't see them as contradictory. I contend that if Brands had been allowed to do his job we'd have recruited better, including at youth level.

Edit: I've just seen Ernie's comment that Brands should have been stronger. This may be so, but as we don't know what goes on behind the scenes it's impossible to know. Ultimately, Moshiri has to sign off on the decisions, and Brands can't be ‘strong' with him other than walking out. Optimistically we can say that we've learnt some harsh lessons and are now in a position to put them into practice in the future. For me, that means backing the Brands model and stop recruiting high wage cast-offs.

I am very pleased with the players we have brought into the club this window; I think they have improved the squad and given us a new dynamic that will serve us well. Obviously there are areas we needed to strengthen - and missing out on targets is always disappointing - but I think Rafa has done very well with the adjustments to the squad that he has made, especially given the financial restrictions, and I am genuinely feeling more positive about where we currently are than I thought I would be. But then again, I'm a pragmatist.

However as cover JJK is fine and under Rafa who is a hands on coach he will improve and get better, I've got no doubts about that. He's an under 20 World Cup winner who has a great attitude and is a terrific lad so I've heard, he's also a blue through and through so let's give him some backing.

The right back ‘can will need to be kicked down the road' and at some point we will need a replacement for Seamus.

The left back issue is more of a concern for me for the reasons stated by others. I think we may need to look at out of contract options to fill a gap for 12 months - there must be some options in Europe

I can't remember his name but there was a left back that I saw who was in the Swiss squad at The Euros who's been released by Bordeaux I think. I'm not saying he's fantastic as I've never seen him but there must be out of contract options like him out there to fill out this space in the squad

But he is experienced and has played in the Premier League quite a lot. He's showing as out of contract on Transfermarkt - don't know whether this is right. Give him a 12 month contract and there's your cover for Digne

P'S. The only area that should have been addressed and wasn't is centre back. It's a serious error in my opinion with any one of the three incumbents weak in positional sense, aerial superiority or communication.

Gbamin could be like a new signing, Gomes looks revitlised and fit and Iwobi (and this surprises me) is starting to show he does actually have ability. If Benitez can harness the skills of James that will be another plus.

Brands has cleared out around 20 players this summer including high earners like Walcott, Bernard and Kean, plus Bolasie and Besic are also off the books. The Under 23s have been culled of players who were never going to make it opening up a pathway for younger Academy players.

On the playing side I've been to all our games and the players look much fitter and pass the ball forwards instead of sideways or backwards.There is also much more movement off the ball which is often impossible to spot on TV.

Maybe the delay in announcing funding for BMD and Moshiri personally funding the enabling work is due to our ongoing losses frightening off potential lenders. This is now being addressed and not before time. Would you lend money to someone constantly spending more than their income?

All in all I'm reasonably satisfied with the current squad and, given reasonable luck with injuries, feel we're quite capable of achieving top six or better.

Back to scouring the free transfers and footballs equivalent of Poundland for signings - and some of our supporters think this is great?

Most jarring of all, the simple realization of how incompetent, amateur hour and utterly pathetic the so called brains trust is at Everton. Moshiri spent like a drunken sailor on shore leave to - I hope I have this right - get us into Europe, increase the revenues and then sort of retroactively justify the spending?
If so, the tame collapse to miss Europe at the end of last season must be all the more galling.
I'm more offended by the total lack of a backup plan or alternative approach - which is why we find ourselves having the window we've just "enjoyed".

The "plan" was simply Europe or bust huh? Well, we went bust. Ding dong.

I wouldn't trust these fools to run a bath if I turned both taps on and put the plug in for them. Give me a shout when we have some competent people running the club again. Until then this forever cycle of hopeless and clueless mediocrity is all we'll get.

Sometimes we just have to stop and accept and then get on with things
I think we are there just now

Benitez knew/knows the situation and will, hopefully, try and work around it until better days come

Right now, and you are right that it's a basket case, it's pointless moaning
This is where we are

It does feel a bit Moysie. And I couldn't agree more with your overall assessment.

Rafa has done well thus far. He's brought in improvements for dimes.

The one thing I'd say, being an anti-Rafa signing fan, where I'm really pleasantly surprised, is the football is good so far. It's not keep it tight and nick one. We're looking to get the ball forward very quickly and take our chances. I've enjoyed watching - and I can't say that's been the case since Carlo's first days in charge, as the tail end of Carlo's tenure was boring as hell.

So I'd say our "brand" of football isn't Moyes-like at all, but your point and the similarities are absolutely spot on.

And it all, for me and my limited 14 year experience, feels very "Everton" and I'm happy with that.

The squad isn't overpaid shite, they appear to be triers, and we're playing to our strengths looking to counter in the main.

We'll see if the parallels with Moyes continue when we actually play a real team starting in October. Knife to gunfight, or do we have a go?

I'd rather we buy rough diamonds who end up being gems instead of austentaciuos trophy players who are left to tarnish on the shelf. The sad reality is, these trophy players who choose us are, in my opinion, coming for the money and the lower expectations that seems to radiate from the club.

Yes our squad is thin but the performances this season have shown a determination to do better, rather than the empty "must do better" and "absolutely gutted" soundbites of recent seasons.

We may be only a few injuries away from throwing on some U18 players in some areas but the team looks a lot fitter, more clued in, slicker and quicker than it has done in quite some time. I'm hoping this level of fitness, combined with a change in fortunes (we've been chronically unlucky with injuries for the last 5 seasons), will see a sustained run of encouraging results which, under Rafa's management, will see a change of mindset compared to recent years.

Brands is still a huge part of this dysfunction. People look at the DoF role like he's pulling rabbits out of hats and spotting players that no-one else saw that somehow magically fit a position and style we're playing. I'm sure that's not the case - that's what his scouting team is resourced to do. A DoF is like any other director. He aligns the organisation behind a strategy and makes sure the operations reflect that strategy. Everything from scouting through to coaching and from the boardroom to the dugout.

He hasn't done that. Probably with excuses, and plenty of blame at Moshiri's door, as that's the only way he could possibly still have a job.

But he's still not done what you'd expect of someone at that level. He's the football director at this club and he's failed.

There have been blunders by appointing and sacking a few managers, who have been ill advised in the transfer market and we have paid the price on both counts.

We we have what looks like a squad that will not relegate us, neither will it win the league, but we are where we are, with a sub standard bench and one or two problematic positions. We have an academy and other age related squads,
Promote from within for the full back role.

There are at least three players who should of been moved on but because of contract/fee problems they are are to shift, what I don't want to see is sulking players putting in twenty minutes and looking disinterested. Suspend and fine them heavily of that happens.

We have a new stadium to look forward to, so reign in the purse strings for a year or two, get back within our financial parameters and build a squad befitting of the new stadium.

Although very concerned about the lack of quality RB and CF cover I still feel this situation has forced a reset at the club and may well harmonize the squad who may now feel they have more to contribute rather than throw the towel in because they were only earning 50k a week as opposed to 150k a week.

Out of adversity comes hope and determination and IMO most of our problems have been in the boardroom rather than on the pitch.
How can you have harmony when the directors are arguing over which manager or player we should bring in and then wasting millions correcting a poor decision.

I didn't want Rafa but I'm now convinced he was the right man at the right time and will actually not be afraid to tell Bill and Mosh what he thinks.

I don't think we will be pulling up trees in the short term but solid togetherness and giving the young players more opportunity can only be good for a productive future.

Moshiri getting off easy on these poor/disaster signings. I've come to the conclusion that it was him personally doing the wheeling-dealing that got us where we are.

No, not Blue Bill. He didn't run anything when he was "In charge". He left all footballing matters to Moyes or Roberto. And, as we know, had no control over the money.

Not Koeman, who's on record stating, "As soon as they start talking money, I leave the room."

And Walsh's comments on having the Maguire/Roberton and Haaland deals agreed (including the dirt-cheap cost)? No one way he states that for the record if it's a lie. The only one with the power to reject those deals was the guy who hired him; Moshiri.

Nope, I've come to believe that old Mosh figured he made his money navigating the perilous waters of Russian business. How hard could this football lark be?

Surprise, surprise.

I believe we have no such designs. The short-term plan appears to be muddle along and collect the big TV checks until the new stadium opens.

Also, like you I've seen the widespread media reports that James is on £200,000 a week, but I've never seen an iota of supporting evidence. Spotrac, the most reliable source I've ever found for this information, says £90,000. Two other online sources say £140,000. He was on £100,000/week at Bayern, and I very much doubt that Carlo doubled his salary to bring him in.

Chris #30, Ben #31, Jim #87, top posts.

Read your article again.
It was even better second time.

Just reading the amounts Koeman and Silva spent.
£400 million between them.
Frightening.

I have seen no reports that a formal complaint was made against Mendy in 2020. One of the assaults he is now charged with was allegedly committed in October 2020, but as you know complaints about rape are often not filed immediately after the offense.

Man City were clearly just better at keeping Mendy's arrest and investigation under wraps. It was clearly going on for some time as he was charged with breach of his bail conditions and that will be one reason why he remains in custody. They appear to have chosen to let him play on until he was charged and then the decision was made.

The decision to suspend the Everton player will be the clubs and the club alone.

The fact that he's still there makes it clear to me that Moshiri knows who's been responsible - and not for a second do I believe it's Ryzantsev.

Is that such a bad thing? Moneyball approach.

7 goals in 3 pl games. 7 points from 3. Beat the teams you would expect to beat and drew at a tricky Leeds team away. I as good a set of results as most would have expected.

I also think there is a benefit of Rafa getting in players with, what seems so far, to be the right attitude. Townsend is a good example. Grateful to be given an opportunity, seems to understand that he will be in and out of the team.
Begovic knows he is there to be a back up, but won't be content to sit back and take the money. He will want to get in the team if he can. Gray, a player who has excelled so far, being given a big chance to prove himself.
James, a superstar who wants to be the main man doesn't fit into that category. Neither did Kean, who never seemed to grasp that he had to work to get the n the team.

Been doing some reading on Google and their performance management. They reckon that it's not so much about who is in a working team so much as how they work with each other. Or to put it another way, an effective team can be greater than the sum of its cumulative value as long as everyone puts in the required effort. No room for prima donnas.

Anyway, few beers in, I reckon Everton will surprise plenty this season.

We also have cover in all defensive positions, again, just not those that the punters want. Same with the midfield and forwards. Plenty of options, just not the right ones dependent on opinion.

I agree with Mke and Lyndon. Benitez is here because of the hedonistic waste of the last five odd years. After the Ancellotti fiasco, the owners/financiers have said no more and want to kick the brakes on until BMD and want someone who will stand up to the pressure.

We've been blessed with easier early fixtures than they could have been which may have allowed the Manager more time to assess who and how he might play where against whoever is next. If the luck holds then we might escape serious injury for more than a while and if results favour us then there might be little movement in the next transfer window either, all of which might provide a lot more wriggle room on all fronts next season.

All said and done, the on-field "project" remains the same, if we don't win anything then we must at least qualify for some sort of money spinning competition but it does leave you a little despondent that you can't see yourself actually challenging on all fronts.

Give me a Tim Cahill any day of the week over some left over like Lingard or Martial. Scouting and player development is more important now than ever before.

Gareth Barry was a great signing and gave us 4 first-rate seasons.

No quarrel from me in general with your post. We need more good players.

You are also spot on with reference to the sum of the parts. On paper ( I know, I know - the game's played on grass etc...), don't tell me our current squad,thin though it is - doesn't at the very least, match up with Villa, Leicester, West Ham etc.

As many have said on this thread, it's now about managing attitude, confidence and effort as well as a shape that doesn't sit 10 yards too deep as soon as it loses possession.
( Doucoure and Allan may as well be new signings on the evidence so far this season).

Benitez will have a zero tolerance of over blown egos and distorted self opinions of how important certain players think they are. that much is evident already.

I've been heartened by every one of his interviews and have happily swallowed - as I suspect many on here have - my instinctive and emotional responses to the news that he was appointed.

Bringing him in at this particular point in our history could be the most clear headed, pragmatic decision the club has made for some considerable time - and in the face of such a mixed reaction - one taken with confidence and clearly with a safe and steady climb over the next 3/4 years to BMD and beyond very much in mind.

Forget challenging City, Chelsea, Utd and the RS in the short term - but there is no reason why - with some luck - we can't now establish ourselves consistently amongst the chasing pack of 4 or 5 teams - especially with the arse falling out of Arsenal.

I'm looking forward to this season now in a way I never imagined only a few weeks ago and the crowd getting behind the team - while we have some limited momentum - could be as crucial as any other factor in this equation.

English Law had no impact on the suspension or non-suspension of the players. Everton chose to suspend him, City, and previously Sunderland with Adam Johnson did not.

The report I read said Delph was told he could go, but because of his professionalism and behaviour, he impressed Benítez, who is happy for him to stay, and has said he will select him.

This is probably borne out by Benítez calling Delph one of his leaders in the squad, in the last week.

If he can stay fit, he can be a valuable squad member, and for example has England caps at left back I think. Either way, he's here to stay, at least for the time being.

Bill Gall's excellent post at 105 (or rant as he called it), was right on the money.

Well balanced thread, enjoyed it.

That's the best we can hope for.

For what it's worth, and I don't know the ins and outs of it by any means, I believe that James Rodriguez is comfortably on the biggest salary at Everton – perhaps even slightly upwards of £200,000 a week. That sort of discrepancy can be uncomfortable for a football club to manage, as it breeds a certain distance between the players – especially when the high earner is contributing very little and seems to receive preferential treatment.

I think the desire to move him on derived from a combination of those two factors: financial drain, and the knock-on effect of having someone collecting that sort of money while his team-mates do all the work.

James Rodrigues. Watch his YouTube highlights to remind yourself just how good he is.

We have a stronger bench this season. I'm looking forward to us proving a lot of people wrong.

I got the impression that it was Delph's decision to stay... don't know why that seems ridiculous to you?

It's true Benitez did say he was ready to let Delph leave. But was so impressed with him in training he decided not to let him go. Crazy, I know.

Didn't want him as manager, but the Evertonian in me is telling me that this appointment might just be the right one to get us going!

Jordan, who is now a pundit on talkSPORT, has criticsed the financial position the Blues find themselves in and described Everton as a 'struggling' club.

Discussing the Blues on talkSPORT, he said: “I think they're all over the place and this is a club that are struggling.

“When you lose £139million in the year ending 19/20 before you even post the figures for 20/21 you can't put forward the argument that you're a well-run club.

“You're going to be in the Financial Fair Play territory, that explains the reason why they're not buying players and if you look at their signings they're not the greatest.”

The reports I read paint a slightly different picture. Delph was told he could go but insisted he was staying and Rafa subsequently changed his mind and belatedly admitted Delph could play a part going forward.

Maybe I'm getting cynical... but leaving one highly paid player (James) on the sidelines may raise a few eyebrows... but two? Smacks of shooting yourself in both feet!

Years ago, young players were given a chance. Look at the Everton team around 1982. Young men like Ratcliffe, Sharp, Richardson, Stevens, and McMahon were all given game time and became tremendous players.

We should be very grateful to have Benitez and his mate Paco. In no time, we look fitter, stronger, quicker, better organised, more united and fighting together as a unit. A manager on the touchline constantly talking his players through the game. So much more inspiring than the waxwork dummies we have had stood staring into space for several years.

It is early days but the players brought in have done exceptionally well. The likes of Iwobi look improved. It was only a 15-minute cameo but even Gomes looked fitter and quicker, managing 2 strikes on goal!

Let's hope we have better luck with injuries and that we can have a decent run to January when further recruits may come in.

He does seem to have a fixation with Everton. Earlier in the summer, he advised Rafa not to taken the manager's job, as well as criticize Moshiri for decisions taken.

This is a man and a club that allowed the bulk of their first-team squad to all be out of contract this summer. 15 of them, no less, at a time their long-standing manager was leaving. His replacement? A complete managerial novice to the Premier League, Patrick Viera, whose managerial experience extends to a couple of seasons in the US in the MSL and a couple of seasons with Nice, who dismissed him in December last year.

Mocking Everton's losses when his own club returned losses of £61 million and whose income is heavily dependent on TV monies and Premier League survival.

Mocking our signings when their own extends to three punts on lower league English players, a hit-and-miss striker from the Scottish Premiership plus 2 Chelsea U-23 players who have played the grand total of 5 Premier League games between them.

Simon Jordan of Crystal Palace, casting judgement on Everton?

I'm quaking. With laughter, not fear.

That's the article I saw.

David @117,

You say he hasn't had any momentum; that's because he was injury-prone when we bought him. He's played a handful of matches in 2 years and played seven minutes this season.

I have a hunch that Benitez will do well. Can you imagine the bewildered Carlo after this, for him, make-or-break window? He just might have relegated us. His departure was the first major slice of luck we have had in a long time.

I predict that Rondon will be a huge success, Edouard won't, and Vierra will be first manager sacked. Allardyce will arrive and Palace will still be relegated.

Then enjoy what the ludicrous Jordan spouts after that.

That aside, you hit the nail on the side.

The solution is in 3 parts. Firstly to have two DoFs pay them a £1M each if need be because they would be cheaper than buying and financing players such as Tosun. Each would look at the same player and decide independently yes or no to suggest buying them.

Secondly they would write down why they made their decision giving ideal positions including a SWOT analysis and stats. Imagine what the report on a player would read say for example Iwobi, best position, cost of a player scoring 3 goals a season with 1 assist etc. Certainly not £35M.

This information would be vitally important for a manager to see. Final decision on buying would still be the managers.

Thirdly, the two DoFs would need to talk on a very regular basis with the manager to find his positional requirements and why? Maybe even his preferred player or type.

With this system in place we would make far less errors in purchasing players.

I worked in a British software company that created Realtime Operating Systems staffed by over 30 PhD software engineers and they used two engineers to write the software modules together and they never produce a single error. Other companies we visited in safety systems start to follow the same system. If they disagreed a third person (the manager) would rule who was correct and why.

The other 2 minor reasons we had no money this transfer window is the overly generous pay off of managers such as Martinez he gets another job within months of his payoff and we get no refund!!! The Sigurdsson situation has also cost us £11.5M (his transfer value).

Being serious, I think you need stability inside the club first, let people build up working relationships, and then you need the person in the role to be strong and have his own mind, and then hope that he's good at his job.

The only reason I wanted Benitez, is because I think he's a very belligerent professional, and this club has been ran by Evertonians for way too long.

Don't get me wrong, because I absolutely love Evertonians, but only if they can adhere to our once famous motto, and not go round talking absolute pony, telling us a man, who has been average at best, is an Evertonian, whilst wondering if anyone else can see this irony.

It's not where they have come from but how good they are! Lingard would be a good signing.

I desperately hope that, after Brands, we will see the end of this Director of Football experiment. It's been an unmitigated disaster for us.

Pick any handful of people on this thread, and I'm convinced we would have spent £500 million far more wisely than Walsh and Brands and all the various scouts and managers etc involved in our recruitment.

I've just read that we had a Deadline Day loan move for Man Utd's Donny van de Beek rejected at the final hour. After previously seeing deadline day bids for Man Utd's reserve goalkeeper (Romero) and centre-half (Rojo), I have to ask what is the remit of having a DoF at our club?

Because we are not unearthing much young up and coming talent!! Romero, Rojo and now Van de Beek from Man Utd on Deadline Day? My 10-year-old son could have come up with better than that!! No wonder we are fucked.

That's harsh and meant light hearted, but with a DoF, you can't go in half arsed or you end up doing what we've done. It probably explains the incoherent transfer approach of recent years.

I have read that we made no such Deadline Day bid for Van de Beek.

As regards the Director of Football experiment, many clubs have someone in that role, sometimes with a different title, such as Sporting Director. The problem at our club in terms of transfer dealings is the way we have used the role and the confusion over who makes the decisions.

Going back to 2016, when Walsh arrived, the window that summer could be claimed as a partial success. For minimal outlay, Gana Gueye strengthened the midfield, Stekelenburg was a competent stop-gap keeper, and Calvert-Lewin was one for the future.

Yet perhaps the root cause of subsequent problems could be identified in those signings. Walsh claimed credit for Gana Gueye, Stekelenburg was clearly a Koeman preference, while David Unsworth sponsored Calvert-Lewin's signing having previously identified his potential at Sheffield United.

The following year was an absolute disaster with Koeman's fingerprints on signings such as Schneiderlin, Martina and Klaassen, Walsh pushing for younger English international players Keane and Pickford, and the Chairman promoting the return of Rooney. All this was happening while allowing Lukaku to leave with no guaranteed replacement lined up and throwing away £45M on a one-paced set-piece specialist.

To operate successfully, there must be clarity in the decision making. It seems to me there are two ways. The first is the Brentford way in which the head coach has no say whatsoever in transfer dealings. His job is to coach the players delivered to him. That has certainly worked for them over a period of 6 years.

The other way is for the team manager to identify realistic transfer targets within the available budget, leaving the Director of Football responsible for signing those players. Possibly that is what is now belatedly happening at our club.

Your Brentford example is my understanding of how you apply and execute the DoF model.

But their Head Coach (that's the key - not Manager), is Danish and will be familiar operating under it.

We're employing traditional managers alongside a DoF combined with an interfering Owner & Chairman. The result = confusion and incoherence.

One of the first principles of leadership: delegation.

Post-Brexit immigration rule changes are going to make unearthing those younger, unknown gems much more difficult going forwards.

Andrew, I'd have liked to see us have a crack at some South Americans, for example. There is always a lot of talent in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay etc. I'm sure there are gems to be found outside the EU, if our DoFs were looking in the right places?

The market for talented UK youth could intensify massively if clubs can't bring in youth talent from the EU like Pogba, Pique and Fabregas.

Not sure what the situation is for non-EU youth.

I'm not as sceptical about the EU thing. We are more closely aligned to the EU than we are to South America. But that said, I've long advocated up-rooting our grass roots (excuse the double use) and almost forcing clubs to invest locally by putting local restrictions on the academies. Literally in terms of miles; an exclusion zone, so to speak.

But I don't want to rule out international talent. I think it has brought so much to our game and our young players can benefit from experiences abroad. But let's put an age limit on it and encourage clubs to develop the talent on their doorstep. Whether that ends up being an end product for themselves or they are able to provide a youngster with a path to a career.

Look at Moyes's recruitment at West Ham, has he even got a DoF?

That's a good post regarding our transfer activities over the last 5 years. The problems caused in the past (especially with Koeman as manager) still haunt us now.

I think Walsh was second choice DoF and I don't think he'd had enough experience in that role for what our club wanted him for. Made worse with a manager who just wanted to splash oodles of cash on players he fancied. Especially the last one you mentioned. Sigurdsson was (and is?) a Rolls-Royce luxury player when we had a Morris Minor of a team.

I think Walsh had a confusing role. He was definitely a spotter of talent and the players he bought for Leicester proved it. So he got a lot of the blame that belongs elsewhere. He was putting forward that we get for £11 million, the now, £60 million Man Utd and England centre_half and the current Liverpool (how much did it cost Liverpool) left-back and Scottish International.

If we are going to have a DoF, then it makes sense to use him to sign up and complete the contract side of the players picked by the manager and scouting teams.

"Clarity of Decision Making." Your last two paragraphs point the way forward – if only the club would operate it!

Andrew, I'm probably just of that age where I'm long in the tooth. Since I've been alive, we've been in the EEC, the EU and out of it. I've travelled to 30 of the US states and the Middle East as well as Australia and New Zealand. I've worked abroad and the simple fact is, I've never had any problems other than a bit of additional paperwork.

Contrary to the BBC and Liberal Party, international travel and work is, and always has been, pretty easy to achieve regardless of a bureaucracy that only officially came into being in 1993.

A bit like life, travel, work and football. All existed before the EU, the Premier League & the early 90s.

We need to be taking the best available talent under our wings no matter where they come from (as well as local talent of course) - a la Barcelona.

My problem with limiting the academy is what if the local talent is not up to snuff?

It would be interesting to take a quick snapshot of scousers playing at the highest level?

To me, it's like asking the HR department to recruit all your staff for you and being told you have to work with them instead of interviewing and deciding on your own staff.

I could talk all day about the local talent and our grass roots, Ian, but I think everyone is bored of me!

The Barcelona mention is interesting. I'm big on not taking kids out of their natural environment too early. So satellite sponsored academies in different regions or countries rather than pulling young lads away from family and friends at 11 years old could be a better approach? It leans into the partner club model. So Everton could partner with a club in Belgium or Holland for example.

Are you trying to tell us football was around before 1992? Sorry, mate, but I'm not having that.

US academies have lately become an incubator for rising young talent that is showing up in starting lineups all over Europe.

I thought I read some existing language restricting the catchment area of the Academies to miles or hours journey time, pretty much as you describe. I think this applies to Schoolboys and Scholarships, certainly by age.

German clubs have been doing better but I don't think even they've properly embraced as well as they could. And Barcelona have an academy out there right? Hoppe, who plays for Schalke and the US national team, and a player who we were tentatively linked with in the summer, was part of that for a period in his development. And we've spoken previously about Weston McKennie, another player I was impressed with at Schalke, now playing for Juventus.

Yes, Michael, there are already guidelines on distance / time in relation to home location. A good friend of mine was able to circumnavigate them pretty easily when his lad was at Villa. Their training ground is in Leicestershire, we were stationed in Haverfordwest at the time.

I suppose like schools, you can get around things with a postcode. Or just move to chase the dream. I suppose I'm admittedly following an ideology where clubs are encouraged to focus on their own locality and better support the grassroots.

I know where I'm thinking on this, but I don't think I've got the answers other than it needs a complete overhaul of the grassroots. So the system feeding the academies, not just the academies themselves. It goes back to my (admittedly) romantic view of the German football system I experienced as a youngster.

As we've seen this summer, average / adequate players needn't cost the earth. If you accept that principle it frees up capital to do other things - which might include affiliations in the US or elsewhere. Creates an additional supply of players and commercial interest too.

Playing in the MLS might also be a better experience for our top U23 players - and young foreign players we're looking to develop.

City, Leipzig and others are doing it already. It is a way to control a supply chain - to help avoid the expensive and hit & miss transfer market. In other walks of life it's called vertical integration and is quite a routine business model.

There will be lots of reasons why we cannot. But unless we find a way to do this (or find some other way to improve the playing squad at much lower cost) our outlook looks very bleak - trying to buy players we can't afford, who aren't good enough to match our ambitions.

He wouldn't have cost the earth and he seems like a player who could make a difference, initially to a lower mid-table Premier League side. Successful progression would have seen bigger clubs circling across Europe. It would be no shock to see him back over here sooner rather than later.

It forces the manager to do a couple things:

Coach what we have spent a fortune on to actually improve and play to their apparent potential. We might actually start to get what we paid for.

Give youth a chance (Gordon at least still around);

Really assess the talent in the side and who can improve and who has to go.

Resetting this season is fine. Think if anyone can get the best out of them, it's Benitez. This team wasn't far off last season and are better than they have been allowed to show.

Those mere boys were coached within an inch of their lives to conform to the coach's diktat, or else. Freedom of expression or off-the-cuff initiative was verboten. It made me feel uncomfortable and most of the boys, cheered on by families who from their shouts knew little about football, didn't seem to be enjoying the game.

However, the USA of today is seemingly now producing enticing professional players. To me Brian McBride epitomised the basic qualities of the USA player. Total effort, never, ever, take a step back, and respect your team.

They're qualities that've been sadly lacking in our set-up, for yonks.

And Tony (#158), DeeKay looks very promising from the Youtube hi-lites. Well spotted!

Orlando is certainly happy to have him back. He scored an absolutely explosive goal today, bulldozing one defender and blowing past another before roofing a rocket. It's his third goal in six games since returning.

He's still at the top of my wish list.

I've just commented on the women's team thread and have mentioned elsewhere (probably here but I haven't looked back-up). I've worked for a Texas based company since I left the military a few years ago. I've spent a lot of time in San Antonio and have always been impressed by the local football set up and standard down there.

I know the club has started on the marketing side, but we really should be making more of an effort on the playing side to identify the talent that is out there. Satellite club? Barcelona style pseudo academy based in the US?