Digne laments 'destroyed' Everton love affair as he completes Villa move

Defensively he's poor. His corners/set pieces were awful. Free kicks in good positions either hit the wall or flew about 15 feet over the bar. Benitez got onto this pretty quickly and rightly took him off them after about 3 games (probably one of the reasons he got the hump).

He also repeatedly gives fouls away in dangerous areas. He's 29 and has three years left on his contract, so £18M in wages. Take the money, get him off the wage bill and move on.

Iain, he's lost his early sparkle and been below his level for some time (ditto most of the team/squad, which is more telling) but "Abysmal" is really rather exaggerating. His figures stand up and say otherwise. Not the best defender lately if ever but we do not need to reduce our attacking capacity.

A very good, proven, Premier league, experienced international in his prime year's should be valued a lot higher.

His track record and assists are there for all to see. But we continue to buy high, sell low. Why?

We should demand a player plus cash, just so the finances and player valuations can be better understood by our idiotic board.

It's about Everton, not about the players best interests.

I understand he has stated he wants to leave. But tough, he's under contract and can leave when we receive a better offer.

His departure weakens us in the short term, make no mistake.

He's not cup tied either!

We cannot afford to do with Digne what we did with Seamus Coleman and let him amble on over 30 and watch what attributes he had diminish.

Lucas Digne was excellent going forward under Marco Silva, absolute thrill watching him and Bernard on the left at times.

However defensively he has never been very good and the last year or so he's too error prone and the amount of wreckless free kicks he gives up frustrates me.

If we don't sell him now or summer then that £25 million offer then becomes £15 million next year.

Part of me will be sad to see him go but I can't help but feel that we have seen the best of him in that first 18 months and much like Coleman and Baines before him it's all downhill from here.

"Stevie La, I need to offload this talented problem player."

"No worries Gaff, I'll take him."

Everton, please fucking wake up.

We currently have 3 right-back/wingbacks in Patterson, Kenny and Coleman and Mykolenko on the left with Nkounkou having a good season on loan and talking well about returning to Everton next season a better player.

A Number 10 of quality is the main priority. Or a physio who can get all our cripples back on the pitch!

We should be stacking up the cash to sign a player to cover where we have nobody. Not taking second-rate wannabees to battle for a place alongside others in overcrowded positions.

We are being linked with Lloyd Kelly today a young 6ft-3in left-sided centre-back who plays for Bournemouth. A whole host of clubs have had him scouted, West Ham and Newcastle also interested. I've not seen anything of this player; anyone who has, do you think he could be a good addition?

I would be sorry to see him go as I like his forward runs, but that does not fit in with the Benitez system.

Holgate is self-evident. Mason the Mental Munchkin.

As for Kean, he started yesterday for Juventus but was pulled after 63 miserable minutes at Roma. And that was after his fellow striker Chiesa blew out his knee. With Kean off, Juve came from 3-1 down to win 3-4.

Whatever we can get for those two putzes, it would be addition by subtraction.

Thanks for that interesting tidbit on "our Moise" there Mike. I'm not a discerning type, I'll watch just about anything. But the top flight in Italy is almost uniquely depressing. Crumbling stadia, thousands of fans cunningly dressed as empty seats, and very little in the way of a positive atmosphere.
It's all very very different from the early nineties when it was must see TV, and the finest league in Europe.

Wooden of movement. glass of structure, feeble of heart.

On over 5m a year. This guy has cost us 60m in transfer fee and wages. He's made 72 appearances and played 64 full games.
That works not far short of a million quid a game so far for a wooden lighthouse.

If we want to discuss why Everton are in such a state. look no further than the signing of this fella for a prime example. We have gone backwards since he got here.

60 M ? You could have bought at least 10 million girls blouses down Greatie for that

Benitez feels that with a midfield trio of Cork, Longstaff and Allan, the great second half of the season he promised will be so monumental that it involves a surprise Champions League placing Houdini act.

Mina does have some qualities. He knows we have to move up the park because we are better when we do. Keane can't. Godfrey won't and Holgate doesn't seem give a shit either way.

But he is still as wooden as they get and come the day of reckoning. He will be right in the mix when our worst ever pound for pound signing is being weighed up. He's offered very very little and taken an awful lot.

Must admit though. The more games he misses the better he seems to become.

That may be your own opinion but the reality is that he's our best defender (my opinion) and to most he's not a bad player. Not a credible cost marker neither, wages and transfer fee are completely separate costs, one an operating cost from income and one a capital cost which is amortised, wages are typically better than transfer fee as they have lower NPV?

The cost to the club for both are different. If looking at the added cost then you need to compare that total cost with total cash flow and profit. Such comparisons show poor value but not just for Mina but virtually all Premier League players?

I know that you aren't a fan of stats and they can be a bit ‘fan boy' but this article shows the difference Mina makes when he plays:

How important is Yerry Mina for Everton?

With him in the team we average 1.8 points per game. A stat that is astronomically higher than what we have achieved with the other three numpties.

Only a couple of seasons ago Villa survived relegation by the skin of their teeth. Since then they have taken great strides forward and we have gone backwards. In business you don't let your best people go to your rivals, why are the club allowing this to happen?

If he's not happy, he could decide to stay put. Wouldn't be good for him but he'd still be paid and we wouldn't get him sold. So he's in a strong position.

Barca had five good looks at him (yes, just five) and sold him within 8 months to the first bidder.
No other team were in for him when we parted with £28M.
He has never finished in the top seven in the Premier League.
No top team have come in for him since he was amassing these amazing stats

Mina tends to be available when we have a fit squad and always seems to be injured when we are down to the bare bones. He has played in some of our most fearful hidings and I've lost count of the number of goals he has coughed up.

Stats? Always prefer the bare records myself.

For me the pivotal aspect is his lack of pace, cruelly exposed by Salah in the last Derby. And of course he wants to leave

I'd bite the hand off anyone who will pay £20M.

I believe Mina is probably our best centre-back, but he's on massive wages and his return has been shocking. He played 3 games in 10 days for Colombia in early October, and played 31 minutes since, and that's just 6 games this season.

We've got two young players, probably on a lot less wages than Digne and both show promise. Digne is a poor defender. He was great in his first season at going forward; but that's been well sussed and his weak points outweigh his good ones for us.

As far as we know, and all we can go by, is there are not many clubs beating down the door to sign him. I think we are doing the best we can by not accepting a swap deal for him. If we're going to get £20 million or more for him, then that's good business.

Mina is missing so many games and is reaching "who'd buy him?" point, that it could well mean we're stuck with another one who gets his pension from the club.

Depending who there is to replace Mina (and Keane, if we could!) that we could get, along with Holgate, then it might mean a better defence. (Couldn't be much worse!)

I've been having a look at our for and against in the last few years. Here they are:

Season GF GA Pos
2016-17 62 44 7th Didn't we have that lazy lump Lukaku then??
2017-18 44 58 15th
2018-19 54 46 8th
2019-20 44 56 12th
2020-21 47 48 10th
2021-22 23 32 15th

Apart from two seasons, we've only hit 40 odd goals per season. Even under the defensive maestro, over 100 goals were scored against us in two seasons. So it seems that there has been a weak defence in our team over those years, and only in two seasons, have we scored more than the opposition.

It could also mean that as well as not having a prolific scorer or two, we might not be supplying them from midfield and the wings; and to me, that means there's been a disjointed team for years.

There are at least three teams with the same goals against and I think they're above us. It seems to me, we have a weakness in defence but we' are not compensating for that by scoring more goals. But maybe that isn't really surprising, considering, Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison Gray and Townsend (all our leading goalscorers have been injured for weeks... even months).

So let's see what we're like with a full team.

'Nuff said.

Agree with you on Mina btw.

Its funny how you always view simple statement as Harsh criticism.

Mina has cost this club very heavily. finished no higher than 8th.

Other defenders like Coleman And Holgate who cost us next to nothing have both finished higher.

It doesnt matter what I think. The simple fact is. When people talk about the bizarre amounts of money Everton have squandered during his crazy period. Yerry Mina will be front and center when examples are given.

You cant blame Holgate for that :)

I remember when we was linked with James McFadden, thinking he has not been bought to play with Rooney, just the cheap replacement.

According to Sky Sports News, Everton only want cash for Digne, they do not want any player in part exchange.

Koeman, Allardyce, Ancelotti, and now Benitez, have all been as negative as each other, and it was only Silva, who had a go. But he was also naively exposed because he never had the defenders to play a higher line (his preferred/only tactic) once Kurt Zouma went back to Chelsea, and it's been back-foot defending ever since.

As for Digne, he has looked great going forwards at times, especially in his first couple of seasons and occasionally with James in the early part of last season, but he's always looked pretty average at defending. And his corners have been shocking.

Not the end of the world to lose him. But please God we don't want El Ghazi adding to our average midfielder collection.

I wouldn't say they were both crap. But I take your point.

I'll go back into my corner and talk to myself. I've said it enough.

Can we get Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin fit while we've got a few days grace? We might well be a lot more potent in the final third. We've scored some fabulous team goals (that one against Man Utd and the "offside" one as well! I think the five at the back will go once we get the two young lads bedded in and then we have some alternatives in midfield.

In defence, I totally agree with Danny; and I should guess a good few others. Keane is not a leader and he makes elementary mistakes or lapses in concentration and he's extremely slow on the turn. So, to me, if we can buy, our need is at least one centre-half... hopefully two. I hope we don't see much more of Holgate, except in the papers, wearing his new team's shirt.

If Villa want to increase his pay from £120K to £160K/wk then more fool Villa.

He isn't presently worth £80K/wk let alone twice that.

Digne has become one of these modern times anomalies in EPL football. The higher his pay the less he returns.

As to the spat with our petulant, wilful and blind-eyed manager, that is an entirely different problem. He should never have been appointed, but our capricious owner, teary eyed chairman and charity shop CEO aren't fit to run a paper round.

Go Farhad & find Nicola Cortese and HE WILL make life difficult in the Boardroom (for a brief while) but will point Our Glorious Club in a single cohesive direction (and rid Us of this troublesome pest).

From nowhere comes this hatred of any foreign player, especially those with a price tag. Allan and Mina are his main targets now, but he still rants about Lukaku.

It is very commendable to support every local and homegrown player but, let's be honest, it is not where they are from or how much they cost.

Not bad for someone that supposedly had Per Krøldrup's disease.

I don't dislike (hate is not the appropriate word) either Allan or Mina. I think Mina knows what is required and where the team needs to be playing and it would be impossible to dislike a player who works as hard as Allan. I think he is the reason we are in the 4th Round.

I don't care where a player comes from and I would never in a million years come on to destroy a player for the sake of it.

I hear some ridiculous criticism levelled at Holgate. I see him blamed for mistakes other players have made in virtually every game. One guy even complained he had made an appalling error at Villa – he didn't play!

I can see the guys head isn't right. But even now he is no worse than other defenders. I would love to see a list of goals we have conceded this year that were directly attributable to his error's, but I don't think anybody could compile one.

I have to say, I think Holgate invites criticism with his arrogant approach. Davies though is on another level. The abuse that boy has taken and the screams which accompany even the slightest of errors are so disproportionate, I hope for his sake he can find another club. He will take ten times more stick for giving away a free-kick on the half-way line than Allan will take for passing directly to an opponent resulting in a goal.

I confess. I love to see a young lad come into the team. I guess I live my own dream through them... second hand. I fucking hate listening to ignorant criticism of them from people who exonerate the "superstars" of every error.

I don't raise the shortcomings of Mina and Allan because I "hate" them. I do it for balance. If I don't put up some unpalatable facts about them, who will?

The one thing you got totally wrong is the reason. This is not about parochialism. It's about value for money and what is good for our club. If people like Davies and Holgate are going to be hammered (and hammered they are), then I want to see a gulf in class when a player who cost us a fortune steps in. I don't see it. I have never seen it. They have just brought a far more expensive form of fuck-all.

I don't see how, where or why we have improved as a club or a team by signing Allan or Mina. in fact, if anything, we are going backwards. If we had skied the money we paid for them in fees and wages, we'd have probably been able to pay for the first new stand in the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.

Allan and Mina are just two examples.

I often see the people complain about the quality of player which came form our lower ranks who cost little or nothing, but I think if you put a team consisting of Branthwaite, Davies, Gordon, Calvert-Lewin. to name a few up, against the players who cost us a fortune... they would fucking murder them. I certainly don't think they would have any trouble keeping a clean sheet.

£575M to be worse than we were? You could build a stadium on the banks of the Mersey for that sort of money.

Lucas Digne to Aston Villa: The stats which show why Steven Gerrard has moved for the Everton left-back

Some of the comments on here are bizarre. If he has been in such poor form why does he top virtually all our creative stats? Assists, chances created, passes into the box, crosses???

All jokes aside, I always feel that you have your reasons for your views, and you're not afraid to come on here and enunciate them in more detail when challenged. You're even happy to agree to disagree at the end of it all – a quality some of your more strident critics on here certainly can't claim for themselves.

I've got an inkling that it's the brusque scouse style of writing you deal in that causes half the trouble. I love the way you write, no bullshit and cutting scouse wit, reminds me of my Dad and uncles. But I'm not sure it comes across really well to the Blues who don't have extensive time in the city of Liverpool itself.

I would love to see Branthwaite given an extended run in the team. Keane may flourish alongside him.

By the end of the season, if we have a back 4 of: Patterson, Keane, Branthwaite and Mykolenko keeping a few clean sheets along the way, I would be very optimistic about our future.

On the subject of Digne, a straight swap with John McGinn would be my fantasy football dream. £20 million plus Bertrand Traore would be more realistic and will do fine for me.

Osman was a technically gifted footballer; one of the few we had over the period he played for the club. But apparently he was too lightweight and let's not forget, another often stuck out wide, out of position and seemingly out of danger by the manager to fit the formation.

Ironically, given the title of this thread, many bemoaned and slated Hibbert for his poor crossing and not being so good going forward. But a great defensive full back. Whereas with Digne it's a 180-degree view for quite a few. Cake and eat it.

I've been reluctant to be too harsh on Holgate as he's been played out of position quite often. He's no right-back and he's certainly no holding midfielder; an attempt to plug the gap? Where's that midfielder to stop giving Allan too much to do?

On Davies, I was initially unsure; tidy player, gives everything, made mistakes as do all young players. As do all players for that matter. I've warmed to him and I think he's benefited from having Allan around him (didn't he say that himself)? I would like to see him stay as part of the squad, but I'm suspecting the manager doesn't fancy him.

I've been critical of our academy and it's production line. I'll maintain that as it hasn't been good enough for what it could do. That's another debate. But Gordon looks increasingly promising and Branthwaite has potential to live up to those who rate him highly. Not seen enough of him or Dobbin yet, but on the latter, what I have done gives hope. Bright, lively and energetic, something we need. And to repeat, I can see a Number 10 in him. Can we get Warrington near the first team squad? Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself.

But, and here's the football coach and purist in me, as long as these lads go onto enjoy a career in the professional game, preferably with Everton, but if not then I'm just pleased they've succeeded.

Last point: I think it's wise to differentiate the manner of criticism of any player. There's the here and now in the moment individual match and then there's looking at the broader picture of ability and potential, young, old, Finch Farm product or expensive foreign import. And of course, form. All players go through patches.

Like most, I really don't care where they come from, but it's always great when a local comes through, because yes, it's all everyone of us ever wanted to do ourselves. I still do.

I think it's become a trait for some Blues, that as soon as a player puts on an Everton shirt, he becomes a target for their ire. But if he's unavailable or moves on, suddenly that player achieves hero status, it doesn't seem to matter to them where that player was born, although there has often been a tendency for some to attack the local players more than the imports.

My personal view is, if a player turns out for Everton, he should be fully supported. If he really is woeful on a regular basis, then that's down to the person who continues to select him and not the player himself.

Many would have had Pickford out the door years ago. Many wanted Richarlison out the door because he struggled under Ancelotti largely to being isolated and being asked to get through so much work.

Now posters are delighted to get £20 million for another of our elite players. Dominic is the only other top player we have incidentally.

If we need money in the coffers we could get 20 million for Allan, Kenny and Tosun without having a negative impact on the team.

For those arguing it's good money for his age, I would ask just who you can buy for similar quality? Last season, had this been done, we could have retained the services of Small and not sent Nkounkou out on loan and got a much greater premium for the player but to do so now is basically an indictment of the mismanagement of both the club and manager.

This is not clever business, it is simply piss-poor management.

As for Mina and Allan, both have been huge disappointments in my book. Mina with his constant injuries and Allan with his poor distribution and decision making. Both are lively, energetic players but seem to have difficulty making simple passes and decisions.

When it comes to Tom Davies, I've seen enough to believe he'll never make it at this level. He's physically weak and slow, is easily knocked off the ball and dispossessed. His passing and decision making is poor. I just don't see anything in him to make me think he will develop into a regular first-team player.

I won't even mention Iwobi who must be our worst player of all time (considering his price tag). I'm just hoping, and praying, he has a brilliant Afcon and someone like Newcastle or Kidderminster make a £1M plus offer to take him as far as possible from Goodison.

He said this fella was proper giving it to Benitez, and he asked him why he'd come the game? Not liking the manager is fine, but stay at home if you can't support our team whilst they are out on the pitch playing a FA cup tie mate.

I think that's what loads might do on Saturday. It's the first time I've heard a few people saying they aren't going for years so it will be interesting to gauge the feelings of the most loyal away support in the country at Norwich, maybe?

The former two are out of contract in summer so worth pretty much nothing now. Allan is decent but he's 31, patchy injury record and performances and out of contract in summer 2023. Probably worth about £10m now. Even at that price, who would buy?

I know he's the whipping boy at the moment (at least until Davies is fit again) and many can't bring themselves to acknowledge when he plays well, but he has been the best of the 4 centre backs we have.

If we flip it a bit, if Holgate had of made the number of mistakes that Keane has this season, how much abuse do you think we would have got? If Holgate had of been injured for 50% of the season, how many would be praising him as our defensive messiah? If Holgate was as out of position as Godfrey every time he played centre back, how much abuse would he have got?

He might not have been as good as he was a couple of seasons back, but he's been nowhere near the worst culprit this year.

Barry, I think we're saying similar things. That was my differentiation between commenting on a particular performance in one match and form over time as well as ability / potential.

But the main point I agree with in the last few posts is to leave that type of thing to the end. Try to leave it to the after match reports on here. But during the match it's get behind the team for me.

Best example for me this season has to be Chelsea. Where I was sat/stood (no-one really sat down), hardly any negativity throughout, even when we went a goal down. And given the pre-match forlorn hope concern with the injury situation, you could have forgiven many for fearing the worse and turning.

But they didn't. Yes, a few inevitable comments at the end aimed at Benitez, but during the match, mostly positive throughout.

Our fans' willingness to sell our top players for small fees is amazing. As the French international full-back with 43 caps, Digne is an elite player and claiming that a 20 million fee is sufficient is ludicrous. He might not have been in top form over the last 12 months, but to devalue him by 15-20 million just for a quick sale to provide January transfer funds to Benitez and/or satisfy the manager's ego makes no sense.

I have seen other posters claim that we should be happy with 35 million for Pickford and 45 million for DCL. And we complain about the club lacking commercial acumen!

And regarding the supply of talent from our Academy, bringing DCL, Davies, Holgate, Branthwaite, Gordon, Dobbin, Simms and Kenny through represents success to my mind. Their development path has been impacted by the constant change of manager, but all have potential to reach the first team and they will all command a good transfer fee if they leave. If that isn't success, then it would be useful to hear what does represent success for an Academy?

It depends how you measure success. For me, one or two that can be part of a successful first team that can help us challenge for honours. Not several who can be part of a mid-table first team. Maybe I'm overly ambitious. I think United, who have been the benchmark over the years are suffering with that. Probably in an effort to recreate the class of 92, they have several academy players in their current team. But they are a far cry from where they were by their own standards. On that, did everyone see Rashford last night? Too much interest in off the field campaigning and less in the day job or just an off night? Didn't seem bothered at all when he got hooked.

And, in supporting your point, producing one or two, that if they do move on, are of the standard that command a meaningful fee and don't see us get our mandatory seeing off.

Villa cashed in to the tune of £100M for Grealish.

Still a few unknowns on your list, but I'm hopeful for a few of them. Sadly (genuinely), I fear the Kenny ship has sailed and we won't get a lot for him if and when he moves on. Although he's done okay in the last couple of games, so here's still hoping for him and us.

I'll have to revert to the more closer observers of the U23s, but didn't Calvert-Lewin and Branthwaite come straight in as already established first team players at their previous clubs and strictly speaking, were not part of our academy?

I'm all for claiming young players' development, even if we've brought them in at an older (but still young) age by the way.

i agree that we want players for the Academy helping us produce a successful first team as defined for example by a top 6 finish, however I only really see Chelsea as making the success using that model in the premier league.

Man City have Foden, Liverpool have several good squad players, Arsenal have good young players but I am not convinced they will sustain a challenge through the season. As you mentioned, Man Utd have produced young players such as Rashford and Greenwood, but they also are not making a significant impact.

We are not a mid-table team because of the production from the Academy, but rather due to our constant rotation of managers and transfer signings of over-priced, average senior players.

if I looked at the transfer values of the young players I mentioned who have moved into first team contention from, my expectation would be that their transfer market value is 150 million and rising. Clubs also sign players at various age groups to strengthen the Academy squads. Provided their play in the Academy team then I see them as Academy players.

Therefore, commercially the Academy is successful and, if we actually play them, more young players will develop to be fixtures in our first team. The days of signing a Rondon who holds back the development of a Dobbin has to end.

It is indeed a combination of factors. Managerial revolving door, poor transfer strategy (that's being kind).

It's always a blend. Buy a combination of experience (Allan), potential (Godfrey, Mykolenko, Patterson) and a few additions from our own back yard. But don't rely on one of those routes alone. I know that's not rocket science, but we've failed miserably. And the stability you refer to.

Talking about transfer value, any news on Dobbin signing a contract? Otherwise can't he walk in the summer??

Just read the interview with Mykolenko interview sent through on the Everton App. I know they're only words, but really honest self-critical assessment. I like his attitude already.

There was also a middle ground of players that I think in fairness we failed with, I'm thinking Vlasic, Lookman, Deulofeu and Mosie Kean. We paid decent money for these hoping that they would develop into premier league players, unfortunately they were not quite ready and we don't have enough games where we play sufficiently inferior opposition to offer them enough games. IE we have not played in the Europa League for several years, we tend not to progress far in the cups, and if you are an elite premier league team playing a bottom half team, you can wait until you're comfortable and blood a youngster, or even start one, as every other player you have on the pitch is way better than every player the opposition have.

- it's widely known that we need to sell players to allow us to buy. That puts us on the back foot in terms of bargaining power.

- Covid has hit the market, with fewer potential buyers than there might otherwise have been. Seems just Chelsea (who already have Alonso, Emerson Palmieri and Chilwell), Leicester, Newcastle (probably going down), Inter and Villa credited with any interest. I reckon pre-covid we could have sold for £45m. Unfortunately now I think £25 to £30m tops.

- Unfortunately Man City don't seem interested despite losing Mendy. Cancealo and Zinchenko are unusual LBs but seem to fit the City system well.

So £20m is very low, lower than I'd be happy with certainly. Especially if it serves to nudge Villa further ahead of us in overall quality.

But equally we don't really have the luxury of keeping him but not playing him. And despite some decent stats he really has gone off the boil and we arguably look better with Godfrey at LB.

And if it allows us to improve elsewhere (obviously that's a big if) then maybe even £20m might end up being a good deal.

Ideally, you are able to bring them in gradually. Look how Pep was able to manage Foden for a couple of seasons despite the English media frenzie for him to play 90 minutes every week. Gradual progression until he felt he was ready and consistent enough for regular appearances. Not the opinions of supporters or the press.

Peter @86, personally I'd be disappointed to see Allan go, but if its good business for the club for a player of his age, then I'm not averse to it.

Especially given the finances in Italian football. That could like involve a player swap if there are any legs in that one.

Allan is a good player and is worth hanging on to until summer 23 when his contract expires.

Next season I'd quite like to see him have much more competition though, from one or two new high quality midfielders.

Having watched Targett last night I can see why SG wants Digne. Top dollar we need for him.

Not keen on losing Digne but Benitez is spot on if he moves Allan out.

Depends what they, well Benitez, is thinking. Like always, as long as a replacement is lined up, that's football.

But I agree with the consistency and the experience. As well as his leadership qualities which sometimes go un-noticed.

Warning :
All this squad chopping and changing could disrupt us and cause our play to become disjointed and disorganised. It may cause the players to look confused like they've only just met each other. It could disrupt link up play, passing accuracy and ultimately lead us to losing games we should be winning.

Certainly keen on getting an upgrade on Allan in summer - but that's with a view to moving Allan into an understudy role for the final 12 months of his contract to improve the appalling depth of quality in the squad.

Also, there's a point here about signing a player for £25m age 29 for 3 seasons. We've not had great value from him as a player and will get no money from his sale to reinvest. Can't do that again.

Equally, we do have the luxury of keeping him and not playing him. Tosun demonstrates this on a weekly basis. Or alternatively, Benitez swallows his pride and plays him. Mykolenko is new to the premier league and Godfrey ain't no left back as his performances this season have demonstrated.

As regards mention of his age, he is 29 and a defender. Check out the age profile of the Italian defence who conquered in the Euros.

The football and commecial arguments that we need to sell in this transfer window simply do not scan. If we do sell, it will be a personality driven decision which smacks of poor leadership.

To add to the silliness, the TeamTalk article about the rumor says this:

"As for Everton, they have a number of options in the centre of midfield. Indeed, the depth in the position may be a reason for Rafa Benitez allowing Allan to leave for a period."

Depth in the position. Yeah, right.

Ridiculous.

Away from football a mate who knows I love the horses text me this morning to say there is a horse running at Doncaster today called Wonderwall he asked did I think it would win, I said maybe.

Agreed. Completing half a season without flashing a single moment of quality, intelligence or passion is an absolute triumph of consistency.

And what a brilliant moment that was against Spurs.

We really should not look at how much we get, but how much we reduce our costs. The ending of Tosun, Delph and he who shall not be named will save us £12m a year from July, even though we will not get a penny in transfer fees.

I see the situation with the non-playing Tosun being different. No-one at all wanted him apart from loans and then he got repeatedly injured.

With Digne we have a chance to sell for more than we paid, make an accounting profit on the wages and free up much needed funds for reinvestment.

If we sell for, say, £5m less than we think he's worth but use the proceeds to improve the side then maybe it's not a bad deal in the grand scheme of things.

It comes down to how we use the sale proceeds. We're obviously in need of striker options, quality in central midfield and centre back. If one of those positions is addressed it could even be a really good deal.

I'm not thrilled because I liked Digne and wouldn't have expected him to be sold - and this might all be an example of Benitez being an arse - but I'll judge it when the window closes.

Allan and Doucoure are currently the basis of our midfield even if you don't think much of either. Along with others, I'd only be comfortable with Allan departing if there is someone coming in as a direct replacement.

Whether Mykolenko can do the same as Digne remains to be seen.

I'm not too displeased at us selling Digne at this junction but he's been very important for us and he will be missed.

We've had our pants pulled down here on the arriving full-backs, and on this sale.

A joke of a club.

It works for how Gerrard is trying to get Villa to play, whereas their current (very good in my opinion) left back is a more traditional defensive minded one.

Moving on, we can't judge Mykolenko on one game. He's young and will need to learn the league and the change of country. But we do have Godfrey as cover as well as Nkounkou to come back.

But that's the distant past from a football perspective. In the present, he hasn't played well in a year, he's no longer first choice, he doesn't want to be here anymore, and his manager doesn't want him. And he's making £120,000 a week. There is no alternative.

At least this time we've brought in his replacement first, instead of leaving it to the final frantic hours of the window as usual.

I expect that if, by some miracle of science, we were able to dismantle the three of them, and harvest their "unbroken" parts, using those to build a new player, that might be a solution. Otherwise…

We used to be really good at getting decent deals for players. The likes of Rodwell and Lescott went for decent money, Rooney was a world record fee for a teenager and Lukaku has only ever gone for £10m more than what we sold him for.

Now we manage to drive the price of outgoing players down by not playing them, making it known that we're desperate for money and making it public knowledge that they don't want to play for us anymore.

Like him or not, under Moyes we'd have got £40m for Digne.

Maybe a loan or two incoming before the end of the month

Okay, Digne has been well off form for 12 months but he is absolutely one of the best left-backs around and is France's first choice. And now we are selling him to Aston Villa??

What does that say about the mentality and ambitions of our squad when they see a move to Villa (who will not even be fighting for Europe) as a move of progression?

And it seems we now want another McGeady or Bolasie type winger from them in return to be whipping the balls in for the predatory Rondon?? Fuck me… these are awful days to be an Evertonian.

But other than those slight aberrations I think you're spot on about Digne and El Ghazi.

So why are people getting so agitated just because he's going to Villa? There is no point in keeping a player who doesn't want to be here, irrespective of what club he joins.

I can just imagine the uproar on the Burnley equivalent of TW. They will be going absolutely nuts about selling Chris Wood to a relegation rival. But I guess that's what happens when clubs set a buy-out clause into a players contract.

And can you believe it – the name David (never won at Anfield in 11 years) Moyes is on here to???

I think it's possible that ankle injury in November 2020 really took something out of him.

And remember, this sale isn't just bringing in £25 million -- it's reducing our wage bill by £120,000 a week. Mina and Digne are our top earners.

He has far more value than Benitez and hence it is far better that our idiot of a manager goes – not a talented player.

I think I'd turn that logic on its head:

He has far more value than Benitez and hence it is far better that he is sold for a decent fee as they no longer get on.

If we got rid of our idiot of a manager instead, we'd have to pay him and his entourage a not-so-small fortune to vacate the premises, and that would be daft.

He then exacerbates the problem by highlighting the rift in every press conference, inviting rival clubs to come in with low-ball offers that undervalue the player. Effectively, he is strengthening a club who are one place above us in the table and costing us money.

My guess is his ineptitude cost the club £5-10 million in transfer fees.

Thus far it's the one part of his managerial policy where he has had some success. If he can get his team selection, tactics and substitutions right we might just win the odd game. Let's hope he knows what he is doing.

£25 Million for me is decent, considering we could have only got a loan away out of Digne, then probs got £20 Million tops in the summer.

Just hearing El Ghazi is a done deal as loan deal, makes more sense than splashing cash out for him.

So if Rafa had handled the situation differently, we should have gotten £30-35 million for him? Based on what? Comparisons with other recent sales of left backs? Certainly not his performance level over the past 12 months?

You say Benitez exacerbates the problem by highlighting the rift in every press conference, inviting rival clubs to come in with low-ball offers that undervalue the player.

So what was the alternative? Benitez says nothing and hopes he can resolve the problem, which was highly unlikely, thus leaving Digne handing in a transfer request. It's still very likely that any club would have bid lower than what many on here think he's worth, knowing he's unhappy and hoping to get “a bargain”.

I suppose the club could have rejected Villa's offer and hoped for a higher bid from them or another club, which doesn't appear to have happened, so it's best to accept the Villa bid and sell a player who no longer wants to be here.

No point in paying him £120k pw for the next 6 months just to sit on the bench, which was probably his only chance of being anywhere near the first-team squad.

According to the Everton website, he made 127 appearances, scored 6 goals (1 in 20), was yellow carded 20 times (1 in 6) and had tackle success rate of 63%. I know stats can be misleading but Seamus has 350 appearances, 22 goals (1 in 16), yellow carded 34 times (1 in 10) and a tackle success rate of 76%.

Perhaps we all looked through rose-tinted specs a bit because he is a French International and getting two new full backs who could take those roles for the next few years might not be such bad business...

Digne has been slammed by posters over the last 12 months – long before Benitez came – and is a country mile behind the player who first appeared for us before his injuries.

£25M is a fair price; if it buys us 2 young quality full-backs, it is good business.

Now let's get some goalscoring hardnosed midfield players in and a dominating centre-back.

Along with Delph!!

True, he will likely never be first-choice again with Theo Hernandez emerging as a star, but he's a long way from being out of the France picture.

Agree with your conclusion nonetheless. Fair price, solid transaction.

We have bought a new left back so Digne becomes surplus to requirements, he has gone so lets back the new lad and hope there is still more to happen it this window.

For too many windows we have had to pay a premium price because we can't get our shit together and now that we buy early we moan again, Everton that is!!!!!!!

Good to see them back on the scene. I wasn't aware of a problem with Branthwaite. Missed that one and just thought he'd been left out, which seemed odd after Chelsea.

It seems to me that Benitez wants a team of workers who will get up and down all game!

Style, skill don't really matter to Benitez. Sounds a bit like Gordon Lee. Sadly this side doesn't have a Dave Thomas and Bob Latchford.

I heard Villa are signing him on a 4½-year contract? I would not be happy if we were doing the same considering he is 29 in July.

I hope this signifies a strategy change to buy young (and pay low) and sell them on (at a profit) after we have gotten a few seasons out of them. rather than paying £45M for the likes of a 28-year-old Sigurdsson with zero sell-on value at the end of his contract.

Then their are THOSE who constantly take the bait and just have to make every effort to force others to change their minds. They do this by reiterating their much overstated point of view again and again in the hope that fellow Toffee Webbers may see the light and agree that they alone are "RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT" and everyone else is a Moron.

We have discussed the values of a number of Center Backs. Hardly worth the discusssion because they are ALL below what could be considered as a "Top" Premier league player or defender. Branthwaite and Godfrey still have a chance to prove themselves.

Digne has always been a good player, but no more that just that. It is a good time to sell him. Do it and lets get on playing without him. He does not need to be despised and accorded venom just because he has the nerve to indicate that he wants to leave. Best of luck until you play against us.

Basically I just hope we can improve the team during this "Questionable"window. We are all entitled to our points of view, although it may be too much to expect them to be rational. Let's face it there is almost no such entity as a "Rational" Evertonian.

I DO at least know that. My wife tells me every day when she says,"You have to be "NUTS to follow a team that seems to make you such an inconsistent and irrational person when it comes to "FOOTBALL". She will never understand !!!

On another point I heard Tarkowski is soon out of contract at Burnley, he's 29 but I think is so much better than the current clowns we have at centre back and worth a punt.

I expect that Digne will play well for Gerrard and he will be a good acquisition for Villa.

Not necessarily saying Tarkowski has the footballing skills we need, but I like his attitude.

Dale #164, with Yerry and Jarrad back in training, I'd expect Godfrey to slide back out and handle a few games at left-back if Mykolenko needs time to get up to speed.

Ed @ 162,

Tarkowski might be the kind of nasty bastard the Everton defence needs.

Buying and selling at the right time are crucial to a club's success and we've been bad at both for a long time. Unfortunately, Liverpool have been masters of both buying and selling and that's a major factor in them having a squad worth a billion whilst ours is worth peanuts.

Benitez has had a decent start, buying a £30 million player for £1.7 million and unloading a fading star with no pace for £25 million. He just needs to pick the right team in the right formation and we may dodge relegation.

I think Tarkowski would be a good signing. I don't care about his pace. He is a dominant centre half and not a soft touch.

We simply cannot defend set pieces. That will not improve with Yerry back as despite his enormous size, he's not actually that dominant in the air.

Tarkowski is. And if Benitez wishes to continue with this deep lying, ultra defensive counter-attacking style of play, then you need someone to hold the line. Tarkowski is capable of doing this.

As for Pace - Benitez built a defence around Hyypia and Carragher. Not much pace there. It's easy to highlight a particular attribute as a weakness, rather than assess the whole package.

That's why a lot of people think Adam's Traore is better than he is.

It's happening!

Apart from Gbamin, this is madness. Can anyone tell me what Allan has done to upset Benitez?

Hope it's true

Unfair and extreme comparison but there's that clip where he's in the right back position and Thierry Henry makes him look like he's jogging on the spot.

What Carragher had is what I wish Michael Keane had. Anticipation and ability to read the game so he didn't need to chase the game; he was already there. If Keane had that, he'd be a better centre back than he is.

From an Everton perspective, I thought Stubbs and Weir were good at it and it prolonged their careers.

I should have been kinder to to Michael Keane. If he had that, he would be a more confident centre back, which would make him a better centre back as he does have ability.

But that is a key ingredient of determination and a desire to win. Michael Keane may be a decent footballer and person but is just too placid and nice on the football pitch. Everton are.

Lucas Digne has posted on his Instagram account, saying goodbye to Everton supporters, with his transfer to Aston Villa nearing completion.

In the post he alludes to the recent falling out which has seen him excluded from the team by boss Rafa Benitez...

"Everything must come to an end. I just did not expect it to end this way.

"What has happened and some things that was said about me in the last month has made me very sad. But I will not enter a war on words with anyone.

"The club don't deserve that, the fans don't deserve that - and to be honest, I don't feel that I deserve that.

"There are so many good and decent people in and around Everton who want to the best for this club and not only for themself - and to them I can only say from my heart: I wish you the best!

"Thank you, to all you wonderful, proud and passionate true Evertonians. It has been an honour and a true pleasure to play for you, the fans, the people - because a club do not belong to a player or a manager, but to the fans. I will always carry you with me in my heart wherever I go.

"Sometimes it only takes one person from outside to destroy a beautiful love affair.

"All the best to Everton and Evertonians."

Good luck to him, just not against us!

I know the majority on here are happy for him to go, and think he was past his best, but he was a class left back - at one point considered among the best in the PL.

I think he'll do a good job for Villa under Gerrard for at least a couple of seasons. Assuming he plays against us next week, I'll definitely be applauding his name when its announced.

We will never know what the conversation was between Digne and Benitez, one has given his view the other will not be drawn in except for an outsider (assumed to be Benitez) ruining a love affair. And yes he deserved to put a slant on it after Benitez tore his reputation to bits in a presser.
Personally I wish Lucas Digne good fortune and thank him for all his efforts over the past few years. Sad to see him depart but thats the nature of the game. This manager might rebuild a team, but he will never have my affection. I am a firm believer in the old adage, its not just about what you do, but how you do it.

Bon chance, mon ami. Except on the 22nd. Then we're gonna rip you up. Nothing personal.

So whatever has gone on between the two, saying he does not want to blame anyone, then has a pop at it only taking one person to destroy it defeats the object.

Whatever went on before the Chelsea game, we will never know, if he has been told to defend and not bomb forward, then that is his job to try and defend, if he had a hissy fit because of being coached that way, we just do not know.

But he has certainly built up a brilliant piece of blowing up his own backside, which will ensure he will get all the plaudits on his visit to Goodison in a couple of weeks, while Raffa will be the Pantomime villain.

£25 Million for a player that has not done it for close on two seasons, is good buisness in my book.

For that reason, I hope we smash Villa, in a few weeks time.

His silence on the breakdown between himself and Benitez showed a certain strength of character and dignity. He was the proverbial "bigger man" in this saga. I'm well aware he almost certainly didn't write the instagram goodbye, but he certainly approved it. It's classy, and says everything he needed and wanted to. It's noteworthy for it's lack of obvious venom as well.

Quite clearly the man has moved on and so shall we. I imagine Slippy Gerrard will find a determined, motivated and talented footballer who wishes to put himself in the frame for World Cup selection. Unless there's an injury or two to ruin the story, I really feel Digne will go on to have a very good back half of this season.

As for Benitez...well. We can't say we weren't warned; this is his modus operandi. But if he had decided that Digne was not fit for purpose moving forward then it makes a certain sort of sense. In this scenario, he wasn't staying so I can use him to show the rest of this lot I mean business.
You don't have to like it, but at least it has a certain sort of logic. Things have been so badly run at Everton for so long that I'll take demented logic over the seeming lunatics at the asylum approach.

There's no reason both sides can't win from this move. But the jaded cynic deep inside me does tend to think it's advantage Villa on this one. We say it too often, but only time will tell.

He has retained a Digne-fied silence for six weeks, during which his manager publicly vilified him on a weekly basis.

His words are both restrained whilst leaving no doubt that one man has harried him out of the club. I believe him when he says how much he loved Everton.

Admirable ruthlessness by the manager as a means to generate funds to enable new purchases? Or an arrogant self-serving egomaniac?

Time and results will tell, I guess.

Adieu et bonne chance, Lucas.

I am sorry given the poor mismanagement of our club and the sad situation that we did not give him the sending off in the manner that he deserved. You can take a look at his Instagram and see that he was posting photos of his time with the Blues up till the very last moment. The last photo he posed announcing his transfer was devastating. The same cannot be said of others who deleted all Blues related photos when leaving the club...

In the hearts of all Evertonians, Digne, you will always be an Everton hero and Goodison Park will always welcome you home. You'll are in our hearts of all Evertonians worldwide, speaking as an Everton fan from Asia...

Good luck Digne, but not goodbye.

We seem to be ignoring that he's had injury troubles, including surgery, since November 2020, when Ancelotti said, “It is a big loss because he is one of the best left-backs in Europe at the moment but we have to manage this”.

Until that injury, Lucas was fantastic last season.

Came back in January 2021, when Carlos fielded the side in "Allardyce" mode to mitigate every opponent overrunning our midfield. Of course he didn't shine. Who did?

Has been in/out or playing with injury since. Off to Villa he goes.

Let's see if he's returns to a 90-minute player with the elan of old or continues as he has for us the last 12 months.

Erm, he's not, and never has been down his years despite the many opportunities he's been given to cement himself in that position.

The actual regular French left-back is Hernandez of Bayern, who is actually a centre-back. Hmm! Digne has somehow been left out of team, since he first challenged Patrice Evra right at the end of his career, for a number of less than stellar fellow French left-backs. That's why Villa have "won" his signature.

Given his age and alleged salary, and moderate performances for too long, letting him go is to me good business given the hopeless antics of those still in and around our boardroom that've forced us to sell to try to even sign bog-standard players.

The guy's a mega £millionaire already - so why the anguish?

Doesn't sit well with me though. There's a way to do things. This isn't it.

I could handle us being arseholes for the right reasons. But being arseholes for the sake of being arseholes isn't good. I don't think it's been the right call either - character assassinations aren't exactly attractive to other clubs.

He will be 30 soon and he is on the down slide of his career. For his sake I hope he does well on and off the field I don't know what happened before the Chelsea game but I believe he made himself unavailable for the game. At that point a player has to go.

Regardless, this is good business. Selling a player who is entering the lesser years of his career and has shown very little for 18 months for a good amount of money and replacing him with two younger players is how a club like ours should operate.

I rightly hear about Everton being a soft touch, naïve and so on. And then we act like the twats we need to in order to improve and suddenly we're upset about it.

I care if we win trophies, games and play good footy … in that order.

Digne is a very good player and always put in a shift. I have no problem with him. But he's no Cafu or even no Baines.

Whatever it takes within in the law and standard moral code. Hardball acceptable if a player doesn't want to move ….

To quote one of the ten commandments which were carved in stone in the dockers club half a century ago.

"We go with what we got"

A sensible manager would agree quietly with the player that he can leave in the summer, when he will have a better choice of club to move out and the club could demand a better fee. All of the above with the proviso that the player will give his best until the end of the season and not talk in public.

But we all understand that Benitez's high power, control and ego needs meant that it was never going to go that way. Digne has gone so let's move on, however my view remains that the way the manager handled this cost us £5-10 million in transfer fees at a time when we are screwed under FFP.

It does seem like your opinion is based on your dislike of Benitez and nothing else.

Personally, seeing what other good left backs are going for, I see absolutely no basis for the belief that Digne could possibly have been sold for that much under any circumstances.

I never wanted his appointment in the first place, as with all of the anti-Benitz regime, he was never going or will succeed at Goodison.

My only hope now is that, with our injured players returning, we return to winning ways; otherwise, Agent Rafa has really stitched us up!

Anyone else getting worried about the team that Aston Villa are building? Good goalkeeper, okay their defence is not all that hot, great midfield, and a very good strike force. And I see that Villa are interested in Bissouma. Now that is one player I would absolutely LOVE to have at EFC.

However, he isn't he same player who we signed. Over the last year and a half he has been suspect defensively and less productive offensively. Possibly all coinciding with his bad injury. I think it was the right time to sell for the good of our club, which will fund his replacement and another squad player.

With the dark shadows of FFP such tough decisions have to be taken. Managers live or die by such decisions and rolls of the dice. They have to get more right than wrong,

This decision will be framed by the success of his chosen replacement, Mykolenko. The only thing that matters about this episode is that we come out of it stronger.

A much bigger worry to me is that it has potentially distracted attention away from us signing an experienced no nonsense organiser of a CB to stabilise our defence and a desperately needed tough , tenacious , quality midfielder for our engine room.

Both of which are priorities on a different scale to the left back situation.

We should actually have tried to cash in and got a few quid for Coleman when we had the chance instead of gifting him a new FIVE year contract in 2017.

There can be no room for sentiment at the club anymore.

What we need to make sure is the players that replace the outgoing are actually better or at least equals.

That hasn't always been the case, especially when Moshiri first came.

We sold John Stones and replaced him with lesser men.

We sold Romelu Lukaku and in my view we have never come close to replacing him, even though DCL has emerged as a competent six yard box player, the signings of Moise Kean and Tosun were dreadful.

We lost Barkley and haven't had a central midfielder that can carry the ball and go forward since.

So it's imperative that whatever players we sell now, they are replaced with a certain quality.

Benitez though has used his judgment bring in the excellent Gray and very useful Townsend to good effect.
If Longstaff can match the impact of Gray it would be an inspirational signing. Alternatively, if he's Rondonesque another nail will be passed to his coffin maker.

I think his decisions are being dictated by signing players who want to perform for ‘him'. Players who want to come and are delighted to be here. Exceptional talent is taking a back seat to just ‘talent' with desire and motivation at the moment.

It will be unpalatable to many but in this early stage of the resurrection of our club it's a pragmatic building block strategy that builds a team spirit that will fight for the cause .

Iam not sure why your Villa mate says he is crap, you look at the stats of the player he is tucked inbetweem Mason Greeawood and Mo Salah. He may have just fallen out love etc.. with Villa and needs a new start. I thnk a loan option is great business for Everton, Ghazi's rate of a goal every 270 minutes was essentially the same as Raheem Sterling managed (272 minutes per goal) and not too far behind what Sadio Mane offered (248)

Maybe he needs a new lease of live at another club, just look at how Demarai Grey has turned out

Yeah see your point mate, it's not a position we are depserate for and lets give the guy a chance and see what he does. I think someone in the middle of the park is a more urgent position. I would say Centre back also but I would like to se a run of games with Mina and Branthwaite. what do you think?

Yeah see your point mate, it's not a position we are depserate for and lets give the guy a chnace and se what he does. I think someone in the middle of the park is a more urgent position. I would say Centre back also but I would like to se a run of games with Mina and Branthwaite. what do you think?

The Dockers got knocked down last year, it won't be long before Goodison is next, and when I think of those two places, the first two words that come to mind, are character & characters.🙏

People who made life worth living, played for nothing, and often used to fall out with their manager, if he had the temerity to bring them off, always trying to prove the bastard wrong next week!

Football is life, everyone of us lives and dies by our decisions, and especially football managers, so as I said last week, for the sake of Benitez, I just hope this Myko kid, hits the ground running!

I can't for a second imagine that he's engineered his way out of Everton to join Aston Villa.

It's absolutely unpalatable that Benitez has attempted to make it appear that way.

Now Digne is going, we can shift some other dross. Roll on summer. Continuing yet another rebuild.

I know his form dropped off, but a) was that down to what he was being asked to do? and b) form is temporary, class is permanent, he could get it back.

He's done it again, sat his fat arse down and won't budge until he gets his way. What a disgrace we're in.

Surprised therefore that he's gone to Villa and not been picked up by a Champions League contender (England or elsewhere).

That probably says something about the market in January - but also that his stock has fallen.

Interesting to see where Villa go from here. I thought they spent the Grealish money pretty well but are having to bed players in so the results have been patchy.

Digne and Coutinho are both on a downward trajectory (the latter especially so) so it may not work out.

I'm also hoping Gerrard ends up getting found out as a new Tim Sherwood type - a short term motivator but not a 'proper' manager.

I'm not knocking Digne, who is a very good footballer imo, but for a defender to say he's had a beautiful time at a football club, and during his period at the club, the best his team came was 8th, just about sums this relic of a football club up.

It's meaningless, he's just playing the game is all. He'll say lovely things about Villa as well to prove the point. Historic club, great fans, I love claret, blah blah blah.

I couldn't care less if players love Everton, and of course they don't anyway, not like we do - more fool us eh.

Yes, it was the right time to sell because he'll be 29 this summer and he still has value that can be re-invested in the squad. Those two new young full-backs will hopefully turn out to be very good players for us for the foreseeable future. I think this, buying young upcoming talent, is the way to do business, instead of buying already established oldish stars at high cost, which we have been doing at great failure these last few years...

Many think Digne hasn't been good this year, and think that is the reason to offload him. Yes, maybe he hasn't, but then again, he has not been played to his strengths by the FSW. His main asset is attacking which 7 PL-assists in both seasons prior to this confirms, but he's been stripped of all attacking duties by the FSW. He's been made to concentrate on defending, which really isn't his strength.

This is a manager who with his negative approach rather see us try to concede as few goals as possible, instead of trying to score more than the opponent to win the game. You can all see how that has panned out. It's the football of 10-15 years ago which was a tactic working well then. It's not working anymore, football has evolved...

FSW out now!

Absolutely right on the money, I would just add since he has been here I think Digne has played more games than anyone in the squad when he arrived, that is pretty impressive by itself.

But what I cant understand in all of this is we are a club who have transgressed the FFP rules, yet we show no sign of addressing the problem. We have sold Digne for initially £23 million and brought in 2 young full backs which have cost around £12 million more than we got for Digne. There is also a strong rumour that we are about to sign El Ghazi on loan, so you add his wages plus the 2 full backs wages and you end up adding to the wage bill.

Also I have heard no more about how Moshiri is doing in raising the money for the stadium build, seeing the work is about to start on the actual construction you would have thought that we would of heard something on the financing. Mind maybe Moshiri will send a text to Jim White to keep us informed.

I have to say that talking to many match going Blues I don't think I can ever remember a time when the majority feel so disenfranchised by what is going on at the club. I think the awful appointment of the FSW has certainly contributed heavily to that, and although I have said on numerous occasions changing managers as regular as we do doesn't help, but sometimes like Spurs did with Nuno you just have to realize you have made a horrible mistake and bite the bullet and sack him.

Neil, I think what you are saying about more players not beeing committed to him and/or his tactics, could well be another reason why we aren't winning at the moment. Players not feeling comfortable with the playing style will automatically, but not intentionally, perform worse, and I think that is one of the reasons we are at this streak. These players aren't actually bad, they are just not beeing managed to their strengths.

Villa will be happy that they have signed a current France International, aged 28 with probably 3-4 years of his best football left to play. A player with pedigree who has played at the highest level with some of the best players in the world.

A player who hardly ever gets injured. A player of proven premier league experience. A left back who has 26 goal contributions in 113 premier league games. Therefore in a side that has often struggling, he is scoring or assisting a goal about every 4 games.

All for around £25m. I'm sure Villa will be very pleased with their business

The problem at Everton is not Lucas Digne leaving and, to be honest, it's not a long list of players who have left us and done any better; the problem is what we have left.

Keane, Iwobi, Holgate, Davies, Gomes and the worst of the lot, Doucouré, who is a headless chicken in midfield – all these players will have to go without doubt. You look at a player like Bissouma at Brighton, who is so much better than Doucouré in everything he does and can do for a team like us – we should be pleading with him and offering all of the above to Brighton to get someone like him in.

Overall, we are a crisis club with no vision apart from a stadium that will never add enough revenue to pay the prices the top clubs pay for world class players and a place we didn't need. We have a management board beyond the comprehension of any small business ethos that needs drive, determination, vision, strategy and bravery to succeed.

Everton have one foot in the grave and the second one is not far away when the debt of the new ground starts to become a drain around our neck and that of an owner who has made mistakes in allowing everyone at the top of the club to still be in a job.

We will struggle this season to survive with this team and may just survive but it won't be pleasant and, after all that, I still can't seem to blame Benitez for any of it. Maybe that time will come but then it will be too late and this wonderful club that has consumed my life will be a has-been, as it has for 30 years, and shows no signs at all of ever being anything else.

Tommy @ 278, Villa will not be able to believe their luck.

I actually think the impasse would have been solved if we had been able to play matches over December and early January, as Benitez would have been gone by now.

Anyway, he's not our player any more. Good luck to Mykolenko!

I won't lose too much sleep over Lucas Digne. He moves on. But we're stuck with the same problems. A club that is merrily sailing into troubled waters with Jonah at the helm.

Yes, Brian and anybody who understood the club knew that his appointment would cause disharmony. Like when the Cardiff owner wanted to play in Red. I think Moshiri is from a similar mould. Me personally, in all my forty years of following them, never have I ever felt so disconnected with a club, no tickets, no merchandise and even some times a reluctance to even to still care about them.

I watched Norwich last night. They were truly dreadful. It will be interesting to see what happens on Saturday.

The club is backing him. Signings, sales. Somehow he's become central to everything we do.

Ernie @ 283, I agree that the board are clinging onto trust in Benitez as they are desperate. But results decide the fate of managers, so he will be fired if he keeps on losing games.

As for Benitez I don't think he's going anywhere and that's regardless of results. If it was results based he'd be gone already. We thought Ancelotti was Moshiri's last gamble. In that instance to get us into Europe. Maybe this is his biggest gamble yet, to keep us up but more from the ineptitude of the other clubs than from our own results.

On another level this move is symptomatic of a club that seem to be divided at every level with no clear direction and a sever lack of footballing or even business intelligence at the helm.

Huge pressure now on Mykolenko to hit the ground running. Would have been much better to have the young Ukranian understudy Digne for 6 months before selling the Frenchman this summer; but Benitez is gonna Benitez.

Best of luck to Digne. He's been very good for us and rumours of his recent decline are much exaggerated. I expect the people who claim he's been awful for 2 years may be scratching their heads at what he does for Villa for the next few years.

“Perhaps not everyone understands what goes on behind the scenes” the Brazilian wrote on Instagram.

“I love Everton as you do too, but unfortunately there are people who don't want the same goal as most.

"I love you bro, and I'll be rooting for you, wherever you go!”

He has been sold to raise money due to consistently sub standard performance. If the two new boys do well it will be a great bit of business by the club. Ok he might regain form but he might never get back to his former level and the fee for him would reduce with another six months of poor displays. We have to cut our cloth at the moment!

Anything other than 3 points in the next match and surely he has to go.

He was already well out of favour or gone before Benitez? Starting only three games for Ancelotti the previous season.

To those who say Rafa decreased his value by the way he publicized the situation, then why didn't a bigger club than Villa swoop in and get Digne at such a bargain price?

You know Digne's agent tried to find a Champion's League team to make a deal with as soon as the situation exploded yet nothing. This tells me what the better teams think of Digne's worth and ability and it's not as much as most TWers are saying.

Why does the rumour that the CEO is actively seeking employment elsewhere persist? Why does the Chairman have so little power compared to comparitive positions at other clubs, more importantly why does he remain as the figurehead? Why was a man who was bound to split the fans appointed? How was it that despite the many employees at the club, who could have sounded the alarm, did Everton manage to become hamstrung by Financial Fair Play?

I've said it before but if Everton FC was a racehorse, its performances over the last six years would be subject to a stewards enquiry nearly every time it took part in a competitive race.

Everything surrounding the club is awry, the split in the fanbase, the crazy transfer business, the inability of the team to put in any sort of half-decent performances on a consistent basis, all points to an organisation that has lost its purpose and if it wasn't for the possibility of a new stadium, there would be a far greater outcry from those who live and breathe all things Everton.

The most we can expect, as fans, in the coming years, is that we avoid the dreaded drop and remain in the top division, that's nowhere near good enough for an institution such as Everton FC, but that is the truth of the matter. Until some other party decides to buy the club from the current owners we will continue at best to mark time.

We have to hope that any future new owner has a more traditional outlook for what the true purpose of a football club is, but that day may be a long way off, and we'll all have to suffer the consequences of having current owners who don't appear to care too much about what happens on the field.

Throw a manager in who has split the fan base down the middle and the powder keg has finally gone off.

The Manager has come in and is trying to do it his way, I think a few feathers have been ruffled with the cosy Finch Farm mentality finally being given a damn good seeing over and being told what the manager expects.

I personally think if this had been almost any other manager, he would have had the backing of bringing the players in, and any that was not happy to carry out instructions, would have been moved on.

We would be applauding the Manager for bringing younger players in, making his own signings and weeding out anyone, who either does not want to be at the club, or not happy in the role the manager expects.

For too long, players have gone in half-hearted, with those at the top happy with 8th, they see that as success.

Bernard has called them out, Digne has come across as he is whiter than white and not his fault, but we do not know the reason, was it instructions not being carried out, was it the manager with a grudge, we just do not know.

Me personally, I think it is about time we had someone in who wants it done another way, there will be more rebellions because some of these players have been hiding behind the manager for years and will not like the shakeup he is trying to bring.

Love Rafa or hate him, he has the skin of a rhino and will not allow players to down tools. Given time, he will shake things up at our club.

I just hope he is here long enough to turn our club around and bring a different mentality to the players.

There can only be one captain of the ship so, whatever reservations I have about losing Digne, I understand Benitez has to do what he thinks best. But this will be a massive stick to beat him with if he doesn't improve things pronto.

Clear the lot out and start fresh. It might just work – anything has got to be better than the last 30 years of crap.

And you wonder how things became dysfunctional, idiot?

That 'idiot' is to no-one in particular, pointing only those who can't figure out where it all went wrong.

This situation is absolutely awful. It's like our Blue has turned to purple by mixing in a little red.

Perhaps Rafa has more than just its skin, Brian.

I like Digne as a player and he was decent when he first came, maybe he will be again at Villa but let's make no bones about it his form has been flat out bad for the last 12 months. In that period he has contributed 3 assists only,
and only one since the start of feb, none this season. He's also been called into question over basic defensive errors.

Obviously the team fell apart under Ancelotti and has only had fleeting positives this season, but we have to be realistic that it wasn't clicking for a while.
Given this and his age, I think getting £23-25M is good business all round, especially as we'd secured a younger replacement for less.

The 2 full-back additions look sensible players at sensible prices and the signings of Townsend and Gray have proved themselves already. The back-up keeper is fine and it's really only Rondon that stands out as a fail so far.

The results on the pitch are obviously paramount and we need to make the most of the current easier fixtures, but I think Benitez has earned some trust in the transfer space at least... especially compared to some recent predecessors.

One win in 12 from a manager who said 8th isn't good enough. To accept this shows how low ambition and expectation is with some blues. Ex-Liverpool manager or not, his football is horrendous, we can't defend set-pieces, always concede first, and again, one win in 12.

But of course it's not Rafa's fault. It's the previous managers' fault. Unbelievable.

The main blots in his record came in the last week of January 2019 when his two cheap fouls gave away very costly free kicks at Millwall. His substitute appearance three days later at Huddersfield saw him quickly dismissed for a professional foul.

In 2019-20, he fell short of the outstanding level of his first season, his output suffering through ongoing fitness issues and loss of form. He benefited from the lengthy Covid-19 break, returning to his best form in the final weeks of the disrupted campaign.

In 2020-21. he was fully committed, a solid campaign at both ends of the pitch. He was one of several whose goals dried up but he delivered some sublime crosses from which Calvert-Lewin and others profited, especially in the first half of the season.

This season 2021-22, he has been poor defensively and weak going forward. His ability to deliver at set pieces seemed to have deserted him. He is not the first and won't be the last player, generally popular with the fans, to find himself out of favour with a new manager. The sale of Bobby Collins by Catterick in March 1962 left the majority of supporters puzzled. There have been many other examples since then.

In my view, selling a player in his 29th year for more than we paid for him makes business sense. Time will tell if his younger, cheaper replacement can improve the team as a whole.

Benitez out!!

Incidentally, you may be right on both counts, but it's not a given fact.

The hyperbolic overeaction is no surprise, but can we for once not just talk about the specifics without going into the overwhelming 'we're all doomed', 'everything is shit' nonsense?

No, we can't. You know why? Our fucking deluded ownership did something I'd wager half the fanbase couldn't abide.

So ya, this is exactly what you get when your ownership group hire a manager from "them" - a disillusioned, betrayed, angry fanbase that honestly can't talk about specifics because they feel 'dirty' after the ownership shit all over them, hiring a fat clown who came from the Eternal Enemy.

Chat all you like, the histrionics won't end any time soon, and for some of us objectivity and seeing clearly is completely out the window.

We have been well and truly left in the shit, with past signings and FFP maxed out.

I would rather have a ruthless stubborn bugger for now, trying to change the mentality, than have another manager come in and nothing changes after the bed-in period.

Give this guy a year or so to implement a different approach, and watch the next manager reap the rewards.

I would say that there must be around 95% of posters who post something as "fact" but cannot justify it, and the other 5% who say they can justify their fact, get slammed down, saying they are talking shite. This has happened to me recently, but I just laugh it off.

Genuine question. You're at every game, home and away.

What do you think is the actual percentage split? How many fans can't abide in Rafa?

I'm assuming your 95% was joking. If you had to put an actual number on it, where do you think it is as I see you as honestly the most credible to guesstimate at such a thing.

Buddy Hackett, one of the funniest men who ever lived, said this about him:

"There have always been mixed emotions about Howard Cosell: Some people hate him like poison; and other people just hate him regular."

I think that covers your perspective on Benitez.

Funniest and most perfect analogy ever. Brilliant, and very true.

When I was a lot, lot younger Aston Villa came to Goodison to play the Blues with Dave Hickson in their team, as a Hickson devotee I wanted him to score a hat trick and Everton to win 4-3, when Digne comes in a couple of weeks I just hope he plays like the majority of times he has played under Benitez.

For the record when Dave Hickson came Everton won 2-0 or 2-1 with two goals from the man who took his place Jimmy Harris, either score next week would suit me down to the ground.

The fact that Digne had a love affair with Everton can tug at our heart strings. Benitez has to be The "Panto"villain and allows all those who already despise him to use the old "See I told you so!!" to further stoke the flames of negativity.

Benitez may indeed be the villain. Despite everything he has not yet had the chance to prove or disprove himself. We are really in a very bad run. Benitez has to accept that and it supports all those who desperately I want him to fail. Digne, for all his ability, is also part of the reason we have been doing so badly. So are ALL the players who have participated in "Everton 2021"

Personally I want every Manager and player who dons the "Blue" shirt to be successful. That way I am also supporting a successful team. We just have to get behind the team and hope that all signings are good ones. Every team makes good or bad signings. Personally I get no joy out of poor signings, even if it allows me to join the "See I told you so Brigade".

Agreed we have been very successful at signing "DUDS" over too many years. Much of that is certainly not due to Benitez. I have never been a fan of his appointment but he is presently the only option that is available until he is fired or resigns. I "Have" to support him even if I won't always agree with what he does.I am far more of an Evertonian than he will ever be. However at the present time he has far more influence than I will ever have. I am just a fan and if I concentrate too much on his faults I will end up as one more negative Evertonian.

As for his reasons for falling out with stubborn bollocks, player wants to get forward and play attacking football to try and win matches, manager's philosophy to sit back, defend and play negative football which we've failed miserably at with the amount of goals we've conceded.

I know which I would prefer.

I

Managers have different ideas, standards, and so do players. The manager is trying to change players to be more successful with his methods.

Digne is 28 years old and we have an excellent fee. Also we balance the books a little. The manager is trying to change the mentality as well. Remember we know nothing what goes on behind the scenes but something must change!

Its a wait and see moment.

Thanks, Mr Moshri. I didn't think anyone could extinguish my love of going to Goodison Park but I think this will be my last season ticket.

The actual numbers are:

75% agreed Benitez is an abysmal manager
24% agreed he is a well-intentioned but abysmal manager
1% agreed that he was a huge success and changing the culture of the club for the better.

Is that because of my first or second guess???

It what Everton does to us, passionate and will always be two sides to a coin, some see things different, it does not make anyone right or wrong, we all want Everton to rise from the ashes again, me personally, I want fixing that has been broken for years, and if I have to grit my teeth with the Manager we have, I will, if he can fix it.

Certainly not my choice of Manager, but I will back him for now, few months down the line, I may change my view, but for now the Manager has got nothing to hide behind, he has finally got a fully fit squad and players in, it is now up to Raffa to either sink or swim, I think he at least deserves a little time, if no improvement is coming forward, then he needs to go.

He was dropped from the first team. Was reported to have had a arguement with the manager and then refused to play for the team.

He was dropped because of underperformance. Refused to accept that he had to put the work in to get back his place. Then he refused to play even if selected.

Of course you are right my opinion is based on personnel observations. But it seems the way things have played out I am not that far of the mark.

I am surprised that any team would take him on with such a deal , but grateful that Villa have, since I fully expected him to sit like others on his contract.

We have a poor record with French and Dutch players, managers, DOFs... what did we do to deserve such bad luck?

Distin was outstanding for several seasons, but he had been away from home for a long time and was never considered good enough.

I'm now counting down the day's to Doucoure's departure. I wouldn't be surprised if we got lumbered with Pogba for a season!

For my 2 penneth, this situation has all the hall marks of an old school manager style, with RB flexing his muscles showing the employees who's boss.

There will undoubtedly be a group of players in the dressing room who feel like they run the place, and whatever they do they are immune from any repercussions so do as they please and LD is probably part of that group, and LD is being made an example of.
Yes LD is possibly one of our better players (although has been poor since early 2021) but if he is a disruptive influence behind the scenes then maybe it's better we cash in and get rid. Other managers and tried and failed to sort out the stinking mess our club is in, so maybe it does need a more ruthless act from the manager to get the disruptive group in line. I always thought it was strange that LD was made captain when there were older players, longer serving players, local players and so called leaders in the team - that just reek'd of fanning an ego to me (not to mention the French have a track record for going on strike or downing tools when they disagree with something!)

Personally I believe PL footy is now a young dynamic manager arena as the game has moved on, and RB is firmly in the old school, and I would much preferred Arteta when we had the chance. On that topic we can see the same approach being taken by Arteta (e.g. aubumayang and Ozil) to try and sort a stinking dressing room and is starting to work (takes some time) so some radical methods are sometimes still necessary depending on how drastic the situation is (desperate times call for desperate measures!)

Time will tell who this is a good deal for - us or villa (perhaps both?) but I think we can all agree that something needed to change in our club and this is part of it along with the man who brought Digne to the club.

Bottom line is that things weren't working with him at the club and we have traded in 1 FB for 2 considerably younger FBs and reduced the wage bill for minimal outlay (nearly net zero spend if you consider the savings on James' wages), which considering our FFP issues, isn't a bad deal for EFC.

Maybe Benitez is just sorting out the wheat from the chaff and the chaff don't like it.

However, what I am a supporter of is trying to change different things when things aren't working, and some different things have definitely changed (not just changing the manager) now so we just have to see if it works out or not.

It's taken Arteta some time to seemingly sort things out at The Arse (he's been on the verge of being sacked so many times including earlier this season), but they're now 2pts off top 4 with a game in hand, with a young team full of potential…

Jay (358) totally agree 👍🏼

Moshiri will pull the trigger if we are facing relegation. We have to be in the prem to raise funds for the stadium.

I'm 64.
My Dad wasn't even conceived last time We were playing in Englands second tier.

Call y'sselves Evertonians ?

Wear a tin helmet if you venture into the live match forum, I've seen hardened boys pen scallies wave a white flag, after venturing in the forum, on match days.

Brutal mate.

Like loads of Evertonians Benitez was not my choice of manager but he is experienced and he will sort the men out from the boys in the squad - look at Gordon !
Let's all be very honest Everton have been a total fucking joke since Moshiri took control and If Benitez is going to ruffle a few feathers in sorting the club out I'm behind him.

I agree on your point about comfortable players being in control. I know I might be at odds with some, but I often thought that was the case with Jagielka and Baines after Moyes left.

And good point about Arteta. I loved his response to the interviewer on Aubameyang a few weeks ago. "He's wasn't in the squad"!!

I think Arsenal started having that problem in the later Wenger years, which spilled over into the managers they tried post-Wenger.

Welcome to the madness. It will consume you!!

Yes I would have liked a fit and firing Digne in the team, but if he was upsetting the apple cart behind the scenes then sometimes you have to break some eggs to make an omelette.

I also see our neighbours struggled against ten men tonight, without their two forwards, yet some are still baffled why we are struggling without Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison.

The guy is 28 (can people stop claiming he's 29?). He was one of the best players at the club, albeit he had a poor season by his standards last year (but then who didn't?).

And we sold him like he was not needed. Because he fell out of favour with the new manager. A new manager most of us don't want.

I just wonder who goes next. The players seemed to show who's side they were on by their responses to his farewell message. We're going into a relegation battle more split than we already were.

Lucas Digne leaving might not be a major issue for the club, but the manner of his departure might be. Our club has the feel of a case study. How to get relegated out of nowhere.

I love this football club, I love mid table every season, I cannot understand why Chelsea never came in for me, it was all the Managers fault, he dropped me after ruling myself out of the Chelsea game.

Not sure what to believe from the above, but it will all come out in the open one Day.