Dele Alli completes deadline-day Everton move

At 25, Alli has the ability to redefine his image.

With Frank's lead, we will find out if he is motivated. I'm willing to believe he feels hard done by in his time at Spurs and will be willing to put in a shift. Getting back into regular action could then spark his considerable attack skills.

This is a very intriguing move and has all the indications that it will likely cause us to pay some money we will be most happy to fork over.

Dele Alli is Odell Beckham. Can be a bit of a problem, but now has a fresh start under a good coach who will help him be all he can.

It's up to him. Good luck fella!

Oh, and his haircut is absolutely mint. Those dreads are killer. Love it.

What's the saying: "Form is temporary but class is permanent"?

At 25, we potentially have his best years ahead of us. If he can sort his head out and find the happiness in playing again, we've got an absolute steal.

I'm salivating at the thought of Donny van de Beek, Dele Alli, Gray, Gordon and Richarlison in the same team. If they all hit form, what a treat in store for us long-suffering Blues.

I've wanted us to put in a cheeky bid for him for about a year or so.

He's narky and can play in several roles.

Great to have Dele, but not sure how I feel about potentially spending £40M and only having a 2½-year contract.

This guy can be seriously good at times. He is positive going forward and is prepared to cut through the middle, taking on opposing players and with some speed. Good luck to him.

Happy with the incomings during January but seriously worried at centre-back still.

Bob, I believe the rejuvenation of the midfield will help tremendously at the back. When the other parts of the park have huge confidence it'll find its way back at the line.

I just hope Dele Alli finds his mojo again. COYB!

Oh and this transfer window reminds me of back when we got Barry and Lukaku. Happy memories right after that. I hope it'll be similar, if not better!

Our midfield put more and more pressure on our backline, teams were breezing through our midfield.

With these signings, I see Everton more on the front foot for a change.

Got Billy Crellin coming in as well from Fleetwood, young England goalkeeper.

So with a new right and left-back, a goalkeeper, three new midfielders, we have got 6 players in, sold our left-back, and are still £9 Million to the good on net spend.

I call that a damn good bit of business.

Jamie, you and I are the only ones awake here who know who Odell Beckham is.

Let's hope Dele winds up costing us the full £40 million and is worth every penny.

He was on £100k/week at Spurs. I will be very interested to see the salary terms in his new contract with us.

What a spectacular window under these chaotic circumstances. A new manager, four potential long-term starters and a solid reserve attacker. Yow!

Good signing hopefully and a decent loan for Van de Beek.

It feels positive that Lampard got the job over some of the names being bandied about... we will see.

We needed a striker and centre-back also but this has been better than most transfer windows for us.

COYB

I can see us winning games 4-3 and 5-4 at this rate, but winning now is what we need COYB

He's not a player that I've liked that much, mainly through his diving, and I wouldn't have rated him as worth £40M but then I might have thought this was just a way around the loan system except he seems to have signed a contract for 30 months.

It does make you wonder who and how many might be leaving in the summer given the new manager has barely set foot in the door and, if Dele Alli is seen more as a midfielder rather than a striker, but I certainly can't see all of Gray, Gordon, Townsend, Gomes or even Davies all starting with the two who have just joined.

What a fantastic window! I was hoping for Loftus-Cheek, but one step at a time; him and Billy Gilmour in the next window. My only disappointment, if you could call it that, was the failure to ship any deadwood out.

The other slight disappointment is neither are available for any of the FA Cup games, starting this Saturday, so we won't be able to see them in action till the week after. It does give them longer to train, familiarise themselves with the set-up and new team mates.

I think, like most Blues, I feel exhilarated again, and can't wait for games to come up, where before I was dreading them. COYB

James@12, I've got a few stickers in the back drawer of Geoff Twentyman from Bristol Rovers, he seemed to be in every pack of football stickers, even beating George Berry in the older football cards.

Very excited about this move. Any complaints about the possible full fee are out the window if we stay up this season and show some promise in the middle of the park.

It's become pretty clear for a while that our best players out wide and up top were suffering because we lacked any imagination in midfield. Dele and Donny need only be 80% of their potential and this is an excellent window.

I hear all the talk about centre-back being the biggest concern, but if Mina plays 75% of the remaining matches and Godfrey, Keane and Branthwaite improve just a bit under Lampard, we're just fine there.

My biggest concern for the rest of this season at least is at right -and left-back, especially on the left. I'll give Mykolenko time, but he's going to need it to get up to speed. And Patterson is still a big unknown. But in Frank we trust to figure it all out.

Gotta love sport and how rejuvenated and hopeful a fanbase can become in just a few weeks time.

Oh, and he can get them Red Bits out of his Barnet ! :-)

Brian@16, thank you. Sausage hands and small phone keys don't make good posts. :-)

Jamie ir Mike,

If you have a problematic American footballer that people on here will know, then just compare him with OJ Simpson.

Dele is currently an ex-England 25-year-old goal-scoring (50 in 180 top-flight games), narky 6'-2" midfielder right out of the Frank Lampard mould. Hopefully with us he can find his mojo again.

I'm well pleased we got him rather than re-signing the 6'-2" perennial mirage now very occasionally masquerading for Chelsea as a goal-scoring (NOT – ever, 25 in 200+ games says it all!) tackle-shy midfielder.

Good luck, Dele. Glad to have you on board. No doubt, he can rediscover his form and be part of our future.

Fabulous window. Two talented players and a talented young manager. I'm glad the board saw the writing on the wall.

We truly deserve what get. We are an easy pay-day for him. We continuously make the same mistakes over and over again. We sign two out-of-form players and suddenly we are transformed?

That's the spirit, Andrew. Knock 'em even before they've had a chance to kick a ball for us.

Of course, 24- or 25-year-old former internationals have no chance of rediscovering the form that made them internationals in the first place. That has never ever happened in the history of football before, I'm sure.

If Lampard can squeeze the very best out of him, then we could be in for a treat. That's a pretty big "if" mind you.

Never really warmed to him at Spurs, mainly due to the silly dances when he scores, but I think I can stomach a few renditions of "the Floss" in front of the Gwladys Street when he's firing us to safety!

Welcome, Dele, a big few months ahead of you, lad.

4-3-3 anyone?

Allan in front of the defence. Kick anything not in blue.

Did an Evertonian just say that? How times have changed.

The rest falls in place depending on injuries.

Also, every training session: "Right lads, defending set-pieces… and later, defending set-pieces."

I think signing 5 players in a January window without a preseason and trying to integrate them in a struggling team, with a new relatively inexperienced manager, who will introduce a new playing style, is too much too soon. Such situations rarely have a happy ending.

My old man,
Said sign Donny Van,
And get Dele Alli on the way…

Interesting to see a few on this thread are writing Dele and even Donny off before they've kicked a ball. Admittedly, yes it may turn tits up. No doubt the same people thought that about that has-been Demarai Gray.

Mike and Jamie,

I'm a massive NFL fan so I also know who OBJ is.

I'm absolutely delighted with our business today. UTFT!

Obviously is a mate of Lampard's and suits Everton's financial constraints. He was really good under Pochettino and Frank's style of play will suit him. A good addition.

A good transfer window with little outlay. Hopefully the ending of contracts this Summer will provide more wiggle room for Frank to bring in more players and with the help of developing youth into the first team.

Zack 25: I think Van de Beek might prove to be a decent signing given games and time.

I'm not on board with Dele Alli. Although I would be delighted to be proven wrong of course.

I wonder where this signing leaves El Ghazi and especially Anthony Gordon? Is this a precursor to Richarlison's exit in the summer? Can Allan adapt to a defensive midfield role?

A 4-3-3 line-up of:

Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin, Gray
Van de Beek, Allan, Alli
Mykolenko, Branthwaite, Mina, Patterson
Pickford

It looks very exciting attacking wise, but not sure defensively. Also, we need to give time to the new players to settle down – Mykolenko, Patterson, Alli, Van de Beek.

Also, the squad looks very bloated now. In the summer, we need these players off our books – Delph, Gomes, Iwobi, Tosun, Rondon, Kenny, Holgate. And replace this lot with 2-3 quality signings – a dominant centre-back and a defensive midfielder and a back-up striker.

Andrew #33, if Alli wanted an easy pay day, he would have just stayed at Spurs. He was being paid £100k a week to sit.

And whatever Lampard is known for as a manager, taking it easy on people ain't one of them. If Alli doesn't perform, Lampard will bench his ass. And then we won't have to pay up big money for him.

As for signing "two out-of-form players"... wake up. We have no money and no appeal for in-form players. If these guys weren't out of form, they wouldn't be coming to us. Like Gray and Townsend. And Mina and Digne before them.

At this point, we need to build with talented players that have been left behind. And hope they step up and show their quality. Like Gray and Townsend and Mina and Digne.

Hope that will change soon, but right now that's where we are. And the three talented midfielders we have acquired for zero cash outlay are exactly the sort of players we should have been looking for.

Mission accomplished.

Low risk obviously suits our financial situation.

Just for a moment, I've got a little bit of hope. I couldn't honestly say that I previously saw Lampard, Van de Beek or Alli as the answer... but I'm a bit of a romantic and there's a narrative about us having a young, talented group seeking another chance at the top level. Just as we are needing a rebirth.

I'm on board.

If we can get Van de Beek and Alli even up to half speed (creatively) they are better than what we currently have in midfield. Neither Allan, Doucoure, Gomes, Davies nor Delph have the passing ability of these two, never mind their velocity.

Don't rule out El Garzi either. As an Ajax fan (2nd team of course) I've seen enough of him and Donny to know we have two rough diamonds. If he can find consistency then he can be as good as Mahrez, ie, cutting in from the right and scoring some screamers.

Donny was instrumental in getting a very young, brilliant Ajax team to the Champions League semi-final where they lost after a freaky comeback by a Dele Alli inspired Spurs.

Be excited. Be very excited.

Colin, I wouldn't expect El Ghazi to feature much, and I wouldn't expect much from him. I think we all know he's at Everton for financial reasons.

Barry, Ha! Ha! C'mon – at least we need another 2 to 4 lines!

Maybe starting "up went the Park End full to the limit". I'm sure you will be better than me on this.

Also, Zack – Good response!

The last several years has taught me to expect nothing and then you can't be disappointed. I remember Sandro Ramirez being ''The best piece of business you'll see in this window''.

I have my fingers crossed that finally we have got the recruitment right in terms of manager and playing staff. Time will tell.

Danny, you could be right. Lampard will see them all in training and hopefully make the right calls when it comes to team selection.

I'm not expecting Anwar to be a regular starter but he will be an option on the bench. He's a million times better than Iwobi, that's for sure.

American cousins – is Odell Beckham the love child of David Beckham and Whoopi Goldberg?

Van de Beek and Alli will be absolutely chomping at the bit to play and show the world what they have missed. Anyone who thinks they won't improve us needs their head testing.

Although the Alli transfer sounds a bit like a Wonga loan, it's weighted in our favour, I believe, so the naysayers should give him a bit of time before writing him off.

I can't believe I'm going to say this but... Well done the Everton board for a fruitful and productive transfer window!!! COYB

It’s a pity Lampard wasn’t installed a few weeks earlier as we could’ve also been celebrating the arrivals of Gana, Jovic and even Loftus-Cheek and the exit of some of the deadwood.

I’m really excited about Bill and Frank raiding Chelsea’s academy in the summer. Both of them maintain excellent relations with Chelsea and it’s owner.

Odell Snr or Odell Jnr? Don't no much about Snr, other than he was a determined father but my son-in-law in USA sent me some YouTube of Jnr working magic with the round ball but is NFL player. I expect he made too much in NFL to want to change to the round ball. Not that I know much of the American NFL.

Coming back to the new signings, anybody got the same impression as me that 3 of them are aimed at creating competition for selection, particularly in midfield?

Good business, well done Frank and the Everton Board. I am intrigued by the new boys and really hope they can hit the ground running.

I think, once we have got rid of a lot of deadwood in the summer, we stand a real chance of getting Gilmour who would play that No 6 role we have been crying out for since Gana left; Frank absolutely loves the lad.

So we've added 5 players, all of them around or under the age of 25.

I'm feeling confident and optimistic again.

With specific regards to Dele Alli, this is an opportunity for him to recover his potential after being Mourinho's target man and having his confidence shattered. Maybe Lampard can rebuild that and bring the player out again.

As well as his other attributes, I recall him being a constant thorn in popping up at the back post on set pieces. Good on the ball and good in the air. Good going forward.

For those who like defending deep and playing defensively, strap in for the ride. We're going forward and upward.

Both of yesterday's signings are calculated risks, just like the manager; however, the risk / reward calculation might be in our favour. Both will be starters and, like the new manager, have something to prove.

Should be an interesting team selection on Saturday and again on Tuesday. Are both of the new boys Cup-tied?

A team comprising of:

Patterson
Mykolenko
Alli
Van de Beek
Gray

represents a major overhaul from the end of last season.

I expect that none of the players whose contracts will run out at the end of the season will have them renewed and that the boy from Villa will return there after his loan spell comes to an end.

Considering we are meant to be under the shackles of FFP, this transfer window was nothing short of genius.

Two top quality midfielders just coming into their prime years. Both signed without us paying a fee this season – they've found a magician last.

Okay, both the players need some sort of rehabilitation, but still, credit where it's due for this window. There is a different feel about Everton by hiring Frank Lampard.

Now the hard bit.

So much could turn to shit with these transfers but so much good could come. Good luck to all of the new faces and here's to better things for the club and fans.

Forgive me if it has already been said (I'm in a rush this morning) but what a difference a fortnight makes.

Could you imagine who that pussy-magnet, Rafa, would have attracted?

Don't we need centre-backs with pace to play Lampard's way? Mina, Branthwaite and Keane are all pretty average to slow, pace-wise. Does that mean he's going to start Godfrey and Holgate as the pairing?

I really hope we play in such an ultra-attacking way that the opposition hardly have the ball in our half, and that's the basis of how we defend. It can be done, we just need to stick with it and not get disheartened by the odd calamitous result.

Andrea. Branthwaite's no slouch, and pairing him with Godfrey gives us real pace at centre-back. Holgate, whilst not slow, believes he has about 5 seconds longer on the ball than he actually has.

Frankie Says "Keep The Faith".

Dele was one of the best, if not the best, footballer of his generation but his demise has been spectacular. I'm struggling to think of a player who has shone so brightly, then disappeared so completely, coming back for a brilliant second act.

Will he be able tear himself away from playing Fortnite and focus on training, week-in & week-out? Part of me is excited at the thought of him playing for us, but the fans will turn on him quickly if he doesn't show the desire he had in his youth.

The deal is certainly structured cleverly to defer payment but, as I said elsewhere, if he's not playing brilliantly will the club be reluctant to give him that 20th appearance – or any of the subsequent trigger points – if it costs us another £10M? And, if so, what do we do with his contract?

As far as I know, he has no prior relationship with Lampard, apart from our new manager making positive noises about him when he first hit the scene. This is a risk, as it always is when you bring in once-great players who look like they've shot their bolt.

I'll be cheering him on that's for sure, and if this works we're in for some spectacular football. I really hope he's an asset – not a liability on the pitch.

What an amazing array of attacking talent we've now got ourselves now; Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison, Gray, Alli, Van de Beek, Townsend, Dobbin, Doucouré and Gordon – all very capable of goals.

One thing's for sure with that lot, we'll need to be on the front foot from the off. No more KITAP1 crap from the Rafa (and post burglary Carlo) ages. Go at teams and blow them away.

Formation worries me a bit, as does the defensive side, of course. I think we need to ‘pick a system, stick to it, and learn it' so that every player coming in knows what they need to do. However, with the tools we have right now, I guess we can experiment with nearly any system to find one that works for us first.

Still, I think 4-3-3 is the way to go, but that'll need Alli to adapt. At least two in every position was the aim:

GK - Pickford / Tyrer
RB - Patterson / Kenny / Coleman
RCB - Mina / Keane
LCB - Godfrey / Branthwaite
LB - Mykolenko / Godfrey
CM - Van de Beek / Gomes
DCM - Allan / Onyango / Gbamin
CM - Alli / Doucouré
RA - Gray / Gordon / Townsend / El Ghazi
LA - Richarlison / Gray / Gordon
ST - Calvert-Lewin / Dobbin

Exciting times I think… the School of Science is on its way back! 🙏

Well done to the board, credit where credit is due.

Can we hear an update please regarding the arrival of Tim Cahill and can you let us know the exact situation regarding Duncan Ferguson, a proper update of their roles/ responsibilities, ta.

Exciting but realistically we have two players not good enough for Spurs and Man Utd. One who hasn't been able to adapt to the English game and another on a downward curve. The excitement is understandable with all the bad news and angst of late but we have been pulling off these type of transfers for years under Moshiri.

Let's just beat relegation and then see where we are.

Anybody notice that we have signed two players yesterday who share the ability to ghost in the box un-noticed and pop up with vital goals?

Did a lad called Cahill get a new role at the club over the weekend??

Just wondering…

The centre-back position is something I and others have been flagging for years now, Andrea. You are right if we are going to play that way.

In what I've seen so far, I see Branthwaite as more of a traditional English centre-back rather than a Rudiger.

Also, he is 19 years old. Very young by any footballing terms but for a centre-back, very, very young. We will need to be patient with him and let him grow in confidence and stature. Remember John Stones.

That's why I feel we should have been looking at an experienced leader to hold the line and drive the line forward even though many told me it wasn't a priority because Michael Keane is good defending his box. Even though he isn't really.

Welcome to Donny and Dele. All that matters is the next 18 games and getting us out of this mess we've created for ourselves.

Good luck, lads. NSNO.

Did Newcastle sign any more left-backs?

Yes, Danny.

Exactly my thinking, a quick left-footed centre half with bags of experience to play alongside Godfrey, I thought that was a priority because like you say, Keane is shite. Well, I just said that.

Someone in the Distin mould is needed. I suppose they're hard to find these players, that Alaba from Madrid would do a job for us. If we play the way we think Frank is going to with Mina and Keane starting, we're going to be in serious trouble – stating the bleeding obvious there.

Mina and Godfrey is probably the best available pairing right now but it can't be relied upon to develop into a proper partnership because of Mina's groin situation.

Can anyone shed some light on the details of the trigger points for Alli's payments or point me in the direction of where I can find them. These sort of things interest me.

All I can find is, £10M after 20 games, then further instalments that are performance or appearance related. I'd like to know what these are.

I'm liking the new contract lengths on Frank and Dele. Both have 2½ years.

For Frank, it's sort the remainder of the season out and then he has 1 to make progress and continue that progress into Year 2 or be shown the door without a huge payout.

For Dele, nothing up front, has a good 18 games this season, we pay £10M which is nothing and see how we get on, if he plays well and hits the milestones, he'll be worth £40M, if not, we pay for what we get from him.

What a big cash for Dele and Van De Beek. I sincerely hope the team will be fully transformed with the right attitude from all the players.

#4,John Cook, I equally agree with your comment. I thought my countryman, Alex Iwobi,, will be sold last night. Anyway, let's see if he will be able to command a regular shirt with the new arrivals.

Or Zouma, Andrea? Pace, good powers of recovery and good ability to read the game and anticipate.

How ironic our new manager put the blockers on him staying with us!

With West Ham having shelled out the best part of £30M, that ship has sailed.

Pleased with our business this window. Get through this season and a summer of optimism awaits.

Seeing as Dele Alli has signed a permanent deal, and not on loan, could we sell him say this summer for a fee? We get 18 games out of him, don't owe Spurs a penny, and make a nice tidy profit.

Rob, I reckon Levy might have thought of that and had some kind of sell-on included.

I was hoping Gana would’ve returned home last night but, alas, it was not to be.

All season I’ve been banging on about getting Fernandinho in for a season, at least. I think we missed a trick there.

Mike@11

Some of us know full well who Odell Beckham (Jr) is!

Jamie was right about the analogy too - all he needed was the right place to play football (NFL) and he seems to have re-found himself with the Rams. I see the similarities Jamie alludes to with Dele Alli – he was stuck/stale at Spurs and 7 years is long enough, he needed a change.

It's also a World Cup year and he has ambitions to play at a World Cup so he should hopefully give it his all for us.

Mike #35, some good common sense here!

Yes, the squad is bloated now; yes, it would have been good to move out some players but with no DoF that would have been difficult given the scale of activity yesterday. Some of the deadwood will go in the summer as their contracts will be up, and Frank will know by then who he wants to get rid of.

I have doubts over Van de Beek – is he another Klaassen? But Man Utd saw fit to splurge £34M on him and, for a £500k loan fee, he is worth a try as we simply have to get more bodies into the club to contest the CM positions.

Alli is a no-brainier. If he doesn't turn his career around here, he will be finished as a top player. Frank will coax him along, unlike Mourinho who ruined him by not handling him properly.

A word for our much-maligned chairman – the Alli deal has Kenwright all over it. The negotiations with Levy are notoriously difficult and to get Alli effectively on a free transfer for 6 months is brilliant as is the way in which Kenwright has got around our FFP issues.

We can't lose here. At worst, we pay his wages until we can get rid and the shortish contract is obviously designed to limit our exposure in this regard. At best, we have a £40M player who we would need to tie to a longer contract or sell him within 12 to 18 months.

Credit where it's due please!

Welcome, Dele Alli.

Looks like a clever deal by Everton with the free / pay-on-appearance target. Hopefully, he gets back to his best over the long term.

A good window on the face of it. In reality, it's all about the next 18 Premier League games. In that respect, I'm hoping the spirit and impact of Kevin Campbell can be raised at all of those matches. How important was he to us during similar times? Relatively unheralded but a football hero to me. He did wonders for my blood pressure!!!

I'm glad there is an FA Cup match and a few days to focus and assess the players and options. We need to hit the ground running. Next week is a big week. Relegation odds:

EFC 9/2
NUFC 6/5

Definitely a 6-pointer.

COYB

Because of the miserable times we have been having this season and many more before this one, we still have those who look on everything with doom and gloom.

All signings have the potential to be disasters, but when we are given a chance to smile and feel we have at least made an honest effort, there will always be those who can only look on the negative side.

Evertonians need to have progress on their minds. Even to imagine success is a relief. We have to work together in a united front. We have made excellent use of the window so stop looking for reasons to be the Doubting Thomas. COYB "Let's get positive!"

Well said, John. You can almost guarantee and list who the moaners will be!

Paul Merson reckons this transfer of Dele Alli could be the best transfer of any transfer window. Wouldn't quite go that far, but I wish he would make his mind up about us. We either ruin a transfer window, regarding the signing of Richarlison, or we pull off the best transfer ever. Weird!!

When Dele Alli was great a few years back, he had an edge to him, a narky sod, mean streak, wound other players up and scored loads of goals. I used to hate him.

The last player we had like that was Cahill, another nasty bastard when he wanted to be. I've said many times on here, they're the type of players we need.

Welcome to Everton, get your form back and the crowd will love you, bring it on. UTFT NSNO

Rob #67,

Now that's what I call thinking on yer feet. An interesting possibility for sure.

Let us hope that it goes well. The prodigy, who has lost his way with unsympathetic managers, goes to a new club and makes a fresh start. leaf turned over, rediscovers magic and they all live happily ever after.

His great rival for a place in the England team 5 years ago lost his way too, joined another club and has spent the last few years languishing on the bench at Chelsea.

Dele Alli could be exactly what we need. His early years in the Spurs team were exciting and effective. Fingers crossed for a return to that level of performance.

Andrea and Danny, the trouble is that our very badly assembled squad had, at the start of the season, any number of priorities to sort out and very little dosh.

I don't think anyone disagreed with the need for a dominant centre-back. But you can't fix everything all at once. If we'd have somehow managed to get said dominant centre-back for £2M then we wouldn't have Gray or Townsend – which would have left is in much worse straits.

We've now addressed pace and width, goals from midfield, and full backs.

We now need a proper specialist holding midfielder and a centre-back. The sale of Mina, Richarlison and Keane will fund it.

Once that is done, we will have the squad in roughly the same shape as where Silva had it at the end of his first season. That's a decent place to be for Lampard entering next season.

John (73), you got “ Doubting Thomas” all wrong.

Thomas was a very pragmatic man, if he wasn't sure about things he would ask about it. Once things were explained to him and he understood and agreed with it there was nobody who supported the subject as strong as Thomas.

Some Everton fans are asking questions or making statements about this transfer window, but nearly all of them will be behind the team and these players once we start playing again, starting on Saturday.

I have my reservations about both these players, both with pedigree, how they will fit in to the style of play necessary to earn the points that will keep us up, I will wait and see how we perform with them and the way Lampard shapes us up.

I think we are stronger with the arrival of these two players than we were without them, that's for sure, as Doubting Thomas would have said “Let's get on with it”.

Sorry to be the killjoy but as I keep saying to people, "I'm an Evertonian I've got a lot to be negative about, but are we repeating the same mistake we did 2/3 ago with too many no 10s, only this time it's No 8s?

Dele & Donny are similar players; add to that Doucouré's best position is arriving late in the box, and we've got no-one apart from Allan to put their foot in, break up play etc.

I think we need 5 wins to stay up and conventional wisdom dictates that a team needs scrappers which neither of them are. Hopefully we do that and then take a long hard look at the squad.

Van de Beek is a central midfield player, Dele Alli is central attacking midfielder, so I wouldn't worry about us signing too many Number 10s.

And, if we keep them, upgrade this summer on the players leaving: Sigurdsson, Delph, and Tosun.

Apart from the new personnel signed by the club, one of the most optimistic things for me is that there seems to me to be a new philosophy emerging. The owner appears to be hearing what the fans are saying. Evidence for this I would suggest is as follows:

1) We have a young, enthusiastic manager who seems to have the charisma to attract good quality players to the club. He obviously sees Everton as a “doer-upper” club with potential and, if he can turn us into Top 4 contenders, it is going to be good for his CV also. I know he has his detractors and Lyndon describes him as “a calculated risk” but nothing is guaranteed in this life.

2) We all know we needed to strengthen the midfield and full-back positions and the club have brought in two international midfield players in there mid-twenties who are far better than anything we have at present. I know they were out of favour at there former clubs but, if used in the right formation, should be able to push us forward on the field and up the league. The fullbacks are young and inexperienced but again they have potential and, in my view, fit the profile of players we should be looking at.

3) The owner has begun communicating with the fans. Not totally satisfactory in some respects but at least it makes a change from the communications black hole that previously existed. Communications have been appalling at the club and this is one aspect that still needs a lot of work.

There is still a lot to put right at the club as we all know. We need a new centre-back and I personally would like to see an out-and-out goal scorer. Hopefully our new management team is already on top of this with a view to the summer window.

However, we still have to operate under the cloud of Paul the Esk's financial forecasts but, if we can put some results together, figures will return to the black, and our governance and strategy will begin to emerge in a more coherent way
I am certainly more optimistic than I was 6 months ago. I might not be able to see any light at the end of the tunnel yet… but at least I can see the tunnel!

Frank Lampard has been an admirer of Dele Alli for a long time, and said some years back that Dele was a better player than he was at 20. He also said the great thing about Dele is that he is very clever at making runs behind defenders.

I think in Donny and Dele he has brought in 2 naturally attack minded players, and I think he will play Dele just off the main striker.

Let's not forget under Pochettino, Alli was an England first team regular but seems to have lost his way under Mourhino, Santos and obviously hasnt impressed Conte. But I think with Frank being a big admirer that will give Alli the confidence he has been lacking, and maybe as Mourhino has suggested a move away from Spurs may help Dele rekindle his form.

Also with Frank being nearer Dele in age, I think that will help him. And let's be honest for us to get him for £10 million for someone of his ability is a steal, and should Frank not be able to rekindle the spark then he will be moved on. But Alli will realize, like Demarai Gray, that they get to this stage of their career where it's essential that they perform; otherwise, it will be a slippery slide downwards.

Good analysis as always, Robert Tressell. I know and acknowledge that Rome wasn't built in a day. Neither will the team that takes us to the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.

Yes, we had many issues and areas to address, that wouldn't have been achieved all at once. I actually thought Ancelotti started it but for reasons we can debate without conclusion all day, didn't see it through.

A leading centre back and what I would call a traditional sweeper (or libero as they call it in Italian) in the summer will be the priorities. Go and find the next Beckenbauer to sit in front of the defence and behind Allan & Doucouré or whatever 2 we play with. Or switch to cover and protect them. Libero.

Lampard has a very specific goal as this season moves to the final furlong: to avoid relegation. Obviously we all hope and expect him to be able to have sufficient impact to attain such a goal. As for next season expectations will have to be significantly higher and we will then be able to see what Lampard really has to offer.

Dave (80), an excellent, but not unexpected response, to my use of the "Doubting Thomas" analogy. Thomas did have every right to "doubt" just as every Evertonian has the right to doubt. That is particularly so due to the "lousy" recruitment record we have had over so many years.

At the time, Thomas was criticized for his lack of faith. However, I just have a belief that we may have done something right for a change. I also have my doubts but this time I have decided to "Just stay Positive". I will believe!!!

It may be illogical and I may be proved wrong but, at my age, I am often wrong and illogical. Let's be honest you have to be somewhat "illogical" to continue to support a team that can always be relied upon to drive supporters up the wall.

If the new manager and two good sought-after players coming in doesn't wake Goodison Park to roar once again, then I don't know what will. We can't carry on harping back to Howard Kendall Mk 1 and Harry Catterick – I certainly hope Frank Lampard can outdo both of them. A big ask but why not our fortunes have to change sometime and backing him is the least we can do,

I remember some dreary times when Kendall first came as Manager it took time to bring in players who could play the system he wanted to play. But don't forget this last couple of days has given us a boost what has it done to the teams near us in the league these teams will be in shock that Everton can tempt a bright young manager and two decent players one of which was an England regular and one of the best players in the Country until Mourinho got hold of him.

Do you think Newcastle will be relishing the forthcoming game without some trepidation at the difference they could make?

If nothing else, this should mean the end of 4-4-2 shouldn't it?

It's going to be very interesting to see where Lampard plays Richarlison. Both Richie and Gray seem to play their best football cutting in from the left and, in my view, Gray has been the more effective player this season – though obviously Richie has been sidelined with injury some of the time.

Does this mean the end of Gordon's run in the team, to keep Richie and Demarai in the line-up? I guess we won't know until the Newcastle game, as our new signings are both cup-tied for Saturday.

Wow what a difference a week or so makes in football. If Benitez was still here, our late business would've comprised of a deadline day signing for the mighty Sean Longstaff. Instead we get a young hungry manager who is highly regarded in the football world and is a good pull for players.

We also end up getting Donny and Dele Alli plus a young keeper. Brilliant end to the window for us and some great business. Straightaway we have something to smile about being an Evertonian, we suddenly have a bit of competition for places in the team and some hungry attacking players.

Frank likes to play 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1 so this is what the set up could look like over the coming months.

4-3-3:

Pickford
Coleman or Patterson, Mina, Godfrey, Mykolenko
Van de Beek, Allan or Doucouré, Alli
Richarlison or Gordon or El Ghazi, Calvert-Lewin, Gray

4-2-3-1:

Pickford
Coleman or Patterson, Mina, Godfrey, Mykolenko
Doucouré, Allan
Richarlison, Alli or Van de Beek, Gray
Calvert-Lewin

All of a sudden, we have options and hopefully we start penetrating games with the attacking players on show and being able to have a better possession-based game in the middle of the park which will hopefully take some pressure off the back four. We are used to having ~30% of the ball in games and I'm hoping this changes with the new crop of talent.

I've said it already but I'm going to say it again. Dele Alli is another Demarai Gray, in that he will know this is more or less the last chance saloon. Has been an even better player than Gray but, like Gray for one reason or another, he's lost his way.

Now nobody could say Gray has been anything other than a roaring success since he arrived. IMO he's been our standout player.

Like Gray (again just my opinion) I think Alli may have somewhat of a fragile mentality where he needs to be dealt with in a certain way. Again like Gray he's 25 and possibly ready to mature, knuckle down, and get back to being the player he used to be.

Lampard needs to put a smile back on his face, which I have every confidence he will do. If he makes a similar impact to Gray then I'll be more than happy.

I'm going to give him the chance that some have already decided he's not worth just like some who turned their noses up at a mere £1.7M signing who couldn't get in this team or that team.

I've had sleepless nights over Everton recently (some would say pathetic that) but I'm going to seek out the positives until there is no alternative. I just hope, either by chance or good fortune, we've stumbled upon a formula that will give us all the chance to be positive and happy again.

I am astonished that anyone can consider these signings as negative. Dele at his best is one of the top players in Europe. Donny at his best is one of the top players in Europe. We just have to get both of them somewhere near their best.

Of course there is risk; if they were perfect they would be staying where they were. We don't pay a penny for Dele until 20 league games... there are only 18 such games left this season!

As someone has pointed out above, the Donny-inspired Ajax, were beaten in the Champions League by the Dele Alli-inspired Spurs!

All of this means that El Ghazi will come in completely under the radar, with no pressure on him. I think he will score important goals and will look a good deal.

Alli dives; yes, but now he's flopping for us, not for the oppo!

A long injury-free run from Yerry Mina may help the centre-backproblems and don't forget, we've now got 'Dead-eye Dick' Rondon in scoring form!

Remember, we've also acquired a young England-youth goalkeeper.

As for O'Dell Beckham... he's clearly David's Irish love-child!!

I an't understand some of the negativity, I thought it was a brilliant transfer window.

Firstly we brought in a young manager who plays on the front foot, no sitting back and let the opposition dictate, a big believer in 4-3-3 thankfully, and a fresh backroom staff, Clement is a top coach.

In this window he brought in two players who will improve our midfield which was slow and pedestrian. He will turn things around, and come the summer, get rid of a lot of the deadwood, players on massive wages sitting on their arses, and change the shape of the club.

If I am totally honest, I was unsure about appointing Lampard; however, I am as impressed with the backroom staff Lampard has assembled, as the two new midfield signings he got over the line.

I have long held the view that we have much better players than form in recent years suggests; with good coaching, we would certainly be as capable as West Ham, Leicester, Arsenal and Tottenham.

With Ashley Cole, Tim Cahill etc hopefully joining soon, we will have a hungry and modern management team who have all tasted success to varying degrees during their own playing careers. Exciting times ahead for sure!

We have to think these have been positive moves with the managerial changes especially. We have been sinking in quicksand for quite a while and the performances have been awful and tough to take. Fresh blood was needed and it came so let's all hope it will do the trick.

The next game could be crucial and Barcodes have also been bring in players so it will be a tough place to get three points without a completely new attitude and show of confidence.

Whilst the players brought in have not exactly been setting any of the big leagues alight this season, I am sure they are all chomping at the bit do work hard under the new gaffer and help Everton get out of the doldrums.

Just got up! And looked at who we've got in and still thought I'm in dreamland!

We've sold one player for £25mill (round about) and got 5 young players and the oldest being a 26/27 year old Dutch, quality player, who got 11 goals last season and another Dutch player from an Ajax team of good quality.

Dele Alli, well, I think he's a great player who's lost his way for whatever reason; and two young international full-backs who need a bit of time to get used to the Premier League.

So with Demarai and Towny proving to have been around the most effective in out team, during the injuries to richie and DCL and still worthy enough to fight for their places with those two back. With Dobbin and Simms (next season) especially Gordon proving to be quality additions, I'm really excited about the attacking opportunties our team will have.

Yes, I can understand people saying we need to find one, if not two quality central defenders, Keane, to me isn't the answer and Mina (well if he can stay injury free or not). Well, we could buy or loan all that we needed during this window. But what a difference now to a few weeks ago!

It's a moot point, and a shame, whether we'll ever see Gbamin produce what we hoped he would. But it now means we don't have to rely on Iwobi, Gomes (though he might fit in to a midfield to spray the ball around but not do any chasing back!) Delph, a certain midfielder from a very cold country, Tosun and they, or most of them, will be off the wage bill in the summer. As for Rondon, well I like his attitude, and if he's now fit, then he might do a job for us if needed.

I'm hoping that the emphasis will be on attacking the opposition, not allowing ourselves to be pressed back to our weakest area. We've got loads of attacking in us now from all angles and, with Doucouré back in a few weeks, we'll have a much better squad to get away from the position we're in. Well, we've got the manager who'll do it for us..

What more could you ask for – a young hungry manager and three quality players who should be all be out to impress. Moshiri gone to his pocket once more, you can't fault him in that regard, praise where it's due.

Let's hope we can get some luck on the injury front because we haven't up to now, we have also missed the services of the Icelander.

Next Tuesday's game is massive, if we can get 3 points brilliant but 1 point would not be a disaster.

What sort of team does Lampard pick for Saturday? He's got some big decisions to make in the very short time he's been here; he could have done with more time to get organized.

Robert #79 & David #81,

Maybe Gbamin can be that player in front of the back four? (Tongue firmly in cheek!)

Agreed with everything you've said but the fact is we don't have those two players for the rest of this season. Branthwaite could be that man, possibly, for one position.

But like many have said on here before, Allan can't really play the sole pivot role, so who is going to do it, Onyango?

It'll be very interesting to see how Lampard sets up. I honestly think Gomes can only be brought on for 25-30 minutes, he's nowhere near as effective when starting.

Nothing pathetic about that, Brian Williams. The dogs used to get a lie in until half-5. The poor things are up with me at 4 am lately.

I think they were happier today but then the boy just goes off looking for foxes and leaves me to myself. He comes back once I've stopped rambling.

Finger's crossed it all turns out well.

Both transfers appear to be fairly risk-free. Big salaries but no big upfront fees.

Both good players, but I have no idea where they are mentally. Are they prepared for the challenge?

The manager is the big risk. I hope he has luck and time on his side because February could make or break him.

I like the backroom additions, Clement in particular will bring experience and professionalism.

But, our defenders can not play out from the back without making mistakes. Without Mina, we look a shambles. Without Godfrey we have no pace.

I hope Frank doesn't demand or expect too much from our defence. I know who, what and where I would target if I was playing against us. It's not rocket science where our weaknesses are.

I think these players will be vital, not just for what they bring, but also for the impact they will have on others.

Doucouré is seen by the majority of ToffeeWebbers as our only real decent midfielder because of his importance to the team. When he doesn't play, we lose our only real athlete in the side; the others struggle without him in terms of compatibility and getting overrun. There is also the added problem of Doucouré being the only midfielder individually capable to play the 90minutes – even when the others are on form.

I suspect that Doucouré's reliance and importance will now be much less of a factor. Van de Beek is a unique player in the squad because he has that pass-and-move quality, someone to knit the midfield and attack. He alone I believe will make Gomes or Davies much better in that quarterback position where I think Frank will play them. Alli's dynamism and powerful running into the box will be key for our midfielders and full-backs to hit.

If Derby and Chelsea are a template he could play a diamond; one (of Delph, Gomes or Davies) sitting, Van de Beek and another alongside (Gbamin, Allan, Doucouré), with Ali as a ten.

Or he may use the 4-3-3 with Dele and Donny either side of a holding midfielder and play wingers.

Because we would have so much energy and movement, in midfield and wide, the function of that defensive midfielder will be to provide quality on the ball and play penetrative passes.

His athleticism will be less of a factor. It is for this reason that Lampard sparingly used the best defensive midfielder in the world Kante in this role and used his energy further forward.

I think what we thought we knew under the turgid Ancelotti and Benitez will be turned on its head. I'm confident these signings, both individually and their effect on the overall quality of the squad, will ensure we climb the table pretty quickly and finish close to mid-table.

Daniel Levy is a notorious hard arsed negotiator so I'm quite surprised Alli was allowed to go on the terms he was. As someone mentioned, if it goes tits up he can always be offloaded at no real cost.

Ajay's team @34 looks pretty good.

Andrea mentioned Branthwaite being slow... well, not according to the players, who reckon he is amongst the quickest in the squad.

Andrea # 97. We need to buy a holding midfielder in summer, it's as simple as that. None of Gbamin, Doucouré, Allan, Davies or Gomes are right for this for varying reasons. Onyango is a few years away as a regular.

But that is manageable, as is the issue with centre-back, for the short term if we play with a bit more bravery and attacking threat.

The fact we have goal threat from quite a few players will peg opposition teams back, allowing the defensive line to creep forward – even if we stick with Keane and Mina. I can see Godfrey and Holgate playing their part too – but probably not Branthwaite just yet even though I think he could be the best of the lot.

None of Terry, Carvalho or Ivanovic had great pace but they managed pretty well as I recall.

I like all our transfer moves this window except for this one.

First let's get the history straight. Alli's form fell during Ponchettino's tenure. His slide did not begin with Mourinho and I have not liked Mourinho for a long time. Ponchettino is quoted in the news papers talking about Dele's motivation four years ago. This has not changed since then.

Numerous people, including successive managers, have commented on the record about Dele's lack of motivation and application on the training ground and in the locker room.

I understand we could end up getting him cheap except for his salary. But things must work out. Alli has not worked out for his last four managers – three of them world-class – all with different approaches.

People here wonder how we were able to get Alli on such terms from Daniel Levy. It's because no one else wanted him. Levy always gets as much as he can for a player and, in this case, like all others, he did.

I hope Dele works out and I will back him and give him time as I do with all our new players. However, as a club, we need to stop taking other people's cast-offs and reclamation projects. We need to stop taking chances on players who have underperformed for a few years and hope "Frank can sort him out" – regardless of cost.

Top clubs do not go anywhere near any such players. And those top clubs did not go anywhere near those type of players when they were building their clubs.

Robert,

I think we will be seriously in for Gilmour in the summer. That would be an interesting midfield, he is the No 6 we need and I think would settle well with young Patterson in the same.

I am excited for the Brentford game.

Get higher up the pitch, Robert. "Attack is the best form of defence" and all that.

I'll add another to your list before washing my mouth out with dirty dishwater.

Carragher. Slow but could read the game and anticipate the situation.

Considering we are skint, that was not a bad last day or so of the window. Out of form and favour the two new recruits may be, but so was Demarai and that didn't work out too badly.

Not so sure about the earlier recruits, the two full backs and El Ghazi. That looked more scattergun.

Maybe I'm asking for too much but if Gbamin could get his confidence back about his body, and be the midfielder we bought, we will at last be well stocked in that area.

Barry #29 and Bob #39,

Lifted my good mood even more. hope you don't mind if I try to finish it off:

My old Man, said sign Donny Van
And get Dele Alli on the way
Up went the Park End, full to the limit
The Street joined in, now we're sure to win it
Watch Donny and Alli, Increase our goal tally
Frank was right, he knew they both could play
It's good riddance to Rafa, now Frank's our new Gaffer
We are surely on our way!

Delighted with the last week. It shows intent.

You need a young manager; Ancellotti, not a total disaster, but couldn't get a tune out of this team. Benitez should never have been appointed.

With Lampard, we have someone young and dynamic with football in his DNA. He has brought in two excellent players who, along with Gray and Townsend (the only positives from Benitez), should get us out of trouble and lay a firm foundation for the future.

Maybe as much as anything else, Alli was over-played a bit when he was younger. In his first 3 seasons (aged 19 to 21) at Spurs he played 50 games in each plus an extra 10 or so internationals.

Then, in 2018-19, he missed 23 games with assorted injuries. In and out of a team that had peaked with Pochettino and then fell away.

He's never been the same since. Hopefully this move will help get his mojo working.

Just seen Dele Alli on Sky Sports News wearing his tart's necklace, Strewth Bruce! He should make a good partnership with Calvert-Lewin: 'Handbags and Glad Rags' or 'Cocks in Frocks'? :-)

Good footballer though, if he can find his old form!

Yup. We are still short of a No 6. I'd be amazed and terrified if Lampard used Gomes there. His passing range is good but he is so slow and poor defensively.

If any of our box-to-boxers lost posession and they can break with only Gomes and the centre-backs to cover, I'd be worried. Maybe it could work if we transition successfully to a team who has lots of posession but we seem a long way off that currently.

I would imagine he'll use Allan there and then hopefully buy someone this summer. Gilmour has a fair bit more developing to do but definitely looks a talent.

A player I've always liked and would love to see in the Premier League is Wilmar Barrios, compatriot of Mina and an excellent midfielder.

Gilmour is a lovely player, Steve, and I agree there's a very good chance of a loan at least.

A trio of Van de Beek, Alli and Gilmour would be good – but possibly a bit lightweight. We'll have to see how Van de Beek gets on – and indeed whether he stays beyond the end of the season.

My starting point is that I want a midfield with the physicality to match that of Liverpool.

Rob #75,

Please arrange to bump into Seamus in Calderstones park for early reactions to Frank's appointment and signings.

And can you ask him what Duncan Ferguson's new role is?

Wrote my post before reading yours, Sam. Terrified is the word!

Michael Williams, I admire you wanting this to work out, but go and try a drink from the positive juice fountain.

Our very own Liverpool cast-off, Kevin Sheedy, was hardly a failure.

Kevin de Bruyne and Mo Salah? Discarded by Chelsea? Cast offs. Jordan Henderson? Written off by many.

Let's see what Alli and the others do for Everton. Remember the underwhelming sentiment when we purchased the Leicester cast-off, Demarai Gray, at a knock down cost?

One of of most exciting, committed and best players this season.

How you spend not what you spend. And players can excell in different environments with different managers who give them an opportunity.

Let's give them that opportunity. The recent cast-off, Andros Townsend, has scored 2 of the best goals I've seen in a long while this season that won us matches.

Judge then as Everton players.

Robert,

Didn't Carvalho et al have Makelele playing in front of them? Isn't it just as likely that this kind of set-up will see us leaving massive gaps in the middle of the park to be sliced through on the counter-attack at will?

I suppose our attack needs to be firing and the possession of the ball needs to be top notch. Can we really turn around our playing style without some teething problems at such a vital and pressurised point of the season?

And if this approach appears shambolic in the first 5-10 games, will he panic and revert to a more defensive approach? Maybe he'll then throw some players under the bus (like he did at Chelsea) inferring that they're not good enough to play his way – destroying the confidence of this fragile squad even further and thereby relegating us?

This is just how I think it will play out, doesn't mean it will happen, he may end up being a brilliant manager for us and I'd be happy to be dead wrong.

I fear Lampard might end up being the modern version of Mark Hughes, which could work out okay for us because Hughes's early managerial career wasn't too bad.

My old man's a Lampard,
They used to call him fat,
until that semi final,
When he gave the ball a whack.

I followed in his footsteps,
and broke the Toffee hearts,
But I am here to do my penance,
and show up that Jurgen tart.

We all know the potential downsides but, being an advocate of freshening things up, my fingers and toes are crossed in hope. I agree with others, it has a feel of first season Martinez – we just need a couple from the Stiffs to replicate Stones and Barkley and we could be on the march.

Well in, KK, You're almost a Poet, and probably know it! :-)

Does anybody know (for sure) if we have an option on Donny (Puppy Love) van de Beek at the end of his loan period?

Geoff Cadman. Brilliant pal.

To the rest doubting our defence. Jarrod Branthwaite is very quick! Ben Godfrey ditto. Patterson is both rapid and a very good footballer. Mykolenko will settle down and be an upgrade on Digne.

The only drawback with these lads currently is their combined lack of experience. The only way to get experience is to do the job! I would be tempted to play them and depend on their pace to get them out of the odd spot of bother. This pace will allow us to play farther up the pitch, leaving less dependence on Allan looking like he is running in treacle.

With Allan in the team, we can perm the rest of the midfield and attackers from Gordon, Doucouré, Gray, Richarlison, Alli, Townshend, Van de Beek, Calvert-Lewin, Gbamin, Gomes, Dobbin, El Ghazi, Onyango. For the purists, there's even Iwobi, Tosun and Rondon.

To me, we can have a superb attacking team, including a very strong bench. I haven't even considered Delph and Davies.
Not everyone will be able/available to play every game so let's stop the "Oh god where are we going to play them?" complaints already.

If El Ghazi, Alli and Donny have only stopped the latter three getting near the squad, thats a result for me. For the rest, there now looks genuine competition for spots, and we should stop picking up as many injuries with our best players who are being over-utilised, or brought back too early from niggles.

The future is bright.

COYB

John Boon & Dave Abrahams

This doubting Thomas talk made me think of John McFarlane. He seems to be a very faithful fan and not one to get into histrionics when things are going wrong.

Perhaps many of us are the doubting Thomas, but seeing as he mostly listens to the game on the radio and therefore doesn't watch it, he must be what Jesus was talking about when he said "Blessed is he who believes yet does not see."

I have never been completely sold on the idea that every team needs a defensive midfielder.

Call me old-fashioned but what I want is defenders that can defend and midfielders that are comfortable on the ball, can pass and can tackle. I think our signings in this window help us get closer to that.

It will be fascinating to see if Frank picks Allan or Gomes (presuming he won't play both).

Fascinating times ahead. It would be great to pick up a few points over the next few games and actually enjoy watching us for a change.

Brian - you're old-fashioned! 👍

If, as they say, Lampard had a say to bring Dele Alli to Everton, that is another positive to us. We have complained for months that the midfield needed to be strengthened and in this 1 transfer window we have achieved this with 2 young players to see the season out.

Alli is a player who for some unknown reasons his career has slowed down and this move could be up to him to get it back on track. He also has something we are lacking in midfield as well as a skillful player with an eye for goal, he has a nasty streak in him.

Van de Beek is a more of a provider with good movement off the ball after passing it, that gets him into goal scoring positions. So now we have 2 players to provide or score goals from the midfield were we are lacking in goals.

M Gaynes I may live in Canada but I watch the NFL and being just a 10-hour drive from Boston, I have seen the GOAT quarterback on a number of occasions.

Fashion is a lot like history, though, Robert!

He also said something about having faith as much as a grain of mustard seed.

Between the players we have already (apart from a number of duffers already mentioned) and the players brought in, including El Ghazi and the two young full backs, Doucouré on the mend, and a manager who loved scoring goals, we not to badly off.

Yep, some will say we need more, but I think we all know that. We've got what we've got; and this window has been a good one... much better than I thought we'd get.

We've got three of four players who can support the forwards much more effectively, and get into attacking positions rapidly. As someone has already pointed out, between Branthwaite, Godfrey and Mina, we've got decent central defenders and two young international full backs.

Not bad from where we were, plus a fast attacking midfield and forward line.

Frank has a lot of attacking options and attacking players willing to come back and tackle as well.

I was really worried that were going to be relegated; I couldn't see a team below us who had as many problems. Now? Well, I think we have the chance to put teams under much more pressure than before the break.

Much more talent to bag more goals, so we have a better chance of staying up than 3 or 4 weeks ago.

FA Cup? I couldn't give a toss about it this season, we've got to concentrate on winning games to stay up.

Going by the latest training video, they should stick Jonjoe Kenny upfront!

Michael 53

Hate to mention an RS but David James was hailed as a sensation when he joined Liverpool then quickly became calamity James, and was something of a clown for many years.

Like Dele, people questioned his obsession with video games. But he had quite the renaissance winning the cup with Pompey and becoming the England Number 1 in his mid thirties.

Another comeback kid would be Des Walker, Tony Abrahams old teammate. Regarded as one of the best in Europe at Forest, then things went off a cliff after that Netherlands game when "that blond man" (Koeman) shouldn't have been on the pitch." But, he eventually bounced back and became one of the best defenders in the league at Sheff Wed.

Outside of English players, you can look at Dennis Bergkamp: superstar at Ajax, failure at Inter, legend at Arsenal. Thierry Henry: similar story of failure in Italy. Or Diego Forlan, failure in England then became a superstar.

Dead right, Brian, history or not, it worked!

I can't remember too many opponents getting past Jimmy Gabriel (another bit of holiness!) or Tony Kay and they could both score goals and feed the forwards as well.

Brian, you're not old-fashioned, mate.

Players get too typecast into playing a specific position. Okay, almost all have a strong side and one less so... but an athletic midfielder should have the ability to play in more than one position.

Mike #113...

Or Anthony Gordon!

Robert #123,

I think you may be right.

Dead right, Raymond.

Heard Frank was really impressed with Iwobi today in his first training session – said he would build his team around him.

Only joking...

Andrea 116, too right they had Makelele (and Essien too) in front of them.

That's why personally I think we need a specialist holding midfielder next season, to allow Alli (also a specialist) to play to his strengths.

But I dare say, with Allan and Doucoure (or AN Other), we can manage for the time being.

Sorry Brian, only pulling your leg. You did ask!

Brian (134). He said he would build a Motorway flyover round him!!

Like most I am still nervous about the future and how it will pan out but I am reassured on a number of fronts.

Lampard is young, enthusiastic, full of energy and by all accounts can be a tough disciplinarian.

Our recent acquisitions all have desire and enthusiasm to win and show their "real" talent especially with World Cup squads coming up.

We know the squad is better than 16th place and has been hampered by injuries and poor team selection and tactics in the last few months.

With the addition of the new players we now have the potential to be a top half club and the firepower to be a top 6 club.

IMO Dele Alli was destroyed by Mourhino who constantly victimized him so its no wonder he lost his confidence and appetite for the game. The player himself said he tried to model himself on Lampard so I have no doubt he will be reinvigorated. Van de Beek may take time to adjust but is better than anyone else we have in midfield (Doucouré being injured)

It says so much that we are struggling to say who should be in the first 11 and that is a position any team with ambition should be in.

We have made some great additions to the backroom staff.

All we need now is for the supporters to be the 12th man and be patient with the team until we really get going.

Danny #115, you beat me to it. Kieran #128, likewise a great post. There are lots of examples of top clubs building themselves exactly the way we've started doing it -- with other people's failures.

Bill #124, I think the reason for Alli's career crashing is known -- attitude problems. Being unceremoniously dumped by the club for which he was once a budding legend may well shock him back on track. And I read somewhere that he has long admired Lampard.

DK #119, no, there is no option to buy in the current loan deal. If Donny van de Beek comes good, Rangnick can take him back.

Luke #127, he did score a couple of excellent goals at Schalke. One from 25 yards, a bullet into the side netting.

Mike G @139,

Thanks for the info on Donny van de Beek, let's hope if he is a success, he's like a kid who can't get his sweets (candy), kicks up a rumpus and refuses to go back! :-)

Quite interesting to see clips from the training ground, and shouts of "love the ball" from Lampard.

I know nobody wants to hear it but he will need time to instil his style of play and it won't happen overnight, and yes, it will be bumpy along the way. But we have a young manager with fresh ideas, and a new coaching team to help him progress.

The appointment of Paul Clement is very important, he has the experience to help Frank when things don't quite go to plan, and that will happen at times.

I am sure just looking at the clips the manager, his coaches and the players seem to be enjoying what they are doing; I doubt that happened very often under the previous manager, you can make players work hard without it feeling like a chore.

The majority of these players have had many different managers asking them to play in a certain way, and now again they have another manager who will again change things that some of the previous managers had them doing.

I see some posts urging the fans to get behind the team, to be honest whoever has been manager the fans have got behind the players and will continue to do so.

But I thought it was quite telling in his interview that Lampard said we want the fans to get behind the players, but its a 2 way thing and the players have to demonstrate to the fans their passion to get results.

What I like about our 3 new recruits - Lampard, Donny van de Beek and Dele Alli - is that all 3 have something to prove. To the doubters. To themselves.

I don't agree with the assessment of some that consider Lampard's time at both Derby or Chelsea as underwhelming.

Under normal circumstances he would never have got the Chelsea gig but for their transfer ban. It actually worked in Chelsea's favour as Lampard both knew and was willing to blood academy players who, in normal circumstances, would never have got the chance to have an extended run of games. That so many proved their worth has both saved and made Chelsea a lot of money.

In his second season before getting sacked, his team was on a 17-game unbeaten run before they lost 3-1 to Everton in 'THAT' Duncan Ferguson game. He had a bad month, but he had already comfortably qualified Chelsea for the KO stage of the Champions League. No small feat.

Together with Tuchel becoming available mid-season at that time, an owner like Abramavich is only going to make one decision.

Frank has taken a studious year out from the game. He had opportunities to get back into management. He has chosen Everton to do so.

Now much has been made of Everton's manager recruitment in the last two weeks, but for sure it would have been a two-way interview in which Frank asked questions of his interrogators. So they said some right things to convince him that we are a serious and worthy proposition.

HE needs to succeed at Everton if he wishes to fulfill his ambitions of being a respected manager. Such motivation works in our favour.

It's similar for both Donny van de Beek and Dele Alli. They are two extremely talented footballers who have had a couple of barren years. If they are still serious about their careers, they too will be highly motivated to do well at Everton.

As for the discussion on tactics, Van de Beek and Alli are far superior and have proven greater consistency than any midfielders currently on our books. IF they can recapture their earlier levels of performance, they will complement well the likes of Gray, Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin. It could be very potent.

Of more concern is the defensive make-up of the team. The suggested notion of playing Gomes in the Jorginho - Kante role, as Sam and Robert question, is (as they said) a terrifying one.

We are not in the position, nor do we have the defensive solidity, to go all gung-ho and neglect defence altogether. Playing Gomes there would be suicidal. Yes, a technically gifted player in that position could be beneficial. But it would be naive in the extreme to believe no defensive abilities at all are required in that role.

I am hard pressed to think of another professional footballer other than Gomes, given his size and ability, so incompetent in the basic skills of tackling or challenging for the ball that he coughs up a cheap free kick almost every time. He would be a total liability in that anchor role.

For those expecting a higher defensive line, you may be disappointed. Frank's preferred centre-back pairing were Thiago Silva and Zouma. He blocked Zouma's return to us, remember? Rudiger and Christensen barely got a look in under Lampard.

Silva and Zouma were more stay-at-home central defenders. What you did see were the full-backs bombing forward in support of midfield and the attack. We have the players to do that.

Less than 3 weeks ago, we lost to Norwich and sacked the manager. Less than 2 weeks ago, we lost at home to Villa.

Given the lateness of Lampard's recruitment so close to the shutting of the transfer window, the situation is not as stark as it was.

For me, he has one simple remit this season. Avoid relegation. Five wins from the final 18 fixtures should suffice. Anything over and above that would be a bonus.

A summer of ins and outs, a full pre-season with his squad, then we can rightly start asking for more.

Maybe having a couple more Londoners at the club might just spur Alex Iwobi on?

Mike, If he comes good, and we do what is hoped, start climbing up the table, then he might even think that this is a good place to be. He's certainly got a chance to flourish and enjoy himself and play for a manager who appreciates his skills and energy.

Dele Alli might do just the same, playing regularly for someone who believes in him, well, we might just have a couple of top class midfielders joining us.

Jay, your last sentence is so important! Judging by the posts of some during this window, I just hope they either change their views or don't go the match.

Competition for starting places is great. The cream will rise to the top.

Tony @143,

Maybe having a couple more Londoners at the club, might just 'spur' Alex Iwobi, on?

Or they could give him a good kick up the 'arse'!!

The Amazon series on Spurs features a lot of coverage on Mourinho and our new recruit, Dele Alli.

Highly recommended.

The Shields Gazette – a Newcastle based newspaper – has had their computer calculate the final Premier League standings.

We are 16th on 40 points. Newcastle, Watford and Norwich are the bottom three in that order.

They obviously don't rate the Skunks signings either!!

Rob @ 146,

After 'reading' your post, you may just have something there, though it's not easy to make a 'forest green' even if you're from a 'palace', but it may make Iwobi more 'Charlton Athletic'. :-)

Jay (142),

André Gomes is approaching a hundred games for Everton. Over the course of that time I don't think he's developed his game at all.

He still gets caught in possession by aggressive opponents who hunt in packs, he still takes too long on the ball, he is still too slow to get into his defensive position, he still gives away stupid free kicks in dangerous areas by making ill-conceived attempts to win the ball, and he still thinks football is played alongside a light afternoon jog.

I have tried to remember a moment when I have seen André Gomes sprint, and the only time I can remember is when he belatedly tried to sprint back to cover a breakaway - where we conceded a goal and he was too slow to read the danger and provide any help at all.

Defensively he is about as poor a player as there is in the Premier League, and André Gomes doesn't seem to fancy doing anything to change that. I'm fed up of watching opponents drive past him as if he is a slalom post marking their route to goal.

It is actually really tough to be a football fan.

Dele Alli is by far the player I dislike the most from Spurs. I have never liked Frank Lampard as a player. I always felt that although Donny van de Beek was good in a brilliant Ajax team, he would struggle in the Premier League.

My stance on Dele Alli and Lampard of course is completely irrational. I just didn't like them. Donny van de Beek may be a bit more rational thinking which might be right and might be wrong.

But, as of today, I love Lampard and Dele Alli and I am sure Donny van de Beek will be a Premier League star.

Ya sure need to show flexibility as a fan.

I think I'm with Danny and the old-fashioned Brian on how this gets set up. Frank will probably try to build up our ability to play out of our half.

If he can get Alli to track back (anything better than Iwobi leaves less space) advancing the ball with him making credible runs will provide the space needed for others who are not good in tight spaces.

One thing for sure is he will not hide from the ball. Find him and let him work some chemistry with the forwards and you basically have a goal threat waiting around the top of the D for a look.

Agreed that we missed out on a No 6 but I'm not sure who we could afford. A cheaper version of Upecamano would obviously make us all happy but choosing a No 6 to come into the Premier League and immediately be effective is a trick.

Paying up for it is an accounting trick.

Andrew K,

I think Tom Brady would do a better job in midfield than Gomes. What a disappointment André has been.

Andrew and Colin,

André would be a brilliant netball player. No contact. You get to stand still and take all the time in the world picking out the perfect pass.

Henryk

I can empathize. Living in the USA I was sick and tired of hearing how Landon Donovan was the second coming of Jesus whereas he was more like a poor man's JWP. When he joined, I was flabbergasted. Luckily he did okay.

Henrik #151, that made me smile. I've thought about that myself.

Tony and Rob, you've got me mystified... do Londoners have a reputation as being meaner fans than Merseysiders?

Andrew #150, I won't dispute a word you've said... except that Gomes has improved in one area you mentioned, and that's taking stupid fouls in dangerous locations. He was an absolute nightmare around the edge of our box in his first two seasons with us, and he cost us some crucial goals, but I cannot recall him doing that this season or last. He commits most of his hapless fouls farther up the pitch now, less harmfully.

But yes, he remains a beautifully bearded traffic cone.

Colin #153, I wish I could call him a disappointment, but he's been pretty much what I expected. As a Barca fan I was quite vocal here about his limitations when he came in, and unfortunately he has lived up to my assessment. I just remain awestruck (and not in a good way) by the sheer number of TWers who still consider him a creative midfielder. It's like an alternate universe.

Thanks Keith, good to see the Shields Gazette isn't enamored with a bad heir style. Anyone who wishes to pile on NoooNooNooGodNocastle please do.

I am quite pissy about how they've poached Wood to lessen Burnley's chance of escape and then tried to mess with our negotiations with Alli. They have taken negative football to the offices upstairs. Despicable.

It seems like the Dele Alli deal potentially could be smart both for Spurs and for us. If he doesn't deliver, we don't pay a transfer fee and if he delivers a little we pay some more. And apparently we might pay up to £40 million.

I assume that is dependent on him scoring a hat-trick in the Champions League Fnal or some other ambitious target. What I don't quite understand is, what happens if it doesn't work out at all and we want to sell him after maybe 25 appearances?

Or when he scores the hat-trick in the Champions League Final 2024 and triggers the last maybe £15 million to Spurs and his contract runs out. Are we then paying the last add on the day before he is a free agent?

Maybe I am not so comfortable with the logic of the deal knowing it is Levy on the other side.

Make that 'rather' pissy. English 'quite' isn't quite what Yanks use it as.

I'll say this for Dele, he knows how to express himself with class. His farewell message to the Spurs fans was one of the more affecting I've read.

Interesting tactical analysis on SB Nation of Lampard's challenge in integrating Alli and Van de Beek together into the existing midfield:

Pressing, attacking fullbacks and possession – Tactical Analysis of Frank Lampard’s coaching career so far.

And it turns out one reason Donny chose Everton was a glowing endorsement of the club from a fellow Dutchman, Johnny Heitinga.

Whilst I'm feeling slightly more optimistic than in the last 12 months, I'm putting some money on it.

11/1 to finish in the top half
27/1 to win the FA Cup

And of course the double.

Henrik #158,

If – and I mean 'if' – Dele scores a hat-trick in the 2024 Final then why worry about the money due to Spurs?? We will too busy celebrating to care.

Strange that some people on here didn't like Lampard as a player, an attacking midfielder who scored loads of goals in and out of the box. Was super hard working with a winning mentality and a true leader. Top, Top player for West Ham, Chelsea, Man City and England.

I would have loved him at Everton as a player, now we have him as our Manager and I think he will do well.

His interview was impressive and enjoyed how he talked about the style of play that he wants to play. Win, lose or draw Frank will play on the front foot and be having a go at teams.

I think the players need to get back to enjoying their football and believe Frank and his staff will give them that. This is a good appointment, well done Moshiri.

Mike G @156,

You may want to watch back the Villa game the other week. That corner they scored from came from Pickford tipping over a Coutinho free kick over the bar.

Gomes gave away that free kick so sadly his ability to give away stupid fouls in dangerous positions has not gone

Wow, what a transfer window.

Congratulations to the management. Pretty much all the right changes that was possible in a short period of time. No Brands involved, so who did all these clever deals I've been wondering? Gotta give credit where credit is due.

Dele Alli can do all the things Cahill used to do in the box – so that's really exciting.

I'd love to see Frank verses Townsend on a 30-yard screamers competition. Instead of 5 penalties, 5 long rangers would be fun to watch.

Imagine if Carlo had these players last February, could we have made the top 7 or even 4th?

Finally, Iwobi... he likes to come inside and Patterson on the outside. It can't reignite Iwobi can it?

All fun and games. Looking forward to the second half of the season. And Rafa was right... there's a chance it will be better in 2022.

Andrew #150. Spot on.

The guy is a total liability. Can't tackle, score, assist, run, pass other than short backwards or sideways. Nail on the head!

Jason, the deals were done by Kenwright. Doesn't matter how though.

Jay #142

Thiago Silva came in his second season at Chelsea didn't he? Wasn't that one of the problems, playing him in a back four? They were getting exposed constantly, even with Kante in the side.

Chelsea conceded 57 goals, I believe, at home in his season and a half in charge. Not great is it? In fact, it's pretty bad.

We're going to have to outscore the opposition. Something I'm not against if it works. Lampard coming in, in the Summer, would have made more sense.

Nothing to do with the fans, Mike, more to do with the personnel inside the club.

The feeling used to be that London boys in general never done that well if they went up north, but hopefully that's going to change because we seem to have quite a few southerners in our club nowadays.

That's exactly what I was insinuating, Rob, because now he's got a few more people from his area at the club, he's got to try a lot harder; otherwise, I'm sure the cockneys might turn on him.

Any football junkies who need a fix, Ellis Simms starts for Hearts, 7-45 on Sky in the Edinburgh derby. Beni starting too.

What ye reckon?
supercomputer predictions from 23/1/22
here is the bottom 6...

15 - Brentford = 40 pts
16 - Everton = 40 pts
17 - Burnley = 35 pts
18- Newcastle = 31 pts
19 - Watford = 31 pts
20 - Norwich = 29 pts

If Clement and Jones are the First team coaches, what’s Duncan doing?

Jason I don’t think it’s a case of reigniting Iwobi, he’s never been lit.

With sailing close to the FFP limits, we have done amazing bringing 6 players in and with the sale of Digne still showing a net profit of £9 Million.

Whoever negotiated the Alli deal has played a blinder, only 18 games left, so any payment will only show on next years finances. If it was Bill then he deserves credit for the negotiation, done a lot of damage in the past, but if he can start acting like a chairman and carry on going forward, instead of Moshiri interfering on the transfers and leave it to Bill and Frank, things might start to pick up.

Overall a great January window, Tosun, Delph and Sigurdsson contracts up in the summer, so that will go a bit of the way for future Alli payments.

Hard not to feel positive at the moment. We've done all we can to have a strong second half to the season.

Geoff #107,

Excellent!!!!

Tony @170,

I was thinking along those lines last night with regard to the likes of Abraham doing well at Roma whereas, in the past, the perception was English players didn't travel.

But then it struck me when Lineker went off to Barca for example, there was no internet, cellphones, facebook, probably no English TV shows. It was payphones and travel cards to call blighty.

Now it's a smaller world, easier to get around fast (Ryanair, faster trains etc) and we are in constant access with the whole world through our phones so I dare say it's less of a big deal for a Londoner to move up North than it was 25 or 30 years ago.

Oliver,
With 3 games in hand I will be disappointed if we don't finish above Brentford.

I would also hope we finish above Leeds and Palace.

Mike, Jamie.

As an avid 49ers fan, I'd be happy if he turns out to be Odell. I sincerely hope we don't end up with Antonio Brown though.

I can't see how we lose here. If he bombs, we pay a modest fee we would likely be able to recoup by selling him on. If we end up paying the full whack, that will mean we have the old Dele Alli back and at his peak, he was a force of nature. You're talking about a 20-goal-a-season midfielder / Number 10.

Given his age, statistically, his peak years are with us. Let's hope he reaches his peak. The thought of it excites me beyond words. He was some player under Pochettino.

Thanks Barry, once I saw your post I couldn't leave it alone, but I was stuck until Bobs follow up post. I just hope it all rings true.

Brian #175,

I hadn't clicked on the payments at all – well done whoever negotiated this. As for a 2½-year deal, if he's good enough that we pay the full £40M, he will get a contract extension anyway (or we do a Michael Ball and just refuse to play him).

Balance sheet-wise though, we would need to be prudent and show a proportion, so not totally a zero-impact at any point (in much the same way as we amortise transfer fees).

Good point Kieran, but I always thought that Londoners possibly learned a more silky, less aggressive game of football, whereas these are traits that are usually ingrained into northern kids, very early on in their football education?

I think this might be changing, especially when you see how many kids, seem to be coming out of the cages in south London, which seems to combine aggression and skill, which is a beautiful combination in football!

I hope you are right, Jay, barcodes match is massive, If we could win that, it will go a long way to restoring belief and confidence.

Brentford cup game is also massive, of course!

Danny 115 - That's great comparing Dele Alli to two of the best players in the world (De Bruyne and Salah) and saying "see they made it." Salah and De Bruyne were young players who came into their own. They were never accused by more than one manager of lacking motivation or having a bad attitude. They did not have a peak and then drop off in performance for four managers. Let's compare apples.

My point is this. Great organizations look at character first. Is the player hard-working, self-motivated and will he/she play as part of team? Are they a good person to have in the locker room? The answers need to be a resounding yes before you start looking at talent. We brought someone into the club with four years of under-performing and are hoping a new manager and change of scenery does the trick. That is not how you build a team no matter how little you spend.

I'm sorry that my supporting all the transfer moves this window but one is not good enough for you. I guess I'll find that "positive juice fountain" you mentioned. I will have to make sure it's not Kool-Aid first.

I feel so much better now that a computer program predicts that we will stay up. Is it any good at picking stocks?

Hi Kieran [121],

I feel that I must correct you when you say that "He mostly listens to the game on the radio and therefore doesn't watch it".

Although in the autumn of my life I now listen to the away games only, I have over the years, attended games at Goodison Park and away games from Carlisle in the North West, Newcastle in the North East, and various grounds in between, down to Bristol in the South West and Norwich, Ipswich and London in the South East, something in excess of 30 grounds.

I fear that you have based your opinion as a result of my boycotting of games on television which were played in empty stadiums during the Covid Pandemic.

You are however correct in your assessment of my attitude to the vagaries of football, I have over the years come to the conclusion that there are more important things in life than football, although as I have stated on occasion "My world on match days is 120 yards long and 75 yards wide" as I view games from my seat in the Park End.

Martin @168, what are your sources for that?

Time will prove but this could be the Lazurus day for Everton, this season and to fight their way away from the drop zone.

It will be good for the soul to get some fresh vigour and belief for this season, and to rekindle the spirit of Everton.

I’m pleased with the signings and the appointment of Frank Lampard Junior..

Let’s start with a good win v Brentford and to beat The Barcodes at their place.
UTFT!

I have been very negative over the last few weeks but I have decided, as our friend Ray Roche once told me, to “give my head a wobble” and look on the bright side.

I take heart from Keith Harrison's post @120. Potentially we have the young players to make up a very good defence. As the saying goes: “If you are good enough you are old enough”.

I think Dele Alli is a tremendous signing – he is a thoroughbred with a bit of steel. Just what we needed.

Michael @181, we did the same with Thomas Mhyre, dropped him after 49 games of 50 to save paying out, only to have to recall him again after a few months.

What a difference a week makes. After the staid insane appointment of the utter lamentable dinosaurs of Ancelloti and Benitez ,we have a buzz, hope, vibrancy. Good window, this is as good as it could be, all considered. Being a Blue feels better today.

Dave #80, it was good to read your defence of the much-maligned and misunderstood Thomas.

Once I had had him explained to me some years ago, it gave me a different perspective on many things.

We have to want to believe in order to believe.

Tony @ 171,

Watched that game. Simms was a threat all game and would have had a couple of goals only for the Hibs keeper pulling off two very good saves. If I was being very critical, he should have scored I thought when he was clean through.

Beni was okay, I thought, but a lot of work required if he is to make the grade in our first team.

Good experience for both in a hard fought game.

The comments on here really blow my mind and are actually quite worrying. It's great to have a difference of opinion but I think unfortunately this website has become an echo chamber.

People talking about winning the FA Cup now!!! Shouted down for saying I don't think it is a good signing and we are repeating the same mistakes again in terms of signing players. Let us see what happens.

I spent all day getting stick off other clubs fans over the Dele Alli signing. The one that stuck out was a Wolves fan saying "That is a good example of everything wrong with Everton".

Up the Toffees – Will happily take being proved wrong!

Andy @ 191, a bit of over-reach in the rhetoric.

Let's remind ourselves that, in the final game of Ancelotti's reign, we were playing for a place in Europe. We would give anything to be in that position right now. He is currently 4 points clear in the La Liga, beat Barcelona to win the super-cup and remains in the Copa del Rey and Champions League.

Some dinosaur!

Granted, hiring and persevering with Benitez was a diabolical decision, but many posters on here continued to give him support long beyond the point when performances and results dictated he should be fired.

We have taken a big gamble on an inexperienced manager who reached the play-offs in his single season in the Championship and was sacked after half a season in the Premier League. Frank has my 100% backing now he is in role, but let's not delude ourselves about the risk.

I've not read who shouted you down, Andy, but your opinion is as good as mine.

As with a manager, you just never know how a signing will work out. Remember Andy Gray? Talk about the original "When he scores, we'll riot".

We are going to win the FA Cup and go to Europe.

Come Saturday afternoon, if my unqualified predictions crash and burn, you can deliver my medicine.

Steve @ 195, just for clarity, Frank Lampard was at Chelsea for 18 months.

Slightly off topic but on the subject of rioting when scoring, did anyone see that Tony Hibbert has scored on what I think was his debut for Louzy in France.

Peter (192) The last line in your post is very relevant.

The image Ali is displaying is one that is refreshing too see.

He looks like, and gives the impression he’s well up for it.

As a lifelong Evertonian, and after umpteen numerous new dawns! this could be the start of something we have been promised year after year but never materialised.

I think (hope) we have hit rock bottom, and the only way is up.

Stability this season, get rid of the dead-wood in the summer and push on next season.

Frank and the back room team he is assembling should be able to attract quality players from far and wide. Probably not top 4 players for now, but top 6 players with a point to prove.

Fingers crossed for a brighter future, at last 🤞

Just seen the new pics of him in the Shirt.. Needs to get them Red bits out of his Barnet though!

I am smiling to myself when I think back to using the much used phrase "Doubting Thomas" (73) as an example of how many Evertonians may have responded to our general lack of success. Dave Abraham correctly gave me a better insight into the real St Thomas and how he was a very practical person.

I have since seen various posts refering to the phrase. From now on, I should refrain from using the Bible as a reference point about anything Everton. I am now on dangerous ground, but actually we probably need the great "JC" on the coaching staff, and I don't mean Ashley Cole or even Joe Cole…

I am so glad that we have hired Frank Lampard but he will need to be a "Miracle Worker" to get us back to where we belong. I hope Lampard and of course "JC" have a sense of humour, an essential asset if you are an Everton supporter.

The first order of business doesn't need to be stressed. We need to start getting points and quickly. It's the start of yet another new era and we have seen a few since David Moyes departed.

This is as bad a position as we have been in for a long time so the Newcastle game could be doubly important to kick-start a revival. Barcodes have hoped to have strengthened their defense so we need stellar performances from our attacking players.

Notwithstanding that, we need to keep the shackles on Saint-Maximin, who is having a decent season so our own defensive attitude needs to be strong.

Sometimes new players take time to settle in but we hope that our guys can do it quickly. Having games in hand means nothing if you cannot get something out of them.

We still have some really tough games against the top teams to come so let's hope Frank Lampard can at least get us some results against some of the others pretty soon.