Our Points Deduction

Lampard should have a clean slate to work with, knowing he has shifted some players off the books and what he has left to work with. I just get the feeling in his interviews that he is becoming frustrated with those who should be recruiting his player targets.

There is another decision on the horizon over Dele Alli. We have to pay Spurs 㾶M when he plays twenty league games for us. He has played eleven so far and we could sell him to avoid paying Spurs.

There is still time to bring players in, but I can't see any marquee signings – more like mediocre loan players, where once again we are guessing on their ability and them improving what we all ready have.

Has the purchase of Alli been recorded in the previous year's accounts by any chance? I would see the payment and the recording of the purchase (which I assume is what any FFP review would look at) as potentially being separate issues.

Can anyone shed any light on this?

Many top clubs will lose much of their squad for the jamboree in Qatar, whilst some others will have the majority of their squad fully refreshed & available to work on any issues in readiness for the second part of the season. I'd like to think that Everton are already planning how to use the time beneficially.

I find the whole situation alarming in the extreme, our unadjusted losses for the last 3 years are:

2018-19 𧴧M
2019-20 𧵃.9M
2020-21 𧴰.91M

That is a total of 𧸫.81M, that is a staggering 𧷂.81m beyond the Premier League permitted limits.

Assuming the Premier League accepted our Covid 19 and new stadium adjustments and the sale of Richarlison brought us back in line, then for this year the 2018-19 losses drop out, unfortunately these are the smallest of the last 3 years.

It is therefore a matter for the Club's Board to assess as soon as possible what our losses were for the year ended 30 June 2022 and plan our spending budget accordingly. Presumably the estimated unaudited losses will already have been shared with the Premier League.

Never have we been more in need of a commercially savvy leadership and look what we have got.

It will be no surprise if this squad is in a serious relegation battle. A fine we can afford so a points deduction is going to also put us in a relegation battle, but with (potentially) a better squad, and with the prospect of, at least, watching better football.

I'm not an accountant and there's no way I would have allowed this to happen.

Perhaps his heart is in the right place but clearly his brain isn't.

I just have a feeling that despite some concerns, he's probably the right man for the job at the right time. The only positive thing we can do is to get behind him and his team, no matter who arrives or departs before the window closes.

We have to ensure the team fight for every point at home and away. Leave the negative stuff to the media and the neighbours, it is arguable that we are weaker now than we were in the run-in but the object remains the same – garner enough points to stay in the Premier League, so with that in mind we have to get behind the team and don't allow them the excuse of a lack of support for dropping silly points.

I think Frank understands that he needs to play different tactics against certain opponents, his task is to get the squad to be flexible enough to play to those different tactics as best he can. We have 38 games to gain points, just like every other team and no game is lost until it ends, likewise there will be no 'gimme's' with this current squad, so we have to treat Bournemouth et al with the same respect as the so-called super clubs.

Nothing is written in the stars, it will be down to the manager and the players to perform to their maximum in every game, and if that proves to be not good enough over the season, so be it.

Great shout. We need to get players in ASAP and if Frank needs 㿞-70M to complete these transfers then our board should authorise it.

As you state, if the FA or Uefa want to, then hit us with a point deduction, at least we will have the players in place to cope with it.

Presently we have no players that are able to play CM at Premier League standard. Seriously, not one, I mean What The Fuck????

Voices will be heard at Goodison if we get battered by Chelsea and for me that looks a certainty.

What we do know is that the usual clubs bathing in money will dominate once again and it is just a battle to see all the others jockeying for a healthy position behind them.

Our first few games will be crucial, to say the least, but it seems a certainty goals will be hard to come by with the impotence of the forward players.

Frank still hasn't gotten it right in the midfield areas where there always seems to be acres of space for the opposition to play the ball at their leisure.

Not much happening to give us any cause for optimism just yet.

Even Paul Clement has come out and asked for Lampard to start being backed, so things must start happening soon, because it's very, very concerning right now.

They have to be good enough, their club has to be willing to let them go, the price has to be right for both parties, and then on top of that, you have the player's contract.

Players will tend to delay as well to see if better offers come along, that's why a lot of deals are done late on.

I am as fed up as every Blue but would prefer a sensible business-driven approach as opposed to Football Manager or Fantasy Football failure.

After the season we have just had, it was absolutely essential to fix the glaring holes in the team.

The most essential position for me was clearly the centre of midfield – a ballwinner and play maker should have been brought in as soon as the summer window opened.

Factor in the manager's obsession with messing about with a back 3 or 5 and constant team changes and I see nothing but a horrific start.

We have gone from a club seeking a Top 6 placing to a club that could be relegated early next year.

Sign the best midfielders we can realistically get and make us hard to beat with a back 4 and strong midfield. That is my simple message to anyone who wants to listen.

I'm willimg to listen to your simple message, Jim, and I think the emphasis is on your "realistically". Let's see what the time between now and the end of the transfer window brings before marking management's work.

I'd hate to see a teacher call time on an exam before the allotted time was up: "Right, that's enough. You don't need all of the 3 hours; giz a look at yer rubbish!"

How the greatest Evertonian, who saw the odd star playing for us, can now show his face at Goodison Park is beyond me. There is an old St Helens saying "His face could stand clogging" for hard-faced people of which Kenwright can call himself the Everton master of boat race duplicity.

I assume he knew Richarlison was going before the rest of us and all we asked is he had targets lined up and ready to sign. Nah, not the Everton way, eh? Third time if asking but I really hoped he had a bit more about him than the last two.

Still time, I know, but, as things stand now, me / our dream could come true and we could end up with professional people running the club but with the ultimate cost: our Premier League status.

First, I wonder how much money the Premier League will let us spend due to FFP? There could be a limit due to our huge losses over the past three years.

Second, it takes two to tango. I don't believe any player who is worth buying wants to come here. We have to be one of the league's destinations of last resort as the club is a shambles and the team is most likely facing another relegation battle.

The only way to get very good players is to overpay which I doubt we can no longer do. If we get more transfers, they most likely will come late as those players exhaust every opportunity to go to almost any other club in this league or good teams in other leagues.

I ask you this and put your Everton allegiance aside: If you had a choice, would you want to play here?

That, with Frank's persistence in playing 5 at the back in a low block, means we are inviting teams to press us high.

We have watched the same players under numerous different managers and all come to the same conclusion that we can't string more than 1 or 2 passes together and we keep giving possession up.

I was under the impression that,once we got the likes of Tosun, Sigurdsson and Delph off the books, our financial situation would be much improved and we could replace them with quality.

Surely we can find another Usmanov and get some creative sponsorship going.

The incompetence at boardroom level has reached new highs.

You say why would anyone of note want to come here? Well, I thought the remit of a DoF is not to get anyone of note but 㾶 to 12 million rated gems who are scattered all over Europe and beyond.

So far, he's the same as the last two and just reads the transfer gossip columns and attaches this club to the usual suspects, whether they are true or not.

Maybe what he was told was available and what he has actually got to spend are quite different, and maybe if he can't get the targets he thought were affordable, then like Ancelotti, he might decide to walk away as well.

Maybe he reluctantly allowed Richarlison to leave believing this would give him a sizeable kitty to allow him to bring in his intended targets?

People who have spoken to Lampard in places like Ibiza this summer, have said he's told them he loves Everton, and simply because of the fans, but he's also said that the club is in a bit of a mess, although he was probably being quite conservative when he uttered these words, because the mismanagement of our club really has been astounding.

It's only words so far, Moshiri, and words very reminiscent of the man you bought Everton from. The clock is ticking and, unless things change soon, my own view is that you're creating a ticking time-bomb.

However a small particle of optimism still remains that has yet to be snuffed out by the mismanagement of our club and by the Sky 6's FA.

Two of our best signings over the last 27 years cost a total of ٠,080,000; namely Tim Cahill and Seamus Coleman. So there are real bargains to be found if our scouting network and management can perform a similar loaves and fishes type miracle with our minuscule budget. And some of our youngsters, particularly Mills and Warrington, look to have just the right attitude to step up for the fight ahead.

If Tarkowski keeps up the good work and picks out passes like yesterday, then we have a chance of once again dodging the bullet, but no thanks to Blue Bill, Moshiri and Co.

If we can sign the best quality DCM we can afford, it will make a big difference to the team. If we are completely skint after that signing, get a couple of shrewd and targeted loans in.

It is a shameful situation that we have had this level of financial ineptitude, particularly so being owned by a billionaire elite accountant. The fact that Frank wants players like Cornet and Gibbs-White in his first transfer window and we cannot back him up in pre-season is damning.

I am still optimistic that there will be some reinforcements and, as you say, Michael, the sooner the better, but I'd rather a good signing late than a panicked buy now.

Probably too late we could make a move for Cornet, who is more of a team player and who can shoot.

Before he came to Goodison, we were a good team, and when he arrived, we also had players of the calibre of Baines, Coleman, Jagielka and Fellaini, and a few more. And over the years just we would regularly finish 6th, 6th, 6th, 5th, 5th, and 4th, on a budget of 11th, plus an FA Cup Final.

And we also finished above Liverpool on 3 occasions, and 2 of those were in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1937. And all with no money! We will probably never see those sorts of league positions again while this incompetent useless idiot is at Everton.

So, from promising to take us to Champions League, he's nearly taken us to the Championship, and on the brink of bankruptcy because, if we get relegated, who is going to pay the 𧺬M for the new stadium?

So Moshiri, you're even worse than Agent Johnson, and that's saying something.

I can't think of a player who sucked me in more into believing he was something special. I really wanted him to succeed but he has let us down too many times. Maybe La Liga would suit him better.

Am I correct in thinking he has not featured in any of our pre-season games? Is he injured, or maybe Frank has told him he is not part of his plans and needs to find a new home?

Do we all remember Big Sam spunking millions on Walcott and Tosun and getting absolutely zero from them just because he wanted numbers in??

Brian @17 has already written off our new DoF a few months after he arrived. Let's give them a chance.

I'm hoping the delay in signings is because Frank and Kev are being thorough with the incomings. I'd rather wait and get the right people than moan about them not signing the people Jim White thinks we should.

We all know the transfer system is like a pack of cards – once the big money has been spent, the rest follows. Let's just hold our nerve to get the right players.

I really hope that is true.

Also if the above-mentioned transfer of Gomes to Seville goes ahead.

We need to live within our meagre means unfortunately. There are good players available at low cost – they're just not sexy names like Gallagher etc.

There probably will be a few new players once the window closes, they'll just be signed very late because (a) we'll be haggling for the best price and (b) our targets and their selling clubs will have other options.

I doubt that rumour is true but, if it is, then I wonder whether we've incentivised them into taking up the early purchase option by dropping the price slightly – or some other moveable feature of the transfer.

Juventus are under a great deal of financial pressure right now, with significant debts and some murmurings about financial improprieties. Getting Moise Kean out of the club, and drawing a line under his time here, should be a priority for us – even if it costs us a few quid.

His transfer was so strange, so out of left-field, that I have always suspected that it is one of those transfers that was more about the movement of money and placation of agents, owners and financial obligations than anything else.

As I keep going on, we need more help from the midfield in both assisting and scoring more goals. Yes, Richarlison will be missed but I believe we can still get another couple of players in that can keep us in the clear with a finish of between 10th and 14th.

Let's lose the negativity, there are no easy games in the Premier League and, even if some don't believe it, we are a Premier League team, and I don't think other Premier League teams will believe they are in for an easy game.

I won't argue that Richarlison didn't score as many goals as we may have liked, but Everton were a far better team with the Brazilian in the team than without him.

He has lots of flaws, he was at times a pain in the proverbial, but he could set the Goodison crowd alight and we have no ready-made player of his type within the current squad.

Dominic is a quieter type, very much in the early Graeme Sharp mould. Even if he got a hat-trick, for some reason the crowd at Goodison wouldn't react in quite the same way as it did when Richarlison was at it.

I don't think any of our DoFs have been allowed to do their job properly and can't imagine the likes of the return of 'our Wayne', and the signings of Walcott, Tosun, Rondon etc. etc. were the result of competent DoFs being allowed to do their job. Likewise with managerial appointments.

Supporters know where responsibility lies for our dreadful situation, which is at owner/boardroom level where, unfortunately, fans have the least influence.

We don't know how much the club have to spend on players, we don't know who we've got lined up (hopefully some!) to come in on loan and we don't know how they'll gel with the team. I remember Leeds going hell for leather and spending loads, to get into Europe, which they did but they also sank.

I think we all know where we're weakest, and I'm sure Thelwell and Frank are doing all they can to bring the best that they can in each position. It's not going to be easy as we still have the "Fixer" involved in the transfers.
So, anxious times but let's wait and see.

John (40) I'd seen this, and didn't we have Haarland on ouer books, but Koeman evidently let him go. As far as Walsh is concerned I think he was as good, if not a better chooser of players than Brands, IF he'd been allowed to do his job.

So, all in all, my view is that it looks like we've got two seasons in which we'll just have to survive the drop.

Some feel that we have a good squad. I can't share their optimism. I'm hoping, that by the time the window closes, we have a better squad than now. and that a gradual improvement takes place during these two seasons.

Now, IF our plan is to leave it until the last week of the window, I wonder if we are doing this to some extent out of habit.
And I wonder if due diligence has been given to the unusual scheduling of this season's fixture list.
In fact, I wonder what conversations there are inside the club.

A few days after the window shuts, we have the home derby on Sept 3. At 2.30pm that day, our league season will be 16 per cent complete.

The Premier League looks to be more competitive than ever. Not getting to the starting line in prime condition is asking for trouble.

Trying to raise funding for a new stadium with the team in the bottom six would be one heck of a task.

If it's safe to say Forest have enough about them to survive at least, then we are right on the edge again, unless Thelwell does something the previous two couldn't or wouldn't.

My worry though, is that we might have extremely limited funds available, due to our massive overspending re the FFP and Profit and Sustainability rules.

Financial restrictions may come into it, but as contracts seem to be measured in years, how much can it matter if we get them in midway through July compared to 6 weeks later?
Surely the logical conclusion is that our late dealing is the result of not being a clear favourite destination for our targets, or needing time to bargain the selling club down?

All clubs probably miss similar opportunities but for us they really are huge losses.

But don't forget we've had some good times and all the other clubs check what we would do first anyway.

Kenwright, Moshiri and DBB have to go and we need some real leadership with a good understanding of the game AND finance!!!

Walsh said Michael Keane would be a mainstay of the England team for years, but I've heard a similar story with regards to Haaland, and although it wasn't as straightforward as what Walsh is saying, it still doesn't mean Everton didn't miss an absolutely massive trick.

I thought a DoF, was supposed to make things more fluent, but it sounds as though David Moyes had a much better system, when you read about how Everton signed John Stones.

He has been credited with scouting Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Gianfranco Zola, Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and N'Golo Kante for starters. I'm guessing that it was a team effort with maybe Walsh at or near the pinnacle of decision making. Why did he fail so abysmally with us? Forgetting the other DoF duties, why did we sign so many over priced bang average players on his watch?

Thanks for the update on Steve Walsh. He also found Gueye. He was surrounded by an idiot manager, an idiot Chairman, and an Idiot Owner. There was no way he was involved in transfers that sowed the seeds that would eventually see Everton make huge losses, other parties spent money like snow from a ditch.

Yes, Leeds, Forest and Fulham have 10-12 new signings... we have 1-2. It takes time for these new signings to settle in and they could struggle for a few weeks!! We basically have the same squad that barely survived... minus Richarlison whose goals saved us from the drop!!

Our players are well familiar with each other and might give us an edge until the aforementioned gel together.

I can but hope Calvert-Lewin has the season of his life and Dele steps up to the player he was a few years ago...

Lots of ifs and buts, but COYBs!!