We are starting the season with a points deduction. It is not one imposed by the Premier League or the FA. It is a self-imposed points deduction.

Surely, by not signing at least three or four new players, three or four weeks before the start of the season – which would give them time to settle in and allow the manager to blend them in – we have greatly increased the risk of starting the new campaign with sub-optimal performances, dropping points we would not drop if our summer recruitment had gone well.

To make matters worse, this must be the worst ever season to start under-cooked.

Due to the six-week pre-Christmas break, this season starts fast and furious, with five league games in 25 days. I wonder if there has ever been an August where we have played five league matches. In fact, we have six fixtures in that month because we have a League Cup tie too.

And of those five league games, three will be away. So, with the matchdays, the rest days and travelling, there won’t be much time for the manager to do coaching and practice drills at Finch Farm.

Plus, three of these matches might be described as six-pointers. There is a school of thought that we must win our games against the promoted clubs and last season’s relegation battle survivors ... and our first few opponents include Brentford, Leeds and Nottingham 10-signings Forest.

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Then we enter September, with the first derby on the third day of that month. That will be seven matches in 29 games. Quite a demanding schedule for a club with a big, strong, settled squad. For us, very demanding. And at the end of it, there may be a few injuries to contend with.

Perhaps the club has a plan to make signings in the last few days before the transfer window closes on August 31 in an attempt to get more bang for our buck. Or, are we just struggling to do anything at all in the transfer market?

Either way, it makes for a nervous fanbase. Of course, you never know, everything might click into place when we play Chelsea, we string a few wins together and end up being early frontrunners. Stranger things have happened.

But back to that Premier League shutdown in November, after the second weekend of the month. By then, we will have played 16 league games. Last season, at that same point, the figure was 11, a huge difference.

This time, the Premier League season will be 42 per cent complete by November 12. That means good pre-season preparation and recruitment this summer has been more important than ever.

But it looks as though we could be starting the season with hardly any new players, and with just four pre-season games under our belt.

That's what I call a self-imposed points deduction.

How many points? The precise number will be a matter for debate in the autumn. But it could turn out to be a number that costs us dearly.

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Reader Comments (53)

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Mal van Schaick
1 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Our biggest points deduction was the need to sell a Premier League proven goalscorer in Richarlison, leaving us with virtually the same players who took us to the brink of the Championship.

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 £10M 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.

Robert Tressell
2 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Mal, we cannot sell Alli. If he fails with us after just a few games, no-one will buy him other than a free with subsidised wages. On that basis, it's a false economy to get rid.
Shane Corcoran
3 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Although I am myself an accountant, I’m not up to speed with how player purchases and sales are accounted for.

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?

Dennis Stevens
4 Posted 25/07/2022 at
It'll be a strange season & could lead to some oddities in the performance of some clubs.

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.

Stephen Vincent
5 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Shane, since no payment was due prior to 30 June this year, the Delle transaction will show as a contingent liability (contingent upon him playing 20 matches).

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

2018-19 £111M
2019-20 £139.9M
2020-21 £120.91M

That is a total of £371.81M, that is a staggering £266.81m 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.

John Pickles
6 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Are we sure that the penalties of spending and falling foul of FFP are worse than going into the campaign with such a poor squad?

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.

Ben King
7 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Farhad Moshiri, for an accountant, has to be the worst accountant in the world for us to have ended up in this situation

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.

.
Barry Hesketh
8 Posted 25/07/2022 at
I'm sure most, if not all Evertonians have concerns about the lack of incoming players to Goodison, however, the man we have to trust is the manager, I realise he's not everybody's cup of tea, but if we lose trust in him and his management team, we'll be in serious trouble.

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.

Mike Gwyer
9 Posted 25/07/2022 at

Michael Owen.

Great shout. We need to get players in ASAP and if Frank needs £50-70M 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.

Tom Bowers
10 Posted 25/07/2022 at
A lot of doom and gloom right now when the start of last season seemed like a new era and look what happened. Who knows what went wrong and what has not yet been put right?

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.

Tony Abrahams
11 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Interesting that 42% of the season is getting condensed into just over the first three months, which just makes our recruitment even more hard to fathom. I think Moshiri is looking to sell, but he's going to have to do something either way, after his comments about us judging at the end of the transfer window.

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.

Raymond Fox
12 Posted 25/07/2022 at
It's no easy task to sign the right players, is it?

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.

Ian Horan
13 Posted 25/07/2022 at
I would rather sign no one than spunk millions just to keep supporters happy buying players that are just numbers for the squad. Let's have a clear view on what Frank wants and what we can afford!! Let's avoid the spending money we haven't got.

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.

Jim Wilson
14 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Total and utter incompetence.

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.

Brent Stephens
15 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Jim #14 "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!"

Len Hawkins
16 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Looking back does us no favours but, compared to being the Mersey £Millionaires to what we have now, rooting in bins and skips for someone who can actually string a few passes together or the occasional tackle and score the odd goal, is testament to the utter mismanagement of this once great club.

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.

Brian Murray
17 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Can we really take the risk of losing 12 to 15 points before the window shuts by waiting to the last week or so? Even Mr Thelwell surely knows this scenario.

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.

Michael Williams
18 Posted 25/07/2022 at
I dislike this board as much as anyone on here but the talk about the board not doing it's job right now is probably a bit wrong.

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?

Jay Harris
19 Posted 25/07/2022 at
I share everybody's concerns, especially after losing Richarlison. We only have to look at the games where he and/or Calvert-Lewin was missing to see that we hardly had a shot on goal in most games.

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.

Brian Murray
20 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Michael @18.

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 £10 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.

Brian Harrison
21 Posted 25/07/2022 at
I think the comments of Paul Clement in his interview were quite telling, he said that the club have to back Frank. Which tells me Frank and his coaches don't think he is being backed at present, so was he told the truth about our transfer kitty at the end of last season.

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?

Sean Roe
22 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Surely it's as simple as somebody writing '' UY SOME GOOD PLAYERS'' on the side of the stadium. That is indeed how we ended up with our current manager.
Tony Abrahams
23 Posted 25/07/2022 at
This is something that Benitez also alluded to, Brian, and it does make you wonder what Thelwell was also told because we have been very stagnant so far.

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.

John Kavanagh
24 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Desperate times. I still fear a real points deduction or at least a ban on our 12th man on top of the threadbare squad situation, especially with the FA desperate to make a statement about pitch invasions following today's 'get tough' announcements – and lo and behold – who should be available and already charged ready for them to do just that?

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 £2,080,000; 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.

Tony Everan
25 Posted 25/07/2022 at

Michael, I agree a solid start and some momentum is very important every season but this season even more so.

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.

Joe McMahon
26 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Personally I'd like us to sound out Newcastle with Calvert-Lewin. They may seem to think there is a goalscoring striker there.

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

Peter Collins
27 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Moshiri, and only Moshiri, is responsible for the collapse of this great club.

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 £500M for the new stadium?

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


Brian Hennessy
28 Posted 25/07/2022 at
On transfers, I do hope these rumours of Gomes to Sevilla have some legs. It would be a massive boost to offload his wages and get a fee for him.

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?

James Newcombe
29 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Maybe we already had the best man in as DoF - he just wasn't allowed to do his job properly, while others pushed for the likes of Tosun and Klaassen to come instead. This is a staggering article. And he signed Idrissa Gueye! How we could use a player like him right now.
Mike Gaynes
30 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Mal #1, I would remind you that Richarlison scored exactly three goals in the first half of last season.
Gary Jones
31 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Mike@30 - and yet still finished highest scorer, with nearly 40% higher goals than second place (who is also missing until maybe Xmas)….
David White
32 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Ian @13. My thoughts exactly!! Whatever money we have, needs to be spent wisely, with a clear plan of what's needed now and into the future.

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.

Dave Lynch
33 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Just read a rumour that Juve have triggered Moise Kean's buy clause.
Steve Shave
34 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Dave @33,

I really hope that is true.

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

Robert Tressell
35 Posted 25/07/2022 at
We cannot stick two fingers up, spend big and take the points deduction. We would be successfully sued by whoever gets relegated if it is not us (and the FA may automatically relegate us anyway for the blatantly deliberate breach).

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.

Andrew Keatley
36 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Dave (33),

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.

Nick Page
37 Posted 25/07/2022 at
You never know, Bill might find the Arteta money in one of his old suit pockets, sewn into the leg. Happy days….
Bill Gall
38 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Personally, I think we are overpraising the goalscoring of Richarlison in the Premier League. He played in 30 out of 38 Premier League games, scoring 10 goals. Calvert-Lewin scored 5 goals playing in only 17 out of the 38 games.

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.

Barry Hesketh
39 Posted 25/07/2022 at
Bill @38

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.

John Kavanagh
40 Posted 26/07/2022 at
James @ 29. Thanks for the link. If true, it looks like Walsh was left in the school book depository whilst Blue Bill and Moshiri made their getaway from the grassy knoll. The fact that he's even providing the agreed fees lends credibility to his account.

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.

Jim Lloyd
41 Posted 26/07/2022 at
I think it's idiotic to risk a points deduction by spending a mint on top class players. Their transfer fees and their wages will be massive, as everyone and their dog knows we're in the mire.

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.

Mike Owen
42 Posted 26/07/2022 at
I appreciate we don't want to be signing players for the sake of it. But Forest have signed ten. Yes, possibly too many at once. But we might assume that once last season ended, the people in charge there got their heads together, drew up a plan and worked on it.

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.

Brian Murray
43 Posted 26/07/2022 at
Mike.

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.

Jim Lloyd
44 Posted 26/07/2022 at
I only hope that this signing up of players late in the day, almost last-minute with some, and after the deadline with a couple, is the Everton Way. Well it's been the Everton way since Kenwright's been in charge.

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.

Si Cooper
45 Posted 26/07/2022 at
I’d rather wait until last week of the transfer window and get better players than deal early and get players that flop. I can’t see it being preference or even just habit that would lead us to leaving much needed signings until late.
Well, I suppose we could just be really bad at identifying targets and then persuading them to join us, but for the sake of my blood pressure I’m going to assume that behind the scenes there are people at the club working hard on finding the right players to strengthen our squad. Unfortunately we just need to recognise that our recruitment drive may be hindered by adverse current circumstances.

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?

Ian Hollingworth
46 Posted 26/07/2022 at
James @29 wow that is a staggering article. By 'the club', I would bet he means the Chairman.

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.

Jay Harris
47 Posted 26/07/2022 at
James 29 it just shows the lack of unity throughout the club which remains today.

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

Tony Abrahams
48 Posted 26/07/2022 at
I blame Kenwright for our downfall, but I would never blame him for stuff like this if it's true, because surely it should have been down to whoever the manager was, unless this has been part of the problem?

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.

Peter Neilson
49 Posted 26/07/2022 at
I remember Steve Walsh being interviewed after his sacking explaining that he was looking forward to going on a DoF course to help him understand more about the role. Bolted horse, stable door etc. I'd be interested in the views of any of the knowledgeable Toffeweb posters from the USA on how Steve Walsh has done since being named Special Advisor at Charlotte FC. On some sites he's credited with recruiting a new squad from scratch.

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?

Jerome Shields
50 Posted 26/07/2022 at
Peter #49

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.

Paul Elliot
51 Posted 26/07/2022 at
There are a lot of pros and cons here!!

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!!

Rick Tarleton
52 Posted 28/07/2022 at
Rick Tarleton
53 Posted 28/07/2022 at
The elephant in the room next season is the World Cup half way through it. If you think the first half is condensed with so many league fixtures in August, just wait till players return to their clubs after the World Cup, played in a vicious climate, and after the physical and emotional upheaval that this event will cause.
The second half of the season will be full of injuries, players physically and emotionally drained and some very strange results, particularly for the bigger teams who will have more of the squad involved in this ridiculously planned event.
Thank you Sepp Blatter.

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