Newcastle links with Gordon strengthen

Demanding £100k and pushing for a move after a below-average output for a attacking player.

He went past two players like they were not there on Saturday, then put in a decent ball, that Tarakowski, might have scored from, so the kid has definitely loads of ability, but if he’s got a bad attitude (I’d say he probably thinks he his better than he his) then this is very worrying, because he will never hit the heights he his capable off if this is true.

I spoke to a kid who I saw on the Yerry Mina video floating around (true this) and I wound him up telling him that he would be getting a knock, and I’d heard the club were going to be taking season tickets, off anyone found to be involved in this anti-social behavior.

Mina was alright he said, I know kid, but what about Anthony Gordon I said, he looked absolutely terrified. Gobshite him Toe, he said, he thought he was clever and was just laughing at a few lads, then drove away. He didn’t realize the street was blocked, he’s not a scouser him.

And they want more !

"Demanded £100k a week" – I'd like to see that quote.

"Rumours of a bad attitude" – Where? Posters on ToffeeWeb?

Five posts and not a good word said about our most promising youngster for years. There'll be plenty more…

If anyone makes a concrete offer – anybody at all!!! – Gordon should get out of this club as fast as he possibly can.

He's 21 and, like every other player we have, he has struggled through the first half of the season.

"He's absolutely shite. We should just sell him for £30-40 million Plus of course, a striker thrown in."

Defies belief!

I'm torn on Anthony Gordon. I understand from those who watched him develop as a youngster, there were questions over his attitude. I hope that isn't creeping in again.

I can only comment on what I've seen watching him on the pitch. He was great towards the end of last season and has shown glimpses this season. He's a young player with talent who has had a dip in form. Which is natural for developing young players. Especially when so much is expected on young shoulders in the shit show that is Everton right now. Always over to the supporters regardless of the shit served up and the fervour coming from the terraces. He doesn't hide on the pitch. During and after.

That's my football head on. My concern is that his head had been turned, and as some may suggest, he thinks he is better than he is before he's developed and matured into the player he can potentially become.

This is not a like-for-like analogy, as no two players are the same. But I hope he becomes more of a Leon Osman rather than a Francis Jeffers, Jack Rodwell or Ross Barkley. There are examples from other clubs who jumped too early. Scott Parker springs to mind; gave up regular football to warm the bench at Chelsea.

But then we need to be mindful of Rooney's recent revelations. It's not always the player. If the club are trying to sell him, what do we expect? If my company was trying to get rid of me, I'd be looking at other options and trying to get the best deal.

He's a lot less effective in a plodding, turgid, deep lying ultra cautious, confidence shot set up - which has lost all sense of how it is trying to score a goal.

I expect he could look very good in a well functioning team with good movement, which presses high and attacks at pace and in numbers.

Then, I reflect on the points made:

believed own hype... senior players

below average play... senior players

thinks he is better than he is...senior players

'bad attitude'... senior players

wanting 100k a week. senior players

Yep, all relevant when I think about our SENIOR PLAYERS over the last 6 years. A shower of shite to a man, pea-hearts, zero standards, cowardly.

Why particularly target our younger players for stick?

At the end of the day his main asset is work rate and pace, last season he scored 4 goals, not a great return and this season he has 3.

He's not come off the back of a 16 goal Andrei Kanchelskis season so I don't know where those 60 million valuations came from.

The media are the ones to blame for hyping up a player that isn't actually that good at least not yet in his career anyway.

The negative narrative is building up really quickly, and we need a minor miracle on Saturday to turn things around. Bad times for Evertonians!

I'm trying to be positive I know but, if our own players are really up for the fight, then together we can change everything. It's “us against the world” will hopefully unite us, and do us a lot more good than a kid who can't get near Man Utd's first team!

Good reference to Kanchelskis Jim. I think Kanchelskis was about 26 when he came to Everton. An established player in Sir Alex Ferguson's all conquering Manchester United team with about 8 trophy medals to his name and a lot of experience of playing in a winning team.

I'm not sure a 21 year old who came through at Finch Farm and was flung into a struggling team facing relegation with a weight of expectation on his shoulders is a straight forward or fair comparison with Kanchelskis.

But I agree with you and get your point. He's being hyped up before he's really even started. What was it the very wise Joe Royle once said about a young Duncan Ferguson being in danger of becoming the legend before he became the player?

Wise words that proved true in my opinion. Another player that never lived up to the hype despite his obvious passion for Everton. Although, and maybe just me, he always struck me as a reluctant footballer.

Given our financial situation he should most definitely have been sold in the summer if the offer was real, in his career so far his productivity is no where near worth the money they were offering and that we need

He was given the no 10 in a move by the club to say 'he's our future' 'he's our star boy'.

The Chelsea interest came about - not from Tuchel but the new American owner - and the narrative changed.

Now he was a '60m player', no longer a young local lad in his development years.

he was then hung out to dry by playing him as a false-9 because we didn't sign a striker, and he struggled, just as everyone struggled.

He then became the focal point of fan anger - 'we could have got 60m' 'its gone to his 'ead' 'he's believing his own hype' etc etc

all the while, his actual performance is not far from where it was. he has scored some goals, just like last season - but no, he's not on par with Saka, few are. he's inconsistent, and very much in the 'learning period'. But at this stage with a club in total dissaray.

A massive lack of moral, a squad with no leadership, no role models, a manager who has no experience in working with or developing young players (most managers begin their careers at development squad coaching, Lampard went straight to first team football).

So now we should get rid and take the money? Cause as shown with the Richarlison money, our club is totally reliability going to reinvest that money well.

If Gordon does leave, which he probably is desperate to to try and get out of the rut that is this club and develop his career, I guess he'll have a good career ahead of him.

And soon enough, we can all start singing Price's name, or Mill's, or Warrington's or whoever and then in 12 months we can all start calling them shithouses too.

Lots of energy and running around with little or no end product. He may improve with the right coaching but presently he offers little in the way of creativity, composure and goal scoring threat.

Subsequently his performances have deteriorated. Clearly he has potential, he has some attributes notably pace and skill which suggest he could still be a success in the Premier League, but there is much work to be done on the training ground to improve consistency and application.

At present if a substantial offer came in for him I would take it because we need players who can deliver now, not at some uncertain stage in the future.

Make the move for goodness sake!

I agree on your last point. That being said if a substantial offer came in for any of our players I'd sell them.

I remember last season where he was one of the few squad members who would approach the crowd following yet another defeat. He also started this season in decent form.

If the figures being thrown around are to be believed, then at this point in time we will probably have to cash in... But I wouldn't be surprised to see him kick on and play for England in the future!

Don’t think there’s much going back from being verbally abused whilst trapped in a Walton side street. If that kind of moneys there, take it. For his sake as well as ours.

What I'm trying to say is he needs time to develop into a better all round player.

I totally agree and that's why well run clubs use the loan system. Someone like Mason Mount got a season at Vitesse Arnhem, then at Derby. He had a chance develop before the Premier League.

Gordon, a similar player, has had a disrupted half-season at Preston before being chucked into a really awful side – now onto the 3rd / 4th manager since he made his debut.

A promising young player, seen as some kind of hero/saviour when he's been in the first team for 5 minutes. Playing in a slow, disorganised team where barely a soul knows where the goal is and there's more movement in the Gormley statues on Crosby Beach. Fans accosting him when they're apparently protesting against the board. A board which is clueless, beyond spending money badly.

He'd be some player in a fast, pressing team with good movement and strikers. I'm sure that's what Lampard wants, but I'm less sure he'll be creating that here.

If I was Gordon, I'd be thinking I could do better elsewhere.

It makes me sick to think of us being a laughing thanks to that fat fuck and his money laundering, tax dodging, sugar daddy!!! I hate the pair of them.

I do think there’s a real player in Anthony but he’s probably better off far away from the cesspool these two gobshites have created.

Then most of the Richarlison funds on McNeill, Maupay for a combined £34 million who have added next to nothing, to the damning extent of being unused substitutes on Saturday, even when being behind to the bottom club.

Thelwell seems invested and trying his best for us so I’m still just about confident he will get more right than not. Especially if he is left to do his job without any unwanted interference from some amateurs at the club.

We have not played so far to the strengths of Maupay and McNeil and their confidence is currently shot.

We must, really must, hold our nerve.

Could Mchael Keane be on his way to Italy? He could be if reports in Italy are accurate.

According to TuttoSalernitana (as per Football Italia), Serie A side Salternitana are in talks with Keane's agent and are looking to push through a deal.

The 30-year-old as barely figured for the Blues this season, after losing his place in the team to summer signings James Tarkwoski and Conor Coady.

It sounds like Keane could need some convincing on the move however. Should he make the move to Italy, he would be swapping one relegation battle for another, with Salernitana currently sitting 16th in Serie A, albeit they are nine points clear of 18th-placed Verona.

The report says that the Italian outfit will hold further talks with Keane's agent on Monday, as they try to convince him to make the move overseas.

He can join the support group of Southgate's jilted center backs along with Tomori and Smalling

The coaches need to get hold of him and deploy him in a position that suits him. It might be on the left side so he can cut in or it might be centre midfield in a more advanced position.

I don't see the same potential in him as I did in Davies or Barkley at the same age or younger but then look what happened to them. Leon Osman is the perfect example of bearing with a youth player can pay dividends.

I would like it if we kept him on the books and to see him flourish as I admired how he behaved during lockdown where he went away to a house with a mate who was a personal trainer and worked on himself so that Ancelotti saw the progression and played him.

Err.... Gordon has been clocked as the fastest player in the Premier League this season.

What a traitorous money grabbing turncoat toe rag!!! Just kidding. I don’t know how good he may one day become but I wouldn’t be surprised if we sell him and keep the money given our dire finances. In which case it will happen at midnight deadline day and go into the piggy bank with the Arteta money

Is that with or without ball?

I am genuinely surprised he's the quickest in the league and that would make me wonder what needs to happen to make him more effective.

What do we know? Positively, he was one of a small handful of players (and alot of loud, passionate fans) who kept us up last year, together with Richie and Pickers. He tracks back, he has bags of talent (one of a few academy success stories over the years) and he is one of us.

Negatively, he is still young and developing, he needs to work on his end product, his form has dipped (in accordance I believe with the increase in speculation and rumours about other clubs and alot of "fan" negativity since towards him). He has been dropped, his own "fans" chased him out of the car park last week calling him a "shithouse".

If I were his advisor or parent I would be telling him to get the fuck out of this toxic club and go thrive elsewhere in an environment and club that supports young player development. We don't do that here, we put them on a pedestal to meet our outdated and lofty expectations, only to knock them down the second they disappoint us.

We are repeatedly praised for our passion (and rightly so) but if some fans can't see how the above mentioned behaviours and reactions to one of our own isn't part of the great Everton conundrum then I don't know what else to say.

Gordon will have to stay til the end of the season.

Oh and Gordon is a one trick pony wearing blinkers.

I'm not his biggest fan but we have always done the same as fans, jumped all over every kid who wasn't Rooney. We buy player after player who are absolutely shite, yet we choose to pick on the homegrown lads (Gordon and Davies), or the cheap buys (Calvert-Lewin or Holgate).

Gordon is young and obviously talented, why wouldn't we want to keep him?! But every player has a price and, if that price is met, then move him on; if not, he needs to be in our starting 11 under a new manager and supported.

Someone talking sense at last.

I find Gordon much more brave than Gray and Iwobi and who of those three is 21 and who is mid-20??

If we are turning the ship I will much rather keep Gordon than types like Gray and Iwobi.

The problem being we are desperate and he'll probably go for £40M to pay off Frank and Co.

Maybe we get Longstaff in return, doh!

Concentrating on Everton though, who's to say our new manager, whoever it may be, isn't going to come in and get 20 goals out of Maupay between now and the end of the season?

Anthony had a good start to the season, but hasn't really produced in the last few months, then again nobody else has either. I don't believe that a few oddballs shouting stuff at him has any bearing on his desire to move or stay, he's a Scouser and therefore knows the way things can be on the streets of Liverpool. If he was so thin-skinned he wouldn't have made it to this level in the game, he like most young players wants to be in with a chance of winning stuff and there's little chance of that happening for Everton in the near to mid-term future.

If Gordon and Onana do go, then we know the club have accepted relegation and are putting together a war-chest for next season. Moshiri will be telling Bielsa, don't worry we don't expect you to keep us up, so play the kids and the has-beens until May, and then you can spend £100m to get us promoted next season.

Will he get better? Probably.

Are we in a position to be developing potential in the first team right now? Definitely not.

Are we a club that can't turn a big offer for any of our players right now? Unlikely.

On one hand, I'd love to see him stay at Everton and be a success.

On the other, would we miss him? I'm not sure.

It's on the cards. He didn't appear on Saturday even though he was on the bench, which says a lot when we were chasing the game.

Seems he's gone.

As I said in another thread, we are selling the assets before being forced into a fire sale. You cannot help get the feeling the club is spiraling downwards and it's gathering terminal pace.

Who ever is sanctioning these sales is accepting relegation.

Are you telling me a young man with the world at his feet doesn't like being chased down the street by some feral morons screaming abuse at him?

What a snowflake.

It was totally 'jobs for the boys' by Bill Kenwright.

Both clubs tried to sign the 21-year-old in the summer but neither could agree a fee with the Toffees.

However, there is a belief Everton may be more open to a sale this month in order to generate funds for Frank Lampard's replacement as manager, although it is unlikely either would pay the £60M Everton would ideally want.

The situation is complicated as it is not known how long it will take Everton to name a new manager.

Nevertheless, it is expected both clubs will step up their efforts to sign Gordon, who was an unused substitute in Saturday's 2-0 defeat at West Ham, which proved to be Lampard's last game in charge.

It has been suggested Chelsea would be willing to loan Gordon back to Everton for the remainder of the season, although it is felt Newcastle are favourites to sign the England Under-21 international.

Gordon is not ready and can't consistently affect games - yet. Know one knows when that is coming. I think he is a very good player already, just not got the finishing power yet. Messi is so much shorter but has that incredible power from range as an example. Gordon just hasn't found it yet.

With that money we can get 2 ready-to-go clinical finishers in. Imagine if we had the goals of either Siggy, Rodriguez or Richarlison we'd be in the top 10 right now. Gordon is nowhere near in terms of end product like these 3 players. If he was 24 and 20% better and getting 4 or 5 goals a season, would you take £40 million? A lot of clubs would.

We can even be creative and give Thelwell extra staff budget with some of that money to hire more of the best scouts in Europe and have a list ready for the summer.

Our two main problems is not selling when we get a good offer, and not having better players ready to offer to buy when we sell. This can be quickly rectified.

This should of been us after the investment from Moshiri, instead we are facing down the barrel at relegation or potential ruin.

Sound transfers and building slowly and they are in the top 4 and looking to build further.

There must be something seriously wrong at Everton.

1) Instant Cash Injection to improve our Cash Flow: We are £300 Million in red, so the deal needs to bring in an instant lump sum amount that can bring that amount down significantly. For me, it has to be at least £50 Million (Gordon is a Brit! The "Brexit" Premium needs to be priced in).

2) Allow us to strengthen: If the aforementioned amount is large enough, then we shall be able to have the "cookie crumbs" to strengthen the squad

3) Continue to benefit from Gordon's development & evolutions: Should Anthony contintue his ascension, he might wear the Three Lions one day scoring some goals, winning some trophies while winning the league and winning a Golden Boot (after Haaland has inevitably moved to Real Madrid) at club level. The deal needs to ensure us in a position to be benefited financially with those too. So, Add-Ons with various levels of likelihood would need to be included

4) If Anthony turns out a Gareth Bale 2.0, one of his future subsequent transfers could be record breaking. We can't miss out from that too, despite the nominal "Training Compensation" that FIFA stipulates for us. A significant % of Future Transfer Revenue need to be negotiated and secured in the deal. Not just merely "% of Future Profit": Kenwright indeed included such a clause in the Rooney Deal for Everton to get a % of Future Profit should Rooney be sold. Where did Rooney move on after ManU? Us, FFS! On a Free Transfer no less (thus the clause was voided and we are left with nothing amongst other "nothing" from the deal)

In short, from our current precarious situation, we absolutely cannont afford another Rooney Deal and have to force the Barcode & others coming to us with a "Godfather Offer" ("cue Marlon Brando saying: "I'll make him an offer he can't refuse" Link)

My Godfather Offer starts with parameters below:

- A Single Payment of £55 Million at the time of Transfer (no installments)

- £35 Million "Add-On" based on achievable milestones in the upcoming future (no more paltry & remote "£100,000 after 200 League Games played" that Kenwright & his entourage negotiated to puff up the Total Deal Amount)

- 25% of All Future Transfer Income that the Buying Club would receive on Gordon in the future

If Marc Cucurella, a non-Brit playing a less critical position on the field, can be sold for £55 Million, we need to fully embrace NSNO to make sure we are not having a Rooney Deal 2.0.

If the Barcode is indeed coming in with an initial bid of £30 Million, it would be nowhere close to achieving Point (1) above, let alone the others. Thelwell needs to laugh them off and not be bluffed.

I predict he will go on to be just bang average. He couldn't lace Rooney’s or Barkley’s boots at that age.

I for one am not in that group. You don't speak for me.

Dean 125 - very few could match a 21-year-old Rooney. Would Barkley have done much better in the current regime? Maybe a bit.

But Gordon has potential, and last season showed he had passion and fight to match his talent. I remain convinced he's got lots of potential, but sadly in our situation we probably can't turn down the money for 'potential'.

Loads of talent, but players only get to the top with real application, and maybe this is why I have never been fully endeared to the boy.

Good luck Anthony, work harder son, and try and make your talent flourish. There is more to life than money, kid, and at least you are getting away from a horrible dysfunctional football club, which might just give you a better chance of succeeding.

Everton need money - so hopefully we can look back fondly and thank Anthony one day, but the one thing Moshiri said, that was “definitely true” was that our recruitment has been incredibly substandard.

We have got to keep the faith and believe, no matter how far fetched this actually seems to anyone with a bit of intelligence right now!

Those three, four or five players won’t be free, so it looks like Gordon, Onana will be sold to fund Bielsa’s plan of action.

If that’s the plan , or whatever the plan is, and Mr Moshiri assures us there is one, they’ll have to get a move on, only six days left of this window.

For me, the player seems to have been sulking since missing out on a big move in the summer. No point keeping him if he is unhappy and wants to go, as he will not play well moving ahead.

The wide man took the advice of fellow professional Ross Barkley, who told him that London as a city is a distraction amid links with Chelsea this window. [Source:EFC Daily]

as if we'll actually see any of the Gordon money. Pretty sure it'll deposited in the same account as the Arteta money.

and we sell a first team player, albeit out of form, with 50 odd premier league games to his name, for little more. with no replacements lined up, with our only genuine transfer move rejecting us in favour of a bench role, whilst we sit 19th, with no manager.
but we get some money to help towards debts cause our board seem resigned to relegation.

great news

we lack goals and creativity and he is one of the few that can provide it. It speaks volumes that Onana said that Lampard was still the best player at the club

Look at his stats. How many goals has he scored? How many goals has he made? It's a meagre return. For all of his huff and puff there is no end product. He lacks overall vision of the game and positional awareness of his teammates.

His 'Superstar' status baffles me. The press invented it and the fans have run with the myth.

We should have snatched Chelsea's hands off when we had the chance. Lampard must now rue the day, as the money could have bought a proper goalscorer who may have kept him in a job and the team might not be in the perilous situation they are now facing.

His 'form' has dipped and he has depreciated in sale price since then. Can't people see that?

Take whatever Newcastle or anyone else offer for him and use the money on a striker capable of getting us out of this mess ASAP.

as if the two things are not somehow related.

good coaching and in a team with confidence and a actual attacking gameplan will see Gordon improve.

he may not become a world beater, but he'll certainly be better than anyone we buy, and being English his value will soar.

But hey, 35 million in the bank to never be seen again and a new fit Andros Townsend, wehey

Get some of those petro dollars here and use them for a half decent striker or two.

Sell McNeil, Keane, Holgate, DCL, Maupay if we get any offers.

Sell him ? Well perhaps we might have to but treat him with some decency, he is one of our own.

What's the point in cheering on a club full of rich foreign mercenaries who could not give a shit about the fans or the badge

I take huge pride in knowing he's grown up around the club

I want Everton to be full of home grown talent ideally. That's not going to ever happen if we just hound each one out the door

Surely a team full of younng Evertonians is better than a team full of Champagne Charlie's?

The problem is we can't trust Everton to sign the quality players that we need in our relegation battle, and it may be more squandered money.

If we are relegated? We may have to take £20 million in the summer.

It's the situation we are in.

Whatever you think of the standard of any of these players, this is seriously bad news.

Gordon is bang out of form, sure, but is still our second top scorer. He'll get 7-10 goals a season easy. Goals we need. He's young, rapid and has the potential to be a very dangerous player. It baffles me that people just shrug their shoulders as if there's a dozen more like Gordon on the market we can buy for peanuts.

We have a nasty habit of selling our best players and failing to replace them. Does anyone have any faith that we will spend this money wisely?

I don't even have faith that we'll spend the money on incoming players.

We are here in trouble because we sold a certain Brazilian after last season.

To be fair, Lukaku was the most prolific scorer we've had since a one-off season with Lineker.

Put him in the stands, write off the £10k a week, and let him rot for 2 years. Make a fucking stand that contracts mean something, for fuck's sake.

The "fans" are reaping what they sowed.

That aside, he's overrated. His goals-to-games ratio is on par with Michael Keane. Maybe Keane could be the new Paul Warhurst.

"Kind of wishing the lads who pulled the car gave him a bit more grief."

Do we know he is demanding to leave?

Say anything enough and it becomes gospel to many, but the fans are reaping what they sow, is an absolute belter, considering how many line up on the streets hours before the kick off, to try and gee these players up.

We could do both. We could straighten Tom Davies' hair and send him to Newcastle wearing a Gordon shirt.

Newcastle wanted Tom Davies at the beginning of last season Kieran, but they are shopping in a different league now.

I know you are in a very big bracket that can’t stand Davies, but I honestly still think we will need him this season, and if Bielsa comes in, he might even become an important player?

Bold shout I know, Kieran, but strange things happen in football!

The feral ones are feral.
The xenophobic ones are xenophobic

The fact is, far too many "fans" are abusive idiots who are bringing our reputation down to the gutter. You have the choice to decide which side you're on, but I'm not going to compromise my morals and forgive this disgusting behaviour because they've got a Hafnia top in their drawer.

I'm guessing that self-awareness isn't one of your talents.

I'm not going to reply to you after this comment tonight.

I'm sure we'll lock horns in the future.

As for the description of "feral" in respect of the little rat that chased his car. Feral is appropriate. I would even go further and suggest he be identified and banned from the Ground.

Does anyone really think present players and potential signings are going to be impressed seeing that? Has done harm to the image of the club.

I see that Gordon will be back at training tomorrow. For how long of course is another matter.

I think with social media now these stupid punks are even worse behaved because they act up to the camera and post it online to impress their mates. Use their own evidence against them and ban them. Maybe that would deter others from acting likewise.

I thought Gordon finished last season really strongly but those rumours of a Chelsea move definitely turned his head. This season his form has dipped like most of the team.

Times like this we need players to stick together and create a siege mentality. Having Gordon mopping around will be detrimental to the team. He has to be sold. Showing true colours at this point at least gives us a chance to get a transfer fee for him.

Frustrations always have and always will come out. Anthony will understand that, but it should never ever be violent or abusive. A 21 year old from Kirkdale who's name we chanted repeatedly in the run in last season.

I know it doesn't represent the vast majority, but chased out of Goodison.

Well said Neil Copeland. A pleasure to meet you and walk on that prolonged trek to Stratford on Saturday. I wish it could have been in better circumstances. See you next time.

Remember the recent Rooney interview.

The club is at play here too.

As was Rooney...

Remember Barkley getting sucker punched in a bar? They are Evertonians but they are also human beings with feelings and ambitions. Give the kid a chance.

They may turn their attention to one of our supposed targets, Hakim Ziyech, if they drop their interest in Gordon.

It's not as if somebody is gonna give us £70M and it balances the books so why even think of selling him? Get rid of all the other deadwood first.

As an American who chose Everton to root for about 10 years ago (which gives me sort of an outsider perspective to view things) for reasons I will not explain, I will say this: If I were a young player, I would never sign for this club.

This is the club whose supporters ripped John Stones when it was clear he was more talented than any other English center-back. It's just that, when he was here, he was making young player mistakes.

It is almost the same with Gordon, who is not as talented as Stones was when compared to other players in his position but who really does have that something extra. He's 21, for God's sake. It takes some players time to get there and, in a dysfunctional unit like Everton, it will take longer… if they can get there at all.

I mean, my God, are any of those players learning anything with Frank there? Of course not! Not one player has improved their quality. All of them have regressed.

For all the Gordon haters – just shut the fuck up and realize if any of these players had the chance to get out of this club and move to a real club, they would take it. They have careers, family etc – just like we do.

Like many of Everton's young prodigies including Ross Barkley, Gordon and Stones, they had little idea of how to make intelligent in-game decisions.

There must have been something wrong in the coaching at Finch Farm that so many young players were/are unable to make good in-game decisions. Maybe too much of the coaching was based on doing what they were told rather than giving them opportunities in practice to develop their football intelligence!

If you don't want to disclose why you support Everton, then why do you mention you don't want to disclose the reason of your support in every post?

There are hundreds of posters on here and I have no idea why they support the club – neither is it something I am concerned about. So why are you such an attention seeker?

One of these days I will wake up to realise I am part of a social media explosion where no one knows the truth, no one tells the truth and everyone doesn't care! (Even if they are mortally offended!) My god, I am just as bad!

But seriously, before posting stop and think. Are we to believe the media? No... Do we believe the Club? well no actually... Do we believe Fred's mate who knows the tea lady's son... abso-bloody-lutely!

How many youngsters, or even senior players, are hung out to dry by inference rather than truth?

Don't get me wrong, many aren't the full Echo, the closest they get to a goal is playing Spot the Ball...

So. Gordon is being hyped up by his agent, he is sorry to see a mentor go in Lampard, he is subject to abuse driving home in his car, on this website and others, probably in the street.

Let's face it, he isn't going to be handling all this well at his age. But here we go again – how much is he on, bad attitude, blah blah... just fill in his name on the same bullshit media rags that they used the same story for James, Rodwell, Stones, Barkley, Digne, Lukaku in fact any name you like.. the list is getting long.

Of course, the club are never involved, are they? Just leave the odd open-ended comment, or quote from an insider crap.

Guys, we need every bit of talent we can get. Not money. We can't even get a player to sign for us, so let's sell a few. Lord help us...

Encourage — and don't believe all you hear.

Stones is different from Gordon. We bought Stones based on his quality. Gordon was homegrown and not highly rated until lack of options allowed him to get into the team.

I'm pretty convinced, on ability, he gets in our best 11 right now; but if he wants to go (and who could blame him), then he can go.

He does seem to have downed tools a bit. There won't be room for that over the next few months.

In the distastefully weird world of modern-day football, the younger Saka (of Arsenal) must be close to being valued at a £1billion. And, exciting as he is, he's not that good.

Just like our Anthony.

This lad needs an arm around the shoulder and the support of his fellow Evertonians.

We are far too quick to jump on our own instead of nurturing and cultivating them.

Whilst we all become frustrated with daily reports that actually don't say anything (the Red Echo), the reactions often go over the top rather than dig a little deeper. We speculate, give opinion as best we can... but abuse? Really?

Moshiri called for patience, but the fans are getting paranoid. Frankly, now is not the time to abuse players when we need them to come together.

I'd say Gordon has more heart than most but, as you say, there are younger players doing better, Saka among them.

I hate the yobs abusing him and dislike the character assassination by some on here but, if we could sell him for £30 million on the back of four goals, I'd take it.

Then we get El Bobble, a mysterious Twitter poster with a patchy track record who's accepted as gospel, while established newspapers like The Guardian post articles about Moshiri selling the club that are immediately dismissed as untrue by the man himself.

Beyond that there are rumors Tony Abraham's referred to about him refusing to play v West Ham Utd. Beyond that, Twitter is full of stories about Coady supposedly punching him. But of course there is zero evidence to back up any of this.

It reminds me of Howard Kendall Mk III coming out and saying Gary Speed refused to play West Ham Utd even though Kendall told him not to travel, having decided to cash in on him after Speedo apparently confronted him about his disease.

Point being, even an Everton legend like Howard Kendall might bend the truth on occasion — so why do people blindly accept gossip put out by some nameless weirdo calling himself El Bobble?

Right now, that's not us. And we need some money.

We need players who want to be here. If he wants to go, let him go with best wishes.

"Many young players were/are unable to make good in-game decisions. Maybe too much of the coaching was based on doing what they were told rather than giving them opportunities in practice to develop their football intelligence!"

Sorry, mate, you've got the cart before the horse there.
There's 'Instinct' and there's 'The Percentage Ball'.

Those players you mentioned all have good Instinctive skill, so, as they come up the age groups, being head and shoulders above their peers... literally, And figuratively in Barkley's case, their coaches – as it's making the win stats look good – just let them get on with it. *

*See Barkley's goal vs Newcastle - pure Instinct. Lukaku's waiting in vain for the final pass (as glory-hunting goal-hangers do) but I'm not sure Barkley even sees him – he's in his own little zone.

Which is all okay when it works – but not when you end up doing that 360 thing that Barkley did so often. All the (footballing) gear… but no idea.

It's hard to tell if the Coaches aren't telling them about "The Percentage Ball" or they can't or won't listen, or it just goes in one ear and out the other – there being no real football brain in the middle to soak it up.

Let's label him a greedy bastard even though we don't know him.

Let's create "rumors" that he has a bad attitude and keep circulating them until we can pass it off as the truth.

Let's abuse him (the youngest player on the pitch) when he heads home after playing a small part of a complete shit show by everyone at the club.

Let's make fuck-witted demands to cut our penniless nose off to spite our penniless face by sticking him in the stand to rot.

Oh, I almost forgot: Let's rip the evil bastard to shreds if he wants to escape the living hell we have created for him.

Some people on here wouldn't know a footballer if he crashed through their living room wall in his Gold Bentley.
Like John Stones, Gordon will be a top star winning trophies in a couple of years time and his haters will still be popping up to claim they were right all along.

Moshiri was right. Many of the fans of this club are getting exactly what they deserve. The problem is: the rest of us a getting it too. If, as many claim, the club is cursed, it's most definitely a curse we brought upon ourselves.

I find it disgusting to watch people who were putting up outright lies they had read in the fucking Sun to discredit and hate this kid, now trying to sneak across the other side of the house holding up a clean pair of hands as if it was nothing to do with them.

That's Everton Football Club for you mate.

Remember when we had that flat track bully Romelu Lukaku, that everyone moaned about, the one who scored 20 goals a season?

People complaining Barkley ran down blind alleys (despite being a goalscoring midfielder with a rocket shot).

Well, we are finally left with Frankenstein's monster of a club.

This has quickly become my favorite running joke on ToffeeWeb, the mysterious origin of Michael Williams's Everton allegiance. No matter how much we beg, plead, cajole or threaten, he'll never tell! We'll all go to our graves never knowing – BWA-HA-HA-HA!

(I suspect the answer is that he put the name of every club in a hat and just happened to draw Everton.)

Rooney was a teenager who, if we take him at face value in his recent interview, didn't want to leave at the time. But when he realised the club wanted to sell him, he steered it to where he wanted to go, not to who the club tried to allegedly sell him.

Don't get me wrong, it would be ridiculous for me to suggest that Rooney wouldn't have outgrown us, but another 2 seasons would have been great to watch. We got a taste but not the full flavour.

Those around at the time can comment with more authority than me, but I remember listening to a radio interview with Alan Ball years ago on a long drive home. He said he never wanted to leave Everton, but the club had decided to sell him. He went on to say that he confided in his father, who advised him that once the club doesn't want you, it's time to move on.

I hope Anthony stays, and through experience I won't be putting too much criticism on the player with these rumours or if he moves. Other forces are at play from what I'm reading into it.

On the pitch, he's been off-form but who wouldn't be in this team? He is still very young and developing. Give him time and he can come good.

No direct comparison, but I remember the stick Jack Grealish used to get in his early days and his off-the-field behaviour was way beyond anything Anthony has done.

In fact hasn't done. Seems a quiet lad who is just focussed on Everton and playing football. A shame a few idiots chased him down the road in his own backyard.

Aston Villa stuck with Grealish, including in the Championship. He was a star for them, made them £100M and is now an England international.

Using the Grealish comparison, he's matured and developed. It can happen for Anthony, playing in the right team.

Unfortunately, rather than hold on and wait for serious offers, we seem to go to a car boot sale to offer our assets on the cheap.

Good luck to Anthony. I just hope it is with Everton.

I'll have my second coffee. I should be okay then.

* Comment was purely illustrative and for comparative purposes only... Lukaku? We should be so Rick or Kylie 'king lucky!

You have tried hard to succeed here but this place is chaos. Go and make something of yourself.

Only rumours of course but the figures which seem to gaining the most traction are £35M rising to £50M will add-ons.

I'll be sad to see him go as I firmly believe, under a manager with a less negative approach, he'd thrive for us but... we're desperate for a striker and we're skint so needs must.

The problem is, our scouting system only seems to be able to look to players that we've all heard of and other teams' cast-offs. Surely there are better value players in lower leagues or plying their trade abroad?

Why can the likes of Brighton and Brentford recruit players to fit a system who nobody has heard of?

Danny #187, same here mate and there will be better times we just need to be patient and give our all.

We need a new manager before we let anyone leave. Gordon may just need to feel wanted and have confidence in a system which brings the best out in him. I have found him to be frustrating this season but as others have already stated, he is part of a dysfunctional team.

A number of players that Howard Kendall brought in looked pretty poor at first until a system was found that was greater than the parts. I appreciate that Gordon is homegrown rather than someone we have bought but let's see what a new man can do with him.

If we need money to cover the severance package there are other less talented players we can use.

I'd welcome Ross back now, he's head and shoulders above any midfielder we have now.

Let's hope Onana doesn't move on cos he's got his fair share of critics even though he's playing in a new league with less than 30 appearances to his name.

One of the problems this club has is that it does not have a "system" of play, which makes it easier for acquisitions to be identified. Just look at the current front runners for the managers job, Bielsa and Dyche have nothing in common regarding the manner in which they set up.

Bielsa will play on the front foot, with a high line while Dyche will utilise a low block and play two up top.

If Bielsa is chosen then his successor should be immediately identified, a natural fit would be the current West Brom manager, if we go with Dyche then someone in his mould, should also be identified to succeed him. It is only by taking this course of action that we can develop a system of play.

We need to agree on a style of play and then stick with it, unfortunately, we have a car crash of an owner who knows little or nothing about running a football club so until he departs its hard to see any improvement in the short term.

Bye bye Anthony, take the rest of the squad with you for all I care.

The player frustrated me more than his role at Finch Farm to be honest. As I've said many times, he always seemed a reluctant footballer. I can't criticise for injuries, as that just goes with the territory and, in some ways, I wonder if his physique plagued him like I suspect it does with Yerry Mina?

But his discipline always got the better of him on too many occasions. We all like a bit of passion. I think my most disappointing moment with him when he let the team down was Charlton away when he got sent off early in the game. We lost and Charlton isn't an easy ground to get to and away from!!

My serious point is that I wish Duncan well. I just don't think he's lived up to his potential; certainly as a player. I won't quote Joe Royle again as we all know what he said with those wise words coming from one of the great Everton number 9s.

Once he released his self-imposed embargo on talking to the press, you get the impression he is a genuine and humble person, who I have respect for. And I always liked that footage of him doing an after dinner speech. I think it was at St George's Hall (don't quote me). It's probably still doing the rounds on YouTube.

It's like there are two Duncans. Jekyll and Hyde. Angry man on the pitch. Nice guy off it. Apart from if you break into his house that is!!

Forest Green might have been a good thing for him. Or maybe he's holding out to follow his dream. I hope not on two counts.

I don't think he's up for it but I will eat humble pie if he takes me to Wembley.

It will destroy him like many before him.

Go and be successful Duncan and come back when you're ready.

Meanwhile, I am still clueless as to who our next sacrificial lamb will be.

Born not manufactured. So we don't need to explain. If you need to, then it doesn't matter.

You chose to follow Everton ten years ago?

I gather certain members of Opus Dei wear the cilice that cuts into the upper thigh.

I don’t think it would have been possible for Bill Kenwright, to continue as the Everton owner, if he hadn’t sold Rooney, so us Evertonians, got a massive double-Whammy. Loads even ending up being very happy with becoming plucky little Everton, the team that punched above their weight, and sometimes even took the title, of being the best of the rest. But I also think loads knew even then, what Bill Kenwright was all about.

I’ll look forward to reading your information Brendan, because I’ve personally never believed for one minute, that Rooney wanted to leave Everton, before it was initially engineered behind his back?

If I don't don't turn up for work without a reason, there are implications.

His head might be elsewhere, but he he has to remember who is currently paying his wages and keep showing up until the situation changes.

Is this interest real then? I am wondering if the word on the street is true because if so Newcastle are playing a very strange game being a the window is closing shortly. Gordon not turning up for training suggests that he is trying to engineer a move somewhere. Is it Newcastle or London?

He seemed to favour London las time. Are the signs he is sernding out suggesting that? Who knows but to me it is all a bit odd.

Maybe he's been excused pending his sale ?

Do any of them want to play for us anymore?

I love the idea of Onana turning down a move because he wants to help Everton fight for survival, while a local lad throws his toys out of the pram and refuses to even train with his team. Of course, it's probably all paper talk, but nevertheless funny.

Did Coady really give Gordon a slap? We need to know,