2025/26 David Moyes

[Lanolin]

Sod it, bang George Pickford on and lets have four keepers in the match day squad.

Do you not understand the point being made though? Having another outfield player on the bench is only more useful if there's a realistic chance of that player getting on, otherwise it's just pure lip service and has no discernible impact on anything. If the manager has decided that a second back up keeper is more useful than a youth player then there's just no conceivable way that the youth player would be getting on the pitch is there? So why bother doing it? If we'd had no attacking options (for example) on the bench on saturday and chose to put an extra keeper on the bench instead of a kid then i'd be agreeing with you, but we had 4 attacking players on there anyway, so what difference would having a 5th have made? It's not that having 2 keepers is necessary or something I think we should always do, it's just that I don't see how it's a particularly big issue in context.

 

[Rita_Poon]

In English football history two goalkeepers needing to be substituted off, or replaced due to red cards, for the same team has happened twice: Swindon Town vs Manchester United in 1994 and in the league cup match between Bristol Rovers and Southampton in 1992.

So, let's make sure that this incredibly rate event is adequately covered for?

'Everton that!'

"In peculiar fashion Everton burned through all three of their goalkeepers today through injury, then red card, then a concussion protocol. Fortunately Beto showed his prowess and played the game out in goal for the toffees and their goal was as safe with Beto there as the opposition goal would have been in danger if he'd been played striker"

 

[W84 Dum Freeze]

Neither a 3rd goalkeeper or a random 8th outfield bench option is ever coming on in any game state.

Depends on how many black art hammy's you want to feign so the team can have a huddle or run the clock down.
Pickford should tell tank engine Tuchel it's not in the spirit of fair play and call it out, so that it doesn't become commonplace as with Donnarumma recently.

 

[windymiller]

Do you not understand the point being made though? Having another outfield player on the bench is only more useful if there's a realistic chance of that player getting on, otherwise it's just pure lip service and has no discernible impact on anything. If the manager has decided that a second back up keeper is more useful than a youth player then there's just no conceivable way that the youth player would be getting on the pitch is there? So why bother doing it? If we'd had no attacking options (for example) on the bench on saturday and chose to put an extra keeper on the bench instead of a kid then i'd be agreeing with you, but we had 4 attacking players on there anyway, so what difference would having a 5th have made? It's not that having 2 keepers is necessary or something I think we should always do, it's just that I don't see how it's a particularly big issue in context.

The OP's point isn't contrary to yours, however. If three players on the bench have no chance of coming on, then why can't they all be keepers? What's the difference? Presumably Travers did have a chance of getting on but King, Campbell and Welch didn't (probably not Aznou either), so we could have put four keepers on the bench and it wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference?

 

[COYBL25]

The phone ins can be a laugh though. It's like a hotline into Arkham Asylum.

The Merseyside phone in’s are the best.

It’s like they’ve gone into the Yatesys at Moorfields and woken up the fellas who are face down at the bar and asked them for their opinion of the game.

 

[brieverton]

Human nature being what it is, it was never going to be a case of one man one vote on the "transfer committee". Some people just assert themselves more than others, the thing is how Kinnear as a non-football man can bring things together.

It would not be a surprise if Smith defers to Moyes as they worked together previously and I doubt he would be here now if Moyes did not agree to his appointment, whether he was asked about it or not.

I don't agree with the DoF model, but don't agree with the manager calling most or all of the shots either.

Very few clubs have worked this out in a way that brings consistency of outcome at or above expectation.

You could only hope that for any given potential transfer, if there was a strong dissenting voice against, that it would be heard.

As it is, I think it would be more a case of Smith signing some players, and Moyes others, much along the lines of Manager/DoF. That's probably the reality for most clubs. They probably have much the same opinions anyway.

The bigger test is when Moyes leaves, and what his successor makes of this way of doing things. Smith (assuming he remains on afterwards) will probably have increased influence then. Kinnear and TFG will, I assume, be inclined to filter potential manager candidates and screen out those who would have an obvious issue with this structure.

I am more inclined by the day to think that Moyes will have done enough by the end of the season, and should be let go with thanks then, and given January should not be hugely busy, a lot of this may be moot.

 

[Lanolin]

The OP's point isn't contrary to yours, however. If three players on the bench have no chance of coming on, then why can't they all be keepers? What's the difference? Presumably Travers did have a chance of getting on but King, Campbell and Welch didn't (probably not Aznou either), so we could have put four keepers on the bench and it wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference?

Well yeah, exactly. I'm not advocating that approach but yes ultimately it would probably make absolutely no difference to anything and so wouldn't be something to get worked up about.

 

[windymiller]

Well yeah, exactly. I'm not advocating that approach but yes ultimately it would probably make absolutely no difference to anything and so wouldn't be something to get worked up about.

I mean, if we put four keepers on the bench we definitely should be getting worked up at both the board, for not giving us anywhere near a deep enough squad, and at the manager, for being petulant (that would clearly be a public rebuke for the board) and for not adequately giving youth a chance. Imagine we'd made three subs (hard to imagine with Moyes, I know) and then our centre forward gets injured and we had to play that big lump King up front!

 

[W84 Dum Freeze]

The OP's point isn't contrary to yours, however. If three players on the bench have no chance of coming on, then why can't they all be keepers? What's the difference? Presumably Travers did have a chance of getting on but King, Campbell and Welch didn't (probably not Aznou either), so we could have put four keepers on the bench and it wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference?

Benches should be balanced for game changing impact, freshness in the legs to stop being overrun, game management, injury cover, squad readiness and development.

Ours can be poor at times due to lack of numbers,quality and imbalance.

This needs addressing.

 

[hetion]

Human nature being what it is, it was never going to be a case of one man one vote on the "transfer committee". Some people just assert themselves more than others, the thing is how Kinnear as a non-football man can bring things together.

It would not be a surprise if Smith defers to Moyes as they worked together previously and I doubt he would be here now if Moyes did not agree to his appointment, whether he was asked about it or not.

I don't agree with the DoF model, but don't agree with the manager calling most or all of the shots either.

Very few clubs have worked this out in a way that brings consistency of outcome at or above expectation.

You could only hope that for any given potential transfer, if there was a strong dissenting voice against, that it would be heard.

As it is, I think it would be more a case of Smith signing some players, and Moyes others, much along the lines of Manager/DoF. That's probably the reality for most clubs. They probably have much the same opinions anyway.

The bigger test is when Moyes leaves, and what his successor makes of this way of doing things. Smith (assuming he remains on afterwards) will probably have increased influence then. Kinnear and TFG will, I assume, be inclined to filter potential manager candidates and screen out those who would have an obvious issue with this structure.

I am more inclined by the day to think that Moyes will have done enough by the end of the season, and should be let go with thanks then, and given January should not be hugely busy, a lot of this may be moot.

Every week I am more convinced of this, but every week I am also more convinced that that's now how the club see it.

 

[Nymzee]

I mean, if we put four keepers on the bench we definitely should be getting worked up at both the board, for not giving us anywhere near a deep enough squad, and at the manager, for being petulant (that would clearly be a public rebuke for the board) and for not adequately giving youth a chance. Imagine we'd made three subs (hard to imagine with Moyes, I know) and then our centre forward gets injured and we had to play that big lump King up front!

Well if we'd made 3 subs, then we still have 2 left, and if our striker gets injured then Beto comes on, and if Beto already came on and got injured, there's no difference in sticking King up front ahead of say George Morgan or Coby Ebere.

People seem obsessed with who makes our bench from the academy but spend zero minutes of their lives watching our academy to even know if something good is waiting there for a chance.

 

[windymiller]

Benches should be balanced for game changing impact, freshness in the legs to stop being overrun, game management, injury cover, squad readiness and development.

Ours can be poor at times due to lack of numbers,quality and imbalance.

This needs addressing.

I agree, my post was somewhat tongue in cheek.

 

[Nymzee]

Benches should be balanced for game changing impact, freshness in the legs to stop being overrun, game management, injury cover, squad readiness and development.

Ours can be poor at times due to lack of numbers,quality and imbalance.

This needs addressing.

Our bench is the strongest it's been in years?

Branthwaite, Coleman, Patterson, Gana, Rohl all unavailable for the below bench. If they're available is it a crap bench by our midtable standards?

 

[W84 Dum Freeze]

Our bench is the strongest it's been in years?

Branthwaite, Coleman, Patterson, Gana, Rohl all unavailable for the below bench. If they're available is it a crap bench by our midtable standards?

View attachment 335464

It's a work in progress, right back, midfield and striker positions need a vast improvement in quality, availability and reliability.

 

[Clarky cat]

Some ai response recently told me Sonny Liston was terrified of Iron Mike Tyson. Iron Mike was 3 years old when Liston died. It's worth being careful when trusting the robots that seems quite prepared to tell you anything it guesses you want to hear/read.