Everton Transfer Thread - Summer 2020

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This is it for me. The academy needs to kick in and hand us our "class of 92" era. I think that's what really stands out from the limited options that the esk highlights - so where are we on that? I dont get the impression we have a DoF who is on top of this side of the organisation. Obvioulsy you're limited to what's actually there, but just the co-ordination of Brands with the academy looks off to me; hence we see so much being spent on players no better than we have.

A club like Everton given the Covid19 situation, the straitjacket we're in finance wise, and the looming stadium costs (if it goes ahead) need to be turning to youth - using what we have and bringing in young players with potential from elsewhere (Branthwaite is a start).

We need courage to go that way - not a quality I see in enormous quantities in this organisation.

Our biggest problem with the academy is competition for players. You have three of the biggest clubs on the world on our doorstep competing directly for the best talent... Not to mention a dozen other professional clubs across the North West. .

With respect to changes in the academy, he has made several, centralised the under 23 budget again, and hired the guy from Derby who had been responsable for all their youngsters coming through. But any changes there will take half a decade at least to start seeing the benefits
 
I'm not sold on Brands nor do i have the pitch fork out.

What I will say about getting rid of Lookman, Vlasic, Gana and Henry...

Henry - didnt look like getting a WP anytime soon (club would have made this decision based on that surely)
Lookman - wanted out, sulked when he didnt get his move and we got a very good fee from Leipzig.
Gana - 29, almost £30m for his age was decent, goes towards heling our FFP and cleaning up the mess we have.
Vlasic - again, £16m, a very good fee for a back up player. - Although I do feel he maybe didn't get a fair crack of the whip, but if the manager you have is saying he doesnt want him then you need to get him off the books.

Some of the ins I rate, some of them i do not.


it's worth remembering that the DOF role isn't just signing players, I hope Brands is implementing structure an systems within teh academy, u23's to link them together for the long-term. Our transfer strategy needs to be defined and again, even though we will pay money for players, i think if you look between Walsh and Brands there is a slight change to how we work. We are still recovering from the disaster that was Koeman and Walsh, I hope in 2/3 years time we have fully recovered, our footballing strategy is on point and we have progressed.

I think it comes down to your subjective view of a player and how much you rate them mate, id accept the context in the situation but i do think as a DOF your duty is to the club. You look at the impact of Idrissa in particular, not having a 6 all season has undermined the club and cost us millions, it s a good fee for a 29 year old player who wanted out, but also false economy as arguably no midfild has cost us a fair whack in prize money, as i say GBAman gets a pass, but Delph wasnt sufficient cover. It was a poor trade for the club, granted in hindsight.

Lookman, i rated highly, i think we should have kept hes a hard time season, but i fully believe he will go on, he was quality, i dont buy the sulking thing either, granted in the end he wanted to go and play ball. Another season with us here would have seen him get that pathway we have seen it with Gordon etc. In that context would Vlasic, Lookman and Henry thrived - we will never know. I think we lost some good ones. I honestly would prefer Lookman to Iwobi, who i see as taking the squad spot.

Vlasic and Henry, one is linked to Napoli and has strutted it in the CL since he left us, posting more then decent numbers, while Henry has gotten little game time, but posts good numbers wherever he is.

I think its all subjective based on opinion, but i think a DOF has to do right by the club and manage context of unsettled players - one more year etc. Are we better or worse for Lookman, Vlasic, Robinson, Idrissa, Henry Vs Iwobi, Delph Gbamin (gets a pass) and Sibide + 30 mill spent? My honest opinion and in fact objective evidence would say worse.

Like i say im not polarised, im open minded on Brands, but i think you have to reflect and question those decisions.
 
I think it comes down to your subjective view of a player and how much you rate them mate, id accept the context in the situation but i do think as a DOF your duty is to the club. You look at the impact of Idrissa in particular, not having a 6 all season has undermined the club and cost us millions, it s a good fee for a 29 year old player who wanted out, but also false economy as arguably no midfild has cost us a fair whack in prize money, as i say GBAman gets a pass, but Delph wasnt sufficient cover. It was a poor trade for the club, granted in hindsight.

Lookman, i rated highly, i think we should have kept hes a hard time season, but i fully believe he will go on, he was quality, i dont buy the sulking thing either, granted in the end he wanted to go and play ball. Another season with us here would have seen him get that pathway we have seen it with Gordon etc. In that context would Vlasic, Lookman and Henry thrived - we will never know. I think we lost some good ones. I honestly would prefer Lookman to Iwobi, who i see as taking the squad spot.

Vlasic and Henry, one is linked to Napoli and has strutted it in the CL since he left us, posting more then decent numbers, while Henry has gotten little game time, but posts good numbers wherever he is.

I think its all subjective based on opinion, but i think a DOF has to do right by the club and manage context of unsettled players - one more year etc. Are we better or worse for Lookman, Vlasic, Robinson, Idrissa, Henry Vs Iwobi, Delph Gbamin (gets a pass) and Sibide + 30 mill spent? My honest opinion and in fact objective evidence would say worse.

Like i say im not polarised, im open minded on Brands, but i think you have to reflect and question those decisions.

We miss Gana. For sure. The others were reserve or back-up.
 

Yes if we bought him for £27mil and the £7mil additional is in clauses then It will depend on how the accounts are prepared.

We dont know if those clauses were on us making europe this season or other items.

Also if we sell him for £21.6mil with no clauses achieved then the £7mil there (which may be triggered today / tomorrow / in 3 years or never) goes where?

FFP is a minefield and i imagine this is all different to usual accounting.

Aye see were you are coming from mate, but we dont know what the clauses are they could be wining the Ballon dor or they could be makng 20 appearances a season. My suspicion is the esk may have the right of it, if its a potential liability it needs to go on the books, but in the real world may never apply - its an interesting point i hadnt considered before.
 
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I think it comes down to your subjective view of a player and how much you rate them mate, id accept the context in the situation but i do think as a DOF your duty is to the club. You look at the impact of Idrissa in particular, not having a 6 all season has undermined the club and cost us millions, it s a good fee for a 29 year old player who wanted out, but also false economy as arguably no midfild has cost us a fair whack in prize money, as i say GBAman gets a pass, but Delph wasnt sufficient cover. It was a poor trade for the club, granted in hindsight.

Lookman, i rated highly, i think we should have kept hes a hard time season, but i fully believe he will go on, he was quality, i dont buy the sulking thing either, granted in the end he wanted to go and play ball. Another season with us here would have seen him get that pathway we have seen it with Gordon etc. In that context would Vlasic, Lookman and Henry thrived - we will never know. I think we lost some good ones. I honestly would prefer Lookman to Iwobi, who i see as taking the squad spot.

Vlasic and Henry, one is linked to Napoli and has strutted it in the CL since he left us, posting more then decent numbers, while Henry has gotten little game time, but posts good numbers wherever he is.

I think its all subjective based on opinion, but i think a DOF has to do right by the club and manage context of unsettled players - one more year etc. Are we better or worse for Lookman, Vlasic, Robinson, Idrissa, Henry Vs Iwobi, Delph Gbamin (gets a pass) and Sibide + 30 mill spent? My honest opinion and in fact objective evidence would say worse.

Like i say im not polarised, im open minded on Brands, but i think you have to reflect and question those decisions.

The Henry thing isnt a footballing decision though, they knew we'd need to get a work permit and it may have been informed that it wasn't likely again and as I've said I think Vlasic could have been given more time. I would have lookman over iwobi all day long too but ultimately players hold the power these days and I think the value at the time was good.

We have absolutely missed Gana, and I have sympathy that he brought in Gbamin (all be it not to the same job, but to provide a key role) as a replacement and that has been disastrous so far (I dont place that at Brands' door though).We seem to be on a similar page regarding Brands as it is. We wont see the true effect of a DOF for a couple of years anyway and I give Brands some time based half his job cleaning up what was a horrendous situation.

I just hope we recover next season, and make some progress, maybe CA's knowledge and eye for a player will aid Brands be a strong team and we can move from there. The profile of what we are looking for has certainly changed (Gabriel seems to be the ideal profile).

Who knows. I'm trying to be positive regarding the current set up, we have experience and quality in our coach and a DOF who has, in the past, proven he acn spot a player. Hopefully we can get a bit more consistency in our recruitment.
 

The Henry thing isnt a footballing decision though, they knew we'd need to get a work permit and it may have been informed that it wasn't likely again and as I've said I think Vlasic could have been given more time. I would have lookman over iwobi all day long too but ultimately players hold the power these days and I think the value at the time was good.

We have absolutely missed Gana, and I have sympathy that he brought in Gbamin (all be it not to the same job, but to provide a key role) as a replacement and that has been disastrous so far (I dont place that at Brands' door though).We seem to be on a similar page regarding Brands as it is. We wont see the true effect of a DOF for a couple of years anyway and I give Brands some time based half his job cleaning up what was a horrendous situation.

I just hope we recover next season, and make some progress, maybe CA's knowledge and eye for a player will aid Brands be a strong team and we can move from there. The profile of what we are looking for has certainly changed (Gabriel seems to be the ideal profile).

Who knows. I'm trying to be positive regarding the current set up, we have experience and quality in our coach and a DOF who has, in the past, proven he acn spot a player. Hopefully we can get a bit more consistency in our recruitment.

We definitely share the same view point mate. I do think there is a duty of care by the DOF of the club to look after the interests of the club, in that he needs to manage certain situations in the best interests of the club, id accept not all of them you are not going to win, but some you are, the role i imagine involves some management and people management skills.

Im realistic we needed revenue into the club and some decisions were made, i think the cumulative effect of some of those decisions in hindsight (and id accept that) has proven to be poor, had an objective effect on the pitch and i do think there is an accountability to the DOF around that. Its not an easy number, he needed revenue in last summer, there were unsettled players - that proved low hanging fruit - there were competing needs of the business and football development and the business won out.

But, were we better or worse off, doing nothing, i think we had a better squad heading into the summer window last year then leaving (though i think Kean is quality), we also spent 30 mill, thats not great player trading in my opinion. i accept all the context points you mention though, but i dont think we should necessarily give a free pass on all of that.
 
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