How will it get better next season? Surely it's downhill from here?

[Big Fat Sam]

Let's look at the facts:

- We currently have four players on loan, three of whom will not be joining us permanently, one of which may possibly join us in the summer (Barry).
- Once the season ends we have one striker (Kone), and Naismith who is arguably a striker too.
- Martinez has a little bit of money, perhaps 10m.

So that takes our squad down to paper-thin, once more.

We'll need about five or six players in the summer, but how can we improve with 10m when we desperately need a top striker as one of those players?

Osman will once again, due to a tiny squad, end up starting 25 league games next season.

I feel we've had our chance, and we blew it.

Is Barkley going to become our summer transfer budget? That seems the be the only way Martinez will generate the funds to add to his existing (lol) funds to get a number of players in.

Or are we just a loaning club now?

 

[Foot Long Hot Dog]

Martinez has a little bit of money, perhaps 10m.

How can you state that as a 'fact'?

The 'fact' is that we haven't got a clue what his budget is or how he's planning to spend it.

 

[Fuleco]

This thread is so Monday.

 

[ijjysmith]

Bloody hell mate.

Chin up.

 

[toffeeblue9]

Can I flip that on you a little bit?

Barry will most likely stay and there is a very decent chance that Deulofeu may stay on loan for another season.

I'd argue that you need 2 senior players for every position in a competitive squad, with the exception of a striker because it's a specialist position and if you have one injury there you suddenly have no cover at all, so I'd argue in a lone striker system you need 3 of them in the squad, if that's the case you can easily identify where we need to bring players in.

Assuming Martinez sticks to the 4231 system we've been playing, the squad will (based on the two assumptions above re players) look like this in the summer:

GK - Howard
GK - Robles
RB - Coleman
RB - Hibbert
LB - Baines
LB - Oviedo
CB - Jagielka
CB - Distin
CB - Stones
CB - Alcaraz
CM - Barry
CM - McCarthy
CM - Gibson
CM - ???
RM - Mirallas
RM - Deulofeu
LM - Pienaar
LM - McGeady
AM - Barkley
AM - Osman
ST - Kone
ST - Naismith
ST - ???

Now there are players there who I don't particularly rate and wouldn't be thrilled to rely on as part of the squad next season (Hibbert, Alcaraz because of fitness concerns and Naismith to be precise), in terms of numbers if Barry and Deulofeu are here next season, we're really only two players short of a full squad before we start making other changes.

 

[GrandOldTeam]

Admittedly, it is worrying.

No doubt we need to rebuild this summer.

 

[BlueLlama]

The squad needs fleshing out but that OP is dramatic to say the least.

Jags, Baines, Coleman, Miralles would walk into any PL team. McCarthy, Howard and Distin are very very good players. Barkley remains the most exciting prospect in the country.

I think Duffy and Lundstrum will play first team football next season.

Barry will probably join us and Gibson will be fit again.

Of course we need a couple of stikers and a replacement for Pienaar but ffs lad it's not a crisis.

Sim Miedo putos

 

[Bitter_blue]

Let's look at the facts:

- We currently have four players on loan, three of whom will not be joining us permanently, one of which may possibly join us in the summer (Barry).
- Once the season ends we have one striker (Kone), and Naismith who is arguably a striker too.
- Martinez has a little bit of money, perhaps 10m.

So that takes our squad down to paper-thin, once more.

We'll need about five or six players in the summer, but how can we improve with 10m when we desperately need a top striker as one of those players?

Osman will once again, due to a tiny squad, end up starting 25 league games next season.

I feel we've had our chance, and we blew it.

Is Barkley going to become our summer transfer budget? That seems the be the only way Martinez will generate the funds to add to his existing (lol) funds to get a number of players in.

Or are we just a loaning club now?

Well we still have money from this season which Martinez has stated he has, plus our second installment from BT money etc; I personally think we have money in the summer to spend. The one fact that we do all know and can agree on is that WE DONT KNOW ANYTHING THAT GOES ON IN REALITY it's just hearsay and opinions. Martinez has said he needs the time to build and isn't just gonna buy for buying sake. Jesus Moyes had 11 years to feet us to where we are. Most if this team Martinez has inherited from Moyes. Ok Deolefeu is on loan but he is the type of player Martinez wants (fast, explosive, exciting with an eye for goal) not someone you would ever associate with Moyes: the man knows what he is doing give the man a chance. Remember Rome wasn't built in a day!

 

[D410]

The summertime warchest will be downsized to a Big mac box, injured players will be welcomed back like fantastic new players, Leahey will tell everyone in a seris of exclusive echo/club news storys that we are so close to a new ground and then after the new season starts will declare we were always skint and never had a chance in hell. The CEO will do 2hrs on his own at the next AGM dancing around the need to continue to spend Frigg All due to OOC, FFP and saftey upkeep of Goodison. Bill will tell everyone his plan is Robert Martinez just as it was with David Moyes and everyone at the club will hope for an easy month of fixtures in the first month of the season to get through deadline day. Finally, the club will send out glossy thank you letters to the fans thanking them for their money for the new season tkts.

 

[BoysInBlue]

Let's look at the facts:

- We currently have four players on loan, three of whom will not be joining us permanently, one of which may possibly join us in the summer (Barry).
- Once the season ends we have one striker (Kone), and Naismith who is arguably a striker too.
- Martinez has a little bit of money, perhaps 10m.

So that takes our squad down to paper-thin, once more.

We'll need about five or six players in the summer, but how can we improve with 10m when we desperately need a top striker as one of those players?

Osman will once again, due to a tiny squad, end up starting 25 league games next season.

I feel we've had our chance, and we blew it.

Is Barkley going to become our summer transfer budget? That seems the be the only way Martinez will generate the funds to add to his existing (lol) funds to get a number of players in.

Or are we just a loaning club now?

Barry will probably join on a free.

We may well get Deulofeu for another season.

What's stopping us signing some more very good players on season long loans? Why would anyone assume that this was a one off, and that we won't be able to sign players on loan of a similar calibre again? Martinez has already stated in interviews his rationale for using the loan system and it is all very logical.

Kone will finally be fit next season and will be able to show us definitively whether or not he is any good, after a run of games in the side.

How do you know that Martinez 'only has £10m to spend'?

This season we will likely finish in the top 7, under a new manager in his first season. If that happens it will be the 7th season out of the last 8 that we have finished in the top 7, and the 4th consecutive season where we've finished in the top 7.

Why anyone would think things are about to drastically change is baffling. The club is built on good enough foundations whereby we will - barring a terrible turn of events and sudden spate of bad decision making - be around the top 7 for the next few years at least. Some fans are too pessimistic and panic too much.

 

[By god I'm blue]

The summertime warchest will be downsized to a Big mac box, injured players will be welcomed back like fantastic new players, Leahey will tell everyone in a seris of exclusive echo/club news storys that we are so close to a new ground and then after the new season starts will declare we were always skint and never had a chance in hell. The CEO will do 2hrs on his own at the next AGM dancing around the need to continue to spend Frigg All due to OOC, FFP and saftey upkeep of Goodison. Bill will tell everyone his plan is Robert Martinez just as it was with David Moyes and everyone at the club will hope for an easy month of fixtures in the first month of the season to get through deadline day. Finally, the club will send out glossy thank you letters to the fans thanking them for their money for the new season tkts.

In a nutshell, pretty much this!

 

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

Cheerful sod ain't you @butters ?

 

[Foot Long Hot Dog]

The summertime warchest will be downsized to a Big mac box, injured players will be welcomed back like fantastic new players, Leahey will tell everyone in a seris of exclusive echo/club news storys that we are so close to a new ground and then after the new season starts will declare we were always skint and never had a chance in hell. The CEO will do 2hrs on his own at the next AGM dancing around the need to continue to spend Frigg All due to OOC, FFP and saftey upkeep of Goodison. Bill will tell everyone his plan is Robert Martinez just as it was with David Moyes and everyone at the club will hope for an easy month of fixtures in the first month of the season to get through deadline day. Finally, the club will send out glossy thank you letters to the fans thanking them for their money for the new season tkts.

I keep seeing Leahy being roped into the conspiracy theories, but can you please explain exactly what Terry Leahy is supposed to be getting out of his part in the charade in 2014?

Thanks

 

[ToffeeDan]

No problems at the back
Decent in the middle
Short up front.

Spend a bit of money on a decent striker - or two - and we'll be up there with the best, again.

 

[tommye]

February and already on a downer for next season.


koff Butters ffs