January 2019 Transfer Window

[davek]

No Dave. It was a status quo window, which was the main priority. If anything, defending is our biggest problem. Just check how many goals in total our 'striker less' team has scored.. Brands is a clever operator and uses the old Kenny Rogers plan to good effect...'You've got to know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em.

You can call it pragmatic if you like. I prefer to identify it for what it was: a window marked by lack of intent to do anything other than scrape a few more hundred thousand off the wage bill.

A dismal project, completely lacking in any ambition or urgency.

 

[Dymak]

I think it just means we’ll be doing our business in the summer window, I expect a lot of movement and I don’t think this was ever a 1 window ‘project’. We’ve got to accept that, as it stands, we are miles away from getting into the top 6. I think it’s reasonable to suggest that a lot of work has already gone on behind the scenes for June but we’ll know soon enough.

For me, Silva/Brands need another 18/24months. I accept we’re wanting better results, a better brand of football etc etc and some are already saying they don’t think Silva is the man for the job but I’ve seen enough to suggest he can get the team going and we can get results.

Looking around Europe it’s clear to see that no teams with the exception of those in trouble did much in the winter window. You only need to look at our 2 ins for the last Jan window to see how short term it can be. I don’t think we have little ambition for the rest of the season (circumstances dictate 7th is our only target) but I do take what you’re saying.

The summer window is simply huge for us. There are at least 10/15 players that need to go

1. Stek
2. Jags
3. Williams
4. Pennington
5. Morgan
6. Besic
7. Sandro
8. Kevin Miralles
9. Bolasie
10. Niasse
11. Theo?
12. Cenk?
13. McCarthy?
14. Browning
15. Martina
Zouma/Gomes loan returns Etc

and we need about 4/6 in.
Backup keeper
Centre back
Right back
Centre mid
Right wing
Striker

Realistically Brands/Silva were never getting the job done in 1 or two or even 3 windows. I think we need another two summer windows to get this squad to where it needs to be.

This is an exceptionally difficult league and we only need to look at recent score lines to see how competitive it is.

I’m expecting major surgery over the summer.

Good post! I agree that major surgery is needed. I think the problem with our wage bill is more to do with a lack of value for money, rather than an inability to meet the expense, which was the problem under Kenwright.

So when Jags and Williams leave this Summer, that will save over 100k a week in wages that can be put towards a new recruit that will be worth that amount of money. I don't accept that we need to wait until we have got every single crap player off the books before we become capable of signing new players.

We will be able to get rid of some of bad value for money players, but not all of them, and we will have to bring in some new players this summer.

 

[Thomasc]

We still have some very good players and a team capable of finishing 7th and scraping into Europe as City, Utd or Chelsea nailed on for the FA cup.

They need to get their acts together and fast though as currently Wolves, Watford, Leicester are all showing more potential at the moment.

I’m glad we didn’t add for the sake of it and as rightly pointed out by others, the amount of deadwood we have is pretty horrific, no wonder we can’t sell them on the contracts they are on.

It’s another write off season as far as I am concerned and nothing is going to change until the wage bill comes down, or we offload a load very average players on decent wages.

 

[ForeverBlue92]

You can call it pragmatic if you like. I prefer to identify it for what it was: a window marked by lack of intent to do anything other than scrape a few more hundred thousand off the wage bill.

A dismal project, completely lacking in any ambition or urgency.

Have to agree. If we want players out the door you have to be ruthless - Tosun should never have been played against Huddersfield as it basically tells him he has a future at the club. With these players who are cushy at the club collecting a wage we need to be brutal and get them out the door - if that means taking a big loss then so be it as it'll help in the long term.

The fact even Crystal Palace now have a better centre forward that us shows just how poor this club is at the moment.

Stuck playing Richarlison out of position for the rest of the season. A shambles we have been the past 3-4 years.

 

[JLW]

You can call it pragmatic if you like. I prefer to identify it for what it was: a window marked by lack of intent to do anything other than scrape a few more hundred thousand off the wage bill.

A dismal project, completely lacking in any ambition or urgency.

Lack of ambition and urgency you say?
None of us have a clue what’s going on behind the scenes, it would be wonderful if we could bin all the crap we have and start again but we both know that’s not possible. Offering very average players huge contracts is killing us at the minute, Sandro Schneiderlan to name just two of them, they’ll be lucky if they get offered half of what they get now at there next club. This is not a quick fix and could take upto 18 months to get them all out the door.

 

[LocalNative]

Have to agree. If we want players out the door you have to be ruthless - Tosun should never have been played against Huddersfield as it basically tells him he has a future at the club. With these players who are cushy at the club collecting a wage we need to be brutal and get them out the door - if that means taking a big loss then so be it as it'll help in the long term.

The fact even Crystal Palace now have a better centre forward that us shows just how poor this club is at the moment.

Stuck playing Richarlison out of position for the rest of the season. A shambles we have been the past 3-4 years.

Yawn. Let's wait and see how he performs first, eh? Been a massive failure in England.

 

[BlueToff]

Everton transfer deadline day

Our needs in relation to a striker are urgent and long run. I have no doubt the striker situation will be addressed in the summer. But then we get someone in (no doubt mid or late pre-season) and have to wait for them to bed in. That might get us off to a slow start as we try and find our shape again. The striker should have been sorted out from the moment early this season it became apparent that the pop gun attack Silva inherited could not be used by him and we desperately needed a cutting edge.

Overall: a decision has been made to downgrade the playing side of the club in order to focus on the "facility led recovery" of it off the pitch, in the shape of saving cash to throw at any stadium contracts...should one ever be given the green light. Brands is here to keep the plates spinning. All ambitions for a team capable of achieving anything has most definitely been placed in mothballs. That's the only conclusion that can be made about the window just closed.

Tbf though Dave, is the quality of player going to be available in Jan? I think even you have to admit it's unlikely.

Of all the strikers available, Batshuayi was probably the best option. Now if we had seen him as a long-term solution I'm sure we'd have pressed for him and maybe granted the sale of Gana in order to get him in.

But evidently we didn't.

 

[ForeverBlue92]

Yawn. Let's wait and see how he performs first, eh? Been a massive failure in England.

He's hardly had a chance at Chelsea has he in fairness.

Goals to minutes ratio at Chelsea is actually good and he's scored goals at both Marseille and Dortmund and has a great scoring record for Belgium.

The fact is if he does well his stock rises and we have no chance of signing him as someone like Dortmund or Sevilla sniffs around.

West Ham
Leicester
Wolves
Bournemouth
Crystal Palace

All teams who have better centre forwards than us - spin it how you want thats why Everton will be doing nothing over the next couple of seasons.

 

[Kinky Koeman]

We will end up buying no one.

But no worries, club will announce Pukka Pies have won the catering contract, for our new stadium.

Scheduled to open around 2034.

Can we name a stand ‘The Pi arse squared stand’ after Allardyce?

 

[Brisan123]

We've basically heard the club say they have no ambition for the remainder of the season.

Fair enough. But that rules out any meaningful critique of Silva if we fall out of the top half. He has been cut adrift with the failure (again) to buy a striker.

Does anybody know if Silva wears brown shoes ??

 

[Pab Laa]

I've always meant to watch that, just never got round to it for some reason.

You might as well do the time and finish your sentence.

It seems I made the right decision! Managed to squeeze in an episode of WILTY as well, to keep my sanity...

 

[Philljacobs]

If Batshuayi was the best available option, im glad we didnt sign anyone. No way we should be throwing 35mil for him. We will finish more or less where we are now regardless. Lets try and get a better quality of striker in the summer.

 

[davek]

Tbf though Dave, is the quality of player going to be available in Jan? I think even you have to admit it's unlikely.

Of all the strikers available, Batshuayi was probably the best option. Now if we had seen him as a long-term solution I'm sure we'd have pressed for him and maybe granted the sale of Gana in order to get him in.

But evidently we didn't.

Necessity is the mother of invention. I expect a club that's known for a few seasons they need to employ a striker of note to have all their moves lined up...even if for a loan move to add some sparkle to the attack.

Not to be though. I find that very frustrating.

 

[Brisan123]

Tear it up with a sell to buy policy carried out by a DoF who couldn't sell water in the desert.

The water is polluted Dave and too expensive

 

[brieverton]

The biggest issue is the amount of players that we can't shift on permanent deals.

I can't see much improvement on that front in the summer, even if we were to accept nominal fees to get players out, a trading loss leaves us restricted as to who we can then 'replace' them with, and players won't accept large cuts in wages when they can either just remain here or get sent out on loan continuously with the club picking up most of the bill. The likes of Martina and Bolasie could be changing clubs every six months on loan.

It means another cash injection from Moshiri would be needed, not to finance improvements to the squad, but to cover the losses on our deadwood, whilst hoping that generous sign-on fees might be enough to persuade some players to leave for good.

As much as some would rather not hear it, the priority has to be on getting the squad size down. We are still much better off with three or four players out to one decent replacement in, and getting the squad size down to 23.

This is where Brands' scouting ability and apparent ingenuity are going to have to come to the fore - if we want another four or five players in, we cannot afford to do that at even an average of £30m/player with little or nothing coming in the other way.