So I'm a Yank, right? That comes up in like, about every fourth post of mine on average, so no secret there.
By virtue of astronomy and time zones and the curvature of our little blue rock, I had a lot more waking hours to stew about the Massacre at Anfield. Five of them, to be exact.
And while this season is a wasted opportunity, I also realized there are some good things on the horizon. That, with the right moves, Everton can compete again pretty quickly. And no, I'm not talking about a cup semifinal that we're gonna have to do without any senior centerbacks. I'm already looking at next year. Here goes:
A lot of dead weight is coming off the payrolls. I think it's been underappreciated how much we pay to players who aren't contributing at all. On paper, the squad looks to have depth, but the reality is quite different. Thankfully, a lot of those players will be out contract this summer. Hibbo, Osman, Gibson, McGeady, Pienaar, Howard, Kone, and Oviedo will all be free to go. That's a lot of wage money to work with for whoever is the manager this summer.
Lukaku's still gonna be worth a lot of money. I'm not saying we SHOULD sell, that's always dependent on who's buying and for what money. If a big offer comes in from a continental club... Well that money could be used to fix a lot of other problems in short order.
Stones and Barkley are still young. Both of them likely took a big hit to their overall value this year, but both of them are also on the right side of the peak ages for their positions. You learn way more from adversity than you do from success, and the decreased pressure to move might help them focus on their game.
The academy has some promise in it. Garbutt will be back from injury. Galloway will continue to progress. Ledson's getting there. Lots of possibilities for internal replacements in positions where we have aging veterans in the XI.
$$$$$$$$$$$. With the amount of money coming off the wage bill and the new ownership, not to mention other possibilities, even with FFP rules whoever is manager is going to have a clean slate for the next campaign.
So there.
Cheer up.
You miserable gits.
