28 May 2017 13:12:23
Ed25 bit of banter for ya. U have been on here a bit warning us to be worried about how you lot are going to overtake us etc due to the millions you have and you seem like an optimistic guy with Walsh and kidnap giving you hope but my word I would be worried by some of the rumours. Seems to be interest in Martino as a back up. Not going to move u forward in my view and u have after Trent the next best right back of that age in Kenny. Keeper wise Hart will not improve you . Pickford maybe slightly. Cb Williams and jag too slow funes mori no good. U ain't getting koulibaly or van dijk. Centre mid is where u guys are strong as I like guyue Davies and scnide. Barkley and lukaku look like going and although I don't believe either is world class they are best u have. Rooney will not come to sit on the bench and he's not top six standard any more. Deeney? . My point is it's going to be difficult to attract players to improve you enough without cl and all the teams above will strengthen as well. Plus if you lose lukakus goals you need someone to come in and hit the ground running. thoughts please.

{Ed025's Note - you make some good points updaduff but i never said it would be easy, what we do have is the building blocks in place to become successful, we have a proven DOF in steve walsh and a top manager in koeman who are backed by a billionaire owner in the form of farhad moshiri who all have the same goal to make everton great again, now i realize that FFP means this wont be achieved in one fell swoop and that the bigger players will be looking for CL football but its up to us to convince them to buy into this project, we have some great young players coming through as well and that bodes well for the future so all i can say is be afraid..be very afraid there is a sleeping giant being awoken in this city mate.. :)

1.) 29 May 2017
29 May 2017 10:05:17
Personally hope Everton do really well. I'd rather Liverpool and Everton be in the top 4 than plastics from London.

Everton have a lot of good young players. Holgate, Davies, Lookman and Calvert-Lewin are a few good examples. Add that to Gueye and Williams who provide a bit of steel at the heart of the team, Coleman and Baines who are still one of the best sets of full/ wing backs in the league, and I think they have a good platform to challenge to break into the top 6 club this coming season.

Lukaku and Barkley are, in my opinion, vastly over rated. Lukaku is a flat track bully who just inflates his statistics with hoards of goals against weak teams. He will never win you a title because he goes missing in big games. Barkley is just massively over rated. He is always lucky to stay on the pitch when I see him play, thinks he is better than he is, and has very little to his game other than a good set piece/ final pass. He is a poor mans Ozil/ Fabregas. He never tries to turn a game in his teams favour because he expects others to do that for him. The difference is he is nowhere near as gifted as them, and he also loses his head when he gets isolated and starts trying to hurt people.

Everton have better players in their title winning u23's than Barkley, and for the money Lukaku will rake in he won't be hard to replace with a more complete player.

It will be tough to get into the top 6 now, but Everton are the only club with a chance of doing i and I hope they do.

{Ed025's Note - cheers MK, i reckon your right on ross but the goal tally from rom will make him very hard to replace, saying that over the years liverpool over the years have dealt with losing irreplaceable players like keegan, rush, torres and suarez and still moved on so it can be done mate..

2.) 29 May 2017
29 May 2017 10:30:53
Well i have to say i hope they falter. Reality is that its hard enough to get into top 4 spots and the plastics from London or the teams from Manchester are not going to fade any time soon. So it might be a nice wee fantasy to have Liverpool and Everton ruling the roost like way back in the 80's but fact is it will make it more difficult for LFC if Everton ever do get their act together.

3.) 29 May 2017
29 May 2017 10:34:12
Exactly Ed, strikers are generally one of the easiest positions to change. There are exceptions where it can take a few years to recover, but in general I'd rather lose my striker than my midfield general or my centre back rock.

Everyone lost their heads when we lost Owen, Torres and then Suarez. Yet last time I checked we were one of the top scoring teams last year because we have shuffled the pack and put in players who link up well and share the load. We had a dip the immediate seasons after Torres and Suarez but with all due respect to Lukaku, he is not in their league.

I genuinely could not tell you who Evertons first choice wide players were last season though. Koeman clearly didn't trust the senior players in his squad. However I think Lookman is ready now, and if you use the Lukaku money to get in a more complete striker and a decent wide forward to replace Mirallas, you will be a better overall team, even if their is nobody to score 25 goals on their own.

I'm with you mate. Exciting times ahead for Everton. Hopefully you can improve enough to go from being the second best team in Liverpool, to being the second best team in England ;)

{Ed025's Note - it would be great to get back to the heady days of the 80,s MK when this city ruled the domestic football scene mate..

4.) 29 May 2017
29 May 2017 11:17:59
See what you're saying Rover, but if we focus on our own game we are good enough regardless.

5.) 29 May 2017
29 May 2017 12:11:19
I think it's ironic that the FFP rules actually make it harder for teams to compete with the top clubs. Before they were introduced a club could get themselves a rich owner and dream of actually challenging for major honours - Chelsea the perfect example - and the required signings for such a challenge. Now, because of FFP, the clubs at the top making the most money are protected from this phenomenon which means only those clubs making a ton of money (clubs who are successful, in the CL - in the UK clubs who have already been benefiting from Sky money and CL money for many, many years) can offer the wages top players demand. I think it's sad that FFP is actually widening the gap rather than closing it - I understand why FFP was introduced but I honestly don't think it is actually help close the gap between the rich and the rest.

{Ed001's Note - why is it ironic? They were brought in to protect the top club's from exactly that sort of thing happening.}

6.) 29 May 2017
29 May 2017 15:53:27
Haha so ffp protects top clubs from being challenged, but somehow they themselves find ways to circumnavigate the rules. Life is so fair. 😊.

7.) 29 May 2017
29 May 2017 15:34:26
Ed025 personally I think everyone could do worse than look at iheanacho if you did get Rooney potentially I could see that as a decent partnership quite frankly do you have a preference out of possibilities to replace Barkley/ lukaku.

{Ed025's Note - i like iheanacho shane but im not sure he could do the job of a lone CF mate, my personal preference is for arnautovic of stoke who i feel with better service would do very well, i am indifferent about ross and dont mind one way or the other if he stays or goes as i think he is overrated, i would like sigurdsson myself and i know we are interested in him..

8.) 30 May 2017
30 May 2017 14:07:39
The only thing I'd like to see with that crowd is relegation MK, but maybe living elsewhere gives you a different outlook, you don't have to live with them, worst fans in the league by a country mile.