Three in, three out.

[JaseTheVillain]

With the exception of Cleverley, Ive never heard of anyone we've been linked with, and our manager has already started with the usual 'dont be expecting any signings this summer' spiel...what a jolly summer its going to be!

Also, we're in talks with Cleverley, he's already here, and seems to like the club, so I'd say we have the advantage here.

 

[Smudge]

I cant say Id be bothered at all by that!

 

[JaseTheVillain]

I cant say Id be bothered at all by that!

He's done incredibly well since Sherwood came in, I'm certainly happy for him to stay now tbh.

 

[Smudge]

Im not saying he's terrible or anything, he's just a player in one of the very few positions we have a lot of cover already! Given we dont expect to have a lot of money to spend, I would be really unhappy if we blew the majority of our budget on a central midfielder we dont need. Cover at centre half and up front, a new keeper, making the Lennon deal permanent and signing another winger are much bigger priorities.

 

[Avatar]

Im not saying he's terrible or anything, he's just a player in one of the very few positions we have a lot of cover already! Given we dont expect to have a lot of money to spend, I would be really unhappy if we blew the majority of our budget on a central midfielder we dont need. Cover at centre half and up front, a new keeper, making the Lennon deal permanent and signing another winger are much bigger priorities.

Joel and Howard no good?

 

[Jarv]

Difference being, those other teams sold on their prospects, usually with a nice little sell on clause. Man United released Pogba.

No his Contract ran out and he wouldn't sign another one

 

[Humongous Fungus]

No his Contract ran out and he wouldn't sign another one

Wait you had him rotting away for that long his contract actually ran out? XD Priceless.

 

[Avatar]

Wait you had him rotting away for that long his contract actually ran out? XD Priceless.

Fergie played Darren Fletcher there until he got sick and then brought Scholes out of retirement. Fair play to the lad for leaving for first team football.

 

[Smudge]

Joel and Howard no good?

Howard is finished, cost us an obscene amount of goals this season with terrible schoolboy errors. Joel actually grew into the team and did well when he came in when Howard got injured, but considering Martinez ditched him the second Howard was fit tells me he doesnt rate him highly enough to make him number 1, so its not an argument worth having.

Same goes for Kone. He is our only senior striker bar Lukaku, and Martinez has spent half the season defending Lukaku because he's playing with injuries and not getting a chance to rest and have a break sometimes...says a lot for how much he rates Kone really. And for the most part in that case, he's right, Kone is not good enough, whether it be to play alongside Lukaku or deputise for him. But yet Martinez still says we wont sign a striker this summer...

 

[JaseTheVillain]

Im not saying he's terrible or anything, he's just a player in one of the very few positions we have a lot of cover already! Given we dont expect to have a lot of money to spend, I would be really unhappy if we blew the majority of our budget on a central midfielder we dont need. Cover at centre half and up front, a new keeper, making the Lennon deal permanent and signing another winger are much bigger priorities.

Fair enough, and Lennon? All I've heard from Everton fans (admittedly not many that I know) is that he's been shite? See we're the opposite, if Kozak continues to break legs and not come back, we need cover for Benteke, think we'll be alright for a keeper as Guzan is still a good keeper regarless of his howler Vs City. Plus Given is a damned good keeper, the only other team who has better choices for keeper imo is Chelsea, as in first two keepers. Replacement for Vlaar and new fullbacks (I've said this so many times in recent years. ), as Sherwood doesn't seem to trust Lowton at right back , I like him, but I'm not manager, Bacuna isn't a fullback, neither is Richardson, Cissokho is good by me, but he's been injured throughout Sherwoods tenure. Also, a pair of proper wingers would be nice for the way that Sherwood plays.

So, a right back, a left back, a centre back (assuming, as I and many other do that Vlaar doesn't re-sign), Cleverley, a pair of wingers, and a striker (Bent re-signing would be nice imo, never had a chance under Lambert).... So, not a lot.

Fergie played Darren Fletcher there until he got sick and then brought Scholes out of retirement. Fair play to the lad for leaving for first team football.

Precisely what I would have pointed out, but you did it before I got here.

 

[Smudge]

Ive never rated Lennon, and I cant say his first few games really did a lot to change that opinion. Since the Newcastle game in March though, he's grown into the team a bit and is a cleverer player than I ever realised. Workrate is fantastic too, puts the majority of the team to shame, and his style of play fits in with the system that brings the best out of us, so with all that in mind, Id like to sign him. He will never be as good as Mirallas, but then Mirallas is a mardy little shit who's behaved like he's far too big for us for a while now, turns it on when he feels like it, and is pretty much nailed on to leave this summer. Call me old fashioned, but after some of the dross Ive sat through this season, give me a slightly less talented player who is going to keep on trying and coming back for more, rather than an elitist daydreaming prima donna who doesnt really fancy turning it on today. If Mirallas had even half of Lennon's work rate and effort, he'd be playing in the Champions League and winning trophies, because on his day, he is too good for us. Sadly because he cant be arsed doing that all the time, he's still here.

Unfortunately like most fans, we have a selection who seem to think something being foreign and fancy makes it better. Hence there are still fans who refuse to have a bad word said against Arteta...and in the same breath will boo the likes of Osman and Pienaar.

 

[Orion]

Fergie played Darren Fletcher there until he got sick and then brought Scholes out of retirement. Fair play to the lad for leaving for first team football.

At the time, it was the right move. Pogba had shown not only that he had an attitude problem, making an agreement with Juventus halfway through the season when he had only just been named a part of United's first team, but also that he was average player. I remember watching him play in person, and he was average. Zero special about him at the time, and Fergie was right to play other players in midfield ahead of him. But, as happens with some players, they move away, they get some games, their confidence goes up, they absorb the skills of the players around them, suddenly they look a completely different player.

 

[AFCB_Mark]

We've already let 7 players go (who were League One players really) and we'll probably have a few more sold/loaned out over the summer.

3 realistic signings in:
Artur Boruc (free agent, had him on loan last season)
Luke Garbutt (likely free agent with some compensation due to Everton)
Sam Vokes from Burnley (Bournemouth youth product, we looked at re-signing him in January, unsure of cost)

Boruc
Francis Elphick Cook Garbutt
Arter Gosling Surman
Ritchie Wilson Pugh

Vokes/Kermorgant/Fraser/Cargill/Camp

We'd probably need a bit more than that to have a go at surviving.

 

[Jockney]

At the time, it was the right move. Pogba had shown not only that he had an attitude problem, making an agreement with Juventus halfway through the season when he had only just been named a part of United's first team, but also that he was average player. I remember watching him play in person, and he was average. Zero special about him at the time, and Fergie was right to play other players in midfield ahead of him. But, as happens with some players, they move away, they get some games, their confidence goes up, they absorb the skills of the players around them, suddenly they look a completely different player.

You were in a minority of about one then as he was rated extremely highly even back then. Fergie turfed him out because Fergie is Fergie and he don't give second chances, even though he is often wrong.

 

[JaseTheVillain]

You were in a minority of about one then as he was rated extremely highly even back then. Fergie turfed him out because Fergie is Fergie and he don't give second chances, even though he is often wrong.

Except to Rooney, who had second, third, fourth and fifth chances...

 

[WAP]

We've already let 7 players go (who were League One players really) and we'll probably have a few more sold/loaned out over the summer.

3 realistic signings in:
Artur Boruc (free agent, had him on loan last season)
Luke Garbutt (likely free agent with some compensation due to Everton)
Sam Vokes from Burnley (Bournemouth youth product, we looked at re-signing him in January, unsure of cost)

Boruc
Francis Elphick Cook Garbutt
Arter Gosling Surman
Ritchie Wilson Pugh

Vokes/Kermorgant/Fraser/Cargill/Camp

We'd probably need a bit more than that to have a go at surviving.

Alot more.

Whilst I'm glad to see you looking to sign players like Garbutt and Vokes who are young etc. A midfield 3 of Arter, Surman and Gosling is actually worse than Burnleys and I didn't think that could have been beat.

 

[Toffee_Joe]

Ive never rated Lennon, and I cant say his first few games really did a lot to change that opinion. Since the Newcastle game in March though, he's grown into the team a bit and is a cleverer player than I ever realised. Workrate is fantastic too, puts the majority of the team to shame, and his style of play fits in with the system that brings the best out of us, so with all that in mind, Id like to sign him. He will never be as good as Mirallas, but then Mirallas is a mardy little shit who's behaved like he's far too big for us for a while now, turns it on when he feels like it, and is pretty much nailed on to leave this summer. Call me old fashioned, but after some of the dross Ive sat through this season, give me a slightly less talented player who is going to keep on trying and coming back for more, rather than an elitist daydreaming prima donna who doesnt really fancy turning it on today. If Mirallas had even half of Lennon's work rate and effort, he'd be playing in the Champions League and winning trophies, because on his day, he is too good for us. Sadly because he cant be arsed doing that all the time, he's still here.

Unfortunately like most fans, we have a selection who seem to think something being foreign and fancy makes it better. Hence there are still fans who refuse to have a bad word said against Arteta...and in the same breath will boo the likes of Osman and Pienaar.

Mirallas is a big game player. That's makes him unbelievably frustrating to watch a lot of the time but whenever a derby rolls round or a big cup match there is no one else in our squad I would put down on my teamsheet before him. We are going to need players like him who can win a game on their own if we ever want to challenge with Spurs etc. That said I would probably be looking at selling him and looking to find the next version. Lennon is a useful player but won't come cheap so we should look elsewhere. As for Arteta, he was a fantastic player?

 

[Smudge]

I dont mean in terms of how good a player Arteta was or about when he was here, I mean the way he has been treated since he left. He was so popular when he was here, that to me makes it all the worse what he did when he left. At the end of the day, he did the dirty on us, and certaonly doesnt deserve a clap when he comes back with Arsenal. Yet Ive seen him get a near standing ovation in an Arsenal shirt, and in the same people will have a go at the likes of Osman who still bloody plays for us! Even on Saturday, when the team was read out, I heard a pretty loud voice behind shout 'oh fuck off' when Osman's name was read out!

I do agree on Mirallas. But given he's only got a year left on his contract, if he's not going to sign it, Id let him go. If he's actually going to commit and sign one, Im happy to see him stay. Before his agent started whispering sweet nothings in his ear around Christmas, he was probably our only consistent attacking player this season.

 

[Avatar]

I dont mean in terms of how good a player Arteta was or about when he was here, I mean the way he has been treated since he left. He was so popular when he was here, that to me makes it all the worse what he did when he left. At the end of the day, he did the dirty on us, and certaonly doesnt deserve a clap when he comes back with Arsenal. Yet Ive seen him get a near standing ovation in an Arsenal shirt, and in the same people will have a go at the likes of Osman who still bloody plays for us! Even on Saturday, when the team was read out, I heard a pretty loud voice behind shout 'oh fuck off' when Osman's name was read out!

I do agree on Mirallas. But given he's only got a year left on his contract, if he's not going to sign it, Id let him go. If he's actually going to commit and sign one, Im happy to see him stay. Before his agent started whispering sweet nothings in his ear around Christmas, he was probably our only consistent attacking player this season.

what did he do to Everton? He left with Moyes's blessings I thought.

 

[Smudge]

Your lot made a bid, it didnt meet our asking price so we rejected it, and Wenger came out publically and said he wouldnt be going any higher so you were dropping your interest in him. Arteta then went to the board with a transfer request and was ready to down tools if we rejected it, so we were left with no choice but to accept it, and Arsenal came back in with a bid of the same value as the first one and we were forced to sell our best player at way below his value on deadline day.

Moyes was always quite happy to see us continue with this underdog tag, so basically never had a go at any player who left. The Lescott saga was very similar and much more drawn out than the Arteta one, but Moyes still never had a word to say against him either.

 

[IanH]

Your lot made a bid, it didnt meet our asking price so we rejected it, and Wenger came out publically and said he wouldnt be going any higher so you were dropping your interest in him. Arteta then went to the board with a transfer request and was ready to down tools if we rejected it, so we were left with no choice but to accept it, and Arsenal came back in with a bid of the same value as the first one and we were forced to sell our best player at way below his value on deadline day.

Moyes was always quite happy to see us continue with this underdog tag, so basically never had a go at any player who left. The Lescott saga was very similar and much more drawn out than the Arteta one, but Moyes still never had a word to say against him either.

Maybe because Moyes is professional enough to see that it's ultimately a business and a player has the right to choose their own career path.

Arteta gave Everton over six seasons and both he and Moyes probably realised that that move to Arsenal was likely to be his last shot at winning trophies in a competitive league, while also earning Everton a decent wedge for him. That it happened on deadline day was somewhat unfortunate, but to then villify him seems petty to me.

 

[Smudge]

Bullshit, a manager's job is to do the best for the club, not the players. And Im not having a dig at Moyes for that, as one thing he was very good at, was making sure that if we did have to sell someone, we got what we wanted for them. I mentioned Lescott already, one of the reasons that was drawn out for so long was because we refused to buy into Man City's games trying to get him on the cheap.

Christ, if we all just accepted the first derisory bid anybody ever threw in for a player who wanted to go, we'd have let United have Fellaini for £10 and wouldnt have been in a position to buy James McCarthy or Lukaku now.

Had Arsenal had that bid rejected and come back in with another bid closer to his value and he'd have gone, I wouldnt have a bad word to say about him. If a club is selling a player, it has to be for the benefit of the club, either because he is past his best, a bad influence, not good enough etc. or if he is a valued player, that the club gets his worth so they can think about replacing him. We got neither. We lost our best player, and got buttons in return to replace him, and fa too late to actually do anything but go without a creative midfielder for 6 months.

 

[IanH]

I agree with the principle of what you're saying Smudge, of course a manager's job is to do the best for his club.

Maybe the part I should have bolded was that 'Moyes never had a go at any player who left'. Why should he sour a relationship he's had for over half a decade by openly criticising a player?

 

[Smudge]

Thats just who Moyes was, I know there are a few ex Everton players who he fell out with in the manner they left, but he never came out and criticised any of them publically. Which is why I think the fact that Arteta left 'with Moyes' blessing' means absolutely nothing. Even after the very public fallout between him and Rooney when he published his book and sued him, he still put a piublic face on and shook his hand and so on when we faced United, and obviously dealt with it the same way when he was United manager.

 

[Avatar]

you can have him back anyway.

 

[Smudge]

Ha ha! No thanks, moved beyond him now thankfully! He was never good enough to be the midfield focal point for a side with aspirations of winning the League/ playing in the Champions League every season anyway, I said that at the time. The fact Arsenal signed him the summer Fabregas left, he was never good enough to fill his boots.

 

[Avatar]

He wasn't a cesc replacement, I think Wenger wanted Wilshere for that role then, he gave him the #10.

I think Arteta was pretty good actually in the holding role, it's just his legs are gone and we have Le Coq Bloq. But Arteta is a great pro, great captain and he really helped the likes of Cazorla, Monreal, Gabriel and Sanchez gel with the squad. He's the leader of the Spanish speaking contingent.

 

[Super_horns]

Nevermind new players - sounds like Jokanavic has rejected an offer of a new contract so might be looking for a new manager!

Very disruptive and annoying.

 

[JaseTheVillain]

Nevermind new players - sounds like Jokanavic has rejected an offer of a new contract so might be looking for a new manager!

Very disruptive and annoying.

Paul Lambert is available.

 

[Super_horns]

Not sure he'd work in the Pozzos system!

Anyway local paper have denied the story...