I respect your views, Esk, and usually, in fact nearly all the time, agree with you, but I wonder if you are not being a little harsh with the above? I wonder if the same recriminations are to the fore behind the scenes at Chelsea, for example, because they did not get their first targets in a few areas,resulting in the re-signing of a former centre half with known flaws in his game and also at the many other clubs who 'failed to sign' or 'couldn't get over the line' targets with whom they had been linked in the media. This summer in particular has been odd, although every transfer window is vulnerable to random happenings. Prices have gone through the roof, and average players command £25-30 million fees and massive, almost obscene wages. On top of all this, at Everton we had an entirely new scenario, with,certainly, money to spend as we wished. Trouble was, just like at other clubs, players made the choice not to movie. Witsel, Mata, Strootma and the expensively priced centre back that Chelsea were after as well as us, did not move anywhere. So were Everton 'messed up',it could be perceived that Chelsea also 'messed up'.
In fact, I don't think either Everton or Chelsea messed up the window, its just the way the cookie crumbled in that particular window, and maybe we have a new norm for transfer windows, and they will all be a bit like the last one.
Every club, in that case, will learn quickly.
