2019/20 Marcel Brands

[BlueStevie35]

Fair enough mate,
You make your arguments unlike plenty on here.
I just disagree with most of them.
If Holgate was impressive we would have sold him for 8/10 mill - no one wanted him for that money.
One look at DCL's goalscoring record tells you what level he will be playing at in a season or two.

West Brom wanted him back

 

[jazzy]

No, save that stunt for Iwobi.

£30M on a player we got because Zaha couldn't be released.

And the CB situation didn't require cover, it needed a dominant figure and starter.

So you don't think we should have had a back up plan Dave in the event of not getting our no.1 target ?

Zaha or nothing ?

Agree with you re CB

 

[davek]

no what I'm saying is if we didn't sign Zouma we would have signed a cover CB for Mina/Keane aka a non starter.

Yes. But we had from mid-May to get a starter sorted out.

 

[Neiler]

Its a mixed bag of everything to be honest and like that i have mixed emotions about the window to be honest.

Whats important to say is we have been operating in significant limits, financially we have a horrible wage bill, a bloated squad with significant number not making a contribution, limited capital in the business and about to post the biggest loss in our history. Thats the financial situation we are trading out of. As the crow flies we have spent 23mill net, with the European window still open.

So the job of work has been immense and what would have enabled us to really get a marquee signing would have been selling more players, that would have broke the threshold on Zaha. Really it was over to Brands on that one.

In assessing outs we really only sold the low hanging fruit, Vlasic, Lookman, McCarthy and Gueye. We needed to. But in reality you have to be disappointed that a buyer couldnt be found for Besic and Pennington and one or two others. Sandro, Bolaise, Mirallas, Martina all remain Everton players and are likely to be until their contracts run out. Then their is natural wastage, Jags Williams etc. Brands hasnt been great on outs overall. Personally i think the ones we sold weren't that difficult and i wouldn't have minded if some stayed on reflection. Some truly shocking players remain who make zero contribution, and the can kicked down the road on some others with loans. It hasnt been great really. Ok out of sight out of mind, but it will be ground hog day again year. The wage bill will have been cut somewhat mind but coult have and maybe should have been more.

Then you look at recruitment, what i like is we have gone for a lower age profile, forgetting Delph, all under 25, so you would hope they are decent investments with headroom to be built up to their potential, they could be anything at this stage but we hope.

Im happy we didn't get Rojo and walked away, id prefer this position to signing him, but that does not excuse the glaringly obvious clanger of not having a realistic alternative lined up and we have left ourselves desperately short. That is really poor overall.

Some of the signings we have question marks about in terms of how they will develop and fit here, i dont mind that as i would back the manager, so luckily we have one who can help fulfill their potential, i suspect we are working toward a philosophy and a system and while not all look individually brilliant, it will be about developing and growing players into that plan. I hope.

The squad, without the center back thing, looks overall more balanced, by that i mean looks like we have a center forward. it really is about time.

Over all i feel Brands was maybe a bit hubris going into this window and it didnt really work out for him, he didnt do great selling to raise capital and got stung a bit on pushing through the really big signings. he was also caught with his pants down on depth of options at center back. Its been a learning curve window for him i think and one he will need to reflect and improve on.

Anyone can have a mare at times, and he has enough credit for a shoulder shrug here, depending on the impact, but he must learn. I know lads go on something silly about him here and we often wind them up about him for the laugh, but really that hasnt helped the expectation around him. in truth its been average and mixed window, with some wins and losses, some things done well and other things should have been done better. He needs to reflect, learn and grow.

Id give him some benefit of the doubt on the basis that i always have maintained the turnaround on this squad was a three summer window job, so he has next year to, so i have some understanding but mistakes have been made and performance could be improved. Some stuff was a win though, like i say mixed bag.

Overall where i am at is i think they have been tough financial conditions to operate in, but with a respectable net spend (should have been better with sales), some hopeful investments made, he has been poor on sales and i think he needs to reflect on his performance of how he has handled this window overall.

Mixed bag really, but hopefully he improves.

Over to Marco now, to try and fix.

 

[AmericasToffee]

Really needed another CB. It's pretty terrifying that Everton don't have enough depth there.

 

[Dwight K Schrute]

I think he's still done a great job overall. We are much further on than I thought we would be just over a year after his appointment, the disappointment comes from the deflating end to the window.

Yes he could have tried to get more money for some of our sales, but I suspect that if he tries that, then it would hold up our purchases. This is because we obviously had to sell/have a clear out in order to buy - I don't mean that with the negative connotations that are normally applied to that phrase.

People who are complaining about the players he has signed not being unheard of gems - he is not a chief scout, he is a director of football. That means that he has to look at the best available options to us. He hasn't gone for players geared for the short term who aren't actually very good like Koeman/Walsh did with players like Williams, Bolasie, Schneiderlin etc, nor for a team like a FIFA wannabe with 20 16 year olds in it. He has signed players like Richarlison and Iwobi who are medium to long term investments - decent now with the potential to improve massively. Also having the eye to get players like Digne and Gomes who people at best thought were decent but actually turn out to be great players. I believe next summer will see us starting to sign young talent from across the globe as we should have fewer glaring gaps to fill throughout the team, and this process should accelerate over coming seasons.

Also, where he has done very well is in negotiating down asking prices etc. All of our acquisitions have come in for decent prices lower than what their clubs were holding out for. In the current crazy market that skill cannot be underestimated.

This approach, as Brands said himself in an interview last year, means that you have to take a risk that it might not go your way. It just so happens that everything did last summer. The lack of CB and a top level wide forward could really affect us this year, and I suspect he will have to do what he doesn't like to and dip into the market in January.

What should help to negate some of the negatives is that Silva is a proper coach and generally improves all who he trains, as we saw last year. If this wasn't probably his biggest skillset as a manager I would be more worried.

Overall Brands has been an amazing appointment for us and even though there have been some almost unforgivable errors/oversights this summer, I shudder to think how far behind we would currently be without him.

Essay over!lol

 

[Thomasc]

Underwhelmed by him. Injury prone and I dont think he's committed to us. A couple of games in te Wc and that's it. We need a leader.

So let’s get this straight, because you aren’t keen on Mina, he’s not a first choice centre back for us, despite the fact we bought him to be exactly that?

Where is there any shred of evidence that he isn’t committed to us? And don’t dodge that question, provide evidence.

 

[kenada_blue]

We've improved the squad over the mess that was the £300mill Walsh & Koeman assembled 2 seasons ago.

Do think we're stronger and there's still some deadwood to move. It looks like a team with an identity.

If we can be consistent I can see us mixing it up with Chelsea, United, Arsenal this year.

 

[catcherintherye]

Fair enough mate,
You make your arguments unlike plenty on here.
I just disagree with most of them.
If Holgate was impressive we would have sold him for 8/10 mill - no one wanted him for that money.
One look at DCL's goalscoring record tells you what level he will be playing at in a season or two.

You too. I don't have an issue with your broad argument at all, just one or two specifics I'd challenge.

I think sides were lining him up, but there was no way we could sell given how sparse we are there. I am on the fence on Holgate, all I'd say is it's likely he improves as he is getting older. Whether he improves enough to be an option? Who knows.

Dominic Calvert Lewin's big issue is his goal scoring. Thats a fair comment. There has to be a bit of balance though. I think in general too many views on players are too extreme at times. He does lots of things well, but lots of things poorly, as you expect from a 21 year old. In fairness your scepticism on Kean I happen to have some sympathy for. I think we have to be cautious with him. I'm not sure he just comes straight in and keeps banging them in.

For the most part though, there appears to be a plan they are working too, which is buying younger players and hoping the coach improves them. That seems sensible to me. It's a big season though. This time 2 years ago it blew up. We can't afford that again.

The big question for me, is what caused the mid season decline, and what are we going to do this time to avoid it? Obviously alongside that, we are going to need to touch lucky at Centre back.

 

[Toffeelover]

Good work done not signing two poor players we didn't need? Another Brands miracle. Spent all summer waiting for a player who Lampard was never going to sell. More miracles.

So Dave you would have welcomed Rojo, Smalling, Jones. No doubt it was a failing to D/W the cb position, can't win them all. Also glad we did not chase Luiz.
At the end of day what CB,s were available out there? rubbish like those mentioned above?

 

[catcherintherye]

Underwhelmed by him. Injury prone and I dont think he's committed to us. A couple of games in te Wc and that's it. We need a leader.

I think Mina will surprise you Dave. The issue will be fitness. Thats the key question around him. When he plays, for the most part he's been impressive.

 

[jerseytoffee]

Hopefully signed some very good players.

A goal scorer in Kean

A creator in Iwobi

A replacement for Gueye who can play a bit too

Just hope Keane and Mina stay injury free

 

[catcherintherye]

Not when he directly insults another member.

I did that and was given a warning by AndyMod.

Was he?

Well I suppose not. It's not an easy job for the Mods though as there's a fine line between being vicious and nasty to someone and trying to state you completely disagree with someone. I didn't see any malice in the comment and wouldn't want him to be reprimanded on my behalf anyway. People's emotions are always going a bit after deadline day. It will settle down again.

 

[Toffeelover]

Its a mixed bag of everything to be honest and like that i have mixed emotions about the window to be honest.

Whats important to say is we have been operating in significant limits, financially we have a horrible wage bill, a bloated squad with significant number not making a contribution, limited capital in the business and about to post the biggest loss in our history. Thats the financial situation we are trading out of. As the crow flies we have spent 23mill net, with the European window still open.

So the job of work has been immense and what would have enabled us to really get a marquee signing would have been selling more players, that would have broke the threshold on Zaha. Really it was over to Brands on that one.

In assessing outs we really only sold the low hanging fruit, Vlasic, Lookman, McCarthy and Gueye. We needed to. But in reality you have to be disappointed that a buyer couldnt be found for Besic and Pennington and one or two others. Sandro, Bolaise, Mirallas, Martina all remain Everton players and are likely to be until their contracts run out. Then their is natural wastage, Jags Williams etc. Brands hasnt been great on outs overall. Personally i think the ones we sold weren't that difficult and i wouldn't have minded if some stayed on reflection. Some truly shocking players remain who make zero contribution, and the can kicked down the road on some others with loans. It hasnt been great really. Ok out of sight out of mind, but it will be ground hog day again year. The wage bill will have been cut somewhat mind but coult have and maybe should have been more.

Then you look at recruitment, what i like is we have gone for a lower age profile, forgetting Delph, all under 25, so you would hope they are decent investments with headroom to be built up to their potential, they could be anything at this stage but we hope.

Im happy we didn't get Rojo and walked away, id prefer this position to signing him, but that does not excuse the glaringly obvious clanger of not having a realistic alternative lined up and we have left ourselves desperately short. That is really poor overall.

Some of the signings we have question marks about in terms of how they will develop and fit here, i dont mind that as i would back the manager, so luckily we have one who can help fulfill their potential, i suspect we are working toward a philosophy and a system and while not all look individually brilliant, it will be about developing and growing players into that plan. I hope.

The squad, without the center back thing, looks overall more balanced, by that i mean looks like we have a center forward. it really is about time.

Over all i feel Brands was maybe a bit hubris going into this window and it didnt really work out for him, he didnt do great selling to raise capital and got stung a bit on pushing through the really big signings. he was also caught with his pants down on depth of options at center back. Its been a learning curve window for him i think and one he will need to reflect and improve on.

Anyone can have a mare at times, and he has enough credit for a shoulder shrug here, depending on the impact, but he must learn. I know lads go on something silly about him here and we often wind them up about him for the laugh, but really that hasnt helped the expectation around him. in truth its been average and mixed window, with some wins and losses, some things done well and other things should have been done better. He needs to reflect, learn and grow.

Id give him some benefit of the doubt on the basis that i always have maintained the turnaround on this squad was a three summer window job, so he has next year to, so i have some understanding but mistakes have been made and performance could be improved. Some stuff was a win though, like i say mixed bag.

Overall where i am at is i think they have been tough financial conditions to operate in, but with a respectable net spend (should have been better with sales), some hopeful investments made, he has been poor on sales and i think he needs to reflect on his performance of how he has handled this window overall.

Mixed bag really, but hopefully he improves.

Over to Marco now, to try and fix.
[/QUOTE}

If no club is interested how can we move them on? Some folk just seem to think that a wave of the wand and the deadwood will be gone! Can hardly point a finger at Brands on this.

 

[kahuna]

Fair enough mate,
You make your arguments unlike plenty on here.
I just disagree with most of them.
If Holgate was impressive we would have sold him for 8/10 mill - no one wanted him for that money.
One look at DCL's goalscoring record tells you what level he will be playing at in a season or two.

And done what with the money?

I'd go the other way personally, if he was so bad we'd have taken whatever we could get, like Pennington and Garbutt. He was kept because he's got something to offer. To be clear, i'd rather have Zouma but Holgate is pretty decent back-up.