10 Jan 2017 17:04:17
Let's have a little assessment of the transfer window so far and compare it to our league position.
Let's start with 6th place Manchester United, they are currently 9 points ahead of us and are currently the form side in the league. have they recruited so far in the window? No.
Next let's look at the sides below us from 8th to 11th where we finished last season, West Brom, Bournemouth, Southampton and then Stoke.
Let's start with West Brom, they tabled a bid for Schneiderlein which United rejected and other than that have had no other real movements, are they currently better than us? League table suggests not, so without improving they may not be able to maintain there top 7 push add to that we have to play them at home after already beating them away and I can't see them being a threat.
Bournemouth next, a side we also have to play at home and a side who have just returned a loan player who was one of there better players so far this season. Have they bought anybody yet? No, are they going to catch us? I say probably not.
Southampton next, a side we recently beat 3 nil, have they improved so far this window? No, and in all reality they may get depleted by losting Fonte. So will they catch us? I don't think they will.
Finally Stoke, a side with a few decent players but the flair players they have are inconsistent and other than these players the rest are at best bang average. So have Stoke gone out and improved so far? No, add to that the 6 point gap we hold, so ask yourself honestly do you think they will catch us? I think not.
The point I am making after this long winded post is, we won't catch the top 6 even with incomings as these sides are currently the elite in the league. We are the best of the rest and even if we don't bring in players the fans demand, that will remain the same I believe, so ask yourselves, would I be happy with 7th come May?
I want us to improve of course, but I only want players that want to be part of our project and not mercenaries after a payday.
That's me done with my rant and maybe a few people will realise its a marathon not a sprint.
10 Jan 2017 17:41:21
Clap, clap, clap. Top post bluegray87 and I agree 100%. Puts things into perspective. People get excited by the thoughts of arrivals and get carried away.
10 Jan 2017 17:49:56
Blue is spot on, my thoughts exactly.
10 Jan 2017 18:28:20
Good post and you never know, maybe one of the top 6 will lose a bit of form and make it more interesting, if we can put a string of results together. Looking at the fixtures after the city game there are some winnable games up till the end of Feb, so let's hope we get 2 or 3 in, and a couple back from injury and Gana.
10 Jan 2017 19:16:56
I agree with most of the post. The only down side I see is that over the last few seasons, the so called top 6 have all strengthened incredibly. Man City, Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea have all improved their 1st teams so that not many of our players would get into any of those sides. What is even more frightening is that all those clubs have such strength in depth that their 2nd 11 players would probably mostly play a big part in our 1st team should we sign any. eg Depay and Schneiderline will be signed for 1st team action yet neither make Uniteds 1st team with any regularity. I see a top 6 developing that leaves the rest behind. This is a critical time in the future of Everton FC and we really need sustainable investment from the board and not just one or two season investment. Hopefully we will ensure that a top 7 breaks away from the rest. Fingers crossed.
10 Jan 2017 19:44:42
Good post Bluegrey. However, we don't want to stagnate as well. Bringing in players in each window is imperative and the more the first choice targets there are the better.
We are in catch up mode from the summer against the top 6 as they all bought well and early. Plus they already had better squads. We can't afford another window where we miss out on our targets.
10 Jan 2017 19:56:04
Excellent post bluegray, great summary.
Degsy - there was a top 4 not long ago that started to break away, but that's become a top 6 over the last few years through investment and ambition. We now have that investment and ambition, so who's to say we won't be part of a top 7 in the next two seasons? I for one would like to think we can be.
Lots to be positive about as a blue at the moment. More optimism and less impatient pessimism from people wanting us to shell out tens of millions on average players.
10 Jan 2017 20:13:00
*about being a blue
10 Jan 2017 20:35:16
Very good post.