Everton banter 6

29 Jan 2026 23:12:45
Angel Gomes rumoured with Wolves. Madness if that is where he ends up. Would have expected some better teams in for him e. g. Fulham or Brentford. Wolves are down and rumours loan with obligation to buy. We should be all over that. Even if we didn't see him a long term option. Definitely a useful player and could spin him for a profit with ease. 29 goals and 25 assists in 116 games, quality little player. Could be Lingardesque under Moyes at West Ham.

Put it this way. He is better than McNeil.

29 Jan 2026 23:54:34
I'm sure we were in for him in the summer as a free from Lille, but he opted to stay in France. I'd still take him though.

30 Jan 2026 09:04:19
I've liked him when I've seen him but we're pretty stacked in midfield, I'm not sure he gets in the team.
Plus, he plays quite a unique position really. Does he replace Gana or Jimmy? He does over something different from deep though.

30 Jan 2026 09:50:46
He might not be a starter but we know how unlucky we get with injuries and always good to have better players coming off the bench imo.

I think he is more of an attacking mid myself so would be competing with KDH, unless he was moved deeper how he was playing before his injury.

Options are what are important and he would certainly bring that.

29 Jan 2026 22:26:20
If Moyes now decides to play Branthwaite on the left then we don’t need to play Mykolenko surely!

29 Jan 2026 22:48:28
4 CBS at the back? Reminds me of the Walter Smith days.

29 Jan 2026 23:24:26
Plays him left of 3 CB's, there is a WB left of him. Not after a LB anyway.

29 Jan 2026 20:09:03
Think we have a near fully fit squad, Grealish unfortunately not available. Some tough decisions for Moyes.

I think he'll shift OBrien out to rb.

Personally i'd have Garner at Rb, but not hugging the touchline, coming in and adding to CM.
I'd Keep Tarks in, at expense of an unlucky OBrien.

Give Dibbling a run. i'm no McNeil hater but think having players like Garner and Dewsbury-hall, Gana consistently around him and he'll show his potential

My team

Pickford
Garner
Tarks
Branthwaite
Myko

Gana
Rohl

Dibbling (r)
Dewsbury-hall
Ndiaye (L)

Barry.

{Ed025's Note - i think Moyes will revert to type BB, Jake at Right back and Jimmy in midfield with Dibbling on the bench mate..

29 Jan 2026 20:52:10
McNeil left wing and 2 keepers on bench. Only 1 keeper on bench against villa and it didn't quite feel right lol.

29 Jan 2026 21:46:37
Moyes doesn't change his style very often. I bet that he will play McNeil and Keane with O'Brien at right back. He will not risk Branthwaite for a full 90 minutes, not sure how match fit he is after a long lay off with injury.

Hope that I'm wrong.
I would like to see Aznou on the left instead of McNeil, he has speed and we need. I just hope that we give up this backpedaling tactic in the first half and get at them right away.

29 Jan 2026 23:20:19
Will Branthwaite be able to get back to his best? That’s my fear. The future is JB and JO’B but he needs to ease Branthwaite back and I don’t see him starting games until the end of the season or if we get injuries.

Patterson might not be the best RB in the team but we looked more balanced with him there and O'Brien at CB. Shame we haven’t gone and bought someone this window.

29 Jan 2026 23:29:22
The lad impressed for his 15 mins, won the dodgy penalty and ran straight to Moyes for a hug. Not 90 mins ready at that intensity. I agree he looked more WB than LB when he came on.

30 Jan 2026 12:46:50
Can't get my head around this not 90mins ready. I mean McNeil isn't even 10mins ready, yet he plays him.
If he is more of a wing back then play three at the back - might improve our defending at corners- and have the full backs push on.
Play 5-2-3-1?

29 Jan 2026 19:45:42
Took to long Brooke Norton off the Inter.

29 Jan 2026 19:12:57
Harwood-Bellis rumoured. I would take him all day tbf. Keane 33 now, been at the club just shy of a decade and it was a very poor decade. Time to move on from that. Same with Beto, Mykolenko, McNeil etc. Replace them with better players like KDH, Ndiaye, Grealish.

I doubt HWB would come cheap unless it is a loan with an obligation. I would rather us get a RB with an engine and pace to give us options to play a back 3. We saw what having a strong bench did the other night. Granted we brought KDH and JB on who are usually starters but if we are bringing the likes of Armstrong, Rohl, Tim, Gana, O'Brien, Mykolenko and Patterson onto the pitch and not having to start with them all, we go up a level.

RB with Aznou on the left, because he has the pace to get up and down. He would be surrounded by good players, JB covering his backside, Ndiaye in front of him, with Jimmy and Gueye on his inside. I wouldn't for one second want to take Garner out of the middle but if we signed a RB we wouldn't really need to, however, if we wanted to mix things up in games he can easily slot in there as a RWB too, playing with KDH ahead of him and O'Brien behind him.

29 Jan 2026 20:54:40
The wingbacks worked a treat against villa. I'd definitely try Anzou in place of Myko because of his pace and willingness to get forward. But every man and his dog knows it'll be 4231 again.

29 Jan 2026 15:59:54
We don’t want European football, our playing squad is to small, look at how other teams have struggled.
Players won’t want to come to us if we aren’t in Europe, our best players will leave for European football. Moan, moan, moan.
Look it’s simple get into Europe that in itself generates income and raises the clubs profile. As for we might struggle playing in Europe and the Premiership. Well we are not exactly pulling up trees right now are we?
People saying we have made progression if we finish 10th and they would be happy with that.

Bollocks, the league this season is bloody awful and we haven’t progressed others have got worse. So if Mr Moyes would just get his head out of his arse and change our home tactics then yes we could qualify for European, and yes it would be the best thing for the club. Oh and it’s supporters.

29 Jan 2026 16:53:27
Agree need us to get into European comps, otherwise we just become a mid table team that actually doesn't go anywhere. We have the stadium, we have the support, now we just need the team to improve to get to that level.

29 Jan 2026 16:54:38
The whole thing is about winning games. The more you win the higher up the league you finish. So getting into Europe is a product of what we expect from our club. We NEED Europe if only to show that we are improving and doing our best. And the closer to Europe we are the further from relegation we are, and after the last few seasons those are feelings I can happily do without.

So three points on the weekend please.

29 Jan 2026 17:05:23
Is anyone saying they don’t want European football? In my eyes, we’ve progressed, and have some talented footballers at the club with a bright future. Each to their own.

29 Jan 2026 17:44:56
Brown shoes got us in Europe, small Squad. Next season flying banners to get him out.

29 Jan 2026 18:48:24
JB plenty on here have said we are not ready for European football as apparently we are yet another work in progress.
And your point is dms?

{Ed025's Note - getting into Europe opens a lot of doors for us..

29 Jan 2026 18:49:47
Spot on there DMS. Although I do think the solidity he inherited from DM eroded after the first season and the 2nd was chalk and cheese. Not too dissimilar to the Dutch fella across the park.

29 Jan 2026 19:00:00
Have heard a few people mention the Prem is a poor league this year. I'm not saying it isn't, but we have 5 teams finished in the top 8 of champions league. Must be some poor European teams in general, if this is the case.

29 Jan 2026 19:15:02
Tell BMD that.

29 Jan 2026 19:16:16
Nobody has said we are not ready.

29 Jan 2026 19:49:56
Not a poor league more a very competitive league, teams down the bottom quite able to beat the top sides.

29 Jan 2026 19:57:13
So don’t qualify for European because we might lose our manager. Mmm let me think about that.

29 Jan 2026 20:19:24
There's only 1 way to find out if we're ready for Europe, qualify. What does that even mean, ready for Europe? Many clubs from Europe have much smaller squads than ours, with players that wouldn't get near our squad and these teams seem to be 'ready' for European competitions.

I think we have improved BMD because some of the players we brought in are an improvement on what we had last season. I agree that the premier league isn't as strong at the top as it is most seasons. So why can't we push on up the league.

Moyes definitely needs to do something with our home form because we look poor at home. Branthwaite will make a big difference because of his passing and technical ability. Hopefully we can push on now with a few players back and when we improve on our full backs, I think our play will improve massively.

{Ed025's Note - as i say Joe it opens doors, we will attract better players, hopefully a stronger squad and thats without the commercial side of things and a higher profile of the club, i have a feeling that we may just miss out myself but there is certainly no harm in trying mate..

29 Jan 2026 21:08:43
It feels like some of the frustration is coming from the assumption that we’ll do no business in the next few days, and then miss a good opportunity to qualify for Europe. Qualifying should always be the goal, although it did not seem at all likely at the start of the season.

I’d be disappointed if we didn’t strengthen at all. One or two might just give us the boost we need.

29 Jan 2026 15:00:45
I see it’s just been announced that the Premier league is very likely to clinch 5th place Chanpions league qualification this year for the 2nd year running. dare we dream? We’re only 4 points off 5th place currently, or mayb we’re just not ready squad wise for CL just yet…either way, it’s a good motivation for all the teams right now to try to finish the season strongly as the points this year are very close at the top.

29 Jan 2026 14:10:29
Cheeky bid for Mateta surely? Then drop Beto off at the highest bidder.

29 Jan 2026 14:57:42
Can't see us spending that money in the winter window JB.

Do you like him? He is a bit of a conundrum. I remember him coming in from Mainz and he got about 8 goals in his first 3 seasons and then caught fire. Seems to have dropped off again lately and has changed his tune about Palace who stuck with him, now wanting to go an play European football.

Not sure 40m on a 29 year old who may have had his day in the sun suits us right now.

If Duran does want to come back to the PL, a loan deal for a 23 year old who has already shown he can cut it in the league is a better option for me. Big and powerful like Mateta but seems to have more pace about him and the ability to produce something out of nothing.

Can't believe Palace are paying close to 50m for Larsen.

29 Jan 2026 15:00:00
I presume this is a joke . Has 1 premier league goal this season and costing £50 million .
Madness.

{Ed025's Note - im with you ST..

29 Jan 2026 16:56:26
It’s utter madness! He’s been pants so far this season.

29 Jan 2026 17:03:35
If you’d asked me 6 months ago I’d have said yes, but I think it speaks volumes that no one’s jumped on him being available, he’s missed some sitters in the last few months.

29 Jan 2026 18:24:46
Unclench guys, it was a simple question. There are worse strikers out there. We have 2 for starters.

29 Jan 2026 19:17:10
There's a bloke at Leeds.

29 Jan 2026 11:52:09
I'm truly grateful that the TFG have put us on a better financial footing.
However, their choice to back their Italian club in the transfer market, rather than us, does give me great concerns over the whole concept of multi club ownership.
A place in European football is very possible, or it would have been had the club been givern the opertunity to strengthen a number of key areas.


It would have allowed us to attract good player in the summer, increased our profile, and further improved our financial situation, but TFG have focussed on their Italian club. This is a bad sign of things to come.

29 Jan 2026 12:07:51
So you think Moyes has asked them for certain players and they have said no? We all know what dithering dave is like.

29 Jan 2026 12:35:19
It’s not an either or situation.

29 Jan 2026 12:44:57
They have been at Roma a few years and have built sold foundations. It is also highly more likely that they make the CL in Serie A than we do in the PL.

They are probably aware that our squad is small and limited (to be polite) , so any European football will create a whole host of issues. You only have to look at Palace and Forest this year, the latter's squad being massive compared to ours. Newcastle also suffered when they made it to the promise land, as did Villa.

Before we kicked a ball this season, I had more or less written it off. I do get though that being so close to CL or European positions in general does frustrate, because with a couple of decent additions we could finish comfortably in Europe (freak scenarios aside) . I would love to have gone and got a couple of full-backs at least but it is what it is. Hopefully we get some luck on the injury front now and manage to keep the nucleus of our first team fit and healthy and we are still likely to finish in Europe anyway if that happens, given the way the league has panned out this year. The only issue with that is, it would mean a lot of recruitment in the summer and if that is their plan and they fail to deliver on that, then of course they should be called out for it.

29 Jan 2026 13:01:50
Given our positions in the last 3 seasons I’d say where in no need of overspending on players this window, nor do I believe the dream of Europe next season is something we need right now, as mentioned where in need of a couple of positions filling with better quality but also better covering players.


I get the frustration but where heading the right way just not immediately enough it seams.

29 Jan 2026 13:29:24
We need to stop playing the victim. Roma and Everton two completely different columns on the sheet.

29 Jan 2026 13:41:37
Have they knocked back requests from Moyes about signing players? It's not an either/or situation either. each club has different needs and different financial restrictions to comply with (and of course different financial performance over last few years that factors into that) . It's utter nonsense to suggest that they're choosing to spend their own cash on Roma instead of on Everton.

29 Jan 2026 11:02:58
The best bit of transfer news if true is that Harry Maguire is set on achieving a new contract at man u when his contract runs out this summer don't want him anywhere near Everton football club unless he is part of man u management team next season ?.

29 Jan 2026 07:39:05
{Ed's Note - thefutureisoldgold3 has posted a new article entitled, Planning for the Championship: Wolves' Financial Rebuild