Chez

Everton's wage bill for 20/21 was £183m, so considerably more than us. Hard to say what budget Forest are working to, but I'd of thought we would have similar `paying power', maybe less of a larger percentage of income (than ours) is spent on transfer fees.

Interesting that Moyes said of the Wolves link to Antonio: "We’ve had no offer and no enquiry so I don’t know where that’s sort of grown legs from. Nevertheless Mick’s really important for us. I think he’s got a two-year contract so he’s here for a while.” While their link to Dawson go the following response: “We’ve had an offer from Wolves, we’ve not accepted it. That’s about as much as I can tell you.”

I wonder what his wage is, £200,000 a week, more perhaps?

Bazaar. If they wanted an exciting young winger, why didn't they just sign Kvaratskhelia in the summer? He was available for buttons in comparison.

Lloris is so shit there. I've been saying this for years: he makes far too many mistakes to ever be seen as a `top keeper'. No idea why Spurs did not upgrade years ago.

Well used NFL tactic, where effectively they pay players for a few years after the playing contract has ended, void years, which helps them get round the salary cap.

It's complete folly to judge a player on his first outing, especially a relatively young player (20), but equally I've been only too happy to say "You could see from the very first game/touch that X is...", so I'm going to give my first impressions, although I will stay well away from making any conclusions, other than he's going to be a star, isn't he? 😉 Truth be told, he had a pretty poor debut and Jones pretty much said as such. He mis-controlled the ball two or three times, misplaced a couple of simple passes, one that then put us in big trouble (Diallo had to take a yellow to stop the resulting Everton break). He both slipped, and got his feet stuck and when on a great break he dawdled, stuttered and delayed allowing the defender to get back and snub out the opportunity. This might have been down to nerves, rust or he just hadn't got up to the speed of the game. Whatever it was, it prevented him from having a `dream' debut. To be fair to him, the conditions were tricky and he may just have got the wrong studs on. The one extra thing that didn't impress me was that he didn't track his runner, who got behind us unopposed and the resulting cross could have created a goal. It didn't, so that lack of effort was lost in the ether, but I saw it. I hope that is not a sign of what is to come, as even attacking midfielders can't shirk their responsibilities. The positives. During his first involvement he looked extremely confident, dynamic and laid a lovely ball square to JWP who shot from long range and he was right there following in should Pickford have spilled it. That's a good trait and I suspect we will see him scoring the odd goal from that circumstance in the future. He is clearly someone that wants to get on the ball, plays with his head up and will try to make things happen. That's the kind of player we need to bolster our attacking midfield options. As you can tell, I was a little disappointed with his debut, but I'm very much looking forward to seeing what he can do next time.

thought it was more to do with Reading increasing the `agreed' price and Nik Nak unwilling to pay more.

He's been great at right back, no, better than that, he's had three tremendous games at right back (while also sliding into CB when we have changed shape) doing a great job of keeping Zaha relatively quiet. The reckless diving in is still there for all to see though, and it could have cost us against City, but it didn't. There is still time for him to cut that out of his game. Fonte used to do the same (maybe not quite to the extreme) and eventually he learned when and when not to nip in to steal the ball. At right back we have also been able to see those ball skills and touch he has. Really enjoyed that. I'm not sure he's a long term option at fullback, but its worked well in this `fluid' system we have used.

As you rightly say, Leeds were by far the better side, and on anther day they could have won at a canter, but they didn't take their chances and Villa do have players that are dangerous up front. We've lost the last three against them, playing very poorly in a couple of those.

He didn't have the greatest game, so I don't think there was any reason he shouldn't have been subbed. Keeping him fit is going to be important, as he can really play that position.

Yeah, he did clear those chances, but to be fair he was already there and could little else but, it didn't require him to chase back. You are spot on about him following in that long range shot. I noticed that too. As I say, I have a feeling he will use more energy going forward than back. Lots of players are like that, we just need to be careful about playing him in positions that the rely on his defensive diligence. I'm really excited by this signing, but it wasn't a great debut.

€15m according to the French press, which you would guess would be most clued up. I think someone on here said Sky reported a £20m figure, but do they have clue? I doubt it, especially as the French press reported yesterday that Nice had bid €18m.

£100k+ a week wages are scary for a player that seems to always be half injured. West Ham don't seem to want to sell him to Wolves. Is he really available?

You could be right, but agent rumours usually are along the lines of "Southampton are interested...". When I read "Southampton have bid €15m...", it starts to feel a bit more real". Not sure if that is accurate. We will find out next week, probably.

Not sure what makes you think ABK isn't as physically imposing as DCC. ABK is a unit. He's also mobile. Salisu had a very poor first half. ABK could replace him and DCC playa alongside him. If we need a left back, lets get one.

Glad it wasn't just me. Let's hope it was just nerves and not quite being up to speed of the game and coping with the conditions. I'm a firm believer in playing new signings immediately, especially if they play in positions that don't require a whole lot of `drilling' to understand what's required. I do think there was a period near the end where our shape was all over the place, not helped by Alcaraz. But I think, having settled on this 4-2-3-1 formation that shifts to a 5-3-1 (is that right?) all the players might need a refresher as to what their role is.

He had a shocker. His touch is going to have to be a lot better. And maybe his choice of studs too. One concern for me is that he made no effort to track his man on one occasion, allowing him to get to the byeline and cross unopposed which could have cost us on another day. Maybe he's one of those that is good going forward but not running back. Something to keep our eye on.

blimey. Alcaraz was terrible and gets the second highest mark.

Buy Alcaraz to play in the attacking central midfield role and then discover JWP is perfect to play there. I guess we now have depth?

not sure I want to get involved in the GK argument, but percentage of stops seems pretty meaningless. Is there not a xS stat? Don't answer that.

I don't think we played brilliantly today, but we did look like we were all pulling in the right direction. The confidence a win or three brings can not be underestimated too and hopefully performances will continue to improve. We will need to be better next week, as there won't be many worse sides than Everton.

No more league games for you CC, until we lose.

What, allow Gordon to run straight past him, cos he's almost as slow as Danny Fox?

There has been one solitary story that said he was a target. It was a while ago. However, that one story, was mostly about us trying to sign Alcaraz - it was basically a footnote to that story. Obviously that one happened, so maybe the journalist has some insight.