Alain Perrin

File under pointless "howling at the moon", more like. The transfer thread is like a three month match day thread, with more reactionary knobheads than an STI clinic. But best to put up with a little irritation, enjoy the ride and wait for the climax (before inevitable disappointment the morning after).

Personally I quite liked Martin - he did turn us back into winners from the shit show we were on relegation. That said, I thought his suicide ball and possession focus were over done, and we got bailed out by having better players than many in the league. However, you can't make a start like that for one of the old firm and expect to keep your job. Surely he's gone?

Please keep my identity secret..... My joining the forum in 2006 is the definition of the long game...

Clearly Spertseyen or however you spell it was the first choice to soften the blow of Dibling, and you can't really blame the club for how that turned out. Crazy scenario visible only to those with 20:20 hindsight. Signing people is much harder than it appears to us fans, there's agents, managers, preferences and many, many other things in the mix. That's something the guys are Wrexham can dangle - a bit of Netflix exposure to help your brand seals. Someone previously mentioned Archer and BBD as failures, for the Premiership maybe - although they'd seem top signings in the Championship if we brought them in now based on the record they had. I'm not suggesting they're the answer now, only that there are factors about how a player performs which can mean they perform completely differently in a new club or system. Not saying SR haven't screwed up signings... But I reckon there would be some who'd find fault if we'd signed Messi (too short, can he do it on a wet Tuesday in Norwich etc.)

It serves Everton well to talk the price down. Given this seems done and dusted it does us no harm either as if it seems lower, it makes other sellers less greedy.

I refer the right honourable gentleman to the comment I made some moments ago...

There are always one or two players who the fanbase can't stand but managers are invested in. Stephens and Bazuna are the whipping boys of the moment. Personally I have seen Stephens have some great games for us, similarly Bazuna has shown some flashes. They've also had some shockers. Regardless of how good you are - playing the style we played with Russell Martin, particularly early on, left both Bazuna and Stephens exposed and minds get set. It also very much depends on who they play with, having to compensate for tactics or a teammate having a shocker has an impact - I reckon I'd look half decent next to VVD. So I'll reserve judgement and hope that Still can get the best out of them and the reactionary element will eat their words (more likely though they'll just move to the next whipping boy).

Great memories of Dellhurst park in our Great Escape season. HK was a great player for us.

Not since the days of Paul Telfer has so much ire been directed to a player without justification. Granted he's no Busquets, but there are fans who'd blame him for a loss even if he was in Tescos at the time. My view is that it's a team and you can have a good player made to look **** because of the sum of the parts around him, the position they're asked to play, the tactics and even the opponent. Personally I quite like him.

Despite his A-levels I understand JWP confused New Forest and Notts Forest. By the time he figured it out it was too late.

Personally I think we'll do better than we did last time in the Premiership. Che was a solid player but missed far too many sitters and cost us points as a result. He was the personification of a streaky player. I liked him a lot but I think we'll be better team without him. Even if JWP was offered back to us I would question it. Fantastic professional, excellent free kicks - not sure if his corners are that productive but maybe that's the absence of a target man. That said, I would. But most of all we are a team, with an identity and spirit - certainly we lacked that when we were relegated. Every year people have the same panic. It won't change.

The most concerning area is the defense and DCM, specifically Downes. It took time for Saints to settle into RMs style of play, and that's crucial for the defense (mistakes there will cost us more). Lose too many games in the early part of the season (as we did this year) and we won't have the same opportunity to recover like we did in the Championship.

So many players move away and do very little - Ings, Broja, Lavia (played something like 32 mins all season) and going back you have a mixed bag of Schneiderlin, Shaw (early years etc). Just goes to show what a lottery signing players is and it's sometimes the team around them that can make them look good. I won't ever understand why a player like Lavia who left Man City to us to get game time, joins an equally difficult to penetrate team. Even money is less of a factor now as the lowliest player is raking in £millions.

It's always good to read the match thread back when we've won in the second half. The usual posters being dicks in the first half with no understanding.... then like tumbleweed from them in the second half. You'd think they'd learn.... We're far from perfect but we are far from shit too.... Oh, and well done Will Smallbone!

I think it is one of those memes where everyone freezes. Kind of like Che in front of an open goal...