Lighthouse

Always fun to look back at what we were saying in August. I didn't post anything on this thread but at the time I think I was predicting 8-10th, behind West Ham, Stoke and the usual suspects at the top.

Why would him being a free agent make it harder for us to match his wages? It means there's no transfer fee involved and no current wages we'd have to match. Not saying it's likely to happen but players being free agents is normally quite helpful.

Possible departures - Juanmi, Pelle, Yoshi, Gardos, Cedric, Kelvin, Mane, Wanyama I doubt it will be all of them but depending on who comes in I could see any of them leaving.

Martina top 3 but Alli takes it.

I'm indifferent as to whether he stays TBH. He's a quality player and has produced some fantastic goals. On the other hand he is one dimensional and a player I do think we can improve upon. I think if we get an £8-10m offer from Italy, he could leave with our blessing and we can invest that pretty nicely in a replacement.

Voted but can't really see behind Alli first, Vardy second. More for the popularity factor than the quality.

Finally! How many games have been completely ruined by a red card AND penalty for one incident.

Mildly interesting stat... Won Arsenal 4-0 Swansea 4-1 West Brom 3-0 Newcastle 5-3 Villa 5-3 Norwich 3-1 Watford 2-0 Chelsea 4-3 Liverpool 4-3 Palace 4-2 Sunderland 2-1 Drew Man City 5-5 (lose away goals) Man Utd 3-3 (lose a.g) West Ham 2-2 (win a.g.) Stoke 2-1 (win a.g.) Bournemouth 2-2 (draw. goes to penalties) Lost Everton 4-1 Spurs 3-2 Leicester 3-2

1) Arsenal 4-0. At a time when we were dreadful and an Arsenal win would have put them top, who saw a performance like that coming. 2) VVD. Lots of very good players but only one consistently excellent, even when we weren't so good, first half of the season. 3) Tadic. People criticising and saying we should sell for most of the season but when played well, he is an assist machine. 4) Can I say Spurs and Pompey today? It's not Saints but 5) I went to Stoke at home. That was sh*te. 6) Cuco. Easy 7) Forster at the Emirates 8 ) Nothing springs to mind, we're a bit dull. 9) Think I said 8-10th at the start of the season 10) Austin's winner at Old Trafford.

Wow that's quite a poor stat, I'd never thought of it like that. Obviously in terms of time he is a couple of months behind Adkins, Strachan and Whiskey George, when does he become our longest serving manager of say, the century?

Couldn't have gone any more perfect really could it. Obviously a Bompey win but apart from that. Spurs... can't believe how hilariously they've bottled it. I bet if you told them before their draw with WBA that they'd end up below Arsenal, they'd have laughed at you.

These are just old Chuck Norris jokes.

Okay, let's not go getting all excited. Not with your blood pressure.

Also after a single adult ticket if there's one going spare.

Fair enough, however long it was since they won the Cup, it's not relevant now. Christ, Villa were in last year's final, look how that set them up for the future.

I'll readily point out when Saints fans are being kn*bbers and other fans have a point about us but the posts on that forum... If any Everton fans are reading this forum; yes, you do have a better history than us. Fantastic, well done, have a cookie. I'm not going to deny for a second that winning the league a couple of times in the 80s is more than we've got to boast about but why on Earth would that be relevant to Koeman? If you think ANYONE cares about history when they sign for a club, just watch all the world class players flocking to Leeds, Forest and Wolves this summer. Fact is in the last 25 years you've won less than Wigan, Pompey, Boro, Swansea, Birmingham, Leicester or Blackburn. Even we have the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, you have nothing.

We probably could but we'd have lost out on a £13m investment we made barely 6 months earlier. I think it's basically what we ended up doing last summer anyway.

Don't you know they won the FA Cup 20-something years ago, they're a definite step up.

'Bigger club' is pretty much meaningless these days. All managers will be interested in is the size of their contract, how much they have to spend, the level of competition they are in and what I would call the 'health' of the club. Saints for instance would be seen as very healthy. Newcastle and Leeds who change managers like they change their socks, maybe not so much.

Agreed. His hair is combed in a sort of "I'm going to Everton," style.

TBF, some long waiting lists at the GRI.

Can't see it. Would be surprised if that's £100m net to spend on transfer fees. Nobody at the club will comment on this and nor should they.

Do they call Crystal Palace 'the scummers' now? Must have missed that one. Anyway, they were one of only 6 teams we managed to beat that season.

I can't see JWP becoming anything other than a squad utility player, a home grown Rory Delap if you like. He just doesn't have any particular physical attributes and has never imposed himself in any particular role.

Odds are adjusted to reflect betting patterns. All meticulously updated to attract as many punters as possible, whilst paying out the minimum possible if the result comes in. In other words, there's probably quite a lot being lumped on West Ham to get something, so they can afford to offer longer odds on a Stoke win, knowing they still make a profit if they do.