Everton banter 5

01 Jun 2026 13:21:26
Nick Cox (Technical Director)
James Smith (Director of Scouting and Recruitment)
Chris Howarth (Head of Football Strategy and Analytics)
Nick Hammond (Head of Player Trading)

This is the Team that operate instead of a DoF.

Put your questions to them.

customerservices@evertondirect.evertonfc.com.

01 Jun 2026 15:11:29
Time to come back from your extended sabbatical and do your job which is returning this great team to where it belongs, winning trophies.

01 Jun 2026 15:20:05
Nick Hammond has his work cut out. ??

01 Jun 2026 20:24:58
I used to play football with James Smith about 30 years ago.

01 Jun 2026 21:41:45
Well you should have given him a good kicking Bobby lad.

01 Jun 2026 12:25:30
Well it's over for at least 6 weeks until the new expectations start to creep in. My biggest concern is, and I know you can't believe anything that comes out of the media, but looking at championship players and free transfers it seems like Moyes has a new Bill Kenwright in this CEO if the Freidkins showed as much desire to go for top players like they are with Roma we would all be glad for the new season. But for them not to even put a armani shoe or two even at Goodison never mind Bramley Moor tells you a lot about there ambitions for us : ie keeping Moyes in the job but this newly assembled group of directors 3 from Leeds Utd who there fans couldn't wait to get out stinks again of jobs for the boys the Reds sacked Slott who by the way won the Premier League and finished fifth, and we keep boring arse after 2 13th places finishes.

There to me sums up the ambitions of both clubs one who will not accept mediocrity and the other who will.

01 Jun 2026 15:26:32.
New buzz word is "Stability".
Stability, the quality or state of being steady, secure, and resistant to sudden change.
Think it sums up the club quite well.

01 Jun 2026 15:38:49
Two different things entirely mate. TFG gave DM two years to improve the squad and league position. He is half way through that remit. Slot won the league in his first year, spent over 400m on new players and watched his side plummet in their title defence. They finished 20 plus points worse off than the previous season. Some of that team didn't look as if they wanted to play for him, the writing was on the wall.

To compare the two is ridiculous really. Get rid of some of the crap we have in the squad, buy better quality players and keep adding each window without purchasing players of the ilk of Barry, and maybe we will start moving up the league. Until we sort the squad, we are incomparable to a team that we're defending their title, no matter how bad that defence turned out to be.

01 Jun 2026 21:41:32
I wasn't comparing the teams, rather their owners. One set, who are regular attenders at home games and are owners who are regular attenders at Roma rather than on Merseyside as you stated, get rid of the crap and bring in quality players. Who are these players who would want to come to play for a manager with no forward thinking, the old players he surrounds himself with, out of form players getting a game week in, week out, and as I stated, one group of owners who won't accept mediocrity and the others who will, as long as we remain in the Premier League and bring them in millions.

I think that is their remit where we are concerned.

03 Jun 2026 14:26:28
I get that al, what I meant was the two boards are striving for different things based on recent history. Slot would still be in charge if his remit was to get them closer to the top half of the table rather than to defend a title. If we are off the pace and struggling as we approach Christmas, I think they will be looking to bring a new man in. Until that happens, they seem happy to give DM the time to build a squad that can consistently be in and around the European places. Each season will see the pressure crank up a notch I think mate.

31 May 2026 18:19:47
Honestly no offence, but whoever thinks that Beto should be kept and Barry sold, forgive me, but they clearly have no clue about football. Barry has much better potential. Beto is poor, but let's give the young man Barry a chance. 8 goals in gis debut campaign with the way Moyes sets up is a good return.

{Ed025's Note - then i must know nothing about football, yes its not easy for any centre forward the way we set up with this dinosaur in charge but out out of Barry and Beto i would keep Beto, ideally i would get rid of both because they are both very poor but at least Beto puts himself about and works hard, Barry is very lazy and has an attitude problem for me as well as being absolutely crap, but that is my personal view and others are entitled to theirs..

01 Jun 2026 08:31:21
I'm with Ed on this one. Both have their limitations, and neither should be starting for us. Off the bench though, Beto gets stuck in and can nick a goal.

{Ed025's Note - it seems you know nothing about football either JB.. :)

01 Jun 2026 08:52:22
Well, I have supported Everton for 35 years so that could be true.

01 Jun 2026 11:49:05
I think I agree to an extent with the OP, but wouldn't suggest someone has no clue if they prefer one over the other, it's not that much of an obvious answer, and either pick could be right for diff reasons.

Barry, I do think, will grow and get better, but his attitude after the Arsenal fiasco has stank. I do buy the idea he's a young (relatively) lad who's come from a diff country, but we can't have another year of that attitude.

He is a miles better finisher than Beto for me, he's also better in the air and I think his link up is better.

So I'd stick with him personally and see if he grows, for another season at least.

I like Beto's attitude and think he's a very solid bench option, but he can't trap the ball and is unlikely to improve that area of his game. I also find his aerial ability (more so outside the box) frustrating considering his size.

I think the return from both in this god awful negative tactical system is actually good. We could have Mbappe and he'd struggle under Moyes.

01 Jun 2026 12:06:58
It's opinions we keep saying, and mine says he's awful. We must move him out.

01 Jun 2026 11:59:30
Beto has been polished within an inch of his life and his attitude has been fantastic but he is not gonna.get any better. He is a diabolical 1 on 1 finisher. Not bad in the mixer and handy defensively on opposition corners. He probably deserves a 12 month extension but if he agrees, it doesn't say much about his own ambitions. I think he will go back to Italy and I expect he will find it considerably easier after the schooling he's had here. You can't help but begrudgingly respect his spirit and he's had a fantastic attitude. As a 3rd choice/squad player i'd be ok if he did stay. But the club must relegate him to 3rd choice with 2 new strikers coming in this summer. He won't be happy with that.

Bazza? Has a face only a momma can love blah blah blah, yeah he's easy to dislike but most young strikers are like that when the chips are down. He definitely knows where the goal is but the lone striker role is not his skill set. I actually hate our clubs inability to get the nos 9 role right. In the 6 yard box he seems ok but linking up is clearly a big disappointment and its obvious our midfielders don't want to pass to him. However we clearly wanted another striker last summer and Baz was bought to develop. Unfortunately the desperate fan base and the blank drawn buying our wanted striker targets left the kid exposed. We are a tough lot when it goes wrong. Very slow to offer redemption. It'd be a return to financial suicide to flog him off, we've just had 5 years of all that stupidity. He probably needs a loan. Would he want to leave? i'm still confused what all that weird stuff with his mates was but doubt its of any significance and a loan would be best for all.

When big well run successful clubs buy young strikers, usually they have a decent nos9 and a good back up. The new kid has a run in the 21s and cup games as a sub and little pressure is applied. They are bought on late in league games when the win has already been assured to experience the 1st team and build confidence. We don't have that so he's thrown in to duel it out for the spot immediately. Its great for his development (see Beto) but we aren't a patient lot as is evidently shown on here (the wider fanbase seems a little more fair minded)

Im days from my half century so I don't remember Latchford but in my lifetime it makes for shocking reading when listing our good goal scoring strikers. Lineker, Cottee, Yakuba and Lukaku all had a season with over 20 goals. Cult hero didn't actually score many and lots of strikers were barely able to get double figures. Rikky? I loved him but to me he's always a LW. DCL had that 1 season but in 45 ish seasons, its actually disgusting. Especially when you think of the strikers at United Arsenal LFC over the same period. Rooney wasn't prolific for us but even if you add his name to the list, its still pitiful. 7 strikers of any note in half a century?? Diabolical.

This makes the problem a historic one and club problem a tactical issue and not so much the player. Let's not repeat the mistakes of the past and bin out a kid who has 4 or 5 years of development ahead. Let's allow the club the benefit of doubt to change a deepset culture problem. Moist K and Lookman as example of expensive kids who we slaughter for not ripping up the world immediately who then went away for 3 to 5 years and developed into the players our scouts knew they could be.

The club should not have allowed Baz to be thrown into the fire. The desperate fans want quick fixes. Our board failed DM and our fans with a pi99 poor summer in the striker position. We go into yet another summer and all fans have exactly the same wish as last. Rb Lb and Striker priority. Leave him alone he's not the problem. And yes 8 goals is actually a fantastic return. Clearly a player Is in there.

01 Jun 2026 12:26:11
Great post FBS. Barry's going to find it hard if he only comes on when we're winning. I'm a similar age to you and I'd add Ferguson to the list. A loan for Barry would be a sensible shout.

01 Jun 2026 12:49:17
Yep good post, mate.

01 Jun 2026 15:27:25
Well, I am a good deal older and remember the likes of Hickson and Young. Big difference was that they could head the ball well, and their first time control was good. The other big difference in those days was the center-forward had a player like John Willie Parker, who was up with the striker and scored a lot of goals.

Beto and Barry are almost always on their own with no support and nobody to feed off them. A big difference.

01 Jun 2026 15:38:36
I had the pleasure of watching Bob Latchford in his prime and he was magnificent, a natural goalscorer. However, Bob had Dave Thomas, a winger who took a man on and knew how to cross a ball. If Bob had been playing to Moyes' hoof ball tactic, he probably would have struggled. Can't see him chasing shadows all game as a lone striker.

01 Jun 2026 15:53:50
Neither Barry or Beto are good enough to be Premiership strikers. Barry is over emotional, makes a mistake, and overthinks it. Any half decent striker makes a mistake then makes sure he puts the next one away.
What we need is Brentford's scouts. They always seem to find a decent striker or two!

01 Jun 2026 18:23:53
I did add Big Dunc (cult hero) , but his goal tally was crap. He scored important goals, though, and all his aura etc made him a legend. I loved him, but like Waz, his goal per game was less than ordinary. So, really it's 5 strikers in 45 ish seasons is crap. This club is crap at finding goals.

01 Jun 2026 19:12:42
Let's not discriminate, they both need binning this summer. Barry may have age on his side but that has to go hand in hand with some semblance of ability, sadly he seems to be lacking in that department. Beto may be slightly better than Barry but, with his contract running down, it would be best to get some cash back for him rather than let him go for nothing.

01 Jun 2026 21:10:29
FBS, great post that pal. Imagine either of them two having half the finishing ability of the Yak!

01 Jun 2026 07:39:02
{Ed's Note - EHL2020 has posted a new article entitled, Rangers and the Dutch-Belgian Squad Blueprint

31 May 2026 19:24:41
So with dithering Dave and his motley crew of mentality midgets staying for at least another season, which no doubt make some people on here very happy (despite what they say about not being pro or anti Moyes) for some weird reason.

Here’s what I want next season:
George to be bought.
Dibbling to be brought into the first team in the middle behind the striker.
Us to target the league cup, full strength every round.
Us to not have any relegation worries.


A new left back, right back and centre back brought in to start.

Real easy stuff for someone like Moyes surely, he’s experienced. He’s stable. Some on here said we had a great season and just struggled a bit at the end. So those things above should be a walk in the park. I essentially just want some team changes and to go for a trophy. I’ll even take 13th again, but we have to put everything into the cups.

31 May 2026 21:42:02
We all want the same thing, Swan. The daily digs at other posters who don't agree with every word you say are not unnecessary.

I agree, a right back should be top of the list, but we'll need a lot more than that to do any better than we did last season.

31 May 2026 23:02:57
Give it a rest, Swan. We get your view, but don't all necessarily agree with it.

31 May 2026 23:12:38
I'd take that Swan. Three new starting players (RB, LB and CB) along with George, another striker and RW to help get goals.

If we don't finish top half, we should be at least in semi finals of a cup.

If he doesn't manage that, don't renew his contract and get someone else lined up. We'll have to start the search now to make sure we aren't caught with our trousers down again with knee-jerk appointment.



The tactics aren't going to change and the style of football won't either. Get us another Baines and Coleman plus a Cahill and Lukaku and I'd be more confident going into the new season.

31 May 2026 23:24:48
Fair enough, if people want George, but I would rather look elsewhere.

It is all well and good coming on as a young and fast winger in the last 10 minutes of games against tired legs.

He got absolutely bullied in his start against Bournemouth by Jiminez.



Nothing I have seen warrants spending 20/25m of our transfer budget on him.

Would rather go after Zuriko Davitashvili, who would be half the price, or spend a little bit more and get the likes of Matias Fernandez-Pardo.

01 Jun 2026 03:10:05
I like Moyes & he has been a success story for us. When we had very little money, he consistently kept us in the top 8. He has come back, stabilised us through the move & has taken away relegation worries, however. his dithering with subs, playing favourites, playing people out of position, failure to change tactics & he seems to think giving the top teams a decent game is good enough just doesn't cut it with me.



He should always have a special place at Everton but we need a younger, more daring coach if we want to get back into the top 6. The other lot have acted swiftly & I applaud that. We need to follow suit & get a new man in now so he can get transfers done.

NSNO UTFT. ? ? ?

01 Jun 2026 09:54:33
Your dictatorship isn't coming across very well, I'm afraid. You're not the only one with a veiw and you're veiw isn't the only right one, which I'm afraid you seem to think is. Also, belittling people becasuse they don't agree with ur veiw is very small minded. You expect us to agree or take your opinion on board, but cannot do the same yourself.
If you can give a comment, you should also be able to recieve one, which you've proved you cannot.

I don't agree with you on some things, something I kind of do, but I'm not going to come on here day after day just splutting the same drivel to get a reaction becasue all of the people don't agree with you.
The season is over. The rebuild continues, then let's see what happens, but for now nothing makes any sense just repeating yourself. How about go for a walk, get out in the sunshine, and worry about what will or won't happen when the season starts.

01 Jun 2026 12:10:56
Agree, Bluepasty, maybe he has a job in believing his own posts, hence his daily Victory speeches, mate. ????

01 Jun 2026 13:03:22
Some aren't taking a side one way or another, they simply see that the board aren't bowing down to a minority who have been saying the same things for the last few managers. TFG had said this was a 2 year building process yet a few of you won't listen to that. That's weird.

31 May 2026
New image uploaded to the
Everton Player Sightings page entitled,

Click picture for larger image

31 May 2026 10:30:05
Lampard, saved us from relegation, deserves another season? Dyche, saved us from relegation, deserves another season? Moyes, saved us from relegation, and this season finished with one point more than last, deserves another season.
Anyone see a pattern forming here?

31 May 2026 13:37:25
Maybe some of the players they all had weren't good enough to finish higher, mate, as are some we still have at the moment, just plain poor.

31 May 2026 14:53:37
Or maybe the managers were just not good enough?

31 May 2026 15:03:54
If he goes around Christmas for poor results, then there is a pattern, Brass.

The difference this year was we were safe well before the end of the season, so you can't say we were battling relegation. I'd like to see us buy some quality in this window to push for Europe next season.

If he fails to get us there, I think Moyes is done.

It's a high bar to set, but I'd like to see TFG show ambition. It gives us a bit longer to try and work out who will replace Moyes. At the moment, I don't see who will come to us.

31 May 2026 15:14:20
I agree with you entirely BR, but in my eyes he deserves the chance to get new players in. If he does poorly, then he's gone. I'm no Dm lover or Dm hater. I doubt many managers could have done better with some of what we have. It will be a very interesting window, mate.

31 May 2026 17:09:34
Can you please explain why he deserves a chance to get new players in?

Did someone else get our players in the summer?

Moyes signed them and chose not to play them.

So why will this summer be any different?

31 May 2026 17:11:55
He has been at Everton over 13 years and won nothing. What makes you think he will do any better next season? If he stays, it will just be another year wasted. Why can't we just break away from him once and for all and move on? Some people are wanting him to be moved upstairs, for what reason exactly? Doing what? For Christ sake, just go.

31 May 2026 18:22:34
For sentimental reasons I suspect Skylark. Which is typically us. Can I just say, though, that the manner in which he left us last time should not ever allow him anything more than what he's lucky to have received already, a second chance.
A second chance that has further proved to me that he's out of touch with success. His mantra is to survive. That's not enough for me at all. I want to win cups and leagues. Right now, I admit that that's a stretch, but the longer we keep this guy the longer we will have to wait.


I wouldn't give him a single penny of our budget. I have no confidence that he'd use it to increase our chances to win stuff.
Sending him upstairs will only worsen our situation. We currently play like we're not worthy to be in this league, and with him in a more senior role we will allow that cancerous mentality to spread through the club.
I see him in charge next season despite my preference. But after that I'd like to see him walk away for good.

31 May 2026 19:36:03
Couldn't have put it better myself.

31 May 2026 20:14:48
I'm not against the anti-Moyes sentiment and completely agree that he is lucky to have come back, but it strongly looks like we are stuck with him until at least Christmas.

In my opinion, there’s no point wasting energy on whinging about him coming back, staying or needing to go as we are stuck with him. I want to back the team and that includes signing players we have so desperately needed for the last few seasons. Moyes has dug up gems in the past and I'm hopeful he can do it again.

There’s no one who will come to us who is half decent in my eyes so that leaves us stuck with Moyes until we get worse or he stabilises us. We’ve taken quite a few risks in recent years on managers and flirted with relegation.

I'm currently thinking ‘better the devil you know’ until the right person who can improve us is identified.

The tactics have been crap.

Selection has been crap.

Subs have been crap.

Recruitment has been crap.

To pull the trigger now and chuck him would plunge us into more uncertainty. I don’t want that. I want success, I want better football, I want to enjoy being an Everton fan and look forward to games without fear of screwing it up.

In my opinion, sacking him now gets us nowhere unless we have a quality replacement.

The bloke at Brighton? Frank? Who would take us on? Our reputation is not great, given last 10 years.

31 May 2026 20:31:20
I agree with everything you said BR2526, but there must be a manager out there somewhere who is better than Moyes, offer him the right money and they will come.

31 May 2026 20:42:24
There must be better players as well, mate, you never know David Moyes might bring some in.

31 May 2026 21:25:12
Pro or anti Moyes, it's his fault that we can't compete for better players this window, because with seven games left we were nailed on for European football and it was his negativity that cost us.

I'm convinced that Lee Carsley would jump at the chance to come to us, and he would, in my opinion, do a better job.

31 May 2026 23:04:29
It'd be a big risk, Shropshire. I'd like to see him cut his 'club managerial' teeth at a championship club first. If he does well there, sign him up!

01 Jun 2026 12:55:59
Some real experts on here, and, to be fair, there may be a couple of knowledgeable ones. What isn't acceptable is having a dig at those that don't agree with their opinions.

31 May 2026 07:39:02
{Ed's Note - PatrikBurgher has posted a new article entitled, Where Liverpool's Season Went Wrong Under Slot

30 May 2026 21:27:31
Please, Mr Moyes, go now whilst you can leave with some dignity, and gratitude for stabilizing the club on the brink of relegation. However, you cannot dine out on that achievement forever. We need to progress, and the run in showed your limitations, great teams, and great manager, produce in pressure situation, you, and the team, fell flat on your face.

30 May 2026 22:30:05
Take it, you're not happy with 14th, you should be ashamed with yourself. We are a top 14 side, you should be loving life like GB Moyes is unbelievable.

31 May 2026 15:09:32
We've had lots of chopping and changing over the last few seasons. Going through the cycle again is daft unless we have a solid replacement who is quality and going to stay for a few years. We shouldn't have finished 14th. Joke of run in for us. I'm not blaming VAR or officials for the mess, but it lands firmly at Moyes' door. He has to do better next season or he's gone.



The football has to improve.

The results have to improve.

The ambition of the squad has to improve.

We need an Emery style situation where someone half decent takes a chance on us and we stick it out. Can't see who that is yet so we are stuck with Moyes. He won't resign; he'd lose out on too much money. He'll need to be sacked or let his contract run out.

31 May 2026 15:54:06
World Cup year, so there will be managers who leave/sacked from international jobs looking for a job. Could be a chance we bring Carlo back for another go around.

31 May 2026 16:39:14
Pochetinno would be decent and back him.

30 May 2026 18:08:21
Everton late to the game again. Iraola courted by Liverpool when we could have stepped in as the final whistle went at Tottenham. We will, it seems, stay with Moyes. I credit him for stability. But he is the type that will talk about projects which might come to fruition in a few seasons. While young, more attack-minded coaches take ordinary teams to the next level in quick time and pass us by.

We are a great club, not one that settles for "nearly." I fear there will be many more blues fans in coffins before Moyes would bring a trophy home. Thank you, David, in all sincerity, but time is of the essence and another season of playing without ambition does not suit the majority.

30 May 2026 18:33:28
Iraola wasn't ever going to choose us. His stock has risen far too high this season. Needed to go in for him last summer, but that wasn't going to happen with Moyes just in the job.

We have to wait and see how Davey does in the window, then possibly out by Christmas.

30 May 2026 18:57:07
We were always going to stay with DM, he will get this window for sure and we need to move a few on.

30 May 2026 19:50:06
Always on, going to Liverpool. Fantasy thinking otherwise.

30 May 2026 19:52:16
2 year contract = stability then move forward.

30 May 2026 21:20:01
We will never move forward thinking like that. I give up. What's happening to our fan base.

30 May 2026 21:21:33
Remember people saying this about Dyche. ??

30 May 2026 21:40:31
Moyes is defo staying, I think we need to be realistic, the board would've made their move by now. He'll go next summer, unless we're in the bottom three at Christmas.

30 May 2026 22:21:30
14th next year. Happy days, good times. GB at least someone is happy. ????

31 May 2026 10:43:12
It's because he's only a third of the way through building his own team/squad. He should definitely be allowed to deal in this window too, he's 100/1 to leave or get fired anyways, so you're miles off. Let's see what we have, players-wise, after the summer.
It's a new season in August.

31 May 2026 14:52:16
What's Everton supporters' favourite movie - Groundhog Day.

{Ed025's Note - with some of the players we are linked to like..Trippier, Souchek, Ake and Stones....i would say...Cocoon.. :)