Everton Rumours Archive May 06 2017

 

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06 May 2017 16:34:54
Eds are the reports true about us agreeing a fee for Pickford thanks in Adan England.

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{Ed001's Note - as far as I am aware no one has spoken to them about a fee yet. A few teams have asked to discuss him.}

07 May 2017 01:23:25
For me Pickford would be class. But also schmeicheal. Midfield Willian all day massive statement. Said this before too but a young hungry striker who wants to be here. Maybe not the time to gamble but Gabriel barbosa đź‘ŚPlus 1/ 2 at Ajax which I am sure Ronald knows about.

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06 May 2017 13:50:32
Are we looking at any left backs as cover or long term replacement for bainesy for the summer Ed?

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{Ed001's Note - the club were looking to try and develop a couple of the youngsters and see how they get on. Baines is expected to be challenged by Galloway next season, with Garbutt's performances over the season to be examined to see if he should be kept or not. Plus there is another youngster, an AMerican lad I think, who is also highly rated, that they want to try and bring through.}

06 May 2017 14:33:39
Cheers ed.

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{Ed001's Note - welcome. The only thing I can see changing that plan is if Koeman is alarmed by Baines' clear drop off over the last few seasons. He might decide he needs a stop gap to allow him to develop the youngsters, but I don't believe that to be the case, from what I am told. He is more worried about centre backs and right back cover for Coleman.}

06 May 2017 15:09:18
Not too sure Baines has had a 'clear drop off' he's had a few more injuries than usual but he has been pretty consistent when he's played this year.

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{Ed001's Note - if you say so, but the stats analysis the club itself does says otherwise.}

06 May 2017 15:10:49
Who else apart from tripper has been looked at there?

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{Ed001's Note - right back? Walsh is the one doing the looking and it is abroad. I believe one of the main targets is a Nice right back, no idea which one, as I have not seen anything other than goal highlights of their team, so don't know who is their starter. Knowing Walsh that would not matter anyway, as he could well have identified something from one of the back ups!}

06 May 2017 15:47:57
Galloway very good when he had a run for use. Garbutt would be better as wing back, as his delivery is spot on, but question marks over his defending, and Antonee Robinson is very highly rated, maybe a loan spell for 3-6 months next season, supposedly he is extremely rapid too.

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06 May 2017 18:25:03
If cover for right back and new centre backs are the concern surely Koeman will look to move Holgate to centre back next season.

I mean, if a back up for right back is being pursued Holgate has to be moved to centre back. I certainly am well impressed with Holgate at right back. Going to be a top player.

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06 May 2017 21:37:52
That 4 3 win by stoke Galloway was taken apart playing at LB.

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07 May 2017 11:22:10
We need quality left and right backs, Coleman has a lot of work ahead to get fully fit, Galloway and Holgate are not good enough if our ambitions are CL, Galloway could not get regular game time at WBA, Holgate is promising but his delivery is poor, he is not an attacking RB and often gives possession away. Baines is aging and needs competition for his starting place.

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07 May 2017 22:22:50
Holgate one of the best if not the best player we have had for the past 7 games that he has started. Only player to look good the last 3 games.

His position is centre back. No doubt for me he will be with a top club in that position eventually. Hopefully with Everton.

Galloway is a different story. Still very young. Surprised some are considering keeping Garbutt. He is 3 years older than Galloway.

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06 May 2017 09:13:10
Ed do you have any idea what sort of fees we would be paying for Willian Jose or Bakambu? Kingo suggested Iheanacho below. If he's looking to move on, I would have thought he'd be a great signing for us, though again not sure what the fee would be.

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{Ed002's Note - I don't want to get in to the money because it causes a lot of confusion with football fans, but Everton has shown no interest in Kelechi Iheanacho - although another side has. I would not be suprised if Everton were to look to both Willian Jopse and Bakambu rather than one or the other.}

06 May 2017 10:11:27
Thanks Ed. I know you don't like to talk about money and understand why. Good news that we might have a couple of options in attack. I thought it would be one or other because Koeman usually plays a single striker and didn't think either would come to be 2nd choice.

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{Ed002's Note - Bakambu is much more flexible and is comfortable anywhere as a forward rather than just a striker. WJ is very much a striker - but a couple of other EPL sides are keen as well.}

06 May 2017 10:22:18
Thanks Ed.

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{Ed002's Note - You are welcome.}

06 May 2017 10:30:00
While you're on, Ed, may I ask a question? What do you think Everyone can reasonably hope for in terms of the club's progress over the next few (3-5) years? Do you see us being able to challenge the top 6 consistently, qualify for the champions league at all (whatever happened to talk of a breakaway European Super League - are we factoring that possibility in? ) Or is the club just looking to consolidate our position as a good premier league side who sometimes get European competition?

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{Ed002's Note - I don't see a significant change. Other sides will be pushing Everton (Southampton might be a good example) and breaking in to the Champions League places will be very difficult but getting to a position of challenging will be possible. In five years time Everton should be settled in to the new stadium and they should be commercially growing. UEFA as you know are fighting the breakaway but Everton are not part of the breakaway plans.}

06 May 2017 13:19:16
Thanks Ed. I know Everton aren't part of those plans. I was just wondering if it happens where that leaves the Premier League and the remaining clubs.

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{Ed002's Note - It remains very much an on-going issue with regular discussions on the matter between a dozen or more clubs. The next will be at the end of August.

Without going in to too much detail: (a) A number of clubs take the opportunity to meet and discuss various issues including changes in rules, club versus country issues, television and other media rights, the power of UEFA, exploitation issues for new technology streams, etc.. The meetings were annually but now they happen two and sometimes three times a year. There was a meeting in December – where there was a discussion about the state of FIFA, the situation with UEFA and a so far unpublished claim from a retired referee that the result of a Champions League game was influenced by a third party. These discussions also always turn to the possibility and structure of a breakaway pan European league. Several are ex-G14 clubs, several are not, and some clubs decline involvement in such discussions. (b) The plan is that at some point a number of clubs would break away from their national leagues and UEFA. They accept that they would be banned from all existing club competition and the players would initially be banned from all FIFA competitions as well, but know that FIFA would be looking to negotiate in any case. It would be the end of UEFA in all probability and UEFA are very aware of this. It would also result in a restructuring of many of the national leagues. (c) The clubs would renegotiate their television and media rights, rights of distribution via other streams etc.. (d) It remains the greatest fear of UEFA and all major national authorities that one day this will happen – which has resulted in a counter-proposal being drafted by UEFA. (e) Timing wise, two very prominent clubs want it to happen as soon as possible (2018 - obviously that isn't the case) and they have the support of a third club - but most are looking at 2022-4 being a good option. A few clubs are looking at 2025 to 2027 and I suspect that could end up as the reality.

There is a counter-proposal to the pan-European breakaway that has partially been backed by UEFA to try and save their own skin. This is an option to the breakaway as everyone now knows the reality of it. The proposal is to rename and change the format of the UEFA Champions League to make it an elite closed-shop pan-European league with a fixed number of teams – and these would be the same teams every year. It would then require the restructuring of the Europa League and the possible introduction of a lower-tier European competition. Although they have yet to flesh out the detail and there is now a major concern that the impetus for this is not coming from Europe, although one major Football Association has given their support and discussions have also been held with the leading clubs from England (Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal). The American backer, Stephen Ross of the Miami Dolphins, has requested a meeting with an extant group of sides considering the pan-European breakaway to discuss his proposals. They have yet to respond but having identified the source of much of the funding (and that raising a concern) will wish to discuss it between themselves first. However, UEFA are now considering yet another proposal that would see some places in the CL fixed (probably to previous winners) and then see it supplemented by Champions and second place sides each season. This complicates matters again as it means the re-introduction of a third competition or the significant restructuring of the EL. The plan being put to clubs is a summer/preseason tournament that will evolve in to a parallel league, and of course eventually in to a complete breakaway for these clubs. As a first step to all of this, UEFA have negotiated minor changes that will see the four entrants from England, Germany, Spain and Italy enter the existing Champions League group stages without any qualification beyond their National League position (so no entry to qualifying rounds). This has been agreed by the European Club Association but UEFA did not want to discuss it with the separate group of “elite” sides discussing the Pan European League (and that “elite” group includes three English sides) as they are aware they will get no more than a shrug and no long-term support.

If the proposal for a breakaway goes ahead, there is every likelihood that the big money from television, sponsorship etc. would go with a breakaway league. It would completely rupture the operations of UEFA and I would expect it would require national associations like the FA to restructure their leagues. Nobody wants this but it is the eventual consequence I would expect. Initially it could be that there is a single 16 team league with 2 or 3 EPL teams making the initial plunge. If I had to speculate, I would think (1) you might eventually see something like five or six EPL teams leave for two-tier pan European league - but it won't be based on the UEFA rankings; (2) the Premier League would be disbanded as an organisation; (3) the FA would restructure in to two 20 team divisions with lower leagues regionalised as they were many years ago; (4) FIFA would ban all players from the breakaway teams from International football - perhaps rescinding that position to stop FIFA breaking up as well - they don't want further issues but the troubles are not going to go away. I could also see many teams lose their professional status. I would think we are probably 10 years away from any significant move at this time.

I hold a reasonably strong view in terms of the need to restructure football in Europe in any case. For me an eventual a breakaway pan-European league would force the restructuring of many of the national leagues, possibly resulting in a British league with perhaps only a couple of professional tiers and then regionalised amateur leagues below that. Financially I do not see that so many pro sides can be sustained within the sport which, like it or not, will see more and more money going in to the highest levels of the game. Governments will ensure that grassroots sport get funding but everything in the middle (Southern, Northern, Conference, Division 2, Scottish Divisions 1-3, League of Wales will not get the funding needed to continue on any sort of professional basis.

A further counter proposal exists as a Chinese proposal from the Dalian Wanda Group proposes to open up the lucrative Chinese and Far Eastern media markets by extending the league to include Chinese and Southa American clubs. This has yet to be discussed by the "elite" sides as a group although the proposals have been presented to a number of them already on an individual basis. The proposals are very broad-based and lack detail - their selling point is significant additional income for the "elite".}

06 May 2017 20:00:38
Wow. Thanks for that very detailed explanation, Ed. Given all that, it seems quite likely that the will be a breakaway league in the sort of timeframe you outline here. If players of those clubs are banned by FIFA, that would surely be a bit of a spanner in the works, though? I guess FIFA will cave eventually. Interesting that there might be a two-tier pan-European solution. We'd have to hope Everton could get in that way? Would that two-tier system involve promotion and relegation? Eventually, it will probably go global, presumably? If Costa goes to China, it seems like a bigger deal than Tevez and Oscar taking the money and a trickle of older players could become more of an exodus if they change their homegrown player rule. As you say, they have money and in the end that always talks. Is the Chinese football league actually financially viable in the longer-term in its own right? I know I've gone off the subject of Everton there except it does affect us in the near future.

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{Ed002's Note -
Since China opened up it has thrown a massive potential market in to the mix for professional sports (not just football, but there are other growth sports as well) and a number of Chinese companies see the potential for significant income form the game. Chinese money is already flooding through football with ownership and/or investment in clubs as diverse as Inter Milan, Espanyol, Den Haag, Milan, Sochaux, Aston Villa, Milan, Atletico Madrid, Slavia Prague and significantly, City Football Group. City of course owns Manchester City, New York City, Yokohama F Marino and Melbourne City - and are looking to expand in to China and South America. For years the professional game in China was under a cloud of corruption (including match-fixing) and the Chinese, and to be fair FIFA, have worked very hard to resolve the issues. The game is on the up there and they have the money to pretty much do what they want, and this involves taking a mix of players to play in China - there are high profile players at high-profile English sides that are being offered significant financial rewards for moving to China. There is now a shift coming in Europe and I would expect to see further investment in European sides - there is one organization looking hard at Germany and another already successful in buying in to Italy. They of course have to work within certain legal ownership frameworks and that will restrict investment in certain countries. Do not be surprised to see another English side be taken over by Chinese owners in the not too distant future (let me suggest Lander might look to Southampton as a viable option since their preferred choice is gone). Meanwhile, the profile of the game at home is increasing and the market to be tapped significant. I spent several months in Hong Kong working in both 1988 and again in 1990 and it was clear then that the mainland needed a step change and it could get leverage over so much - since then that has happened. Six months working out of Beijing in 2005 (until they pretty much forced me out) showed that changes were happening - since then I understand from colleagues who do visit that it has moved on a lot.

In terms of my personal view:

The Chinese are intent on cleaning up their act and want to promote sport within a nation that has only recently fully opened their doors to the outside world. There is a significant shift in wealth to the Far East and in particular China. They will invest and build in their own leagues and they will go to other parts of the world to learn. Chelsea has lost one player to China and has had an approach about a second. Other players from the EPL will follow with at least one Manchester City and at least one Liverpool player having opportunities in China for this season that they did not take up - but in the longer term the Chinese will cherry pick and then look to grow. This then leads to potential movement of players within the consortia (as Udinese has done with Watford) and that is something we will see more of but there are pleanty of walls in the way based on (a) convenience, and (b) potential abuse of national or international FFP rules. They will learn from the mistakes of others and they will soon be looking to add coaching capabilities by recruiting from other leagues. It is progress - like it or not.}

The coming years will see lots of changes. You know about the pan-European breakaway proposals, well there is going to be a counter-proposal backed by UEFA to try and save their own skin which is soon to be tabled (at the end of August to the "elite" clubs and in December to everyone else). There will be more global City Football Group style collectives appearing. There will be growth in China. And so it goes.}

07 May 2017 12:20:02
Thank you Ed for giving us the benefit of all that background knowledge. It puts our domestic plans into context. Interesting times ahead! China will change the world over the next few years that's for sure and we'd better open our eyes to it.

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07 May 2017 18:49:27
So all these greedy b*st*rds will kill football.

Very good read ed02.

I personally wouldn't subscribe or watch any break away league, if we can not reach it I have no interest in it. I only watch champions league now and then hoping one day to see the blues in it.

Wonder what state football will be in if it destroys other leagues and fails itself.

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{Ed002's Note - It is a natural progression.}

 
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