Blues Brothers Everton Podcast
Blues Brothers Everton Podcast
We're back! Transfer window and Palace preview
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The Blues Brothers Everton podcast is back from its summer break and ready to hit the season like the Everton scouting team chasing a mediocre right back.
New Season Mood Check
SPEAKER_00Welcome to the Blues Brothers Everton podcast, uh, episode 92, and we're back. Uh, new season starts tomorrow. We're recording this on Friday before the first game, so you're probably listening to it hopefully just before we we kick off against Palace. Uh full house, everyone's here. I was going in the order on my screen. Adam, how are you doing?
SPEAKER_01I'm really good, thank you. Yeah, I'm just so wearing hungry at the minute. Um, but looking forward to the um season starting again.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's exciting, isn't it? I like World Cup years because it's like I feel like I only have to put up with a couple of weeks without football, which is great. Um, Andy, how are you doing?
SPEAKER_02Hi, Austin. Yeah, I'm good, thank you. Likewise, I um yeah, I like World Cup and European championship years as well, because you know, you have like a tournament, which is normally fun, well, always fun in some capacity, and then you have a couple of spare weekends and then football is back as as we sort of sit here. Arsenal have um were playing Coventry in the Premier League opener, which was 3-0 going into injury time. I assume that's how it finished.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, it was a bit uh, I watched quite a lot of that game, and it was a bit uh it was like watching a cat play with a mouse for most of that game. Honestly, it was not it was it was not a very two-sided competition. Uh Ben, also on holiday, how are you doing?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I'm good. Um currently in the UK, so I'm doing this later at night than I I normally am, but being in the UK means that I get to pull rank uh and go to the game tomorrow um because I don't get to go to many. Um so I'm excited uh to drive up to before we go to the Hill Dickinson with dad uh for the opening game of the season. So that'll be fine.
unknownGreat.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we uh we should mention before we we're gonna talk about like where we're at with the transfer window. That's kind of the first thing, and then we'll we'll we'll talk about the ballast game. And obviously, we're in that sort of funny place where the season starts, but the transfer window hasn't slammed shut
Hill Dickinson Tour And Acoustics
SPEAKER_00yet. Um but before we get into that, actually, I just wanted to mention we did a tour uh of the Hill of Dickinson a few weeks ago, uh, which was uh great. Uh and just uh if you guys have any sort of like what you want to anything you want to say about that, but you know, free free plug for to Everton, those tours are great, and and the people who do them are great and they're great fun. And if you're thinking about going for a tour of the Hill Dickinson, you should definitely do it because it was a really good, a really good 90 minutes.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, thorough, thoroughly agree with that. The tour was was absolutely brilliant. The over overwhelming memory I've got from it, well, two overwhelming memories. One, the stadium is as magnificent inside as it looks on the outside, and secondly, we've all read about how the stadium's been built for keeping sound inside the stadium. Um, so the acoustics are good, but when you've got a couple dozen people shouting up the toffees, and you hear it, which we our group did, and you hear it echoing round the stands and coming back at you from different angles, that was genuinely jaw-dropping. I was amazed by by that. So, so to be on that pitch when there's 52,000 people screaming, yeah, the acoustics are must be deafening. It's it's in that was incredible.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I was um I I was I was pretty impressed with their um accessibility as well. As you know, how being a wheelchair wheelchair user, um it the um the uh the the person who did our tour said it's the most accessible stadium in the Premier League, not only in terms of the features it has, but the proportion and number of disabled seats it has it has. And they've they've obviously and you you you see you see places where where you go where people don't think about this sort of thing. Um, you know, electric charging points being one example of that, because they're not they're not wheelchair accessible. Uh but Everton have really thought about that because even even in the press room, they had a lift up to the um up to the stand where you could sit.
SPEAKER_00Um up to the place where you would give a press conference, right?
SPEAKER_01Like so in the event of someone needing who was a wheelchair user being up there, they've just put that in because and the likelihood of that being used is actually really, really small. But it's just it's but it's preemptively thought about, and I think that's really good. And that that that feeds into the whole Everton really think about this sort of stuff.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's I think it's one of the things with Everton we sort of get used to, isn't it? That like we're we're really good about everything except football. Yeah, yeah, all the community stuff is uh is great, the stadium is great, it's great. The football's shit and will be continue to be shit, I presume. But like it went on. I was really impressed by that. And the thing we've we've disappeared off a tangent before we've even started, but that's a get used to it, listeners. If if you if you if you're not used to that by now, you should be. One thing's interesting. The guy who was doing the tour was talking about capacity, and he said something I hadn't sort of really realized before, which is someone asked about like expanding the stadium, and actually their plan is they can get if they replace the sort of uh some of the seating areas with safe standing, so not the standing they have now, like the rail seating where it's a seat that you have a rail at, but actual safe standing, they can get, I think they said 1.4 spots in 1.4 people in for every one seat now. So you can actually get that stadium without building anything up above 60,000, which I appreciate it at all. Um that is essentially the plan, like down the line, as they meet to meet demand, you know, they'll they'll start to do that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. I think it's even more than that. I think we said it was 1.8, so it's even more, even more.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I can't remember. It was it was because it was getting above like it was gonna it could make it like I think like the second biggest stadium in the Premier League or something, he said, after presumably, I think it was Old Trafford, I guess is the biggest. I don't know. But um, but yeah, it was super a super super impressive experience. So definitely go. If you have a chance to go and do a tour, uh go do it. It's great fun.
Transfer Window Early Verdict
SPEAKER_00Uh all right, uh transfers. Where are we at? Where do we want to be? How do we feel? Who wants to start?
SPEAKER_03I'll go first. I didn't go on I didn't go on a stadium tour, so I had nothing to offer.
SPEAKER_00That's a good good equity. So uh you go ahead.
SPEAKER_03Um, except on the the only thing on the stadium, for those of you who do uh follow the padded seat on all of the social medias, we won basically all of his awards uh this year for best everything. So uh the stadium is great and also uh incredible hospitality. Um and apparently this season we have padded seats. Apparently, the the seats in the club view are now padded, so I will I will look forward to that tomorrow. Anyway, very nice returning to the transfer business. So um I'm gonna park the right back discussion just like Everton have for every transfer window um since about 2019, it feels like. Um I think overall uh good business. I think bringing entire George and Merlin role, obviously you were there last season, but could be good contributors going forward, particularly, you know. I think George has a lot of potential. Um I think everyone you talk to about Hayden Hackney will tell you that he is um you know was by far the best player in the premier in the championship last season and he's a Pradi League player. And from the little bits I've watched of the preseason, um he's definitely definitely impressed. And I think he's actually probably going to start tomorrow because Garner and Norgaard aren't likely aren't going to be fit. Um so our midfield will likely include Hackney. And then obviously Norgard, which I think is a really tremendous piece of business for seven million pounds to replace Idris Agarnaget in that sort of holding midfield role. Um, and I think what you're actually seeing now is is how Moyes kind of wants to play rather than kind of the the the setup that he maybe was forced to play a little bit by personnel last season, where he wants to play with like one holding midfielder and then two number eights. He doesn't want to play with a ten and a double pivot. So I think what you'll actually see when everybody's fit is you'll see uh a midfield that is Norgard at the base as the six, and then Garner and Jewsbury Hall, or Hackney and Jewsbury Hall, or as playing as sort of two of as playing two eights. Um and that suits how I think he wants to play better, because then what you can do with that formation is you can get your wing as high and a player's a three. I think the bigger thing actually this year is also is not just on on transfers, but is I'm gonna sound very much like David Moyes, but there are players in the squad who probably didn't get enough minutes last season and didn't were signings that we made that didn't you know help us out as much as we would have liked, who could be like new signings, you know. If you get Tiber, that is that is like David Moyes. That is like David Moyes. I did tell you it was going to sound like David Moyes. Um, but if you look at Dibbling, Tyler Dibbling and Adam Asnew specifically, if you start to get genuine contributions out of those two who basically did the square root of fuck all last season, I think that actually you're adding to your squad even though they're not signings because you're you're getting more and more out of the players you had. Um
The Right-Back Gamble Explained
SPEAKER_03we need to sign a right back. And I kind of think we will because I just don't think you can realistically not sign a right back. Um because I just think the the fan base would just would you would put yourself at such a disadvantage from like minute one with the fan base if you don't address the obvious position that he's addressing. I I think the recent reporting seems to be that we are very keen on Dewey, who did who has rejected joining us a couple of times because he thought he would be snapped up by a team in Europe. That hasn't happened. So I think what's happening, best is best guess, is that we're kind of waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting, hoping that he will change his mind and want to join us if there are no other takers for him, then that is why we're not going out and buying another different right back because we we don't want to move on to a second target when we still think we might be able to get our first, which is a dangerous game because if you get to you know midday on transfer deadline day and he says no again, and then you're trying to like 12 hours to to get a second option, you're cutting it fine. But that would at least that at least feels consistent with what the situation is, because I don't buy that we've just not got a list or that we just haven't like that that's obviously not the case, like obviously our targets they're just obviously there's a situation, a scenario which is causing this delay, and that seems like a realistic one.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think I think that's right. I agree with that. Uh and I'll come to you in a sec, but just on that uh on that sort of right back thing, because it's it's sort of relevant that the there was uh uh Angus Angus McNeil, can't remember his name. Uh Everton's CEO did a bunch of interviews. I knew he said Angus Young, I don't know. He's uh in A C D Cot in A C D C.
SPEAKER_03It's not him. He would. I mean he would I I would sign a right back. Angus back. Um I'd watch Angus Young runner run a football club. And uh uh Everton's I don't even know who Angus McNeil is. I oh Angus McNeil's a Angus McNeil is a former SMP. I was looking at the former SMP member of Angus Angus McNeil is a former SMP member of Parliament. There you go. Right.
SPEAKER_00So he probably did something corrupt at some point.
SPEAKER_02Uh he's also if you you know the machine out the fly, if you put Dwight McNeil and Angus Kinner into that machine, that's the that's the being that you would get at the end of that procedure.
SPEAKER_00The the left-footed commercial director that would emerge. Anyway, so the so the the so Evans Higo did did let's call him Angus, did uh a bunch of interviews, which was was super interesting for a couple of things. First thing on the right back thing, and we're I don't want to take us off this because Adam and Andy want to hear your points, but he basically said we will sign a right back. But the point he made was exactly what you're saying, Ben, which was uh I'll I'll say it in sort of simpler terms than he did. You've got your list and you've got a priority order on your list, and you could get the player that's third on your list now, but you might be able to get the one that's first on your list if you hold out long enough because they don't get the move they want. And that's exactly I think that's exactly what's happening. I think our number one is doay, our number our backup is this guy from Celtic, and we're gonna sign one of those two. The other thing which I just mentioned, because it's it might sort of, you know, you guys might sort of react to this because I know you you didn't listen to the these interviews. But the other, the main sort of it's always interesting when you see people do like a set of interviews like that, and Ben and I both sort of do this for a living in different ways, that like you sort of want to work out why they're doing it, and in this case it didn't take much. It was very much like a message from him and really on behalf of the ownership that they understood that last the back half of last season was shit. I mean, he kept saying it was fascinating. This because actually quite damning. He said, with like whatever it was, four games to go, we
CEO Signals And Moyes Pressure
SPEAKER_00needed relegation form to get into Europe and we couldn't even do that. And that was his uh a direct quote. So like it's clearly, I think you know, Moyes is on on watch basically for like, can you he reflected the thing that I think we all sort of think about Moyes in different ways, which is he get you so far, but can he can he in the moments that matter commit to take a risk and get you over the edge, you know, to to into your whatever? And I think that's it was really interesting to sort of hear that laid out so explicitly. But he did say we'd sign it right back. Uh Andy, I know you I feel like we've got an Andy Rant coming on this stuff, so I want to give that the space it deserves. So, Adam, I'm gonna come to you. I'm gonna come to you next. What's your take on you know where we're at, the transfers we've done? And of course, Ben, I don't think you mentioned Brennan Johnson, but that's why I was looking up. I want to remind myself who do we swap Dwight McNeil for? Obviously, Brennan Johnson as well, which is an interesting piece of business. So, Adam, go ahead.
SPEAKER_01Um, yeah, I agree with uh the things that Ben said. I think Norgaard is what we are, I think, our smartest signing because I think uh gay need a replacing. He's I think we got the impression over the last season that his legs started to go um and he wasn't quite as nimble and that dissipation wasn't quite there because of his lack of agility. Um so I think he definitely did a replacing. And uh, you know, Arteta speaks incredibly highly uh of Norgard, and he was Brentford's captain. Um, Thomas Frank was very reluctant to let him go when he did sign for um um or the old Brentford were very reluctant to let him go when he did sign for Arsenal last season. He didn't obviously get the numbers of uh the number of games. Uh Barry Glen Denning rates him very highly uh as well, and make that of what whatever you will.
SPEAKER_00Um famous football expert, Barry Glenn.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, famously. Um Hackney is a terrific sign as well, I think, because um, you know, I've got a few friends that support championship uh team uh players, and they they all say that, you know, they're watching a lot of championship football, that he was by far and away the best championship player. He's a Premier League player, as Ben said. Um but the biggest um the biggest thing we obviously need to get is a right back because it's not just about it's not just about that, as Andrew's favourite saying, square pegs in round holes, that's what we obviously had last season. Um with Jacob Bryan, it's the lack of balance that that means that your team, your side has. Because in the times of statistics and data and everything like that, you can see that Jacob Bryan is not only on the eye, he's not a threat, on on paper and in statistics, he's not a threat either. So it basically means that the entire left side of your pitch can leave him alone um because he's just not a threat, which basically means that you can funnel your team down the left down the right hand side as
Other Gaps Beyond Right Back
SPEAKER_01a defensive team towards towards our attacking left. And Mikolenko is better than O'Brien, but still not great. Um so then that that that feeds into this the stats that you then see, which is we scored the fewest uh goals out of the non any team that wasn't relegated last season with 42. And then um but uh but then we also had the sixth best defensive record, so that shows you sort of like what Moys is like as a as a coach. He likes stability, he likes people to do a job, even if that job negates other aspects of what you need in order to succeed. And we cannot have Jacob Bryan at right back. I don't think we will, I think we'll have Merlin Roll for the first few games, and I think he will inevitably be better because he's he's quicker, he's more agile, he's got better technical player, but I don't think he can be our uh he can't be our our right back uh moving forward um this season. I think we we it'll be it'll be it'll be really poor if we weren't to bring them in, and it'll be an absolute calamity from the from the recruiting department, as Ben alluded to. We seem to be putting all our eggs in one basket, I think, with um the uh with this with Dewey, who is um you know Da Ziri Dewey's um is his brother, you know, the one who plays for PSG. Um it's his brother, um, but he represents Ivory Coast. Um so if that doesn't work out, then and we don't end up with a right back, and I don't think we'll end up buying some we'll pay like 15-20 million for Alistair Johnson from Celtic. I just don't think we will. I think it's gonna be this guy or nobody, is what I I suspect. Um, because I just can't imagine you'd get to the start of the season without having someone in place. Um and I think Ben's right, I think they're waiting for him to make a decision around uh him wanting to join. But the statistics and uh showed that we were we were really poor with chances created in those last 10 games of the season, you know, scoring 42 goals over a 38-game season is is not good enough for someone who wants to chase Europe and that needs to drastically improve um because we were really uh rigid and uh in our attack towards the end of last season, uh because a lot of teams had just worked us out, and then defensively we we went to shit as well. Um, so um yeah, I think overall, like I would say so far, without it being completed, we're looking at a really good window. I'd give it like an eight or nine out of ten so far because we've strengthened other positions. But I think if we don't get a right back, you can say that that would drop a few points and it would be a disappointing window overall because we really need a right back for that balance in the team.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you can imagine that being essentially a mutiny if we don't it's like becomes a sort of credibility thing. But uh Andy, take it away. I know you've been thinking about this a bunch. We've all received yeah, yeah, totally.
SPEAKER_02I agree with everything that Adam and Bennett just said around the uh the right back situation. I I I I think it's a farce. I really do. I mean, 12 months ago, Kenny Tete um was on our radar and he basically used us to get himself uh a better deal at Fulham, which which happens he's entitled to do that if he wishes. But from Everton's perspective, you don't get him if he was the top of your list 12 months ago. Why at that point then didn't you try for the second player on your list? And why haven't you spent why didn't you try for the second player on your list during the January transfer window? I genuinely don't understand how a club that that can want that is in the Premier League, you know, the
Grealish Or Trust The Kids
SPEAKER_02richest football league in the world, can operate for this length of time, basically not quite tying what not playing with you know sort of one one foot tie behind its back, sort of thing. But as Adam just mentioned a moment ago, you negate the balance of the team in so many ways by not having a square peg and a square hole at right back, and all right, Patterson's there, and three managers have had a look at him and decided he's not the one. I personally think I've said this for a year, I think he should have been given more of a chance. But hey, three managers have made a different decision, so fair enough. But I think I genuinely think it's a farce. And if we don't get a proper right back in this transfer window, then serious questions have got to be asked about quite frankly uh almost the competence of the people in that role because it's so obvious to everybody that that's what we need, and um yeah, we just and yeah, hopefully this this yeah, yeah, do way he'd be a good signing. Hopefully we we can get him. Um, but if we don't get him and we're scrambling around for somebody at the end of the transfer window, then yeah, the fan fans are gonna. Be seriously, seriously unhappy. On a brighter note, the Dwight McNeil, Brennan Johnson swap. We've definitely got, in my opinion, the better side of that bargain. Um, McNeil, you know, decent servant, did really well for us after his move to Palace, um, didn't come off in January. Um reintegrated himself back into the team and put in some good performances. Christy Norgard is the sort of astute signing that you've not really associated with Everton over the last few years, where you when you look at all the money we've pissed against the wall on players who've then got injured or not played and have then left at the end of their contracts, and we haven't even been able to get any money back for them. So the transfer business at Hackney, again, really good player, yeah. So really pleased we managed to get him for a relatively small amount of money as well. So the squad has been um augmented in the areas it needed strengthening. Um, and I'm pretty pleased with the business overall. But we do need a right back.
SPEAKER_03On the right, like on the Tete thing, like I get the frustration, but I just don't buy that we haven't been trying. Like, I just don't I just think that like the idea that we like didn't get to any ke Kenny Tete and then gave up, it's just kind of like not I think that's realistic because I think if I think that you know the right back thing has become a thing for Evertonians for good reason because we all watched Jake O'Brien, but you've got to remember last summer we we did have two right backs on the books, famous Coleman and Ethan Patterson. Now, Coleman proved his fitness proved to be a problem, and Patterson obviously has been viewed as not being of this standard, so you ended up playing O'Brien and James Garner there of. But I think there is a danger in like going working on the basis, it's been this absolute glaring hole for all of eternity when it hasn't really. Like we've this is the first, this is the first window genuinely where we've gone. We actually don't have anyone to play that spot. We've had per players previously to play that spot, they just either been injured or not been judged as good, good enough. Now, and that's like, yes, you should replace those players, but I it's not like I think sometimes Everton fans in when we're talking about this act like we just haven't tried at any point, and I just I just don't buy that. Like we did loads of business last summer. We didn't we didn't get a right back because the one we wanted, you know, re-signed at Fulham and we couldn't get another target. I I just don't I just don't think that's I don't think that's a farce. I think it would be a farce if you don't sign them this time, but I don't think it's been a farce up to now. We just haven't signed a right back, which is a position that we've kind of needed, but not desperately, but really now is the point where you need one desperately. Anyway, that's just my counter-argument to the idea that it's some it's some you know dereliction of footballing duty that we didn't sign one last season.
SPEAKER_02And that's fine. I take those points on board. I I disagree with them in the point that I think it I think it is a pretty glaring hole. If you can only have 10 outfield players on the pitch, as Adam said a few minutes ago, every team we play played last season knows there is nothing coming down their left hand side in terms of attack, it's just not gonna happen. So I I would say it is a glaring hole in terms of how how how we play.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I can see how like you know, you you uh uh uh you're you're totally right on a point of fact about like the players we had last summer, and you've got to presume like one of two things you you've got to sort of assume. Either they believed that Coleman was going to be essentially be able to play, you know, much, much, much more than he did last season, or they're complete idiots. Like one of those two things is is is probably true, I would say. And it was unfortunate that you know it became you know, the O'Brien thing it was was such a long time that he had to play there. And to your point, Adam, like it became such an obvious problem in terms of how we played. And then we also lost our creativity because we lost Greelish and we lost Jewsbury Hall. And and that made the sort of team look like pretty like dire, you know, towards the end. So it was unlucky, but you know, they are that clearly, I mean, they are you know that they are kind of trying, if anything, if anything, they're guilty of not, you know, a misjudgment around Coleman's fitness, which I guess is is what they're meant to be there for. Um, but I I think we'll I think we'll start a right back because I think it's uh cre it's a credibility thing, I think, for the for the board and the owners almost now at some level, you know, I think it's gonna, I think it's gonna happen. Sorry, go ahead.
SPEAKER_03I also have a like a a working theory that I think Merlin Roll could actually be a decent option at right back.
SPEAKER_02Like I think if you look at how he's like that is a fair point, yeah.
SPEAKER_00The judgment is whether he wants to do it, I think. And again, I my my very good friend Angus, who's I don't need because we're so close, I don't need to use his surname. Uh talk about this, and actually he said, you know, he's a he I think we said at one point that Merlin Roll will will get an international cap at right back. And I don't want to misquote him, he didn't say exactly this, but then he said, but you know, he doesn't that's not really where he wants to play. But he's yeah, I mean, I think he's got I mean our best right back last year was James Garner, you know. So like that, yes, you can sort of do it that way. But I'm pretty confident we'll sign a right back. Other what other positions do we because we you know we've done the business we've done, I think we all sort of agree actually, if you look at it in the rounds, actually very smart, you know, good efficiency. Um other positions, right back aside, that do we think are important, or do we think if we get a right back, we're kind of all right, well
Barry Vs Beto And Striker Rhythm
SPEAKER_00we're good, we're done. We can thinking about qualifying for Europe, I think that's that's one of the standards you've got to set for this stuff.
SPEAKER_01I think there's a question mark because of the uh the fact that Beto and Barry, you know, that it was a it was a coin toss uh at points last season who was going to play, and then you could you could then I mean Andrew and I were at a game and we played Barry for Beto Bingo or Beto for Barry Bingo, whichever game, whichever one it was, about who was gonna come off at what minute, and then um whoever got closest won. And what I think the winner was like two or three minutes off or something, anything between the 60th and 80th minute or whatever it was. So, like there's that question mark, but I think for no other reason other than a gut feeling, I think Barry is gonna be our main striker, and he looks like I'm really confident that he's gonna look much more like a like a Premier League striker than he did last season. Because obviously he showed it in in in parts, and he's technically better than um than Beto. But he he talked about how he's done a lot of work over the summer, and I don't know if any of you follow him on um Instagram, but he was doing a lot of fitness work and a lot of stuff over the summer when he was um on holiday. Um and he said he you know he feels a lot better and um he feels like he hasn't done um the what showed showed you his true ability, but obviously that question mark is still there because you know 14 goals last season. A big point of that was because we didn't have a reliable enough striker uh in that position. So there's that. I'm not saying that we'd buy anyone, I don't think we we shouldn't buy anyone because I think I think I think Barry will be better than last season, and better will be a good enough um um backup. Um I think left back as well. We've obviously looked at we've said that Mikalenko is you know good defensively, not so good going forward. You know, he's obviously signed a new contract, so he's gonna be our left back this season, but Asnu obviously has come back and been in pre-season, so that's been it's been really good to see that we've we've got someone at left back who will push Mikalenko and you know possibly take that berth over the course of the season, perhaps. Um, and obviously Asnu's a lot more very a completely different profile of left back to um to Mikalenko. Now he's primarily right foot. I think I'm pretty sure he's primarily right footed, but technically he's a lot lot better than Mikalenko, and that's not not a slight on Mikalenko, but he's a lot more technical, he's a lot better on the ball, he's a lot better in closer situations. Um so it's been great to see that he's been involved as well. Uh, you know, centre midfield's looking really, really strong with a number of good position players there. Um, you know, I think it'd be great to get Grealish in. I think it's looking less and less likely uh now. Um there might be a late loan towards the end of the window, but I'm not confident that's gonna happen now personally.
SPEAKER_02Um just just just on the Grealish thing, sorry to interrupt. I'm I'm not sure we actually need it because if you you know you've got Johnson and uh Dibbling as well, he's looked good in pre-season. I know it's pre-season, but you've got um Johnson and Dibbling for the right, and Jai on the left, and oh somebody else on the left as well. Name's gone out of my head. Tyree George, thank you. Yeah, again, he he he looked bright as well um when he um came on um at times last season. He's somebody else who should have had more minutes last season, um, toward the end of last season. So you've got the you've got the two players there what uh on each side, two on each side. If Grealish comes in and he um is obviously gonna play on the left, that means when you've signed George, so is George then gonna be on the bench like it was last season? What happens to when Jar you then shunt him out to the right, which um you know then means where's Johnson gonna play? Is does dibbling then mean he's gonna have another Caesar Sat on the bench? I I I'm not sure the position we're in and the players we've signed this season and the players who've developed in pre-season, I'm not sure that we actually need Grealish now. And I would be happy if we didn't sign him and use the money to um to sign a right back. Sign a right back, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Bold fighting words.
SPEAKER_01I think I I I think I think Gre I I get that argument. I just think Grealish is I think he's just better than every on everybody else that you have, and I think if you've got an opportunity to sign him, I think you absolutely do. Because I agree, positionally, numbers-wise, we don't we don't necessarily don't necessarily need him. I think there's an argument that we actually do could do with him anyway. Um but like Tyreek George is not he's not a proven Premier League player. Um you know Jai was absolute dog shit towards the end of last season, uh, and basically doesn't want to be here, let's be honest. He doesn't I don't think he wants to be Everton anymore. Um and Dibbling uh is potentially excellent, but at the minute is not very proven. But Jack Grealish is you know he's a he's a treble winner. Uh you know, he is he is he is head and above all of those players, and I think any opportunity we get, he should be we should we should get him. Um yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I 100% agree. I think it I think it you're putting so much faith in two very young players and Brendan Johnson who didn't work like didn't work out towards the end at Spurs and absolutely flopped at Crystal Palace to be your attacking out outlets if you're happy to go forward with those four. I just think that's leaving you in a really like really challenging situation if they're not all like turn into the players we all want them to be. If we have a chance to sign Jack Greelish, we should get him through the door tomorrow because like he would just add so much to our attacking um attacking talent, and you know, then you can genuinely rotate. You can have I think I I I think for the two-winger positions you need five players um to properly like rotate and have options and different styles of play. Um I think you definitely need five players when you're talking about Dibbling, who is potentially very good but did absolutely nothing last season, and Tyreek George, who is potentially very good and did marginally more than Tyler Dibling did last season. If there are your two of you four, I don't think you're in a as good a spot as as uh to turn down Jack Grealish. I just don't I don't think that's realistic. So yeah, I would want us to bring Greavish in. I think the left back debate is dependent on whether you think Asnu is makes the step up this season because if he does, then maybe that's not as crucial. I think that you still also need um I think you still also would want to sign do you want to sign another striker? I'm going back and forth. I think it depends on who it is. I think if you get the opportunity to sign like Richarlison, I'd probably do that. Um who may be on the outside Spurs. I don't think I just don't think Beto's got it. Like I think I agree with Adam. I think Barry will have a good season. I think he's like looked much better, but for as good as Barry has looked, Beto has looked absolutely garbage in the preseason, just like can't are the worst of of the Bettos, you know, cannot get his feet sorted, can't like technically just not there. So I just think being able to sign somebody else to play in that position. And then obviously what Richarlison gives you is he can play from the left as well. Um he can play on the wings if if you want him to. So I I think some another another attacking player, whether that's a Grealish or Richardson, somebody else that you know hasn't played for us before, um, would be the where I would be where I'd be looking.
SPEAKER_00The striker thing is interesting because if you look at the stats for Beto and Barry last year, and Barry's much younger, you know, Barry scored 0.4 goals per 90 minutes, and Beto scored just over 0.5 per 90 minutes. Neither of those are terrible stats for a Premier League striker. Like if you if you if you have 0.5 every 90 minutes, you you know, come come for the comedy, stay for the stay for the maths, you're gonna score about 17 goals a season, right? So, and that you would consider that successful. Um you're gonna score 19 goals a season because this is this I I really was trying hard to talk and divide the math for the maths, he said.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, come for the maths, come for the correction of the maths when the maths is wrong.
SPEAKER_00And you it's interesting because you talk about that because we talk about 20 goals a season now, no one gets 20 goals a season. Actually, Bet Beto was on track if he'd played, you know, if he if he'd maintained those numbers and played every minute of every game to win to score that many goals. And Barry, who's younger, was only just behind him. So neither of them will weigh off that. I think that one of the things for me is I think you do need to pick one because form really, really matters for strikers. And I think the the as you put it, Adam, the Barry Beto Bingo suits nobody actually to have them sort of constantly chopping and changing. I think you really do want to pick which one is your number one and give them a a real run, you know, five, six, seven games to to to you know, to to play, and then you know, uh almost regardless, like judge them that way.
League Outlook And Europe Hopes
SPEAKER_00Um, segue this a little bit into what do we think the season's gonna be like? So uh uh Ben, I'll start with you on this one. Given where we're at, what you expect to happen in the transfer window, we've talked about that a bunch. What's your expectation right now? I've seen all these people on TikTok saying Everton are gonna finish 13th and 11th and 14th, and I'm furious about it. So tell me they're wrong, and actually we're gonna do great, and we're gonna finish in Europe.
SPEAKER_03I think we're gonna finish in Europe just. I would say it's gonna be one of those situations where, like very much like last season, where we would need eighth to be a European place to get into Europe, but I think if eighth is European place, we'll get into Europe because I think we'll finish about eighth. Um I think the league this season feels weaker down at the bottom than it was last season if you look at the you know, you look at the teams that that went down. Um I know like Wolves had a terrible season overall, but like generally I would say Wolves are a better team than Hull, and I would say that West Ham are definitely a better team than either um Coventry or Ipswich, and I actually can't remember the third team that went down last season. Um so if someone can save me and remind me, Burnley, you're all on mute. Burnley, thank you. Um you know, Burnley, Coventry, Ipswich, probably interchangeable in that sense, but like I think at the bottom end it's weaker. I also think if you look at other team the teams who were in the sort of wet uh around us last season, I think Palace have got worse. Famous last word, they'll beat us tomorrow. Um I think Fulham have got worse. I think Newcastle have got a lot worse, and I would if you if you want my too big to go down but might end up in a relegation scrap prediction of the season, it's Newcastle. Um I think actually like if you look at what other teams have done in comparison to us, I think our trajectory is upwards, not downwards. Um because I just don't see uh I just don't see Palace and Fulham and Newcastle recover like going getting better given the summers that they've had, both from a managerial and transfer uh situation.
SPEAKER_00And Sunderland paid for Europe. Sunderland, of course, have got a lot of European football to play as well, which is gonna be tough for them as well. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there's there's a few teams actually are playing Europe for the first time. There's some uh um or at least for a long for for at least the Premier League era. Um Bournemouth, Brentford, and um Sunderland are all going to be playing Thursday night football, uh, which is gonna take a huge uh which is in the statistics back up the fact that you are pretty always worse uh when you're a club around that um around that um stature in the Premier League when you play in when you play in Europe. Yeah, because yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, because the reason is you play your European game on the Thursday, you always or almost always then play on the Sunday. So you travel back from some you know Eastern European country that you know you know, town club that not many people have heard of on the Friday, and you're then straight into a Premier League game on the Sunday. So the schedule is just is just really gruelling.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So it's more it's more the fact you just don't they just don't have the they just don't have the quality and the turnover of the rap. As you look at Arsenal playing tonight, you know, they they took it, they take off Schollis, who's their new signing from Club Rugu's brilliant tonight, albeit against Coventry, and they bring on Ebericese. You know, they've got they've that that that's the difference. It's not so much the because obviously Champions League teams will play Wednesday, Saturday, they will have the same gap um in terms of their the two respective fixtures, but it's the fact that they can rotate quality for quality, whereas those sort of teams can't can't do that, and Everton should be looking at um you know taking advantage of that this season, definitely.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, I I'd agree with all that. The um this Premier League season has the potential to be one of the most unpredictable in quite a long period of time. I think there are nine new uh managers um in Premier League clubs at the start of this season. Obviously, not all of them are new to the Premier League. Obviously, you've got like Moresca at Man City, for example, who managed Chelsea last season. But yeah, that that I Ben hit the nail on the head a few moments ago. There's definitely the potential for a lot of teams to get worse. Not all of those managerial appointments are gonna work out, that's just not going to happen. Um, you know, Man City are the first um season in 10 years without Guardiola, you know, they didn't look great in the community shield. All right, it's the community shield. You can have your viewers to how serious a game that is. But you know, if Rodri goes and that looks on the cards, quite frankly, I'd almost have our midfield above what they'd be left with. Um, because that their midfield looks really weak if you take Rodri out of it, in my view. So up and down. The league. There's a lot of you know, you've got Carrick at Man United. He did alright last season, but last season they played 40 matches, which was the minimum fewest number of games they've played in decades. 38 in the league got knocked out of both cups at the first first attempts, most famously on penalties at Grimsby. So um he's now got your Champions League football. I think they're in the Champions League, aren't they? Not the Europa League. Um yeah. So they've got he's got more games. How will he do? That's going to be interesting. So it's it's uh I I I think we but I think because we've we're a little bit under the radar in terms of we're not as high profile in the Premier League as as other teams, we've quietly gone about a reasonable amount of good transfer business. I I think we'll surprise one or two um um teams this season, and I and we we've said on on our WhatsApp group as well about uh what sort of season we think the striker will have. I've got a funny feeling that Barry will have a good season as well. I share that view. I think having got a full season of Premier League football under his belt, you know. Last season it was easy to forget that he's a young lad moving to a strange country, doesn't speak the language, you know, he's got to integrate and all that sort of stuff. And I think it's easy to forget sometimes how how much of a challenge that can be. I think now he's got 12 months of being at the club under his belt. I I um I I've got a funny feeling he'll have a very good season.
SPEAKER_00Alright, pop quiz, rapid fire before we get into the preview and talking about the Crystal Pass game specifically. Uh uh and Andy, I'll start with you. Will David Moyes be able to manager at the end of the season? No. Adam.
SPEAKER_01Yes, I believe this is the his last season, his last um year, isn't it? It is, yes. That is, yeah, he run he'll just run his contract down, he won't get a renewal, but yes, technically.
SPEAKER_03Then same as Adam, yes, but not for a a day beyond the end of the season.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, well add I I'll just add to that quickly. I I the reason I think no is because I think I think just think there's an Eddie shaped, Eddie Howe-shaped person just sat there doing pundrity work, wait, just they're ready-made to come into the club if it looks like Moyes isn't steering the club in the direction the ownership wants it to be steered in.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I I'm with Andy on this one. I think uh my my hottest of hot takes is that Eddie Howe will be the Everton manager before the end of the season. Um all right. Uh let's
Crystal Palace Preview And Risks
SPEAKER_00talk about Palace. Interesting stuff. So uh Ben, you I'll start with you because you said earlier on Palace has gotten worse. Expand on that and tell us how you think the game tomorrow is going to go.
SPEAKER_03So let me start with how the game is.
SPEAKER_00And if this is just about Dwight and McNeil, that's but that's unfair. So please don't.
SPEAKER_03No, it's not just about Dwight McNeil. I think they've lost, you know, they've lost um Oliver Glasner, who was obviously a huge part of um what made that club successful. I think if you look at their form in the league last season, they obviously won European competition, but they basically put everything into the European competitions. If you look at how they were in the league back end of last season, especially, they they weren't very good at all. They were they were actually one of those teams that everyone kind of looked at and went, oh, could they get could they get sucked into the relegation battle? Um they obviously didn't in the end, and they won a European trophy. Now the Europe had isn't going to impact them, you know, obviously on the first day of the season, but it is something that they're gonna have to um be thinking about. I I think for me it's the the big one is the the sort of the the Glasnar um uh losing Glasnar is I think is such a big blow to them. I was just also looking at their their transfers. I know like Man City are trying to buy Adam Wharton, so he's potentially you know unsettled. I think they are not necessarily a place that is um gonna be that I think they're gonna get they're a team that are gonna get their players picked off them rather than being able to attract in the same way. Uh the other thing I would say is I know absolutely nothing about their new manager. Um that is not a positive or a negative. I just I'm always interested when it's people I've quite literally never heard of, and that's my possibly my um uh ignorance more than anything else. But new manager, Premier League, always, always a difficult adjustment to make.
SPEAKER_00So I was gonna say that's right. Yeah, you sort of fear for any team that has a manager that's never managed in the Premier League before. Don't you think that's that looks like a huge, and obviously, quite literally, some people need to do that, otherwise we'd have to be waiting for managers to die, you know. But but the like you but the there is there is a huge risk there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, obviously go on, Sorrela. Thank you. Sorry. Uh what I would say about the new manager, um Pierre Sar Sarge's name isn't it? Um he guided Lance to the second in league uh and you know ran PSG quite close to the title um last season. Um and he also took, you know, got Leon out of their absolute mess um when they had I believe they had like you know back-to-back managers that were just uh that just got fired after very quickly, and he was the one that stuck around, managed to stick around and led them out of out into into European qualification again, and then he was ended up at Lons. Um so I I I I agree. I think the Premier League, the lack of Premier League experience will count against him from day one, obviously. But I think he um I think Palace have thought carefully about knowing Glasn's going to be gone for you know going to be going and to take the manager who will be you know would have been sought after by other teams in Europe becoming you know pushing uh Paris and Germain so closely uh to the title. I think they've done well there. And from what what I've heard about how the style of play is that that he likes counter-attacking um teams and Crystal Palace are already set up for that with their sort of system that Glasnar left with them left with them because they've got quick right backs, they've got quick uh you know quick wingers, uh, and they've got quite they've got a team that's set up for that sort of play already. So um I think that'll be something to be wary about when we when we do play because we'll like to we'll want to dominate the ball on uh against Palace um on uh tomorrow uh for tomorrow and I can see you know us being vulnerable on that on that counter-attack um to his his style of play. On the flip side, like you said, he's got no Premier League experience. Moyes has got uh you know most Premier League experience out of any manager in the Premier League um at the minute, so um you know that will count for him definitely.
SPEAKER_02And yeah, just on that yeah, the um he's obviously one of the managers that I alluded to a moment ago. He that managerial appointment might work, it might not, time will tell throughout the season. Um, I mean obviously Regis LeBrie at Sunderland came into the Premier League at the start of last season and did outstandingly well for them. However, he had obviously managed them for a season in the championship, so knew the players, knew the squad, knew knew the team, knew the club. Um so we'll have to wait and see. Uh, but no, tomorrow is going to be a very very interesting game for lots of reasons. Um obviously see how how Everton's new players can can can integrate, see how what the midfield looks like because on the face of it, Norgard, um Jewsbury Hall and Garner looks a really nicely balanced midfield um on paper. So will I think two of them are gonna play. Um you did say that earlier. Was it Garner and um Garner and the other?
SPEAKER_03I don't think Garner and Norgard are they've not done a minute, they've not done a minute in pre-season. So I wouldn't expect the midfield tomorrow is gonna be Armstrong, Hackney, and Jewsbury Hall.
SPEAKER_02Which is still good and fine. That's still good and interesting to look at. My point still stands, albeit with different players. And you're quite right, you did say earlier on that uh those two were injured. Um yeah, so but um well it yeah, it's still gonna be interesting to see how how it uh how it develops tomorrow.
Score Predictions
SPEAKER_00Alright, let's do score predictions. Uh Ben, what's the what are we gonna do? One-one. Very conservative, Adam.
SPEAKER_01I yeah, I go for uh I was gonna go one-one um as well. So for reasons of to shake things up a bit, I'll go for a double nil-nil. Uh I think Palace, I th I just yeah, I I just yeah, I just get a feeling that we're not not gonna quite hit the ground running um you know, tomorrow.
SPEAKER_03Um I really I really hope it's not nil-nil because I've my first game at the Hill Dickinson was nil-nil. So I I mean I quite I know Adam you haven't seen us win there, but I would quite like to see us score a goal there eventually.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean I'll I'll I'll very happily I'll I mean I'll I will happily be the final Austin. Have you seen you've seen us win, haven't you?
SPEAKER_00Uh no, I went to the Roma game, which I think we drew the preseason friendly, and then the derby which we lost catastrophically. So that's been my entire Hill Dickinson experience so far. Well, there you go.
SPEAKER_01I hope we hope you come brother number two, Ben tomorrow to see us win.
SPEAKER_00Um Andy, what's your score prediction?
SPEAKER_02I'm gonna be in for reasons no more, um, well, for reasons other no reason other than blind optimism at the start of the season. I think we're gonna win tomorrow. I think I'm gonna go Everton won Palace 0.
SPEAKER_00All right, we're gonna win 2-0. I have decreed it. Uh anything else? Anything else for anything else before we wrap up and uh let everyone go to the game and watch us triumph over Palace?
Transfer Fee Rants And Farewell
SPEAKER_02Only quick thing I'll say. I mean, obviously, that there's gonna be a lot of players pitch up at teams over the next few weeks and you go, Oh, oh, he's moved there. Um, you know, like Yori Tielemans in a Man United shirt, for example, just stuff like that. Also, I've made this point about players before. If Elliot Anderson is worth £116 million, I must be worth two million pounds. I mean, that is a ludicrous transfer fee. It's it's mad.
SPEAKER_00I watched that. Absolutely bonkers. I think I said this to you guys. I I went to the uh England uh Paraguay game in the World Cup because it was being played like you know, literally like Panama. Panama, thank you. I knew I was it might was it? I knew it was a P. Uh, thank you. Uh and uh because it was being played at the stadium where where that was played, which is where the final was, it's like 15 minutes from my house. And um it was great. I had a really good time. It was really great to sit there watching a team that was my team that was good. Uh and it was like Jude Bellingham is on my team. It was like really surreal. Uh Elliot Anderson was never in the right place. You know, when you're watching, when you watch a player properly in the stands, it's not on TV, you can actually see. And I was sat at a good seat, I was, you know, but I was relatively high up. And Elliot Anderson was not once was he in the right place. He was constantly. It's like he had a sort of a laggy internet connection in his brain, because everything he did, he did three seconds after he needed to do it. And I was like, ah, I just he's technically obviously great on the ball, but I was like, no. You can you can you can just tell that a guy once said to me who was a friend of mine who was the weirdly was the CEO of Roma for a year, 15 years ago. It's a very strange story. Um, doesn't know anything about football, except the only thing he learned was when that when you're assessing whether a player's any good, watch them when they haven't got the ball. And I was watching Elliot Anderson when he doesn't have the ball, and he was I just don't think he's honestly that good. Never mind worth whatever the hell they've paid for him. I think he's a mediocre player anyway. That was my Elliott Anderson experience. Um, all right. If we're done, we're done. Great to be back, great to be with you guys. Thank you for listening. Uh, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, that's where we are. Spotify, Apple Podcasts, share with an evidence supporting friend, uh, and uh tune in. We'll be back uh after the palace game to talk more and bask in the glory of us, you know, maybe being in the top half of the league or something. All right, stay well, see you soon.