Yevhen Konoplyanka [Sevilla]

[Lecter]

I'm not breaking into a sweat that we haven't signed anyone likes its some of crime. Everton added a couple of players but lost a couple of players. Mancs desperately needed to add to the squad, Spurs have lost players and Arsenal missed out on a ton of targets. Only Mata will make any difference to make and even he can't plug all the holes in their team.

We've still got the best strike partnership in the league, we've got a ton of players to come back to fitness in the next few weeks and have continued winning games when we've not had Suarez/Sturridge/Coutinho/Gerrard. This nonsense of us having no depth is just a bit silly at times.

I think the Kallstrom business by Arsenal was smart, I think due to injuries / suspensions they could have been severely weakened in midfield but they have put a Elastoplast over that for the time being with that loan deal

I actually reckon the signings Everton made will improve them as a whole. Traore is a similar type of player to Lukaku whereas I think the guy who went to Hull whose name escapes me didn't suit their system. They also signed a new back up keeper so wont have to rely on kids

All things remaining equal ie us staying injury free in key positions I'm still hopeful of us getting top 4. But if we pick up a couple of injuries in attacking positions we are suddenly looking very light and or over-reliant on players who don't look good enough

[SB]

Well we managed to get Suarez, Coutinho, Sturridge & Sakho from teams in the Champions League

So maybe its not solely down to that

No they probably got a significant pay increase to boot?

[Lecter]

Did we strengthen with signing Aspas and Alberto?

No we didn't but we added bulk to our squad.When squads are fit nobody signed anybody yesterday that will go into their starting 11's.

My main issue this window is not missing Kono but not even attempting to sign a full back or a DM,apparently.

But don't let me stop you all pissing and moaning about **** we can't change,We have what we have and its proved more than good enough so far.My opinion is that it will continue to do so.

We didn't add bulk to our squad

We let Borini & Shelvey go so all Aspas & Alberto did was maintain the squad level

Regardless of what I think of Aspas & Alberto if we hadn't brought them in the squad would have been weaker

[G]

Whatever about signing this lad,it's clear there are issues when it comes to signing top players and they need to be sorted before the summer.A few questions arise from this window and last,Why be happy to pay £15m for Kono when you wouldn't pay it for your apparent first choice,why apparently not go for any players in areas we all agree we need some and why have we yet again failed to get any player we publically chase,why does it take so long to establish if the owner of a club is interested in selling his start player.

I expect some changes at the top before summer,whether we hear about them is another matter but the proof will be in the pudding by August 31st.

[kingfunk]

I got rather drunk after this lastnight.

[baronvonskidmark]

You've got to feel for Rodgers in all this. He has identified 3 left wingers that he would like in Willian, Salah and Konoplynka and we haven't managed to sign any of them. It's frustrating for us so God knows how he really feels underneath the club PR. I agree with Lecter that something needs to be reviewed - whether that's personnel involved in deals or approach or whatever.

The other thing that is worrying is that Suarez must be looking at the past 2 windows and wondering how far he can really go with this team - irrespective of whether we get CL football or not (through the final place).

[Lecter]

No they probably got a significant pay increase to boot?

They would have gotten increases with us also

Maybe not as large as with Chelsea

As I said just to dismiss our failings in the market as the fault of Champions League teams coming in for those players is being a little disingenuous imo

IMO some of those deals we have missed out on we could have completed

At times it appears we are the architects of our own downfall

[G]

We didn't add bulk to our squad

We let Borini & Shelvey go so all Aspas & Alberto did was maintain the squad level

Regardless of what I think of Aspas & Alberto if we hadn't brought them in the squad would have been weaker

They didn't improve the team the manager is most likely to pick when people are fit,same as everyone else in this window bar Chelsea and United and we only have to worry about one of them.

Everton covered injuries so their squad didn't get weaker.Its debatable if they improved their first 11 with those cover players.I say they didn't

[Shaggy]

Most Everton fans are going off their head so that should tell us about their 'strengthening'.

[Lecter]

Whatever about signing this lad,it's clear there are issues when it comes to signing top players and they need to be sorted before the summer.A few questions arise from this window and last,Why be happy to pay £15m for Kono when you wouldn't pay it for your apparent first choice,why apparently not go for any players in areas we all agree we need some and why have we yet again failed to get any player we publically chase,why does it take so long to establish if the owner of a club is interested in selling his start player.

I expect some changes at the top before summer,whether we hear about them is another matter but the proof will be in the pudding by August 31st.

Agreed

I'd add in another thing (again assuming the press reports are true) why drive so hard a bargain on the Salah deal and then when Chelsea stepped in we immediately upped our bid

I've no problem with some negotiation but there must come a point when you know your level isn't going to work and that you will have to move your figure upwards or move on

I don't know who or what is hampering us as you can look at it 2 ways

Are the negotiators trying to drive too hard a bargain under the ultimate valuation the committee has set

Is the committee setting too low a valuation and when they find out their valuation isn't workable are they reacting too slowly

Without knowing the intricacies of the deals it appears at times we are being affected by one of these options

[Lecter]

Most Everton fans are going off their head so that should tell us about their 'strengthening'.

Most Everton fans are always off their head

[SB]

They would have gotten increases with us also

Maybe not as large as with Chelsea

As I said just to dismiss our failings in the market as the fault of Champions League teams coming in for those players is being a little disingenuous imo

IMO some of those deals we have missed out on we could have completed

At times it appears we are the architects of our own downfall

The owners do seem reluctant to budge on their valuation of players. Once they set a max value they won't budge. If we missed out on Kono because of the payment structure I'm disappointed. But will we ever know the truth? I doubt it.

[SB]

Most Everton fans are off their head so that should tell us about their '??????????'.

You fill in the blank

[Lecter]

They didn't improve the team the manager is most likely to pick when people are fit,same as everyone else in this window bar Chelsea and United and we only have to worry about one of them.

Everton covered injuries so their squad didn't get weaker.Its debatable if they improved their first 11 with those cover players.I say they didn't

Injuries are a fact of life in football and its now more than ever a squad game

[G]

Yeah so they didn't "strengthen" they covered injuries.

We didn't cover our injuries so thats a concern but I maintain,our squad has got us into this position and I see nothing behind us to make me think we can't finish the job.