Brands happy with Everton's summer business

As soon as Lampard made clear Zouma was going nowhere, Brands and Silva should have had a Plan B, C & D ready to go.

It wasn't just us, Leicester tried all summer to replace Maguire, they knew full well he was off, and yet they have had to rely on Wes Morgan as third-choice centre-back. I'd rather have Holgate.

Tyrone Mings went for 㿅m or so, would you have wanted him at that price?

It seems like the market was just not there for us.

Oh and on Rugani, no chance is he coming to Everton. He's going to move on a big salary to a Champions League side.

Brands came across very professional and assured in that interview. He admitted they didn't get all the business done that he wanted but shipping out 20 players and getting quality in was very commendable and has certainly strengthened the squad from last season.

It was particularly interesting to hear they prepare a video for every player they are talking to showing how they would fit into our setup and how and where the manager sees them fitting in to his plans.

They also have and Under -23 committee that monitors and reviews all of our youngsters and loanees.

Very professional now – unlike Bill and his 10p down and the rest over 10 years.

In all seriousness I am happy to see the possibility of Holgate and Gibson being given some minutes especially if we can get some cup runs together.

Two key parts of his statements stand out for e

“On the other [hand], we took a decision not to renew (Phil) Jagielka's contract and to give Mason Holgate a little bit more perspective for his future because he is a very talented player. And we also have a very young boy in Lewis Gibson who had a very good pre-season. Of course, he has to step up more than he did already but he's a player who has a future at Everton and I think it's also important to give some perspective for the Academy."

and

“If we're going to spend money we have to do it in the right way. I think if you go lower than the level that you want it's better to do nothing and look at your own Academy; I think that's more important."

It's a risk but given circumstances, I think the right decision overall given signings elsewhere that we made.

The manager and staff have a far better idea of players values than we do, and I am sure they were well aware of the positions that they needed strengthening and, on the other hand, the opposing clubs they wanted to buy from were aware of the players they wanted to keep. So this became a "No, you can't have him", or "Yes, you can have him for a price" and, even after negotiations, Brands thought the player was too expensive.

Apart from History and ambition Everton are going to have to earn a position that will make players want to come, and I am sure Brands had a list of potential players he wanted to try for well before the window opened.

The fact is, you can't always get what you want.

I'm sure Gary Cahill would have been interested in joining us over Palace for instance.
Experienced and decent centre back for cover.

Oliver, I think Brands and Silva both said they are disappointed, but what can you do? Gary Cahill? Do you really think he is still good enough? Not only that but he signed a two year deal, is he worth that, because he wouldn't sign a one year deal just to come here. It was reported that Palace pay him £75,000 a week too. Michael Keane is only on £60,000 a week, whilst Mason Holgate is on a reported £25,000 a week. Let's not mention Mina's wages (Barcelona level - no wonder he is always smiling!!)

Anyway Cahill is a good shout, but I think he'd have turned us down on wages, contract length and most importantly, playing time.

My biggest disappointment was not offloading Schneiderlin, but the immoral contract he is on, even a loan is not an attractive proposition for any would be suitors. It seems we are stuck with the donkey till doomsday.

Of course there has been mention of a couple more moving before the Euro Window closes in Bolasie, Niasse and Tosun.

It brought us Marcel Brands.

Clearly this summer was just another stepping stone of improvement. Yes, we missed out on signing a centre-back but I feel that it's a case of "Well, we'll just have to manage this season with what we've got." Maybe it'll end up costing us a league place or two (maybe not) but it seems that Brands is willing to settle for that in order to make us stronger in the long term.

In any case, what's done is done and now it's about us sitting back and watching how we fare in the league over the next few weeks. Only then will we know how successful the transfer window has really been.

I know Scheiderlin's done a lot that's hard to forgive, but he was heavily involved in our end-of-season flourish. He was on the losing side once in our last 11 games. Just saying.

These guys are out there already. They are very expensive because they already play at a high level.

Fair enough you have to lure them to Everton from more ambitious to winning clubs but where is the nuance? Where is the added value?

We'll need more than this basic scouting competence to progress.

Now Gana is gone he will be even worse because he is one lazy, over-rated liability of a player that we simply don't need. I'd rather have young Beni, who has been demoted to the reserves, instead of him.

"Obvious players"? Really? Had you heard of Digne before we signed him? Had you heard of Mina before the World Cup? Those guys weren't obvious.

Who should Brands be signing instead for "added value"? I'm not being nasty, you've got me genuinely confused here. Nuance?

Personally I think Holgate is good enough.

Even the Kean deal supposedly came about from Brands talking about Mario Mandzukic which whilst great is a bizarre way to go about the Kean signing.

Yes both Barca boys seem good additions especially Digne who will surely be off this time next year but where is the expertise, where is the unearthing of real talent?

These guys were out there already and as such we paid a lot for them. We can't keep doing that. Even Gbamin, €25m for a German based player is very rare.

Why are we not signing the next Djibril Sibide for instance? Seems like basic and lazy scouting. It's worrying.

The "unearthing of real talent" is like gold mining -- you have to grind through tons of rock to find a nugget. Under previous regimes we signed lots of so-called unearthed talent -- Onyekuru, Sandro, Vlasic, Rodriguez, Calvert-Lewin, McAleny, Holgate, Robles, Magaye Gueye. Some worked out, most didn't.

The priority now seems to be taking advantage of an opportunity to move up in the league with an infusion of established talent and depth. Signings that may work out 2-3 years down the road are nice, but I can well understand why today is a higher priority for Brands than tomorrow.

We risk an army of well paid and otherwise sated players who can't get us higher than 7th nevermind that elusive trophy.

Moral of the story is there's nothing knee-jerk about the transfer dealings. It is all meticulously planned out. No guarantee of success but it's not as portrayed by some – a Redknapp style last-minute mad scramble.

When you look at the average age of the squad and it's size compared with a couple of years ago Brands has done an absolutely tremendous job in a short space of time. I reckon he is a heavyweight.

Only City have kept more clean sheets than us this year and I think it is fair to say that Kurt Zouma played a big part in that. It remains to be seen whether or not Yerry Mina will have a similar impact on our defensive record but from what I saw at palace it looks like he can.

If Brands and Silva décidé they need another experienced centre half in January or at the end of the season, Dunk of Brighton is worth considering. He looks a goodun to me.

Clearly the mismanagement of the Club prior to Brands appointment had to be addressed and was the main part of his remit and still is. Whilst the squad has to be developed, by Brands and Silva, it is being done so in this context.

The much heralded Academy wasn't being run right either. Expectations have been scaled back with more emphasis on loans and a quicker turnover.

I am not convinced that the Zaha transfer was not Brands idea, given the above limits. In the case of Centre Backs, Zouma was the only one they where going to buy. Whilst a loan option was considered, Mina was expected to take on the role he was bought for and backup was deemed enough. I have the feeling that arrangements where sought to bring Zouma on board at a later date.

Everton are still in Transition and the new signings will be keenly observed to see if they fulfil the potential they where bought for.

I am off the opinion that the backroom staff, which includes the academy needs to held accountable more for their performance and necessary change made where this is not being achieved to the level required.

I think its good to keep a watchful eye on your spending, but I just wonder how long Moshiri would buy into Brands frugal approach if it means not challenging for a top 6/4 position. What history in general tells us those who spend the most usually win the most, and yes Leicester were an exception but its not the norm. Now if we can buy younger players cheaply thats if 20 or 30 million can be considered cheap, and they develop into top players then great. But if we arent competing for the big prizes these players will ultimately move on.

I think Brands has made some excellent purchases and he and Silva seem to have a good relationship and that is vitally important given their positions at the club. I know at the end of last season they both said they had identified the players they wanted, but I am not sure they actually got their first choice targets. They wanted to keep Gueye and get Zouma on a permanent deal that didnt happen. I don't believe that Kean,Iwobi or Gambin were their first choice picks.

"What do you think of our transfer business?"

"That's a very good question".

What's that expression about the proof of the pudding?

One option might be Adil Rami - looks like he's been sacked by Marseille so is available on a free. World Cup winning CB, decent third choice I'm sure?

Did you even watch the video? Brands is quite clear about the process. They wanted Kean from last summer, we tried to get him on loan in January, when he was not playing, then he started playing and scoring and he was worried he was no longer a valid target.

How on earth can that rumour be true, if what Brands says is correct? Or has he just given a nice yarn to the Official Site and anyone else who will be bothered enough to listen?

As for unearthed gems what about Jesus or Sosa? The problem Brands has found is that he could just sign these guys for PSV, but in the UK, with our ridiculous Work Permit Regulations for Footballers, it's extremely difficult.

If it was so obvious to sign Digne, why did we get him unopposed? Mina was much sought after in Brazil (as I'm sure Jay and Fran can confirm) and Barca jumped the queue by signing him earlier than planned. But Mina was very damaged good, no one wanted him, but Brands saw enough to get him.

André Gomes was offered to everyone last summer, as Barca wanted their money back, but we were in for him from the moment Brands arrived. I believe he was actually someone Silva pushed for, and again, he was damaged good, but we got him.

So whilst these are three internationals, they were hardly risk free transfers of players at the top of their game. These are exactly the transfers we should be making.

Meantime, we made similar transfers in the past for the likes of Van Der Meyde, Eto'o and Drenthe, but they were failures.

As above, if you want someone you have never heard of, then bring back Steve Walsh and lets get back to signing Sandro on £120k a week.

Or, you can give Brands time to evolve the scouting system and improve it. Brands is not a scout, he is an administrator and he needs time to assess the current scouting system, of which he has already made significant changes to the system. He needs to overhaul the personnel. You don't do that in 12 months.

It's also clear from the video that Brands really rates Gibson.

The fan interviewed said "MR BRANDS explained that his wife had given him a dirty look and he accepted later that it could have just been something in her eye. He acknowledged to me that he should have waited for perhaps a second dirty look but he thought it was the best course of action at that time" . "the good news is that MR BRANDS will be attending her funeral Monday and the mark of the man is that he's even going to say a few words. As you can imagine the family is delighted".

I'll re-iterate once more that I was unimpressed with the scope of our scouting activity. There are better, cheaper and dare I say hungrier players out there other than those who haven't made it at the likes of Barca, Man City, Juve and dare I say Arsenal?!

Here's hoping Silva is a more inspirational persona in private than he lets on in public to persuade these guys that victory is more than a five year contract on six figures a week. Bernard, I'm looking at you too pal!

We want him to spot talent that no one else can see - unfortunately that is difficult. For every Kante there's a Tarashaj. Instead, Brands has identified talent that no one else trusts, which is proving to be effective.

On another note, can we please stop flogging the idea that Sandro is on 120k a week. Several informed sources confirm that this is no where near true and the actual wage is around 65k.

Anyone who can't see the massive difference in how the club is now being ran are crazy! The impact that Brands has had is unquestionable when yo look at where the club were 2 seasons ago, we were only going one way!

Oh and the Zaha bid, don't believe all (or most) you read in the press, the club confirmed the bid as £52m, turned down and we didn't go back with another offer so talk of £80m is a load of shite!

I'm glad he mentions that our youth system should not be forgotten, but with us fans so keen for success its difficult for our manager to risk playing a promising academy youth.

He would have had another 2 or 3 players in mind but again, its not as simple as that, continuous scouting might well have shown they weren't quite right and of course, the money that would need to be paid! When a good centre back goes for £85m then all it does is raise the price for everyone else.

I think it was mentioned further up, Leicester weren't able to replace that £85m player as the reported prices were way OTT for average players who wouldn't improve us and, we need good players, no way is Brand going to sanction paying over the odds for anyone, it doesn't appear to be his way and thankfully so after the last lot who splurged money up the wall.

No-one says anything other than Juve sold him to recoup money to balance the books or because of FFP and that they have been incredibly short-sighted. The whole ethos of the club right now appears to be about winning the Champions League with Cristiano Ronaldo Aveiro, and they don't seem to care about 5 years down the line.

Similarly, but at a different level for now, Everton have an opportunity to build a very decent squad to get to the next level. We need to quickly replace some faulty or aging components, and bring in quality updates in other areas. I thought the window was all we could have reasonably hoped for except a CB, and we might get away with that if Holgate and/or Gibson can step up. Or even Feeney. Or Gbamin can step back, or Sidibe sideways or we change formation or whatever. Bottom line is we need to qualify for Europe this season, and then challenge for the CL the season after.

Once you have cash available, momentum and growth is everything in terms of attracting the right players to move us forward within the scope of FFP and hopefully growing revenues.

When Arsenal put a bid in for Luiz, and Chelsea agreed on deadline day, Tomori was also staying. Don't say it was a coincidence that we tried to take Rojo on loan, at the end of the window?

I think Holgate is good enough, but at West Brom he played all his football at right-back, so needs a few games in the U23s.

Deffo Kurt Zouma, or the equivalent would have been exceptional, but in fairness how many times does any club have the ultimate, couldn't be bettered transfer window?

The club now has direction, leadership and a plan. Neither of which we've really had for Donkies years.

I'm optimistic for the future, starting tomorrow v Watford.