January Window

As recent injuries and some players performing below par (Gomes, Mina, Gylfi, etc,) have shown we need fresh blood if we're seriously going to compete for Europe (never mind the Champions League).

However, Brands doesn't seem to like the expensive January window so we might actually see very little.

The names being mooted seem to be older than the previous demographic he was after. So, how accurate actually are they? The media as always speculate and then accumulate, throwing names in like confetti, but very few have a real inside brief to Carlo, Brands or Moshiri.

Isco is a superb player but he's 28, lacks pace and the will to chase back to defend, and therefore can we afford him and James in combination? Conversely, what they could offer offensively is mouth-watering.

It would be worth it if he came on loan though, which Real might well do to reduce their wage bill.

Whatever we do, it would be quality over quantity every time for me – and maybe give Anthony Gordon a run.

I think by January we'll have a much better idea of what we need and which gaps are most detrimental.

For me the effect of Richarlison's absence was pretty indicative. We lack players who can really stretch play. We have some decent distributors (Rodriguez, Allan, Gomes, Sigurdsson etc) but, if they have no movement around them, then their talents are wasted. Richarlison is always moving; he's very fit, very competitive and pretty fast and good at dribbling.

I don't know alot about Dan James and how fit/hungry he is but I'd think if we can loan someone of that ilk it would be useful. Or buy Josh King (whose contract ends next year)?

If we could loan Rashica with an £18m option to buy then I'd think that could be quite savvy business? He is a little like Hazard though a few inches taller I'd say. Handy player on his day.

Personally I'd be happy with a Branthwaite or two again. But wouldn't say no to a Lemar.

On a different note, footage now appearing of Thierry Small. Only 16 but clearly a huge talent. With him and Nkounkou, the left-hand side looks in good shape, assuming we can keep them both.

There are, of course, more players that it would be nice to see going the through the out door than we probably need coming through the in door... in the short- to medium-term, at least.

Right back we have major problems, Coleman not getting any younger, injuries just totting up.

Wide midfield we are still too slow and that needs addressing.

Striker wise we need better backup than Tosun; if Calvert-Lewin got injured or loses form, then what?

At centre-half we still look lacking and I'd love Zouma back on loan.

I’d still like to get rid of at least 5 players plus Iwobi.

This is simply delusion based on the usual brief honeymoon period before "Evertonisation" of new recruits kicks in. The keeper is an accident waiting to happen and much of the rest are proven failures. The 3 amigos still have it all to prove and right now are not.

If progression has happened, it is so small as to be meaningless

There is something wrong about the culture of Everton football club when most teams we face look fitter and hungrier. Mid-table teams like Leeds and Southampton are leaving us for dead.

Maybe the biggest signing we could make is getting an ex Para in to show our soft bunnies some proper hardcore training. It's tongue-in-cheek but we need an uplift from some real advanced training. There's too many who are soft as warm shite compared to their counterparts. We need proper hardened men on the pitch and we only have two or three of them.

When Moyes came in, he engineered one of the fittest teams in the league. Nobody did is for us being slack fitness-wise. He got an average-spend team often into the top 6 positions. With our expenditure, and being able to match any team for fitness, we would be a different proposition.

Get them as fit as Leeds's and Southampton's lads and we will start competing again. At the moment we are falling way short.

Napoli and Bayern players complained about the training regime being sub-standard. That is unusual and something you don't hear much of. It just makes me think this is a major factor in our not ever fulfilling our potential.

Oh, and tell Carlo to stop playing Iwobi on the left. What will it take for the penny to drop? It's cracking me up as he was starting to look the part on the right, I wanted to see more and for him to grow in confidence in his best and natural position.

We have England no 1 goalkeeper, Brazil's first choice centre forward, a World Cup golden boot winner, multiple international players – yet none perform consistently as they know they'll be in the team again next week win, lose or draw and that they'll be on the same massive wage!

I'm generalising probably but I never see a desperation to win or a winning mentality – whoever we sign just reverts to this type?!

I cannot see this being broken anytime soon, whoever we sign?! However, if we sign anyone, it should be a narky horrible bastard who demands high standards and doesn't care who he offends in the process.

After this weekend, I expect Gordon, Kenny and Nkounkou are also wondering why they are here. I think that's partly why the gloom sets in so quickly. Seems a long time since Dunc was standing in the rain, roaring us on from the sidelines...

From a recruitment point of view, though, that's why I favour generally younger signings who are grateful to be at Everton and willing to work hard. But hard workers of any age are good.

I'm still keeping tabs on Buendia for Norwich, I was gutted we didn't try to sign him in the summer. He is having a good season and has been influential in getting them to the top of the league. Sadly, Norwich won't be selling him now in the middle of a promotion push.

I was reading about Max Aarons talking about Buendia, says he is a dream to play with and enjoys his football when in the same team. I feel we have missed an opportunity to get him. If we could move on Sigurdsson, Gomes and Delph and just get Buendia in, I think we would have a better midfield with more energy and dynamism.

Which of the 4 main signings actually had a good or decent season just before? None. We have signed players on the downward trajectory in their careers.

Even before Kean and Walcott left, it was clear that attacking reinforcements were absolutely required but not addressed. Now the club is an injury to Calvert-Lewin away from total disaster.

James Rodriguez has 3 Goals, 4 assists and 6 pre-assists in 10 games.

Allan has more tackles than any other Premier League midfielder.

Dourcoré, not perfect, but has added a dynamism that wasn't there.

Godfrey is a young defender still settling.

The window was not complete – we still have much deadwood, still have a few holes in the squad and team, still lack options – but that will take more than one option.

"The Football Association has announced a radical post-Brexit shake‑up that will mean Premier League and EFL clubs cannot sign foreign players until they are 18, with all transfers from European Union nations set to be subject to work permits that will be allocated using a points-based system.(...)

Premier League clubs limited to signing no more than three overseas players under the age of 21 in any single transfer window and a total of no more than six per season."

The new rules are interesting especially on youngsters. Arsenal have a history of poaching 15-year-olds from Europe. If the same rules apply going the opposite direction, then no more Jude Bellingham's at Dortmund. Less chance too of teams uncovering unknown gems like Gueye.

Suffice to say, the rules as ever will least impact the rich clubs who can pay top whack for established stars.

It's about getting the right players with the right attitude, he would work so hard on that flank, with him, James and Richarlison behind Calvert-Lewin, that would make a mouth-watering proposition.

Please stop making things up.

"Napoli and Bayern players complained about the training regime being sub-standard". That is totally wide of the mark.

At Napoli, the issue was the chairman had a fit when they lost a game just after qualifying for the semi-finals of the Champions League after taking 4 points off Liverpool over 2 games. (Hardly qualifies for being unfit does it.) And insisted on having a boot camp for the players who refused and Ancelotti backed the players so he ended up losing his job.

At Bayern he had the best points per game apart from Pep despite losing Alonso and Lahm and not having Neuer for a lot of the time – but still he won the Bundesliga. The only player who complained about him was Muller who was being left out of the side and didn't like it and Muller has a lot of clout in the dressing room and boardroom at Bayern.

The story about players complaining they had to do extra training themselves was first put out by the highly regarded Sun newspaper, so it must be true then... except a number of Bayern players came out in support of Ancelotti afterwards and disputed the story.

The man must be a miracle worker if he won the Bundesliga, La Liga, The Premier League and the European Cup with 3 different clubs while not training the players properly.

At Napoli, it seems like it was a complete breakdown that came to a head over De Laurentis's enforced training camp to get them fitter.

At Bayern, the story originally came from a German football magazine. They go into a bit more detail saying that Robben, Muller, Ribery, Hummel, and Boateng were arranging secret high-intensity training sessions as they were unhappy at the level of training. It may be rubbish but it seems a bit detailed to be total nonsense. Players will always try to smooth the waters afterwards, it's not worth the bad blood in perpetuity.

Anyway, whether all that is true or false or in the grey zone, I want us to have the energy and spark that Leeds have, and Southampton had when we played them. We looked flat and we seem to always tire as the second half goes on.

Any criticism is to try to find answers and a way of improvement for our performances. We have got better players and better talent than those clubs, that needs unlocking.

I want stability and I want Carlo and his team to deliver it.