Right Back Where We Were
Almost incredibly, either Jake O’Brien or Merlin Röhl will line up in the right-back spot on Saturday afternoon, that despite Everton's hierarchy having had 18 months to address what is a glaring problem
In four days’ time, Everton will kick off their 2026/27 Premier League season. They will almost certainly do so again without a natural right-back in their starting XI. If you’d said that would be the case to an Evertonian 12 months ago, when the Blues lined up at Leeds United with centre-half Jake O’Brien on one side of defence and midfielder James Garner as an emergency left-back on the other, the chances are they’d have laughed and said something to the effect of, “sounds about right!”
Which rather sums up where this football club continues to be despite all the steady progress made by The Friedkin Group over the past 18 months. The response to the assertion that Everton would have failed — again! — to address their perennial problem at right-back, despite having two transfer windows to do it, should be incredulity but it’s so very on-brand that no one would be surprised that they haven’t.
As ever with discussions like this, it’s important to acknowledge that, as a club, Everton are in a very different place to where they were two years ago and that is down to the takeover by TFG. With finishing the fit-out of Hill Dickinson Stadium (not to mention landing the legal firm as sponsor of the new ground), steadying the finances and improving commercial performance, the club’s financial picture is healthier than it has been for five years under the Texan firm's stewardship.
On the pitch, the ownership have been assembling a squad of talented young players, accented by key acquisitions to add experience where needed, with what appears to be an eye trained on the horizon beyond the current incumbent of the managerial hot seat's tenure.
For the second season running Everton will begin a new season with a fair amount of optimism, albeit for slightly different reasons. Last year it was the new stadium, the illusion of a new, more expansive David Moyes, and the arrivals of the likes of Jack Grealish and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall; this time it’s the pre-season form of a number of those younger players like Harrison Armstrong, Tyler Dibling and Thierno Barry coupled with the signings of Hayden Hackney and Christian Nørgaard.
There’s also a strong — albeit diminishing — chance that the club will sign a right-back before the transfer window closes on 1st September but, even if one were to arrive in the coming days before the kick-off against Crystal Palace, it’s almost certain that the new arrival won’t be in the side that faces the Eagles, Bournemouth or even Manchester United on the 6th. It’s just not the Moyes way to throw a new arrival straight into the team.
Which means that regardless of all the mitigation, the reasons for why and the excuses, Everton’s quest to find a new first-choice right-back has, indeed, been a failure. That failure will be categorial and unforgivable if one doesn’t arrive before the deadline but, for now, it’s damning enough.
Last summer, it was rationalised away as a step too far for a scouting and recruitment setup that was still incomplete pending the arrivals of James Smith and Nick Cox and which had been charged with replacing an unprecedented number of departing players.
Moyes spent most of the 2025/26 pre-season moaning about a lack of incoming transfers but the club eventually signed seven new outfield players, spending well over £100m in the process. It wasn’t quite the achievement of newly-promoted Sunderland, who acquired 15 players, but it was enough to offer hope that a crack at the top half of the table was possible if all went well.
And, of course, despite an awful home record, a lack of any consistency in the centre-forward position, and a general struggle to settle into an identifiable playing style under Moyes, by March the door was open not only to the Europa League but there was also the sliver of a chance of making the Champions League.
What followed over the final seven games of the 2025/26 campaign is now painful history but if there were any lessons to be learned, chief among them surely were that Everton needed not only a quality starting right-back but there was a strong need to upgrade at left-back as well.
TFG had demurred when faced with the chance to twist last January, electing to keep their powder dry for this summer, but while another £60m-plus has thus far been committed on new signings to bolster the midfield, the full-back positions remain untouched.
We can only go on the dribs and drabs of information that seem to have leaked out in recent weeks but, where right-back at least is concerned, it hasn’t been for the want of trying. The sticking points, so the speculation goes, have been a lack of consensus among the transfer committee over the exact profile of player the club should be targeting and, like a year ago, Everton’s inability to offer European football to prospective targets.
Guela Doué was identified as the top choice but Strasbourg’s £40m valuation has proved a major stumbling block. As explored on these pages last month, the French club may end up reducing their demands but that will likely only bring in more competition capable of offering the Ivory Coast international the Continental football he reputedly craves.
RB Leipzig’s Riedle Baku has supposedly outlined to the Blues’ transfer committee the same desire, ruling him out as an option while Djed Spence’s form for England at the World Cup has landed him a plum move to Internazionale.
Meanwhile, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, an expensive option who does not fit the age profile that Everton have been chasing, has emerged as a target for Aston Villa and Alistair Johnston, a possible stop-gap who would do a job for a season or two if all else failed, has been ruled out after sustaining another injury on duty for Celtic.
Where that leaves the Toffees with two weeks left of the window is anyone’s guess but, to be blunt, it’s become a little pathetic and embarrassing.
Daniel Muñoz has emerged in recent days as a possible target, again, with rumours of disagreement between the stakeholders at Finch Farm, either over the reported £20m fee to sign a 30-year-old or misgivings on the part of the manager over a player who has played primarily as a wing-back for Crystal Palace.
Fulham have been approached over the availability of Timothy Castagne, another depressingly unimaginative but “okay in a pinch” option but the Blues have reportedly been knocked back. And Ben White, 28, is still theoretically available even though he, too, wouldn’t come cheap and isn’t a natural full-back either.
It’s all the more frustrating when you consider, based on Everton’s improvement over the course of their pre-season programme and the ball-playing additions the club have made in central midfield, just how big a difference having two high-quality full-backs would make to this team. It's not unreasonable to suggest it could be the difference between further mid-table mediocrity and Europe.
The committee are said to be eyeing reinforcements at both left-back and right-back with Adam Aznou still not regarded by Moyes as being Premier League ready from a defensive point of view. Vitalii Mykolenko has proven his credentials on the defensive side, is limited going forward but punting on upgrading his position would be palatable if some real quality could be acquired at right-back.
That looks a fair way off at the moment. Either O’Brien or Merlin Röhl will be on the team sheet in the right-back spot come Saturday and neither square peg belongs in that round hole.
In the 26 years since the turn of the millennium, Everton have signed precisely four players who could be described as specialist right-backs in permanent deals — Steve Watson, Lars Jacobsen, Seamus Coleman, and Nathan Patterson. (Phil Neville and Cuco Martina ended up playing there regularly, as did a number of centre-backs not initially signed for that purpose.)
Granted, the longevity of service provided by Tony Hibbert and Coleman negated the need to address that position for the better part of two decades but it’s a part of the team that has been neglected for far too long.
TFG are, of course, not responsible for the bulk of this sorry timeline but they have been for the last 18 months. It is very much their problem now and the ceiling of Everton’s prospects for the coming season likely depend on them resolving it in an effective manner.
Reader Responses
Selected thoughts from readers18/08/2026 00:07:49
The cynic in me immediately thought of Tottenham's interest in him and I resigned myself to him ending up there!
18/08/2026 00:40:22
Munoz? Arguably the best right back in the premier league, I’ve heard Spurs are looking at him but he won’t be ahead of Porro so unless his ok with being a back up I can’t see him going there either. If he comes to us I’d be absolutely astonished, plus he doesn’t fit Moyes’ system — he’s too attacking.
I can’t help but think it’s sheer incompetence from TFG not to of sorted out this mess by now, I’m sure they would’ve been aware of the situation and just how ridiculous it’s becoming, it’s not a good look for them I’ll tell you that much.
18/08/2026 00:52:55
I have been watching this space for a long time and it seems the same old same old keeps coming up. I have also been a believer you can not turn cow dung into strawberry jam. The club needs to bite the bullet and spend the money on the the players like other clubs do and not try to do it on the cheap.
Good players get taken by other clubs because they see the value in these guys. Everton’s recruiting team thinks like, “lets get a cheap banger of a car, dress it up to look like Rolls Royce, maybe it will become one.” We all know the answer to that don't we.
We need to do better, team. Start thinking outside the box. If this club is going to make an impact this season, we need a decent right back now.
18/08/2026 00:55:21
Oh and as a further note if I may,
Moyes has just broke his silence on Sky saying “we could do with a few more” (signings) we’ve not got quite enough and we want more, let’s see how the last 2 weeks go. Same talk at the end of every summer window hahaha David’s David and I love him for that.
18/08/2026 05:51:53
During the lulls at the Lille match, shouts of "hey moysie, sign a fucking right back" echoed out several times. Funny the first time but embarrassing after that. I think Rohl can do a job there moreso than Jake. However Mykolenko was poor and Aznu made a couple of mistakes so I'd be just as worried about left back. Thierno Barry was unimpressive too. We really do need to strengthen up in these areas. The Xfer committee know this only too well, I'm sure, but they seem to be sticking to their parameters which is admirable in a way, given how we have thrown money away over the past decade. However, at some point we need to take a chance and make a signing, nobody has a crystal ball that can predict how a player will perform over the course of their contract.
We had this problem in the 80s when Ian Snodin became our right back by proxy.
Oh and Séamus Coleman is still available, having been training with the Killybegs GAA team, meaning he is super fit!!
Either way, can't wait for the season to start, good luck to the lads and up the toffees!!
18/08/2026 06:50:16
Alan #6, you sure you tuned in the correct game?
Mykolenko created our only goal with a perfect lob to KDH and gave up nothing at the back.
18/08/2026 07:04:14
Lyndon, your article exposes not just the underlying frustration but also also disrint unease that come the end of the transfer window all we may see are one or two loans.
The frustration with the manager, recruitment team and owners in not getting their act together smacks of underlying trust between all parties.
I have tried (I really have) not to pen another "Moyes must go" article because to a great extent its all repetition of what's already been said.
But it hasn't.
Right now David Moyes has reverted to type. What we see now is the manager bunkering down, refusing to discuss or debate anything since the Branthwaite leaks scenario last season. The change has been significant, a refusal to answer questions, being deceitful when he does, sullen. A real sea change from the bubbly return not so long ago. It is a rerun of what he does and has done at all teams and usually ends up being sacked.
The underlying mistrust between all parties is clear to see. Moyes has said he has the final say on player recruitment, clearly its not gone the way any of them wanted and probably not for the same reason. Are there funds available? Are the players the recruitment team identify the same Moyes wants? Clearly too that's not a show of unity, pragmatic Moyes preferring experience over potential talent, a balance of cost verses quality. Then there is the matter of TFG and Moyes. The collapse of last season was a sobering one for Desperate Dan, any thought of an extention of his contract has gone and with it the money to rebuild under his watch. The CEOs phase two summer rebuild has stopped dead in its tracks.
All in all the writing appears to be on the wall..
So I decided to ask the new God AI the question, what's the problem. It's response was a loss of trust by all concerned and it's likely to hit a major roadblock when the first set of poor results hit. I think that's exactly how it will play out unless the plug is pulled now or we hit the ground running. Anyone taking bets?
18/08/2026 07:44:12
You are absolutely right Christine.
Who knows exactly what is going on behind the scenes but it does point to a falling out between the main players.
If we don’t sign a proper, quality, right back before the window closes, or bring someone in on loan as a stop gap, then the fan base, myself included, will be up in arms and a poor start will pretty much do for Moyes.
For the first time in a long time I’m not really looking forward to the season and if we start with O’Brien at right back then I’ll expect us to lose on Saturday.
We could all see how O’Brien was taken to the cleaners the last few games of last season so let’s not repeat the performance.
I’m usually a glass half full person but I’m fearing the worst this season.
Happy to be proved wrong.
18/08/2026 09:44:19
Obviously very disappointing not to have signed a quality RB already.
I do disagree with some of the comments in the article and generally though.
The main thing is that £100m is NOT a lot of money. It gets trotted out so often but only a poor / small club would look at a spend of £100m in that way. Last summer's spend was in fact 14th in the Premier League.
The knock on effect of this is simple, we had a lot of players to buy and bed-in last summer and any number of competing priorities for a small transfer kitty. Personally a RB would have been top priority for me. However, the club took the view that it could manage with O'Brien (who had performed surprisingly well as a stand-in the previous season) and Garner (especially since we were pretty well stocked with central midfielders).
If we had had even a medium sized transfer kitty last summer (the mode and median averages were about £200m), we could have had a RB of real quality. There are no two ways about it.
This summer, the issue again seems to be financial constraints. Every signing so far has shown TFG to be hunting for value / quality at low cost (i.e. small fees of no more than £25m).
We know who the main targets are - they are / were Lewis, Norton-Cuffey, Spence, Wan-Bissaka, White, Johnston and a few others. Unfortunately, our budget and circumstance have gone against us.
Unfortunately Spence had such an unexpectedly good world cup that his price probably increased by about 25% and he earned a move to Inter to replace Dumfries.
It then looked as though Johnston was about to sign but he got injured in what was expected to be his last game for Celtic. He wasn't top of my list but he's a decent specialist RB, English-speaking and experience of playing in British football. So for the very small fee of c. £15m looked like decent business.
So then we are looking at the other options again.
The club will, I expect, view Wan-Bissaka and White as non ideal signings due to their age and wages (at odds with pretty much everything TFG have done since arrival). White also has injury issues. However, at a low cost (say under £20m) they might we worth it as a stop gap. We are probably waiting to see which of West Ham or Arsenal blink first.
Otherwise, Rico Lewis was back in the team at City for the Charity Shield so City may not be willing to let him go.
Norton-Cuffey (at 22 and low wages) would be a good signing after a successful spell in Italy but it looks like Genoa want £20m to £25m which seems beyond our budget unfortunately - unless we can offload some players. Or unless they give in and sell as we get closer to the deadline.
The injury to Iroegbunam (and Hull's purchase of the very similar Gourna-Douath) may have scuppered a £20m (+) RB signing. Without sale proceeds from an Ndiaye departure, we are probably out of the market for more expensive options like Doue (to the extent he would have considered us).
Hence casting the net a bit wider and looking at the likes of Munoz who may now be available within budget, but doesn't look a good fit for our defensive structure.
There are still lots of options - I've noted down 13 others that we've been strongly linked to in the last 6 months (many in the last few weeks).
So it does seem very likely still that we are hunting for a RB and will get one - but the financial position means it is going down to the wire.
18/08/2026 12:29:05
I think it’s all snowball effect from whether or not Ndiaye stays or not. If he stays, there’s no desire to pay anything more than £20 million for a right back, which limits choices greatly. I think Moyes is keen to get a decent RB in but there’s friction about spend limits for certain positions. I still think there’ll be a flurry of last minute activity, with dropping prices - which hopefully throws up both a RB and a LB.
If not, let’s not forget that we’ll be so stacked in midfield that Garner and Röhl are both available for that RB role. Garner especially can come inside to play a more midfield role like he did to great effect against Fulham, so we’re not as badly off on the right this season as was glaringly obvious last season. I’d still much rather see a proper RB of course, but it’s not quite as catastrophic a situation as is being portrayed. IMHO.
18/08/2026 14:13:53
John yes agreed. I'm actually more concerned about centre back. If we lose Jarrad, our options look thin indeed.
18/08/2026 14:24:52
Rumours are that we are vying with Fulham for Norton-Cuffey.
So that'll be the 22 y.o. going to Fulham and we get the player he'll replace in the 30 y.o. Castagne!
18/08/2026 14:55:23
Going to be interesting two weeks.Moyes is likely to throw our concerns back at us.
18/08/2026 15:13:22
The centre-back concerns ease if we buy a RB - since that means O'Brien can focus on his natural position (and hopefully avoids us ever having to see Tarkowski paired with Keane again).
Even then, depending on what is available last minute - we could still get an additional CB. It looks like the club would like one given very strong interest in Harwood-Bellis, Diao and Cramma (and others) in recent weeks. However, it all comes down to money again.
If we could end up with Harwood-Bellis and Norton-Cuffey that would be a great result. Young yet still experienced and played together already for the England U21s too. Here's hoping.
18/08/2026 15:20:47
@Christine (8) - your points to me highlight exaclty why Moyes should have gone at the end of last seasobn, to allow for a new manager to arrive and develop their own squad.
Who knows what is really going on inside the club, and how many players have been approached and said no... yet the apparent 18month search is (at present at least) a failure, and this is a sad indictment on the club.
That said - Röhl is a magician and did well against Lille for my money.
18/08/2026 15:45:02
Norton-Cuffey ticks a lot of boxes, much more than Muñoz or Ben White. He’s a London boy, though, so we’ll need Tyrique to talk him out of going to Fulham.
18/08/2026 15:51:15
Personally I feel the dye has already been cast, that TFG has made the business decision to utilize Moyes until his contract expires or results jeopardize survival in the league. The logical flow on from that means Moyes will be restricted on purchases to needs must, loans and a make do approach until a successor can be appointed.
That means of course that our CEOs much awaited 2nd phase of rebuild will be consolidation. With TFG spending as little as possible but enough to stay away from the drop.
That's how it reads to me. Moyes can't even do a "back me or sack me" because he knows they won't. He is finding the comfy seat he had under Kenwright has been thrown out, this owner is way too savvy for him.
Doesn't help us or the team though does it?
18/08/2026 16:31:13
Any young Backs coming in I can't see Moyes playing them.
18/08/2026 16:40:40
Do you mean young full-backs like Baines and Hibbert when they were first given their chance, Jerome?
It does look like the fairly strict (too strict?) criteria is:
1. under £20m, since we can't afford more.
2. experience of British football / speaks English, since that will allow for a short settling in period.
Which is why the likes of Munoz, Castagne and now Geertruida are now featuring as options alongside targets we've been chasing for longer. These (and Wan-Bissaka and White) are not ideal for various reasons - but lets be honest they do improve us significantly.
Personally I'd rather have Norton-Cuffey as a long term solution. He's earned a Premier League move after performing well on a series of lower league loan, England U21s and having the balls to go and take his career up a notch in Serie A. But beggars can't be choosers...
18/08/2026 16:43:07
I expect the club to sign a right back in this window. The CEO provides reassurance on that in his interview now available on BBC Sounds. It is important we get a right back but it needs to be the right player at the right price. If that means a deal won’t be done until the end of the window, so be it. It’s frustrating but no worse than that.
18/08/2026 17:34:40
Robert#23
Moyes will not put them straight into the team.He will go with the experienced tried and tested, even though they make errors.To Moyes the system is more important and who is prepared to carry it out.
18/08/2026 18:47:07
John # 24 - right player at the right price sounds boringly sensible to me. We can compare him to Ipswich’s Ouattara and Bournemouth’s Sanchez at the end of the season.
18/08/2026 20:03:21
Two long-overdue interviews with Angus Kinnear have now been posted, one with the BBC and the other with Baz at EvertonTV.
And Kinnear emphatically puts the lie to some of Everton fans' most fervently shared rumours -- that Dan Friedkin is willing to settle for mediocrity, that funds are tight, that Moyes and the recruitment team are at loggerheads over player priorities (sorry, Christine), that there's a "falling out between the main players" (sorry, Peter), or that the club overall lacks ambition (an especially frustrating accusation to Kinnear).
Unless you think the man is a pathological liar, it's impossible to watch the long interview with Baz (I'm blocked from BBC Sound) and not believe that he and his colleagues are passionate about delivering European football to Everton next season. He's specific about his regard for last season as a failure (one stupid remark notwithstanding), the rapidly rising revenue numbers (now 265 million, up 35% YOY), the club's long-term confidence in youngsters like Dibling and Aznou, and his belief that they will secure not only a right back but the right back they most want for the long term (spot on, John #24).
I say we must judge the transfer window the same way we should judge Friedkin -- by where we are at the finish.
18/08/2026 21:45:16
I have more confidence in either, O’Brien, or Rohl managing the right back position, than Mykolenko, in the left back position.
To see him going into the new Season, as our resident left Back fills me with angst.
I feel that after our right back and striker are addressed, his position should come under scrutiny.
Aznou looks promising, but is still a little bit green.
18/08/2026 23:06:25
Mike 27# two very welcome interviews with Baz and BBC, watched and listened to both, twice. He spoke well but did not allay any of the points I made specifically relating to Moyes.
He spoke of the tension between all parties around the table
The fact that ultimately last season was a failure in the eyes of TFG and the fact they were unhappy with it.
He said the money is available for transfers but need and cost are tempered by funds availability.
His take on where we are is very different to Moyes aspiring to be a Bournemouth, Brentford or Brighton, or that we may never get there. (The constant downplaying of aspiration)
I could disect it Mike but the reality is Moyes is on a short lease, his time is done with his contract, TFG aren't happy and the tension is you have a manager who has, in his words, the final say on transfers, trying to build a team in the last months of his contract, his absolute shutting down of interviews is completely at odds with Kinnears comments..
So where are we? Nice that someone should talk to us.. shame that someone didn't ask him why Dan or anyone is yet to visit the club?
They apparently want to see us as successful as Roma, we might get a visit then.
So, I'm sorry Mike to me it was a couple of interviews designed to gloss over concerns. (Bet it was Everton who instigated them)
As for Moyes, he shouldn't be there. Everyone is not singing from the same hymn sheet despite Angus's comments.
18/08/2026 23:07:12
Reasy check and what seems a fair message, but dissappointingly late.
The Rubicon is crossed and thr clock is running for David Moyses.
David Moyses, - did he meet TFG. whilst in the USA for the World Cup, who knows.
Lets beat Palace, and reduce unforced errors,leading to soft goals conceded.
RB is the talk but the LB needs replacing asap. Every game Miko gets lost and the whole team is out of shape.
The glass is half full and stability and organic growth of the club, seems to be progressing well.
Patience is needed...
UTFTs!
18/08/2026 23:30:51
Could somebody please tell me what is actually wrong with Nathan Patterson.
Can he not run? Can he not kick a ball? Has he got serious injuries? Is he a natural right back?
Surely he can play in his right position freeing up other players to play in their correct positions until a replacement is found.
Is he really that bad?
18/08/2026 23:32:27
Yes Mike I’ve watched the Baz Toffee TV interview and overall I was heartened by it.
I understand he couldn’t go into specifics about names, club’s etc. but I accept we are fervently searching for a right back and other targets as well.
Baz accepted his answers without (I assume) a journalistic background so there was no pushback but it was good to hear TFG are interested in us, want us to succeed and are willing to pump money in when required.
My glass half full has just got a little fuller (to the extent that ticket bought for Preston next week) and as you say let’s see where we are when the window closes.
19/08/2026 10:02:30
Disheartening though the prospect advanced by Christine may be,I’m with her on this one.
If the club’s real desire is to push on and compete for European places Moyes should have gone at the end of last season.
He had done the job that he had been brought in to do ie.keep us in the division and is now in the last year of his contract which will hopefully not be renewed
His philosophy,demeanour,call it what you will,has been clearly demonstrated to be a hindrance rather than a driving ambition to get us playing competitive and attractive football.
Why then did we not appoint a manager for the future tasked with building the club into one to challenge the top six,and give Evertonians the football we all want to watch?
I get Robert’s point about financial constraints and I’m sure they are valid but the lack of forward planning and a clear strategy to fill the positions that we all know are essential to our development is I’m afraid just bad business practice.
Keeping what is essentially a lame duck manager is to my mind another example of this.
A run of bad results and he will be gone by Christmas and where will be then?
All round a depressing outlook,but it’s down to a lack of forward thinking throughout the club
19/08/2026 10:18:23
I'm surprised everyone is blaming Moyes for the collapse. It's clear to me he's had concerns about the thin nature of the squad for over a year, and that he was not given the money to make further signings. that also explains his radio silence, he's told TFG 'if I'm asked, I can't lie' and so they've said, 'well say nothing then'.
19/08/2026 12:36:05
I can’t for the life of me get my head around Everton’s whole season getting written off before a ball’s been kicked or the transfer windows’s closed.
We’ve signed some quality already, with more to come, the younger players have all impressed when they’ve been given plenty of pre-season minutes and we look fit, sharp and ready. Clubs who finished ahead of us will be stretched by Europe, others have new management needing time to bed in.
Guess what, we might actually have a decent season. That’s what I, for one, hope for.
19/08/2026 12:58:19
John 34
Well said mate
Im by no means a " happy clapper" but some of the negativity on here is depressing especially before a ball is kicked
It was one of the reasons I chose to give toffeeweb a swerve and I'm as fed up as everybody regarding this right back farce which is embarrassing
Let's see where we are on sept 2nd.
UTFT
19/08/2026 15:53:23
These toxic, paranoid echo chambers where people try to outdo each other with increasing levels of outrage and pessimism are frankly hilarious.
I hope this place is not going to turn into just another Toxic Web. (I saw someone there say that The Freidkins are the worst owners of all time the other day. I suspect Moshiri might have something to say that!). I also could not care less whether the owners never attend a match as long as the club continues to improve. Not really sure why people are so bothered about it.
We will sign a quality RB before deadline and we will have a better season than last. I also expect a few other signings to come in. Don’t think we have used any loan slots yet.
Be calm, it will be fine…
19/08/2026 17:26:14
Peter I think the negativity is based on this perception: Moyes is still here - therefore TFG have no ambition and nothing good can happen.
I’m not a fan of Moyes particularly but a lot of the anti-Moyes stuff and associated negativity doesn’t even make sense.
Let’s see how the window ends.
I made the rash prediction a few weeks ago (before we bought Norgaard and Johnson) that we’d since a minimum 4 more players.
I am still very confident that we’ll get another 2 before the window closes. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get more than that - and one of the new boys will be a specialist RB.
Since we only needed 2 more wins to qualify for Europe last season - it seems eminently possible we’ll get Europe this coming season.
19/08/2026 17:28:54
Michael # 30, Patterson is now 24 and has failed to persuade any manager he’s any good. I suspect that means he’s not very good. In his recent cameo against Lille, he was awful.
19/08/2026 19:09:00
Robert
Its an optimistic assumption that we will get into Europe this season.
Man U and Spurs have both brought top quality in and will likely finish above us as will the regular top 4. Can't see us taking the points off Chelsea and Man U we did last season
We can only hope that Villa, Newcastle, Brighton, Bournemouth, Sunderland and Brentford have a worse season while some of those may suffer from being occupied In Europe.
And I believe Forest and Leeds will improve so I'm hoping for a top half finish and would love a spot in Europe and a cup run but unless and until we sort out our inability to score from open play we will struggle to emulate last season.
19/08/2026 19:10:33
Robert,
Totally agree on Patterson. He is not bad in lower leagues but is not up to the demands of the Prem.
19/08/2026 21:13:26
Jay # 39, I'm not assuming we'll get into Europe next season but it's certainly a possibility. The thing that stopped us last season, miles more than anything else, was the injury to Branthwaite. If he stays fit this season, that will make a big difference.
You're right, the richest clubs have better squads than us but there is typically some (often very serious) underperformance amongst that group. As for everyone else, it's probably not worth comparing squads until the window shuts.
19/08/2026 22:50:01
Jay @39
I think it’s symptomatic of the problems at Everton when we have to hope that other clubs have a worse season than us for us to have a chance of improving our league position and not focusing on our ambition and transfer business to give us a squad to challenge the best.
A lot of assertions being made about not making judgements until the window closes.
Been there, seen that.
Why should I believe it now?
No assertions please,just give me the facts and then we can have a grown up discussion!
19/08/2026 00:03:44
We don't score enough goals to make Europe. The paucity of goals and consistent threat up front is the big problem that needs addressing. Centre backs were cruising against us last season.
Barry looks a bit better but he remains raw and will be inconsistent. He is not ready to handle the pressure of being the main man every week. He's far too nice. There's no edge and his back to goal play remains patchy.
A 10-15 league goal man who can occupy centre backs and provide a consistent threat in behind would transform the team. It would help KDH big time. I'd be happy with a loan for Delap or Jackson from Chelsea.
I am concerned that we may have been a little easy to play through when I've seen us in pre-season. A bit nice. I am hoping Norgaard sorts that out.
A dart at the European places is possible if we add a proper front man and a competent RB, and keep Branthwaite fit.
20/08/2026 06:27:22
"These toxic, paranoid echo chambers where people try to outdo each other with increasing levels of outrage and pessimism are frankly hilarious."
Peter, I hadn't noticed.
But unless you didn't notice, Lyndons article, well written, concise and appropriate, raised the issues relating to Everton as a club, not getting its act together with respect to transfers and who bears responsibility because it has become TFG responsibility.
Indeed almost as a follow on to this article, the club CEO went into damage limitation mode, one suspects at the request or advice of TFG, in arranging two media interviews to reassure worried fans. But also labeling last season as a failure, not and never have I seen, that as a fans perspective.
Should fans not speculate the cause of this failure? Is it not reasonable to look at the manager? Kinnear laid that failure at the door of the manager and players in both interviews citing internal tension but not addressing David Moyes, his final season or the possibility of a contract extention.
It's mot negative to speculate on why we failed last season or what is being done to remediate said failure so it doesn't happen again.
The increasing seclusion and aversion to media by the manager is blatant, commented on by the media itself, and almost certainly reflects the internal fallout with the press due to the leaks internally regarding Branthwaite and deliberately not reporting of players injuries or being less economical with the truth regarding them.
A quick review of his management career will show David Moyes has a pattern of behavior when under pressure tha has been a forerunner to his dismiss and its pretty obvious to all and sundry that we've seen it before.
So, as fans do we ignore the reasoning for Angus Kinnears interviews and his observations on the failures or do we embrace his reasoning and trust in the judgement of owners who have never crossed the doorstep, of team selection in key areas by the manager who continues to downplay our expectations or have faith in the CEO and his much awaited summer of phase two rebuild?
Thats not toxic Peter, they are valid concerns from many sides of the football family. The lack of involvment towards fans by the owners or management is by choice which is especially of little comfort to shareholders because we no longer have AGMs, where they could ask, in their opinion, reasonable questions about the running of the club.
All in all, many fans are once more, feeling like mushrooms again, kept in the dark etc. So I don't see the hilarious toxicity you allude to, I see passionate fans frustrated and feeling dismayed by the failures of last season with little inspiration to aspire too.
Glass half full or half empty?
20/08/2026 07:35:29
For any number of reasons I’d be surprised if TFG genuinely do see last season as a failure.
Less than the top end of what they were hoping for - probably.
Underperformance relative to investment - not really no.
This is why I don’t pay a lot of attention to press conferences etc. they are just PR exercises telling fans a vaguely credible version of what they want to hear. Some of it might well be true - some less so.
20/08/2026 10:57:56
really good article Lyndon, you write so well, the words flow off the page.
We can only hope that Kinnear et al are true to their word and are waiting on their number one choice to become available towards the end of the window. If not, we are going to look stupid.
20/08/2026 11:30:52
Moyes will sign any winger who is vaguely mentioned, but full backs are one of Moyes's many blind spots. He hates the idea of spending on any sum on full backs.
Having said that O'brien is adequate though not an obvious full back and his height is an obvious asset at both ends. Patterson has pace and is useful going forward. Defensively he just does not read the situation and is reactive rather than proactive. At first I thought it was youthful exuberance, but there's been no improvement over the seasons.
Wan Bissaka was the obvious solution but Moyes and co. we're canny and he was deemed too expensive.
I don't see us as being relegation candidates, but I'd be surprised if we improve on our thirteenth place of last season.
I'd like to see Moyes replaced, moved upstairs, whatever, by Christmas. Maybe Howe will come in.
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17/08/2026 00:05:02
Saw a video on X of Munoz apparently waving goodbye to the Palace fans after their last friendly. Are Palace just waiting to get our game against them out of the way before letting him come to us?
That's what I've convinced myself is happening anyway.