2026/27 Season Preview

Very good and I think pretty accurate summation of where we will probably end up, for me it's still about who we can bring in at RB and an established goal scorer. I'd have Richarlison back in a heartbeat but not at what Spuds want so I doubt that's a likelihood and I am not convinced that we can wait and see if Delap can find the net again. For my liking Beto and Barry are still miles off a Premier strikers level so another future talent is not what we need or want. We seem a little heavy now in midfield but I suspect Tim will depart and possibly Alcaraz as he only had a two year deal. Just cannot see Jack returning which is a shame but TFG philosophy of buy low and young then develop and sell high cannot encompass a high priced, high earning player over the age of 30, the dynamics are not in their comfort zone.
At the back I think Tark and Keanes days are up but the reality is we need cover for Branthwaite and a RB which despite the CEOs assurances of bringing one in this window I am not as confident in the ability to land a good one.
On the final placings, I think Moyes will be desperate to finish with a Eiuropean place so may take a few more chances with game plans and formations. All being well I think we might just get an 8th spot, assuming we don't have a poor run of form in which case the focus and noise may definitely change!

Lyndon, there are potentially eight or nine teams in Europe until just before Christmas. (Although the qualifying rounds are still ongoing.) I think that this will give the likes of Everton, Palace and Newcastle the chance to capitalise in the league, as many of the smaller clubs in Europe may not have the squads to cope. Although both Palace and Newcastle are weaker than they were in May.

I think Moyes will be under pressure to have a good season. He will want to show that he is worth a mew contract or a job next summer at a club that has stature. Pundits talking nonsense aside, football people will know that last season was a disaster for Moyes' reputation. He will want to prove himself this season and it may force his hand tactics wise. I think we may see improvements on the pitch as a result. I think your prediction of 8th may be achievable.

If N'diaye stays, there will be more goals overall in the team than last season, now that we have George getting more game tine and Johnson in the squad.

I agree, Kieran and we made the point about those other clubs being distracted by Europe on the podcast this week. Palace are in the Europa League, don’t forget so for me, the likes of Chelsea and Spurs could make headway because they’re not.

I think Newcastle might struggle this season but I fancy Leeds as dark horses to make the top half based on their form in the second half of last season.

lyndon, I wholeheartedly agree with you, on a left Back of equal standing, along with a much needed quality right Back.

In my opinion, the left back slot, is as much of a concern as the right back.
In that position we have Rohl and O’Brien, who look far more competent than Mykolenko,
A player who rarely gives a 7/10 performance.

Goin forward, when we sell players, we should be looking at bringing players in, who are an upgrade on the players departed.
That wasn’t the case when we let Digne go, who in my estimation had a fantastic World Cup, apart from a mare in the last game, where he was subbed.

In fact, we should have consistant 7/10 minimum performers, throughout the Team, Thus creating consistency, an indispensable factor in order to perform at a high end level.

If we reach ninth place, that should mean we are playing some fairly decent footy, which I think the fans are craving for.

Casino Royale was on the tele recently, this transfer window seems like I'm watching a football version of the Poker section. There seems like many twists and turns going on but we'll only know at the end, if we clean up, or get taken to the cleaners.

At the moment it seems we're losing, I think they planned on losing Ndiaye, Alcaraz and Iroegbunam, that generates about £80-100m in chips to play with, but for different reasons, they're still here.

However, so are their replacements/reinforcements, In George, Hackney, Nørgaard, and Johnson. Another unexpected 'card' turned over is the pre-season form of Dibling, who needs to be starting matches to keep his confidence growing.

I think the plan was to bring Grealish back, but that 'Ace' may have to be returned to the pack.

This has left us with a 'hand' stacked with mid-fielders we can't all play and no available chips to bring in the defensive additions we are crying out for.

Doué or Muñoz seem like great targets for right-back but it seems like we now need some cards to go our way before we can land one. A winning hand would also include back-up in central defence, in case our Ace up the sleeve, Branthwaite, is again crocked, and another striker.

It's looking like it'll be down to the last card whether we have a Royal (Royle?) or busted flush.

i think Mr Moyes is definitely under pressure, in the wake of the comments by Angus Kinnear. The interesting part will be to see whether he abandons his conservative attitude and adopts a more expansive game plan, trustung his young attacking players, as a means to improve results? Or does he go even more defensive in his tactics, doubling down on the negative aspects of his footballing philosophy, and bore us all to oblivion? Either way, I hope he hands over the reins next season.

John #5, you are right, we had probably planned on shipping out those players you mentioned, and they may still go, but we must wait for the transfer window cascade to trickle down before we can bring in some new players. I for one would love to see Grealish back, but only if Ndiaye is sold, as it would only further curtail the development of one of our younger wide players

Impossible to judge until the window closes.

It will also be interesting to see how a very high number of new managers get on.

Some, as they always are, will be a disaster (or be undermined by recruitment, injury or lunatic owners) - and won’t make it to the January window.

Moyes has a very long track record of delivering broadly in accordance with the level of investment (or indeed outperforming). So is (sorry folks) not one of the more likely managers for the chop at this stage.

I’ll be honest straight away…at the end of last season I wanted Moyes gone.As did many Evertonians.And unless he gets us into Europe either through league position or winning a cup, then I’d be amazed if he’s still in charge this time next year….and seriously frustrated too.

Having said that, for several reasons I’m quietly optimistic about this upcoming season.I always try to be a glass half full type of bloke!! 😊 The squad, whilst obviously short in certain areas, still looks stronger than it did a year ago, and depending upon what happens in the remainder of the transfer window, could look stronger again come early September.I’m also encouraged by several of the younger players now looking much more confident and keen to make a mark, notably Armstrong, Barry, Dibling, George and Rohl.Garner and Norgaard will also both very soon be involved again, and the addition of a proper right-back and another striker would give us quite a lot of options when you look at the squad as a whole.This has the potential to be very useful for Moyes in terms of his substitutions, and provided he’s much more willing to take advantage of these options from the bench.

Moyes’ use of his bench last season was very poor, and you’d like to think he knows himself it needs to improve.Nowadays, every team is regularly using 15 or 16 players in every match, and making use of the subs bench is now an integral part of the game.For some reason, intelligent use of substitutes for various in game situations is something that I don’t think Moyes has ever quite got a handle on.Even in his first spell with us, his use of substitutes was often criticised.They tended to be like for like, or predictable.Just as they were last season.But a stronger, younger bench with more options gives him the opportunity to make positive changes, provided he’s brave enough to do it.

Another reason for my optimism is, strangely enough, Moyes himself.He’s in the final year of his contract, and has also been very quiet this summer in terms of talking about the club.He obviously knows a marvellous chance of European qualification was totally frittered away in those final 7 games, and he certainly knows the fans feelings about it!! But I just get the sense he’s on a bit of a mission here.He’s not going to want his tenure at the club to end on another bottom half finish.He’s got too big of an ego for that.He’ll also know that if he DID get us into the top 6 or win silverware, the dynamic changes completely.Particularly with the Friedkin Group and his contract.And also the fans.

If Everton won the FA Cup or made it into the Champions League, even a Moyes critic like myself would probably be happy for him to get another season or two!! It’d be tough to argue against it.As I’ve said, I get the impression he’s quite motivated to prove a lot of people wrong here.And if this really IS the case, then it could be very beneficial for us.

In closing, I’ll make my forecast.I think we’ll finish 6th or 7th and qualify for Europe.

I’d be happy with this outcome, provided the football is positive and good to watch, and we can all see genuine signs of the team really progressing.Another big plus would be to have a REAL go in the cups, and not play under strength teams when there’s absolutely no need to.Wolves in last season’s League Cup being a classic example of this unnecessary tinkering.Moyes could do himself a big favour as far as the fans are concerned by going full strength in these games, no matter who the opposition.A cup is very clearly our best hope of silverware, and we’re not in Europe, so what excuse can there be for not putting out the strongest team available??…no excuse at all I reckon.

Also, if Moyes fields his strongest eleven in this type of scenario and we still get knocked out, at least nobody can point the finger and accuse him of picking a weakened team.And just like Danny O’Neill, I’d love to see us win a bloody League Cup before I shuttle off this mortal coil!! What a lovely thing that would be in tribute to Danny if we could actually win it this season.

Anyway, looking forward to tomorrow now!! I reckon we’ll turn Palace over.2-0 and Barry to score!! COYB!!😊👍

things feel ok at the moment cos Jarrad's playing. the moment he breaks down, if we haven't got in a top quality centre back, we will flatline. We also need two good fullbacks. And to swap Beto out for another forward. And to get rid of Ndiaye as his head has been turned.
I'm unimpressed with TFG and their monkey, and I think Moyes is. We should. have gotten most of the defence sorted weeks ago, and allowed preseason to bed them in. Astonishingly we are going into the first game of the season with the defence which collapsed in such disastrous fashion.
there are real causes for optimism, in the form of the youngsters, but that is no reflection on TFG. I have a bad feeling these gobshites will be following the Roma playbook, a reasonable spend in year one, and then nothing. Angus's talk of 'sustainable success' is code for 'don't' expect anything anytime soon'. they are here to make money, from three thousand miles away. they don't give a toss about Everton, as is clear from the bullshitter we have as CEO.

Roma have bought two of the most exciting young (but still experienced) attacking talents in Europe this summer, Kevin.

Santiago Castro and Rodrigo Mora.

They have also secured Malen after a really successful loan and upgraded the defence with Koulierakis, Molina and Ghilardhi.

That’s with no major departures at all and seems to position them well for Serie A and the Champions League run this season.

They have got here in fairly frugal fashion - and that’s what I read as sustainable.

Robert

I think they took over Roma when they were in fifth position six years ago, and this is the first time they've moved them up. they spent same as us in year one, and then nothing for five years. they ran that club in a ramshackle manner, and seem to have stumbled into the champions league, which is not that difficult to do in serie A if you're Roma.

We've so far got in a couple of loans, a couple of swaps, and a lad from the Championship. We've spent about £50m, but the world and his dog expects Ndiaye to go and probably Tim and Charly, whereupon Angus will invest in a right back, and possibly bring back Grealish That will probably leave us with a negative net spend. Now I seem to recall you predicting a net spend of around £150m a few weeks ago, are you still holding to that?

I don’t expect Ndiaye to go.

Having had pre-season optimism dashed so many times down the years, I have pretty low expectations for the forthcoming season.

The pessimist in me says we need a more reliable goalscorer to achieve anything in this league. Without one, I cannot see us getting close to 9th place. With the current squad, I would think 12th to 14th. My biggest concern is that our back four will still be based around Tarkowski, Mykolenko and Keane. The right back situation is now farcical; it seems we have a different target each day and are constantly being linked with wide players.

Last season, we got some unexpected away wins (Man United, Villa, Forest, Bournemouth, Newcastle) which I cannot see us repeating. I think I'm correct in saying our points per game at home was the worst of any team moving into a new stadium in the Premier League era. We need a raucous Hill Dickinson to massively help improve our home form compared to recent seasons. I think there is a feeling of apathy amongst the fanbase and patience is wearing thin. We desperately need a win against Palace to get off to a good start but, if this happens, I hope it doesn't mask our deficiencies and makes us even less proactive in the remaining days of the transfer window.

The optimist in me says that we have some potentially good young players in Dibling, George, Barry, Hackney, Armstrong. I rate Dewsbury-Hall, Branthwaite, Garner, Ndiaye (if he stays and is up for it) and Pickford. I don't rate Ireogbunam and the jury is out on Alcaraz, for me. If Johnson can capture his Nottingham Forest form and Norgaard doesn't prove to be Delph Mark II then we have the makings of a decent side. I just wish we'd show more ambition. We should have strengthened in January and that cost us last season.

Some things don't change. I'll still be dreading the derby games. My prediction would be that we'll be the first team to be punished by the new rules on corners and we'll probably never benefit from the rule changes.

Kevin, I think we're all looking at the same / similar information but drawing different conclusions.

As I see it, TFG learned their lesson after an initial spending spree at Roma which didn't end well. What they learned was in a fairly poor Serie A - they could maintain top 6 status (where they've generally been for much of the last 30 odd years) at much lower cost. And indeed, give it a few seasons and you can build a really good squad that way. I guess they could have spent bigger and made an earlier tilt for the title - but they'd had their fingers burned and chose not to rush it. The squad they've got now should genuinely compete for the Serie A title this season and more than that, is well placed to continue to do so for the next 5 years given the number and quality of players age 25 and under. It'll be the manager's failing, not TFG if Roma don't do well this season.

That all seems very sensible from a club management point of view, albeit their fans had to wait a few seasons to return to the Champions League.

At Everton, they've been working to similar principles but from a much, much lower base. We were in absolutely terrible shape when TFG took over last year and our revenue means we can't throw money at it. But you can build up a good and decent sized squad with multiple astute low cost signings (i.e. sub £25m) - as we've been focussing on since their arrival.

Although we've only spent €73.45m (net) we've managed to fish out some real bargains.

That may enable us to sign, say, Delap (for the reported €45m Chelsea want) and Norton-Cuffy (for the reported €25m Genoa want). That would take us to £143.45m (net) assuming we don't sell anyone else. However, we may given up on each of them for financial reasons and look elsewhere (or use the loan system to manage the finances better).

If TFG manage to pull that off we have a genuine Europa League qualification standard squad for the first time in a long time - with a higher proportion of top players u25. And continue in this frugal / sustainable vein and we should be able to build up a squad capable of competing for Champions League places within, say, 3 or 4 years from now (less if can unearth some real stars).

Obviously this may not happen too. If the squad we have now is the one that competes season 2026/27 then I'll eat some humble pie start to worry a lot more.

The cumulative effect of poor decisions at board level and mismanagement at a football level will start to become apparent after years of incompetence IF we don’t make more signings before the window shuts. That’s really all it has boiled down to. Who’s to blame? Not TFG I’m afraid for this ship had already set sail long before their arrival.

I will wait with bated breath!

Well that was hardly worth waiting up for, first presser he's 15 mins late, which ironically feels like the theme for his points with alot of questions regarding the right back, apparently made offers on a few players but all knocked back mostly on price were not going to pay. Furthermore nothing in progress and that's a real concern.
Talked alot about how we have other players who could do the job there, someone called Craig Patterson, big Jake (christ sake) but when pushed he is not expecting to fill the role. In addition he commented that he feels we are well short of having a good enough squad to get into Europe, definitely not singing from the same hymn sheet as the CEO. Moyes feels we need a bigger, better squad. But he wants to achieve it.. being realistic or downplaying 3xpectations? I can't workout which. No mention of Grealish, a striker, or the game itself. Can't help feeling he is putting a brave face on a situation that he appears to have no control over. CEO says nice words but manager is not getting what he feels he needs.

Surely, you know Craig Patterson, Christine? Played in defence for Rangers, now aged 66. Arguably, we'd be better off with Seamus!

Of the twelve clubs who finished above us last season Fulham look destined to struggle under a new manager with a weaker squad. Sunderland scored only 42 goals last season and now have European football to manage with a squad which has yet to be significantly improved. Likewise Brighton who might well end up with a weaker squad than last year and might choose to prioritise the Europa Conference League. Having beaten them 3-1 in pre-season we are surely in a better state than Newcastle, another club under new management. On that basis a ninth placed finish looks achievable although Spurs are likely to be much stronger than they were last season.

It will be important for us to make a strong start to the season. Tomorrow we face a Palace team who, like us won only three points from their final seven league matches last season. In fact the Eagles have won only four of their last twenty three league matches. There is nothing for us to be fearful of.

Therefore tomorrow is a great opportunity for our younger players to make their case for regular inclusion in the team. There can be no excuses. Having been heavily involved in the pre-season they know each other’s games, they know what the manager is looking for and they know the home crowd will be fully behind them. So Merlin Röhl, Harrison Armstrong, Hayden Hackney and Tyler Dibling or Tyrique George please seize the moment, show us the talent you possess and give us a game to remember.

I am normally an optimistic person but after the last 40 years I am becoming less so.

For years Everton's problems have been an inability to score regularly from open play and a penchant for not defending set pieces.

I see Barry as slightly improved from last season (Could he be any worse?) but still not to the level of DCL who was not our greatest CF in recent times. I hope that Johnson finds the form he had at Spurs and Forest and contributes some goals but to me that is the full extent of our improved chances of scoring goals. I see George and Dibling as slightly improved from last season but still not up to the standard of Grealish.

Defensively it is a relief to have Jarrad back but with a deteriorating Tarks and Keane and a useless set piece coach I still have concerns about our defense.

With all that in mind I would be Surprised if we finish in the top 8 and shocked and disappointed if we end up lower than last season.

We have to take account of Spurs and Man U massively improving this season so that's the top 6 taken care of (Thank you Sky(:) and the unknown factor of teams playing in Europe with limited squads

We would have to rely on Villa, Newcastle, the 3 B's and Sunderland to all do worse this season to finish above them and we have to be aware of Leeds and Forest who were on better runs at the end of last season. I believe Fulham and Palace will struggle and that will help.

My other concern is the harmony or lack of it amongst the management team and wonder if this had a part in our collapse at the run in.

When Dour Davey gets really dour it can be demotivating for the players.

So, all in all, I would be happily satisfied if we get into Europe