Everton: A Big Summer Ahead.

Summer 2013 could quite possibly be the biggest of Everton Football Clubs recent history. It, in my opinion is detrimental to the future of our Football Club, may seem obvious but it can go in two ways; good way or the bad way. I shall explain.

With every passing week it is looking increasingly likely that David Moyes will leave Everton Football Club. I am writing this on his 11 year Anniversary as EFC Boss so I would just like to Congratulate David on this ‘achievement’ so to speak and ultimately thank him for the job he has done.

So with good ‘ole Moyesey leaving EFC in June that means we need a replacement and when you look at the bookies lists, its grim reading, here’s an example; Roberto Martinez 6/4, Steve Round 6/1, Phil Neville 8/1, Mark Hughes 10/1 and Martin O’Neil and Sam Allardyce at 12/1 (Odds: SKY BET). To me, that’s an absolutely horror show of a list, are any of them managers BETTER than David Moyes? I really don’t think so, I really don’t want Martinez to replace him, but he really is the best of a bad bunch. I think I’ve made it known in a previous article I wrote that I want Michael Laudrup to be Next Everton Manager and if it meant selling someone like Heitinga to pay for his compensation then I’m all for it. But, its Everton FC remember, its Bill Kenwright and Co, so I really don’t trust them to replace Moyes with someone of equal/better quality, heck, they got lucky that Walter Smith recommended Moyes all them years ago.

So we’ve discussed the managerial situation, now let’s move onto the players. The Big Player Departure of the summer will most definitely be Marouane Fellaini, before the turn of the year I was actually quite worried about him leaving as he’d seemed to have won us games or rescued us points all by himself, but since January my opinion of him has decreased significantly. He didn’t get a move in January but that seems to have affected him, he doesn’t seem to care anymore, his performance and attitude against Wigan proved that to everyone. Marouane DEFINITELY wanted to go in January but was most likely forced to stay, and in typical Foreign player style he is ‘throwing his dummy out the pram’ shall we say, which in my opinion is disgraceful. Think here at Everton we want players who will play for the shirt, players who will give their all for the Royal Blue and this lad couldn’t give a f**k. So as I say, I was worried, but now I really couldn’t care, im looking forward to getting the £20m+ for him and the manager getting to spend it on a couple of decent players, thanks for the service Marouane, but do one.

Another player id sell would be John Heitinga. Wow, I’ve never seen a fans opinion of a player change so quickly. Less than 12 months ago fans voted him as Player Of The Year (an award I think he didn’t deserve to win) and now people want him gone. Evertonians can accept poor form, but what the wont accept is players in poor form not trying. To me, every time Heitinga played he didn’t seem arsed, that’s what annoyed a lot of fans. Take a look at Jelavic, he really is in poor form but he is still willing to give 100% every week, John never for me and I really can’t wait to see the back of him. However, it probably won’t be that easy. A few times during January his wages were the stumbling block for EFC selling him, so it looks like we could have a bit of trouble trying to shift Heitinga this summer, but I really hope we do. With his departure I hope to see the promotion of Shane Duffy.

Finally, the third player I think Everton will shift in the summer is Magaye Gueye. Basically don’t rate him, never have and never will, im just glad that he seems to be putting in the performances for Brest which means that Everton could quite possibly get a decent fee for him in the Summer. With him gone that hopefully means Bryan gets more time on the pitch to show us what he can do, not only Bryan but also young Matty Kennedy who seems to be tearing it up for the Under 21’s.

With those departures and increased TV money there should really be no reason why the next Everton Manager doesn’t have at least £25m to invest in some new players. I’ll go into who id like them to buy.

I want our next Manager to build the team around Nikica Jelavic and Kevin Mirallas. The reason why is Nikica is the most natural goalscorer at the Club, simple as that and Kevin is the most exciting player at the club, build a team around those two and we could be seeing a very attractive Everton side.

My Hopes and Dreams for the Summer:
– Dries Mertens: Belgian. That’s all you need to know. But seriously, I’ve been an admirer of Mertens for some times now and I would LOVE it if Everton bought him. What a trio we would have behind Jelavic! Mertens – Mirallas – Pienaar, all interchanging throughout the game causing defenders problems!

– Landon Donovan: I can probably tell you what you’re thinking right now, but seriously, I would have him back at EFC in a heartbeat, providing his head was in the right place. Everton seem to be a team cursed with injuries so getting him in for free or cheap would make sense. The fact he can provide cover for 4 positions makes him very very attractive. Sign him up. He definitely wants to come back.

– Angelo Ogbonna: You could probably straight away file this under the ‘highly unlikely’ category but Everton have been linked with him in the media a while back. He is 24 and would be a perfect replacement for the ageing Distin in terms of pace and power.

– Leroy Fer: I was GUTTED when the move fell through for Leroy Fer because he is EXACTLY what this Everton side needed. Someone to sit next to Gibson but at the same time power through midfield. I said it back in January, but he and Gibson would in my opinion be an awesome partnership. Gibson holds and Leroy Fer moving back and forth, would certainly make Everton’s play a lot less predictable. This one could be filed as ‘likely’ as the lad himself as expressed his desire to play here, plus seemingly told the press that EFC told him they’d be back for him in the Summer. Really hope we do.

– Wilfried Bony/Christian Benteke: Both of these players are absolute POWERHOUSES and i would love to see either of them in the Blue of Everton. Benteke will probably only be possible if Villa go down, but someone like these two should definitely be in the mind of our manager.

– Phil Neville (RETIRING): Ill support him while he wears the Blue shirt, but I really am done with him, the man is FINISHED as a pro footballer and I really, really, really hope he doesn’t get a contract extension. Put it this way, with Neville, Heitinga, Fellaini and Gueye off the EFC wage bill the club saves about £200k a week, we could give at least 4 players very decent contracts with that amount.

So just like the last article I wrote I asked Twitter for some opinions. This time I asked what they wanted to see this summer. Here are a few;

@Hayden_Jillions: INS: Negredo, Lallana, Forster & 2 CB’s. OUTS: Fellaini & Heitinga.

@kcondetoffees: INS: A Keeper, Fer, Negredo & 2 CB’s. OUTS: Kenwright, Fellaini, Neville & Heitinga.

@Tim_efc_11: INS: Martinez/Di Matteo.. De Guzman, Honda & Lescott. OUTS: Fellaini & Heitinga.

@Jelaverton: INS: Donovan, Fer,, Ulreich, Caceres & Bony. OUTS: Fellaini, Heitinga & Neville.

So to end, Everton really, really need to get this Summer spot on otherwise we could see a Aston Villa type situation arise after Martin O’Neil left. Change can be good, but at the same time it can be absolutely awful, I just pray we get it right, because if we do, who knows where Everton Football Club could go next season.

Again, thanks for reading! Leave in the comments below your views on opinions on who you would like to see as next EFC manager and also your INS and OUTS!