Ron Koeman

[St Chalet]

And also, why would their be ANY negotiating over a poaching clause. We have nothing to gain in that. The answer is going to be no. Or at least, not without a hell of a lot of cash that they can't afford to spend.

 

Two words, 'Release Clause'

[sotonist]

Two words, 'Release Clause'

 

we're under no obligation to let koeman go if they won't sign a contract with whatever penalties we choose pertaining to their activating our players' release clauses.

[sotonist]

we're under no obligation to let koeman go if they won't sign a contract with whatever penalties we choose pertaining to their activating our players' release clauses.

 

i cocked up that sentence completely. we are under no obligation at all, if there are release clauses we should include in the compensation agreement penalties for everton should Everton activate any of them..

[richard]

we're under no obligation to let koeman go if they won't sign a contract with whatever penalties we choose pertaining to their activating our players' release clauses.

 

 

i cocked up that sentence completely. we are under no obligation at all, if there are release clauses we should include in the compensation agreement penalties for everton should Everton activate any of them..

 

I thought your first effort was better than the second. Here's my go:

 

We're under no obligation to let Koeman go if they won't consent to transfer restrictions between the two clubs.

[sotonist]

I thought your first effort was better than the second. Here's my go:

 

We're under no obligation to let Koeman go if they won't consent to transfer restrictions between the two clubs.

 

nah first effort implied that if we included penalties we were obliged somehow.

 

second might have been inelegant, but i think it was technically less incorrect.

[richard]

nah first effort implied that if we included penalties we were obliged somehow.

 

second might have been inelegant, but i think it was technically less incorrect.

 

Fair enough. I would rather that we get a restriction on Everton offering contracts to our players than get an agreement on extra compensation. Unless that extra compensation is a minimum £60m transfer fee per player payable upfront.

[sadoldgit]

John Motson weighing in and saying he doesn't know why everyone's saying Everton are attractive because they're a big club when it's Saints who are a top six club.

 

Go on Motty, stirring it all back up again.

 

 

Loving many of those comments. Well done Motty!

[Saint86]

Not sure how you come this conclusion, but who knows you could well be right?

 

I personally think RK was going to sign a new contract with us at a rumoured £3M a year (no idea if that is true but it is widely quoted) which is probably a vast increase on his current deal (£1M??) but Everton have come in with a completely stupid offer (£7M FFS). Do I blame RK for taking it - no, not really but does not mean he or Everton will be more successful, but whatever his choice - 3 year contract at £21M in total, I can live with being a failure on that! The real sad part is that some w.anker from abroad has completely negated the new TV deal deal by paying completely stupid and unwarranted premiums and set a new base wage on players and managers - would have been nice to see the extra money ploughed into infrastructure, player development, grass roots footy etc. etc. but was never really going to happen in reality I guess.

 

This simple and pleasurable game is rapidly getting priced out for the average fan - such a shame. Fondly remember talking to Emlyn Hughes (god bless him) about his love of the game and being afraid to ask for a pay rise to £100 a week after winning the European Cup !!!

 

Perfect summary Red. Very well said.

 

It also doesn't look good that the club are using as many sticks possible to tarnish Koeman when in reality there was some degree of friction behind the scenes with some players and Les Reed and he's probably had a bit of a shove in the back given the compensation packages offered. In reality, for the compo being offered we can pay a manager on twice what we originally offered Koeman for 2.5 years, far greater than the average tenure in the top flight.

 

Not bad business, but a shame people are unable to give him an amicable departure since he is our best ever prem manager and gave us some great seasons.

[Saint Charlie]

Haven't listened to Motson, but for balance the last few years he has been losing his marbles a bit, so probably not the best pundit to be endorsed by!

[Dan Johnson]

In Holland for work at the moment, general concencious over here is that De Boer is the better manager, talk in this mornings Dutch press that the delay maybe because Lazio are also talking with Koeman.

 

They said Clasie is rubbish, always injured, vilenha (spelling?!) is regarded as the new Edgar David's although he will probably follow Koeman to his next club now.

[Shance]

You're just a suburb of Portsmouth.

 

Baaaahahahahahaha.

[sadoldgit]

TBF he does have a point with this one. I'm sure all managers would promote youth if it was good enough but we haven't really had anything special in the youth team for a couple of seasons now.

 

In short it's a cliché, everyone says it. Koeman is no better or worse than most other managers in that regard.

 

Having just finished 6th that seems to say it all. Would we have finished so high if we had played many of the young players we have now? No. They clearly are not up to the standard of the likes of Shaw. You play them if they are good enough. You don't play them just because they are from the youth system.

[Dan Johnson]

Also, de bore has a reputation with working with young players so makes him a better fit by the sounds of it

[Badger]

In Holland for work at the moment, general concencious over here is that De Boer is the better manager, talk in this mornings Dutch press that the delay maybe because Lazio are also talking with Koeman.

 

They said Clasie is rubbish, always injured, vilenha (spelling?!) is regarded as the new Edgar David's although he will probably follow Koeman to his next club now.

 

That would be good.

[Window Cleaner]

Also, de bore has a reputation with working with young players so makes him a better fit by the sounds of it

 

Don't they all in the Netherlands, it's all that's left after clubs with money from other countries have siphoned off any player that looks promising.

[Mattio]

Sky Sports News are reporting live from SMS but we don't have the sound on here, are they talking about anything interesting?

[ENSKIED]

True story, 2 scousers walking along southsea seafront in front of me, the wife and daughter, scouser 1 to scouser 2 'there's france over there' as he points to the IOW, cue for my 9 year old daughter s******ing and me having to tell her to be quiet

 

True story, two Scousers walking along Southsea Seafront in front of my wife, my daughter and myself; Scouser one turning to Scouser two, "there's France over there", as he points to the I.O.W., cue for my 9-year-old daughter to commence s******ing, compelling me to inform her to be quiet.

 

There I've corrected it for you somewhat; just in case your 9-year-old reads it and considers you a tad illiterate or perhaps grammatically incompetent in regard to the written usage of your own language.

[JRM]

Oh FFS I made the mistake this morning of clicking on the comments section on Facebook of BBC MOTD page asking for people's thoughts on Motson's comments, tons of Everton banging on about how much of a bigger club they are , with more fans , trophies , MONEY (funny how they like mentioning that now) with plenty of Skates jumping in with one saying 'Saints much smaller they could only get crowds of 5000 in league one'

Probably hoping Everton will use that to become another Portsmyth.

 

At the risk of sounding like Keegan I would love it if we beat them next season. We've got to be due a win at Goodison

[John Boy Saint]

Just heard Neville Southall on 5 Live, Christ the bloke olden days, pretty much saying we are not going achieve much more than we have these last 2 season as we don't have the investment etc etc, bloody cheek.

In life there is a thing called Evolution, in bloody football their just seems to be history, that is believed can be bought back by at the drop of a hat by throwing stupid amounts of money at it.

Just look over the otherside of Stanley Park you lardy lummox, they chucked quarter of a billion quid at history over the last couple of years, and have absolutely bugger all to show for it.

Blimey can't believe it's taken this long for me to bite!!

[ENSKIED]

Oh FFS I made the mistake this morning of clicking on the comments section on Facebook of BBC MOTD page asking for people's thoughts on Motson's comments, tons of Everton banging on about how much of a bigger club they are , with more fans , trophies , MONEY (funny how they like mentioning that now) with plenty of Skates jumping in with one saying 'Saints much smaller they could only get crowds of 5000 in league one'

Probably hoping Everton will use that to become another Portsmyth.

 

At the risk of sounding like Keegan I would love it if we beat them next season. We've got to be due a win at Goodison

 

The children are at play and when they are just make yourself a nice cup of coffee, reach for a decent book sit back and relax leaving them to it. Oh sure they'll start squabbling and so on, but for those "chilled out" it can and often does, induce a sense of mischievous fun.

[Mallagroth]

Just heard Neville Southall on 5 Live, Christ the bloke olden days, pretty much saying we are not going achieve much more than we have these last 2 season as we don't have the investment etc etc, bloody cheek.

In life there is a thing called Evolution, in bloody football their just seems to be history, that is believed can be bought back by at the drop of a hat by throwing stupid amounts of money at it.

Just look over the otherside of Stanley Park you lardy lummox, they chucked quarter of a billion quid at history over the last couple of years, and have absolutely bugger all to show for it.

Blimey can't believe it's taken this long for me to bite!!

 

Leicester got lucky and Saints have been lucky past two seasons and 'it wasn't competitive'. Fingers in ears pretend those seasons didn't happen and there isn't a trend... lalala... Liverpool or Man Utd will win the league.

[Pancake]

True story, two Scousers walking along Southsea Seafront in front of my wife, my daughter and myself; Scouser one turning to Scouser two, "there's France over there", as he points to the I.O.W., cue for my 9-year-old daughter to commence s******ing, compelling me to inform her to be quiet.

 

There I've corrected it for you somewhat; just in case your 9-year-old reads it and considers you a tad illiterate or perhaps grammatically incompetent in regard to the written usage of your own language.

 

And yet you made 2 basic errors. Oh well.

[angelman]

I didn't listen, but can imagine that the fat man wanted the league to be as it has been for the past few years where the big 6/7 fill the top slots year in, year out. TBH from (ex)professionals, I find this a really strange attitude. Why would they want a competition that is so uncompetitive? I know that they aren't blessed with the greatest intelligence, but surely a non "competitive" league (ie where the top 6/7 don't fill those spots) is so much better for football.

[angelman]

And yet you made 2 basic errors. Oh well.

 

I think that we can see rather more than 2, as there are rather more than 2 errors just with use of punctuation. But then I am not a grammar nazi, and understanding what was written, I do not feel the need to (try and) correct people.

[Pancake]

I think that we can see rather more than 2, as there are rather more than 2 errors just with use of punctuation. But then I am not a grammar nazi, and understanding what was written, I do not feel the need to (try and) correct people.

 

Shhh, keep him guessing.

[Saint Without a Halo]

Leicester got lucky and Saints have been lucky past two seasons and 'it wasn't competitive'. Fingers in ears pretend those seasons didn't happen and there isn't a trend... lalala... Liverpool or Man Utd will win the league.

 

I think it was Gary Player (that once said, in response to being accused of winning through luck), " it is very funny but the harder I train the luckier I seem to get"

 

Saints in the top 8 three times in three years and Leicester winning the league each achieved over 38 individual competitive matches is highly unlikely mathamatically to be entirely down to luck a fact that can easily be proven through statistics

[doddisalegend]

Two words, 'Release Clause'

 

 

Do the club actually do release clauses can't remember anyone having one recently. I seem to remember Morgan thought he had one but didn't hence the hissy.

[Saint Without a Halo]

Do the club actually do release clauses can't remember anyone having one recently. I seem to remember Morgan thought he had one but didn't hence the hissy.

 

We usually buy young players wishing to get into the premier league to showcase there skills they are not usually in the driving seat in terms of negotiations hence we are more likely to get our way leading to the general absence of such clauses

[Pamplemousse]

I'm sure I've seen VVD and a £40M release clause mentioned. No idea if there is any truth to that though.

[derry]

Does anyone on here care what the Everton supporters think? I don't give them a thought any more than they gave us a thought until a clown who should know better wants to throw his money away. Taking Koeman at £7m a year is downright stupid. Anybody who intends to spend loads of money on Southampton players etc really ought to check the history of the club. Yes we sell players but in the main they are overpriced and don't give value for whatever reason. Liverpool spent better than £60m and Man Utd almost as much whilst the only team that improved was Southampton. Gareth Bale was a one off.

 

Koeman is a decent manager but Everton must think they are buying a genius. I can tell them now all they have bought is a manager that is no better or worse than most of the other managers. Sometimes he looked really stupid with team selection, tinkering and tactics. Overspending on wages and fees can also rapidly turn on it's head if the egos and agents aren't managed. I'm not going to even claim we can do as well as last season but I'll be a very interested observer of how this pans out at Everton. I just wonder how long he will last.

[derry]

I'm sure I've seen VVD and a £40M release clause mentioned. No idea if there is any truth to that though.

 

Somehow I doubt it as he already had a long contract and really only extended it a bit for more money. There would hardly be the incentive for inserting a release clause.

[Window Cleaner]

I'm sure I've seen VVD and a £40M release clause mentioned. No idea if there is any truth to that though.

 

doubt it, if you could get Vvd for 40 million then United wouldn't be running after some young african CB from Villareal with huge disciplinary issues for a few quid less.

[once_bitterne]

Somehow I doubt it as he already had a long contract and really only extended it a bit for more money. There would hardly be the incentive for inserting a release clause.

 

The rumours are that VVD and Forster both had release contracts in their new contracts which weren't present in their previous ones and that the amounts of this clauses weren't really all that earth shattering.

[John B]

Does anyone on here care what the Everton supporters think? I don't give them a thought any more than they gave us a thought until a clown who should know better wants to throw his money away. Taking Koeman at £7m a year is downright stupid. Anybody who intends to spend loads of money on Southampton players etc really ought to check the history of the club. Yes we sell players but in the main they are overpriced and don't give value for whatever reason. Liverpool spent better than £60m and Man Utd almost as much whilst the only team that improved was Southampton. Gareth Bale was a one off.

 

Koeman is a decent manager but Everton must think they are buying a genius. I can tell them now all they have bought is a manager that is no better or worse than most of the other managers. Sometimes he looked really stupid with team selection, tinkering and tactics. Overspending on wages and fees can also rapidly turn on it's head if the egos and agents aren't managed. I'm not going to even claim we can do as well as last season but I'll be a very interested observer of how this pans out at Everton. I just wonder how long he will last.

 

Very good post Derry except for the last sentence I thought the same about Poch but I was proved wrong he is an excellent manager but on reflection you are probably right RK has been around for a long time done OK but not exceptionally well not worth £7mill a year

[ScepticalStan]

Haha, Motty voiced and contributed hugely to the story of Everton video some years ago he's probably laughing his cock off at you right now.

 

Trying to compare Everton with Southampton via the last 2 league campaigns is like saying Columbia presently occupy 3rd place above 4th placed Germany in the fifa rankings so ignore the vast gulf in pedigree and history and put your money on Columbia in the next world cup!!!

 

You're a funny guy.

 

Its amazing the amount of 'know your place' rhetoric from Everton fans who honestly think they'll finish above City, United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal next season.

 

The victim complex & hypocrisy of that entire city is nothing short of hilarious.

[Colinjb]

Its amazing the amount of 'know your place' rhetoric from Everton fans who honestly think they'll finish above City, United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal next season.

 

The victim complex & hypocrisy of that entire city is nothing short of hilarious.

 

I wonder if this is how Aston Villa fans behaved ten years ago.

[derry]

Its amazing the amount of 'know your place' rhetoric from Everton fans who honestly think they'll finish above City, United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal next season.

 

The victim complex & hypocrisy of that entire city is nothing short of hilarious.

 

Or even above West Ham, Swansea or Crystal Palace.

[SW5 SAINT]

The rumours are that VVD and Forster both had release contracts in their new contracts which weren't present in their previous ones and that the amounts of this clauses weren't really all that earth shattering.

 

What's the point of a club extending an already long contract to insert a release clause, to trigger the very thing it is supposed to prevent.

[derry]

Very good post Derry except for the last sentence I thought the same about Poch but I was proved wrong he is an excellent manager but on reflection you are probably right RK has been around for a long time done OK but not exceptionally well not worth £7mill a year

 

Spurs had a decent team to start with. If Koeman goes to Everton, a bottom half club, he will have to make a lot of changes to even attempt to match the ambition. It is easy to make the changes it's much more difficult to integrate the new with what's left and even worse who may not be that happy. Evolution always before revolution. This could be too much too soon.

[SuperSAINT]

I'm sure I've seen VVD and a £40M release clause mentioned. No idea if there is any truth to that though.

 

Well as long as it's to a champions league side, we won't have to worry about Everton at least.

[buctootim]

I wonder if this is how Aston Villa fans behaved ten years ago.

 

Pretty much. That FSA warning / disclaimer " Past performance is no guide to future success" should be tattooed on the foreheads of some of these people. You can play 'where are they now' with the long list of ex top clubs who now aren't - Newcastle, Aston Villa, Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds, Ipswich, Nottingham Forest, Derby to name a few.

[Navysaint]

67 pages and he still hasn't gone. The media are proper kicking this one around the alleyways hoping to get a "we mentioned it first". I see the Daily Echo have already added another £100M to the transfer kitty.

 

But hey ho life goes on and the 16 / 17 fixtures are out next week. I wonder if Ronald would have left by then????

[SuperSAINT]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/06/07/southampton-hold-out-for-5m-in-compensation-for-ronald-koeman-ag/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[Special K]

Spurs had a decent team to start with. If Koeman goes to Everton, a bottom half club, he will have to make a lot of changes to even attempt to match the ambition. It is easy to make the changes it's much more difficult to integrate the new with what's left and even worse who may not be that happy. Evolution always before revolution. This could be too much too soon.

 

If he get's the resources that are being quoted, he will have a bit to play with, but after a couple of seasons decline for Everton through a lack of investment (hence wanting new investors), they appear to have some catching up to do. I completely agree with you derry, he will have to clear out what he doesn't like, stop the better players from going and try and buy decent replacements in a European championship summer where a lot of decent players are concerned with other matters and securing a transfer will be more difficult than usual. Add to the mix an apparent DoF at Goodison who is yet to be appointed, then Koeman may get very little say in who they bring in. Plus the grandstanding they've been on recently with the amount to spend and suddenly anyone they were interested in has an starting price 50% more than before.

 

It wouldn't surprise me if a) Koeman gets sidelined in player choices b) he get's very little time to integrate players who may not be his first choice c) fights a losing battle trying to keep the very few decent players they have who will be tempted by bigger clubs and European football. Add to that a Bertie Big ******** level of Scouse expectation because some mouthy **** has come in saying he's Loadsamoney and he could be getting his P45 before the New Year if they are anywhere below 10th at Christmas.

[ref15]

Ok I'll bite...

 

thanks for biting lad.

 

No evidence to suggest you will be signing world beaters either. No European football to offer, and Lukaku wants out, potentially Stones too. - nobody is saying we are going to go out and sign 'world beaters'. But like it or not all signs at the moment with this new owner are looking positive. Hes been here 100 days and hes sacked the fraud Martinez, our ground move is looking very positive for the first time in years, and hes landed his #1 Target…your manager (without European football).

As for transfers we will be certainly be shopping in a different market this summer to what we have been used to over the years.

As ive mentioned, we managed to take your manager…without European football!

 

You are utterly deluded if you don't realise you are the second team in your city. - I was not stating that wasn't the case. but for Saints fans to use that against us is just a pathetic and desperate way to try and play us down. your derby is Portsmouth ffs…laughable.

 

Scott Dann is ****e, but so are your first choice centre halves so might be a decent move – our CB’s aren’t as bad as you like to tell yourselves. Our defence has been leaking goals due to Martinez’ management. Its well documented defence coaching under him is minimal and he doesn’t practice set pieces. Stones is 22 and an England International valued around 40M. Mori has only been over here 6 months and is being linked with Barca and a couple of Italian Clubs. Hes also a regular for Argentina and rated highly by messi & co. Jagielka is a solid PL defender and another England international, although hes probably in his final year with us.

 

two of those could be gone soon. - the sooner Lukaku goes the better. His goals helped us a lot last season but hes no world beater. He scored a handful in a team that knows nothing more than attack. He goes missing a lot of games (when it mattered at Wembley he was absolutely atrocious) He would do well at PSG. Man United/Chelsea/Real/Bayern for eg would not put up with his lack of a first touch, inability to score 1 on 1’s/pens and the fact he goes missing too often. He would be benched. if we get the reported 65 Million for him it would be absolute robbery. that cash will be re-invested in the squad. If stones is sold, it will also be for a lot of cash which will again be invested in the squad.

 

We're on the march with Ronnie's Armyyyyyy

[Patrick Bateman]

Is he still here?

 

Has the next manager gone to Villa yet?

[iansums]

thanks for biting lad.

 

No evidence to suggest you will be signing world beaters either. No European football to offer, and Lukaku wants out, potentially Stones too. - nobody is saying we are going to go out and sign 'world beaters'. But like it or not all signs at the moment with this new owner are looking positive. Hes been here 100 days and hes sacked the fraud Martinez, our ground move is looking very positive for the first time in years, and hes landed his #1 Target…your manager (without European football).

As for transfers we will be certainly be shopping in a different market this summer to what we have been used to over the years.

As ive mentioned, we managed to take your manager…without European football!

 

You are utterly deluded if you don't realise you are the second team in your city. - I was not stating that wasn't the case. but for Saints fans to use that against us is just a pathetic and desperate way to try and play us down. your derby is Portsmouth ffs…laughable.

 

Scott Dann is ****e, but so are your first choice centre halves so might be a decent move – our CB’s aren’t as bad as you like to tell yourselves. Our defence has been leaking goals due to Martinez’ management. Its well documented defence coaching under him is minimal and he doesn’t practice set pieces. Stones is 22 and an England International valued around 40M. Mori has only been over here 6 months and is being linked with Barca and a couple of Italian Clubs. Hes also a regular for Argentina and rated highly by messi & co. Jagielka is a solid PL defender and another England international, although hes probably in his final year with us.

 

two of those could be gone soon. - the sooner Lukaku goes the better. His goals helped us a lot last season but hes no world beater. He scored a handful in a team that knows nothing more than attack. He goes missing a lot of games (when it mattered at Wembley he was absolutely atrocious) He would do well at PSG. Man United/Chelsea/Real/Bayern for eg would not put up with his lack of a first touch, inability to score 1 on 1’s/pens and the fact he goes missing too often. He would be benched. if we get the reported 65 Million for him it would be absolute robbery. that cash will be re-invested in the squad. If stones is sold, it will also be for a lot of cash which will again be invested in the squad.

 

We're on the march with Ronnie's Armyyyyyy

 

'Fonte and VVD are sh**e'

[mrfahaji]

I've heard that the hold up may be due to agreements regarding Koeman raiding us for our players. That would really be despicable, if unsurprising, so hope we stand firm on that.

 

Maybe say they can have Clasie for £15m and that's it.

[iansums]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/06/07/southampton-hold-out-for-5m-in-compensation-for-ronald-koeman-ag/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

"Talks were then held about his future and Southampton believed that an agreement on a new five-year plan for the club had been reached as well as the detail of their transfer policy all the way down to specific departures and prospective new signings this summer."

 

This part is key, perhaps this is what the ongoing negotiations are about. RK will know our recruitment plans for this Summer.

[derry]

thanks for biting lad.

 

No evidence to suggest you will be signing world beaters either. No European football to offer, and Lukaku wants out, potentially Stones too. - nobody is saying we are going to go out and sign 'world beaters'. But like it or not all signs at the moment with this new owner are looking positive. Hes been here 100 days and hes sacked the fraud Martinez, our ground move is looking very positive for the first time in years, and hes landed his #1 Target…your manager (without European football).

As for transfers we will be certainly be shopping in a different market this summer to what we have been used to over the years.

As ive mentioned, we managed to take your manager…without European football!

 

You are utterly deluded if you don't realise you are the second team in your city. - I was not stating that wasn't the case. but for Saints fans to use that against us is just a pathetic and desperate way to try and play us down. your derby is Portsmouth ffs…laughable.

 

Scott Dann is ****e, but so are your first choice centre halves so might be a decent move – our CB’s aren’t as bad as you like to tell yourselves. Our defence has been leaking goals due to Martinez’ management. Its well documented defence coaching under him is minimal and he doesn’t practice set pieces. Stones is 22 and an England International valued around 40M. Mori has only been over here 6 months and is being linked with Barca and a couple of Italian Clubs. Hes also a regular for Argentina and rated highly by messi & co. Jagielka is a solid PL defender and another England international, although hes probably in his final year with us.

 

two of those could be gone soon. - the sooner Lukaku goes the better. His goals helped us a lot last season but hes no world beater. He scored a handful in a team that knows nothing more than attack. He goes missing a lot of games (when it mattered at Wembley he was absolutely atrocious) He would do well at PSG. Man United/Chelsea/Real/Bayern for eg would not put up with his lack of a first touch, inability to score 1 on 1’s/pens and the fact he goes missing too often. He would be benched. if we get the reported 65 Million for him it would be absolute robbery. that cash will be re-invested in the squad. If stones is sold, it will also be for a lot of cash which will again be invested in the squad.

 

We're on the march with Ronnie's Armyyyyyy

 

Best of luck with that. He avoided the sack in mid winter, just. He was put under severe scrutiny by the board and didn't like it. Pulled it around and managed a similar finish to last two seasons. He wouldn't have been allowed to serve out his last year unless he signed a new contract. From where I stand we may have dodged a bullet and instead of having to pay him off will receive £5m from Everton. What's not to like.