It's a LC game.

He was never going to feature.

 

Seeing as Everton are desperately short on defensive cover right now what other options do they have available to them for him to not be included in the 18 at the very least? 

No, I think he probably would've played, and still could. We've got about 17 defenders injured at the moment, and it was a homecoming to his boyhood club. Not sure if he'll play or not, now this has unfolded, but I still wouldn't rule it out just because of injury problems.

 

I honestly don't know if we'll comment or not. I'd imagine our boardroom is like an episode of The Thick of It at the moment, with phonecalls and rumours and contingencies and rushed meetings happening all over the place.

 

The club might be speaking to the player and saying 'we'll let you go next summer' like Liverpool did with Suarez, or they might be phoning around for replacement options, or they might be negotiating with Chelsea or other clubs, or they might even just ignore it and carry on as normal.

 

Your guess is as good as mine.

At Chelsea when a player wants out like Mata, De Bruyne and Lukaku we usually give them that option.

Let's see if Everton act with the same class although judging by the bitter one Martinez I doubt it.

With respect, it's not about class. The club comes before any player, and if our management team decide that it's too damaging to lose a player 6 days before the window, given that we already need a CB even before Stones was sold, and given that clubs will be adding money onto any prices they quoted for players, then so be it.

 

Chelsea can afford to let Mata, De Bruyne and Lukaku go because of the exceptional strength of the squad and because it's your decision, it's not a decision that's been forced upon you by external circumstances. Even then Jose had to have a little dig at De Bruyne and Lukaku when they left, so class doesn't come into it.

I would have thought Everton would have already commented tbh. If he isn't in the team or squad tonight I think it's as good as a done deal.

With respect, it's not about class. The club comes before any player, and if our management team decide that it's too damaging to lose a player 6 days before the window, given that we already need a CB even before Stones was sold, and given that clubs will be adding money onto any prices they quoted for players, then so be it.

Chelsea can afford to let Mata, De Bruyne and Lukaku go because of the exceptional strength of the squad and because it's your decision, it's not a decision that's been forced upon you by external circumstances. Even then Jose had to have a little dig at De Bruyne and Lukaku when they left, so class doesn't come into it.

Bottom line is we don't stand in players way when they have made it clear they don't want to play here.

Let's see what your club do....

I seen stories that your board may have even asked Stones to hand in a TR to shift the blame. As apparently they did it with another player?

Conspiracy theories. If some evidence comes to light that'll be different, but infinitely more likely that the player was interested in going, the club didn't want to sell. The player got restless as various bids got rejected, and ultimately decided to hand in a TR with a week to go.

 

Look, it happens. We're gutted but it happens. Once you get past the initial disappointment, you have to deal with the situation as best you can, and try to turn it into a positive. People suggesting the board forced the player to hand in a TR as just venting really because they're frustrated about the realities of modern football, and they'd sooner think that Kenwright killed JFK than confront those realities.

http://www.thesecretfootballer.com/articles/tsf-diary/27894/john-stones-deal-done-and-dusted-chelsea-can-offer-so-much-more-than-everton/

Haha. Dave Kitson makes me laugh. As if he knows everything about every deal that goes down. Stick to telling people about things that really happened to you and your colleagues, Dave, and stop speculating about things you know nothing about, because you've run out of fresh information.

 

Is he still getting paid for that sh*te?

The club might be speaking to the player and saying 'we'll let you go next summer' like Liverpool did with Suarez, or they might be phoning around for replacement options, or they might be negotiating with Chelsea or other clubs, or they might even just ignore it and carry on as normal.

 

Your guess is as good as mine.

 

What chance % do you put on Stones being a Chelsea player by the window close ?

Probably a 60% chance, but we've already established that I know nothing and don't have particularly good intuition either.

It could be a hard one to get over the line with the amount of time left.

Martinez teams cant defend, if they lose Stones who knows if they'll be in a relegation fight again this year. Martinez could be toast by Christmas!

Of course we won't be in a relegation battle. We defended really well against City, a goalkeeping error undid our gameplan.

 

Come on you're probably taking our best young player. No need to stick the boot in. There but for the grace of God go you.

Probably a 60% chance, but we've already established that I know nothing and don't have particularly good intuition either.

 

I only ask because I had a tenner on us to sign him 2 weeks ago at 9/2, so now Everton are 7/2 I think I'll cover my arse and whack a tenner on Everton holding onto him. Then the only way I lose is if he goes elsewhere in the next 6 days.

It could be a hard one to get over the line with the amount of time left.

Martinez teams cant defend, if they lose Stones who knows if they'll be in a relegation fight again this year. Martinez could be toast by Christmas!

Yeah.

He was woeful last season, I don't rate him at all.

Of course we won't be in a relegation battle. We defended really well against City, a goalkeeping error undid our gameplan.

Come on you're probably taking our best young player. No need to stick the boot in. There but for the grace of God go you.

I thought Everton looked very vulnerable in patches last year, but recovered. Not sticking the boot in (or at least meaning to, honestly!)

Bottom line is we don't stand in players way when they have made it clear they don't want to play here.

Let's see what your club do....

Scenarios are a it different to be fair. Those were all either substitute players or not playing at all. I mean if Real cane for Hazard and 6 days before the window shut he said he wanted to move Im pretty sure we would block it

Who thinks Stones would come right into our best XI if he signs?

 

I do.

Well, if we spend 35M on him he kinda has to.

Well, if we spend 35M on him he kinda has to.

 

It's not £35m to be an instant impact though, the guy is 21. This is a signing for the future. That being said I do think he'll be playing a lot, I think all four CBs will be rotated pretty evenly.

It's not £35m to be an instant impact though, the guy is 21. This is a signing for the future. That being said I do think he'll be playing a lot, I think all four CBs will be rotated pretty evenly.

 

Exactly. And bear in mind that Zouma might be used as a DM if we're in full bus-parking mode later on this season.

Telegraph reporting we are bidding 33 million now.

According to Roberto Martinez and Tony Pullis, whoever it was who decided the positioning of this season’s transfer window has a lot to answer for, stuck as it is on the extreme edge of the edifice known as the Premiership and extending out over the first month of games played therein. They have a point, as the lack of transfer activity [after an usually poor start] allowed us to recoup a few of our own with the purchase of Pedro and thereafter continue our pursuit of John Stones, whilst gifting Daniel Levy the whole of August to pursue his favourite pastime -window shopping. But then again, Martinez and Pullis know all about the delicate matter of positioning, the latter having known for some time that Berahino wanted out and the former, as we now know, being equally well aware of John Stones wish to come to us.

 

Clubs know all about ‘positioning’ too, Chelsea having had the temerity to actually bid early for an Everton player, and be rebuffed for the sheer arrogance inherent in such an approach, yet learning from the experience to snatch Pedro from under Ed Woodward’s nose at the last minute. Not forgetting Everton‘s board, squirming uncomfortably, heads bowed, ears covered and shouting LA LA LA, indeed screaming out any old incoherence in order to avoid hearing news of the Barnsley boy’s escape bid, never mind our own monetary one. Still, that said and with hindsight, after these contortions at least Bill Kenwright and his kinsman could justifiably face up to fans and insist no Stones would be left unturned [away] by them, because they were simply unaware of his desire to leave. Little wonder the Toffee’s supporters feel betrayed by one and all, though their anger at the ’one’ is surely misplaced if they’re going to stick to the belief that the lad should have come clean earlier, denying, as this would, all the evidence to suggest he’d made the club aware of his wishes well before Tuesday afternoon.

 

And talking of the fans, we can ’position ourselves’ with the best of them as well, especially if the Everton contingent [blue Dylan a notable exception] at the Shed End are anything to go by. At the beginning, their stance was steadfast, built on the firmest of foundations, that the player did not want to move and in any event the money on offer [whatever the sum] would never become a factor. Okay, there may have been a certain amount of shuffling around the cash point, but the principle was crystal clear - he’s a good lad, he doesn’t want to go, so he should be encouraged to stay. It’s different now, though, no longer an obvious player-right-of-choice issue, and certainly not if that choice runs contrary to previous perception. Suddenly Stones self interest is secondary and he has to fall dutifully in line behind the interests of the club, the earlier positioning having failed to repel the boarder. But to be fair, we’re not averse to shifting around either - hopping from one foot in the grave concern over paying a king’s ransom for a possible pretender, then swiftly on to the other, stamping our authority by means of a record-breaking fee, whatever it may be. 

 

Finally, we have the Media’s position, a delicate balancing act enabling the likes of Jim White and Co-presenters to cattle prod players way on up there, precariously onto a high wire of speculation for days on end (365 and counting) before eventually having them big-screen presented teetering on the brink of a will-he-wont-he fall for [hopefully] at least one high profile player, straight into the arms of an equally high profile club. Everton fans will feel aggrieved if it’s John Stones - why didn’t he shout ’I DO want to go to Chelsea’ as soon he got on that wire? - whereas we’ll be willing him to fall gently and with the minimum damage done to Roman’s wallet on impact. 

 

Yet, truth be told and all this positioning to one side, the major players in this transfer spectacle have probably been acutely aware of the eventual outcome from the outset -it’s just the rest of us who haven’t got a clue. Maybe the John Stones fee has always been set [excuse inverted pun] at around £35m. Maybe we always have to be painted as the bad guys in any big transfer picture. Maybe Everton will always have their best Barnsley boys bothered. Then again maybe, just maybe, he’s destined to rot in the Toffee Reserves until he sees the error of his ways… or at the very least until such time as a certain Paul Pogba clambers onto a high wire somewhere in Italy.     

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Edited August 26, 201510 yr by Dorset

Exactly. And bear in mind that Zouma might be used as a DM if we're in full bus-parking mode later on this season.

That made me laugh, hopefully that mode is available in FIFA.