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Maybe - I think Connolly's versatility may give him the edge though.

Agree regarding Mori - he needs upgrading if we're going to progress. I would say Coleman and Baines need competition so think we need at least a left back in the summer as Connolly could step up as competition to Seamus.

Same here - colourblind with most colours but 20/20 vision... wouldn't have it any other way. I've always found colour overrated anyway!

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/how-ronald-koeman-everton-running-12678613

I find it hard to believe how anyone could say this is a step back. Is it because of his age? It sure as hell isn't because of his ability as he's a massive upgrade on any potential partner we currently have for Lukaku and is better than Lukaku in many ways. Too many get hung-up on age on here... if we're talking about signing another Kone then fair enough but we're talking about one of the top striker in world football over the last decade. Man U have done it and benefitted from it for years - Sheringham, Larrson (slightly different), van Persie and Ibrahimovic spring to mind. Signing Rooney is a complete no-brainer in my opinion.

They haven't lost in the league since October - I'd prefer the insurance policy of top 6 (as it stands/7 if and when one of the favourites win the FA Cup) in Europe.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/everton-investor-farhad-moshiri-wants-12660463

I think what we've seen the last few games is Koeman trying to fit Gana, Schneiderlin, Davies and Barkley into the same team. Shape wise I don't feel it's necessarily worked but these players are that good and energetic that we've still got the results. Personally I'd love to see this vs Spurs. Joel. Holgate. Williams. Mori. Coleman. Baines. Schneiderlin. Gana. Barkley. Davies. Lukaku. I see it as more of a 3-4-2-1 with Baines and Coleman being our width rather than Barkley or Lookman/Mirallas starting out there. I've not got a clue if it would work but for me it could be the formula against the teams above us certainly away from home. We could dominate possession and set the tempo without being overrun at the back which can happen with the flat back 4 when Coleman/Baines attack.

Ranieri showed far too much loyalty to average players who had one incredible season. Huth, Morgan and Simpson should have been upgraded. Vardy isn't and never was a £30m player - they should have snapped Arsenal's hands off. Drinkwater/Mahrez - their stock will never be higher than what it was last summer. It's easy to say with hindsight but some of this must have been obvious to the very well paid professionals who run the club.

Regardless of what they actually spent, they invested heavily in the team that had just won the league so the least they could expect was mid table. Many non-Leicester fans are saying they should show the faith in Ranieri even if it was to take them down. Sure they'd have taken anything for what they experienced last season but are they just going to watch it happen or try doing something about it?

Thanks ?? Yep agree - shouldn't be starting in a wide position, impact sub no problem. Start as a striking partner for Rom, no problem either.

They've gone and spent £80m on the Champions so this is completely different to Pearson's Leicester. No Leicester fan expected a repeat but after all that investment they could expect mid-table at least. As many of the Leicester fans are saying, there was small margins in defeat before Pearson went on that run that kept them up. Now we're talking about a team that hasn't scored a single league goal in 2017! They can't just bin all the players, who must be held massively accountable, so the only thing they can do is sack Ranieri as carry like this and they were/are going down.

Just to recap... is this a first team trial you're in at Goodison Matt?

My thoughts exactly. Don't think Pickford would be enough of an upgrade on Joel to warrant us signing him. This isn't just based on today either.

Listening to 693 on my way home from GP... all Leicester fans agreeing on the phone in that Claudio had to go. It seems non-Leicester fans see it as a disgraceful decision but on this evidence the Leicester fans are saying it's the correct decision. They're the ones who haven't seen their club score a single goal in the league this year. They're the ones who see their Champions sat in the bottom 3 of the league. It's easy for non-Leicester fans to say Claudio should stay for what he did but we're not the ones who pay to watch them week in, week out and have the emotional attachment to the club rather than the manager.

Schneiderlin for a faultless performance.

This seems a very accurate article based on what I've heard (2nd hand) from a current Leicester member of staff. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/02/24/revealed-inside-story-claudio-ranieris-leicester-city-sacking/ This sentence especially... 'Ranieri waved them away and insisted there should be only one voice at the club.'

My favourite ??

We need a senior striker with Lookman, Calvert Lewin and hopefully others coming through. Lukaku needs a partner when we're playing 2 up top - Mirallas is good but nowhere near as good as Rooney plus Rooney could play as a lone striker to take some of the load off Lukaku. I'd have him in a heartbeat if the deal's right for us. Commercially it will make sense anyway - maybe this is where the compromise on wages could come. With a few senior figures gone or going it also makes sense. It's been a long standing issue - our lack of leaders. Rooney's desire and experience of winning could help massively as we look to make that next step up. We will spend a lot next summer - this may bring in big characters and probably egos... Rooney has done it all and with the support of Coleman, Baines, Williams, Barry you'd hope there's enough players who demand the respect there.

He may feel, as many Leicester fans do, that it was his set-up that won them the league last year and actually he deserves another crack now the dust has settled and his lad has moved on. I'd expect he'd be the first choice for many Leicester fans. He'd probably want Walsh back as him, Walsh and Shakespeare worked very closely.

I think versatility will be the key with 'wing' targets. We don't seem to be using out and out wingers regularly hence Geri being let go and Lennon getting very little game time. Mirallas is a little more versatile and has got more game time as a result. Ox can play further up or further back centrally as well as on each wing so for me would fit the bill of the kind we're looking for.

Tottenham's form at Wembley has been really poor in Europe - it doesn't bode well at all for them with Wembley being their home next season... it could work out well for us though so long may it continue!!! ??

I don't like the bloke but Pearson would probably be the best manager for them in the short term on the basis that he knows many of the players and most of the staff and has kept the them up from a worse position before. Personally I think Rowett would flourish under the right circumstances - I think it's past that though. If the replacement doesn't hit the ground running then the Champions are going down.

I really like him. Don't think he's given enough game time at Arsenal and would flourish somewhere like at us. Seems a really good character too - always comes across really well in interviews etc.

There was criticism at Barcelona that Deulofeu was allowed to leave in the first place, although Martinez revealed the extent to which the Nou Camp club have protected themselves should the youngsters form be maintained. The buy-back clause is 9m (Euros) for the first year and 12m in the second year, said the Everton manager, who had Deulofeu on loan for the season in 2013-14. There is nothing we can do if they activate it. There are certain things in the deal. They cant take him back in the winter so they cant take him back in January. It can only be at the end of the season. If they take him back they cant sell him for a season, so he has to stay in the first team squad for a season. At the end of that if they decide to sell him, we have got first rights of getting him back or we have got a big percentage of that (fee).