c1982

We'd have been linked with both regardless. McCarthy has been on our radar for a long, long time.

Goals no but hold up play, power and pretty decent when running with the ball. He may end up becoming a half decent player. *disclaimer... I'm not saying I want him, just he's not as bad as many make out.

Lukaku on loan (or in a swap deal involving Fellaini).

To be fair Di Santo tore us apart at Goodison a couple of years ago. Did I hear right that he's actually been capped by Argentina now?! I don't actually think he's awful, got some really good attributes in fact.

Graeme not Gary!

He'll bring Gary Jones (is that right?), followed him from Swans to Wigan - that's unless Wigan promote him of course.

Exactly, things change quickly in football.

He wanted the move to real but Athletico wouldn't accomodate it. Rumours are that he'll move to real next summer but 12months is a long, long time in football!!!

Martinez will be announced tomorrow, everything else is just pure speculation.

Hughes, Ince and Bruce did well but had their heads turned too easily and as a result haven't been as successful as maybe they should have been.

So presumably the attacking, technical, goalkeeping, etc. youth coaches will stay until told otherwise. What I'm saying is Irvine doesn't do it on his own so why would Neville and presumably it's a whole club approach so the tactics/mentality/strategy comes from the top eg. Moyes or whoever replaces him.

Irvine's not our only youth coach.

Being a defensive player does not automatically mean he'll be a defensive coach.

Martinez to Citeh stories (as no.2 to Pellegrinni) are out there to speed up proceedings I feel. So EFC and Martinez are making an announcement on Monday... what's wrong with today?!

I'd love Neville as Irvine's replacement should he leave. Already got some experience with the national youth set-ups and has just completed his a-licence... perfect in my opinion.

I don't think that him getting relegated with Wigan changes anything. On the same basis you could say his stock has improved as he won a trophy. Should villa or Liverpoo had needed a manager this year I'd still have imagined he'd have been on their radar. If Villa had gone down this year I'd have still thought Lambert was an excellent manager.

Martinez was 1st choice for Villa and Liverpoo this time last year. He's obviously well thought of in the footballing world.

Stoke won't be spending as much as they have done, their wage bill has been rising year on year so I'd expect they'll be run more like us. We've spent in the past and kept most by spending more on wages.

Trust me if Stoke were able to get a manager in like Martinez or Pereira then they would have taken more time. They are not as an attractive proposition as we are. Hughes declared his interest in the EFC job instantly, I doubt we took any notice of that declaration. On the subject of Hughes, I wouldn't have ever considered him at us but I think he'll be a good appointment for Stoke as they're more comparable to Blackburn or Fulham rather than QPR or Man City - he just needs to show a bit of loyalty now as he has jumped ship from anywhere he has done a good job at.

'They appoint Mark Hughes' is the most important part of that post. We're clearly assessing better options. We could have appointed Hughes instantly but thank god we didn't. Have Chelsea appointed Mourinho yet? Is Pellegrinni Citeh's new manager yet? No. We'll have a manager in the next few days after a thorough search and it will be a better candidate than Mark Hughes.

@arturpetrosyan: Today should be vital for Bilic's future. He's meeting the president. Don't be surprised if he flies to Liverpool straight after. #EFC @arturpetrosyan: @dhg23 Everton being interested in him is a fact. The rest depends on many things...

I think Martinez is an almost certainty but could there be something behind Felli's comments? Doesn't he share the same agent as Pereira along with Mirrallas (and Lukaku). Either Pereira or Martinez would please me regardless.

Kenwright said he wants to announce new manager over the weekend.

Moutinho and Rodriguez to Monaco was mentioned too and general conference I think.

He's only going to cost Monaco 1m... Moyes out!!! @FourthOfficial_: Porto wanted 70million euros for Rodriguez and Moutinho, so to avoid paying Sporting 25% sell on fee, sold Rodriguez for 69m and Moutinho 1m