Everton Banter Mobile

01 Jun 2026 16:23:46
Genuine question, not just a complaint as usual - does anyone actually know what the deal is with our scouts (specifically the ones who scout strikers) ?

Have we had the same ones for years, or are we as bad at finding good scouts as they are at finding strikers, and keep rotating the team to no effect?

If I, or my team, recommended my company spend £5m on Sandro, we'd have been shown the door - not allowed to continue recommending players like Maupay, Rondon, Kean, Tosun, Niasse, Barry etc.

I can't think of any other context such incompetence would be tolerated, unless it is just a case that we keep firing and hiring staff and they're all useless?

01 Jun 2026 17:23:15
My guess (a guess) is/was the same ones we have had for ages, of course I don't know. I base it on comments such as scout recommended. I don't think they are lazy, just perhaps have different criteria than some of us. Then, of course, there are advisors and the inevitable fingers in pie agents.

01 Jun 2026 17:24:42
I'm not sticking up for our scouts, no one could, but I sometimes think I only hear about the successful players at other clubs because I don't follow them as closely. Surely every player Brighton and Bournemouth buy isn't a success? Either way, I'd certainly agree that they should be held accountable. What other role do they have than to highlight players to buy?

01 Jun 2026 17:30:04
I think Toson and Sandro actually looked decent before we signed them, and Keane looked good and has been decent since.
I genuinely think the style of play doesn't help - pretty easy to put a centre half on a lone striker to head all the long balls away, and, as we are desperate for success, a lot of pressure on strikers from the off.



It's concerning we have next to nothing coming through the academy in any position.

01 Jun 2026 14:49:32
Just thought I would pop in while passing. Has DM gone yet?

01 Jun 2026 16:16:46
No, and I really doubt he will, just got to accept that he's here for another season.

Hence why I haven't done a victory speech today.

01 Jun 2026 18:33:06
The one major thing Moyes had in his favour, was his ability to set up a defence, but even this went to pot in last seven games.

01 Jun 2026 13:21:26
Nick Cox (Technical Director)
James Smith (Director of Scouting and Recruitment)
Chris Howarth (Head of Football Strategy and Analytics)
Nick Hammond (Head of Player Trading)

This is the Team that operate instead of a DoF.

Put your questions to them.

customerservices@evertondirect.evertonfc.com.

01 Jun 2026 15:11:29
Time to come back from your extended sabbatical and do your job which is returning this great team to where it belongs, winning trophies.

01 Jun 2026 15:20:05
Nick Hammond has his work cut out. 😂😂

31 May 2026 18:19:47
Honestly no offence, but whoever thinks that Beto should be kept and Barry sold, forgive me, but they clearly have no clue about football. Barry has much better potential. Beto is poor, but let's give the young man Barry a chance. 8 goals in gis debut campaign with the way Moyes sets up is a good return.

{Ed025's Note - then i must know nothing about football, yes its not easy for any centre forward the way we set up with this dinosaur in charge but out out of Barry and Beto i would keep Beto, ideally i would get rid of both because they are both very poor but at least Beto puts himself about and works hard, Barry is very lazy and has an attitude problem for me as well as being absolutely crap, but that is my personal view and others are entitled to theirs..

01 Jun 2026 08:31:21
I'm with Ed on this one. Both have their limitations, and neither should be starting for us. Off the bench though, Beto gets stuck in and can nick a goal.

{Ed025's Note - it seems you know nothing about football either JB.. :)

01 Jun 2026 08:52:22
Well, I have supported Everton for 35 years so that could be true.

01 Jun 2026 11:49:05
I think I agree to an extent with the OP, but wouldn't suggest someone has no clue if they prefer one over the other, it's not that much of an obvious answer, and either pick could be right for diff reasons.

Barry, I do think, will grow and get better, but his attitude after the Arsenal fiasco has stank. I do buy the idea he's a young (relatively) lad who's come from a diff country, but we can't have another year of that attitude.

He is a miles better finisher than Beto for me, he's also better in the air and I think his link up is better.

So I'd stick with him personally and see if he grows, for another season at least.

I like Beto's attitude and think he's a very solid bench option, but he can't trap the ball and is unlikely to improve that area of his game. I also find his aerial ability (more so outside the box) frustrating considering his size.

I think the return from both in this god awful negative tactical system is actually good. We could have Mbappe and he'd struggle under Moyes.

01 Jun 2026 12:06:58
It's opinions we keep saying, and mine says he's awful. We must move him out.

01 Jun 2026 11:59:30
Beto has been polished within an inch of his life and his attitude has been fantastic but he is not gonna.get any better. He is a diabolical 1 on 1 finisher. Not bad in the mixer and handy defensively on opposition corners. He probably deserves a 12 month extension but if he agrees, it doesn't say much about his own ambitions. I think he will go back to Italy and I expect he will find it considerably easier after the schooling he's had here. You can't help but begrudgingly respect his spirit and he's had a fantastic attitude. As a 3rd choice/squad player i'd be ok if he did stay. But the club must relegate him to 3rd choice with 2 new strikers coming in this summer. He won't be happy with that.

Bazza? Has a face only a momma can love blah blah blah, yeah he's easy to dislike but most young strikers are like that when the chips are down. He definitely knows where the goal is but the lone striker role is not his skill set. I actually hate our clubs inability to get the nos 9 role right. In the 6 yard box he seems ok but linking up is clearly a big disappointment and its obvious our midfielders don't want to pass to him. However we clearly wanted another striker last summer and Baz was bought to develop. Unfortunately the desperate fan base and the blank drawn buying our wanted striker targets left the kid exposed. We are a tough lot when it goes wrong. Very slow to offer redemption. It'd be a return to financial suicide to flog him off, we've just had 5 years of all that stupidity. He probably needs a loan. Would he want to leave? i'm still confused what all that weird stuff with his mates was but doubt its of any significance and a loan would be best for all.

When big well run successful clubs buy young strikers, usually they have a decent nos9 and a good back up. The new kid has a run in the 21s and cup games as a sub and little pressure is applied. They are bought on late in league games when the win has already been assured to experience the 1st team and build confidence. We don't have that so he's thrown in to duel it out for the spot immediately. Its great for his development (see Beto) but we aren't a patient lot as is evidently shown on here (the wider fanbase seems a little more fair minded)

Im days from my half century so I don't remember Latchford but in my lifetime it makes for shocking reading when listing our good goal scoring strikers. Lineker, Cottee, Yakuba and Lukaku all had a season with over 20 goals. Cult hero didn't actually score many and lots of strikers were barely able to get double figures. Rikky? I loved him but to me he's always a LW. DCL had that 1 season but in 45 ish seasons, its actually disgusting. Especially when you think of the strikers at United Arsenal LFC over the same period. Rooney wasn't prolific for us but even if you add his name to the list, its still pitiful. 7 strikers of any note in half a century?? Diabolical.

This makes the problem a historic one and club problem a tactical issue and not so much the player. Let's not repeat the mistakes of the past and bin out a kid who has 4 or 5 years of development ahead. Let's allow the club the benefit of doubt to change a deepset culture problem. Moist K and Lookman as example of expensive kids who we slaughter for not ripping up the world immediately who then went away for 3 to 5 years and developed into the players our scouts knew they could be.

The club should not have allowed Baz to be thrown into the fire. The desperate fans want quick fixes. Our board failed DM and our fans with a pi99 poor summer in the striker position. We go into yet another summer and all fans have exactly the same wish as last. Rb Lb and Striker priority. Leave him alone he's not the problem. And yes 8 goals is actually a fantastic return. Clearly a player Is in there.

01 Jun 2026 12:26:11
Great post FBS. Barry's going to find it hard if he only comes on when we're winning. I'm a similar age to you and I'd add Ferguson to the list. A loan for Barry would be a sensible shout.

01 Jun 2026 12:49:17
Yep good post, mate.

01 Jun 2026 15:27:25
Well, I am a good deal older and remember the likes of Hickson and Young. Big difference was that they could head the ball well, and their first time control was good. The other big difference in those days was the center-forward had a player like John Willie Parker, who was up with the striker and scored a lot of goals.

Beto and Barry are almost always on their own with no support and nobody to feed off them. A big difference.

01 Jun 2026 15:38:36
I had the pleasure of watching Bob Latchford in his prime and he was magnificent, a natural goalscorer. However, Bob had Dave Thomas, a winger who took a man on and knew how to cross a ball. If Bob had been playing to Moyes' hoof ball tactic, he probably would have struggled. Can't see him chasing shadows all game as a lone striker.

01 Jun 2026 15:53:50
Neither Barry or Beto are good enough to be Premiership strikers. Barry is over emotional, makes a mistake, and overthinks it. Any half decent striker makes a mistake then makes sure he puts the next one away.
What we need is Brentford's scouts. They always seem to find a decent striker or two!

01 Jun 2026 18:23:53
I did add Big Dunc (cult hero) , but his goal tally was crap. He scored important goals, though, and all his aura etc made him a legend. I loved him, but like Waz, his goal per game was less than ordinary. So, really it's 5 strikers in 45 ish seasons is crap. This club is crap at finding goals.

31 May 2026 19:24:41
So with dithering Dave and his motley crew of mentality midgets staying for at least another season, which no doubt make some people on here very happy (despite what they say about not being pro or anti Moyes) for some weird reason.

Here’s what I want next season:
George to be bought.
Dibbling to be brought into the first team in the middle behind the striker.
Us to target the league cup, full strength every round.
Us to not have any relegation worries.


A new left back, right back and centre back brought in to start.

Real easy stuff for someone like Moyes surely, he’s experienced. He’s stable. Some on here said we had a great season and just struggled a bit at the end. So those things above should be a walk in the park. I essentially just want some team changes and to go for a trophy. I’ll even take 13th again, but we have to put everything into the cups.

31 May 2026 21:42:02
We all want the same thing, Swan. The daily digs at other posters who don't agree with every word you say are not unnecessary.

I agree, a right back should be top of the list, but we'll need a lot more than that to do any better than we did last season.

31 May 2026 23:02:57
Give it a rest, Swan. We get your view, but don't all necessarily agree with it.

31 May 2026 23:12:38
I'd take that Swan. Three new starting players (RB, LB and CB) along with George, another striker and RW to help get goals.

If we don't finish top half, we should be at least in semi finals of a cup.

If he doesn't manage that, don't renew his contract and get someone else lined up. We'll have to start the search now to make sure we aren't caught with our trousers down again with knee-jerk appointment.



The tactics aren't going to change and the style of football won't either. Get us another Baines and Coleman plus a Cahill and Lukaku and I'd be more confident going into the new season.

31 May 2026 23:24:48
Fair enough, if people want George, but I would rather look elsewhere.

It is all well and good coming on as a young and fast winger in the last 10 minutes of games against tired legs.

He got absolutely bullied in his start against Bournemouth by Jiminez.



Nothing I have seen warrants spending 20/25m of our transfer budget on him.

Would rather go after Zuriko Davitashvili, who would be half the price, or spend a little bit more and get the likes of Matias Fernandez-Pardo.

01 Jun 2026 03:10:05
I like Moyes & he has been a success story for us. When we had very little money, he consistently kept us in the top 8. He has come back, stabilised us through the move & has taken away relegation worries, however. his dithering with subs, playing favourites, playing people out of position, failure to change tactics & he seems to think giving the top teams a decent game is good enough just doesn't cut it with me.



He should always have a special place at Everton but we need a younger, more daring coach if we want to get back into the top 6. The other lot have acted swiftly & I applaud that. We need to follow suit & get a new man in now so he can get transfers done.

NSNO UTFT. 💙 💙 💙

01 Jun 2026 09:54:33
Your dictatorship isn't coming across very well, I'm afraid. You're not the only one with a veiw and you're veiw isn't the only right one, which I'm afraid you seem to think is. Also, belittling people becasuse they don't agree with ur veiw is very small minded. You expect us to agree or take your opinion on board, but cannot do the same yourself.
If you can give a comment, you should also be able to recieve one, which you've proved you cannot.

I don't agree with you on some things, something I kind of do, but I'm not going to come on here day after day just splutting the same drivel to get a reaction becasue all of the people don't agree with you.
The season is over. The rebuild continues, then let's see what happens, but for now nothing makes any sense just repeating yourself. How about go for a walk, get out in the sunshine, and worry about what will or won't happen when the season starts.

01 Jun 2026 12:10:56
Agree, Bluepasty, maybe he has a job in believing his own posts, hence his daily Victory speeches, mate. 😂😂😂😂