New signing at 5pm being unveiled!

Pratley point is interesting, I thought he played well at Millwall and couldn't see why he didn't come on vs Charlton when we needed to see out a game.

Does make you wonder why another year (minus the brilliant chants of course)

It turned out that he didn't need surgery and made a full recovery by the end of March but, despite joining the senior squad and getting on the bench for 8 Premier League games under Sean Dyche, Lewis only appeared for his senior debut as a 90th-minute substitute against Sheffield United in Everton's penultimate game of the season that would be his last at Goodison Park.
He was released in June 2024 at the age of 21, marking the end of a 15-year spell at the Club he had joined as a schoolboy and he would later sign for Leyton Orient in League One, who gave him a 2-year contract that summer.''

He did play well @ Millwall - as did the team overall on the night - in a game that was played for long periods at three quarter pace and a distinct lack of “ bite”. That imho does not justify the additional 12 month contract extension especially at a time when the club clearly has a playing budget that is stretched to its limit.

I think we all read too much into things sometimes and this is my only criticism of our current owners. Sometimes they can tell us too much.

Dom Ball is a good signing. He has passed a medical. And as someone mentioned previously, none of us have a crystal ball.

If you'd have mentioned before the close season that we'd sign a player to replace El-Miz who had just won promotion to the Premier League we'd all have been peeing ourselves in anticipation and packing El-Miz on his merry way.

Personal view: Do I think this is a signing the club wanted to make? No I don't. I believe the club and possibly to a lesser extent Richie too, thought we could have got by on the loans and younger signings we made to kick us around mid table all season.

As it turns out I think the club knew that they dropped a bollock and have realised we didn't have enough in midfield.

This is good and bad in equal measure. Bad that we left ourselves initially short. Good that the club and Richie have picked up on this and hopefully plugged the gap early on.

As for Warrington. None of us really know what is going on. He is a very young lad moving from up North to a new team, new surroundings, new culture, etc. I can imagine for the last 15 years playing for Everton has been quite sugarcoated and a lot has been done for him.

The young man will take time to settle. And having players like Dom Ball around him will massively help. He will settle but will go through good and bad patches. Just like O'Neill is and Galbraith did. We all thought Coleman was gonna be better than Brown but look how that turned out. Brown took time to settle.

Back to signing the likes of Ball, Beckles and Pratley (Attorneys of Law), it's as much about what they do off the pitch as what they do on it.

We have a good history of us playing better with an older head or two in the team. Like when our fortunes changed when Brill started playing, or Pratley was utilised properly. And Jobi taking us up. Ball will be the same.

Fully agree. For the last point, I think that is the most important improvement that can be made - being smarter with the way we use our experienced players

I think I was the one saying Pratley can’t compete over 90 mins not you!😆👍My point still remains however, at a time when the playing budget is under severe constraint, I think a mistake was made in giving another year to Pratley as a player. If his influence is as great as you suggest then employ him in a different role that better suits his current skill set. 👍

Replying to the criticism of letting Moncs go cos hes played minutes for Southend. I just want to point out that Southend are currently TWO leagues below us. The standard, as we know, is completely different.

To be honest red, I could care less he if he only communicated in a series of grunts and belches as long as he dominates the midfield and bangs in a few goals.