Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 08/06/2026I should probably keep shtum because I genuinely rate Hugo Bueno from Wolves and would be very happy with him as our LB this summer 😅 100
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 08/06/2026Good luck convincing an exciting young 'progressive' fullback that Moyes will play him a single minute ahead of Mykolenko 210
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 27/05/2026Would be extraordinarily interesting to see Baleba 25/26 vs Iroegbunam 25/26 radar. Tim quite possibly on the move this summer too 000
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 18/05/2026I'm so incredibly done Paddy. Not even attempting to get Iraola in is tantamount to criminal negligence at this point 030
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 01/05/2026100%. The days of Moyes finding a gem in the championship through going to watch games are over, every club knows every player. I'd add that Bournemouth can also leverage an extremely proven track record of playing and developing these talents. Another reason I think Iraola would transform us 010
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 01/05/2026I'm not sure about Glasner and Carsley but if I'm Kinnear/TFG I'm secretly wining and dining Iraola like you wouldn't believe right now. I don't think Utd or Chelsea go for him so you've got to get ahead of Newcastle sacking Howe imo. One off chance to get an elite project manager 110
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 01/05/2026Tbf only one of those has played, and that's only really because Beto had the yips for the first half of the season. It's a bit moot if we sign high-ceiling/upside players if the manager won't play them. 200
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 13/04/2026Do you know if George has pre-agreed a contract Paddy? Ie can we just 'press the button' or do we have to negotiate with the player/he can turn us down? 100
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 11/04/2026Lively an understatement imo, nearly ended Kayodes season! 110
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Extremely fascinated to see how this summer pans out. V concerned we see same disjointedness but that's the Everton pessimist in me probably! 100
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Hire manager to fit clubs plan for style of play > manager tells club what kind of players are needed in each position for them to play that way > recruitment experts at club say 'these are the options that will fulfill that'. Feel like we've got that all jumbled up in multiple ways. 000
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Decision making is as much structural as anything else. You can hire all the finest analysts and data companies as you like, if you then have a manager who rejects '99%' of players he's shown (Kinnears words) then it's completely moot. 210
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 12/03/2026Really in depth reporting Paddy, thank you. Always good to see @mrktinsights.bsky.social viewpoints too. Big eyebrow raise from me with club sources saying they want to emulate decision-making of Brighton/Brentford though, while we give huge amount of power to the manager. Runs completely counter? 230
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 10/03/2026Surprising he wasn't offered the Head of Recruitment post within that but I guess that would be the 'demotion'. Hope he does well in his new role, feel like we owe him a lot 100
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 10/03/2026Still would have loved to see what he could do with a stable financial situation. The list of players we missed out on because of that in his tenure is pretty glowing. But understand if he didn't want to be 'demoted' to be just one cog in the committee 120
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 10/03/2026I know there's lots of other parts of being a DoF but Thelwells talent ID was soooo good. 110
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 13/02/2026Very much agreed. Cheap too! That cross the other night was gorgeous. I guess I just want to see some reflection. Clearly scouts etc rated him, so what was the blocker (my hunch is physicality/stature), and will we question that blocker in future? 010
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 13/02/2026Thanks Paddy. If/when Kinnear gives another public interview, I'd love to see some reflection on signings we passed over: what was our assessment of, say, Truffert last Jan? Why did we pass him over and what are we learning from that/what processes are we changing? 120
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 12/02/2026Looking forward to him being Iraola's new Kroupi when he's coaching Everton next season 000
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 03/02/2026Sorry what I mean is - Genoa were clearly open to selling, selling him was the necessity to moving Patterson there, so I'm very curious what the blocker was in the whole pipeline as on the surface it's one that works for all parties 000
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 03/02/2026Saying that, if we get Doue in the summer, it'll all have been worth it. He's so good. 000
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 03/02/2026The Norton-Cuffy/Patterson situation is very weird Paddy. Feels unlikely that N-C would reject a move to Everton, so was it Moyes blocking buying him? 200
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 02/12/2025Christ looking at the players signed by West Ham while he was there is actually grimmer reading than I thought. Lost money on basically every single player bar Kudus, and the ones that remain are awful: www.transfermarkt.co.uk/west-ham-uni... 010
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 02/12/2025Oh well, at least the last club he had a big say in the transfers for isn't now having enormous squad-building issues two years later that are leaving them in a massive hole and genuinely relegation-threatened...ah. 110
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 02/12/2025Paddy specifically said that in the piece which has somewhat surprised/shocked me. I thought that level of involvement was a necessary stopgap until James Smith was in post 020
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 02/12/2025Sorry for the instant moan Paddy haha. Good reporting as always. One question: is there any talk about a new no. 6/DM at the club? From the outside looking in it seems like equally as important as a RB, and honestly moreso than striker, but since the club looked at Palinha there's been silence 000
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 02/12/2025Anyone seeking to saddle us with players like Soucek on permanent contracts shouldn't be anywhere near the final decision making process imo... 120
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 02/12/2025The manager both dictating profiles *and* having final say on transfer targets for a club right at the start of a long-term rebuild is really worrying. No other club seeking to change their long-term position has successfully done that - managers are just too short term necessarily. 460
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 01/12/2025Agreed it's annoying. The whole thing could be framed from the start like - look, we're in the middle of a rebuild, we've got a great core of players and our aim is to steadily improve over the next few seasons. Nights like this will happen but we move onwards and upwards. Instead it's this! 150
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 01/12/2025Feel the club needs to have a more consistent and united message about the rebuild. Moyes talking up Europe at the start of the season seems insane and ill-advised. Times like this are inevitable while the squad is still so thin. It is what it is! 120
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 04/11/2025Friedkins, Kinnear etc surely must be asking serious questions about Moyes' use of young players and new signings soon Paddy. McNeil instead of Dibling felt staggering. Can't build for the future like that. 120
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 29/10/2025@kimischilling.bsky.social PNE fans have been blowing up the timeline about Harrison Armstrong. Does he look worth getting excited about (in his ~5 90s)? 000
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 29/10/2025People are waaay too down on Barry. Lot of groupthink going on imo. He's looked fine in his limited minutes. Couple bad matches, couple good matches, perfectly okay for a young striker in a new league and team. Talk of reserves or wasted money is bafflingly over the top 110
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 29/10/2025Tbf I was thinking of it in terms of permanent signings. A loan would make sense. Otherwise it's spend a lot of money on an excellent striker, in which case what's the point in Barry, or spend not much on an average striker, in which case why not stick with Beto? 110
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 29/10/2025Getting a new striker in January would be tragic. How exactly is Barry supposed to develop and get used to the league then? Immediately sacking off a new young player when they take some time to adapt sends an awful message to potential signings. 010
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 05/09/2025Fair enough but that feels like a pretty spicy gamble on a ~36 year old who's going to AFCON...! Sort of banking on Tim to raise his game fairly significantly between now and December. Which perhaps they're pretty confident on, the lad can certainly tackle. Thanks for the insight again! 010
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 04/09/2025Interesting that multiple tackle/interception monsters very much in the Gana vein moved this window that were affordable & went to clubs at or below our level (thinking of Magassa and Florentino Luis mostly) but we didn't try. Perhaps not going to go for a like for like long term 110
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 04/09/2025*every single signing* - with the exception of Alcaraz who was the retention of a loan really - had notably high ball carrying numbers. For some (Dibling and Rohl) it's quite literally the only thing they've shown at a high level! Absolutely all-out on dribbling up the pitch. 000
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 04/09/2025I really enjoyed this article. Everton went absolutely bananas trying to up their dribbling and ball carrying this summer - it was the most obvious trend I (as a lay person) have ever seen in a single recruitment window. 100
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 04/09/2025Appreciated. Always really interested in the behind the scenes views. Thanks for the reporting. And yes the ball carrying seems undeniable - consistent with pretty much every single piece of recruitment this summer! Up the dribbly toffees 020
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 04/09/2025Does the 'eye for a pass' strength come from the club's view? They'll have access to much more advanced data/footage than is available publicly, but it stuck out to me that the only really consistent thing in his data is ranking among the absolute lowest in pretty much all passing stats each season 100
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 03/09/2025Small fun note on the Chermiti transfer. The DoF who bought him at Everton is now the DoF at Rangers who just bought him again. 010
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 01/09/2025Hahah yeah that's about as far as I could narrow it down too. 010
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 01/09/2025Anything particular marking him out as fun to you? I can't make head or tail of him tbh, no idea what he is stylistically 100
Ollie Norman @ono.bsky.social · 01/09/2025Monkey's paw really curled on this one, we bagged Dibling but now to shore up our huge hole in defensive midfield we are desperately trying to sign... Merlin Rohl 000
