Everton's Offer for Jan Vertonghen Rejected

I'm seeing conflicting stories on this story. Daily Mail is reporting that an 8.5 million pound (10 million Euros) offer was rejected. It also says that Ajax was looking for upwards of 10 million pounds (11.6 milion Euros) for the defender. Goal.com is reporting that Everton offered 11 million Euros but was rejected by Ajax, who is looking for at least 15 million.

I don't know which one is more accurate, but I do know that increasing our offer would be too much for the 23 year old Vertonghen. He is a very good player, but spending that much would be a waste unless we lose Jagielka.

Lescott Deja Vu

Everton has sent a strong message to both Arsenal and Manchester United that Phil Jagielka is not for sale. This seems eerily familiar to how the Joleon Lescott affair started out. Not to say this will play out exactly the same, because Lescott wanted to leave and was vocal about it. Just saying that this was how it started last year too.

Here's some other transfer rumors and news:

-Since there are a number of clubs keen on securing West Ham's Carlton Cole, West Ham is looking at Yakubu as a possible replacement. There is definitely a possibility that Moyes is willing to sell Yakubu as long as a decent price is offered. Yakubu has struggled to find form since returning from a ruptured Achilles tendon. Sources: ESPN and Goal.com.

- I don't know how good this source is so you are going to have to bear with me, but tribalfootball.com says that we may be in the race (with Aston Villa) to sign Tottenham winger David Bentley. A fee 10 million pounds seems like a bargain.

- This news is a little late but Dan Gosling is ahead of schedule in his recovery from knee surgery. He was projected to be out for 9 months, but is expected to recover sooner than that according to BBC Sport.

- Marseille's Hatem Ben Arfa is on David Moyes' radar yet again. He has had a great season with the Ligue 1 winners and has voiced his interest for playing in England. "To have a chance to play in England would be wonderful but the sporting project is more interesting to me than any sums of money." Source: Goal.com
Seems like David Moyes is getting ready to replace Steven Pienaar in case he leaves. David Bentley and Hatem Ben Arfa are both wingers like Pienaar and would be good, cheap replacements.

Tim Howard Taking Responsibility

If you have ever watched an Everton match, you know how fiery Tim Howard is. Any time an opposing team is even near the box and he makes a save (or even a shanked shot for that matter), Howard starts shouting like a madman to his teammates. If you haven't had the opportunity to see this scene, just picture Didier Drogba after he loses a match, or Wayne Rooney when his feet touch anything that resembles a pitch, or Bobby Knight after any referee's call against him, or Hal McRae after a stupid ass question, or Mike Gundy after he reads a newspaper, or Dennis Green after thinking someone was who he thought they were, or Jim Mora any day of his life. If you don't know at least one of these references and you call yourself a sports fan, then god have mercy on your soul. Here's the best montage I could find with a lot of these angry people clips - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF7aCF8WFbA

It always seems like Howard is berating his teammates for not trying hard enough or making too many mistakes. Even when Howard himself makes mistakes, it seems that he is shouting at the top of his lungs at someone else. I always thought he did this because he didn't take responsibility for goals against him.

Today I realized, he did this in order to provide leadership, and because he's just a plain crazy dude on the pitch.

"I feel disappointed for everyone," Howard said in reference to the Aston Villa match. "I feel from my standards I need to keep those balls out. I got tied up on the bounce and it's just taken a nick off our player. I'm disappointed but you have to hold your hands up."

He took responsibility for the own goal by Phil Jagielka! I've watched the goal a couple of times, and I know Howard couldn't have kept that ball out. It was just an unlucky deflection by Jagielka. But we now know that Howard doesnt hide behind anything for any ball that finds the net. The reason why he's barking orders at someone or other is because he is just plain crazy.

Either that or he really is an ass and just puts on a front to make it seem like he's nice in the media. I like to think he is crazy.