By Kieran McGough

I like many Evertonian’s was anxious before a perhaps pivotal week in our season regarding a late top four challenge. The week I refer to contained the Derby and a visit to Old Trafford, more of that later. The past month or so has been an absolute whirlwind, we’ve had stadium announcements, Romelu all but confirming his personal desire for pastures new and numerous big games amongst the off-field developments. However, now the dust is settling on such a frantic period I feel like taking a general stock of what we have learnt is needed.

Starting with the stadium, this is straightforward in as much as its fantastic news and despite all of us sharing a deep love affair with Goodison it is essential for the club to move forward. We all fully understand the circumstances and seeing the progression of the move is a nice thing to be looking forward to.

Moving towards the pitch, Romelu has now confirmed he will not sign a new deal. However, this does not mean he is off this summer because his contract dictates he resides with Everton for 2 further seasons. Therefore, Koeman very much holds the cards in Romelu’s game. The sale of Romelu this summer will be a huge decision, especially with whispers of a significant spending spree, it will come down to a choice between retaining the league’s top goal scorer to couple squad acquisitions or in fact using such ingoing’s and outgoings to make his departure less of a blow. Ultimately, it seems Everton have decided to take the in-between option and set his tag at £100m meaning if he was to leave the boost to funds will shoulder much of the burden to offset the loss.

Remaining on the topic of contracts, it is no hidden secret that the situation with Ross is becoming ever more uncomfortable. It’s vital his future with us is secured because since the turn of the year he has been significantly above any previous versions of himself demonstrating his progress under Koeman’s management. Hopefully, the parties can come to an agreement but football is a business and if Ross determines his value to be different to Everton’s estimation then the show must go on and as Koeman has repeatedly said sign or be sold. If the stumbling block is wage demands it will be hugely disappointing because in today’s market Ross is easily a 6-figure salary-per-week player, given Jesse Lingaard recently renewed his deal with Utd for £100,000 a week.

Moving onto the pitch, games have been thick and fast in recent weeks especially the big two at the start of the month. The derby confirmed a few things. Firstly, Ross still has improvement regarding emotional control and playing objectively. Secondly, Schneiderlin is now the rock of the midfield with his absence obvious for all to see. Finally, big occasions still seem to be daunting Everton Football Club. However, the trip to Old Trafford a few days later was a huge improvement from the derby, this was not hard but still, we were resolute and everyone put a shift in. Ultimately, the three points were not lost based on Williams last minute decision but on the final third where sadly we failed to punish when it mattered most which is not what you might expect from a Champions league striker…

The past week we’ve seen two more wins added to Goodison park with Leicester and Burnley both being broken down over 90 minutes. This month or so has illustrated where we are, right now we are very much in transition and to be disappointed with 7th would be very harsh given the two previous years of mid-table mediocrity. Koeman has been in charge under a year and improvements so far have been impressive highlighted by our current league position tailing the top 6. Right now, we are not quite enough to be in the upper echelons but we are far better than anything below us, which is why the summer coming is monumental. This time next year we could have won both games in a pivotal week to cement top 4 hopes or we could have repeated this year’s feat and remain top of the bottom but one thing is certain, despite the many changes coming, I haven’t been this optimistic about the near-future of Everton in years.