Contracts

Howard has been signed from Manchester United on a season long loan deal that will start on 1^st July.

The American stopper was signed from the New York/New Jersey Metrostars for £2.3 million in 2003 and made 77 appearances for United before a dip in form saw him lose his place to Roy Carroll last season.

Though Carroll was subsequently released to West Ham, he was not able to regain his place between the sticks after United signed Stuart Little lookalike, Edwin van der Sar.

Howard has been brought in to provide even more competition for the Everton ‘keepers jersey and, if Nigel Martyn is offered, and accepts, a new deal, we'll have five potential first team goalies on our books.

David Moyes appears to be collecting ‘keepers the way Walter Smith collected defenders!

Speaking of which, two of ours have been offered new contracts by the club. David Weir and Alan Stubbs have both been offered season long deals to keep them at the club until the end of the 2006/07 season.

It's no surprise that Stubbs have been offered a new deal as our upturn in fortunes last season coincided with his return. Before Christmas we lost four games by a four goal margin but, after Stubbs returned in January, our biggest losing margin was by three goals as Chelsea beat us 1-4 and 0-3.

The fact that David Weir has been offered a new deal probably comes as more of a surprise but, as Joseph Yobo has not committed himself to a new deal, it's probably a smart move.

No doubt all the smart arses will round on Moyes for offering old players new contracts and trot out the old ‘Premiership pensioners' line. But the truth is no-one really knows if there is anyone coming through the ranks that is up to the challenge or how much money we have to spend in the summer. So, if nothing else, Weir will provide adequate cover for whoever we have at the back.

The biggest surprise for me is the new deal for Nigel Martyn. The offer is subject to a specialist's report on his injury but, especially in light of the signing of Tim Howard, it seems strange to offer him a new deal.

We have also apparently offered James McFadden an extension to his current contract, presumably for finally doing what we bought him for and scoring a few goals. It has been reported that talks have broken down and he's looking elsewhere but the club has stated that this issue will be resolved over the summer.

As everyone will probably know by now, Big Dunc has not been offered a new contract and Matteo Ferrari's stay at Everton has also come to an end.

It was clear to everyone after the West Brom game that the big fella had played his last game for the Blues and his send off was a fitting one. He even had the fairy tale ending (of sorts) of scoring a last minute equaliser. The goal was probably more important than most thought as, although it didn't affect our league position, it saved us from the embarrassment of being the only club that West Brom have done the double over during their three season's in the Premiership!

The Matteo Ferarri situation is a little more disappointing as he looked to be forming a pretty good partnership with Yobo midway through the season until injury and the African Cup of Nations intervened. But I guess we've just got to trust the manager on this one!

Other players to have been released are Li Tie, Sean Wright, Stephen Wynne, Jay Harris, Chris Sergeant and Paul Hopkins. Academy midfielder Laurence Wilson has gone on loan to Mansfield and defender Mark Hughes has been loaned to Stockport.