Fond farewells

So, it's goodbye to Arthur Cox who - having brought King Kev to the club in 1982 and then come back to mentor his protegee when he returned as manager a decade later - has now left the club for the third time. And, if the speculation's to be believed, we could be bidding someone else a fond farewell before too long: Alan Smith.

Flush with cash from the surprising sale of Andrew Johnson to Fulham, David Moyes is apparently preparing to make a second bizarre move, turning to Smith as a replacement - presumably under the mistaken impression that he's a goalscorer. I'd be more than happy to see the back of him - he may be "a smashing lad", Kev, but that doesn't really count for much. We've seen precious little of his fabled work ethic, and it's a bit much praising his versatility, saying "he can play in a lot of positions", when he's equally shite in all of them. A fee of £2m would represent a substantial loss on what we shelled out for him last summer, but it would at least get his hefty salary off the wage bill. The question is: are Everton that desperate?

Meanwhile there's still no confirmation that Fabricio Coloccini has signed - another deal that can't be completed a moment too soon...