EVERTON F.C. REMAIN CALM IN FACE OF DOUBTS, AS INTRIGUING MLS ALL-STARS GAME APPROACHES

Moysey graciously acknowledged the sublime chip by saying he felt like applauding, despite consigning us to an opening defeat in North America.

Naturally I spotted Ortega's potential when I signed him as a raw youngster on Championship manager years ago. (Nerd).

Our manager sounds relaxed in the little bits of press he's had time to do so far, in stark contrast to last summer when he was fretting about the Blues' capability of surviving a season.

That both kind of reassures and puzzles me, mainly because squad-wise we're not that different at this stage.

Castillo, Jacobsen, Van Der Meyde and Valente have all departed with no equivalent recruits brought in, unless Peterlin is expected to play a similar role to the Ecuadorian.

Yet as everyone is keen to point out, the market is still relatively quiet aside from Man City's Wall street-style machinations.

Speaking of the Eastlands gazillionaires, some writers seem to believe Lescott's move across the M62 is a formality.

If this is accurate, it would be best for us to have the deal done quickly. As with Benitez across the park and his impending Alonso sale, Moyes needs time afterwards to find a suitable replacement, re-mould his side and spend the cash. All before the window closes again.

Adding a bit of extra intrigue the mischievous Daily Mail has sparked rumours by suggesting Steven Pienaar has knocked back a new contract with Athletico and Fiorentina hovering.

Cynics could say it ticks all the boxes of a player on the off. At 27 and after playing out of his skin in the Confederation's Cup, maybe the South African fancies Champions' League football.

But hold the understandable concerns for now. A decent club source reckons the midfielder hasn't even been offered a new deal yet, let alone shoved it away from him like a screeching baby at tea-time.

I'm glad to see speculation linking us with Alan Hutton is nonsense. It's bad enough losing Naughton to Spurs without then having to buy their over-priced cast-offs.

Meanwhile, the MLS Allstars friendly sounds interesting - especially after I read that Chelsea amd Fulham have been unable to beat them in similar games. Does anyone know whether it's going to be on TV? ESPN maybe? Or is it going to be jittery footage on Sopcast?

The outcome of James Lawrie's week-long trial will be interesting. He won goal of the season for a special effort for Port Vale last season, but unlike Ortga, failed to make Youtube.

Come on, we've got to get excited about something.