FINAL COUNTDOWN FOR EVERTON F.C. SUMMER TRANSFERS

Considering how much was made of Lescott's request for a move, and subsequent drawn-out transfer I feel oddly sanguine about it all now.

It's like splitting up with a girl you thought you were really into only to realise that actually she was a bit annoying anyway, and town is full of all sorts these days in those clingy leather leggings.

Distin is an adequate replacement at centre back, albeit over-priced at £5m for a 31-year-old. Guess that's just the market these days.

The options which Manchester City's money have given us are likely to actually make us stronger even without the big England star.

Billy will make our midfield more potent and should we convince Heitinga to drop his wage demands (something we're all probably getting less optimistic about as the clock ticks down) defence will be positively flourishing.

The only area we still need to strengthen is centre midfield. I still feel we'd be better off without the undoubtedly talented David Bentley (who is meant to have had a medical already). Niko Kranjcar from Pompey would have been a good shout but Modric's broken leg has scuppered that for us, as money-bags Redknapp and his hoary charms will inevitably win the day there.

File under highly unlikely but if he could be persuaded, the reportedly-unsettled at United Brazilian Anderson would be a good buy. We're still waiting to see if Moyes has one last ace up his sleeve too, e.g. a repeat of last summer's last-ditch call to Standard Liege, this time about young Mr Defour.

Wishful thinking aside though, we'd all be disappointed if there were no extra additions before midnight.

The right-side dilemma isn't going to go away and while I can live with Tony Hibbert keeping his place, I'm losing patience with Osman. He seems to be going backwards form-wise, and his lazyness in not tracking back for Hibbert often enough is noticeable. Ideally both would be better as squad players.

Lastly, I'm a bit concerned about James Vaughan's stalled progress. The once bright star didn't even get on the bench on Sunday. I thought he was going to be a first team regular after he burst onto the scene. He should be emulating contemporaries like Agbonlahor now but I wonder if his repeated injuries have changed him as a player...