Honesty proving only policy for Everton boss Ronald Koeman

Honesty is proving the only policy for Everton manager Ronald Koeman - By Barry Horne

Our ECHO columnist on the frank Blues boss, new signings and why Sunday is a no-lose encounter

The one thing that has been truly consistent about Ronald Koeman since his arrival at Goodison is that he's not afraid to be totally honest about his players and just about anything, really.

So his outburst after the FA Cup defeat to Leicester City typically frank.

Whether or not it actually had any impact on the urgency of Everton's transfer market dealings, I doubt very much.

I suspect Morgan Schneiderlin was on the list many weeks ago. It seems from Schniederlin's quotes, reading between the lines he has been in dialogue with Koeman for quite some time.

That one was just a case of agreeing a fee. But maybe the public statement convinced the board to go the extra yard – or, as it turns out, the extra millions – to get the deal done as soon as possible.

I would be disappointed if there are not more signings in January. And I would be equally disappointed if there weren't a couple that weren't as obvious as Schneiderlin.

I wouldn't expect another two or three players to come from Premier League clubs for £20million.

Ishak Belfodil is an example of what I am talking about – someone arriving for a good quality club from one of the lower national leagues.

When you do that, there's always an element of risk involved. Standard Liege are one of best teams in Belgium so a striker in that team is presumably going to get plenty of chances and look good.

It's a question of whether he can transfer that into a more competitive league.

But Steve Walsh has a track record of being able to make those decisions correctly. He can make those assessments.

Is a player able to come to the Premier League and become even better? That's what he did at Leicester.

Liv Echo