Silva tells his players to 'be Everton' in crucial cup clash

In which other football club or business would Marco Silva be allowed to continue in charge unless ineptitude from the top was rife? When you have people at the very top of a football club who know fuck all about football ie Little Miss Dynamite DBB and Fahad Moshiri then disaster looms. When the main shot caller after 25 years of total mis-management is still Bill Kenwright it's little wonder we are in exactly the same situation we were in when Walter Smith was manager. How pathetically sad scarey is that?

What happens If we get beat in the cup at Sheffield Wednesday in midweek and the Muppets in charge here don't sack Silva? What will the fans do about it? I don't think the fans have the energy or the fight in them to really care anymore. All belief in the club has been ripped from our fan base. The heart and soul of the club is being destroyed.

EFC has become what David Moyes told us we were all those years ago. Plucky Little Everton just not plucky anymore. We have morphed in to what David Moyes bred in to our DNA. We are an average, mid-table ambition-less club. We are happy to just survive and compete in the odd game here and there. We should never believe we can rise above our station. We don't win derbies, we don't beat teams away from home, we just exist. Bill Kenwright has gladly carried this mantra forwards and each manager since Moyes has picked up the baton.
David Moyes really taught Kenwright well and it has stuck with the club ever since.

2 away matches at organised teams and then the Champions, fresh after demolishing Watford, to visit. This could be a fortnight that marks the end of Silva. Conversely if we could win all 3 it would go some way to resurrecting this prematurely ailing season.

Gana went for 29 million and his replacement cost 20. That itself tells you quality has dropped.

All this "hes had money" is total pointless when he doesn't decide every transfer and the money is spent where we don't need to prioritise.

Now his 20 million midfielder is injured with his best Midfielder Gomes and we get ridiculous calls like "we have got better players than Sheff United".
So what.

Sheff United are trying to do something completely different to Everton and you could use those better players arguments for near every result in the league.

The fact is we have less quality than last season and kids to nuture, while the manager is trying to play the football you all cried for to get Allardyce out.

No club does what we done in the summer, loses his 2 best midfielders to injury but gets better.

Schneiderlin was going until "Genius Brands" couldn't deliver a decent midfielder.

To be followed by a Portuguese double.

Silva out. Mourinho in.

Our "genius" Brands couldn't work with him.

Its unforgivable this business we have done. Man U Arsenal and Chelsea are as bad as we have seen them in the premiership and we buy 20 million pound players to replace Gana.

Its absolute laughable that nobody questioned it.

1. Mourinho would be extremely expensive both in wages and transfer demands.
2. Mourinho has ZERO experience of managing a mid-table club and improving them. Yes he has won things but always with very good teams.
3. Mourinho has a pretty dubious recent record of leaving clubs in better positions than when he arrived.
4. Mourinho's peak was a while back and his style is a bit outdated in my opinion.
5. Mourinho has a poor record of playing youth players, something many on here want more of.
6. Mourinho is probably waiting for Zidane to be sacked so he can return to Madrid, a club whose stature and bank balance are much better aligned to his ego!

I mean it could be interesting and I sort of enjoy his being a sarky git, so long as we're winning; but I strongly expect it would end very badly and prove a costly publicity stunt.

Sheffield Wednesday will have been given a boost, especially after Saturday's debacle, I wouldn't be surprised if the Video is being used as a pre-match Training Aid for their players.

The delicate ones must be very tender after failing to deal with the hot house expectation, sheer pressure and high-end mental toughness that is required to beat Sheffield United. At home.

This group of players lack character, heart and desire. In mental and football terms, this squad has a soft centre. We are there for the taking.

It will be very interesting to see what happens if we go one down. Although I think I already know.

It's not all Silva's fault but of course he takes a large chunk of the blame by not being able to deploy different tactics to breakdown simple, solid defensive systems. When the team is crying out for some drive and movement, leaving Davies on the bench game after game, is just stubbornness.

Some people are bemoaning the loss of Gana, but when playing Sheff Utd at home, he's not the type of player that's needed. There won't be a big battle in midfield because they'll stand off and let us have the ball there. It's the player that is brave enough to carry the ball forward or play the killer pass that's needed. However, I agree with Dave@16, how can you play a killer pass when no one moves up front? Especially in the second half when the depressingly-desperate "attacking" subs are made and we end up with something like a 4-2-4 formation. They stand static, marked, almost hiding. These are good footballers, Siggy, Richy, Bernard, Walcott, all technically very good footballers, but step into that final third and they can't make a pass or get a shot on target to save their lives. That's where I have some sympathy for Silva, as a manager that must be so frustrating.

'Everyone on here knows he is picking his favourites'.

I have never heard a more nonsense comment on here than that. My mother wouldn't have stooped to that and she hardly knows football.

Our keeper is an absolute clown and nobody talks about it. Hes unnoticed. Thats how sharp this Brands fanbase is these days.

Some have said the problem is that Everton need a English Manager and to some extent they are right, but Silva did show had the end of last season that he could get Everton to)play at there traditional best and none of the top four are managed by a English manager,

The traditional English game played at its best, could beat any of them,

It hardly takes a great coach or manager to play on are faults. Its absolutely laughable that we are that fragile.

However we also have some experienced players that are just not being used properly. Silva has a squad of good players but is far away from knowing both his best formation and his strongest 11. To top it off, as l have said before, Silva doesn't seem to know that the object of the game is 3 points.

Another weak performance will surely cement the start of his (Silva) departure, and certain players, if picked, will have to demonstrate that any previously poor displays were a thing of the past.

We were playing marginally better (not saying a lot) before we met Lincoln City in the last Carabou Cup game, but at times it did look that they could spring a surprise.

As I mentioned before, Wednesday will be up for this, and the smell of a possible giant killing could be on the cards, so it will be interesting to see how we cope as a unit.

Playing through Coleman is not the answer he does not have the quality in his right foot to produce decent crosses into the box neither does Richarlison.

Then you have the fact there is no one to aim for in the box Moise Kean was non existent on Saturday and Cenk Tosun plods round like an old man second to everything which leaves Calvert Lewin as are only option who can actually win a header but he is very poor finisher.

The board have let the manager down badly with the summer’s second rate signing’s!

You don't need to be Stephen effin Hawking to work that out.

I don't think we have any 'bad' players in the first team squad, it's the way they are being combined/utilised in an un-discernable system. Besides we don't actually know for sure if the players we did get, were at the behest of Silva.

I can't see the Board, of whom M Brands is a part, just going out and buying players willy nilly because the Price is Right, Come on Down, then saying to Silva, there you go. It is how he (Silva) deploys those players that seems to be the stumbling block, in all of this.

Someone mentioned on another article which I have been thinking about since, yes I am a bit slow, that since Joao Pedro Sousa departed, Silva seems to be floundering, and I'm not sure what Luis Boa Morte (Dead Snake) brings to the table, not much by the look of things!

Meanwhile FC Familicao the Club the that JPS is now managing is holding up well and I think is just behind Benfica and Porto in the Table. I don't follow Portuguese Football that closely but FC Familicao is not exactly a household name over here.

I wouldn't be surprised either if he has done this pretty much with the squad he has inherited, not by going out and spending MegaEuros on new players. Besides I don't think that particular Club has that much at it's disposal, so over to you Silva get yourself out of that one?

Not a mention of it from many blues though. Talk about tactics and formations all day but a blatent clown in goal is irrelevant in a 2 nil loss.

2 nil defeat from a team that had 1 shot.

He said "Football is a simple game over complicated by idiots".

Silva always talks about his belief and philosophy but whatever it is the players just cant grasp it. This is the beginning of the end we've been here before with Martinez and Koeman. To prolong this would be unwise, I hope SIlva proves me wrong but my gut says, with the tough fixture clouds approaching he will be gone by Christmas.

Then we will be onto the next fancy Foreign manager with a philosophy which the players cant grasp. Rinse and repeat.

We have so many problems at this club - on-field and off. Pickford will concede goals but generally I think he is doing all right. There are much bigger problems afoot than him being our first choice goalkeeper.

Now everybody hates him. The exact same happened with McCarthy.

I was almost evil for suggesting we don't buy Uniteds cast offs, all this from fellow supporters. The same supporters that fall in love with a Dutchman brought in to reduce wages, and entertainment it seems.

The same has happened on a smaller scale with Pickford. He is an absolute clown liability of a keeper and nevermind he gets a pass for not being Schniederlin. Evertonians won't notice it until its ingrained, pre concieved and popular.

If you are going to harangue other posters as you do Dave Williams @ 16 by ridiculing them with comments such as "I have seen some nonsense comments but yours is way out in the lead" and "I have never heard a more nonsense comment on here than that. My mother wouldn't have stooped to that and she hardly knows football," it's probably wise to not then post even more nonsensical posts as YOU do than those you ridicule.

To repeat in consecutive posts as you do that selling Gana for £29 million and buying his replacement for£20 million is NOT proof positive, as you claim, that our quality in that position has dropped. It's called a non sequitur.

A player's sale or purchase value is not the single determiner of the quality of the said player. If it were so, your exceedingly simplified criteria could be used to claim Gbamin is already three times the player Gana is because we paid £20 million for him, but we paid just £7 million for Gana. Nonsense, isn't it? But that is what your 'logic' amounts to.

Now Gana is a huge loss, without question. I wanted him to stay. But it is way, WAY to premature to claim 'our quality at defensive midfield has dropped' on the grounds that you do because we have near zero evidence on which to judge Gbamin and his game.

He has played just 135 minutes in an Everton shirt before unfortunately getting injured. (And as an aside, how much was the training ground injury possibly down to Silva promoting him to game time in the PL too prematurely when the player himself said he was not yet match fit?).

In seemingly wishing to defend Silva and continue your attack on 'Genius Brands', you claim "Schneiderlin was going [evidence, Paul?] until "Genius Brands" couldn't deliver a decent midfielder."

Ehrm...'Genius Brands' did. He secured Gomes on a permanent deal, much to the delight of many Evertonians. I personally was less enthralled. And of course Gbamin and Iwobi. It's unfortunate that 2 of the 3 are injured.

In continuing to attack Brands AND fellow Evertonians, you then throw in: "Our keeper is an absolute clown and nobody talks about it. He's unnoticed. That's how sharp this Brands' fanbase is these days."

Several things here. Pickford was poor on both goals on Sunday. Without question. That was by a country mile his worse showing this season. He could also be held partially responsible for Bournemouth's third goal the previous week.

Other than that Jordan has been in EXCELLENT form all season. EXCELLENT! He's made some outstanding one-on-one saves when you would back the attacker. He has come out and claimed more high balls this season. His already good distribution and its completion rate has improved. He appears a calmer presence.

A clown he ain't, but you are entitled to your opinion. As are many others who do and have and continue to criticise Pickford which seemingly you have missed. So you are wrong to state Pickford does not receive criticism. And it is just perverse of you to somehow, having made such a false claim, accuse fellow Blues of being dumb Brands' acolytes on the back of it.

The further implication of your words is that Brands should have been in the market for a better keeper than Pickford. There was a very early and clear decision taken by the club about our goalkeepers this summer.

Evidently, Pickford is (quite rightly) regarded as our #1. The U-23 keeper Joao Virginia was sent out on loan to Reading to get experience in the Championship (that unfortunately doesn't seem to have gone to plan). Stecklenberg was retained. Another international keeper in Lossl was recruited.

Job done and done very early in the window.

But no. YOU come back for another stab at Pickord by reporting that "Garth Crooks and Charlie Nicholas ripped Pickford over the weekend. They saw the clown behaviour that has graced us since he signed."

OH. MY. SIDES.

You harangue Dave Wiliams for his perfectly reasonable and reasoned post and then you come up with beauts like THIS?

Impressed by the punditry of the likes of Crooks and Nicholas? Continuing to claim Pickford has been a clown in goal for us since he signed?

Take a step back and look in the reflection of the glass house you live in before hurling stones at others for posting 'nonsensical posts', Paul.

I don't think Silva is the answer either, but it seems to me that he's been given a team to work with that is weaker than last year's.

How you find the passion to call Pickford’s form ‘Excellent’ (in capitals!) will be one of life's great mysterys.

If I had wanted novice players to replace our best players I would be made up now.

And by the way, I have had enough criticism on this site to know it’s normal and all for things people say today.

Talking about a manager picking his favourites when he has 2 of his first choice midfielders injured is beyond a joke but you back all that with your life, I couldn't care less.

Where does it state I was impressed with Crooks or Nicholas? I am just shocked our fans who care most didn't see or refuse to see. And if you want to pretend he hadn't been at fault, that’s your choice.

You go on to say he could have been at fault for our last 3 goals now. So who is talking about that?

Again, in my opinion, if Davies for example was playing like Siggy has been, or was doing as little as Theo, then he would have been dropped by now. If that's nonsense then I'm very sorry you had to waste your time reading it.

I'm trying to make sense or find a single coherent sentence in your latest post. Absolutely zero idea what your first sentence about 'theme' refers to or is trying to say.

If my perfectly reasonable description of Pickford's form this season is "one of life's great mysteries' to you, I suggest you need to prioritize other things in your life to become a more rounded person.

I'll back my own judgement of Pickford over yours, ta very much. Oh! And that of the wider Everton support base AND his own team mates who in his first season at the club, voted Jordan player of the year, young player of the year and players' player of the year.

By a far broader consensus than the singular conceited rambling thoughts of Paul A Smith, Pickford is far from being "a joke of a keeper since the day he signed for us" then.

No acknowledgement either on your part, I note, that Pickford most certainly does get criticism on TW, contrary to your claims.

As for claiming I and other fans don't see, or refuse to see, or pretend Pickford has not been at fault at times, I'm guessing you developed word blindness when I explicitly wrote in my previous post:

"Pickford was poor on both goals on Sunday. Without question. That was by a country mile his worse showing this season. He could also be held partially responsible for Bournemouth's third goal the previous week."

But then - comedy gold! - you yourself reference my words in your very next paragraph:

"You go on to say he could have been [I actually said WAS] at fault for our last 3 goals", adding "So who is talking about that?"

Ehrm...if you've read just a smidgen of the 100s of post-match threads of both the Bournemouth and Sheffield games, SCORES of people 'are talking about THAT!'

You are fully entitled to your opinion, Paul. But you do a very poor job of presenting and defending it whilst simultaneously deriding and ridiculing others who make much more credible and lucid posts than you ever do, as if you and you alone are all-knowing and all-seeing on all things Everton and everyone else is a blind 'eejit'.

Right now theres no way he is picking anyone over Sigurdsson such as Davies when he doesn't seem to fancy him at all.

Everyone is frustrated and I am also in that bracket but I won't be ignoring the fundamental issues that have been ongoing and damaging for a while, ie, poor replacements for lost players, players bought under Koeman still playing poor.

I won't be bothered by fans watching on tv either, trying to tell matchgoers what tactics we should play.

If I see a fault, I will make it clear and I couldn't care one iota if it doesn't fit in with the thoughts of the tacticians on here.

I saw a fan ripped apart the other week for being worried about the Centre Back situation. I have had it over players everyone hates now but I stuck to principles.

I won't be pretending to know tactics and I don't believe Silva is some genius that doesn't make errors, but he's far from alone.

He will probably end up the hero in a penalty shoot out by saving a couple then scoring the winner.

Conversely, I think Keane is someone who could benefit from being dropped. He needs to avoid the negative publicity. By being dropped, by Everton and England, he would be forgotten about by the media and in a couple of weeks could slip back into our side unnoticed and rebuild his form.

It looks like we are missing Gomes, not so much that he opens up the opposition's defence but he does provide an outlet for Keane and Mina. The last couple of games we've seen these two pass it along the back line to each other and Coleman and Digne who usually give it back. Delph occasionally shows for it but Schneiderlin just doesn't want to know although having said that he looked quite good for the first 15 minutes against Sheff Utd and then reverted to his usual take no responsibility self.

So, if Gomes isn't available let's try Bernard, Davies, Sigurdsson and Delph in a midfield four with Kean and Richarlieson up front playing as a central pair, DC-L on the bench. Then if we decide to attack wide then the full back on the other side stays back so we have a back three so that the central pair are not continually pulled out of position when the opposition break and the midfield are allowed and encouraged to get forward. If that doesn't work then it doesn't take much to move Bernard and/or Richarlieson out wide and sub one of the midfield to revert back to Silva's preference, or more to my liking, something not quite the same.

The bloke I wanted as manager was Simeone who probably isn't available now but he looks the sort of bloke to pin someone to the dressing room wall if he doesn't pull his weight. Right now I'd approach Wenger to act in an advisory capacity to Silva for this and may be next season and that is partly as I don't know how good Brands may be at that sort of thing.

Any sort of a loss against Sheff Wed and it should be goodnight, Marco.

It may not work but it's certainly not working at the moment with the ponderous midfield and whilst I can understand Silva picking Schneiderlin (I would play Tom) but I can't see why he pairs him with Siggy as they are too slow.

Iwobi or Bernard would speed up the passing and movement in midfield which is the main problem as we are standing still and therefore easy for an organised defence to mark.

There's a massive shift over the years. In the '80s and '90s players laughed about Southall's music tapes that they'd have to listen to in the dressing room and on the coach. These days they all have their headphones on. The players are more introverted. It must be very difficult to get through to these guys. They all have widely different backgrounds and are from different continents. No doubt some hang on the manager's every word, whilst others are probably looking at their feet and paying no attention. Drop the latter, you might think, but that could be the guy who then goes out and scores a hattrick.

He did well in the middle of the park on Saturday, lifting it over their fellas head, then controlling the ball moving forward. Next thing his arms were by his sides gesticulating to his team-mates because nobody showed for the ball.

Why didn’t Silva, jump out the dugout to tell Morgan, he had 10/15 metres of space to run into with the ball, which might just bring a defender towards him and create space for his mates?

A) because he doesn’t want his midfielders to run forward with the ball or (B) because Snides doesn’t want to take any kind of responsibility?

very sad when you think about it really... because both of them are getting paid an absolute fortune.

Sigurdsson is finding himself marked out of most games. Teams target him. Stop Sigurdsson and stop Everton, they said last season. And it was true. The sides who tried to stop us, often did so. The teams who saw us as there to be beaten and let Sigurdsson get on with it, found us a much tougher side.

What is happening is that the opposition are swallowing up the centre -forward (CF) and Sigurdsson into their deep marking systems. CF is marked by the centre-backs and the midfield sits deep with a defensive midfielder either side of Sigurdsson so he can't get the ball. We keep going wide as there is no options in the middle. The wingers are being shown wide and lack quality into the box. If the CF is DCL then we do have a threat from these positions but I've seen little from Kean so far. He seems a better player when it's ball to feet.

If we go 433, and remove the AMC position, then the wingers stand between the centre-back and the full back. This pins the opposition back as they can't go forwards and leave us 3 v 2. It also means there is more room for the full backs to get into as our wide players are more central.

The main difference is though, our midfield is deeper. There's no Sigurdsson, static and double marked, and instead the opposition have to send midfielders out to press us on the ball in these deeper positions and this creates space in the middle.

The problem has been we are finding no space in the middle. Opposition sit back and plug the gaps in the middle and easily mark us. We run about a lot earlier, but become frustrated and then get more and more static.

I think with a 433 we can make better use of the ball in those central areas. Particularly if Gomes is fit. We have missed him greatly. We are not seeing anyone else receive the ball, back to goal, and turning on it like he does. They receive it to feet and send it back to where it came from or knock it sideways. Gomes does the same, but he also turns on it and carries it forwards.

Last season only one player completed more dribbles than Gomes. Now he wasn't tearing down the wing, but he beats a man in the middle and opens up space. He also intercepted the ball a lot because he reads the game well. He was second best at this after Gueye. Without Gueye we haven't been that bad at intercepting, but without Gueye and Gomes we have been. Gomes can intercept a loose ball and immediately carry it forwards.

I think there was something of a backlash against Gomes for his dreadful display against Villa, and this then led to some doubting him. It's very clear to me that this side rely heavily on him, and without him we lack ideas in the middle and the ability to progress the ball through the middle third.

Gomes is ideally suited to a 433, particularly if he was flanked by Delph and Davies who could be legs either side of him, and can cover his inevitable lapse of concentration in defensive duties.

Steve(#67); St Anne's bridewell is not a nice place and I'm not sure that even there they have learnt the lesson from Toxteth but you are quite right and that should of course have read "threatened" to pin, until they get to the secluded Finch Farm. After all, it is quite often more than just a matter of diagonal runs.

Drop Pickford, Coleman, one of Mina or Keane (take your pick), Sigurdsson and Kean.

Bring in some youth and energy with Davies, Holgate and Calvert Lewin.

Is Steklenburg fit? If so, get him in. At least he's commanding of his area and will keep the back four calm.

Schneiderlin can sit in a three with delph and davies ahead of him. Richarlison needs to be either a CF or coming in from the left to shoot with his right. He is probably the biggest goal threat we have.

They have to change something as it has become so predictable and slow going forward and very nervous at the back.
A recipe for disaster as we know.

However, he's mainly played 4231 here. This saw Gomes and Gueye in the "defensive midfield" positions last season. Yet Gueye was encouraged to get forwards most games and defend higher up the pitch. Gomes was playing deeper than him most games as his job was to be the playmaker and pull the strings from deep. Gomes is not a defensive midfielder but a box-to-box midfielder. It might not seem like it though, because one of his weaknesses is that he doesn't cover as much ground as his midfield teammates. Perhaps this is a reason why he sits deeper, though I presume it's really just down to wanting him more on the ball and to be the one to move the ball more quickly.

I was surprised to see Delph and Gomes in the deeper slots, behind Sigurdsson. I would have thought we'd need someone like Schneiderlin there to hold. But it worked quite well. Both could pass and help each other out and I think they could play quite well together, getting forwards and going box to box.

I'd prefer to see those two and Tom Davies and to drop Sigurdsson and try to play a different way when we have 70%+ possession like on Saturday.

The only way we will win tomorrow is if we can score a couple of goals early on, that might give us enough of a boost to win the match. Fingers crossed.

Gana seemed to stay in that 10 metre stretch either side of the halfway line until PSG came calling when he reverted to how he played when he first arrived. Delph and Schneiderlin seem similar and I've seen Davies after the halftime break give up moving more forward. If he doesn't want a static defensive midfielder then perhaps he should be picking someone with a bit more ability to get "box to box" and as Tony (#68) said then Silva should be out of the dugout screaming them forward.

Alan, I've never seen Silva in the dugout for more than 10 seconds (to fetch water) in all the home games I have been to. I've only missed one of them in Silva's tenure. So not sure how he could get out the dugout? You've lost me there.

Perhaps it is just the phraseology "out the dugout", I do agree he rarely sits down until he seems to have given up on the game but that pettiness does you no credit. He was not screaming for anyone to get forward.

Apart from Siggy and Richy who have both started the season poorly who else do we have that could be considered a goal threat.

DCL is good for about 6 a season, Iwobi one or two and hes already scored those, Tosun one if were lucky and Maybe one or two from Mina/Keane.

We can have all the possession in the world but without some natural goalscorers we will struggle.

All those advocating dropping Siggy need to think about that although I would certainly give Gordon a run out right now.

Our success last season was built on sound defending and hitting teams on the break. We don't have players or tactics that will break down "Park the bus" sides.

The thing is, does a £100,000 a week player really need Jurgen Klopp on the side-line doing his whole pantomime act in order to play well? The Klopp style is good for the crowd, it makes them think he's doing something. If we are losing, and I was on the pitch, I would rather see a calm manager, telling me it's ok and letting me get on with my game, rather than a lunatic kicking stuff about and waving his arms about like a mad man.

I think our frustrations mean we want someone to do something. The only one we can perceive to do something is the manager with the power to make substitutions and communicate with the players.

Personally, I wanted Gylfi to do something on Saturday. We were playing shite, and did not look like scoring and he was the only one on the pitch who could do something and fashion a goal from nowhere. Which is why, whilst I might want him dropped, I could see why it would be so hard to drop him.

"He also intercepted the ball a lot because he reads the game well. He was second best at this after Gueye."

Actually, Gomes was 9th on the club last season in interceptions with 20, trailing such defensive "luminaries" as Bernard, Walcott and Sigurdsson. IMO he does not read opposing attacks well at all, although he does tackle well when in position.

I agree changes are needed, particularly amongst players , who seem to disappear during games, I just so wonder if players performance is accessed after games, Because the same stats keep getting thrown up all the time,

You know we're second only to the RS in the number of crosses put in this season, 141 in total. 141 crosses and 5 goals.

Desperate.

Edit: Online Newspaper article attached - they class it as "recoveries", which I thought was interceptions. I assume recovery is picking up a loose ball.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-7464271/DANNY-MURPHY-Swapping-Nou-Camp-Goodison-step-forward-insists-Andre-Gomes.html

If anyone thinks Mourinho is the answer I can't agree with that.

We are who we are because we stick together, we're a family and a community, it's one of the great things we can be proud of at the moment. Mourihno (who has created division in every club he has managed) doesn't care about that. All he is bothered about is his reputation and ego.

Yes, he has won trophies but we are building. We need to have faith.

Anyway, thanks for posting that URL. Nice interview. Gomes comes off more confident as a result of having chosen Everton. Interesting story Murphy tells about Houllier.

Meaningless drivel my friend. “We are who we are because we stick together” well we are mediocre.

Secondly, how do we “stick together”? One minute we want Kendall sacked, couple of years later he ditches us for freaking Bilbao. He comes back cause Everton is a “marriage” then we don’t support him so he quits. He returns a third time and we sack him in 12 months. Royle wins the cup then is shown the door. Wayne, Ross and Franny clear off at the first opportunity. We hound poor Gary Speed as a “traitor” when he was sold to balance the books. We blame Hibbert and Osman for every shortcoming of the team for the duration of their careers. All the aforementioned are “true blues” and we haven’t treated one another well. Do why in the Hell should we extend such undying loyalty to Silva and Sig?

Unfortunately, they were denied access to the playing staff, Management, Coaching Team and the Board. :-)

For exactly the reasons you explained? You're complaining that it's a negative thing that in the past, giving the excellent examples you gave, we haven't stuck together and that isn't a good thing so why don't we try to do this now?

I do agree with you about Mourhino but he would attract top players and convince them we were going places.

I was prepared to be patient with Silva based on how we finished last season but Preseason and the way he managed or mismanaged the SU game convinced me he isn't up to the job. As other posters have said his changes to the game at the weekend would have befitted a Sunday league manager.

If you cant manage to motivate and organize a team to beat Sheffield Utd at GP then you shouldnt be here.

Because the people there now are undeserving.

So you can only imagine for them to have been together for so long they would have developed a system that they both knew and understood. So Sousa leaves and Marco appoints Luis Boa Morte, now maybe he doesnt have the same relationship with Boa Morte as he did with Sousa. Maybe the players don't take to Boa Morte as they did to Sousa, pure supposition I know.

Also when the window closed I thought the comment Silva made was interesting he said lets remember our net spend this summer has been £28 million. Which seemed to suggest that he was expecting a bigger budjet. Also he kept saying he wanted Gana Gueye to stay so who authorised his sale bearing in mind he still had at least 2 years left on his contract.

I don't think many Man Utd fans would agree he brought in top players. Top wages but not top players.

#95 Kieran

And thos two players that are underserving are our top goalscorers and assist makers from last season?

I only mentioned one player (Sig) and the manager. Yes, Sig is undeserving in the way Tony Cottee was. He doesn't contribute enough to the game on a weekly basis. He does just enough to make himself look good by scoring largely meaningless goals.
Last season if you took away ALL of Sigurdsson's goals, the only results affected would be the wins over Leicester and Cardiff. All his other goals were consolations or icing on the cake in games we would have won even if he hadn't scored.

It was (possibly) JPS that was the tactician, and training Guru, it is neither coincidence or Sod's Law, that Everton despite recruiting more players in the Summer, have appeared worse and disorganised since his departure.

Regarding the statement Silva made about the budget being a net spend of £28M, maybe, just maybe, the Board were reluctant to grant him any more funds. Because they feared that his tenure may be limited,, and whoever came in would demand a clear-out, and a new box of toys of his own.

Ronaldo is on record as saying he is the best coach he has ever worked under.

I am not advocating Mourhino BTW just saying he would attract top players.

Yeah that’s a good point. I just don’t like the way he is and if (BIG if) he became our manager he wouldn’t be around long.

102# Kieran

Some great stats there that you’ve manipulated to make you’re point. And using Tony Cottee to back up your point was unexpected.

As a side point, when I was 11 I went to a hairdressers with a Tony Cottee photo and said “I want it like that”. The first and last time that happened not only to me but I presume also the hairdresser.

There’s lots and lots of videos of silva coaching. It’s always him. Not JPS with silva looking on, like Koeman did watching his brother Edwin. It’s marco silva they name check. It’s marco silva Richarlison says is like a father.

JPS’ departure looks a big loss to silva, but I don’t think anything has changed for the players. It’s business as usual.

The point is that he doesn't score or perform when we need him to. For example, it's 0-0 or 0-1, he is invisible. If we are up 1-0 or 2-0, yeah he will pop up and score but he rarely is a "difference maker" in the way a quality Number 10 could and should be.

After Saturday some were calling for Silva's head on Sunday.

Now, on Monday, people are saying we're playing Wednesday on Tuesday so let's see where we stand on Wednesday.

A bad result and the board will meet on Thursday and sacking or backing him on Friday.

Do any of our US Blues, Mike Gaynes, John Pierce, Jamie Crowley, Bill Gienapp et al, know if any US channels are covering it? I can usually pick up something on IPTV, but their program schedules never indicate if it will be on or not! Thanks in anticipation.

That's a real S-T-R-E-T-C-H and interpretation of what Welsby said. The full tweet is:

"Don't rule out Mourinho. If he gets guarantees, the project might well appeal. I kid you not" — placed among his other Tweets on wide-ranging views on various footy topics, tweeting among friends and followers.

This sort of speculation is bread and butter for both mainstream media and social media these days. "Manager at Premier League club losing games — link unemployed manager to post".

Danny Murphy speaking to Jim White today, speculates on the same 'Mourinho to replace Silva' story.

As you have done, so will others. Embellish Welsby's tweet, reference Murphy, and suddenly you have a trending story. Fans will come on forums like this, convinced that if it is appearing on so many sites and media outlets, there must be something behind it.

It's bollocks!

Elton Welsby? forgot he ever existed. I also saw Richard Keys on Twitter saying Silva should get sacked. He didn't say anything about "smashing" anyone's girlfriend or female refs this time though.

Let's hope they don't complicate things by replacing him with Mervyn Day, Mad Friday, or Fred Thursday from Morse.

Jay's comments "... if it is appearing on so many sites and media outlets, there must be something behind it."

"You know something, Daniel. I got laughed at and criticised for asking why our fans called Schneiderlin a Rolls-Royce of a player when he's shit.

Now everybody hates him. The exact same happened with McCarthy."

What are you on? This conversation has got nothing to do with McCarthy... but, since you brought him up, you need to be informed that no player over the last 6 years has gone out on the park and given more than Jimmy Mac. That man may have been limited attacking wise but he put his safety on the line to defend our cause, damaging his career for EFC (and before you rehash that old tripe, for Ireland too).

He did the job he was given to the best of his ability, and if the bunch of shirkers and lazy arses we have now gave that same commitment, we wouldn't be moaning about them on here.

Where's my coat?

No Carabao Cup games are scheduled for broadcast and ESPN+ online is offering Portsmouth vs Southampton, Colchester vs Spurs, Arsenal vs Nottm Forest and Preston NE vs Man City.

Of course, after that miserable pun at #123, you don't deserve to know.

Should be right up your alley.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp88oumRQvs

Hope they don't think the same for tomorrow, but deem it not worth broadcasting. :-)

There may be a stream somewhere, but they are usually hit and miss.

You're only here 5 minutes and you think you know what being Everton is. Do me a favour and fuck off back to Watford or Hull. That's where you belong. Not among us.

Anybody want to organize some tweets to ESPN telling them it's big news in the UK?>

That's Everton's problem – we are stuck in no-man's land, we are trying to get instant success while trying to con ourselves we are developing players at the same time and have strategies in place that are supporting neither.

The club has to work out which direction they are going in. If instant success is what they are after, then stop buying mediocre players and mangers, and buy the best – and buy and sack until you get it, eg, like Chelsea. If the club want to develop players into a long-term successful club, then buy the best young players and no middle-aged has-beens, eg, like Ajax.

So please, Everton FC, for the fans, work out what directions you want to go on so we can follow you on that road with dignity.

So the media's interpretation of this has been telling. They've come out with damning stats about Silva's reign which, given he's been in charge for one season and 7 matches, are a joke. They're building a narrative around sacking a coach and Everton's expenditure being wasteful, which is what they love doing about United as well. It fills columns and airtime.

Not buying into it.

We were absolutely awful for 3 months last season and I put that slump down to the zonal marking, some shocking officialdom, and half the players being woeful.

But it felt like we'd got somewhere by the end.

Then off go Gueye and Zouma, Schneiderlin returns, and we're back to being pathetic.

Yet I look back at recent history and think we need to hold our nerve here. Firstly, a lot wanted Silva gone during the winter of discontent but we got through it and were playing a very impressive brand of football by the spring.

Secondly, look at our neighbours. They gave their coach a free pass for 2 seasons and while they weren't all that impressive, went from being where we are now to title challengers. Same can be said for Spurs under Pochettino.

We are now close to where we were timewise when we got rid of Koeman. But I see a side with far more potential than that of Autumn 2017. Players like Richarlison, Iwobi, Digne, Bernard and Kean are only going to improve and we need to be patient.

Second season is always hard. Moyes memorably finished 17th but he recovered and came back stronger. I don't for one minute think we will be anywhere near the relegation places but we have to resign ourselves to not troubling the Top 4. A cup run would be wonderful but if we're impatient – and the board are too – we will end up having exactly the same conversation when the next coach is going through a bad patch in 12 months time.

Martinez got backed because of a wonderful start which many would attribute to what he inherited and then survived due to cup runs. Koeman got backed with the new cash but got found out in terms of man-management and tactics. Allardyce was just all wrong on so many levels. Silva needs more time. We must break the cycle and back him.

He turned it around during last February and I am sure he can again. The last time we were patient was with Martinez and his trend line was one going downwards all the way. Silva has managed to correct problems in the past and so I am confident he will this time. People lazily compare him to Martinez but that coach would just go out and play as if there was some supernatural genie that would help us win matches. Silva is better and has won more. We need to trust in him and put this in context.

Marco Silva unhappy with Everton players 'hiding' as side prepares for crucial run of matches

That isn't great but many of the players need to look at themselves here. Gylfi has been disappointing for a signing we spent an entire summer chasing.

Schneiderlin is embarrassingly poor. (Thanks Koeman)

I struggle to criticise Theo because we sort of knew what we were getting when we signed him.

Also, what's all this about "Get Mourinho in"???

No-one care to remember that he got fired from his last two managerial posts in England, and that. even with the superstars we usually expect him to be so successful with, he 'lost' them – both times! – and simply could not turn things around again?

The man relies on players busting a gut for him (and for the team)!

So... besides the fact that he wouldn't come anyway, as we are just not the calibre of team he calls 'a challenge'.. we need more than just 'turning round', or to go on a decent run, to actually 'challenge' for anything, ourselves, as he'd demand!

Just who really believes he would have – or somehow be able to get – players busting a gut, week-in & week-out, with this lot?

Perhaps you would want to include every single Evertonian who lives somewhere other than England and should, by your absurd high-horse logic, hop on a plane for each match so that their seasoned observations can snatch a grain of credibility?

I really can't stand this Evertonians ‘do the match' BS mentality. It has zero basis in anyone's knowledge of the game and comes across as well – sorry – stupidly short-sighted and smugly self-important (and also, by the way, does not give us much faith in your other pronouncements on this thread).

Brilliant hahaha

Mina and Keane are my two least favourite players. What the fuck are they doing in Everton shirts? Until we replace at least one of them in January then we are going to leak goals.

Sigurdsson is not a creative force and needs to be replaced by a Ziyech type number 10... or Ziyech for that matter, Schneiderlin needs to go period, whilst DCL is not a Premier League striker, or a striker!

Marco needs to learn how to stop playing out of form players, learn how to motivate the team and how to drill out results.

Right now Allardyce is proving himself to have been the better choice. The world has gone mad.

He is inept and atrocious at choosing managers. Stick to developing shit. Seriously someone buy him some Lego!

If he does sack Silva then someone please grab his phone, fasten the buckles on his white jacket, duct tap his mouth, and send him on a mission to the Mariana Trench or Mars (which is lovely this time of year).

We've had the Dogs of War... This is the era of the Everton Cowards.

I just had to check the league table to confirm that Everton were indeed at the bottom of the table way behind on points to the teams we would likely to be vying with for the upper reaches of the league

But that’s not actually the case is it! The team are actually only a point behind spurs and Utd and 4 off top 3. There is a bigger gap between city and Liverpool.

There have been shite performance this season, but it is still early doors.

We might get lucky tonight against a lower league team, if we don't we will surely get knocked out. Our two goalscorer's are the only ones who can bail Silva out. He should of insisted on getting a goalscorer in the summer but we never showed any interest in anyone apart from a 19 year old rookie, unforgivable IMO.

It is early doors and that is why I am concerned. Losing to lower end teams sends a message to other lower end teams that they can also get something against us.

I'm sure Silva is also worried that is why a nothing cup game like Sheffield Wednesday is NOW a big deal.

Silva will probably be playing his best 11 against this shower of shit to save his job. Therefore possibly more injuries and more fatigue for upcoming games. The media are tipping yet another Everton manager for the sack and we are on our 4th manager in 5 years.

We are becoming a poison chalice for any top level manager and advertising ourselves with the same level of credibility as Thomas Cook.

I'm not expecting them to win the league, just play like they fucking care. If this were the UFC or Boxing then losing against mid card opponents would destroy any hope of a title challenge.

So talk of competing against the top teams is the same fantastical and laughable bullshit we spout every season. So enough talk and stupid excuses from them.

From the dressing room onto the pitch we are a team with no plan, desire, ambition or vision. It is the managers job to sort this part out. What is he doing?

We have been gifted with one of the easiest starts to a Premier League campaign in years. Hitting the ground running and getting some momentum before playing the tougher teams would have boded well. Yet no plan, desire, ambition or vision!

We have looked incapable of beating former Championship teams and after 6 games are again competing against the lower 3rd of the league. Why is this a concern? We were here last year, and the year before that, and the year before that. We have good players with only a few new additions so what is the problem?

We struggled against Lincoln City in the cup and after spending over £200 Million are yet to improve over the Koeman era.

We have players being paid ridiculous money and not willing to fight, a manager who is repeating the same mistakes and poor form which he did last season and at Hull and at Watford.

If Silva goes I will be disappointed as I'm getting tired of this managerial instability. However if he does leave then Brands and not Moshiri should be put in charge of choosing the next guy.