The Custodian

(Bielsa needs Chilli, Onion and Tomatoes to make Salsa but there isn't any at Finch Farm now!)

Nice article and I forgot all about Dyche the player and that extraordinary FA cup run by Chesterfield. Feels like a million years ago. Hard to imagine that happening today. Also a nice reminder of Boro as the original money wasters who got worse before Moshiri came along.

Only this time, when the stark reality of a lowly League position and the loss of Top status for 70 years, is very much a possibility. Last season was bad enough, but we managed to get over the line, and I was there, (Crystal Palace) what an atmosphere, (second half) which almost paralleled Bayern Munich all those years ago, but I will always believe that it was the Fans who did it, they lifted those players.

Sadly Frank, never learned properly from that, and although I believe his hands were tied both financially and with injuries, and who he had available, he still made the mistake of playing the same group, when there were at least some alternatives, substitutes and youngsters, who never got a look in.

Well I truly believe that Sean Dyche is different to his predecessors, and can manage to elevate these players mentality into believing they can win every game, rather than a 'damage limitation mentality'. He is a great believer in the mind processes in football, if you go out thinking we can't win, you won't ! Simple as that.

How many times have we heard in situations away from Football, in an emergency, an 8 stone woman lifting a Car off a child or another adult, to save their lives, but never being able to replicate that feat after when tested ? The mind and the body are very much underestimated, but in the right conditions, actions such as these become automatic responses.

I believe we are almost in those emergency situations, and we have the right man to instil belief into what we have to work with.

That’s what we all crave and what we will all support (including in the Championship, God forbid). The other stuff will follow.

Posters who you rarely hear from (if ever) are putting together some fantastic stuff. Skillfully written and with such passion.

I have little to no knowledge of FA cups (any cups) we didnt win. These competitions become dead to me as soon as we are out.

Nice to know our manager stepped forward and buried a penalty despite the expectations of an entire town resting on his shoulders. That tells you what you need to know about his character.

Education before 7.00 ? You don't get that watching Susanna Reid and Ed Balls

Dyche is the closest to David Moyes of all these appointments. And that’s not me harking back to “good old days that were nearly days” - more a sign of where we’re at and what we need. A reset. Would be great if that extended to those upstairs but I’m surprisingly hopeful for tomorrow that we can start to claw some pride back on the pitch. COYB.

This is where Dyche, should definitely come in handy, because the only thing that Burnley possessed that night at Turf Moor, was spirit, and will, and this was enough to help them inexplicably beat Everton, that night.

He’s been out of work, he’s just got a massive job at Everton, and if his board of directors stay away tomorrow, then I’m certain Everton will create a massive upset against the league leaders, and this could suddenly change the mood.

And you’re right to allude to that night at Turf Moor. Without new arrivals, Dyche is working with what he’s got: a squad that on paper isn’t that bad, but is lacking all the basics that Burnley possessed that night. If he can inject that spirit and will into them and get them up to speed, we will hopefully grind out a result on Saturday. Here’s hoping eh?

Well done Adam, nice mate... very nicely written.

The fans have come round to the view that the board is the enemy and the board has taken to Alastair Campbell style lies and behind the scenes briefing against them (“Headlockgate”)

The playing staff (led by the manager, who is likely to be the only one with an IQ above 85) are uncertain. The board, led by a deceitful luvvie (saying “Darling you were fabulous” - while phoning his mates with “Turned up drunk, forgot his lines, tripped over the sets and vomited on the leading lady during his big speech, AGAIN, he is dead dearie, DEAD”, tells them that they are unlucky (because taking two years off sick is no explanation for now being shit as a centre forward, is it DCL?), but also that leaving will ensure they never get the same wages (if they can find an employer).

This fight is a strange one, with one side (let us call it the “the Saigon regime”) having a complete monopoly of power, money, propaganda and influence. The other (let us call them “Viet Kong” having all the numbers and unlimited time. The Saigon regime has managed to get a hugely wealthy but dim supporter, but it remains corrupt, inept and self-serving.

The supporters, like the Viet Kong, can lose every battle, every encounter, but they have nowhere else to go. We are not going to start supporting the Redshite, Manchester United or Spurs. We are Evertonians, and that’s it. A concerted, never ending attack on Kenwright and his cronies will ultimately prevail.

The prize the supporters want is a successful club where they can have pride in the history,the style and the present playing staff of the club. Despite occasional talismanic players (Dean, Ball, Young, Ratcliffe, Ferguson, Reid, make your own list, I’d include Duncan McKenzie and Wayne Rooney even though they were only briefly players) Everton is not a club of “stars”, it is a club with a collectivist ethos which it is easy to be part of.

Now, back to digging tunnels a Cu Chi… where’s me shovel?

He’s kept the same mates, which always shows great values, imo, and he’s also a sensible person. He’s normal in the sense that he has no airs or graces, and he can also have a laugh at himself.

Every single person who was at Forest, during the Brian Clough era, will have been educated in how to play good football, and also had certain footballing values instilled into them (unless they were thick) so I believe Dyche has earned the right to take over a massive but very dysfunctional football club, who are desperate for the basic common sense skills (to begin with🤞) that he will definitely bring into the club.

I was gutted for Chesterfield, that day, and especially for Dyche, who would have got to captain a third division team at Wembley, in a FA CUP final, and this would have been a tremendous achievement. I remember him going on TFI FRIDAY, the next week with Chris Evans, and thinking ‘fuck off lad’, but I’m sure the stick he would have received would have been like water off a ducks back! Let’s just hope he can keep us up.

We shall not, We shall not be moved, but Kenwright et al will,and become stinking bad memories.

Chesterfield Semi

Haaland v Dixie

My afterthought regards Clough. He was clever, he was simple, and he had great values when it came to football, but I don’t think anyone who has ever been under his tutelage, has really achieved great things?

Another one of my old managers Martin O’Neill, has probably done as well as anyone else who has played under Clough, so hopefully Dyche, can be the man, who goes one better than Martin, who was also a clever and simple football manager, imo.

A good article and I have to say if he pulls this one off he will go down in Everton folklore, he will deserve too as well. One thing about the City, and I think Tony alluded to it somewhere on another thread, we are full of humour, goodwill and kindness, but never ever do the dirty on us. Its not often the fans look at each other and say no..stuff that.. all we needed was someone who could chew a brick, spit it out and say that was good.. Desperate Dan, no less. And thats who we got. No quarter given now..
They think its all over... we have only just woke up

It doesn't matter where you come from or live, you are an Evertonian through and through and part of our family.

Dyche wasn't my choice, but I don't think we had many, so we get behind him, and most importantly, the team.

Your points make me think. Plan? DoF (multiple ones) that haven't been allowed to do their jobs. Submissive and as compliant as my dogs. Although the boy is a bit of free spirit, but I always know he's going to come back once he's lost the chase with the foxes and squirrels. I guess that's like me with Everton! I always come back. Always will. They've always got me and have had so from the cradle.

The communication from the club in recent weeks has been derogarty at best. This board has further disassociated themselves from the very lifeblood that keeps them in place. How dare they point the finger when they should be looking in the mirror.

Sorry for the rant. Great article and let's get behind the team tomorrow wherever we all are. They are what matters. Everton matter.

yes he does come across as a decent chap. I know he wasn't actually in the army, but he does remind me of a type for which the army was a career. That 'can do ' attitude I suppose. I should make clear I wasn't equating squaddies with murderers, it was tongue in cheek but perhaps in bad taste now I reflect on it.

A large chunk of my family moved from Walton over to Chesterfield/Sheffield, so there’s quite a big contingent of blues in that area! And with that, we obviously bump into a lot of locals who worship Sean Dyche. Not only for the part he played in their side’s biggest moment, but for the way he carried himself on and off the pitch. He’s very well thought of, likewise by any Forest-following mates of mine.

I think his own self-assessment on getting the job (I wouldn’t be here if things were rosey) is telling. I don’t think any of us would have said that spending half a billion quid would leave us with Sean Dyche in charge. But for where we are and what we need, I’m happy to have him in our corner.

I knew what you meant Kevin, because Dyche does come across as a doer, and without trying to not sound boring, if you watch the highlights of that Chesterfield semifinal, you will see Dyche starts the move for the sending off, with a 40 yard pass into the Centre forwards feet.

I expect DCL, to be the most worked player on the pitch, wants Dyche gets the players playing properly to his system, but I might be wrong, because I’ve never really studied his teams.

I agree with your comments re Calvert-Lewin. If Dyche can get him back to anywhere near his capabilities, then I think we have a great chance of beating the drop.

Might be a big ask though. I was/am a big fan of Calvert-Lewin. But since his return he has looked totally cluelesss and nothing like a footballer and appears to mistime every jump for a high ball.

Don't know if he had a mental problem given comments he has previously made but I hope Dyche can sort him out.

He'll probably be given time though, considering the circumstances.

This joyous score, plus the fact that only a full-back's handling prevented him from getting two goals, made his bow at Goodison Park notable: yet apart from this and from one clever flicked shot which rattle close to getting a goal from an impossible angle. Trebilcock was rarely seen. He hasn't the expertise at the moment to look a good First Division proposition, but to be fair one must give him his chance to settle down. (source: Everton Independent Research Data)

Just an example of how some people are born to do a particular thing in life, as we all know, Trebilcock, had a major impact on Everton's history just a few short months later.

"How many times have we heard in situations away from Football, in an emergency, an 8-stone woman lifting a car off a child or another adult, to save their lives, but never being able to replicate that feat after when tested?"

I watched a show last night where it was proposed that the human brain can emit radio/sound and electromagnetic waves like a TV aerial and therefore it was suggested that apparitions of ghosts, UFOs etc could be subconsciously created by us so we see what we expect to see when in haunted locations.

They even suggested sightings of the fictional Slenderman may be due to the widespread belief in the character and human's combined subconscious projections of him manifesting in real life.

With that having been said, if we have 40,000 at Goodison and millions around the world willing us to score. Surely it's just a matter of tapping into our subconscious and projecting an apparition of us scoring some goals?

The good thing is that, on this show, they said that cameras pick up apparitions more easily than the human eye as our brains eliminate "noise". So, if the ref doesn't see the phantom goal, the VAR definitely will.

There is also the option of use sound levitation to manipulate the ball.

https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2021.678021

I hoped, even believed that there would never be a time when I yearned for the 'dogs of war' but I was wrong; that time is now and if Dyche can re-awaken that spirit, it's our best – probably only – chance of getting out of this mess.

It's a free hit tomorrow. I'm not expecting to win, why would I, but I am hoping and expecting to hear the dogs barking…

We religiously followed Everton for just about every match during the 80s.

He warned me that it isn't pretty to watch and I wouldnt like it. It wasn't and I didn't, and not just because of the result.

The boy barks at anything that moves and lately the foxes are winding him up, so he will be barking tomorrow before he comes back to listen to me and look at me with a confused face.

Dogs of War were not always so bad as painted.

I'm not saying the football was pretty from '97 onwards, and unfortunately the very good player Gary Speed was sold, then it more or less has been downhill since then. Kenwright became Chairman and well err... we all know the pitiful rest.

Can't blame too much on the owner for wanting him but to let him do what he wanted and waste so much money was downright reckless which cost us more millions when we had to get shut. He took the piss out of our blatant weak ownership and board.

Allardyce. How did this happen? Sheer panic, lack of ambition and thought for the club's profile by our owner and board on this one. Sam's results were decent of course because he knows the game well but could we go on watching his kind of football? Hopefully Dyche can repeat it.

Sam was too street-smart for our owner and board and it was another costly and embarrassing payoff for the club. Sam walked away with his pride intact and a pocket full of cash.

Marco Silva was a signing I agreed with. I liked the idea of a young up-and-coming manager for the long term. We had some good results under his spell but he definitely lost his way and the Liverpool defeat was the nail in his coffin.

Doing quite well now with Fulham and I think we may have let him go before he matured. Maybe a lesson in this one for us all.

Ancelotti. Well if big Sam was an embarrassing surprise this one was as good as it gets in football. Still don't know how it happened!

Carlo was not used to working with such bang-average players and dealing with idiots on the board though. He got some great results out of his team but with football that looked like big Sam had set it up. Very pragmatic but his percentage was very good and the few appearances by Rodriguez was worth his time with us alone.

I can only think that he was generally happy at Everton but saw no plan at board level to help him move forward but they in turn saw him as a miracle worker who didn't need money. Madrid opportunity gave him an out unfortunately.

How do we go from Ancelotti to Benitez? Only these idiots who own and run us can explain that one.

This appointment brought shame on our club and in the end almost brought the perfect gift to all Liverpool supporters with Benitez eventually dragging us into the relegation battle. Totally wrong on all accounts and heads should have rolled for this.

Frank Lampard. Great football name but still very raw as a manager. The board tried to blame us for this appointment but there were only 2 options anyway due to the board's ineptitude and to search for more suitable candidates.

We want all of our managers to do well of course but I felt this for Lampard more than anyone because I thought he would attract players of his own ilk to the club and have us playing like the teams he played in. Dream on Peter!

Unfortunately it doesn't always work out that way and the shenanigans behind the scenes with who signs who and the board's lack of direction will never help any young manager. The pressure got to Frank and his lack of tactical skills showed through.

Bournemouth cup game was the end for me as he should have played a full team to get the win and confidence going. The board let us down by letting it go beyond that.

Sean Dyche. We can build him up all we want and talk about his down-to-earth ways and any other positive spin we can put out for him. He seems the perfect fit because we're in a tough situation and he looks like he came from the trenches himself.

Fact is that he's the only one brave enough to take this challenge on and we are desperate. He gets very well paid regardless of results.

He's got my backing because he's now our manager and he carries all of our hopes going into this relegation battle to get results that will keep us up but please remember that he's not a magician and he somehow has to reverse his thoughts that “This team don't know how to win”.

Joe Royle's team at least initially were competitive and able to ruffle feathers of quite a few teams, until it all went sour for Joe and for Everton.

However, the last three or four years have been totally embarrassing for many Evertonians because the players have seemed so passive and unable to rouse themselves to play for the shirt.

The fact we have had great numbers of various players with various levels of ability and they have failed to look like a 'team' on so many occasions during that time, is as unacceptable as it's embarrassing.

If Dyche and his coaching staff heralds the beginning of the 'Dogs of War' Part Two, the club might be able to climb out of its nosedive and who knows what that may lead to?

The next 18 matches are very important, with the main objective to try and stay up but also to help rid the club of the loser mentality that has been allowed to fester for far too long.

I remember nearly running into him leaving a Youth Cup game at Goodison on a freezing Friday evening about 10 years ago. Subsequently, he signed Chris Long, arguably our best player from that team.

Chris never made it into the big time but what impressed me more than anything was Dyche being prepared to go out of his way see players in the flesh rather than rely on reports, data and TV footage.

That spoke of hard work and commitment; old school values, maybe, but something we desperately need in our current predicament.

And Tony A., your perspectives on Dyche are highly valued. You're always a good resource, my friend, but this week in particular.

The other Villa full-back that day was a real yard dog called Charlie Aitken. It all got a trifle fractious.

Whether he can handle the "elite" players remains to be seen…

My recollection was that Kanchelskis joined after the Cup Final win and it was that game in my mind when I think of the dogs of war. You're right about Limpar, a fine player and I thought he was our stand out player in that final, the others were not at his level.

It was a very brief fling with Kanchelskis but an enjoyable one. He was arguably the last truly world class player we signed and also perhaps provided our first exposure to the Russian mafia, a topic we can now consider ourselves experts on!

Correct. When Kanchelskis joined Everton he was asked why he would want to leave Man Utd and he said something to the effect that "all I know is Everton just beat United in the cup final."

As to the Dogs of War tag, I thought it originated early on when we had Ebbrell, Horne, Parkinson and Hinchcliffe in midfield like against the RS when Limpar was a sub. Over time Limpar forced his way into the starting 11.

This is a really different situation than anything that has gone before.Dyche to be able to carry this off, shows himself to not only a shrewd manager, but very astute in positioning him in the right situation right in the middle of a Crisis.He has actually mastered the situation.

It is interesting that he calls himself a Custodian.It is a acknowledge of the Everton Traditional and his part in maintaining it.He is very determined to be a positive Custodian and comes across as some who has really bought into the role.Something that Adam who has watched Dyche progress for years has highlighted ,since Chesterfield.

'Cometh the moment,Cometh the man.'

-an idiom often used to describe the phenomenon that when a hero is needed, one appears.