4 winnable games if Sean Dyche makes the right changes

We need goals now, therefore Patterson (or Coleman), Mina, Gray and Simms all play. Simms should play off Calvert-Lewin as a second striker.

If we are going down, let’s do it with a bang rather than a whimper.

Bringing his mate Keane back into the team was a massive mistake. Coady was and is a much better long-term, solution.

Keane is a bloody liability and always has been – go check how many goals Everton have conceded with the twat as our "kingpin" defender. He unsettles the whole back 5- but he's a nice lad so that's okay!

Dyche dumped Coady after Coady called out some of our wankers and he panicked. Games v Forest, Fulham, Spurs would have been very different with Coady at centre-back.

Dyche's treatment of Simms is awful and Patterson must have leprosy because, if he's not deemed better than Godfrey, then this manager really does need to go to Specsavers!!

Dyche has had the games to turn this round easily and blown it through tinkering, the nugget. I don't want him in charge next season in any eventuality.

Win on Monday night or it's Championship football next season.

Get out Kenwright and take your shithouse Board with you.

Dyche is an incompetent donkey whose knowledge of football wouldn't fill the back of a postage stamp. The lowest point in Everton's history was his appointment.

He's at his level in the lower leagues and shouldn't be near a Premier League club.

A chairman who has sold every promising and performing player as soon as anyone comes a-knocking, and a club that appointed Rafa Benitez as its manager in recent memory cannot count appointing Sean Dyche as manager as the lowest point in our history.

Then we would have to beat Wolves and Bournemouth to possibly beat the drop because we won't get anything against Man City. Will Everton get four wins from the next five games? Pigs will fly over our new stadium if they do, and sadly pigs don't fly.

Dyche bringing on Maupay instead of Gray the other night was just pathetic and not taking off Godfrey for Paterson. He needs to play Paterson if Coleman is not available and give Garner, Mina and Gray a start on Monday night.

Too late now but our winnable games since Dyche took over were Forest and Fulham and we got one point!

Realistically, we could get 8 points from our last five games and end up on 36 points which could be enough. But can anyone trust this manager and players to fight for their lives after what we've seen recently? I'm not sure.

The spectre of relegation is starting to really sink in now. Initially, I brushed it off but now having to watch us play Huddersfield and Luton makes me feel sick to the stomach.

It's messed up.

Play them, Dyche… you fat fucking ginger fuckwit!

Jeezus wept. Talk about stubborn.

I thought these fuckers knew about football?

It's clear that Dyche is the outcome of Kenwright's sustained mismanagement of the club over a 25-year period and that Kenwrigh is the worst thing to ever happen to the club and the lowest point in our history is the period he's been running the club.

Most people can recognise cause and effect but there's none so blind as those that will not see.

Hell fire, we've gone through managers like there's no tomorrow to no avail. Dyche will have forgotten more about football than any 'expert' on here. He sees them in training, he knows if their carrying injuries etc, but you know better? Give over!

The players have had all season to show how good they are and have failed miserably.
Can they beat Leicester? Well, anything's possible and I certainly hope so, but you would have to say, as of now, it looks unlikely.

The other teams are trying their best to save us but we keep falling flat on our faces.

The great escape part two is definitely on – we can survive by the skin of our teeth! I agree with the author, changes need to be made to the team.

Coleman could be back, hopefully Calvert-Lewin will be fit, and I would start Gray and Simms – we need more up front.

Don't agree regards Onana, he's a big lad for us in the box. Fuck the football, get balls into their box and see how we do. It's a risk of course, but I would rather we go for it other than sit back and hope for a break.

No matter what team Dyche picks, every single player on the pitch (as limited as they all are) need to fight and scrap for the points – this is our chance and these players owe Evertonians big time.

All the pundits have tipped a Leicester win – fuck it right up them all. 3 points for the Toffees!!!

Also, why he plays a centre-half that is constantly making glaring errors whilst having a much better one on the bench?

I'm not playing the blame game: Dyche is what he is... out of his depth, his managerial career bears that out, he's won nothing and has been a firefighter all his career.

It's what we deserve, by the way, so I've no axe to grind with him; he's just not a very good manager.

There are some valid criticisms that could be made although we don't know the fitness and injury details. You aren't doing that – you are simply sticking one in Dyche because youre pissy about Frank being such a failure.

It's Frank's hole we are digging out of… Frank Lampard, the glory tory.

By the way, I think Dyche has gone senile. How could he play a 5ft-7in Maupay as the lone striker and long ball target man against Fulham!?

I admit selecting Godfrey was tough to take but the assumption that Patterson was ready is not known, it is speculation. You may be blaming Dyche for what any other managers might have done.

When I looked at the team news for the Newcastle game, it told me that Dyche was not for serious change. He selected the same players with Godfrey at right-back. In the second half, the team failed to maintain shape and Newcastle came out one up as a result as usual because of Everton's errors.

But there will be some unexpected results, both by Everton and the other threatened teams.

Setting aside for the moment the time to negotiate a deal with a potential new manager, do we really think Allardyce's preferred set-up (personnel and tactics) would immediately be transplanted into the current corpse? How many games left to engineer that?

I do wonder why Dyche changed everything at Old Trafford, was it at the behest of the owner? Or some other interfering busy-body trying to 'market' the club, rather than being practical and trying to gain a very important point?

Since then the players have started to behave like they did in the last knockings of the Lampard era and all the other failed 'managers' who have been here since Ancelotti left.

Gray instead of Iwobi; Garner instead of… well, any of the midfield. No way we are winning 4 games but it is the end if we don't beat Leicester.

Yes it's is hard to believe that they can win any further games this season and we all know they will get hammered by Man City.

Offensively we have been a disaster all season and now the defence has become just as defunct.

I just don't feel confident about any starting eleven that Dyche puts out and just think we are on a wing and a prayer in every game.

They seem to start off well in every game but it doesn't last. As soon as the opposition realize we have nothing to scare them with, they push extra men forward, bypassing our weak midfielders, and put us to the sword.

I have never witnessed such an inept squad of players representing Everton Football Club in all of my 60 years of supporting them.

Since Moyes went, they have had a series of competent, experienced managers who have somehow failed miserably to get this great club back on track and now they seem doomed unless one or two miracles happen.

Mina is a pacier and better player than Keane, so he should be playing too.

Bench Maupay, Godfrey and Iwobi. All 3 are useless players, running about like headless chickens with no real contribution.

Do this and we might have a chance!

People are in process of grieving over what might come. Either acceptance, bargaining or denial relegation might happen. Anger if results don't go our way if reality is confirmed. Frustration of manager after manager has struggled to get consistency. Recruitment of Championship level players and sale of Premier League quality. It will catch up with you and end in relegation.

Under Bill Kenwright. Premier League status was an achievement for me. I was happy. I knew our limitations and David Moyes over-achieved and brought success. Not all liked him but I felt safe that, in his hands, we would stay up.
Too many managers and average players have left us very fearful of relegation. Also when we might return to top-flight football if the worst happens?

Dyche and the players know the task ahead. Nothing is impossible with hard work. We still have a chance!

"I do wonder why Dyche changed everything at Old Trafford, was it at the behest of the owner? Or some other interfering busy-body trying to 'market' the club, rather than being practical and trying to gain a very important point? Since then, the players have started to behave like they did in the last knockings of the Lampard era."

Something has been nagging at me, something doesn't sit right.

24 March: Premier League announce they have referred Everton to an independent commission.

3 April: Everton draw v Spurs and Doucouré gets sent off for a slight brush of hand on Kane's face..

8 April: Dyche drastically changes his tactics v Man Utd.

I'm not dwelling on Doucoures sending off but just compare his offence to Manes in the Anfield Derby last season.

But I was furious over the Premier League's timing over their announcement that we were being referred to an independent commission. We had been doing okay and, at a crucial point in the season, they fire this torpedo right through our club. It was disgraceful timing, to say the least.

Did it influence someone at the club to say we need to try and win extra points? Did it affect the manager and players?

The announcement without any doubt should have been left until the end of the season, especially in view of our situation. There is something suspicious about it and it links up with all the dodgy VAR decisions we have had over the last 2 years.

Super League formation? No problem, token fine. Blatant handball? No problem.

"We need goals now, therefore Patterson (or Coleman), Mina, Gray and Simms all play. Simms should play off Calvert-Lewin as a second striker."

There is definitely merits to this. Just go for it. Absolutely on board if it goes pear-shaped over the next 3 games!

(Heard this reported on Times Radio)

I'd be surprised if that was actually true – but this is the Everton board we are talking about.

I did see that some Everton fans on other sites had called for Goodison to be empty, as a protest, if the worst happened and was confirmed before the final game.

On both counts, I hope that Goodison is bouncing on 28 May.

Some have said that his team selection is because he sees them at training but we don't play training games against other Premier League sides and training should not take priority over that seen in actual matches.

If a player has several poor games, which will have been noticed by future opponents, then he should be replaced, and if your only available or optional right-back, Patterson, is not ready, then why is he on the bench?

I don't normally go in for trying to second-guess the manager's team selection but I do think Patterson has to come in at right back, and maybe Mina for Keane.

Dyche may be thinking Godfrey as the most likely to match Vardy's pace but I hope not. Maybe a midfield of Doucouré, Gana, Garner and Onana with Simms and Calvert-Lewin up front.

But then I wonder if this is unfair on McNeil, if there should be wide players to feed two big strikers, and if the midfield, with help on one side from Simms and Calvert-Lewin can also effectively cover the wingback positions.

It does mean the midfield covering, working a lot harder, creating something, and also being able to handle a long crossfield ball. But then, nobody offered me a bonus of £3.5M if I kept us up.

Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood scored 4 Premier League goals between them last season. Fans would be screaming for Matej Vydra (who could play and scored 21 league goals in the Championship when Lampard was at Derby). Dyche would bring him on at 80 mins. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

I hope I'm wrong but I see us finishing the season 2nd bottom. Whatever happens next season, we won't be going up with this trio headed by Dyche.

There is a reason why not one club made an enquiry in 9 months for Sean Dyche, no wonder the trio jumped at the chance; staying up is not gonna happen.

Tom #32, do you mean Forest or us?

When I look at what the remarkable Roy Hodgson has achieved at Palace, somehow transforming a team that couldn't buy a goal and suffering 12 straight defeats, into a free-scoring outfit that has won 4 out of 6 with only 1defeat. I have to ask myself how the hell did he do that? That's the kind of form we would have to produce to stay in the Premier League.

In Dyche, do we have the right man to produce such a dramatic transformation? He started off well but, as you and many others have pointed out, he changed tack at Old Trafford and we've never recovered.

Our only slim hope is that Dyche reverts back to the tactics that served us well when he first arrived, and pray that will be enough.

And for the first few matches, it seemed a good fit. We were organised and pressed well. Creating chances and looking tight at the back.

But that all seemed to go wrong fairly quickly and now we are seeing the worst side of Dyche which is inflexibility and possible lack of imagination.

Having said that the alternatives he has are not fantastic. Patterson was decent early in the season but positionally he is quite poor and (in theory!) Godfrey should be a much better defender in 1 on 1 situations.

If you're Dyche and you're playing a tight system hoping to scratch a 1-0 win then I can understand opting for the solid option. Except Godfrey has not been solid, and has played possibly worse than anyone this last month.

Individual mistakes and form is a difficult thing for a manager to fix.

Patterson (or Coleman) will surely have to come in for Leicester. It will be a tough match in which they will almost certainly have more of the ball and more of the chances.

Why Yerry Mina has had no game time at all, I fail to understand. He's our best centre-back and a threat at set-pieces. But expect Dyche to stick with Tarkowski and Keane.

Keeping the same team can be a strength if there are signs of recovery, of things working. But currently this lot are getting worse rather than better.

I'd probably take a draw on Monday. As I would happily in the following 2 matches. Could we beat Bournemouth and/or Wolves once their seasons are over? Probably not… but it's our best shot.

The first of those games is the hardest. Problem is that, whatever Dyche says or does, if we lose to Leicester, the game is probably up and we'll struggle to pick up another point, as team spirit will be broken by losses on the bounce to Newcastle, Leicester, Man City and Brighton,

One of the biggest games in our history tomorrow.

ToffeeWeb bemoan the idiocy of playing 3 physically fragile players just back from injury. Comments would point out how well Holgate played at right-back under Ancelotti – noting now is not the time to risk the erratic Patterson when points are up for grabs.

People would point out the stupidity of playing Mina ahead of Keane – because he's obviously playing at 50% to avoid injury and preserve his chance of moving to a decent new club in the summer.

And why oh why is Dyche playing Garner (only just back from long-term injury) ahead of Onana when we all plainly see we need height to contest set-pieces.

Unfortunately, there isn't a simple fix to our present predicament. Personally, I would play Patterson and Garner as you suggest, Jim, but there are pros and cons. It's not all upside.

Dyche will be well aware of all of this – and the fact that we still have a chance. The main thing is to play with the right attitude and intensity against Leicester City – and also to get some luck.

I agree with most of your post except to say that while you think Dyche will be aware of all this, he has recently played with two in the central midfield after getting most of his success at Everton with three players there.

Then he took Onana off, which didn't bother me, from central midfield v Newcastle and replaced him with a striker, leaving the midfield wide open and Newcastle promptly took advantage and scored their third goal.

I was happy with Dyche when he first came but the last few games he has got me worried and thinking: Is he up to the job? I hope he proves me wrong and gets the necessary points to keep us up.

I believe they are there with the correct selection, fight and attitude together with someone to put their foot on the ball and calm them down, maybe McNeil us that man in the centre of midfield controlling the game.

Another alarming worrying statement was when Dyche said "I let the players criticise each other and just listened." This suggested he doesn't have a clue with tactics and has ran out of ideas.

I feel that Everton have brought in a Sunday League manager with limited tactical knowledge. What we needed was an up-and-coming manager who could instill belief. The players look full of fear, this is what happens when you are constantly told to make sure you all do defensive stuff.

I don't see any attacking confidence in this team. By the way, the shooting from the edge of the box was embarrassing against Newcastle.

Failed entities given a last pay-day in the Everton retirement home for serial wasters and talentless flopsters.

I am actually embarrassed that we had to turn to a fella that no one would touch with a bargepole for 9 months while the likes of Villa got Emery and Wolves (who were below us at the time) got Lopetegui.

Both of these sides, along with Bournemouth, have now got themselves safe while we hang on by our fingertips, a very uninspiring manager.

However, it wasn't completely daft to get a couple of strikers on the pitch when we needed a goal.

The difficulty is that there is absolutely no margin for error with any of these decisions.

The reality is some managers who fail the first season but keep the team in a mid-table position are not all failures. Ancelotti, Martinez etc.

We were expecting instant results and, as everyone seen with Arteta at Arsenal, this is not always the case. So when Everton get a manager, the credentials required are:

They need to purchase cheap players that show potential.
They need to establish a certain technical passing style.
They have to look technically able to trap a football and pass.
They have to have quality to be able to take on and run with ball and dribble.

Football is not that difficult – you just have to work as a team, one gets the ball, 2 or 3 make themselves available for a pass and then you practice moving up the field as a team.

You can switch the play, but you have to practice doing that, and footballers need to be comfortable doing this.

The main problem with us, we don't have that central out ball in midfield. The guy whom collects it looks around passes it out to the wings for quality crosses.

Half-way through his spell, he knew he was fucked because he knew we didn't have enough quality on the pitch. He left because he was astute enough to realize it.

Benitez, Lampard, Dyche... not one made a difference, neither will anyone until a clearout has been done.

We cannot rebuild a team of such poor quality, we have fallen that low, and fight relegation. Hard work, not silver bullets will be needed to stay up.

We've spent seven years not buying goalscoring players, so little wonder those changes didn't turn into goals.

Doucouré got himself sent off, Onana got injured. Unless there are two physically imposing midfielders in our squad that I don't know about, I'm not surprised he 'changed the system'.

What has changed is the mentality of the squad. It looked good; now, it's back to the previous surrendering. It improved, then reverted under Dyche's watch. It's the main thing that will keep us up, it's down to him to get it back.

He also needs to stop picking Godfrey and just give Patterson a chance assuming Coleman isn't fit. I'd bring Mina back in too but that won't happen.

They need Garner in midfield just behind Calvert-Lewin;
then Gray and McNeil on either wing for crosses; 3 at the back: Coady, Tarkowski and Mina; 2 wing backs with pace, Patterson being one – he used to get forward a lot.

Deal with Maddison and Harvey Barnes. Drop the negative "keep it tight" stuff and go at them. Cautious with 1 up front to start with.

Who has a bargepole nowadays? Even people with a barge don't have a bargepole, they have an engine on the back.

All Players: Long-range shots from the penalty area edge. When you slam the ball from outside the area, slice it more, aim for the corner of the goals.

Get hold of Maddison, Nullify Barnes.

Put loads of pressure on Boubakary Soumaré in Midfield. He has many mistakes in him under pressure.

Vardy has lost some of his pace and gets caught offside a lot. Keep a tight line at the back, this seems easier with 3 at the back than four.

Martin Sherif was born June 2006 so doesn't that make him nearly 17?

Rooney and James Vaughan did it at that age so I see no reason why Martin Sherif couldn't. Give him a chance we have nothing to lose!

Our problem is we don't score and that alone will sink us.

Leeds stayed up by 3 points last season even though they conceded 79 - 26 more than Burnley. Why? Because they managed over 40 goals and that seems to be common denominator to survival.

It's the goals for column which is the issue not the goals against. We've conceded less than the so called 'basket case' club - Spurs and they're 5th.

We've sunk so low that fans now actually believe Gray is a goal scorer, his stats are actually worse this season even though he's had more minutes on the pitch.

The opposition know that when DCL is fit simply mark him out of the game and we're buggered.

By our standards Gray IS a goal-scorer. As is ANY player that has found the back of the net more than once!

You've no chance playing Godfrey or Keane. Heres something to look forward to for next season.

Begovic

Coleman
Holgate
Keane
Townsend

Gray
Davies
Garner
Mcneil

Maupay
Simms

And finally please use the players on the bench if some one is booked, Holgate, getting roasted, Godfrey as to my mind failure to act in these circumstances has cost us in our last two matches. Tomorrows match is winnable but only if we can put in a performance for the full 90 minutes.

Given that they were one of my 3 bankers, that is slightly disconcerting with 5 games to go.

Brighton hit six & Brentford beat Forest

It would not surprise me in the slightest if they've got it wrong though.

When Mina plays, the win rate is 40% when not playing drops to 20%.

Calvert-Lewin up top, flanked by Gray and McNeil. Onana, Doucouré and Gueye in the middle. Coleman, Tarkowski (or Mina), Keane and Godfrey at the back.

Sit deep, cool it with the Iwobi style closing down in their half, and wait to hit them on the counter.

Win this and we're still in it.

We have scored 25 goals – the lowest in the Premier League – and we have only won 6 games all season; to suggest, with a few tweaks to team selection, we can transform our season…? No.

This team individually and collectively are poor players and it's not just a blip; we were here last season, hoping escaping relegation would be the catalyst for change; it wasn't.

Whoever thought that replacing Richarlison with Maupay was going to get the job done, and adding not 1 but 4 midfield players who fear going into the opponent's box as a black hole, was another way to offset Richarlison's goals is unbelievable.

I was lucky enough to be at the Leicester game last season when we came away with all 3 points, and I said at the time I have watched us win all sorts of trophies from 1962 onwards but that display from the fans, not the players that day was incredible.

I spoke to some Leicester fans after that game and they said they had never seen away support like it. I read yesterday 98% of us have renewed our season tickets and they reckon the 2% that haven't is probably down to sadly some Blues having passed on.

Yet I hear muppets like Keown criticizing some fans for leaving early against Newcastle. These supporters have had to put up with a lot over the last couple of seasons, including a board and owner who don't even turn up to games.

Maybe Keown should do his homework and look at the real culprits here and it certainly isn't our magnificent fans who have had to watch some of the worst football we have seen in decades –given the dross we have had to watch at times, that's saying something.

Sorry for the rant, I got a bit carried away.

I think I've had open an old BBC page that had factored in a win for Forest. I've just refreshed the page and Forest's three points have disappeared (thankfully).

By the way, Brian, Keown showed his loyalty to Arsenal, Aston Villa and Everton when it suited him and his pocket. We pay from our own pockets year after year and prove our loyalty to one club, whether it suits us or not.

Optimism is great but when you look at our midfield then realism is depressing.

Iwobi - 1 goal in 33 games
Onana - 1 goal in 27 games
Doucoure - 2 goals in 12 games
Gray - 4 goals in 26 games
McNeil - 5 goals in 23 games
Gueye - 0 goals in 27 games

Whatever combination of midfielders are selected (normally 5 out of the 6 above) they are no threat to the opposition.
Unfortunately, tweaking the formation makes no difference.

And totally agree with you on Maupay and whoever thought he was a good option wants sacking. I regularly lie there in the early hours and think Why, just WHY, did we sign him??

Not having an adequate forward for the season was not acceptable. It is also fairly obvious that we were lied to during the window when we were told they were looking for a striker. The result of the accounts were known and we couldn't afford to spend anything.

8 points would have been the end. I think though, even if they had won, it would have been 5 points, not 8?

UTFT

Leeds Utd's remaining fixtures:

Manchester City – A – May 7
Newcastle – H – May 13
West Ham – A – May 20
Tottenham – H – May 28

Nottingham Forest's remaining fixtures:

Southampton – H – May 8
Chelsea – A – May 13
Arsenal – H – May 20
Crystal Palace – A – May 28

Leicester's remaining fixtures:

Everton – H – May 1
Fulham – A – May 8
Liverpool – H – May 13
Newcastle – A – May 20
West Ham – H – May 28

Southampton's remaining fixtures:

Nottingham Forest – A – May 8
Fulham – H – May 13
Brighton – A – May 20
Liverpool – H – May 28

West Ham's remaining fixtures:

Manchester City – A – May 3
Manchester United – H – May 7
Brentford – A – May 13
Leeds – H – May 20
Leicester – A – May 28