The Mail Bag
Expectations
Comments (9)
We all keep spouting that, when we get Neville, Arteta, Jags etc back, we’ll go shooting up the league. Well hopefully we’ll improve and there were good signs today against Liverpool that just having Pienaar and Fellaini playing well we are at least competitive again. But if you look at the facts, we will be fortunate to get to 50 points this season — which on past basis will only be good enough for about 10th place in the league and way out of European places.
We have 24 games left, 5 of which against the normal Top 4 which on past history means 5 games lost and please don’t start yelling we can compete with that level, because we can't!!! This leaves 19 games and I’m sure we won't get anything from Spurs this season (next week-end will tell), so another 2 games lost.
This leaves 17 games against the rest (2 against Man City included, and Villa away)... So, at best, let's assume we can win 9, draw 4 and lose 4 (our normal points rate last 2 years). So this gives us another 31 points which added to our current 15, gives a total of 46 points.
Looking at the last 2 years of the Premier League, this would suggest a position around 10th or 11th. To get the necessary 6-7th position for Europe, we need about 58 points which means we need another 12 points – that’s 4 wins against the current Top 6 — something I can't see us doing.
So it looks like goodbye to Europe next year!
Mike Oates, Posted 29/11/2009 at 19:30:14
Comments
Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer
The first thing Moyes has to do is to stop the slide and get the performances back to where they should be. If the defending improves, and the midfield play like they did against Liverpool week-in and week-out, we can at least move a few places up the league and maybe have a run at one of the cups. We may not get into Europe but we could still end the season feeling a lot better about the team.
We don't have the resources to compete in Europe and challenge for the top 4, so not qualifying this season might be a blessing in disguise..
He did OK yesterday - OK. Nothing outstanding, inventive or out-of-the-ordinary. Just OK - he should be ’OK’ every single fucking week and he simply isn’t.
£15m — Jesus Christ.
If we’re satisfied with ’OK’ then we’re seriously going nowhere fast.
Yes, we are missing key players but even with them back we are not as good as at least 7 other teams and I fear that list will just keep growing year after year. We are in serious trouble at the moment and don't give me that ’too good to go down’ speech cos we're not.
My view is it's time for a change throughout the Club from the Board down but there's precious little chance of that happening anytime soon. I've no doubt Moyes will walk at the end of the season and I for one won't be shedding too many tears.
We wouldn't attract any Big Name into the job coz of lack of funds so we will have to be realistic. My choice would be Steve Bruce. Every team he's managed try to play decent football and he doesn't suffer prima donnas either on the pitch or in the Boardroom (just ask Karen Brady!!!)
I fear this could be a long cold dark few months in Everton’s history.
I don’t know how many times the latter needs to be stressed... we would get completely blown away in the Champions League. Look what happens when we play a side of half-decent quality like Benfica, they took us apart without breaking a sweat, home and away.
Benfica would hardly make it past the Last 32 in the Champions League, so you can imagine what the rest would do to us. We don’t have enough money, players, or resources on a whole to compete for the top four over the entire season, it would be like 2005 all over again, leaving us completely shattered for the next season.
To save Everton from humiliation and embarrassment, it's best we aim for a realistic goal and don’t get ideas above our station. A good FA Cup run and a top half of the table finish is good enough for now.
Until we get a real owner who can give the manager big money and until we can stand on our own two feet at Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge etc etc then, and only then can we begin to possibly think about the Champions League.
Add Your Comments
In order to post a comment to the MailBag, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.
Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and MailBag submissions across the site.
-sm.jpg)
-sm.jpg)
-sm.jpg)
1 Posted 30/11/2009 at 05:45:58
Report abuse
Being a champions league club is how to elevate Everton. While achieving that is a long long way off, having it as our only focus next year may be a blessing in disguise.
Its dark days at Everton but even where we are now I have those expectations you mention. I still believe that yes with Moyes in charge, if we are able to get our something like our full strength side out on a regular basis, we are a top 6 side.