The Mail Bag
Need 40 Points To Survive
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There are 12 games left in the league, (and one in the cup!!). Of those, 7 are at home:
Sunderland (3), Birmingham (3), Fulham (3), Aston Villa (1), Blackburn (1) Man City (0), and Chelsea (0). However you want to look at it, we need to take 11 points from these 7 games.
Away, we have Newcastle (0), Wolves (1), Man Utd (0), Wigan (0), West Brom (1). That gives us 13 points from the last 36, for a total of 43 (small cushion) on the season... enough to stay up?
We will get snotted on Saturday at Chelsea. Not quite the season I had envisioned back in August.
It has been well documented by others here on this website, why we have been so dismal. But, the more pressing and important issue is, "where do we go from here?"
Do we change managers? Or stick with what we have. Definition of insanity, is to do the same things over and over, and expect different results. Maybe Moyes has gone stale, lost his passion... (certainly looked like it this past weekend).
Whatever the reason, we need to change, but, and it is a biggy, who replaces him? O'Neill, Sam, Hollaway, Irvine, Jones, Jol, Klinsman. Who? .....Maybe Keegan??
I do not have the answers, but, will continue to support my Blues through thick and thin. I have had enough of the thin, and would just like a little bit of thick right now.
Jimmy Daly, Posted 15/02/2011 at 15:49:24
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And surely we can at least get 2 points from Newcastle and West Brom away.
And I think we can squeak a draw against Man City and Chelsea at home. So that's at least 2 points.
I'm actually more concerned about getting 3 wins against Sunderland, Birmingham, and Fulham.
How quickly things have gone totally south.
. We have so far squandered points against clubs of this "level".....Wolves, Bolton, West Ham etc.
I have seen nothing recently to make me think that we can beat the likes of Sunderland, Fulham etc.
We can't score and we are not tight at the back. We have difficulty defending the occasional lead that we take and we huff and puff when we go a goal behind.
On the bright side I expect to see Saha fully fit and raring to go towards the end of May.
Wolves are 6 points behind us.
Birmingham losing 0-2 at home to Newcastle tonight.
Alot of the bottom 6-7 teams have to play each other.
At least it's in our hands.
The problem is our form / leaky defence / impotent attack / confidence / club in some disarray.
Holy Crap.
I don't fancy having to go to Wigan and West Brom needing wins if they are in the same boat.
Thing is we've done better this season against the big teams than the small teams. Who's to say we don't beat Man City or Chelsea at home (4 points away against these 2) then lose to West Brom and Wigan
DM has painted himself into a corner, his anti football boring shite going for a draw isn't enough, he needs to grow a pair and go for wins in each and every game, his gameplan of trying not to concede rather than win isn't working.
We are the draw specialists but lately we've turned the art of drawing into losing.
No points are certain against any team especially this season.
The supporters could be worth some points but, with the morguish feeling emanating from GP, don't expect many points from the crowd.
Reality is we should not go down with the games left, were not crap every game for 90 minutes. Moyes and half the squad (Rodwell, Baines etc) will leave in the summer and Moyes will get a call from someone else and follow them. The time to worry is when all the best players want to leave and this time of the year there is nowhere for them to go, so use the remaining games as a showcase and see what happens.
More worried about next season than this.
I do not try to predict the games for this reason. I made a prediction last season and it was true so I will make it again: we WILL beat United this season.
Moyes won't change his ways now, though, so that's why I can't see where these 12 points will come from!
However, looking at this run in, if we can't get enough points to stay up then shame on the players.
Notwithstanding finances, this squad is more than capable of staying up. They should be ashamed that they have performed so pathetically that they have put us in this position.
I recommend they get their arses into gear and earn their not insignificant money.
After all, based on Moyes record of not dropping his favourites, they will hardly be penalized for not following his instructions!
Keegan? Do me a favour? Holloway and Coyne are current flavour of the month. Let's not forget where Holloway's team are. Dropping like a stone!!
To believe someone like Klinsman would come to Everton is as fanciful as those pre-season who thought top 4 was a shoe-in!!
Big Sam? No thanx! Jones? Once a blue etc etc but it cries of desperation. O'Neill would want what we can't give him... Money! If Moyes goes, and I think he will, we won't be attracting too many big names, I'm afraid.
After all, based on Moyes's record of not dropping his favourites, they will hardly be penalized for not following his instructions!
Wigan
West Brom
West Ham
And if not those three, then Wolves...
Those are the teams going down; get a grip, boys!
With Chelsea in a battle with a couple of teams for 4th place, they are going to have to concentrate on this seasons CL for a main prize. Maybe this weekend is a good time to play them.
With the remaining teams to play laid out in the OP you have to think that we can obtain the required amount of points to secure Premier League football next season. But I have thought that most of this season. "We will turn the crap round this game for sure", "It's only West Brom at home. Gonna be a cricket score"... But it's never come. I didn't think we could win the league but I thought we would be in amongst the challengers off of the back of last season. There were a few doubters on here but the general concensous was one of belief.
HOW WRONG WERE WE ALL!
I have a couple of points:
1: Title of this post. So fitting. If we do go down then there is no quick way back.
2: West Ham were relegated with I think 43 points a few seasons ago with a very close league. 40 points may not be enough for anyone.
3: Even if we do stay up, I feel with the current setup at the club, then next season is a very big worry. The owners of QPR will spend to keep them there. I don't think there are gonna be any walkovers for any team next year.
4: Jimmy Daly, for even suggesting Keegan... What did the 5 fingers say to the face? SLAP!
When the chips are down, sod bringning in a new striker on loan with Premier League experience (as have West Ham, West Brom, Bolton, Blackburn, Stoke, Birmingham), let's bring in teenage utility players and Greek lads "for the future".
What a fucking joke we are.
If the people at the helm of our club didn't realise we were in a relegation battle in January then they deserve the sack. If they did realise, yet did NOTHING about it apart from making our squad weaker, then they deserve fucking shooting!
Even if we managed to scrape to stay in the division, then what next? Where do we go from there?
With finished 4th and got NO fuckin' investment, so finishing 16th or 17th isn't going to inspire the board to put their hands in their pockets is it?
Is this what this club has come to; just survival?
Dunno why we all fuckin' bother me.....
We?ll get dicked on Saturday and then have the Maccams, Barcodes and Fulham ? can you honestly see us beating any of them, based on current form? Someone above said that we might beat the Mancs or Sittehhhh, but it?s beating the teams around us that matters. There?s not fuckin? point whatsoever in beating United then losing away to Wigan?.
If we get relegated we?re royally fucked.
Moyes seems to be retreating further into his defensive shell as the crisis deepens and the likes of Newcastle, Sunderland and Fulham will smell blood. Wolves will be no pushover either.
There is no way we will get anything from either Manc team, so forget that and Chelsea last game may well be the catalyst.
I fear this may be one relegation fight too far and Davey's bi-polar reign as manager may result in the biggest car crash in Everton's history.
And we're going to win on Saturday before going onto win our 6th FA Cup. No problems. If fans have a more positive mental attitutude this attitude will transcend through to our over paid plonkers on the pitch. Come on you Blues!
And they say sarcasm doesn't come across in type.
Love it.
However, can someone confirm this ? didn't West Ham get 42 points one year and go down?
I wonder what odds I would get for us collecting points at two grounds that we always come away from empty-handed: St James & Old Trafford.
Its going to be a rough ride, unless things on the park improve... and quick.
(Now where I have heard that before?)
He signed a £16m deal in 2008, any breaking of that contract now would mean a multi-million pound payout for Moyes.
If, however, he can come back in a couple of games time, then he should score enough to keep us up. Whoever thinks we should play 2 upfront when Saha is injured should have a long hard think about that ? Anichebe and Beckford!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Vic is the biggest pile of shite at the moment, and Becks needs a quality CF to feed off.
Without a fit Saha, I'd probably put Felli up with Cahill behind ? it served a purpose for a while last season, even though it wasn't pretty. I'd get Jags back in to replace the sleepy JH, and possibly move the dodgy Dutch "hardman" alongside Arteta to try and win the ball in midfield.
I know we'd be weakened without Felli in midfield, but at least we'd be a bit of a threat upfront.
I can't honestly watch another game where every ball into the front man gets lost. Big Vic can only be used on the wing IF/WHEN he's in form... not our lone striker for fuck's sake, Moyes!!!!
Have the team had their usual once-a-year clear-the-air talks with Moyes and his staff yet? That might be the only hope.
We have only lost 7 games out of 26 and you have us losing 5 of the last 10? That's complete crap. We will be all right (just). Next season is the one we need to worry about.
Almost in total agreement. I forecast Wigan, West Brom and Wolves for relegation before season began. Still believe they will be the 3 to drop.
home: Sunderland (1), Birmingham (1), Fulham (1), Aston Villa (1), Blackburn (1) Man City (3), and Chelsea (3). 11 points.
Away, we have Newcastle (0), Wolves (0), Man Utd (3), Wigan (1), West Brom (0). (4 points)
Something like that, anyway. Whatever way round you do it, it's probably just enough to keep us out of the Championship until 2012.
No longer can we afford the out dated tactic of having every man on the pumps at the slightest danger. That is like fighting with one arm tied behind your back.
This time last year I experienced deja vu, when I saw an Everton side beat Chelsea, Citteh & Man U, not the usual giant killing way of two banks of 4, in their faces, fight for every ball ect, but by outplaying them, and our form in the 2nd half of the season was only bettered by Chelsea & Man U. In addition, the sky 4 are not as good as they were 5-10 seasons ago so there was plenty of reasons to be optimistic.
Now? Like 50% of the posters on this thread I think we?ve got enough to stay up, so let?s hope that Bolton was the Hull City moment, or the Wigan moment of the season before last.
"let?s hope that Bolton was the Hull City moment, or the Wigan moment of the season before last.. "
I thought we have had enough of those (Hull) moments this season. I include the Newcastle moment, the WBA moment, the West Ham moment amongst others...
We seem unable to kick on off the back of the rare decent performances (Spurs, Chelsea, Blackpool). I have not got a clue which Everton is going to turn up in any of the remaining matches. Therefore I have no clue as to whether or not we can remain in the top flight, a record of longevity only just surpassed by the (Woolwich) Arsenal.
After 45 years of support I have never felt so concerned about the state of Everton FC as a club and as a team.
I would rather be playing a Prem game on Saturday rather than the cup as other teams may pick up points and then we will have games in hand which tend to have a bigger pressure effect on the team when they are eventually played.
Personally I would play some fringe players on Saturday and keep key players fresh for the next league game. However, that probably will not happen and in any event would not be fair to the travelling faithful.
All remaining games will be tough, as everyone has been for Everton up to now since the start of the season. Not having a fully fit Jagielka around and now a resurgent Saha and Rodwell is a big blow. The only natural goal poacher we have left is Beckford who simply needs more support over the next few weeks but Moyes now favours Anichebe who looks less and less a striker.
Obviously the club has to think positively and go out and give 110% in every game to alleviate relegation fears sooner rather than later.
49-51 points we will end up with and a 9th to 11th place finsh.
Next year Is out year, mark my words. With the Greek lad up front, those, the young German commanding the back, young Americans coming through, that new goalie we signed on trial, and Jeffers signed in the summer...
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1 Posted 15/02/2011 at 20:24:08
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