We're doomed! Don't panic! We're doomed! ...

Glad to see some optimism as all this pessimism is starting to make me sick.

We are 5th, yes, we could be higher but we are not. And like you said, we have players coming back at the right time, every team struggles for consistency but we are a team that doesn't lose often because we do graft out results.

We do need to improve our defence though; I've been surprised at how we've let in some of those goals recently. But one good result will make a huge difference, it always does.

Everton will never be a top club according to Mr Wenger, I'm not sure why he would think that we can never get the investment of other big clubs, but he seems convinced as he shows on this Video:

http://www.footytube.com/video/everton-will-never-be-a-top-club-wenger-144755?ref=lchan_vidgrid

So it's another vote for Mr Kenwright then.

Arsenal (h), Man City (a), Tottenham (h), Stoke (a) — A tough run without doubt. Come away with 8 or more points and we'll be looking handy, I would say around 4th/5th.

Wegner isn't going to say everton can challenge with £2.50 is he.

The arsenal fans were sold the dream that moving to the emirates would be a one way ticket to trophy riches.

No trophies, sky high season tickets, and still selling their best players. Getting beat tomorrow will add to his pressure.

Ian, he wasn't on about challenging at this moment in time; he said that Everton would NEVER get the investment required to make a substantive challenge to the other teams.

And what are they challenging for? 4th I make it at best.

Good shout Nick, all to play for.
COYB

Edward (#513), it seems to me that the main difference this season is that teams are actually grinding out results against us. I still believe that there is a certain lack of confidence about us, a feeling that a draw against any side in the division is not a disaster.

Therefore I believe that the grumblers are right. David Moyes has built a good side that play good football and when we fail to beat Norwich we should not say it's fine we're still 5th but we should be fucking angry. That is a compliment to David Moyes.

The thing is how a team for years "championed" for punching above its weight (fairly), becomes a title contender.

To me this is our predicament. If finishing 6th/7th and accepting the accolades for doing so is the norm (and it is), what's the motivation for doing better?

Moyes can push all he wants. Ownership has been fine with mid-table status quo; as been proven and known. Fingers crossed, our players push beyond that.

Fingers crossed.

The real emotion is not optimism or pessimism, it is frustration, as we have watched us play many of our opponents off the park, create a billion chances, yet fail to score sufficient goals to win games comfortably and then let daft goals in. We (me included) can complain all we like about the manager but, when all is said and done, the players on the pitch have won us 20 odd points and carelessly dropped 10.

Most of us would have settled to be where we are in the league at this stage of the season. Maybe the best thing would be to do just that, settle for it (we can't change it), and now embark on the second third of the season with a positive attitude based on what we have seen so far.

The manager does not generally exude such an an attitude, and there was clearly a feeling of foreboding in the crowd on Saturday. Let's lead the way under the lights tomorrow and kick on. There is a good place in the league up for grabs and, more importantly for me, an FA Cup to be won.

We played like crap against Norwich. Let's face it. But, we're still in fifth spot. Hopefully we've just gone through our bad spot for the season with a few poor results. Ha! Ha! We would have loved to have said this last season, wouldn't we?

Cheeky upstarts WBA (Nick's def.) look good. Mostly, we have been looking good. Just, we've thrown some away and had some piss-poor refereeing decisions. Where WBA seem to be ahead of us is their defensive organisation and the fact that their defenders can actually head the ball. They really do look strong in defence and yet look inspired in attack.

So, what should we do? What we should have done for years. This isn't a new problem. We all know this. Let's hope we can do something about it in the January window. Mr Moyes and BK... are you listening? A tall, strong defender who can win it in the air (doesn't necessarily mean spending a gazillion).

Wins against Arsenal and Spurs, draw against Citteh. Not sure about Stoke as they can just pump in long crosses and have their tall guys take free heading practice. All 3 against Chelsea!!!!!

COYB – Ever the optimist!!!

I have the formula! Just get the team to win every game, tell the players not to get injured or suspended, buy the best players in the world for a fraction of their value, Sack Moyes and replace him with someone that knows how to win the league, someone like mmmm, Roberto Martinez.

See! — it's simple.

Peter @599. Frustration has been the overriding emotion by far for me so far this season. It doesn't matter how much I compare the squad, the style of play, the creation of chances or anything else to this time last year and manage to see all the positives. That sense of frustration has just kept eating away at any sense of positivity I think I should be feeling.

Nick, I agree. I called 3rd and 4th as being up for grabs when everyone was drooling over Coach Roman's Blues and I stick by it. What's been disappointing is the amount of extra points we should have taken but I suppose the other contenders may be saying the same.

What actually worries me is the form of some players and the performance of some players. Some posters have suggested that had Naismith laid that sitter on for Jelavic at the weekend then we wouldn't be worried. That's giving TW posters no credit. Had we won I would still have been worried about Pienaar and Jelavic's form as well as the shakiness of our GK and back four.

Still, from looking at the fixture list earlier in the season, this up-coming four matches were always going to be a good way to gauge where the Blues are.

December is a key month.

Draws would be OK as they lose points too.

I remain optimistic.

With a number of sides from 3rd to 8th minimum as serious contenders for Champions League positions, it means there are more teams to take points off each other. Tonight's fixture as a prime example for a starter but not the end no matter what the result ends up.

Whilst West Brom are going well, did we ever get what they got on Saturday at Sunderland with a ridiculous penalty for one-nil, then a howler from the keeper to make it two-nil? I've not seen any offside goals against them yet or goals not given. We must have surely gone through our quota off misfortune from the officials, strip that out and we would be sitting on 28 points and not playing very well last week.

Chelsea is a madhouse, Arsenal settled club but beatable, Spurs a sacking waiting to happen for AVB; West Ham, Newcastle and Liverpool will always be off the pace but good enough to take points off each other. So it's down to who wants it more, get our players back, couple of cute signings in January and cue the strong finish.

Not impossible.