I think we will finish 3rd, united look shite so far, will sign maybe Doyle or the Kennedy lad from Dundee and maybe an unknown from the depths of North Wales. I don't think any of our big players will leave, even Vic to stay.

A cup final is not out of reach as Moyes to sign an extension to his contract......hopefully.

Or maybe im still dreaming. COYB

4th place, Moyes to sign a contract extension and a billionaire to buy us in May on the back of our CL qualification.

I think I may have got carried away...

We had very good 60mins vs United, beat the worst Villa side Ive ever seen and a poor league 1 side with international players at home... so yeah maybe we should keep it real.

If we don't lose anyone Iam happy to be honest, and top 6 is the realistic target.

Baines and Fellaini given Dec/Jan off to play pantomime horse in Aladdin at the Bradford Alhambra. BK says,' It's their dream. I'd be inhuman to stop them.'

League Champions! My two sons, one 15 the other 5, have their first taste of seeing the mighty blues lift the league trophy and then being doomed to repeat the cycle with their sons. Crunchy Nut time!

Of course you're destined for unhappiness Sal - you're an Evertonian. Don't fight your destiny - embrace it.

Get the Window shut first, then keep repeating this for the next 8 or 10 league...One (pause), Game ( pause), at (pause), a (pause), time.Then re-assess.

Top 6 reasonable expectation
Top 4 possibility
One of the cups is a realistic hope.
Most of all can I just pray that the manner and style of our play is maintained at the levels we reached in parts against Man U and Villa.
As for unhappiness - I don't mind that as long as there is some happiness to balance it out.

Toffeeweb, the real man's (and thinking woman's) alternative to group therapy.

Fellaini to Chelski/Citteh, Baines to ManUre and Jags to Arsenal. Jelavic to break his leg and Mirralas to find out his work visa is not valid and gets his National Service call up for the duration of his contract.

Hibbertt plays upfront and scores more in a season than Dixie, we win the Capital One Cup but are stripped of it for playing an illegal player (see above)

Kenwright wins the Euro Millions but still does not invest a single penny and Moyes goes to Chesterfield for a challenge.

Keep it real you say?

Tony - great slogan, but I reckon TW isn't an alternative to group therapy - it actually IS group therapy! (In a good way.)

I don't know what's gonna happen this season (and I won't make any predictions) but I'm feeling good about it and I simply refuse to "keep it real". Personally, I'm not terribly sure what "real" is...

The only cloud on the horizon is the lack of options at CF. Hoping we can get someone in to cover Jelavic before Friday. Other than that I am in blue heaven!

Its a hell of a long season. Any qualification for Europe, be it top 6, League Cup win or FA Cup final trip will still be a good season. Hopefully we'll qualify twice, as we did in 2009, meaning we've had a good league season and a serious cup run.

Playing with a bit of style, flair and attacking intent seems to be a real possibility too.

As for arrivals, I'm sensing that's it for excitement. We may get one or two new players registered but I'd be very surprised if they were first XI material. The best I'm hoping for is an impact sub winger/forward type, a bit like Drenthe I suppose.

Bryan Oviedo the latest link from McNulty.
A left back from Costa Rica playing in Denmark.

Expectations. Top 6, finish above Liverpool. Cup runs are a lottery. But whoever is in the top 6, 7 even, will be very close to CL qualification, and that's where the battle will be.

The best way to not meet specific expectations is not to have them. As said above, one game at a time, do our best in each, reach our potential and give us entertainment in the way of skill and effort. With the way we are playing now anything is possible including a title win but that isn't likely so for me top 5 would be exceptional with some European football next season. We're good enough to win one of the cups but perhaps not to win a cup and be consistently good in league performances.

I'm absolutely made up with the players we've bought and offloaded and especially in how we are playing but I have no expectations rather than a general hope that we can keep it up. I was having a beer with a couple of Chelsea fans last night who were absolutely singing our praises as a club and calling Moyes a magician. It can all turn to tears of course but I'm savouring it while it lasts, for us to turn it round as a club but by our own performances would be miracle like.

Sal, I know what you mean about expectations. After going in at half-time last night 4-0 up, I couldn't help but be a little disappointed when we only scored one more! Crazy really but it shows how quickly our expectations are raised... Imagine how we'd all be if we were bought by a billionaire.

My thoughts this season are: Just win as many games as we can now whilst we have a full-strength squad and are in a rich vein of form. Probably then grind out results later in the season when our thin squad starts to cause us issues... Net result = Top 5 with lingering thoughts of "if only we'd had 2 more players/won both Derbies then we would have made the Top 4".

It's been a great start and top six will be the hope, provided we keep our squad intact, now and in January.

Moyes in! :)

I'm keeping expectations low as in the words of a great crooner 'we've only just begun...'

Way I see it the Manchester clubs and Chelsea are probably out ahead. That leaves us fighting with arsenal, spurs, the RS and Newcastle fighting for 4th. If I'm honest I think we are outsiders for 4th, especially when you look at the depth in those other squads. But if we are lucky on injury front then nothing is impossible. Get Lewis Holtby in before Saturday and I might start to really believe...

Kev Johnson. You write that, “TW ... IS group therapy.”

Your comment reminds me of the line from that Woody Allen movie: “There was I in a warm bed, and suddenly I’m part of a plan.” There was I thinking I was commenting on Everton, yet all the time, I was in group therapy.

You may well be right. Some of us on here probably could be helped with therapy. Although speaking personally, on the subject of Everton I’m probably beyond help.

By the way, I’ve often thought live feed during matchday must be a bit like being in Dante’s inferno (last night for instance).

Bottom line is lads - we're a really good team.

Sure it's early, yep we're vulnerable - injury and wealthy bandits nicking our boys hangs like the sword of Damocles - but this really is a good team.

Sharp as a razor's edge up front a defence which is becoming armour plated and a midfield with guile, athleticism and now pace.

No bizarre sideways philosophy just able play whatever and whoever is in front of us.

I shouldn't say this but watching Chelsea, City, Utd et al on telly - they're not as good as us.

"WHAT'S OUR NAME?"

I think we'll finish 5th, ahead of Spurs, Newcastle and Liverpool.

If there's a way into the top four I reckon it'll be edging Arsenal out.

League and cup double.
RS relegated / liquidated / obliterated.
DM BBC sports personality of the year.
BK wins Euromillions and a Lucky 15 (with 15% bonus) on Grand National Day and invests it all on Glorious Goodison Park.
The city is renamed "Everton".
The GP caterers win "Pie of the Decade".

Seriously, though, I voted we'd get top 4 in the TW poll before the season started - mainly based on our form from January. I think the two Manchester clubs and Chelsea may be a stretch too far (though we could still turn them over in the odd game) but we'll be looking down on everyone else.

Arsenal, Spurs and Newcastle are definitely weaker than last season.
I believe the RS are treading water and destined for mid table.

Expecting to finish 4th is madness, I'm sorry. Live in hope, not expectation! I'm pretty excited about this squad, but I think we need to be a little realistic too. All we've done so far is convincingly beat two very poor sides, and win a home game against a Man U side whose midfield was playing together for the first time, had RVP on the bench, and which is very weak in defence right now. Let's not get carried away.

Even though we do have a first team that should acquit itself well against just about anyone, our squad depth doesn't begin to approach that of the top sides. We're going to have to rest players, and our first choice guys will get tired and lose form during the season, and our replacements are mostly several steps below. More importantly, if any of Fellaini, Jelavic, Baines or Howard are ever injured we will start to drop points really quickly. A lot will also depend on how quickly guys like Naismith and Miralla settle in and become productive - if either one can be consistently effective down the right hand side, that will address a huge weakness.

Having said that, we do have a great opportunity this year. I think the top three sides (Chelsea and the Manchester sides) will run away with it, just through sheer squad depth as much as the quality of their first teams. But Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool are all considerably weaker this year than they have been for several years in my opinion (possibly decades, in Arsenal's case), and Newcastle's charmed run isn't that likely to repeat this year. If ever we did have a good shot at 4th, this is the year, so there's definitely reason to be optimistic!

One thing I have learned about Everton under Moyes is never make any predictions, positive or negative.

Top 6
Win the fucking league cup for once
4 points off the shite
Carry on with the good football

Mike 186 - there's no way we'll get "Pie of the Decade", have a word with yourself!

I've got money on Top 4 and got slaughtered on here 2 months ago when I put it on.

Realistically I think it'll be a bridge too far but 5th, 6th shouldn't be. I just hope we bury Liverpool home and away this time to put them out of the equation.

I'm sure no one will go, we may get one more in for the squad, no one we've heard of though and most likely on loan.

In my opinion, swearing can be a bit dodgy when it's overdone. But I chuckled happily at Paul David's "win the fucking league cup for once". I think the league cup should always be called the "fucking league cup" - at least until we win it!

Keep in mind we were about 20 points off Spurs last season and though they have lost Modric I expect them to spend another £50m in the next 48 hours on top of Dembele, Vertonghen and Siggurdson.

Hate to say it but Liverpool will also be a lot better.

We are playing well but not sure it's true to say our rival teams will be worse.

Phil McNulty ‏@philmcnulty

Everton in pole position for Copenhagen's Bryan Oviedo. WBA not in the picture and a deal worth around £5m looks likely before tomorrow.

Can we please park any top 4 bullshit now?! Last night we played Leyton Orient.

If we get to the business end of the season and we are in the mix, think about it then. We look good to challenge for european places, of some form.

Squad is small, we have maybe a core of 14/15-ish outfiled players and young prospects bubbling underneath. We need more depth. Injuries to any of our big hitters, our impact players, especially up top, will severely compromise us.

Fortunately, Moyes has shown that he is brilliant at is finding ways for his teams to play, to compete and mix it even when compromised.

We are looking the best we have for a few years and Moyes has, even within his limited squad managed to fashion some options and depth.

That depth, however, is extremely reliant on certain players. Despite all the shit he gets Phil Neville, for example, is vital. But he is 34 and 3 games in such quick succession was a little heavy on him I thought and it seemed last night it could have been a slight muscle pull. Any word on how he is?

Im not just saying this but I thought Moyes would have given him a much needed break at the interval. However Moyes had already rested 3 trusted and vital senior squad men, and there is the problem. We lean very heavily on these lads. I personally don't think another 45 would have hurt the Jag to much but we don't get to know how he was feeling, Moyes does love the Jag and experience tells us he takes no risks with the centre half position.

But were looking good, and you cant buy momentum and confidence. And Mirallas has flown out of the traps.

Just genuine cover for Jelavic, Davey, someone who can still make the system work.........

I think Moyes got it spot on when he said he was not getting carried away, judge us where we are after 10 games, and that's about right. I think the thing that's surprised most fans is the number of chances we've created in the first 2 games I don't think we had that many from August to January last season, so that bodes well.

As someone said earlier, we beat poor Man Utd and Villa sides I think we made them look ordinary... Yes, you could argue Villa will struggle but Man Utd wont. So they're ywo great results given our recent history in these fixtures.

There's a tricky game on Saturday at WBA, who have started quite well, so I reckon this'll be our hardest test yet... but one I personally think we'll overcome — as long as we keep creating chances and we've a striker as good as the Ice Man putting them away, we're always in with a shout.

As my mate beautifully put it, Jelas second touch is a celebration!

I won't be getting carried away though — I've seen too many false dawns.

Damn it! Just seen the Oviedo story repeated in the Daily Mail. Was so hoping it was going to be true!

Matthew (188) you're right about squad depth. But squads don't play each other, teams do. If we get some luck with injuries then based on the last six months (not last night) I think we can surprise some people this year. But as others have alluded to, there are several other teams similarly optimistic...

I'd be happy with top 6. Over the fucking moon with top 4. The 2 Mancs will be top 2 and Chelsea will be much stronger this year. The barcodes won't be in the mix this year. That leaves us, Spurs, Arsenal and the shite in for 4th spot (although I do think and hope the shite are in for a rough season). 4th is possible, if we can keep this momentum going for a long while and keep injury free all season, but highly unlikely.

Seeing as we've already spent half the Rodwell money, I'd be happy with one more good permanent addition and two half decent loanees to pad out the squad.

Desperately hoping that Fellaini will stay and that his early season form won't attract last minute bids. I really have a feeling that he's the kind of guy whose head would be easily turned by a top club.

Dammit.. beaten to the Oviedo link!!

Squad player though surely as position is on the left... or can he play right?

Oh and in terms of this thread.. I cant predict anything when it comes to Everton... but I live in hope of a top 4.

The Oviedo story is surely a little worrying. Why are we after left-backs/left mid? I don't want to lose anybody (defo not Baines) from that part of team. Please tell me it's either not true, or he can play up front. We need a squad striker as primary back up to Jelavic.

Or would we be happy with Miralles up front when Jerla is injured, and return to either Coleman or Osman on the right?

Not Osman on the right I hope. Pienaar can play in the middle though Roberto.

Top 4 will be possible if the new season's form is a continuation of what we've experienced since January. First rule of achievement is believing it possible. And yes, it is.

I just hope it is like last time when the newspapers and the redshite kept on saying that our bubble will burst ......and it didn't. Don't foresee a top 4 finish but getting back into Europe would be great, a cup or by league placing

Oviedo would be backup for Baines and Pienaar. We don't have any proper cover on the left side, so we can't afford to let anyone go. As long as he's decent it's a smart move. Can't see Moyes shelling out nearly half the Rodders cash on him if he's not fairly sure that he's up to it.

Would be great to get a proper right winger in, even on loan.

Also read that Reo-Coker is still on a free. Now that Rodders is out, that would surely be a decent move to bolster options in the middle, he's only 28.

We have to go for top four...and that means brining in a couple of seniors before the deadline. Our first 11 is very good, and we have a few decent squad players, but it is going to be difficult to get top six, let alone top four, without more additions.

Re. top four..it is a possibility, but we will have to avoid injuries and hope others slip up. There is alot of talk about Arsenal being worse..but that is said every season. Fact is, last season, they endured the worse injury luck in the premier league, all manner of squad unrest, the loss of key players and still come third. They've lost RVP, who never played much more than half a season until last season, and Song, who is the worse 'defensive' defensive midfielder in the league. Sure, he is a wonderful footballer, and sets up alot of goals, but he goes missing time and time again. They've also brought in Cazorla, who will set the league alight, Podolski, who will be superb although he is far too left footed, and the top scorer in France last season, who is a bit of a risk. Wilshere will be returning soon, and Oxlade is a year older. It will be very hard to knock Arsenal out of the top four.

Newcastle also have a great squad. Cisse is pure class, based not just on post january form, but his time in Germany. Ben Arfa was one of the best midfield prospects in the world not so long ago, and has fantastic ability. Tiote and Cabaye are a top four pairing, and Newcastle have a very strong defense, improved with the return of Taylor, and I expect we will see the emergence of Santon this season. They also finished third in the post-January league, and thus above us, despite losing players to the African Nations. However, that said, I think the potential loss of key players in January again, could cost them, especially as they lack cover for Demba Ba and Cisse, whilst we conversely could be improved with an incoming Donovan and even Cahill.

And of course there is Spurs. Until a fantastic balls up last season, they were title contenders, and looked sure to finish above Arsenal. They have a great defence, look to be improved with the signings of Sigurddsson, Dembele, the return of Ade and Caulker, and the possible signings of Lloris and Remy. However, Modric going will harm then, and if they let RVDV go, I will be very happy. They've started badly however, AVB will be under alot of pressure, and it will be interesting to see what happens when they get injuries to their wide players, as they have no replacements, save for a poor Danny Rose, and Dos Santos.

Plus, don't forget other teams who might fancy their chances. Sunderland were great following O'Neil's arrival, and the prospect of Johnson, Mclean, Sessegnon and Fletcher as a front four is a tad frightening. Swansea have made some good signings, and Hernandez will be a good replacement for Sinclair, although they surely won't trouble the top four. I think Fulham could have been a threat, but the loss of Dembele and possibly Dempsey, will be too much I think.

Top four is a possibility, but it is going to be extremely difficult. Unfortunately, I think there is only place to play for. Chelski, whilst their defence and attack have looked a bit disconnected at times, will surely, on personnel alone, finish third. They've thrown millions at the team, and can boast at least 2 players for every position. I think the only possible issue affecting their team, could be squad unrest, as they've as many midfielders/wingers as we have senior players.

We can come top four, but I think we need a bit of realism. It will take alot of luck, and even more spirit. But then...who has more spirit than us? We also have one of the best midfielders in the world on his day, one of the league's best defenses, a deadly finisher, an exceptional left sided midfielder, and we've signed a player who almost scored 1 a game in Greece last season. So fingers crossed.

Richard Parker; Oviedo would be backup for Baines and Pienaar.
------------
That's a little hopeful. I am less confident that we would spend £5 million on a back up left back: we have Garbutt, remember. He cost just over £1 million, which is the sort of price Everton can pay for back up players; Baines cost £5-6 million, the sort we can afford for first-choicers.

At the mo' the more important position of striker, we are looking at a 250K back up player from Scotland.

That does not ring true to me.

Sal you give "reasons to be cheerful" then place doubt on it.

I have seen 3 periods of Everton success starting with the swinging 60's team.

The common factor is that all of a sudden the Goddison faithfull start to believe something special is happemimg and get right behind the players especially in tough games.

In the 80's there was many a semifinal that was heading the wrong way but the supporters kept the players going and we pulled it out of the bag.

Success has been so sparse since then GP became a bit of a mausoleum but with the start to this season provided the moaners are drowned out I am more optimistic than I have been for a long time.

Whether it is enough to get 4th or better we will have to wait and see but if we start to build positive momentum I can see a very successful period.

I think Spurs are weakening, and there seems to be a negative momentum built up around AVB. I think it's unfair on him, but it could really benefit us.

Arsenal are the real unknown quantity. Sometimes losing your best player can be the best thing that ever happens to you. Everyone else stops riding along as his passenger and steps up to take responsibility. It's too soon to tell yet with Arsenal.

Liverpool again we'll have to wait and see, Joe Allen, Nuri Sahin and Steven Gerrard is new midfield and could be one of the best in the league, or it could completely fail gel. Suarez's form and behaviour will be important too, and both are unpredictable.

I think Newcastle will do well again, I don't think last season was a flash in the pan, they have genuine quality and seem to be holding on to everybody. I'd love Ben Arfa and wish we'd had the bottle to go for him when he was going cheap. He was an in an Arteta/Pienaar type situation of having gone stale after early promise.

Chelsea will challenge the Manchester clubs for the title I think, Torres looks like he will have huge season and Hazard seems to have settled in straight away. They already had quality in abundance too. This means I think third is a long way beyond us.

It's great to see such realism in posts and I agree that we can still do very well and not finish 4th. It's a very strong league and we have a lot of competition. Liverpool looked bloody good against City and Arsenal will always be a potential threat. I think the purchase of a left sided player will be good and not seen as a "back-up", the importance of the squad system is not back-up but so that you can rotate and rest players and good left footed wide players are rare. I feel sorry for players like Osman who plays badly when he's put out wide, it's a specialist position and good wide players are few and far between.

Confidence is a key factor, I'll judge us after 10 games but things looking great.

For me the reasons to be optimistic are more than just signings and a good 2 games... it is the fact that we have being doing this since Feb.... so we are continuing the run, with better players now too...

That is reason to hope..

Roberto - Oviedo is apparently able to play left-back or left-mid. I think we know that aside from Pienaar and Baines, we're really short down the left, so he's a logical replacement for Drenthe, who could apparently do both.

The big difference between the left-side and up-front is that up-front we already have 2 players that cost 5-6M playing for one spot, plus Vellios, Anichebe (for what he's worth) and, at a push, Naismith as backup.

We have Garbutt and Distin who can cover left-back, but Garbutt is inexperienced and Distin forms part of Moyes' preferred CB pairing. We have no proper cover for Pienaar. I see Oviedo and injury cover/rotation for Pienaar and Baines for sure and not a precursor for Baines' departure.

Yossi Benayoun has said on twitter he is in talks with 2 prem clubs about a move on loan. I would love this to be us regarding cover on left hand side, Chelsea would probably subsidise wages after all.

Whilst the start to the season has been fantastic, and Moyes's new approach to games is encouraging,its a tad too early to get carried away with finishing 4th, just yet.

- I have no idea where we will finish, far to early to guess, but at the moment I am very happy with two things which (imo) are making all the difference.

1) The type/style of football we are playing.

2) A new, FAR more positive attitude.

The football we are playing is in the main, intelligent and at times very pleasing on the eye and the attitude appears far less concentrated on who they are and what they might do and much more on what WE can/will do.

Of course we will lose games and any game we lose is always disappointing, but important (for me), it's nowhere near as disappointing as when we lose playing dumb, nervous football.

Since Swansea, it has been, quite frankly, a revelation.

We could argue for weeks about how and why, but personally I am just happy to see Everton playing the kind of football I believe Everton should play and exhibiting the kind of attitude I believe Everton should show.

It's obviously great for all blues but particularly for Evertonians of my g..g..g..generation, who have seen us win trophies and believe (wrongly or rightly) that our attitude should always be..

"We don't give a fuck who you are or how much money you have and we don't give a fuck how many 'Premier' League Sky games you have won. We have been around for more than 130 years and we were winning titles before you were formed. WE.....are Everton Football Club, founder members and will give you a game anytime, anywhere".

Anyway, win lose or draw, we should change nothing we're doing right now.

Eugene "We should change nothing we're doing right now"

There lies one of the worries for me Eugene, if we were to lose a couple of games on the trot, would Moyes revert back to type, and go back to playing to not lose, and anything else is a bonus?

My question is Sal why would they arrive THEN leave?????

"Noises coming from Goodison's corridors of power suggest more players will be arriving then leaving? "

Truly crazy if that were to happen Brian, currently we are playing football that is trying to win every game, rather than football that HOPES to win every game. There's a world of difference between the two and since Swansea, I think it has been proved that not only does the present 'philosophy' provide football that is better to watch, it's actually more successful results-wise. If we were to lose a couple on the bounce (nb: and at some stage we will) I would hope all concerned would keep their nerve.

With respect to Oviedo...if the link is true, then I expect the fee to be much less than 5million. We shall see, but I expect that estimation is a little inaccurate. I really hope we make use of the loan market. From the looks of things, the likes of Essien, Yossi, Romeu, Anderson, Ramsay and Hernandez will receive little playing time at their clubs..I think alot of those could either improve the first team, or become rotation players. Some might not be available, some might not want to play for us, but I certainly think a marquee loan signing is a possibility.

With respect to Oviedo...if the link is true, then I expect the fee to be much less than 5million. We shall see, but I expect that estimation is a little inaccurate. I really hope we make use of the loan market. From the looks of things, the likes of Essien, Yossi, Romeu, Anderson, Ramsay and Hernandez will receive little playing time at their clubs..I think alot of those could either improve the first team, or become rotation players. Some might not be available, some might not want to play for us, but I certainly think a marquee loan signing is a possibility.

Eugene Ruane #241 Spot on as ever Eugene.

How about we just ignore the league for now and simply take each game as it comes.

We have certainly improved but I almost laugh at the way some people have written off the likes of spurs and arsenal, as they supposedly have much worse teams than before. They may have lost some big names but they still have very good teams, have signed new players and have much larger squads compared to us!

You have to go back about 20 years to the last time we finished above Arsenal, so I wouldn't write them off just yet....

I expect us to kick the shit out of WBA.

Roger Sunde

We didn't just have a good 60 minutes against United. We ran them ragged for an hour making five chances including hitting the woodwork twice and pulling three great saves from their goalkeeper.

They made one chance as I recall.

Then we defended for half an hour as we tired and they got frantic trying to pull the game back. But we defended expertly and never really looked in danger. Just because we didn't attack for 90 minutes doesn't mean we didn't play great in defence and for the full 90. Defence is a part of the game mate and a very important one at that.

This Villa team may well be the worst you have seen but we didn't just beat them we made them look Sunday League and that isn't easy against any Premiership side. We made them look worse than they are and that is a measure of a good side.

As for Orient, games like last night are potentially the biggest games of their season. That's why teams like them playing Premiership sides pull out all the stops, have nothing to lose and explains why giant killing is not exactly unusual. We should know, we've been victims very regularly over recent years! Last night though Everton imposed their superiority right from the kick off despite 5 changes and that's all you can ask for in games like that. Ask Pulis!!

Cheer up lad and give a little credit where it's due. I'm not making any predictions about winning this and that but from last February to today I have watched some cracking stuff from Everton and in my opinion the team has been strengthened even further with Naismith and Mirallas. So personally I'm pretty confident that we can make a mark this season because if we can avoid major injuries (a big IF I know) we are capable of beating anybody in this league.

But above all I just enjoy watching Everton at the moment because they are adaptable and capable of playing bloody good stuff. I'm even starting to wonder why Ossie doesn't get a look in for the England squad!! It's a long time since I was able to say that without my tongue in my cheek!

Eugene Ruane, I agree 100%. For many years, I have been wanting Moyes out for a number of reasons but the main one is the percentage, we'll defend like hell and try and nick a goal football that Moyes demands.I don't know how many times we've gone into games against the Sky darlings (particularly Liverpool) looking like we don't belong there and that we can maybe nick a point and be hailed as overachievers because of finances.

Of course finances has something to do with it but I've always believed it's our style of play and mentality that needs to change. In the 10 years Moyes has been here, I think I have believed on three separate occasions that he has finally changed his mindset only to be disappointed in the end... which is why this season I've been hesitant to say that he has finally seen the light (although the signs are good, very good).

For as long as we play with the attitude and style of play that we are adopting at the moment, I'll be wanting Moyes to stay and would be quite gutted if he started talking to other clubs in the near future about becoming their manager — which is a weird one because last season I really had had enough.

I don't know if it was the critism he recieved last season for being to defensive or not being in contention for the Spurs job but I'm hoping something has made him change. It's early days but maybe, just maybe we'll see a consistent attacking Everton.

Keep up the good work, Moyes.

I think it's realistic to think we can qualify for Europe via the league. We'd require Arsenal and Torenham to have bad seasons for that. Europe should distract Liverpool and Newcastle enough that we should finish above at least one of then. Next season I think one of our priorities should be winning the Europa League.

I think we could realistically win one of the domestic cups this year. We have to pit out worthy teams throughout the competitions though.

Most realistically, we have the potential to do all this playing attractive football. The start of last season was the worst I've seen from us. May our current style continue!

Eugene (241) - "the attitude appears far less concentrated on who they are and what they might do and much more on what WE can/will do".

Dead on.

Even watching on TV, you can feel it. And I've felt it since February, March at the latest. Just a Back-to-Front Top Side, proving it.

Come on the weekend and WBA.

Eugene and I were at Highbury 84, alas not together, although it might have been ER who made off with my trendy trainer after I lost it in the 117th minute in the chaos after Inchy scored my fave EFC goal of my time. ER is one of the sharpest TW posters with wit as a bonus. Word-for-word, I would have posted the same. Not a love in, just an agreement.

I think predictions are somewhat misleading at this point. But it has to be said that the way Moyes has lined us up so far and that gritty steel that ER speaks of, sunny is the only option. And, looking down the ladder at the shite, 5 points behind (okay played well against shitty but defensive wise??), feels so good, and that right now feels more secure and spot on than a prediction about where the greatest team in the history of footie will be in May.

The one thing I am sure of, is that we will be looking down on the red shite, again. Not a bitter obsessed blue, just, by way of contrast, a very happy blue.

Keep it real the title says.
Don't analyse Everton before assessing the opposition.
1st place Man City, massive spends as usual, mi- match, perfect match, Mancini mix up, time will tell. Lescott, Nose out of joint it seems. That club is a Spanish Omellete in the making in need of some serious seasoning.
ManUtd, beat them, next problem please,
Chelsea, seriously, anyone in envy of their team, attacking, play, yeah, pretty good, let's see them after a few good kickings though
Arsenal, the only fans that hate them more than a Spurs fan are Arsenal ones. Chaos in that club
That leaves us and the chasing group, RS, couldn't find a striker in an 80's Yorkshire mine shaft
Spurs, AVB doing his very best to screw up team spirit ala Chelsea style..
Newcastle, head down, no frills, main threat to us, they seem to be doing it right it right at last.
So, can we match these lot over 38 games, as a one off, I would match our team against anyone, over a season however, anything can happen.
But you know what Evertonians, be proud of what we can achieve, just get behind the team and enjoy what's ahead. No predictions, let's just have a right go and any side that wants to beat us Quote Davey Moyes "will have to step over our bodies to do it"