I don't think it was purely down to the lack of investment in January although that has had a significant impact. But if your manager won't commit to a contract would you in all honesty allow him to use your funds even if they were available. The board should have addressed the managers contract last summer and if DM didn't want to extend it, they should have paid him off and got a new manager in.

I honestly think the players have been affected by the uncertainty and it started to show in the performances from early January up to the City game. If as has been suggested on another post, DM goes to Man U as an assistant first with a view to becoming their next manager it shows how far Everton FC has fallen in the modern game.

For a team that has no recognisable strikers it is something of a miracle that we are as high up the table as we are, but I still feel that the team has not played to their maximum ability especially away from home.

I have a horrible feeling that this summer will see us having to endure the label of 'crisis' club as our better players seek a way out and our inept board will dither about who they want to appoint. Who was it at Goodison who said that Everton FC were not a soap-opera?

Yaaawwwnnnnnn... Another "lets blame Moyes for playing his favourites only and not Barkley, Oviedo, Hitz (Who the fuck is he)" post... Another swipe at the Board for not finding buyers, not investing enough.. Its a fan forum so these opinions are no doubt valid..

But the truth of the matter is we have hit a glass ceiling simply because we have reached the limit of how much we can wring out of our resources, not because we lack balls (funny Etihaad and WHite Hart lane arent mentioned by the Moyes Bashers).. For christ's sake we are currently 22 points above NUFC, 20 above AVFC, 17 above the great "Swans" - all who spend the same sorta money as us in the market and yet we cry about Moyes etc .. We might get a cup run here and a Euro adventure there, but fundamentally we have reached our potential as a club..

Who forms that potential? Well its all about the club, our stadium, our city location, our matchday sales, our ability (or lack of) to increase ticket prices etc. etc. So while we love our club and want to see it competing at the very top, its not going to happen till we break the glass ceiling (which is an unknown).. We are no longer EVerton - the mighty, but are everton the mid-sized club, thats punching above its weight by finishing 6th..

So what do we as supporters do? One, pray for some good owner to purchase Everton. Two, support our team as it strives to break a thick ceiling. Three - not moan about the Board, Moyes, players, Academy etc at the first chance..

Is this post being defeatist? Yeah maybe. Is it being realist? Again maybe.. Is it being "calmist" - oh hell yes it is..

In order of blame:
Moyes
Kenwright
Board
Jelavic
I hope he makes his mind up and goes. But, then again our shambolic board and idiotic chairman probably won't decide who to appoint until all of the good ones have gone with us being left with Hughes.

Varun so that's it then we just lie back and think of Dixie, accept that we can no longer compete and sit in our seats with a vacant expression and thank the lord we are retaining our place in the 'best league in the world' what has BK been putting in the half-time bovril?

I accept that we probably won't see CL football anytime soon with or without Moyes but I cannot accept that we can't improve the current team with or without money. We need the board not so much to invest their money, but to have a much clearer vision of what they want from an Everton team, 13+ years on and we are still awaiting their 'vision'.

I sometimes wish we had lost the games against Wimbledon or Coventry as it may have given the club the shock it needs to wake up to the reality of the modern game, then again with those who run the club we would probably be playing in the conference by now.

I honestly don't get this sense of entitlement, and apparent malaise..

The board haven't significantly strengthened the squad, yet somehow the expectation has grown.

Last season we finished a whopping thirteen points adrift of the Champions League; to date, we have gained six points on that, as we are now 7 short of fourth spot this campaign.

We lost 12 games last season, compared to just 6 losses this time...clearly we have made strides; a win against West.Ham, and it will be our joint second-highest points tally of the Moyes era.

To me, it's staggeringly-obvious where the difficulty of the challenge truly lies.

#655 Varun , well written and exactly right. Both Liverpool clubs cannot compete any more for Top 4 place. We have neither the resources,money , Council support, to join the moneybags merchants of Manchester and London , soon to include West Ham with their £300m gift from Boris.

We might strike lucky as we nearly did this year but with a squad of only 13 international players we'll be lucky. The Oviedo's, Hitz's, Duffy's, Naismith's, vellios's just aren't good enough. We need a cash injection of £30m just om playing side alone.

We both need a Council with the foresight to plough £250m into a new 60000 shared stadium .

If you look at this seasons results at WHL and the Etihad, we have created chances to win both those games. I really am baffled as to what Moyes says to the players when we go to the Emirates, Anfield, OT and Stamford bridge. If my memory serves me right we had one noteworthy shot on target at OT from Osman which was saved, Barkley's shot which whistled wide at the Emirates and Fellaini's shot which just went wide at Anfield along with the disallowed goal. I imagine the patterns will follow similar suit at the bridge. It's clear Moyes has instilled some form of mental block on the forward players when they go away to these grounds, the build up play is so lethargical and devoid of any passing and penetration in the oppositions penalty box.

Kevin #666, I agree entirely. Going into this season I don't think we had any real expectations of finishing above our probable finishing place. We're not a million miles behind a couple of others on points. There's no entitlement to punch above your weight, in terms of resources available, but we have. Have much do people bloody expect?

I am sorry but we don't need any of the above to beat Wigan at home in a quarter final.

If you accept that Everton have overachieved in the League then you also have to accept that Everton have fucking woefully underachieved in the cups.

Moyes is banging on about qualifying for Europe well he will never have an easier chance to do so

Cheltenham
Bolton
Oldham
Wigan
Millwall

They are the teams that he needed to overcome to get into Europe and he failed.

I think Moyes could of used his squad much better this season. His continual faith kept in Naismith Neville and Heitinger has been the most frustrating thing about Moyes this season. These three players got chance after chance, when performing like complete liabilities. Moyes's lack of faith in Oviedo has been the most confusing aspect to me. Oviedo seemed to impress everyone apart from Moyes when given a chance. I'm also pretty sure Barkley, Duffy, and Hitzlsperger could of contributed more then the 3 dire players iv'e mentioned.

I'm actually very impressed with our record against the so called money teams this season, we've beaten both Manchester clubs at home and spurs as well. The only defeat at home coming to Chelsea. People keep banging on about our shocking away record against the big Sky teams, but only Man Utd have beaten us away all season. Our biggest downfall has been our failure to finish off the lesser teams in the PL, this is down to mostly not scoring enough goals when we've been on top in games, and been unable to see out games, which is so unlike Moyes's teams of the past. One thing we've all come to get used to in seasons gone by, is lots of clean sheets.

All-in-all though, this as been a very impressive season as far as the league is concerned, if refereeing decisions actually level themselves out we would be in a great position to finish top 4.

Barkley is a player who continues to be a mixed bag. At times he's looked good and exciting but at other times he has looked an absolute liability. Remember Barkley went to the Championship to play for Leeds this season and failed to hold down a permanent place in their team. If he couldn't win a place in the Leeds team do you really expect Moyes to give him a place in the Everton team?? Barkley has played 7 times for Everton this season which is pretty good for a teenager. We'll see more of him next season.

I don't have much opinion of Oviedo because I simply have not seen much of him. He looks promising but Moyes would be mad to split up the Baines/Pienaar partnership. Pienaar may not be the force he once was but the Baines/Pienaar partnership is probably the best left side combination in the Premiership. Time and time again the Baines/Pienaar combination has unlocked opposing teams and Moyes would be mad to mess with that just to give Oviedo a chance.

Hitzlsperger was brought into Everton to make up the numbers. He's played a few games and done ok but if Gibson, Osman and Fellaini are fit there's no way Moyes is going to look to Hitzlsperger. Lets be honest Hitzlsperger was brought to Everton because he cost nothing not because Moyes felt he could add very much to the squad. Sometimes you just need bodies in the changing room.

Vellios is a strange one because last season he was making an impact and I think we all expected more this season. I can only assume something is not quite right with Vellios in training. Maybe his attitude is not what Moyes expects or maybe he's just not working hard enough and its effecting his development. Or maybe its just simply that he's not as good as Anichebe and Jelavic and therefore is not considered.

"All-in-all though, this as been a very impressive season as far as the league is concerned, if refereeing decisions actually level themselves out we would be in a great position to finish top 4" — Why do the men in the black get the blame for another failure, Mark?

The blame lies with our shambolic, unambitious board and our cautious, defensive, unambitious manager who time and time again lets us down be it in the cup or in the PL.

If 3 of our 9 away draws were turned into wins we would be above the Spuds and still within a shout. Sitting back at 1 up away from home against the likes of Norwich and Reading have cost us badly this season.

Refs are not the biggest reason for our dismal failures in the PL and the cup competitions, it is a cocktail of useless players like Pienaar and Jelavic and the Gruesome Twosome, the lovers BK and Moyes who have the ambition and hunger of a mouse with anorexia.

Ross Edwards
No one on here can dispute the fact, if refereeing decisions had gone more in our favour, we would be in the mix for a CL spot. You talk a lot of sense as far as the board are concerned, but I don't think its Moyes's tactics as much as his team selections that have been at fault

In truth as far back as Leeds it was a bridge too far.

We were unrecogniseable as a Moyes side with the unsoiled impetus of Mirallas/Jela/Gibbo last season but the suspicion was it could be an illusion.

Cue Leeds Utd and Moyes doing his usual cup nonsense and the road to harsh reality hoved into view with a thumping 2 nil defeat.

Fortunately the worst Premiership since inception has allowed us to storm all the way from 7th to 6th..... which means it's verbotten to mention anything else.

Can hardly smile wide enough thinking about another year like this.

Why have the four players you mention, Mark, not appeared regularly in the side? — The simple answer is that the man who sees them train every day and picks the team does not believe they could do as well as those who get selected.

Remember how everyone raved that Leeds was the ideal game to introduce some unfamiliar faces and look how that turned out! Moyes then got dog`s abuse for not showing Neil Warnock`s team respect after we took a pasting.

So do you really think that Barkley has done enough to be given a regular spot? Is Oviedo a better left-back than Baines or wide midfielder better than Pienaar? Hitzlsperger more influential (and fitter) than a half-fit Gibson? And as for Vellios, I hear he`s so impressive at Finch Farm that he`s on an early June flight to Athens — never to be seen again!

No, there none of them up to it (yet?) and that only goes to show the restrictions Moyes works under at Everton. Although if you listened to Paddy Power at lunchtime it won`t be for much longer!

Take a bow Ross Edwards!

Disk Brady 676
Moyes does mess with the Pienaar/Baines partnership, lately Mirallas has been playing left and Pienaar playing right. If Moyes doesn't mind playing Pienaar right side, why didn't he give Oviedo a game when Miralles was injured for long periods this season. The dire Naismith was played instead and Oviedo had to sit on the bench observing the useless twat! Oviedo has shown ten times more potential then Naismith ever did and he hasn't even been given a sniff

Patrick - we can do absolutely nothing about the fact that EVerton is no longer a giant.. COmplete, utter and total squat!! Zilch, nada, zoop (ok I guess you get the point)..

What can you exactly do? Some may say protest against the board, others say protest by not buying shirts / tickets, still others moan about Moyes and the rest..

Well you and the Blue Union may protest till you are blue in the face (ironically), but the fact of the matter is this is a board of over 10 years - they are super established and comfortable with status quo. THey are not like Hicks regime of 2 years who could be pushed into a corner and forced to exit.. These guys (like any sensible businessman) will not sell till they get good returns. So you might yell and moan - but that aint helping much.. Gets Everton into the headlines though for whatever it is worth..

Dont get me started on how not buying merchandise etc will force them to sell - thats preposterous..

So all you / me can do is moan - which is our right and we do it duly on these forums (including me).. But what I don't get is where is the sense of realism before we moan.. We have played 11 times this year against teams around us (CFC away left) and have lost twice (Man U away, Chel at home).. Now some may say we won only twice too - but the fact is we have lost twice on a much smaller budget.. So how is Moyes hopeless and useless??

Richard Dodd 688
Moyes should pick players on the basis of how they perform in matches, not just in training. Your saying crap like "is Oviedo a better LB then Baines etc. Don't forget we have had injuries and suspensions over the season and haven't had the luxury of having our best 11 players available. What I was talking about, is the shite players Moyes has been selecting while some of our regulars have been injured or suspended. I will ask you a question, have Naismith Neville and Heitinga done enough to keep Barkley, Duffy, Oviedo and Hitzlsperger out of the team?

You mention the Leeds game as an example of our youth and fringe players letting us down, but the first team regulars were just as bad that night. Richard, your blind loyalty to see no faults at all with Moyes, is nearly as annoying as Ross Edwards' stupidity to only pick faults with Moyes

.....and with all those faults,crap manager,crap players,crap tactics etc. etc. etc.,we`ve lost just one more game than have the two moneybags top teams and one less than those in third and fourth positions.
A decent striker is all that`s stopped us from top four honours-but,of course,that Moyes` fault,too!

"Richard, your blind loyalty to see no faults at all with Moyes, is nearly as annoying as Ross Edwards' stupidity to only pick faults with Moyes"
So, are you a go-between then Mark?

From what we saw of Jelavic last season was enough to convince us we had a real deal striker on our hands. When this season it became apparent Jelavic was struggling, why didn't the manager try to mix things up or play a new face up front to try to get the best once more from Jelavic?

Moyes simply carried on in familiar fashion showing no clue how to change the fortunes of his side. As an attacking force, it didn't work at all this season so why didn't Moyes notice this and try to remedy it?

If you want to blame our poor second half form, it stems from lack of goals and creativity... I am sorry to say Moyes blew it by being a stubborn fool who won't change.

Not enough consistancy on the pitch, not enough investment, not enough squad rotation, Moyes being too cautious, more refereeing and bounce of the ball decisions going against us than with us. There are any amount of things you could say that have been the cause of us not getting a trophy or a CL spot.

Ask a Liverpool fan and they will probably give you the same list of reasons, albeit that the lack of a transfer fund may not be pushed as much.

Ask a Newcastle fan what has happened from in the twelve months from this time last year and they will tell you the same things.

The key is consistancy and a winner's attitude. It is the one thing that has seperated Man Utd from the rest of us since the inception of the PL. They have had more of both this season and it is why they were league champions with four or five games to spare.

Richard Dodd 707
When have I ever said Moyes is a crap manager? I think he's worked wonders in the last 11 years with next to nothing to spend. Just because I pick fault with some of his team selections, it doesn't mean I don't apprieciate what he's done. You still didn't answer my question though

Mike Oakes @ 668 Has touched on something that I think should be spoken about more. The lack of support from the council. In Liverpool there are two great football clubs who contribute greatly to the local economy and the fame of the city.
The council should help finance a new stadium in Stanley Park for both clubs. If people want to see Everton and Liverpool as Champions league contenders then they have to forget the rivalry and get together and share a stadium.
I am certain that big crowds would watch both teams at a new state of the art stadium.
Look at the Stadia in Germany. They are fantastic why can't we do that?
Anything is possible. It can happen with the right people at the helm.

Mark Frere
I don't think Doddy was criticising you. You mentioned me in your post so I think he was saying that I blame Moyes for everything. I was being criticised I think, not you.

For me Hitz is far better than Gibson who just hangs around the middle of the pitch watching his team-mates work their socks off. As for Ovieda. I can only assume he was purchased by the Board because Moyes rarely neglects players we know for sure were his choice. e.g. Jelavic, Naismith etc.

Moyes has done a decent job but I can't fully support him while he insists on using the same players week in week out even though some of them are way below the required standard. In fact, several of these lethargic yard-dogs are so bad that one is left wondering about the standard of those who are deemed not good enough to replace them. Why are they with our club?

Other clubs are unearthing young talent but at Everton, great ability alone is not enough. To be considered, our youngsters need the physique of Rooney, Rodwell and Barkley. Lucky for Wiltsure that he didn't end up at Finch Farm because with Moyes at the helm, he would still be there.

With leading coach Stubbs stating last week,"there is no substitute for experience" why are we even bothering with an academy?

Yeah Harold, he only plays the physical home grown players like osman and hibbert. Hang on....

Harold - I am fairly certain Hitzsberger will be released and drift into obscurity, whilst Gibson will remain a key part of our midfield. Is he top draw, god no, but he's better than the rest. Fully fit I do expect him to score 5 odd goals a season, and be a little more mobile once he has overcome the thigh problem. He clearly isn't your cup of tea, but hells teeth, I'll name you the entire squad excluding Barkley, Baines, Jags, Coleman, and Mirallas before I want him out through the door.

Agreed Ian @ 734. I can only conclude that Harold hasn't been to Goodison recently, as seeing him in person shows how Gibson harries, closes down, and generally tries to boss the middle of the park more than any other Everton player. Given that he is flanked by the lightweight Osman, Mirallas and Pienaar in our midfield, and the loose cannon Fellaini, Gibson is key to keeping our shape, and linking up play.

Hitz ? I'd be amazed if he lasted the summer. He was clearly unfit when drafted in, and given that no other club came in for him on a "free", maybe it's common knowledge in the game that injuries have caught up with him.

Bad refereeing decisions apart (and don't underestimate the positive impact a few more going our way would have had on our momentum this season), the biggest disappointment this season is the form of Jelavic. I can only assume that he still scores plenty in training, and Moyes just hopes that he can replicate this in the next game, and the one-touch finishes return. We all hope and pray that the old adage "form is temporary, class is permanent" applies to Jelavic, and his 2013 January-May form is just a blip, and his 2012 January-May form is the norm. I know, I know, some blip !

I really think Gibson needs to add goals to his game before I will start considering him as a really good player. For me Gibson is better then average but only just.

Pienaar too should score more goals and the lack of goals from midfield has really hurt us this season. Gibson (1), Pienaar (7), Mirallas (8) and even Osman (8) need to come up with more goals especially considering the strikers are goal shy.

If you add all the Everton midfield goals together they only just beat Frank Lampard (20) on his own and get nowhere near Gareth Bale (30).

I'm not suggesting we need Osman or Mirallas to find 20+ goals a season but if they found say 5 or 6 more each it would make a big difference to the season and get us closer to the teams above like Chelsea and Spurs.

Dick Brady 759
I agree our other midfield players need to score more goals, but Gibson plays the holding midfield role, which means he sits in front of the back 4 and dictates play from there. His job isn't to venture forward and score goals. Claude Makelele was Chelsea's most important player at the time in my opinion, and he never scored many goals

Spot on Varun

We have fallen short of the top four over the season due to limited playing resources. The fact that we have got closer this year is frustrating but credit where its due. Had Jelavich been firing, or more importantly had we the resources to replace him with even a mid priced top level forward we may have pushed harder.

Every team above us (and those just beneath us!) have at least two top quality strikers, most have three or more. Our off the shelf cheap in the sales purchase last year couldnt reproduce last seasons form, and we have nothing to fall back on. Fellaini did well but isn't really striker even when hes up front, and Vic may yet come good but still looks limited.

We battered Fulham Newcastle and Reading with some fantastic football. We didnt sit back in any of those games, rather we missed good chances which cost us. We subsequently won games but played nothing like as well.

So you're saying it's Moyes fault that the ref got a decision wrong and we failed to win against the RS?