Baines the culprit as Blues fizzle out

Expecting a big game from the 4 wingers today with plenty of balls swung in from good positions.

Everton are playing at a walking pace and do not seem to have the same spirit as against Arsenal, and Sunderland seem to playing like they are the only team that wants the points.

I hope Everton pick up the second half.

Does Naismith have a clause in his contract for appearances? Because his mate brings him on every week regardless of how shite he is!

We had 68% of play at one point! We need to offload all our championship players in the "summer"... But I suppose we did play earlier in the week — fancy having to work two fuckin' days!

Season over, it was nice to dream but that's all folks.

On the last home game of the season, the crowd should vent at vent Kenwight. The January transfer window was a disgrace for a team in our position, and so looks to be the nail in the coffin of 2012-13.

Losing today in such a fashion after a run of mediocre performances despite scraping up points was the final nail in his coffin in my book. For the next game, I would start the benchwarmers and leave out the usual suspects but then that is my choice and we all know Moyes will be stubborn yet again.

Just 4 games to go when CL disappears out of sight... brave effort but its still nothing, nada, zilch.

Don't think Moyes will hang around now, not with any extra investment coming through.

Getting used to the feeling of disappointment.

Some of the players might have sucked today, but the sole responsibility of the Manager is to motivate the players with a sound game plan and to provide tactical knowledge for this particular game.

I'm convinced now that Moyes and his management team are probably that arrogant that they probably didn't even do any technical home work on Sunderland, thinking this would be an easy away day.

The difference with this game was that Di Canio had done his homework and motivated his players in the proper way.

Goodbye, Moyes — and thanks for the shite tactics over the years; they won't be missed!

Come on, Kenwright, get it right! Everton need a fresh approach and that means getting rid of the old guard, Moyes and Round.

As for a new striker, I mean, unless we can swap Fellaini for Lukaku, the likes of even a Benteke at the £7m Villa paid are a rarity and he's now worth £20m.

The only way for decent players to come to the club post Moyes is if the manager is a name like Ryjkaard. No one is turning up to play for Martinez or McLaren.

We all know what that formula is, KITANO, he is very good at organising the side, and drilling the team on their particular roles, this is why we generally do a little better than the teams around us.

He will always have well organised teams whose first job is to be hard to beat, but that's all you can expect.

He is not the next Fergie or Wenger unforunately.

That was a truly woeful, "couldn't give a fuck" performance by the players, which both they and Moyes have to take responsibility for, I think probably encouraged by a conservative initial team selection by Moyes.

There is no excuse now for playing the likes of Osman, Heitinga, Naismith etc through the end of the season. We're not qualifying for Europe, we're not going to learn anything new about those players, so surely we should be giving some youngster more of an opportunity. Won't bloody happen, though.

I've had a lot of time for Moyes in the past, and I still don't believe that *any* manager will be able to achieve long term success at Everton while continually hamstrung by the boardroom, his conservatism is infuriating. We must take more risks if we're to possibly achieve more success. It may backfire, but we're clearly not going to break the glass ceiling with the current conservative approach.

Willingly I would swop the end of season elation of surviving relegation than the misery of not getting into the Champions League.

Its unfair to dismiss what Moyes does as merely finding a formula, as if what he does doesn't really count.

Maybe it is a formula, but one where only 15 decent players took 34 games to finally remove themselves from top 4 running. How can you dismiss that?

He was forced into a creative side against Arsenal and it turned out to be really effective so obviously on planet Moyes there's only one thing to do.... change the fucker!!

Sunderland man for man are shite but Di Canio, full house, belief, passion – nailed on we'd wander round with our thumbs up our arse.

Roll on Anfield, eh!

All the talk this week has been on CL football... was everyone drunk or something?

If I need to sit down and have a think, then obviously taking it this far into the season isn't good enough for you. It isn't good enough for me, but then realities must be recognised.

Not having those few extra points maybe down to his tactics and subs, but where we are is certainly down to the manager and again no one with our resources comes close to Moyes and his Everton.

I am not dismissing anything Moyes has achieved, he has found what works for him, and that is why he keeps players long past their sell-by date, because they all adhere to his formulaic way of playing the game. It brings results, but wins you nothing.

Big changes needed in the summer... bye bye, Moyes: you have took us as far as you can.

Credit to Ellis Short, who saw that O'Neill had stagnated and felt the need to replace him with PDC. That 90 minutes summed up the 11 years of David Moyes, desperately in need of a goal, he finally decides with 15 minutes to go to put Barkley on, and put Naismith on. At one point, we had just Jela in the box, a player who has only 1 goal in 18 matches. 9 men behind the ball when 1-0 down away from home, just about sums Moyes and his tactics up, in need of a goal, and puts Naismith on, the worst player in Everton's history.

We won't get Europe now, the RS will overtake us, and I would dread to see what we would be like in Europe, as the performance of the players were embarrassing, they should be ashamed of themselves, especially Pienaar, who did not even try a leg out there today.

In fact, Moyes was just as bad as he didn't even realise that he was the worst player on the pitch, he couldn't even pass the ball to anyone, which shows his ineptitude, as any other manager would have realised that a sub was needed, why not Oviedo,or Barkley earlier?

Jelavic just wondered about, falling over as usual, showed how desperate Moyes became, relying on a man who has scored only 1 goal in 18 League matches. He didn't even try to win anything out there.

Moyes's tactics were non-existent, and he and all of the players should hang their heads in shame because that was an insult to us watching, and the 2,000 fans who spent a lot of money to travel to watch an embarrassing performance, they should all be refunded every penny as they, and we deserve better at Everton Football Club.

Moyes ran out of ideas and showed he lost the plot by taking a goal threat, Vic off, to put Naismith, who has the effect of having 10 men on the pitch when in desperate need of a goal. Europe? We were absolutely shocking and we looked like a team at the bottom of the table out there.

Credit to Di Canio, who in 3 weeks has instilled confidence and passion in that team that was non existent under O'Neill. He pressured, berated every player, Moyes, however, stood there clueless, and spent more time berating the 4th official than he did the players.

An example which summed it up was when one of many passes was intercepted, what did Moyes do? He didn't berate or have a go at the player in question. Of course not, this was his reaction: "Oh No." He has little or no motivational techniques whatsoever, and the reason no one looked motivated was purely down to Moyes. He sets the team up, he is supposed to galvanise the players to perform, he didn't do that at all.

I am waiting for the usual suspects like Doddy and Sam Hoare to defend their man and the team, but if they do I will be stunned. That performance today was indefensible and if Moyes has any shred of dignity, which the media says he has, he would resign instantly, or at least apologise, because that was unacceptable.

And if BK was a true fan, (which of course he isn't, he got carried over the heads of kopites in the Kop didn't he?) he would demand an apology from Moyes or have a word with him, but he won't as they are inseperable at the hip.

This is why I want Moyes out in the summer. This performance was the final straw. Di Canio has been a breath of fresh air for Sunderland, and he has shown the benefits of a managerial change.

If there are people who are frightened of change, or are afraid of a managerial change next season, should think again as how could you defend that? A team, and a manager with no bottle whatsoever, who don't deserve to represent Everton.

Let Dodd and the gang's defence begin...

It makes me think some of you guys think we have a natural position of say 6th 7th, and that if we had someone better than Moyes we could finish above our usual place.
We've had no transfer budget for five years, 9th best wage level and we've taken CL challenge into April with just a few games remaining. That is not where your normal manager would have us finish.

Moyes is a cut above.

Could be good news for us if Villa escape as Martinez would then be fired for getting them relegated and Bill won't have to pay any compensation and then we can get Martinez who will be enough to take us into Champions League football.

Or am I missing something here?

"All the talk this week has been on CL football... was everyone drunk or something?" I don't think so, what getting a point at Arsenal put us back into the CL running? Can't have that mate, the only significance of playing Arsenal was that we played a game or two more compared to those above us. I can almost tell you what the likely scenario will be in the remaining games, probably 6 points against Fulham and West Ham at the same time I'm not anticipating wins against the Shite or Chelsea.

Calling him a relegation manager would be catnip to the Moyes boys.

The guy's like 5'2" tall FFS!

Time to face facts, gentlemen: David is a dour "don't get beat", safety-first defensive-minded manager. I think I am right in saying we have only scored more than 50 goals in a season 3 times since he has been here. That's 50 goals in a 38 game season. One season under his expert guidance we scored 34 goals in 38 games.

Moyes has basically admitted in his interview on Radio City that he only made subs because of "injuries" to Vic and Gibbo, and that Sunderland had ran out of ideas! Ironic, considering we had no ideas at all.

The interviewer on City asked him if Jelavic for Gibson was tactical, he said no. I interpreted this as Moyes not even attempting to get back into the game at all.

Today was poor, and frustrating. We fell to the honeymoon period of a new manager and Moyes was slow to make changes.. Anyone who uses the three week tenure of PDC as proof that we need a new manager I'd completely deluded. let's see how he goes. He will have more cash than Moyes but like the rest he will inevitably fail. .

We're all well pissed of with not being able to challenge for the top places. We've had a good go this year. Inevitably it's fallen flat. I don't care which manager comes this summer, were unlikely to do better than we are now.. That's not me settling for relative mediocrity and id be happy to be proved wrong. I would hold out some hope of us pushing harder if there was someone, anyone anywhere over the past ten/fifteen years who has shown that its possible on a less than average budget. That's the worst thing. Statistically ,at this point it appears to be an impossibility.

To scrap for the top places year on year you need a good manager and good money. We have one of the two.

What do we have?

Kunal, we were still talking of CL football at 2:59pm. We could have been one point off the top 4 today had results gone our way. If buts and maybes, but that's with 4 games to go. 4 for Christ's sake.

Pick up the fat tub-o-lard and pass him over heads to the top row and pitch him out over the top of the stadium to his waiting, waving relative.

Precious. Nostalgic. Bill would talk about it as his fondest memory forever.

As a team we've no real guile and we give the ball away constantly.

We so often look (for want of a better word) dumb in how we approach breaking down defences.

We generally work hard which will get you so far but..no further.

If we can't afford top players (and I accept right now we can't) we need, imo to find a Nolan type.

A nark, a big mouth, a nasty bastard, a REAL captain who will dish out bollockings and isn't scared to scream at his own players.

Too many of our players are cruising, we need a leader ON the pitch.

Doesn't have to be a great player just a great leader - not easy to find but I believe this player is an absolute necessity.

We're an incredibly quiet side and switch off far too easily and when we do, there's nobody to switch us 'on' again.

Hope Moyes goes in the summer, if for no other reason than because I think anyone else might pick a footballer (Barkley) over a journeyman (Osman).

Players that didn't deserve to lose today: Coleman, Fellaini and Distin
Players that don't deserve their place: Pienaar, Osman (still hurt) and Heitinga (Duffy must shake his head everytime Johnny starts)

Today's team looked like a team with nothing to play for so Moyes needs to look in the mirror and think if what he's doing is fair to the club and players...

Like a few have said on here I think Moyes needs to announce his plans because the season effectively ended today.

Once again with so much at stake we offer so little and turn in one of our worst performances of the season. Bottlers just like against Wigan.

Moyes MUST stay!

Time for a clean-out at Goodison, I say!

We have won nothing, and we have a legacy of one of the oldest teams in the League.

An average return for me, some high points, some low points.

Top managers will see things are not working and change tactics etc; Moyes just stands there like a gormless tit.

The main problem this season has been our inability to score. I think a lot of us thought we had finally found our wonder striker last year, but this season it all turned into a damp squib.

It would take a strange set of results for us to hit 4th now.

Ross, do you have to constantly talk out of your arse?

He brings in quality players but losses the plot when it comes to tactics usually.

Spot on Patrick!

Scant consolation (1)

http://www.youtube.com/user/plokijuhy251?feature=

This fella, God bless ‘im, has uploaded reams of stuff from 84-85 and before and, keep scrolling down, and there's a bunch of 40 minute ‘highlights' of individual games.

Scant consolation (2)

‘Youngsters beat Man Utd U18s 3-0'

It felt like an I'm off in the summer day today. Tired, stale, and lacking creativity all over the pitch. Get ready for the summer clear-out starting at the top: no issue at all with any one or more of Osman, Heits, Naismith, Anichebe, Pienaar taking a walk.

The players who let us down today have been listed one after the other, I'm not going to go over it again, except to give a special mention for shitness and couldn't carelessness to Pienaar today. Not many positives when that amount of possession is not turned into goals. That amount of possession, but how often did we give the ball way, with Osman, Felli, and Pienaar top of the giving the ball away hit parade.

Moyes is off: it's written on the walls, on his face, and in his lack of creativity today. How he keeps Oveido on the bench week-in-and-week-out is beyond me. Barkley should have come on sooner. While hardly over, our season is starting to fizzle out. I would like to see Oveido and Barkley starting and perhaps a game or two for Duffy. And perhaps after the Derby we might give a little game-time to one or two of our hungry U-21s or even U-18s.

There was no luck in the U-18 Manure result. We need a gaffer who will look to youth a little more. And, in an ideal world, we could cherry pick say Southampton and Swansea players, that would be nice.

Well it's the sofa for me on this shiny day outside in Chicago but not inside me. Wine and wallowing in http://www.youtube.com/user/plokijuhy251?feature=

God help us one and all.

The board blew it for us in January with no backing at all! It's not "Moyes Out!" — it's "Kenwright Out!"

Come on. Without Moyes, I worry for us!

Yes boo Moyes, he wont have us finishing above 100m Champ League winners Chelski...or Spurs with their much larger transfer budget, or Arsenal, who spent far more and pay over double our wages.

And we lost today to Sunderland? shame on him! Who cares if they spent 30mil in the past season...Di Canio has proved in 2 games that managerial change works, just like O'Neil did before him for several months. Moyes out

And Naismith...he is shit tbf. But look at our bench? It's a joke. Just a quick comparison:

Arsenal's bench today: Mannone (350,000) Vermaelen (8mil) Podolski (12m?) Wilshere (Youth) Chamberlain (12-15mil) Gervinho (11mil) Gibbs (/)
Everton: Mucha (free) Jelavic (5mil) Oviedo (1.5-2m) Naismith (free) Neville (3.5m) Barkley (Youth) Duffy (free?)

Our bench...worth around a quarter of Arsenal's.

Everton's name is not worth anything anymore...we are not in the 80's...we have a mid-table wage budget, and a Championship team's transfer budget. We have higher expectations...because of Moyes, no one else. We do not have the stadium, wage budget, transfer budget or the squad size of a top four, or even top six, club. We have a core 11, who can match anyone on their day, but who are in the main at the club, because they lack the ability to step up to the next level, either in terms of winning mentality or consistency. Even if Mourinho came in, without money, we wouldnt break into the top four. The next manager, who I'm sure will come in this summer, is far more likely to take us to the bottom half of the league, than improve our finishing position.

The question remains whether anyone could do better. Whoever we appoint will have a worse tack record than Moyes, or will be relatively untried within the premier league. That is the field we are taking from. Granted we could pull from overseas which might be interesting. Either way the key to success is resources. Particularly when we're thinking about what we do in the league, which is what we're most interested in.

You're right, Paul, that's one thing Bungalow Bill IS good at, having a PR machine that makes him look like a saint. Pity he's not as good at finding someone with enough money to buy the club, eh?

On a similar vein has anyone from the Echo, or any other journo come to it, asked DM why his players seem able to raise their game against the bigger clubs but against Reading/Norwich/Sunderland and the other rubbish at the bottom of the table, they don't?

What does he do in training before playing these clubs, how does he motivate them? What does he say to them after these games?

Or maybe even asking why an out of form for months Peanuts still gets picked before Oviedo? or why he signed Oviedo?

From todays game, why does an unfit Osman come straight back in replacing a youngster who didn't deserve to be dropped? What does he think that will do to Barkleys confidence, how will that help his development as a footballer?

As Evertonians, I don't think we expect that much. Some just lower the bar that much, that staying in a League we have been in since the 50's is looked upon as success.

Nothing really new to add that hasn't been said before.

I wonder how many of the Moyes critics would be prepared to bet their entire worldly posessions on the next manager obtaining more points in his first few seasons than Moyes has in the last few? Not many I guess.

Personally its boredom more than anything that has me curious to see what a new manager might do and who he (or she?) might be. Of course curiosity can be dangerous as any of the cat's relatives will tell you but then equally fortune favours the brave so the moral is don't listen to cliches.

Anyway right now I'm bout 50/50 as to whether I want Moyes to leave but either way I think people on here calling him names or requiring that he resigns today (!) are either very young, very upset right now, very ignorant or a mixture of all three.

John Ford, Norman Merrill... Wake up!!!

Although I realise the season we were nearly relegated, and our record losses under Moyes, are not to be discussed when we assess his tenure.

And we weren't nearly relegated, we were mathematically safe with 6 games to go... that's a lot of points... and the team just gave up.

Lets not mention record number of PL wins either, or points or or or...

So, don't worry anyone because at 2-59 today it was still mathematically possible that we could finish top-4 and probably still mathematically possible to end up 10th or 11th.

We are in our comfy Doddy 6th/8th zone and peeps will pop up on here with what they think of as heavy splashes of realism along the lines of what else can you expect given our thinning resources and zilch sponds. This is an argument for change for me not the status quo. New owners? Ideally, but more chance of a new gaffer, I think. Boys Pen Dickie Dahling biggest blue alive Billy is one greedy son-of-a-bitch. Apart from getting shares at knock down prices in anticipation of bumper windfalls he's not once dipped into his pocket. The likes of Kevin Hudson, Ken Buckley, and Harold Matthews and all other Old Lady regulars have individually put more money into this club over the last decade or so.

I love Everton but sponds more luvvy Billy will stay, Moyes will walk, and the only source of change is a new gaffer. Dear Lord I hope Champers Bill gets it right. Change in the hot seat is right and now inevitable, but I still fear for the future.

Regardless of the money excuse, I actually believe that we have a team capable of finishing in the top 4 and winning trophies but not the manager who can help us achieve it. Most of the games that we have either lost or drawn during his tenure have been down to schoolboy errors, tactical ineptness, poor substitutions etc not due to the fact that the other team have spent more than us. If Moyes had a tactical brain and grew a pair then we would have won more games, we would be in the top 4 right now, regardless of expenditure. WOW imagine that, then he'd be a great manager.

I suppose it all depends on your expectations.

But, let's put the blame on the players shall we because they 1) pick the team (2) set them up (3) select tactics (4) react as the game unfolds from the sidelines (5) have 15 minutes in-between halves to talk to the players (6) have time in the 2nd half to see how things are shaping up (7) make good subs.

The buck must always stop with the gaffer when all is said and done. He's if you like, the CEO, and living in Doddy Towers in Freshfield, I suspect you scream for the head of the CEO of a company in which you have shares that is going pear shaped.

We had plenty of posession but with the exception of Coleman and especially Felliani nobody showed up. Baines and Pienaar have been poor for weeks and if I didnt know better I would think Bainesy's mind is already on his next club. Johnny Heitiga isn't fit for the championship let alone the Prem.

Moyes choice of subs was very limited but even with quality subs you cant replace 8 players..

Is it just possible that the gaffer did, said, tried, everything right..........but the players just didn't perform?

How can Moyes be blamed for Baines giving the ball away, Anichebe fluffing a shot, Jelavic not scoring, the ref being blind.............

Too easy to blame David Moyes for everything....................

"Oh well, we are still in the cup... oh shit!"
"Oh well, we are still pushing for Europe... oh shit!!"
"Oh well, we can still finish above the Shite... [watch this space... but, based on our manager's ineptitude...] oh shit!!!".

Come on, for god's sake, it's as if some Evertonians change expectations every week and fall back on the well used, "Oh well, we tried but we don't really have the money to compete, unlucky Davie boy."

1/ Giving the ball to the opposition;
2/ Failing to score goals although paid fortunes to do just that;
3/ Not carrying out their manager's instructions;
4/ Looking as though they can`t be arsed on occasions;
5/ Being useless at corners and free kicks; and
6/ Just being off-form and failing to live up to our expectations of them.

Today Brian - wrong selection, wrong tactics, wrong formation, not much evidence of creative responses to how the game unfolded, wasn't there for the 1/2 time talk, not much evidence of creative responses in the 2nd half, Ross ought to have come on earlier.

Just my view mate.

I think the major factor in us not doing better this season , is the boards failure to back Moyes- especially in January when the squad needed freshening up. Also a lot of the players have under performed. Pienaar has turned out to be a bad singing, he has been very inconsistent and isn't getting any younger. Likewise, Osman's form has been very hit and miss, when these 2 were playing well early on in the season, Everton were playing some very attractive football and creating lots of chances.

Jelavic has been the biggest dissapointment , we all thought we'd found a 20 goal a season striker, but he turned out to be a half season wonder.

This summer is going to be very important to us, we need to sign a couple of quality strikers and some more creative players, with or without Moyes and I still hope he stays, we need to get rid of the deadwood and buy some quality. I'm not holding my breath though, especially with the fuckwitts running our club

Steve Round?

Your list of individual errors and attitudes is very important but the gaffer is paid wads of cash to suss it out and sort it out Richard. There were some odd choices today, but I am genuinely interested to hear if you felt that the gaffer might have made some bad calls today

Besides losing to Chelsea and Man Utd (no real shame in either of those), the only other teams to beat us in the league are shite teams: Reading, Norwich, Sunderland (all relegation candidates) and the less shite, but still shite, West Brom. Not to mention being knocked out of one cup by yet another relegation candidate and the other by a mediocre Championship side.

Until we can systematically kill off teams like this on a regular basis – as we did against QPR last week – we'll always struggle to get a cup/European spot of any kind.

Let's see how well he does at whatever club he ends up at. I give it two seasons at most before he's sacked... with his false reputation as a great manager in tatters.

Then there's a CL quality team in ours, but we have no squad. And you complain we fall short with four games to go? It sucks, but I won't complain on the season.

Then there's a CL quality team in ours, but we have no squad. And you complain we fall short with four games to go? It sucks, but I won't complain on the season.

So we know we can do it so why do we fall short? That's the bit when I have to conclude, based on what I see before my very eyes, that it is down to our manager. He picks the team, tactics, formations, motivates players etc etc etc and more often than not this year has been primarily culpable for falling short again.

I believe that Moyes went for it this season knowing it may be his last. He tried to plough all of the available resources into a best 11 and a few lads he could trust to do a job. It was a gamble and, as the season has gone on, our performances have dipped. He counted on Jelavic to bang them in but we all know what happened there!

Fellaini is being talked about as a £20M+ player, as far as I'm concerned, he has had 5 or 6 really good games but generally has been distinctly average. I can't believe a top 4 club would come in for him. I wouldn't mind if they did though, we could get 2 or 3 good players with that money. Pienaar has let him down badly since the turn of the year, one of our most creative players has just not turned up.

On the flip side, you could say he should have dropped them, but the players below them are just not good enough, or shall we say he has decided they are not good enough. He had to keep going with that best 11 hoping they would come good but they haven't at vital times.

The buck has to stop with the manager, though. He signed these players thinking they were good enough, or consistent enough. If that turns out to be wrong then he has to take the blame.

I do hope though that he doesn't leave, because the thought of what might come next scares me. I'm realistic, I don't expect us to finish top 5, where we finish is about as good as it gets without having stupid money. I know that Moyes will get us there every year, but I'm not confident that anyone else will!!!

Peanuts, how long has he been off form, why does DM keep picking him? Why not play Oviedo?

SP knows, he will always play, regardless of form, his place is under no pressure at all. How is that good management by DM?

Mick, we might have a top 4 quality team, but our competitors have top 4 squads. You think they have that many not out of necessity?

But I think this defeat, and to a lesser extent, the season as a whole, has proved how we are desperately crying out for a striker — a striker who will get you something out of nothing — and that's something we are badly lacking.

Okay, Anichebe has had a decent season but he is just isn't the answer. Just when we thought we might have cracked it with him, he's reverted to type. As for Jelavic... forget it. Yes, you may argue the service is poor, and at times it is, but these two just don't cut it.

The January transfer window has come back to bite us severely on the arse big time. Because that 4th place was up for grabs, as someone also rightly pointed out earlier, the away form since the turn of the year has been shocking.

And to me, that's down to Moyes and his ultra cautious tactics. If he was to go who we d get is anyone's guess no one could take us higher without the backing but then again someone might have us playing with a bit more verve a bit more swagger these things seem to be alien to Moyes.

I had a feeling it'd be a close game today... but for Moyes to bring Osman back in place of Barkley stunk, it really did. And quite simply summed the man up.

Another baffling one for me is to persevere with the very ineffective Pienaar – who I'm a big fan of, by the way. But he has had an awful season and should've been binned a while back. But then, as I've pointed out on many occasions on ToffeeWeb, Moyes is far far too loyal to underachieving players. It's criminal.

I'm disappointed tonight but not really surprised. I got my fixed odds coupon up today as well and that can't even soften the blow.

Osman was doing his ball boy on the pitch routine, Felli seemed to be playing at half pace / no urgency and Mirallas was isolated. Jelavic and his pathetic diving was a disgrace. As someone said, he's become our Torres.

Some decent service to feet up to Vic could've got us some joy as they dropped really deep (that shoot on the turn move he does) but quality passing in the final third was non-existent and he fed on scraps.

Heitinga was / is a joke and Gibbo looks crocked.

Bad pass from Baines but you'd hope the keeper would bale him out, not throw it in like he did. Pathetic from Howard who's had the worst season since he joined, in my book.

Coleman and maybe Distin the only positives.

Realistically the season ended against Wigan. You stabilised us Moyes, go with thanks and what the hell, a win at Anfield?!

You're right, some people don't see any faults and he has plenty. Also some people don't see any good he's done in the last 11 years. Moyes has taken this club from the dark days of Walter Smith's reign and transformed us into a club that always competes at the top end of the league. We have been to a FA cup semi-final, FA cup final and a league cup semi final, that's not bad to say the budget of spending he's had.

Doddy, what does Peanuts have to do before he gets dropped? What pressure is he under to play better?

The chickens, the ducks and the geese can all flap and panic that the sky is falling in and the world is going to end but the rest of us clever foxes realise Moyes is just a stupid fucking acorn.

Spot on about Doddy.

For what it's worth the silly points dropped against Newcastle Fulham, Norwich when we were flying has cost us dear.

For the success of what you mentioned there's also cup defeats to Shrewsbury, Brentford, Leeds, Oldham, Tranmere. How about the year Reading put us out when the cup was there to win with weak teams left in the last 8. What about Wigan this year. Add to that no away win vs the Sky 4 in his time and the drubbing at Anfield last season.

He is not a shit player, he just needs managing better.

At times he has been great this year. However, for the last god knows how long, him and Pienaar have been shite and needed dropping.

Barkley, Kennedy, McAleny, Oviedo, Junior...Moyes just will not use the resources at his disposal.

Osman IS a shit player. He's small in stature, lacking in pace, weak in possession, not particularly clever, and commands no definitive position. The fact that Moyes has played him left-mid and behind the striker, at times, says a lot about Moyes – because he's shit in both.

The shape at The Emirates was better at a stroke. You heard of OPTA, Phil? He's caught in possession more than any other Premier League player, and was even (typically) flat footed for Baines's pass today.

A bad mistake by Baines, it's not that he's playing poorly but he is a shadow of his former self. I'd love to know the reason for his drop in form cos this is the first time its happened since he's been at the club.

Heitinga is a liability, how many times does he get caught out then body check the player?

Leon Osman or should I say Leon 'Anonymous'. Since he made his England debut he has disappeared, he needs fazing out the team.

Just how bad does Pienaar have to be before he gets dropped? He was terrible today and has been for a long time.

Anichebe never has been and never will be good enough for this level ( or the Championship). Useless, lazy fucking lump.

The correlation with Moyes playing experience may or may not be true but I see Garys thinking.

Clearly you wish to take the view that Moyes is clueless in all the areas you list and it will take more than a posting by me to dissuade you from that view. Like players, all managers have bad days and I think Davey would list today as one of his but we've seen a lot worse and I see no reason for writing him off on the back of a 0-1 loss away from home.

Just try to remember we were never going to win the Prem but have lost only SIX games all season. Whilst you and so many on here seem to think Everton have a God given right to win EVERY match, it ain`t ever gonna happen but they are still my team and will continue to brighten my life even if they make so many of you miserable. As I said earlier how easy Davey would find his job if only he read – and took – the advice on here!

I guess that makes Neville not guilty for the pass at Wigan? and Distin absolved for the pass against the RS?

Paul #391, I think maybe Baines' loss of form has something to do with Pienaar's? They seldom seem to link up together now as our attacking play is centred on Mirallas in the centre rather than Baines/Pienaar on the left.

Pienaar seemed to have a back injury yesterday so maybe that's something to do with his poor form if he's been playing injured for a while.

Just wait for the excuses to roll out from the usual suspects when we drop our pants and take one from our neighbours in Moyes' time old fashion.

Nothing has changed in the last 8 years and never will whilst Moyes remains.

Hate that Moyes, with Fella and Baines, appears to be leaving. On the other hand, the summer discussions in here will be fun.

Who do you want in next as manager, Robbie? Me, Soleskjaer the one. Who you?

I want some excitement, goals, attacking football, whoever can give me that I'd be very happy with. I'd also given them a few years to do it in, just like I did Moyes. I won't be shouting for them to get the boot after 6 months, well, unless they are complete muppets that is.....

Back to Moyes....I am a respecter but his time is up. He knows it and so do we. He has had 11 years in the job and not won a trophy. He has done a decent job when other managers would have left in disgust. But he is too conservative in his approach, his tactics sometimes leave me baffled, his substitutions infuriating and he over-relies on his ageing favourites when their legs have obviously gone.

There is an interesting opportunity for Moyes to prove all of that to be a load of bull - the Derby match! But I am not holding my breadth.

I've asked this question many times after posts such as you're but never yet recieved an answer.

If Moyes is holding out for more money what makes you think that Kenwright would not have already agreed to it and signed a contract by now?

I mean how much pay rise could he could he be holding out for? 1 mill? 2 mill? 4 mill? With an extra 20 mill coming next year from Sky and whatever we get from Fellaini and Baines it's chickenfeed to Kenwright to keep his heat shield in place.

Or maybe it's because Moyes is asking for something Kenwright can't guarantee? Money for players in the summer to push the team forward perhaps?

Apart from the dodgy spelling this is also very over simplistic. If the manager is the ONLY factor in where the club finishes then why are so many people calling for Martinez?

What I will say is that Leon Osman's effort was a disgrace. Others were shit, and Pienaar probably worst than most, but Osman swanned around that midfield offering nothing. He stood himself next to the opposition, he floated deep to pick up cheap touches. At no point did he break sweat to create any kind of drive out of the centre.

Fellaini lost my long term support against Wigan, but I felt sorry for him against Sunderland playing in the centre with a bloke who was quite clearly swinging the lead.

It has been reported many times that Moyes is in complete control of all team affairs, he decides who stays and who goes, how long their contracts are, how much they are worth, who he buys (Budget dependent of course), where he playes them, what formations to use, what training sessions to employ, when to make substitutions and who to substitute.

If he isn't the single most responsible and therefore accountable person the who the hell is, and don't say BK, he is the one most responsible for our dire financial position but not what happens on the pitch.

Tim, there was no follow up comment. When I look back there was previous comment but it appears you are repeating your mistake. No surprise there!!

"That such a man is holding Everton to ransom over his contract disgusts me"

I believe Moyes was exactly what we needed 11 years ago, and huge credit must go to him quite rightly for what he did in the first 3 years. The last 8 have been too predictable and predicted by many on here. I believe someone like Martinez is needed to take us onwards and upwards, not Moyes, for all the reasons already outlined.

"Tim Jones # 434 BTW my typo's of 'manger' instead of 'manager' should not be taken to imply that I think Moyes is the Messiah. I will leave that sad sycophancy to others. "

A polite apology would be acceptable.

A polite apology would be acceptable.

Yesterday was fucking crap, 4 thousand blues lording David Moyes then it becomes obvious that he's playing an obviously unfit Osman - fucking why, because believe me Moyes knew we were pissed. Makes the Arsenal game almost pointless - why so much effort at the Emirates then fuckall showing at Sunderland.We definately need a leader on the pitch who can tell the likes of Pienaar and Anicheeeeeebbbe to fucking buck up.

For me though, having watched that crap then having to read some of the fucking tosh on here. Where do all these posters go when we are winning - do you just save all your abuse for the six games we lost? I mean, do you not have anything better to do than sit on the internet typing constant abuse about Moyes.

David was in a relationship with someone else at the time, a nice girl but nothing more, they get chatting and Everton asks David if he would like to dance. David accepts and the following morning tells his girlfriend, Preston (another funny name for a girl) that despite loving her and thinking they had potential that he'd found someone else.

Over the next few years David proved to be most of the things Everton hoped and wished he would be - he was faithful, honest, very hard working and once even took her to Spain! (albeit the trip was cut short after a dodgy bald Italian waiter spiked their drinks one night).

In recent years though things have started to go stale. They go to the same pubs, hang out with the same friends, go through the motions and have started lying awake at night thinking 'is this it.....?'

They love each other but if their relationship has to go to the next level to survive. Everton's sure that David has been on the verge of proposal more than once, but each time she thinks he's going to pop the question he just seems to bottle it. Maybe he can't afford a ring, as the couple are saddled with debts from Evertons past which make grand gestures difficult. 'What's that got to do with it?' say Evertons mates, and besides surely eiher Evertons Dad or one of her wealthy uncles could give him a lend, tight bastards....

Besides, for all his good points David has missed point with Everton. Above everything she wants romance, she wants him to take her to Paris, Milan and Barcelona, she wants to see some passion, she wants to LIVE!

David has been great but the thing that attracted her to him in the first place (he was safe, reliable etc) are the things that are now getting her down. Why can't he do both, they should know each other and trust each other enough to make their life a great adventure... but David just doesn't seem to know how to take it to the next level... is he really the man for her after all.....?

As for the other nonsense, you tried to nit pick yourself and demanded an apology, in fact you got it wrong and i'd have a bit more respect for you if you could man up and admit that.

I am however delighted to see the return of abundant caps lock in your posts. Let your true colours shine Peter!!

Yesterday, I was fuming with his substitutions and leadership; I can't really comment on his motivation of the players as I wasn't sitting in the dressing room... were you!?! We were trying to get a CL place, with the worst two strikers in the PL, FFS!

Anichebe has been on a roll recently, but a match winner he will never be. His one big trick is backing in to defenders and trying to turn; that's it. Otherwise, he is a big strong lad with the touch of a rhino and can't head a ball to save his life.

Jelavic... well, god knows what has happened to him. I think he needs to go this summer.

But what really pissed me off yesterday was the way the players went about certain situations. We have 5 players waiting in front of the keeper waiting for a cross, Baines looks up and sees Johnny running in at the back of the box. What does the twat do? Runs in to where all the other players are! Where does the cross come? THE FAR POST!

Next up, that free kick inside the box! Now, Sunderland are going to put all their players between the ball and the goal to make it really difficult for Baines to score. What do we do? We put EVEN MORE PLAYERS there making it even more difficult for Bainesy to score.... Clever, huh? An indirect free kick, all you have to do is fucking whack it FFS, it's bound to hit someone on its way in... or what? No we have to have not one but two touches before Baines hits it, incredible? What about rolling it backwards a yard to the oncoming Baines, thus the ball is not pounced upon by defenders running out. What do we do at Finch Farm FFS?!

Jelavic... Well, as I've pointed out on here on many occasions, he will never get back to being the player he was last season.

And by Moyes's tactics, what I meant was there was a great chance to put real pressure on Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea so why not go for it with 2 up top against Arsenal and Sunderland? But no, he won't. That's what I meant by ultra cautious tactics. I hope that answers your question.

Do any of the Latin speaking folk above truly believe David will sign for the same wages ,or reduced wages?
Because you can 100% guarantee he will sign a new contract.

It appears to me that Jelevic and Naismith may have such a clause written into their contracts when we acquired them from Rangers. Maybe they have a minimum of 25 or 35 games? It's the only logical reason I can see why Moyes keeps selecting the pair for the team or bringing them on from the bench. Naismith should not be at our club. Jelavic should have banished to the reserves in February.

If this is not the reason, then the other logic explanation is that Moyes is extremely stupid, and puts player-favouritism (include; Osman, Neville, Heitinga, Anichebe, Hibbert) above common footballing-sense.

I totally agree with Tony(#500). The sooner Moyes goes the better. He has single-handedly destroyed our season. We had the easiest cup-run in living memory. CL was achievable with better selection and substitutions. He persisted with out-of-form players: Jelvaic and Heitinga cost us at least 10 points between them. Neville just chronic.

And not to play players like Vellios, Oviedo, Duffy, Thomas H. and Barkley (should have played much earlier) is a crime. In a season that promised so much, he dashed everybody's hopes. The season was over after the Wigan game, and I actually cannot bear to look at the man, or listen to that plaintiff, moaning drawl. GET OUT, MOYES!

Don't think anyone could have put Everton and Moyes relationship any better.

I just wish she would put him out of his misery and dump him and her daddy wins the euro millions and moves her into the home she deserves!!!!!

What's stopping Kenwright talking to other managers? He doesn't need Moyes permission. If he's not happy that Moyes doesn't want to commit until the board show some ambition he can always go look for annother manager any time and there's nothing Moyes could do about it.

In fact he's a fool if he hasn't already done so.

There was not one player in a blue shirt last Saturday who could turn half a chance into a goal. Inspite of complete domination of Sunderland in the second half

Then, the day before the Sunderland game, Moyes comes out with "Barkley will have to bide his time and when selected he needs to perform" — talk about putting pressure on a youngster!

Pienaar has been inconsistent the past few weeks but not even a whimper out of Moyes saying Pienaar has to do it every week. Barkley's confidence must be rock bottom at the moment.

Rewind a couple of season and Leyton Orient in the Capital Cup, Garbutt on at half-time for Baines... never put a foot wrong. Fast-forward to the next round, away to Leeds, and Garbutt not even on the bench. Fast-forward to game before Wigan in the cup: a nice 3-1 win and Gibson having a decent game... Fast forward a week and Gibson dropped and Phil Neville drafted into midfield..

I've always backed Moyes in the past but how can the likes of Naismith get a game every week? I can only assume Naismith has some compromising Polaroids of Davey Moyes.

I don't have any faith in Moyes whatsoever; every time we have a must-win game, he bottles it. I now hope he leaves in the summer; I cannot fault the players he bought but his tactics are baffling at times and a new manager coming in will be a step forward.

But not Martinez; I would like to see Slaven bilic in the frame. He knows what Everton is all about got the international experience and, unlike Moyes, is an attack-minded manager.