This article may have been recategorised and is therefore no longer available at this URL.

You can try to find the updated link in the article archive.

Share article:

Reader Comments (88)

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer


Nicholas Ryan
1 Posted 25/02/2018 at 02:32:03
Whatever happens, Allardyce must NOT be in charge for the first game of next season.
Ron Marr
2 Posted 25/02/2018 at 03:00:03
To me, Allardyce ended his tenure after the Arsenal game. He's just playing out the string. Win two of the three remaining home games against Brighton, Newcastle and Southampton and he'll say "40 points ... look I did it again" blah blah blah.

Walsh must go too, or scout for the U23 team. If Moshiri has Champions Leahgue aspirations, he needs to bring in a manager who has had some success in one of the major leagues... or possibly Fonseca.

Greg Anderson
3 Posted 25/02/2018 at 05:42:26
We are a bang-average middle-of-the-table club with bang-average middle-of-the-table talent available, and it seems to me just a bit unrealistic to expect that any other manager would be doing much better than this with these same players. This was a hard-fought game between two evenly matched clubs, and one of them just shaded it in the end. We were hardly played off the park. So why all the doom and gloom?

We played most of the game with only four genuine "quality" ball-players on the pitch – Rooney, Sigurdsson, Walcott, and Davies. The rest offer very little quality on the ball, as was painfully obvious today, so it should hardly be surprising that we struggle to score and are stuck in mid-table. We will do better when Coleman and possibly Baines return.

Tosun clearly offers more of a quality goal threat than Niasse or Calvert-Lewin. And Sam needs to restore Holgate, who is our only decent ball-playing centre-back. But to expect that we could ever be above, say, 8th with these players just seems unrealistic.

Mike Gaynes
4 Posted 25/02/2018 at 06:57:25
If Mou is The Special One, Sam must be The Bilious One. The sheer idiocy of his post-game comment that poor finishing was responsible for this defeat just takes my breath away.

In order to have poor finishing, one must have opportunities to finish. We had none.

In order to have opportunities, one must have some sort of attacking plan. We had none.

In order to have an attacking plan, one must have a manager capable of developing one. We have none.

Otherwise, one must have players capable of surmounting the human bollard on the touchline. We have none.

Never have I seen a man so arrogant with so little to be arrogant about.

"An argument for persisting with the status quo next season?" To hell with that. I defy anyone to come up with an argument for persisting with the status quo next week.

Dean Augustine
5 Posted 25/02/2018 at 07:23:11
Come on guys! It was the majority of the fans who wanted Big Sam when we press the panic button. Now you want to kick him out.

This is what we deserve. I hope we get relegated as that is what as fans we deserve for insisting we get Fat Sam as manager. For a club of our status, we went so low to hire this boring buffoon who always blames others except himself. What kind of English manager is he when he cannot even keep his England job?

All my life I have supported this club from good to bad times. When other fans make fun, I will still insist on fighting for our club. Now I just allow them and agree – we are the joke of Premier League! Full of shit!

Jim Bennings
6 Posted 25/02/2018 at 07:28:58
I never agreed with the trip to Dubai, it was always a slap in the face to fans that have paid good money to watch disinterested players all season being rewarded for failure and again no decent Cup run.

The trip to the Middle East was never going to suddenly make Everton a better team, nor was it going to make Allardyce anything but the Dark Age football manager he is.

We are a poor team, not worthy of the position we are in, which is mainly due to the obscene amounts of good fortune with woodwork, missed penalties against us before Christmas.

Allardyce was brought in to supposedly stabilise the defence; since Boxing Day, he has failed dismally.

He has failed also to do anything whatsoever with a punchless attack. Everton, a team that makes scoring goals and attacking look as hard as climbing Mount Everest bare foot.

There is no way that Allardyce can be here to start next season which will simply be yet another battle and scrap to see if we can eek out 40 points by April.

It's about time Moshiri started taking a look at the bigger picture of actual team performances and how bad they have been for nearly a whole year now rather than just throwing lavish money after one failed signing after another.

Evertonians need to regain trust and belief in Farhad Moshiri after some of the absolute tripe he has spouted in the last 9 months. The panicked appointment of Allardyce on £6 million and an 18-month contract relatively early in the season hasn't done him any favours.

The prolonged treatment of Unsworth and delay in finding a suitable manager after sacking Koeman descended into a farce. Moshiri himself needs to start making wise decisions rather than just being the kid in the sweet shop with money to spend.

Darren Hind
7 Posted 25/02/2018 at 07:35:49
I've noticed a few are almost taking the remaining home games as a given. Not so.

This is where the kicking biting and gouging starts. Teams such as Southampton and Newcastle are fighting for their lives now... anyone fancy us in a fight?

"Fireman Sam" hasn't turned up with a hose pipe, he's turned up with a drum of petrol and a box of matches.

People like Rooney, Jagielka, Gana and Sigurdsson need to galvanise these players to haul themselves over the line, because The Night King has clearly lost them.

David Johnson
8 Posted 25/02/2018 at 07:38:58
That's three competent managers now who've struggled to get a tune out of this squad. Koeman clearly stated that he needed more before jetting off on a golfing trip, while Allardyce has made it plain that Everton needed more at that juncture than taking a risk on a striker from the Turkish league.

Someone at Everton royally fucked it all up in assuming Rooney would return like the messiah. I wonder who that was? Let the managers manage cos you lot in the boardroom are clueless.
Steve Brown
9 Posted 25/02/2018 at 07:43:06
Greg (#3), how bad do things need to come before you think we need to change? Team performances are wretched now, so is it abysmal, catastrophic, calamitous, shameful, disgraceful?

Our standards as fans have completely collapsed.

Jimmy Hogan
10 Posted 25/02/2018 at 07:46:36
What a shit show that was. I got up at 6:00 am today, just so I could hate Allardyce for 2 hours longer.
Jim Bennings
11 Posted 25/02/2018 at 08:04:13
Darren,

You ain't got much chance of quiet men Jagielka, Gana and Sigurdsson galvanising anyone, let alone a struggling bunch of wasters, while Rooney has physically gone now this season after playing every game.

Jerome Shields
12 Posted 25/02/2018 at 08:18:39
Excellent article. Allardyce has shown what he is capable of. It's simply not good enough that he continues as Everton Manager.

The performances are not going to get better away from home. He will persist with the deep defensive system. Though it is clearly unsuccessful, he appears to have no alternative. At home, by playing higher up the pitch, the results are better. . . but underlying coaching and selection weaknesses persist even in those performances.

The worrying thing is that Watford effectively dealt with Walcott, the main advocate of our playing higher up the pitch. Another worry is that Allardyce may have got to him in Dubai, since he appeared to be playing deeper than he normally does.

Allardyce's appointment has continued the downward slide. Tactically he has been shown not to be up to the job and his expression of loyalty to underperforming players brought in under Moshiri shows that success for him is holding onto his £6million salary, rather than success for Everton on the pitch.

Kim Vivian
13 Posted 25/02/2018 at 08:21:54
Greg (#3) "This was a hard-fought game between two evenly matched clubs, and one of them just shaded it in the end. We were hardly played off the park. So why all the doom and gloom?"

Fuck — were we watching the same match, mate? We were fucking abject.

Just watching MotD and I see no team playing worse than Everton. I have a mate in the Wirral looking to get tickets for a home game before the end of the season but, to be honest, I might just travel up to visit my pals and skip the football. Spend the money on a nice meal out or something.

I never thought I would feel this way. And the sight of Allardyce in an Everton jacket sickens me. Fuck, I wish I was an RS some days but I'm stuck with being a Toffee until my dying day.

Aside from this – anyone agree the most impassioned player on the pitch was Jordan Pickford? Is he too young to be made captain? Because he looks ready to stick a boot up the arse of the lot of them.

Ray Roche
14 Posted 25/02/2018 at 08:25:06
I see the cud-chewing, jowls-on-legs loser has, yet again, attempted to deflect criticism by blaming – and naming – a player who made a mistake and was consequently responsible for our latest dismal performance. Apparently, it was Keane's late header wide of the post that was to blame, not the tactics, team selection, substitutions, shite training etc.

The sooner that fat fraud is out of our club, the better.

Jimmy Hogan
15 Posted 25/02/2018 at 08:28:49
He's got a point about Keane. He can never seem to direct his headers on goal.
Andrew Clare
16 Posted 25/02/2018 at 08:28:57
It was my birthday yesterday. We had all the family together along with the grandchildren so I recorded the game to watch later with my son when everyone had gone to bed or gone home. We didn't know the score.

Well, I'm not doing that again! I should have known better having witnessed the previous performances.

A non-existent attack and a totally negative display for 90+ minutes. Barely a response when we went behind. Awful awful game.

I hope Allardyce is history ASAP.

Jim Bennings
17 Posted 25/02/2018 at 08:31:27
Kim, Good point!

I'm watching Match of the Day too and see enough live football and I'm in total agreement, Everton look one of the most abject teams out there these days.

Clubs like Huddersfield, Bournemouth, Brighton playing constructive quick incisive football and testing opposition goalkeepers/defences.

Watching Everton attempting to attack is like watching a sloth moving from one tree to another: it's ponderous, it's slow... and it's just not really worth watching at all.

Christopher Timmins
18 Posted 25/02/2018 at 08:32:05
Lyndon, there can be little doubt at this stage that we will have a new manager when the season starts next August unless the owner has abandoned all plans to make us a competitive top 6 team.

The performance last night was terrible, and I can only think that football fans up and down the country must groan when the see that we are playing on the box as we are simply a terrible watch.

What was very annoying this week was the propaganda machine, the official Everton website, trying to sell the line that the trip to the Gulf was going to solve all our problems!

Brian Murray
19 Posted 25/02/2018 at 08:33:42
Jim Bennings (#11).

Oh please... Rooney's legs have gone? He just had a break and was holding a baby or his wife's hand for two weeks. Fact is, he should never be anywhere near the club.

Jaysus, I'm now done with Baines Jagielka McCarthy, Allardyce etc and the rest of the losers – let's start again.

A new manager by Monday and new board and scouts by May. Then maybe... just maybe we can think about winning even a derby.

Pay as you go, blue boys – no season tickets. Seems bright spark Moshiri only understands that scenario.

Raymond Fox
20 Posted 25/02/2018 at 08:45:38
Greg (#3), a good post that sums us up exactly for me.

Views that it's the manager's fault are avoiding the fact that we are just not good enough skill-wise. They had plenty of opportunities to display their talent, or lack of it, in this game; how many chances did they create? Very, very few.

Compare our midfield and attacking players with the top teams in the league, it's no contest, isn't it. Rooney I thought had a poor game and is looking like age is indeed catching up with him. I actually thought Niasse had a decent game, Lyndon, feeding on scraps as he was. Tosun doesn't look a £25m player on what I've seen so far.

Even so, a fair result would have been a draw; they were no better than us. Problem is, whoever we have as a manager, we still need top 6 quality players who we seem unable to attract. The future, as far as I can see, is more of the same, I regret to say.

Kim Vivian
21 Posted 25/02/2018 at 09:01:53
Raymond,

They beat us. They were better than us on the day. On the balance of chances created, we deserved to lose.

And as far as Keane's so-called 3-yards-out missed header goes, Sam – you shitehead – well, it was outside the 6-yard box and was nearly a good ball down for Davies who was a yard off the ball.

Terry McLavey
22 Posted 25/02/2018 at 09:05:13
Jim Bennings and Kim Vivian,

Me too! I watched MotD and watched so-called lower teams play fast incisive football, it's like I'd forgotten what a good game looked like!

Players rewarded with a jolly to turn out the same old shite, they must be laughing behind their hands!

I suppose ticket revenue was part-sponsor of this "holiday"? SHAMEFUL!

Darren Hind
23 Posted 25/02/2018 at 09:17:50
Jim @11,

You're right of course, but I've been clutching at straws for weeks.

Rooney may be a shadow of his former self, but he has been instrumental in most of the rare moments of quality we have seen this year. I don't even want to think about where we would be without his input... That in itself is a really sad indictment on the current situation.

Ray Robinson
24 Posted 25/02/2018 at 09:29:25
I'm confident that we will avoid relegation and will therefore not count amongst that worst three sides in the League but we have several times turned in the worst performances of any side in the league this season. Yesterday's was disgraceful.
Kevin Tully
25 Posted 25/02/2018 at 09:38:53
Darren, you're right about Rooney producing rare moments of quality, But, I've never seen a player have the ball taken off his toes so many times in one game, or a player who lazily passes to the opposition in dangerous territory like he does. Fucking infuriating. I'm talking every single game here, not one or two poor performances.

As our highest paid player (whose wages could be put to better use) he should be sold off this summer. Even if he's dropped, I think he'd be poisonous in the dressing room. You seen the public display of petullence when Unsworth subbed him off. He was then subsequently dropped by a brave Unsworth. I reckon he caused murder after that.

Chris Gould
26 Posted 25/02/2018 at 09:41:28
We are a mid-table team lacking players with real technical ability. It's all predictable bog-standard stuff and I never thought we would win yesterday. A draw was as much as I was hoping for.

We've been dreadful playing away for the last 4 seasons and that isn't down to Allardyce. I believe he thinks we're good enough to try and beat teams outside of the top 6 at home, and to snatch draws away from home against sides outside of the top 6. The games against top 6 are all hopeful attempts at draws without any real belief.

After the money spent, we were all expecting so much more, but the reality is that the summer recruitment was a disaster and we are worse than we were last season.

Allardyce is not the answer, but I'm not convinced much more could be done with this team. There really is only so much a manager can do and most of us pretty much agreed with the lineup yesterday. The players are simply mid-table standard and a million miles off top 6.

Dennis Stevens
27 Posted 25/02/2018 at 09:49:42
Allardyce has to go! Preferably when we hit 40 points, end of season at the latest. Although I'd be happy to see him axed today!
James Hughes
28 Posted 25/02/2018 at 09:53:43
Absolute dire performance again and more excuses post-match from our 'Manager'. Not sure what happens to our so-called professional players when they cross the whitewash but they seem to forget what football is about.

Greg (#3), the only reason we weren't played off the park is because Watford didn't have the quality to do it. If they had, we wouldn't have put up much of a fight.

Ian Burns
29 Posted 25/02/2018 at 09:59:01
It's Sunday, so I will keep the string of curses I wish to use off the page. Mike - 4 - makes a good point, lack of finishing presumes the chances were made in the first place!

This horrendous dinosaur of a manager who obviously lacks any motivational skills has to be moved on at 5pm on the last day of the season.

I loathe every day this man is in charge of our club and, if I didn't need any more proof, then last evening was yet again like watching a team without any motivation, sensible game plan, or commitment.

I feel for the travelling supporters who have to go through that type of debacle every time they travel. Allardyce should pay for their tickets out of the millions he is sucking from this club.

Don Alexander
30 Posted 25/02/2018 at 10:01:12
On a good (admittedly very rare) day, I start to feel a bit sorry for billionaire Moshiri. To have now been publicly outsmarted by such a smoke-and-mirrors two-bob svengali as Kenwright must be deeply humiliating, not to mention expensive.

On the other hand, is it possible that he's trying to now lower the value of what's left of the club in order to make it more financially attractive for the likes of his pal Usmanov to acquire... with "adjustments" to bank accounts to be made thereafter?

Paul Tran
31 Posted 25/02/2018 at 10:08:32
Big problem is our midfield. Rooney works hard, plays the odd good pass, frequently gives the ball away. Davies is energetic, industrious, commits the opposition, frequently gives the ball away. Gana is energetic, industrious, good breaker-up of play, frequently gives the ball away. Sigurdsson shows flashes, but is wasted out on the wing, watching moves breaking down due to poor passing.

That's what needs sorting. The midfield is a jigsaw puzzle with pieces that don't fit together.

First job for the next manager.

Anthony Murphy
32 Posted 25/02/2018 at 10:23:41
Moshiri, Kenwright, Elstone, Walsh, Allardyce... Not one of those names fills me with confidence. The club needs a complete overhaul and big, brave decisions are now needed. The Director of Football model clearly isn't working, so let's pull that experiment right away.

Moshiri needs to force out Kenwright. We need one, clear direction; at the moment, our approach to recruitment of both players and managers reeks of indecisiveness due to having too many cooks.

We need to get rid of Allardyce now. There is simply no point in delaying the inevitable. It was a poor decision made out pure panic – a massive error of judgment once it became clear that Silva wasn't coming.

I'm not completely sure on Silva but, given that the guy was Moshiri's first choice, why not get him in and give him a go? He has 10 games to impress and improve things, and to prepare his transfer policy for next season. Don't forget, this is a World Cup year, so for me, if we wait until the summer to make changes, we may be hamstrung to some extent in terms of recruitment.

This season has for me been the most shambolic I've ever witnessed given the money spent. We need to rip the whole ‘project' up and start again. Moshiri, get a grip NOW and salvage something from this wreck. It's not too late and we have the best fans in the land, so act now and you'll have our backing.

We will back you to the hilt if you make the big decisions necessary. There is a rot – a malaise – that can be fixed, but it takes one man, not several, to sort it.

Jeff Armstrong
33 Posted 25/02/2018 at 10:42:46
Anthony (#32) – spot on about changing for Silva now, Firstly, who else is going to come here?

If he comes in the summer we will start the season with pretty much what we have now, he will have had about 2 weeks preparation with the full squad by the time the season starts.

Bring him in now and let him have 6 months of proper bedding in and assessing the club from top to bottom.

I'm also sure he'd get us the 2 wins we most likely need this season; in fact, I'd be more confident with him than Allardyce.

Kevin Tully
34 Posted 25/02/2018 at 10:49:43
Damning stat's on Rooney yesterday, if this was an U23 player he wouldn't get near the first team again this season:

"If Wayne Rooney really does think his future lies in a deep-lying midfield role he will have to do a lot better there than he did yesterday – gave the ball away 17 times, made only one tackle and was at fault for the goal."

Andrew Clare
35 Posted 25/02/2018 at 11:01:34
I couldn't believe it when we appointed Walter Smith all those years ago.
I was disappointed when we signed Williams.
When Allardyce arrived I was mortified.
I found the treatment of Niasse embarrassing.
The fact that Bill Kenwright is still at the club is puzzling.
The signing of Rooney didn't do anything for me.

These are just a few of things that really really disappoint me about Everton and they are the reasons that, unless there is a massive clear-out, that the club will continue to go nowhere. A club with no ambition, no idea and not a clue is how we appear to the football world. We are the worst team in the Premier League.

Colin Glassar
36 Posted 25/02/2018 at 11:15:47
Any chance of us getting Silva in until the end of the season? I know he ended up badly at Watford, after we tapped him up, but he would be motivated to get us up and running.

My number one target next season has to be Fonseca. What a job he’s doing with Donetsk.

Trevor Lynes
37 Posted 25/02/2018 at 11:30:54
Sam's brief is to rescue us from relegation... period ! He is no more than a stop-gap who is looking to save his job by spoiling tactics.Everton are once again, the worst side to watch on TV and I am including lower division fare. The yawning gulf between us and any of the top sides is becoming huge. We are playing a poor game of draughts whilst they are playing top class chess.This squad is as dire to watch as the late 40's early 50's side. Strangely enough the fans still pay to watch and even travel to far flung places in a vain hope that we will improve. I cannot even watch them on TV now as it depresses me for the rest of the evening.
Iain Love
38 Posted 25/02/2018 at 11:33:56
I always believed that playing the players in the correct position was the way to go, having Sigurdsson and Martina playing on the left weakens that side and doesn't really threaten the opposition.

Niasse, although he has scored a few (a bit like the crap player who no one bothers marking because he's crap) doesn't really threaten the opposition.

That leaves the right-hand side. Now I believe Walcott is a class player and due to our left and centre, the other team pay him more attention, nullifying him to a certain extent. Why oh why doesn't Sam play Martina on the right (until Coleman gets back) as I think Kenny needs a break and try Garbutt on the left.

Why not try our most expensive player as a 10 and Bolaise on the left (you only regain your form by playing).

47 goals against (4th worst) tells me that our two defensive midfielders don't work, play two up top instead.

The season is a write-off so why persist with Williams and Jagielka, neither will play much next season, concentrate on Keane, Holgate and Funes Mori. Rooney should be used the same as any other ageing player, off the bench.

Pickford, Martina or Coleman, Keane, Holgate or Funes Mori, Garbutt or Baines. Gueye, Sigurdsson, Walcott, Bolaise, Tosun, Calvert-Lewin or Davies.

Christopher Timmins
39 Posted 25/02/2018 at 11:41:44
We are so far behind the top six, 3 points ahead of Brighton, that it is going to be very difficult for us to attract a top target. If Fonseca falls within that top target category then it will need some amount of money to attract him.

It will be interesting to see who Moshiri targets in the weeks ahead. We need someone in situ before the start of the World Cup.

Philip Yensen
40 Posted 25/02/2018 at 11:44:39
As far as I'm concerned, as soon as we are mathematically safe, put all the kids in and put these so-called first-team squad players in the reserves to learn to do the basics.

Simple pass and move and work your bollocks off for Everton FC... but ultimately the long-suffering fans.

Michael Lynch
41 Posted 25/02/2018 at 11:45:27
Why would we want Silva as our fourth manager this season? I'd let Sam do what he was brought in to do, avoid relegation, then start with a clean slate in May. I can't really see the sense in employing a manager who won only one of his last 11 games in charge at Watford before we're certain of safety.

On the other hand, I can't believe Walsh is still at the club. We can definitely lose him without it affecting the performance on the pitch. Walsh must be the least successful signing we've made since Per Krøldrup.

Bob Skelton
42 Posted 25/02/2018 at 12:01:46
I just want this season over. These performances are totally draining.

Poor signings, no tactics, total lack of spirit by these players and a series of managerial failures have left me thoroughly deflated. Let's get the season over and move on.

Andrew Cunningham
43 Posted 25/02/2018 at 12:10:24
So the holiday in the Gulf didn't pan out. Surprise, surprise. This squad of millionaires must be beside themselves, having suffered such a loss.

The biggest problem these guys have is who do they trot out midweek to tell the faithful that they are all really gutted after yet another defeat but, with your support and money, they will try really try hard next time.

FFS, Everton, wake up to these fucking conmen and take the broomstick to these overpaid mollycoddled bunch of wankers. Even if this means swallowing your pride – and I hate to say this – go across the park and ask or plead with them to explain how a football club should be run. We are struggling while they are cruising and doing well in Europe.

Surely to god this can't go on but with this mob it's constantly like déjà vu.

Johan Elmgren
44 Posted 25/02/2018 at 12:23:49
I can't believe there are still Everton-fans out there claiming it's not the manager's fault... Who think that the blame lies only on our players...

It's so glaringly obvious that there is no gameplan there, no offence. They seem totally lost in the opposition half. That is all about the manager. The manager needs to put his stamp on the team offensively, drill the players in attacking play. Allardyce hasn't got that in his toolbox.

We have good players, almost the same players came seventh last season, but now the players have no confidence. Confidence comes from winning matches. Winning matches comes from scoring goals. Scoring goals comes from good attacking play.

We don't have good attacking play because Allardyce don't know how to train his players that way. He needs to go asap. His whole managingstyle is a throwback to the stoneage. He's a dinosaur.

Allardyce out now!!

Eugene Kearney
45 Posted 25/02/2018 at 12:30:50
I keep looking at the NewsNow feeder every hour or so to see if there's any news of a sacking

As an Everton fan, I just feel sick and tired, discontented, pissed off. It's depressing that this great club has been allowed to slide so low these last three or four years.

Tom Bowers
46 Posted 25/02/2018 at 12:43:14
This result was so typical of many games this season. Sometimes you can blame a defeat on bad luck or a poor referee. I don't think Everton can look to any of these excuses for any of their defeats this season. Simply put they have been abysmal even in some games they got points in.

Things were poor for three quarters of the game yesterday but at least they weren't losing and then Allardyce dropped a clanger with the subs. Allardyce is not the answer we know but neither was Koeman, Martinez or Moyes. However, the team looked like it wanted to win under Martinez in his first season. What has gone wrong since is open to much debate.

How this team are not bottom is anyone's guess. They may just be lucky that there are worse teams below them?

The ''engine room'' of the team is non-existent and provides little help to the defense and precious little to offense but, having said that, Niasse is poor and it's looking like Tosun may not be much better.

The team may be better with the return of Baines and Coleman but without some class in midfield, they will still struggle. Rooney is no longer worth a starting role and tires quickly.

Rob Halligan
47 Posted 25/02/2018 at 12:44:38
Having had time to reflect on another dismal away performance, I've come to a conclusion... Fuck Off, Allardyce! Not that I've only just come to this conclusion, as I didn't want him in the first place.

The title of this thread, "Allardyce strengthens the case for further change with latest away defeat" has given me an idea. Get yourself down to any park on a Sunday morning, Sam, and pick eleven die-hard blues off any Sunday league pitch who would do a better job than most your lot – and for nothing. Eleven lads who would bust a gut playing for the club we all love.

Professional footballers are professional footballers for a reason, because they are meant to be good. So fucking start proving you are good enough and worth the wage you are getting paid!!!

They are a very small group of a profession every young kid aspires to be. It was my dream as a kid to play for Everton but unfortunately, things didn't turn out, but I would never have put in a performance some of this lot show every week.

Johan Elmgren
48 Posted 25/02/2018 at 12:56:18
Rob (#47) – The thing is that we are facing teams with professionals as well, and they are set up to beat us, by managers who, most of them, have a gameplan. They might not have better professionals than we, but they have a manager who make them play as a team, something we are lacking at the moment.

Our manager isn't setting his team up to win, to break down the opposition, he sets it up not to lose. And when that is failing, as it is now, we don't have much to fall back on...

Occasionally the professionals we have play well in attack, against teams who are not so well drilled as a team, or have inferior professionals to what we have, and we manage a win. But all professionals need coaching and they need instructions on how to break down the other team to win the game. That's where we are lacking big-time now.

Allardyce out now!!

Ian Hollingworth
49 Posted 25/02/2018 at 13:04:52
I give up as I do not know how Everton move forward. Allardyce is clearly not working and we are shite playing awful football etc.

However, the same was said in the latter years of Moyes, seasons 2 and 3 under Martinez, same under Koeman, and even Unsworth it was dire; now Allardyce.

So what is the problem at Everton FC ? Are we cursed? What the hell is it going to take to fix it?

Personally I think we need to fix the whole club, a wholesale clear-out and replace them with winners. Start with getting rid of Kenwright.

Oliver Molloy
50 Posted 25/02/2018 at 13:10:01
Jesus lads, we are bad. The whole foundation of Everton Football Club is a complete shambles. Mistake after mistake throughout the club, should it be signing players, getting the right manager, picking a team, not having numerous Plan Bs – we go to mighty Watford to draw; that really is disgraceful.

For me, Moshiri has wasted a huge amount of money on players who just are not good enough and Walsh should be shown the door.

Who would want to play for Everton right now? Who does the coaching? How many times have we all seen Pickford palm the ball straight out in front of him instead of pushing it sideways – he keeps doing this... goalkeeping coach?

The sooner this season is over, the better, and if this team don't put it in a performance for the fans in what will be our cup final this season, they can fuck off.

"Sam Allardyce, manager of Everton" – says it all really.

Nicholas Ryan
51 Posted 25/02/2018 at 13:11:29
Strangely enough, I don't remember the US Marines ever saying, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going, on holiday to Dubai"!!
Clive Rogers
52 Posted 25/02/2018 at 13:29:37
I am not an admirer of Fat Sam, but I have to say that the problems go a lot deeper than just him.

The team that played yesterday was probably the strongest that could be picked with the limitations of injuries. We certainly need a forward-thinking manager in the summer, but we also need a complete clear out of the behind the scenes structure. Basically, that means Kenwright and all of his Yes-men cronies and also Walsh who has spent £250M on players who have made us worse.

It was a major mistake to keep Kenwright as chairman. He is a proven failure over 20 years. I have decided not to renew my season ticket if he is still chairman.

John Raftery
53 Posted 25/02/2018 at 13:32:57
I keep reading and hearing comments in the media about this team underperforming. I would suggest after 7 months they are performing exactly in accordance with their level of capability.

They are a bunch of mid-table mediocrities who will continue to struggle to score goals and defend. Changing the manager will make no difference.

John Raftery
54 Posted 25/02/2018 at 13:32:57
I keep reading and hearing comments in the media about this team underperforming. I would suggest, after seven months, they are performing exactly in accordance with their level of capability.

They are a bunch of mid-table mediocrities who will continue to struggle to score goals and defend. Changing the manager will make no difference.

Jon Withey
55 Posted 25/02/2018 at 14:34:37
The team isn't improving really, is it?

At least we only went down by one. Although maybe if their goal had gone in earlier, we would have reverted to type again.

I think that was probably about the best line-up we can muster so I'm not sure where he goes from here.

Pete Clarke
56 Posted 25/02/2018 at 14:36:09
I don't blame the loathsome Sunday league manager we have. The problem lies in the man who appointed him. What new owner at this level of sport would buy a club and leave the previous owner in his position?

Well, Moshiri has done just that because he knows nothing about football; he should be seeking advice from somebody who does know how to run a football club because we are a joke at the moment.

Even without a manager, we should be able to muster enough points to stay up and I for one would take that gamble now rather than see that horrible person in our colours jowling on the touchline.

Start the clearout, Moshiri – otherwise, we will have 20,000 at Goodison soon and a return to the early 80s.

Ken Williams
57 Posted 25/02/2018 at 15:28:04
In Allardyce, we have a manager that cannot take responsibility when he gets it so wrong, taking off both our creative midfielders when we are one down is at best poor management.

I never wanted the charlatan at our club and the longer he stays, the less interest I have in watching the rubbish his tactics and team selections dish up.

Raymond Fox
58 Posted 25/02/2018 at 15:30:27
Let's face it: us, along with 13 other sets of supporters, are being conned every season into believing we have a chance of success in some competition. The reality is it's really a competition for the best of the rest for 14 clubs in the League.

I suppose I might be being overly negative, and you could say we have some chance of nicking a cup success; we're still long odds on doing that though.

We are bloody rubbish compared with the usual top 6 clubs but, according to the league positions at the moment, there's 11 clubs worse than us! Hard to believe, I know.

The managers and the players of the bottom 14 teams are being paid fortunes every week to produce dross and we mugs are funding them. Talk about hope springs eternal.

A good 80% of any of the games are boring spectacles if you watch the full games live. MotD highlights give a distorted view of games entertainment wise, which suits the media and the clubs.

Jack Convery
59 Posted 25/02/2018 at 15:53:49
Put your money on Murray to score the first goal at Goodsion next home game. It is Brighton isn't it.
Steavey Buckley
61 Posted 25/02/2018 at 16:08:33
After spending over £200 million on new players, the Everton squad must be the worst in the Premier League. In most positions, Everton have players who would struggle in the Championship.

Allardyce is partially to blame, because he failed to strengthen the team properly in the last transfer window. Yet, has inherited a team not of his choosing but allowed Mo Besic to go out on loan when Everton are desperate for players who like to get stuck in. Yesterday's performance showed that Everton are lightweight.

Paul Birmingham
62 Posted 25/02/2018 at 16:44:19
The malaise is chronic and it will take mega bucks to fix... and time EFC don't have. There's nothing left to say but the morgue which Goodison Park has become will be ghostly silent for good, very soon.

This episode in the club's history must end soon. And somehow start clean but it won't be easy in the next 5 years with TV money starting to drop...

It's become an endurance test now for each passing game and it's worse the way the team and the club is melting away into freefall oblivion. Do the board care and can they relate to the fans?

Heres to a miracle at Turf Moor

Greg Anderson
64 Posted 25/02/2018 at 17:33:07
James (#28) & Greg (#3), the only reason we weren't played off the park is because Watford didn't have the quality to do it. If they had, we wouldn't have put up much of a fight.

James, that was exactly my point – two mediocre teams that struggle to create chances because they have too few quality ball-players on the pitch. Typical middle-of-the-table match, first goal wins, could go either way – we've all seen this match a million times before.

People seem to think that we are "underperforming" somehow. I don't think we are. With so many poor ball-players on the pitch, we are just mediocre – "Watford's level", whether we like it or not. And yes, that is a sad indictment of our recent transfer policy.

How people can look at our squad and think we could be much better than this is a mystery to me.

Jack Convery
65 Posted 25/02/2018 at 17:51:15
“I have to take responsibility for the performance because we weren't there. I take full responsibility and I have to work out what I did wrong and work out how to fix it." Eddie Jones after losing to Scotland yesterday.

That's why he's a winner – he looks at what he's done wrong, for the players to put in such a poor performance. Are you listening, Fat Sam? That's how to manage and improve a team. Not to bullshit the fans and the media with utter nonsense about missed chances.

Clive Rogers
66 Posted 25/02/2018 at 17:52:06
Greg (#64), correct. The players we have bought are a complete disaster and that includes Sigurdsson who again yesterday failed to deliver. His work rate cannot be faulted, but his passing has been limited to simple short passes with remarkably few balls into the box.

People keep including him in our creative category but we have yet to see it. The list of other disappointments is everybody bar Pickford.

Jack Convery
67 Posted 25/02/2018 at 17:53:57
Eddie Jones went on and said

“These are lessons you don't want to have but they're the best lessons in the world. We'll learn a lot from this.

“We weren't there in the first half and I take responsibility for it. I didn't prepare the team as well as I should have and that's my fault. I have to work out what I did wrong and work out how to fix it.

“We were ready for it. It's 138 years of rugby history. We knew the significance of the game, we knew what would get thrown at us at Murrayfield. I apologise for our performance.”

Taken full responsibility for it all – unlike some we could mention.

William Cartwright
68 Posted 25/02/2018 at 18:11:42
There is so much consistency across the board of criticism being supplied by ToffeeWebbers at present, and has been the case for some time, that it is unthinkable for Moshiri to ignore the build-up of legitimate concern for much longer. A new management structure with a new man at the helm is essential as soon as possible.

When Martinez went, prior to the last (meaningless) game of the season, I thought that was a sign of ruthlessness to the point of bitchiness, unusual in really successful businessmen which Moshiri definitely is. So what has gone wrong and why are we still waiting for signs of the direction we should be going in? Well I for one think the signs are there, if we look for them.

The stadium is moving slowly at present, but there are still signs of progress on that front with the recent engagement of the fans, a reassuring strategy, whether public relations driven or not. EitC and the Academy are going strong, with investment of last summer (Onyekuru etc?) still to bear fruit.

I wanted (correction: accepted) Allardyce as a safety measure. It was indicative of how far we had reversed under Koeman, who for me has been far and away the most destructive influence on Everton FC in the last 30 years. Moshiri appointed him with some fanfare (no pun intended) and the cost, financially at least has been paid. We have to move on and the teams player recovery must come before everything.

The most important aspect of the Club is the quality on the pitch, and the most important personality at the Club to achieve this must be the team manager. A good or great manager means a good or great team, and the style of play is an extension of the Manager's personality. It was with Moyes, Martinez, Koeman, Unsy, and certainly it is with Allardyce. 5 managers with 5 different values; no wonder we've been 6s and 7s and the victim of inconsistent performances over the last 4 seasons!

We need a manager, who is youngish, contemporary and forward-thinking in approach and someone who is strong enough to stand up to the feckless management structure and to make his personal values count. Like him or not, Moyes had that strength, but then the situation was less demanding. I liked him a lot, but was tired of his approach by the time he left.

I liked Roberto but he disappeared under his own ego.

Koeman was different. I disliked him but he had my grudging respect because he was his own man and there was definitely an attrition between him and Kenwright, and the managerial shiftiness (Elstone?) behind the scenes. However, when things didn't go his way, then he seemed to switch off the concern button which was a measure of his self-centerdness.

I loved Unsy, but he lost it for me when he proudly stated he talked to Kenwright every day.

Allardyce? Nothing positive there.

Instead of looking for smooth, sauve, well dressed, PR savvy, super continental, we should be looking at a manager who has a track record of building a Club, from the bottom up and that leaves only 4 candidates in my mind. Howe, Dyche, Houghton, or the guy (apologies I've forgotten his name) who has done wonders with the small Swedish club. The Wolves manager also seems to be a good candidate...

These guys would suit the needs of Everton at this time. Give either of them the support to build the team in a time frame in parallel with the stadium, and use the Academy as the bedrock, supported by expensive but selected proven quality in key positions and we should move forward.

My favorite is Dyche. I think his uncompromising image is a perfect foil for his capacity as a 'thinking' manager and a motivator as well as being his own man. He would stand up to Kenwright and alongside Moshiri and he might introduce some sensible toughness into the playing structure. he is nobodies fool, and we would be very lucky to get him. I get the impression he would chew up and spit out a Director of Football like Walsh without any trouble whatsoever.

Here's hoping! COYB . . . . . . .

Johan Elmgren
69 Posted 25/02/2018 at 19:36:46
Great post, William. Graham Potter is the name you are after, and I have actually been thinking of him myself. He's taken the small Swedish club Östersunds FK from the third tier to the first tier, and I think they came third or fourth this season in Allsvenskan. On top of that they won the Swedish cup (their first title ever) which enabled them to play in the Europa League and go on that run which ended at Arsenal on Thursday.

They play an expansive attacking football, and he's an expert in building team spirit. Their success is built upon that... and upon being fearless and thinking "anything is possible". A manager with that mentality could do wonders with our players.

Allardyce out now!!

Ray Said
70 Posted 25/02/2018 at 19:55:50
If you give a chimpanzee a gun and it shoots someone, you don't blame the chimp, you blame the guy who gave it the gun. The board must take the blame and sack another chimp.
Tony Everan
71 Posted 25/02/2018 at 20:09:04
It's not just about next season, is it. It's about the next 3 or 4 seasons or longer. There is no way at all that Sam Allardyce is the manager for this period of time.

We need to be procuring a manager for the longer term now. There is no time for delay, it is clear to all that Sam is not the future of the club.

Alexander Murphy
72 Posted 25/02/2018 at 20:09:29
I stated after the Arsenal capitulation that the time for the TW poll on Allardyce Out had arrived.

I stand by words.

Tony Abrahams
73 Posted 25/02/2018 at 20:10:19
Good point, Ray, and leads me to think that it is really all our own fault for putting up with the majority of this board, even though we haven't won a trophy for so long.

Paul Saleh
74 Posted 25/02/2018 at 20:55:37
I would pay him up now and get rid. Nothing I see from him fills me with confidence. I would get Silva in now and start to prepare for next season.

There really needs to be one owner driving this club in one direction. At the moment, we are going in three different directions (Moshiri - from distance, Kenwright - close quarters and Walsh buying like he is a kid in a sweet shop with lots of money).

Why wait until the end of the season, the football is dross, and all he does is blame the players. (Wasteful finishing... Jeysus, what finishing?)

Time to act is now – 10 more games of this is just too much for most Evertonians. Big Sam – just fuck off and take the money, you cannot handle a big club.

Paul Welsby
75 Posted 25/02/2018 at 21:00:24
William, I'm sorry but I have to disagree. Sean Dyche's Burnley play some terrible football; yes, granted they are above us in the Premier League but it doesn't mean he is right for us. Also, I may believe Everton would be too big of a job for him.

Chris Houghton is another who has been a manager for some time but he hasn't given me any reason to think he would be a success.

As for the fella at Osterunds, way too big of a risk for me. I know we are shite at the moment but we are steeped in history and are still a big club. Shit team definitely but, in my opinion, a big club.

These managers you mention are on a par with what we have had and I for one don't know who is the right man for the job but, considering the consensus is Moshiri has a few quid, maybe he should try and persuade someone of proven ability to take us on?

I don't hold much hope out for this as I have said on another thread he seems incapable to do so, going with his track record on hiring managers.

Moshiri should maybe spend top dollar on a manager first then players after – and by 'top dollar', I mean if he is serious about backing up what he has said about us being in the Champions League and challenging for the title. Make him the highest paid manager in the Premier League and I'm sure some of the so-called better managers would be interested.

But what do I know? I just listen to all the shit they come out with. So if he wants us there at the top, invest in a fucking proven manager and stop messing around with these could be a great manager or would be a good fit for little old Everton.

Tom Bowers
76 Posted 25/02/2018 at 21:35:33
Whilst it is water under the bridge now many fans must rethink their opinion of ''useless, lazy lump'' Lukaku now.

His going was inevitable and Everton had plenty of time to weigh up a replacement.

Whilst top class strikers don't grow on trees neither are they found in the depths of lesser leagues.

Everton were left with Calvert-Lewin and Niasse, signed Sandro, Rooney, Sigurdsson and Tosun and between them they have failed miserably to scare most defences in the Premier League.

Okay, people will make excuses for Tosun who hasn't yet had much chance but he doesn't look like he will make much impact.

Hate to say it but Liverpool have always had top class strikers and now they have a bunch of them playing together. Man City, Man Utd, Spurs and Chelsea have goalscorers to spare throughout their squads.

Everton up front are really toothless and have very little to offer from midfield either. The Everton scouting system must be overhauled.

These are the sad facts Moshiri has to deal with before next season starts.

Don Alexander
77 Posted 25/02/2018 at 22:08:29
Paul Welsby (#75), if only it were that easy! Top, top managers want and get mega salaries but they also generally want and get transfer spending on a level with the teams above them in winning their leagues. We're still miles away from being able to do that even after Moshiri bought in, and are even more significantly worse off after spending so much on the serial failures comprising our signings of the past two years.

Yes, a mega salary will undoubtedly cause a queue of willing applicants but those with any sense of recent history in any major league will know that they've no chance of winning anything without commensurate expenditure on signings, and Moshiri can't or won't go there as yet, despite his best efforts so far in funding what we all still have to endure from the pitch, touch-line and boardroom, namely consistent ineptitude.

Kevin Prytherch
78 Posted 25/02/2018 at 22:34:55
Any next appointment has to be built around what it is that we want:

1. Pay top dollar for a manager with a top reputation for winning things... Sounds good on paper but, even if we did tempt someone, whose to say it will turn out any better than now? They'll surely come in expecting a war chest and £300 million later, we'll have a different group of mercenaries bleeding the life and soul out of the club.

2. A young manager proven in a foreign league somewhere... Are we really going to take that risk? How many clubs have appointed a relatively unproven foreign coach (or English – Paul Clements) and paid the price?

3. Look closer to home – Dyche etc. Young manager with a point to prove. We might get lucky, we might end up with a young Pardew!! All the journeymen managers had some degree of success. Nevertheless, this type might be pursuaded to look long-term at the youth setup like Moyes and Martinez did.

4. Go back to Unsworth again. Give him the chance to make mistakes and learn from them. One things for sure – we'll get more fight and determination in 1 game than we've had from the last 10. Could we risk an unproven manager? They all start somewhere after all.

What's the best option?

Bob Parrington
79 Posted 25/02/2018 at 22:52:25
Watching the game again, in a calm frame of mind, it is hard to avoid the poor match management by the 2 Sams. For about 5 to 7 minutes before Deeney scored it was abundantly clear that Gana, Rooney and Sigurdsson had completely lost their way. Rooney looked stuffed, as did Gueye, and Sigurdsson looked as frustrated as could be.

The substitutions came far too late!!

Paul Welsby
80 Posted 25/02/2018 at 23:35:52
Don, I never once said it was easy. What I did say is Moshiri has stated where he wants Everton to be. So you and I both know so he should being the owner that it takes a lot of spending both on a manager plus players.

I have listened to interviews with Moshiri saying on TalkSport and on Everton's own website that we had bid £60 million for Koulibaly and listened to Kenwright boasting at the AGM money being available for any players as long as they want to come to Everton.

Don, I did say that I'm just listening to what they tell us so you're right – it would be top dollar for one of the best managers about and they would want a sizeable war chest. So they either shut the fuck up or back up what they tell us where they want Everton to be.

If I hadn't heard it with my own ears, I certainly wouldn't post on here so the likes of yourself can pull me up like I'm daft imagining what these clowns running our club have said. If they hadn't said it, Don, I wouldn't've posted what I did earlier as I know it takes a large amount of cash to get Everton in the champions league and challenging for the title.

One thing is for sure: until we do break the bank for a manager, it's just going to be pot luck we get it right with a manager yet to prove himself. If, like you said, Moshiri can't or won't go there yet, it would probably be best if he and his sidekick shut the fuck up so there is no misunderstanding on my part.

Lawrence Green
81 Posted 25/02/2018 at 23:53:18
Sam Allardyce, bemoaning the lack of firepower in his squad and the inflated prices that the club paid for the new recruits, told the Echo.

“They get the ball and pass it, not me,” he said.

“So, if you get the ball and move it forward to one of your front men, your front men get in the game and they attack the other team's defence. But you can't blame me if they don't pass the ball to each other.”

So exactly what is Sam's job description, isn't it up to him to choose players who will pass the ball to each other and who will attack the opponent's goal? Why are the club paying this man so much to do so little? It's not new; Koeman was exactly the same, bereft of ideas on how to motivate the players and bereft of ideas as to how to cultivate team spirit.

Any Sunday league manager can do these things with players of very limited ability – why can't a highly paid employee get the best out of his players?

Some say that even the best managers in the world wouldn't be able to do any better with the squad we have – why is that? Eddie Howe, Sean Dyche, Rafa Benitez and a few others in the top division outside of the top six, seem to be able to foster a club spirit and a definitive style of play, so how come Everton FC are unable to hire somebody who can do that at Goodison Park?

It's one thing to have a bad bunch of players but it is quite another to have such a bunch who have to listen to a manager who so obviously thinks more about his own reputation rather than doing the job he was hired to do. Koeman had at least some reasons for being less than enthusiastic when his desire for a new striker and left-sided defender were ignored.

Sam has no such excuse, he knew the issues that the team had from the first day he set foot in Finch Farm, but he has done precious little to address those issues and, in some cases, he has managed to make things worse.


Value For Money?

Don Alexander
82 Posted 26/02/2018 at 00:04:19
Paul (#80), well said. I never meant to demean you and fully agree with you in what you've latterly said. Good on you.
Ernie Baywood
83 Posted 26/02/2018 at 00:33:25
I don't like him, don't want him, don't think he's the right man for this club. That viewpoint hasn't changed over the last few months.

But...

I could see it was a bad appointment. Plenty of others could see it was a bad appointment. So why couldn't those in charge of the club see it?

This isn't just hindsight. It's not like they were hoping for more and have been let down. He's done exactly what he always does. He's Sam Allardyce – he's even publicly judging his performance as a success. By his metrics, he's absolutely right!

So while Sam's decisions and media work is pissing me off no end, I don't think he deserves the bulk of the blame. I reserve the greater criticism for Moshiri and his colleagues. They got exactly what it said on the tin.

Don Alexander
84 Posted 26/02/2018 at 00:37:48
Exactly Ernie (#83), well said.
Alexander Murphy
85 Posted 26/02/2018 at 00:55:44
Ernie, well articulated post. And I do agree with ALL but a single word of your concluding sentence. Surely it should read:

"They got exactly what it said on the BIN"

Pete Clarke
86 Posted 26/02/2018 at 01:06:25
This could have turned out to be the worst season for a long time being a blue. Thank fuck Guardiola is at Man City cos the RS are flying.

Let's hope Moshiri is not hoping that Big Sam is going to sort this shit out and we end up in 7th as he might get an extension...

Jeff Spiers
87 Posted 26/02/2018 at 07:28:28
Ernie@83. I firmly believe those in charge went cap in hand to Allardyce.

"Come and save us please, kind sir. We cannot get anyone else."

Grovelling pricks.

David Ellis
88 Posted 26/02/2018 at 09:22:22
I think, if Bournemouth were not in a slump a the time Koeman was sacked, we could have had Eddie Howe as manager. Evertonian and manages to get limited players playing good football and several years Premier League experience. Now that he has turned Bournemouth around I think he's name is definitely back in the hat for the summer.

I wasn't in favour of Allardyce coming in, but to be fair to the board I think they held off on his appointment as long as possible. Had the West Ham game come a couple of weeks earlier, we would perhaps not have panicked. But panicking at the time was the rational option!

I am still disappointed in Allardyce. I thought he would certainly tighten up the defence (he has a bit) but also with the playing resources he had get us playing decent football (as Bolton did with Okocha pulling the strings). But this just hasn't happened at all and the style is just as enervating as under Koeman.

As a result, I can't remember the last time I was so disinterested in watching Everton play. It's soul destroying. That has to change next season and I think Allardyce is finished now. Moshiri will demand more – and at least Howe and Silva will be available and willing to come this time.

Amit Vithlani
89 Posted 26/02/2018 at 09:54:52
Everton's enemy is a level of complacency which has deepened in the last 12 months. It has seeped through our organisation from top to bottom:

1. The manager. Sam Allardyce's tactics and team set up against Watford were yet another example of this complacency. It has been okay, in his book, to defend a 0-0 scoreline and offer limited attacking threat away from home, or indeed against any of the top 6 home or away, as the complacency that has set in means that defeats can be added to the numerous away losses and the horrendous record against the top 6 that existed prior to his arrival. He was never going to be the man that shook things up; 6 wins out of 16 is a record of a manager who picked winnable games to ensure safety with everything else deemed a bonus. A complacent mindset which fits in perfectly with the attitude of the club.

2. The players. There are numerous on-and-off-the-pitch examples of the lax attitude so many players have demonstrated this season. Schneiderlin's lack of application in a game and on the training ground was well documented by Lyndon in his article on the player. Rooney's transgressions at the start of the season betrayed a shocking lack of professionalism, considering he had just joined a new club. A series of almost unbelievable capitulations have taken place under 3 seperate managers – Atalanta (twice), Arsenal (twice), Southampton, Spurs (twice), Man Utd, Lyon. A squad that gave a fuck, that had backbone, could not have been hammered so many times in one season.

3. Walsh. One can conclude that Steve Walsh and his scouting team are completely complacent by the sheer number of misses the club has had in the transfer market. The complacency has to stem from a lack of concern over buying duds; where once Everton were frugal in the transfer market and duds could prove very damaging, with Moshiri's arrival it is incredible how many underperforming players have been brought in under Walsh's remit. To spend £27M on a striker who is sat on the bench is the latest indictment of Walsh. To have not brought a striker or left-sided defender at all prior to the January window was the biggest indictment of all – and yet, he is still in a job.

4. Moshiri and Kenwright. Moshiri has been a force for good on the club's finances. However, on footballing matters, he is either totally inept or completely complacent or both. He made the announcement to Jim White over Allardyce's appointment so one can only conclude he had the final say. In which case, the shambles that was the managerial search, the game by game mandate for Unsworth, the volte face on Allardyce, all betray a sense of complacency. Perhaps Moshiri thought he could throw money at the problem and it would be fixed. This resulted in an approach to the managerial appointment that resulted in what can, at best, be described as a lazy and unimaginative appointment in Allardyce, with a lazy and complacent target of avoiding relegation. On the back of his bizarre acceptance of Everton losing to the top 6 – because having had the third highest net spend you would have thought he would demand more – and one can only conclude that Moshiri is ok to achieve a top 10 finish. The ambitions to break into the top 4 – which he clearly stated was a target on his arrival – have vanished.

5. The nature of the League. This comfort zone that the club currently finds itself in is also surely down to how strange this season has been, with everyone outside the top 6 capable of being beaten by anyone else. West Brom look to have bitten the relegation bullet, and Burnley and Leicester are probably safe, but with 10 games to go, 2 straight defeats for Everton in 9th could push us down into the relegation scrap. By the same token, one home win will probably do the job for us and I cannot see this squad of players showing the application to overtake Burnley to 7th – even though they are there to be overhauled.


I am extremely worried over what the future holds. Moshiri and Kenwright have made a catalogue of errors this season and their judgement has proven to be highly suspect. Their desire to push the club to achieve more ambitious targets appears to be waning. It is my worst nightmare that Allardyce will see out the entire duration of his contract, simply because the board fail to attract a worthy manager. I can see Walsh continuing too.

Meantime, the players will continue to muddle along, safe in the knowledge that a dozen wins and half a dozen draws each season will be the extent of the club's ambitions – with recriminations only if the club have slid down to near the bottom 3.

Complacency abounds.

Tony Abrahams
90 Posted 26/02/2018 at 17:43:12
So much truth in that very good post Amit, and I can't disagree with much. Maybe the bit what you say about Rooney, at the start of this season, because I thought he looked good, until his wife went on holiday, but the longer the season's gone on, then the more what you say makes sense.

If Moshiri thinks it's okay to lose to the top six, then his chairman needs to tell him differently... ha, ha, ha, and the only difference with Allardyce, is that his tactics just point this out that little bit more!


Add Your Comments

In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.

» Log in now

Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site.


About these ads


, placement: 'Below Article Thumbnails', target_type: 'mix' });