Defeat for Allardyce after Gueye levels

Draw then...sigh.

Have these players lost all their ability?

It's painfully obvious that we have been very lucky in our last couple of games – but luck runs out, and we're now back to ground zero.

We are desperate for a good striker and a forward-thinking midfielder. It is awful watching us this season. I really think we will get tonked by both Man Utd and Liverpool. We are fuckin' shite.

This defeat has been coming for weeks. We need new players. I take back my comments about Nzoni, We need to offload Schneiderlin.

What has happened to the player of last season. He wanders about the pitch like a drunk guppy. I'm beginning to think we need to replace him. Turning his back on an opposing player really is school boy stuff.

As for Sigurdsson. I'd sell him back to Swansea for 10 mill. As bang average a player as you'll likely ever see.

Pretty much every midfielder woefully misplaced very simple passes today which exposed our defence.

Jags and Keane, as they have all season, do not look a solid pairing at the heart of our defence.

Praise to Niasse when he came on. Showed good touch and awareness to lay on Gana's goal, then set up Sigurdson for what could have been our winner, but the Ice Man took a poor 1st touch which allowed the defender to get in a block.

A team with ambition should not be losing to Bournemouth, all the more so given the winless run they were on.

And if I have to see Jagielka put in any more of those half arsed blocks he does behind his back, I am going to lose it. He should be drafting a very long apology letter to Pickford for that goal. A player of his experience and he still carries on with that crap.

And is the 㿙 million spent on Sigurdsson the worst deal in the history of the Premier League? And should Schneiderlin ever put on an blue shirt again?

If Allardyce is ever going to show himself as anything more than a defensive manager, this was the kind of game where he needed to loosen the shackles. Some people will say that the odd defeat is the price of doing business with Allardyce - sorry, the flaccid, barely endurable football is the price. The results simply made it tolerable. If we're now going to play like this AND lose, then people are going to run out of patience very fast.

He's been paid six million a year for THIS?

What was Allardyce thinking? I know Bournemouth are capable of playing good football but that was telegraphing them exactly how we were going to play!

Unforgivable I'm sorry to say. I've been fairly impressed with the new manager up until now but today I'm stumped.

What was he trying to achieve playing Mcarthy? Is he trying to put him in the shop window or something??

Allardyce isn't to blame for the misplaced passes, or the hundreds of millions pissed away on dross, but on the latest showings, he won't be here beyond the end of this season.

If I were Moshiri, I would be looking at the absolute shambles of our recruitment policy. Koeman has paid the price, others need to as well. From the CEO down, the club is in ruins. I can honestly say we are still one of the worst 5 sides in the League, after matching the spending of the top 4. Says it all.

Their best striker played.

Allardyce faces a massive task: to dispel an ingrained culture of failure. In order to succeed he will have to throw off his own defensive instincts but he will be best placed to do so when we have filled gaps which we could all see back in August and indeed well before that. I believe he will succeed.

The pious Enemies of Allardyce will be out in force tonight, after his first defeat. So be it.

He's a twat.

He's fucking useless

He's a coward

He's a Shithouse.

Feel free to fill in the name spaces.
See you later chaps.

Not one of our back four can pass, Kenny is now pre programmed to just punt down the line.

McCarthy and Gana are both limited distributiors and Schniederlin is a lost cause.

One might argue of that XI after Sigurdssson, Pickford was the next best passer.

It is as many foretold. If you set up defensively, thats okay, but you MUST be clinical to sustain the results that nourish such an approach. Once the results go you have nothing.

To approach the last two games in the manner we did was deplorable.

Allardyce can complain about ball retention all he wants, he picked a poor side today, he might look at his approach to answer the problem.

Desperate stuff.

I can safely predict the gameplan for Man U, Liberpool and Spurs. Park. The. Bus.

I reckon the only time we will have to get rid of the crap Allardyce inherited will be at the end of the season.

Regarding the pious Enemies of Allardyce . well there'll be a few on here made up with that result, until the next defeat, so they can tell everyone how right they were.

We lost a game against Bournemouth, yes Bournemouth, a bloody disgrace considering we were hammering everyone since pre season.
Allardyce out it's all his fault !!!

But when you put all three in the side you definitely get a bad performance and show.

That was awful.

It's bad enough to watch week in and week out, but at least we were getting points. It's getting progressively more negative and worse.

Seriously - McCarthy, Gueye, and Schneiderlin all in the same midfield against Bournemouth?? It's a recipe for boredom and shit football.

There's no joy watching Everton at the moment.

Honest question - would you rather watch, week in and week out, a Martinez side winning some, blowing leads and losing some we shouldn't, and finishing 9th-11th, or would you rather watch this mind-numbing shit every week and finishing 9th-11th?

It's just terrible.

The frustrating thing is, it doesn't have to be this way. Being pragmatic against the likes of Chelsea is one thing. But Lookman and Vlasic tore it up against Apollon Limassol - you're telling me they couldn't do some serious damage against a shaky Bournemouth back line? But they don't even make the bench.

Unfortunately, these past two matches go down as a staggeringly blown opportunity to pick up a chunk of points, as the schedule over the next month has some significant teeth.

Up until now Allardyce has had my backing but today he messed up and should have a collective kick up the arse from the fans.

If he does well I will praise him if he does shite I won't.

I'm just hoping and praying today was about sending the board a message about the upcoming transfer window...!

That hit you get, though, with miserabilist vindication. Nothing beats it. I should know, I rather enjoy it myself.

I think we should be scrutinising the players actually, some of whom perform when and how they like, and I have no doubt that Sam has indeed been having a little look.

Pickford, excellent.

On his own , no he isn't , we need at least three new quality attacking footballers with some kind of ability to change the dynamics of how ponderous and slow our attack is.

Yes, more interesting than the games. I watched the derby but I haven't seen one since; reading TW tells me everything I need to know. I guarantee it was more exciting just keeping an eye on the result like I did today.

When we scored, I was buzzing, and then distraught near the end. But I bet watching it, it was a just a kind of resigned sigh, like ‘we deserve this'.

It's funny that he's got another derby game in the FA Cup coming so soon after the last one. We'll see the same shithouse tactics again, and we'll see what the apologists for dross say then.

I don't want Allardyce to lose games, and I don't enjoy it; I just want him gone at the end of the season, because he has no chance of being a successful Everton manager.

It will make arguments much less frequent on the site and we can all happily ignore the evidence in front of our eyes.

Seems the players agree

Calvert-Lewin- no

Niasse- no

Schneiderlin- no

McCarthy- no

Lennon - no

Martina- no

Kenny - future maybe but not yet

Keane - no based on what we see

Jagielka- no

Williams- no

Sandro- no

Rooney- arguably yes on this seasons form

Sigurdsson- honest answer, no.

Gueye- no

Davies- nowhere near ready

Frankly it's a really bang average looking squad.
Frankly the squad is

If the idea of SA is to get the ball forward as quickly as possible, why wasn't Niasse partnering DCL from the beginning, who looked lost, bereft of ideas and isolated. Sigurdsson had another dreadful game to prove again he is not worth 45 million pounds.

When Everton went 1:1 why on earth bring Gueye off and bring on Bolasie when still not match fit? Everton were in the ascendency with Rooney playing further forward. When he dropped back to accommodate Bolasie, he was awful and kept giving the ball away.

It is definitely an unbalanced squad, but the absence of Lukaku apart it is pretty much the same set of players that got us into Europe. In reality, the absence of a replacement for Romelu was more keenly felt under Koeman as he actually tried to use a more progressive gameplan. With three shots in three games and no attacking threat it doesnt matter who plays up front under Allardyce.

We have now had three terrible managerial hires in a row with Martinez, Koeman and Allardyce. That plus institutional mis-management over two decades under Kenwright. But I honestly think we have hit rock bottom hiring Allardyce and it sickens me to see his brand of football praised.

There is a decent team in our squad somewhere. They are not all crap as the convenient excuse goes. The managers job is to find that team and win matches.

For some reason Vlasic and Lookman, who would give us natural width and pace, are being sent to Coventry.

In my view he us unfit to manage our club. Would Liverpool supporters take it? By fuck they wouldn't.

Basically, ending the game with the team that should have started, and often forced changes having gone behind.

The same manager dispatched West ham, Huddersfield, Newcastle & Swansea who are no better with the same set of players.

In isolation that was unacceptable, in context of what Allardyce had already achieved, equally unacceptable and in an historical context just as bad.

Its not unfair nor unjust to disect that performance such as it was and lambast it for a negative game plan, conservative selection including playing two half for midfielders and a complete lack of execution in defence and attack.

When you allow anything to go unchecked without regular way points it smacks of carelessness. Everton's board are past masters of it.

But when your bezzy mate is DoF, the floor is yours Sam.

Cut the middle man out and cut to the chase was my school of thought.

Big Sam fucked up. What's happened to the energetic Vlasic?

He's a fanny who would be knocked over by an angry nun.

It's not about the "style of football", it's about the overwhelmingly negative tactics being employed. Being willing to pose an attacking threat isn't a "style", it's fucking football!!! This game is not about holding out for fucking nil nil draws. In case you didn't notice, it was those initial few wins that had us move up the table. I'll do the maths for you, a win is worth three times as much as a fucking draw.

Nothing will improve until we have some quality in attack, something to scare the opposition .

We are never in possession long enough in the final 3rdfor our midfield to have any composure.

2 top quality frontmen will transform us. It needs to be sooner rather than later. We need to rectify Koeman's diabolical transfer window fast.

His remit was to save us from relegation and he will achieve this comfortably. Moshiri will give him his £6m golden handshake and Sam will ride off into the sunset like some old cowboy.

With Sam we get what it says on the tin ie survival at any cost. He's not going to have us playing Samba football, that's not his style. We'll be hard to beat but it will also be hard to win with his negative philosophy.

Next summer, if Chelsea don't get them, we'll have Ancellotti and Clement in charge. Sam will have done his job and can retire to Spain (or Portugal) and enjoy his golf. Only a few more months to suffer this spineless, boring, negative shite.

Can we just say "Thanks, Sam, you've done a great job, but here's 17 months contract pay-off, bye..."

Allardyce has steadied the ship, he got the team selection wrong today in my humble opinion, there was zero creativity in that midfield. However, this is neither a pro or anti Allardyce statement, just facts as I see them. He has inherited a team low on confidence and very low on results. He has had no pre-season, no real time between games to train the team and a lot of injuries. The players couldn't do the basics right today, and haven't been able to for a long time now. Players are not showing for passes. At the end of the first half I noticed Kenny berating someone, or maybe the entire midfield, for not giving him an option when he had possession. Short passes are going to the opposition, when we do have the ball, play goes backwards and a laborious build-up starts, more often than not ending in a long ball down the flanks due to lack of options. We just seem incapable of keeping possession, something Allardyce also lamented in his interview.

Niasse made the difference. I have been championing his cause for a while now and arguing with my close Evertonian friends as to his merit, merit compared to what other options we have at least. He did more attacking today in his first 5 minutes on the pitch than the entire team in the entire 50 minutes before. He laid on the goal with intelligent running and a real deft flick with the outside of his boot. He set up Sigurdsson with his running, hold-up play and decent awareness, plus he also played in Bolasie with decent and skillful play. Against WBA he had more shots on target in his brief cameo than the entire team put together. He scores against the big boys, causes havoc and is a must to start against Man Utd for me. He has his faults no doubt, but we are a better team when he is on the pitch!

Hey ho, at least it wasn't a tonking ala Southampton, Atlanta, Arsenal etc etc!

We've been on a downward spiral over the past 3 decades at least, with only a few bright periods tricking us into dreams of a return to the glory days!

Until we get an owner(s) with drive, determination and a positive vision of a way forward we must expect this dross to continue. It will take more than just money I'm afraid.

It really is depressing watching the inept football dished up by these so called professional footballers, regardless of who or how these poor excuses for managers set up the team.

There is no leadership, ownership or accountability being shown by anyone concerned with the club!

Absolute dross.

Shite against the shite, Newcastle, West Brom , Chelsea - all of which we easily could have lost - and now Bournemouth.

Not to worry you can cheer from the rafters if we hold united to nil nil
What a result!!

If Sam wins every game 1-0 playing "this brand of shite", and we win every trophy going, the anti-Sam brigade will, quite rightly, not be happy because it's not what they want to see. I understand that. So wind your necks in, take ownership of your feelings, and don't be so defensive.

Todays first half setup should dispell any misgivings from the Pro-FS brigade who believe the leopard will change his spots at age 68 ,,not going to happen I am afraid

FS and only FS can take the slack for todays shameful display , Honeymoon is over lets see where we are in a months time

I may have left a few out, Sorry.

So according to those experts, it seems the manager that shouldn't be here might have difficulty picking an acceptable team against United in order to keep said experts happy

He will look out the transfer window find a small boy, aka JJK and send him to buy a Turkey, aka Cenk Tosun and all will be right with the world.

The big difference is FS purposefully sets us up to play like this.

Until then we suffer.

But then we will be like those gobsmacked Citey fans. And moan we only won 5-0!

The worst thing will be is RS appointment of some guy who used to manage Manchester RS, who beats us at Anfield in our Premier League Championship season in our new ground.

Hope my friends and happy new 2021!

Sack the manager.

With the opposition tiring and with some momentum, not much admittedly, we play a needless cross field ball, we then make two stupid attempts at tackles and concede from a deflection.

Another catastrophe for the management's tactics. We would have won 3-0 if we had played Vlasic Lookman, Rooney, etc. from the start. Not.

Anyone listening to the last two press conferences would not have been surprised at the team selection or the tactics if they had watched Bournemouth's recent games.

Managing a football team is about maximising what you have available to get the most from the game you are about to play and, in this case, the one in two days time.

Relax folks. We will be going gung ho against Maureen's usual sit-in tight and get one on the break. Not. Thank heavens.

We have a squad not fit for purpose with one fit left footed player, the goalkeeper, and a shed load of of average midfielders, none of whom is a proper defensive player, and with only a youngster and an unpredictable trier up front.

The current team management are blameless for this. We can argue until the cows come home about why we ended up this way, nobody on here knows as opposed to speculates and slanders. It will take some time and cash to address the staffing issues. In the meantime it's all about damage limitation. If you don't see that you're not looking. If you're looking you're not understanding.

Hoof, chase that one Dom,... hoof out of play, defend, hoof – go on, Aaron do something with that hoof.

Absolute shite, zombie anti-football. Thanks, Sam, but I've had enough already .

I think that Sam Allardyce is utterly unfit to manage our club. Not on moral grounds, because he WAS appallingly treated by the FA, but because we have aspirations that go beyond treating WBA and Bourbemouth like Barcelona.

To blame it all on Sam is a joke.

We need better quality players to play better football. Our midfield is abysmal in terms of attacking play and the modern football fan is happy to accept lots of running and tackling makes a good midfielder.

Then there is the obvious lack of strikers. Our fullbacks Offer zero going forward.

Yet the manager is already hinting that he needs to get rid of midfielders before he can bring in his choices. Now I agree we need to get rid of some but to have the restraint is a complete lack of ambition and/or funds that tell you all you need to know about our ability to compete financially.

Besiktas administration has declined transfer offer of #Everton for #CenkTosun for 25 million pounds. Negotiations are expected to continue.

There was plenty of information to show the philosophy of .S.A. before he was hired and he is not changing his tactics of getting a result, with the added bonus being if we manage a win, regardless who you play.

Did the club panic on the position we were in ? should Koeman been given more time ? we will never know, but what we do know is we have a manager that a large percentage of supporters did not want, and you would think that somewhere in that group they have a fair knowledge of football.

Regardless of who we buy or the monies spent S.A. is not going to change his philosophy that he has followed from his beginning in management.

People talk about the successful period he had with Bolton but that is 1 club out of the 7 teams he has managed in the premier and old first division. We have a manager who is an example of the saying, a leopard will not change his spots.

We would all like to see Everton higher up the league fighting for honors, but with this manager do not hold your breath. He will not change, and displays like today will become the norm.

West Brom did the same the other day but didn't score; this “keep what we start with“ philosophy only goes so far in this league. Fireman Sam has run his race with us I believe.

We will still finish 7th-9th. If we do so playing football like we have done so far then Allardyce will be gone this Summer. Hopefully he can get us playing better and in doing so earn himself some more time. Not much sign of the latter yet though.

No manager can prevent a player from playing shite. It's the players that need to fucking address their own pathetic form.

Allardyce has the right intentions for our football club, which is more than I can say for clueless Koeman, but the club should refund all season tickets for this awful season of diabolical football.

Simply atrocious!

I was very lucky to get invited to the Bournemouth Directors Box today and what an incredibly nice gentleman Jeff Mostyn is. This gave me access to Shakespeare and Co. The look on Lookman's face when he walked out summed it up – majorly fucked off.

I couldn't help but chase Shakespeare out of the stand and ask why we didn't start with any attackers: I got a twist of the head and that was it.

As an admittedly South-based Evertonian of 40 years, I'm shocked to see how poor we've become. It was like watching a five-a-side match. No space for anyone.

What do these guys in charge get paid for?? Clearly today was the day for an attacking 4-4-2?? We're starting to get from Sam what I expected. Playing every game like a cup tie and trying to win on the break.

Really shocked from what I saw... thank god there are a load of other crap sides out there in the league. We couldn't be further away from the likes of Man City, Man Utd, Liverpool... so so far behind them. I'll be interested to see how long the players stick with Sam because that was just dire.

> Pickford - Does his job.
> Kenny - Got promise but not showing us much of it today. Sprayed plenty of ball around - mainly into touch and to them
> Keane - A nervous wreck. Cant play with Jags.
> Jags - Did what Jags does efficiently.
> Martina - Generally anonymous but that is good in a way because he did nothing to show himself up. Worked away. Continues to be my surprise package of the season.
> Schneiderlin. Just poor. Absolute pants. Wouldn't make the Wolves side, Send him abroad somewhere.
> Gana - MOM for me. Scored a goal and does what he does but should stick to that because when he tries to be creative it falls apart.
> Siggurdsson - Don't think he is going to get much better particularly with these around him. A bit more pace and he would have scored today. STILL not a 㿙m player.
> McCarthy - Was he there?
> Lennon - close run for our MOM today for me for his work ethic. Can't tackle but covers back well is a nuisance and racked up the most kms today I'd say, if not DC-L
> DC-L - Looks a lonely figure. Covers loads of ground chasing lost causes. Must be knackered. Needs a rest. Start Niasse on Monday.
> Niasse - Transformed the away atmosphere. Infectious enthusiasm lifted the attack. Set up Gana for his goal. Set up Siggy for a goal which he failed to convert. Sometimes not sure how much control he has over his legs but it kind of works for him. Technically challenged player but boy, do we benefit from having him on the pitch.
Rooney - An enigma. Hugely influential presence and always looking for the offensive play but ceded possession too often. Vital inclusion though imo.

That's the players.

One has to question the intelligence or sanity of these so called football geniuses for setting out that team to face a poor Bournemouth who, as with W Brom. we've made look good. The result today was a fair reflection of the balance of play and respective intent.

Insulting to the fans, Sam, is all I can say. Sorry pal.

If he thought smash and grab tactics were the best plan today then he needs to up his meds. Against these teams we should be out of the blocks and at them, not fart-arseing around for 45mins and then trying something.

Embarrassing. I have friends in Bournemouth who support them and they simply cannot believe us.

I relish the day we scrape our 40points together so we can start the Sam farewell. Job done, For richer or richer!

Can we really not mount attacks without conceding ? And can we not try a bit more pace and trickery with Lookman and Vlasic ?

With all the recent chopping and changing we look like weve never seen a football again.

Its essential that Holgate and Williams are reinstated on Monday, Schneiderlin goes on "official" vacation instead of the one hes been atking for the last 6 months and Lookman and Vlasic get a chance to keep us on the front foot.

Dyche would have been the correct choice. Mean defence but plays good football that they don't get enough credit for.

I watched the Man Utd. v Southampton game. How refreshing it was to watch the Saints, full of composure, knowing their places on the pitch, and venturing forward. A much better team than ours, and with a few regulars sitting on the bench.

His defensive system is in shreds and what little in the way of offensive system he had and forward play is easily neutralised by the opposition, so much so we are as slow as a cart horse and our forwards are non-existent. Unsworth was better, he should have been told he had the job to the end of season, but Moshiri was panicked into getting Big Sam.

Big Sam will get the payout he missed out on with his back-door England deals. Everton are going nowhere with Big Sam. Who was the brainless wonder who thought he could manage England? At least Barcelona never mentioned Koeman.

Allan McGuffog ( 138).. You stated that we haven't had a decent team since 1972, other than a brief spell in the eighties.

1 We really did have a good team in the eighties, and it was more than a brief spell.

2 You are obviously a long time fan, and I am sure a fine supporter, but for the life of me I cannot remember what we did so special in 1972. Please anyone let me know.

3 I am also a long time Evertonian, who was at the Oldham game in 1954 when we won promotion. Not a great team, but great times, particularly because RS were relegated.

4 The sixties team of Young, Vernon et al were superb.

But I still rack my "Blue" brains to find out what happened in 1972. HELP

Now for a level of belief and defiance , needed to stop the Manure and RS. We can't keep making . what ever word(s) feeds the mind, but the team needs a leader and a game plan, as we are looking like like lost soles and an ale house team..

It's as if we are cursed but the curse must be lifted Rodney's finest hour is due but also is the impact of Sigg, and hopefully Vlasic and Lookman, as they have pace but perhaps dimminishing confidence, due to lack of game time, but next week, I'd rather go down fighting and loose fighting than, loose having not had a shot or tested their GK...

Bournemouth chased every pass today and when they didn't intercept they put the player receiving the ball under so much pressure they gave it away. How Schneiderlin continually is picked is beyond me young Baningime is twice the player and his passing of the ball is superb, Kenny good fullback but every ball he hits is long and high, Bolasie needs games in the U23 he is not at this level yet.

To me, sell all the midfield players except for Gueye, Davies and Baningime and with that money buy two quality attacking midfield players. Get rid of Williams, Jagielka (both have been great players and deserve a lot of respect) buy two quality central defenders.

Buy two quality strikers and not has-beens, Sandro, Lookman and Vlasic send out on loan to teams where they would be first pick, sell Niasse and Lennon there ball control and passing completion is not premier league standard.

But the trouble will be any player watching Everton play now, will be thinking "Do I really want to go to a team that plays that brand of football?" So, as usual, will we end up with over-priced players who can't make it in the team they are currently playing in?

Mcarthy ? I can only think he was having a look at him and seeing how he went in a supportive defensive midfield. Won't make that mistake again.

If I don't wake up to a new striker Monday morning your time, I'll be spitting chips (wooden ones).

Prediction, great wall of Allardyce against the RS and the new guy to nick a spawny 1-0 winner. RS supporters and Klopp spewing.

Gueye Davies and Rooney in the centre gave us energy, directness and some creativity.

Williams and Holgate at the back seemed to be a decent pairing.

We've now broke up both of these and have slumbered back into our previous ways. This is surely no coincidence that it's happened when Schneiderlin is back. Credit to Unsworth, he could see that Schneiderlin slowed us down and didn't play him.

Another point...

Allardyce came with a reputation of not playing young players, well from his first couple of games until now, Davies and Holgate seem to be out of favour with a striker being mooted to replace DCL. That will take us down to 1 homegrown player who will be straight out of the team once Coleman is back. Not to mention Vlasic and Lookman getting no where near the team. This doesn't bode well for the talented crop that we have that need games under their belt.

We're so weak in mid-field, not sure what anyone expects it to produce.

We just watched James McCarthy sent out first-11. I hope that was a showcase of his fitness, so we can dump him.

As long as we keep fighting, I can live with it. Have no choice anyway.

Absolute madness from Allardyce. You would think someone with his 'experience' would know better. But shows exactly why he shouldn't be Everton manager.

We've gone from Koeman's 'brand' of football to Allardyce's 'brand' of football. Much of a muchness. But I guess what can you expect for 6m a year on hang on!!

Roll on May when hopefully 'Big Sam' and 'Everton' are never mentioned in the same sentence again.

And THREE defensive midfielders? This was bloody Bournemouth, not Barcelona, though Sam seemed to treat it like a game at the Camp Nou. Rooney looked like he was still suffering from the after effects of tye flu so I can excuse his performance. The others had no such excuse. Keane was awful again, looked like a rabbit in headlights and Jagielka was simply terrible. Why does he keep turning his back and sticking a leg out in hopes of deflecting shots, that could actually go anywhere? Kenny had his worst game for us by far and the only other player who showed any hint of creativity was Aaron Lennon.

Sam definitely got his selection woefully wrong today against a Bournemouth team who were there for the taking. A win could have taken us to 8th and having watched the game , I can't see anything in the Bournemouth performance that was to be afraid of. It was an ideal game to give Vlasic a good run out, or to give Lookman a chance to show what he can do. If he wants to win games, Sam has to be a bit more adventurous. Negativity simply breeds more negativity as the last three games have shown.

All in all, a gutless, spineless, walking dead performance, Niasse and Lennon excepted. Even Gueye couldn't pass more than five yards successfully. Woeful!

A few short weeks ago we were in a relegation situation. That would destroy any hope we have for the Club progressing in terms of stadium and investment in, and attracting better players.

So let's just ride the storm and see how it comes out. It's not like we've been playing attractive footy for the last 20 years and just gone bad. It's just the same shit different day.

"Formation of 9-3" Even with 12 on the pitch we would of lost. The 8 defensively minded players reminded me of one of Walter Smith's formations when Stevie Watson ended up front. We may of had 9 defenders on the pitch that day

Don't get me wrong, I am pleased Sam has got us picking up points but we are in danger of going back to the Koeman/Unsworth results anytime soon. Supporting Everton has never been so tough

These games were the opportunity to play with more attacking intent and beat two bog standard teams and yet he has failed miserably. Five at the back against the mighty West Brom with two full backs who offer nothing going forward and here a midfield three devoid of invention.

The only light at the end of this dark tunnel of a season is that Allardyce will be gone in May. We were led to believe he was offered a 6-month contract initially and walked only to be then to get 18 months due to desperation.

Short term fix is Big Sam but my concern going forward is are we going to be able to attract a high calibre manager in the Summer? In order to do so, Moshiri is going to have to dangle a very large carrot and I am still to be convinced to has the wherewithal to do so.

We were always going to lose one at some point so I'm not going to lose my shit over one defeat, I'll wait until we're back in the bottom three for that.

Stupid team selection first half. We really need some attacking threat in midfield to support the striker. That's our obvious problem. Still, Bolasie is working back to fitness and we're buying a striker so it ain't all bad.

Let's face it a lucky draw against a poor side in West Brom; and Bournemouth are struggling for Prem survival; okay they will fight that little bit harder; but these are the teams we should be beating relatively easily.

If it had been Man City or Chelsea; a defeat would have been understandable; but to play the way they did, is not acceptable.

I don't totally blame Allardyce for this one; well not wholly, but I do believe his team selection from the off was wrong.

Apart from anything else; the defeat has probably knocked the confidence back that was building up nicely; there is talk of a couple of reinforcements in the January Window: but based on the last couple of displays, we need more than that.

I said before the match that this would be a quite defining moment for us. Win this game fair and square without the luck we have enjoyed the past few weeks, a solid 2-0 or 2-1 win and I would say we were ready to build and consolidate our 8/9th place slot for the season. Draw badly or lose and it will serve to underpin my view that we are sitting way above our realistic status in the league.

As it turned out we did the latter - lost meekly to a below average team in Bournemouth - and all credit to the Cherries for that. They played better than us and with the intention of winning.

We have for the most part decent players. We have a squad that without Lukaku's goals last season (I'm not saying without his influence and I'm well aware of the flaws in the argument) that scored enough goals between them to still finish 7th, and Sam's soundbites about having to set up defensively because we cannot score goals is beginning to annoy me thoroughly. If we do not set out to win, we will not win - simple as that. If Sam wants to see out the season drawing every match nil-nil then he might as well just fuck off now.

I was always against the Allardyce appointment but have been quite happy to get behind him now he is one of us, and felt that he might recognise the opportunity he has with Everton. However, he seems to be talking us down, not up. If the words I am reading are verbatim then he has started undermining the moral of the lads just as much as Koeman.

What is going on with Lookman, Sandro, Vlasic and Davies is a mystery, and what he sees in Schneiderlin is beyond computation in my mind. I think Lookman will be gone - Summertime if not in January, Sandro and Vlasic have to be given game time with the U23s if Sam is not going to use them and Davies I guess will remain unfairly on the fringes. In the meantime we await a past Sam stalwart and a Turkish Top Gun to transform our season. Hope remains eternal...!

I initially thought at the start of yesterday's game he had one eye on Monday evening but it soon became clear that there appeared to be no game plan that would result in a win. The shot on MOTD of Shakespeare sitting in the stands looking as clueless as anyone summed it up for me, and no headsets yesterday either which was strange.

January sees us playing ManU, Liverpool (cup), Spurs, West Brom and Leicester and then a trip to the Emirates. I hope I am wrong but by my birthday on 5th Feb I can see us out of the FA Cup, collecting maybe 2 more points, sitting fuck knows where in the league and the threat of relegation panic setting in again.

I do not, in all honesty, expect to see a major transformation resulting from any January signings despite the blind optimism of most views I am reading and hearing, but what I do hope to see is a team that can be set up and perform from the FIRST MINUTE with the intent of winning.

As I said - Bournemouth was a defining game for me. Take away the luck we have without doubt been enjoying (I guess luck swung the other way maybe with that deflection at the death yesterday), no controversial decisions from the officials and near perfect playing conditions and we simply weren't able to step up. I am now, of course, looking forward to ManU on Monday in the hope that we will pull something out of the bag but totally with hope not expectation.

Looking at the fixture list for the rest of the season I can seriously only see about 15 points coming our way by the close, which SHOULD see us safe, but in the meantime Sam's circus rolls on, and the sooner it rolls out to another town, the better for me - unless he and the rest of them can pull their collective socks up.

Just where has our fight gone?

We all know Allardyce was papering over the cracks - isn't that EXACTLY what he was brought in to do? This shouldn't really be A) a surprise to anyone, and B) it isn't really his fault in some ways.

Allardyce is a firefighter, and 6 weeks ago we were ablaze. He's put the fire out to a degree, but we still have a squad lacking in the attacking department - this isn't Big Sam's fault, it's the boards (we all know this ad infinitum).

The thing we as supporters need to do, is be patient, just a bit longer. Yes Sam Allardyce is a defensive manager, yes he's a pragmatist, and yes history tells us he won't change. The issue right now is that Everton CAN'T change (managers) again at the moment so we have to suck it up.

January brings fresh faces with any luck, and Bolasie, possibly Barkley (yeah I know) and maybe Coleman, as well as a new left-back. There are reasons to be cheerful comparatively speaking from 6 weeks ago, despite our last 3 obviously slightly rubbish games.

It isn't ALL doom & gloom. At least we don't support Swansea or West Ham!

Was he trying to be a clever c**t against the leagues worst? Paddy jock fella and Bolasie? Central defence? Or was he just clueless/shithouse ala three defensive midfielders?

I'll go with clueless shithouse which is strange given our previous results!

And just to add, he wasn't up on his feet barking orders as I remember him previously, or I'd just fell asleep and hadn't noticed.

The squad list:

1 – Jordan Pickford: Great acquisition.
2 – Morgan Schneiderlin: Not showing his class which I think he has.
3 – Leighton Baines: on the wrong side of his career and needs to be replaced.
4 – Michael Keane: I'm afraid we bought the wrong one, should have bought McGuire. His head goes down far too quickly.
5 – Ashley Williams: Mmmm... ponderous one. When on song, he is a great centre back but wrong side of 30.
6 – Phil Jagielka: good as a replacement but his legs have gone and he needs to be replaced.
7 – Yannick Bolasie: obviously a quality player and needs to get fit to show what he can do. Average against Bournemouth.
8 – Ross Barkley: off-ski
9 – Sandro Ramirez: for me, he tries too hard and should be given time to adapt.
10 – Wayne Rooney: frustrates the fuck out of me with the amount of ball he gives away. Yes, he may come up with the incisive passes but FFS.
11 – Kevin Mirallas: time to go, not shown anything for a while.
12 – Aaron Lennon: born again here
16 – James McCarthy: needs time.
17 – Idrissa Gueye: great player, needs to improve his passing:
18 – Gareth Barry: gone
20 – Davy Klaassen: I think this lad could be real quality for us. Needs to be given time to adapt.
21 – Muhamed Besic: not good enough for Everton.
22 – Maarten Stekelenburg: decent goalie.
23 – Seamus Coleman: no words needed.
25 – Ramiro Funes Mori: needs to get back in; I like him.
26 – Tom Davies: great player and prospect.
29 – Dominic Calvert-Lewin: needs help but quality.
30 – Mason Holgate: great prospect but keep him on.
31 – Ademola Lookman: great player ,needs to get the ball across more.
33 – Joel Robles: good goalie but probably needs to move on.
34 – Oumar Niasse: not sure but should be kept as a wild card.
38 – Matthew Pennington: ???
43 – Jonjoe Kenny: brill.
46 – Joe Williams: looks good in the Under-23s.

Not sure ho

Pretty much agree with most of that, Michael.

Morgan though? Might have class but don't know what class. Seems like cabin to me. Has had his chances and comes up short every time.

If Woy was our manager and we were playing like we do it would be outrage. Sam gets away with it because it's Sam.

If Woy (or anyone) was our manager and we played liked Palace we would be doing better.

For crying out loud – what's it coming to – comparing us with Palace. I'm gonna have a lie down.

I do think some real progress on the stadium front might get some more exciting managers interested in us...

I honestly think that by the season's end we will just about safe but Sam ain't going to be the most popular boy on here.

I still hope to be on here on Tuesday blowing a fkn celebration trumpet for Sam, though!

Two things:

1) every manager rotates his team at this time of year, to reduce the risk of injury from fatigue. It's good sense.

2) it seems contradictory to me to bewail the selection of players returning from long-term injury because they are not 'match fit'. How can they get 'match fit' if they...erhm...don't play matches?

That said, as I've already mentioned in this thread, Jags and Keane together do not look like a solid pairing at the heart of our defence.

Keane flattered to deceive on first arriving at the club. He was 'OK' in his previous 2 games, but again yesterday he displayed a common feature of his game we have seen all season: having feet stuck in cement as players glide past him on either side, as well as poor positional play as an attack rapidly develops.

Holgate and Williams will be restored for the games against Manure and the 'poo, I'm sure.

COYB tomorrow.

It's not really rocket science as to why he's using different players!

I agree with a lot of what you say, Jay. This time of year rotation is a necessity, in every position I feel, including the centre backs, especially when two of them are well over 30 and there has been a lot of emphasis on defensive play. We have had 8 games in December already, plus West Ham at the end of November and Man Utd tomorrow! That is an awful lot of games in a month, when is there time to implement strategy? Hence, this lack of time and the need to get back to fundamentals has resulted in the type of football we are seeing. Allardyce has mentioned on more than one occasion that he is still getting to know his players.

Ideally the injured players would have a bit more of a run in the under 23s but, with cancelled fixtures etc, this hasn't been possible, plus it is no substitute for the premier league.

However, saying all this, I still think the line-up left a bit to be desired yesterday, even given all that I have said, of course it is just an opinion and I am no expert. Before we kicked off, I just couldn't see where the goals were coming from. Calvert-Lewin needs a complete break and I think Niasse was the answer. He set up the assist for the goal and created 2 more excellent chances, considering our paucity in these areas recently, no mean feat. Plus we could have utilised some of our fringe players with a point to prove. Lookman and Vlasic spring to mind, this would have allowed Sigurdsson to go central and play his more natural role (so I am lead to believe). But there you go!

Allardyce so far has dragged us out of the mire (Unsworth to an extent too) this was one we shouldn't have lost. It shows how unbalanced the squadand we were bound to lose one sooner or later; I just feel that is when we can't really give Kenny or Martina a rest. Possibly play Davies or Holgate as a right back, but who can come in at left back?

One telling thing from this period so far is that, despite the fixture congestion, Mirallas and Klaassen have't even been given a sniff, and we have seen very little of Sandro, this has surprised me a little and maybe tells a story.

I think tomorrow we'll revert back to the team of a few games ago!

While I am glad that Yannick is nearing fitness after a terrible year and two big operations, it was obvious he isn't ready yet and I think many of us would prefer one of the other two for those last 20 minutes in an effort to secure another valuable three points, especially against a team that hadn't won for nine games. I honestly thought Sam was shrewder than that.

One of my many objections to Allardyce was his preferred use of senior players over youth. Initially I thought he recognised this, and keeping them in the side would ultimately pay dividends next season.

But Bolasie, McCarthy, Keane, Schneiderlin all straight in over Holgate, Vlasic, Lookman, Davies.

Obviously Kenny & Calvert-Lewin have kept their place by default. Options very limited, but it very much feels the centre-forward we get will go straight in over Calvert-Lewin.

Not withstanding rotation, something that has to happen but nowhere to the extent it has, several posters have highlighted that point.

A Catch-22 for the people at the top really because, if the football doesn't improve, we won't even fill Goodison, in a similar way that it was imperative to stay in the Premier League, if we were ever to build a new ground.

A New Year begins tomorrow, but it's probably a time to take stock for the powers that be because football doesn't stand still unless you want to go backwards, and we have got to do something because; if we don't, then it won't be long before empty spaces appear at Goodison, even though people have already paid for their seats!

That is a fairly damning statement for any manager to make in public. Also, can we make it clear who was responsible for the wasted millions? Walsh is on record as saying both him & Koeman had to agree on any transfer target, and if one or the other didn't want said player, it was called off.

Why he still has a job here is beyond me. But that's us all over. A club that embraces failure like a multi-million pound charity case. Nothing has changed – it's gotten much, much worse.

If that is still the overall strategy then victories against West Brom and Bournemouth were imperative. So why did Allardyce bugger around with team selection and send his weird selections out to stifle the opposition rather than press for a win?

I have always thought professional managers were blessed with an intimate knowledge of their players and were thus able to bring the best out of their charges. Clearly, our manager needs time to reach that situation and we should be prepared to give him until the end of January to show what he is made of.

I just wish I had more confidence in his meeting that deadline!

I suspect he has discounted today's opponents as a team we are unlikely to score against -let alone garner a point- and is drilling the lads (all of them ) in all-out defence.

My sympathy is with those who've paid to watch us 'climb towards safety'.

Robles
Cuco
Holgate
Feeney
Lookman
Besic
Beni
McCarthy
Vlasic
Ramirez
Niasse

3-5-2. I'd bet we'd win as well.