Passionless derby ends in stalemate

Fat Sam has to go!!!

There is little to no chance of Klippety krapping in die Lederhosen with Schneiderlin anywhere near the team.

Please don't rip the back off Tom Davies after today's game. He is going to have to do more running today than is fair to any player to cover the pedestrian pace alongside him. A young kid given the responsibility to cover two senior pros.

One thing certain. Tom won't hide, he won't give up and he will be an option for anyone looking for a pass. I wish we had five more with his passion playing today.

And that's my best-case scenario - wait til you you hear what I REALLY think will happen...

Frankly, I think I'd rather see Williams out there than most of this lot. He may be slow, incompetent and useless, but at least he appears to be committed (or is that "ought to be committed") and plays with passion.

Such a shame we're so shite as we have a real chance today.

My fear is, because of his commitment and passion, young Davies is the prime candidate for an early red card, as he manfully strives to cover the gaping holes left by the other two in midfield – who are regrettably inept because one is past it and the other couldn't care less!

No pressing whatsoever.

I'm baffled as to why Vlasic and Klaassen are not in the squad...

Can't understand why the second they got the ball we dropped right back to our penalty area. It's not even as if that lot are doing anything to make us look this bad. We're just doing it to ourselves. Fairly pathetic so far.

We look like we're happy not to be getting a hammering. And they look happy not to really be in a game given the bigger matches either side of this.

Yet we still don't think it's worth playing a bit higher up the pitch and having a go?

Michael Oliver must be loving this. Dead easy to ref.

As has been the case all season, you could draw a 10-m radius around the opposition player on the ball and no Everton player would be within it. That can also be applied in most cases to the opposition player receiving the ball.

We are simply not engaging. The one and only time we pressed the ball high up was Tom Davies towards the break. And what resulted? The defender coughed up the ball and – fleetingly – an opportunity opened.

They have a makeshift left-back who has not been tested at all. Instead, Walcott and Bolasie played 'swapsies' changing flanks.

Our own left flank has been under constant pressure and it is easy to see why. Ings is drawing Baines inside, giving Clyne the opening to attack from wide. Bolasie has spent more time in our half than theirs – and has been more threatening to us than them!

If I can see that, why can't the seasoned professionals on the pitch see and address it, or the coaching staff on the sidelines make a tactical switch and transmit what they want done about it?

This is so meek.

Where are the tactics to bring Bolasie and Walcott into the game as these are the only players with any pace? Walcott might as well be a spectator. Just shows Big Sam has no bloody clue other than just to hoof it up to Tosun who is both small and slow in comparison to Van Dijk. I fear the second half.

Sam, just as the previous managers, hasn't learnt. Problem is Rooney can't do 90 mins on a sodden pitch so it's a needless double midfield substitution needed.

Seamus, your the full-back. You can't afford to switch off. Too many gaps.

Bolasie gives the ball away so cheaply again and again but he's got pace and the only shot on target. So frustrating.

Keane so slow to react to his defensive duties. Mark the man not the space. Second balls are yours to win.

Greasy surface, defenders have struggled. Fizz lots more balls in. Own-goals abound.

It may be a game for the lucky Niasse off his knee as he slips. He'll run and Tosun has done okay but not got the pace and fitness lucky Niasse brings.

Have we touched the ball in their penalty area?

Second half coming up; no team changes, Sam looking for a 0-0. What do you think is going to happen? It's gut-wrenching.

Can't really point to any quality.

Liverpool didn't really fancy that game at all. Yet we still couldn't give them much of a challenge.

During that time we had big, BIG chances to win it.

A Mersey Derby without bookings.

But for that final 15 minutes, it was a non-contact low-key training session for Liverpool in prep for their return game with Man City.

Jags our standout MotM.

17 games and 8 years without a Derby Day win. And counting...

I hope Moshiri isn't happy with that point because it's meaningless yet boosts Sam's profile.

Calvert-Lewin, Davies, Schneiderlin and Rooney should not be in our squad come August.

Mentality of the team set up to be terrified. That's why Sam Allardyce has never and will never win anything.

Moshiri was there watching. If he can't see the light then heaven help us. The commentators even recognised that we needed a clearout.

Keane straight into camera after the game that they are ‘happy' to get a point. WTF? Points lad?! We don't need the points we need a performance.

Toddle off and go get yerz clean sheet bonus.

The most sterile derby I've seen in my life, stemming from a manager who only knows how to stay in a game and never sets up to go and win one.

All this against the most benign Liverpool team I've ever seen, they practically said you can have the points if you want them. We plainly did not.

Shameful.

The transfer policy since Moshiri came in is truly shocking.

David Moyes famously watched Lescott play 34 times before he felt sure he was the best centre back needed.

It's like we are picking based on who used to be good or had good stats, what a terrible situation – this is not fucking Championship Manager!

As others have noted, the last hurrah doesn't disguise the underlying lack of quality, especially in midfield. Rooney has lost legs and confidence. Gana is okay as a squad player, but has zero creativity, Schneiderlin is a mercenary with no motivation.

I desperately want to be positive about Davies and Calvert-Lewin, but I'm just not seeing the key ingredients: passing and scoring ability respectively. Walcott will be an asset with better players and Baningime may come good as a holding midfielder. Other than that, we need new and creative blood.

Sam talking about Rooney not having the legs to continue, maybe don't send the team out to do nothing but chase the opposition with the ball for 60 fucking minutes!! I hate that man.

Very few of our players came out with real credit but Jags, Seamus, and Bainesy, as usual, snuffed out any threat posed by their so-called 'reserves' while Keane put in a more composed shift. Still only one shot on goal, however, and not a card in sight.

Hardly worth getting up at 7 am here for a 7:30 kick-off but well done our subs in the short time they were on. Allardyce Out ASAP!!!

The interesting thing will be who replaced him. There will lie our plans between now and new stadium. For me, Bournemouth boss a good idea but would also be pleased with a manager with a "fancy foreign name" as long as they have experience.

We talk about Goodison being a morgue but when we actually tried for last 15 mins, it can change so quickly and become what opposing teams fear. It just takes some effort and a sense the players care. We are pretty easy to get excited. Hate to say it, but that club across the park have known that for years.

We bring Gueye on and whilst he helped with a bit of pressure in the middle, he absolutely shits himself when he has the ball.

Only Seamus has any kind of composure on the ball with everyone else just wanting to get rid quickly. Calvert-Lewin could have done with netting that one for his own confidence but although I like him I just can't see him getting many goals.

I think there are a few players from today that we won't see next season but we do have some decent players. Crucially, it's going to take an exceptional manager who is tactically adept and can work some intelligence into the those that might miss the cut. Either that or it's a new team we need.

Davies looks at little lost this season like he isn't sure what midfield role he is being asked to play. Bolasie was very poor today, he is a failed experiment and been a poor buy.

I don't have any issue with the subs today. I thought Sam made the right calls at the right time. But big questions need to be asked of the original team selection today given how poor Rooney has been for us in midfield against decent opposition all season.

Poor reaction to getting pulled off after 55 mins – he was one of our worst performers and has no right to be in the team. Start Baningime and Gueye together, and let's get some energy in midfield so we can get more mobile.

That was a very poor RS team but then, to be fair, we are a really fucking piss-poor Everton team so that evened it out a bit.

Looking forward to this season being over, a new manager coming in, and half of our squad being moved on to make way for some quality new players.

Okay, there have been worse for us. The Ian (childhood blue) Rush 5 - 0 derby springs to mind.

But that was horrible, from the RS point of view too. Honestly, they were the clear winners. Their aim was to avoid injury and they did.

Imagine if it were the other way round. Everton in the Champions League quarterfinal, playing Liverpool. Best player: 2 broken legs; 2nd best player: broken leg, 3rd best player 2 yellows for spitting on the pitch.

Funny thing, I spent the first ⅓ of my life disliking that club... Enjoying the contradictory of give and take. The last ⅔ of my life have consolidated my hatred for them. And it's their fault because they encapsulate the worst of human society.

Also, don't watch Derbys drinking a bottle of wine. Liverpool FC are truly shite.

Young he is... but, he is not progressing or impressing. (The opposite, in fact.)

If this fraud was any sort of manager and wanted to execute that plan properly then Rooney stays on the bench and comes on after 60mins to dominate the game. Surely?

Nah, all I saw was my team taking another bite out of my diminished soul.

Utter toilet that was.

Players also to blame: forgetting how to play football for half the game. Can't even get the basics right. Rooney should be nowhere near the starting 11 unless it's against the bottom 6.

Despite all that, how did we not nick it at the end??!!

A season without a single solitary highlight or positive in either league or Cup!!

I had a bet on Walcott scoring in a 1-0 so feel disappointed. We won't get those chances again for a while.

Positive spin: Liverpool is the new Barcelona feeder club :^)

[I still blame the Johnny Foreigner wine.]

I want to know, will we ever stop being nice and accommodating to that lot?

The derby is over for me. A once-great fixture, now reduced to a friendly pat on the RS back twice a year. How did it come to this? – so intimidated and meek in the company of a side that has not won the league title for 28 years. Why so much respect and why the lack of belief every time we meet?

This is exactly why Sam shouldn't be here next season. His game plan was to sit back for 75 minutes, and have a go for 15, against a weak Liverpool team. We deserve so much more than that. This was the perfect opportunity to win a derby game, and we threw it away!

Okay, Sam, you kept us up, now get on yer bike!

We dominated them in the final 15 mins but it was little to late by then and in fairness we were wasteful with some of the chances, especially Calvert-Lewin's poor finishing. No disrespect to Dom but he should have put that one away.

A defensive mindset percolating through a team damages you at both ends of the pitch. That's just one of the real effects of Allardyce's management. Attacking players demonstrably reduced to nervous wrecks in front of goal, all becoming premature at the mere hint of a chance.

The only lad left at the club that might take a chance is Tosun, that notion will be beaten out of him comes season's end, punished for scoring by being placed in extreme isolation on the pitch.

That'll learn you, pasha lad.

Kyle Martino and Robbie Earl encapsulated, in all of 2 minutes, the thoughts of dare I say any Evertonian on earth.

With nothing left to play for, in front of our own fans, at Goodison, this abject excuse for a manager played for 70 to 75 minutes the most boring shit ever seen. Keep it tight, then throw the sink if it's 0-0.

WHY!? What else is there to play for this season? Why NOT have a go?

I absolutely despise this manager.

The laughable thing is he'll actually be happy with the way the game unfolded and ended.

The NBC commentators both agree that based upon the tactics and approach, Allardyce should not be brought back as manager.

The pundits see it. Let's hope the people in power at Everton do too.

He must go – I don't know why we're even waiting until season's end to make the change.

I hate him. I really do.

Record against the top 7:

Arsenal Lost 5-1 and 5-2
Chelsea Lost 2-0 Drew 0-0
Tottenham Lost 4-0 and 3-0
Manchester United Lost 4-0 and 2-0
Manchester City Drew 1-1 Lost 3-1
Burnley Lost 1-0 and 2-1
Liverpool Drew 1-1 and 0-0

A lot of money to become a very meek team, eh?

That's 7 goals scored and THIRTY-FUCKING-ONE conceded against the other top sides!!!

Yet this Club ambles on mindlessly with an idiot at the helm who's ONLY tactical idea is to keep it close for 70 minutes, see where we are at, and then either have a half-arsed go at getting three points (don't lose the one point, for God's sake) or go into damage control losing 2-0 so he can "save face" and come up with a million excuses why we lost, still saying "All's well."

Fucking snake-oil salesman extraordinaire!!

What in the world have we become??!!

I got slated on here months ago saying that Calvert-Lewin will not make a Premier League striker (a good one). He needs to be loaned out at the very least.

We will never win the league again... and, to be honest as it's 28 years (and counting) since we last won anything, will we ever? Awful being an Evertonian, and has been for fucking years, Liverpool top 4 finish, maybe 2nd and Champions League semi-final (or worse).

I am one of Schneiderlin's biggest detractors, and would not have played him today, had I had a say in the selection. However, having said that, he was better today, than he has been, and certainly not the worst on the pitch.

Like Michael Kenrick so aptly headlined this this thread, passionless. That is what hurts more than anything, to see these players on Film Star's Earnings, and not hardly trying, or even breaking sweat for 90 minutes.

No Blue wants a defeat, but if they have been defeated fair and square, by a better team or narrowly by a wrong decision, it is reluctantly acceptable, but to just go through the motions is unforgivable.

Okay, we didn't get defeated in this game, but the lack of heart was there for all to see. The sooner we get rid of this idiot of a Manager, and quite a few of the playing staff, the better.

Then hopefully the mass clearout can begin along with the naming of a manager who isn't shit struck of having a go at teams, regardless of who they are. There was masses of speckies at the game today screaming for him to be sacked. Tonight, I'm absolutely gutted at witnessing an Everton team that looked absolutely clueless for most of the game.

Come on Moshiri – put us all out of our misery and give us something to cheer us up before this horrendous season ends. The fat-headed one has accomplished his main objective of keeping us up. Pay him up and fuck him off.

Joe (#73), I agree on Calvert-Lewin mate, he's worked hard today but the fact is I don't think I've ever seen Dominic cleanly connect with the ball when striking it, he hits a ball like a 3-year-old.

I honestly don't see how we progress next season if we are still wheeling out the likes of Rooney, Davies and Calvert-Lewin, Bolasie, Schneiderlin etc etc and that's not to be cruel but it's a hard honest assessment of players not at the required level.

Why not start with Gueye from the start and not have gone for it from the off? It's the best chance for years to win a derby and based on the starting line-up it was clearly a case of too much respect for the RS.

In my view, the club is light-years off the top six, in tempo, culture, playing standards etc.. Enough said and another very piss poor derby fizzled out.

Next season, I'd put Calvert-Lewin and Davies on loan as in my view tough love needed to bolster their careers at this level.

No doubt Big Sam will claim a tactical master strike and that the club is playing good football. If this is football then God help us all.

Have a good weekend, Evertonians everywhere.👍🍀🍺

I'd actually disagree just slightly with you regarding the passionless part.

Rooney was not passionless. When he was pulled off he was absolutely fuming pissed and the cameras caught him shouting, "BULLSHIT!" to the fat manager.

Davies was not passionless today in my opinion. He ran his nuts off. He's a young player who predictably made a few mistakes, but I'd echo comments earlier to not crucify the kid – he's a gem.

Schneiderlin –and that guy really gets on my tits – played well today and seemed to play with more cause than I've seen in over two or so years.

Tosun played with passion. Jagielka was immense. Coleman was ready to knock Ings (c-u-next-Tuesday) out.

There was passion there.

The problem is with the set-up and tactics of the team. Our approach is a loser's approach.

And that is why that fucker-who-shall-not-be-named must go immediately.

What I will say though at least under Bobby Brown Shoes we had a little bit of bollox about us against the top sides, won some and lost some, but these days it's lose most, draw the odd one 0-0 with disgusting tactics.

I agree with those who say Rooney doesn't have the legs to play in midfield. Milner, who is the same age, looked fitter, faster and stronger.

Once Sam replaced Rooney and Bolasie with Gueye and Calvert-Lewin, we at least started to compete and should have won it in the final 10 minutes.

At the back, Jags and Keane both had good games. Jags will take some replacing but our priority in the summer must be to find a top class central midfield player.

Given the severely limited resources at his disposal, I am not sure what else the manager could have done in this fixture.

Rooney was shocking, completely lost in midfield, hasn't the legs. Bolasie hasn't played one good game since he came back, but Sam still starts him.

The reason we played well in the last 20 mins wasn't because Liverpool got tired, it was because when Gueye and Bani replaced Rooney and Bolasie, we had 11 players on the field; up to that, we had 9.

Too many poor and past-it players in the squad, it is patently obvious that we are nowhere good enough to get near any silverware at the moment. Our best players today are coming to the end of their careers, Baines and Jagielka, with Seamus still good for two or three seasons.

Very sad watching that performance today, even that team are better than we were allowed to play by an out-of-date manager. I thought he might change once we were safe but it is just not in the nature of the man. Roll on next season – it surely can't be worse than this rubbish.

Rooney's legs have gone cos hes running around covering Davies because for some reason Davies thinks his main job is to chase fullbacks down – and his touch... OMG – he can control further than I can kick it.

You must have a very short memory. He was beaten 4-0 twice at Anfield with a half-decent team. No thanks – I've had enough of that fraudster.

I don't expect too much, I don't expect us to suddenly lose the shackles, and turn into a team with a good structure, but this is what happened the minute both Rooney and Bolasie left the pitch.

We suddenly got a better grip in midfield, and started getting the ball wide. We could have scored with crosses from both flanks, and suddenly we had Liverpool on the back-foot for the only time in the game!

Sometimes you forget more than you know, and suddenly it all comes back to you! Put Pressure on the ball, and suddenly the game becomes so much harder for your opponent. John G basically told us this before a ball was kicked, and although Davies wasn't great, at least the kid always tries to carry the fight, which too many of his team-mates actually seem incapable of doing.

Let the season end quickly and let's get in a manager who preaches both hard work and intelligent football, and let's get some excitement back into the Old Lady before it finally shuts for good.

The point you miss, mate, is not about the players Allardyce had available but the fact he ALWAYS ALWAYS sets them out way too deep – and it's just never progressed from when he first came through the door; it's defence and that's about it!

Everyone always uses the 4-0 defeats at Anfield with Martinez but how about the 3-0 wins over Arsenal and Man Utd?

The win at Old Trafford, only Everton manager this century to win away to one of those sides?

I am okay with a draw. I just want the season to end.

Major surgery needed through the team, I've already repeated.

Better performances from Schneiderlin and Keane, but I still don't fancy them. Hope Lookman secures that left side birth, as Bolasie was poor once again. Oh for Vlasic on the bench – I just don't get the need for Baningime.

Surely Niasse should have gone up top with Tosun – a racy 4-4-2...

the mid-July cheap sale of a CURRENT top Premier League goal-scorer to the team one place above us last season and taking their washed-up overpaid has-been off them and making him our top paid player!!! A player that doesn't have a position – too slow and gifts the ball away needlessly. He makes Bill Kenwright drool though!

The club needs to get tough, off-load both Kenwright & his prodigal – and start looking forward. We have a great history, but need to be forward-looking and start seriously competing again – it's 20+ years since we won a trophy. We need to start moving forward on the pitch so as to take advantage of the opportunity I hope our new ground will give us. We do have some decent players, but a number who clearly aren't up to top Premier League standard now (or ever in some cases).

Stop buying players from struggling sides and no more cast-offs and has-beens from Man Utd – don't go near Jones & Shaw.

Surprisingly after his displays this season, Schneiderlin was one of our best players today; Rooney and Bolasie easily the worst – by a distance.

We need this man out of our club ASAP!

Allardyce out NOW!!!

Ings tackled Coleman. Nothing in it at all.

Then Ings shot his mouth off to the ref and from what I gathered – and this is assumption – probably called Seamus a pussy or a diver or some such nonsense.

Seamus took umbrage, justifiably. Seamus started barking at Ings. Ings squared up and predictable shoving ensued.

Seamus should have smacked that tatooed fucker in the face.

First, if they were fatigued from the midweek-game, why not make them work even harder from the off, instead of letting them getting a rest through 77 minutes? If they were fatigued, they would certainly tire faster if we put them under immense pressure from the off...

Secondly, does he think the players are robots? Does he think there is an on-switch to suddenly make them play beautiful attacking football? It would be a good explanation for the lack of sharpness in front of goal. It's very hard for players to go through a game with a defensive mindset, then all of a sudden, make them play with an attacking mindset.

Thirdly, you're playing a dangerous game if your plan is to score the last 15 minutes.. It's hard enough to score during the whole 90 minutes...

He needs to go now. Dinosaurs are extinct, there's a reason why...

Allardyce out now!!

The man has a knack of hiding. He's rarely available for the ball, constantly positioning himself a little too close to the opposition.

He doesn't tackle, just jockeys players with a gentle jog.

He played a number of 1 yard balls today that instantly put another player under undue pressure.

He offers no creativity, rarely does he play a pass more than 5 yards forward.

People criticise Davies on here and, while he plays some poor passes, he tries to go forward, doesn't stop running, always shows for the ball, doesn't shy from tackles and created a chance today. A couple of times his pressing forced an error today.

Give me a team of Davies over a team of Schneiderlin any day.

You are right, however, that Bolasie was worse!!

Moshiri needs to start drawing up a “to do” list as of now and hopefully not sit there coming out with crackpot one liners like some extra from One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.

Big changes and brave changes are needed both on and off that pitch if we are serious about progressing as a club.

I am really struggling to remember a time when the football was so unenjoyable. Even Walter's teams had a bit of passion. As sad as it is to say, Allardyce makes Martinez seem like a football genius and we know how dire he was. Sitting back and letting a team come onto you, especially the RS, is just awful. I'm quite sure he thinks he's still at Bolton or Newcastle or some other shite club.

We should not have to tolerate this shit and I never will. I will never stop having standards that we should be aiming for. No, we haven't been a top club for years but we shouldn't stop aspiring to get back to the top table. We are still the 4th most successful club in England and to watch this anti-football is heartbreaking.

The decline over the last 5 years has been of epic proportions to the point that we have this idiot in charge now. His tactics have never really had a place in football but somehow he got away with it for years; how he is still in a job, any job let alone at our club beggars belief. This has to be a new low for us – and I include the Mike Walker era in that. Just get the fuck out of our club Allardyce before you completely ruin it.

I'm struggling to think of more than half a dozen players who we should keep come the summer. It's really hard to assess how good, bad or indifferent they are given how awful the tactics are. There was a decent atmosphere at the start of the game today but Allardyce's tactics totally killed it. It's been the same ever since Moyes left. Awful football that sucks the life and joy out of watching football. Martinez started the rot and Allardyce has completed it. RIP the bear pit that we all once knew and loved.

The best one I've heard today is give credit were credit's due? What did he do to earn credit? You earn credit by putting a shift in, scoring a goal or two, grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck and influencing the outcome. Did he do any of the above? If you think winning a couple of headers or putting a tackle or two in earns you credit, then we are fucked and will be stuck with these bang-average players at best for many more seasons to come.

Everton have not scored in both halves of a football match since – wait for it – West Ham on November 27th.

Gets better doesn't it.

Unsurprising.

I think No 1 on any transfer list for the summer is a midfielder who passes forward and is comfortable on the ball!

So disappointed with the missed opportunity today! Oh dear – the joys of being an Evertonian!

I'm happy with a point. I can count on one hand the amount of times we have played well enough to beet Liverpool in the last 12 years and have ended up losing, so I'll take a draw. The football was just typical of this season.

Opinions differ but Schneiderlin did nothing. How is that playing better? Bin him. Rooney gave the ball away a few times but at least he passed and went forwards, the same for Davies.

Bolasie had always been the same, a very frustrating player. His final ball, just as Walcott's is too, is poor and often given straight away back to the opposition. But both on their day posses the raw ingredients to be exciting match winners.

Best attacks came through Baines and Seamus, surely its obvious they need more freedom to get forward. Play them as Wing backs in a 5-4-1 formation.

He was right to kick off as his frustrations are aimed squarely at the approach of the manager. Whether he's past it or not, Rooney is a winner and is now sadly managed by someone not fit to lace his boots.

While we were poor until Liverpool burnt themselves out around the 70th minute mark, and they created next to nothing in the second half, I keep reading comments such as 'shameful' 'embarrassing' 'gutted' etc.

Talk about over the top. It was just before my time but the 0-5 against them was shameful embarrassing and something to be gutted about, not a goalless draw.

Pogba linked with a City move today. Guess what colour his hair is dyed.

Gutless, Passionless and without any kind of intent to win the game until the last quarter – by which point we haven't got anybody of any quality to put away the 2 chances we actually made. It's pitiful stuff, mate, whichever way you want to dress it up.

I am an Everton fan who lives in New York, and my first Everton match was the FA Cup Final of 1989.

I read your comments about the team as the videos and transcripts are posted on the Liverpool Echo, and I watch your team here in the USA on the NBC family of networks. I don't use FaceBook or Instagram, and I have never posted on Twitter.

You aren't a good manager, and you will not take Everton forward. I don't think that you are a good manager for this club so please count me as one of your doubters.

Allardyce Out.

Kenwright Out.

We need a serious beef up in midfieldin the summer with players who can close, tackle, be creative and score the odd goal. Davies has gone backward this season but he at least is still an apprentice; the others have no excuse whatsoever.

Davies can't do it let's be honest, we've seen nothing from him resembling a creative central midfielder all season.

Schneiderlin is nothing and Gueye runs around but whilst offering a bit of bite he doesn't affect games.

We need a cross between an Arteta and Gravesen type player.

That sums up Schneiderlin for me. He occupied the central space well enough today. The trouble is, he doesn't win tackles, he doesn't pass the ball forward. He just runs around jockeying people and, when he gets the ball, passing it 10 yards backwards or sideways.

He doesn't really add any value – we'd have been better with the legs of Baningime in there with Davies today.

By the way, the tactics were way too negative. I don't recall ever seeing us that deep at home.

Davies is young but I'm afraid I just don't quite subscribe to this love-in with him really. He runs (or trots) about a lot looking busy but when you look at his game, he's busy not actually doing anything.

Can he shoot?

Does he score?

Is he quick?

No no and no... but you would want three yeses if you are looking for a top quality attacking Premier League midfield player, I'm afraid.

We've been crying out for that type of player for years. Why it's never been addressed is a mystery... it's glaringly obvious.

We have no-one (or had no-one) who regularly creates chances for the forward; no guile, skill or link-up play.

I get no pleasure from saying this. He's certainly not on his own but just the basics would be a start.

It astounds me why we are still talking about never replacing players we lost over 6 years ago.

I cringe at how mediocre our midfield options are nowadays.

What I said was "Surprisingly, after his displays this season, Schneiderlin was one of our best players today; Rooney and Bolasie easily the worst – by a distance."

That was a common opinion where I was sat; and most of us also said he's been rubbish all season, after looking a good signing when he joined last season.

I agree re Tom Davies – he's struggled this season, but at 19 in a poor team where the senior pros have generally not delivered, that's no surprise – with our squad, he'd still be in my 11 if everyone was fit, and I rate him well above Schneiderlin; I too would much prefer a team of Davies before a team of Schneiderlin.

Much of what you say about Schneiderlin is true of Rooney, forever marking space and opponents jog past him with ease, unless he cuts them down with one of his wild lunges. I wouldn't accuse Rooney of hiding, but Barkley was a master at it IMO!

In my view, there were only 5 players in today's starting 11 good enough to be regular starters for a decent Premier League club:- Pickford, Coleman, Davies, Walcott & Tosun.

Apart from our over-sentimental chairman's desires, the only reason Rooney came to Everton is 'cos he's not good enough to play for a top 6 club. The pity is, he's caused his own decline by body abuse – just compare him to David Silva, there's less than 3 months, but a gulf in fitness and usefulness between them.

I have given the guy enough stick in the past for no effort, but even my past views on him have to give the guy a break today; he was one of our better players on the pitch today.

Anyone who saw it different must have been watching a different game to me.

I am all for having a go if they are not pulling their weight; he has rightly had loads of stick in the past.

He deserves a break today, he put in a shift whereas Bolasie and Rooney stank the place out.

Lack of passion? Compared to what? The Man city game or the Dogs of War? We should have won it several times, but at least we were there or thereabouts which we haven't been for the season to date.

Once again, Allardyce got it wrong in the line-up: for the second time running, he used Rooney in the centre defensive midfield where legs are required. Stupid. Next to Schneiderlin – even worse... one is legless, the other is clueless.

People left right and centre are condemning Rooney for his performance; you may as well ask him to play full back.. he is not a defensive player. Schneiderlin can hide superbly... leaving Rooney as a high-profile fall guy. Play him in the right position or don't play him at all. Disgraceful.

The result? Better than I thought we would get after they thrashed Man City, but by no means over-run or out-fought. On the balance, we deserved to win. By the way, I never find a derby passionless...

Allardyce out now!!

With a bit of calmness and luck, we could have won today. Overall, we didn't deserve to win, but we didn't deserve to lose either. Both Liverpool and Man City paid the price for playing their derby game as a secondary consideration and both justly paid the price.

Rooney and Bolasie were poor, Coleman should be club captain and Keane was a bit more like the player he was at Burnley.

His positive traits are being prepared to receive the ball and protect it, á la Pienaar.

He also has the stamina and tenacity to close down the space in midfield when we aren't in possession. If you've ever played that position you know how important it can be to have those legs in there.

He is also positive.

Like the much maligned Osman, he always tries to get the ball forward, either by carrying it or passing it early, this naturally involves risk and, like Osman, he can therefore become the subject of ire when inevitably it doesn't come off every time but give me a brave player like Davies or Osman who attempts to do something with it over a coward like Schneiderlin any day of the week.

Which leads me on to Schneiderlin who played very well today, completely out of character. He put in several well-timed tackles contrary to Danny's assertions @ 121 and was the cool head needed in the centre during turnover, keeping it simple and safe rather than senselessly punting it back to them as soon as we get it back as we've seen regularly over the years and indeed did at Anfield this winter.

Rooney did absolutely nothing and had no right to be annoyed at getting hooked. I was in the camp who thought he shouldn't have been played as the deep midfielder against Man City but he had the chance to make things happen further up the field today and didn't take it so I personally thought Sam's tactical change was a sensible one, employing more legs in midfield and giving Davies the license to receive the ball further up the pitch. However he didn't persevere and removed him shortly after.

Bolasie still isn't fit and won't have the mobility and flexibility he needs to play his dynamic game until next season, if it ever returns. He is bravely doing a job because he's the best player we have in the position, despite getting dog's abuse each week.

In summary, we aren't good enough to compete with Liverpool but we were good enough to beat the team they put out today and, but for a couple of missed sitters, we would have done. While it is gutting not to have got the Anfield monkey off our collective backs, given we have nothing to play for this season. Posters like Danny and Jim above should consider the performances on their merits rather than seeking skapegoats for the result.

I agree, Wayne shouldn't be played at all. He is the proverbial albatross around the neck of the club. Tired of the excuses made for him. No matter where he is supposed to play, he gives the ball away far too easily all over the pitch. He did the same thing today. That has nothing to do with defensive skills at all.

Wayne is not the best player at any spot, takes playing time away from others, and creates a big hole in every formation at his spot. In most teams he wouldn't start or possibly even make the bench.

He's a 19-year-old kid trying to develop his game and he's being written off.

The thing is most Evertonians don't realise that Liverpool FC and thier fans don't consider us as a threat or even a challenge anymore. We are so far down the pecking order when it comes to being considered a 'big game' team, it's shocking.

Only in the minds of our own fans is the derby a huge game. The Muppets in charge at EFC have made us a laughing stock. Today was hugely embarrassing. To say we need a clearout is not really the truth. We need the whole club restructuring and we need to rid ourselves of the mindset of being happy-go-lucky losers .

A Kopite pal of mine hit it home perfectly today when he said this game today was seen as a hindrance to them. A non-event getting in the way of bigger things. Sad thing is, it's the truth: we are a nothing club. A joke that has us being pitied rather than feared. I hate Kenwright for that. Why won't Bill just fuck off and leave us be?

So don't seek to maximise his remaining talents, just turn the crowd against him so as to save you the job of having to 'list' him.

Like a lot of others, I'm beginning to see behind the fat fuck who is slowly but surely making his job a permanent one!

I think it would benefit Everton, Tom, Dom and other young players to go out on loan! We aren't in any position to be seeing if they will cut it in the Premier League and it's doing them no favours, fans getting on their backs.

If are our team was full of talented confident players, it would be easy for these young players to learn from them, but we're in a mess with a terrible manager so maybe they should go out on loan next season as this environment is no good for these young players imo. They're learning how to lose with us and that's a bad habit to pick up at such a young age.

The problem was that the right players weren't there to score. I reckon Niasse would have buried any of the Tosun, Coleman or Calvert-Lewin opportunities because, in each case, they were slow to react. Niasse is effective not because he's a great striker but because he gambles. None of the above did. I suspect a late-introduced Rooney might have done the same.

I also thought that Schneiderlin was much better than in previous matches; he was just total shit in this one. And I really don't understand the attitude of some towards Tom Davies, he was having to do 3 men's jobs in the busiest of area of the field and the duels in his own. He shows passion, skill and actuality goes forward. The reason he passes to where players are is because the body of the Everton players play like statues.

In the name of God, what has it come to? Sam fucking Allardyce and his band of nonentities running our club. This is the most shameful era in our history.

When Moyes went we, in my view, reached a point where things could have been really different. Instead, we had the meeting of two chancers, fakes and charlatans. The appalling Kenwright and Martinez. It defies belief that Martinez was appointed and was given an extended contract. Nowhere else in the world could the mind-blowing, self-serving, utterly fuckwitted incompetence that has been inflicted on Evertonians be gotten away with.

The custodians of our club have been devoid of shame for many a year. Greedy, self-serving, talentless, uninspired, complacent specimens.

Sam was right to sub him, but shouldn't have selected him in the first place. The best thing would have been to put him on the bench to introduce up front with 20 mins to go. The idea of him playing a Pirlo style role is pie in the sky.

Davies is marvellously positive in his outlook, but his passing and timing of his pass is lacking. I know he is very young but he is shouldering too much responsibility and he is technically not yet ready.

Calvert-Lewin battled well on the left and did far better than Bolasie but, when his chance came, he bottled it, trying a fancy curler instead of putting his laces through the ball.

We lack quality virtually everywhere. There is so much surgery needed on this squad that an autopsy might be more appropriate.

Some silly fucker from Everton looked at him last summer and couldn't get him here quick enough, no prizes for guessing who the silly fucker was.

Allardyce out now!!

Clubs with wealthy wannabees like Moshiri have been doing it for years and I'm fed up with referring to the likes of Aston Villa, Sunderland, Newcastle Utd, Leeds Utd, Nottm Forest et al who have all suffered the football ignorance of wealthy purchasers who know nowt about the game.

Everton is just the latest victim in a long line.

Let's face it, Liverpool had squad players out today and we struggled. Sadly we need rebuilding in areas of the pitch. New manager or not, the cheque book needs coming out. Still, we never lost.

We've had debates over the years about positions of players; I recall the raging Jack Rodwell debate about him eventually moving to a ball-playing centre-half (which incidentally never happened).

But other examples are Alan Smith at Leeds, who started as a striker but moved to midfield and never looked back; also same with Wayne Rooney now, isn't it?

I honestly just don't think Dominic Calvert-Lewin has what it takes to be that goal scorer we need. I don't think I have ever seen him hit a ball with any conviction or power, nor really look like being capable of poaching goals.

That chance today he should have ripped the net from its foundations and made his name in Everton derby folklore but, in typical Calvert-Lewin fashion, he scuffs a woeful attempt not even on target.

Spot on. Me and my brother have just said exactly the same thing. You may as well put his arl fella in midfield the last 2 games and no-one would've noticed the difference. Absolutely stinks of Kenwright and his fucking idiotic old pals act. No other team harbouring any sort of ambition would have touched him with a shitty stick. But no... Everton would, wouldn't they?

My god, what a season this has been And the coup de grace is it looks like them bastards will go all the way in Europe... I hope not, God, I hope not. But everything points to it. Mind you, bit of a one-man team at the moment, aren't they? I'd like to see how they coped if he was really injured.

Morgan Schneiderlin did much better than usual.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin played well apart from his miss, he was a huge improvement on Bolasie.

Seamus having a snarl at Ings lifted the whole performance, we need 5 players doing that.

Niasse hasn't been given hardly any time in the last few weeks... I don't know why, he is more mobile than Tosun and upsets opposition defences more. He should have definitely been used at some stage today.

I didn't see the game so won't make any further comment.

Sitting through that match with other fans on the Live Forum it occurred to me that most of us woke up this morning without nerves, without the apprehension we all feel before a derby. There was a haunting inevitability about the whole event.

Following the minute's applause for Ray Wilkins, there was the usual roar, the kind that raises the hair on the back of the neck. Alas, we wouldn't hear it again until the dying moments when we finally ventured out of our retreat. I remember as a kid seeing the great derbies in the late 70s, and the glorious 80s. This game was an insult to those days.

I think we have good players, good honest lads and great knowledgeable fans. This season has, however, been a disgrace. It started with the iffy summer signings, then those horrible nights in the Europa League, the thrashings handed out to us by the other top teams, the lack of goals, excitement, flair, and to cap it all, going out of the cups so early, so meekly. Our very own 'annus horribilis'.

Good point about Niasse there, he's not great but maybe a tad more able in the lone striker position than Tosun (who just doesn't appear to be a lone frontman).

Nothing left to play for this season other than pride so hopefully Gravy Tits might start playing Niasse next to Tosun and just bloody go for it in the remaining games and give the bored-shitless fans some sort of entertainment value (entertainment... remember that?).

Man Utd were paying him £300k a week and wanted him off their books. We are paying him £150k a week and it was reported that he was valued at £15M in the Lukaku transfer saga.

All part of Boys Pen Bill dropping his trousers yet again for Man Utd rejects while allowing them to cherry-pick our best players.

But hey ho, that ship sailed by long ago.

Also, I have the arrogance to believe that we are better than the clubs you name. However, I think our next managerial appointment is make or break. This season, at least one club whose supporters never feared it, are going to be relegated. We are, in my opinion, not much better than they are. Is 7th place acceptable after all?

If he continues in this vein we can look forward to five minutes of each game and 85 minutes of sheer hell. Well, will Moshiri pull the trigger?

Coming home was a romantic thought, not a football one. The football director and previous manager need to look at themselves.

Lukaku made it clear he was going to move on. Our best players will move on because they are ambitious. I can't blame them.

He's gone and it's sad to watch the deterioration of one of the greatest players the Premier League has seen.

As for the players, I wish we had the new management team appointed now, so we could see who might be worth keeping. Personally, I think most of them are okay-ish, but the squad lacks balance, and it's difficult to judge until the balance is there. Given the money spent, then that is a real disappointment. Fingers crossed that the next manager is better at knocking them into shape than the last.

Yes, Davies does have drive and positivity, but he lacks the one thing required with these attributes... quality!

A lot of what he tries just does not come off; I think he would really advance in a quality team, but unfortunately he is surrounded by senior shite!

Jim (#158). No need to coach Calvert-Lewin as a winger. He won't make it in that position either. Unfortunately, the lad is not good enough, full stop.

Calvert-Lewin is a only a year or two older and scored the winning goal in a youth World Cup Final. He's also been involved in more goals for us this season than any other player.

Of course there's a chance they won't make it at the highest level but anyone writing these kids off now, at their age, in this team... come on. It's not like we've got better options currently anyway.

Spot on!

Any striker worth his salt would have took one of those glorious chances in the last 5 minutes and I’m sorry but I don’t buy into the excuses “oh oh but he was rusty he didn’t get service all game”.

I’m sorry but that’s what you pay £27 million pound for, gamechanging moments like that header from Tosun to be hitting the net instead of going wide.

As for Calvert-Lewin, I’ve said it before, he’s had the best chance possible to make his name in folklore and be a hero and he’s completely flunked it, and for me this kid isn’t going to cut it at Premier League level.

Good post.
Need to give the young players time to develop.

Oh well, only 5 games to go with only 2 home games left (Newcastle and Southampton). Hopefully we can finish with 2 wins at Goodison. God knows, it has not been a happy place this season.

Hopefully then we start to rebuild for next season with a new manager and squad and playing performances the "Old Lady" and the fans deserve before we move to Bramley-Moore Dock.

Spot on. A crowd can make or break a player. Given the space to develop, Tom has got every chance of being a very good player. He has the character and strength of mind to do it.

Yeah, I know he thinks it was down to him but what was down to him was Spurs and Arsenal. Cowardly, ugly, depressing, shameful shite.

We were shite before Mr Allardyce came in. If was the owner, I would have got Mr Allardyce in. Relegation may have been fought till the end of the season. Top ten means more money. Relegation would have financially not helped and an automatic promotion with our squad would not have been a cert.

If a new manager comes in? They are presented with the same squad and let's see what happens? Interesting how the players like the current manager's coaching methods.

It's funny that a lot of the same people slagging off our best young talent are the same people who'll say give youth a chance on another thread.

I thought both brought much needed effort to the game. Yes, Davies was poor on the ball but how often were we on the ball as a team? He's got no movement around him, no-one giving him time on the ball. At 19 he's apparently responsible for pressing the opposition, winning the ball, and then being the one who gets us playing football!

It should be the other way around. It should be the experienced players helping him out, not Tom responsible for everything we do.

For all the criticism, he's got a brighter future over the next 5 years than Everton do.

Fuckin get a grip of yourselves and start being more positive.

Yes, they had some bad games but they have never stopped trying. They are young and will get better. But they need leaders around them to help carry their burden and to direct them.

Too much is expected from them. It's the older more experienced players that should be taking the heat – not these young lads.

As for the derby, that was another cowardly performance by the manager and the seasoned pros.

I have to agree with most people's views on Calvert-Lewin. He's 21 and still hasn't hit a ball with purpose, hasn't made the right decision on most occasions, and hasn't shown that he can make it at this level. I'd say he's Championship on talent, but League One on guile. This isn't a bash on the player, he is just out of his depth and shouldn't have been bought in the first place. 21 is not a child, and, to be blatantly honest, if you haven't got it at 21, you're not going to get it.

Davies, I'm not so sure about. He's got runs on the board from last season. This season hasn't been great but that can be said of most of the squad. It's up to him to prove it wasn't just the charm of youth.

Spot on. And as Colin @180 says and I agree, under a different manager these kids will excel.

I swear some people on this site would eat their own young.

A good coach will not only bring these youngsters on but probably bring out more in the senior players who have been piss-poor all season. What we saw yesterday was the equivalent of knives to a gunfight when the opposition told us they wouldn't actually bring their guns.

I am tired of calling for this Neanderthal to get out of our club and there has to be something going on for him to still be here. His name alongside ours has tarnished the club and the people in charge do not understand us or don't care.

As a supporter I'm not sure I felt that much differently. It's hard to care about this current side. It's hard to care about beating your local rivals when both teams couldn't care less about the game. We've been a complete irrelevance for so long and that's not going to change in the last couple of months of the season.

I hope it's not just my age. I hope it's that the club has just lost all identity and connection with its support.

At the moment this feels shit. Even when we were dreadful, I hoped the team could still rise to the occasion every so often.

Calvert-Lewin has let us down. Exhibit A: that miss yesterday against the world's most evil club.

Some of you fellas deserve the shower of crap we have as a team.

Who out of them can push on to the next level? Lookman and Onyekuru both seem to have a chance. Davies and Baningime are still 19 so virtually still schoolboys. Davies needs a bit of maturity and positional discipline, it will do wonders for his game. Holgate comes into their bracket too.

Calvert-Lewin needs to get an edge. Needs to be a carnivore... a killer – like Drogba. A loan to a Championship club may toughen him.

These lads must be given more time – even if it means them fighting for a place on the fringes; otherwise, a diamond may slip through our net.

He hit one with purpose to win a U20 World Cup Final not so long ago...

Several times, the hoof upfield did nothing but show that we had nobody near the halfway line, never mind in the opponent's half, and occasionally just the one player on his own trying to out-jump his marker and presumably head it to himself.

At times, we had at least 9 or 10 players defending in our own penalty area and I don't think they had a meeting in the warm-up to decide on that, it was under the manager's direction. When we did move players forward, we almost pinched it and I know how I'd like us to go about it.

I sit in the Upper Gwladys, towards the Bullens Road – my eyes are going, I definitely need glasses – but Tosun's was the biggest chance imo.

Davies is 19 years of age, being asked to do the work for others. Sure, he could do more with the ball at his feet sometimes, and if he didn't have to do so much donkey work for the team, then I'm sure his touch, passing and awareness will improve overnight!

Negative? This isn't the schoolyard during a lunch-time kick-about or watching youngsters play on Sefton Park some wet Sunday morning in the middle of winter. These are millionaire footballers or well on the way to it, even in their late teens. It is not, repeat not, being negative as you suggest to offer up some reasonable criticism after yet again some of this “talent” demonstrates that they are struggling to match the hype.

Tom Davies is an enthusiastic footballer who arrived and some thought he was Bally. Really? As things stand, what I see with Tom Davies is a guy having a generally poor second season in a terrible squad. I see effort and spirit. But only in a couple of games have I seen real quality. His passing can be woeful. He charges around, a lot, in an ill-disciplined and headless-chicken fashion that seems to win friends on the terraces but actually does little for the team.

Am I writing him off? No, but I'm not being negative either. He's just another product of the academy that sadly looks like he will be a good player in the Championship but never quite really good enough to earn a place driving forward our midfield. I want to be wrong which is why I think a season-long loan to a decent, promotion-pushing Championship club will help him and us. Yesterday, he was mostly angry and full of that spirit, but little else.

Calvert-Lewin? I just see a decent player who will be better in a decent side playing only in one position, No 9, but he will never, ever, score enough goals to keep hold of that place as first choice. Being athletic only gets you so far. His work rate is mixed, his finishing is generally just poor. Again, I'd love to be wrong but I think he will end up in lower leagues doing okay-ish.

As for being negative about the derby. Well, I'm intrigued to read that football games are now 75 mins long, not 90. We were okay for the first 15 mins, then hold-the-line tactics kicked in and for the rest of the first half, we were awful. But gradually, in the second half, against a team who made five changes but would still be too good for most in this league, we got a grip.

Allardyce made subs that changed the game and, in those last 15 mins, we should have scored three times. That we didn't is down to lack of quality and an absolutely disgraceful management transfer policy, led by the pathetic Steve Walsh and the dire Koeman, with help from others along the way.

Five years lost. Half a decade wasted. And now we face at least two, possibly three years to recover unless we face up to the mistakes and clear out. Not easy when you have presided over the biggest single mis-judgement in your club's transfer business, the sale of a 25-goal-a-season forward without any, and I mean any clue as to what to do next.

Well, I would be interested to know how many people would have thought that Jamie Vardy, Ryadh Mahrez, N'Golo Kante and Harry Kane would go on to achieve what they have when those particular players were aged 21???

He is game, has bags of energy and enthusiasm, and perhaps he will improve to the standard we need, but at present we need better.

Calvert-Lewin scored in a U20 World Cup Final against his own age group – so get real. The lad put himself about on the left and showed-up Bolasie for his poor work, but Calvert-Lewin has regularly failed to pass accurately or shoot on target when in on goal. His decision to go for a top corner curler instead of placing it either side of the keeper showed his technique and decision-making is flawed.

It is no good defending these lads – if they are good enough to get on the pitch, then they have to be criticised like anyone else. Just because Davies is one of our own, and Calvert-Lewin is young is not enough if we want to improve.

Niasse has more goals than Calvert-Lewin and had to sit it out – so where is the fairness there?

I would love the two of them to make it, and they have made it, to play in the Premier League already, but they are costing us – just like Rooney – and sentiment can't get in the way or you lose.

He has had a horribly long season and featured in so many games, stretching back to the U20 World Cup. What is more, he was asked to lead the line when we had no genuine centre-forward and were getting our arses handed to us in the early part of the season.

Is a bit context completely out of the question when assessing our young players?

The only one I can think of is Norman Whiteside, so expecting Tom Davies to be all of this while having to cover the back of senior citizens and overpaid foreigners is a bit over the top.

Like I said in an earlier post, Tom could be our new Bracewell or even Reid but he needs one or the other types next to him. More than anything, though, is the need for an intelligent coach who can remove the fear from the players and give them a winning mentality and game plan.

I just wish Moshiri would put us out of this misery of having that overpaid prehistoric man in charge of the team.

He's a decent lad, but really needs time to find his finishing boots.

Whilst developing kids, we are missing out on filling their positions with proven quality. The top clubs buy the finished articles and rarely play the kids. Obviously we aren't a top club, but we should start behaving like one if we have any real ambition of becoming one.

I would rather we tied some of the youngsters down on long contracts and sent them on loan until they were 22-23 and physically and mentally ready. At this point, we could assess whether they're ever going to be good enough for a team with Champions League ambition or not.

Davies and Calvert-Lewin show real potential but I'm not sure either of them would get into any of the teams in the top half of the table. I want us to move on every player who wouldn't at least threaten the top 6's subs benches. Right now that's a lot of players and it needs to be done over a few windows, but the youngsters are an easy fix. Just send them out on loan until they are better than anyone that we could realistically buy.

I agree, we did look better once the switch was made. I would have started Dominic on the left. But the manager's negative tactics of tucking the full backs in narrow and asking Walcott and Bolasie to defend ruled that out.

Tom gets a hard time off some of our fans... in my opinion, it is way out of order.

People want to make their minds up what it is they want. We had a clown trying to go toe-to-toe with the big clubs and it ended in disaster. We are a small club with largely talentless and mentally inferior players. Deal with it.

I'd be happy to see Big Sam stay next season. 7th or 8th place is pretty much guaranteed if he does.

Proven quality like who? Schneiderlin? Bolasie? Williams? Keane? Sigurdsson? Klaassen? Rooney?

The club has tried to buy proven quality over the last few years at considerable expense and it has not worked. Yes, it could be said that poor decisions have been made but it's certainly not a simple matter.

Most players who are capable of catapulting us into top 4 want to play at top 4 clubs! I'd say one of our best and possibly only chances of gatecrashing top 4 is to develop young players with potential. To build a team around some young talent and hope we can get them to stay together; much in the way Spurs have done with Alli, Kane, Eriksen, Dier etc.

I'm not saying only academy players. I think taking shots on the likes of Lookman and Onyekuru is our best shot. One of the few things we can offer compared to the top 4 is minutes on the pitch for talented youngsters with rough edges. That is how we got Stones and Lukaku, two of our best (and most profitable) transfers in recent years.

So yes, we should be a development team in some ways. Not just youngsters of course. Some well chosen pros must be added as well (Spurs bought Dembele, Vertonghen, Lloris etc).

It will take time and patience but this I presume is ‘the project' of which the board have spoken; 2 years in and it's mainly gone backwards so far.

"Niasse has more goals than Calvert-Lewin and had to sit it out – so where is the fairness there?"

Eddie, Calvert-Lewin was brought on for a specific purpose, to add some pace, work-rate and also attacking intent down the left when he replaced the ineffective and tiring Bolasie.

Niasse would have done his headless-chicken routine and chased every ball with little end product. I am aware that he has scored this season but he would not have done a job on the left that Calvert-Lewin can. Actually, the commentator said that Calvert-Lewin is "Everton's best player today, and he's only been on five minutes".

Calvert-Lewin and Davies will, I believe, become good players given a decent coach or manager and the time to develop.

Have you actually watched the football this season?

People who knew more than me how the club was being held back shouted from the rooftops how poisonous Kenwright was behind the scenes, but they were told to put up and shut up because "he was one of us." He's pocketed £46m £24M after bumming his shares off the odious Green, but good Evertonians were told to be quiet when they questioned how the club was ran.

Moshiri is now taking flak after paying off all of Kenwright's leveraged debt. I'm sorry, but long-term Blues who are now popping up everywhere calling out the leadership have absolutely no credibility as far as I'm concerned. The damage has been done. Moshiri doesn't have enough money to fix it. We are firmly mid-table dross.

Selling Lukaku and making Rooney our highest-paid player ever sums the club up.

We can't say we were not warned.

I used to think Everton fans were superior to Liverpool fans, we could talk about football and weren't just glory hunters. But reading these, we get what we deserve – nothing.

It's no wonder Lukaku, Stones and Barkley couldn't wait to leave. I'm surprised Coleman stayed... after all, he was never going to be Premier League class.

If some of the fans on here get their way, we'll have a team full of Schneiderlins. How did we get so short term? Fix it now.
We tried that in the summer – it worked, didn't it?

When we go out and spend £40 plus million on Sigurdsson (who I like) then how much for a full team? Getting top-notch players to come to Everton will only happen if we offer unrivalled money and the top coach in charge – and probably at the new stadium.

How about we start with a new manager and take it from there... because, whilst we are all offering insights as to what we think is best and who is shit and not shit, we are letting the main problem slip from our focal point and there's no guarantee that's going to change.

Man City spent fortunes and changed managers a few times before they got it right. Most of the players there would not want to be in Manchester without the millions and most of them were mercenaries and rubbish at that.

It's been bad enough watching the likes of Schneiderlin, Niasse, Klaassen and Williams so give me some young lads anyday over these until we at least find our feet.

You compare the RS to us? How many of those idiots would still be packing the stadium week after week if they had the barren run we've had and they had to witness the shite that we've had to witness? We are some of the most loyal fans around, we turn up and still support our team in spite of everything.

Have a go at the club by all means but don't go making fuckwit statement about the fans just because we make statements through sheer frustration. We love the club which is why we're all on here. RS fans are such pampered wankers full of tourists so don't even think of coming on here to try and say they're better than us. They'd have shrunk back in the closet years ago if they had to tolerate the football we do.

There's no doubt that we have bought poorly but, maybe with an experienced Director of Football and a manager with a real eye for talent, we can correct that? We need to be targetting players in the 23- to 27-year-old bracket.

Tottenham have done very well with the players you mentioned but, aside from Alli, they weren't playing regularly for Spurs at 19 or 20. Just an extra couple of seasons elsewhere can make a huge difference.

We can develop the youngsters with genuine potential by sending them on loan and monitoring them carefully. In the meantime, we should be looking for players that will improve us instantly.

I don't see Calvert-Lewin and Davies as a potential Kane and Alli. It's all very well saying we should develop youth like Tottenham, but I don't believe we have youngsters who will become top class like those two.

So, in the meantime, whilst developing and hoping for a breakthrough, I would rather we bought some quality. And, yes, I of course take your point that there are no guarantees with any player we buy.

I like Calvert-Lewin and Davies. They seem like decent kids who have a great attitude. I prefer to see them on the pitch than either Bolasie or Rooney, but I would rather see a fit, mobile midfielder who could actually pass, and a left winger who was actually a left winger (not Calvert-Lewin's fault).

If we continue to play senior players past their best alongside kids who are not yet at their best, then we have a whole team of players who aren't at their best!!! That's a big problem for me.

In saying all that, maybe it's too many players past their best as opposed to the few that aren't yet at their best that's the real problem.

The point is, too many are not in their prime and at their best, and too many are slow and ponderous... and too many can't pass accurately!!!

Shit, certainly no quick fix.

Do you think that the game has changed since then? If every 19-year-old who shows promise actually realised that promise, there'd be no foreign legion of players in the Premier League. We would all have wonderful homegrown talent from the Academies.

Naming a few of the all-time greats only clouds the issue. We could name hundreds more who didn't make it, despite showing extraordinary talent as youths. Remember Peter Marinello? The next George Best?

The reason we didn't make the final breakthrough was that the club could not afford a world-class goalscoring forward. We haven't had as good a manager since then. I wouldn't want him back, as comebacks in sport rarely work, as we are seeing now with Rooney, but give the man his due.

We have a tendency to massively overrate anything in blue. We've won nothing for 23 yeas, so we can't be signing great players, can we?

At 54, I no longer consider myself young and even referring to Whiteside should have told you that. I do remember Alan Ball getting stick at Goodison once or twice so we can all be fickle, I suppose. Paul Bracewell was a regular in Stoke's team at 18 but was not dominant.

I was actually referring to earlier posters saying that Tom does not dominate the midfield... to which my response was that the only one I knew who actually dominated midfield at a tender age was Whiteside, who didn't need a great player next to him to do so.

I like Tom and possibly give him more leeway because of his background. He may or may not be in any future manager's plans once they see him but I certainly hope so because to have no local lads in the team is sacrilege to me.

We had a major clearout during the summer and significant investment in the squad. After our second game, a 1-1 draw, away at Man City (that we possibly should have won), I was optimistic about what lay ahead, provided we could get through a run of very testing September fixtures. (I was laughing inwardly as the only Evertonian amongst a trainful of miserable Man City fans on the way to Macclesfield...)

We didn't, conceding 12 goals without reply in the next four matches. It's been a very rocky road from then on. Koeman was a rude clueless bully and is gone and unlamented (only to be replaced by Sam and Sammy).

Worst case scenarios for the coming 2018-19 season would be for the Board to stick with Sam the Survivalist; allow him to bring in players that suit his boneheaded defensiveness; allow Sam to squander and destroy young homegrown talent; crawl towards 8th position without cup success; and then replace Sam in Summer 2019.

Another worrying possibility would be to launch into another wholesale clearout (especially in a World Cup summer), resulting in another new squad who don't know each other and no direction during the early part of the season.

My best-case scenario would be for Sam to stay until the final whistle at West Ham (with a new manager lined up for an immediate start); a full pre-season; an attacking midfielder (who is also up for any fight that comes his way); and a culling of Williams, Martina, Mirallas and Schneiderlin (I'd continue to work with the rest of the current squad with gradual rather than immediate improvements).

Overall, I think the route to the sort of squad that we aspire to will be a slow one and I expect lots more disappointment (and plenty of thrills) along the way. That's not to say I want it, of course – I'm just being realistic here.

As for yesterday, I was surprised that there was such a shortage of passion and fire but, under the circumstances, I'll take a draw rather than a death or glory defeat.

Tosun was very much in Van Dijk's pocket and I would have expected more fireworks from him. He certainly isn't the new Duncan Ferguson (Van Dijk would be one of quite a number of opponents I would have had a go at if I'd been in our Blue shirt – then again, I'd probably be our player with the most sendings-off).

Bolasie looks like a player who is afraid of another major knock and he certainly did not put in a shift (although his shot was impressive). Schneiderlin always looks like an extra floating man and never seems to get close to opponents. Although he did make a couple of important tackles yesterday, he is very much the mercenary.

Finally, I dread to think what it would look like on here if they had nicked a late goal and beaten us.

Unless the changes at the top are a drastic improvement, since Moyes left, my worst-case scenario is obviously relegation. My best is that we might return not to the "heights" of sneaking 4th place, no way, but to the desperation of sneaking 7th at best given the way Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs are funded and staffed.

It's that depressing but, as you and others say, getting a squad with the right attitude and work ethic can work wonders, as Leicester proved.

Then there is Sterling, a so-called International, £50M player in a team of megastars who can cut through teams at will and provide more chances in a game than we produce in a season. Just saying.

The best place for that isn't this current Everton team. One chance every few weeks isn't what he needs. One chance where he'll be slated for missing our best opportunity isn't right for a young man learning his trade.

For me, he needs a spell out on loan. Total credit to him for managing to contribute in this utterly shite season.

I was hoping for pictures and updates on the stadium as well.

Anybody who was at GP against Fiorentina will still be scratching their heads at how we lost that tie. We absolutely tore them a new one and did all but score a 3rd goal. However, we lost that tie in the first leg by not having the belief. Same at Wembley. We were better than RS but 2nd half we stopped playing. No belief we could finish the job.

That was why we needed another manager to take us forward... and instead we got Martinez. And before anybody cries about his 5th place, it was relatively easy to take a well-oiled machine and give them some freedom. We soon found out how good he was when he put his stamp on the team. Now we are still in the mess Martinez put us in.

It's easy to slag Moyes off but we never had a toxic atmosphere at Goodison Park under him and we always gave it a go for most part. Alex Ferguson hated coming here with his all-conquering side because he knew he would get a battle.

Kevin, Moyes was with us for a long time so he was bound to have dud signings but he had some great signings too with limited funds and you wouldn't have seen the capitulation we see now with his sides. As I said, he just never had the belief that we could go away and sort out teams the way we did at Goodison Park. If he did, then we could easily have won something. We should have won something – especially the Europa League that season.

But let's not rewrite history and say it was a good team because it was. Arteta, Pienaar Baines, Jagielka, Lescott, Yakubu – for a time all in their pomp, was a good team to watch and we scored a lot of goals. Moyes made a good team but conversely held us back by lack of belief.

Don is right – does Moshiri have the money to learn and progress in the same way? I always dream that he has only bought 49.9% of the shares so that Usmanov can purchase the majority.

But I would contend that Liverpool and Spurs are not richer than us – they are very well run, with a great recruitment policy and top managers. So let's start there with a top manager and proven director of football.

However, I thought there were some positives – Keane and Jagielka were decent; Tosun put in a shift; Coleman was okay; Schneiderlin (who I despise) was better.

Some serious negatives though – Bolasie is appalling; Calvert-Lewin puts himself about but that's all, and Tom Davies, whilst trying, always seems to make the wrong decision. And poor old Wayne (who I like) is just gone.

Fat Sam set us up to draw against a team knackered, with many second stringers and both eyes on Tuesday. This is the biggest negative.

Great post. I will add that, for all his faults, Moyes would have put us out to get stuck in properly yesterday.

I was sitting in the Upper Bullens for that Fiorentina match – we're a long way away from that at the moment sadly, but like you, I wouldn't want to see Moyes back. Just pisses me off what short memories some have – especially watching the absolute dogshit we are served up now.

But I remember Wilkins giving one of the best performances in midfield I've ever seen against us when he was with QPR when he sat in front of the back four, Pirlo like, or even quarterback like and pinged balls all round the park. Remember, this was the era of 4-4-2, and box-to-box midfielders, but Wilkins had two players who were his legs, and they were playing a then, unfashionable, 3 in midfield. Ironically enough Sammy Lee did the same thing 4-5 seasons later with the same club.

This to my mind is how we should play with Rooney; get him to sit in front of the back 4 and have Davies & Gana as his legs. Currently, he's too exposed because his legs have gone and we should either say his time's up or alter our shape accordingly.

Before TWebbers all say "Get shut", just a thought. One of the criticisms levelled at us is that we have no shape, personality or footballing philosophy; this would give us one, as Rooney who has a fantastic variety of passing (obviously when not under so much pressure) could supply Walcott & Bolasie. I must admit to being underwhelmed by Bolasie even before his injury, but I like him & Theo even less playing as left & right back.

We need to get up the field more, one of the things that's been apparent all season is that we haven't got a midfielder that can run with the ball and the lines are so far apart that the passing has got to be spot on, and thinking back to that Wilkins performance all those years ago, Rooney is more than capable of filling the role.

Wilkins was called The Crab, some might say he was ahead of his time but it was a specialist position that he played all his life, same with Pirlo, never about pace, more about knowing the game and, just as importantly, the pitch.

Rooney was a great; Rooney could do anything but he's definitely a player who operated best at the top end of the pitch, and although he had eyes in the back of his head, this quarter-back role takes years to learn and it's not really a position for a team who isolate their centre-forward.

Dominc Calvert-Lewin is clearly highly regarded at Everton. Even last season under Koeman, he was frequently selected for the match day squad ahead of the likes of Mirallas and Valencia, even though he was only 19.

This season – just last month he turned 21 – he was a virtual ever-present up to the New Year. He was clearly showing signs of burn out and the signings of Tosun and Walcott have seen him starting less.

But, even in this hapless season, Calvert-Lewin to date has contribute 8 goals and 7 assists across all competitions. Taken together, that is better than any other player in the squad.

He has excellent movement, showing, chasing and harrying for the ball across the width of the park. He has excellent control plus the ability to shield the ball well, Sharpesque-like. He is a good header of the ball. He has shown time and again he can take on and beat a man in tight quarters, with good pace to carry him away from chasing defenders.

For someone of seemingly slight build, he handles the physical aspect of the game very well. He also displays canny game craft, as witnessed by his winning of penalties vs Liverpool and Brighton and in seeing Kyle Walker sent off at Man City.

More than anything else, he needs to sharpen his finishing skills, but again, he has already demonstrated a cool head and clean finishing. But he unquestionably needs to raise his consistency levels in this area.

Before condemning him as a Championship or League One level player at best, how about a like-for-like comparison to England's current golden boy, Harry Kane, at the same age?

As an 18-year-old, Calvert-Lewin scored 8 goals in 26 appearances on loan at Northampton. At the same age, Harry Kane scored 5 in 18 on loan at Leyton Orient.

At 19 Kane scored 9 in 27 on loan at Milwall in the Championship. At the same age, Calvert-Lewin was playing exclusively for Everton in the Premier League, scoring 1 in 11 (mostly as a sub).

At the age Calvert-Lewin is now, Harry Kane was loaned out to both Norwich (Premier League) and Leicester (Championship) scoring 3 goals in 20 appearances all up.

Kane was a barely used squad player on his return to Spurs for a season or two. His breakthrough year came in 2014-15 when he was 21, going on 22, scoring 25 in 38 Premier League appearances.

Internationally, Kane scored 6 in 14 for England U-19s, 1 in 3 for the U-20s, 8 in 14 for the U-21s. And he flopped at the Euro U-21s when England were eliminated at the group stage and flopped again for the seniors at the Euros in France.

Dom has 6 in 14 for the U-20s and won England the World Cup last summer. He is currently 2 in 7 at U-21s.

So in conclusion, the likes of Jim and Roman are talking some reet bollocks with regard to Calvert-Lewin.

We have a wonderful talent on our books. He strikes me as a serious dedicated professional, intent on going all the way.

Nurture him, don't neuter him.

I was at that game when Wilkins came with QPR, he was fantastic – completely ran the show, we couldn't get near him.

He was a bit crab like before he went to Italy, but he came back a completely different player.

A medical should surely have shown his inability, for whatever reason, to play for 90 minutes to anything like the standard required of a midfielder. He's not a patch on the older Gareth Barry but his salary must make other, fit (okay, that's not all of them!) members of the squad really pissed off.

Role model? Yeah, right! And yes, he's scored a few, but playing where he is now shows him straying all over the place, constantly losing the ball in very dangerous situations, and getting nowhere near just about anyone with pace running past him, with the same consequence. Other teams must relish seeing his name in our midfield.

Somebody earlier made the point that he's just about the same age as Silva and the contrast couldn't be greater. Silva is still top quality through looking after himself. He is the one player I always look forward to seeing when Man City play us. The same just can't be said of Rooney.

I have been saying all season that Calvert-Lewin is not good enough – he is a Championship player at best. Rooney needs to move to China or retire, it's getting embarrassing for him now.

Schneiderlin, who I have slated all season, was one of our better players along with Jagielka and Coleman. We were a lot better when Rooney went off.

Spot on, I also think he will go all the way. I enjoyed the way he easily took the ball off and outmuscled the England captain yesterday.

Talking of finishing – is Sterling a Championship player?

Players develop differently, most reach their peak at around 28 so to write these two youngsters off already is completely wrong IMHO.

If memory serves me correctly, a certain Harry Kane wasn't considered a top prospect either when he was 21, was he?

Have some patience folks...

One who reached his peak years ago, mid 90s, is Allardyce... We don't need to show any more patience with him, it's clear he won't develop anymore...

Hence, Allardyce out now!!!

Football will never change, it will always be about putting the ball in the back of the net, and this is the reason Pogba was the most influential player on the pitch during the Manchester derby yesterday.

I watched the first half yesterday, and Sterling was unplayable until he got a chance to score, so I'm just praying he plays the same way on Tuesday, but finds the end product to compliment his fantastic approach play.

Good post!

Allardyce out now!!

And has it dawned that we have got the Rooney that Manchester United have been desperate to get rid of for the last few years – not the one we were desperate to keep many years beforehand?

The biggest (no pun intended) waste of space in a team that has more than enough candidates vying for that title. Playing only because his name is Wayne Rooney.

In the one game where all his pre-season admirers crowed that he would show his value, he was off the pace, inept in his new-found position (having been reshuffled again recently in a bid to find somewhere he is any good) and had no impact whatsoever against a half-strength team just going through the motions ahead of their so-called Champions League fixture next Tuesday.

Inspiration? Leader? Game changer? Threat? On-field captain? My arse!

Off the bench for the last 10 minutes if we need him. Otherwise, keep him off the pitch!

"I always dream that he has only bought 49.9% of the shares so that Usmanov can purchase the majority." – Not gonna happen... cannot happen. 29% of the shares are owned by people who are not on the Board and not named Farhad Moshiri. And 4% of those are untraceable, according to Elstone.

"But I would contend that Liverpool and Spurs are not richer than us" – not richer in conventional money terms? ... No way! Check the numerous posts pointing out how far behind we are in terms of money, income, revenue – whatever financial metric you choose.

I can't see it because I can see them scoring. Probably with a generous penalty. But you never know.

Can Man City beat them 3-0? I fuckin hope so.

How many are the finished product in their teens and go on to have a top career? The likes of Rooney and Whiteside are very few and far between. It is far too soon to write off Tom and Dom.

In brief, it's very easy: get Everton our 'Pochettino' and follow the Spurs model. Who that is, I have no idea.

As I've previously posted, I would also like to see us recruit Nicola Cortese the former CEO at Southampton in place of Robert Elstone.

With Cortese and 'our Pochettino' in place (together with Brands in place of Walsh...?) I don't share the belief of some on here that the last couple of seasons have set us back years. Things can turn around very quickly, exactly as Spurs are showing.

Spurs had the dodge pot Harry Redknapp for 4 years, followed by just over a season with Andre Vilas-Boas. Both managed Gareth Bale who was sold to Real Madrid in 2013. Just as we did with the sale of Lukaku, Spurs blew that money.

Just as we did when Koeman was sacked and briefly appointed Unsworth, Spurs replaced AVB internally with Tim Sherwood who 'did OK', but the board recognized his limitations and hired Pochettino from Southampton (who, BTW, was recruited by Cortese whilst at the Saints).

Pochettino quickly transformed Spurs on ALL fronts. Since arriving at Spurs they have finished 5th, 3rd and 2nd in the PL. They are nailed on to be at least 4th this season, possibly higher.

Contrary again to the view of some on here re: combining European football and still remaining competitive in the PL, Pochettino has achieved that.

Spurs had a tremendous CL campaign, drawing in Madrid and beating the reigning champions at home, beating Dortmund home and away to top a really difficult group. But for 5 stupid minutes, they should have got past Juventus in the last 16 also.

Everton HAS to be like that leading pack and learn to combine a full league season with the demands of European football and seek to qualify for Europe year on year. Anything less will see us cut further adrift than we already are. I don't expect us to achieve that in one giant leap, but rather - as Spurs have done - by year on year incremental improvement.

Spurs are also in the semi-final of the FA Cup. This has all been achieved with a mix of promoting good youth players within the club and much improved recruitment at reasonable prices.

The on-pitch improvement has not come at the cost of improving their stadium (or vice-versa) as from next season they will be playing in what could possibly be the finest modern stadium in the country.

So I see many direct parallels between Spurs and Everton.

Just find us our 'Pochettino.' Simples!

That "shrewd f*cker" also seems to be free of the disease that makes our chairman employ as a coach any ex-player that turns up begging for such a job even if he's bereft of qualifications, or a reputation as remotely professional in his behaviour. For reasons that go beyond my understanding our last four managers have had to rely on one major such tosser with a few more permeating Finch Farm since his bizarre arrival.

Hopefully the next manager/DoF at Everton "get" football rather than whatever Kenwright imagines "us" to be. Getting rid of dross in favour of their own proven coaches will indicate seriousness from Mr Moshiri.

He's a bit of bulk and a bit of confidence away from being a good Premier League striker. Get him off the pitch and on the weights! Then let him go and score some goals in the Championship in August.

There are very fine margins between making it or not at the top level. If we want him to be decent, then we have to give him the best chance possible.

Playing him as a sometime winger just makes no sense in the grander scheme of things.

I try to be positive and I think in this poor season Pickford, Holgate, Kenny, Davies, DCL have all had good seasons. Aspects of their game have improved and shown some consistency and I'm surprised by fans who have already written off their careers.

I see real fight, commitment and quality in those players. Not world class players but certainly good Premier league players who can hopefully continue to develop and become top class in the next 3 to 5 years.

Yes I'm afraid it does take that long to prove quality and consistency at the top level. We have had lots of false promise sold off but a great example is Barkley who still devides opinions. For me great quality but lacks consistency but still young enough to develop and be a top class player.

My only hesitation is do the current crop appear good from our lack of quality and would they hold their own if we had been challenging the top 6?

We will never no but wasting millions on supposed proven talent from overseas could be a blessing in disguise for those players and I'm looking forward to watching continued developmental and consistency next season.

The next big problem is for them to be given game time, so either they go (hopefully only on loan) or the manager goes and I think we all agree on which way that scenario plays out.

Amit, you use players like Vardy, Mahrez, N'Kante and Kane as comparisons to Calvert-Lewin. Fine, but don't mistake talent for achievement. Just because you didn't see those players in the Premier League until a few years ago doesn't mean that they weren't talented players wherever they were, and if Calvert-Lewin turns out as good as Kane, I'll eat my words and them some.

Jay Wood, you see more in him than I do, BUT I was actually on here a few weeks ago saying that he should be loaned out to a Championship side to improve him before getting any more game time in the Premier League. I was lambasted by people saying it was a stupid idea, yet on this thread it's been mentioned dozens of times as a good idea, and your comparison to Kane certainly shows that maybe a few loans can be a good idea.

You get Allardyce saying every week that he can't afford to give certain players (Vlasic, Klaasen, etc) time because every game is vital, but playing Calvert-Lewin is essentially blooding a youngster for experience because for the past few months he has added very little to the side when he's come on.

I'll repeat my sentiment as I finish off: I don't have any ill will toward the lad, but I just don't see a Premier League footballer in him. I just don't.

"...a few weeks ago [I said Calvert-Lewin] should be loaned out to a Championship side to improve him before getting any more game time in the Premier League... your comparison to Kane certainly shows that maybe a few loans can be a good idea."

You conveniently forget to mention you also bemoaned his introduction as a substitute, saying it was like playing a 15-year-old and effectively reduced the team to playing with 10 men.

But back to your claims about how he could benefit from a loan move.

Did you miss the bit when I compared Calvert-Lewin's own loan move to Kane's at a similar age - 18 - showing Calvert-Lewin did better?

Or the fact that Calvert-Lewin's first team football in the last 2 seasons has been exclusively in the Premier League, at a younger age than Kane's first taste of Premier League football for Spurs? And that again, compared to Kane's goal and assists returns at lower league sides at a similar age, Calvert-Lewin is outperforming him in a higher standard league?

That Calvert-Lewin performed well in every game at the U-20s World Cup last season, including scoring the final winning goal, whereas Kane has flopped – badly! – in the two international tournaments he was selected for?

That this season Calvert-Lewin's joint goals scored and assists for the Everton first team cannot be bettered by anyone, and that in a struggling side?

Why on earth would you want a player of that caliber loaned out?

He's doing just fine where he is.

No doubt you would also bring Barkley back who has utterly failed to make his mark at Chelsea, he's hopelessly out of his depth but receiving £140k a week for his trouble, his agent also received £9 million from the deal, disgusting.

They announced to the world that he was a very, very temp until they went begging to Allardyce as a last gasp appointee and then they sent him back to a squad of aspiring youngsters most of whom, if not all, had by then realised he, Unsworth, had zero clout in the bigger picture of populating the first team with his young "stars".

When he first signed for the club, I was excited about him, but I just haven't seen the improvement in certain areas that you'd expect from a 20-21 year old player. James Vaughan and Victor Anichebe spring to mind when I watch him play.

Please don't mistake this for malice, I would love nothing more than for every player in an Everton shirt to become a great player, and Calvert-Lewin is no different there. I truly do hope I'm (and a lot of other people on this site) wrong about him.

I see the red shite have been charged YET AGAIN by UEFA following last night's game. Apparently their gobshite fans set off fireworks and threw objects inside the stadium.

Why don't UEFA just grow a pair and kick the bastards out? You can almost guarantee there will be trouble galore should they draw Roma or Bayern Munich (should they get through tonight that is) in the semi final.