A point snatched from the jaws of victory

Morgan Schneiderlin gets another starting berth after his improved performance in the derby last week.
Gueye partners Schneiderlin as Everton face Swansea City.
Davies and Funes Mori are on the bench, with Holgate and Sigurdsson out injured. No place for Calvert-Lewin or Klaassen among the subs but Nikola Vlasic may get a chance.
Early exchanges were fairly even until Rooney was clipped by Carroll but it was Swansea who benefited with an attack that led to a corner that Everton cleared. Swansea showed some good movement to get forward and apply a modicum of pressure that started to make the Blues a little nervy. Ki fired on on Pickford.
Brief Blues possession ended with a forward ball from Coleman that Tosun did not anticipate. More Whites pressure followed, needing a brave tackle well executed by Wayne Rooney. For a second time, the ball to Bolasie on the left was lost and an embarrassing backpass from Keane had to be headed away by Pickford.
Bolasie and Baines overlapped for Baines to cross, Everton's first real foray forward in 15 minutes of home dominance. Bolasie dispossessed again saw Swansea set up for a shot that was badly miscued by Ki.
Bolasie forced Everton's first corner from Rooney, well placed for Keane. But Swansea broke at speed, brushing aside a challenge for Rooney, but somehow Ayew screwed it wide off Baines when it seemed easier for him to score. From the corner, a great header by Alfie Mawson needed to be headed off the line by Cenk Tosun.
Everton were getting stymied down each flank, with Coleman and Walcott struggling to link up effectively down the right. Swansea got forward again and Andre Ayew had a brief moment to lash his shot at Jordan Pickford. Gueye was the next to squander the ball poorly.
Tosun played in Walcott for a shot that was blocked, possibly Everton's first shot on the half-hour as the Blues struggled to equal the Swans' energy and desire. Some better Everton passing ended with a clever backheel that was not clever enough, allowing Swansea to break at pace again but their cross was overhit.
Walcott had to defend the next Swans move well, leading to a break down the left by Keane and a classic centre-back cross straight to a defender. Walcott then hopelessly let the ball role out of play. Lee Mason gave Everton a soft free-kick for an aerial collision. Rooney picked out Keane whose second header landed on the roof of the Swansea net.
A very fortunate own goal for Everton came following a good cross from Rooney found Bolasie in space, Fabianski parrying his shot to Gueye, blocking his scooped shot up and off Kyle Naughton, bouncing goalward, the ball cleared by Mawson but deemed by goal-line technology to have crossed the line giving Everton a quite undeserved lead.
Everton should really have had a second moments later when Walcott had the chance to move for a lose ball over the top, but held back allowing Fabianski time to advance and clear.
From the restart, and a deep Swansea throw-in Keane's header set up Carroll but Pickford was equal to his looping header. From another throw-in, King lashed the ball well over. Another good move from the Swans saw the Ayew brothers combine to test Pickford at the near post.
In the other direction, Tosun played a lovely ball for Walcott to bring down but you just knew it would not stick with the Blues player and any chance evaporated. More midfield errors saw the game swing breifly from end to end, Tosun seemingly having space but only on his left foot.
A fantastic delivery from Baines out wide left off a free-kick was unchallenged by any Blue. The ball cleared from a corner had Jordan Ayew show his studs in a 50/50 challenge with Baines, and a yellow card from Referee Mason. Keane headed the free-kick well into the danger area where four white shirts scrambled it away.
Walcott turned his man by the corner flag and picked out Gueye in space for a header that could not have been more poorly executed by the Senegalese midfielder.
It was competitive, becoming scrappy, as Swansea challenged for every ball and Everton responded with some determination to preserve their slim lead. A slopy clearance by Coleman, straight to a white shirt. led to a corner and more pressure until the ball went behind for an Everton goal-kick.
Rooney had a chance to shoot but no strength, no direction, really poor from the clapped out former footballer. Keane was called upon again and again for vital interceptions, clearing headers and blocks as Swansea piled on the pressure.
Beni Baningime replaced Gueye. Dyer got in a fine effort that skimmed over the Everton bar, the Blues resisting wave after wave of attack, Keane again the key man in the middle of the Blues defence, Tosun again repeating his goal-line clearance. Another poor Coleman clearance and the ball finally fell to Ayew after a scuffed shot from Carroll that fell nicely for him to fire across Pickford into the far corner to finally equalize. It had been coming and, for all their good work in defence, the Blues could not stop this one.
A great Everton move down the right, roles reversed with Tosun crossing for Coleman to lash the ball onto the face of the cross-bar when it seemed easier to score — if only!
Allaryce's response was to bring on Ramiro Funes Mori in place of Yannick Bolasie for his first appearance of the season, Fat Sam settling for a point? Funes Mori's first involvement produces a free-kick that fell nicely for Abraham but he skies his shot from 7 yards.
Into the last 10 mins, it had had been quite a lively second half, with Everton falling short in their task but Allardyce no doubt perfectly happy to protect an away point rather than go for the win, having shamelessly conceded any initiative. Dyer fouled Walcott in a dangerous area for Rooney to launch it over the wall and over the bar.
Baningime went down after getting his ankles tangled with Ayew. Everton tried to build but inevitably lost the ball and Swansea pushed forward again. Walcott was then fouled by Fernandez, Baines delivered another brilliant ball and again, the Everton players all watching it fly by — Funes Mori the closest, but still not close enough.
Vlasic came on for Rooney and challenged clumsily to give away a free-kick but the pressure seemed to have lapsed; however, a late corner in added time needed to be batted away by Pickford. Coleman did brilliantly to lose his man at the corner flag and place a prefect cross for Tosun to head home... only he incredibly completely missed his header, albeit with Fernandez leaping in front of him!
It finished 1-1. A game that could have gone either way. From an Everton perspective, another three points poorly squandered but you won't hear that from the belligerent Allardyce.
Scorers: J Ayew (71'); Naughton (og: 43').
Swansea City: Fabianski, Naughton, Mawson, Fernandez, Olsson, King, Carroll, Ki (65' Abraham), Narsingh (46' Dyer), J Ayew [Y:56'], A Ayew.
Subs not Used: Nordfeldt, Van der Hoorn, Bartley, Roberts, Routledge.
Everton: Pickford, Keane, Jagielka, Baines, Coleman, Gueye (68' Baningime [Y:90+3']), Rooney (87' Vlasic), Walcott, Schneiderlin, Bolasie (76' Funes Mori), Tosun.
Subs not Used: Robles, Martina, Davies, Niasse.
Referee: Lee Mason
Attendance: 20,933
Reader Comments (136)
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[BRZ]
2 Posted 14/04/2018 at 15:50:39
3 Posted 14/04/2018 at 16:05:44
I'm just so fed up with this season and the way they are playing now under this manager who is making no effort to try and play an open game of football with nothing really to play for, except to give the travelling support something to shout about.
I hope the people in charge are taking note of this pathetic performance, even if we are ahead.
4 Posted 14/04/2018 at 16:14:55
Has anyone actually played an accurate pass to poor old Tosun?
Too many mediocre individuals who don't play well together.
We're really poor to watch.
5 Posted 14/04/2018 at 16:22:35
6 Posted 14/04/2018 at 16:33:29
I'm with Dave (#3); I can't even be bothered to listen to this rubbish. I can't help but think though that this all plays into the hands of the people running the club in that there's no pressure on them to change anything. Our collective apathy is an abrogation of our responsibility to younger fans; I'm interested in theological discussion but I don't want to read it on a thread on TW where we should be voicing ever louder protest at the complacency that blights Everton FC.
7 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:02:37
Played well:
Pickford As normal
Keane I thought he had one of his better games.
Schneiderlin For me, starting to show some green shoots of recovery.
Played poorly:
Gana Lacks ability with the ball at his feet.
Rooney Ponderous and gives the ball away
Tosun A poor game. Plenty of effort, but you have to wonder if this lad is anything more than a decent, midtable Premier League striker.
The Rooney issue really needs sorting. I just don't see what his game is. Struggles to make a pass, and is slow. I may be going against the grain here, but him and Schneiderlin play a similar game, trying to be this quarterback. Schneiderlin is infinitely better at it, when he is on his game though.
On the flanks it is criminal that Bolasie keeps getting picked. Nice bloke, but even accepting his injury, he just isn't good enough. I was shocked when we bought him, and to be frank, nothing has ever changed my view that he is a 'highlight reel' player.
Big work for the next manager.
8 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:04:16
Everton have been poor on the pitch for over two decades now. You can't keep saying that you want change at the club yet happily renew season tickets at record levels year after year!
9 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:04:22
10 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:04:31
We've spent all this money the past couple of years and yet Jagielka who many considered absolutely finished at this level not too long ago is still one of the first names on the teamsheet, so credit to him. It also seems that he's the one to bring back the best from Keane who is very slowly but surely improving. Baines and Coleman are... alright. The defence generally is just... alright although the fact that 3/4 of our starting back 4 were signed by Moyes is a disgracefully damning indictment on our recent transfer 'policy'.
Rooney has been absolutely terrible recently, whilst Schneiderlin has quietly improved the last 2 games (even if he's still never going to provide anything going forward). Our midfield desperately misses Sigurdsson. Yes, he wasn't worth 㿙 million but that does not change the fact he's probably our best player.
Bolasie does one amazing cross or shot every couple of games but his general play is simply appalling, he's far too erratic and inconsistent to nail a place in the team. Walcott started off great but has completely fizzled out into absolutely nothing, and I'm honestly still yet to be completely convinced by Tosun but there's still plenty of time for my mind to be changed.
All-in-all, our squad is vastly below standard and there's no ambition from the manager. Worrying times.
11 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:06:10
Apathy.
12 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:13:07
He suits the visionless people who run our club down to the ground. As long as the season tickets have been sold and we stay in the Premier League, they will be happy enough.
Ambition and forward thinking are dirty words in our boardroom.
13 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:15:04
Allardyce out now!!
15 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:18:26
16 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:18:31
I am not advocating the return of Roberto, but bemoaning the fact that we are now served up total dross by a Manager who would bugger the burgers in McDonalds. He is a useless, ignorant, hopeless, arrogant lump of lard. He should be utterly ashamed of the team he sends out and how he instructs them to perform.
They are safe now. Sack him NOW and get the right manager in asap so he has a chance to assess the assets (or lack of them) and get us sorted for the new season.
Fortunately, Uni days behind us. Expecting my choice to perform like Allardyce and fall at the first in about 5 mins.
17 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:20:21
Kenwright, just stand down if you love the blues (Blue Union).
18 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:21:36
When RS fans are genuinely pitying us, you know it's really, really bad!
19 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:24:04
“Dig in for a hard earned point and held our ownâ€
Held our own against Swansea?
The money we have spent in what was meant to be a brave new era?
Exactly what is wrong with Everton Football Club is in those few words spoken by Allardyce and, until that mentality changes, it'll never ever be any different. The sad thing is, the board seems to share this mentality of stability meaning success.
We are a joke club now!
20 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:26:19
21 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:31:46
22 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:32:21
Allardyce Perfect candidate for the knacker's yard.
23 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:36:02
I am counting the hours.
24 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:37:13
25 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:40:57
These wins were at home to Leicester, Palace, Brighton and at ten man Stoke.
That tells you just how bad a side Everton really are, and if Allardyce comes out going on about improvements under his guidance then it just so proves the man is deluded.
Not that it's all down to Allardyce of course, the players we have let's be honest and stop blowing smoke up their arses, are pretty rank bog standard and last season finished 7th because Lukaku banged in 25 goals.
This is a poor poor Everton team and how they even begin to overhaul such a blatantly poor football team will be intriguing and concerning at the same time, I have yet to see if there's anyone on our board capable of doing it.
26 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:41:56
27 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:43:51
I am a supporter of more than 50 years standing, but this season really kills it for me. I gave up listening to the live coverage from the match centre. I have no idea if and when the spark of enthusiasm will return.
I watched the recent BBC review of Burnley a couple of days ago, enthralled by the logic, direction, enthusiasm, all embodied in a simple management policy of logical brick-by-brick building. Burnley will get into Europe, and I expect they will do well and continue to grow.
Please, Moshiri, listen to the voice of the fans. You have been let down by everyone on payroll as far as I can see and it must be very lonely, and expensive, not having a shoulder to lean on. Perhaps you feel you don't need one; and perhaps you don't. But please, remove Allardyce and at least give the Club a chance to get itself back on track.
If Burnley can do it, then so can Everton. Surely?
28 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:44:32
29 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:47:58
As long as he is around, we will always be unprofessional in our approach to achieving things and Allardyce sums us up as a club right now.
Moshiri has not got a fucking clue about us or the club's history. He will also be getting told by Kenwright to ignore the supporters, just like he did for 20 years. Their thoughts will be to stay in the Premier League while we beg our way to a new stadium and Sam is the man to keep us there.
30 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:50:04
31 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:50:19
Our board has always had the “stability is our success limit†mentality thus resulting in celebrating magnificent 7th place finishes in years gone by.
My worry is Moshiri is not a man of great football understanding and knowledge and under Billy Bullshit's wing, he's just going to become another sentimental luvvy that harbours dreams of Goodison old boys but actually failing to see that sack of shit that he's stood in right now.
Everton are a team not just in need of one or two good players, we need a manager to come in and totally rip up this old school blueprint that is just no longer played in today's modern era.
We need a team that is super fit, can play for 90 minutes and pass and move the ball and show our opponents no respect rather than just aiming to “hold our own†against shite sides.
32 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:52:17
I said to him "Everton are 1 up".
His reply.
"Who."
Says it all really...
33 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:57:58
34 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:58:08
Another version of your Golden Goal ticket, the time when Schneiderlin actually crossed the halfway line and touched the ball, 61 minutes 47 seconds. The midfield was so void, I asked that excluding substitutions and looking at the team sheet who actually played in midfield as I couldn't see anyone.
What have they done to our club?
35 Posted 14/04/2018 at 17:59:00
I would go down the youth route and let the world know we will only be buying players 28 or under and also we need a manager with a philosophical approach to attacking football. I pine for Good Attacking Footy.
36 Posted 14/04/2018 at 18:01:59
Then let the manager get rid of some of the other ineffective hangers-on, like Ferguson & Co, and replace them with professionals.
KENWRIGHT & ROONEY OUT!!!!!!!!
37 Posted 14/04/2018 at 18:04:57
Close-season clear-out from top to bottom, then we start again
38 Posted 14/04/2018 at 18:05:51
We are now truly peaking under the guidance of the genius who is Sam Allardyce. We are so lucky to have such a bright, young, humble, forward-thinking gem in charge of our team. Surely Moshiri will now reward him with a new five-year contract to keep us in mid-table, boring as hell, mediocrity.
FFS, is this as good as it gets? Empty the place on our final home game of the season just as soon as that final whistle blows.
Get the arrogant, useless fraud out of our club, NOW!!!
39 Posted 14/04/2018 at 18:05:57
“We have got our own Fab Fourâ€
The response I'm guessing to Liverpool's attacking prowess being labelled something similar.
How could he refer to Tosun, Sigurdsson, Rooney and Bolasie as even fit to lick Salah's boots?
Do I really have faith in Moshiri sorting this mess out?
Sure he'll fritter away more money on overpriced one-paced run-of-the-mill players but it's just not working.
40 Posted 14/04/2018 at 18:06:51
Deluded Cretin.
Unfortunately, those at the Club, who allow his tenure to go on beyond today, are in danger of having the same description applied to them.
42 Posted 14/04/2018 at 18:37:02
Adam (7) . Schneiderlin as quarterback, sorry mate I'm not an avid follower of NFL but one of the prime requirements of a QB is that he is capable of defence splitting / stretching passes not shovel passes to running backs. Actually he's more fumble and interception.
Allardyce has an opportunity to experiment, blood some youngsters, play expansive football etc. etc.... What does he do? Same shite, same shitty team selections absolutely clueless. He is without doubt a 'kin terrible manager and absolute gobshite of a human being.
Final word today, Gueye was played in a role for which he is not suited. There is no reason to play him ahead of Rooney & Schneiderlin, there's no reason to play Schneiderlin at all.
43 Posted 14/04/2018 at 18:45:20
44 Posted 14/04/2018 at 18:48:54
Surely there must be someone in that boardroom that could tell him "Look, this isn't working with this manager..."
I mean, what gaffer worth his salt would pair the unmitigated disaster that is Gueye and Schneiderlin? Who would play Calvert-Lewin out wide? And who would isolate a £27 million pound striker who, when playing up top on his own, is totally bereft of service? It's lunacy.
Nothing for us to play for today so why not throw the shackles off and play 3 up front or at least 2 and play Walcott more centrally? No, not us. We just lurch from one shit pedestrian laborious line-up to another. It's horrible to watch. Yet we all know that this'll be the norm until he's gone. When that will be is anybody's guess. Knowing this grinning clown, Moshiri... probably next December!
45 Posted 14/04/2018 at 18:55:40
Today, the whole team and tactics were a disgrace and I can't understand it. It's compounded lately by a collapse of the U23 and U18 teams.
Something is very rotten in the corridors of Goodison Park and Moshiri needs to take decisive action ASAP.
46 Posted 14/04/2018 at 19:00:40
Thank you perhaps for instilling a bit of confidence, basic defensive tactics and maybe a little steering of our grand old team into calmer waters... but now just go you certainly are not wanted.
47 Posted 14/04/2018 at 19:00:57
What's the fucking point and what the hell do the coaching staff do???
It's just a total waste of time this season. Love the club but hate the manager.
48 Posted 14/04/2018 at 19:01:03
That's Everton all over under Kenwright for me, nice quiet little club that staves off the wolves by never making any noise and floats around happily keeping its heads just above water and never making waves by actually having a team that excites or aims to win a trophy or give the fans some highs.
49 Posted 14/04/2018 at 19:07:59
I could only think Pickford would stand any chance of playing for a top six side. The rest have either passed their best, or aren't good enough and never have been.
Way too easy to keep just blaming Allardyce. Sure we need a better manager but Pep couldn't do much better with our squad.
50 Posted 14/04/2018 at 19:09:16
51 Posted 14/04/2018 at 19:11:12
I suppose you can't polish a turd, so let's just keep running around the track... just to keep fit like!
52 Posted 14/04/2018 at 19:13:47
Moshiri won't or can't do anything, it appears. I mean where is the voice of Jim White's TalkSport these days? "Stadium to be proud of", "Hollywood managers" and the ridiculous "Fab 4" quotes now seem a long time ago. Where is our new billionaire owner / business genius when we need him?
The best thing Moshiri has done so far is get his Russian pal to sponsor Finch Farm. Most of the money that's been squandered was from player sales and Sky. If Moshiri had this club truly to heart, he would put the fans and council out of their misery and borrow the Bramley-Moore Dock money himself.
Surely Usmanov could stump up two and a quarter million to help out an old pal?? The test of Moshiri and his intentions is Bramley-Moore Dock and he is failing us badly. Forget sacking Allardyce and shit football that's the least of our worries right now.
53 Posted 14/04/2018 at 19:14:24
54 Posted 14/04/2018 at 19:14:42
Spot-on really, mate, you are!
These players don't cut it, even the likes of fan darlings Baines, Jagielka and Coleman they've won not a single thing in their careers, it's all just another factor in a losers/failures mentality I'm afraid.
Baines banging on about “a lack of chemistry†under Roberto Martinez well, what does he suggest this last 12 months has all been about!?
What is it now from the club of excuses, otherwise known as Everton?
Many of these players have failed under three or four managers now and it's obvious they aren't going to get any better, it's just further decline from here.
55 Posted 14/04/2018 at 19:27:44
I can't think of a game this season where we have been better than the opposition. Even the West Ham game could have been different, if they had taken their chances.
We really need a clear out. Manager, backroom staff, Kenwright and the players. Apart from Pickford. If it wasn't for Pickford we would be battling at the foot of the table
56 Posted 14/04/2018 at 19:30:15
More seriously, when will that rag report accurately in relation to the situation at Goodison as it would undoubtedly do if the Red Shite found themselves in our position?
57 Posted 14/04/2018 at 19:38:26
There is not a single, fucking one of them who have any right to be proud of this season. Not a fucking one. Even those who many name as exceptions are quite happy to be brought out to deliver utterly toe-curling platitudes that shame them.
Could you ever imagine Alan Ball coming on and delivering the shite that some of these happy losers do? They haven't got an angry bone between them. Well, I'll not count Rooney, who gets angry often but only because his monumentally developed sense of entitlement blinds him to the fact that he has become an overpaid, useless, bitching sack of shite.
The appointment of Allardyce and his free-loading band was shameful. The continued employment of Duncan "the legend" Ferguson and the other duds who have found a retirement home at Goodison Park is just demoralizing.
I fear that Allardyce will be making his plans for next season and that will bring a sigh of relief to the journeymen he picks week after week.
58 Posted 14/04/2018 at 19:41:45
He is doing nothing to prove that be can do anything different to what he has done previously throughout his career as a manager. Show him the door now with a brief note of thanks, a very brief note.
59 Posted 14/04/2018 at 19:42:34
(I thought about including Rooney in the list but he'd still have been chugging away in our half.)
60 Posted 14/04/2018 at 19:43:23
It would be the very definition of winning the battle but losing the war.
61 Posted 14/04/2018 at 19:58:08
62 Posted 14/04/2018 at 20:03:36
Wow, even the players as well as Sam are treating us like Bolton or Wigan fans. This tells me how far we have sunk.
I know some people on here say we are always moaning. I'd happily swap the moaning if they showed me just a glimmer of light.
63 Posted 14/04/2018 at 20:30:12
That isn't down to Baines and Coleman. Had either of them played for better teams (and both of them are/were good enough to do so) they would have won 'things' for sure. If Rooney was in his 20s playing in this team, he'd win fuck all. That doesn't mean he's got a losers mentality.
You need to direct your criticism where it's deserved. There's no shortage of worthy causes.
64 Posted 14/04/2018 at 20:54:57
65 Posted 14/04/2018 at 20:57:22
66 Posted 14/04/2018 at 21:03:06
Allardyce is the focus of the abuse and let's face it he's just the perfect lunch bag for angry and dismayed Evertonians. There's nothing that suggests he should be at the club next season. He helped ensure our survival and I do think he had a part in that, so cheers, ace. But it's clearly more than social media abuse isn't it.
The away core are now finished with him. That's never good. Of course his style and some of his utterances are crucial elements in the decision process but he's lost the fans, the results and footballing approach are pretty grim. If Mr Moshiri cannot see this, then we are headed for another managerial embarrassment as with the one that preceded Allardyce's appointment.
It's all been said but I read these threads and sometimes just wonder why there's so little attempt to take in the impact of clearly critical decisions and strategy that have shaped not just this season but most likely the next two, or three? All really down to Mr Moshiri. Walsh, and Koeman, letting Lukaku leave without a hint of a replacement and laughing about it like losing 25 goals a season didn't matter. The stupidity of the Jim White nonsense. The focus on the new stadium and clearing debt whilst transfer performance is the worst for a very long time.... we did it far better when we were always broke. And just the feeling that in this particular bit of the entertainment sector he's well, out of his depth and naive?
Allardyce has to go next week if he's not staying. You have to know who is spending your money in a shortened summer window. Maybe that's not happening until Fonseca is available but getting Brands in now would ease the issues and allow a head start on rebuilding.
Allardyce is the public face, the visible target and I can't really feel too sorry for him as he wanders away with ٧M at the end of May.
So here's the thing, Mr Moshiri. Forget the Allardyce hate and convenient excuses for avoiding relegation instead of seeing the club move forward. Forget the excitement of the impressive Dan Meis and rejoicing at paying off 㿝m of debt. Forget amortisation and the Cunard building purchase. Just remember the lowest points of this season, the shameful, woeful defeats, the abject failure of recruitment, the wasted money and dire lack of quality in the squad and abysmal decision making throughout the footballing side of the club.
Most of all, remember you are where the buck stops. Be decisive and make managerial and Director of Football appointments to excite us and make us believe again because, so far, your money has been wasted and our club has lost its way; next year, the great escape may not happen.
67 Posted 14/04/2018 at 21:14:59
This clown has lost it.
68 Posted 14/04/2018 at 21:15:36
But I never even checked my phone once for the Everton match. This week has been awful for Evertonians, and I've had enough of below par managers, years of our friend Bill, Big Dunc and continued failure.
We know exactly who is gonna win the Champions League and we can't muster a win at Swansea. 11 years of one manager who won diddly squat sums up the ambitions of the club. What other top flight club would put up with that? The Kenwright regime is slowly making me lose my interest.
69 Posted 14/04/2018 at 21:34:26
If you need a reprieve from this mundane task, I suggest you simply write "Ditto" for the report next week, and the week after, and the week after that .
70 Posted 14/04/2018 at 21:47:21
71 Posted 14/04/2018 at 21:48:59
What manager would take off a striker and bring on a centre-half? Especially when the game meant absolutely zilch to us? Yes, get beat... So what? Win great... Doesn't matter.
"Ways of winning and ways of losing." This club doesn't know the meaning of that statement.
72 Posted 14/04/2018 at 21:51:29
I had a stream up but was interrupted at about 20 minutes in, missed the rest of the game and did not care. Says it all for me.
73 Posted 14/04/2018 at 21:52:38
I literally couldn't give a shit about the result today. Predictable, boring and dreary.
74 Posted 14/04/2018 at 21:53:44
I'd argue it's down to the manager.
Now I'm not saying the players aren't to blame in some part, but ......
The continuity of playing an ineffective Schneiderlin.
The lack of any energy, down to the players not wanting to play for a Neanderthal.
A setup, every game mind you, of not conceding, waiting for the 75th minute to attack and rather mildly at that.
An insistence to not play the kids more. Unsworth wasn't up to it, some argue, but our teams under his short trial showed way more heart and energy with a lot of the younger kids playing and learning and growing.
The list just goes on and on and has been done literally to death on this site.
We have a team that absolutely could play a more exciting, attacking game. Davies, Lookman, Calvert-Lewin, Kenny, Rooney (when played properly, spraying balls all over on a dime to more energetic players), Holgate who was inexplicably benched prior to injury, Gueye winning possession not played in a forward position (seriously, wtf?), Coleman and Baines allowed license to storm forward before the 75th minute, getting Walcott more involved in attacking instead of constantly doing what he doesn't do well sitting in his own half defending... Etc, etc, etc.
The malaise and paint-drying excitement is down to one man Sam Allardyce.
Blame the players for being flat, but ask yourself a very, very important question:
Do you really blame the players for being uninspired?
Yes, they make millions. But it isn't money that inspires the well-paid to actually be inspired. It's a belief that they are part of something special.
And Sam couldn't create that belief if he instantaneously turned into Jesus Christ.
75 Posted 14/04/2018 at 22:01:38
76 Posted 14/04/2018 at 22:07:38
77 Posted 14/04/2018 at 22:08:35
We have no players who are even close to being top class.
We have a team that I feel nothing for.
We have a manager who is boring and outdated, and a Chairman who is an anchor around the club's neck.
We have an owner who seems to be a complete clueless pussy.
Moshiri needs to grow some balls and get rid of Kenwright. He then needs to drag this club, kicking and screaming, into 2018. Get rid of all the sentimental bollocks and bring in a savvy, smart Levy-esque type Chairman. We need to strip this club down and start building it back up.
It's now at the very least a 3- to 5-year plan. One that takes us into a new stadium (hopefully).
Tottenham are credited as breaking the top 4 by having a fantastic manager and youth policy. Levy is the main reason they are where they are. They haven't actually brought a lot of youth through as regulars in their first team. Spurs had to be careful how they spent their money as they had to raise funds for their very expensive new stadium.
This is the reason some of their youth players were given a chance. The likes of Rose, Kane, Winks, and Carroll came through their academy, but Carroll has been sold and Winks is yet to nail down a place. Kane is a once in a generation academy graduate, like Wayne was.
Spurs' success really comes down to the recruitment of a forward-thinking young manager and a brilliant transfer strategy. Levy takes credit for both.
Since 2011-12, Tottenham have a net spend of £26.25 million. That's minus!!! In that time they have bought: Lloris, Dembele, Vertonghen, Erikson, Lamela, Alli, Dier, Davies, Trippier, Alderweireld, Son, Wanyama, Sanchez, Aurier, Llorente.
Tottenham accelerated away from us because their recruitment strategies are far superior to ours and they have a very smart ruthless-bastard of a Chairman. Our problems start at the top and go all the way down to the very bottom. It's a cancer and it needs to be cut out.
78 Posted 14/04/2018 at 22:09:11
Does this piss anyone else off? I just fume watching this man!
http://www.evertonfc.com/news/2018/04/14/manager-reaction
79 Posted 14/04/2018 at 22:14:31
I feel so flat about Everton; even at home when we score, I barely rise from my seat, I feel little. We are an utter disgrace. Not just that arrogant prick, but his backroom staff, most of the directors, and the majority of the playing staff should leave.
80 Posted 14/04/2018 at 22:19:52
81 Posted 14/04/2018 at 22:26:06
This feels as low as anything I have experienced with our club in 55 years. I have renewed my season ticket, perhaps that makes me complicit with the situation, but going to the game is in my blood, and I know many others feel the same way. We desperately need leadership, but it is lacking everywhere from the majority shareholder, down through the CEO, the manager and the players. It is only the supporters who care everyone else is simply stuffing their faces in the money trough.
I'm stumped. Whatever situation our club has been in while I have been watching, I have always had an opinion on what we should do, how we should handle things, apart from late December 1983 on the way back from a 3-0 defeat at Wolves, when all seemed lost. Shortly after that, a little bit of luck at Oxford, a manic show of support at Stoke, and a managerial piece of window-opening genius by Howard Kendall completely reversed the situation.
But these are different times, we have blown an awful lot of money, we are purportedly planning a new stadium, we need a new CEO, a new manager, we need many new players... but most of all we need a person at the top with intelligence, a clear vision and the personality to bring it to fruition. I wish Mr Moshiri could inspire a bit more confidence that he can be that person.
82 Posted 14/04/2018 at 22:26:52
I'm actually not too opposed to bringing back a bit of the dark days in some rare instances.
I'll leave it to you where to draw that line, or for that matter when to re-institute the practice of drawing and quartering.
Your cousins across the pond would probably turn a blind eye to the inhumane act in this instance.
83 Posted 14/04/2018 at 22:30:54
As for Rooney, he is not a midfield player and never will be. He is a striker and we have needed some quality up front all season.
Nothing makes sense at this club right now. It's a disgrace but it's not the players' fault it's management from top to bottom.
84 Posted 14/04/2018 at 22:31:34
As for the rest? The Minotaur and Jimmy Krankie are finished. The fans let him know while Funes Mori was waiting to come on. I'm tired, really tired of journeys to suffer this drudgery.
85 Posted 14/04/2018 at 22:37:10
A win would have put a few more rounds of ammunition into Sam's PR spud gun. An insipid and dispiriting draw hammers yet another nail into his gold-plated sarcophagus.
The sooner this seasonus horribillus is over, the better; everyone's had enough.
86 Posted 14/04/2018 at 22:45:25
87 Posted 14/04/2018 at 22:49:14
88 Posted 14/04/2018 at 22:51:21
89 Posted 14/04/2018 at 23:03:10
90 Posted 14/04/2018 at 23:03:56
Sam has been too defensive and made weird choices on many occasions, and despite the players sharing the blame for obvious frailties, it is the manager that constantly sets the bar so low, as to stifle any real ambition.
We need a clear-out of some poor performers, but Sam must go too. Duncan Ferguson, pre-match, repeated that he had learned so much from the very experienced Allardyce without giving us any idea just what he might have learned.
Answers on a postcard please .
91 Posted 14/04/2018 at 23:10:50
92 Posted 14/04/2018 at 23:11:46
The club has sunk deeper into the abyss than is imaginable. Jacques Cousteau, would not even bother to surmise how this has happened.
It's true and sadly and regrettably this is EFC AD 2018, and the stench of decay, neglect of basic duties is there for the world to see.
Struggling to muster any response these days to old school RS mates, and ribbing which is now pity. Shocking and I fear this medieval version of football will be here next season.
I sense any transfer deal out will be at a loss and if JP plays well, assuming England go to the World Cup, then it's a fair chance he'll get nicked. The only player who can say he done his best in every match.
A poxy own goal, and a Seamus pot shot - and fair play, but little else. This is worst than a Sunday morning ale house team.
My dad, and forefathers will be turning in the Main Stand in the Sky, and right fully so. It's negligence and contempt of duty unsurpassed in English football.
The club is a living version of the Marie Celeste... except that in that it's fully manned but the crew, board and teams no longer care.
Finch Farm, what the hell is taught, in terms of football? The RS and the rest are light years and Milky Ways ahead, and as in most businesses, it's nigh-on impossible to make up and catch up on 30 years of neglect.
I really hope the club finds salvation, a Damascus moment is needed very soon else we will go into final decay from what's been permanent terminal erosion of our club.
The agony of this pits of a season, almost over. What next?
94 Posted 14/04/2018 at 23:36:50
We should have lost to Watford and Bournemouth at home but were unbelievably lucky as well as in many other games this season. Very unlike us because we're normally the definition of ‘unlucky‘.
Worse still is the players in the squad that we couldn't give away... Klaassen, Vlasic, Bolasie, Tosun... long contracts, big salaries and basically, shit.
The long-standing players are utter shite too. Baines has been a servant but is a joke now slow, small and insignificant. Jags and Coleman are limited and our newbies are shite. Kenny is Sunday league and stealing a living. We are a complete shambles from top to bottom.
Look at every other squad, style of football, resources, manager and we are, by far, the most disgracefully poorly managed outfit in the Premier League.
95 Posted 14/04/2018 at 23:51:00
Brilliantly put. I couldn't agree more.
98 Posted 14/04/2018 at 23:51:03
Difficult to disagree with Paul @92, however much it hurts to say that about an integral part of my whole life.
99 Posted 14/04/2018 at 23:58:35
100 Posted 15/04/2018 at 00:21:55
101 Posted 14/04/2018 at 00:34:46
Thus, the common law offence of 'Starting a fire in Her Majesty's dockyards' was created, for which the penalty was, apparently, to be hung from the highest yardarm in the Royal Navy.
For odd historical reasons, this offence was not caught by the abolition of the death sentence in the 1960s, so it may still exist. So, someone give Sam a lighted cigar, and get him down to Plymouth, pronto!
ps: I have just spoken to a legal colleague of mine, who says this offence was recently abolished in England; but is still on the books in New South Wales! So, frigate to Sydney for Mr Allardyce, please!
102 Posted 15/04/2018 at 00:52:09
Gana was crap, Walcott was the invisible man, Schneiderlin was Schneiderlin. Pickford and Jags had good games. The fullbacks were okay, Keane was awful in the first half but played better after the break, Rooney obviously cares and he is the only player we have who will attempt a good pass rather than a safe one. Bolasie and Tosun also made an effort.
The subs had no impact. Maybe Vlasic could have done something if he had come on sooner but you would never guess that the other two were playing for a place in the squad next season.
Sam is incapable of motivating his players, unless it is to avoid relegation.
103 Posted 15/04/2018 at 01:42:52
Spot on, mate. I agree with every word.
Allardyce's tactics are so dull. These players have failed under 3 or 4 managers now too. Many of them have to go if we can cut our losses.
World Cup year and a transfer window closing in early August means this isn't a great Summer to carry out monumental change, but I can't stand another season of this dross. It started under Martinez in 2015 and gets worse every season.
104 Posted 15/04/2018 at 06:40:08
Your so right re: 'Damascus moment'. Because I think when 'Oliver' Moshiri was inveigled into the club by the 'Artfull' Elstone and taken to 'Fagin' Kenwright, I think the pair of those bastards trussed him from head to toe with so much 'Boys-Pen' and out-of-touch bollocks that the poor bugger has been left both clueless and directionless.
He really needs to boot those pair of 'Wormtounges' the fuck off his bridge and out of his wallet before his Captain's hat floats off above his head. I wish him the best of British with that "Apple".
Mr Moshiri, from all the fans (that know the score), we implore you right here and right now, to wake up as the crew on your 'rig' will never strike oil, so SACK THE WHOLE LOT OF 'EM before it's too late (and you're broke).
105 Posted 15/04/2018 at 10:09:24
He will leave at the end of the seaons, his reputation of playing defensive, mind-numbingly boring shit football will remain intact but, more importantly for him, he will get 6 months off to spend his ill-gotten gains before he is hired to save the next struggling Premier League team.
He knows he isn't staying; you know he isn't staying... and everything that horrible fat cunt is spouting is just to wind us up!!!
Fellow Evertonians do not let him get to you! Come the summer, he will be gone... or no doubt most of us will be!!!!!!!
106 Posted 15/04/2018 at 10:41:25
How did ‘we' (the charlatans in charge anyway) let things get so bad? Well done, Bill, you're the greatest magician the world's never seen.
107 Posted 15/04/2018 at 10:41:40
The last three managers have been disasters and the odds are firmly on the next appointment being of similar ilk. That's if the big man doesn't somehow cling on and into next season.
The irony of this situation is that whilst interest in Everton is falling by the week, the diehards are calling for a new ground to cater for 60,000... 70,000 or even more speccies. If things go on like this, it might be more appropriate to open negotiations for the purchase of Prenton Park or even The North Field on Jericho Lane!
108 Posted 15/04/2018 at 10:48:26
109 Posted 15/04/2018 at 11:09:40
When the new manager is appointed after the season ends, I hope he is given time to improve things. Let's hope that, 20 minutes into the first game of the new season, the discontent does not start up again.
110 Posted 15/04/2018 at 11:12:47
111 Posted 15/04/2018 at 12:06:40
This clown lived on the 4-0 win against West Ham when Unsworth was in charge, he hasn't done anything wonderful, if you put a monkey in charge of that squad he would have saved us.
112 Posted 15/04/2018 at 12:10:30
Again, it was a ridiculous appointment and now we're dancing about with both Sam and us not really wanting to continue. We won't be able to attract anyone of any clout player-wise as things stand, aside from some journeyman and a sell-off of some younger talent.
If we start the season with Sam in charge and the window closed... well, this season could look like a walk in the park.
113 Posted 15/04/2018 at 12:15:08
114 Posted 15/04/2018 at 12:17:19
I've not heard any announcement from the club or through the red Echo... No doubt the Allardyce problem is a factor. I have heard people ringing up to renew and asking for a refund if he is still at club at the end of season. Those working at the club dealing with the renewals by phone have laughed it off but stated there have been many similar requests.
I am greatly concerned that he may remain. I feel he is taking the mickey out of us with his comments, but I'm also feed up with players and training staff coming out every week saying what a good job he has done and how we are progressing well and want a strong finish to the season.
The season's nearly over, I'll still be saying that the week before the West Ham game. The last home game against Southampton will be televised that's the game to let him now he's not wanted at this club. The lap of disgrace. I for one will not be staying; we need the ground to be empty to show those at the club we will not accept another season like this one.
115 Posted 15/04/2018 at 12:25:27
I totally agree with you on the luck we have had. Thankfully I am confident that with a good manager the shite players will become good players and the good players will start performing at a very good standard.
Unfortunately, I am not confident we will appoint a good manager and I can see us ending up with a shite overrated foreign manager.
116 Posted 15/04/2018 at 12:28:57
117 Posted 15/04/2018 at 12:37:36
118 Posted 15/04/2018 at 12:38:51
119 Posted 15/04/2018 at 12:42:13
Everton do have a nucleus of young players who, under the right manager, could get them to that higher level but they need class strikers as what they have at present is just poor. Let's face it, Tosun, Niasse, Calvert-Lewin, Rooney, Bolasie and Walcott just don't come up to snuff.
We could make excuses for all of them but, quite frankly, if they are all fit and getting paid good wages then they should be doing a lot better.
120 Posted 15/04/2018 at 12:43:42
121 Posted 15/04/2018 at 13:46:16
122 Posted 15/04/2018 at 14:24:04
Looking at the comments prior the watching the game, some posters were commenting how Schneiderlin was improving – that's why I need the video clips to prove just how shite he really is; not protecting the back 4, not closing down, after a man runs past him stands and watches, never goes toward the ball. I could go on and on.
And Bolasie; I'm assuming that the one who played against us and tore us a new one is locked in a cellar somewhere and this impostor has taken his place.
For fuck's sake, get this season over or maintain some interest by sacking Lardiola on Monday.
123 Posted 15/04/2018 at 14:30:42
Our reputation is seriously damaged (we have gone from contender to joke and are synonymous with dire football and have given millions to a man devoid of integrity). We have lost the momentum that we had a year ago.
We did not need to resort to Allardyce to have stayed safe and his time at our club has been a low point in our history.
124 Posted 15/04/2018 at 14:52:44
He was an excellent manager despite his loyalties. But he is on the wane and we need an as-close-to-universally supported appointment.
Are the fanbase really willing to give another pragmatic guy a chance? I don't think so. I think we need a clean slate, no connections to past teams in England. Must be a fresh continental with progressive ideas.
125 Posted 15/04/2018 at 14:53:44
Sam, as I have already stated, you have done your job now please just take your money and fuck off!!!!!
126 Posted 15/04/2018 at 15:08:20
But we have Allardyce setting up to try to hold a point against Swansea and acting as if it was a great achievement. Honestly, Allardyce isn't worthy to even clean Benitez's toilets.
127 Posted 15/04/2018 at 15:29:47
Then up pops Tim Cahill, a real legend and passionate player, my god He has nailed it on the head about Everton, normally we have around 300 posts on here. Looks like a lot of posters are having the same thoughts as me just cannot be bothered venting anger and disgust with everything Everton at the moment.
For other posters feeling the same, Tim Cahill's interview is well worth a read and sums up how we as fans feel.
129 Posted 15/04/2018 at 15:57:22
130 Posted 15/04/2018 at 16:15:09
In comparison, we get cagey, safety-first dross at the exact time we could and should be playing with a bit of freedom and giving new ideas and systems a chance.
Why not give Vlasic a half or even Klaassen? Even without introducing new players to give them a chance, why are we still so risk-averse given we have absolutely nothing to play for?
131 Posted 15/04/2018 at 16:21:15
Just to make a refreshing change, and for the first time in a long while, we went over and watched Tranmere Rovers play Aldershot. True they weren't half as skilled as any premier league player but bloody hell wasn't it refreshing to see players running their hearts out, focused on all out attack and hearing a crowd actually yelling them on. I've not seen enthusiasm like that in the whole of last season at any Everton game.
However, we have bought our Bullens season tickets now can anybody suggest the right kind of pill to take before each of next seasons matches? Yeah and we both guessed exactly the score at Swansea the day before the match.
133 Posted 15/04/2018 at 17:48:45
I've hated almost every minute of this season. I've an awful feeling it will get worse because the RS have a shot at the Champions League final. It's desperate when we think Klaassen and Vlasic could lift us.
Roll on May. I normally hate pre-season but I'm fed up of this now. Nothing but disappointment and let downs. Even Bramley-Moore looks like a pipe dream. What is the point anymore?
134 Posted 15/04/2018 at 19:39:16
135 Posted 15/04/2018 at 20:24:17
The bigotry and abuse shown on here by many of our so-called fans is an absolute disgrace and reflects badly on the club.
Someone earlier talked of Rooney spraying the ball around what a joke! The only place he performs these days is in the bar if he'd not abused himself so much, he'd still be a decent player and at a top 6 club instead of being over-paid and carried by a mid-table team.
136 Posted 15/04/2018 at 20:24:35
There is a way you can post video clips – assuming you can upload to YouTube. Then, copy and paste the 'embed' script into your ToffeeWeb post... Just like this:
137 Posted 15/04/2018 at 21:12:22
The last 20+ years of being trophyless, badly managed, lied and bullshitted to is a bad reflection on the fans works both fucking ways!
138 Posted 15/04/2018 at 23:12:34
What an appalling state of affairs, but credit to Tranmere and their players.
I hope that there is massive change this summer because if there isn't I'm not coming back.
140 Posted 16/04/2018 at 00:18:18
I watched the bar codes today and I was impressed that Benitez was on the pitch after the game hugging his players and some of the staff. Klopp and Pep are the same. It conveys something that we have not had at Everton in a long time.
141 Posted 16/04/2018 at 15:30:11
Play a 5-0-5, with 5 defenders to defend. Every chance, punt a diagonal long ball forwards to chase, create, cross, pass, shoot and score at every opportunity. No indecisiveness, no complicated tactics, no defenders messing about.
It's exciting but, more importantly, it will highlight those who care and hopefully who have a football brain. Sometimes when managers send you out with stupid instructions, you have to adapt to the situations.
My hat would be on Bolasie and Niasse doing a lot of needless headless running, Tosun and Rooney playing football, trying to link up using their brains, and Calvert-Lewin doing the best of both. £££
142 Posted 16/04/2018 at 15:45:22
At least two distinct style 'teams' within our squad that have been thrown together expected to gell.
Unfortunately it appears none of our recent managers have identified the best fit, preferred system or playing style to suit the players and we are the left over chocolates at the bottom of the tin.
The players like our last 4 managers are chalk and cheese without a board or cracker to go with. Actually I think I'm the cracker.
143 Posted 17/04/2018 at 10:12:38
144 Posted 17/04/2018 at 10:27:33
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1 Posted 14/04/2018 at 14:36:39
I expect Gueye to cover the defense as usual. Back four and keeper same as normal; looking to consolidate the Keane - Jags partnership I would like to see Funes Mori given some game time...
Walcott and Bolasie should step up and give service to Tosun. If the players are encouraged to play on the front foot, we should win. There's the rub.