Everton vs Atalanta

As for the game tomorrow I'd go with:

Robles
Kenny
Holgate
Williams
Martina
Schneiderlin
Beni
Klaasen
Vlasic
Sandro
Mirallas

On Dyche, did you know the youngest player to play for Burnley this season is 25-year-old Tarkowski? Now that would worry me.

The young emerging talent is the most exciting and appealing thing about Everton Football Club currently so why not give them a platform which will both; encourage other talented youngsters to join us, and show potential managerial candidates we have a bright future.

Clear out some of the high earners and let a new manager come in with as blank a canvas and as empty a wage bill as is possible im the summer, then perhaps we might get a few more candidates.

My guess, and it's only a guess, is that Moshiri will not authorise a spending spree. He came out and said to Koeman, you got your team, get on with it. I expect he'll buy the new guy a couple, but not more, and he'll appoint the new guy on the basis of promises the new guy made for getting the best out of the present squad + a striker.

Just look at how Spurs have overtaken us, Stadium on the way and a manager making a real impact. Christ we are bottom of our Europa group and Spurs top of their Champions League group with Real Madrid in it.

Nothing to do with geographics We've had investment as well and Koeman was backed to the tune of £200M. It's just that Spurs bought wisely as well as bringing a few academy players through. While that clown Koeman squandered ours on the likes of Schneiderlin, Sigurdsson, Sandro, Klaassen, Keane etc

Our best players have been Pickford, Vlasic, Niasse and Baningime. The season has been a complete shambles – and we are still in the shit big-time.

Steve, when Dyche went to Burnley five seasons ago, they were favourites for the drop, but he worked a miracle, and got them promotion instead. Went down, went back up, stayed up and now he's moving Burnley forward. Under the circumstances that he's managed Burnley, why would going with experience worry you?

Burnley were favourites to go into League One when he went there, mate, and taking that into consideration, then he's surely worked wonders since he became their manager.

The manager had to go but all the really good ones are tied to their clubs and there isn't an outstanding candidate. Nothing has been said by the club so we don't know who has been asked in reality.

As far as Goodison is concerned, I'm not embarrassed by it. I love it to bits, have done for 55 years, now and prefer it to any of these shiny new stadiums.

I accept the need to move.... but embarrassed??? No way – and never will be.

Koeman is responsible for leaving us with a disjointed team where we have loads of players under 23 and loads over 28, but none 23-28. He sold players in this bracket, and did not replace them. I would not want to see Dyche do the same.

By the way, I am not totally opposed to Dyche, there's a lot of pros, and they probably outweigh the cons.

How could that wonderful old stadium ever embarrass me? Some of the current players do, but that's another matter!!

That's because Burnley don't have the players under 25 that we have and it's a totally different situation.

We are out of this competition, the only games that matter are the Premier League games. it is vital that we stay in this league, fuck the other competitions for now, desperate times need desperate measures.

I was weighing up the other day the vast majority of players in the squad, are not that bad, but really lacking in confidence, and to a degree motivation too.

While I agree there is some dead wood; and some we have grossly overpaid for; but a new broom and a couple of additions, could turn things round.

While I love Unsy, as he is basically one of us, like Zaid Omar @ 13, says I don't think the job is right for him at the moment. I do hope as many do, that it gets sorted before the rot gets any worse.

The club is an absolute joke from top to bottom and Moshiri either now shows what he's made of and shows some REAL steel or that fucking bellend "Luvvy Bill" will finally run the club aground.

I have followed my football club for over 55 years and I have never seen us in a worse situation than we are today. I am so totally deflated, completely disillusioned and seriously worried that my beloved Everton FC is certain for ruin.

Robles
Kenny Holgate Williams Martina
Baningime Rooney Davies
Vlasic Calvert-Lewin Sandro

He deserves a much harsher sentence than that.

Be interesting to see how many turn up for a nothing game, they really don't deserve the support of late.

They have collectively, let the die-hard supporters down.

Unsworth is right about this; we have to fight to win every single game we play. It's all about getting results. I want us to win every game, we're not in a position to choose which ones we want to compete in nor should we ever be. We are Everton and we should be going to try to win every game we play. Unfortunately this has been lost over the years and we are where we are.

As for Everton being an embarrassment, no Everton will never be an embarrassment. The people running it may be but Everton is my club, our club and I for one am proud of my club. We just need the people running our club to finally realise what our motto stands for, something Kenwright forgot a long time ago

I'm not sure I want Dyche, but we need to start playing as a team, and defending as a team, and Burnley do both these things very well. I admire what Burnley did the first time they came up, because they lived within their means, and didn't just gamble money at trying to stay up.

I think they knew they would probably go down, so they used the whole experience as a learning curve, and it looks like they've learnt. They didn't waste money on mercenaries, they spent the money on making themselves a better football club, and it looks to be paying dividends for them now.

I'm only really interested in Everton's new manager though, and now I'm reading about a German from Leipzig?

When I watch him play his body language is poor like, I'm a celebrity get me out of here! I just think his heart isn't in it.

Nope, didn't think so.

And why has he not invested in youth?

Ralph Hasenhüttl is the Leipzig manager. All I know about him is he took Ingolstadt up. Leipzig at the MK Dons of Germany and everyone hates them. But they've got a load of money to spend.

Now if he comes and brings Timo Werner with him, I'll pick him up from the airport myself.

Nigel – they both get asked repeatedly. All they have to say is "I am happy where I am". They both refuse to commit to their current clubs. The fact that Dyche is not first choice and hasn't ruled himself out, means he must still be talking to us and fancy his chances.

The best players we have need resting for a game, where if we win 10-0 will not mean a thing and the same goes for the last game in this competition with all due respect to the fans who are going there.

Staying up is paramount to Everton's future, if we go down we will be down for a very long time and you might not be embarrassed with us in the Championship but it certainly doesn't bear thinking about.

I think to say that, because Burnley haven't got many young players in the first team, doesn't mean they haven't invested in youth either. Unless you know about the workings of that football club, Steve, it's a throwaway remark, and I'm not sure it's as set in stone as it looks to you, mate!

The fact that neither has said yes or no leaves us all in the dark like mushrooms as usual.

Looks like Bielsa is available though, and he hasn't said “No, I'm not interested”.

People can read such a lot into any news story.

Link

His record is wonderful – but if he isn't going to "excite" the masses – then he has no hope.

I know Howard Kendall didn't excite the fans at first (I also know Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley didn't for those across the road) and I know , that at the moment Unsey is not inspiring blind faith – but I think that either Unsey or Dyche, given their past performances – can do a good – even a great job at Everton.

They just need a chance!

Maybe his old mate Nev could be his number two and we could have the binman dream team.

If EFC got in touch with Dyche's or Silva's agents and said:-

"we are offering ٢M per annum and a 3-year contract – do you think we would be further along the negotiating path?

I truly believe the decision to move to a Director of Football and Head Coach model has been the complete wrecking of recruitment at a time when a series of key players needed replacing. We're now in limbo, we didn't replace the key positions we needed or moved the ageing players that are still in the first eleven onto the subs bench or out of the club.

Generally this type of mismanagement results in relegation. All the signs suggest unless the Board bring in an experienced manager in December and back them with 𧴜 million in January to fill 4-5 positions, we are gone.

I believe we have made it public that we'd offer Watford compensation for Silva but he still hasn't said he's interested, just that he has a job to do at Watford.

Anyways, doesn't matter as the only one that seems to really want it is Rhino.

Nigel, if Dyche didn't want the job, why wouldn't he say to the press, "No thanks, not for me, I'm committed to Burnley?" Why has Silva refused to rule himself out too?

And the press reported what salary Silva was on, and what we had offered him. So that is something we did tell his agent, or something he can read in the press anyway.

I don't believe this is a "meaningless, nothing" game. We've sucked big time, all season long. To think that things will turn around with this match, is fantasy stuff.

One thing's for sure though; the/his expenditure at Burnley has been minimal, their/his sales have produced profit, and he's now created a team playing football the like of which we've rarely seen in recent years (and only fleetingly since the Premier League started) by ingraining virtual nobodies with the fitness, gumption and determination to do the jobs demanded of them, and all credit to them and him.

Might be attractive to a billionaire, especially one who might just be feeling a bit stretched money-wise since the failure of the Commonwealth Games bid but with his promise to make reality a new state-of-the-art stadium, a squad full of apparent couldn't-give-a-shits, and a 50th of his £billion now languishing in the bank accounts of Kenwright's and his own "What a Manager"s.

What a cluster-fuck.

Everton do have a lot of talent but getting the best starting eleven and strategy has been a big problem. Some players are not what they once were and have somewhat let down the younger players.

Everton need to look beyond Rooney, Williams, Jagielka, Mirallas, Lennon and Baines for the new year. These guys are past their best and should be playing bit parts. Sandro, Klaassen, Sigurdsson and Schneiderlin have not produced anything like what was expected for the money spent on them.

Generally, Everton have no speed, either in midfield or up front, which has been a big detriment. Vlasic, Calvert-Lewin and Niasse have all shown more determination than most of the others but, much like the first minute at Palace, Everton have been all at sea in most games.

Any new manager will have a tough task with what is here and January will not come soon enough. On the plus side, the squad may be boosted in January by the full fitness of some players who have been out for a long time.

We shall see... but, in the meantime, tomorrow's game may just be a meaningless encounter for the Blues but an opportunity maybe for some bench warmers to impress so everyone has had their chances. Although Atalanta have slipped a little, they need to win this game.

In the UK, we had a system like in Cricket. The Captain would pick the team, and the Club Secretary would do all of the other tasks. There was no real training. Then The Club Secretary developed to start picking the team, after all he was buying the players, so he wanted to see them played. And then he oversaw the coaching of the team.

On the continent, they have never had the English or British concept of the Captain. They fail to understand why being the Captain is such a big deal here. Often the guy with the most caps, or the oldest player at club level is the Captain. He does the handshake before the game and that's about it.

The continent was quicker to coaching than we were, and so the coach picked the team, rather than the Club Secretary. As clubs started to become more professional they established a role similar to the club secretary and so they had two distinct positions. One picking the side and coaching it, and another handling transfers and contracts.

It is 2017. Clubs are worth over a billion pounds. Should we really have a manager operating in the way they did in the 1940s, or should we get into the 21st Century like the rest of the world and accept that someone else, preferably with more financial acumen, handles the transfers and contracts. By all means, let the guy picking the side have authority over who actually signs, and allow him to request certain players, and also allow him to have a say over who gets new contracts and for how much, and how that will effect the budget. But let's leave the old fashioned English manager in the past. 75% of the Premier League have anyway, and the 25% who haven't are the smallest clubs by far. Others have DoF by other names, so perhaps we should adopt the american term of "General Manager" and rechristen the manager to "head-coach" so it is clear for all.

Not really.

They have had plenty of U25s but sold them on. Like Keane and Trippier. Ok so they weren't brought up through the Academy more like Calvert-Lewin, Holgate or Lookman for us.

As for players who have progressed from their Academy to the Premier League. Let's face it their network and legacy is no where as revered as ours so what do you expect. We are a much bigger club with a hotbed of natural talent on our doorstep and a better pulling power for any decent country wide youngsters.

So no your argument isn't set in stone.

He is still learning about his squad – remember he had little contact with the first team before his appointment. Let's see what he can do with them. It's a dead rubber but we can still use it as a stepping stone.

You state that we need to have a team-picker/coach and a general-manager sort of person (and a captain... and a secretary, but whatever) and it's should be the general-manager's role to sort out incoming transfers providing the team-picker-coach hopefully assents to them.

S'far as I know that pretty much describes what all parties at Everton have said about the relationship between Koeman and Walsh from the outset so why do you hold Koeman solely responsible for the debacle we're now in regarding the transfer shambles? My opinion is based on repeated media releases from those in charge at the club, including Walsh and Koeman, so what's your opinion based on please? Do you have "insider" knowledge?

And I'm not defending Koeman. It's just that if he wasn't solely responsible we've still got muppetry of the highest order at or close to the top of our club, and that's scary given where we are and what we urgently need in signings.

Oops! Well the truth is that Sam is a woman! She plays for Australia (The Matildas) and I think for a club in USA. Goal stats I've been told are 28 in her last 24 appearances for club and country. The goal I just watched was from just outside the area, a little left of centre and under some pressure. It screamed past the 1.88 m tall Chinese goalie and in to the scorer's top right corner of the net.

I would have loved to see us score one as good as this during this season so far!

Sign her up Everton. She looks to have more of an eye for goal than any of our current men's team!

Robles
Kenny Keane Williams Martina
Klaassen Besic Vlasic
Mirallas Rooney Sandro

It gives players a chance and minimises the risk to players who we will need for 2 Premier League games in 4 days. That team should be strong enough to compete and gives a few of them a chance to stake there claim.

Robles
Martina Feeney Williams Garbutt
Klaassen Besic Vlasic
Mirallas Rooney Sandro

Subs: Pickford, Kenny, Jagielka, Gueye, Sigurdsson, Lookman, Calvert-Lewin

To be honest I'm getting a lot fed up with it.

Holy shit, is he fast. Not many touches in his 20+ minutes on the pitch, but he looks totally confident on the ball, and his pace is absolutely breathtaking.

And unlike Dowell at Forest, he can be brought back from his loan in January. Has reportedly expressed a desire to do so.

On a slightly different tone – Unsworth remains unproven in my eyes. The team is certainly better than it was under Koeman, Unsworth is restricted in what he can do by the lopsided nature of the squad and the underwhelming performances of many Koeman signings. Some of the blindingly obvious changes have been made – who beyond Koeman, for example, ever considered Martina better than Kenny? Taking the failures out of public view has been sensible. I'm not convinced anyone else could have done much more than Unsworth has with the same.

The worry is obviously the transfer window in January but then again we have a guru called Steve Walsh to look after that. The bigger worry is who had the final call on the more obvious failings under the Koeman era.

We hear that he is now pursuing some obscure German who was once a manager but retired to become a DoF although how he could be seen as 'a name' puzzles me no end.

What a tragedy that when, at last, BPB finds HIMSELF a billionaire, he turns out to be a pillock of the first order – rather like Randy Lerner at Aston Villa!

How strange it will be to see our 𧴜,000,000 second string team being allowed a run out.

If the people on the list of who we really want aren't currently available then you could do worse than having Unsworth until the end of season. We need to be patient.

Just watched his press conference and he comes across much better than Koeman, Martinez and Moyes.

Unsworth is building and rebuilding the spirit in these group of players.

I am seeing great signs of a turnaround and looking forward to tonight to see the fighting spirit, the running, the closing, the positivity and pride back in the shirt and our great club.

Unsworth is bringing that spirit in wagon loads right now and it is how he led the U23s against the Man City, Chelsea golden boys and won the Premier League 2.

Given a little more time we will see weekly improvement in spirit, confidence and even if the odd result does not go our way then Unsworth would have put some pride and gumption into Everton – which was lost under Koeman.

If reports are true they've already made their presence felt in Liverpool mate.

Robles
Holgate, Feeney, Williams, Martina
Baningime, Besic,Klaassen
Vlasic, Rooney, Sandro

I do believe Klaassen has potential despite the evidence to date but unsure whether our movement through the pitch will be quick enough to see the best of him. It's a really tough call with the squad we've got so as the game is materially unimportant although psychologically valuable it might be the time to experiment (again). The lads are probably going to be well up for it as a face saver in this Europa League and if we could get 6 points from this and Limassol over there we can regain some respect.

One can but hope.

Good team by Ajay (#64).

Part of the problem with Vlasic is that he's not blessed with pace which is probably why he's fallen down in the pecking order.

If Onyekuru can be recalled in January IMHO the money should be spent on the defence, cos we'll have Henry, Niasse, Rooney & Calvert-Lewin which should be enough to see us through the season and then take a look next season.

As this has come yet another manager thread, what is clear that on TWebbers bring new meaning to short-termism. Unsworth has been caretaker for a month, and don't forget what he inherited. I even read a post about the u23 derby, that Jeffers ‘wasn't ready' for management-that's after one game.

Whoever we get, they'll be a lot of disappointment if he doesn't hit the ground running. Dyche has been given five years to get Burnley where they are.

In fact the only candidates I can see that would make a difference before the window is either Harry Potter or Gandalf and they can magic up 5 years off the age of Jagielka, Williams and Baines, because even Pep, Mourinho etc would be stuck with a creaking back 4.

Let's start with a ‘they shall not pass' formation; football's like hotels, clean sheets are everything.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/who-german-football-hooligans-linked-13941978

Apologies for not making myself clearer. What I was trying to explain was that in England an administrator took control of team affairs and this is why the position is called a "manager". Whereas in Europe the Head Coach never had any administrative duties.

The reason that Koeman is solely accountable for the transfer fiasco is that he can total control over all first team players. He swatted away all the suggestions of players that Walsh had lined up. Koeman said himself that he believed that what they were looking at was not better than what they had (Sandro, Rooney and Calvert-Lewin presumably).

Therefore, if Walsh has identified players, and Koeman turns them down, and if Koeman has identified players and Walsh has signed them, then has Walsh not done his job. Of course, if Walsh's players were shit, then that's a different story.

Koeman was the one who let us go into the season without a striker, Koeman was the one who insisted on Sigurdsson, Rooney, and Klaassen and completely changed the team, without factoring in time for the team to adapt to a radically different set-up, formation, and style. It took him 9 months to get the team playing well under his previous style after slowly adapting from Martinez's ways.

So yes. it all boils down to Koeman. Now, the next question is: is Walsh actually up to the job? We will find out in January.

GK Robles
RB Martina (just to rest Kenny)
LB Connolly (rest Baines/experience)
CB Keane (hope he doesn't get injured)
CB Williams (no Feeney in the squad)
RW Vlasic
LW Lookman
CM Besic
CM Davies
CF Ramirez
CF Calvert-Lewin

For the weekend I'd go 4-4-2 again but with
Pickford
Kenny Keane Jagielka Baines
Lennon Gueye Sigurdsson Lookman
Niasse Calvert-Lewin
The 2 teams rest everyone except Keane, Lookman and Calvert-Lewin. The only reason Vlasic is dropped is for Lennon to protect Kenny a bit more. Davies makes way for Sigurdsson as I think/hope he's going to improve with a run of games. Both young lads should figure significantly in the manager's thoughts for the league though as they've both got bright futures with us.

Pickford
Martina
Jagielka
Keane
Baines
McCarthy
Davies
Klaassen
Ramirez
Vlasic
Calvert-Lewin

Garbutt isn't automatically registered for Europe as he is 24 And wasn't included in the squad.

Connolly is on loan at Ipswich and played central midfield for them 2 nights ago.

McCarthy is still injured.

Holgate is injured.

That doesn't leave us with many options at the back assuming he wants to rest Jagielka and Baines.

I doubt he'll throw Feeney in so the only viable option would be...

Kenny, Keane, Williams, Martina.

The one thing you get from most of the names suggested is route 1 boring football, yes they may be good in avoiding relegation but is that the sort of manager we want for the next 3/5 years. Surely we want someone who has a vision of trying to play football the right way rather than 10 men behind the ball.

With John Ebrell a la dogs of war, Duncan and the focused attitude and hunger of the younger players, plus Rooney's positive attitude then we may be able to change the current malaise created by the Koeman brothers. .

I would like Unsworth to get longer and if as some are claiming he gets undone because of lack of premier league experience or the team balance or quality is not good enough then bring in a fresh face - who will be a risk no matter who it is with no matter what experience they have.

Let's face it. Klaassen was a replacement for Barkley, Sandro was a replacement for Barkley, Sigurdsson was... Rooney was... and Barkley is still here!!?? We also have Lennon, Mirallas, Lookman blah blah blah. We have enough. We have more than enough.

That's the problem. We don't have any idea what's our best 11. Its impossible. I have to go the match tonight cuz I'm driving. Other than that I'm gonna be sat there just miserable and pissed off. The football will be shite. We will have no shots, not able to pass to one another, no possession and no religion too. And if Walsh goes and gets another Under-23 squad player while our first 11 is such a mess, I'm moving back to Canada .

I would not use this game as a dead match and play anyone. I would play the team that I want to play most weeks for 2 simple reasons: the players need to play more together after all the chopping and changing. Also, go for a win – winning is good; losing is bad. Need to want to win and get into the habit of winning.

See you there in body, mind and spirit, my Fellow Blues – cosmic grooves and a firm handshake.

That's if they will have them?? Their time should be up at Everton.

Whoever the manager is players need to contribute individually and collectively to a general improvement in mindset and application.

We can turn things around with what we have irrespective of the incompetence and futility of our board.

This can only be good for the club/local economy etc and should give all involved a lift.

I have taken my 12-year-old daughter to all the home Europa League games but giving this a swerve for my daughter's sake.

Let's hope the game passes without trouble and some of our fringe players get a run out.

Here comes another fine for Everton...

Enjoy the game with your grandson anyway. I enjoy reading your posts. They remind me of the posts from the late, great contributor to TW, Harold Matthews.

I think the Premier League games coming up are the most important ones in our recent history, and we have two coming up on Sunday and next Wednesday, best to keep players fresh and fit for them.

Although the lot have been bad this season we cannot afford injuries in what is in effect a pointless game.

Robles in goal, Holgate, if fit, with Williams central defence, Beni defensive midfield, Klaassen a run out at No 10, with Vlasic, Mirallas and Sandro. As for the rest play the kids.

Next two Premier League games are an absolute priority if we are to get away from getting involved in the bottom scrap.

Much to admire about them.

Link

Only kidding, I find your posts very interesting.

If you get a chance, have a look at my post to you on the Unsworth thread. I'm genuinely interested in how your team selection for Sunday would look.

It's also a chance for them to step up and try to win a place in the team, give a couple of the youngsters first team experience and the likes of Robles, Klaassen, Vlasic and Sandro a run out, not sure if Henen qualifies but if so give the guy a chance.

Enjoy the game.

I know we all grow older and age does take it's toll, but he he is almost unrecognisable, even given that it's 20 years or so ago.

But figures will be inflated as I know at least 4 guys who have paid but aren't going.