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Season 18-19 Opinion Columns

Column & Opinion Articles

Contributions from our editorial team and featured columnists.

Soccer Boss? You’re Joking – I Want to be an Undertaker

Rob Sawyer
This article, adapted from the original, published in Lancashire Soccer Annual (1970), underlines Ray Wilson’s candour and honesty – and his pride at having played for Everton FC
24/06/2019

Club or Corporation?

Paul The Esk
Maybe it’s time to redefine “the Everton Way”? Maybe it’s time for realism rather than idealism.
12/06/2019

Jagielka was a true servant of the club, now we need to replace him with quality leaders

Jamie Taylor
The skipper's departure means that Everton are left another leader short in a squad that Marcel Brands and Marcel Silva want to mould into a young side
10/06/2019

The Skipper

Lyndon Lloyd
Everton's decision not to award a new contract to Phil Jagielka brings to an end a 12-year career characterised by consistency and exemplary leadership by example, one that was deserving of more success but which will nonetheless be remembered for a long time to come.
05/06/2019

The Priority

Lyndon Lloyd
While André Gomes has long been regarded as the "must-buy" of the summer, there is a strong case for saying that it is Everton's other loan star who is more important to the Blues’ immediate future
27/05/2019

The Misfit?

Lyndon Lloyd
Sometimes things just don’t work out in particular circumstances and it could be that Ademola Lookman and Everton were never meant to be. If so, it would be a massive shame.
22/05/2019

‘Rags’: The Life of Cuthbert Tatters

Rob Sawyer
Few footballers’ names are more evocative of bygone times in the Goodison lexicon than Cuthbert Tatters.
18/05/2019

The Renaissance

Lyndon Lloyd
Had Morgan Schneiderlin left Goodison last summer, few would have been surprised or, it’s fair to say, even been that concerned. Fast forward a year and the Frenchman has undergone quite the revival in form and favour.
13/05/2019

The Machine

Lyndon Lloyd
Idrissa Gueye has been the ideal foil for the high pressing game that Marco Silva has instituted at Everton this season; a key factor in what has been a remarkable run of defensive form since early February, especially at Goodison Park, and a platform from which the manager can build for next season. But can the club keep him?
11/05/2019

More fan engagement required above and beyond stage 2 of the public consultation

Paul The Esk
It is my belief that the more information is shared, the greater the level of understanding and “buy-in” into what is being proposed from all parties.
10/05/2019

Delay to European tour should be a blessing in disguise

Lyndon Lloyd
A seventh-place finish looks beyond us this season but while we all agree the Toffees belong in Europe, there’s a case to made that, in the context of their longer-term goals, missing out this time might not be a bad thing.
01/05/2019

Book Review — Blue Nose

David France
This is the book I had hoped to write. It confirms that Ronny Goodlass is a hybrid of Merseyside football legend, inspiring youth coach, passionate radio broadcaster, diehard Blue and one of nicest men you are likely to meet.
29/04/2019

You can beat them but you can't join them... yet

Lyndon Lloyd
In the context of the media's obsession with the top six, none of the biased coverage since Sunday has been surprising and it has begged the question among Everton fans this week: does it matter?
26/04/2019

Harold Uren and His Sporting Dynasty

Rob Sawyer
Harold Uren holds the distinction of being the first footballer to transfer directly from Liverpool to Everton. His sons Harold and Dick would go on to have notable careers in sport of their own.
20/04/2019

Tommy White – A Player of Many Parts

Rob Sawyer
Tommy White was Everton’s ‘Mr Versatile’ in a decade of service, which saw the club win two First Division titles, a Second Division Championship and the FA Cup.
10/04/2019

Harry Grundy – An Everton Winger

Tony Onslow
The Shropshire-born player briefly represented Everton and Lincoln City in the early 1900s and went on to fight in World War I and was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal
06/04/2019

Kissing The Badge, Part 2 – A Little Latin

Pete Jones
All of us know at least one bit of Latin: Nil Satis Nisi Optimum; moreover we can translate it. But how come a modern football club on Merseyside has a motto in a language that hasn’t been spoken as a native tongue for 1,500 years?
04/04/2019

The Impossible Dream

Paul The Esk
I wonder about our ability, indeed desire “to run where the brave dare not go”. Part of our DNA I believe as Evertonians is to “reach the unreachable star” – let’s do what’s required to achieve it.
04/04/2019

“We Were Treated Like Royalty”

Becky Tallentire
The latest chapter of the 2004 book, Real Footballers' Wives, features Annette Scott, wife of 1960s winger Alex who won the FA Cup and League Title with the Toffees.
22/03/2019

Ron Saunders – The Toffee Years

Rob Sawyer
Ron Saunders is best remembered for moulding the Aston Villa team which won the League Cup in 1975 and 1977, the Football League championship in 1981 and the European Cup in 1982. Less reported is the fact that he began his life in football as an Evertonian.
19/03/2019

Pickford must find focus or risk losing Everton's faith

Lyndon Lloyd
The 25-year-old's cocksure attitude has been lauded as one of his strengths but it has bordered on misplaced arrogance at times this season and it's a trait that is becoming a liability.
10/03/2019

The Charlie Parry Grave Event – 1st March 2019

EFC Heritage Society
Everton Heritage Society were joined by Everton FC ambassadors to unveil a headstone at the grave of former player Charlie Parry at Oswestry Cemetery
07/03/2019

Treasured Memories of a Bygone Age – Part 1

John McFarlane [Senior]
I was recently asked how many matches I have attended in my 70 years of following Everton. This question, together with the recent death of Gordon Banks, prompted me to think of all the players I must have seen and the impression they made on me.
03/04/2019

99 Problems

Lyndon Lloyd
For all the acknowledged mitigating circumstances surrounding what Marco Silva inherited, there is little question that Everton have regressed under his leadership. The Blues have a multitude of issues which the manager has time to fix. Now he has to prove he can.
24/02/2019

3 years into the Moshiri era, belatedly, it’s time to act

Paul The Esk
The thinking at Everton hasn’t changed in more than two decades, even after 3 years of Moshiri’s involvement which is long enough to evaluate, to move on those associated with the past, and to know that businesses are only as good as the people leading them
24/02/2019

Treasured Memories of a Bygone Age – Part 2

John McFarlane [Senior]
To continue my memories of players I have seen play at Goodison Park since 1948, and who have left a lasting impression on me.
23/04/2019

‘Flicka’ – The Life of Graham Williams (1936-2018)

Rob Sawyer
The "small but stockily-built" winger who was signed as a promising 19-year-old from Bradford City in 1956 and spent three years with the Blues, passed away last November aged 81.
21/02/2019

John McPherson and the Kilmarnock Connection

Tony Onslow
Hailing from the same locale as his one-time Everton team-mate, Sandy Dick, John McPherson would briefly represent the Toffees as an amateur in 1887
21/02/2019

Fred Pickering – A Tribute

Rob Sawyer
The Everton legend passed away yesterday in his home town of Blackburn aged 78.
10/02/2019

Diversification and our future growth strategy

Paul The Esk
As the more forward-thinking clubs look for growth away from traditional broadcasting & commercial income sources, what will Everton's response be?
03/02/2019

Everton’s January transfer window driven by regulations or pure financial sense?

Paul The Esk
The reasons for the club’s reluctance to enter the market this January are very clear. The “financial conditions” referred to by Silva are on the basis of very obvious commercial considerations not per se driven by compliance issues relating to FFP.
20/01/2019

The Three Young Blues

Tony Onslow
The story of Liverpool-born William Gibson Walter Richards and Thomas Whittle who represented Everton in the 1880s
18/01/2019

The improvement under Marco Silva

Gary McCarty
After one win from his opening six games in charge of Everton, Marco Silva has led the team into the top-half of the table and onto the fringes of the battle for a European qualification place
17/01/2019

Can Everton Exceed Pre-Season Expectations for Their Premier League Performance?

Gary McCarty
Can Everton Exceed Pre-Season Expectations for Their Premier League Performance?
07/01/2019

Bramley-Moore demand and how to grow it further

Paul The Esk
The second piece supporting the case for a 60,000 capacity at the Blues' new stadium
07/01/2019

Analysis of the proposed 52,000 capacity for Bramley-Moore, including season ticket pricing

Paul The Esk
A focus on the business case and the impact a smaller stadium capacity has on ticket prices (particularly season tickets)
30/12/2018

Jason Scott-Lee: Football Pioneer

Rob Sawyer
The story of one of the first of two players of Chinese heritage to play for Everton, some six decades before Li Tie and Li Weifeng would sign for the club under David Moyes
20/12/2018

Interview with Sasha Ryazantsev

Paul The Esk
Paul sat down for an exclusive interview with Everton's Director of Finance today.
19/12/2018

Investment in squad & exceptional expenses return Everton FC to losses – Report & Analysis of 2017-18 Accounts

Paul The Esk
The story of this year’s accounts is one of huge spending with increases way beyond the increases in income funded by player sales, capital injections from Moshiri, the use of debt facilities and some increase in commercial income.
18/12/2018

Stick or Twist? Silva’s Selection Dilemmas

Lyndon Lloyd
Marcel Brands and Marco Silva were successful in not only pruning a bloated squad but also in then adding genuine quality to the Everton team. It means that the manager has some tough decisions to make when everybody is fit.
27/11/2018

Where is the Growth Coming From?

Paul The Esk
The question for the Everton Board is how do we achieve revenue growth when there appear to be limits on our 3 main income streams, broadcasting, matchday and commercial?
26/11/2018

Billy and Bob: The Fabulous Balmer Brothers

Rob Sawyer
William and Robert Balmer formed a fearsome, and fruitful, fraternal partnership in Everton’s back-line in the early years of the 20th Century
22/11/2018

William Henry Briscoe

Tony Onslow
He collected a Liverpool Cup winner's medal in his first season at Anfield and played three Football League games for Everton between 1884 and 1888.
22/11/2018

Chelsea v Everton – A tactical analysis

Steve Ferns
A detailed look back at the Blues' hard-won point at Stamford Bridge last Sunday
15/11/2018

Gentleman John

Rob Sawyer
The infamous circumstances of Johnny Carey's dismissal as Everton manager in 1961 have entered football folklore but there was so much more to this which makes the focus on that taxi ride unjust.
13/11/2018

How do Everton take the next step?

Gary McCarty
As the season has developed the Toffees are starting to thrive under their new manager’s system. The missing ingredient for them to get to the next level could be a top-quality striker
09/11/2018

Kissing The Badge, Part 1 – The Name Everton

Pete Jones
One of ToffeeWeb's esteemed Everton historians looks at the origins of the name that our club adopted from the district in 1879 and still proudly bears to this day
05/11/2018

Gomes – The Number 6 We Have Been Waiting For?

Stephen Ferns
Some musings on why this role is so important to the side
24/10/2018

An alternative 'Team of the Century' – Part 2

John McFarlane [Senior]
To finish off this article, I pay tribute to another three Everton players who formed part of my alternative "Team of the Century": Sam Chedgzoy, Bobby Collins, and Bill Dean.
22/10/2018

Silva secures a hat-trick of wins with Pickford save and timely substitutions

Lyndon Lloyd
With the help of his star goalkeeper, Marco Silva engineered victory when it seemed as though Everton were destined to be shut out by a typically obstinate Crystal Palace
21/10/2018

Can Everton be André Gomes's new lease on life?

Lyndon Lloyd
The 25-year-old has come a long way already in his career but has yet to truly find his place.
21/10/2018

An alternative 'Team of the Century' — Part 1

John McFarlane [Senior]
At the turn of the century (1999-2000), Radio Merseyside presenter Alan Jackson invited listeners to his 'Football Football Show' to submit the names of players with Merseyside connections to feature in a Team of the Century. I submitted an eleven who had left their mark on football both on and off the field of play; my Everton nominations were as follows...
16/10/2018

Charles Munroe Lindsay, an Everton Goalkeeper

Tony Onslow
The first of a long line of “first-choice” goalkeepers at the club
08/10/2018

Doomed to Repeat the Errors of the Past

Lyndon Lloyd
Everton’s infuriating dance of despair with the League Cup continues amid a slew of changes to a winning line-up that doomed the Blues to another exit in the early rounds of the competition
03/10/2018

“Nobody Loved Football More Than Tony”

Becky Tallentire
The next chapter of the 2004 book Real Footballers' Wives, features Marina Kay, wife of 1960s legend, Tony.
02/10/2018

The “Complexities” of Financing a Stadium Build

Paul The Esk
Just how complex is it, and is it different for Everton than any other club?
14/09/2018

That Old Cliché About Rome...

Lyndon Lloyd
Everton have missed a few tricks in the opening weeks of Marco Silva’a first campaign in charge but time is needed for important players to become available and for things to gel as a whole
13/09/2018

“Maestro” – The Jack Southworth Story

Rob Sawyer
Evertonians laud the club’s lineage of talismanic goal scorers but some wonderful marksmen are somewhat overlooked. One of them, Jack Southworth, remains the only Everton player to score a double hat-trick in a first team match. Yet there was much more to this polymath who excelled on both musical and sporting stages.
10/09/2018

Zonal Marking

Steve Ferns
What it is and how Everton are currently executing Marco Silva's favoured defensive system badly
05/09/2018

Jack Brearley, a Prisoner at Ruhleben

Tony Onslow
The forward played for Everton in the early years of the 20th Century and was caught up in World War I when he was imprisoned by the Germans while working as a trainer in Europe
20/08/2018

So where did all the money come from?

Paul The Esk
A look at how Everton financed the last transfer window's activity, and the consequences going forward
13/08/2018

When 'Legends' were thin on the ground — Part 7

John McFarlane [Senior]
To conclude the list of players who represented Everton from the 1946-47 season, when the Football League resumed after World War Two, until the 1950-51 season, when Everton were relegated to Division Two.
07/08/2018

Everton have plenty to prove under new boss Marco Silva

Gary McCarty
Marco Silva has been tasked with producing a more pleasing style of football than was the case under his predecessor, Sam Allardyce. Assessing the club’s chances of success under the former Hull City and Watford boss next term.
08/08/2018

Let's Make Everton Great Again

Lyndon Lloyd
A chat with Elizabeth France, wife of the good Dr Everton, on renewed hope for the stop-start Farhad Moshiri era, reminiscences of the great Ray Wilson, and what may lie ahead under Marcel Brands and Marco Silva
07/08/2018

Things You Didn't Know About Marco Silva

Gary McCarty
Stats have shown that foreign managers with different ideas of football have done exceptionally well in the Premier League.
02/08/2018

“Bunny” – The Robert Bell Story

Rob Sawyer
The Wirral has a proud tradition of producing high-calibre footballers and for a period in the 20th century, Tranmere became something of a centre-forward factory, producing the likes of “Dixie” Dean and his eventual team-mate “Bunny” Bell.
31/07/2018

Sigurdsson Must Become Everton's Key Midfielder after World Cup Showing

Gary McCarty
Now in his prime at 28 years old, the Icelandic Talisman needs to step up and become the midfield playmaker that he has been at other clubs and for his country.
27/07/2018

How Pickford hit another level of performance at the World Cup

Gary McCarty
Although England’s run to the semi-finals of the World Cup this summer produced several outstanding individual performances, Jordan Pickford had a particularly impressive tournament
26/07/2018

The case for 60,000

Paul The Esk
Amid suggestions that the club's hierarchy are considering a capacity of between 52,000 and 55,000, the argument and justification for 60,000 at Everton's proposed dockside stadium are worth repeating
26/07/2018

Richarlison's massive fee is matched by his potential

Lyndon Lloyd
Whether its £35m or £40m, it’s a jaw-dropping amount of money but it's the price of trying to remain competitive at the top end of the Premier League, and in Richarlison, Everton have invested heavily in some excitingly raw potential.
24/07/2018

When 'Legends' were thin on the ground — Part 6

John McFarlane [Senior]
Continuing the theme of listing every player who represented Everton from 1946-47 when League Football resumed after the Second World War, until 1950-51 when Everton were relegated to Division Two.
22/07/2018

Time for Patience – On the Pitch, at Least

Paul The Esk
Brands and Silva have to restructure the footballing side of the organisation. That cannot be done in one window, it might be done in three or four. It will require a huge amount of patience from fans but it also urgently requires an explanation from those in charge
18/07/2018

Elie Hurel – The First Jerseyman to Play in the First Division

Rob Sawyer
Elie Hurel was the first man from the Channel Islands dependencies to play in the English top flight. His journey there – from being orphaned as a child to lining up alongside the legendary Bill “Dixie” Dean at Goodison Park – is a remarkable one.
18/07/2018

When 'Legends' were Thin on the Ground – Part 5

John McFarlane [Senior]
Continuing the theme of listing the players who represented Everton from 1946-47, when the Football League resumed following World War Two, until !950-51 when Everton were relegated to the old Second Division.
12/07/2018

Pickford earns his England stripes and, hopefully, some respect from his doubters

Lyndon Lloyd
The criticism of Jordan Pickford by some pundits, commentators and journalists came quickly at this World Cup but he answered them brilliantly against Colombia
04/07/2018

Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing

Paul The Esk
That was the stunningly simple assessment from one of the world’s greatest investors, Warren Buffett, when asked to define risk.
01/07/2018

Treasured Memories of a Bygone Age – Part 3

John McFarlane [Senior]
Continuing the theme of players I have seen in my boyhood, adolescent, and adult life.
10/05/2019

Season 2017-18 column articles
Season 2016-17 column articles
Season 2015-16 column articles
Season 2014-15 column articles
Season 2013-14 column articles
Season 2012-13 column articles
Season 2011-12 column articles
Season 2010-11 column articles
Season 2009-10 column articles
Season 2008-09 fan articles
Season 2007-08 fan articles
Season 2006-07 fan articles


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