Seasons 2019-20 Opinion
Fan Articles
Contributions from Everton fans and outside writers. Submit your own article for consideration
A Big Summer Ahead
Graham Holliday : 31/07/2020
The challenge for Ancelotti and Brands this summer will be threefold: improve the overall quality of the squad, address its balance and engender a shift in mentality
Everton 2019-20 Season Review: ‘Evolution’ not Revolution for Ancelotti
Gary McCarty : 31/07/2020
Everton’s dismal 3-1 defeat at home Bournemouth on the final day summed up a Premier League campaign that fans will be glad to see the back of.
End of Year School Report
Martin O'Connor : 26/07/2020
As this depressing season ended with a 3-1 defeat to Bournemouth, it is time to give out grades, so here is my school report on the underperforming bunch. Marks out of 10.
Empty cabinets, the hamster wheel, and bulging saddle bags
Darren Hind : 14/07/2020
When Carlo Ancelotti was appointed as our manager, my heart sank. Getting the call from Everton must be like winning the lottery for a manager. Every ex-player working for this club is accused of being on easy street, looked after by Uncle Bill. Being an Evertonian at the club is a crime... yet any success this club has enjoyed in the past has always achieved with an Evertonian at the helm. Somebody who actually cares about and loves the club.
The Weakest Link: Not that bad, not that good
Conor McCourt : 13/07/2020
Comparing Carlo to what some view as our 'weakest' manager in the Premier League era during his darkest hour is no real barometer to be setting – and may only serve to produce an intentional heavily biased outcome.
The Last Rites
Steve Hogan : 07/07/2020
People often talk about watershed moments in a team's history; well, last night proved once and for all the faceless wonders who masqueraded as Everton players have no short- or long-term future at the club
Will we ever get an Everton identity back?
James Pirie : 07/07/2020
More than any world class manager or spectacular new stadium, I long for players who care.
It's Not THAT Bad
Jay Wood : 03/07/2020
Maybe Carol Ancelotti is not a busted flush as some wish to portray him as. And maybe, just maybe, players some posters like to praise or flay are not quite as good – or as bad – as they believe.
Everton and Liverpool Fans
Rob Halligan : 27/06/2020
As many of you will have seen, there have been many comments posted on Toffeeweb concerning the Liverpool fans' celebrations of their long-awaited Premier League trophy win the past two nights, following their title victory. Michael Kenrick asked me to do a fan piece on all things Red Shite fans. (I don't know if he was joking or not??)
Summer Football
Rob Halligan : 19/06/2020
According to the long-term weather forecast, we are in for a scorching few weeks from the beginning of July, which should give us a real indication of just how good we can cope with summer football in this country.
Time to Experiment?
Martin O'Connor : 10/06/2020
As we prepare for the final nine games of the season, what should be the objective for the Toffees? Beating the Spawn of Satan is a given but, apart from that, what else is there to play for?
Comings and Goings
Alasdair Jones : 30/05/2020
The theme of this article is the transfer dealings of the two managers that succeeded Harry Catterick, and whose objective would be to rebuild the team and ultimately create a Championship-winning side. How did Billy Bingham and then Gordon Lee fare in comparison to the “shrewd operator”?
The Greatest?
Rick Tarleton : 30/05/2020
Who'd be my greatest player? Without doubt — Alex Young. He's not the best Everton player I've ever seen but, to me, he was everything I want in my cult hero.
In Memory of The Greatest
Dave Williams : 12/05/2020
Today, Alan Ball would have been 75 years old. This is very hard to imagine as my memories of him would always be of a bundle of energy, a young man of supreme fitness and stamina, allied to an unquenchable desire to win, and much-underrated skills.
60 Years a Blue
Don Wright : 03/05/2020
"When we were all sat around in the back room, my eldest pulls out a season ticket. My very own! For my 60 years, I have waited to get one and what happens? Covid-bloody-19!"
New Window
Martin O'Connor : 03/05/2020
The next transfer window is going to be a trial for the blues, how will we fair is anyone’s guess.
The First Premier League Merseyside Derby
Dick Brady : 02/05/2020
A look back to December 1992 and the players who made up Howard Kendall's team that day
Memories of the New Millennium – May 2013
Patrick McFarlane : 02/05/2020
For more than several months towards the end of the 2012-13 season, media speculation had surrounded the future of David Moyes at Everton and whether he would sign an extension to his contract or seek pastures new.
Decline and Fall
Alasdair Jones : 29/04/2020
Everton's fall from grace after winning the Football League Championship in 1970 is something that rankled with me as it unfolded in the early '70s. Writing a few weeks back about the 1970 Championship win (Our Golden Anniversary) reignited my need to try and get a handle on why it all came about.
I Was a Teenage Woolyback
Mick Gill : 20/04/2020
A non-Scouse Evertonian reminisces about following the Toffees in the 1970s
Ruhleben Football Association
Rob Halligan : 10/04/2020
I recently purchased a book called The Ruhleben Football Association, a true story about British prisoners of war, taken prisoner during The Great War
Our Golden Anniversary
Alasdair Jones : 09/04/2020
1 April 2020 marked the Golden Anniversary of Everton securing the First Division Championship trophy in that most memorable 1969-70 season.
A 70s-80s Everton Childhood, FC Schalke 04, and Jonjoe Kenny
Danny O'Neill : 05/04/2020
I present some personal memories, a non-Everton footballing link with the Bundesliga club, and Jonjoe Kenny, who is currently on loan there.
Memories of the New Millennium – April 2005
Patrick McFarlane : 01/04/2020
By the beginning of April 2005, Evertonians were dreaming about their team qualifying for the Champions League in the 2005-06 season.
The English Game
Jamie Yates : 29/03/2020
The English Game, a beautifully crafted dramatisation of one of the most interesting subtexts in the early days of Association Football, pre-League, when friendly matches took place up and down the country, the game was almost completely amateur and the FA Cup really was 'the big one'
Goodison Memories - A Golden Anniversary
Phil Williams : 28/03/2020
Today, the 28 March, is the 50th anniversary of my first game at Goodison Park.
Aged just 6 I went along with my Dad to watch us beat Chelsea 5-2.
Assessing Carlo Ancelotti in this hiatus time
Martin O'Connor : 19/03/2020
As we sit out an unplanned break to football, it is the perfect time to review Carlo Ancelotti’s start at the Blues. Has he really lived up to the 'Carlo Fantastico' song in his early tenure?
Full-Back Abyss
Martin O'Connor : 06/03/2020
With Carlo Ancelotti wanting to give Leighton Baines another 1-year extension to his contract at the Blues, this brings into focus the lack of quality we have in the full-back position.
Memories of the New Millennium – March 2002.
John P McFarlane : 02/03/2020
Walter Smith's halting reign came to an ignominious end and David Moyes was plucked from relative obscurity to lead Everton away from the threat of relegation
Memories of the New Millennium – February 2009
John P McFarlane : 02/02/2020
A nostalgic look back at a pivotal period in the Moyes Era, when Everton appeared to be emerging as a side that could compete with the best of the Premier League
Should I Stay or Should I go?
Phil Roberts : 01/02/2020
There are 20 Everton players who are out on loan or perhaps coming to the end of their top-level career over the next 2 summers.
Blocked Pathways for Under-23s
Martin O'Connor : 30/01/2020
The objective of any football academy is to produce good footballers, some of whom, it is hoped, will become first-team players for the football club.
Who's driving the Bus?
Gerard McKean : 29/01/2020
Is it a peculiarly Evertonian thing, that we prefer to criticise players rather than the people who sanction the signings and salaries of those players?
Flowers Die...
Martin O'Connor : 19/01/2020
Should Everton dip into the transfer market before the January window shuts? I would emphatically argue No.
Projected League Results
Steve Ferns : 13/01/2020
An update to an article on the same theme from earlier this season.
The Light From an Oncoming Train
Roy Johnstone : 09/01/2020
This weekend promises to be an interesting time for one Blue's son's first visit to the Grand Old Lady. How will the players respond to their embarrassment last Sunday?
The Skeleton Crew
Martin O'Connor : 08/01/2020
We don’t just have dead wood at the club, they have been here for so long the dead wood has rotted away and become nothing but dead bones. As we now enter the January window it is that time again to look at the squad and hope we can at least ship out some of the rubbish.
Where are we going? The hungry or the wise?
Conor McCourt : 07/01/2020
Can Everton, with its confused transfer strategy and their elder statesman manager at the helm. compete with the current trends in the Premier League?
Do we deserve anything better?
Robert Burnham : 06/01/2020
So here we are with a week to contemplate one of the worst days in our history. How shall we get across our anger and disillusionment when we next take our seats at Goodison on Saturday? The answer is simple. We won’t.
Winter Reinforcements: A new spine needed?
Sam Hoare : 03/01/2020
A very quick version of my annual summer transfer speculation about the sort of players that we could use and who some of the options might be.
The Big Yin... and Yang
Matt Woods : 03/01/2020
One of Ancelotti’s first comments was that the club needs togetherness, the patience and support of the fans. Duncan Ferguson has already shown us the way. Through love. We are so desperate to beat our neighbours in the FA cup but I believe we never help ourselves due to the hate we have for them. Is there a better mental approach?
Memories of the New Millennium – January 2000.
John P McFarlane : 29/12/2019
At the end of the last Millennium, Everton Football Club had amassed more top-flight points than any other club, and Bill Kenwright had won his battle for control of the Goodison Park club.
Jordan Pickford: A defence of our keeper
Kris Boner : 27/12/2019
Do those Everton fans critical of the keeper suffer from some form confirmation bias because they watch him every week and other keepers not as much?
Cometh the hour, Cometh the man, Cometh Carlo Ancelotti
Scott Robinson : 27/12/2019
Everton now have a manager who has won titles AND trophies and that will command the respect of the players in a way that his predecessors could not
Fireworks? … I sincerely hope so
Darren Hind : 24/12/2019
Carlo hasn't even got his coat off yet, but I'm already hoping and worrying (in equal measure) at what he can achieve, how he may fail. My head's wrecked with ifs, buts and maybes.
Everton Goes to Hollywood
Jay Wood : 22/12/2019
Any Evertonian who "knows their ‘istory" will get the title of this piece: a nod to the 1980s band, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and the publicly expressed desire by the club’s de facto owner, Farhad Moshiri, to appoint a ‘Hollywood Manager’.
Stars in his Eyes
Martin O'Connor : 21/12/2019
With Ancelotti, Moshiri again has stars in his eyes and we are ending up with a past-his-best, upgraded Ronald Koeman.
Moshiri throws the dice (again).
Jim Potter : 20/12/2019
I’m not anti-Moshiri. Just a confused and worried fan that sees no real plan or clear direction in place. I wish Mr Ancelotti all the good fortune in the world.
Any dream will do...
Darren Hind : 19/12/2019
I dread getting up to the news that Ancelotti has been confirmed as the new Everton boss. Him failing at Goodison is not simply a possibility; I believe it to be a certainty... a forgone conclusion.
Why are Everton so bad at picking managers?
Jonathan Tasker : 09/12/2019
A look at recent Everton managers, why they were chosen and why nearly all have failed. It also attempts to examine who is involved in choosing the Everton manager and, finally, who would ideally be the next Everton manager.
Seriously: What just happened?
Jay Wood : 08/12/2019
Who would have thought, just 4 days after the Anfield debacle...
Seriously: What just happened?
The Sweet Smell of Simplicity - for starters
Paul Tran : 08/12/2019
There was one valuable lesson from yesterday's victory over Chelsea: the importance of simplicity.
Moshiri Making Us Rotten to the Core
Dylan Joseph : 06/12/2019
We have a majority owner making all big decisions, a DOF buying some players, Bill on the side pushing his agenda and a head coach who is trying to make a silk purse out of a pigs ear. It is a totally dysfunctional and chaotic operation.
There is only one proven leader in our club
Jacques Sandtonian : 02/12/2019
If Farhad Moshiri wants to protect his sizeable investment from disappearing into the Championship, he needs to take one decision of true leadership and hand the reins to Marcel Brands
Same old same old
Graeme Beresford : 02/12/2019
Nothing has changed since October when it had become clear that Everton under Marco Silva were wasting one of the easiest starts on paper to a Premier League season.
Moyes from the Blackstuff
James Daniels : 30/11/2019
There's not a day that goes by when I'm not fed up of some Tory beaut's ego being massaged on 5 Live to turn to TalkShite and hear Alan Brazil say, out of his prolapsed anus of a mouth, "What about Davie Moyes for the Everton job, hey?"
Jesus the Saviour?
Jay Wood : 27/11/2019
IF - a very big IF - there is anything in this and it comes to pass, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss Jorge Jesus.
What is Moshiri thinking?
Steve Ferns : 26/11/2019
It seems so many cannot understand why we might be keeping hold of Marco Silva. Maybe, as someone who still backs Silva, I can give you an insight into what Moshiri might be thinking.
Cracked Screen
Martin O'Connor : 25/11/2019
It seems as though Marco Silva's tenure is like a cracked window or mobile phone screen – eventually you get fed up and have to get a new one
An Open Letter to Farhad Moshiri
Trevor Powell : 23/11/2019
I am writing to you not to criticise your devotion to Everton Football Club but to offer some constructive thoughts for you to consider.
My Everton experience and next manager if we get one
Steuart Hayes : 21/11/2019
How I started to support Everton and my wants for the next manager.
My viewing of Howard's Way
Gerard McKean : 20/11/2019
It was with an uncommon mixture of whimsy nostalgia and visceral anger that I set off one afternoon last week to catch a showing of “Howard’s Way” at FACT in the city centre.
Patience?
Alasdair Jones : 18/11/2019
With the high expectations that attach to expensive incoming players, and the frustration amongst many about the reluctance to use young players, I am prompted recall how the club performed in relation to these matters during my earlier years as a Blues supporter. This led me to consider the way in which previous teams were assembled. How successful or otherwise was Harry Catterick in the 1960s in his quest to rejuvenate and remodel his Championship team of 1963?
Lukaku – The wound we can’t close
Dylan Joseph : 06/11/2019
What if we had told Lukaku he had to stay and honour his contract?
The Good Son
Martin O'Connor : 06/11/2019
The fallout from the game against Tottenham and the Son - Gomes incident has been staggering in how the club lost the narrative and allowed Spurs to set the agenda.
A Wander Down Howard's Way
Jamie Yates : 05/11/2019
The film is a wonderful tribute to a man who did wonderful things for Everton Football Club, for us as Evertonians. Beautifully pitched, it captures the men who Howard Kendall assembled, their feelings and reminisces, perfectly.
Seriously Concerned
Jim Wilson : 06/11/2019
Even if Marco Silva gets us out of this mess, he clearly will never steer Everton to greatness. We have needed a big manager with a big personality for years
Transfer Jeopardy
Darren Hind : 30/10/2019
Over the last three seasons, Everton Football Club have made desperate attempts to climb back up the football ladder. We must have spent about £600M on players in the last three seasons. Unfortunately, we still don't have one player that would get a regular game for a top club…
Meritocracy
Paul Columb : 22/10/2019
I’m hoping that Silva demonstrates sufficient flexibility and intelligence to select his strategy, formation and players on merit and build on the glimmer of hope that was our best performance to date under his stewardship
Stale Bread
Martin O'Connor : 09/10/2019
The Blues are looking like a team that has become like a lump of stale bread. I think Silva can turn this around with the options outlined below... but he has to start now by making these changes and baking some fresh bread.
Einstein said...
Mike Kehoe : 08/10/2019
The famed physicist's quote regarding his definition of madness has been posted so many times by frustrated fans, it can perhaps, accurately summarise a regrettable period of the club’s recent history.
The Great Pretenders
Kieran Kinsella : 07/10/2019
Evertonians have been hearing a powerful message about our team’s greatness for several years now. Perversely, the boasts of "greatness" usually follow a dismal defeat.
NSNO, Kaizen & Quo Vadis
Kevin O'Regan : 07/10/2019
In an ever-changing world with high demands we have no room for complacency and mediocrity. Get busy living or get busy dying. What is it to be Everton? A choice to remain miserable and in the shadows of darkness (you know who) or do we make a decision to move in a winning direction?
The Rot Starts at the Top
Steve Hogan : 06/10/2019
The 'soft centre' we have runs right through the club like a bad apple. Kenwright's benevolent nature means we fail to recruit even the best coaching staff. Why do we have to employ ex-blues onto the coaching staff?
Short-Term or Long-Term?
Russell Smith : 24/09/2019
This is not the time to "start again" we need to keep faith with the longer-term objectives and planning that both Silva and Brands have introduced
Long-Term Hope Versus Short-Term Panic
Michael Denson : 24/09/2019
As fans we have the right to be ambitious for our club but is this starting to run the risk of being counter-productive? Is the very argument that we should not be putting a ceiling on our ambitions actually unwittingly restricting us?
Home and Away
Dylan Joseph : 19/09/2019
At home, we are seasoned professionals, knowing our job and more often than not executing it. Since 2004, we are expected to win just 5 times on the road out of 19 opportunities. So what’s the difference?
Where do we go from here?
Darren Hind : 16/09/2019
With the exception of Howard Kendall, and possibly big Joe Royle, we have brought in a steady stream of duds. But boy — have we rewarded them! Walker, Smith, Moyes, Martinez, Koeman and Allardyce.
Graham Souness…
Adam McCulloch : 05/09/2019
Graham Souness must have been conceived, raised and whelped into existence in the most spiteful of circumstances. A series of outrageously outrageous events that etched a litany of grievances onto his forehead, each line another stroke of outrage. Permanently angry at everything the sun touches.
Patience is required. We must hold our nerve.
Dylan Joseph : 29/08/2019
Momentous changes are happening at our club with the stadium, the first team transformation and the evolution of our style and our philosophy. We must support the team and allow Marcel and Marco to create a brighter future.
Horses for Courses – and a defence of Calvert-Lewin
Kevin Prytherch : 21/08/2019
What is our best team at the moment? Or rather, based on the back end of last season, what would be our first-choice starting XI at the moment?
Watford Win – What Does It Mean?
Matthew Parry : 21/08/2019
Everton have a very solid base very early in the season which we’ve not had for years, some of our summer recruits appear to be the real deal and this season could be one to remember. But we must take each game step by step and not get carried away
Season Aims
Martin O'Connor : 16/08/2019
As we embark on a new season what should blues expect from the 2019-20 campaign. With the positivity around the designs for Bramley-Moore Dock, will the season on the pitch match this positivity?
Worst Everton squad of the Premier League era
Elliott Bretland : 12/08/2019
I took to social media to ask thousands of Blues to pick the players who have stunk the place out at Goodison Park since 1992, the names who just never cut it and the footballers who simply failed to live up to their potential or price tag.
From My Spec - in the distant past
Paul Tran : 12/08/2019
I miss Ken Buckley’s ‘From My Seat’ reports. As a rare matchgoer these days, I can only do these retrospective reports. I have plenty more and I hope others chip in, too.
The Case for More Firepower
Paul Derby : 12/08/2019
The signing of Moise Kean is a step in the right direction as Everton seek more potency up front, but Marcel Brands must redouble his efforts to recruit goalscoring talent if Everton are to challenge the Top 6 long term
What Should We Expect?
Sam Hoare : 12/08/2019
Do high expectations drive you to be your very best? Or do they just grind you into the ground when you continually fail to achieve them?
Here We Go Again
Mike Oates : 11/08/2019
Just when we seem to be close to that elusive Top 6 place, along comes the transfer window. Whilst we buy some quality, we inevitably seem to lose our key players and we just have to start all over again, rather than building on. It’s been like this for years.
Marks on a Window...
Martin O'Connor : 09/08/2019
How do we assess the Blues' business in the transfer market? Below is an assessment of how the Toffees' fared. All marks are out of 10.
The Young Ones
Phil (Kelsall) Roberts : 05/08/2019
Do we remember the days of Walter Smith and Gascoigne, Ginola, Blomqvist? How times have changed!
The trip to Bremen that never was
Rob Halligan : 03/08/2019
So here I am writing a story about my trip to Bremen, sitting in my lounge at home, having done a 12-hour excursion to Amsterdam airport and back.
Fan event at Finch Farm
Rob Halligan : 31/07/2019
A fan event was held at Finch Farm today for all those fans who attended every game, home and away, last season.
Paying For Past Mistakes
Adam McCulloch : 29/07/2019
In total, we are paying out around £700k a week on players that are mostly nowhere near the matchday squad. Marcel Brands has an almighty job on his hands. He may have to take a similar strategy to last year.
Touchside at Bramley-Moore Dock
Mike Owen : 11/07/2019
Since it emerged that we were looking at building a stadium there, I have generally taken a wait-and-see approach, even been a bit of a sceptic. Having been on a site visit on Wednesday, I have warmed to the idea
Farewell Old Friend
Jamie Yates : 10/07/2019
Here we were to bid a fond goodbye to our friend, the Reverend Harry Ross.
The Big Interview: Gordon Lee
Brian Wilkinson : 09/07/2019
In the definitive history of Everton Football Club, 'The School of Science', Gordon Lee is fondly remembered at Goodison Park.
VAR Did It All Go Wrong?
Jay Wood : 09/07/2019
There is a growing tide of discontent with the implementation of VAR amongst them and just how intrusive it is to the natural flow of the game. Let's consider its evolution thus far
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