Patience is required. We must hold our nerve.

However, I would point out that whether we, as fans, "hold our nerve" or panic and run around like chickens in a feed lot is ultimately irrelevant to whether the club succeeds with its long-term plan.

And patience is no fun. Venting is a lot more enjoyable.

Money aside, I don't sense that he is in trouble. Obviously, no one is doing cart wheels yet but I think most fans think that he needs more time to prove himself as a winner or otherwise.

I bitch a lot. I'm very good at it, and it comes naturally.

But in the end, we simply have to look longer term.

It frustrates the hell out of me seeing a team drop points to inferior opposition. I want more for the Club. It also frustrates me seeing us play the ball out wide so often, being 13th in shots attempted and 20th in shots on target in league play through 3 games. There's 3-4 formations I'd like to see, but never do.

The list goes on and on.

BUT!

I said after last season we simply must give Marco three full seasons to fully implement his style and get his team together - through Brands - so we can see what he can do.

I stand by that, despite the rants and frustration.

Everton can not be a team chopping and changing managers every 12 to 18 months. Your call for patience is a solid one.

It still won't stop me from kicking up a storm if we lose on Sunday. But I won't be one calling for the manager's head any time soon.

There's a hurricane coming. And I don't mean Everton - literally a hurricane is barreling down at Florida. My only concern right now is being able to watch the game on Sunday! ;0) Baby steps.

We live and breath Everton with every single breath. And Everton can make the simple act of breathing in a strain, we hold it in hope and anticipation and exhaling is yet another deflation.

When we get together, away from the prying ears of our shameless neighbours, we enter our mutually cathartic state. We fucking moan and moan and moan. Then we play our IF game, in the folorn hope of one better day.

We play IF to try and raise each others spirits, to garner enough strength not to enjoy, just to endure.

To be honest, I've realised a couple of years back that I probably love Evertonians more than I love Everton.
Evertonians simply are " those who understand".

Alastair@12: I hope you're right. We need to get out of the midtable cycle of 45 to 60 points, and should be able to do that finally, given the quality of players and strength in depth that we now have.

My first time in a Rhodes and first time back in Greece in 24 years.

My son was wearing his EFC shirt in a sports shop in a Rhodes town, and it was an ex Ehtnikos Piraeus player who owned the shop, as he spotted us.

Long story short we spoke for ages, got a good deal on some under armour shorts for my son, good family pictures with the ex player, but the missus was impressed too with his enthusiasm and his tales of the past, under Howard Kendalls stint there.

That's another Ilyiad for pub conversation on match day only.

I reflect on life and being an Evertonian, where we eat, sleep and breathe the club every day, and my salvation and solace is that things can only get better for EFC.

There's a new structure new management philosophy and so, I'm hoping soon we break the time freeze and win silver this season.

We've all got a thousand stories each and more but whilst the agony of being trophyless for so long is like a Curse from the Gods, the laughs and banter along this journey can't be bought.

But in football Money does talk but doesn't guarantee success.

This journey will be a long one, but we now have a direction at the club. It's going in the right way but my self included I don't expect anything more than 100% effort and if we loose trying our best I don't mind.

But the basics, the A,B,C,s of football, - focus, passion, determination, shape, team spirit, controlled aggression and the rest must be upheld on the park for 97 minutes.

At the moment we make too many mistakes, and that's the difference between us and the so called top 5.

Now for a Greek epic and destroy the Wolves in good style.

Clive,
Kenwright was a different era when very few had money. His job was to keep us afloat while trying to propel us forward using Moyes. Both did a good job during that time. It could of been so much worse.

Jamie, Dorian isn't supposed to hit us until Monday night so the game should be safe. However I would like to wish all Floridian evertonians (and the non believers) a safe passage trough this one.

David,
Kenwright is nothing but a self serving egotist who has not put one penny of his own money into the club but has made himself a multi millionaire out of it through his lies and deceit. It was he who nearly took the club under not PJ. If we hadnt sold Rooney we would have been in the shit. PJ left Kenwright a net asset position which within 2 years of Kenwrights reign had turned into a net liability. There are 2 fallacies that many still believe.
1. That Kenwright mortgaged his house to buy Everton. He did not!!

2. Everton was in financial trouble when he took over. It wasnt. It was just that the overdraft facilities that Johnson had personally guaranteed was no longer available and Kenwright couldnt and wouldnt personally guarantee them.

Other clubs will and are overtaking us. It's akin to standing still. The average premier league manager tenure is 18months. If you haven't got it right by then, well you're lucky if you are still in a job.

It's not even about staying up now, with nearly all the competitions out of reach for most clubs the key to staying in your post is playing attractive football, no matter the results.

Several big sides have been relegated and rejuvenated as a result. Sure several have disappeared too.

I'm not suggesting we get relegated to ‘find ourselves' however Silva has six months to get his act together and give us attractive football and tangible progress on last year. I doubt that will be the case.

If he doesn't and stays on, well that's says more about Brands and Moshiri's ambition than Silva's performance.

To rejuvenate a squad after 18months is tough, especially if you are not much further on than when you started. You've done most of your shopping and well if your message isn't working it's almost certainly on the wane. So what the point of keeping someone on?

Time is a factor, the lack of it. I'm afraid patience for a manager is rare and much rarer in the modern era is success as a result of patience.

The best coach in the world, Guardiola knows three years is the maximum for a stag at a club before players and the coach tire of each other.

[or later in the season at a push]

Having said that, both of those things are realistic possibilities for this season, the big question is: how do we react if we fail to achieve them? Do we rip it up and start again or look to make more gradual improvements whilst maintaining continuity?

However when the crowd got behind the team in the second half of the season, Silva had the squad for 17 days during the break and the confidence grew we looked a different team altogether.

On that basis alone I believe Silva deserves more time, however if you look at us and Man U, we have both chopped and changed managers, spent a fortune on new players and still made no progress so I am prepared to be a bit more patient this season.

The reason I'm desperate is because Kenwright and Moyes pissed in each other's pockets, turned us into plucky little Everton, and this is probably why people haven't got much patience anymore for slow and steady progress?

Evertonians are desperate for success, and I honestly believe some of the anger is because they genuinely love their club so much, and are just desperate to see us win a cup and become competitive again.

Excellent website, if you aren't familiar with it, is Mike's Weather Page...

https://spaghettimodels.com/

I used it all of the time for sending updates to all vessels working in the Gulf of Mexico.

Also, there is a brilliant Lightening page towards the bottom of the page - Brits will love this, especially with the sound on and the Strikes ticked for sound.

Wishing all you Floridians the best of luck in these coming days - stay safe, and stay blue

Lightening is the present participle of the verb lighten.
Lightning is the electrical discharge that happens during storms.

It's rare that dropping the letter E can turn a word from mundane to frightening. But that's what happens when you drop the E from lightening - it stops making things lighter and brighter and it turns into a natural phenomenon many people find scary.

It makes much better reading than the media frenzy all over TV.

I see youre sending them all our way since you moved to Houston.

Baningeme, Gordon and Lewis Gibson set to feature.

Moshiri bought into the hypothesis that money was the answer as we all did for the previous twenty years. The media kept telling us this was the case and we should all be grateful.

At least we didn't lose the millions that Moshiri did as a result of this, as the true left of competence / capability and motives where revealed. But a lot of people made a lot of money out of this and the club went backwards. Everton are still paying for this today many of these people are still at Everton today and others that left had their hands full of cash.

There has been a partial turn around. The Brands appointment had improved the competence level. Silva is in a atmosphere where if he has ability this will be enhanced. At last we are buying promising players and more importantly attracting them. I agree Everton have done in past, but the level of competence was not present to develop them to challenge in competition.

Silva does seem to have ability, but the question is does he have the level of competence to challenge in competitions. He has two more year to prove this and at times does look, with the help of Brands, to be moving in the right directions. He will see out his contract.

The problem is that the same level of inconsistency that has dogged Everton for years still exists. The turnaround is partial, but the level of competent throughout the Club from top to bottom has to change if Everton are to challenge in any of the competitions they enter. This also applies to the Everton Club development plan and the Stadium Project, which are all surrounded by more questions, than answers.

To keep Brands, Silva and promising players of potential and attract new talent it is essential that Everton are progressing and challenging. They will not be as patient as we might be, but this mindset is converging with that of Everton Fans , as they are demanding progress and not accept the experience of those 20 wasted years.

Everton Fans contribution is important in achieving this objective whether they are patient or not.

I like this. It takes a while to build a fortress. Much has happened for the good, particularly during the last 15 months or so. Big changes in playing staff is an example and we see that continuing with some great signings, Kevin Mirallas leaving on a permanent basis this week and another youngster out on loan. All this makes sense to the wages account. Impressive performance by Brands and Silva in this area of business.

Personally, I've felt through the past several seasons that there are 'back room' problems that rock the boat but I haven't been able to pin point where the key bad egg(s) is/are. One is often enough to cause poor attitude in a few.

Hopefully, if I am right, the node of this will be unearthed and dealt with quickly and effectively.

COYB. Currently the missus and I are travelling through USA, Eire and then GB in time to be there for the Citeh game! I'm expecting another so called UPSET in our favour!

Declining to sell them only creates problems. It's not an option.

The patient approach just puts you back to square one. To keep those players, you have to grow with them (at their pace), you have to do more than plod steadily. You have to win a cup, you must be in Europe and be a contender for 4th place.

If we do not make Europe as minimum this year; Richarlison, Digne and perhaps even Kean will be targeted by those who have. All will think about leaving and sorry I couldn't blame them.

We have no European football and a lot of potential, several clubs in our bracket are in flux. There is no excuse for further transition or that doesn't have us competing. The window is now not at the end of year three of Silva's contract.

I think it's the coach who is holding us back, however he has got some time yet, but not much.

"Suffer a run of Villa- like defeats ('performances' are irrelevant ) and Silva will be a gonner."

"Building slowly and patiently is not good enough. Other clubs will and are overtaking us. It's akin to standing still. The average premier league manager tenure is 18 months. If you haven't got it right by then, well you're lucky if you are still in a job."

"I think we've been patient long enough."

Response:

Sir Alex Ferguson. Early into his tenure rumours abounded his job was insecure -how much silverware did MUFC win under his leadership and how have they fared since his departure?

Howard Kendall. Early into his tenure rumours abounded his job was insecure -how much silverware did EFC win under his leadership and how have they fared since his departure?

Jürgen Klopp. Appointed October 2015, LFC finished eighth in the PL. Since then two cup final losses, pressing for PL title regularly and the current CL holder.

Mauricio Pochettino. Appointed May 2014. THFC elevated to a regular top "1 - 6" team and a relatively formidable team in the CL.

Arsenal should have let Wenger leave many years ago and look at Chelsea. I think they are in a worse shape than any "top six" team. As for MCFC... no comment as they have a top class manager and an accounting group that somehow manages to keep the club within the FIFA "Fair Play" laws - despite their finances having been "investigated" on more than a single occasion.

I am not writing that SIlva is the man we need but that we should afford him time. Would I be happy with a season where we finished lower than last?

The answer is no but a Cup (any Cup) win would temper my angst.

Give the man another season(ish) and if things are looking bleak then, yes, perhaps he isn't the man for the job.

What would you do?

Patience is a virtue, but at the same time if we don't start showing some substantial progress then our best players will leave for better pastures, and our cycle repeats itself.

In this respect, unless we start showing something this season, it's conceivable that players like Digne and Richie could be gone within a couple of years, and finding good replacements is never easy.

What would demonstrate substantial improvement this season? Probably qualifying for the CL and having a good go at the cups.

You are right there are unlying problems that have to be addressed. None of us know what the overall plan is. We all assume that the plan is to challenge in all competitions, to develop the Club commercially and build a new Stadium. This is the same objective we have believed in for years.

The Club has never announced clear objectives. We have received a series of announcements regarding the team, develop of Everton commercially, the Stadium and of course Everton in the Community.

We know Moshiri has acted alone to develop the playing side recruiting Brands, insisting he is on the Board and recruiting Silva. As for the other areas, where is there evidence of actual action for change ; Backroom staff, Commercial plan and a overall Financial plan, incorporating a Stadium Development Project. Moshiri does have two representatives on the Board , but the financial director is acting more as a internal auditor at this stage.

We can be patient if we see action, but we have to be careful that are patience is being asked for by , PR announcements to keep us happy, while no actual evidence for action for change is taking place.

At all levels of football and team games it take a Club to be effectively run both on and off the field of play, if they are to win anything. This is a characteristic of all winning team. It their Culture, Everton have only partially got that attitude. There are people within Everton who do not believe that Everton can win anything, because that is the level of achievement they are capable of and they have never been challenged to achieve or been told their performance in not good enough.

I expect Moshiri is looking at this aspect of Everton.

You are right there are unlying problems that have to be addressed. None of us know what the overall plan is. We all assume that the plan is to challenge in all competitions, to develop the Club commercially and build a new Stadium. This is the same objective we have believed in for years.

The Club has never announced clear objectives. We have received a series of announcements regarding the team, develop of Everton commercially, the Stadium and of course Everton in the Community.

We know Moshiri has acted alone to develop the playing side recruiting Brands, insisting he is on the Board and recruiting Silva. As for the other areas, where is there evidence of actual action for change ; Backroom staff, Commercial plan and a overall Financial plan, incorporating a Stadium Development Project. Moshiri does have two representatives on the Board , but the financial director is acting more as a internal auditor at this stage.

We can be patient if we see action, but we have to be careful that are patience is being asked for by , PR announcements to keep us happy, while no actual evidence for action for change is taking place.

At all levels of football and team games it take a Club to be effectively run both on and off the field of play, if they are to win anything. This is a characteristic of all winning team. It their Culture, Everton have only partially got that attitude. There are people within Everton who do not believe that Everton can win anything, because that is the level of achievement they are capable of and they have never been challenged to achieve or been told their performance in not good enough.

I expect Moshiri is looking at this aspect of Everton.

I would also say Silva's whole regime now rests on Kean's young shoulders. If you don't have a goalscorer, this league is unforgiving. Just look at WHU now picking up points with Haller in their team ( a player we should have been looking at). In fact every top 10 team has a quality striker bar us. Hopefully Kean can step up because if he doesn't it will be a grim long season relying on dcl for goals.

Presently he has not managed to equal the first seasons of the two previous managers who had them but has equalled that of the last "half season" manager while seemingly improving the style of play. Leaving aside my dislike of the on message, positive press conferences, the onfield performances still seem to be erratic and some are in raptures at beating somebody from the third tier of English football whilst forgetting the previous dismal result.

I'll believe it when something is put on the sideboard and/or qualify for the cashcow competition that seems to define success but I'm not sure I'll have the patience at the rate of improvement shown so far under this manager.

Let's bring back fluent attacking football back to Goodison instead of the drab lifeless stuff that sadly is often the norm over recent decades. That is what defined our clubs history not being so-called 'plucky underdogs' that Moyes and Kenwright enjoyed proclaiming for their own self-interest.

A single win over lower league opposition, as Alan outlines, does not qualify me to go into raptures unless it is followed up with a stirring performance and a catalyst to a season of attractive, winning football,