Premier League — Week 7

No responses ? They must be winning.

Sheff Utd playing very well, Dave. Mane missed two sitters

Wrong, 0-0 half time, keep it up Sheffield.

No score Dave. Half time. Sheff have done really well and could of scored themselves but as the half wore on the rs should of gone in ahead as Mane missed a good one on one and then someone hit the post. Points to then lot winning with a penalty in the 96th minute

Chris Wilder a very good, underrated manager.

Sheffield's keeper gifts the Shite a goal

Fucking gobshites..unreal

Anyone else warming to the utterances of Sheffield United's manager Chris Wilder?

I just love his no-nonsense approach, clearly designed to harden up his team.

These are his comments post-match about his keeper Dean Henderson who let in a howler to gift t'other lot the win:

"If he wants to be a professional footballer, these things are going to happen. But if he wants to play for the top teams, he wants to play for England then he needs to do better, he needs to concentrate more, it's a disappointing day for him. I am not going to put my arms around him, simply he needs to do better."

Too much molly-coddling or stroking players' egos potentially makes them soft. Professional sport is cut-throat. Wilder seems intent on instilling a winning mentality in his players, rather than play the gallant 'woe-is-me' loser.

Impressed.

Prepare for TW meltdown: Walcott and Calvert-Lewin recalled to the starting line up.

I found Raheem Sterling's words interesting after the match. It's really a shame he can't be true to himself and say what he really feels regarding the Bernardo Silva tweet. With Silva insinuating in a tweet accessible to the word that his good mate looks like a cartoon figure, a racist cartoon figure. Sterling has done a lot of good over the last year or two and should be applauded. Now however he lets himself down sticking up to for his team mate.

Utter bollocks.

Dave, @ #10

The same point when all the Liverpool players supported Suarez by wearing those t-shirts in a show of solidarity!

Manager's do it when their players cheat and commit career threatening tackles etc. etc.

Very depressing/distressing to be frank!

Just watching MotD. Without going into detail about each incident I am convinced that VAR is sucking the life out of football.

It is just fucking hateful. It slows down the game, it destroys spontaneity, it creates utterly false mini-dramas. It makes what is flesh and blood become lines on a screen. It makes referees look like nobs, where previously that was just a matter of opinion.

Football, for me, is not about the letter of the law, about getting it right, about perfection. It is emotional and VAR destroys that. To me, the worst innovation in the history of football.

Leicester again showing what a well-run, confident team can do. I dislike Rogers but he's a very good manager.

Leicester are just storming the box. We could take a lesson.

This is where I expected us to be this season. Playing with some intensity, pace and nice intricate and concise passing. Not Leicester City.

It's easy to forget that Leicester actually won the Premier League three years ago.

Forget club size, they have achieved far more than Everton have in the last 20 years, they've played in the Champions League and also won two League Cups (since our last trophy back in ‘95).

It just makes a mockery of idiots that keep on saying “Everton are in transition”.

Well, since we last did anything remotely worthwhile, Leicester have won two promotions, a league title, and had numerous really exciting teams in the time we have spent in transition.

Transition at Everton seems to last for eternity.

Rogers is a good manager yes, he's been a good manager since his Swansea days and almost won the league with the Shite that had a simply free scoring team.

Oh to ever see an Everton team again that looked just a little bit exciting and capable of out-scoring opponents.

Jim,

Our squad is in transition for sure. The way we play is... erm, well I am stuck. Seems that Silva is too concerned with having 2 wide players covering defensively to go for it.

It is refreshing to see the likes of Leicester have 4 or 5 players waiting in the box for a cross while we will have 1 or 2 so the cross doesn't go in at all.

I'm in the minority that would've kept Martinez, our last real coach. Sure, he had his faults but we should have given him more time. Walsh then came in and put us back a good few years.

Silva doesn't have any excuses left. (Okay, maybe Gbamin and Gomes.) Once again, we are underperforming and if we don't turn it around in the next couple games, it's another league season virtually written off. We should be ahead of Leicester and West Ham but they have a better manager, not necessarily better players.

David @19,

I'd say Leicester definitely and probably West Ham too have better players than us currently. How many of our XI would get into Leicester's currently? Two or three max, I reckon.

David,

I would argue that they have much better players. If we had Maddison and/or Vardy, it would transform our squad.

West Ham with Haller, Rice, Lanzini, Anderson – all better players than ours in their respective positions.

Our midfield is like a paper bag – you could punch a hole through it – and many do – and as for up front, enough has already been said about that for the last 2 years.

Even if we had Vardy we wouldn't know how to use him. He's too fast for our pedestrian tactics.

Jay and Sam,

Do you think they would be in the same position with Silva in charge? Definitely take Schmeichel, Maddison, Vardy and Anderson, possibly Lanzini. You could ask how many Villa, Palace, Sheff Utd players would get in our team also.

We are underperforming with this manager... on the road to nowhere. Iwobi, Bernard, Sigurdsson, Richarlison, Digne, Gomes, Coleman. Maybe it's just a matter of time before we click... you never know.

From the keeper to the striker, Leicester City has a better squad, stadium, manager and they have played in Champions League and won a big shiny trophy.

Everton just ain't a big club anymore, guys.

Leicester are at the RS next week. Let's hope their form continues.

Never thought I'd be jealous of Leicester. A well run club, with decent players, and a very good manager.

I see Ross Barkley is back on the front pages today. Drunken night out in Liverpool ended up with a minor brush with the law. Slow news day, but so much for Ross needing to get away from the city.

I always rated Wilder as past posts will testify, no chance of getting him now though, our next Gaffer is currently at Deepdale plying his trade imho.

Agreed on VAR, unless real reason comes into play it will just turn fans away from the once beautiful game.

As for the Blues... jeez, it seems that we'll be hanging by a thread for most of the season, fooling ourselves that we've finally turned another corner, one step forward and three steps back, oh for a simple set up, players that shoot on sight, can pass a ball, beat the first man with a simple cross, British players from lower leagues with a brave Manager with real bottle and street smarts that can also wow the press with a few killer one-liners and not bore them or the Goodison faithful shitless.

That's my EVERTON folks... and it CAN be achieved.

Mathew (28),if you mean Alex Neil, the present manager of PNE, surely you'd have to explain that, unless he's improved greatly since winning promotion with Norwich but taking them down again the next season.

I do indeed mean the bloke from Preston NE, Dave. Let's see. a young gaffer who seems to get his players motivated, plays young players, adjusts his play during games if needed, has the best home record in the Championship (no siren required), got his lads picking up points away from home (average away form, but improving I admit), has the hardest working player in the Championship (Ben Pearson) playing for him, week in & week out (fucking Iron Man, unlike our crocks), that makes Gana Gueye look like that fucking snail we have in our midfield.

He learned his trade in the lower leagues, fell out with the Norwich Chairman over player sales, if memory serves, and the rot set in, but I always liked the way his Norwich side played: quick incisive passes on the floor type footy I love. He used wingers too and his midfielders always loved a pot-shot from range. He talks plain and simple about the game, doesn't waffle, baffle or bullshit neither. For me, he's the man... only up the road as well. We always had a good relationship with Preston too, a proper old-fashioned historic club, but we need their Gaffer big time to sort out our shower of shite or we will just sink further into the mire... I know though Brands will pick another foreign failure for sure... sigh.

We plod on, Blues.

Mathew (30), well after that testament, he sounds alright. Mind you we got another manager from PNE once who wasn't too bad. But, once he got here, we couldn't get rid of him and he over-stayed his welcome, although some would welcome him back.

Anyway Mathew where have you been, if you don't mind me asking, you took a long time to answer my question!!!

After his introductory season, we all were hoping he had his ducks in a row ready to make a serious challenge for the upper echelons. Alas it has been a nightmare season so far and whilst we all hope that the so-called ''next game'' will be a turning point it never is.

The scary thing is that we are being beaten by teams not even rated as top-six material except Man City. Usually, it's the manager who gets it in the neck first and, along with Pochettino and Solksjaer, Silva looks like being the first to get fired.

It would mean another big compensation package by Moshiri but the alternative is more of the same and the bottom three struggle. That would seem a pretty dismal outlook for a squad which, on paper looks decent but doesn't seem to know a way forward this season.

I rely on WiFi these days, Dave, when I can get it to post. I enjoy reading your posts too, Dave. I just love the site and need my daily fix of my beloved Blues.

I will give Silva till the end of October as the League Cup is to me vital for the club's return to greatness. My priority is for my club to start winning trophies it has NEVER won first and foremost...

As for a new gaffer, at least my fellow Blues know where I stand and I back "my man" Alex Neil, but know that I stand alone on that score.

Mathew (33), after reading your post @ (30), I had a gander at Alex Neils' career as a manager, it's not bad at all, still very young, for a manager, confident in himself, not a yes man, seems to be a great motivator of his players, he has already managed in the premier league, not very successful to be honest, maybe Norwich wouldn't spend the cash necessary to stay up.

He looks like he is worth watching,but it is doubtful if any premier league club would take a chance on him, although he might provide his own chance with PNE, thanks for the tip on him Mathew.

Yeah, you could be right Dave, maybe his chance in the big league will happen if he can get Preston over the play-off line this season,I will be watching the EFL on Quest closely (as always),I don't bother with MOTD anymore.

As for Saturday,jeez...looking like every Blue on the planet will be waiting the the team sheet to drop at about 11:30 am GMT...this weekend could prove very pivitol indeed,try and enjoy it Dave !.

Mathew (35), I will look out for Alex Neil's progress. I very rarely watch MOTD myself,too much talking and analysing and not enough football.

I will be at Goodison on Saturday hoping we win and relieve some pressure on the club and players.

I've had a great weekend.

We played great and won. My horses won and the rugby has been very dramatic.

So I'm going to push my luck and watch the Sky match today. I've have my fingers crossed that we see lots of pain, lots of misery and lots of frustration for both sides, with neither one of them getting what they need.

Two clubs who really deserve each other.

Oh... and a little bit of claret wouldn't go amiss either.

Unbelievable, Steve. Two VAR decisions against Liverpool. There will be a major inquest into this.