Everton move to arrest slide by firing Silva

Good news. Now get the next bit right

Please not internal

A sad state of affairs demonstrated nothing to suggest he should have got the job in the first place.

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At least 8 weeks late.
No Moyes under any circumstances.

Its beginning to look alot like Christmas ........

No Moyes. No internal. If they aint got a belter lined up then it will show the ambition... Kenshite out !

So I guess Moyes is being announced? I can't fathom this is what Brands wanted to do or is even on board with (no pun intended), so what this says about the Club I don't know. But nothing good.

Really sad that we can’t seem to land a manager that can build on each season... we desperately wanted Silva to be the guy...

The club will only move forward when we recruit a manager that can get the best out of the players.. league beaters one minute useless another... too many lows for too long...

We won't get it right. It will be Moyes with Cahill alongside in a manipulative attempt to win the fans over and deflect the frustration of Moyes waltzing back in all smiles.

He had to go. It’ll be Moyes.

Good news, but please don't bring Moyes back, he left when he thought the grass was greener for Man United, and as we've seen before bringing back managers for a second time doesn't work. Plus the fact that it would be a backwards step.

At last only 3 months to late

Cheeky move for Klopp, offer 25 million a year and the worst that can happen is he gets unhappy with his salary and they have to pay a lot more:)

Be careful what you wish for. Silva might be out of his depth, but Moyes???? It’s Allardyce all over again. We just never learn.

He should of gone after Millwall away in the Cup nearly a year ago albeit he should never of got the job.

Shambolic, this appointment has to be right. The structure of the decision making team reviewed and Brands has to take a good look at himself too although I'm certain Marco Silva was not his choice of manager.

Every cloud has a Silva lining - unfortunately in our case it looks like a ginger lining.

Had to happen but what a shambles we’ve become. We are a laughing stock and I’ve had to suffer stick all day thanks to the two bumbling amateurs who run our club; Moshiri and Billy Bullshitter aka Statler and Waldorf.

Slowly but surely they run this once great club into the ground. Now the Moyesiah returns, hopefully to rescue us but knowing our luck dithering Dave will be the final nail in the coffin.

Right now, I fucking hate Everton FC. Only the long suffering fans keep me going.

Serious Q.
Why is Moyes out of work?

A sad day for me. I can never be happy when we sack a manager, but the way we have delayed the inevitable decision has been a joke. Who is making the decisions? It’s the same when we buy players, it always seems to be a long drawn out saga getting everyone to agree.

If the team have to go back to basics, so do the board. Get rid of the Director of Football - it’s not working.

It wasn’t three months late he never should have got the job

Seemed a nice guy. Shame his methods failed, again and again. Bad luck with injuries but the architect of his own demise.

As Derek and Clive would say, what a way to run a fucking ballroom.

It was looking good for Marco at the end of last season but where it has gone wrong this season is anyone's guess. Let's see what happens now. I can hardly believe it will be Moyes on the dugout on Saturday. How surreal is that?

Sad state of affairs.
The whole thing from start to finish does not reflect well on the Club.
Firstly he was a failed manager when appointed and has continued in the same vein even though everyone was hoping he could improve us it was beyond his limited capabilities.
Why he was given a 3 year deal was a mystery when Emery who was, on paper, a better manager, at a similar time was given a 2 year deal at Arsenal.
Sad to see anyone lose their job but he leaves millions of pounds richer so no sympathy there.
I hope the players are reflecting on their part in this.
Full concentration now from everyone to get us out of the horrendous position we find ourselves in.
NOBODY is bigger than the Club

Quote Moyes " Sir Alex told me I had the Manchester United job"
Never asked him if he wanted to leave Everton because he had already allowed himself yo be touted up. Shit on us.

Right, Danny, the Club hasn't done anything in 30 years and it's the DoF who's not working. It's no wonder nothing works for Everton. It's that kind of thinking at the top. Make Everton Great Again! MEGA! Let's rewind the clock in the 21st century to the "good ol' days."

Not dithering dave. Please.

But now the real problems are laid bare. Nothing will change nor would it change whoever was our head coach. The coach isn't the problem, it is the rotten core of Luvvies, sycophants, journeymen, amateurs in professional positions and those tainted with Everton failure. Next? No new ground, Moshiri takes his losses and leaves us as penniless as we were when he came after a failed experiment costing him millions. This may delay the inevitable which I believe will be one Premiership Club in the city.

£10m payoff and Christmas off for someone so out of his depth.

Just hope Everton find their identity quickly. All the money we have spent recently, and we've gone backward.

Mark,
Nice one. Mega!
So he gets in at 8am. Spends all day packing before Mosh turns up to ask for the keys. Nicely drawn out.

Whoever is next, just support them.
Coyb (l mean Mega)

Should the new appointee be chosen on his ability to get us back into the Premier League, in case we get relegated?

I'd go for Rafa, but I think we'll get Moyes. I'm not being funny, he did a good job at West Ham; I don't think now's the time to take a gamble.

If we can't get Rafa then it needs to be someone who knows the Premier League. I actually wanted Rodgers.

If he took training then that's a disgrace should have gone last night, amateur hour stuff from us

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47195701 gone

So let me get this right Silva was at FF early this morning and the board only arrived this afternoon. Announcement comes at 7pm. We are really just an odd club. Like Colin and one or two above have mentioned. This is a shambles of a club.

Didnt want the guy was willing to give him time and genuinely hoped it would work but for me the last few months was clearly apparent he didnt have what it takes and needed to go. The longer he was kept on the more he was hurting the club,the fans and himself

Please at least whoever we appoint, Make it so that when they walk in the door at FF the fans will be looking UP the table with excitement, as opposed to settling for 4th from bottom which is what they will get with either Laurel (Moyes) or Hardy (Benitez)

Onwards and more importantly UPWARDS, Progressive appointments only to be considered

COYB

Oh well. It’s all very sad. All the best Marco. Pity it wasn’t to be.

It couldnt go on.

Feel sorry for the bloke but he was never fir for the job in the first place.

If we have learned any lessons and have any ambition we will go for the likes of Ancellotti, Simeone, Marcelino, Ten Hag.

Surely the job will appeal to someone of that ilk.

He can always go back to Watford can’t he?

The DoF model can work, is a logical way to run a business and should guard against harmful short-termism (see Walcott + Tosun). However, you need the right DoF. Now is the time Brands earns his money.

Moyes would be a weird appointment for Brands. A bit like Newcastle dusting off Kevin Keegan, or Villa getting John Gregory back from India. Or anyone hiring Steve McLaren. I keep feeling like saying we should give Alan Pardew a chance, just for a joke. I guess be careful what you joke about.

Does it have to be Unsworth for now ? We may be short of options, but I'm really not keen on that.

Bizarre sequence of events. Even by Everton standards.

Hand on heart who here had us in the top six at Xmas? Did anyone believe we would be right here, right now?

I thought we'd be disappointing. I had us at around tenth spot for boxing day. Even now it's only two wins and relying on everyone above us to not get any points either folks! MEGA! MEGA!!

Simon we're massively short of options to put it mildly. Would you rather Kenwright in the dugout on Saturday? Brands even? Has to be Rhino.....surely?

What a ridiculously drawn out saga today. Says everything about us.

At the end of the day it's Moshiri's money that's been wasted. It's his own fault for insisting on Silva after he had already been sacked by Watford and then paying compo to them. Saying that I'm sitting here thinking who can do the job.

Really sad. Massive setback for the club after we appeared poised to build on a promising finish to last season. And I see little reason to celebrate Silva's ousting if Moyes is the alternative.

The figures may not confirm my impression, but this seems to have been our worst record since Mike Walker.

Not a minute too soon, I'm afraid.

Unsworth will probably be in charge against Chelski. And then, we'll see...

This thing gets worse by the day when they should sack Marco after the Norwich game they offer Moyes to the fans who tell them where to go.

They wait until we get mauled in 2 games until we are desperate then hope that the relegation place we are holding will sway us into swallowing the poison.

I have been ultra critical of Brands on here but I now feel sorry for him as he has clearly been sidestepped in this process as there can be no way his paws are over this one.

I'm sick to the teeth

What is the betting on this Jesus dude riding into Goodison on a donkey (pick any shite manager) and being our saviour for Christmas?

The brief is to find a safe pair of hands who will keep us up and a manager who will then have us challenging after Brands brings in more of his own players. If it's Moyes as an interim, he'll keep us up but it will essentially be a step back. If we go for a European manager like Jesus who isn't familiar with the league we might be taking a risk now that we sit in the bottom three.

So a safe pair of hands who could win actually win something?! Umm...It's pretty obvious really. We appoint Rafa Benitez!!

Please get this right. I think we all expect to be disappointed but it would be so nice to feel pride and optimism again.

Stephen @19, we both know it might have something to do with being sacked/released by 4 clubs since leavig Everton. The only club he lasted for a full season was Sunderland, and we all know how that ended.

Glad he has gone, but many months too late. Difficult to see who will come and stop us heading full speed at the relegation iceberg.

I want a MEGA hat now in royal blue...

Alarm bells were going off pre-season. We had no fixtures lined up then threw together a few matches including two bizarre reduced length games in 24 hours. We heard the coach saying Lookman was "the present and future" only to immediately sell him. We brought Kevin Mirallas back into the fold for pre-season as a RIGHT BACK. Then bizarelly told him to leave. Were we honestly thinking he might prove himself in that role and stay? We gave a lot of playing time to kids who were promptly dispatched elsewhere or dropped back to the under 23s. We sat on our hands all summer waiting to see if Chelsea's new manager would or wouldn't sell us Zouma until it was too late to get anyone else. It was as if the first day of pre-season was Silva's first day at the club and he had no idea who could what so used pre-season as blind trial and error before realizing most of those involved were no good.

Everton find new way to make everyone forget we got shellacked 5-2 by the RS. Refreshing. 🤪

Chelsea sacked Ancelotti in the players' tunnel after we beat them at Goodison. But our board has to faff about like it's aiming to win Olympic gold for big girl's blousery, dragging the misery out all day. They can't even sack someone with finesse or ruthless efficiency... No, it has to be a big group huddle after training. It's the most embarrassing fallen giant club to support on the planet.

Marco to China has a nice historical ring to it.

Ooh and it’s Big Dunc

Ademola laughing his ass off somewhere Kieran, that's for sure.

He saw through our former boss quicker than many.

Big Dunc in charge Saturday!

Big Dunc OMG...……...what hes learnt from sitting with Martinez, Koeman and SIlva hey

Official club statement from Pravda - sorry! - the club site:

"Everton Football Club can confirm that manager Marco Silva has left the Club.

Majority Shareholder Farhad Moshiri, Chairman Bill Kenwright and the Board of Directors would like to thank Marco for his service over the last 18 months and wish him well for the future.

Duncan Ferguson has taken temporary charge of the first team and will manage the side for the game against Chelsea on Saturday.

The Club aims to confirm a new permanent manager as swiftly as possible."

Two interesting takes:

1) DF as Everton temporary manager!

2) that a permanent manager will be confirmed asap

Just when you thought it could get no worse.

Unfortunate - he seems like a good guy.

It's only a shame they can't rip up the contracts of half of those halfwits on the field last night that showed no passion or courage.

The board are not covering themselves in glory with this in my opinion. 3 points from 12th is not a catastrophe. Our last 2 Full time managers (Excluding fireman Sam) are not doing too badly; which shows its not all to do with the Manager. Brands should be worried as he let Silva down badly in the summer.

All the Best Marco; made some mistakes by keeping faith with some of the squad who didn't deserve it and are still at finch farm, like a virus.

This is a total fuckin nightmare.

Happy and gutted at the same time.

Gutted it didn't work out for Marco was hoping he'd be the 1 to have us playing good and challenging again.

Happy because the fixtures we had we should be much higher up the league, getting beat 2-0 to all the promoted teams in unacceptable in itself.

Don't really want Moyes, but not totally against the idea either.

The last season Moyes was here was our best for a long time, the team was playing fantastic.

Dont forget he didnt really shit on us that bad, he done 10 years, honoured his contract and left because united come calling, cant really blame him when he was given a packet of KP peanuts and a bag of pork scratching to spend each summer, he done an excellent job.

1 thing is for sure, he'll have that defence sorted out no problem. He was just never the best getting the attack as good though.

Hopefully Moshiri has got a nice christmas cracker lined up for manager though and Moyes is just a smoke screen

Andy Crooks, you want my ticket for Saturday? I know how much you love Duncan.

Good luck to you, Marco. I hope you find your joy somewhere soon.
Unfortunately it hasn't worked out with you at EFC.

We are too hungry for success and we need immediate results to calm our yearning.
We are a big club that has fallen by the wayside and has stayed down far too long. We need to get back up there again
We need a "nastier" manager, maybe.

Jay Woods

Exactly. Did something happent this afternoon to suddenly swing the pedulum? I doubt it. In which case, why waste everyone's time haveing Silva waste one of our two training days planning for a game he won't even be involved in. What's that logic that he would be OK with being sacked as long as Moshiri came down in person, as opposed to say being told not to take training (e.g. giving the game away) and waiting a couple of hours for Mosh to come in person and formalize it?

Am I the only one who is feeling optimistic about Moyes?

Fuck me! Duncan Ferguson! More sentimental tripe from bungling bill no exit plan, no planning, same old shite

Steven. Probably.

Jay @ 58, Olympic Gold for big girl's blousery? lol

You have to admit it is better than Olympic bronze for kecks shittery, like we had from our recently departed Manager.

Drunken Ferguson in temporary charge, roll on the drums, then a major announcement soonish!

Yes, Steven. I shall not be renewing if it's Moyes.

Fully expecting Big Dunc to be injured on Saturday, bit like his playing career

Can we get Eugene Ruane back to give us his trancsript of Big Dunc's team talk?

At last... 'tis done.

And no sign of Moyes.

It will be interesting to see what if anything different transpires with Big Dunc in charge for Saturday...

But I can't tell you without swearing heavily how fucking overjoyed I am it's not that horrible dour traitorous massively overrated ginger twat Moyes.

HE'S GONE

I'm in complete agreement that he was sacked... but, let's face it, some of the bone idle lazy players contributed to this. The likes of Schneiderlin, Sigurdsson, Keane should all never play for us again.

This is better than getting Moyes now on a 2-year contract. Could still someone good.

one of the common denominators in charge Saturday. Good grief

Big Dunc in charge, you have to be fucking joking. We'd be better putting one of his fucking pigeons in charge

The board are correct in this by trying to at least halt the slide. Unfortunately silva is a Martínez clone, too nice and clearly lacking when it comes to defending. Moyes is welcome back imo. I might just enjoy going the match again for a fucking change.

I wish the guy luck. It didn't work out here. I'm glad he's gone, make no mistake, but there was nothing unlikable about the man Marco Silva, only the manager Marco Silva.

Now, if David Moyes is appointed, I'm done. I'm dead serious. No other Club in world football would hire him. Failure at Man U, failure in Europe / Spanish league, relegated a great club in Sunderland? No one, I repeat no one, would hire this man. If we do that, we show ZERO ambition.

I will read TW and I will check the scores. But instead of posting all the time, bantering away on the live forum, etc., my valuable time will be spent elsewhere while this Club gets their act together.

Hiring David Moyes is simply an embarrassing move for a Club. It makes muppets of all the loyal supporters - even us bastardized internet far-flung freaks. I'd have zero problems with anyone who boycotts the games who lives locally, and I know for a fact my already sky-high respect for Rob Halligan will increase to god-like status, as that man wouldn't miss a game come hell or high water.

Should never have appointed Silva in the first place. His departure couldn't come soon enough for me. Now the worry really starts. Will the board get it wrong again? In my opinion appointing Moyes in any sort of capacity would be a massive mistake and would upset the majority of fans. Avoid any former/current Everton connections i.e. Unsworth/Ferguson/Arteta. This next step is as nerve-wracking as waiting for Silva to be sacked. Fingers-crossed.

He’s got to pick himself surely?!

Tony (45) it does I agree. If there was no external candidate Ferguson was available weeks ago but we limped on. Unsworth probably turned the job down I don’t blame him. A shambles as we lurch on to the next crap decision. What leadership, what a board.

If Ferguson being in charge for Saturday means Moyes isn't coming then "whoop de fucking doop."

Imagine if we go on an unbeaten run til next Christmas under Duncan and he gets the job. He'd shit himself, having to actually work for a living.

I just think if you are dismissing Moyes you can have no valid reason. He did very well for us, relative safe pair of hands and let's see what he is like this time with money to spend...

Let's look forward not back.

As someone pointed out on Twitter. If Moyes had been at Villa 11 years, then been sacked at Utd, Sun, RS, and WH, would he even be a consideration?

WTF??? I type, post, and Dunc is in charge?

Thrilled! Not because of Dunc leading the boys, but because that means hopefully no David Fucking Moyes!!!

WOO-HOO!

A glimmer of hope is a permanent appointment means it’s not going to be Moyes on some daft interim basis. Perhaps Brands has won to that extent.

.
Re the next few days/weeks, remember William Goldman's words..

"Nobody knows anything"

Definitely applies to choosing football managers as well as which movies to finance/produce.

See Jaws and/or Heaven's Gate.

(see Greece sack Ranieri after losing to The Faroe Islands, Leicester employ Ranieri, Leicester win PM)

Nobody (nb: you, me) knows anything.

Good luck to Dunc but him as manager is a joke. What have they been doing all this time. It better be a quality manager in next and in place sharp-ish, else we are dead. Not impressed at all. Everton are so amateurish.

Wow MK, you even used traitorous before treacherous. Great command of the English language. When I'm doling out the abuse I struggle to control my adjectives.

I agree with your general point on Moyes btw.

Appointing DF as temporary manager at least gives us a measure of home support on Saturday. Stranger things have happened than the Goodison roar getting us a result - particularly as the new gaffer has done prison time for assaulting a footballer no less.

Let's turn over chelsea and maybe even save christmas.

I guess you don't rate Moyes then, Michael.

Sir John -

Hilarious. He indeed must lead the line.

Michael Lynch@91, not gonna happen. Even Olle at Man U won loads then made permanent manager and look whats happened to thier form.

I'm probably in the minority here, but I'd rather Duncan than fucking Silva or Moyes. For all you misty eyed blues, at least he's one of us.

Fuck it, the shit show can't be any worse than we've seen all season.

I posted this on the other thread:

As I said earlier - Moyes (or A.N.Other) interim 'til the end of the season with bonuses/options ok for me. If we could land our hero choice (...insert name) before the end of the season, pay the interim off and get the new guy in asap.

Madness to agree long term contracts in the knowledge they will not be fulfilled. They have to be earned (although I realise football doesn't really operate like that.)

Hopefully Duncan delivers a teamtalk to Sig and Morgan with the same ferocity as an encounter with John McStay of Raith Rovers.

Moyes and Pip Neville will be BK’s dream team.

Ferguson in charge is a BK inspired hilarity but when you're down and out anything may work.

I feel as if I've just had a good dump
after being constipated for 12 months!

Is Duncan Ferguson supposed to be our attacking coach?? That's clearly paid dividends for DCL and Cenk! You couldn't make it up!!!

Gallardo is down to 6/1 after jumping up this morning.

Surely there's legs in that rumo(u)r?

Eugene Ruane @97, we do know one thing:
David Moyes would be a disaster. I have my crystal ball, read my tea leaves, checked the stars, prayed to Buddha, and it all lines up.

Trust me. 😈

A positive change in giving Duncan temporary charge.

Steve Ferns #69 That message made me laugh. I'd almost forgotten about how much Andy Crooks dislikes Big Dunc

Can we get Roberto back? He’s good on the box.

Good news at last!

Let's get behind Big Dunc and get 3 points this weekend.

They wouldn't, shouldn't, couldn't appoint Moyes on a permanent contract surely.

Brands must have someone lined up to take the reins. Hoping for someone everyone can get behind now that Widow Twanky Bill and Wishy Washy Farhad have finally taken a long overdue decision this pantomime season.

In the meantime let's all give Duncan a shout on Saturday and get three precious home points on the board.

Well we've got EITC, might have ETH as well soon. 😉

I’m having a bet on Ferguson getting sent off on Saturday

Very sad that it's dragged out like this and obviously hoped he'd miraculously turn it round... but it's been shocking this season.

Sadly now we do actually need a more Allardyce-style manager. We didn't when we got shot of Koeman... but we shat ourselves. So this time it will be Moyes. God, I hope not. It'll be a disaster. He would be a nightmare with anyone with flair... he showed himself not to trust youth... so we'd end up with an even more perfect relegation storm. A manager who's lost his stock, with Richarlison, Bernard, Sigurdsson, Moise Kean, Mina, Gomes (when back) and Pickford all wanting gone ASAP. DCL clapping as he chases an over hit long ball down a channel from vice captain Keane (Baines being club captain). Shoot me now.

Dunc will soon have us playing that lovely intricate footie.😂
Happy to be proved wrong but why not give it to Unsie on a temp.

Has anyone seen or heard from Darren Hind?

Wouldn't mind his take.

Finally and luckily no Moyes.

Chad, Moyes? Did you miss it's Ferguson?

I honestly thought he had cracked it with the results we had for final quarter of last season. a real pity for the club that was only a blip in performance.

bye Marco and I am not being mean but I hope your pay-off is minimal.

Hope we get the next appointment right.

You would think if Moyes was definitely next they’d have sorted it straight away since well, it not as if he busy. I hope the board have a clear idea of a plan and have something lined up, going through the mess that followed Koeman is not an option.

Good luck Dunc, I have no idea what to expect but please be a good surprise, at least get the team looking as if most of them give a toss beyond Digne and Richarlison.

I'm just relieved that the boil has been lanced.

On the one hand, as DoF Brands surely, as he does with every player position, has a list of alternative managers to draft in if needed.

Possibly the delay in sacking Silva earlier was due to ill-preparedness of this crisis and the non-existence of such a list, or names on the list either not being interested when approached, or interested but not immediately available.

That the immediately available David Moyes has not already been announced as the new 'permanent' manager is encouraging on two levels:

1) that it isn't David Moyes!
2) that Moshiri and Brands are not looking at an Allardyce-like caretaker appointment to the end of this season only, but taking the bolder step - as Spurs did - of making a long-term appointment NOW.

The spectre of a Moyes return is still not 100% ruled out, but for the time being it is at least diminished.

I'll cling on to that for the time being.

Steve 72- I'm glad you are optimistic but before you swing from the chandeliers may I suggest you get in touch with your childhood sweetheart and see what she looks like now.

Same people who wanted Silva don't want Moyes. Interesting.

Nothing will change until the board is changed. They are responsible for hiring and firing, and they have got it wrong for the last 6 years. 56 years supporting Everton, and very few of those were happy years. The reds are right. We are very bitter blues, but it's been caused by our directors.

It seems that at the moment there are no experienced managers want to take the job and with the Chelsea game just 2 days away the club done the right thing using someone who is familiar with the players, I doubt if he will stand on the line with his hand under his chin.The announcement was not D.F is the new manager but will be in charge for the Chelsea game. Those supporters that have been so critical about D.F. I suggest you go down to F.F. and tell him what you think of him.

Give Duncan a bloody break he’s not even had a game yet ffs

If Fat Frank can, Dun-can.

Give it the full hair dryer and lets rip them a new one

Big Dunc will shit himself if they do the siren at the weekend.
It'll remind him of his attempted jail breaks when he was in Barlinnie.
Hopefully he'll show a bit more emotion than he's shown sitting on his arse on the bench the last few years.
With a bit of luck he'll chin anyone who doesn't give 100%

You've got to ask yourself why Moyes has been out of work for nearly 18 months. It's not like he'd been extremely successful since he left us and was taking a break from the game. I just don't see how he fits in with our current DoF setup unless he's so desparate for a job he's agreed to work with Brands.

I wouldn’t rule Moyes out just yet. Kenwright is probably sparing Moyes the ire of the fans against Chelsea. After the “legend” embarrasses himself on Saturday, kenwright will be in Moshiri’s ear to get Moyes in.

I just hope that Brands gets on a plane to Argentina and brings back Gallardo and Palacious.

Jay Wood #124 totally agree. I'm shocked that top level professionals like the board are supposed to be didn't have a contingency plan but I'm ok for now with Ferguson in charge until a suitable alternative can be found. Cant do any worse than getting beat most matches.

I think Brands would resign if we got Moyes. It might explain the delay today.

Why is it positive?
He's untouchable isn't he?
He's been a 'Coach' under 3 ( or is it 4) other 'failed managers WTF is going on.
Can anyone please explain what his role was and what he does and whether he is successful at it?

We play Man Utd at Old Trafford after the Chelsea game - would they really employ Moyes and task him with going back to OT first game?

I doubt that personally.

This isn't a success, it's a total disaster for the club. Once is careless, 4 times is absolute incompetence. They had to sack him though because staying in the EPL is paramount. Not satisfying customers note but staying in the casino.

Stephen you answered your own question with the four failed managers part.

Tony, resign and sue for constructive dismissal. Kenwright would not be letting him do his job.

Riley #61: Is that the same Lookman who can't get a game at Liepzig!

Moyes with Cahill could work. We are not an attractive proposition at the moment and we need to be realistic as to who would want to come to Everton

Putting Duncan in charge must be some kind of a low for the club,but at least it means there is still hope that we are going to dodge the Moyes bullet. I despair at the continued influence of BK, which is only enabled through the complete cluelessness of Moshiri.
As for Brands I can’t fathom what he brings to the table.

Maybe "The Legend" will unleash Moshiris fab four on Saturday, Lampard won't know what's hit him. Oh wait two of the fab four were that fab they left.

If there has been a power struggle over Moyes and Kenwright has lost then this could be a pivotal moment for the club.

As Eugene Ruane points out, though,, none of us has the faintest.

Absolutely laughable if he is replaced by Moyes an utter panic move by the board. Hopefully Brands has the final say or Big Dunc gets off to a flyer.

James Marshall,
Let just say it’s a game he’d like to win (if it happens).

Don't think Moyes isn't coming it's just that he's promised to take his mrs Christmas shopping this Saturday.

The same John. He's still laughing.

Good article from Phil McNulty on the BBC site. Farhad’s credibility is at risk, it says. Too bloody right. He needs to step back, sit on his hands and let Brands lead the charge.

A guy on talkSport, very excitable chap, declared that he’d sooner see Big Sam back rather than Moyes. When I’d stopped laughing and wrung my underkecks out I thought, “ Know what? So would I”
How sad is that?

Have we dropped so far ?

No great lover of Silva --he was never the man for the job but he was let down badly by Brands last summer when it was vital that re-inforcements were brought in at Centre-Half, midfield and striker.

Fergusson and Moyes are all we hear about as the future although we all know they are creatures of the past !

I'll bet dimes to doughnuts Kean and DCL starts, and Kean bags a goal against Chelsea.

Martin @ 138 -

No one isn't saying we aren't a shit-show presently. I think, and I speak only for myself but conjecture and all that, people are just so giddy it's NOT Moyes, there's an air of optimism.

No matter how faint, you cling to it.

Word is that Dunc is dropping Schneiderlin and replacing him with one of his traffic cones on Saturday 'cos it's more likely to get in Chelsea's way.

From what I can make of all of this, Duncan in charge means we are looking elsewhere for a new Manager and not Moyes.

Unless he is buisy elsewhere buying a new pair of kecks.

"We are not an attractive proposition at the moment..."

I can think of three to four million reasons per annum that statement is false.

As Steve 133 We can't yet rule Moyes out of the equation and he is still the favourite - but surely Everton FC would take into consideration the negative reaction to him on here and other media outlets? I wonder who else apart from the Bookies makes good money on the managerial merry-go-round?

Next Everton manager from SportNation.bet
David Moyes: 4/5
Eddie Howe: 2/1
Rafa Benitez: 10/1
Mikel Arteta: 10/1
Mark Hughes: 10/1
Mauricio Pochettino: 16/1
Chris Wilder: 20/1
David Unsworth: 25/1
Marcelino: 25/1
Phil Neville: 33/1

A few undesirables in this list but 16/1 seems good odds to me if you wanted to take a punt.

All you lot moaning about Moyes are the same lot that moaned about the crest change in 2013/14

It's about damn time. Marcelino for me. I've posted this on another thread, but here's why I want him, for what it's worth:

I've wanted Marcelino at Everton since his days at Villarreal. For those wondering about his style, the most simple way to put it is it's somewhat akin to Someone, which has made me opine for a while that he's the Spanish manager who would likely most easily adapt to the Prem.
Marcelino knows how to get the best from his attacking players, but, importantly, he also priorities defensive solidity and tracking back as a unit. That makes his teams hard to break down while offering the threat of quick and ruthless counters.

I think more than being a journeyman, his record suggests steady progress over the years and demonstrates that he's learned and adapted accordingly. For those weary of his taking over under this board, it's important to know that the Valencia board has also for years been shambolic under Peter Lim, yet Marcelino went in, steadied the ship, got them into the Champion League, and won a cup on the first time of asking. Would he be a gamble? Yes, as would anyone. Would he be a Messiah? I can't promise that. But I do think he would at the very least be a steady hand, which we desperately need right now.

Steve Ferns #133 now you're just coming across as bitter because your boy Silva didn't do the job. We all wanted Silva to succeed as if he succeeds then we do. However he didn't but to sarcastically hoping the "legend" embarrasses himself and in the process Everton embarrass themselves is just crass. Hoping somebody embarrasses themselves and therefore hoping Everton lose is just rubbish given your so called allegiance to the club. Most supporters never want Everton to lose or embarrass themselves no matter who is in charge.

Brian #154, Moyes has a load of telephone calls to make before he starts … he needs a big man up front, cue Fellaini and Anichebe, Rodwell is touyting for a club, he'll be in, he's also got to go and help Steve Round get a new clipboard and Bluetooth headset.

Lets all get behind Dunc and the team against Chelsea. I for one have been sceptical of what Duncan does, and his Teflon position no matter who the manager is could be seen as nepotism from BK, but none of us know for sure how capable he is, but after watching his long interview on Toffee TV I do think he knows a bit about what he's talking about and I'll support him until we find a successor.

I feel for the man. He seemed a decent guy. He had no luck with injuries or VAR.

But, he had to go.

Take some time and please God get 'the one' that turns this supertanker of shite around.

Who that guy is, I have no more idea than Moshiri.

I think Duncan Ferguson as interim is as bad as Unsworth, but I also think appointing him as caretaker is a no-lose situation for people with the same opinion as me. On one hand he could actually turn out to be good, and anyone who doesn't want the manager to succeed is toxic, and on the other hand he may stink the place out so people can finally come around to my flawless way of seeing things...

Dave, so when you said Silva will lose, you were hoping Everton would lose?

Just looking at who is in the running. Its quite a crap list - or risky. Expect next proper manager will be one of:

- Gallardo (probably not)

- Benitez (reasonable chance)

- Arteta (probs bit too soon)

- Jesus (probably a bit too late - but may wants to resurrect a career in Europe)

- Marcelino (probably would have the job by now already if he wanted it or we wanted him)

- my favourite Bruno Genesio, who doesn't yet make the betting odds

I kind of want Dyche but he's wrong for the DoF model, wrong for the squad and has a disc beard, as those who listen to Athletico Mince will know.

Give it a rest Steve Ferns. You win some, you lose some. With Silva everyone here lost. Maybe don't hitch your keks to the flagpole so quickly next time.

I'm sure Silva didn't fail deliberately to make you look or sound stupid. Which is what you're doing right here right now.

One thing DF won’t do is let us down.
God help anyone who steps out of line, or doesn’t give 100%.
He’s got blue blood.
I don’t think Moyes is prepared to take the job on an interim basis.
Although we need to get away from the bottom 3, I don’t get the feeling that the next manager will be a panic appointment.
Time for Brands to step up and earn his perceived reputation.

I would say that we need the best performance from our own crowd in a longtime on Saturday lunch time. Those who are going to the game leave your cars at home and get to the pub at 9am. Get yourself nice and merry and make your fuckin voices heard. Let the tv viewers in the country KNOW the true power of GOODISON PARK and let whatever 11 is picked know WHAT YOU FUCKIN EXPECT from them every time they cross that white line. SCREAM for them to WIN every ball, every throw in, every corner. GET BEHIND the BEST CLUB IN THE WORLD!!!

When did I say Silva will lose steve?

I guess if any new manager were to be announced tonight or tomorrow, then it's highly unlikely he would be involved in any capacity in the lead up to the game on Saturday. So let the dust settle on events today, let big Dunc take charge on Saturday, get a 100% success rate, and then step down when a new manager is appointed next week.

Brian #154 "From what I can make of all of this, Duncan in charge means we are looking elsewhere for a new Manager and not Moyes".

Alternatively, installing Dunc as interim could be a bargaining chip - if a prospective manager tries to take us for a ride on salary (when have we ever been taken for a ride?!), we'll just suggest we'll give the job to Dunc.

Good news, actually great news. Duncan is a blue and above all else he will have the crowd going before the game against Chelsea. If Goodison starts rocking then the players will respond.

The manager always takes the brunt. Board and players seriously need to look at themselves as they too have left this club down.

All the best to Silva. As others have stated he seemed a nice guy just a little out of his depth. He shall get another job soon just not in the Premier League.

NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO to MOYES!

If it was him then it would have been announced as he has not worked since 2018 at West Ham.

Club legend Big Dunc

Yes he’s been absolutely brilliant at coaching the forwards

What a waste of space

Why is he still there ?

I predicted 5-1 last night. Close.

Big Dunc caretaker. Spot on... Beat Chelsea on Saturday... We'll see.

FFS, let's have a slice of good luck please – we are due some. COYB

Brent @ 171 -

Shhhhhh. Don't ruin it. Quiet now.

Not to be dramatic, but it feels like the fate of the entire club hangs in the balance right now. Because if Moyes is hired, not only will he be fucking terrible, but the message it sends is clear - "GAME OVER." As others have said, I'd resign on the spot if I were Brands.

Supporters need to make it loud and clear on Saturday " YOU CAN STICK YER DAVID MOYES UP YOUR A***".

Sorry it didn’t work out Marco.

I blame the players (some of whom have seen off four managers now)

Anyway, let’s see what the spineless bastards can do now under the next manager.

Nobody will succeed at Everton whilst Kenwright is still stinking the place out

You could have Klopp, pep, arsene and sir Alex and it would still be a disaster

Everton is the worst run club in the division albeit with the most loyal fans

I want Ten Hag, Football God of Death and Destruction.

Not gonna happen, but a guy can dream.

Kenwright will be getting hot sweats, Ferguson, Unsworth and Jeffers (his dream team is complete), he will sleep with tears of joy in his eyes tonight.

"Ferguson In Charge of Game Against Chelsea"

If only.

Howe would be great. I'd also be happy with Moyes, especially if it's with Cahill as assistant.

In any case, Brands should go, along with his role as DoF. It isn't working. It rarely works well.

I want the new manager to manage the squad.

2 months too late!!! And a big NO to Moyes! No way!

I'm going to keep mentioning Bruno Genesio until someone acknowledges my jesus resurrect joke from earlier. Hes 22 to 1 for the Arsenal job but not listed for us.

The likelihood is that we'll lose on Saturday. What can Ferguson do with such hard fixtures?

Wish Marco all the best, a nice person but, had to go, Big Dunc will drum up the crowd, in my opinion, on the bright side, by putting him in charge, it says Moyes is not coming back.

Pity it’s not a night match on Saturday. Lunchtime kick off’s are shite for atmosphere.

As the piece says the win percentage of our last 4 managers is 40% or less. We have to get a manager with a much higher win rate. Ten Hag has an overall win rate of 60% and 74% with his current club Ajax.
There is no doubt Ajax are a successful club but I think Everton for all our problems would still be a step up and the chance to manage an historic, and still big club in the PL could be a big draw. Especially if we throw in a decent transfer kitty. He'd be the guy I would go for.
In the mean time best of luck to Dunc. He's going to need it. Hopefully the players will try a lot harder for him than they did for Silva or they may find a size 15 boot where the sun don't shine.

What a sad day for Everton Football Club. I never thought I would see the day we had to join the Manager Merry-go- round brigade. I really wanted the project taken on by Marco to be a success for our once glorious club. I was prepared to be patient & not expect greatness in a short time. Whilst I share the frustration and doubts of all Evertonians about Silva's capabilities I cannot condone some of the personal comments made about him. I saw some flashes of things coming good when he teamed up Tom Davies & Andre in mid-field. Then Andre was cruelly removed from that promising duo. Silva's bad luck with injuries & hideous VAR and other officiating decisions have not helped his cause. They robbed our club of at least 4 points or more. Criticisms of his tactics may well be well founded, but it would appear that his dedication to his job & work ethic are beyond question. Don't we all normally love a grafter at Goodison, even more than we value ability? It didn't work out & he may have be out if his depth with Everton, but it seems that he really did give it his best shot. It may not have been good enough, but it was his best. Nobody should be abused if they gave their best. At least let the man leave with some dignity & our best wishes.

I did say after the Norwich defeat didn’t I that our board would hang Silva out to dry and sack him after the inevitable Leicester and Liverpool losses.

Shitbags the lot who work for the club.

As for Ferguson being in charge goes, I really hope he just tells the players "See ball? Kick ball. See net? Put ball in net."

Jamie, my lips are sealed.

Bill #193, Dunc will be telling them "this is a headbutt and this is how you strangle someone"

Ray @ 189.

Normally I'd agree with you.

But given the circumstances, the Old Lady might be a bit more raucous than usual for a lunch time KO.

As an earlier poster pointed out, if nothing else, the crowd need to make it very, VERY clear:

'Anybody but Moyes.'

Frank Crewe -

If we get Ten Hag, I sincerely believe he would transform the side into a Top 4 contender.

And anyone who's watched Ajax play and doesn't enjoy it is probably a miserable person. The brand of football is wonderful.

It's a pipe dream probably, but oh my word I'd be over the moon if it happened.

Steven Astley. Moyes outstayed his usefulness by 5 years. Let's not forget the boring one up front, nick a goal and hang on mentality. Knife to a gunfight, settling for a 2-1 defeat in a cup final, no big away win in 49 attempts. Not even an OG off someone's arse. The worst Everton Manager since Billy Bingham. At least Walker kept a shite team in the top flight.

First ever post guys. I've been reading from 1 down to 128 and I get the common theme of no Moyes. I just wonder who really does the buying and selling at the club? We sell Romulu, a Premier League striker and are left with Championship strikers.

We sell Gueye, a Premier League midfielder and are left with Championship midfielders.

Who really is pulling the strings? No loyalty, no passion, no commitment. I think the players need to take a good look at themselves, they are letting the club down not just the poor scapegoat in the dugout.

I don't care who we get as long as they can pull 22 individuals together to start working as a team... Joe Royle's dogs of war mentality is needed this season.

Ferguson should really have followed KOEMAN out of the door, never mind be in charge. Another painfully drawn out Shambles.

Bill, I hope Dunc calmly informs them that any man who gives less effort than he deems satisfactory can expect a remedial boxing session with the temporary gaffer following the game.

Jim 192. Dead on. That shower last night where there for the taking. We surrendered to them, totally unforgivable. When will Mosh put Bill out of his misery.

Good post Karen #191 personal abuse is really not necessary

If I'd any sense I'd bail out of this basket case of a club, its a bloody embarrassment.

What now, if we could get a squad together that were of true top 6 quality players we might stand a chance. We cant though can we, if they were of that quality they wouldn't be at Goodison.
We need to stop kidding ourselves and stop looking at the players through blue tinted glasses.

That's another manager gone, as I've said before that's the current Belgium and Dutch managers who seem to be doing perfectly ok since leaving us, an ex England manager who got us up the table, and Unsworth who couldn't get a tune out of the players we had.
Now we've sacked Silva who was doing well at the end of last season, but guess what, we sell our best player and then don't replace our best defender.

Its become an embarrassing farce.

Frank C. I'd like Ten Haag but he's in with a good chance of the Bayern job in summer so will stay put for now. Lean pickings in January.

Glad Silva's gone, glad Moyes hasn't been given the interim job. Hope Ferguson can have a man to man chat with Sigurdsson, Walcott and Richarlison and explain what happens if they don't put in a hard shift!

Seriously, it's making the best of an atrocious situation, that in true Everton fashion has not been foreseen or managed. There is no sign of Everton actually having a candidate or two in mind. Have Arteta and Howe been sounded out and said no way?

We don't know and possibly never will, but at one of the busiest times of the season we are in limbo. Whoever is actually running the show Moshiri? Brands? Kenwright (God forbid)? needs to sort out this chaos very quickly before we are in the Championship.

Karen -

You're a good person.

I don't think many are wishing Marco ill-will. Most will wish him well.

His tactics, selections, and in-game decisions did him in, in the end.

Look at it this way. It is indeed a sad day, all things considered. But Marco was given every single opportunity and the (too much?!) time to prove himself. He was employed by a Club that clearly doesn't favor the merry-go-round, and one that is definably fair to their manager; giving them every opportunity to succeed and win over the fans.

In the end, he had to go.

Last time, Moshiri tried to get Allardyce in on a short term deal and the Lardy One wasn’t playing ball, only for the club to go back begging after Unsworth didn’t get the reaction he had hoped. I wonder if the much reported approach for the Ginger One was in a similar vein, with Moyes demanding either a longer term deal or at least the prospect of one based on results. History repeating itself, while Moshiri tries and fails to get the big name in, maybe?

Joe #182] not quite complete. 1 year contracts for Jose Baxter & Jack Rodwell not yet announced- but probably in the pipeline.

The reason I keep mentioning Bruno Genesio is that he's available from 1 January. That fits well with Dunc as temp.

Here we go again.

Another manager, another transition. More players coming and going because they weren’t their signings.

We are now potentially going to have a squad built under 5 different managers. Madness.

Great news that Silva is gone and even better he has taken Boa Morte with him.
It had to be Duncan as temporary head coach.

Simon 200. I am a Dunc fan. Like it or not he had the bollocks to win games on his own. He loves the club. Koeman couldn't be arsed, how can you put them in the same bracket.

Spot on Raymond- great post..a new hamster will be on the wheel soon

I’ve been critical of Duncan, outliving so many managers, but I obviously wish him well now he’s in charge of the first team.

Listened to Alan Meyers talking sense about Ferguson, saying how he’s matured and how much passion he has got for Everton, and hopefully he can do a good job in desperate circumstances.

Sad for Silva, who has definitely been let down by Brands this summer, but like Meyers said, Everton is different, and I personally think Marco’s sulking, and his refusal to try and make the most of what he had, instead of going with same old, same old, has also played a massive part in his dismissal?

Silva should have gone after the Norwich game, so the appointment of Ferguson still really worries me, because Duncan was available then, and Marco was definitely already finished after that debacle, but it’s one game at a time for a club in our position, so good luck on Saturday Duncan lad!

Here is a theory. I wonder if they kept Silva on until Richarlison signed that new deal?

So whoever the new manager will be, when we eventually get round to finding one, Duncan Ferguson will still be on the coaching staff again. We couldn't even manage a total clear out of everything that is wrong.

Seems to be a bit of talk of Marcelo Gallardo, River Plate manager. I don't know much about him but he seems to be linked on a couple of websites.

Like a lot on here, I don’t want Moyes back. More than anything else, I just think he’s yesterdays man. I’ve a feeling if it was Moyes he’d be appointed already. He’s not in work so why couldn’t he be unveiled a la Mourinho at Spurs?
That being said, I’ve personally got no idea who I’d go for if it was my call.

Like a lot on here, I don’t want Moyes back. More than anything else, I just think he’s yesterdays man. I’ve a feeling if it was Moyes he’d be appointed already. He’s not in work so why couldn’t he be unveiled a la Mourinho at Spurs?
That being said, I’ve personally got no idea who I’d go for if it was my call.

First thing I'm thinking, what formation will Duncan play?? I think he may try and emulate the dogs of war period and make things a bit more solid and I am thinking a 4 4 2 or a 4 4 1 1. It would not surprise me to see Baines come back in as left back with Digne shoved further forward (Similar to when Royle put Hinchcliffe left mid in that era). My team for Saturday: GK Pickford RB Sibide LB Baines CD Keane CD Mina RW Walcott LW Digne CM Delph (should be fit apparently) CM Davis CF Richarlison CF Calvert Lewin Subs Lossl Holgate Sigurdsson Tosun Schneiderlin Bernard Kean.

We're all blues through & through, we live and breathe it and so does Duncan.

If they offered me the job I'd fucking take it in a flash. I think that should be enough for us to at least get behind the bloke.

Agree with all those who have said our fans will be crucial on Saturday, not just for this game but for the future of our club.

Duncan is obviously not the long term answer but we need to get behind him and the team to try and get some points.

Our fans also need to get the message out to the Board that we don't want Moyes back ever

I doubt it John M. It only extended the lad a year.

For all we know, Tony, they could have been persuing/negotiating with potential successors. Theyre not going to tell us who's rebuffed them, are they?

Relief that it’s done. Done in an appalling drawn out amateur way.

Shame on the owner and board.

I am delighted for Big Duncan. A man who loves the club. He seemed to have more influence under Allardyce but I suppose that comes with learning the job?

I can't imagine him ever having a flowing conversation with Silva given the scottish accent and Silvas mumbling English?

Now we have a man that will at least have a good section of the crowd with him and instill some passion into the stadium, all around.

Well said Karen. Great post.

All the hate for Kenwright and Moyes is it really justified???? Did Moyes not join a broken Everton and steady the ship for 11 years. European qualification etc. on a shoestring budget. I agree that long term he is not the answer but this group of underachieving players have to take alot of the blame. Something is deeply wrong with broken Everton.

It's time for fans to be realistic, managing Everton in their current state and league position isn't a very attractive proposition to any ambitious manager. To gamble on some foreign manager who will need time to settle into a new country and a new league would be foolish. In an ideal world someone like Moyes wouldn't be considered for the job but in Everton's case it is a matter of 'beggars can't be choosers' and they have to take the best available man . whoever that might be.

As for Moyes' career post Everton I think he has only been sacked twice at Utd and Real Soc. Both the Sunderland and West Ham jobs were on short term contracts where the clubs declined to take up the option of making the jobs permanent. Utd was always going to be a difficult job as events have proved. Sunderland was a very sick club and consecutive relegation confirmed this. and just look at the state of West Ham!

All, no matter what your opinion is, the team needs us the fans more than ever. Let’s forget our preferences for Sat and get behind DF and the team. We need to do our bit and frighten the life out of the Chavs. A positive raucous atmosphere will see us home

Wow! Arse might be really shite because Brighton just went up 0-1. I'm sure they will install a new man early tomorrow. Lets hope its not Ten Hag!

Ferguson is familiar with the current first team squad. Presumably that was a factor in choosing him over Unsworth. It remains to be seen what else he will bring to the job. After eight defeats in eleven games we need a lift. Hopefully he can provide it.

It will be interesting to see who else is on the coaching bench on Saturday.

They should have had a replacement ready to take over immediately. Duncan Ferguson will have the same shit tactics as the previous managers and will have nothing new or creative offered. Absolute shambles.

John #232 "Ferguson is familiar with the current first team squad. Presumably that was a factor in choosing him over Unsworth".

Or maybe they offered interim to Unsie first, who declined. "You didn't think I was good enough last time..."

Mixed messages on Bruno Genesio. Said he was going to take a break after leaving Lyon, but virtually went directly to china. Had a great run there, a runners up spot and making noises that he wants to come back as he had them playing good football.

Think he'd take the Arsenal gig but probably not ours to be honest. He's better off with the massive wedge in china, the adulation of the fans and giving Rafa a lesson on how to manage a team.

Will Duncan have Boa Morte on duty as his assistant on Saturday?

Who knows?

DF could turn out to be a huge revelation and one of the most successful managers of all time.

Alternatively, he could turn out to be awful.

Only time will tell and, to be fair to him, he has to be allowed several games to try to begin to put right what has been so wrong at the club for at least 18 months.

Why can't some of you give it a rest. You wanted Silva sacked, he's sacked. Ferguson will probably only be incharge for one game. Get behind him.

John, I think you’re correct. Unsworth can’t get the team ready in a day. Ferguson has been in and around them for years. I hope Silva’s staff is still there for Saturday at least. Duncan just needs to stand on the sidelines and let the crowd do the work for him. The pressure will be gone from the players and we should be much better for that alone. If Goodison gives Ferguson the reception I know it will, I think Chelsea’s young side might find it tough going. They look off form as well right now. I expected a result (draw) from this game. We could easily win.

Just heard BigDunc has appointed Steffen Freund assistant manager

C'mon Big Man! What a dream it would be to see him celebrate a win over Chelsea.

I assume most of the people moaning about him on this site never witnessed the sheer presence he brought to the team. I know he's not the best forward we've ever seen, but I'll challenge anyone to find one with a bigger blue heart.

Stupid is as stupid does.
Poor timing. If we lost 1-0 last night would he have gone, 0-0?

Obviously he wasn't good enough but a little unlucky with injuries but players are playing below their standard either because they don't undersrand, don't care, don't want to work for him.

Never wanted, won't miss him (unless a 'Sam anti-football' comes in) but why now? I'd have got rid last month or given him a month.

Moshiri doesn't get it. He wont have a manager lined up and we're left in limbo through a tough, busy period. I'm surprised Unsy wasn't given it to be honest. He's at least got more experience of managing.

Sadly like every other manager in sure Schnides will be back in the starting line up. Good bloody luck Dunc, you'll need it.

Other then how he left to go to man utd, can someone tell me the negativity surrounding Moyes??

At long last we know where we stand, effectively managerless, hope for a result on Saturday, interesting to see HIS team selection.

I have little doubt that Marco Silva will be back in Management soon...………………………………………probably McDonalds!

Does anyone know the severance package for Marco, or was it by mutual consent with a sweetener to help him to the Airport?

Christy #240 - if he's appointed Freund as assistant, that suggests he might be interim for quite a while?? And what does all this suggest about Unsie's position?

If only Big Dunc had been in charge last night. The team may still have been rubbish, but Klippity Klopp wouldn't have been so smiley standing next to him!

Picks
Coleman Holgate Mina Digne
Siggy Davies Bernard
Iwobe Rich
Kean

Christmas tree formation, 'tis the season. 80% of our attack down the left.

Everton 6, Chelsea 1. Dunc is carried off the field. Kean hat trick.

Let's get a Northern European manager. Any mention of philosophy in the interview though, show them the door.

Putting Duncan in charge isn't about bringing improvement. It's purely about someone filling in. No-one expects him to solve our defensive problems.

We all needed putting out of our misery, Marco included.

Unless it turns out that Marco has someone ready, then it has to be an interim appointment and Notes would be as good as anybody. We need a pragmatist right now.

Then it's down to Marcel. He doesn't have any kind of excuse for failing next time. When the players and the coach are selected under his watch - he's accountable.

Changing manager isn't going to fix the Zouma and Gueye shaped hole.

FFS Moyes has been confirmed.

In truth there are not many options available to change the look of the team that have not already been tried. Saturday will not be a day for anything different in terms of personnel or formation. It will be a day for the players to dig in, the crowd to get behind them and maybe for once enjoy a bit of luck. Hopefully also our keeper might be able to make a save or two.

New manager needed

Currently needs to be able to steer a 'big club ' from relegation.

Initially needs to be able to set a team up to be hard to beat and organised.

Ideally with plenty of experience of premier league football.

Even better if he's a 'winner'. As in won trophies with big clubs in different European leagues.

Only one possible solution .

Rafa Benitez

Fuck Moyes. No Moyes no Hughes no HowE Siiva out can you dispose of aerosol cans in the recycling bin?
I want Gary Megson!!!

Dermot - source?!

It’s all a guessing game now Paul T, but it doesn’t stop us worrying, and I would sooner be rebuffed, just so long as we have got a plan, otherwise what is the point of Marcel Brands, especially considering the way Silva was sold short this summer.

It’s true Everton have spent loads of money during Silva’s short reign, but he was definitely sold short in key positions, and this might be a worry for any serious minded manager, Everton, might be interested in, because it’s definitely the first question I would ask the Everton board, if I was a manager and the club was showing an interest in me!

Brent#246...mate...

Steve 239 I agree. I expect passion from the players saturday. Not all because of Ferguson either but also because they are playing for their futures now.

Lets hope Zouma has a stinker.

I know you will remember this one Steve for all the negative bores already having a go at Ferguson.

He worked as Striker coach under Koeman right? And Lukaku, who had a great season, often commented that Duncan put on some really good drills in training.

The hate and negative comments already make me fume. This is a man that is actually hungry for the job and was bred into becoming as passionate an ex player now supporter you will get and may just be a very good coach for all we know?

Sorry Brent, I just woke up.

Kevin Ratcliffe summed it up in his interview with Sky. *He stated that Everton was too big a job for Silva.
*Silva should have gone long before now.
* Like Spurs we should have had a top manager lined up immediately.
* Taken aback at Ferguson being put in charge.
He seems completely disillusioned & very concerned at the way the club is being run.
I wish big Dunc all the best & hopefully we can get 3 points at the weekend but very worrying times for all Evertonians.

Dermot no he hasn’t

Brent @ 256 - trolling. Has to be. No word of that whatsoever.

He's one of us, a blue, bleeds blue, proper blue, means jackshit, can he manage a Prem team out of the relagation zone that's what counts, anyone who can do that come on down Marco's office chair is still warm.

I’ll I’ve Dunc a chance, Moshiri needs to deal with Brands and Kenwright. They shouldn’t come out of this unscathed. No Moyes please.

Carlo Ancelotti?

Been there, done that, got the Tee-shirt.

And now the career of DF is thrown under the Everton Bus of incompetence.

Karen 193,

Jamie took the words right out my mouth - I agree with you and like how you said it. I too, hoped he could get some breaks. He didn't.

I just can't come up with a valid excuse for numerous, bizarre, in-game (in-)decisions.

I wish him well. In time, I hope I remember him more for the run at the end of last season than the darker times, but he wasn't good enough for the task in front of him.

I hoping for an Ole type bump with the team under Ferguson. Big Dunc knows the team and will hopefully see all our failings. I wouldn't be surprised if the club held back from sacking Silva until after the derby as they pretty much wrote it off and wanting to get Ferguson's first game at home.

Wow, Chunky Pardew said he would take the Everton job. Could you imagine??!?

Hi Jamie at 207.
I hope our fans wish Silva well, but it's not the vibe I'm picking up from many of the posts.
I would not like to think that us Blues fans have ended up like the most hated fans on the planet, from across the park. Bitter & vitriolic. Especially to a manager who worked hard & did his best. As I say, while he may not have measured up to fans expectations, he deserves to leave with dignity. We should also all be careful what we wish for. Many wished for his departure, but with no clear idea of who should step into what is fast becoming a poison chalice.

I wish big Dunc all the best for his games in charge. Let the Grand Ol' Lady rock on Saturday. He'll need it. The players need it to give them confidence, and the fans need it to lift our spirits.

Should be interesting with the big man in charge even if it's just for one game. He's a winner that's for sure, transfering his attitude to the players might work, might not, let's hope so, we are desperate for every point now.

Silva seemed like an affable guy and had charm, but he was out of his depth at Everton and was a huge gamble that never paid off. Hopefully Moshiri now realises just how hard it is to pick a successful manager and will leave the decision to others more qualified.

Steve @ 69. If I was in Liverpool I'd bite your hand off!
Whatever I think or have said about Duncan Ferguson, I wish him all the luck in the world on Saturday. I would guess the place will be rocking. What's knows what might happen.

@Jamie 248

Cheers for the Tip lad I will head straight down to the bookies ;)

@Karen #191 - wholeheartedly agree with everything you say. I think Marco was always a professional, respected the club and fans, worked hard and did his best. In the circumstances it wasn't good enough but I don't think personal abuse or over the top reactions about him personally are appropriate. Sad day. Let's move on and hold those with the ultimate decision making powers to be accountable for the outcomes in the longer term.

who knows.

Trevor, I know this is churlish and I will be right behind Duncan on Saturday, but, what makes you say "Duncan is a winner, for sure". He isn't and wasn't.

I have well documented my take on Ferguson as a so called 'legend' many times but I wish him every success as a manager, starting Saturday. I have no doubt Goodison will be rocking and we need that. It will be interesting to see the team selection and what passion he can get out of what seem a soulless bunch in the main

The gnashing of teeth and wailing (sad day etc etc) is ridiculous. The man was out of his depth and should never have been recruited, nevermind agressively head hunted.

A lot on here could see he was a bad appointment from the off.. people are right to criticise his lack of ability. It was laid bare for all to see.

It's not as if hes huddling around a barrel fire on a picket line ffs.. the man is minted for life for failing abysmally. He deserves no sympathy whatsoever.. or malice for that matter... just plain, cold facts.

As for the appointment of Duncan..good on him.. at least it means I get to watch Everton for at least one more time. Because if Moyes comes back, that's it for me.

Jamie, I bet Duncan goes 4231 and plays British where he can:

Pickford
Coleman Keane holgate Digne
Davies Delph
Walcott Sigurdsson Richarlison
Calvert-Lewin

Assuming Delph is fit. Can’t see him playing Schneiderlin after their past issue.

He was a big game player Andy that is for sure and one of the last Everton players to recieve a winners medal.

Also some of the performances he put in after major operations make him a winner to me.

Tim Cahill got no medals and I think he is a winner too. The same mentality from 10 others and talented team mates get you medals.

Dermot you've been on the pop again!

Slaven Bilic for me.

You might be right, Riley. Arsenal are in the same mess but they're a more attractive prospect than Everton. We'd only get Genesio if Arsenal chose someone else.

If Big Dunc drops Iwobi (one of the worst players I’ve ever seen in an Everton shirt) then that will be a step in the right direction.

Try this for a passionate fan on youtube he's got one of his wishes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix2Qe1qPrFE

Robert #284 off topic but I just love your name. Did your parents give you your first name because of their political beliefs?

Give Dunc a chance, short term, after working under the last few failed managers, he can't be any worse, wouldn't it be great to see a manager with a bit of passion on the line.

@252 stupid is as stupid does.

Robert, arsenal look terrible one minute and fluid and good the next. Managers have big egos. The will think they’re the one to fix arsenal and harness the undoubted quality they do have. Especially if promised some money to spend.

The negativity on this site is overwhelming. Those who question their allegiance should do what they threaten and find another club to give their fickle support to. WE are in bad times and support is needed more than ever.

I have been an Evertonian for over seventy years. I saw them relegated. I dislike what is happening just as much as any supporter in the world. I am relieved that Silva has gone. I wish the very best for anyone who takes over, but whatever happens I will always be delighted to be an Evertonian. Get right behind team. True loyalty is measured by being tough when times are also tough.Just STOP feeling sorry for yourself!!!

Gareth Evans

Slaven Billic left West Ham in such a state of ill discipline they turned to Moyes to steady the ship

No way

I suspect it was Moyes who agreed to have Dunc on his coaching staff at a very junior level. It would have been at the behest of Kenwright who has always had a soft spot for lame ducks.

With the ginger one not wishing to take over until after the Manu game, he's asked the big man to hold the fort until after that 'embarrassing fixture' is out of the way.

Brands will be the next to go as Davey demands total control with 'softead'Kenwright back as his ' consigliere'. Now we are going places . …………….

Let's get this straight. There is not one single ex Everton player who should get this job. We need an experienced head who can bang a few precious heads together. I don't know who that is right now, or if I trust the board to make the right call but this is as big a call as when Moyes got the job in 2002. Get it wrong and we'll be going to Preston and Brentford next year.

Who the fuck sanctioned this? Pathetic. Duncan Ferguson legend,as proclaimed by some on here,wtf.
If this,my once great club is happy to make this appointment,then it shows everybody,including future potential managers,how much of a basket case we are.
I am embarrassed by this, as i'm sure lots of Evertonians are.All day waiting for this,ridiculous.
Ambition seems to have been a prerequisite by lots of posters on lots of threads recently,and this is the best Everton can up with,really?
Unless the powers that be have a fucking big rabbit to pull from a very small hat. No?, me neither,embarrising.

Some absolute rubbish posted on here. Martin #30 Moshiri was not at the game last night. It was surely the right thing for him to deliver the news to Silva in person and he did so by travelling up this afternoon.
Duncan may not be everyone’s choice for interim manager but he might surprise us. No one knows how good a coach he is or how good or bad he may be as manager but let’s give the man a chance and get behind the team.
As for all this stuff about “if Moyes comes then I’m through with the club”- words ( almost ) fail me. He did a damn good job for us with no money and I would back him to dig us out of trouble. Not a long term prospect and I would not be overjoyed to see him back but nothing and no one will ever make me stop supporting the club I fell for back in 1963- the club means more than any individual or set of individuals and if decisions are made which we don’t like then voice an objection then cut through the crap and get back to the basics of showing support. If he does come back and wins a trophy would everyone refuse to celebrate the success because of a few ill considered,immature and devious words and actions at a time when he was no doubt trying to ingratiate himself with his new club?
I hope it’s someone else but whether it’s Duncan,Moyes,Benitez or whoever they will have my total support.

Trevor #272
Winner?
I shit you not when I say he was more interested in his pigeons than football and EFC.
He became bankrupt ( on a footballers salary???? What does that say about his judgement)
Look, for the sake of EFC I want him to be a success, will the players give more for him than Silva?

Gareth 283

Bilic would of been in my top 3 picks... that’s if we are talking long term as l don’t want any manager that’s currently employed. All the shit, the expense and generally it shouldn’t be allowed... till the end of the season.

Daniel 292. Only after he was completely undermined by Payet wanting to leave. His record other than that stands up much better than any of the other candidates we are being linked with, look at what he's doing with an average West Brom side now. I would take the chance.

Steve F @ 280, yes will be very interesting to see the team selection for Saturday, along with the formation. Also be interesting to see how most of those picked will respond to Dunc, let's face it a lot have under-performed and showed very little serious commitment recently.

The early kick-off covered by BT 1 and Bein 11 HD, could just generate a decent atmosphere which has been a bit dull recently under Silva.

COYB

I am toasting to the success of Duncan with a wee dram of Aberlour 18, my favourite Scotch (at least of the ones I can barely afford).

Ermmmm

I was initially dreading Saturday, thinking it will be very toxic and that will get through to the team. But now I am looking forward to a good atmosphere and some passion from the team.

Sky reporting that we are chasing Vitor Pereira - who’s he?

John Boon. I'm sorry but it's that attitude from supporters that has gone a long way to putting the club where it is now. The club across the park is a shithouse at best but when their previous owners put them on the brink the fans dragged them out before their club was destroyed. None of this supporting whoever through whatever, they saw what was coming and took action.

Derek, Silva has to go because he had the crowd against him. Ferguson instantly has the crowd with him. Every single one of us will roar the blues onto the pitch like champions. I know that for sure because that’s what we did for Unsworth only two years ago. The Duncan Ferguson chant will ring out all game long.

I’m not a fan of Ferguson at all. But there’s positives I’m not going to deny. And it is a shrewder move in the short term than Unsworth as he is ready to go.

Another big one is Duncan is no shrinking violet and can sort out the rifts in the dressing room. Anyone not putting a shift in will be told so. I hope just not overly so.

He’s also not afraid of the big personalities and hopefully he can put them in their place. Which is why I think he will go with British where he can (ie those good enough to be in the equation).

Bad result for Sheffield United tonight. We can only conclude that Chris Wilder is the mysterious main target who stands ahead of Davie. Obvious.

Neil, former coach at Porto. Won league titles in Portugal, Greece and China. Next!

Vitor Periera is a Portuguese manager who we were previously linked with and ended up at Olympiacos where he was replaced by silva. We don’t want him. He’s not good enough.

Edit: sorry silva replaced him.

Alan Pardew open to taking Everton job. Lol. Had totally forgot about this man!

Periera? Another Portuguese who has been at Olympiacos and managed 20 clubs since 2002. Just the man to hit the ground running in a relegation battle. Someone will have to explain where Burnley is etc.. Moshiri is taking us down. We've gone backwards since he arrived. Another Club fucked over by a foreign owner.

If Pereira gets the job we're finished. Could the fans force Moshiri out?

Duncan Ferguson is a true blue. I'm happy to see him get his chance. It's not about personal prestige it's about Everton passion and pride with him.

Can't believe some of the comments slagging him off before his first game. I hope he does well because his Everton supporting children will be watching.

So happy Silva has gone. Such relief.

100% behind Duncan for Saturday.

I feel like an Evertonian again... COYB.

As a season ticket holder, who has posted maybe once before, I cannot help but feel that we the fans and the Goodison atmosphere were more than half the problem for Marco.
We had a good run at the end of last season beating top teams in good style (mostly at home but I think of WH away) that we celebrated, but I sense too many fans couldn’t wait to jump on Marco as they didn’t want him in the first place.
Far too many people couldn’t wait to turn toxic very quickly and that has made Goodison far from home this season, myself included.
Teams aren’t made in 12/18 months, I do wonder what we want and more importantly how we get there without more support and patience?

Colin #307 and Steve # 308, thanks. Best hope it is nothing more than a rumour then!

Oh my god. He we not learnt. The premier league isn’t a place to come and learn your trade. And we certainly shouldn’t be looking at a manager like this. I can see us becoming a Watford and replacing manager after manager now.

We want a bit of passion on Saturday, so forget about Schneiderlin and Sigurdsson, so why not try Calvert-Lewin and Kean together upfront, Silva never gave them a chance.

Ciaran at 279.
My post said it was a sad day because our club had to sack yet another Manager. Which means we have to start all over again. Not a sad day for Silva himself. My post asks that we let Silva leave with dignity, not sympathy. They are not the same thing.

So matey, get your facts straight before you come wading in with your size 60 boots to attack other posters opinions.

Graham Potter has been fantastic again tonight. Brighton were great in the first half and arsenal were shite. Then changes were made at half time and Arsenal came out a different side and scored. Arsenal looked a different side and were looking too fast and too technical and an arsenal win seemed inevitable. Potter weathered the storm and Brighton slowly took control and got back ahead and lead with 5 minutes to play.

I’m not saying potter should be appointed. But he’s one to watch. A very interesting English manager, with foreign experience, and fresh ideas. I’d be very interested to see how Brighton do by the end of the season.

Interesting discussion on Royal Blue podcast by two football analysts, who started podcasts on each of Everton's games for last 4 weeks, but have data going back some years.

Basic message Silva was hard done by - inherited a huge bunch of slow, less than average performers, slow defenders, slow overcomplicated transition midfielders and poor finishers. He has recruited well with Digne, Richarlison and Gomes, but Mina, Iwobi, Delph are again bang average players. Kean is a totally unknown.
Silva's football style, built on the Klopp, Guardiola models of needing high press, quick transition is totally impossible with the squad we have. We have good stats in we restrict teams to a small number of shots, we develop high number of attacking potential. But due to slow defenders caught out with through balls, and poor finishers and slow transistion midfield players then we end up where we belong. Its a complete mess. a system with players who just cant perform to that system. Strange message - Pickford isn't as good as made out, concedes far too many goals for small number of shots and doesn't command his box at all. Jewel in the crown Richarlison !!!

Silva's fault yes, you should develop a playing style which suit what you've got, which with the squad we have is should be a back 5, a midfield 4 with 2 sitting in, 1 attacker and as at Leicester keep it tight, try and snatch a goal. BUT don't give the ball away so cheaply as we do.

Put it all together and hey ho - bye bye Marco. Who's next to manage this below average bunch of players

Rob #213 Fair Play. Poor post really by me. I'd rather delete that on reflection. I'm not in a position to know his effectiveness. Good luck to Duncan Saturday.

Too many of our fans are prepared to accept mediocrity. All these shouts saying Moyes did a good job. He kept his job for 11 years winning enough home games to keep us up. Away from home he stank the place out. Should have been sacked 5 years before he left. I also haven't forgotten his treachery with United and conduct over trying to buy Fellaini for Utd.

Mike the Leicester game was 541. The Liverpool game was 343. The team went far too far forwards. Was it silva or was it the players getting too excited trying to make amends?

Nice one Simon. It’s a day of emotion. We just lost a derby. Lots of people vent on here but support in the stadium. ToffeeWeb therapy.

Steve F @305, so if most of the players who are selected for Saturday, come out in bandages and sticking plasters, displaying numerous bruises, we will know they have had either a run in with Duncan, or he has explained things to them his way. :-)

No Karen..

Your post is littered with supposition and guesses (he gave it his all.. dedicated etc blah).. its also replete with sympathy, despite your protestations.

I fundamentally disagree with your suggestion that he deserves our best wishes.. he doesn't. He deserved sacked. Theres too much mawkish crap at this club and we are worse off for it.

That's my opinion.. and attack it if you feel like it. That's what it's there for.

Jason #312
Duncan Ferguson was a First Team Coach under Silva, Marginez Allardyce & Koeman... ALL sacked.
I would be grateful if you could tell us what he would bring as Manager that he hasn't as First Team Coach and what the players will do differently for him now that he's the Manager and no longer their Coach?

Steve

The high defensive line vs Liverpool was an utter shambles, they had so much space to use. Probably a Silva cock up, unless Sidibe decided he was best suited to an attacking role, leaving Mane with the freedom of the park.

Arsenal are dreadful, as bad as us, although they have a few more points. Just shows. Not sure what it just shows, but it just shows.

Anyway tonight's games have pushed Brighton and Newcastle away from us. Just hope there's a Big Dunc Bounce on Saturday

This is the only time I haven't been sick to the stomach after being beaten by the shite, as it was the final straw that caused the removal of this arrogant idiot from our club. Now a list of people who could do a better job.

1. Anyone

Vitor Pereira has jumped to the top of the betting for our new manager.

Glad to see Big Dunc getting a chance, even if it is a fleeting one. Cut him in half and he would bleed blue.

Feel sorry more silva, but he just could not adapt his play style to suit what he had available.

Don’t care who we get (within reason) just as long as we get out of bottom 3 and they have some passion. If that’s a Moyes then so be it. We have years of rebuilding ahead of us and no top manager is going to come anywhere near us.

Build the stadium and get stability back then dare to dream. Alternatively we can sit in the championship and claim we are a big club.

Sad times but some realism needs to come now followed by stability

Thanks Steve # 323. I am worried though how short Moyes is in the next manager betting. 4 to 1 ON ! Please NO.

Steve, the difference is that Potter is an extremely clever man who has proved to be a phenomenal success in Scandinavia. His biggest assets are that he is reactive, his tactics are fluid but easily changed in shape and formation, something forgotten in today’s game. His biggest asset to my mind is that he is very very big on players mindfulness through team bonding, communication and psychology. The blokes been doing it for years and good on Brighton for picking him up, I would of loved him here.

Marco Silva hasn't succeeded, he's failed and been sacked.

This must infer that Marcel Brands hasn't succeeded and is on borrowed time.

Which in turn surely must mean that Denise Barret-Baxendale is accountable.

Except that, DBB doesn't even know who Neville Southall is. So, how in hell can she provide Executive Direction to MB or MS for that matter ?

Ahhhhh, because Widow Twanky calls her "Little Miss Dynamite". And thereby we solve the Everton conundrum.

BK belongs in the era of Doug Ellis, Peter Swayles, Bob Lord and Jack Walker. The erea of "pounds, shillings and pence", not the era of BILLIONS.

Get shut of Widow Twanky and DBB. Bring in Nicola Cortese who turned Southampton around with full support of Markus Liebherr.

Nicola Cortese Link

He is the man that Everton need, and fast !

Mike, well probably never know, but sidibe was hauled off before half time. The high line was suicidal.

Anyway, that doesn’t matter. Silva is gone. I hope it’s all him. I really do. Then we fly up the league and get back in the race for the top 6.

Arsenal, Spurs and Man Utd are not out of sight if we can be free of the mistakes.

Too bad but it is what it is, last thing we want is relegation. 1st thing we want sooner than later is a top 4 finish.

Pereira is supposedly on £30m a year in China. But there's no way he'd pass up on the chance to work with the likes of Walcott and Tosun, so go get him Mosh.

No Bob @336, we Don't !

We are still in two cups this season, what we want is SILVERWARE.

The league rebuild is a different matter. Ask Joe Royle.

Glad that fraud is gone but he’s not the only fraud at our club. Brands hasn’t covered himself in glory with his recruitment. Billy bullshit. Well I won’t go there life’s too short. And meddling Moshiri is using us as a play thing. I don’t know who I want as our manager but I do know I don’t want any of Moyes Howe or that dour one from wales.

As much as I find it difficult to say a bad word about DM, I really don't think he is the answer, and I have no idea who is.

Vítor Pereira Is linked to us so say sky sports

Dave@296, I wouldn’t go to Goodison if Moyes was the manager, but I would still want Everton to win every game though. In fact if I was offered the chance to never attend an Everton game again, because they’d become winners if I stopped attending, then you would never see me at a game again, and I’d still be one of the happiest Evertonians around!

I would definitely have to break the spell for the last game at Goodison, but even then I wouldn’t go in, if it meant our winning spell would come to an end, an that is how much I genuinely love my team, and why I’m so desperate for our younger loyal fans to have a little taste of success.

Darren Shirley 313, great post.

Tony 342 i get that too mate. I always think of the youngsters and how the other lot are leaving us for dead on this FFP era.

Where has this Pereira bloke come from all of a sudden? Knowing Moshiri's Sky links perhaps it's credible. Why is he not good enough Steve @308?

Best of luck to Duncan for Saturday, we can't look beyond our next game and the big man is in charge and gets my full backing. To be honest I'm sick to the back teeth of foreign coaches who just don't get Everton

Alexander (334): We were after Silva long before Brands and he signed on shortly before Marcel, although no doubt our incoming DOF was asked his opinion.

Silva was a Moshiri appointment; he can't very well blame Brands for that.

Should have been a couple of months ago.
We have lost far too many points against the poor teams already.
No confidence in the directors whatsoever.
Shocking.
They better not go for Moyes.

The board will screw the next appointment up.

The fact they are even talking about the idea of Periera, I mean why just why?

It’s just Marco mark 2 isn’t it?

Madcap the lot of them.

Brighton have just popped Freddy's bubble

Everything to play for the next few games

Steve Ferns, Potter just signed a new contract last week for 6 years. Brighton know they have a gem and secured him going into sacking season and some supposed interest from Arsenal. Any team would have to pay through the roof in compensation for him now.

I suppose one thing we can guarantee from Duncan is the kind of theatrics shown by Klopp, Mourinho, etc, who rant and rage at officials if something doesn't go their way. No official will want to feel the wrath of the big fella.

Saw that Alan Pardew took the liberty of throwing his hat into the ring. Fun times!

It’s a complete mess, a system with players that can’t perform to that system, and you need data to confirm this?

Thanks Mike@319, wasn’t having a go with my question, just further confirmation, that football is being totally over complicated, and Klopp must have been laughing his head off, because although Silva changed his system, he was still asking his players to do things they are clearly not suited to, and any Evertonian could have told you this?

Pereira another Portuguese gamble, don't see it, or whose choice, but would love to see a huge performance on Saturday, and in my opinion what has Brands done, that's any different than Silva.

Vitor Pereira is not the answer. He knocked around the lower leagues of Portugal before getting the gig as Porto manager having been the youth coach, and then become Andre Villas Boas' assistant.

Porto were returned to greatness and taken to new heights by Mourinho. Mourinho left and the Champions League Champions were ravaged by vultures and did not retain the title. They then rebuilt and won it the next year, and the next and the next and so on. 5 titles in a row and then they skipped a year, sacking the manager and hiring AVB, who hired Pereira as his assistant. AVB wins the league and the UEFA Cup and is immediately declared the new Mourinho and moves to Chelsea. Pereira stepped up to the hot seat.

Porto at this time had Hulk, Joao Moutinho, and of course Falcao, but he left before Pereira got going. Pereira won back to back titles, so Porto won 3 in a row. But Pereira failed in Europe with early exits and this did not go down well. Pereira flirted with Everton at this time, 2013 Link Not sure exactly what happened but we ended up with Martinez and Pereira went to Saudi Arabia.

Then he was in Greece the season after Silva, but between him and Michel, they failed to replicate Silva's record breaking season where they won the league by 30 points and a Europe record number of consecutive wins.

Now here's what gives me the most concern. Remember how much Porto was winning the league from Mourinho's time and then five in a row and a bad season was going a year without a title? Well Pereira left Porto as champions but they didn't win the league again for five seasons, until 2018. Olympiacos had won 7 consecutive titles when Pereira left, they won the next one and haven't won it since. Sure, he will say he won, he was a Champion and the next guy failed. But he failed to repeat the success of the guys before him to the level they did it, and the one after him struggled further.

Next he went to Turkey, not so sure about Turkey and Fener are a basketcase club, but he didn't win anything. His last European club was the second club of Munich, 1860, where he had a 30% win record and lasted 20 games.

He's won two titles in China. I know nothing about China, but I do recall a match fixing scandal and ever since I've been dismissive of their league.

Anyway, I do know Portuguese football, or rather I did, and this was the period and this guy is not good enough.

I know three guys with betfair accounts who manipulate the markets on "next manager" fairly easily and with fairly small amounts of money.

Not sure on exactly how they do it but I believe in low volume markets they lay and back pre arranged prices with each other to pull the market one way or the other. They then drag a more likely types odds up at the high street and bet there, using money they've received for laying the false favorites they've framed in the BetFair markets. They also have multiple twitter accounts to plant stories and start whispers.

TLDR - keep an eye on the betting markets on next manager, they're variable sketchy and rarely accurate due to manipulation by small syndicates. If a couple of guys I met in Spain on holiday were doing this then it's not exactly difficult, expensive or otherwise hard to do.

Ciaran,
I don't attack other peoples opinions, especially other Evertonians, I mearly disagree with opinions. Opinions are not 'there to be attacked', they are there to be debated & discussed. Perhaps you'd be better suited across the park with the other vitriolic RS fans? Just a suggestion!
And no, my comments about Silva being a grafter are not supposition. It has been commented on by many at the club more in the know, that his work ethic was impeccable. And my physio friend who works at FF backs that up.
That Silva didn't deserve to continue as our Manager is backed up by results, but factors about injuries & VAR decisions are facts too, not sympathy.
As for mawkish crap, can only say that football would be nothing without emotion. Be that passion, loyalty or even sentimentality. While in your opinion, our club is worse for that, I feel the world is probably worse off for having disrespectful, disloyal and dispassionate people. I don't know which category you fall into but I'm willing to have a guess. That would be my final comment to you, as although some debates on here make me change my thinking, yours never will.

Gallardo or Jorge Jesus for me, and I think they are both possibles although we may have to wait a little while until the Argentinian League and Brazilian League has finished.

They would certainly bring passion and style, which has been sadly lacking for too long.

Dave @296 - very well said indeed (doffs cap). Agreed with every well said word.

This victor fella is allegedly on £30 million a year, so I’d do something our players can’t do very well, and fucking PASS.

Derek 358.

I take it you watch their teams play week in week out and understand what they will bring to Everton then..

... we’re all ears.

DK, I was pretty sure it was over, but I checked. The Argentinians have adopted a European Calendar so they've only just started. I'd be surprised if Gallardo wanted to wait until May though, and he was tipped to make the move to Inter Miami in the coming weeks. Link

I doubt Gallardo dropped out of the running after having talks because he has unfinished business in Argentina, more likely the European money is calling him, and of course the chance to test himself against the best.

The question is does he wait for Barcelona, or does he go for someone like Everton. I think we can get him, and he won't break the bank. Hopefully he brings his key defensive midfielder with him.

Many of these stories about who is wanted for next our manager are fake news. Don't blame the board for creative journalism.

I was hopeful for Silva the way we finished last season and then it turned to shit. The loss of Gana didn't help but as others have pointed out he lost his brain when his Portuguese buddy got a job back home and Boa Morte is more like a lobotomy. Lets see how things work out without these two.

I'm not sure where to start with that 'attack' Karen..so I'll just leave it there.

Pereira is NOT the answer! Please Everton, for once go for someone with some pedigree. Someone who has won something In a major European league. Not another former Olympiakos manager!!!!! Otherwise there will be "Pereira out" posts same time next year lol.

If Ten Hag isn't going to Bayern, I say get him ASAP.

Everton have a few Portuguese speakers on playing staff, a slight whiff of old courting = tenuous link to Portuguese speaking managers. The sports media, and agents who have massive links to betting companies create their own links to rinse the public. I’m expecting a left field appointment or Brands resignation

Pereira sounds like another Portuguese disaster. Please no.

Meanwhile, following the latest round of games, the gap to 10th-6th-4th whatever, which just 3 games ago some were saying was just 1-2 wins away for Everton, continues to widen.

The club has got to get the next managerial appointment right on so many fronts.

Paramount for me is that it cannot be a divisive figure with the fans. We need someone the overwhelming majority can unite behind. It must be someone credible, inspirational who - as Paul Tran keeps repeating - is a fire starter, not a fire fighter.

They are out there. It's primarily Brands job to find one and Moshiri's job to sign it off and fund it.

Silva's "brain" has won 2 of the last 7 games, and after a great start they are dropping back.

Silva did something remarkable in Portugal with Estoril. Truly remarkable, and it is not forgotten and probably won't be for some time. Famalicão are not Estoril. They are not a little provincial club on the bones of their arse. They are Hoffenheim. They are a small club bought by a rich consortium. The main guy is Jorge Mendes, the agent who runs Portuguese football, and has an interest in Wolves. Famalicão are a vehicle for Mendes players. Sporting, with their nutcase former president went to war with Mendes and refused to sign his players and tried to get them all to drop him, and the ones they had left for Wolves when the President supposedly, allegedly, got the fans to attack the players and Jorge Jesus left as a result.

Famalicão was Mendes fighting back at the Portugese efforts to shut him down. It's not plucky Estoril fighting against the establishment with no money, no stars and supposedly no hope. It's a provincial club flooded with Mendes players, putting them in the shop window, so he can sell them and make a profit. Joao Pedro Sousa is doing a fine job in gelling these guys together, and made a great start. But don't call him Silva's brain, that he was not. His sounding board and his right hand man, for sure. But don't elevate him beyond what he was.

New manager on the way (hope he's a good one).

Billionaire owner still at the helm.

Still in two cup competitions.

Not too late to turn the season around.

RS may have done us a huge favour.

EtH!

Graeme @ 361, I wouldn't go as far as to say I watch them every game, but having a couple of paid IPTV Services, I can often watch games from Argentina and Brazil and often do.

Marcelo Gallardo is currently River Plate's most successful manager and has won virtually all there is to win, plus his team play with skill and are a joy to the eye. He would be a breath of fresh air and doesn't suffer fools or complacency.

Similarly Jorge Jesus at Flamengo, is the older and more experienced of the two, and again plays a brand of Football that the fans would relish. He is also somewhat of a character and can't keep still on the touchline or technical Area.

He is Portuguese and has managed many Cubs with much Silverware and League Championships in Europe.

Derek, River's most successful manager is only 43! That's astonishing. They're one of Argentina's big 2. I assume it's because no one sticks around long enough in Argentina. Same as Jorge Jesus is one of the most successful in Portugal, simply because the Portuguese all leave as soon as they win the league, following the Mourinho route, like AVB and Pereira, and Fonseca. Can't blame them because there's a gulf in wages. So you have to respect Jesus for not chasing the cash.

Why is the price we pay for a manger such an obstacle for many? They are the key element of a team, it’s direction and it’s emotion.

I’m amazed there isn’t a formal transfer marker for managers.
You get what you pay for and Everton have not spent nearly enough on a manager in its history. Time for that to change and if it means blowing FFP then so what? We’d get a fine and it’s not like we’d ever make Europe.

Graham, you do know you can watch the Argentinian leagues for free on freeview, sky, BT, Virgin, the internet. See link for details: Link

It's how I follow Sporting ;)

How about people stop getting wound up over lazy journalists playing manager bingo? A newspaper exclusive doesnt mean were talking to them. Let them get on with it.

Paul, as in the case of Hughes, it can be the agent trying to manoeuvre his client into the reckoning. Take Hughes for example, no chance at Everton, but say a Championship club need a manager, the agent can big up his client saying, well Everton were interested. It gets Hughes back in the conversation and helps him get another job.

So once again Moshiri has squeezed out the unwanted blemish on the surface of what he owns.

Well done Farhad but hopefully soon, for your sake and ours, you identify and obliterate the poison within Finch Farm that continues to confound you, Ryanetsov, and all the investment from your boss Usmanov, as well as potential funding organisations for BMD.

The poison always provides the barrenness that terminates the next hugely expensive manager you have to sack but still you blunder on, with the poison in your ear too. You seem to never realise what it is.

If you're still wondering, just ponder who led you to appoint Duncan Fucking Ferguson for even one fucking match.

Jesus H!

To gamble on a manager with no premiership experience will be very risky and potentially fatal to our premiership survival. I'm not into this crap, I'm not going to goodison if tom, dick or harry is in charge. Everton is my club and whoever is in charge is not important. Getting positive results is what matters.

The fans at goodison need to lift the roof now. Make the atmosphere unpleasant for the away team. The place has become a library and away teams love it. It's gives them a chance to play and get results. The fans need to get vocal to lift the players. Forget the next manager and concentrate on getting behind the team.

And clickbait for the papers, Steve.

The Hughes link was supposedly more to do with an agent trying to put him in a job, with the carrot of access to the rest of his clients.

Ian, sorry mate. Not much of a singer myself. I vocally support the team as much as I can, and will do on Saturday. But if you have someone like Allardyce in the dugout, I'm not paying the extortionate amount I pay to watch that crap. Seeing as I already paid, I went, and I cheered as best I could, but it was very hard when you are cold and watching that shite. The club told me Allardyce was gone in order to get me to renew my season ticket. If Moyes is in, then I'm not renewing unless they make a similar promise. I'm not paying to watch shite. It's not just about the results when you're in the stadium. If it's on the telly you can just turn it off. So sorry mate, I'll pass the baton onto someone who can go, and can get behind the side better than I could if it's dour Davie.

Rumours Arsenal want Arteta, could be a gem?? Pereira no thanks

Hey Steve, lovely story about Estoril and your hero. I suggest you become more informed on what Graeme Potter achieved with Ostersund it considerably blows it out of the water.

To be honest after reading your insights I thought you would of known about him already. Thanks for the energy recently, some of the things have been good to read but it’s Time to take the poster down now mate.

Jay 368, I agree with you, but with one slight difference of opinion - right now I don’t really care if the manager splits the fanbase so long as they can get us picking up points and quickly. I think we are truly in a very perilous position, so don’t care anymore about whether he unites us (at least to begin with) so long as we aren’t scrapping for points in the last few games. When you look at who is realistically available, most would divide opinion. I believe like you that we absolutely must get it right. I would love to know who Brands would want. Very few of those currently topping the running with the bookies seem the type Brands would go for

Good luck on Saturday Dunc. I think the team talk is very simple. A player that performs without any courage and that doesn’t give their all gets a head butt at full time. We may just see some improvement then.

Andrew, sorry mate, I don't watch Swedish football. My recently deceased father lived in Portugal for 6 months a year. I spent a lot of time out there and met a lot of great people. They nearly all supported Sporting and so I adopted them too and went to games and watched on the internet. It's not about having Silva's poster on my wall. It's about having spent a lot of time in a country and following a side in that country, who happen to have a very good manager who then joins Everton. My father is dead though. I have been to Portugal once since, and I have gradually lost touch with my mates and don't know I will ever go to the Jose Alvalade again. And unless Everton appoint Pereira or Jesus I doubt I will ever be in a position of knowledge about a manager like Silva again. Sorry that this offends you so much.

Stephen Davies @326

He's interim against Chelsea for 1 game. Maybe a few others if he does well allowing Brands to find a better long term replacement (would be my guess).

He has NOT been sold as the solution.

We've lost enough with Silva in charge so lets get behind Duncan (for his very short stint) and the team otherwise sacking Silva and still losing games makes us look even more stupid.

Sorry about your father Steve, it’s not easy losing a very close loved one which I also know first hand. I’m not offended at all, I was just really curious as to how, with your statistical love and knowledge of the world game would have little knowledge of an up and coming exciting manager in Europe. Now I am aware of your love for Portugal’s football and why you have gone to endless lengths to champion Silva.

I apologise, Don’t ever change, passion is a beautiful thing.

Whatever view one may have about the next manager, surely the barrage of personal abuse which is being and has been directed against Bill Kenwright and David Moyes is totally unjustifiable.

Constructive criticism is perfectly acceptable but vilification of members of the board of directors and possible managerial candidates is indefensible

Retention of premiership status is of the utmost importance and the focus should be on supporting Duncan Ferguson and the team against Chelsea

Thanks Andrew.

I'm aware of Potter. There's a lot written about him. I enjoyed the stories on the Athletic about the team building activities and so on.

Link

I like to read about tactics and coaching and Michael Cox has written a few things. He's a very intriguing manager. It was a bold appointment and not one I would have encouraged Everton to consider. But if he has a great season at Brighton, proving himself at this level, would it then be possible for us to poach him? Which is why I think he's one to keep an eye on.

The other British managers, other than Wilder, that intrigue me at the moment at the Cowley brothers. They were at Lincoln earlier this season when we played them in the League Cup and last season in the FA Cup. They joined Huddersfield and after a tough couple of first games, they got them going, only to stall in the last 4 games or so. They are certainly a pair to keep an eye out for. They have PE teacher backgrounds and have worked their way up through the pyramid and are still relatively young. Danny is the manager, and his brother Nicky is the assistant.

Link

Chris...

Kenwright is a devious aul fart.. I consider that constructive criticism..

Is that ok? If not, why not?

Ian 379. I agree 100%. Success in “Mickey Mouse” leagues accounts for nothing when compared to the Premiership, that’s what has us where we are. We need a manager who has managed in a highly competitive environment.

Who knows what will happen. I was planning to miss the game against Chelsea but now I will go - Duncan Disorderly may be no great coach but I think he is capable of frightening the players into trying for once.

The longest sacking in history is finally over and done with. Should have been sacked within weeks of being appointed. Never wanted the relegation manager in the first place. Another of Moshiri's 'brilliant' decisions. What he saw in Silva will forever be a mystery to me.
This is my 60th year of supporting Everton, and Silva is right up there in contention for our worst ever manager. I spent all day today checking every half hour for the news we were waiting for.

When the news eventually came through I punched the air and shouted "YES" with more enthusiasm than I've celebrated any of our goals this season. He was that bad, just looking at his miserable face, standing on the touch line in that ridiculous flasher mac was enough to raise my hackles and put me in a bad mood.

It feels like Christmas has come early and I'm heartily glad to see the back of him.

As to the future, we all know that our board are like a dysfunctional family on heavy doses of mogadon, so I don't expect any high profile revelation any time soon from them. Having said that, whoever they appoint, (including David Moyes), will receive my support in order to drag us out of the mess we're in, because someone has to do the job, and if anyone expects any of the big names being bandied about to want to come here to take over the shambles created by Moshiri and Co, think again. We're not an attractive proposition for any 'name' at present, so we're going to have to take who we can get, and get behind them, swallow the medicine as foul as it might taste, add a large dose of reality and see what happens next.ts

Silva's gone, so let's try and be optimistic about the next manager, at least until we can see tge first few results coming in. We need points and we need our fans to help rebuild Fortress Goodison. It can be done, but only if we all pull together.

Onwards and upwards my friends.

Wilder is the pick of the bunch for me Steve, I saw his teams at Northampton town and he was a breath of fresh air. In the lower leagues you have to mostly think out of the box, most of the other teams either pretend there Barca, run around a lot or “stick it in the office” at the first available opportunity.

The Crowley brothers are definitely worth keeping an eye on, I know a few supporters who would have loved them at West Ham and Watford. Huddersfield were 10 unbeaten recently until I put them in an accumulator.

I played a few games under Gary Johnson and have followed his son Lee’s progress at Bristol city. For me he is another manager who has a fresh approach and is a far better bet than the “British managers lunch time club” (if you’ve not listened to it it’s what has kept me going through hard times, look up atletico mince it’s an absolute genius podcast)

You will always get a call of “no premier league experience” “ hasn’t won anything” blah blah but I think the lower leagues have very good options who would do a better job than the “destroy and exit” brigade of washed up Uk managers.

With regards to Potter we would only get him if we were top 6, he’s earning his “premier league” experience already.

Steve Ferns.

For the day that is in it, I want to commend and thank you for your support of Marco during his time here. Your knowledge of his past coaching achievements and optimism that he would do a good job for us, kept me going many times when I doubted his ability.

Maybe you are right and with a better group of players he can be successful in the future. I wish him all the best.

Either way, we are about to find out over the next few months how much of this was down to Silva, and how much is down to the players.

Silva had to go for sure, but a combination of bad recruitment over a number of years by various managers, and a difficult run of injuries, has left us in a very dangerous position in a season where many of the teams in the bottom half of the table seem capable of beating the usual Top 6 quite frequently.

Worrying times.

I kept half an eye on Bristol City too Andrew. I really liked Liam Walsh and I expected him to catch fire there and come back to haunt us. Now he's scoring wonder goals for Coventry in the third tier. Still not too late for the lad. I recall Gary being highly touted in his younger days and yeah Lee has been hailed by quite a few pundits in recent years. What was Gary like to play under?

Potter is certainly doing too well for us now, if he keeps it up, and come the summer he can expect to get a great job. but he also seems the type to be loyal and give Brighton a few years.

Athletico Mince - was that Bob Mortimer? Think I listened to something like that but I find Bob a bit too strange for my tastes.

Brian - thanks for that. I hope that Silva was really the worst manager ever, because having lanced that boil, we will bounce right up the table and with Arsenal, Man Utd and Spurs still stuttering, we are not out of the race for the top 6 as 7 points is nothing at this stage of the season if you can get a run going.

Ferguson’s appointment appears to be an interim one, possibly only for next Saturday. At least the Moshiri hasn’t repeated the mistake made with Unsworth, failing to make it clear that he wouldn’t be the permanent choice.
Surely Brands’ own job will be on the line if he doesn’t get someone in place quickly.
Meanwhile a horrible day over spent worrying about the spectre of Moyes.

I just feel a sense of total relief that Silva has finally gone. In 62 years of supporting Everton Silva must be the most inept manager I've ever seen, with the possible exception of Mike Walker.
I don't care who the hell comes in as an interim, or who is permanently appointed, so long as he can install some discipline and method into the disorganised bunch of underperforming players we currently have.
If that's Moyes, Benitez or even Gerrard I couldn't give a toss. I'm not advocating Stevie G La but if he took the job on, and turned the shambles around, then what a windup that would be for the RS.
What I don't want is a Martinez or Silva Mark 2 i. e. Eddie Howe or some foreign coach who's had some fleeting success in Portugal et al.

I got to give it to you Steve, you know all about the abilities of Portuguese coaches.

Question: who will be Duncan's assistant? Alan Stubbs appears to be out of work.

So Silva is gone, the king is dead, long live the king!

The one constant on these boards over the reign of the late king was been the constant voice of his biggest advocate, Steve Ferns. Contrary to what Steve Ferns may think, I hold no animosity towards him, but could never fathom out his undying faith in what most could see as a loser.

Steve Ferns appears to have seen something in Silva that not many Tws recognised, he has been steadfast in his support for the man and has posted more verbiage in his praise. than any other. His loyalty has been admirable, if not ill-founded, his opposition to a Moyes appointment is one I share, his apparent knowledge of all things 'soccer' is supposed to impress - but not all are impressed.

I will no longer venture to cast doubt on Steve Ferns, extraordinary knowledge or criticise his plethora of daily posts on each and every subject that is discussed on these pages. After sixty years of supporting the blues, many as a Season Ticket holders I can honestly say that my disappointment in all things EFC are at an all time low and my cancellation of both Auto Cup (!) and Season Ticket are a demonstration of my total disgust at the way this club is being managed.

Steve Ferns, you have many more years than I have to come up with support for whoever follows your buddy Silva. I wish you well I have read a large majority of your posts, not agreed with many but cannot argue with your conviction, right or wrong.

It's way past my bedtime, I am long past caring about who or when or how Everton fare, I've had my fill. I do agree that Moyes is not the answer, nor is Ferguson!.

Brian @ 395, it's a sad state of affairs when we as fans cheer a Manager being sacked, but I didn't exactly punch the air but must admit I felt more relief than anything rather than joy.

I am with you 100% in that I fail to understand why Marco Silva was head-hunted, and further bewildered as to why with his Track Record, he was given a 3 year Contract.

For fear of repeating myself why couldn't he have been given an initial Contract with an incentives clause, by that I mean, prove you are the right man for the job and your Contract will not only improved but extended.

If that had prudently been the case, not only with Silva but all the previous incumbents, massive compensation packages would have been minimised and perhaps made them focus more on the job in hand.

Oh I almost forgot the Agents Factor, who is always after the very best deal for his client, of which he has a peripheral interest in profiting from himself.

I can't think of many other jobs where failure is handsomely rewarded, surely if they fail miserably in the duty they have been entrusted to do, they are in Breach of Contract. I have no doubt that someone will know a bit more about the intricacies of Football Manager's Contracts than I do.

It's all water under the proverbial bridge now, so we move on, and hope that Big Dunc can fashion some results, so we can get clear of the brown stuff, and head towards the rarified air of the top half of the Table.

Yes Bob Mortimer, he is odd but the British managers lunch club is the funniest football related thing I’ve ever heard it’s priceless. If you give it a go try the “annual awards” one. Pardew, Pulis, Hughes, McLaren, Moyes, Big Sam are all there shouting “money money money” after another “destroy and exit” pay off!

I was only a kid at Newmarket town then but Gary Johnson was full of passion and invention, he certainly knew his own mind. it was different back then though. Steve you wouldn’t get away with telling elite players home truths now. He did really well at Cambridge Utd straight after and ended up managing Latvia!

I watched Ryan Ledson a bit when he was at Cambridge Utd and he was so much better than the rest on the pitch it was sometimes laughable yet he was coached by Sean Derry. An awful journeyman player then manager who never had the break that the lunch club managers got. Against Carlisle (who were down to 9 men with 30 mins left) instructed his defence to bypass midfield (and Ledson) to hit aimless balls centrally forward where his 5ft6 forward battled with 6 footers, he didn’t once alter this “game plan” it finished as a draw.

Ed #401

Please don’t tell me you’re referring to Steve Ferns?!?!

Nice guy, loves Everton but really poor judgement and cannot offer an objective opinion

His support of Silva, despite the evidence, was ridiculous - it literately made no sense - it stood up to zero resilience and zero robustness

Let’s please start using our own acumen and literally judging what we see before us. If we see Kean score zero goals in 4 months let’s say he’s one for the future rather ‘start him every game’

If we see Pickford give up goal after goal after goal, please let’s call it out and say he’s crap rather than he’s great

And if we see the likes of Lukaku or Ritchie scoring goals for us let’s please value them and laud them rather than pretend we are better off without because we really aren’t

We’re crap. We really are. No other team fails to beat their neighbours for 10 years and fails to beat them away in 20 years. We are crap and we need to understand where we are and build from there rather than the useless delusions of gradueur

Right now, if it suited Klopp to be out of the FA Cup, he actually couldn’t pick a team that would lose to us in January. Just think about that for a few moments.

Klopp can’t give the FA Cup game away to us in Jan because we are that useless

What a sad pathetic state of affairs

And we think we’re too good for Mitrovic etc. Good God. We are so deluded

I thank Marco for his efforts and for his commitment, will always regard him higher than Koeman but obviously this situation is 4 Alarm Fire level emergency and a change is required. Results around us are not helping and we need some feaking points!! Hire Tim Cahill!

Everton can’t even sack a manager properly.

John M @50 don't be silly, everyone knows Jesus only rides dinosaurs.

Kase Chow has hit the nail on the head.

We are not attractive to the big names, if we where Pochetinno's agent would be hammering the door down on Moshiri's office.

We will attract a middle of the road safe manager like Howe or an unproven foreign name with a track record in the lower continental leagues.

I personally don't give a shit anymore, after 58 years of supporting this club they have sucked the very life out of me. I swear I couldn't give a rats arse if we went down anymore, that's how I feel at the moment.

Maybe then this circus would stop, BK is still the ringmaster and is leading the rest of the board a merry dance.

Except for Barret Baxendale who admitted she knows nothing about the running of a football club but still ended up on the board.

You couldn't fucking make it up if you tried.

One of my first experiences of RS vitriol in about 1968 was when I must have been about 12. A mates dad said to me, a young boy, "he was a shit player and he's a shit manager".
I was taken aback. I had never experienced such bile in 12 years jousting with my RS mates.
The manager was Harry Catterick. A manager every bit as good as Shankly.
Day dreamer me hopes the same career for Duncan Ferguson.

Ed, no idea, but there's no news of Silva's backroom having left yet. I would expect Boa Morte. If Stubbs is suddenly there then surely it's more than 1 game, just like when Unsworth was allowed to recruit a keeper coach and a couple of others. I expect all of the Silva staff to leave, but I hope we would retain the best. Brands should be well positioned and should be able to persuade them to stay if the new guy wants them.

The one of interest though is Bruno Mendes. Bruno had never worked with Silva before Everton. He is Mr Benfica Lab. Which, and you'll all laugh, is about injury prevention and conditioning. So yeah, not gone well so far. But the results at Benfica were meant to be amazing which is why Silva convinced us to hire him and his guys. I hope Brands can assess them and if they are worth it, keep them.

FFS there are a lot of comments now. I left when there were 28 lol

Riley @61 you talking about the Lookman who has 131 minutes in 13 games for Leipzig? Hopefully he's trying to convince yet another manager that he's worth more than training pitch exercises instead of laughing. And you called Steve stupid? Mad, that.

Bobby @129 tbf there were plenty of grips about Silva before he coached his first match too.

Bill @177 I'm completely with you. I think whoever is announced in the coming weeks will speak volumes. If it's a Moyes or whatever, it'll be clear that it's still Kenwright driving the ship. If it's an exciting, progressive-minded manager who's better aligned with the squad we're building (not the dinosaurs who no longer want to be here), it'll be clear it's Brands. I can't imagine Moshiri will do anything but rubber stamp whichever voice wins. Even he must realize he's not good at this and someone else has to choose. If it looks like a Kenwright man, Brands should be on the phone to his lawyer to get out of his contract and head to a club with a clue.

Danny @184 "Brands should go, along with his role as DoF. It isn't working. It rarely works well." Why is the most ignorant are always the loudest?

Karen @191 *clap* one of the sanest, and classiest comments here.

Steve @280 are you taking the piss because Silva got fired? That's the worst fucking XI imaginable.

Mark @329 atta boy, mate, that's the spirit. The list of people who couldn't run an alleyway card game, let alone a £1b business grows by the moment.

Alright I ran out of steam. Who mentioned Ten Heg? lol - Ajax told Bayern they'd have to wait until summer to open discussions, so naturally they'll altar that position for us. Who wouldn't?

I hope Brands quits and Evertonians get what they're wishing for.

Derek #403

If Silva did his best, and from what you hear he certainly put the hours in, then he almost certainly couldn't be held to be in breach of his contact.
Yes, in football failure can be richly rewarded but that is no different to the higher echelons of business and commerce. For example, if Tesco continued to underperform and lose market share the CEO would swiftly be shipped out with a very generous compensation package.
It's only us plebs who get sacked and end up at the Jobcentre.

Bill, I see you didn't mention all the banking CEOs who got knighthoods and million pound bonuses for causing a recession!

Steve; I was tempted but couldn't be bothered to look them all up!!

The taxpayer funded their bonuses, and the bail out of their banks, to the tune of 10s of £billions and have suffered years of cuts to services as a reward. You really couldn't make it up!

If anyone's interested, Richarlison tweeted a nice tribute/farewell to Silva (translated from Portuguese) --

"Thanks for everything, teacher! Especially for the care and attention that made me grow and become better in every way. I will never forget everything you did for me. I'll always be in the crowd."

EDIT: I just saw there was an entire post dedicated to this. Whoops - LOL.

BK to Moshiri - It has to be Moyes hes my bessie and though he made a holy show of me and betrayed my trust, I still love him and want him back.

Brands to Moshiri - if Moyes comes where do I fit in ? It will be constructive dismissal and I'll want a huge pay off to go quietly.

Moshiri to BK and MB - Let me think about it. That fella who was putting the cones out today give it to him for now he appeared to know what he was doing.

Moshiri to himself - Time to sell and get the hell out of this accursed place.

Really sad and, like Martinez before him, not the dismissal of a bad guy – but given the form...

Interesting to see the players and their messages – including Richarlison, Mina, Bernard, Digne – basically a list of the better players under his reign.

Personally, on watching us hammer Man Utd at Goodison Park, I was hoping for good things, but it wasn't to be.

So the club is more or less in the same position post-Koeman and post-Martinez.

Talking of sycophancy - the beating on Kenwright and the contradictory lauding of Moshiri - more or less because he's very rich seriously.

Jon #419, thanks to his "investment" in our club, Kenwright is also very rich – not as rich as Moshiri, but the way things are going, it won't take long before he's been cleaned out as well.

Its a good job Finch Farm is by the Airport or all these taxi fares to take sacked managers to Speke will be bankrupting us soon.

Good Luck, Marco – you really tried and for that I give you credit.

Silvas sacking might show second season syndrome is a thing, then Is the OGS effect real or just a fantasy?

Do New Caretaker's get New Caretaker Bounce? How high will it be?

Is there a decent 11 in the whole Club for Dunc to stumble upon? Will he make a statement and drop people, will one of them be Pickford?

Is anybody in a blue shirt... and I don't mean from Chelsea, even arsed?

12:30 kick-off; rise and shine, up and at 'em lads and lasses, get plenty of Pernod (or whatever) on those cornflakes, then go down and give em what for. Show them what they can do with the script for their Sky / BBC, pro RS, anti-Everton agenda.

George McKane's preamble should be interesting, there will be some gems I'm sure.

The game's afoot: Follow your spirit, and upon this charge. Cry 'God for Harry Catterick, Everton and Saint Domingo'

Like George, 4-0 sounds good for me too. (These are shite!)

I'm sooo happy to be in Atlanta this week, missing the pain and embarrassment. C'mon Dunc! Become a superstar coach, these players need to be terrified!

Back home at the weekend!

Dunc is in for Saturday, so what does his team look like?

Cenk, DCL or Kean (all 3? it is Dunc after all)
Will Keane play?
Sidibe or Coleman?
Beni and Delph?

It's been a while since I've posted; the days of Tony Marsh, Richard Dodd, Eugene Ruane, and John Daley; shout outs also to Colin Glassar, Kieran Kinsella, Ciaran McGlone, Jim Bennings, Brian Williams, Jamie Crowley, Jay Wood (Brz), Christine Foster, Jay Harris, Darren Hind, Steve Brown, Fran Mitchell and Paul Tran, who have all posted great stuff here for years,
apologies if I've missed any other stalwarts off of course; I may never have met you all or even had an online Tete a Tete with you, but the amount of comments I've read on this site, it feels like I know you, and credit to all of us for sticking it out with our beloved EFC;

ToffeeWeb seems to be a different place nowadays; but I always look out for the following people's posts as they are detailed, informative and I like what they have to say: Steve Ferns, Kevin Prytherch, Mark Guglielmo and Christy Ring, so thank you to the 'new brigade', I spend an awful lot of time reading your stuff - Steve Ferns, I have no idea where you find the time to work!!

I have to take issue with Riley's comments against Mr Ferns, no doubt said in jest I'm sure, but Steve's posts are well researched and well written, so I don't see the need to lay into him. I actually agree with a lot of what Steve has written; Everton were not far away under Marco Silva, Steve's post on stats about chances created, chances not given up etc made the point very well; and I don't think I need to say any more than what is written in Lyndon's latest article, it sums up Silva's time brilliantly; I actually do feel a bit sorry for him, but ultimately the results did for him, and now it's time to move on.

Sadly for me, this is another lost season, one which promised so much after the end of last season and what looked like an easy run of fixtures for the beginning of this season; but we are, where we are; game by game it is for me now, starting with Chelsea at home on Saturday; I'm sure the roar of Goodison for Duncan leading out the team will send us on to victory, and let's just hope the board make the right decision for our next appointment.

Almost never post twice but I just want to repeat what I previously said, just a bit more briefly. We HAVE to get behind this team no matter who is playing or managing. We are on borrowed time. I was twelve when my beloved Everton were relegated in 1951. Today is different !It just cannot happen again in my lifetime. Never give up, stay true BLUE, and show strength in adversity. This is not the time to complain and even think of giving up. Once a Blue always a Blue.

It’s got to the stage for me too now that I’d take relegation if it meant getting rid of Kenwright. But even relegation wouldn’t guarantee that.

Look at the infighting between Everton fans above. I attribute all that to Kenwright.
The irony is that Kenwright claims to be an Everton fan. He’s not. He’s only interested in money.

I admit I’m obsessed.

Time to hire more planes because nothing will change until he’s gone.

Ps Ferguson is Kenwright’s lackey and needs firing instead of being the default manager.
Brands needs firing too. He’s a disaster.
Don’t be surprised if they use the manager malarkey as the excuse for “forgetting “ to put in for planning.

Jonathan @429;

I'm with you on the Ferguson thing mate. It absolutely beats me how some people are actually touting him as manager, on a full-time basis. Why? On what grounds... by which way of thinking?

Strange!

Could it be possible that Everton and Moyes are a great fit?

Since Moyes was tempted away, neither party has enjoyed any success (in fact, quite the opposite).

I'm not saying Moyes' Everton were fantastic. In fact, I was glad that he left. But with Moyes, Everton had a cohesive spirit, chemistry, grit, defensively solid, with sparks of flare. When we finished 4th, I remember a run of games where we kept conceding first, but it didn't matter, we came back from behind to win (remember that!).

I think we give Moyes the job. I'd offer him a decent contract e.g. 5 years. It would have 2 caveats in the contract. He must achieve points targets this season and next season. If he does not hit the targets, Everton has the right to fire him with zero compensation. You can't say fairer than that.

By the way, I've been reading ToffeeWeb for many many years, only now felt the need to weigh in with my opinion.

Cheers
Paul

Reported by Paul Joyce this morning “Moshiri had earlier called a meeting with Everton’s ramshackle squad which was also attended by Brands. Silva was not mentioned.The players were also asked, bizarrely, if they needed anything from the club to help them improve performances. The majority of the squad left the meeting considering it a waste of time.”

Steve # 133 - I have only got down as far as your post so I am not sure if this has already been said BUT:

Love him or loathe him Duncan Ferguson may surprise us. Men follow men - especially when the chips are down.

Thanks for your first post, Paul. There is mileage in putting caveats in stating that minimum standards have to be met, otherwise EFC can terminate without compensation. The only problem I can see with that plan is, no manager would sign the contract.

John Crook # 168 - ✅

Tony Bellew on Talksport saying how the clubs in great hands with Kenwright.. yet in the same breath criticising the money spent against output..

Mind boggling

Derek @ #300. Off topic but how do you get to know what the bein channels are showing beforehand, I have to trawel through on the day to find the game. Now on topic, wtf is going on? DF just why ?

Lossl

Sidibe Holgate Mina Digne

Richarlison Beni Gordon

Bernard

DCL KEAN

MAKE A STATEMENT BIG MAN !

Lets go foreign again. It works so well for us.

Jon you are not the only obsessed one but at least you admit it. Sometimes its hard to work out if this is ToffeeWeb or one of Bills Corrie appearances.

Laurie (433), can't see it myself. Can't even see why he's been put n the now nominal position of manager. Clearly Unsworth must have declined.

My choice for the Chelsea game would have been someone who commands respect from his time at the highest levels and is a known thinker on the game. In fact he's still at Everton and still sat on the bench --- Leighton Baines.

John Boon -428- You are absolutely correct- well said

Darren (313). Utter tosh.
So, are you really saying that the fans would have turned on a manager who might ultimately bring success? They start having doubts when the manager loses so many games. They start having doubts when they can't see the shape he's trying to give the team. And they turn on him when his selection of undeperforming players start to beggar belief.
So Darren, if it's none of these in Silva's case then what would you suggest was the reason for the fans turning against him?
Oh, and by the way try telling the old mantra about not being able to build teams in 18 months to the Leicester and Chelsea fans, whose managers have raised both the standards and the application of their squads -- and without the benefit of £300m.
No, let's just fall back on the old 'it's all the fans fault."

Jonathan- what a pile of absolute tripe.

At least 18 months too late...

Pardew wanted to throw his hat in the ring but missed.

Just a thought is anyone up for a collection say £10 from each ToffeeWebber and send Kenwright up to the Arctic Circle to feed the Polar Bears. A tent and sleeping bag waterproofed with seal blubber for his comfort could also be provided. Polar bears love seal blubber.

Finally... and not a "moment" too soon.

Now... what's next?

The manager has gone, prior to which there was a lot of vitriol on TW. There is still some here, I suppose it is to be expected. We all have opinions and lots of TWebbers disagree with each other. I thoroughly enjoy all the knowledgeable posts and info from you all. Not too struck on the snidey stuff but there you go.

Whoever becomes our permanent manager, it is of paramount importance, apart from having a football brain, that he is able to communicate with the players, and have a GOOD command of English so that he can get his ideas across.

I've said in the past that Marco's interviews were like Scrabble for the ears. I don't particularly want someone who is 'Everton through and through' ... 'Bleeds Blue Blood' – this is part of the malaise that is EFC. I'm often at the beach watching ships and stuff on the river. I really, really get it. Nobody in their right mind would advocate that I should be a ship's captain, would they?

Alex (#334) mentioned Nicola Cortese. I've posted about him in the past. Southampton went to look at a young Coutinho but ended up signing Pochettino. Check him out. He is the type of person who should be overseeing EFC.

I don't have enough football knowledge to be suggesting a manager but, whoever it is, I will embrace him and wish him and us success.

Some people are talking up David Moyes. How would you feel if you found out that your missus had been seeing someone behind your back for several months? She finally told you that she was going because she'd fallen out of love with you and the other guy could offer her more. That didn't work out and he chased her. She met another and another. They didn't work either. Now she's flashing her false eyelashes at you and saying "Can I come back? Things will be different this time." Would you have her back ?

That was 2013, I was able to cycle 4 or 5 times a week and do mini triathlons. Now I'm fraying at the edges, a dodgy knee and I've got Duck's Disease. Move on.

As Vivien Leigh said, "Tomorrow is another day."

Just read Ferguson in charge for Saturdays game, thought it was Alex but it's our knock out specialist Duncan.

i just do not get some Everton fans and how short their memories are or how darn ungrateful they are. David Moyes rescued this club when it was in deep, deep trouble and gave us our self-respect & pride back. Not only that he had us in the upper reaches of the table every season and made relegation a distant memory (which is not that easy as the last few years have shown). but does he get any thanks or credit? No, he just gets people moaning and whining like big babies.

From what I can pick up the main grips against Moyes are:

- He left to take another, better job on more money probably. Guess what? It happens, that's life. People need to grow up and stop behaving like 3-year-olds that couldn't have a packet of Smarties. Don't forget, he left after years and years of service and hard work.

- He tried to buy back some of the players he trusted from Everton. Guess what? Every manager under the sun does this – I don't remember people moaning when Silva brought Richarlison with him from Watford? Or when he tried to buy Doucoure from them over the summer? All managers will try to bring in players they know and trust when they get a new job. Once again, people need to grow up and get into the real world.

- He is ginger and Scottish and looks a bit miserable at times. I mean, come on really? That is a reason to dismiss a proven Premier League manager who only last year with West Ham did the exact job we need now? Are people really so shallow and blinded by the cult of personality that they would rather look at someone's hair colour than the facts of what they have done or how good a manager they really are? That sort of attitude sums up why we are where we are now.

We do not need to gamble on some fancy foreign name who has done well abroad but has never cut it in the Premier League. That is a gamble that will end in disaster. Moyes is proven to be a Premier League level manager as his recent stint with West Ham and his long, successful years with us show for fact. People need to wake up and stop having a go at managers for frankly ridiculous reasons.

I would rather the Moyes's honesty and passion compared to what we have seen with chancers like Martinez or Silva. It would be nice to actually understand an interview from our manager for once, for example!

Marco Silva's statement: Link

Very dignified.

Fuck right off, Silva... and good riddance. 40% loss record at Everton. 50% loss record at Watford. 50% loss record at Hull. One of the worst fucking managers in the Premier League.

I'm normally level-headed, and had real optimism at the end of last season, but this clueless twat Silva has left me absolutely livid. Thanks to this chump, we are now staring relegation in the face, and I don't see a way out.

Not that Silva cares (cos he doesn't) as he'll be banking his fat fucking severance pay off and lazing on a continental beach, while we go through hell watching the club we love get sucked into the Championship.

Why the fuck do TOTAL failure managers get large pay-offs? I suppose we might avoid it if Silva gets re-hired immediately by someone else, but who the fuck would hire him? We should be so lucky...

If we were a totally shit and underfunded outfit, then relegation would have been easier to take. In the early Moyes era, finishing 17th was excusable given the budget Moyes had to work with.

Silva, the total Charlatan, has had huge money to spend. We should be NOWHERE near the relegation zone.

So fuck you, Marco, you mumbling twat!

Classy, Paul.

It's so refreshing to read a well thought out, reasoned and reasonable assessment.

Jesus H, Steve I'd be "very dignified" if some wally had just given me a few £million for sweet fuck all.

Jonathan and Paul's posts...

Wow. Just wow.

"Obsessed" and "normally level-headed"? Uh-huh.

Don, I'm sure you would. However, Ronald Koeman and Sam Allardyce didn't and they walked away with at least double what Silva has.

Steve, it's probably an age thing but any failure in a job should not result in vast, or any, remuneration. The money in the Premier League in particular has robbed football fans of realistic aspiration for their club when it's based almost entirely on the will and ability of their players (and. yes, I know that since the dawn of time people have always sought a better deal for themselves but, come on, six figures per week for merely turning up?).

Silva is just a.n.other EPL shyster, full of bullshit, bereft of ability.

The chances of us finding a manager who isn't of the very same ilk are very very slim in my opinion, because everyone in the world, repeat, "world" of football will by now have well sussed out Moshiri and his board as the softest touches on the planet.

Given his experience, position and salary I'd be surprised if Brands hasn't by now given up on aspiring for better in terms of our success and is merely content to sit back, well paid as he is for TWO roles that are in conflict with each other in terms of accountability, until Moshiri decides to pay him a few £mill with his P45.

Andy @452, I was born in Liverpool. I was there in 93-94. I was there in 2004. Narrowly avoiding relegation was expected then... now it is inexcusable.

I am totally angry at one of the phoniest managers we have ever appointed.

Silva's shite record was there for all to see before he was hired. Why the hell we chased him and appointed him I don't know.

Many on here hurl insults at Kenwright. I don't. Kenwright doesn't train the team, coach the team, motivate the team, select the tactics, pick the team and (mostly) even choose the signings. Silva did. But yeah okay, Kenwright probably sanctioned Silva's appointment, so fuck him too! :-)

I don't care how classy or otherwise you think I am. All I care about is that we don't get relegated. Because if we go down, we won't be back up for ages. Moshiri will probably walk. There'll be no new stadium, and we'll probably be in massive financial trouble to boot, like 50% of the lower league clubs.

If Silva had any "class", he wouldn't take his severance pay.

Oh, and the RS will win the league to boot.

Don, as I said the other day, what about the bankers who caused the crash and walked away with knighthoods and million pound bonuses whilst working class families lost their homes?

Paul is an extremist but, to his and Don's points, there has been much talk of Everton “hanging him out to dry.” He had the option to resign so it's not as if they were cruelly forcing him to carry on. I assume he and they hoped for a miracle but I don't get the logic that some push saying we were cruel to delay his axing.

Also, as Don says, none of the rest of us get paid our salary for the next few years if we get sacked.

Steve 459

Not to defend the bankers but everyone was complicit. Everyone and their brother wanted to wade into the stock market directly or through their retirement plan to cash in. The stock market was driven by profits from banks.

Everyone and their brother wanted to buy a nice new house to keep up with the Jones's, regardless of their income, job security etc. Everyone, the whole of society, were responsible for the crash, as all of us are greedy.

@453 Ben Williams.

"It's so refreshing to read a well thought out, reasoned and reasonable assessment."

Very funny Ben.

Do you want a dissertation on why Silva is the worst manager we've ever had (apart from Mike Walker - 51% loss record)?

Do you want a statistical analysis (it's grim)? Would you like me to spell out his tactical blunders (as I see it)?

Why should I need to do that? Have you been watching EFC this season? Do you really think Silva's just been unlucky, and otherwise done a good job?

Are you an apologist for this charlatan? Let me guess... all Kenwright's fault again is it?

@461 Kieran Kinsella

Kieran I am NOT an "extremist", but I am extremely angry. I was born in Oxford St maternity in '73, and have been following EFC for a very, very long time. I saw this club win titles, FA cups and dodge relegation twice.

I have NEVER been angry at a manager or player (not even "Judas" Rooney in 2004) before as I am at Silva right now. If you think I'm an extremist, then read any of my previous posts on other topics to see otherwise.

It has just hit me like a bullet between the eyes, that instead of this grand old club (that I remember as a titan of English football as a lad) finally ascending back to the upper echelon in a beautiful new stadium, we are probably going to get relegated, remain in a 1920's ground and then likely go into administration.

With Liverpool cruising to the title again after 30 years, you'd better believe that I am angry.

You should be too, "extremist" or not.

Paul #462.
Nah I just want you to get my name right. 😉

Oh and I have been watching us this season just as I have the previous 51. We're all angry but not all of us go in for an over the top character assassination of someone we barely, if at all, know. I'm not an apologist or someone who says it Kenwright's fault either.

I'm just someone who disagrees with you and finds your post regarding Silva as childish and totally unreasonable, just as I find your boring too often used term of "Judas" for Rooney, ridiculous. Having said that, we're all allowed our opinions on here and I respect your right, if nothing else, to voice yours. NSNO.

Paul 463,

To be clear I'm angry and share your fears but I'm puzzled by your focus on Silva. I don't think he was a malicious con man; I think he was a nice guy but a buffoon.

@462 Touche Brian... touche!

@ 465. You're right Kieran, I know. I suppose you can't blame someone for taking jobs if they're offered them, even if they're useless.

I don't hate Silva, but I am angry at him.

He shouldn't take his pay off though. he knows he did a terrible job.

"Everyone, the whole of society were responsible for the crash as all of us are greedy."

Daftest thing I've read on here in quite some time. Collective social responsibility for unfettered capitalism.

Wise up.

Ciaran,

Case in point: this thread. Everyone moaning about money in football but it's our money. We made a choice to hand it over to the club or to Sky.

We have the ability to end it but we don't. Why? Cause we are vain and greedy and want to keep up with the Joneses who will pay so we can feel some kind of some kind of joy through association since 99 percent probably had a childhood dream of being a football star but failed.

We want what we can't have so we make poor choices driven by emotion, greed and vanity. We are all to blame for all of our societies ills as the society is the collective of us all.

Peter, @432, worrying. A strong man in charge is essential to fuse the team together almost despite itself.

Brian Williams: "childish and totally unreasonable"

Childish? Possibly... Unreasonable? No!!

We have some of the most technically gifted players I have ever seen at Goodison Park (I first went to Goodison in 1977). We have the 3rd highest net spend over the last 5 seasons and the 4th highest GROSS spend (£536.5 million, compared to Liverpool's £470.9 million) over the same period. We should be easily in the top 10.

It is 100% the fault of Marco Silva.

You may have noticed I put the "Judas" term in quotes to indicate that it was the term being used at the time, and NOT by me!

I went to every game in the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons, saw Rooney's debut goal, season ticket holder, living in Bootle.

That's lazy thinking Kieran that doesn't stack up to the slightest bit of critique.

What was Cameron's strap line: 'Big society... were all in this together' – while he carved up the working classes.

Like fuck we are.

Classic privileged claptrap and sleight of hand to distract you from what they're really at.

@ 469 Keiran. I don't entirely agree with your points about money in football. I am old enough to remember when money did not dominate football like today. Back then players wages were well within gate receipt budgets.

The biggest change is that football has now become a television sport. The vast proportion of clubs' revenues come from TV fans who don't attend games, via their TV subscriptions. These fans usually live nowhere near the team that they decide to support, and have little or no real connection with the region 'their' club is located within.

This has completely changed the face of football.

Traditional giants like Villa and Leeds Utd, if relegated, can have smaller budgets than traditional minnows like Bournemouth or Brighton. A large gate by itself is not enough anymore.

The TV Sport model of modern football and inflated budgets results in teams stuffed full of foreigners and hardly any local players in the team.

OK many of these foreign players are the "best" in the world, but let me tell you whilst it may be exciting to TV fans to watch these cosmopolitan teams in English club shirts go at each other, it is a poor relation to actually attending and watching LOCAL players who play for the shirt. Well, that's my memory of the 70s and 80s (when it was only a couple of quid to get in!!).

And it wasn't cos I had any ambition of being a footy star. I was crap!

Ciaran,

Not saying Cameron and co aren't wankers. Obviously they are insidious individuals but I know plenty of working class folks voting against their own self-interests to put them in power. We have elections.

We don't have to vote for them but we (I don't personally but I'm using the term broadly) do. So obviously on some level, we are content with them running the country, or Thatcher getting us kicked out of UEFA etc

There will be a LONG list, starting at Pep, we'll cross of the ones that won't come, we'll cross off the ones that can't come.

Then we should cross off Moyes and Rafa, plus Pardew, Hughes etc. and all the other ones Bill and the ex head of soup and blankets for the homeless might like.

Moshiri should then fuck off for an early Christmas and leave it to Brands.

Brands then gets his little black book out and starts phoning his way down the list.

Hopefully when Moshiri, like the rest of us on Boxing Day, gets up, looks at the options of more noisey kids and cold turkey butties, will decide that a few beers and going to the match is the way to go. He can then turn up and have Brands brief him... maybe even introduce him to the 'New Guy'.

Burnley dispatched (note my use of the ablative there) 'New Guy' is officially announced before Newcastle and in the stands with Moshiri. Big Dunc signs off with a win.

'New Guy' takes us to Man City for a 0-0. Then on to Anfield where we narrowly win and onwards we go to Wembley.

@ 476 Mark Guglielmo.

What the are you on about? "One of my unhinged rants"? The only angry post was my first, and it was in my opinion justified. Nothing about my further posts was "unhinged".

Why are you putting quotes around "sucked". I never used that particular word. If I was terrible at my job, knew I was terrible at my job, got fired for being terrible at my job, and insisted on taking a large severance (especially when I was already a millionaire and didn't need it), then I would indeed have no class. I have never done anything of the sort.

What would you do then? Take the money? Oh, well I guess you have no class either then.

OK, I suspect you're a TV/internet "football fan" and don't go to games much. But let me humbly inform you that home crowds respond with FAR more enthusiasm to local(ish) home grown lads who know what it means to play for the club. For example, when Rooney hit the scene the buzz in Goodison was electric... I was there in the stands.. so I know. There were far more of those in the 70s/80s. That's all I was saying.

I like how you take that simple and pretty plain observation and extrapolate it to an implication that I'm some kind of Brexit racist xenophobe. I'm married to a foreigner of a different race, and had strong words with an idiot in the Lower Bullens who was shouting vile (and I mean vile) racist insults at a Liverpool player (it was the derby 2005 and the stewards were doing nothing about it).

I am angry at Silva because of what he's done to the club I love with his terrible mismanagement, not because he's Portuguese for God's sake.

You've obviously declared yourself a remainer. Congratulations. You must feel so superior. The trouble with many remainers, in my experience, is they have this air of sanctimonious piety that belies their dumb ignorance

...for example.. you probably believe the evil Tories are going to "sell off the NHS" in their "desperation to strike a trade deal with the US". Right? And you know all about TTIP, of course, and the desperation with which the EU were trying to strike a trade deal with the US in 2016? Tories evil, EU good.

Grow a brain.

I didn't vote in 2016.

@477 Paul. You are obviously so passionate about our club, and make so many absolutely spot on points. Sacking Silva was the only logical decision the club could make, whether they liked it or not! We were facing a relegation battle – and we still have to win a lot matches this season. He had to go.

The mistake was not doing it after the third game of the season when we were so poor and lost at Villa. Or after the 5th losing to Bournemouth, or definitely the 6th losing at home to the mighty Sheffield United.

Or perhaps the 8th losing at Burnley. Or the 10th at Brighton. Same ineffective tactics every single game. Absolute failure as a manager.

I'm with you.