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Season › 2020-21 › Opinion

Fan Articles

Contributions from ToffeeWeb readers

From Hollywood to the Gates of Hell

Martin O'Connor
With the departure of the disaster that was Carlo Ancelotti, we had the chance to appoint an ambitious manager who could excite the supporter base and have a real plan, strategy, vision, and the ambition to lead us into the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock and the future. Instead, the board have dragged us to the gates of hell. They have made a Faustian pact with Benitez, selling our soul to a man who will play awful football, take us nowhere, and be gone in about 18 months – or hopefully a lot sooner.
30/06/2021

Rinse and Repeat

Darren Arnold
There's an argument to be made that Everton haven't made any progress since the day Sam Allardyce was sacked three years ago. Is Rafael Benitez, with his reputation for defensive football, just another "holding" appointment until we can find the right man or could his more colder, more authoritarian style be just what the squad needs?
30/06/2021

Did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?

Darren Hind
What is the truth about EVerton's core of ex-players on the coaching staff? And is one of them – Duncan Ferguson – good enough to take the reigns as the new manager?
26/06/2021

It’s a Rich Man’s World

Clive Rogers
10/06/2021

Real Footballers' Wives – Dolly Sagar

Becky Tallentire
The next installment of Real Footballers' Wives features Dolly Sagar, wife of Everton's longest-serving player, goalkeeper Ted Sagar who spent 24 years with the club.
09/06/2021

Who is next for the Goodison Hotseat?

Mike Cheshire
04/06/2021

Shopping for Dresses

Martin O'Connor
"Hollywood managers" and endless instability. It's now time for Marcel Brands to fulfil the brief he was hired for
01/06/2021

Being Everton – A Personal Perspective & This Season

Danny O’Neill
Danny, one of our most prolific posters, provides some personal background along with his 10-point analysis of the season.
25/05/2021

Farewell to these Departing Players?

Phil Roberts
A chance to vent what steam and anger we still have left and get rid of the disappointment of the last couple of months by saying au revoir to a number of players who either will be or could be leaving Everton this summer.
25/05/2021

The Art of Treading Water

Martin O'Connor
If Carlo is (as most people still seem to think), a world-class manager, then we really should, after 18 months of his leadership, be serving up better football, look more of a coherent team, and be finishing better than midtable. He has us doing what we have become so successful at: treading Premier League water and going absolutely nowhere.
23/05/2021

2021 – A flamboyant team destroyed by Carlo’s meddling

Kevin Prytherch
A forthright, no-holds-barred critique of Carlo Ancelotti's first full season in charge
18/05/2021

Do We Really Want European Football in 2021-22?

Phil Roberts
It means mixing it up with some of the Continent's bigger clubs and a crack at a trophy... but the Europa League and new Conference League schedules can be gruelling
14/05/2021

The Murray Family – Mint Toffees

Rob Sawyer
Photos from the day the Toffees clinched the 1962-63 League title capture a 10 year-old boy, resplendent in Everton replica kit, sharing the moment with his heroes. The boy was John Murray – mascot to the champions. Rob Sawyer caught up with John and his family to revisit those halcyon days and discuss the family’s gilt-edged Bluenose credentials.
08/05/2021

John Murray – Everton’s First Boy Mascot

Becky Tallentire
In one of the monochrome mementos that I post to Twitter once in a while, Roy Vernon stands in the tunnel at West Ham alongside a young lad with a beaming smile. Some of these youngsters look overwhelmed and some are painfully shy but this one looked like it was the job he was born to do. This is the story of Everton’s first ‘boy mascot’, John Murray.
28/04/2021

Was there football pre-1992 – Part 5

John McFarlane [Senior]
Continuing with the theme that football was indeed alive and kicking before the TV companies hijacked it, Jon MacFarlane capture some of the highlights since he first visited Goodison Park in 1948 as a 10-year-old schoolboy.
28/04/2021

Three more years for Marcel Brands?

Martin O'Connor
Director of Football Marcel Brands has signed a new 3-year contract with Everton. But was this new contract deserved?
25/04/2021

Back to the 1990s

Robert Tressell
Robert reviews Everton's faltering progress since the day they survived a huge relegation scare in 1994.
24/04/2021

The Tempest ... or Much Ado About Nothing?

Nicholas Ryan
Things have changed forever this week and will never be the same again. The wolves have thrown off their disguises and are now running amok amongst the poultry!
20/04/2021

Pure, selfish greed cannot prevail

Jim Potter
If these selfish businessmen carry on with trying to destroy the fabric football and join this abomination then I would ban those 6 clubs in perpetuity from all of English football. No chance of ever returning. Bridges burnt.
20/04/2021

My favourite European away games: #1

Rob Halligan
Rob reveals the pinnacle of his European sojourns with his favourite #1 continental jaunt while following the Blues in those all-too-rare Uefa Cup moments.
10/04/2021

My favourite European away games: #2

Rob Halligan
Rob continues the countdown of his favourite away-day memories of continental jaunts following Everton in the Europa League: #2, BSC Young Boys in Bern, Switzerland.
06/04/2021

Succession Planning

Robert Tressell
The upcoming close season transfer window looks likely to be another hugely important time for Everton but it remains to be seen whether or not it makes us really genuinely competitive beyond next season
02/04/2021

Tom Fern – Everton’s Evergreen Goalkeeper

Rob Sawyer
The least celebrated of the nine Football League titles won by Everton was that in 1914/15 which was a disservice to the likes of Tom Fern who amassed over 200 outings for the Toffees despite the five-year interruption caused by the war
01/04/2021

My favourite European away games, #3

Rob Halligan
After much consideration, I've decided to go ahead and give a detailed description of my favourite European away games
31/03/2021

My Top Three Favourite European Away Games

Rob Halligan
I've decided to list, and give feedback on my favourite top three away games in Europe.
29/03/2021

Memories of the Old Lady

Alasdair Jones
Alasdair Jones provides a unique personal perspective on his impressions and memories of Goodison Park.
26/03/2021

Magic

Tony McDonald
There have been many heroes in Royal Blue and it doesn’t need me to give a list as we all have our favourites. For me, it will always be Duncan McKenzie.
25/03/2021

Question Time

Martin O'Connor
As we move into the final quarter of the season, Carlo Ancelotti has been in charge for 14½ months. So where are we under the leadership of Carlo “Magnifico”?
15/03/2021

Singleton & Paterson – The Everton Mariners

Tony Onslow
Two Scots who had brief a association with Everton in 1901-02 before moving on to Grimsby Town
10/03/2021

Alex Birnie – The Scotsman from East London

Tony Onslow
Signed as an amateur playing for Sittingbourne, Birnie would make three Football League appearances for Everton in 1905 before returning to the southeast and then finishing his career with Bury
05/03/2021

Ted Surely Was Good for Everton

Tony  Onslow
Ted Shaw had a successful amateur career with Great Marlow in Buckinghamshire but he turned out for Everton as a guest player in a couple of pre-season matches in 1891 and might have been good enough to join them full-time that year
27/02/2021

What Might Still Happen Going Forward...

Alasdair Jones
A look at the hurdles still facing Everton's plans for a new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock
23/02/2021

Gylfi - Icelandic Genius

Robert  Tressell
Gylfi Sigurdsson is a genius. Okay, not quite... but if he is to leave Everton in the next 18 months, what do the club go for in terms of a replacement?
19/02/2021

How Can Everton win the derby?

Matthew Parry
I’m slightly more optimistic about this clash than I have been in recent years as this season has been so unorthodox, but I still expect it’ll take a mighty performance to take three points here.
18/02/2021

John Dewar

Tony  Onslow
The Scot played briefly for Everton in 1892 just as Goodison Park was being opened.
13/02/2021

Everton v Spurs – A Passing of the Baton?

Thomas Cairns
The 5-4 win over Tottenham was the latest in a series of games in which Everton sides of the past might well have capitulated at the first sign of adversity. Was this victory a milestone signifying that we can now emulate Spurs and mount our own Top 4 challenge?
11/02/2021

Tom Davies: Our Serviceable Number Six

Gabriel Ricci
Tom Davies, an honest look at our serviceable 22-year-old Premier League player as he is performing today... along with a quick glimpse into what might hopefully be his Everton future.
08/02/2021

'Music Was My Heartbeat'

Becky Tallentire
The latest installment of Real Footballers' Wives features Ann West, wife of one of Everton's most popular ever players, goalkeeping star Gordon West.
08/02/2021

January Days

Martin O'Connor
With thoughts already firmly looking forward to the Summer transfer window, what is to be made of the January Days just past and the Blues’ transfer business?
02/02/2021

Telling you what we all know after going through the last 7 days

Phil Roberts
"I would contend that our optimism this season was not founded on solid ground."
02/02/2021

Evolution of a Top-4 Side

Robert Tressell
A good manager can give you a big club feel. That’s one for Ancelotti. But, you have to back that up with the style of your recruitment and the way you play the game.
02/02/2021

The Stanley Park Three

Tony Onslow
Thomas Marriott, Richard Morris and John Pickering played together at Everton in the 1880s
29/01/2021

A Grand Day Out - 25th January 1975

Stephen Ashton
"For me, Plymouth away was definitely the highlight of an ultimately disappointing season."
26/01/2021

Harold Hardman – An Everton and Manchester United Hero

Rob Sawyer
An enterprising winger in the early years of the 20th Century and a key part of Everton's first FA Cup-winning team, Harold Hardman helped steer Man Utd to greatness nearly 50 years later
14/01/2021

Wind of Change

Santosh Benjamin
As I think of the song by The Scorpions, I cannot help but feel a real sense of joy from deep within that comes from knowing that we are headed in the right direction
13/01/2021

Edward Turner – The Carpenter from Lancaster

Tony Onslow
Discovered in Kendal, Turner made two Football League appearances for Everton at the end of the 19th Century before joining Portsmouth
05/01/2021

Call a Doctor; Surgery is Required!

Dylan Joseph
Surgery can be painful and it can be intrusive but very often it is essential. I believe that, for Everton to get to the top, it is more imperative than ever.
02/01/2021

It's Time to Talk about Marcel Brands

Martin O'Connor
As the Winter transfer window opens, one thing which now has become very urgent, and which Everton need to sort out very quickly, is the position of Director of Football, Marcel Brands, who is in the last 6 months of his contract.
02/01/2021

January Reinforcements

Sam Hoare
Sam Hoare provides musings on his chosen Mastermind subject: “Unsubstantiated Transfer Speculation”.
31/12/2020

George Sharples Remembered

Rob Sawyer
George Sharples, who passed away on 14 December 2020, aged 77, had been one of nine surviving players to have played a part in Everton’s title-winning season of 1962-63
28/12/2020

“Nothing Really Daunted Us”

Becky Tallentire
This chapter from Becky Tallentire's 2004 book featuring the stories of the women behind some of Everton's greatest ever players features Carole Dobson, wife of 1970s favourite Martin
15/12/2020

Money? No Issue

Dylan Joseph
With the news that Mr Moshiri is due to increase his investment to circa £400m, can we say that financial wealth is no longer a problem at Everton?
11/12/2020

Goodison Park, a Greyhound Stadium and Walton Hall Park

Rob Sawyer
This December marks a centenary of one of the most significant football matches played at Goodison Park – but it did not involve Everton FC.
11/12/2020

David Henry Williams – A Lad From Shropshire

Tony Onslow
He was to play a major role in the development of Everton Football Club before they established a permanent home at Anfield.
08/12/2020

How to go from nowhere to Champions League in no time at all

Robert  Tressell
Does the RB Leipzig model provide the template for Everton to finally break into the top four and regularly secure qualification for Europe's elite competition?
04/12/2020

Can My 9-Month Old American Daughter Love Everton?

Brian Gabriel Canever
An American Toffee since 2009, Brian's love for Everton has only intensified since the birth of his daughter, Alba, earlier this year. Already saving for his first trip over with her to see both the men's and women's teams, he dreams that one day she could wear the club's colours in a professional capacity
03/12/2020

James Morris – A Shropshire Lad

Tony Onslow
The Trefonen-born player represented Everton during the inaugural Football League season in 1888
18/11/2020

‘Tosh’ – The Tommy Johnson Story

Rob Sawyer
Tommy Johnson's most memorable goalscoring feat may have come as a Manchester City player at Goodison Park but he would go on to help Everton back into the top flight in 1931 and lift both the title and FA Cup in successive years
16/11/2020

William Wilson – The Last of the Originals

Tony Onslow
At the time of his death, Billy Wilson was the last surviving member of the Everton team that had taken part in the first season of the Football League
14/11/2020

Beneath the Blue Veneer

Martin O'Connor
Beneath the blue veneer of the first eleven, nothing much exists, as with Ancelotti: once you strip away the veneer of his past successes, nothing much exists anymore.
10/11/2020

Has anyone else seen enough?

Paul Traill
The level of play-acting involved in today’s game has been building for many a year. I think I’ve about had it with watching these con artists run around in soulless empty stadiums, while the powers-that-be don’t seem remotely interested in curbing this behaviour
08/11/2020

It's Jam Today, Not Tomorrow

Dylan Joseph
If you wish to be successful, you need to be the sort of club where, when a top player becomes available, you are the club he wants to join.
07/11/2020

Walter Brown, the Kirkcudbrightshire Blue

Tony Onslow
Another of the Scots who played for Everton in the inaugural 1888-98 season, although he is believed to arrived on Merseyside with no knowledge whatsoever of the association game
03/11/2020

Lewis the Fire Bobby

Tony Onslow
Bangor-born and a regular Wales international, Billy Lewis joined Everton for their inaugural Football League season in 1888 but his time with the club was short-lived
29/10/2020

The Development of Ellis Simms

Phill Thompson
Everybody has heard of Ellis Simms... not everybody has seen him but everybody will have an opinion; he’s potentially next in line to become an Everton Academy graduate playing in the Premier League. So I thought I’d look back at his development. As ever, most of the facts are accurate, but opinions of course are just my opinions.
21/10/2020

The Battle of Edgware Road

Stephen Vincent
Recounting the events of 12 October 1985, which were no minor skirmish!
13/10/2020

Richard Williams – An Everton Goalkeeper

Tony Onslow
The Bromborough Pool-born player played over 70 times for Everton after joining them when they were reigning Football League Champions in 1881
12/10/2020

The Finnis Family – An Enduring Everton Love Affair

Rob Sawyer
Harold Finnis is one of 90 players, to date, to make a solitary first team appearance for the Blues in peacetime football.
09/10/2020

Window Dressing

Martin O'Connor
As the long Covid-impacted transfer window has closed (with a few days of the domestic EFL window still open), how have the Blues performed?
09/10/2020

Lean, Mean and Young

Jay Wood
With the transfer window now officially closed (other than signings of free agents or players from the Football League), let's take a look at the first-team squad...
07/10/2020

The James Rodriguez Effect

Matthew Parry
The Colombian superstar is already proving skeptical pundits wrong by settling straight into the Premier League and, in concert with Carlo Ancelotti and Everton's other new signings, transforming the club's prospects this season
29/09/2020

Jordan Pickford: The Diamond Getting Rougher

Matthew Parry
As each game passes, it seems the debate over whether Jordan Pickford is good enough to play between the sticks for Everton only gathers momentum. Since Pickford’s arrival from Sunderland in 2017, he has not been able to offer that consistently. What, then, has gone wrong for what was once an exciting young prospect?
28/09/2020

Eddie Wainwright – A Bright Light in Dark Days

Rob Sawyer
The immediate post-war era for Everton was one of austerity which made it hard for local youngsters to through the ranks to develop to near their full potential. Eddie Wainwright was, perhaps the sole exception.
28/09/2020

Photographing a Rhino

Martin O'Connor
Are the recent changes at Everton's Academy involving David Unsworth and Leighton Baines the right ones to foster a more productive farm system for the Blues' first-team?
21/09/2020

A Knight of the Round Table at Inside-Left?

Jamie Yates
Did you know that Everton once employed a player with the Christian name of a mythical legend?
21/09/2020

Don't Be Fooled... This Season Could Be Very Tough

Matthew Parry
The win at Tottenham was one very small step on a deceptively lengthy road and the high-calibre signings only tape over the cracks until they prove they can improve our dynamic on a weekly basis
17/09/2020

Bill Kenwright – Everton Legend

Kevin Prytherch
Since 1999, Bill Kenwright has overseen the second most consistent period in Everton's history. The record of consecutive 8th-place finishes or better between 2006 and 2014 has only ever been bettered once.
11/09/2020

Will James Rodriguez & Co Be Successes At Everton?

Richard Coleman
Could this be the dawn of an era of genuine quality recruitment under Ancelotti or simply a continuation of the trend of expensive acquisitions who fail to gel and live up to expectations?
09/09/2020

Opposition View: Spurs For Life

Ryan Curtis
Everton kick off the new season at Tottenham, another club managed by a high-profile boss looking for a much better campaign than the one that just ended. We got the thoughts of Spurs For Life on Sunday and the season as a whole
09/09/2020

Who Is Steering the Ship?

Martin O'Connor
Have Everton scrapped Marcel Brands's plan to rebuild the squad with younger players in favour of a return to Steve Walsh's modus operandi, with Carlo Ancelotti and Farhad Moshiri having taken the helm?
04/09/2020

You Can’t Always Get What You Want…

Dylan Joseph
You don’t need the billions, you just need a good culture amongst the club and the players and standards that are adhered to. We can get what we need, we just need to reset our club ethos and standards and don’t allow anyone who doesn’t meet them to wear the Royal Blue
31/08/2020

The Short Life of an Everton Blue

Tony Onslow
Isaac Roberts would play just once for Everton in February 1889
29/08/2020

Marcel Brands and the Missing Transfer Doctrine

Jacques Sandtonian
Marcel Brands has just learned the first rule of Everton transfer business: We are the scouting arm of Tottenham Hotspur.
14/08/2020

“Van Den Hauwe – One Last Throw Of The Dice…”

Pete Jones
Without the benefit of the visual image, the unique medium of radio means that live football commentary comes to life in an entirely different way than television. Pete Jones recalls some of his most memorable moments experienced that way
13/08/2020

The First Six Months: Unacceptable

Darren Hind
Everton's midfield was an obvious cause for concern last season, particularly down the home stretch but was the main problem the players or a failure of management on the part of Carlo Ancelotti?
12/08/2020

Our Future Is Alternative

Robert Bresnan
We're all expecting 2020-21 to be full of crippling mediocrity and the obligatory bad defeat to the gobshites but what about a different future in which things are rather rosy by the end of next season?
18/08/2020

Away Day Blues: Tottenham Hotspur

Patrick McFarlane
Since Everton gained promotion to the top flight, way back in 1954, Everton’s visits - to the original White Hart Lane, Wembley or the newly lavishly upgraded White Hart Lane - haven’t produced many victories for the Toffees.
07/09/2020

The Project – Next Chapter

Paul  Tran
With Farhad Moshiri backing his new manager with an overhaul of Everton's midfield, The Project is back on the rails and there are fewer excuses to stop it hurtling forwards. It’s time for manager and players to deliver; time for us to be less cautiously optimistic!
08/09/2020

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Premier League Table

  Team Pld GD Pts
12 Brentford 6 0 6
13 Manchester United 5 -4 6
14 Chelsea 5 0 5
15 Everton 6 -5 4
16 Wolves 6 -6 4
17 Bournemouth 5 -4 3
18 Sheffield United 5 -4 1

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