Seasons 2020-21 Opinion
Fan Articles
Contributions from Everton fans and outside writers. Submit your own article for consideration
Rinse and Repeat
Darren Arnold : 30/06/2021
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?
From Hollywood to the Gates of Hell
Martin O'Connor : 30/06/2021
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.
Did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Darren Hind : 26/06/2021
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?
It’s a Rich Man’s World
Clive Rogers : 10/06/2021
Who is next for the Goodison Hotseat?
Mike Cheshire : 04/06/2021
Shopping for Dresses
Martin O'Connor : 01/06/2021
"Hollywood managers" and endless instability. It's now time for Marcel Brands to fulfil the brief he was hired for
Being Everton – A Personal Perspective & This Season
Danny O’Neill : 25/05/2021
Danny, one of our most prolific posters, provides some personal background along with his 10-point analysis of the season.
Farewell to these Departing Players?
Phil Roberts : 25/05/2021
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.
The Art of Treading Water
Martin O'Connor : 23/05/2021
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.
2021 – A flamboyant team destroyed by Carlo’s meddling
Kevin Prytherch : 18/05/2021
A forthright, no-holds-barred critique of Carlo Ancelotti's first full season in charge
Do We Really Want European Football in 2021-22?
Phil Roberts : 14/05/2021
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
Three more years for Marcel Brands?
Martin O'Connor : 25/04/2021
Director of Football Marcel Brands has signed a new 3-year contract with Everton. But was this new contract deserved?
The Tempest ... or Much Ado About Nothing?
Nicholas Ryan : 20/04/2021
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!
Pure, selfish greed cannot prevail
Jim Potter : 20/04/2021
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.
My favourite European away games: #1
Rob Halligan : 10/04/2021
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.
My favourite European away games: #2
Rob Halligan : 06/04/2021
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.
Succession Planning
Robert Tressell : 02/04/2021
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
My favourite European away games, #3
Rob Halligan : 31/03/2021
After much consideration, I've decided to go ahead and give a detailed description of my favourite European away games
My Top Three Favourite European Away Games
Rob Halligan : 29/03/2021
I've decided to list, and give feedback on my favourite top three away games in Europe.
Memories of the Old Lady
Alasdair Jones : 26/03/2021
Alasdair Jones provides a unique personal perspective on his impressions and memories of Goodison Park.
Magic
Tony McDonald : 25/03/2021
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.
Question Time
Martin O'Connor : 15/03/2021
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”?
What Might Still Happen Going Forward...
Alasdair Jones : 23/02/2021
A look at the hurdles still facing Everton's plans for a new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock
Gylfi - Icelandic Genius
Robert Tressell : 19/02/2021
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?
How Can Everton win the derby?
Matthew Parry : 18/02/2021
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.
Everton v Spurs – A Passing of the Baton?
Thomas Cairns : 11/02/2021
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?
Tom Davies: Our Serviceable Number Six
Gabriel Ricci : 08/02/2021
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.
Evolution of a Top-4 Side
Robert Tressell : 02/02/2021
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.
January Days
Martin O'Connor : 02/02/2021
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?
Telling you what we all know after going through the last 7 days
Phil Roberts : 02/02/2021
"I would contend that our optimism this season was not founded on solid ground."
A Grand Day Out - 25th January 1975
Stephen Ashton : 26/01/2021
"For me, Plymouth away was definitely the highlight of an ultimately disappointing season."
Wind of Change
Santosh Benjamin : 13/01/2021
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
Call a Doctor; Surgery is Required!
Dylan Joseph : 02/01/2021
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.
It's Time to Talk about Marcel Brands
Martin O'Connor : 02/01/2021
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.
January Reinforcements
Sam Hoare : 31/12/2020
Sam Hoare provides musings on his chosen Mastermind subject: “Unsubstantiated Transfer Speculation”.
Money? No Issue
Dylan Joseph : 11/12/2020
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?
How to go from nowhere to Champions League in no time at all
Robert Tressell : 04/12/2020
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?
Can My 9-Month Old American Daughter Love Everton?
Brian Gabriel Canever : 03/12/2020
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
Beneath the Blue Veneer
Martin O'Connor : 10/11/2020
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.
Has anyone else seen enough?
Paul Traill : 08/11/2020
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
It's Jam Today, Not Tomorrow
Dylan Joseph : 07/11/2020
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.
The Development of Ellis Simms
Phill Thompson : 21/10/2020
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.
The Battle of Edgware Road
Stephen Vincent : 13/10/2020
Recounting the events of 12 October 1985, which were no minor skirmish!
Window Dressing
Martin O'Connor : 09/10/2020
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?
Lean, Mean and Young
Jay Wood : 07/10/2020
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...
The James Rodriguez Effect
Matthew Parry : 29/09/2020
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
Jordan Pickford: The Diamond Getting Rougher
Matthew Parry : 28/09/2020
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?
Photographing a Rhino
Martin O'Connor : 21/09/2020
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?
Don't Be Fooled... This Season Could Be Very Tough
Matthew Parry : 17/09/2020
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
Bill Kenwright – Everton Legend
Kevin Prytherch : 11/09/2020
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.
Opposition View: Spurs For Life
Ryan Curtis : 09/09/2020
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
Will James Rodriguez & Co Be Successes At Everton?
Richard Coleman : 09/09/2020
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?
The Project – Next Chapter
Paul Tran : 08/09/2020
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!
Away Day Blues: Tottenham Hotspur
Patrick McFarlane : 07/09/2020
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.
Who Is Steering the Ship?
Martin O'Connor : 04/09/2020
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?
You Can’t Always Get What You Want…
Dylan Joseph : 31/08/2020
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
Our Future Is Alternative
Robert Bresnan : 18/08/2020
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?
Marcel Brands and the Missing Transfer Doctrine
Jacques Sandtonian : 14/08/2020
Marcel Brands has just learned the first rule of Everton transfer business: We are the scouting arm of Tottenham Hotspur.
The First Six Months: Unacceptable
Darren Hind : 12/08/2020
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?
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