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Mal van Schaick
1 Posted 17/07/2020 at 08:39:37
I agree with your first paragraph, Lyndon, and where I was angry and disappointed with five minutes to go thinking we were going to get beat at home by a relegation-threatened club, when I expected a reaction from the players after recent performances.

Although I am pleased for Jarrad Branthwaite, he played with maturity and a physical presence on and off the ball and is worthy of nurturing.

For me, it is still necessary to clear out our midfield and maybe keep Gomes as a creative midfielder, although his pace is in doubt. We also have to add other strikers.

I hope Ancelotti and the owner realise the great changes they have to make with perhaps 70 per cent of a squad clear out in order to reach our goal of Europe and may be top four.

Jerome Shields
2 Posted 17/07/2020 at 09:44:18
Lyndon, it is going to take Ancelotti as least two years to put together a challenging side, if he can get the support to do it. We may see a slight improvement next season, but players are still going to be around who have been doubtful performance-wise under successive Managers.

Ancelotti has the same problem that Brands faced i. e bringing players into a backroom culture that has failed to produce a consistent challenging team over decades. As a matter of fact they have succeeded in bringing down the expected standard of incoming players to what could be described as a well-known level of mediocre Everton performance.

Players being recurringly injured is a problem and question marks regarding training use as a preventative measure. There seems to be an emphasis on rest as part of recovery and rehabilitation policy. There are questions over the overall team level fitness.

The other area that Ancelotti will have problems is the burled objectives of the Club with Kenwrights parental hopefuiness and Moshiri absentee money orientated solutions. Neither seems to have clear objectives on how the club can compete to win any competition it enters.

Another problem for Ancelotti is that the future of the club is dependent mostly on Team performance and Moshiri largesse. The latter has been mismanaged to such an extent that it is detrimental to team performance. The contribution of the commercial side to the club is negligible, pointing to poor management, possibly explaining Moshiri's wasted millions.

On top all these areas of concern, which will be factors that need to be addressed, there is the Covid-19 fallout.

Everton need more than a new dawn, the club needs a collective kick up the arse. If instead Ancelotti gets the latter, we all better prepare for another twenty years of mediocrity.

Alun Jones
3 Posted 17/07/2020 at 09:55:02
Another woeful spectacle, I cannot understand why we cannot give Beni Baningime a game in centre-midfield, we have seen what the permutations of Davies, Gomes and Sigurdsson have to offer and with nothing really left to play for why not try him.

He could offer the defensive solidity that might allow Gomes to get forward a bit more often. I see he was not even on the bench last night, is he now injured? He has been an unused sub in post-Covid-19 matches.

Christopher Timmins
4 Posted 17/07/2020 at 10:11:27
Lyndon, in some ways the results since we were hammered by Chelsea may prove to be a blessing. There is no hiding place regarding the state of play with the team. Improvements have to be found or the hiring of Carlo Ancelotti will prove to be a costly failure.

If we can pick up 3 improvements in this window then I will be more than happy. We can only expect a steady progression over the coming two years.

We will end up with less points this year than last and probably finish behind Burnley and fail to breach the 50-point mark for the second time in 3 years. Not easy to attract top talent against such a background.

I live in hope!

Ajay Gopal
5 Posted 17/07/2020 at 10:24:06
The biggest positive we have right now is Carlo Ancellotti, in spite of what the haters may say. Apart from the money, the biggest attraction for a player would be the chance to play under one of the most decorated managers in world football.

He needs to be given time and money to help him rebuild the squad. There will be many ups and downs, but surely, Everton will slowly crawl back up the league.

I predict that next season, the positions between 5 and 10 will be keenly fought. The top 4 will be between Man City, Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea. The next 6 places will be fought over between: Arsenal, Spurs, Leicester, Wolves, hopefully Everton, and maybe 1 surprise package – Leeds, Southampton, Newcastle, or Sheffield Utd?

Ray Jacques
6 Posted 17/07/2020 at 10:36:20
If Ancelotti cannot solve the problems, then who can?? That is my concern. We have had four managers since Moyes all of a different ilk and nationalities with different styles of playing and spent millions of pounds, and yet we have not progressed one iota.

What a farce! The problems at Everton go much deeper than the players and coaching staff.

It is systematically and institutionally flawed in all respects from top to bottom and I fear that the issues are beyond the resolve and capability of any man.

Alan Rooney
7 Posted 17/07/2020 at 11:28:01
Was it wrong to have felt disappointed that we equalised?

We deserved nothing and a Villa win would have made for a more interesting end to the relegation dog fight.

Richard Lyons
8 Posted 17/07/2020 at 11:55:08
Ajay #3, he may be given the time, but I doubt he will be given sufficient money. Sure there'll be millions, but we've already spent many millions and still we only get crap players.

Not even Carlo Ancelotti can make a silk purse out of a cow's ear...

Jerome Shields
9 Posted 17/07/2020 at 12:10:41
Alan #7,

I was disappointed, especially with Walcott getting that jammy header. I would have preferred Villa getting a better chance of survival. I don't think Everton deserved a draw.

Villa have been involved in two successive Championship play-offs prior to promotion and another season may have helped to re-establish themselves in the Premiership.

Villa are the Club most Evertonians fear their club will replicate, so an improved situation for them would be welcomed.

Brent Stephens
10 Posted 17/07/2020 at 12:11:29
Christopher #4 - agree totally.
Tony Everan
11 Posted 17/07/2020 at 13:42:25
A yawn-fest on the way to the end of this terrible season.

The only reason for keeping the eyes open with the matchsticks was the graceful emergence of the teenager Branthwaite. To have that kind of composure at 18 is impressive. He has a bright future and is a very shrewd acquisition.

Jon Wit
12 Posted 17/07/2020 at 16:07:25
If we go on thinking changing the manager is going to fix things then we will just end up in the same loop. Instead, we should be supporting the manager to change things – playing and training staff hopefully.

It starts with finding players with more hunger. I'm glad to see Gordon, Branthwaite, Holgate playing for that reason – Calvert-Lewin has contributed a lot too. A combative midfielder – not a headless chicken like Davies – would be ideal.

Brent Stephens
13 Posted 17/07/2020 at 16:16:45
#12 - we know who you are!
James Byrne
14 Posted 17/07/2020 at 16:21:14
In the past when we have had bad spells (plenty of them) you sought of get through them hoping the next few games are part of a turnaround!

For the past few seasons, it just isn't the same gut feeling. Is it just me or do other life long Evertonians feel that watching Everton is just fucking pointless!

The managers we have been through and the money we have spent on utter shit is farcical. Any other business model would have been out of business by now. If Everton was a dog, you'd consider it to be sick and have the poor thing put down!

I'm afraid this period under Ancelotti and his 6 key staff are a last chance saloon for Everton FC. We now have to attempt to get rid of the deadwood and make another financial loss. At the same time spend more millions on new players.

I have faith in Ancelotti but if he doesn't get this right Everton as a club are in big danger of losing their Premier League status, and any journey into the Championship will mean curtains for this club.

Tony Hill
15 Posted 17/07/2020 at 18:09:27
Jerome @9, it was a very good finish that, and a very good cross. We can do it when we get our heads out of our arses. We've scored three excellent goals recently.

Branthwaite is raw but very promising. Amid the gloom there is the odd glimmer. Let us pray for a firestarter.

Tony Everan
16 Posted 17/07/2020 at 19:05:50
Brent, It’s the Phantom of ToffeeWeb, someone (thing) posting from the other side.
Jerome Shields
17 Posted 17/07/2020 at 20:30:52
Tony#16

Everton are capable of producing moments like that. They are too good to be relegation contenders and have some promising players, but there appears to be a drag on challenging when it counts and the causes must be deeper than what we can see. I have put forward a few suggestions, which may not be that wide of the mark.

Tony Hill
18 Posted 17/07/2020 at 20:42:28
Of course, Jerome @17. We get occasional whispers of what might be. I've just said on another thread that Alex Young was both our ghost and our embodiment. Pure Everton. We've been betraying him for most of the last 50 years.
Jerome Shields
19 Posted 17/07/2020 at 20:44:50
Tony#15

The above post refers to you.

I am hopeful that an experienced manager like Ancelotti will effectively address what issues he can. He has already started, but appears to be playing a long game given the circumstances and the depth of the issues.

Clive Thomas
20 Posted 17/07/2020 at 22:00:24
We need a big clear-out in the next transfer window.

We are piss-poor and we actually don't have a midfield. Teams just running through us at will. We still can't defend at set-pieces. I don't know what Carlo is gonna do but it's going to I be a miracle for us to get even in the top half.

l have been supporting Everton since 1960 when I was 6 years old. I'm just dismayed at how this great club has deteriorated over the years. But hopefully next season we will start to get back to the glory days I experienced when I was growing up.

Come on, Everton – let's see a decade of greatness again.


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