Premier League — Week 21

That was no penalty for Arsenal. The Arsenal player gets his foot between the ball and the foot of Ederson, before seeming to stamp on Ederson's ankle. Deffo no penalty for me.

But that one absolutely should be a penalty to Man City...

Xhaka has the leg out, then pulls him down by the shirt. Penalty all day long.

Deffo Michael. VAR gives it.

Pen the shirt pull makes it easy for the ref. Xhaka caca

Yep 10 pts…do I hear 12? 12? Suck it RS

Why the Lino or the ref don't give that is ridiculous.

What a miss by Martinelli

Great penalty by Mahrez.

Crazy miss by Arsenal then second yellow... !!!

Gabriel red card. Red shite brown underpants.

Not a penalty for Arsenal in my opinion.

That's a penalty all day long for City though. Shirt pulling; my pet hate.

Still football can't get video assistance right. All this talk of the officials original decision or clear and present error (or whatever).

No. Use it to get the decision right and stop complicating its implementation & use.

WTF happened there? Would have been one of the all time great own goals. City got lucky there. In the meantime Arsenal down to ten as Gabriel sent off.

Getting a bit feisty this Arsenal game

True Danny. They to announce protocol and follow it

How totally fucking stupid these rich players can be. 1st yellow for scuffing up the penalty spot (why?). 2nd yellow for a New Year hug in the centre circle.

Good job Mikel ain't there – he'll be going mental!

Arsenal after a red card for every tackle

What's Macca sayin? You don't overturn the onfield non-penalty decision? Did I hear that right?

Arsenal's pen should have been given first half, Ederson clearly gets Odegards foot before the ball, VAR has not given it not because of that fact, but because it's so hard to spot that they feel the referee could not see it, so no error by the ref, but as Danny says that whole premise is wrong, VAR should use the technology to simply get to the right decision.They do for offsides.

Bill, every time there's a challenge Arsenal players demand a card. It's pathetic. Ok, it might well be a foul but not worthy of a card.

Unless you play for Liverpool Michael

Klopp's tested positive. They've not called for the game to be postponed, but expect a petition on change.org in 3... 2... 1...

Matt. I thought he had been tested positive for rabbies already!

Mcmanaman talking out of his arse if he thinks that city penalty shouldn't have been given. Would he be saying the same thing if it was a RS player getting his shirt pulled and the referee not giving it?

BT commentary shocking. Keown so biased and being colluded with by the other pundits. Thank fuck they're giving their sports arm up. The pen incident needed looking at and to me was a definite pen. Clear and obvious. Good decision and VAR working well.

When did Guardiola bring Kevin Keegan back?😂

Get in

And there you go... goal for City.

A gift for all Blues except Chelsea for the new year. We deserve it

Rodri scores. Keown is gutted! Macca silenced.

Yeeeeesssssss!! Get in!

Well done City. BT gutted.

Jeff. lol. I swear I was going to say exactly the same thing 😂.

Get in

Rob

Did the goalie lose his bearings there ? Only seen the goal once, but it looked like he showed him both posts...an open goal

Ha!
RS faces like slapped arses.
Happy New Year.
🤣

And so to 3 pm: first day of the year and there is only one game kicking off at 3pm: Watford vs Spurs.

It is getting to be ridiculous allowing these pundits on if they cant offer a fair analysis of a game without being fragrantly biased.

Glad it wasn't just me and the son.

How much did the BT Sport commentators want that that for Arsenal??

Are you saying they have their noses turned up at us, Bill? That's obscene.

It's ironic (and tragic) that Pep and the Arabs could've been working with a darker shade of blue if Kenwright was willing to walk away and be the Evertonian he claims he is.

Those pundits were all over the place.

I thought the ref got every big decision right.

It's New Years Day, Brian, and still you can't get him out of your head!

I was feeling confident about us winning the cup, but that's because I thought the saviour was losing his grip, and might be on his way out.

But nothing seems to be changing, especially because I'm hearing he's still full of deceit, so the money I was going to put on Everton for the cup, which would have hopefully paid for a big party with the winnings, might be better getting put in a tonny, because I can't see us winning anything whilst the jinx continues to stay around?

What shall I do Brian, save or gamble, it's your call mate!?

Part of the problem is the fact that some of the pundits are ex-footballers who are just thick.

There's no such thing as a soft penalty, the defender either fouled the attacker or he didn't. He either committed an offence against the laws of the game or he didn't.

Lloris the serial offender gets away with another one!

VAR a joke again.

Yes Jeff that was a stone wall pen. He never got anything on the ball.

#40 (either)

Wow, is that Cleverley on for Watford? He looks extremely fit for 44.

I see our erstwhile, "one of the most sensational you are going to see in Premier League history.”, player Tom Cleverley on for Watford.

Fucking Roberto.

Absolutely wicked delivery from that twat, Son, deep into added time.

“Absolutely wicked delivery from that twat, Son”

Made me laugh that. He is a twat.

Tony. post 39. I'm going to quote the bible of positivity by Danny O!

Even our owner, as naive as he is, will now see what's rotten and inept right under his nose. If he is still anywhere near Everton when the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock opens, never mind the cheek of wanting a stand named after him – I'm done with them all. Hard to even say that.

Open your eyes, Moshiri. It must come true sometime somehow. Okay that sounded a bit Johnny Mathis but you get me drift.

I'm glad we got Mr Benitez and didn't go back in for Moyes. I'd hate to see us challenging the Top 4, playing decent football, and scoring attractive goals.

I wonder if this team is the best side Moyes has ever managed?

It looks all but likely the Top 7 positions are now sewn up.

Alan, Moyes arrived at West Ham Utd with quality already in the squad.

Why oh why is he always mentioned? 11 years of no wins at Anfield surely means he's had his chance at Everton.

The 27 years of nowt included Moyes's very long time at the club.

Alan Moss, I'm no fan of Benitiez but do you think Moyes would be challenging for top 4 this season with the squad we've got and the injuries we've had?

Joe, add in 11 years of no wins at Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge and The Emirates. 44 games without an away win at the “Original Top 4”.

I always try and turn a negative into a positive, Brian, but whenever I think about the saviour, I just feel sick.

I honestly find it hard walking along Goodison Road, just in case I look up and see that man's smug face sitting directly on top of the ticket office, on the Everton Timeline, which he added to our stadium, although he has been unable to add fuck-all positive towards, since it was erected many years ago.

Moyes has five players who are better than anybody we've got. Of course they're playing better than we are.

And the idea that Moyes would have given up that situation to come manage us is just silly in my opinion.

It's a New Year, so let's have new hope. With injured players coming back, and a few new signings, I'm confident we will start climbing the table. The next 7 league games are also all totally winnable.

Talk of Moyes, obviously brings me back to punching above our weight, and plucky little Everton, and what an absolutely perfect combination him and the saviour were for each other.

One got the Man Utd job, and showed he couldn't punch below his weight, and the other got his investor, whilst overseeing Everton Football Club's biggest barren spell in their long and illustrious history.

Talk of wanting Moyes back annoys me as much as the regular "I see (insert name of ex-player) scored again today."

It's forever looking back and forever whingeing about what might have been and being experts in hindsight.

Evertonians need to man-up and reverse the trend of becoming moaning, negative, whingers.

Oh, Happy New Year everyone, by the way. 😉

I think we'll finish above West Ham this season, but good luck to them. I don't have a "second club" but, if I did, it would be the lovable East Enders. After Celtic, of course.

Brian, I fall right in to that trap.

Honestly, any time Lukas Jukiewickz scores (and it's not that often) I swear to God, I actually think: Why the fuck did we let him go???

Andy, I'm similarly haunted by Conor McAleny.

Tony, we are 15 points behind West Ham as things currently stand. There is absolutely no chance we are finishing above them unless they go on a disastrous run of results which is highly unlikely.

Andy and Mike. I believe you, brothers!

Forget Moyes and that fucking gobshite, Lukaku. They have no relevance to EFC, but we continue to see people harping back to when they were here.

I despised Moyes being our manager. His glass ceiling pissed me off no end, but West Ham called him in because they were going back to familiar territory.

Let's be very clear here: at West Ham, he inherited a team in far deeper trouble than the ones Carlo and Rafa inherited. Slag him all you want, but he has quite literally taken his cock out and pissed all over the pair of them.

Our appointments have been so bad, that we now dream about getting back to where the The Ginger Twat had us.

Let's focus on our recovery.

They've played 3 more games than us, Kunal @62. I agree it's a challenge, I just think it will happen.

Benitez has told us that we will have a strong second half to the season and I expect him to deliver. People judge things too quickly.

Darren @64, I really hope you don't mean "quite literally". That is a terrible image.

They have the points on the board, Tony, just because we have 3 games in hand on them doesn't mean we will get 9 points.

I would love nothing more than to see them fall apart and we go on a run winning 14 of 21 games.

Realistically can't see it and it's not happening.

What else do you expect Benitez to say, we will be the same as the first half of the season, we will have more injuries and I will deploy the same tactics already witnessed?

Of course he has to say we'll have a strong second half, he's not going to say anything less, and neither would any other manager.

Chris Leyland...top 4, no. I do believe we'd be in a better position than we are now though.

I don't think Moyes inherited a better squad at WHU either.

Moyes would never have been my first choice, but I'd take him above Mr Benitez every time.

Well, we shall see, Kunal @67. Mr Moyes has done well but he has a history of choking, you know.

He chokes when it comes to the top 4, not the European places. They have carried on in the same vein as last season.

There squad is much better than ours, lets see what we can do in the summer and add better quality and bridge that gap to them.

As I say, Kunal, let's see. He nearly fucked up that one.

He did, Tony, scraped through with a 3-2 win. We weren't so lucky.

Wow, loved that finish from Lanzini...

The Bobble sez Calvert-Lewin has been spending a lot of time working on that – but he still hasn't got it quite right.

Yes, Alan @72, it all comes down to the games against Palace.

Whereas Lanzini's heading is the finished article, Michael @73. As is his fabulous goalscoring record.

No, Tony, it doesn't... just making the point that I'd prefer to nearly fuck it up than definitely fuck it up.

Must be hard watching your team take a 3-goal lead and then narrowly hang on for the away win.

Alan @76,

Moyes is doing very well; I just dislike seeing Evertonians caving in after 17 games. If we don't expect very much as fans, then it's no surprise that the players don't give a fuck.

I know there are Blues who loathe Benitez and always will but just an atom of enthusiasm at the start of 2022 wouldn't go amiss.

Ah. I see we are back to the "we have games in hand" situation yet again lol.

Soren @78,

I see we're back to: ''Let's give up and relish the familiar thrill of self-pity".

It's what makes us Everton.

Looks like Lukaku is in the deep brown stuff at Chelsea. He's been left out of their match day squad for today's game against the RS!

I know he had an impact when he came on against Villa Rob, but I just think he's overly bulked up and not looking fir again. A bit like when he went to United. Gets his move and relaxes??

Tuchel won't stand for that or the attitude.

I thought the Arsenal v Man City game was an absolute delight to watch, the apprentice against the master. You can see how much Arteta has learned from the master, his side are one of the few who don't have 10 men sitting in front of the 18 yard box. The passing and move which is so ingrained at City is now becoming instilled in his Arsenal team, he has also made them much more aggressive. Just a pity our owner didn't have the same intent as the Arsenal board who appointed Arteta, after all he ticked many boxes knew our club inside out and understood the fans. Yes it was a gamble but he worked under the best coach in the world for a number of seasons and was it any less of a gamble than the man we have appointed.

Danny, Lukaku's upper body is huge for a footballer. I don't know whether that's his natural physique or something he's developed in the gym. Presumably a natural propensity to accumulating muscle (I seem to have the opposite problem).

Whatever the case, he looks too heavy to get about the pitch other than through his occasional short sprints. Anything more leaves him looking exhausted.

The slower pace of Italian football probably suited him.

His idol Drogba had a much lighter upper body by comparison and used superior balance as much as muscle to dominate opponents.

A superb striker in many respects, but Lukaku needs to drop some muscle for the Premier League.

I think most people would agree with that last sentence Danny, but when we finally get an Everton manager, who is prepared to act in a similar way, then many call him a control freak.

He took an injured sulking player off the other week and got absolutely slaughtered for it, with many even questioning the managers professionalism.

Professionalism, is the name of the game, and hand on heart when was the last time you felt that we were a true professional outfit in every sense of the word?

I'm not sure I wanted David Weir, but Benitez did, so when Weir decided not to come, it told me that things aren't quite right behind the scenes, and possibly because there is more than one control freak at Everton Football club? Well that's how I see it anyway.

Tony, we would all accept a control freak in charge who brings professionalism to the club, but where is the evidence of that on the pitch?

Managerial professionalism starts with producing a winning team. If Benitez is changing the culture of the club, then that will be reflected in performances and results.

Let's start with that, before he starts acting like he is a mini DOF and trying to seize control of everything. He hasn't earned the right to do that based on his own performance to date. But, hopefully there will be small improvement steps today.

I don't see enough professionalism out on the pitch either Steve, and that's why I asked the question, when was the last time anyone felt that Everton were a true professional outfit in every sense of the word.

Brands got the bullet, for asking a supporter did he really think it was just the players, and all of a sudden Benitez is acting like a mini director of football?

I honestly don't see any real evidence of this Steve, but people will continue to speculate, which is something I'm just doing myself, although my disdain is for people who have been at Everton a lot longer, because I have always felt that professionalism starts at the very, very top.

The thing that amazed me about the Chelsea v Brighton game was that Lukaku was made MOTM by the commentators, apart from a well taken goal he couldn't keep hold of the ball still hasn't learned how to control a ball, has I have said before he speaks six languages and can't trap a ball in any of them.

Agree Tony, I want him to focus on the first team squad and leave the rest to look after itself until the end of the season.

So far Benitez gets a C- from me for his half team report. The only thing stopping him getting a lesser mark is the mitigating circumstances due to injuries.
The quality of football under him has been negative and poor. And yes, start showing us you can do what you are employed for before you try to grasp other duties

Tony @ 77... How's that 2022 enthusiasm coming along?

Bit of nothing match although Wolves looked the livelier towards the end of the half.

Outside the too 3, this league is bang average.

Wolves take the lead at utd

Enjoyed watching Wolves, tried to play good football throughout and been the better team. Hope they hang on for it.

They should have scored in the 1st half already. Great footy from Wolves. That's how I want us to play but sadly it won't happen anytime soon! We are light years behind Wolves, never mind Top 4!

Nice win for Wolves. First win at Old Trafford since 1980.

Wasn't sure where to put this one, but here seems appropriate so I don't get told off by Michael!

I don't promote more managerial change as that's been the ball and chain around our neck in recent years.

I also don't get carried away by individual results, but after tonight, Ralph Hassenhuttl anyone?

Another apprentice of Rangnick in his capacity as Sporting Director / DoF. Like Nagelsmann, the current Head Coach of Bayern Munich.

Why did we not go for Rangnick several years ago and even last summer when he seemed available again?

Some interesting comments and as time as gone on, Brands departure is being seen in more context. The now stinging rebuke to the disgruntled supporter was perhaps the thin end of the wedge for Brands, who could see more and more control being exercised by Benitez.
That comment was almost certainly in reference to the manager and his now complete control of who stays or goes and who he wants. Building a strategy for the way we play, recruit and transfer, in and out, has been ditched over the whims of an autocratic manager.
The power struggle, if there ever was one, is most certainly over.
I watched the Villa game the other night, and Wolves too.. we get so engrossed in all that is Everton, that we fail sometimes (well, I do) to see how far away we are getting from other clubs on the pitch and off it. Light years and the gap is growing me thinks. There is only one outcome if its not arrested and I hope to goodness its not too late to stop the slide because we are starting to look like Burnley, Newcastle and Norwich.
We are a big club, maybe not a winning club, but the set up, size and structure all would say so. But its the management, investment and team recruitment that have buggered it up. So yes, professionalism comes from the top, doing the right things, the right way with the right people. There needs to be professionalism and quality at all these points. No matter how I look at it, its something that has been so badly lacking that we are now paying the price.
Are we staving off the spectre of relegation by appointing someone who will drag us up by the bootstraps, take no **** and kick us into shape? or is it another indication that professionalism has had to sit in the corner while the crap is being sorted out?