The Everton Knot: how to get through this day

by   |   19/05/2022  13 Comments  [Jump to last]

Hands up who had a good sleep last night? Me neither. The creeping anxiety that has afflicted me for weeks has grown into a huge knot in the gut. But today it ends; here's why.

We will win tonight, I have thought about this for the last 9 hours and there are a couple of reassuring certainties.

We will have the best supporters in the world supporting our team tonight. The staff and players will give it all and, most important, I believe that tonight our players will find courage.

Not the courage to stick their foot in but the guts to stand up. To be willing to fuck up and fight on. To be there to take a pass, to miss a sitter and scream for another chance. They will be inspired by the will of every Blue who says we are good enough.

When the fear sneaks up today, I will think of every Blue going to the game, every Blue on this site. We are united in trepidation but sustained in the knowledge that we are Everton.

Today is a new dawn.

COYB

back Return to Talking Points index  :  Add your Comments »


Reader Comments (13)

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer


Brian Williams
1 Posted 19/05/2022 at 11:02:59
Andy, mate, how are you? Good sleep last night? I can honestly say I've not slept well for weeks worrying about our predicament.

They've given us hope in the Chelsea, Man Utd, and Leicester games, only to fuck things up in true Everton style by failing where we should have succeeded.

I've got – what any "normal" person would say – several much more important issues going on in my life at the moment but the ridiculousness of it, the insanity of it, is that Everton's plight makes those issues (and they are serious) just fade into the background until we are safe!

I sometimes wish it wasn't so important, I really do, because then I would be able to care less and get on with life. But I can't, and won't be able to until that final whistle goes tonight and we've beaten Palace.

Then I'll sleep the sleep of the contented and face those other issues with not a care in the world.

Does that make me insane, I wonder?

Brian Murray
2 Posted 19/05/2022 at 11:16:32
Today is a new dawn if we want it to be. Tragic or joy the club has to turn a page on and especially off the pitch.
Michael Lynch
3 Posted 19/05/2022 at 11:26:23
Brian, agree 100%. In the long run, it's not about whether we win or lose today, it's what happens afterwards.

Of course I'm desperate for us to stay up, but if we do something has to change. We've been run like a non-league club owned by a lottery winner. So whether we stay up, or face a spell in the Championship, if the ownership and board don't make some massive changes - and have an honest look at their failings - we're doomed to mediocrity at best for the forseeable future.

I did say I wasn't going to come up for this game - the Brentford game nearly killed me off - but I've come this far, so I'm seeing it through to the bitter end.

I travel in hope more than expectation but, whatever happens, UTFT!

Danny O’Neill
4 Posted 19/05/2022 at 11:44:43
Tonight is about on the pitch.

Get this one over the line then it has to be about off the pitch.

Give us ecstasy tonight, Everton.

But then the post mortem must begin.

But right now, I just want 3 points.

Dave Lynch
5 Posted 19/05/2022 at 12:14:38
Danny.

The problem being it will probably be Bill carrying out the post mortem.

Dale Rose
6 Posted 19/05/2022 at 12:35:40
Danny 4.

We have never met; however, like many others on here who dream of Everton, I dreamt the other night that me and you were dressed as blue gnomes outside the Old Lady. We refused to move until the boys had won. Make of it what you will.

Colette Black
7 Posted 19/05/2022 at 12:37:52
I hardly slept, Andy. I'm full of trepidation. My stomach is churning. Feel like I'm about to go to the dentist. I want to curl up into a ball and hide.

But I know I won't be able to stop checking the score. Why did I sign up for this torture? Please Everton get the job done for us fans and put an end to this misery.

Brian Murray
8 Posted 19/05/2022 at 13:02:47
Dave Lynch @5.

Your surname is actually what he deserves.

Dave Lynch
9 Posted 19/05/2022 at 13:08:32
Agree Brian, but he's made of Teflon, he'll shed a tear and promise this will never happen again.

Just like he did after the Wimbledon game. Or was it the Coventry game? Or was it one of the many times we've been let down as fans?

Brian Murray
10 Posted 19/05/2022 at 13:12:00
Hate to even think it, never mind suggest it, but if it goes wrong tonight, he will surely be the biggest casualty of a cull in the summer, albeit years too late.
Stephen Vincent
11 Posted 19/05/2022 at 13:33:15
Stop talking about him. Tonight has nothing to do with him. It is about us, the fans and our relationship with this dysfunctional group of professional footballers and getting them over the line.

Whatever happens, finger-pointing and recriminations start on Monday.

Don't forget that the deadline for nominations for the Fan Advisory Board closes tonight. Already nominated my guy, but given the timing and the 10-day window to get it sorted can only be yet another smokescreen and it would not surprise me if 'he' already knows who is going to be elected.

Jay Harris
12 Posted 19/05/2022 at 14:04:19
Tonight is the acid test as to whether the bottlers have the stomach for a fight egged on by the best supporters in the world.

It is worrying having some key players missing but we should have Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison firing again so hopefully we will get the goals we need.

I think a clean sheet is nigh-on impossible but we can but hope.

Bill Rodgers
13 Posted 19/05/2022 at 18:01:31
I'm not sure if we will win. Certainly if we carry on blaming everyone else for this state, we will not. Referees, VAR, owners, Kenwright, "the board" - join the queue. The only thing clear to me is that this team, this squad, every squad for at least 5 years – more like 20 if we ignore a brief Martinez dawn – has played the worst football in the Premier League. Yes, there are worse teams in the league – I would say Norwich and Watford –, but Burnley are a team and Leeds have the capacity to play us off the park. We saw this against Brentford.

Sure, the sending off cost us dear – but it only happened, for fuck's sake, because we made Brentford look like Barcelona in their prime. Eriksen could have waltzed around the midfield all day and not a blue shirt got near him.

So it's nowt to do with referees or a dastardly plot. Moshiri and Kenwright might be thick but they cannot be responsible for the least motivated and organised team in the league. That falls on the coaching – and it has been the same thru at least 7 managers.

If we escape, the risk is that, after a summer on the beach they will repeat. Either clear out Finch Farm or we will be back here next year.

I know that these words are not popular, but millions of words are spent here ignoring the obvious truth. It is not the money. It is not the players – it is the complete lack of an effective coaching system and it's time we wised up.


Add Your Comments

In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.

» Log in now

Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site.


About these ads



© ToffeeWeb