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Opinion & Articles
Contributions from our editorial team, featured columnists and readers.
Russian Roulette
Lyndon Lloyd
31/05/2023Farhad Moshiri has spun the chamber, pulled the trigger and been fortunate that the barrel has been empty both times over the last two seasons. Everton urgently need a change of leadership because the owner - and, by extension, the club - likely won't be so lucky next time.
Seventeenth Not Going Under
Lyndon Lloyd
28/05/2023It was the longest 43 minutes of our lives but Abdoulaye Doucouré’s 20-yard rocket would be just enough and the power of the spirit that courses through this wonderful institution proved indefatigable
Relief and Indignation Should Replace Jubilation if Everton Stay Up
Lyndon Lloyd
21/05/2023As 1998 went after 1994, so should 2023 go after 2022 if Everton manage to secure their Premier League status next weekend.
A goal at the death averts a dark day in the Black Country
Lyndon Lloyd
20/05/2023This had the makings of a bleak afternoon for Everton but as it stands, it's two from three to join Southampton through the trap door next weekend
A Counter-Attacking Masterclass
Lyndon Lloyd
08/05/2023Everton demolished Europe-chasing Brighton with a stunning display that could have yielded more than the five goals they did score on the day to register their biggest away win since December 2018
Time to Stand Up and Fight, Everton
Lyndon Lloyd
01/05/2023Regardless of who plays, the 11 that take the field need to stand tall, be brave, and fight for the shirt from the first minute to the last at Leicester on Monday evening.
Gravity Taking Hold
Lyndon Lloyd
27/04/2023A night that exposed a multitude of weaknesses, not least in defence, and kept Everton hurtling towards the abyss
None So Blind As Those Who Will Not See
Lyndon Lloyd
24/04/2023In poking a section of the fanbase with his mis-guided and divisive open letter, "Chairman Bill" betrayed a galling lack of self-awareness and humility at a critical time for the club while also proving the protesters' point: the time for him to step down has long since passed
Confidence and quality in short supply but Everton take a point
Lyndon Lloyd
22/04/2023The recruitment failings of recent years were laid bare as another make-shift full-back struggled and Everton generally lacked the guile to break through a fairly languid Palace side
Crushing setback has Everton teetering back over the abyss
Lyndon Lloyd
15/04/2023In terms of its timing in the season and the gut-punch it represented, this defeat is being compared to the Toffees’ ugly defeat to Dyche’s Burnley a little over a year ago. Just as then, while there are games to be played and points to be won, there is still opportunity and there is still hope
Keane achieves atonement in spectacular fashion
Lyndon Lloyd
04/04/2023This is a side increasingly cut in Dyche’s image, though — gritty, determined and indefatigable — and they refused to give in. This was another example of the psychological toughness and spirit that the new manager has imbued in this team.
Simms makes dramatic mark as Everton deny Chelsea at the Bridge
Lyndon Lloyd
19/03/2023Twice the Toffees fell behind to Chelsea on a ground where they have tasted defeat on more occasions than Evertonians would like to recall. And twice they battled their way back to parity to earn a point that could be vital in terms of the relegation picture at the end of the season.
Precious win over in-form Bees changes the picture again for Dyche's Everton
Lyndon Lloyd
11/03/2023Even the most level-headed Blue must have felt fairly deflated after the Forest game last Sunday but back in front of the raucous Goodison faithful, Sean Dyche's men put on another defiant display to end Brentford's 12-match unbeaten run
Precious points slip through Everton's fingers at Forest
Lyndon Lloyd
05/03/2023Despite the positives to take from the attacking dimension of this performance, it’s very difficult not to feel massively disappointed and frustrated that, having twice been ahead, Everton passed up this chance to collect a precious victory against a rival to beat the drop
Disastrous January continues to drag on Everton’s survival hopes
Lyndon Lloyd
26/02/2023If two wins from three to start Sean Dyche’s reign as Everton manager had offered hope that not only would the Blues survive this season, they might do so fairly comfortably, then this result against Aston Villa will have swept away such fanciful notions.
Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Captain
Lyndon Lloyd
18/02/2023This was a massive victory for Everton, Sean Dyche's second in three matches that vaults the Toffees out of the relegation zone and into 16th place
Dyche inspires high-octane display to stun high-flying Arsenal
Lyndon Lloyd
04/02/2023The new manager married technique and running with tenacity and defensive discipline to win his first match in charge — and what a huge result it was, too!
The Accelerating Decline of an English Giant
Lyndon Lloyd
01/02/2023The debacle of this transfer window and the failures of the last one are an indictment of the inadequacy of Everton’s leadership and the mismanagement of the time available to them which has put the club's Premier League status in genuine jeopardy
Floundering Lampard surely leaves Everton Board with no choice after latest defeat
Lyndon Lloyd
21/01/2023This was a performance by a side crippled by a lack of self-belief, overseen by a manager who looks incapable of instilling any confidence in them or changing a game to rescue a losing situation.
Divided We Fall
Lyndon Lloyd
19/01/2023Things do seem to be irreparably broken at Everton, at least in the short term. There are moves the hierarchy can make, either through decisive action by the owner, or humility and acceptance from others around him, but in the meantime, the fans have to stick both together and with whatever players are in that squad come 1 February
Into the Death Spiral
Lyndon Lloyd
14/01/2023From the moment Everton threw away all the work it had taken to establish a slender half-time lead just 50 seconds into the second half, there was a haunting inevitability about the way this game would end up going
Knives Out or Dig In? The Case For and Against Frank Lampard
Lyndon Lloyd
15/11/2022Six months is a very long time in football. Frank Lampard has gone from being the toast of Goodison to a man whose future as Everton manager is in question just 15 games into what is supposed to be his first full season in charge. Not all the problems of his making but he quickly needs to show he has what it takes to mitigate them and keep this club afloat
Hello, Darkness, My Old Friend
Lyndon Lloyd
12/11/2022The buck always ultimately stops with the manager and if, as seems likely, he survives the World Cup break with his job intact, Frank Lampard will be under enormous pressure to use the next six weeks to solve some of the glaring issues within the team he currently has
Second-rate Blues no match for slick Leicester
Lyndon Lloyd
05/11/2022Before tonight, Brendan Rodgers had failed to win on Everton’s home turf but his Leicester side played Everton off the park from start to finish
Everton stifle Silva's Fulham but find cutting edge elusive
Lyndon Lloyd
29/10/2022While this clash with a fairly porous but free-scoring Fulham promised goals, it didn’t end up producing any even if this was anything but a bore draw
Everton find their attacking groove to comfortably see off Palace
Lyndon Lloyd
22/10/2022The Blues doubled their home goals tally for the season in some style today with a dominant victory over Palace, the least team they put three past back in May
Lampard's challenge laid bare by blunt Blues
Lyndon Lloyd
20/10/2022If you don’t shoot, you can’t score. And if you don’t score, you can’t win matches. It really is that blindingly obvious and simple.
Setback against United hands Everton a swift reality check
Lyndon Lloyd
09/10/2022If there appeared to be an air of complacency after Alex Iwobi had swept Everton into an early lead, it was cleared rapidly by mistakes, defensive porousness and ruthless finishing from Erik ten Hag's side
Onward and upward for Everton after laudable win at Southampton
Lyndon Lloyd
01/10/2022It wasn’t always pretty, by the end it was a little ragged, but this was a markedly better display than the one they put on in this fixture back in February and it helped extend the team’s unbeaten run to seven matches in all competitions
Tenacious Everton shake the monkey off their back at West Ham's expense
Lyndon Lloyd
18/09/2022Realistically, Everton really needed to win today and win they did on the back of Neal Maupay’s first goal for the club. And what a lovely goal it was.
Rapidly-improving Blues make their point in pulsating derby stalemate
Lyndon Lloyd
03/09/2022Frank Lampard’s Blues bridged a gap today on an afternoon where both goals seemed to live a charmed life, both goalkeepers had to underline their world-class credentials and the fortitude of the Goodison Park ‘woodwork†was tested at both ends
A Noticeable Arc of Improvement
Lyndon Lloyd
30/08/2022There have been clear signs of progress in the last two outings and, more importantly, Everton are picking up points away from home, something they didn't do nearly enough last season
Simultaneously a Point Gained and Two Dropped
Lyndon Lloyd
27/08/2022If 2022-23 is going to be another slog to avoid relegation, anything the team can collect on the road should be gratefully received. It’s hard not to feel despondent, though, at two precious points dropped
Pressure Builds on Toothless Blues Ahead of the Deadline
Lyndon Lloyd
20/08/2022It’s still early days, the window is still open, but it’s hard not to feel uneasy even at this stage about Everton’s prospects for the season
Familiar Away-Day Blues for Blunt Everton
Lyndon Lloyd
13/08/2022Frank Lampard might rue waiting as long as he did to make changes to a line-up that wasn't working but Amadou Onana showed the way forward with a mixed but hugely promising late cameo
Luck still in short supply at Goodison
Lyndon Lloyd
06/08/2022Ye footballing gods, this succession of serious injuries isn’t funny. But despite the frustration of an opening-day defeat by the fine margins of a penalty decision, there were elements of this Everton performance that were genuine cause for optimism
Inertia
Lyndon Lloyd
16/07/2022Farhad Moshiri has restated his commitment to Everton but, without any tangible change in how the club is run from the top, there is little hope it can make any meaningful strides towards realising the owner's stated ambitions from six years ago.
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