Blues give up the lead twice to hand Forest a point

Poor Demarai asked to play as striker, he's not nearly tough enough for that role.

Godfrey's positioning and decision-making when he came on at Arsenal was dreadful, so it's not really an improvement at left-back, even if Mykolenko has been poor this season,

Gray up front gives us some pace on the break and a goal-scoring threat of sorts, but he can't play with his back to goal so I wonder what will happen with all the long ball stuff?

Looks a very big ask of Gray without support from Simms and / or Maupay.

Still, we've been making chances and can do so again today. Surely we're due some luck after the Villa performance.

Gray likes to come a little deeper to get himself self on the ball so really this is like a six man midfield. I prefer Gray to Maupay so hopefully this may just work today, I can see us scoring a goal from around the edge of the box, alternatively Keane or Tark from a set piece.

Ideally both! COYBLUES!!

I'm glad to see Demarai Gray up front. But it's not enough. Don't know why Simms is not even in the squad.

We can only hope and inspire.

COYB

Square pegs in round holes, we have no creativity in midfield, so he pushes Iwobi out wide, and once again into Demarai Gray's position.

They say "attack is the best form of defence", but I just don't see it with a line-up, that once again leaves our forward players on the bench.

The traveling blue army deserve a lot more, but hopefully we can keep a clean sheet and pinch ourselves a very valuable point.

It looks like KITAP-1 all over again; if you can't score, then don't plan to score more than one.

What I do know is that we've managed to assemble a bunch of players who, at the very best, are average. Generally they're shite.

Doesn't really matter who makes the cut, imo.

COYB

And later Gray with a similar chance and all he can do is side-foot it into a defender although McNeil did hit one that the keeper turned over the bar.

Then, lo and behold, a miracle! We get awarded a penalty that is reviewed but still given. However, that seemed to change our game as we sat back and let them come on to us and then the inevitable equalizer as the midfield left it for the defence while the defence was again too busy backing off.

I thought the penalty given was a part of modern football I dislike, a foot-out attacker falls over it which is given, week-in & week-out, but on that same basis, I'd love to know why the one on Coleman wasn't given? And that's the trouble with refereeing and the VAR: no consistency.

Then, just as I'm thinking that Forest are dominating as we had no outlet up front, we seemed to have nearly everybody in their box and touches by our two central defenders in their box puts us back in front, thankfully from a header.

I also disagreed with some of the yellow cards handed out as Godfrey's looked unlucky while Aurier got away with a very late hit.

Gana and Doucoure though are having tremendous games, even without Doucoure scoring that goal. As long as we don't go back to defending the lead, we can score another goal at least here.

Michael Keane making a difference at the top end of the pitch! All about the result today. COYB

Just no nonsense we need now – they have to chase it, hopefully leaving more openings for us. Is it ever that straightforward with us, though? Fasten yer seatbelts!

How many times has he touched the ball?

Gueye had a good game; we badly need a striker.

Really hard to see where our next win is coming from now… it's getting grimmer by the day.

A win would have given us a real chance. Now, we're up against it. We've played a game more so we really need to win. A tough run of fixtures coming up will decide our fate.

Can he get us back up? I don't think so with this tepid scared squad. We are down, played a game more, in the Bottom 3 and the goal difference (as usual) is awful.

Subs on 90 minutes – why do we always have a history of negative managers?

That was a fantastic opportunity to really alleviate some pressure in a game that, for 70 minutes, our opponents did absolutely nothing, but we have allowed the game to become a scrap and momentarily lost focus again.

The point does little given our overall lack of wins.

Brentford next week will be a huge game but again, it's a good confident team coming to Goodison, so who knows what will happen?

Looks pretty much as though it's going to go to the wire again this battle, no way we'll be 4 points safe with 2 games to go.

Forest are really strong at home, we've been taking a beating; this is encouraging. We are starting to show we can score goals, just very frustrating we couldn't hold on, but most people don't win at the City Ground.

First half was pretty good; the second-half wasn't. The referee was fine in the first-half and must have got one of those PMOGL memos at half-time, as he gave us absolutely nothing.

I think overall, it was an opportunity for 3 points lost. Gray should have buried that chance immediately prior to half-time.

Everton in the second-half were very naive, getting involved in all those handbag moments and Forest's ploy to disrupt and annoy.

On to the next game and another tension-filled 100 minutes.

The fact that, when subs are made, it is Maupay and Davies shows the reason why subs were not made.

Well, lad, you need to start showing something that I haven't seen in you yet, at least then we might get our 㿏 million back.

Cracking 1st half. Couldn't keep it going for the 2nd and hardly put a decent ball in the box for all our effort.

That was a big, big chance to make ground. We are making big strides but lacking the confidence to really punish teams. Hope we can build on our confidence and carry the positives on.

Just got in to see we've snaffled a point I didn't expect and by some accounts it could have been 3 so not all doom and gloom – perhaps even progress of sorts.

Good.

Getting out of the Bottom 3 was a must this weekend; now, we are still there and have played a game more than all our closest relegation candidates... Shocking!

Gray was clearly done and should have been subbed off for Simms, not Maupay. Davies completely useless, as per… 2 points lost.

Forest bring on three fresh players, we don't respond until the 89th minute by taking off our two best players for the two least effective players in the Premier League.

Dyche needs to learn – very, very fast – or we are absolutely doomed.

In our remaining games, I don't see 35 or 36 points. Sad but the tossers on the board didn't heed the warnings from last season, so relegation shouldn't be a surprise.

I just looked at the table and no – we are not yet down. And until we are, regardless, of formations and form, I will hope we can escape.

If we don't then c'est la vie – after all, I'm certain that everybody on the planet is going to die at some point… I don't see the merit in constantly reminding people of that fact.

I don't see what these managers see in him.

I wouldn't have hooked Iwobi – his athleticism was causing them more problems as the game went on.

Simply, we march on to the next match. A point gained!!

A point is enough to make the next game massive.

We need to win to have a chance. Otherwise the table at 30 games played might make very grim reading.

And if we can a tenner for Godfrey we should take it.

Anyway, that's probably as good as Dyche can get this team playing, such are the limitations of the squad, and sadly it isn't going to be enough to save us.

A very poor team which is trying as hard as it can but can't escape the fact that it is not Premier League level.

I was surprised at the substitutions as McNeil had almost disappeared in the second half while Gray looked to have tired about the 60-minute mark and Iwobi was taken off when he seemed to be more involved with the play than at any time during the game and Maupay, again, offered nothing.

Also some dubious yellows handed out mostly because the Ref seemed confused at what had actually gone on and why did he recall a quickly taken Forest throw-in because they wanted to make some substitutions? Ludicrous, they can't have it both ways, so go with what happens first.

I suppose a lot will be praising the all-out effort but we really should have come away with all 3 points but for giving away two sloppy goals. MotM? Sorry but I like to see a bit more than effort and sloppy goals. The good point, if it is that, is that we didn't lose.

At 2-1, I thought we might hold on; we ran out of steam. I missed the equalizer (lousy feed), so just the point, but it was hard-earned. A lot to be applauded and that point may be invaluable at the end of the season.

Why didn't Dyche use subs after 60 minutes? The legs had gone with all of the midfield and yet he left it to the end to replace… What the heck?

I think in isolation it's a decent point, away from home. We scored two goals, Dyche has 7 points from 6 games – not great but better than our season as a whole.

But looking at our predicament in context, it's 2 points lost.

Patterson and Garner will improve the team and, of course, if Calvert-Lewin actually does come back, such performances will win games.

We're not down yet. UTFT

Forest are not dross as they have a very competitive midfield and dangerous wingers. They can really compete in a kicking match and their City Ground, like Goodison, is a horrible ground to visit.

I'm not giving up hope yet.

The performance seemed an improvement. I would have liked to have seen subs earlier.

Brentford is a must-win.

1st half we dominated, they where not even in it. We controlled everything about the game.

2nd half we allowed them back into it. I thought Iwobi had a great game.

Yeah, our subs bench looks like the one in Escape to Victory with the flea-bitten malnourished Soviet POWs.

It is a draw that feels like a defeat, but still, it's an away point. Now for a home win.

If Gray had to bury his chance instead of trying to pass it into the net before halftime, we would have been cruising. I thought Coleman and Gana stood out, with Iwobi having a good second half.

Garner could be the immediate answer, but I don't know if Dyche has the bottle to play him.

We are making big strides?

Seriously, have a look at the table. We are in the shit – same as last year. The only strides we are making are into the Championship. Lose against Brentford next week and we are gone.

The Championship is a hard league, all very fit teams that will run this lot ragged. Our only hope is an enormous amount of luck to stay up, and three teams having a complete collapse.

Hope springs eternal and we will need all of it.

On to Brentford – a win and we're in with a chance; lose or another draw with the games coming after and it's goodnight.

Brentford is a must-win, and the unforced errors must stop, be reduced, but Forest are one of the best home teams in this League so, in context, a good point.

If, and more if's, but now to rally for Brentford.

I still believe Everton can stay up, there's 12 games left and Everton showed today, they're up for the fight to stay in the Premier League.

UTFTs!

Took the dog out for the second half. Nerves were gone. We've got to get Calvert-Lewin back.

We may have played a game more but there are too many left for that to make any real difference at this time. Next weekend is really crucial though as our rivals will probably lose:

Bournemouth - Liverpool
Man Utd - Southampton
Spurs - Forest,
Leeds - Brighton.

It's really critical we get 3 points against Brentford and, with the Goodison Park crowd in full voice, I'm hopeful that will be the case.

Grudgingly satisfied with a point today. One game at a time.

Where the fuck is Calvert-Lewin?

We did enough to win that. We need to win the next one.

We need to replace the entire Academy Staff if Davies is their only breakthrough into the first eleven! He'll never get another professional contract!

We need to hold on to leads, always sloppy and panic-stricken. Wasted opportunity.

As soon as they equalised, Dyche should have been making the subs to win the game – when he does make changes, it's too late and strange subs in my opinion!

I'm disappointed we dropped 2 points but I would have taken 1 point before the game, to be honest. It's a fact that draws and defeats will see us going down – we need wins and Dyche has to start going for it.

The big strides relate to a better team shape and spirit under Sean Dyche. Frank's Toffees would have lost today.

Onana had he's best game???

OMG, he was poor. Gana was our best player.

Glad of the point in the end. The next few games are crucial to our survival. The wins must come or we are definitely doomed.

That's 2 points dropped and now means to survive we have to get 3 points in other more difficult games. As Alan mentioned in post #25, we have a bunch of players who are bang average to shite and I don't see where our points are coming from to keep us up.

2-1 up with Forest giving us plenty of space but, surprise, surprise, we give the ball to them and they score.

We are talking miracles to survive this unless we get Calvert-Lewin, Townsend and Garner playing.

We were a mistake away from a win by the same player who put us 2-1 up.

As many said in the build-up, it was important we didn't lose.

No creativity from our midfield all season. I'd like to see what Garner can do, even if only for an hour next week. Onana totally anonymous throughout today – again. Bench him.

I thought Gueye, Coleman and Iwobi had decent games today. Godfrey shocking for the first hour plus, although he got better towards the end.

Dyche very slow with getting fresh legs on but then the 10 minute cameo from Davies (so poor) shows what little we have in reserve.

Surprised at some comments about a good away point, now onto a win at home next week. We're up against Brentford who are miles ahead of us right now. 3 points today and a draw next week would have helped me believe we're heading in the right direction.

Still clinging on to hope but with each week that passes my candle burns a little less brightly. COYB.

Do you just jump on a band wagon or do you watch at all?

Next you'll be saying Doucoure was unlucky to give the ball away for the equalizer but hey, that Maupay was great, eh?!?

No attempts on target in the second half, and Davies is brought on, to run around like a headless chicken out of position, give the ball away, and get booked.

There were a few positives, but outnumbered by many Everton syndrome issues… not good enough.

I like Onana, but he was a passenger today. If he played like Gana or Doucoure today, we could have won this.

When we pressed in the first half, they looked average, Give them time second half and give them the opportunity... It was perfect for Simms to come on at the 60-minute mark this Forest defence is not good.

2 massive points lost IMO.

Cheered me up a bit.

God help any homeg-rown player. They are always the whipping boys when better-paid imports get off lightly. Davies didn't give the ball away for their 2nd.

Surely Calvert-Lewin, who was supposed to be close for this game, will be available for the next home game?

Sean Dyche had to make changes for this game and it was fairly successful but, when you are fighting relegation, how often does one mistake cost you a goal? You see other teams making mistakes and they seem to get away with it.

How is it we end up with these referees? This one was quick enough to give out yellow cards but ignored the second yellow for more cynical fouls.

Overall, it wasn't a great game but, with a point and 2 goals, it is an improvement. We just have to improve on it.

Doucoure is playing well under Dyche but still can't pass a ball, but I don't get the criticism of the manager. To my eyes, we're playing notably better, and averaging more points per game. All with the same shit players.

Kevin(#101); Davies wasn't even on the pitch for their 2nd, what were you watching?

I can only say if as I saw it live in front of my own eyes in the stadium.

I don't remember shouting at Tom Davies.

I saw a mistake from Doucoure that exposed the team and opened us up.

But then Doucoure scored the goal that got us a much needed point as disappointing as it was to not get the 3.

So they were not there for the taking by any stretch.

Very disappointing to get only one point as it keeps us down in the danger zone. More so because it was another game we did enough to win - which in many respects means it was a good performance.

This will go down to the wire and safety might end up depending on the number of draws as much as the number of wins. We fight another day.

I don't understand your comment. I haven't said that Tom Davies played ANY part in either of their goals. He wasn't on the pitch for either.

I have only said that his 10 minutes (including stoppage time) was poor – in my opinion. Not sure what you are reading.

On the other hand Onana was on for the full game but you could be excused if you never noticed that because he contributed nothing, again!!

I think we need 15 more points from somewhere, thats 5 wins or 4 wins and 3 draws. Its a tall order but just doable.

We go again. so many more points to play for, so many twists, turns & upsets to come.
Who knows what's to come ???
A season never plays out the way you think or predict or I'd have a few hundred grand in my betting account.

xG (expected goals based on what shots/positions etc people usually score from) modelling had us winning that 1.71-0.8 (or 2-1 rounded to nearest)

In fact here are rounded xg results under Dyche for those with any interest:

Arsenal (h) 2-1 win
Liverpool away (a) 2-0 loss
Leeds (h) 2-1 win
Aston villa (h) 2-2 draw
Arsenal (a) 3-2 loss
Forest (a) 2-1 win

That would have been 10 points from 6 tricky fixtures.

Obviously this is all theoretical (many will think nonsense!) but shows that we have been a bit unlucky with our results. If we keep playing well then hopefully that luck will turn in our favour a little bit and we can claw our way out. We're definitely playing better now than under Lampard but the individual mistakes are really hurting us.

A point seems deflating today given the context but all is not lost yet!

It means we cannot put another foot wrong, or our last season at Goodison will be in the second tier.

A big, big ask of this squad.

Going in at half time as the away side tends to lead to defending what you have in the 2nd half. Perhaps a change or changes may have helped or we could have lost the game. Fine margins but a point. Dyche's methods are coming through. Players still need to work harder over 90 minutes.

Mike @136

That's a major issue for the manager / team and us supporters, but that's what happens when the club is run so badly.

My heart tells me we can get out of our current predicament. My support will, obviously, still be there, whatever happens. But I am fearful.

My head was telling me this morning that this match was a “must win”, and not what my heart wanted to believe, “a must not lose”. After going ahead twice, we really should have won it. But we are weak. I reckon we played as well as we can. But it wasn't good enough to beat one of the league's poorer teams.

It was a “must win” game. We didn't win it. We can't afford to do that.

To achieve 40 points we need six wins or equivalent from a dozen games, I suppose from our current position, the lower the amount of points required to survive the better.

Can the players, all of them, be instructed to put their foot through the ball when they have sight of the opposition goal? Stop trying to find the perfect pass. As Ancelotti said to one of our players ‘you are allowed to shoot'!

In the end today I was relieved to take the point. For us and our team every game is incredibly tense. Players are playing under pressure, which I think explains some of the individual mistakes. It will be like that for the rest of the season.

However, this is now our 4th relegation fight in 6 seasons - and 18 months ago the money very obviously ran out too. If we go down it's because bad club management and finances have left us with bad players. I don't even blame Lampard.

If we'd had the finances to bring in a decent striker & winger in January - like Outtara and Ings - then I think Lampard would keep us up like he did last year.

Without those players Lampard had no chance. Dyche is showing he's good enough to give us a chance in spite of the very poor team we have.

Anything from the 3 after that will be a bonus.

Honestly, right now, I'd take us being in with a chance on the final day.

We badly need to win and get ALL 3 points! 1 point at this stage won't count for much.
We simply cannot accumulate 36 points by taking positives and an occasional draw!!

we need at least 14 points from remaining 12 games, THAT is the reality!

But fekk the rest, there's good signs, from this week, of a very tough run of games.

History, can't claw back time, but now this squad has fire in their belly's, for the fight to survive.

It's down to the squad, but definitely, the Evertonian Supporters, across this Universe, are the most reliable and never fails asset, to Everton Football Club.

This can and will make the difference and what ever it takes, within good reason, we will make this campaign, to stay in this League, priority.

If and if's, but, by God, as our witness, Everton, learn the hard way, but today, keep that spirit, every game home and especially away, Everton can do it.

Keep the faith, and every days, a good day, now for Brentford, and plan to beat them.

It can be done.

UTFTs!

Dyche clearly knows his own mind, and knows the players. He wasn't afraid to drop Coady for Keane, and I think that's worked out okay so far. I wonder if he's now ready to drop Onana for Garner?

Not sure if James is fit enough to play a full match yet, but Onana has done absolutely nothing recently, and I reckon Garner will offer more than him.

So for me, that game was 2pts lost

Mental awareness...or the lack of, for their first goal it was obvious that Godfrey hadn't play much football - especially at Fullback. He still had his Central Defenders head on.

He was looking inside towards the middle, not outside towards his man. He then drifted In and when the ball broke the scorer was all on his own, he still had to score it of course, but he didn't have the distraction of a Fullback running at him to close him down.

Mental awareness; Doucoure, back to the opposition, head down, blind kers on, a bit of a poor touch and somebody nips in.

But prior we were up the field, Iwobi, Coleman, McNeil (or was it Gray?) All playing triangles - Just get it over ffs - but no we lose it and...eventually...they score.

Anyway, on to the game. We were very good first half and would have had the game won if not for a decent save from McNeills effort late on. Very disappointed not to have 3 points and although we continue to improve, really need to get the wins.

I thought Gray made a big difference and Godfreys energy, aggression and speed was an asset too.

Onana was again quiet and although he generally looks good when he gets involved he goes missing too often for my liking. I was talking with some blues on the way home and they think it's his presence on the pitch that helps us. Not convinced but I can sort of see their point.

The tactics for the second half seemed to be hang on to what we had rather to go and finish the job. I can't help thinking that had we shown more intent, we may have been comfortable and won 3 or 4-1.

An opportunity lost yes, but any point away from home is good.

Judging them on todays performance, Forest are in trouble too with a lot of very difficult remaining fixtures. They looked a very poor side to me and are very much in the mix. A huge point for them though given how the game went.

We still have hope and continue to show improvement but we really must start winning this type of game.

Refuse to give up.

UTFT!

This push was further boosted by the introduction of three subs on 70 minutes, which was clear tactical backing by the Forest manager. It was obvious that the Everton players were tiring. Dyche did not respond and it was too late with substitutions at 80 minutes, with one of the Forest subs providing an assist for a tantalising goal.

Anyway, Dyche's subs, particularly Maupay, were uninspiring. Did he even get a kick of the ball? Simms should have been on after 60 minutes and Davies on at midfield, if Dyche had it set in his mind to play him. But a defending midfielder or even a defender would have been better. Onana was very disappointing and Pickford with his usual palmed assist to his right put the tin hat on it.

I keep saying this: It is going to be a roller-coaster till the last day and a point could be crucial.

Bournemouth look likely to finish bottom. Last relegation place could be between us and Leeds.

Yes, as always, a point is better than nothing, but next week is a very important game which Everton must win.

But all in, I feel there's more in the tank before every game with Sean Dyche and, to have any chance of winning any game, you need commitment from your team.

Keep the same level of commitment and stop the self-inflicted errors, and Everton can stay in the Premier League.

I still reckon, as much as Everton have challenges, all teams in the bottom 10 of the Premier League have fixture and squad challenges.

12 games to go, and Everton are definitely still in the battle to stay up. Now for Brentford.

UTFTs!

I come on here filled with gloom and you and Ian are being positive.

But the fact you were relieved we took a point from this game fills me with dread. If we couldn't take 3 points today, where will we do so?

It looks to me like we are simply inadequate, worse than last season, when we scraped by.

I'm still not happy with the timing of his substitutions, and more importantly in many ways, the personnel. That was crying out for someone like Simms (up front) and Garner in place of one of the midfield, possibly Onana who was largely anonymous today.

There are still enough games left and also hope and belief. Come on – we can do it!

He needs taking out the firing line. Give him a breather... there's more games he's going to be needed in. He's becoming less and less effective these last couple of games.

But he's 21; look at him compared to Davies, Gomes, Gbamin… Let's not crucify the lad.

At least: 4 wins and 3-5 draws... although I will go into every game with partially blind optimism!

On another note, I would love to see Forest go down: Aurier throws the ball like a 9-year-old in my middle daughter's league. Clocked it early on but only given towards the end of the match.

Gibbs-White should have been sent off. Buying over 30 players, it would be funny to see them relegated.

Atmosphere not a patch on Goodison!! Anyway, as long as we stay up!!

UTFT!!

Forest are shite, for a team unbeaten at home since September is quite astonishing, cos they were fucking rubbish. Anyone who thinks we are one of the three worst teams in the league, may I recommend you go to Specsavers, cos I'd definitely say Forest, Leeds and West Ham are far worse than us.

We played well today, but as usual, it was a lack of any goal threat that let us down. The same as against Villa last week. I've no doubt whatsoever, that we will still be playing Premier League football next season. This team is more than capable of surviving this season, and seeing our final season at Goodison playing Premier League football.

I thought the same about Forest too.

At 1-2, I thought the next team to score would win it. We had lots of good breaks to make it 1-3 but the final pass was often poor and Iwobi needs to be told to centre the ball when he has the chance instead of fannying about and, invariably, losing it.

Once again, we gifted a goal to the opposition. This time Doucouré passing straight to a Forest player. It happens so often that maybe they should be tested for colour blindness. At 2-2, I thought their crowd would get them over the line but we managed to hold out.

Dyche is continuing Frank Lampard's reluctance to make early substitutions. Is it because they have such a low opinion of the quality on the bench? If so, what an indictment of our recruitment over recent years!

Although I'm not convinced, it doesn't mean it won't happen.

I've said before that clubs above us only have to match our results, not better them.

This may go against the ToffeeWeb mantra of "positivity" but I'm a realist, not a dreamer and a positive person by nature.

This season has me very scared indeed.

Although relief was the prevailing emotion and we applauded the effort from the players, there was no escaping the disappointment at dropping two points having held the lead for over half the game. When Forest equalised with 13 minutes left, my fear was we would crumble. I draw some comfort from the fact we didn't.

I agree it is very difficult to see how we might win an away game against teams which all look stronger than Forest. My fervent hope is we will catch a team on a bad day, perhaps a team with nothing to fight for?

Or perhaps our team find it within themselves to raise their game above anything we have seen over the last couple of years. Hope is the operative word though.

To me, Godfrey still seems quite out of game form. He is passing quite a few times just towards the opponent's legs and turning the ball over. Hope he gets back the touch soon.

Looking at the past six results for teams at the spectacularly useless arse-end of the, ahem, "Premier" League, we have taken seven points, as have Leicester.

All but two (West Ham and Wolves) of the rest of them have taken less, and that's Bournemouth, Southampton, Leeds, Forest and Palace.

So, if you're a football idiot and alleged owner fannying about in Monaco, still employing the self-serving, utterly delusional football guru who's already ripped your arse out to secure his family's financial fortunes for years to come, you are probably thinking "What could possibly now go wrong?!!"

At Goodison are Man City, Spurs, Newcastle, Brentford, Fulham and Bournemouth in the final match; they all have something to play for.

Away from home we have Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Brighton, Leicester, Palace and Wolves; they also have something to play for.

I am convinced we are down this season and no one on here will make me believe otherwise – not even our supposed saviour Sean (If you can't score a goal and you keep trying, eventually you will score) Dyche.

I've heard some crap excuses but that's one of the best for ineptitude.

Most of our players are so poor in possession and cannot make a simple pass that it inevitably puts the pressure back on us. Onana, Doucouré, Gana and Iwobi are all liabilities with that simple pass or shielding of the ball. They are battling away but we've got zero controlled possession and not one player who can dictate play.

Even Delph helped us out at the end in this regard last season and Richarlison would keep the opposition defense busy as well as chip in with goals.

The 3 points were there for the taking yesterday and Something has to change for us to survive. The only players who may be able to do that are Calvert-Lewin and Garner with some good coaching thrown into it.

How is it possible that so many of our players cannot pass the ball properly and how did these massively overpaid pricks get to this level of football?? Drives me mad.

Normally, they give a straightforward update on an injury of how long the player will be out; if his rehabilitation has broken down, they're normally upfront.

With Calvert-Lewin, we're getting cryptic messages from Dyche and it's left to speculation to fill in the blanks.

But, trying to second-guess his body language, it doesn't appear that Calvert-Lewin will be back anytime soon.

Good post. I think Dyche has improved us but time and points are at a premium so we don't have the luxury of a gradual improvement with points being dropped due to the mess he inherited.

Worst-case scenario for him is that he signs a mega-contract for us or some club he deems more attenuated for success but, if and when it all goes tits-up, he'll remain in a very cushty place by way of his exorbitant contract.

He'll have learned that mindset year-after-year at the School of Science (as it was until Kenwright shat in the Everton well).

We're in the Bottom 3 and played one more game than the rest. One point from the last 9 is not good enough, we have conceded 8 and scored 2 in these games.

It will take a miracle to stay up this time, we always end up with so many missed opportunities to make progress and we blow it.

In the last six games, we're near the top of the abject pile we're amongst at the bottom, but we have a self-proclaimed genius chairman who other clubs in the shit phone up for beneficial advice to save themselves.

So again, what could possibly go wrong?

Obviously we need wins badly, but draws are important too. Imagine if we'd simply secured draws against Wolves, Southampton and West Ham – we'd be 3 points better off, and they'd each be two worse. Massive.

In this case, denying Forest those two extra points keeps them mired in the muck and increases the pressure.

● We scored away from home!
● We got a point away from home
● We actually scored 2 goals in a game - Whoopee!!!!

A couple of points from watching it on Optus Sport here in Australia: the commentators blamed Keane for the 1st goal. I thought it was Godfrey who was sucked in to the centre and forgot to mark his player, who scored – anybody agree or have a different opinion?

The foul on Seamus was a clear penalty – even freakin' Michael Owen said this. What is wrong with the referees and their VAR? Something clearly wrong with the system!

Repeated habitual errors in defending are costing Everton, Keane, Tarkowski, Godfrey, Doucouré and Gueye being the main culprits. Pickford's palmed assist to the right is a habitual error of his as well.

Overall, the performance was a vast improvement on previous away games, with credit to Dyche, But it is easy to see why Everton are relegation fodder and every point gained will be crucial at the end of the season.

Well, the familiar sight of him frantically backing away from Brennan as he scored the equaliser has shown me why.

Otherwise, I thought we played well and there is more than hope we will be okay.

“Great minds think alike” – or is it “Fools seldom differ”? I said so @151.

You're in Australia, presumably on Optus. I got severely pissed off at their hour-long Liverpool - Man Utd love fest that was included in my delayed 'watch on demand' repeat of the live game.

A pox on Optus, their shite coverage – both phone and Premier League. The sooner they lose the contract, the better.

End of mini-rant!

In all fairness, Godfrey was totally out of position, in the centre instead of watching his man Johnson; definitely his fault. Hopefully we'll have Calvert-Lewin, Garner and Patterson to freshen things up against Brentford.

I was just reading the players ratings from the Liverpool World yesterday, they gave Coleman 5 and Godfrey 6… I don't know what game they were watching.

I was reading backwards and had to comment on your post, John, but the most important thing about football is what you do yourself.

Everton have been awful for a long time, especially away from home, but it was evident to me yesterday, watching the first half, that we are getting better.

We are slowly sorting ourselves out and are definitely a better team than we were a month ago.

Another weird move by Dyche to bring him back into the fold after most of the season in the abyss.

We have to hope, over the next few fixtures, those in and around us don't start picking up wins as I genuinely don't see us picking up wins in the next four fixtures, but if those match our results, then we still have a chance of getting out from the Fulham fixture and beyond.

I'm being positive, and think that we can beat anyone at Goodison, so if we can start picking up a few points away from home, which I think we will begin to do, then we might just stay safe once more.

Calvert-Lewin will change this team now we are getting a lot more of the basics right, so this is still the problem because none of us knows what shape Dominic is in.

There were lots of positives, particularly in the first 45 minutes.

What's the story with Mina? Is he injured again, surely he is not 4/5th choice at this stage?

We have a more difficult task at the weekend.

I assume those quotation marks are to highlight the irony of that sentence?

UTFT

We've beaten Arsenal at home and we played them at the Emirates last week. I was there unless I dreamed it and it didn't happen.

I don't care who we have got to play. This team is starting to show enough character and we are well within touching distance of where we need to get to.

It has happened several times this season leading to goals against us. It happened again in the Forest game and we were lucky to get away with it.

Defenders also switched off though but with Pickford, having parried the ball, he should have been up quicker. If you decide as a goalie "I'll parry this one", then you need to push the ball far enough away from danger to allow you time to get up and at it. You need to be electric getting to your feet. He wasn't.

I hope he sticks with Demarai Gray up top. I thought he was excellent tracking back too.

Coady has been out of form lately but (and I know this is easy to say and hard to prove) I think he would have closed down Johnson for their second rather than stand off him as Keane did. If Mina is not going to play, Tarkowski and Coady should be allowed to build a partnership.

I thought we looked 10 times better that first half and, taking it a game at a time now, I think we'll stay up. Dyche seems to have us faster, fitter and filling the box when attacking – we just need fresh legs from the bench earlier. UTFT!

It's the fashion now and humans love to be in line with everybody else.

His choices to play up front since he joined has been Maupay or Simms and 70 minutes from Calvert-Lewin. How a manager can have a squad of 7 centre-backs and so bereft of strikers is disgraceful.

Yesterday was the first time in a long time that we tried to take the game to the opposition and, when we got ahead, didn't try and play 9 men behind the ball.

Dyche would probably not have been on any list I had drawn up but, under Lampard, we were going down, whereas Dyche has given us hope.

I also like that he is trying to change the negative mindset from hoping you can win away to actually believing we can and will win away. He is doing this with probably the worst first-team squad I have seen in the 68 years of watching Everton.

At the end of the day, whatever Dyche does might not keep us up but the fingers need to be pointed at Lampard, Thelwell, and this useless owner and board.

Not 7, but I remember watching us put 6 past Arsenal from the Gwladys Street. Champagne Charlie Nicholas got a lot of stick that day, but to his credit, he took it well.

Maybe he was still under the influence?

That midfield performance was embarrassing, with Doucoure and Onana stinking the gaff out yet again. I was glad MotD highlighted the fact we gave away possession a record 170 times yesterday. We look more comfortable without the ball, and everyone goes to bits when we get past the half-way line.

Giving away a lead twice in a game that Forest barely looked like scoring in is criminal also. Dropping points from leading positions will be our downfall this season. Amazingly, with a side this poor, with lack of options, we should be on around 28 points, but the table doesn't lie in the end.

McNeil was our best player by a mile again. No-one else is stepping up, Godfrey and Doucoure look like Championship players at best and Iwobi looks like he can't wait to be anywhere else.

Don't take my word for it, just ask Burnley fans. He did it for a decade there.

1) The team is better organised and working to a clear tactical plan.

2) We are creating more chances and will take them if or when Calvert-Lewin returns.

3) The defence starts with a high line, but invariably drops deeper unless Dyche bawls them out.

4) Individual errors are invariably resulting in goals, so we need to eradicate them.

5) We have been competitive in most of the games under Dyche, with the exception of Liverpool away and the last 60 minutes of Arsenal away.

There are 12 games left and we are right in it. All of the teams up to Crystal Palace are crap and definitely in the mix.

Also, going the other way on opposition attacks, our midfield players just run towards our goal with not one ever scanning, looking for any players running into the box umarked or following a man. To me, this is 101 basic stuff and it infuriates me every week, watching players just glide unmarked into the box with everyone looking at the ball.

Wins will keep us up; draws will keep us rolling dice at the bottom.

I agree with the points you make. I see a team whose first thought is to try and get the ball forward, and not the Chuckle Brothers routine under our previous manager, where we couldn't move forward till the centre-backs had passed 3 times to each other.

We spent 㿍 million on a player who I am really struggling to see what he does. I remember the howls when we overpaid for Sigurdsson, but he did score and create; Onana does neither.

I could well imagine some of our past midfield players getting him by the throat at Finch Farm and letting him know they wouldn't put up with him strolling around while they were putting a shift in.

I think Dyche has spoken over the last 5 games, singling out players he thought had put a shift in; no surprise he hasn't mentioned Onana.

Quite rightly, some have pointed out that Michael Keane maybe shouldn't have been drawn out yet when the ball was played to their striker on the edge of the box. Tarkowski wasn't close enough to make a challenge which allowed him to play an easy ball into Johnson's path.

But a lot of credit has to go to Tarkowski and Keane for their part in our 2nd goal. Not very often have we been able to type 2nd goal and Everton in the same sentence. I thought Godfrey was again taken to the cleaners far too easy in the first half as he was when he came on at Arsenal.

Also, I think once Townsend and Calvert-Lewin and Garner are fit, we may see some more attacking options on the pitch. I know a poster criticized Dyche for not making more substitutions earlier; well, I guess one look at the bench can answer that question.

Yesterday was the first time since we played at Brentford early in the season that Everton had taken the lead in an away league game. Although we have done it more than a few times at home.

I'm afraid the quality factor is the same for most sides in the bottom half of the table, that's why most of them are where they are. I expect many of the remaining matches to be short on quality, which obviously doesn't help the stress levels.

I don't expect Everton or those around us, to suddenly start performing like champions elect, but whilst the final result was very disappointing, the overall performance was a great deal better on the road, than we've seen for most of the season. Keep in touch with those around us and hope we find a few wins is the best we can do at the minute.

Anyway, regret is a foolish man's pastime so on to Brentford, the next must-win.

Brentford and Leeds away, Wolves and Southampton at home. That's 3 points taken from a possible 15 in good positions against some of the worst sides in the Premier League, that will unfortunately be our downfall, I think.

For a side who I think need to score first to stay in the game, when we do go ahead, the silly mistakes and lack of concentration need to be eradicated quickly.

I think it's wise to look at the positives though as some other posters have already said:

● We scored;
● We scored more than 1 goal in a game;
● We got a point which could be the one that saves us come season end;
● We made sure we didn't lose if we couldn't win;
● A major improvement and result compared to our usual away form;
● Another decent performance overall;
● Signs that Dyche's methods are starting to become embedded with the players;
● Forest are no mugs at home so it is not a terrible result.

We are right back in the frame to stay up now I think and the team is showing signs of positive progression under Dyche. We still need other results to go for us but, if they do and we get a few wins while others around us lose moving ahead, it will look much better.

Surely Gray has to start up front if Calvert-Lewin is not yet fit now though. All this guff about Maupay being due a goal from the manager is dubious. He might be but it's a case of exactly how many games we'll have to wait for it?! I know it was a penalty but Gray scoring shows he has the knack for it which Maupay doesn't at Premier League level.

There are some fresh green shoots appearing and the positives outweigh the negatives. I think we might have turned a corner yesterday – albeit, at the time, it did feel as though we had dropped 2 points.

Onto the next one: UTFTs!

But he does have a tendency to make things happen on the offensive end and yesterday was no different, it being his header that teed up Doucoure for the go-ahead goal.

It's going to be a roller-coaster ride, which we already knew.

Bournemouth - Liverpool (H), Villa (A)
Soton - Man U (A), Brentford (H)
Leeds - Brighton (H), Wolves (A)
West Ham - Villa (H), Man City (A)
Leicester - Chelsea (H), Brentford (A)
Forest - Spurs (A), Newcastle (H)
Wolves - Newcastle (A), Leeds (H).

Long way to go.

If you throw enough darts… we simply don't!

Worst of all, if we go in front, we just back off, retreat into defensive mode, and just invite pressure, instead of getting the killer 2nd goal by just keeping the pressure on our opponents...

An upstairs influence, maybe? It's been going on for years now and I am fucking sick of it... Be braver or else, Sean!

That said, he clearly wants Doucoure and Onana in there for their physicality and I don't think that was a game for Garner to return from off the bench, so I suspect that's why the changes were late.

We are clearly better organised, have more energy and purpose, get into the other box more and have more shots.

Logic dictates that the goals will come, which they did yesterday. My only concern is that all the sides in the bottom nine give up possession – do we have the players to take clinical advantage, like Johnson did for Forest yesterday?

Dyche: 7 points from 6 games = 44/45 points for a full season… Mid-Table Safety.

Why, oh why, did we not make the change of manager in a timely manner?

Answer – because the people running the club are incompetent.

Didn't we put 7 past Sunderland back in around 2010 or so? Louis Saha scored 4 unless my memory is playing tricks on me.

No mention of Palace there. Next 3: Man City, Brighton, Arsenal. 1 win in 12, no win in 9.

I think we should be aiming to get above them because they are right in it.

Wonder if our lesser-spotted striker will be recovered from either touch or go – we all know where he is touched and where he can go, but we still need him.

Are you thinking of the Blackpool match (5-3)?

That definitely puts some perspective on it.

As Danny mentions, Saha scored 4 against Blackpool in 2011. That Blackpool match is a lot further back than I'd thought – how time flies when you're having fun!

Not only is he trying to change our style of play to a more attacking style but also the mindset of players who are more comfortable defending than attacking.

Potter at Chelsea, even with massive signings, is still struggling to get a win with a massively better squad than Dyche has inherited. Will players still make inexplicable errors? Absolutely! Will they still fall back into their old ways at times? Yes, they will.

But Dyche has to change all that while fighting a relegation battle, without having been able to add a player of his choosing to the squad.

Agree with the points you are makeing, but would not be confident of Calvert Lewin being a saviour.Glad you spotted Dyche watching the defensive line.I do think Dyche made a mess of substitutions, failing to react before the tactical subs of forest and then failing to react to them..

As you say there are plenty of potential twists to come.

Yesterday was one of our better away performances. Granted that is a low bar. It did feel like losing points given we were ahead twice plus we desperately need some wins, draws won't do and the coming fixtures are not kind.

As ever, the goals were a series of individual mistakes. For the first, Keane at fault for allowing himself to be wall passed, Pickford for not parrying it behind and Godfrey for being asleep at the wheel. For the second, yes Duke made the first error, but Godfrey let Johnson run past him too easily and Tarks let the return ball run across him and you can't fault the finish, Pickford no chance- I wish we had a forward who could do what Johnson can do. But goals are rarely only one error, they need several things to go wrong. And that is one thing we seem to be pretty good at...

Under Dyche we had to play Arsenal twice and the RS at Anfield in his first 6 games. That was daunting. We have done as good as most people would have hoped for.

The biggest disappointment for me was after the bonus win against Arsenal we came unstuck against our bogey team Villa who were assisted by the corrupt referee and VAR.

It's nice to have them on your side.

All we can do now is take every game as it comes. If we play well we can beat Brentford then things will look a bit better.

Lampard 9 points from his first 6 league games so don't read too much into those stats. Agree we would be higher up the table with Dyche though (or Allardyce imo !!)

That must have been at least 43 years ago, but it's just come right back to me, I just wish I could remember last week

His best season by far was 1977-78 with Dave Thomas supplying the crosses. In other seasons there were a few too many matches when he disappeared. The fact he never scored a derby goal counts against him.

This Everton team is still doing 'very Everton' things. I don't need to list them - they've been consistent through Lampard and Dyche's games this season.

Which bit contains the genius move? Playing Keane? Playing Gray? (Dyche was the one who cast out our only capable attacker in the first place!). We're still pretty toothless. We still make defensive errors. The players are the same players.

We beat Arsenal at home and it was brilliant. But that wasn't too out of the ordinary. We tended to turn up in big games - we even drew away to City towards the end of Lampard's employment.

You don't judge anyone on 6 games. It's barely a sample - one freaky flick of Seamus' boot changes the judgement hugely. In another 4 games things will possibly look very different.

If he keeps us up then he'll deserve every credit. But I remain unconvinced that we've turned any kind of corner. I hope the players don't think they've done the hard work... we need them desperate, because things are still desperate.

Definitely possible.

That was crap by Optus - shit-stirrer producer! Should be sacked.

Unfortunately, Optus have the rights for another 5 years.

I did catch and remember Latchford and is my oldest cousin's boyhood idol.

For me it has to be Sharp, even though he's upset me lately with his silence. I've said a few times, although you can never make direct comparisons, similar in style to Harry Kane as an all round centre forward.

Lukaku mostly done what it said on the tin. Despite his critics about his touch and apparently being lazy, he scored goals.

I think we missed Linekar off the list. Even though we only had him one season and he wasn't the greatest footballer, he could score goals. Well he got 40 in all competitions in that season he played for us.

And against Bournemouth, all respect to them, they were struggling and worse than our position at the time.