Lampard happy to start with a clean slate

Calvert-Lewin out for at least 6 weeks, expect incoming attacker this month.

We've got no real goalscorers in our squad, we sell our second-best striker/winger., we have a striker who's out for a minimum of 6 weeks... which will turn out to be 16 weeks – yet we're still no closer to buying another striker and winger.

Constantly linked with various defenders and midfielders. Surely a blind man could see we are desperate to fill both positions.

I get we need to strengthen in defence, we were so poor.… but what's the point in defending for your lives if you can't and won't score at the other end of the pitch??? Unless he's settling on 19 x 0-0 draws... which would probably guarantee safety!

For fuck's sake, Everton, wake up and smell the coffee! I wouldn't trust these bumholes to organise a 1-horse race.

Hope springs eternal but my head says we should be looking ahead with some trepidation. We are broke, have made signings commensurate with that and clearly are very short of anyone fit or viable to lead the line, a situation it is hard to imagine fixing.

We survived last season against the odds but, without Richarlison and an adequate replacement, I think we are facing the same again this season.

With Davies injured, I expect to see Vinagre and Doucoure in a 2-man midfield and Alli up top.

It's a game we usually do well in so hope springs eternal along with dread.

This is Everton, Frank!

PS Michael Keane not the Italian,,,,

It is clear as day that we need a striker as we are likely to be without him for 8 weeks – and when he is not fully fit, he gives us very little. So that is more like 10 weeks.

He has clearly had an issue and Frank pulled him off early last game. The club are trying to cover it up but the lad has simply had subsequent niggles following his lengthy time out.

Never mind starting with a clean slate - we will be back down in the basement with Richarlison gone and Dom out, and Simms and Dobbin on loan.

It's another season of square pegs in round holes. And Gomes and Gbamin will be stuck on the payroll with no takers.

That means every Premier League team - Arsenal and Crystal Palace aside, as they play on Friday - have until tomorrow lunchtime to register new players in time for the weekend.

The deadline for those two teams facing off on Friday Night Football - live on Sky Sports - passed at midday today.

Every day that goes past, Kenwright's quote that other clubs look at how Everton do things, looks more and more asinine...

Even Benitez knew that Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison weren't enough. He bought Rondon as 3rd backup but was caught out when he had to play him unfit for a run of 8 games.

This season, we have a more injury-prone Calvert-Lewin, an older Rondon, and no backup. Simms shouldn't have been loaned out until this was fixed. Dele as a false 9 changes the structure of the team which is set up to provide crosses for Calvert-Lewin.

I think we were unlucky with injuries last season but to make the same mistake this season with the "benefit" of that awful lesson is unforgivable.

Frank looked stressed and ill in his press release session. I hope he is not succumbing to the pressure and frustration that surrounds all things Everton.

Gilmour on loan and Batshuayi are my tips for signings we will make. I wouldn't be surprised if they fuck the Gueye deal up.

Setting the manager up for a relegation battle before a ball is kicked...

I'm sure Frank Lampard and Kevin Thelwell have tried to address the deficiencies of the squad comprehensively, but some deals are quicker than others – who's to say Frank's main priority wasn't a striker but, for whatever reason, it hasn't come off?

It's not the case that you start negotiations, then refuse to begin any others until that deal is complete, so the priority order is hardly linear. So many on here talk like they and they alone understand the issues the club faces, and that everyone and anyone actually inside the club are all imbeciles.

I've been an Everton supporter for 33 years, and yes, it isn't ideal at the moment – but can someone please enlighten me as to how bashing those inside the club (who are trying in earnest to improve the situation) helps matters?

It's always done so wrong at this club (with often no vision). Getting Dunc back (because he gets Everton) instead of moving for Dion Dublin, who went on to score approx 50 more Premier League goals than Duncan.

Rooney for his season in 2017, scored 10 Premier League goals, on £160k per week. Salah in the same season, scored 32 Premier League goals, £90k per week.

Frank comes across as a worrier and a nice guy to me, I'm not sure thats a good combination for a manager. We will see, I wish him all the best for he will need it.

We haven't played a game yet, and we're in a relegation fight.

The window is open for another month, but "our business is probably done" and it's a "shitshow" that we've already fucked up.

We loan out two youngsters who combined have played fewer minutes than the average TV movie but should have been slotted into the 11 on Saturday.

And Frank looks "stressed and ill" and the club is covering up injuries and blah, blah, blah.

Derek, I hope you and your friends sing loud enough to drown out this shit.

We knew from last season that this coming campaign would be just as difficult as the last one, we knew we were losing Richarlison and I totally understand the angst about not having a striker in place and that would prove to be a huge handicap.

Losing Dominic is also a huge blow, but it's not insurmountable as he's hardly a Tim Cahill, or even a Duncan Ferguson. It might even help Frank to force his team into better use of the ball, whether we can create and convert chances, whilst simultaneously keeping it tight at the back, is the big issue.

Five points from the opening five games will do us in the current circumstances, but we can't afford a longer slump, regardless of the personnel available, because the knives will be out for Frank – and then what? The return of Duncan – has he got a job yet – Ferguson?

I do hope that the zeitgeist on TW isn't transferred to Goodison Park on Saturday evening or for the rest of the games, because it will be tough enough without that mood enveloping the stadium.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not at all happy about the state of the club off the pitch, but the only people that can make it bearable are the players and the coaching staff, via 100% effort. If we decide to turn on them, we'll be totally goosed.

Well, tick-fucking-tock, lads. Incompetence of the highest order.

Under Benitez, we started with Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin up front; this season, we have Rondon and Dele Alli.

God help us all!

Oh and Bill's promised him a stick of chalk soon.

Let's not be beaten before we even start.

COYB.

I see this as a year for stabilizing on and off the pitch. Try and stay out of trouble, balance the books, realistically anything more is a bonus. Rome wasn't built in a day yet every summer we've acted like it was.

Time to be sensible. If we rush out and buy a striker, once Calvert-Lewin is back, he will be “deadwood” and people will complain.

He'll get a couple more in before the window shuts without a doubt. Not one hint in his voice that he'll be let down, even by this board.

In Frank We Trust.

I remember when we had Dunc in his 1st (and best) spell in 94/95/96 under Royle. We always played better football when he was injured, suspended or incarcerated as there was no easy option for the players just to launch it forward.

Obviously we NEED better backup up front and I am sure the club are doing what they can to address that within the current financial predicament we are in.

I just hope they can sort it ASAP! I don't think any supporter is naive enough to think it's not already been identified as a big hole that needs plugging.

As ever, it's the hardest position to fill (otherwise we end up with another Rondon).

This is an extract from another thread (I won’t embarrass the person who posted it and reveal the name)………..

“It seems that Frank was told by the board at the end of the season: “Well done for keeping us up, we were pleasantly surprised. We don't think you'll need much help from us this time around, so just work your magic on the existing players and we'll be fine to scrape 17th again!”

I mean, do some really believe the utter shite they post. It was posted as if the person genuinely believed it was true. I kept on waking up laughing at that post.

HILARIOUS!

"Derek, I hope you and your friends sing loud enough to drown out this shit."

Thing is, Mike, I don't hear any of this from those who go to the match. Two different worlds – one of them real.

They've ruined the club (financially) with their poor recruiting and trigger-happy sacking of several managers. The appointments of Allardyce and Benitez were the tipping points for me.

I'll continue to support the team till my dying breath but I just can't whip up the enthusiasm anymore. As long as we are not in a relegation scrap again this season will be, imo, a success. How far we have fallen.

Look at the comments of Brent and Rob – in total denial... or maybe happy with their lot which is fair enough I suppose. I despair at our fanbase, I really do.

But good luck, lads, we are all Blues... albeit that's where the similarities end.

I've been a bit negative by my own standards in terms of my comments on the club's governance. So I'm going back to optimism.

Pragmatic in realising the cards he's been dealt but knows where he wants us to be. Better on the ball. You can't teach the old dogs we have new tricks overnight, but you can change it over time with new dogs.

If we finally give a manager time.

See you at Wembley. See you in Europe.

That's fact. I don't hear what you get on TW. That is reality. I also come on TW which is the virtual world. That dosn't mean to say TW doesn't have its own reality. It's just that I hear different things in the two worlds.

And I'm not sure what I'm meant to be in denial of. I am also critical of the club, and the chairman especially. And as I've said before, I don't need to establish my credentials on that by repeating my thoughts ad nauseum, thread after thread, multiple times within the same thread.

If you are happy with your lot as an Evertonian, fair play to you. Your idea of being a Blue is worlds apart from mine but enjoy 9 months of singing Grand Old Team as you look up to your 20h-Century messiah in the Main Stand.

Keep the faith, brother.

I'm an Evertonian and I support our club, I don't support this ridiculous protest.

Actually, that could be the new “Carry on” film, Carry on Moaning, starring numerous TW moaners!

Moaning for the sake of it and wanting change are totally different but, as I say you want to support the club blindly no matter what. Not getting personal as we are all blues. Loosely termed.

Whoever comes won't be involved this weekend so we go with what we have and just hope for the best. Our season will no doubt start next weekend when we hopefully get more bodies in and the backroom staff can assess them.

Hopefully we won't have many on here screaming why we're not top 4. After last season, a bit of a calm down would be good for me.

Colin #45, I often enjoy your pessimism and Pat's and Derek Knox' because it is usually flavored with dark humor, which I always enjoy. (Some of your Iwobi posts are legend.) But when I see the same old crapola from the same people over and over, it gets tired. One former regular we both know used to deride those who disagreed with him as "happy clappers", a sentiment I almost had made into an I AM A HAPPY CLAPPER t-shirt (until someone alerted me that it could be misconstrued as a confession to a social disease). But the intended insult missed the mark. I have no illusions or misconceptions about where this club stands right now. I simply choose not to snivel and wail about it in five or ten posts every day.

Life experience has taught me the value of optimism, warranted or not. There is no objective reason to believe we'll have a good season. But then, there was no objective reason to believe I'd still be around six years after making my final arrangements. Sometimes good stuff just happens.

Brian and Rob, you guys should co-star in that movie. It would make millions.

And the recommendation if somebody is Billious?

Pandemic ?

The cause must be eradicated as soon as possible, if not already too late.

People ask for young talent, we recently signed myko, Patterson, mcneil & vinegar on loan they not at the top level or expensive enough! We are looking to sign psg regular gana, too old ! Linked with hot young Belgian prospect for 30m, too expensive !
I know you can't please everyone, especially on TW.
The club are not going to sign all the players I'd love to have, but I still back the mangers judgment, I still think he and kev are trying to improve the team in the best way possible. With all the moving parts of the transfer system I don't envy the job they have been left to do.
I don't belive people are actively trying to ruin the club, as the same posts or posters say recycling the same bull day after day.
As stated, the "dark humour " is fun and gives us a giggle but slating a manger who's had 6 months and a dof with less time day after day is just boring, unimaginative & negative.

Let's judge them halfway through the season.
Let's see if we can see progress.
Let's see who they sign, still few weeks of window left.
Let's see if there's an improvement in playing style .
Everton won't be fixed in 1 or 2 windows, Let's keep a manager for more than 18months 2 years or we will be spinning that manager wheel of fortune again and the quality of manager on that wheel gets worse each time as they know they get no time at Everton !
COYB!!!

Daniel (37) - “Thelwell, Lampard, Moshiri and teary-eyed Kenwright had one job this summer, one fucking job: Replace Richarlison.”

One job? One? They had the task of strengthening an underperforming squad, with limited funds, at a time when we cannot offer European football and only just avoided relegation by the skin of our teeth. Who knows whether the work they have done and continue to do will be successful, but reducing it to one thing is simplistic, reductive and just plain wrong.

1. I have a hunch that Richarlison's replacement will be Gordon. I think he's more dangerous on the left side and we have Gray and McNeil for the right. Remember Richi had 8 goals and 5 assists from open play last season, while Gordo had 4 and 3 in similar minutes -- not a huge difference. And they both play with the same attacking drive.

2. If indeed Dele starts up top as a false 9 for the next six weeks with no other responsibility than scoring goals, it might be just what he needs to rediscover both his confidence and his intensity. If he bangs in a few, suddenly he's a star again.

Not a ball kicked yet and we are already relegated. The fans saw the influence they had on the team last season, where frankly they kept the club up.

Screw the hierarchy, but let’s get behind Frank and the team.

‘One job’🤣 the tears are running down my legs….!