Two modest proposals

We have too many players in our midfield who are good at breaking the play up but none who can hurt the opposing team on a consistent basis.

Onana, Garner, and Gana are all okay at what they do but none are ever going to add the dynamic we need.

Doucoure can do that, but he's more an instinctive type player, he's not what you'd call a creative technical player.

The fact that we struggle so badly when Doucoure is out tells you where our problems lie.

The wide midfield areas also seem an issue as we don't have anyone with the real pace out there anymore and none of the fullbacks we have really overlap that well and do what the likes of Baines, Digne, Coleman in his younger years were able of producing.

Striker is obviously something else for another debate, but again, there will come a time when we need to move on from Calvert-Lewin.

I very much doubt that we will be able to hold on to England's No 1, the brightest up-and-coming defensive youngster in the League, those whose contracts are coming to an end, and probably a couple of others.

This would consolidate our position with the new owners and at the same time, plan with confidence for next season. I hope that those players who have given their all, and have shown faith in Everton, remain with club, and I say this because I believe that Everton do have a bright future, with a new stadium and also the makings of a decent squad, given a few tweaks.

Spot on.

As for the VAR. It isn't the technology. It's the incompetence of the officials who are inconsistent.

Get rid of the VAR and we go back to the days of Clive Thomas.

Address the officials. How they can't see on the pitch or from the comfort of Stockley Park that we can see in the ground or in our living room is worrying.

It's the officials, not the VAR. I don't expect them to get it right 100% of the time. I know that as a former player. But at least try for 90%.

I think we will lose both of them. Branthwaite will arguably be the greater loss.

This summer will be fraught with uncertainty. Taking an optimistic view, any profit on player sales will be reinvested in replacing Branthwaite and Onana as well as the loanees Harrison and Danjuma.

A pessimistic view is any profit from sales will be used to fund the growing debts.

I agree with everything in your post, and I think that our fan base have had so much to process in the last couple of seasons, I think it's almost like we are fighting a losing battle.

Our fans have been absolutely unbelievable in their magnificent support over the last couple of seasons. But apart from the last 10 minutes against Spurs, the crowd were noticeably quieter than they have been for a long time.

Maybe 2 seasons of battling relegation and now a 10-point deduction, followed by another charge of breaking P&S rules, is slowly sapping the fight from our magnificent fans — and who could blame them.