Two fantastic strikes secure Everton's first away win

I just want Dyche gone.

Why the hell has he dropped Mangala to the bench?

In the dying seconds he weakly passed back to Pickford which was intercepted by an Ipswich forward, who scored, then the final whistle went !

Hope it was just that, a nightmare, and not reality !

As for today - we need to win and whatever happens, not lose.

Can't believe he's included Doucoure again. Would be nice to see Patto get some minutes today, though more chance of Begovic playing at RB methinks.

Saying that, we should win but if we do it will be despite Dyche’s best efforts.

I can’t wait for Friedkin to come in with a massive broom.

2-1 to us COYB

Assume Mangala played during the international break so rested. Coleman and Patterson almost ready to start.

There is an OK squad there if we could just catch a break with injuries.

If he trained this week without any recurrence of his injury, should he not be in the squad like Coleman?

Home to both Wolves and Forest in December? Are they the 2 points you are hoping for? :)

What kinda message is that giving the the players left out?

https://www.viprow.nu/epl/ipswich-town-vs-everton-online-stream-1

I think an extra point - Beat wolves and lose to Forest!

It's quitting on the idea of using the ball in midfield before the game starts.

I agree Ipswich will use their quicker players to advantage especially against Young

Why no Mangala ? Gana isn't strong enough or quick enough and dare we expect Harrison or Doucoure to shine - I doubt it. Sorry guys no points here.

As for their penalty claims, it was a little bit difficult to see what had actually happened and wasn't that much clearer on replay and my first thoughts were that it was very similar to DC-L's penalty claim the other week but the defending immediately leading up to it was very second rate.

Then Ndiaye with a superb finish before that striker cum centre half Keane put an even better one away.

So far so good but I'd like to see a bit more from the midfield working together.

Please someone tell him to shut up about the "noise" around the club, though.

By "noise", I think he means high expectations. High expectations aren't a problem (as long as no more old women are put on headlocks).

I suppose we'll now be told to be thankful for the win and we shouldn't mention missed one-on-ones with the keeper but Dyche must get this improved on the training ground.

Ndiaye with a nice finish and the much maligned Mick Keane showing DCL how to finish.

Ipswich will struggle on this showing, delap looking more like his dad than a premiership striker.

Hutchinson and Smodics looked their only threat.

I was very surprised to see the pen overturned by Oliver who couldn't wait to give it.

Nice to get 3 points on the road for the travelling fans.

And I guess the "penalty" about turn has quitened the conspiracy theorists!

UTFT!

Well done Keane for not being a terrible as he's made out to be. We're on a good run now with a handful of players to return hopefully.

I fuckin' love the lorra yers!!!

Absolutely fantastic result. Another eight of those between now and May and we're safe.

For all the hard work Calvert-Lewin does he is probably the worst one-on-one finisher in the Premier League. Next summer replacing him with a proven finisher should be our biggest objective.

From now on I will request you proof read them on my behalf

Usual nonsense from posters writing us off before a ball is kicked - seriously, why bother? - yet we won comfortably.

But for dodgy finishing, we'd have scored a couple more. Amazing away fans getting what they deserve.

Dom getting alot of abuse again, a couple of missed chances but workrate superb.

Ndiaye, Keane and Gueye superb today, Doucoure not good again today in my opinion. I presume Lindstrom was injured, if not why have two keepers on bench?

No name-calling from me after that. The Ginger Bell End got it right.

I was very disappointed in Ipswich to be honest, after spending a load they haven't really shown any signs of being any better than when in the Championship!

But for me the MotM goes to the travelling Blues. They were singing their lungs out throughout.

Yup. Sure. Exactly what happened.

For those of you who post absolutely inane stuff without any knowledge whatsoever of injuries, training during the week, tactics, etc. and bash our Manager prior to a ball being kicked?

I have a suggestion. Take it or leave it.

Try just rooting for the team you miserable sod (to use an English phrase).

Three points. TYVM (acronym intended).

- Rando 'Merican

I'll take the win but my word do they make us suffer in the closing minutes.

I wasn't happy with the line-up prior to kick-off but a win is a win and I am delighted to eat humble pie. Long may it continue.

Shout out to Ndiaye and Keane who thought both played exceptionally well. Calvert-Lewin covered some ground too.

Sean Dyche is doing an excellent job in extremely difficult circumstances and we will stay up comfortably. Anyone thinking new owners will bring about a new manager will be disappointed as most sensible people can see the stellar job he is doing.

Does he make mistakes? Of course he does, who doesn't? But overall he is doing a great job and who knows, if he has some money to spend in January, we might even sneak a top-half finish.

I'm not going to bother getting into arguments with anyone because time will tell who's right but if I'm wrong and we get relegated, I'll come back on here and hold my hands up. I wonder how many of the Dyche haters will do the same if they are wrong?

Delighted with the win also, but I wouldn't be eating humble pie. As you said, it didn't make sense dropping Mangala, especially as Doucoure was poor again.

Anything to do with their 5 substitutions / fresh legs starting at 60 minutes versus 1 only for us?

Although I'm sure they will find fault with something…

I'm not joking, by the way. I did, and they didn't.

I do, however, feel a certain sense of dread about future away goals.

Who would you have subbed on, and for whom, to enhance our ball control?

But it is fun re-reading them, then reading the apologies later, and then reading the usual suspects doing the same thing week after week.

(Isn't that a sign of madness? ….Yawwwn, another boring comment often put on here.)

Two clean sheets on the spin is good because it means on the whole the team is working as a unit. Such a pity that Dominic couldn't get on the scoresheet as he needs a couple of goals to boost his and the team's confidence.

We shouldn't get carried away with today though because there are tougher opponents to come; if we can eek out a few wins in our upcoming games, things will look brighter for the team and the club.

Well done Keane for his goal and Ndiaye for being bright enough to spot the opportunity to score. Fulham up next a winnable match for Everton, but also a bit of banana skin in recent years. Let's hope the unbeaten run continues for quite some time.

Most clubs would not tolerate you and Everton certainly do not deserve some of you on here. Some of you cannot put a sentence together without having to use foul language.

Regarding Mangala, he is short of pace for the Premier League.

Another 3 points.

Another week in which the Dyche-hating, keyboard cursing, Toffee Web lurkers masquerading as fans are forced to watch re-runs of Howard's Way in their underpants while chuntering to themselves about possession stats.

Entirely predictable result.

Professional win that could have been more if Calvert-Lewin could finish.

Well done blues and Dyche. Let's hope for a stress-free season!

Not sure Dyche could have done much different with the starting line-up considering the injuries. And Ashley Young played pretty well, too!!

4 points from the next 2 games (minimum) and we can relax about our tough run in December. Just remember, you never win all the games you think you'll win and you never lose all the games you'll think you lose, either.

Very glad to see the penalty decision overturned, it was eerily similar to the Calvert-Lewin claim against Newcastle so we've surprisingly seen some consistency.

Thought Calvert-Lewin had a great game, apart from getting on the scoresheet. Harrison has improved since being dropped for Lindstrom in the first half a few weeks back, he's adding a bit of end product (inconsistently).

Unbeaten in four, long may that continue. Happy for our awesome away fans, I would have liked to have gone to this game but currently on business in the Caribbean, at least I got to watch it.

However I think 2 things can be simultaneously true: First that Dyche has done a good job and continues to do so. Second that the new owners may well look for a new manager to build on these foundations and develop a more attractive style.

I’ve been a fan of the Dyche appointment since day one and he deserves much credit but the performances will need to improve still to convince me that he’s the best long term option.

If we can get the investment before the January window and get over our injury worries, then things could start to look up. We just need to stay in the Premier League and get to the new ground with proper leadership in charge of the club.

Might actually watch MotD tonight.

Dyche out!

Calvert Lewin works hard but boy – his finishing really lets him and us down.

Have a great weekend, Evertonians, wherever you are.

Loved the performance today but once again we didn't use our quota of subs. Okay, it worked out today but law of averages, eg, Bournemouth, says it won't.

Dom was brilliant today and I wish one of his 3 chances went in. He's got everything bar the clinical finish. He needs to drill in training so it becomes 2nd nature.

Away fans were superb.

Now to beat Fulham, it should be a cracking match under the lights.

"Everton won comfortably, should have scored more, Ipswich did nothing until 80 mins. "

Yet they gave MotM to Pickford????

Alright, two goalies on the bench and the usuals in the team whilst we had three right-backs on the bench and none of them getting on as a sub.

But three valuable points. Dyche must be doing something right because we are starting to slowly climb the table after that horrendous start. I say 'slowly' because we can do it no other way as there are only 3 points available each game.

Some of it might not be pretty but I trust that the knockers will have a rest for a week or so and give the players more of a chance than they have been doing.

Also, our fans were amazing again today.

A pleasure to watch, really!

People say "Well, Dyche could pick someone from the U21 side instead." Like... okay? And he'd have zero percent chance of seeing the pitch, same as the extra goalie. It literally does not matter. Find some better hills to die on.

And while I'm complaining, I saw a number of people on Twitter having a pop at Dyche for not making subs. These were the same people who crucified him for "ruining things" against Bournemouth, but now they want him to just throw O'Brien on to "get some minutes". Yeah, okay.

I must admit though I'm a bit baffled by some of the stronger Sean Dyche dissapproval though. I don't think he is perfect but I honestly think he deserves to be at the helm for a couple of years more. I'm also of the opinion that he will only improve us further in that time. I know there are plenty that don't share this opinion though.

Great to meet with, John.

It was interesting to go to the pub directly opposite the station in view of Portman Road. As I tried to enter, the door men asked me who I supported. Well that is an obvious answer, but in fairness, they told me to go around the corner, through the car park and join the crowd, full of Evertoninaians. Strangely, they were playing all Everton songs and the supporters were getting in the mood.

Well done travelling blues. You never fail. I wish I could have been in there with you. I will be at Goodison next week and at Southampton the week after, when John will escort me to my seat!!

I thought we controlled the game up until the last 15 minutes or so when Ipswich finally decided to exert some pressure. Solid defending yet again by the back four restricted Ipswich to, well, zero chances.

After a long flight home from Dubai on Thursday, the last thing I could have faced was an horrendous coach journey there and back, so train it was. Best thing I ever done!!!

Well done the hard-boiled eggs and their butty soldiers! Look, I wouldn’t call myself a Dyche – what? – “supporter”, “admirer”, or “backer”, and to be honest I hope that he is not our manager twelve months from now.

But the key to that position is to give praise and credit when it is due and duly earned. Without that, you look like a twat. Dyche completely outfoxed a younger talented manager who nearly everyone thinks will be in a “top job” before too long. If we/he continues in this vein heads should turn and positions might change (including mine, as I would most likely miss my hard-boiled eggs).

I was thrilled for Michael Keane. I’ve never said a bad word about him (that I can remember; partly due to his very public mental health issues that I have infinite empathy and sympathy for) and it was wonderful to hear the wonderful 3,000 singing “Keano”. We have not lost in four league games. Keane has been a key part of that and has been MOM or near MOM in three games in my opinion.

So, let’s have a look shall we at some of the pre-match “experts”. Our own Fenny Fensta believes that Dyche is a “complete bell-end”; makes you wonder who looks like “complete bell-ends" now.

Derek Powell (1) couldn’t wait to kick off, “the twats needs sacking” – and then dear old Derek was so excited that he popped on another 5 or 6 times, including (18), “he's set us up for a draw or defend a one goal win … tactics are dire, subs are dire … ”.

Kevin Naylor (3): “What a crap line up, going backwards”.

John Wilson (19): “No width. They'll have all the possession, we'll be playing in low block. … This Dyche has not got a clue” (and nor have you Mr. Wilson).

Derek Powell (36): he’s prolific our frothy Derek, unlike our fucking bell-end gormless championship striker, and he’s getting all worked up with only half-an-hour until kick-off : “we are going down”.

Fenny Fensta (39): “To be honest I’d sack Dyche now … Wtf is that about ? The man is a complete bell end”.

Tom Bowers (80): “Sorry guys no points here”.

What is the other common denominator that ties these canny soothsayers together? Anyone? It’s past 8-30PM and not one of our pre-match doom-and-gloom merchants has had the integrity to post something after our great win (the first in seventeen on the road and the first since last December). Not one of them had the decency to accept that they got it all wrong and Dyche and co. got it right. Each one of them might learn something from Annika (114). Frothy Powell was bouncing before kick-off and is nowhere to be seen/read after the final whistle. Is yer Wi-Fi down Frothy?

So, there will no doubt be lambasting and lampooning voices calling me – what – a “gloater”? Not really. I don’t feel like gloating. It seems more useful to me to point out the lack of quality among the pre-match howling hecklers so that (1) we ought never to give them the time of day to be honest, so that (2) the rest of us can enjoy our win and give Dyche his due, so that (3) I don’t have to write this ever again.

I'm not sure whether I can say that Calvert-Lewin had an excellent game when he made such a hash of his chances, but I thought he did. And so did Ashley Young. And Doucouré. And, whisper it – Michael Oliver.

Absolutely made up for everyone who travelled – you came over loud and clear.

You held your nerve after the first lot of games. In fact, you helped me hold mine!

What did you see today that makes you jump ship? We were really good today, in my view.

Calvert-Lewin is doing just about everything right except for putting the ball in the back of the net. It's so unfortunate but that's his main job and good things will follow if he can just put one of those one-on-ones away.

This is perhaps why Dyche deserves another couple of seasons with us before the club is capable of moving to the next level under a new manager.

As Sam notes the Friedkins are probably mulling this over but Dyche did well today and it won't have gone unnoticed.

I gave him a call and listened to his criticisms of Dyche, and how that, even if he had money, he wouldn't be able to get his team playing good football.

I defend Dyche because the bigger picture is that he came into a club that was rotten to the core and I also think he would surely be able to get a team to play some good football because I don't think it's that hard to achieve for anyone who has been involved in professional football for all these years.

I don't know if I'm correct about my views on Dyche, but reading this thread, admittedly made easier knowing that we have won, one thing I have to agree with our manager about, is when he says that every single person has an opinion of what he's doing wrong and most people think they could do a better job of managing a football team, and this includes builders, bus drivers, traffic wardens, policemen, taxi drivers, binmen, and window cleaners!!

I understand the venom. I had a similar dislike of Walter Smith but one thing they both had in common was that they were both managing Everton when the club never had a pot to piss in.

Made up for the traveling blue army. I didn't even know my son and nephew had both gone but I'm glad they did because I'm sure they are having a laugh on the way home now.

Michael Keane might have taken some stick but I'm sure his name is getting sung tonight!!

Not one of the 3,000 got up early this morning thinking that we would lose. They all deserve top drinks, top food, top times, and top rumpy pumpy tonight!

Only one complaint: Why do we always resort to 10 men behind the ball for the last 15 minutes of a match?

I also understand folk feeling a bit negative, especially after we've all been through lately, but I can't understand making the effort to post such negative rubbish just before the game. Especially when we were unbeaten in 3 and they hadn't won a game. I used to have to sit by one of these planks, but fortunately not any more.

Dyche has deserved some of the criticism for sure, but also deserves plenty of praise. Things aren't ideal, and often tough to watch, but we're in pretty safe hands while we ride the wave of financial and ownership chaos.

Colin #112,

I put that down partly to tiredness. We worked very hard today. But it's also about confidence, surely? I would have brought on Mangala sooner, but what do I know?

I wish we had done that versus Bournemouth. Today, having failed to convert several opportunities to score a third and facing a team keen to change the game in front of their own fans, the priority in the final stages was to prevent any late drama. Even then, the best scoring chance fell to Calvert-Lewin.

But I suspect TFG have ambitions beyond survival for us and potentially the resources to meet those ambitions. Dyche does not yet have the track record to make him the obvious candidate to meet those ambitions.

Whilst I'd be happy to see him get another season with better players, the end of his contract may prove a natural place to part ways. I'm not necessarily advocating for that but I wouldn't be surprised by it either. The future is a foreign land.

Dyche is doing a great job and getting total commitment and effort from the players he selects and for some of the early plantpot posters on here, as we used to say to moaners at Goodison, if you don't want to support Everton, go across the park.

I don't think he gets half of the credit he deserves leading our line the way he does. It will just take one of those chances to go in and then the floodgates will open, I'm convinced of it.

I thought Dom, Keane and Young (again) were top notch today. A very professional performance by the boys.

Grit and professionalism are vastly underrated but I think it's logical to have those feelings for Dyche, Sam, until (if) he is given a chance to work with better footballers.

I didn't know Ipswich had spent £127M but sometimes buying players who have played the game can cause a lot of problems for an up-and-coming football manager who has got his own ideas of how he wants the game to be played… just as it might be hard for a manager who has always had the least money to be suddenly given more money to spend.

I do think that Dyche is slowly making us a lot more professional and that's the name of the game, imo.

Watching the game today, I thought there were long periods when we controlled possession, passed the ball around with purpose, created shooting opportunities and generally looked a team confident and capable. During those periods, I wondered what was wrong with the style of our football? The answer, for me anyway, was nothing at all.

While there were some misplaced passes, some crosses not delivered with sufficient precision, and some chances missed these were the consequence of individuals lacking quality in key moments rather than a failure of the manager. He does not have the power to inject quality into players who, let's face it, are short of it.

Dyche is doing a superb job but he's unfashionable and it's fashionable to hate on him and to ‘expect' more.

Those fans just don't understand the game. It's ridiculous. I just hope TFG give him a chance…

No need for cathartic emotional unloading today on TW.

I suggested a hypothesis (note the question mark)…

So the question I would counter with: Are the subs really that bad they are incapable of performing as required for 20 or 30 minutes? Or is it more a case of the manager having a particular aversion to changing personnel when the team on the pitch are still just about ‘doing the job'?

I thought this ‘characteristic behaviour' was what cost us against Bournemouth and I don't know how anyone expects 12 players to consistently match the workload over 100 minutes of 16 equally fit opponents. When you add in the fact that we have real veterans in positions where they are likely to be covering ground, then I think it is a real gamble.

So it's a balance to be struck. I'm concerned that the manager is overly reliant on ‘heart' to keep players going; the deeper we go into the season, the more we will be impacted.

By and large, this is pretty much my only real issue with the manager.

What the bloody hell is going on with the 2-3 sitters for fiuck's sake...? All around though we are good, confident, go forward with the ball, and even put a few good tackles in!!

Tarkowksi's big early tackle is exactly what we need in big home matches!! Cunt got wrecked!!! 😂…

Sometimes it's nice to actually forget that we're just watching 11 millionaires strolling about a pitch for 90 minutes (the ball is only in play for only 60 minutes)…

It's mad how different it feels actually watching a team that resembles a professional outfit and not 11 morons. We've all been damaged the last few years but this ginger brute is leading us to the promised land!!

There could have, possibly should have been a couple more but for better finishing, but 3 points is 3 points on the road too. What fantastic support all through the game... thank you all!!

Dyche for me cuts a frustrating figure. I don't like the way he sets up his teams, blah, blah, blah… but we are where we are through no fault of Dyche, and I doubt few of the better managers would fare better with the squad we have (or seems we rarely have these days).

This is like sitting in the back of a flatbed ute with no suspension on a cobble road, you get to where you're going but feel like you have been gritting teeth and holding on for many a mile… not a great experience.

It's an arduous journey, but Christ almighty, the 3,000 away supporters would walk over broken glass to support the team, lung-busting pride.

Invaluable win, I'll take every one of them on our way back up the ladder. Pretty professional or just hard work… well done, Blues. The boss can enjoy his curry tonight.

But the bastards made a rod for their own back and couldn't give it as the exact same thing happened to us last time out and it would have looked farcical.

Had me laughing...

But seeing the circle jerking "he's doing a stellar job", "outstanding job" comments just reminds me of where we were a few weeks ago after losing to Villa when I posted the below.

In our next 7 matches, we face 6 teams who spend less than us on wages. We'll scrape a few results and climb up to lower mid table. Might even win a cup game. People will claim it's evidence that Dyche's methods are working, that he is 'the right man for right now', that he's 'working miracles', and that he 'says it like it is'.

And here we are. Two of those fixtures left – Fulham at home and Southampton away. Then it changes and we'll see if we can actually overperform, as Dyche is typically credited with doing.

Don't get me wrong, a win always improves the mood. But a win against Ipswich doesn't change my view of Dyche.

The new owners, if we have them, can hopefully look at the situation in the close season with our safety assured. It's really not that difficult to understand the logic of it, is it?

On that basis, surely any normal Everton fan would be supporting Dyche and the team to do well – rather than posting negative comments about today's match before a ball had even been kicked?

I could just post "Go Everton" but that seems a bit pointless.

I've continually argued that this team is better than it's given credit for. And it's definitely good enough to stay in the Premier League.

The man who gives the side the least credit is the man in charge, because he wants survival to equate to success.

Referring to Dyche as working miracles after beating a team built on a fraction of our resources isn't supporting the team. It's accepting the lowest of standards.

These last few weeks, Dyche has been getting it right more times than he gets it wrong.

Ipswich, £127M in the hole, had better come to terms with the realities of the Premier League and/or hope that they really are the 4th worst team over 38 games... or Moyes could be looking for a nice short-term rental property out that way.

That's if West Ham don't drag him back first.

Onwards and upwards, well onwards anyway.

Nice one Ernie (179): "Referring to Dyche as working miracles after beating a team built on a fraction of our resources isn't supporting the team".

Remind me Ernie, by how much did Ipswich outspend us over the summer? And what a fecking unnecessary pompous comment! Ernie, ladies and gentlemen, possibly the best Evertonian in the world.

So, any one of the 3,000 who left Portman Road today thinking that Dyche is "working miracles" - get this - "isn't supporting the team".

Good away performance and, if Calvert-Lewin had taken his chances, it would have been a lot more. He played well overall and led the line well. Maybe Keane can show him how to finish in training, ha ha.

With no budget and a reduced wage bill the squad is getting younger and better. Not easy. We'll finish mid-table no problem. That's if our frankly crank fan base will let him get on with it and cease the endless moaning and drama.

The club is finally stabilising and I'd be quite happy with Dyche being offered an extension at the end of the season. More change is the last thing the club needs. Rippng out the DoF, manager, and all the support staff and starting over again yet again offers no guarantees the new Dof and manager will even be on the same page.

If the new owners want to go all Billy Beane, Ted Lasso 'newbroom-tastic' then there's not much we can do.

So a 1-year extension, 'softly, softly catchee monkey' policy
rather than our recent managerial slash-and-burn tactics might be the way to go.

Ipswich went out and spent money on players because they were coming from the Championship. I don't need to explain that, do I? After all that spend, their wage bill is less than a third of ours.

They don't have the players. They're not a very good football team. They will more likely than not be relegated.

A month ago, Dyche was slated on here after losing to a decent side. Now he's being lauded again for his miracle-working because we beat Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town. Give it another month. He'll be slated again.

At least I'm consistent. I don't think he's a good manager based on his performance, regardless of who we play from one week to the next.

As for your last paragraph – just weird. I didn't say the thing you've tenuously linked to our travelling fans.

If you try to pivot every result to find an angle to criticise Dyche, then the danger is that people will stop reading what you post.

In light of your comment, Ernie, the Ipswich spend is relevant. I also agree that Ipswich, sadly, will go down. McKenna has used 26 players in 8 games. He is nowhere near knowing his best XI.

We need to keep an eye on Suffolk, there are some cracking not yet seasoned players down there.

Ipswich was a game that we should be expected to win (but you could have said that about Bournemouth when 2-0 up at home) against a fellow relegation dogfight rival (hope not this season), so we'll have to wait until we get tougher opposition to judge the ability of the manager to set up a team.

December will be a tough test and is Dyche's chance to get some big performances on his CV just before Friedkin takes over.

Good luck to him, 'cos if he's successful, it means the team is too.

I actually think, when the majority of posts on here were frothing at the mouth about him, I was a bit more balanced. Now he's back to being a miracle worker, I'm obviously going to come across as pretty negative with my position on him.

He hasn't gone from tit to miracle worker in the space of a month, just as he didn't go from miracle worker to tit previously. In my view, he's just the same basic, agricultural, expectation-lowering, nonsense-talking bloke he was all the way through.

We've actually landed on a half-decent setup now. Do I give him credit? Absolutely not – you don't get credit for finally changing your Number 10 when you picked a guy with a big engine and two left feet for so long.

Ipswich were shorter odds to win the game according to the bookies before the game. Ipswich have drawn away to Brighton and at home to Villa. There is no easy game in the Premier League, especially away from home

Michael Keane has been in form and playing well. And when he scores, they are special. His one against Palace to get us back in the game was cultured. The screamer against Tottenham and then Saturday.

He's had his doubters, myself included, as he has often worried me, but credit to his professionalism. Keep going as ultimately, we respect performances.

As for Dyche, we may get frustrated by the tactics but he's picking up points. Beat Fulham and Southampton and it's a different landscape from the early season.

And we've got the FA Cup to come soon.

I would write more, but a combo of TW and my useless phone have made posting anything lengthy very drawn out. Bonus for the rest of you!

Calvert-Lewin worked hard and held the ball up really well, but he's such an ungainly finisher. Nobody in the ground expected him to score those one one-on-ones.

Ndiaye is such a great outlet. We need to keep him fit and happy. The fans love him and sang his name all game.

Keane was excellent. Commanding in the box and a cracking goal. He's a natural finisher, unlike Dom.

Special mention for Young playing right-back, he's been really good of late.

All round a good performance, albeit against a dreadful Ipswich side. They have a couple of good players but they're not a good side.

Away fans in full voice throughout (thanks Steve for the ticket). Loud and proud, drowned out the home fans. You could see our players genuinely appreciated it at the end too.

We'll have much tougher games, but if we can be brave and keep the ball batter like we did yesterday, this team can play and we'll be alright those season.

Survival has definitely meant success, during the previous two seasons for a lot of Evertonians, but we are hopefully moving onto better things, and this will only happen if amongst other things, we get the right manager.

Looking at the team that started yesterday, which players actually bring craft and excitement into our play?

Ndiaye - definitely, McNeil - sometimes, but after this I’m struggling to think of any names, and this isn’t down to Sean Dyche. We also have Dominic - who leads the line fantastically, (imo) but look at the arguments against our centre forward, because he hisn’t a natural finisher.

If Dyche had more players with craft, and was overlooking them then I’d say that a lot of the criticism was valid, but the simple fact of the matter is that this isn’t true, so logic tells me a lot of these claims are invalid.

It’s debatable if he’s the man, to take us forward, best illustrated by a man on these pages who says he has always backed him, (Sam H) but that is the conundrum for our new owners, who can’t get here quick enough.

It doesn't necessarily mean that we have better players. You continuously hold up our wage bill as something to beat Dyche with but never mention this crucial context.

Perhaps a better (though very subjective) measure of the quality of playing squad is neither wages nor transfer spend but the value of those players to the wider market. By this criteria Transfermarkt has us around 16th which would seem about right to me, though there's not much between us, Fulham, Brentford, Wolves, Bournemouth and Palace.

That said, 'Go Everton' from an Everton supporter makes more sense than 'Dyche needs to be sacked now, he's got two goalies on the bench again' before the game has even started.

A number of posters sound like they are frothing at the mouth for Dyche to go the minute we play badly, as if we're the only team in the Premier League that doesn't have off days. They then go very quiet when we win, you have to wonder what their motivation is.

I acknowledge he's not everyone's cup of tea, but some balance might make these posts more credible.

Dyche trains and picks the team, he doesn't have anything to do with the money side of things, that's what your Director of Football is for.

Thelwell also manages the support staff, meaning the coaches.

They've had the ability to freshen things up. We've got Premier League experience which is valuable.

Transfermarkt is a decent guide. But it's not particularly scientific. It's a community of opinions (at least probably impartial) and values move up and down based on performance. Well we've been crap for a while so it's no great shock to see the squad value down at 16th... still close to double Ipswich's though.

I take on your point about us not having a wage reset. That would sort out players like Doucoure.

But our wage bill is also important. Both us and Ipswich were able to go and spend about the same money on a wide attacker this year (£18M-ish). We got the one who is paid about 900% more because he's more developed and more experienced. They got the one with a single top-flight appearance to his name. That's the difference in the respective markets we shop in.

And obviously a similar situation applies to those in the top half of the table. They can attract players we can't. They will pay more than we will pay.

Michael Keane played well again and scored a cracker, and for me on this season's performances, he deserves to partner Branthwaite when he returns. Yes, Keane has made mistakes but, as always happens at every football club, certain players always seem to get more criticism than others who at times have been a lot worse.

Ndaiye continues to excite and I just wish that we would play a system which allowed him to be more involved. Calvert-Lewin again put in a shift and under this system is mainly on his own, and puts in a thankless task. As others have commented, his finishing isn't as good as his work rate. I also think confidence is a big thing and at present he doesn't look like somebody who believes they will score more one-on-ones with the goalkeepers than he does.

But at the moment I don't believe he is under any threat from Beto; mind, when both Broja and Chermiti are fit, I think his position will come under more pressure.

Obviously the bench said everything about our ongoing injury problems, with Dyche selecting 2 goalkeepers and 3 right-backs, and Beto as the only forward.

I don't think I will ever be a fan of Sean Dyche, even his first comments in his after-match interview, he started by saying we kept our shape and defended well – sums up his approach to the game.

And before anybody asks, no I don't expect him to have us playing like Man City, but I would like to see a more progressive manager in charge when we move to the new stadium.

We have to start looking at survival football which Dyche is excellent at as was Allardyce, but I want to go into the new stadium and feel excited as to what I am about to watch, which is far away from what we are watching at the moment.

I don't see Brentford or Brighton playing survival football, so you can play a different style to avoid a relegation battle. But, as I said at the beginning, delighted with the win as this club cant afford to go into the new stadium without Premier League football.

I agree expenditure is not the only measure but it does give a good indicator of where we are competitively and what our current expectations should be. Dyche's job this season is to avoid relegation and to get us as high up the table as possible but arguably anything above 15th is a good performance. (Leicester's squad, a 14th in the spend table, cost £45M more than ours.)

They are determined to be proved right whatever happens. I have a mate like that I can show him the facts in black and white but he still insists he's right.

There's more than one way to skin a cat; the Idea is to give yourself the best chance of success with the tools at your disposal, it's called common sense.

We have scored more goals than Man Utd, Newcastle Utd and Nottm Forest, it's been our defence that's been our soft spot.

I wasn't overly impressed by Ipswich when I watched them once live last season because my own view from the Dark Ages was that they looked like they had been coached in a “style over substance” kind of way, if that makes sense, and any manager who is using this many players doesn't come across as though he's trying to get the substance right?

A beacon of sense and positivity in a sea of negativity.

McNeil is better - he connects play, holds the ball and has goals in his game. It gets him more involved in the game. But he is slow and has the turning circle of a super tanker.

McNeil and Ndiaye rotate regularly, but I would love to see Ndiaye or Lindstrom in that position eventally.

Why oh why oh why oh why... doesn't Keano play up front? He's by far a better finisher than DCL, Beto, Chermiti etc. He's usually a liability in Defence and everytime I see him on the teamsheet in defence I worry he's either going to give away a penalty or concede an own goal.

I really do rate Keane - not as a CB but as a striker.

I thought Gueye, Doucoure, and Young had very good games and if Keane could hold the ball up as well as DCL, or DCL could finish as well as Keane, we would have the best centre forward in the premier league - bar none.

We are most definitely on our way back.

Up the Blues.

By the way the commentators were calling Ipswich “The Blues”. We are the Blues - no other team - only us.
Ipswich used to play in orange and white.

Up the Blues - the real ones.

Out of one pod will emerge a world class striker and the mess that emerges from the other one, we can sell to the RS

I’m not suggesting our squad is of similar level to Ipswich, we have better players; but I do think wages or transfer fees alone don’t give an accurate impression, especially if you have an irresponsible DOF. Happily I think Thelwell has done a decent job in bringing wages down a bit and we’re no longer hanging out contracts like we did to Doucoure etc

Very clever on the ball in tight situations with an eye for goal.

For me they have got us out of a potential hole with two or three very solid performances whilst we were short of our probable first choice options. Both should keep their places as the men in form.

In terms of Dyche, for me the man is a complete enigma, a real marmite character. He certainly sticks to his principles, which when it goes wrong can be incredibly frustrating but yesterday it worked perfectly, so credit where credit is due. Well done Sean Dyche.

Hopefully for the next game Dyche now may at last have a real dilemma such as who he plays at centre back. Personally I think it should be Michael Keane and Jarrad Branthwaite. Tarks should have some proper time to allow his injury to heal.

It wasn't always like this. I'm old enough to remember hope –no, make that expectation. I know there are ultra loyals always willing to believe (Hi Danny!) but is it really a surprise given recent seasons that so many are downbeat? It's the evidence of our eyes.

On Dyche, I'm on the fence. I take the point about the difficult circumstances. Actually beyond that, I don't think many managers could have held things together under the farce of the last few seasons. In fact, while our very existence was under threat (hopefully no longer), Dyche walking out on us in a hissy fit would likely have finished us.

But I'd still like to think we could have a better manager as and when we escape from the doldrums. Dyche may well rail about never getting a chance to work with better players but he can take comfort from the fact that – provided he keeps his copybook clean for the remainder of this season, he is never going to be short of very well paid rescue jobs in the forthcoming years.

For that, he will owe something to his Everton years. For us, even if we do move on with somebody else, I think we would always have a debt of gratitude for him holding us together over these awful past years.

I have often been, let's say, sceptical of his methods and very often for good reason. Now that we are starting to see a gradual upturn in results, those who deemed to question his suitablity for the job seem to be open to attack again.

I would like to think and do believe that, for the vast majority of us that ToffeeWeb is a forum where all views can be discussed in a decent and respectful manner.

What we all have in common is an innate desire to see our beloved Everton succeed and sit again at the head of the table where we belong. That's all that matters.

There's pointing out mistakes and/or weaknesses but constant moaning for moaning sake is gonna get called out, and rightly so.

And these posters are usually nowhere to be seen when we win.

When I was a foot soldier in the Gwladys Street, there was a middle-aged guy always stood near us. Every single time the opposition crossed the halfway line he groaned “Oh no – here we go again!”

On the few occasions we conceded, he would turn around with a happy look on his face and say “Told ya!” He was a right miserable cunt!

His workrate upfront on his own and holding up the ball, and in defence is immense, he never stops running and hopefully he can be on the score sheet shortly. He's definitely putting in a huge shift.

Tony 205, with you as always, keep it going.

He is doing incredible work for the team and we are lucky to have him. In the right team, he will be leading goal scorer. I hope we will be the right team.

For fuck's sake, imagine Lineker, Haland, Saha or Jimmy fucking Greaves doing what this lad does? He is unique.

How does the song go? "You only moan when we're losing!" :-)

If Dominic could get his act together on the ground we would be much more of a menace.

With a full side playing I don't think we need to fear any team apart from the 5 or 6 usual suspects.

Dyche and Thelwell and their colleagues have done well under conditions that've exposed many others as not good enough in the manager's/DoF/coaches offices.

Who knows how they might do with a sound, larger budget? I'd like to find out.

Lastly, I think it brilliant that as a team we're shooting meaningfully again - long may it continue.

It's probably true that there are some that go too far, especially if they are not around on the relatively rare occasions that we do win. That is weird.

But 'the bucket is half empty' is strong within some of us. My friends and family will certainly tell you I am or have been hugely negative about Everton, always fearing the worst and often rightly. He seems like a lovely bloke, but I genuinely can't quite understand Danny's boundless optimism.

I have a brother who supports the RS (don't ask), he is fanatically involved but never watches them live on TV. He just can't bear it, the possibility of them losing. Now that is a bit odd, but there's nowt so queer as folks as the old Yorkshire saying goes.

And I challenge anyone, other than the real fluffy bunny optimists, not to have been dreading the last 10 minutes yesterday, and maybe like Mark's 'miserable cunt' in the post above, muttering about the impending doom. I guess if you expect the worst, you can sometimes be pleasantly surprised...

Hard to disagree with your appreciation of the wider role DCL plays and his contribution.

However, you mentioned Jimmy Greaves. Now that is someone (along with Thierry Henry) that DCL could usefully watch on YouTube with regard to how to play one-on-ones against a keeper.

Does he ever practise these situations in training? He is frankly piss poor. It's either a weak hit and hope, or he hesitates, by which time a defender has repossessed him (as happened the other week).

Frankly, if he gets in those positions at the moment ,you might as well head for your half-time pie, because you won't be missing a goal.

I'd like to think that on Tuesday he'll be put on a thousand one-to-ones with the goalkeeper.

Is that not what coaching is? What do we know!!

I believe Iroegbunam, Lindstrøm, Chermitti etc have craft imo. Do you think they would all be played if fit?

But he can be a better finisher than he is now. I've seen him be better than he is now. And I'm convinced it's purely a confidence issue. His body language on his two one on ones screamed 'tentative'. Mind you, the keeper did make a decent save.

He's spent the last few years in a team where he gets no support up front and has had to rely on fighting for his own flick ons.

Lately things have changed a bit. He's got Ndiaye and McNeil around him, and even Harrison looks improved by having decent footballers to work off. Dom's had a few one on ones - something I don't remember seeing over the last couple of years.

I'd love to see us get players around Dom more; even when the fixtures toughen up, and see if we can get him firing. It might just take a couple of breaks to go his way.

Particularly by the likes of the 3 thousand at Ipswich who passionately and positively give their support and who often have the highest expectations of club and players.

When he was running through on Saturday, no one around me really expected him to score and, of course, he didn't. His miss right near the end was even worse and just before that a close-range header nearly went out for a throw-in!

Over a full season, the best we'll ever get out of him is around 12 goals. 15 would be a miracle – and that includes the odd penalty.

Paul Ferry wrote earlier on in this thread about the amount of players that Ipswich have already used this season mate. It sounds like they are on their bare bones though because the Ipswich fan who has been on ToffeeWeb did say they played a couple of League One central defenders against us on Saturday.

It would be interesting to see how many players Kendall used in 1984-85, Mark. Heath got a very bad injury and this let in Andy Gray, and I'm sure both Harper and Richardson played in the away game at Bayern Munich, and did John Bailey also start the season at left back?

I think you're right about Bailey starting at left back but still, I'm sure we only used a squad of 14 or 15 that glorious season?

I'm in the Harlech this Saturday if you're about?

Sad to say it reminds me of a goal disallowed at Anfield many years ago that may have won a Euro game for RS against Milan if offside wasn't called on a RS player being in a position that obscured the keeper's vision This was a little different as the law has changed somewhat and we now have VAR to complicate matters.

On the City goal, the player doesn't interfere in my opinion. He actually goes to ground. Goal for me. Well, it was.

I had to laugh when the Southampton goalie tried to claim the same for Leicester's winner!

“How many players did Howard use in the 84-85 season?”

That would make a good quiz question, that I suspect most people would get wrong (myself included until I checked). The answer is 25!

I suspect most of us have forgotten the two league games after the Cup Final. More pertinently, only 15 players played into double figures.

Surely it can only be a matter of time before the media start demanding he move on to a “bigger” club?

Don't give away your answers. You're not one of those who shouts out answers too loud in a pub quiz are you?!!!

I never realised either that we used 25 players 84-85 Season and I probably went to 90% of the games too. Thanks for the info!

This was the squad for the 1984-1985 season:

Neville Southall, Jim Arnold, Darren Oldroyd, Kevin Ratcliffe, Derek Mountfield, Alan Harper, Ian Atkins, Mark Higgins, John Bailey, Pat ven den Hauw, Darren Hughes, Gary Stevens, Gary Parkinson, Peter Reid, Neill Rimmer, Derek Walsh, Jason Danskin, Kevin Richardson, Ian Bishop, Paul Bracewell, Andy King, Trevor Steven, Kevin Sheedy, Adrian Heath, Alan Irvine, Terry Curran, Robbie Wakenshaw, John Morrisey, Ian Marshall, Graeme Sharp, Andy Gray, Paul Wilkinson

As well as the usual suspects, these lads got a game in the league or cups: Darren Hughes 2, Ian Atkins 7, Darren Oldroyd 1, Terry Curran 5, Jason Danskin 1, John Morrisey 1, Robbie Wakenshaw 1, Neill Rimmer 1, Paul Wilkinson not sure (he played though, got the winner over there in May when we were champions – played 32 games 1986-87), Mark Higgins went to Man-U in 1985.

I’m in a hazy smiley dream along Howard’s Way.

Equally importantly, the Paleys released From Across the Kitchen Table in Feb-1985

I had tears in my eyes a few times, marveling at a team, that could play the game anyway it was demanded to be played, and some beautiful memories really came flooding back.

Oh Everton - oh we love Everton - oh Everton - oh we love Everton!

I would never have got 25 in a million years – we seemed to have the same eleven every week.

That Ian Bishop. Didn't he play for West Ham in the later '80s??