Also, Tim seems to fade in games when playing well to start, other times he doesn't get involved enough!

Ashley Young did a good job for us, but he’s past this level now, it was time to part - perhaps he also just wants to play football, and we would rarely use him? He likely recognised his own limitations.

I disagree that Garner is absolutely irreplaceable in a midfield berth and so cannot be used as the utility player he is.

I do agree with Dave Abrahams that there may be other reasons for not exposing him at left back.

I am more concerned about still relying on our slowest central defensive pairing. It can be argued that the first Wolves goal was precisely due to that problem.

I know Tarks is a warrior and Keane has not done much wrong, but pace is their limiting factor.

As the Villa team isn’t published here I’ve had to look elsewhere. Fortunately it looks like, out of their starters, Watkins and possibly Rogers are their only really pacey attackers (at least I don’t associate Buendia, McGinn or Tielemans with speed across the ground, but I don’t know about Bogarde).

Maybe lack of pace is Villa’s current problem? If it is, I withdraw my initial concern. If we get a goal early on to prey on their anxiety I think we could break our recent hoodoo against them quite comfortably.

Come on you merciless Blues!

Salah hates playing against him I think, so maybe the manager is thinking ahead?

I was referring to Garner's pace to be honest, but in central midfield that is not essential as long as you've got a football brain which I think Garner has got and uses it very well.

Not being too hard on Iroegbunam but I don't think he is ready yet and would have preferred it if he had gone on loan and Harrison Armstrong had stayed and played today for us instead of being on the bench at Preston — but it's early days and a long season, so maybe patience will tell.

I think we will leak a goal today, but have the players to score two or more. Everton 2 Villa 1. COYBLUES!

Villa, no goals and no wins, and a sly dirty little fucking ex-Red playing for them, what can go wrong? Coyb.

The best option we have is at left back. And I'm not convinced he's a better emergency left back than McNeil.

It's a mistake and one that's already been made this season. It didn't need to happen again.

Why is Digne being booed?

It took Villa 15 minutes to get an attack into our half but thereafter seem to attack more than we did and then Villa seemed to find a way to negate Ndiaye and Grealish and this stopped nearly all our attacking intent.

Beto has just missed another sitter, three minutes in, come on, for fk sake!!!

Near a Villa goal, we need to score quickly now as Villa are dangerous.

We need these three points as we ain't gettin nothin next week against the red shite. Very low running at us now with pace, if we don't score in the next twenty, then I fear.

Dibling off the bench will cause Villa problems. Beto again the ball bounces off him with poor control and decisions. Villa having better play now.

Röhl on Timmy off, will Röhl play an attacking Röhl?

Another yellow, nasty tackle on Jack and a card for villa. Reds nasty get Elliott on for Villa. Missed Keane header fantastic save from Mr Martinez.

Desperate times now... blimey, Barry on for Mr Bungles.

Villa will see the game is for the taking and seem to have nullified our forwards.

Barry not had a touch, didn't look like Dibling will come on with 7 minutes to go. Grealish out of ideas against his old club. Play like this against that lot and it will be Goodnight, Vienna.

Should I say it? A point's a point. Tactics not working at all, takes off a big forward and puts another one on, same experiment, will it work?

MotD or a film? Where is Arnie and Rambo when you need a bit of steel? Final minute. Ref's been poor, times up, points a point.

Game over, played first half great, Beto should have given us all three points, not good enough from him. Tried hard, but Villa sorted us out second half. I'll take a repeat score line next game.

In the name of God, wind your fucking neck in and have a day off.

Keane has been outstanding so far this season.

Miserable get. Always one fucker to spoil the day. Jeeeez!!!

Very frustrating game. We're definitely plenty better than last season but we're still very much a work in progress. I know Moyes could have done things differently but he's still limited by the quality available.

Beto should have won that match for us really. Annoying, but we'll have days when we play worse than that and win.

Decent game, we just need a goalscorer.

Moyes has to sort that out soon. We were poor against Leeds however today they played well in the first half but the Villa defense held our offense without too much difficulty. It could be a difficult ride until January unless Moyes gets the right offensive prowess.

Sadly, the striker situation which I was so concerned about all summer will probably be the main reason why we fail to win many games that we are on top in and creating chances.

Neither Beto nor Barry fill me with too much confidence that they will possess the necessary firepower to shoot us higher up in the long term.

Great header today only foiled by an even greater save.

Villa seemed to stop Grealish and Ndiaye mostly by having 2 or 3 players on them and we had nobody else who could use the gaps that should have created and maybe Moyes could have moved one or the other inside or played both on one wing just to change things or is that asking too much of our manager?

Even then, I thought that Beto and Iroegbunam should have been subbed on the hour but Barry seemed little improvement on Beto albeit a lot of our supply had dried up by then.

At best, another game, another point that maybe should have been three as Villa were not that impressive either.

Still, a much better start to the season than previous ones and another clean sheet. Michael Keane really deserves to keep his place when Branthwaite is back.

And thanks to everyone who posted links on the Live Forum.

For some unknown reason, some miserable twat decided that because he was sitting on the toilet and realised no toilet paper and he's got real and verbal diarrhoea, decides to take it out on a fellow blue.

I'm sorry you are such a miserable cunt, Andrew, go lie down in a darkened room, and stay there as long as possible, you would be doing us a favour. Oh, and take Rodney with you.

Villa are a very good side. 3 games in is no kind of sample size. We've done well to hold them to zero chances and create a fair amount ourselves.

I thought Grealish was good again. But Villa did what they could and pulled 2 back onto him. And we didn't seem to adjust to that. Our midfield looked happy to give it to him and hope he would create something.

We had a lack of control and desperately needed a central midfielder to dictate the play a bit.

Tim's performance wasn't unexpected. It was pretty much what you get out of him and wasn't what we needed. That's not on Tim, that's on Moyes.

Good to get a look at Röhl. On first glance, I'd say he's more a ball-winner than playmaker.

We were the better side but not good enough in final third.

We dominated them first half and should have gone in 2-0 up. They had a spell in the second half but we then took over again. They had to double up on Grealish but he still created chances; Dewsbury-Hall was very good and Gana immense.

I thought Michael Keane was excellent.

I hope Mykolenko is fit for next week, and play Garner in his proper position.

That was a makeshift defence, and Iroegbunam is definitely not in our first-choice 11 when we've got our players back. Not a bad point, Villa can go anywhere and get a point, especially with that goalie.

Villa knew exactly how to stall Grealish, and succeeded 85% of the time. He did vary his playbook... but not quite enough, and not until way too late in the game.

Only two subs... why not give Alcaraz and Dibling a go? Play Aznou to allow Garner to step up into midfield? Use Coleman or Patterson.

Moyes sees the game on a knife-edge and is too shit-scared to make a change that risks winning as much as losing the game... so he leaves it as is. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Seemed like we pretty much dominated but couldn't convert the small number of good chances we were able to fashion.
Did Pickford have anything to do? Martinez definitely made at least one excellent save and sounded like they got some important blocks in as well.

The selection was quite conservative at the back. Did that affect our overall creativity? Did we give Villa too much respect?

We didn't use potential goal-scoring threats like Alcaraz or McNeil and left Garner at full-back. It's a tricky choice by the manager but would it have been better to risk the 1 point we had in the bag by really going for the 3?

Left with 1 point, a clean sheet, and still unbeaten in games that count at BMD, but lots of ifs, buts and maybes as well.

Didn't get what you were doing, by the way.

The thing is… he's bloody useless as a footballer.

Beto is much better than Barry. Beto hastles, creates some chances with his effort and seems to get a lot of good chances (he misses some but so do all strikers). I appreciate that Beto gets into those positions in the first place.

Barry does none of that. He actually did fuck all when he came on and I wasn't impressed… Barry doesn't even get into positions to miss chances.

Beto is super physical and always muscles opposing players out of the way to find the ball. Bazza looks well and truly useless.

They were doubling up on Grealish, which should have given us space elsewhere. But we simply kept giving it to Jack rather than taking on responsibility elsewhere.

What must Dibling, a £40m attacking player, be thinking? He can't be said not to be ready for the Premier League, he played nearly a full Premier League season last season. We could have tried McNeil on the left, Grealish on the right, Ndiaye or Dibling through the middle...

So many options, finally, what Moyes always wanted, and he doesn't use them! Maddening, we really should have won that game against a Villa side showing no ambition whatsoever!

A word for Simon Hooper — that was one of the most incompetent refereeing displays I've ever watched. Maybe only the Clattenburg derby was worse.

Villa are a good team, it's a long season and this isn't a terrible result, but it feels like we didn't even try everything we could to win. This is the second manager running where it always feels like every opposition manager is better at substitutions than he is.

The second clear cut chance he messed up in front of goal because he couldn't sort his feet out. He was really poor.

I have no idea why Moyes left him on so long, but then I thought the manager was too passive in tactics and replacements second half.

Frustrating to watch but we've played that way many times in recent years so they'll feel they deserved a point. But, if we had a half-decent striker, we would have won.

But, finishing apart. lots of positives in overall game play.

I'm convinced that neither Beto nor Barry will get 12 goals between them. January transfer window a right back and a half decent striker.

That said, we looked okay today and Garner and O'Brien are playing out of their skins as makeshift full-backs.

Why he wasn't subbed earlier is another strange decision. However, looking on the positive side, so nearly a win!

These owners are far more ruthless than Kenwright and co so he can't let too many games like these get away without 3 points.

And why Alcaraz wasn't brought on instead of Röhl, who is still finding his way in England, with the score 0-0, he needs to make his way when we are 2- or 3-nil up.

I'm not too upset with the score because I think a lot of fans have over hyped the previous games. We will get better in time but need a better and bigger squad before that happens as well as being more adventurous – especially at home.

Tarkowski my Man of the Match for what it's worth!

I thought Moyes could have brought on his subs earlier and subbed a few more to try to win the game, but Moyes will always play safe. We really need to be able to adjust and change tactics during the game.

I hope Mykolenko is back for the next game.

Beto, Beto, Beto... What the fuck?

Not the biggest Garner fan but thought he played well. Another day and we are all singing the blues.

Barry is as worrying as Beto.

I'm far more encouraged by the performance today than the one we watched against Brighton before the international break. We're a striker away from being a really, really good team.

I apologise, Paul, for my response.

We'll likely have to wait until next summer for a new striker, so we have what we have. There were more important positions to fill this summer and we've filled those well (right-back aside, though I thought Jake had a great game).

Michael Keane was magnificent, read everything well and was very unlucky not to score a goal or two. Branthwaite won't just walk back into the team at this rate, which is a good thing IMO.

Grealish should have more space next week, the other lot will be more focused on attacking us. Villa defended well and doubled/tripled up on him and Ndiaye – Ndiaye had some exceptional moments once again and we'll do well to hold onto him, he's electric and just ghosts past players gracefully.

Still no goals conceded at our new home, a positive given we're yet to have our first choice defence available.

Got to be positive, let's get a jammy win next week with the winner off Beto's arse!

Best 0-0 I've seen for years. Should've won 2-0 or better but let's just enjoy the performance. We need a centre-forward as Beto should've scored at least twice. Otherwise, everyone played well and we attacked right until the final whistle. Merlin Röhl looked epic.

UTFT!!!!

I don't think he gave us much at all but couldn't wait to blow if a Villa player hit the dirt...

I guess having that cutting edge up front is the difference from being a top 6/7 side which we all know is work in progress. For now it's Beto and Barry, we can hopefully look for Beto's upgrade next summer.

Positives are 4 points from the first two games at HD. 4 points which we didn't get from the corresponding fixtures last season.

Hilarious to see two foul throws in the first half from Villa, a rarity.

Beto was a handful at times but he's no skill or quick feet.
Barry got one shot off in his short stint, really disappointed Dibling didn't get on, Ndiaye wasn't as good in the last 20 minutes – ideal time to bring the youngster on.

Villa – all the dark arts largely unpunished by the fat fuck in the middle.

If Ndiaye and Grealish had proper, overlapping, full-backs we would have won that. And, of course, a striker who knows where the old onion bag is.

In such a situation, someone like Dwight McNeil would be more useful to lash one in from around the penalty box. Gueye and Röhl tried it but their efforts were woeful.

O'Brien showed some good ball skills for someone so huge. I think Ndiaye and him are making a decent partnership on the right side.

Iroegbunam was disappointing today, I felt that he was the guy who should have been sent out on loan, not Armstrong.

When Mykolenko gets fit and comes in, it will change the entire dynamic of the team, because then Garner comes back to his natural position. But yes, we badly need a better quality goal poacher than Beto.

Watkins has looked disinterested since he didn't get his move in the summer and Kamara, who in my opinion was their best player last season, was out injured with his understudy Onana also out. You could see they were devoid of confidence from their poor start to the season.

This game was a real test if we could challenge for a European place but it seems Moyes's delight at a point has spilled over onto ToffeeWeb. Why did the manager not replace Beto earlier to give Barry a chance with some service?

Was this not the game to drop KDH deeper wihen taking off Tim to try and win it to get either Charliy or Dibbling on? If not then KDH should have been taken off also as he wasn't offering much.

By bringing on Dibling alone, he could have caused a lot of danger by moving Ndiaye left and getting Jack central. This would have caused new challenges to the full-backs who were already booked.

Not a bad day at all but still a missed opportunity, I would suggest.

- Garner had a much better game at left-back but he didn't have tricky wingers like in the last 2 games and in any case, he's needed in the middle because he is better than Tim. Hope Mykolenko is back for RS.

- Okay, this is new, Keane might actually be quite a good defender, at least against how Villa play.

- And I guess a shout out for Röhl who didn't look out of place in his first Premier League start and that is not to be sniffed at given how underwhelming Wirz has been for the Red Shite.

All the other things we know. Grealish and Ndiaye are special players, Gana does what he does, Dewsbury-Hall was quieter but still showed quality, while upfront.

I said on the Live Forum, we could maybe take a leaf out of the film, The Fly, put Beto in pod, Grealish in pod 2 and take out what is teleported to pod 3.

The contents of pod 4 can stay there.

You just need to look for it – it's not difficult to find. It's where you see 'Live Forum'. :)

Go and take a fucking powder and shut the fuck up!

Jeeeez, some fucking narks on her today.

Leeds and Villa, they are the teams we needed to get maximum points off; to get one is a disappointment.

We have the Red Shite next game, let's have a go at them and pin them back, can't go and defend. Coyb.

'Dickhead' badge accepted and I'll wear it with pride!

Thought they were worthy of the 3 points, but typically a re-picked Martinez thwarted the Blues. Villa were poor, but missed the cutting edge when it mattered most.

Missed a left-footed balance on the left. Tim Iroegbunam did okay, but probably needed Garner to sit.

A decent start. Missed some chances.

It's going to take most of us a while before we start thinking we can win every game.

As for Moyes going all out for a win? Forget it. He's not going to change now. His philosophy is to avoid losing at all cost. A win is a nice treat.

Does she know?

Anyway re games against Leeds and Villa. Agree with you suggesting we should get maximum points off Leeds, although with it being their first match back, it was always going to be difficult, one point would have done for me.

As for Villa, again, difficult opponents for us for a few years, so a point would have been good, However, in Villa's current state, yes, disappointed not to get 3.

Looking at points in the other games, 3 against a usually strong Brighton was a bonus and 3 points against Wolves was good, so all in all to have 7 points out of the first 12 on offer is okay.

In the last few years we've spent over £60M on strikers……none of whom are anywhere near the required level. Why this wasn't addressed in the summer is a mystery.

Moyes is no mug so surely he sees just how poor our strikers are. I'd be tempted to play Ndiaye as a false 9 and play Dibling wide right. Seriously could that be any worse than with either Beto or Barry upfront?

Disappointing finishing but we now have players who can take players on and create chances. Some potentially very good new players on the fringes too, Branthwaite and Mykolenko to return.

What is not to like? We have a future as a competitive Premier League team.

Villa may not be flamboyant at the moment but are a tough professional outfit with many good players. They will move up the table. We played them off the park at times but missed the finishing.

I'm optimistic for the rest of the season. I couldn't say that last year.

Onwards and Upwards.

With a half-decent striker, we'd have won easily today.

Barry looks little better, he just isn't physical enough to battle Premier League defences.

Come January, we need to get a proven striker.

This was a poor Villa side for recent times and, every time I looked down at the technical area, I saw a perplexed manager in Unai Emery who seemingly had a team unable to carry out what he was asking them to do.

They improved after the break. They adjusted to the threat we offered with Grealish and they got to grips with Ndiaye who ran them ragged in the first 45 minutes.

A couple of long balls really closed Mings and Konsa and they looked amateur.

When you consider how solid we looked in comparison at the back, you have to conclude that we should've exploited their weaknesses. But we didn't.

When they adjusted to manage our threat, Moyes did not re-adjust. He spent all summer courting Dibling and then doesn't play him. We repeatedly won fouls in dangerous areas and he didn't see an opportunity to introduce Dwight McNeil to improve set-piece delivery.

We had 5 available subs for fresh legs and he uses just 2. Despite this. I am pleased at the standard of our playing squad. Michael Keane was excellent.

It is refreshing to watch an entertaining attacking team and not the absolute shite we were subjected to before Moyes returned.

I don't think there is a shortage of wanting better players. Having enough money and convincing players to come is a different matter.

We spent less than £100M on 9 players, and consider that a big transfer window. Liverpool spent £210M on two strikers.

A bad day for Beto but at least he seems to find chances. So hard to find reliable strikers and even very good (and expensive) ones like Watkins will have bad games if not patches.

Moyes may feel that his substitutions did not impact the game enough and I would have liked to have seen Alcaraz and/or Dibling against tired legs.

Despite the result, this was probably the best we've played all season. On another day, we win by a few goals. Keep up those levels and Top 10 looks plausible.

He may get the occasional tap-in laid on by an excellent midfield trio but if he can't buy a goal with arguably our best midfield in 40 years, then there is no hope.

Watkins hardly had a touch but still looked more likely to score.

I can recall, not that long ago, commenting that there was not a team in the Premier league that I expected us to beat. Now I think we can win any game. What a difference.

Incidentally. Sam, is tomorrow night's "King & Conquerer" the one you wrote? If so, I will be looking for an Evertonian reference. Not telling you how to do your job, mate, but here's a line I suspect you could have sneaked in:

" We have returned from Stamford Bridge victorious. Let us visit vengeance upon those who covet the fortress that is thee Bramley Moor."

The credit is all yours, pal. A nod at the Baftas will suffice.

We've come a long way in a short time and we dominated the play today. Still very much a work in progress and will need time. One summer was never going to change everything.

We now have a lot of players who are comfortable on the ball.

Jake in particular, defended well and offered much more in attack. It may be the coaching, but he is looking more and more a complete right-back.

Apart from the obvious, weaker left foot, Garner's football nous means he can play left-back well. In fact, in the old days of shirts 1-11, he could probably pull on whichever was left and do a job.

Can you imagine the reaction if Moyes had changed it, and have Harvey Elliott would have smashed and grabbed a winner? Fans would have gone bananas.

Beto subbed.
Iroegbunam subbed.
Would have I swapped Grealish for McNeil, nope.
Would have I swapped Ndiaye for dibbling, nope.
Would I have swapped Dewsbury-Hall for Alcaraz, nope.

There was enough quality on the pitch to win it. They didnt, but that is football. We would all start Mykolenko, Branthwaite, put Garner in midfield, prefer a new right-back and a better quality forward. It isn't miles away.

The lad's goals kept us up last season. Is it his fault that Everton employ him and expectation is possibly too high? Do you think hammering him will make him score more goals?

Do you think Moyes doesn't see that maybe he's not the future? Fucking grow up. Direct your criticisms at the people who make these decisions and not the fucking players, especially the ones who try.

Just one of those games. A slightly better striker for us or a slightly weaker goalie for them and we win. Decent performance. Very disappointed at the time, but positive overall now the adrenaline has worn off.

They set up for a draw or to nick a win, witnessed by their time wasting. The greatest problem in the game was the ref, he lost the game halfway through the first half. It was the worst refereeing I have seen in ages and helped Villa in breaking up the game.

We could have benefited from bringing on Dibling for Ndiaye and Röhl earlier. Overall though, we are improving week on week, but we do need a striker.

Villa are a team who were playing Champions League last season, and we outplayed them. The difference is we can't afford (as Moyes has said) a £70M striker. The one we have missed two sitters.

It's a clean sheet and another point. Let's move on.

I absolutely would've swapped Dibling and Ndiaye. Ndiaye was excellent for about 50 minutes today and then he tired. By 70 minutes, I think an injection of legs would've helped our attacking cause. And Dibling should've been the change that was made.

Gana can't be dropped because he is so good at anticipating trouble and cutting it out. However, Moyes has correctly recognised that we benefit from having someone sit deeper than Gana. Tim has been the preferred choice so far.

However, I don't think it needs to be a tackler. Because Gana does the tackling for everyone in midfield. Therefore we could have a deep-lying playmaker there with legs.

Seemingly Röhl could be that guy. But it is shrewd management by Moyes as I always thought Gana would be our deepest lying midfielder and I never saw a problem with that.

And whatever the opposite of a Homer is - the Ref was it.

This was my first and probably only visit - Stadium great. Post game buses - beyond woeful. 2 buses do not a rapid transit shuttle service between the ground and Commutation Row make.

God help the punters in the cold, dark and wet of winter.

See how they do it at the Gabba, MCG, or somewhere where a Council gives a fuck.

Forget needing 40 points; whoever said we need just another 33, 32 will probably be enough. Times have changed and we are looking up now, not down.

And finally, over the last 38 fixtures we are 9th. We are on a Röhl.

As a No 6, sometimes you've just got to hold your position than win the ball. When he comes out, he leaves gaps behind him if he can't win it. His passing isn't always the best, so losing it is probably better further up, than in front of the back 4.

I thought Iroegbunam did well enough. He was on a booking, so I thought Röhl was the right sub. He'd trained well according to reports, so perhaps there's confidence he can contribute quickly.

Ndiaye scored in the last match, and had his full back on a yellow. He'd skinned past players all day. For me, a goal or assist was a higher probability from Ndiaye than Dibling. One has a track record of doing it, the other doesn't.

Mine was actually on last weekend. Think I did have an Everton reference sneaked in at some point but don't think it made the Final Cut sadly. The quest continues!!

We've also got no proper full-backs, and no No 6. That impacts the whole game.

We did have quite a few good players on the bench though, so I just wish he would have used a couple more of them towards the end of today's game.

I agree Ndiaye was tiring, but I'd have liked to see him have a little spell on the left with Dibling on the other flank, but there were a few different permutations that Moyes could have used. If he his going to get the best out of his squad, my belief is that he's got to start using more players.

I'd have taken a point before the game so I wasn't that disappointed but, on another day with a bit better finishing, then I'm sure we would have won all three.

I have often criticised Michael Keane on these pages but today was as good as I've ever seen him play and only for a world class save, he would have been our hero today.

Keane never did nothing out of the ordinary but it was very refreshing to see him playing positively on the front foot. I thought he looked a much better player because he played without any indecision in his game.

More importantly we went out to try and win the game and, on another day, would have. What a difference to last season.

Special mention for Michael Keane who has been excellent this season and was unlucky not to score.

Some good points there but do you think bringing on Alcaraz instead of Röhl might have produced a better chance of Everton getting those extra 2 points?

The Keane header I thought was straight at him tbh. The better chance was Beto not scoring early on, or failing to snaffle it in from the ball from the left in the second half.

Likewise Villa no longer have Duran, Rashford, Diaby and Asensio and McGinn and Watkins aren't the same players this season while the balance to their midfield was gone today without Kamara or Onana. Buendia couldn't make their bench and was sent out on loan.

I would only really have wanted 4 of their players from their starting eleven in Digne, Tielemans, Rogers and Watkins. We weren't playing a vastly superior team like we have done previously.

Villa hadn't scored this season so I definitely wouldn't have taken a point before kick off. A point is decent but it's the same as Brentford got. If we had ambitions of overachieving this season, a win would have not only been good for the table but it would have given the HD a sense of being a fortress.

They were there for the taking and happy for the point. Unfortunately, Moyes was the same.

It almost beggars belief that someone can be playing at Premier League level devoid of basic ball skills. He has the touch of a drunken elephant, and the stability (when tackled) of Bambi on something narcotic, as well as on ice!

Having said that, he seems to be a likeable chap and his willingness can't be questioned... but how long will allowances be made for him before he becomes a fan pariah??

Shame – I was quite looking forward to seeing the one where his left foot blocked a shot from his right.

To be fair, the chance you refer to was slightly behind him and may actually have been intended for the player behind him but you can see why he'd have a go at it.

The total miss from Garner's pass was the worst for me. It was a dropping, bouncing ball but it goes back to the basics of just keeping your eye on the ball. Any real contact on it and he'd be odds on to score.

The Beeb's highlight selection frequently makes no sense.

In that last half hour, Ndiaye and Grealish were playing very wide on their respective sides, seemingly playing as orthodox wingers, but their crosses were mostly going to fall to the hapless Beto or the ineffective Barry.

Why not substitute Beto for Dibling, and move Ndiaye into the centre where he could better link with Dewsbury-Hall and Grealish?

Two points dropped, I'm afraid. And, as if our poor finishing was not enough, we had to suffer an appalling performance from the referee, who did his best to wreck a game of football.

On the plus side, Michael Keane was very good, and Röhl looks to have something about him.

Sky get a bashing on here but it's the best way for me to watch Everton.

Moyes got it wrong. Alcaraz had to come on some stage.

Scoring against Mansfield didn't get him mentally back on track and his confidence still appears to be shot. Yet still, he's likely to start in Anfield next week, and he's been more than solid against the Red Shite in the past.

Scoring there could get him back on the right track, he can still be a productive player. Far from the upper echelons of the Premier League, but more than serviceable on his day. Fingers crossed.

All in all, a frustrating outcome today, but when was the last time we felt frustrated after a draw against a team currently playing in Europe? Yeah, they've had a horrible start and Moyes once again showed an opponent too much respect instead of going for the kill. But the club is definitely on the right track.

It is not just Garner who has benefited from real footballers around him or players who have always been encouraged to play football, unlike Everton of the past relegation do-fight days, which was more Manager formula than players playing football. Keane is a player with skill and he does okay in this new way of playing.

Beto did not get all clear chances, but the ones he did get, he over-thought them or rather was thinking ahead of the chance. Old Beto is feeling the pressure of being first choice but it will come good; he is doing the basics right of getting in position. More importantly, he is getting chances.

I still think that Moyes has to be brave with his changes. Aston Villa had obviously done their homework and practised it all week. Braver tactics and earlier changes would have thrown a spanner in their works.

His finishing was off, agreed, and I'm sure they are working on it. For me, a great chance was the ball over the top from Tarkowski that he got to in the 1st half and tried to control it with his thigh and it ran out of play. A goalscorer would have guided that on goal 1st time and it could have gone in.

Peter M, that substitution idea of yours is a good one. Ndiaye was sensational yesterday.

The defence looked sound but we got a bit overrun in midfield in the second half. Nevertheless, we always looked a threat when we got into their half.

Despite Beto's missed chances, we have got a forward line now – with options. Ndiaye is some footballer – the vultures will be circling no doubt.

Apart from the game I felt a great sense of pride as the players came out from the tunnel in the new ground to the sound of Z-Cars and 52,000 fans. For all his mistakes, I am thankful to Farhad Moshiri for that.

Watching Premier League games, most managers use their subs, not just to try to change things, but also to maintain intensity by putting fresh players on.

On the atmosphere, I couldn't really hear the away fans apart from once. The ground is in general loud, it's designed to be. I sit with 5 people and can't hear anyone more than 2 seats away.

Great shout re Farhad Moshiri.

Tim did okay Aidan. But I feel he is too passive. What do you think?

He waits for the game to come to him, then tried to keep things neat and tidy. He covers the pitch well and takes up good defensive positions.

However, I don't see him go out of his way to either stop things or create them.

When I watched the replay, I also wished that Keane had got a defter touch on that header, Ian B, but my angle inside the ground was perfect, and at the time I thought it was a perfect cross, header and save.

Through teleportation, Merlin landed at Hill Dickinson Stadium, and a knowledgeable fan recognised who he was. He proceeded to ask Merlin, "With all your powers, could you turn Beto into a goal scoring striker?"

Merlin replied, "Nay lad, I am a magician — not a fucking miracle worker!"

Moyes might be a bit a less dour than first time round but that was never going to happen.

Transport a nightmare and other things inside the ground still pretty bad.

Nick, in regard to your defending of Beto to the criticism he's received on here over his misses yesterday, not a patch on the abuse Calvert-Lewin got last season, would you say the same if it was him?

Yea, Moyes could be more adventurous, but at the same time points in the bank and players getting minutes.

I spotted the laugh from Garner – probably thought Beto had ruined his assist numbers.

Si @ 130

I agree that the ball for the chance Beto had in the first half was slightly behind him.

Re the miss from Garner's pass, great pass. The only thing I'd say (but as someone who never played the game as a forward) that the ball was coming across Beto's body, so perhaps not the easiest chance to take.

As you suggest, keeping your eye on the ball would have helped...

I suppose the forwards amongst us here would say that Beto probably needed to adjust his body and that a better striker would have popped the ball in the net. I can think of many strikers that would have done that with their eyes closed.

On another note, generally, only having seen highlights of the game, were Aston Villa's forwards nullified by our defence. One of my friends, a Villa fan who saw the match live, thinks the stadium is up there with the best for atmosphere, and thought Watkins and Rogers were both poor.

My impression of the game just before half-time was that the two best players on the pitch, were both wearing No 10.

Neither of them was as good in the second half; Ndiaye tired and Villa began to retreat... but I still thought that, over the 90 minutes, they both posed more threat than any other players on the pitch.

Then again, some of Barry's shots from last season at Villarreal have to be seen to be believed. Real Calvert-Lewin level punts.

It's interesting what makes a good striker. The scruffiest one we ever had in my view was Lineker. I don't think I ever saw him hit the ball cleanly. He didn't care. Hit it early, fast and on target. That was it.

Never was there a better chance than yesterday to end their hoodoo over us.

He causes defences all sorts of problems due to his physicality and therefore creates space for others. The goals will come.

If you can "hit it early, fast and on target"... you're far from a scruffy striker.

We're not getting a ‘proven' striker in January either. So forget that.