Sorry, Dwight, Enough is Enough

There is at least 5 who aren't good enough.

He may have had his time with Everton, but it's not that easy getting rid of players, you don't just hand them their P45 -- he has a contract.

A player does not become bad overnight. He could have a bad day or he could be utilised in a way that minimises his strengths. Moyes has his favourites and he will play them no matter what.

Right, so Dibling is going to come in and do more than McNeil? I can't wait for that...

Jesus, any more good ideas to improve the team!

The other thing with McNeil is that his strength is also under Moyes his weakness. That is his ability to drive through the middle and create chances or try his luck with strikes from distance. It's his weakness due to his propensity to lose the ball.

If you have Gueye and AN Other dedicated to picking up lost balls and covering his sloppiness then he can look decent. But if you want to progress as a team, you can't have central midfielders solely dedicated to cleaning up his mess, especially since he's not that good anyway by Premier League standards at attacking in that way if you look at his output of goals and assists.

I think Moyes's intolerance of risky moves leading to loss of possession means he is now less inclined to surge forward. But when he doesn't do that, he has very little to offer.

I think also having Ndiaye and Grealish as better quality risk takers versus the sterile Harrison and Lindstrom means there is even less reason to gamble with McNeil as a sloppy creator.

So, while I don't think his attitude is to blame, I do agree he's not good enough if we are to be more than relegation battlers. But, as others said, if he leaves, we won't generate much or any fee.

Re McNeil -- in my opinion, he's still got a role to play in our compact squad until the summer but only as a sub. As disappointing as Dibling, Alcaraz, Iroegbunam and Rohl may have been, they are here for the long term and should all be ahead in the queue.

McNeil just isn't fit enough since last season.

That said, we should be looking to improve or upgrade positions in the squad constantly. Right now, right-back, left-back, and the striker positions are much higher priorities.

"Get rid" and "swift decision" are easy to say but, as we've seen during the recent crisis, this is still a thin squad vulnerable to injury; we don't have the luxury of just dumping players, at least not without knowing whom we will put out there instead.

Kinnear says the next phase of the squad rebuild will happen in the summer. I think we can all be pretty sure Dwight McNeil will be gone then.

Like Mykolenko, I think we need better than Dwight McNeil. The issue is we don't have anyone on the right that is smashing it.

Perhaps the answer is play Dibling every week till he comes good; with decent players coming back, perhaps the group can carry him...

Good time to offload McNeil (to a Premier League struggler?) but only if we bring in another wide player. I think we need another wide player irrespective, allowing the chance to send Dibling on loan to get some playing time somewhere.

Can't head, can't cross, can't shoot, has zero awareness to mention just a few. On another note, has anybody ever seen Dibling smile? 🤔

Give him away to Dyche please.

McNeil was poor on Monday. He was not in the game. He looked like he was uncomfortable on the pitch. Who knows what was going on with him?

Putting the Leeds game to one side, I may have questioned Dwight's ability at times, but he has always had a good attitude, often under very testing personal circumstances.

Quite unnecessary, Patric.

But, for me, to single out one player in an article and say "Enough is Enough" is totally wrong, way over the top.

I can assure you it was not meant as a hit piece, or as an 'unpleasant' article.

Ultimately not every piece can be positive. Dwight's performance on Monday wasn't just bad -- there was a clear lack of effort.

I did note that this isn't normally the case. I did also note the positive impact he has made this season, at times, and also just last week, lauded his discipline v Villa.

But he has had plenty of chances now under Moyes, and we are having to stretch to pick out 1-2 good moments. What's worrying is that desire seems to have completely left him.

All footballers are humans and that is always taken into account. But he has also simply not been very good for quite a while. He is being played over a player who should or could be Everton's future. That is the manager's choice, of course... but then repay the manager's faith!

Moyes put his arm around him after the Villa match. I thought that would be the beginning of some sustained better form. I would love to have heard what was said.

I'd prefer Euros thanks

Rohl, Dibling, Armstrong or Alcaraz could all fulfil that role with more desire, purpose. Pace and threat now.

I'm not Patterson's biggest fan, but McNeil offered him nothing in that first half. No cover, no width, no runs down the line, nothing!

The whole right side is weak now Ndiaye is on the left again; McNeil exposes that even more.

Zero need for this negativity, it brings nothing. TW has morphed into a gambling advertising website which is unpleasant enough without the toxicity.

It's simply an opinion piece :) It's absolutely fair to disagree, but it was not meant to be a hit piece.

I have written several positive articles on this site, if you'd wish to read them.

I'm a fan of McNeil because I know he is better than he has played this season and he is still a young player. Some of the problem is he has hardly played this season, and yet only recently he had a good hand in the win v Forest away and came on as a sub in the home game against them, he was very good in that game.

Last week v Aston Villa, he had a decent game and his shot on goal provided the chance for Barry to add a brilliant touch to score that winner. If a certain player had made that shot, then it would have been as a great assist instead of being derided by a couple of posters as a weak shot and a poor save by the Villa ‘keeper.

Sorry, Patric, when I wrote my earlier post, I was thinking exactly what Peter wrote @13 but thought it had been written by Anjishnu who writes from India, I think

You definitely should know better as a committed Evertonian — that was a personal attack, to me, and out of order. If McNeil isn't sold in the next few days then Moyes will need and use him during the rest of the season.

He has had some good performances for us down the years, but all his weaknesses have taken over this year. Loses the ball, dribbles backwards, can't keep up with runners defensively etc.

He reminds me of Dele Alli, in that everything he had seems to have disappeared all at once. Maybe he also has some non-football things going on. If he does, my sympathies are with him, but at the moment, he shouldn't be getting game time.

Shaun # 16 - I would take Sterling no worries if we could cut a deal. He has pace and doesn't get injured and I reckon he has a couple of years left in him.

How many loans do we have left up our sleeve though?

Can he be any worse than McNeil or Dibling, knowing us, yes.

People have short memories. We bought McNeil when we didn't have a pot to piss in. When fit and having a run of games, the lad can play.

McNeil did stink the house out on Monday. Do people think he decided to play inside and try to condense play on his own? Or was he playing to orders from the manager who picks the team and formation?

Moyes could have taken Mykolenko off at half time and played McNeil as a wing-back — he wouldn't have looked any worse than our left-back.

You have had more than a few of late. Keep it going.

I have said to my mate, on many occasions, that every time McNeil has played this season, he has been lethargic and non-productive. Yet, I couldn't believe how he was getting selected over others with a better attitude and ability.

Is Patric a pseudonym for Anjush? The AI boy? I thought Patric was a credible poster until now.

Can you provide me/us with a link where Kinnear directly says this unequivocally? Now, I'm sure that it is there but I just want to see it for reassurance.

Peter, you mention Dwight's ‘very testing personal circumstances'; Patric (15), you refer to the blind-bleedingly obvious but no less important for that, ‘All footballers are humans and that is always taken into account'.

Strangely, I cannot recall who, but I definitely remember reading a recent post in which someone said that ‘circumstances' are not relevant when it comes to evaluating a player and his performance.

I'm glad that you agree with me and I think it was Tony-A, an actual professional footballer, that this view of the irrelevance of ‘circumstances' is, quite frankly, utter garbage.

The second article Patric posted today on -- yawn -- what does Calvert-Lewin's departure mean for us now has been written twice before on these pages (might be once, to be fair, might be three times) and it is, quite frankly, arguably an opportune attempt to squeeze out a few posts.

A thread put up by Anjishnu today has attracted exactly no responses so far.

It is inconceivable that this could have happened say two years ago, when we got one considered article a day, if we were lucky, and sometimes went a couple of days without one. I know which one of these modus operandi I prefer...

This lack of activity/updates is somewhat unprofessional and borders on indifference or disrespect or both.

Can't find it now though in News Archive and a search for Angus Kinnear surprisingly yields no results. Methinks it's not only the Edit button that's wonky.

I beleive this is it Paul.

Another thing that's wonky, this comment window doesn't allow me to paste text that I copied from the above article.

FYI, if you right-click you should be able to paste anything in this response window. Not sure why you hit a snag but it usually works fine.

Hearing powerful words like this just makes me think Angus is just another version of Marcel Brands saying things like money can make you lazy.

So yeah, Kinnear did say there is a phase two coming. He won't have written that himself, it'll have been the PR team. They need to tone down the style.

I see Keith Wyness (yes, I know) is predicting that a deal for Grealish will definitely get done in the summer.

TFG do not get us. Full stop. They try, bless. They search for the right expressions, but 'COYB' or 'respect tradition' just sound hollow, rehearsed, and practised.

Apparently, Saint Daniel the Absent is, as a poster said with his 'guarantee', 'falling for us'. When asked for his source, a link, or evidence, said poster ignored multiple requests and was silent like Saint Daniel the Absent.

I don't believe a single word that comes out of whatshisname's mouth, except that they will do little or nothing this window. Anyone who takes his words about the summer is at this point the gullible elderly person in the studio audience who claps along like a puppet when asked to clap by the fella with the board.

Let's see what happens. We need new players in this window, not next, and if these Yanks and their co-opted flock knew anything about who we are and what we need, they would take action.

The alternative is what some think will be cruise-control to the end of the season. They might be right. Let's see.

Another interpretation: Saint Daniel the Absent, who really enjoys going to Roma games, will, like Kenwright, treat us as his train-set or one more 'franchise' to play off against others -- I hate that fucking Yank meaning/word, just like 'offense', 'roster', or 'dude'.

TFG have backed Roma with a splash of cash this window. They have done fuck all for us so far... and don't give me 'well first season'.

The to me lemmings who put faith in -- what is his fucking name -- and his mouth and believe that it is the literal truth appear desperate and sordidly gullible to some -- less so on the right side of the Atlantic.

Me? I really hope that they are right.

(Interesting that according to Whatshisname, there never was a plan for the January window. Did you watch the first half against your beloved Leeds, soft lad?)

A similar article could have been put up about 7-8 of our players after the Leeds match. Most of our players stunk the gaff out. I think whoever penned this piece is simply scapegoating.

The accusation that a player didn't try is just about the worst one that can be levelled

I don't believe that in 99 per cent of times, footy players do not 'try'. It does not work out, perhaps, or they are not good enough, but they try. I thought that McNeil was shite v Leeds but I believe that he tried. He was one of six or seven of our lads who were first-half shite and could have been subbed.

I was hoping that it would be Tarkowski for Branthwaite, Gana for Dewsbury-Hall, and McNeil for Dibling... Dwight was just one of six or seven shite players in that unforgivable first 45 minutes.

Patric's submissions are sent via email and Anjishnu then loads to site. He would have just missed changing the user name on initial post.

Paul @34,

I'll chase the edit button fix (again). Unfortunately it's out of the hands of the posters you see on here and the MoveUp tech are stretched across 10+ sites. I can assure you the request is not being ignored.

Your obsession with Mike Gaynes is getting really creepy.

The squad lacks power and pace. Until this is addressed, we'll just trundle along as we are.

If 'obsession' means responding to and not forgetting some of the stuff that Gaynes posts on here, then guilty. On the other hand, instead of giving subsiding ballast to incorrect posts, tell us what you think, newbie, instead of croaking out one-line fluff.

I'm all ears, Devvers, come on, try and write more than a single line and jump on board and add your powerful voice to what I criticise in Gaynes. Go on, lad.

My erm 'guarantee', far more true bred blues are in my conversation. I hear from them every day. Go on lad, say something meaningful. I dare you.

Nearly every post I read of yours on here is spittle-flecked anger -- directed at TW writers, TFG, other posters… it gets tiresome scrolling through it.

Maybe try chilling out a bit. Do breathing exercises. Something, anything.

Again, say something that matters and is meaningful, that I can reply to. Respond to the question(s) I asked of you. Be meaningful. I believe in you, I don't want to think of you as another light wind-up merchant.

I truly believe that you have something substantial to say about the Gaynes agenda rather than ad hominem pinpricks.

Go on, lad. You have substance.

Your developing obsession with coming on a footy website and never talking about footy, is what's really creepy.

If you've got anything to say about the game, the club, the manager, or anything else to do with Everton, say it.

Who knows what would happen if you ever talk about Everton? Mine may not be the only response you ever get on here.

But if you are going to continue with your idiotic attempts to snipe at other posters from the sideline, you can forget any ideas of ever getting any more.

I roll my eyes with disappointment and say a swear word whilst shaking my head whenever McNeil is selected as he will disappoint 9 times out of 10. However, I feel singling him out for a full article is unfair.

The needle on the drossometer (as someone described it a few days ago) was smoking in the red at half time against Leeds and it wasn't all down to him.

If I cast my mind back, then I could write the same article thousands of times about Everton players from mad Bernie Wright up to Niasse.

I find this a little unfair on the lad.

Me too.

A pointless article that can do nobody any good.

Love that Ray. But why start with Bernie and end with poor old Oumar? Henry Stanley Buck from the1909 squad was pants, and we did have Jack Harrison.

I'm not sure what you mean by a “developing obsession” when I've only posted a couple of times, but yeah, you crack on mate.

And you having a go at someone else on here for “sniping” at other posters? That is really quite special. My advice to Paul Griffiths is the same to you -- you can't keep thinking you can steam into other posters with angry, personal insults and then clutch your pearls if it's flagged up to you.

Like I said, do some yoga or take beta blockers -- just drop the angry keyboard hardman routine. It's beyond tedious.

As for Everton? Patric's right -- McNeil couldn't be arsed the other night -- hugely at fault for their goal. He needs moving on. There. Boom!

Read article re McNeil. My ignorance, but was he once good? Hope any movement in transfer window doesn't bring in a player who was once good but suspect it may, as aren't they the kind of players sold in January?

I agree that McNeil should only play central if at all, but as I mentioned earlier, only if Dewsbury-Hall, Alcaraz, Dibling or Rohl are not fit to play.

Going forward now, assuming a fit squad, Dewsbury-Hall should be in the middle with Ndiaye to his left and Dibling to his right. Garner and Rohl behind them, Barry up top.

I can understand McNeil being used on the left if there's no option -- for example, when Ndiaye was at Afcon and Grealish was out, but Dwight should not be anything now but a squad filler.

On saying that, I truly hope he rams those words down my throat on Saturday if he does play a part.

I agree with your points on McNeil 100%.

Another post expressing your anger and tedium? You've posted half a dozen times to say that?

Try developing an opinion instead of this attention seeking daft-arsed obsession and you may be taken seriously.

In the meantime... See ya!

'You can't keep thinking you can steam into other posters with angry, personal insults and then clutch your pearls if it's flagged up to you'.

Here's a challenge for you, Devvers. Give an example, on this thread, of Darren or I 'steaming into other posters with angry, personal insults.'

Go on, I believe in you.

'The angry keyboard hardman routine'. I believe that you can give us quotes on this thread to back this up. Just do it, Devvers. I don't want to think of you as tedium. Sadly, your suffering icon Gaynsey might not be thrilled by your 'support' as plastic and inarticulate as it is. It's a bit like Kristi Noem and Donald.

Say something substantial about issues and questions. For the third time now, I dare you. Give me something about Everton that I can respond to. I would just hate to file you under K.

Seriously, as a professor and writer, I am busy. You have one last chance for me to respond to something meaningful on issues raised or fuck it, you're done, no more words.

No more words, Devvers, FYI, were the last words ever written by Americas's, imo, greatest ever short story writer, Raymond Carver. Try the collections 'What We Talk About When We talk About Love' or 'Cathedral'.

I think it's probably right to wait till summer, but our recruitment team need to do better than last summer. I believe we have the nucleus of a good side well capable of European football, but we do need goal-scoring additions and some pace added to the side.

Ndaiye is a wonderfully gifted player... I just wish we could get him more central, as his ability to go past players is there for all to see. I just wish we could get him into a situation where he only has to beat one man on the edge of the box, which would give him a better goal return.

I am at a loss to know what we do with young Dibling. In all his appearances, we haven't even seen a glimpse of what he showed while at Southampton. I know he is young but I have seen a lot of youngsters have more of an impact than Tyler has in the 6 months he has been here.

It's obvious his confidence is low and maybe the fee paid and the expectation that came with that has also contributed to his slow start. I am sure the coaches are working extremely hard with him to help him reproduce the form he showed at Southampton.

I think getting this lad playing again is far more important than what we do with McNeil, who will probably leave in the summer.

Your conclusion was also spot on. McNeil has lost motivation, his commitment has dropped, and his quality is questionable. If Grealish had not been injured, I would have tried to move him on this month. Regardless, he cannot be a starter.

He might be good enough for relegation-threatened squads, but no team in the Top 10 of the Premier League would buy him.

It is quite funny... (Your detailed fantasy about Mike Gaynes in a cheerleader's outfit the other day was quite disturbing though).

Like I keep saying to both of you, try breathing exercises. It works wonders, curing angry, self-appointed gatekeepers.

That's what usually happens when a player gets mullered on here.

There's a decent player in there. I think he looks unhappy with playing in a position he is not suited to.

Okay, you can't down tools though, you have to get on with it... but I think that's the trouble, his best position is not where he is getting picked.

If you sell, you have to find a player as good or better; it's not that easy.

I have little faith in Kinnear's ventriloquist formatted December words. We might well need -- with potential summer outgoings: Ndiaye, Beto, Keane, Tarkowski, Mykolenko, McNeil, Patterson, Iroegbunam -- a dozen new players.

No way on earth do I trust Saint Daniel the Absent and our crack recruitment team to do the job after last summer's first team squad B- window. No way. I hope I’m wrong. I really do.

Best check that taser in case he turns up at your house.

I think you are correct in saying TFG will not be signing any players in this window but they are showing their manners with “Ladies before Gentlemen” — they have signed two for the women's team.

I think in the case of Dibling, we should use an old-fashioned remedy to get him going — a good hard kick up the arse! Because, at the moment, he looks like he's got the making of a fine big lazy so and so!

You and I are old enough to remember some players who might have had more than just a stern word on the training ground with Tyler Dibling.

Obviously he showed plenty of potential at Southampton, and I was honestly excited when we signed him. But he has showed nothing so far... and Moyes plays him or McNeil against Brighton -- what a choice.

I know when he was younger, Dibling moved from Southampton to Chelsea but went back after a few months with homesickness being the cause. Now, for professional footballers, they become nomadic during their careers so it's something Tyler will have to get over if he is to be successful.

That peak isn't very high but it was decent, especially more centrally. He has a shot on him (provided it's his left foot) and is not afraid to try his luck. That earned us a goal recently.

But overall, his performances are seriously underwhelming. The picture in my head is, when the ball goes past him, his head goes down (literally, not metaphorically) as he tries to get up a bit of speed. He chugs, not runs.

Dynamic he is not... and in a side that lacks that quality, his presence conspires to make us look even more lethargic. His value is impacted by the fact we have a wide choice of Number 10s, probably his best position, that all offer more than he does.

The stock of players in wide positions (full back and wide forwards) is parlous and has been for years. Dibling has been entirely underwhelming and has been disinterested but rather as with Barry, I think we have to take the plunge and give him an extended run, and hope he shows steady improvement with a little bit of love (as Barry has been doing to be fair). His ceiling is certainly much higher than McNeil's and we just have to make £40M players work.

I asked as I went to school with a John Collins, a very good footballer and a good blue to boot.

As for Dibling, he needs space to show off his strengths but it#s not easy on the wings when two stack up against him. I see him driving forward through the middle in the future and causing havoc.

That will raise eyebrows and maybe a chuckle or two but remember he is still so young, and compare with Grealish and Ndiaye when they were 19, patience is needed!

This article is nonsense. It's assumed knowledge and conjecture from beginning to end. Or as much of it as I could be bothered to read.

Years ago, everything was Earl Barrett's fault, more recently Michael Keane... and now it's McNeil's turn. If a player has a loss of form, by all means point it out, but a character assassination is infantile.

"A very good footballer"

Thats deffo not me, mate. I asked as I wanted to ask what the ratio of Blues was in St Helens nowadays.

I worked up there many years ago, seemed to be a split of Man Utd and Liverpool fans mainly.

Being honest, Joe Royle bought Earl Barrett and told us he had a Rolls-Royce engine. Earl was a decent full-back but didn't have the other parts to go with the engine.

With Michael Keane, we've had over eight seasons to make our minds up about his over all value. McNeil hasn't had a good season but was hardly played in the first months of the season.

On Monday, most of the team looked lethargic to say the least in the first half. including Moyes watching and doing nothing except looking exasperated and Irvine looking fed up listening to him.

I suspect fans back then didn't bellyache over the point, as they do now.

Sorry but the OP is way off the mark here. McNeil isn't a brilliant player, but that's why he's a squad player

Without him, we'd have been playing Dibling every week and he's a dreadful footballer. I know he's young but his attitude looks awful to me.

Joe Royle was asked in his after-match interview why he thinks Earl was dismissed by the referee and he answered dead pan 'for heavy breathing' and exited right.

End of interview.

Just scroll past the posts and say nothing. It's easier that way.

Dwight McNeil has (always had) his limitations but I agree with those who believe he is always trying to do his best.
He does, unfortunately, have an awful habit of literally allowing his head to drop when he is obviously struggling which doesn't help him project a positive and combative demeanour.

The whole team looked a world away from the one that faced Villa 8 days before. It would be fascinating to see how different (or not) their match-day preparation was for those matches.

John Collins @78, my turn to wonder if I know you -- did you work for SVC in London in the late 90s?

It's down to Moyes to get a tune out of players. McNeil probably has 300 Premier League appearances so that should tell you he is a Premier League player. Play to his strengths and he can contribute.

I know Dibbling has looked lost but what role did he play for Southampton? He certainly wasn't asked to defend or run around like a loon.

As a club, we aren't buying the finished product. We need to coach and develop players -- that's where the coaching staff earn their money.

We have an average group of players. McNeil is one of our more productive players since he arrived. I know that's not saying much.

I can't wait until Keane is back in the team -- that will boil Patric's piss... or whoever is submitting the articles.

No mate, I worked in London in the 80s but not for SVC

I was chatting to Peter Beagrie one time and asked him what he thought of Earl Barrett.

His response was instant and sharp "He is shite".

Sterling has not played in any competitive football for 8 months.

Get him in now he should be match fit by end of March

He is utterly unable to do this Mr. Carr, as his entire raison d'etre is to stick his head in where it is not needed to get a reaction.

A better response Jimmy, might be to ask to PD to say something about Everton.

He was a decent enough signing, scored some big goals but his only attribute is his left foot, his right is for standing on only, he can't head a ball, he's got zero pace, infact he's one of the slowest players we've ever had.

If you want to progress as a club you need better more dynamic players than the likes of McNeil and Mykolenko, they were Dyche type players, they were players just to do enough to keep you up.

But, as poor as McNeil has been lately I don’t think Dibling has done any better.

Ndiaye plays mainly on the right - Senegal had him hugging the right touchline - and I don’t think I’ve ever seen Dibling play left, so for the time being, until we bring in a replacement for Grealish, I think for balance, Moyes will stick with McNeil.

Hopefully it’s a temporary loss of form and fitness and Dwight will come good again soon, but the writing seems to be on the wall as far as his Everton place is concerned.

Until he moves on though, we should get behind him with the rest of the team.

Dibling must be a better player than the one we are watching,the player we are watching doesnt look to get on the ball as much as he should be,looks intimidated by it all tbh.

Playing on the right as a predominately left footed player means he, more often than not,checks back onto his left foot and mostly takes the easier option of going square or back.

I would like to see him play wide left with instruction to get the cross in earlier.

I advocated McNeill playing high up the pitch centrally last season,his best position imo,there are a couple ahead of him for that position there though.

I don't think hes got the game as a track back wide man

In typical Everton fashion we did the same thing a month later away at Leicester and blew a 2 goal lead to end up drawing 2-2.

It was Barrett and Horne(?) against Newcastle, Ferguson and Samways against Leicester. I watched both games on the Jumbotron or whatever it was called at Goodison.

I hope I’m wrong but I can see him moving back south as soon as he can.

One suggestion was for him to bring his family up here.

No idea if that would work, but worth a go as its not working for him at the moment.

First thing we need to do is stop the moaning at the game when the kid, or indeed any of our young players, lose possession.

Any confidence he has, and it doesn't look like he's got much, will evaporate

100% definitely should have taken the shot on, whether with left or right foot.

Confidence issues again mate?

He needs time on the pitch, probably best away from the pressure of the HD.

Meanwhile, get him rooming with that young Aznou lad. He certainly wasn't lacking confidence when he came on briefly in the cup game.

I just hope he shows the same when he next gets the chance, which I personally am eagerly awaiting.

Love a player who's first thought is to play forward