Hopeless defending drops Everton into bottom 3

He then perseveres with it against poorer opposition and ditches it against better opposition.

Our team is better than everyone on Amazon is saying. No one gives us a chance. Obviously not even klipperty. Bows the time for us to prove everyone wrong. If that doesn’t motivate you, what will?

I for one believe the words of Sidibe earlier this week. A pro sports person relishes these sorts of challenges, a chance to pit yourself against the very best. A chance to become a lifelong hero in 90 minutes.

Tonight is the night.

We can be heroes, even if it is just for one day.

Get it done, Blues.

I’d love to beat these tonight!

Would it be too much to ask to spoil the love in? Surely we all deserve a break?!

I hope I eat these words, the Moshiri - WTF?

Moyes in tomorrow then.

Defence is shot to pieces...Why not put Moise on, their defence has nothing to do?

It’s a practice match.

A Board of dithering buffoons and a team of weaklings, mental and physical.

We had serious chances to make a game of this and we have bottled it and melted (what a shock).

They can all fuck off.

Apparently not Steve. What a shower of shithouses these players are, the club a total laughing stock from top to bottom.

It’s worth watching to see who has the pride to keep fighting and so who we can keep from the wreckage of Silva’s Everton.

That defensive set up is just dreadful, non-league standard. The players look like they're absolute strangers. Woeful. Woeful.

Depressing.

COYB - ignore the idiot in the dugout and play with some pride and get something from this game.

If we had a terrible team I could take this. But we don't, we actually have more technically proficient footballers than we usually take to Anfield. 2 goals isn't to be sniffed at.

But we can't do the absolute basics. Nowhere near it.

That's the manager and he needs a miracle in this half to save his job.

Klopp has clearly done his homework. Against this Everton, a nominal back five or a flat back four, with the 'midfield' it has in front of it, guile, possession, ground passing through us from back to front is not necessary.

Land the ball in the right area from a long ball to turn the Everton defence in the gap between our back line and the keeper, with runners coming on to the ball from deep, and you will score goals. With ease.

Personally, I perfectly understand why Sidibe was the one sacrificed. He was permanently in advance of our nominal midfield on virtually every play.

Having got back to 2-1 after the early double blow within 16 minutes, we needed to take the frenzy out of the game for a spell, but no. We were too gung-ho and were once again undone with a great long ball, supreme 1st touch and finish by the Ogre. Then to compound it, in trying to recycle the ball following our corner, Tom Davies is left with 3 men running at him with the inevitable result.

It's a near miracle that Richarlison's goal off a nice move sees as trailing by a mere two at the interval.

Make no mistake. The execution and weight of the Liverpool passing in creating their goals, the running, control and finishing is top, top draw. But Marco Silva and his tactics have been brutally, but brutally exposed tonight.

This could get very messy, or be very heroic.

Now, tonight, would be a really, really, but REALLY good time Marco to defy all the odds in finally breaking your awful record at Everton of never coming back to win a PL having conceded the first game.

It could be your very last chance to do so, should the 2nd half mimick the 1st half.

We take it lying down, time and time again. More successful teams don't accept it and the referees cave in. Not even a referral to VAR by the looks of things.

I know Tom Davies has had an injury, but the anonymous Sigurdsson stays on?

And yet our 'coach' substitutes Davies... we have good players. All of this... every single problem is down to the manager. He simply hasn't a fuckin' clue what he's at.

It’s gone on too long now and frankly the gap is bigger now than it’s ever been before.

As for the joke that is known as Everton, the laughing circus (our boardroom) should be really proud of this shite they’ve served up this season.

But hey ho, In Brands We Trust and all that bollox blah blah blah blah.

Silva is totally out of his depth.

Silva should be sacked before he leaves anfield. We are woefully poor at the moment.

The same mistake after the same mistake and nothing is changing or improving.

Then, when chasing the game, DCL, who might get on the end of a cross comes off, Schneiderlin, who should have been on when keeping it tight and who should under no circumstances ever be playing when chasing a game, comes on for the only midfielder who gets the ball and looks for a forward pass.

All this while the brilliantly scouted Iwobi stays on the field (have we ever wasted £30million this poorly) and Sigurdsson stays in the centre of midfield.

Silva hit on a formula against the better teams last season. This season he has persisted with it against the poorer teams and bottled it when he’s needed to play it.

This is the pits, and there's no chance of winning many games defending like this. It's Keystone Kops.

What happens next?

We should have been here with a temporary manager. That's on the powers that be.

We just might get relegated.

Pathetic.

Or do we have to endure anymore... absolutely pathetic!

That was a debacle. At least something has to change now. Again.

Silva has to go tonight. We must realise now that we are in a horrible dogfight. People mocked and hounded Allardyce when he concentrated on defence with shit players. Now we need to do exactly that again, to save our lives and to re-build after more wasted years.

What a fucking awful night, what a fucking awful club we've become.

When he's sacked in the morning, keep Kenwright out of any future candidates.

So we move on. Survival is now our priority. We do have some shite on our books, though. I hope that the new coach has the backbone to make sure that some of them are never first choice again.

Luckily for you, there doesn't seem to be an alarm clock in the boardroom.

Should have been sacked latest October and another manager put in weeks ago. Instead as usual we’re reactive rather than proactive and now in the shit proper.

Result today absolutely predictable.

We fans pay the price by enduring yet another year of tortured hope.

Thanks.

Marco should have been dismissed weeks ago.
I no longer feel anything but pain.

We're stuck with the wreckage of this squad, and the problems are very evident. Namely the keeper (who has nearly conceded as many goals as saves he's made). The centre-backs and the midfield. Most of the problem players being ones from Walsh's regime: Pickford, Keane, Schneiderlin, and Sigurdsson. Pickford might be one we can sell, he's got a high enough profile, but the others we are stuck with, their wages are far too high. Walcott comes into the same bracket.

Davies, Holgate and Calvert-Lewin are not the problem, they're all cheap and can just be eased back into the reserves if the new manager doesn't rate them.

Moshiri will not hesitate now, but the answer better not be Moyes. Unsworth can buy us some time and lift the gloom for Chelsea, he's won every Premier League game at Goodison Park. Time for Brands to show some leadership and sort this mess out.

The weird thing now is how little the manager is getting out of a lot of good players. Compared with the utter crap our first 11 has been at times, this lot just don't make anything of the sum of their parts.

Liverpool have some outstanding players but they also have some ordinary ones who know their roles, work hard, move the ball quickly and move well off the ball.

Put Mane in our side and he'd have no one to pass to and he wouldn't get the ball back. That's management. Time for a change.

Under Moyes we only needed a couple of players and we were at least on par with them.

3 years of Moshiri and we need 15 now.

Kieran we bought relegation fodder mate. Half a side from the bottom half.

We don't even deserve to play in derbies and no manager is making shit players better.

Until we do a complete rebuild of the entire organization, root and branch, led by a smart owner with a plan – like Man City, Liverpool and others – we will not reach the top.

Silva and the entire Everton backroom coaching staff need to be fucked off out of the club. Rotten to the core.

We can stay up. The time for action is now.

I fucking hate it but that's the model of a club for us. Imagine that system but with our fans instead of their gang of bellends.

I agree SIlva is gone, and I also really hope Moyes isn't brought in to replace him. He's yesterday's man.

I'd say HK III team were equally bad but that lot were brought in on a shoestring literally. Farrelly, Oster, O'Kane etc were kids and no one was thrown to the lions. This lot are multi-millionaires.

Agree with getting Kenwright the fuck out of the boardroom tho.

Let's not over-react. The last overreaction saw us waste £10m+ on Allardyce, and £50m+ on Tosun and Walcott. Let Brands sort the mess out. Otherwise may as well sack him, and he's not even been able to appoint his own manager.

Steve said Silva needs to go. But he is correct in that this group have failed Koeman and him so it's not as easy as bringing in Mr X and suddenly we are good.

Moshiri has fucked this club. Before he came, we were competitive; now, we are a joke. Well done, Mr Moshiri.

I don't think Marcel Brands should get a free ride either - he's supposed to be the man with the plan.

Who can save this season? I think we have a greater need for a Fat Sam type than 2017-18. I didn't really believe we could go down then but I do now!

He was onto a hiding for nothing and his cards are marked but credit where it’s due, he did his best tonight and it was the players’ decision making, not his, which let us down tonight.

There is a desperate need for 2 midfielders in the January window or relegation is a certainty.

We go from good squad (couple of quality we are flying) to bad squad then repeat the cycle. Always.

None of this current squad is fit to lick the boots of say a Tim Cahill or a Fellaini type player.

Our defence ambles around pathetically like poets lost in the Alps whilst I’d seriously consider a psychological check up for our potentially ADHD goalkeeper.

Our midfielders are the worst I’ve ever seen, bunch of powderpuff weaklings and nonexistent nobody’s.

Our strikers?

Can we just define the word striker and see what it means?

We don’t possess a single Premier League quality striker at this club two years after selling Lukaku.

I agree with whoever it was who said we won't win another derby in half a century. LFC have set up a commercial and sporting machine that is generations ahead of our tinpot operation.

But as others have noted, the spine of the team is... spineless. It's hard to see anyone having too much success until that and the coaching staff are rectified.

Sheesh, give me strength.

Silva set his team up poorly.

His substitutions were poor.

He is poor.

No credit, none due

Calvert Lewin, Statue Sigurdsson (is a statue quicker?) Michael Keane commanding 😂 clumsy Mina. Sidibe thinking he is playing with his mates in the park.

What a fucking load of shite we have.

Sack the fucker do not bring in that other fucker Moyes you bunch of fuckwits

A fucking disgrace

Let's get to the truth of the situation.

By the end of this month the club MUST locate a hardman to manage the playing staff who will not be rolled over by anyone and have no favourite players or play them because they are the highest wages earners.

They must bring a set of sound football principles and have good in game management.

Their goal is get to mid table and stay there till the end of the season.

You're right, our players are the biggest problem, but the idea that we can just go out and buy a new defence in the January sales and everything will be good just doesn't sound credible to me.

Randy Lerner on steroids. The steroids bit taking into account the TV money and his collateral.

Rush jobs often go wrong. Especially when the players you lose are not replaced with at least equal quality.

Every man and his dog knew we needed to buy Zouma and Gomes to stand still.

Kenny, our board is far too savvy to bring Moyes back in, we'd never do that, at least not while Mike Walker is available!

Please let us not have any patronising shit from the PR department for a while.

You hope in vein, it wasn’t sarcasm.

How would you have set the team up and what substitutions would you have made in the circumstances?

Yeah sure it does, and I shit gold bricks every day!!

Let's hope it's just Silva being the worst manager ever, like you seem to think he is, because we will suddenly rocket up the table with no new signings. If it's the players more than him, then we need to hope we can tread some water until the window opens and we can get reinforcements in.

He, I believe, is the man to pu a bit of fight back in the Toffees.

Lots of different systems, strategies, formations or whatever you want to call it and Equally as inept.

And why would they respect him?

Every decent potential manager we want will have seen our inherent weaknesses exposed tonight along with the world.

We are going to find bringing in the right man tough unless there is mucho money on the table.

Anyone who has ever played football understands the team with the best players wins football matches, not tactics alone. Poor recruitment is the sole reason why we are in the position we are in.

I feel sorry for Silva as it is blatantly obvious we have zero talent amongst our ranks. Digne and Ricarlison are the only two players I would take going forward; the rest aren't good enough and that's scary.

We need 2 midfielders as well. We cannot just wait and hope Gomes and Gbamin get back fast. Delph cannot be trusted. We can't rely on our 4th and 5th choice midfielders.

Survival depends on a new manager who knows how to organise a defence followed by January recruitment of a proper CB, two midfielders and a forward who knows where the goal is. Anything less and we go down - we are in a relegation battle with no battlers in the side.

Our defence was awful but the reality is they’re miles clear at the top of the league and we’re in the relegation zone.. The pass for their first goal was absolute class. At least we attacked and created chances, unlike previous eras.

Probably no way back for Silva now but I’d actually leave him there for Chelsea in the absence of a ready replacement or Moyes/Unsworth getting it.

We will still be in the Prem. next season fear not, I cant say I'm getting much comfort from that though because the best we can hope for is 8th-ish.

That will definately have a knock on effect.

So they expect fans to still pay the same for highly likely Championship football?

I’ll tell you one thing the club are going to have a tough time shifting anymore than 10 or 15,000 this time.

Evertonians loyalty is not a bottomless pit.

We have been had off by the lying blaggers on the board and the masquerading puffs that are the players for far too long, no more.

Oh yeah, and Marcel, did you see any “Fire in the players eyes” tonight mate?

The reason for a new 4 year contract now is to hike his value.

I reckon he's going to Utd or Spain.

The £100m will fund the Silva compensation, new manager costs and then probably £85m spare for 3 players and perhaps a loan.

Who wants their bosses casting a presence over them like that!

171 comments already. I'm sure zero are positive.

When TW lights up, something has to happen. He's got to go by tomorrow a.m., replacement or not.

Make no mistake. The execution and weight of the Liverpool passing in creating their goals, the running, control and finishing is top, top draw. But Marco Silva and his tactics have been brutally, but brutally exposed tonight.

Yup. In the worst, most nightmarish way. And to rub salt in the wound, he did nothing about it at all. Still played a high line. Three or Four at the back, you'd figure he'd see that we were getting torched with the long balls and played deeper. But nah, why would he do that?

Disgusting.

"Silva has a £50 million centre back pairing and two French International fullbacks plus England's No 1. Why the fuck can't he organise them into some sort of cohesive unit? "

They're just not as good as what we paid for them suggests... and perhaps also square pegs into round holes?

It was clear as day in the last three months of last season that Gueye and Zouma were our most consistent players and physically in most games they handled opponents quite well.

We lost Zouma didn’t replace his athleticism and end up going back to Mason “no muscle” Holgate, the skinniest nark in history.

Keane plays like the QE2 and too often Mina is a bit like Bambi on ice.

Brands should have nailed this in the summer but totally screwed up.

Gueye, well selling him far too cheaply was pure One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest behaviour.

We are in a run of form so bad, worse than our dismal spell last winter, and it doesn't look like ending. We could well be on 14 points come January.

That is relegation form, that is real risk.

I have no idea who we should go for, but my god how this is miserable.

Our only decent players: Richarlison, Digne, and Bernard will probably be on their way.

Also, we need to send Sibide back... he's terrible, and bring back Kenny.

Or maybe a Bramley-Moore Dock stadium update from Colin Chong?

Anthony, playing too high a line repeatedly and getting caught conceding the same goal over and over and not adjusting the balance of the side to drop everyone a little deeper. Picking the wrong players, making the wrong subs. He's made plenty of mistakes and will have plenty of regrets.

What would big Sam or Moyes do? Stop the pressing game and keep it solid. Why can't Silva do it?

I’d say right now we are TOO BAD TO STAY UP!!

I want you all to be witnesses. I have been provoked beyond endurance. My responsibility is diminished.

That's the mortal sin.

Mr Silva, do the decent thing and resign, please!!

If anyone thinks we are too good to go down need to seek medical advice. It's a reality unless something changes quickly.

I would have set the team up (and posted this on one of the threads) in a similar 4-2-3-1 that we played at the back end of last season, that reverts to a 4-4-2 when defending.

Pickford
Sidibe (I said Coleman, forgot he was injured), Mina, Holgate, Digne
Richarlison, Schneiderlin, Davies, Bernard,
Sigurdsson, Calvert-Lewin.

I would not have defended high, I would have limited the space between midfield and defence, and similarly between defence and the keeper. Sigurdsson and Calvert-Lewin would have been pressing all day. Schneiderlin would have been sat in front of the centre backs offering protection. We would have had 2 wide players breaking when we turned possession over with the full-backs holding their position.

As for subs - Kean should have complimented Calvert-Lewin, not replaced him (Iwobi would have been the obvious choice). Schneiderlin is absolutely pointless if we are ever chasing a game, he should only ever be playing if we are protecting a result (which is why I think he should have started).

Silva, not for the first time, has simply thought “That team worked last time, so I'll play it again” without any regard for the opposition.

So, against Moshiri's wishes for Zaha, Brands wanted Iwobi, are they saying?

They are both dickheads if that is true then!

They never resign, they all wait to be sacked.

Silva would probably be throwing away £10m if he did that.

We'd stink out the Championship!!!

Are you saying that it's Brands that should be fired, not Marco?

That Baines, as old as he is, had to sit and watch that, Coleman too... the amateur defending of messers Keane, Holgate, Sidibe – each of them should never wear the shirt again. That Davies, the headless chuck, should be the ONLY player in midfield and not worthy of the Championship.. frankly on this seasons showing its hard to see any premiership players.

That's a ridiculous situation. It's clear that there have been a number of managers who have clearly failed at the club, but the reasons for that failure is not money, is not facilities – it's recruitment, a team building vision, non-replacement of key players. It's a failure of leadership. Shit flows down.

Changing another manager is another papering over the cracks, but we have no choice. As I said on anther thread a week ago we need steel off the pitch and steel on it. We no longer look like a team... we have a manager who knows his time is up. We have a board who are clueless.

We need some utter, ruthless bastards to sort this out, from top to bottom. I just hope to god we don't have to rebuild in the Championship.

We’ll be pointless against Chelsea and United and be very lucky to scramble a draw against Arsenal but their quality strikers Aubameyang and Lacazette will probably be the deciding factor to winning the game.

I can’t see where our next point is coming from let alone a win.

Injuries and not having signed players in key positions in the summer are hurting us. That doesn't excuse Silva for not having even begun to implement any recognisable style of play in his 17 months in charge.

Yes, the defenders he has are all limited in some way but there can't be any excuses for the total disorganisation in the unit. There are teams with much worse players than Everton who, collectively, know how to defend. To say we were at sixes and sevens - and not for the first time - would be too much of a compliment.

Sigurdsson is being played out of position and Davies can't do it all his own but, even so, there appears to be no coherent style to our possession or attacking moves. Liverpool are clearly a counter-attacking team who can rip through teams or go over the top. Man City are clearly a possession based team. Again, I acknowledge that we do not have the ideal set of players but Silva has had 17 months to demonstrate he is beginning to implement some kind of style, but there is simply no evidence for it.

Despite the injuries and our failure to effectively replace Gueye and Zouma, there are too many problems which are solely at the manager's feet to give him any more time.

In any other business he would go too.

Even when we get it right, we get it wrong. We've signed some good footballers - they're just not in the positions we need, or don't match the style we play.

We sack our manager for losing games, then hire a guy who has just been sacked for losing games.

We play 4-2-3-1(most of the time) but don't have a centre forward.

We lose midfielders to injury so we go to a 5-3-2 - putting more pressure on the remaining midfielders who aren't up to the job.

We sign fast wingers - then put a complete lack of pace and urgency around them.

We pick a big, strong defence - then play a high line with advanced fullbacks away to one of the fastest attacking teams in the league.

We're not just a laughing stock. We are THE laughing stock of the league.

I used to hate losing to that lot. Now I don't even care that it's Liverpool. We're playing a completely different game to them. They've never been more irrelevant to me.

No chance Farhad Moshit - era would allow that.

A school teacher of mine once said to me Everton would make an excellent 2nd division side, that was just a week or two before Adrian Heath had his magic moment at Oxford.

I then haunted this teacher with his remark while HK and the boys went on the rampage. Well If he's (my teacher) still alive I'm beginning to feel he knew something I didn't.

I don’t agree with everything you post, in fact nearly none of it but you make some great points about Everton’s midfield.

Silva predicted the loss of Gana would be catastrophic and, when he was given the opportunity by an interviewer at the end of the summer window to blame Brands and the board for not replacing him, he demonstrates his integrity by not doing so.

You’re right, he wanted Dacoure and Brands got him Gbamin.. and Delph just in case. Neither was adequate replacement for Gana and especially not in the context of losing the pace of Zouma whom Brand also failed to replace for the manager.

I’m backing you up here for balance.

That said he has had multiple opportunities to win or save points this season and he has failed abysmally.

At least they put a bloody shift in.

I just want to know if it's been discussed how bad he is.

Remember when a few were talking about how we gave up so few shots per game as if that were a good thing? That number stands at 61 total shots on target conceded, btw, or 4.1 per game. Sounds amazing, right?

Yeah, it would, except that Pickford's given up 27 goals, 1.8/game. Not so amazing when he basically gives up 1 goal per 2 shots.

That may be acceptable, in an end of season nothing match (I know there's no such thing in a derby game) when entertainment is more important than the result, but in the middle of a crisis, you batten down the hatches, make it hard for your opponents to break your back line and hope that you create an opportunity or two on the break.

Suicide football won't help Everton to pick up points, if they consistently allow opponents of any quality never mind the top sides to breach their back line with consumate ease. There's nothing wrong with pragmatism when it's necessary and right now it's neccessary.

The next three games will end the same as the last two if we continue to play 'open' football as the defence is ill disciplined, too nice and unable to keep their heads once any pressure is placed on them. As for the forwards they don't move as a unit and nobody can be relied upon to put the requisite percentage of chances to bed when they are created.

Of course there are some mitigating circumstances, particularly to key midfield players, but have they and would they make that much of a difference - if they were fit and available, Everton's results this season would indicate that the answer is no.

Tony Marsh said on the LF that Radio Merseyside reported that Silva has three games to save his job, how can that be so? Do the Board ever glance at the League Table?

Bill Kenwright will 'celebrate' his 20th anniversary as owner/Chairman on Boxing Day - I would suggest that should be the day when he stands down from his position and allows somebody else to lead the club, because despite his dedication to Everton for 30 - 40 years, Everton FC has had too many low points during his tenure.

Ironically despite Bill finding a benefactor who has thrown money at the club, we find ourselves in as poor a position on and off the pitch as most of us can remember and unlike previous occasions the fans are in turmoil and may not be able to find the strength of will to get this Everton team over the line - that would be catastrophic for the club, the owners and anybody with an interest in Everton Football Club.

Very sad night for Evertonians!

If Silva is still the manager when I wake up tomorrow (in Dallas, TX) I will become a Kopite. I cannot be more depressed about my beloved club than I am right now.

I have watched 'Howard's Way' twice this week. Without exaggeration, there are so many of the best days of my life contained in that movie. Winners all over the pitch, yes the tackling was somewhat agricultural at times but those were the days.

Oh to have a Peter Reid or Andy Gary character right now and I was opposed to both of those signings. That's why Howard was a genius. For anybody younger than 30, you really need to watch this movie as we are a million miles away from the glory days. 17th is looking good right now.

I’ve said more than once I honestly believ Pickford to potentially be ADHD.

I’ve watched him closely, his antics, his lacking in concentration and erratic decision making over the last 18 months and it’s worrying.

£30 million, really I mean I’m sure there were again cheaper alternatives for a goalkeeper that would have been doing an equal job to him.

Mark W, he clearly feels let down by the players and expects to be sacked.

Do people forget the results under Rhino?

3-0 loss at Lyon.

5–1 to Atalanta

4-1 to Southampton

2-0 at Leicester

We beat a Watford team 3-2 managed by Mr Silva when they blew a two goal lead.

The West Ham 4-0 win was partly down to the players wanting to impress Bisto Sam in the Main Stand.

Unsy is a lovely fella but his record was shite let’s face facts.

Everton are really in Crisis now, not just at Manager level, but at Director Football level and Board level.

They all deserve it, thinking the status quo, was going to keep them alright and continuing as they are accustomed to at Everton.

It ain't , and welcome to reality.

Everton are really in Crisis now, not just at Manager level, but at Director Football level and Board level.

They all deserve it, thinking the status quo, was going to keep them alright and continuing as they are accustomed to at Everton.

It ain't , and welcome to reality.

Link

Hopefully rock bottom has been hit tonight, but unless it is because Moshiri has become ruthless and already has a new man ready, then I can’t accept this, because we hit rock bottom at home to Norwich, and anyone who knows anything about Everton Football Club, already knew this.

I never watched the game tonight because I was committed to taking one of the kids to football, (he’s on trial) but even though I hate Liverpool, and hate losing against them, it just doesn’t seem as bad as it was when I left Goodison Pk ten days ago, on a day when Silva should have also left for good.

We need pragmatism, we need it quickly, then and only then will we recover, because it’s what Everton and their great fans, have always been built on the most?

Pickford has been pretty poor this season.

His continued kicking the ball out of touch.

His weakness on the Mahrez freekick and the one at Brighton.

He was poor at home to Sheffield United on both goals for me.

Going back to last season it’s very hard to erase the memories of the Anfield derby blooper and the Spurs game when he decapitated Kurt Zouma and then his madcap antics that cost us the game up at Newcastle.

Not a great keeper in my eyes and another big factor in why our defence is so jittery.

You would then say "Give him a chance".

Unsy is not entitled to this chance?

Going over there its vital to stop them scoring in the first 20 minutes, bodies should be put on the line to get this done. You can then grow into the game gain confidence and build upon this. Them spineless fuckers never managed 7 minutes.

I wouldn't bet on these players getting us out the mess they have go us into. The only thing these players will achieve is letting are loyal fans who spend a fortune following them down.

Who would be bothered if any of this squad were sold in January? There is not 1 player I would be devastated to lose.

Regardless of who is in charge that is a ordinary squad of players who I fear will take this Club down as they don't have the skill, desire or fight to win games of football.

However I reckon Robertson intentionally threw the elbow into the back of Davies head early on and TAA was also lucky not to see red.

Silva wants big strong defenders of at least 6'3". They have to be tall to play zonal marking. One has to be fast to cover for the other and one has to be decent on the ball to play out from the back. Preferably both can do both. The picture is Zouma.

Brands then sends all the scouts out, and remember we've got well over 100 scouts, all over the world, and he gets lots of calls off agents. Brands then gets a long list of the players on video and shows them to Silva and the ones that are liked are looked at closer. Brands will then sign the one who Silva agrees on. If they do the job properly they will both go and watch the player.

Brands does not just sign who he wants to sign and tells Silva to play him. The two have to work well together, and if they are not in tune you end up with a team that does not play the way the manager wants it to. You don't give Silva an off-road vehicle if he's a track driver and expect him to be quick off-road. That defence does not suit him. Between the two of them they made a serious error over the lack of centre-back and it's cost Silva his job. He should have adapted and changed his tactics, because we could not play the way we did last season and that was evident early on.

We have to back Brands though, let's see if he can learn from his mistakes and get the right guy in. But that means Kenwright and Moshiri need to stay out of it. The new manager must fit these players too.

All the talk of clear outs and signings we need to make, instead of using what we had and adding to gradually, has put us in this mess, orchestrated by immature managers who haven't a clue, backed by directors who are completely thick.

There has been two important signings that we have needed to make.
A replacement for Lukaku and a replacement for Gueye and we failed miserably.

Jags and McCarthy should still be here. We need them but they are gone. Baines should be playing so should Coleman.

The appointment of Moyes will seal our fate and if any of you think Moshiri and Kenwright are in anyway capable of organising a ground move you are out of your fucking mind.

We are dead, almost buried, we should have gone for Mourinho weeks ago (he has always had a soft spot for Everton). That ship has sailed and here we are in the bottom fucking 3 after spending millions.

Our club is a fucking wreck.

Unsworth has had his chance.

It was not exactly a roaring success and I doubt that results would greatly improve, as stated in my post look at the batch of results Unsworth achieved?

Defensively last time we were appalling.

It took Allardyce to come in and plug the holes and to be fair as dour as it was, I wish we could do that now.

Alas, there was little evidence of that tonight against a Liverpool side, who passed better, intercepted better, played for each other, had more desire. That was with five changes to their side.

It shows just how adrift we are from, where we constantly proclaim we should be, in the Premiership!

The Director of Football model is letting us down. For about the 4th season running, we have not ended up with the players we needed. Why have we still not got a centre forward for God’s sake?

On the pitch, as well as on the bench, we have an absence of leaders. Remember 12 months ago, when Klopp was doing cartwheels on the pitch, no one saw fit to tell him where to go. We were just there to take our medicine. Plucky old Everton. Compare that to when Mourinho went running down the wing at Old Trafford. Ferguson was jabbing a finger at him, letting him know it was out of order.

I would imagine many of us would have got a red card towards the end tonight. I’m not saying it’s clever, but it would show a level of passion and commitment that things hadn’t gone our way and that our emotion had boiled over while we were striving for a result. Just where are our leaders? We should have had a cast iron penalty. What would Mourinho have done in that situation? What would Man U or Liverpool players have done? We just carry on as normal. All hell should have broken loose! When was the last time we saw emotion from one of our players? I’m at a loss...

Replacing Silva is a sticking plaster on a gaping wound. We need to get rid of this Director of Football model, and bring in a manager who is going to recruit men. Players that will run through a brick wall for you. That means defenders and a keeper who will take it as an insult of you score against them. Midfielders who will run all day. And strikers who will battle and run all day long.

We are too nice. The likes of Schneiderlin, Sigurdsson and Walcott should never play for us again. The Directors of Football have recruited the wrong characters. Our team are lacking character. That’s why we never win away from home.

From top to bottom, the mentality is wrong.

"Vai te caralho, filho de puta!" was my beaming reply. Not difficult to work out, even without Google translate.

He had the good grace to laugh, rather than knife me (I live in Brazil's 3rd most violent city for murders).

OK. The little good that came out of the game. The second half wasn't as bad as it could have been, but wasn't as good as it might have been. I was hoping we could claim a moral raising 'draw' or even a 'win' in the 2nd half, but even that was not to be.

5-2 is as bad as it sounds. 54 years since they've hit five against us at Anfield.

We had 1-2 chances to grab a goal back ourselves, not least when Kean broke through.

But - spit! - Liverpool showed how much they have evolved - and continue to evolve - under Klopp.

In the 1st half they clearly played not to pass through us in midfield, but simply to go long and direct over the top of our high-pressing, but slow turning defence. And they had the players to execute the necessary pass, anticipation, control and finishing to make it work. It was brutal in its efficiency.

Having done the damage before the interval, in the 2nd half they managed the game well, better at retaining possession and passing through us, leading to better chances than we created.

Make no mistake. This is a very good side, well-drilled, well-prepared and capable of hurting far better sides than Everton currently is.

For me, one Everton player and one player only showed the necessary cojones for a Mersey Derby game tonight: step forward Tom Davies.

He was a tiger. Always seeking the ball. Always with the courage to attempt the forward pass, no matter how tightly marked he was or how limited was the space he had in which to play.

Silva got booed for taking him off and replacing him with Schneiderlin. I'm not going to be so quick to berate the manager for that one as many have.

The overwhelming majority agreed that just 3 days ago on Sunday Davies did most of the leg work in midfield and was running on fumes around the 70 minute mark and should have been subbed out. Steve Ferns reported he was also carrying an injury. But Silva kept him on to the end.

Now to me, tonight Tom looked really up for it and that pure adrenalin would have seen him through to the end. But I'm not privy to his numbers that might have shown it was risking injury to him if Silva kept him on. Plus, he was on a yellow card and still flying into challenges. So I'll give Silva a free pass on that one.

And it won't be popular, but Schneiderlin was OK when he came on. Holding position well and spreading the ball well. The biggest problem for me - as it was eventually against Leicester - was who shared the midfield roles with Davies, Iwobi and Siggy.

Iwobi simply doesn't like the grunge work and is almost non-existent in the tackle, or even just standing up to a player and making it difficult for him to go past him. Siggy is almost reduced to two ineffective ways of stopping a player - putting his arm across the chest of a player or pulling him back as he goes past him. It seldom works.

Silva will go very much sooner rather than later. But I don't subscribe to the view some are expressing that we have a very poor and spineless squad that requires wholesale changes.

The overwhelming majority of the players were at Everton last season when we closed out the season in style.

It is painfully obvious Silva has been unable to build on that 'success'. It doesn't follow that a new manager coming in cannot quickly organize and inspire better performances from the same players we currently have at the club.

Anyone seeking the familiar, a comfort blanket of the known such as a return of Moyes or Allardyce, is being regressive.

What we need is a manager with personality who stamps his authority on the club immediately.

They are out there. Moshiri and Brands - NOT Kenwright! - just have to convince one of them to come to Everton.

SOON!!!

I saw Carragher go back to Liverpool for sky tv, and although he had only been out of melwood for 18 months, you could just tell by the fella’s actions and mannerisms, that he half felt like an outsider, and the only person he looked genuinely at ease with was the canteen lady Steve.

This is what real professional means imo Steve, and that’s also just the tip of the iceberg Imo. Jamie C, thanks for that stupidity mate, it made me smile, and that’s something the fella you was alluding to could never make me do! Goodnight everybody and hopefully some better news starting tomorrow, even though I’m going to have nightmares over the thought of Moyes, more than losing to Liverpool, which just about sums it up for now.

Has anyone any ideas as to how he has faded so badly in just a few months, because 15 bad games is much more than a serious loss of form. And the more I see of Iwobi, the less I think he is the answer.

No surprises that we took a beating in which they started taking the piss in the 2nd half.
Probably their easiest game of the season.

Pickford had a mare for a couple of the goals. Iwobi again looked lost. The defence looked like statues, It's just too easy to score against us.

Surely to Christ even Jimmy the kit man could do a better job of motivating these multi millionaire under performers.

I wish I had a £ for every time someone mentions that Silva has to go but ffs he has to go.

I see Gallardo's odds are drifting and Moyes is the even favourite once more.

It was 2-1 at the time, and it would've altered the game. A horrible season, no luck with injuries or with VAR, it's hard not to detest this fucking game.

Seriously Jay, something has got to be sorted and soon, otherwise the unthinkable will be a reality.

Jim Bennings re. Unsworth... let’s get some perspective.

He never had more that 3 or 4 days between matches. He took over a team that was in free fall and hadn’t won away in the best part of a year. The games you mention...
Lyon - expected loss - we lost
Leicester - expected loss - we lost
Atlanta - dead rubber
Southampton - fair enough but badly let down by senior pros.

You fail to mention...
Chelsea 2-1 with 2 x 18 year olds in centre midfield
Palace 2-2 away from home
Watford 3-2 victory
West Ham 4-0 victory.

League performances - played 5, won 2, drew 1 lost 2. After 15 games that would equate to 21 points.

If you want to slate Unsworth - pick on his whole reign and not just some carefully selected statistics please.

I’ll tell you what has happened to Sigurdsson. He scored 14 goals last season, but he was shite. Take his 14 goals out of the equation and the games passed him by. Now and again, he would make a cute pass or score a good goal, and people would be drooling. Don’t be fooled by the stats. He ran around a lot, never getting past 3rd gear, and got the odd goal and assist, but his play was poor.

This season, he is simply replicating what he did last year, but he is having a goal drought.

His general play has never been good enough since he’s been at Everton.

I reckon (not my choice) that we will see Moyes on a short term contract with someone like Cahill (or Phil Neville?) brought in alongside to appease fans

He is the luxury player that needs workers and legs around him. Due to our centre midfield being reduced to the worst I have ever seen, I don't envisage his form returning any time soon.

Brands appears to have been naive in that he took the Director of Football job, knowing that the Manager he had to work with was selected by other parties. Brands did come in a week earlier than the start of his contract to meet Silva and then it was announced Silva was appointed.

I take it the fact that Brands contract had not started he had no official say in the appointment, though his opinion was sought. This was also a naive situation to get himself into, since he was drawn into responsibility for the appointment, by Moshiri at short notice.

Brands then as you say went about his duties as Director of Football, but then he was appointed to the Board, which gave him more responsibilities without the power, or maybe the will on his part to change the footballing structures within Everton, which need changed. Brands appears to changes things in relation to his Director of Football role, but nothing in relation to his Director on Board ro!e.

The crux now has come, that Everton need a new Manager, but Brands and the rest of the Board have not prepared for this situation occuring. Cuco hasn't even been talked too.

It's as if they set out a plan and never thought it may not work out, with the appointed Manager.

I saw Davies try to make things happen. Iwobi might have had a bad game but he tried to get on the ball, Richarlison dropped deeper a couple of times and tried to play a pass or two. Sigurdsson just does not seem to try. And he's the captain!

Thanks for taking the time to respond so fully.

I’ll just answer your points (paraphrasing them in-so-doing) rather than go into chapter and verse to back up my original assertion.

4-2-3-1 / 4-4-2 when defending.

Pickford
Sidibe (I said Coleman, forgot he was injured), Mina, Holgate, Digne
Richarlison, Schneiderlin, Davies, Bernard,
Sigurdsson, DCL.

I’m not sure Bernard is fit to play 60-90 mins yet but regardless, I think playing the 4-2-3-1 with Sigurdsson in #10 has been exposed as a busted flush. You will argue that it worked against the better teams who have plenty of possession and I would counter that Liverpool aren’t one of those types of teams.

I would not have defended high, I would have limited the space between midfield and defence, and similarly between defence and the keeper. Sigurdsson and DCL would have been pressing all day. Schneiderlin would have been sat in front of the centre backs offering protection. We would have had 2 wide players breaking when we turned possession over with the full backs holding their position.

I do concede that you would mitigate Liverpool’s counter-press but I just find it negative and reactive at a time when he’s still searching for his best side / way to play with the new squad he (/Brands) assembled. Your system makes sense in the same way Allardyce’s systems made sense but it doesn’t move the agenda forward.

As for subs - Kean should have complimented DCL, not replaced him (Iwobi would have been the obvious choice).

I disagree. DCL offered nothing and Iwobi is the only player in the side who can receive the ball ‘between the lines’ and pick a through-pass. Finally bringing Kean on with Iwobi still on the pitch, (albeit still out wide at the time he joined) and Richarlison supporting him, gave him the maximum opportunity to do what he does best and that is get off the shoulder of the last man. It nearly worked but, to be fair to Iwobi and Richarlison, they were both completely knackered by then.

Schneiderlin is absolutely pointless if we are ever chasing a game, he should only ever be playing if we are protecting a result (which is why I think he should have started).

You’re making my point that your tactics were negative. I would prefer to go to Anfield with the ambition to win no matter how small the probability. I don’t believe Schneiderlin has a future at Everton however he does have a solitary talent, and it’s not screening the back four. He can play a long pass. He seldom does it these days, playing for his pass completion stats as he seems to but I thought his introduction gave us someone, in the context we were chasing the game and had just brought on our £27m striker and the dynamic Bernard, who could take the ball from the defenders (who had a lot of ball by then) and quickly get it upfield into the large spaces vacated by Liverpool’s fullbacks. He did this well when he came on.

Silva, not for the first time, has simply thought “that team worked last time, so I’ll play it again” without any regard for the opposition.

Eureka! Finally he has found something which works (your words not mine). We have been moaning for months he has been too stubborn to change from the 4-2-3-1 and when he finally does he is castigated and told to play, guess what, 4-2-3-1.. just goes to show you can’t please all the people all of the time.

He’s got a problem in midfield and a problem at the back. Terry Venables said, ‘if you can’t beat them in midfield, you have to outnumber them’.. Marco has adopted the approach that you play without one.

I like the new formation. I think it covers our weakness at centre back and utilises well our highly mobile fullbacks to be where they are needed most. Be under no illusions that this is a sticking plaster because we need to replace Mason Holgate and add a quality centre mid but fair play to him for finally identifying the issue and being creative.

And by the way, Coleman is finished.

Don’t want to have a go at Holgate as he has been better than £60 million of talent in Keane and Mina in recent weeks.

On another note - sort of mentioned already...

Brands should be starting to come under scrutiny now.
Iwobi - is one of the worst pieces of business I have ever seen
Mina - is proving more and more he is not a premier league centre back
Kean - we hope he comes good, but he ain’t showing much yet.

That’s nearly £100million with of “talent” that has major question marks over them.

We are spineless weaklings with zero fight or leadership and never say a word. Teams coordinate their complaints and outrage but we've lacked this for years and we consistently get screwed over.

They have vastly superior footballers but there is no excuse for us not matching their fight and aggression. Teams from much lower leagues than the Championship would give them more problems.

There's a lot of opinions in football, but that isn't one of them. We are currently (roughly) a 7-1 TENTH favourite to be relegated this season with professional bookmakers.

Liverpool didn't go long because they had to. They went long because it was just so easy to do. Rest assured, that if we'd been more solid at the back, they just would have played through us.

We're rank. 5-2 flattered us and they didn't get out of second gear.

I admire how anyone on here can talk about solutions. I'm just feeling so deflated and almost apathetic that I can't muster an answer.

I've devoted a huge chunk of my life to this club. If I'm feeling apathetic after a Derby defeat then something's drastically wrong.

Can you not agree that Everton have not given Silva the players he had last season, ie replaced Gueye and Zouma. Ok we got Gbamin and he got injured, but we don't even know he is good enough.

Everything coming out of Everton seemed to be about giving Silva time, and the reason to give him time was to then deliver the players he needed in January.

If the board did want to give him time, they then get another guy in place and wait. Say the guy they have agreed on is Marcelo Gallardo, we had to wait for the Libatardores to finish and that only just finished. It then takes a while to sort everything out.

It's not as quick as asking someone if he wants the job and simply agreeing a wage. Mourinho agreed to Spurs weeks before he took that job, just ask the Lyon owner, he said as much 4 weeks or so before Mourinho was appointed.

At least Unsworth knows most of the players and what they are capable (and more importantly incapable) of. If Moyes returns then the reaction will be almost as bad as Silva staying. Kenwright and Moshiri should stay well away.

That Gallardo from River Plate might be an adventurous choice and could maybe bring a couple a couple of hard cases from South America with him in January.

"Born, not manufactured" would be my answer – and thus consigned to a life of purgatory. Heartache indeed.

Don’t think we’re going to agree at all here. I wrote an article at the start of the year called “Horses for Courses”, saying at the time that our formation (4-2-3-1) works against better opposition (as proven last season), however we need to tweak it depending on the opposition. I also said that I don’t think Silva will do this.

Alas - Silva has persisted with the formation that works against better teams against teams that it will not work against. He has then tried something against Leicester, got a vaguely positive outcome and, rather then looking at the opposition, has played the exact same way again.

I do agree with you on Schneiderlin, he offers little, but can have a range of passing. What he does do though, is be very positionally disciplined and, in turn, limit the space between defence and midfield. I think that would have benefitted us at 0-0.

I also think Iwobi had a shocker and is looking less and less like a £35million player. DCL didn’t offer much as a lone striker, but all it takes is a couple of flick ons (which he is more than capable of) for Kean to be in. Kean hasn’t shown much as a lone striker so what would we have had to lose by playing 2 up front?

Same here. I quit being mad and tried gallows humor. But I’ve about given up. Lots of blame to go around but ultimately it stems from Kenwright. A vain, self important charlatan who neither had the money nor sense to run a club. For years he was propped up by the shady Philip Green until he suckered this mug Moshiri into the club. Since then he’s at the forefront of all positive but freely detaches himself from all negatives to any listening fan or journalist. I imagine he will resign before we are relegated or bankrupt and blame it all on Mosh

The standard might be worse, but surely he would be a significant improvement on what we have available, and surely he'd want to play for his old boss. He also seems a key player to Gallardo's tactics. Being from River, his wage demands should not be ridiculous (like the Walsh signings) and the transfer fee should be more reasonable than we are used to.

I'll be praying I don't wake up to Moyes tomorrow. Everywhere is saying Moyes. It's our worst nightmare. Where does this leave Brands? Will Moyes be signing up free agents Jack Rodwell and Victor Anichebe?

I agree we need the right type of Manager to motivate and organised the present squad.

Who knows what the correct path will be. But we are on the wrong path currently with Silva in charge and a Director of Football recruiting the players. We need to shake it up and reevaluate.

But whoever comes in, they need to put the spotlight on the players. Because these shirkers have let several managers down now. A new manager will not have a magic wand that can teach international players how to play football. What is missing is some of the basic things in football - passion, commitment, leadership, mentality. If Silva goes - and he has to go - these players should be in the firing line also.They have let us all down.

I see it in the spineless performances. I can't see players or fans up for the fight. I've seen it before with Aston Villa, Leeds Utd, Nottm Forest, Sheffield Weds years ago. Stagnating acceptance of "we were good once."

For people saying they can't see it or we're too good to go down, well after seeing this season I'd actually be surprised if we stay up!

That's all our board can come up with, having known for at least a few weeks that Silva has to go???

Moyes? We should let them fucking have it at Goodison Park on Saturday.

It's become too comfortable at our club, players turning up in new Bentleys for training when they haven't achieved nothing. Our suffering fans have had enough — we're too nice as a club and this reflects on the pitch.

If Moshiri and Brands sanction this then they understand nothing.

I had this little dream that this was the day it all turned around. Silly me. Silva has to go in the morning, he knows it, we know it, if the board don’t know it then there is a big problem at the club.

Right now I don’t k ow who should replace him. Take a punt on someone with no PL experience? Chuck it all at Howe and see if he can fix the defence? Get Moyes in with Cahill as an assistant?

I think it’s likely to be Moyes on a short term contract now. With another rescue mission on the cards ala fat Sam. If that’s the case they better have a strong candidate lined up for the summer!

I became a fan when Moshiri bought the Club, so I accept full responsibility for what's happened since then. It's my fault.

Sorry guys.

We did play two up front. The other one was Richarlison.

I don’t disagree you should consider the opposition when setting up your team, especially if you are the inferior party however I think we have suffered from being the superior party for most of this season so far and not having chosen the formation which suited our best players best.

Take Iwobi for example. He was dreadful tonight, as were others. Some have been all season. But confidence is low, the managers tactics aren't working and Goodison is nervous. I still believe that the squad we have should be in the top half as a minimum.

That's not to say we're too good to go down - that would be a very dangerous attitude to have, but we absolutely don't need to overhaul the squad to pick up the results we need to comfortably avoid relegation.

Ironically, if Sam Allardyce were appointed tomorrow I think we'd all be relatively relaxed about the prospect of relegation. At the moment we need organisation, discipline and motivation - the very things that Allardyce pretty much guarantees. I am not for one second suggesting we should bring Allardyce back (God forbid!) but if we can find another manager who brings those attributes we really shouldn't have much to worry about. At the moment, the blame for every game we lose should to only be given to Silva but to the board who are allowing this untenable situation to continue.

Any ideas of us becoming a real force in the game will have to be put on the backburner whilst we regroup and concentrate on preserving our status in the top flight, whether enough supporters will be able to climb off the canvas to back this possible decision is open to debate and personally I'm not certain if I can, even though I understand the reasoning behind it.

a) Nobody is as clever as they think they are.

b) There's always somebody clever-er.

c) There's a time to keep it simple and park the bus, KITAP1, be Allardyce-esque, Dogs of War, work your nuts off, etc, etc.

This does depend on the players buying into it mind.

I fear no manager worth his salt, other than the mercenary chancers looking for a pay off, would touch us.

Any half decent local pub team manager (plus many on here) could orginise us to be hard to beat...but again, only if the players buy into it.

Moshiri needs to ask hard questions of him self and on down the food chain.

If you're in the bottom 3 and its nearly Christmas, that's relegation form, you're not in a false position.

Everybody needs to look at themselves, but will it happen?

Will it fuck.

We'll have some usual suspect of a has been, or hail mary miracle man whose name may or may not end in a vowel foisted / installed on us.

We have to do something.

Unsworth has managed the under 23s to 2 league titles. He has also managed the first team twice on a temporary basis.

Ferguson has coached at academy level. He has since coached under 4 managers at first team level.

I don’t know which one of them should take the lead. But there is no point leaving Silva in charge now. A line was crossed a few weeks ago. Let’s rip it up and try something - it can’t be any worse than our current form.

Let’s put Unsie and Duncan in charge short term while we come up with a plan.

I only ever watch football from Anfield when we play there so get an idea of how things change over time.

They have definitely turned attending a match into a full-time pantomime. Here's the bit where our designated banner wavers wave their banners, now everybody - scarves up, sing the song (tear up if it's your first time visiting from Toronto or Dubai). Now they've got the ball, all together now: BOOOOOO!

What a shower of wankers who can only get into following a team if they're successful and going the match is some sort of novelty show off activity. That's who they've attracted over the years: fairweather bandwagon jumpers and showboats, and that's who they are now. Klopp is their perfect pantomime hero.

I would argue they've even turned commemorating Hillsborough into a schmaltzy routine, all cooordinated action for the cameras. A bit undignified I thought.

I was getting me daughter ready for school watching the game (in Melbourne) and she screamed 'What!" when the ref bottled the penalty and later "I hate Liverpool!" That'll do me today.

I know the defending was rubbish (set up and effort) and some players didn't show the shirt respect. We can't go on like this particularly for the kids, who need to something to hold on to. But it was also a reminder of how we could never be like that and of our superiority as proper supporters.

In the next few days I'll have ones who know I'm a Blue bound up grinning and ask "Like the game?" To which I'll respond, "Remind me again, which part of Liverpool are you from?" Which is usually the end of the conversation.

Fuck them. Proud to be Blue.

Regarding Silva not having the players, yes it’s true, he may not of had his full squad but he has not made the most of what he has. That’s clear from league placement.

The players are not performing well enough true, but When you are up against it you need to change things. He tried against Leicester, too little too late.

It’s simple. Even without the injuries he should be doing better. Last night is just the final nail

For the record, a 'Pro' licence is required to become a head coach/manager in the the Premier League.

Remember those jibe, snarky comments he made when leaving Club, thinking he’d moved on to bigger and better things?

I will turn, with malice, against this Board if they appoint David fucking Moyes as interim manager.

Kenwright will make sure we stay up but without Moshiri. He'll soon push him out of the club in a palace coup and regain complete control.

Saturday will be only my 3rd game this season due to moderate health and a long journey, but I'm still looking forward. (I endured the Norwich game, so I'm conditioned!)

That would mean, unfortunately for lots of us, the dream of Everton FC building a shiny new ground on the Docks will be put to bed or at the very least delayed. There's nothing these theatre types prefer than a well-worn reprise.

Football has moved on and Moyes hasn't. His relegation form shows it. He will take us where Sunderland are now. We are in a big enough hole as it is without digging even deeper with Moyes.

I agree with you. It's not what I want, but as I said, I can't see the wood from the trees.
And who in their right mind (professionally) would currently entertain us?

Wilder is supposedly like, bleeding Sheffield, no?

Couple that with the fact he’s only been in the Premier League not even half a season, he’s no where on my radar.

I think he’s a massive risk. Talk to me next year when everyone has figured him out, and he’s either in or barely above the relegation zone.

They went into the game intending on exposing our back line, and they did a marvelous job of it.

Marco, oblivious to it all, never changed his high line. We got burned time and time again, and he never changed it. That, along with subbing Schneiderlin into the game down two goals, was the final, final, final, final, and yea, for a fifth time, final nail in the coffin for me.

I was there at that Wimbledon game and the Coventry game when we were all but dead and buried. I have that suffocating feeling again and it's more than frightening.

I probably WILL be there on Saturday with a heavy heart but as I live in Liverpool it would be very remiss of me to avoid it when Blue's fans are making tortuous journeys from afar. So I wish you a smooth, stress-free journey and good health! And a turn-up in our fortunes! God knows we deserve it!

So we have Sidibe well advanced, and a high line with the slow Keane, and Holgate who just gets turned inside out.

Again I agree with you; however, I fear that Kenwright still can't let go, and has some unknown hold over Moshiri despite his overwhelming stake in the club.

As you say it's Brands job, but does he have the free rein that he is purported to have. I do wonder!

I was glad to see the back of Martínez, Ronald and Allardyce but am sorry to see Marco go. I liked his ideas, his intentions, his decency. Unfortunately it never quite knitted together.

Onwards and upwards. As long as that doesn’t include Moyes or Hughes.

I will be back at Goodison for Chelsea game, I will be hopeful of a draw, but right now I need a big Jack's before I get up for work at 06:00 hrs. Goodnight all, keep the faith.

Man City, Pats, and Yankees? Leaving the fact that no self-respecting Bostonian / New England's would EVER root for a New York team, that son-in-law of yours is the poster-boy for band wagon jumping glory hunter!

If anyone ever tells you they like a Boston team and a New York team, proceed with caution.

God bless him and all.

Kenwright may want Moyes but this time I hope the man Moshiri put on the board Mr Brands as director of football operations chooses the new manager, and gets someone he believes will not take a knife to a gunfight but take an anti tank weapon.

We need a winner not someone who done OK last time he was here, OK doesn't cut it anymore, ambition breeds success and ambition is something sadly lacking at Everton F.C. and hiring Moyes because he done OK last time is simply saying we have no ambition.

There is enough quality to keep us up, but someone other than Marco and the hapless backroom crew need to deal with the situation. Over to you Mr Moshiri.

That JD before bed has helped a bit., however, any lukewarm feelings towards the Liverpool fans are rapidly being washed away after all the crass behaviour tonight. God what horrible entitled bastards they are. Sorry, pissed and so tired.

If I may John, I'd like to reply by way of a personal anecdote.

I've always loved nature documentaries me. The amazing diversity nature offers. The imaginative ways such documentaries are filmed. David Attenborough is arguably the greatest broadcaster that has ever lived in my eyes.

The reason I mention this is way back in the late 1970s, early 1980s, living in Liverpool, finding work in Liverpool, was very stark for a teenage adolescent as I was then.

But then, I watched a nature documentary which quite literally changed my life, a lesson that remains with me to this day 40 years later.

It showed an African tribe and how they hunted for one of their favourite foods: monkey meat. It was so absurdly easy to capture one.

They would find a natural hollow in a tree trunk, or gorge one out, and place a piece of fruit inside the hollow that would attract a monkey to it.

The key to the exercise was the hollow was wide enough for the monkey to pass its open palm through, but when it made a fist to grab the fruit inside, it couldn't extract its clenched fist as long as it held on to the piece of fruit.

The hunters didn't even have to sprint to the tree to capture the monkey once he was ensnared, even though the monkey was screeching in fear as they approached. They simply casually strolled up to net the monkey.

Why? Because the monkey was simply unwilling to release the fruit, thus unclenching its fist and enabling it to withdraw its now flat palm, allowing it to escape and live another day.

I saw myself in that monkey, ensnared by my own fears of leaving my family, my friends, the city, the familiar, to seek happiness and fulfilment in far away places.

I chose to let go, to liberate myself, to dare. I have had an exceedingly happy, diverse and fulfilled life as a result of a chance watching of that nature documentary.

Even before I left the familiar, I was challenged by those closest to me "How can you afford it?" The question wasn't only related to the financial, but how could I afford to go out into the big wide world alone without the close network of family and friends and the environment I was most familiar with.

My reply? "I can't afford not to." The implication being that I wanted to be happy, fulfilled, discover and explore new things. I could not achieve that if, like that monkey, I wanted to hold on to the past and the present but lose my liberty.

To bring my personal anecdote back to who should be the next Everton manager, the appointment should not be made based on or motivated by fear.

Those lobbying for a Moyes or Allardyce-like appointment are, in my opinion, doing just that. By following that approach you are effectively conceding getting anything out of this season beyond avoiding relegation which is not a given even with those limited specimens.

We are now past game 15 in the PL season. After the Norwich game it was only game 12. I posted then it was maybe time to let Silva go rather than passively let this debacle continue allowing him even more games to exacerbate the problems and poor points return even more. We need to act, decisively, NOW!

I am totally, but totally opposed to yet another caretaker appointment on Moshiri's watch, or the return of a recent ex-manager. HKII and HKIII did not end well for us. Flores II did not work out well for Watford this very season.

There are plenty of good unemployed managers available. There are plenty of good employed managers available.

It befalls to Moshiri and Brands (I repeat, NOT Kenwright) to find a big personality to lift the players, the fan base, the entire club, from its inertia and somnolence, selling him the club and making him an offer he cannot refuse.

In spite of what some are stating, there are good players at Everton that an inspirational and well-organized coach good get a better tune out than we have seen this season.

The remainder of this season could enable a full-time appointment to make progress with HIS team now for the following season. A caretaker appointment would literally waste this time ahead of contracting a full-time manager in the summer.

It will be deeply concerning on many levels if Moshiri and Brand's preferred solution is to reinstate Moyes, signalling as I said earlier that if they sanction it, then they understand nothing.

Unfortunately it is becoming more likely with this manager and an uninspired team. We MUST change, but please appoint someone only until the end of the season. Our lofty pre-season goals are once again shattered in the worst possible way. We just cannot be relegated. We need passion on the sidelines as well as on the field. COYB and show us that you also have Blue Blood, and that playing for Everton means far more than a big pay check.

You owe it to the loyal fans to dig deeper than you have ever done before for the rest of the season. There are at least 40,000 and more who are always behind you, depressed as they might be. Always Blue and Revenge in Janaury!!!

Ray #363. I am sure BK had it in the conditions of sale that he would stay on as chairman.

I know that was in the original sale terms as that is why we couldnt find a buyer for 15 years.

Nobody would be that stupid. OH er enter Mr Moshiri.

Yes, he has had bad luck with injuries and crucial Referee/VAR decisions, costing vital points. But there can be no more excuses for his apparent inability to:

a) Grasp the most basic principles of the art of defence.
b) Pick our strongest team available.
c) Man-manage his players.
d) Formulate a game plan.
e) Engage supporters with rapport and passion.

Surely there is no way back now. Put Unsworth in charge until a successor is in place.

I hope that the first thing any new manager does is to see through the facade that is Jordan Pickford. He has never impressed me, regardless of penalty saves and acrobatics, either for us or England. We will never build a successful team with him as keeper. He's a good shot stopper, but that's all. I was ridiculed for saying similar about Schneiderlin and Sigurdsson a while back, when everyone was singing their praises. Time proved me right. I'll go one further and say Iwobi is below the level required and Moise Kean will prove to be no better than Niasse.

Radical changes are needed again. Gbamin is an unknown quantity and the best player on the books, Gomes, is similarly sidelined for who knows how long.

We are at the same point as when Allardyce was appointed. Financially, relegation would mean ruin so has to be avoided at all costs. The powers that be will take no chances. So I am under no illusions that the next person at the helm will be required to do exactly the same again. Keep us afloat and survive in the Premier League. Any further Cup progress this season, as unlikely as it might seem, would provide a much-needed bonus.

Our long-suffering fans certainly deserve any Cup joy that may come their way.

We'd be on 15 points half way through the season, pacing for 30 for the entire season, and a minimum of -14 goal differential.

That.. . is.. . dire.. .

If they don't admit they're on the road to relegation and make a change - a change that should be announced in about six hours when opening for business around 9 a.m. - we're doomed.

So that's 18 points (optimistically) halfway through, and a 36 point-season-pace. Around a -12 to -13 goal differential.

Ah crap, it's still relegation.

Jamie Crowley HSC - does have a certain ring to it.

By the way - a warning for Mr Moshiri. My missus of 49 years, who was an Evertonian well before I met her has just told me “I am not following Everton anymore if Moyes is appointed manager - I will follow Jose.”

It must be really bad considering she has put up with me through thick and thin all those years.

For all your insight and well thought out contribution you then come out with the biggest pile of horse shit I've ever had to read on TW

"David Attenborough is arguably the greatest broadcaster that has ever lived in my eyes."

No arguement about it, he is the best, ever.

I hope you take the 40 lashes as punishment you so deserve, like a man.

Thank you, PK

Ohhh, I dunno about that Paul.

There's about another 2-3 post I've written this very day worst than that. ;-)

It begs the question: Why, when Gana left, did Silva do his best to get Macca out of the club?

We have always had at least one motivator in our side, whether it be Watson, Carsley, Cahill or one of dozens of others, but with Coleman and Baines past it, there isn't one of the old battlers left. Not one of the present side is up for a battle against the odds, and when Moyes first arrived, he had almost a full side of warriors (Unsie, Cars, Dunc etc) who just needed coaching properly; if that tosser returns, what can he do with this bunch of boy scouts?

No, it looks like our luck has finally run out, and we're leaving the land of milk and honey (that our own greedy board fought so hard to build) and dropping down to where we belong. At least we won't have to be annually humiliated by our red cousins, and hopefully, the Boys Pen Bullshitter will see this as his moment for the great escape, before questions arise over his 3rd failed ground move...

Luton here we come!

My guess is they’ve looked around at the right candidates but cannot get anyone to join. Silva is untenable and is twisting no the wind poor sod. They’ll have to stomach Moyes to get us to 17th then sack him regardless of the contract he signs.

Unfortunately that day was 26 yrs ago, 26 fucking years!!! it's hard typing it.

But it happened through good managerial nouse. Remember talking to Andy Hinchcliffe in Plumbers bar on Hardman Street, I remember telling him he was the best left back with the sweetest left foot I'd seen and he'll play for England one day, his reply was "I wish the manager felt the same way you do", and looked down at his feet embarrassed at my comment. I just said, "trust us lad, youll eat those words, I know a good player when I see one". He appreciated the gesture and shook my hand then introduced me to the rest of the gang, Barry Horne-hammered, everyone else-hammered.

I ain't Einstein, but point being, a good manager will recognise players who fit a system, motivate them and make them feel like the best fucking players ever to grace a togger pitch and make it happen.

Andy Hinchcliffe probably thought I was a besotted fan, humble he was, but I actually believed it. So did Joe Royle. That's the difference, making people believe, plus setting up tactics and all that, something Marco Silva ain't got. And that's my take, treat yourself to a 4 egger and go from there.

I don't see the talented players we are supposed to have, the players themselves have the cheek to think they are a good talented squad of players. We have been unlucky and played well in parts according to Holgate. What an imposter insulting us with that shite.

The whole back four needs replacing they are that bad and the keeper should have been dropped after the City game.

The midfield is slow laboured and talentless, Bernard apart, the skill level is appalling. And strikers – they're that bad I would even consider recalling Niasse.

In my opinion, getting another foreign unproven Premier League manager would be a huge gamble with the club's future. I would go for Moyes or Dyche. I wait for the missiles from those who seemingly know better.

If that utter charlatan returns, I will have to seriously reconsider the time and effort I commit to following this club. Which is mostly here on this website.

Some positives from last night though. Pickford finally questioned by more than 3 people and realisation the players are shit too.

Onwards now.

Mr Brands, this is your hour. Earn your money, assert yourself and take control of the footballing decisions. If you are not allowed to, then you should resign.

We are now seeing how disastrous the Moshiri-Kenwright axis is - and was always going to be.

He has been our best manager in the past 20 years. Yet despite this your site as much as I like reading the articles and appreciate the effort your team put in, has had a narrative against Moyes for many years. This started well before he left, repeated abuse directed at him based on being dour, ginger and a pragmatist. Fans moaning about him because we weren’t finishing in the top 4 in the league every year and even some because we weren’t winning the league.

This is the manager who bought Stones, Cahill, Arteta, Jags, Baines, Coleman, Distin, Lescott, Carsley, Fellaini to name a few. Sure he had some dudes too, who doesn’t but he found real talent for almost zero money.

I used to defend our team’s performances under Moyes many times after we had won but only by a one goal margin or not in the style some fantasists preferred.

Moyes returning would bring some much needed stability into our club. It’s been run using a flawed model by Moshiri. Brands is a joke, so was Walsh. Moyes found much better value in the market and would never have allowed us to start a season with only 2 recognised CBs.

I think Silva isn’t a bad coach, but he’s been badly let down by Brands and had to work with a unbalanced squad all through his tenure. He has to go now, but so does Brands and bring back a structure where we have a manager in charge not a corporate organisational chart that looks like something based on a investment bank, in which each person have reporting lines and performance reviews, 360 feedback and agreed goals. All corporate baloney that doesn’t work in a football club.

Give the power to a manager who can spot talent, appoint his back room team, sign players and run the club without the ineffective Brands interfering.

Now put your toys back in your pram Michael, or close TW down, at least we won’t have to put up with the anti Moyes narrative anymore.

Don’t get me wrong, the shite were the better side last night & deserved the win (I’ve been sick in my mouth). However the media will fawn all over them after this & lead everyone to believe that we are witnessing the birth of the greatest club side ever & make no mistake there is an appetite in the media for the shite to win the title & I have lost count of the people I have read or heard in the media saying that it would be nice to see the shite win the premier league as they haven’t won it before. That in itself is b.s., the bastards have won the league more than enough times & football wasn’t invented in 1992 with sky’s rebranding.
Let’s be honest they never mesmerised us with breathtaking football to score their goals. Long balls that our previous manager would have been proud of undid us (Lovren got an assist, ffs!). This should have been food & drink to a defence with two giant centre backs. Instead we were carved open with ease from these long balls, amateur!
Such an embarrassing score line, but sadly not totally unexpected.

A shame the transfer market doesn’t function like the high street. We can’t go back to the selling club with our receipt & say this one you sold me is defective, it doesn’t work (literally!), I want my money back.

As for Silva, I wanted him to do well as with any Everton manager, because if they do well, we do well, it goes hand in hand.
But his time is up now, I don’t really want to see another manager sacked, as many have said the problems run deeper than just the manager. However he has totally lost the fans & the team hasn’t performed well enough for him this season, for both his & the players failings.

Bring on the next game... I suppose!

How Moshiri sorts this out is anyone's guess, I haven't a clue, but I can see us going down because of his total incompetence. My only priority would be to stay in the premiership, I've no idea who we could hire to achieve this, I'm pretty sure Moshiri hasn't either, anything could happen. We have absolutely no say in the decision, it's frustrating and hopeless at the moment. I hope he sells up and hands the club to someone more worthy.

We played well in parts and kept going. They scored some wonderful goals, the first is just pure class but apart from Pickford looking foolish in no man's lands (again) it's about pace (Keane to slow to play a high line) and a superb couple of passes.

The other goals were mostly about not learning our lessons continuing to play a high line which they exposed time and again. Why have 3 slow defenders playing a high line trying to play offside against their pacey attack was foolish.

Silva and the players are all to blame. One CD needed to push up with the other 2 dropping deeper or at least have Holgate dropping deeper for his better pace.

Anyway I'm not for sacking Silva because of this defeat. But we need 9 points on the board before FA Cup game and to beat Liverpool. If not achieved then sack him.

In the meantime get a few managers lined up, hopefully Pochettino or Mancini.

Right now, I couldn't agree more.

It's the way things are, don't think I've ever felt so desperate, (apart from that one night at the Grafton when some bird said she'd hump a dog with a limp Dick but spurned my advances at the last dance).

I spewed it at 3-1 but saw the stats today and wondered how we achieved such a result.

This is a club in decline and has been since 2015. People might be surprised looking in at where we are in the league but I’m more surprised we haven’t been in the bottom half of the table more.

I know many have said it would be a wake-up call to sample the Championship, and it would serve the incompetence of the Board right for their flippant approach and scattergun appointments in the not too distant past.

No, I disagree, the wake-up call has been there for weeks, even months, but has generally been ignored until it has come to this sad and sorry present situation.

Besides there are no guarantees that we would bounce straight back up, should the perishable thought of us being in the Championship materialise.

Allegedly the Board are meeting this morning, to not only discuss the future of Silva but to stop the rot and appoint someone who can, and there is just enough time, to maintain our Premiership occupancy even if it's lower or mid-table!

For me and the many truly great Everton Fans - - like my grandson - -26 years old had a Season Ticket for more than 20 years - - home and away - - for me - - 1 year ago recovering in hospital from major heart surgery and cancer and yet still asked nurses for Everton results and lay in Broadgreen Hospital Bed watching Sunday morning MOTD when we won at Leicester with "tubes" everywhere - - CLASS and RAMPANT CAPITALISM - - Moshiri can walk away - - he's played with his expensive toy - - Silva ( God help him) was played with and now "paid" off - - don't have to talk to the fans or listen - - can't hear them from Monaco or wherever - - it's just money to them.

Not for us - - scars on our hearts - - souls scratched and hurt - - spirit dragged down and tortured - - - but me and my grandson and my daughter and you and your sons and daughters and fathers and mothers -- and grandkids - - who built this Club - - - will we walk away - - no - - See You All at Goodison on Saturday:
Everton is a concept
By which we measure
Our pain
I'll say it again
Everton is a concept
By which we measure
Our pain
I don't believe in magic
I don't believe in I-ching
I don't believe in Bible
I don't believe in tarot
I don't believe in Hitler
I don't believe in Jesus
I don't believe in Kennedy
I don't believe in Buddha
I don't believe in Mantra
I don't believe in Gita
I don't believe in Yoga
I don't believe in kings
I don't believe in Elvis
I don't believe in Zimmerman
I don't believe in Moshiri
I don't believe in Moyes
I just believe in me
Evertonians and me
And that's reality.

Its Moshiri's club and he has picked the last 3 managers.

Optimism and atmopshere will take us down now.

I’d go with Cahill as assistant coach/manager to a manager who would keep us up.

However, does an assistant coach/manager have to be fully licensed or working for their badges?

I guess we’ll find out later today, surely!

I’d also get Alan Stubbs in as a defensive coach, another blue blood.

To all of you with a wish list, it might be Xmas, but Santa hasn’t got what you want.

This season is now about survival, end of.

I've said it before.. Moshiri is a footballing idiot and Kenwright is a devious aul fart.

That combination has us where we are.. directly and indirectly.

12 months ago we did alright and then had a terrible Xmas period extending into February! I wrote back then we had to grow out of depending on Geuye to get the ball back all the time and there was a clear weakness down the right that needed addressing. 12 months on we still need to grow out of depending on Gueye - trouble is he has already moved on. Keep the ball but use it quickly is something we struggle to do but we need to keep trying, it is the right system.

The BIG problem is we are once again conceding too many goals - all season. There are centre backs that we seem to be using in a way that exposes their weaknesses - the only reason for this must be while we wait for centre backs that can play in the system we want or our current players develop their game - otherwise, we do not score either. Did we stop conceding from set-pieces?

It isn't too difficult to see the faults and the results of some of the work needed to fix them but right now we just need points and if Silva won't stop the teams playing in a way that concedes goals then he is planning for his own departure. Goals conceded brings defeat, defeats breed pressure, pressure drains away confidence if the results don't come in and so on. Managers like Moyes turned this kind of situation around more than a few times so it can be done, but it doesn't look like Silva is pragmatic enough to do it - he has had long enough.

Another good old Everton fightback from the brink really isn't good enough at this stage as we pump ever more money into the salary bill, another new manager isn't either. However, results are everything and the minimum we expect is top half.

Greg O'Keeffe at The Athletic says Moyes was mooted 5 weeks ago but the fan backlash and Moyes reluctant to accept an interim role put it on ice. So, if true Moyes wants the job full time. Not going to happen in my eyes.

Not a lot of thought went into the selection of the team last night and the tactics, as usual with Silva and his coaches if they have an input, we’re off the cuff, get out there and do your best, which most of the players failed at, apparently, I didn’t see the game.

Not a lot can be said of our present predicament, we’ve all seen it coming to be honest. How do we get out of it is the question most of us are asking, is there anyone within the club with the nous to provide a winning answer. Surely there is someone.

Kenwright is wholly responsible for this mess. He appointed Martinez, a relegated manager when the clubs stock was as high as it had been for years. We should have got a quality manager then when we could. Instead kenwright went for the nasty cheap version and started the rot that has just been carried on by moshiri.

I love what Moyes did for us, took us from the abyss and made us competitive again and hate him for fucking us over. However, since he left his record has been shocking. Going on performance alone you wouldn't have him anywhere near the place but from reports, we are going to appoint him. You couldn't make this shit up. The lunatics are running the asylum!

Our fans' relationship with the club hierarchy is getting toxic and deteriorating by the day. I genuinely fear that our club will rupture if we make yet another divisive hire. We have to find a manager who understands the ambition of the club, excites the fans and will give us a winning style of play that matches our personality. I hate to say it but Klopp has achieved that at Liverpool and a hire of his stature is the only way this club can go forward.

Sorry! what was the question?

It's actually to a point now that I feel sorry for Silva. As has been said a couple of times over the past few weeks, he didn't employ himself and he can't sack himself - yes, he can quit but not many managers do that. That the club has allowed him to manage consecutive away games against the two best teams in the league is akin to animal cruelty.

I was thinking earlier that if Everton are relegated then these players probably have release clauses in their contracts so they'd be getting away with murder. Then I realised that these players wouldn't have the bottle to compete in the very physical Football League so we'll be lucky not to have them. THEN I realised that a lot of these players may NOT have release clauses because who in their right mind could have predicted relegation with the signings being made?

Basically, if we're stuck with even half of these players in the event of relegation, 46 matches is a long fucking season.

Although that rather lofty distinction does tend to grate somewhat..

Grim times.

Why on earth we were playing a high line I really, really don't understand. I rated Silva very highly and still help out hope for him a month or so back but once we failed to turn up against Norwich its just been over.

For a number of reasons: listening to Henry, Bobby BS last night I came to the conclusion that sacking Silva puts us in the same place as we were 2 seasons ago, and do we want a repeat of the, sack the manager get a short term fix to get us out of the shite? Only read Moyes for Allardyce.

Some years ago we got tonked 3-0 at Mordor and saint and greavsey(remember them) commented 'men against boys' and it was truly feckin abysmal. I was in the Kendall out camp and spent the night cursing and blinding him, I thought we were doomed with a useless manager at the helm...what do I know.

Yes I'm critical of Silva; his reliance on the old guard, the baffling substitutions, his apparent inability to act proactively or out think a clever manager; which was on display vs Sheff U and Leicester.

But perhaps if the board say to him he's got the rest of the season to turn it round, maybe everyone, players and staff will relax a little. We've got great players but no team, and that's still the case whoever's in charge.

He must have thought he was odds-on for the sack so it didn't matter if he threw his players under the bus. Either way, they aren't going to give him their wholehearted support if he's allowed to carry on destroying our Premier League status.

The fact he failed to show any emotion at all in response to our second goal spoke volumes. No matter what the score, a good manager at least acknowledges a good goal by his team, even if it's a simple hand clap. Silva showed nothing and that summed him up for me, a serial loser, a cold fish personality, masquerading as a Premier League manager.

What's worrying me is that it's ten a.m already and still no announcement. Please God, don't let Moshiri take pity on him and give him even more time to drive us ever closer to relegation.

How, much time do Moshiri and the board need after last night's horror show? Frankly, I don't care now who they appoint. Even Moyes couldn't be worse than Silva. Come to think of it, Dougal the dog from Magic Roundabout would be a vast improvement on Silva.

Moshiri and his money is the worst thing that could’ve happened to us.

Just look at the amount we were willing to spend on Zaha who is a decent enough player but nowhere near where our club valued him.

Under his regime I’d say that only Digne, Richarlison and Gueye can be considered anywhere near successful signings.

And the others? Well they are worse than some of the garbage we signed in that fateful summer of 1997. But at least Kendall spend modest fees on absolute garbage than the fortunes we are spending now on garbage.

It’s not rocket science but when you are the only club vying for the signatures of players like Michael Keane, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Alex Iwobi it’s usually a clue that perhaps they are not good enough. All of them were previously assessed by bigger clubs than ours as being good enough to release also.

Forget fancy modern terms like ‘recruitment’ etc. Keep it simple and sign good players for decent value.

You risk setting an unrealistic expectation when you invest those kinds of sums. I’ll be honest I did think that our club must see something in these players that perhaps I hadn’t.

A bit like LFC with the likes of Robertson and Wijnaldum. They obviously saw something that non experts wouldn’t. Each has been moulded perfectly into a very good system and as a result they look like excellent players.

EFC is a complete shambles. With absolutely no sense of identity or purpose.

And I feel sick about it.

You can all see now our strike force is pathetic. Absolute pathetic

Them pricks across the park are teaching us a fine lesson daily, not just last night..
Standards are levels apart. 4 goalscorers in attack, we have none really.

Buying quality over quantity. Essential things to improve..absolute joke this Moshiri era.

Brian, what were you watching mate. Their first goal included about 5 mistakes of ours.

Players are not good enough to carry out the tactics.

Do man for man (both sides) from last years Derby at Anfield. Look at the difference in how ours coped against a better Liverpool 11.

I can't believe people still denying or refusing to see the obvious.

This is a team of weaklinks and the manager has got that to work with.

Tommy Carter, excellent post. Dead easy to spot a good player isn't it.

After we played the mighty Ruzembrok at home, that Toffeetv joker said Michael Keane looked absolute class. In a 1-0 win v the mighty Ruzembrok.

That lunatic is feeding that message to 20 odd thousand subscribers. 🙈

So yeah great players

Everton sold half there soul, when they appointed Sam Allardyce (some would say more than half) but if they appoint David Moyes, then I can no longer support the club I love, because I would feel now that the club have got no pride left. (Desperate men, do desperate things)

A very bold statement, especially because Moyes is pragmatic, and I’ve been asking for pragmatism, but he’s only half a pragmatist, and is alright until you ask him to go and win.

He left to a heroes reception, and then stuck the knife in right away. Sir Alex this, and how could we stand in the players way? David Moyes is a bullshitter of the highest order, and to call him yesterday’s man, is a sad indictment, because Moyes has been in the game most of his life, and what the fuck has he ever won?

He’ll keep us safe? Relegation might or might not finish Everton, but it would never stop me going to watch them, but if David Moyes comes, I’m finished. So sad.

Moshiri seems to be immune from the criticism that Kenwright has always had.

Silva arrived looking like he knew he was going to be sacked and I've no doubt he will be today.

Nearly every report coming out is stating that Moyes will be appointed. These are dark days indeed, I am waiting for the presser with BK lauding him as coming back to his spiritual home etc... With Moyes grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

This will finish not only me but a vast swath of blues as well, this once great club of ours has sunk to depths even I could not imagine.

However - my glass remains half full in that I do not think it would take too much to turn this group of players in to a decent cohesive unit. Last night was a debacle, the defence was abject, but we are the first visitors to Mordor this season to score two in the league, we made chances and we were close to scoring 4. We could have had a penalty although one could argue that so should the RS, but it is not the result about which I post but the positives.

We have undoubtedly had our share of bad luck with missed chances, VAR, etc and we do have a decent squad of players. They're just badly out of tune. Kean should get more game time as to my eyes he is showing genuine potential. Ok he missed a very viable chance to open his account - I was willing that ball to go the other side of the post, even on replays - but to put it into perspective Mane missed an equally, if not better, opportunity and also missed out on a 1 to 1 with Pickford which was eventually tidied up by Holgate. Not many chances are going to fall in a 15 minute cameo here and there although at least he got a decent 35 mins or so last night. He appears very strong for his age, clearly determined and is a little unlucky not to have scored 3 goals in his short time so far.

The defence is a shambles. I thought Holgate did ok last night and like the guy. Keane and Mina both have good games in them but are unreliable partly due to confidence and partly, I assume, down to simply poor coaching. Do we actually have a defensive coach? I was asking the same when Roberto was in charge.

Silva's time is up. That much is clear and I do genuinely feel sorry for him. I think he is close to being good but needs to learn from others at this level. Quite who should replace him I struggle with. Hughes is a no for me, I don't fancy Benitez as an Everton man, Moyes (interim) could probably sort out the defence and he didn't do a bad job at West Ham. I hear the opinions of many on here but do not share the vitriol. I had him down to be the next ManU manager 3 years before he got it, and what a poisoned chalice that was to accept. Rhino I would be behind lock, stock and barrel but as big a risk as any.

I do not concur with those saying no one with any credentials would touch us because sure as eggs are eggs they would be have been looking very closely at the overall set up, squad, potential and management, and form their own conclusions and hopefully see more than a free meal ticket. I hear Simeone is soon likely to leave Athletico and if he could be persuaded, he might just be the conductor this orchestra needs.

To be fair, I think he should have subbed Keane off rather than Sidibe, and I'm certainly not saying Silva should be kept around, but you've gone against a provable fact there.

A half-decent manager will have this side in the top half in no time. By that, I mean someone who sends a team on the pitch with purpose, looking like they know what they're meant to be doing, looking like they don't have to take three touches before making a decision, looking like they believe they'll win. One that picks the pacey players and gets them playing quickly.

Poor Marco, he'd be an excellent coach if he had better players, more money, more luck, if perhaps if the opposition didn't walk onto the pitch.

His presence is, in my view, an albatross around our neck. His record speaks for itself. To use the political phrase, he is in office, but not in power.

If your loved one was in hospital for an operation, would you want the old surgeon with the old instruments & techniques who hasn't practised for a few years, or the one with the up to date experience, tools & techniques that talks about your recovery?

That's our choice. I know what I'd choose.

What's Blue Bill's next big idea - bringing back 'Our Wayne' as fitness coach and relationship adviser?

Robert @450. Is Josh free on Saturday?

My proudest moment as an Everton fan came less than a month ago and involves my son Josh. To set the scene Josh was born in London in the Chelsea and Westminster hospital and has as a consequence grown up supporting Chelsea (we now live in Norwich). His aunt horrified at seeing him wear a Chelsea kit has over the years continued to buy him Everton Kit, which he will occasionally wear. Josh, by admittedly a dad's bias has football talent and has been "scouted" for the academy and is his Team's leading goal scorer. Now, a dad can dream but in reality, Josh is in all probability not going to make it to the professional level (but not for want of my encouragement). The moment of pride came the game after his coach had chewed him out for over celebrating after scoring against a weak team. As a punishment he benched Josh in the next game. Come that game his side were losing 1-0 and Josh was pleading with his coach to come on. No dice! the opposition scored their second and the kid that scored ran over to his set of fans - the dad wearing a Liverpool hat. 2 nil down Josh got his wish and was sent on. Busting a gut to get his side back in the game he scored first one, then two and then a hat trick. The third goal banged in from outside the box. Josh reeled away towards the supporters lifting his club shirt above his head to reveal . his Everton top - as he did so his eyes were locked on the Liverpool fan dad. After the game his words were "that was for you dad". Oh to dream of him banging in goals for Everton. How we need a number nine.

I awoke in Brazil this morning to read the Moyes return rumour gathering pace.

I asked myself one question which I would now put to TW:

Would any Everton owner or Director of Football untainted by any previous association with David Moyes now, in December 2019, in the situation we are in, even give him as much as a second glance, never mind a second chance?

If Everton as being reported is seriously considering just that, then one voice and one voice only is driving the narrative. A voice that quite simply should no longer be heard. A person that should be politely thanked for his time, still be made welcome at Everton, but whose governance and continuing influence at the club MUST be definitively terminated once and for all.

I will repeat the line I've used more than once in the last 24 hours:

If Moshiri and Brands sanction Moyes' return in ANY capacity, for ANY length of contract, it signals that they understand nothing.

If Moyes returns, that lost 'knife to a gunfight' will be found.

Plunged deep into the collective heart of Evertonians everywhere.

The working class game is gone and the ipad generation who have won leagues on champ manager are more heard than anyone these days and its trendy to copy them.

Truly depressing!!

It’s interesting for only one thing, and that being the contradiction.

Just like VAR itself really, because players can dive, VAR, can prove they have dived, and yet the player still receives no punishment, so where is the actual fucking deterrent for cheating?

Dermot actually says that both players got up laughing when it was obvious that Davies was fuming with Robertson, who had one of those half-hearted shithouse smiles all over his face, and sidestepped the Arnold stamp on Richarlison, like he was Messi.

No fear. Make an ambitious forward-looking appointment. If it blows up then so be it. We must have belief in better times.

For me Gallardo and Jesus are the two exciting, potentially available options. Pochetinno and Simeone are pipe dreams but I'm sure they will have floated the possibility to their agents. Arteta and Marcelino are decent, interesting options. I'd even be curious to see what Farke or Wilder could do. No to Moyes, Hughes etc.

How many broadcasters have you got living in your eyes - past and present?

Great post.

So if he doesn't come then Kenwright isn't pulling the strings? Stop with the shite. Are we not trying to move on.

Hearsay, blah blahs.

Speak for the better of the fans and the club, not yourself or your agenda.
This will be our problem over and over again.

Brands fans on a tandem.

Ref Watch Tony. Another spit in the face con from the sky generation.

He is if you believe tiny sections of the media or have an obsession with hating Kenwright and go looking for reasons.

Otherwise he is just a cloud head actor with a better season ticket seat than me and you. I don't know any of their job descriptions.

Speculation is empty.

Whilst Moshiri is at it, he should start the rebuilding now and shred Kenwright - this is a big moment in the history of Everton FC that will define our status for a generation.

If you can’t see that Kenwright doesn’t still doesn’t pull strings at Everton, then I could suggest, it’s because it doesn’t bother you, when you only have to look at the Everton dugout each week and realise that our first team coach has actually seen off four managers, if you include one caretaker?

Pure speculation or maybe even looking for things that aren’t there? but the reason I want Kenwright gone is because he’s been a stain on my club, a liar who has always served his own interests over the club he profuses to love, and he’s also an absolute fucking jinx.

If anyone who liked the man came back with weak rumours to defend him, the thread would never get off the ground.

Too many waste energy they could give to the team in support, on things none of us have been told about.

If you don't think he loves the club it sort of says everything about obsession with the man.

You reckon Brian Kidd is still at City because of who then? We need an everton man amongst the ranks by the way. Someone who cares. Don't you like that idea?

That, sir, is a simply marvelous story.

I hope Josh leads the line for Everton someday.

ToffeeWeb, June 1st, 2024:
Josh Smith, formerly with the Chelsea Youth Academy, signed his first professional contract today with Everton. Josh said, "This is a dream come true. I always knew I was a Blue at heart, and I've my Dad to thank for that. I'm thrilled with the opportunity, and look to work hard and eventually make the first team."

Whoever we get as manager will continue to get my support. Reading some of the negative posts only makes me a stronger Blue. The blame game can be vicious. Having been Blue for over seventy years we do need a change and I will welcome whatever comes even if I disagree with the change.

Your sarcasm illustrates that you have completely missed the point. Through a lack of reading my post properly, or maybe just a lack of intelligence.

Of course it’s not easy to pick out good players.

However, it is incredibly easy to pick out poor or average ones

I agreed fully about the players. Pure shite.

What i was trying to say was it should easy to see the good from the bad.

Sorry if my intelligence isn't up to your standard but you are the one misreading or paranoid after i actually said Great post Tommy.

Next time i will say shite post Tommy and you can thank me for agreeing.

It would seem that this is the key difference between the respective successes. Liverpool are good at finding and supporting managers, and we are terrible at it.

I suspect HK 1, Catterick, or Paisley or Benitez could get something decent out of this team but for whatever reason, we have an atrocious manager selection and support process and have had much the same for about 70 years.

We may need a good centre forward, good midfielder and central defender, maybe even a new goalie, but none of these is even nearly as important as getting a top rank manager.

I believe the next few weeks will determine whether Everton revives as a club or becomes the new Notts Forest (or even County). Much rests on the shoulders of the board, though I suspect that that is where the real problem lies.

Seriously Paul, to many waste energy they could give to supporting the team? People have been turning up to support the team all season, but it’s not long before they are exasperated though, watching such boring, unadulterated robotic shite.

I’m not obsessed with Kenwright either Paul, I just have a view that he’s no good, and has never been any good for Everton FC, a club who I definitely have an obsession for.

There is loads of Kenwright obsession. How else would his name keep coming up with no fact alongside the point?
That is called rumour, guesswork, dedication, obsession but not fact.

Like I said I don't like the man but I don't turn up for court with no evidence. Same with Koeman, Martinez, Walsh, Jay (BRZ) Steve Ferns, Yourself.

I would never assume about any of you to make a point mate. X

If I was to ask you a question based on your Everton knowledge, do you think Koeman, Allardyce or Silva, genuinely asked for Duncan Ferguson to be their first team coach?

Do you think Moshiri joined Everton, sacked Martinez and then said but Duncan is going nowhere?

You say you wouldn’t assume against any of us to make a point Paul, but when I told you I was obsessed with Everton rather than Kenwright, please assume I will never mention his name again, once he’s gone.

Norwalk, CT is NYC metro, not New England, regardless of what the state of CT is considered. It's about 5x closer to New York than Boston. Cherry-picking the Patriots is the part in question.

A couple thoughts on players I'm well-known to like and thus defend.

Re: Kean: yes, he missed a 1-on-1 and possibly rushed it before he had another 1-2 touches to make. But here's the thing, he's got to be extremely nervous, not just because of his age, but every time he gets on, we're losing or it's a very high-pressure situation and he's expected to pull goals out of a hat. That is a lot of pressure for anyone, let alone a kid. I firmly believe if he could just start a run of games, he would be able to relax when a game has yet to be decided and would then find his groove. He's clearly a more talented, better option than DCL or Tosun, if not our immediate savior.

Re: Iwobi: had a terrible game, half of which was dreadful. He was poor at passing the ball forward on half his attempts, and was terrible at trying to take on defenders. That said, he created THREE of our 6 chances, including through balls to DCL and the pass that sprung Kean. He was out right again when he simply needs to be in the middle. We have a long list of things to point to for yesterday's debacle, and while Iwobi is on the list, he's toward the bottom.

I do believe Koeman was happy to sign Pickford too but he isn't the only player I don't rate.

3 from last nights team I rate. And none because they have class, maybe Digne but he can't defend.

Dave i don't like his corny interviews and his cringey personality.

I don't think that matters though. I don't believe he pulls the strings and find the thought pathetic. Even when he tried selling Martinez to Moshiri live on TV in his corny "what a manager" tone, what happened?

Like i have said a million times, if anyone can prove he does i'll be the first to say spot on, i couldn't believe a man who wanted control, hands over that control.

Each to their own though mate.

I hope he comes out flying and becomes a star for us believe me.

The discussion came from my mate saying we make excuses for everyone don't we, because when he said Kean should have scored but he didn't start, we threw Origi's first goal into the debate knowing he hardly plays too.

He is a mere fringe player for Liverpool and wipes the floor with all of our forwards.

To even expect Kean to be ready for the Premiership to me is outrageous when he only got a few starts in Serie A for the top team and taking into account the age and his culture swap
They were developing him so it was always going to take us a lot longer than Juve.

I said in the summer, great signing but he is behind Calvert Lewin in the pecking order without doubt.
The eductation they need is staggering now and Calvert Lewin is struggling at this level too.

Its not like when Rooney came through and Weir and Stubbs were Premier league Centre Halfs. Liverpool sell all their 19 year old strikers because they need the ready now. Why would we be any different?

You get the best you can get of course but a supposed 60 million bid went in for Zaha, and we didn't get a ready striker in. How has that happened?

Then give him Iwobi aswell to soften it up. Another waste of money. Moshiri needs to wake up and realise cast offs are dead money.

I hope you see this post. Bit past its prime, but I missed your comment, with apologies.

Firstly, I'm glad the link cheered you up. We all need that right about now.

Secondly, in my time on TW, I've pissed more than a few off, and actually received some compliments. But Jamie Crowley HSC might be the best of both polar opposites - it'll piss some off that this seppo has the title of HSC, and it might be one of the most satisfying, humbling compliments given to me.

Cheers and thanks. And if it all goes south, find a chicken and beat the hell out of him.