Blues grind out narrow win to secure Premier League safety *

COYB 💙💙👍

As has been said before, you don't have to play him but it might offer encouragement as well as match day experience, but Mr Dyche knows better, eh.

After two minutes and Pickford's second long hoof, Chermiti raised his arm but his face had a look of "What am I supposed to do with this" and after 20 minutes he looked right pissed off with it.

Oh for some intent, or would both teams be happy with a nil-nil draw given today's previous results.

Premier League table looks great.

I am beginning to wonder if Gana has been practicing his shooting, just aiming for the stands or isn't trying to hit it with everything he's got but what was this rubbish about VAR looking for something when quite obviously there was nothing to see???

So, for all intents and purposes, the season is all over and now only the possibility of finishing a position higher and another million or two in the coffers.

Let's do it all again next season.

Enjoy your night, Blues!

After everything the club has faced, he has led us to safety.

Really don't care about football quality. We got the clean sheet and there was a lot of effort with a couple of shots even hitting the woodwork.

Dyche has really done wonders considering our situation on and off the pitch.

After the Chelsea game, I thought we were doomed.

So well done to the lads for grinding out these results. Fantastic job.

Now let's get rid of Moshiri and find us some decent owners.

I really don't know what to do with myself now...? 🤔

No last match, or last minute angst, and watching the team try to keep us in the league this season thanks players and thanks Sean and staff...

Looking at the table, I just realised that we have had 12 wins from 35 games and 8 draws, along with the 15 defeats, of which at least four losses could have been either a draw or possible win with less profligate finishing! Not too shabby considering the run at the start of 2024.

I'm not sure how I feel about Dyche as our manager going forward however, he deserves high praise for his ability to get the team this far and safe with three games to go.

Now unfortunately, my mind immediately shifts to the off-field club issues, and then the off-field take-over issues...

At least I still have some EFC angst before the end of season 😜

Finally, many congratulations to the players, and the footballing aspect of our club's staff, the matchday staff, and all those working at the club keeping us going. Plus a huge thank you to all the match-going fans who deserve these last three games to be relatively 'stress' free...

Good wishes one and all, and here's to another season in the Premier League. Where the filthy lucre is...

Gana was absolutely brilliant yet again.

Looking ahead to next season, if we can raise some money by selling Onana, Maypay and maybe Michael Keane and retain Branthwaite, Pickford and Calvert-Lewin, there may be some wriggle room for Thelwell to try and get in a right back, left back, a midfielder and an attacking winger, along with a couple of shrewd loans, we should do better next season.

Apparently, our friends at the Premer League have already posted:

"Following their defeat to Newcastle, Sheffield Utd are relegated pending Everton and Nott'm Forest's points-deduction appeals."

I think any celebrations have to wait — and aside from those appeals, still no mention of what has to be a greater fear, that they could still make a very bad decision on the stadium interest issue that would increase our points deductions.

Maybe all the Blues who have been predicting for months that we will be relegated will come on and eat humble pie. There's a couple must be gutted.

I'll start the ball rolling; after Chelsea, I changed my tune about Dyche. Had there been someone there to sack him, I'd have nodded in agreement.

Well, totally wrong. He has played a blinder and cap doffed to those who never wavered.

We have hard working players but lack quality. Next season, I hope we sign a couple of quality attacking players who can get the best out of our strikers. This season has been more about safety with Route 1 football.

Always thought he would keep us safe irrespective of points deductions.

Lost 6-0 to Chelsea, and 9pts in the last week, fantastic.

Gueye brilliant again tonight, but McNeil wasn't far behind him. Branthwaite can't be sold, by the way.

What I'm not convinced about, if things are to change and dear Christ they need to, is he capable of doing anything other than creating a team in his own image? Honest, hardworking but lacking creativity and flair.

Without the points deductions, we would be challenging for Europe.

We are going to need his shrewdness for next season as we have to sell Branthwaite (gutted) and Onana (not arsed) to meet PSR.

Very good albeit unspectacular team performance today with Tarkowski and Gueye the standout performers – with Pickford, Young, Branthwaite, Garner and McNeil not far behind – and Harrison and Doucoure contributing with sheer effort if not a lot of quality. Chermiti got some experience and showed some promise (and by contrast shows just how much Calvert-Lewin delivers as a lone, isolated frontman).

Boring though it is, Dyche has played it right with his defensive set-up. It has kept us safe.

Against all the odds, we're a Premier League club again next season. The only thing that can get us now is corruption in the appeals process.

Would Pep, Micky, Mr Ed, Uno the Dick, Poch etc have yielded more than the 44 points won on the pitch with 3 games to play, with all the off-field shite going on behind the scenes?

11 points clear of the drop with 9 points still up for grabs, despite the 8 points taken away from the points earned on the pitch.

Would those managers have retained the focus and class that our manager had endlessly and steadfastly shown all season?

A proper leader, a proper manager, tactically astute, dedicated, capable and focused. Used the resources available to him outstandingly well overall.

That the squad look set to remain focused and grab as many points and perform as well as they can in the upcoming final 3 matches. That's testament to the spirit, togetherness and belief Dyche, Woan and Stone have instilled.

Top class, top marks. Nothing but thanks and admiration from me. I want us winning things again, but we are where we are and realistically, with all considered, it is an outstanding managerial job being done in extremely challenging circumstances, at the highest level of club football in the world.

UTFT.

Absolutely fantastic and a great achievement from everyone concerned, players, management and fans.

The Premier League must be well pissed off after trying everything they could to fuck us up! Masters will be fuming!!!

The only thing I would ask is if we can win every remaining game and prove to the arseholes at the Premier League, Forest and others who've wanted us out.

Every day I wake up and remind myself how lucky I am to be a Blue. From Bobby Collins to Gana and everyone in between, I've been so lucky.

Well done to try the players the manager and coaches and especially fellow supporters. It just shows the difference when you have confidence and belief.

Even more enjoyable to see Klopp arguing with his own players in public. Always thought that man had no class.

A mention to Paul Thelwell as well who has gotten rid of a lot of deadwood since he came in and put together a team capable of scoring 45 points in the Premier League on a very limited budget.

Finally, to Richard Masters, you tried to get rid of us by penalising us out of the league. EFC will not be your tame scapegoat and we'll be here again next season. NSNO

The Forest and Liverpool games were testimony to the whole club and fanbase pulling together with one aim, to stay up, and we've done it, despite Richard Masters and his corrupt organisation.

I just read the Premier League match report piece (on the Premier League website), and there they say that we are now mathematically safe from relegation... Yet, as you say, it is still dependent on the result of our fast-tracked Appeals Commission.

(nb: Just where is the 'fast tracked' Independent Commission process for the other clubs either in clear breach of PSR? I fully understand that there are other financial issues involved in both the Chelsea and Man City 'cases'. Yet, why can't they be brought before the 'beak', if as the Premier League say, that both clubs have breached the PSRs?)

Going back to our Appeal, both Maguire and Plumley presumed that we'd get a 4-point deduction and 2 points back on appeal with regards the Premier League vs EFL differing interpretation of the 'double jeopardy' issue.

Since we got the 2-point deduction, and the double jeopardy was taken into account, the only move I assume would be either we are stuck with the –2 points (in which case we're safe) or else, we may get 1 additional point returned (ie, +1 point) in line with Forest's +2 points for good behaviour and cooperation, whereas we only got +1 point for that, and +1 point for the Finch Farm and stadium sponsorship deals that we (the club) terminated voluntarily, without needing any external pressure or demand to do so.

Could I also ask Michael please: where do you stand on the Dyche conundrum? (Or anyone else? Please note I'm not shooting him down, I'm trying to be as objective as I can be with one-eye squinted because of my now pre-determined perceptions and pre-conceived biases of him)

Yes, he kept us up, yes he is pragmatic, and yes he has made us hard to beat, and most importantly he has kept us up. Is that enough?

I mean, I find his 'love-in' with a select group of players, risking fatigue and injury (albeit dealing with the hand he has been dealt, and continues to be dealt), his stubbornness in maintaining faith with his 4-4-1-1, his lack of supposed tactical awareness (again, albeit he changed for the Chelsea drumming, but since then he seems to be a 'little' more in tune with on-field events, and his 'I'm the man' management style...

I can't have a go at him or his staff re subs, or the use/timing of them, as he really is restricted by the quality and depth of squad.

I'd be very interested to hear your more objective thoughts Michael, if you would care to indulge me?

Good wishes again and UTTBs!!

Great credit to Sean Dyche and the players. We'll done, it can't be easy with the uncertainty of ownership and points deductions.

They have surprised me and proved me wrong.

Well done to all.

The 48% possession speaks for itself. The lines and the runs were good early. Once Chermiti controlled a couple of outballs, space opened up. Garner dropping deep in the second half was nice to see. That kept the high-low stuff from being predictable.

Everton is so safe it's dangerous.

I'm sure we've all hated this season but this week has been nectar from the gods; we're safe and can enjoy the summer, plus we battered them and ruined Klopp's farewell tour.

Well done, Sean indeed, 8 points deducted and safe with 3 games left. That's impressive for any manager! Happy Blues to you all, time for another pint, methinks.

And the appeals can only give us points back, so the concern is further deductions for stadium interest or wiping the debt. So not sure why the concerns apart from we are Everton and they are the Premier League?

Pete, you never doubted for moment!

We are finally safe… and Michael rains on the parade with an asterisk.

Great effort today by the whole team, no MotM awards from me. Good for Chermiti to have an outing, I think he did okay for his first start. Branthwaite was immense, I will be sorry to see him go, I just hope we get the top dollar he is worth.

Everyone one of you calling this man out deserves to apologise. But nowhere near as much as the Kenwright fanclub. I blame each and every one of you for all of this mess we, Everton Football Club, are in. And to be honest, I'd prefer it if you all fucked off and never came back, you traitorous, blind, ignorant bastards.

Up The Magnificent Toffees

Onwards (real) Evertonians march.

The World's Greatest Evertonian and his money suppliers put us right in the shit. Regardless, the fans, management and players have finally done the club proud.

From 1989 until 2023, the club has been in managed decline under the leadership of our late Chairman. Hopefully someone can come in and stabilise us, manage to keep our best players, Pickford, Branthwaite etc, and lead us to a bright future in the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.

How funny it would be now for Dyche to let Luton win next week and really cause the Premier League a problem with Luton finishing above Forest then the Premier League giving Forest points back at the end of the season …. A right fuck-up – and showing what a complete shit show they are!

I was at Goodison when we were last relegated and, at 85, I have seen the best from Dave Hickson to Duncan Ferguson and every manager, Harry Catterick to Howard Kendall, but neither had the problems of Sean Dyche.

My one wish is we stay in the Premier League till I shuffle of this mortal coil… so tonight I have had a large whisky with congrats to the Super Blues and everyone.

Yeah, he's too skinny to hold the ball up and he got suckered into offsides a number of times by the veteran defenders, but for 19 years old, I think he looks great. Give him a summer in the weight room and I believe we'll have a real player next season.

Mr Dyche, a special mention. You stayed calm and never used the point deduction as a distraction. Fans always want better for their club but really, we need you and thank you with your coaching staff and all the players!!

Let's all enjoy the next few games. Relax! Next season is for another day! We stay together as a family. We moan, disagree but our commitment to our club is never questioned. Today brought a few tears of relief, again. We are survivors and will rise again.

Take care all.

Eights points knocked off and we're safe with three games to go – a huge improvement on last season – no-one can argue otherwise. so congratulations all round to the manager, players and most of all the fans who keep it all going!

I'm In Liverpool for the weekend and watched it with the old man who is hard to please and hates the style of football we play. I just wanted the win so was buzzing.

The players stepped up and deserve praise – all of them. According to some, it's not the manager that's at fault it's the players but all of a sudden he's a fuckin miracle worker when we win. I can't forget the 14 winless games but accept he's earned another season at our great club.

Biggest well done to the fans who never get tired of digging deep and finding the belief to summon another round of encouragement and passion. We never lie down.

I genuinely couldn't have written a better script for those self-entitled Kopites because even their most pessimistic supporter (there must be one 😂) could have never envisaged such a disastrous end to the Klopp era.

I'm made up for every single Evertonian who has finally had a week when everything finally went right. It's been a long time coming! 💙

As one of Dyche's biggest cheerleaders, I'm delighted he's led us to safety with games to spare and it's no small achievement given what he's had thrown at him. A great pick for manager for which Thelwell, Moshiri and Kenwright deserve a little credit.

The future is still far from certain and hopefully the ownership issue can be sorted soon and next season may prove even tougher.

If so, good health!

My dad (RIP) was a mate of John Willie Parker and, but for Mr Hitler, would have played for Everton himself.

The football has been wretched, ugly, turgid – plus 1 win in 15 at once point – but Dyche and his brand of Dycheball has done the job he was brought in to do.

Now… do we stick or twist at the end of the season?

Personally, I would twist – I barely bother watching the Blues these days due to the brand of football hurting my eyes… However, something tells me we don't have a pot to piss in and so can't afford to pay the man off … shame because it will mean more of the same next season.

But, as Harold Wilson nearly said, A week is a long time in football.

That said, if Calvert-Lewin was fit, Chermiti is on the bench Today though Dyche had no option – and Chermiti did well enough to prove a point to Dyche.

Gana has been a bit of a hero and – if he's after a 1-year extension – I think he's earned it.

Dyche The Ju-Ju man and his lucky tracky march on to Luton and – on the evidence of the last 7goals I watched Luton concede – the static mime artist / bollard that is, at the moment, Barkley as a midfielder... I hope he doesn't pick next Friday to actually move about a bit and do something.

It mightn't be the biggest Mojo in the world that we've rediscovered but, like The City – It's All Ours!

Take a bow, Sean Dyche and the entire squad and backroom staff, for holding your collective nerve and battling every inch of the way for these magnificent recent victories. You all deserve our rapturous applause.

However, the fact remains that, come next season, the best that we can possibly hope for is mid-table consolidation and perhaps a good Cup run. I will be satisfied with that possibility and with Dyche's management, but only for the short term.

Once we are based in the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock and with comprehensive financial backing, I fully expect nothing short of a revolutionary reconstruction of both players and management.

Only then can we truly live up to – Nil Satis Nisi Optimum.

I feel like he is the only one who has shown leadership and has the skills and mental strength to get us through the next 12 months – he has earned the right to continue.

Also, a special thanks to Dyche for keeping us in the Premier League for a second season running. Hopefully we won't be in this mess next season.

Shame on you, Everton, on not getting that second goal, and letting me down. :-)

Anyway, after removing my tongue firmley from my cheek, another clean sheet and another victory.

Some achievement that to come back from that Chelsea fiasco to win 3 games on the bounce without conceeding, securing our Premier League safety, ruinining Sky's Friday night relegation battle at Luton, inconveniencing the fans having to travel for a Friday night game, while also ending their 3-team final day Sky special.

Apologies, those going to Arsenal, but if it's a two-team final-day drama, I really hope that, within 20 mins of our game, we concede 3 goals to really put a dampener on their final-day drama.

I know should never want to see us roll over but, if it screws their final-day drama, it would give the Premier League a massive two fingers up yours to them, kill their final-day drama off early.

Use some of our squad, a bit more game-time for Chermiti, give Lewis Warrington some minutes as well, and give Michael Keane more than a couple of minutes as a striker. Try anything now, nothing to lose.

Up the Toffees.

Doucoure is fucking shit. He is fucking useless.

For me, Dyche Out.

After two successive seasons of nearly going down and flirting with death, getting battered by Chelsea 6-0, entering a hat-trick of seasons staring into the abyss, the Grim Reaper once again leaves empty-handed.

The fans – for three years running, they've showed up and willed their beloved Blues over the line.

There's a lot to overcome this summer and next season, but for now, everyone should sleep with a huge smile on their faces.

Fantastic season all things considered.

UTFT

Gueye — sensational, almost like a deep-laying playmaker now.

Chermitti – deffo a player in there with more games, looks tidy.

Branthwaite & Tarkowski – absolutely solid as usual.

Doucoure – needs replacing imo, we'd be a different side with a quality playmaker in his role.

Fair play to Dyche, he's got us safe for another season under shit-show circumstances off-field with the points deduction etc. Enjoy your Sunday, fellow Blues!

Utft!

Here are my thoughts on Doucouré.

When he joined Watford, he did really well as a nNumber 10. When they got relegated, Ben Foster said some of their players quit trying and were just focused on getting a move. Doucouré was shit that season.

Carlo mistakenly thought he was a defensive midfielder and he did okay there for a while but then he was complete crap at Everton right up until his contract had 6 months left to run. Then he was suddenly good again.

Once he secured his future, he's been shit again. Ideally, I'd like to see him moved on along with Patterson, Mykolenko, Godfrey, Keane, McNeil, Garner, Beto, Calvert-Lewin, Onana as well as releasing the out-of-contract crowd and the young players who haven't cut it. Unfortunately, that would leave us with just Pickford and Tarkowski given we will likely sell Branthwaite to balance the books. I've no doubt that 2-man team would give 110%.

But rules dictate we have to field at least 6 players so my Masterplan won't work as we have no money to sign anyone new, even with the meagre sum we raise from selling all the deadbeats assuming Jarrad's sale just gets swallowed up by interest payments on debt.

Hopefully that tournament the Under-19s won was more prestigious than we realized and we have a golden generation of freebies ready to step in.

Especially when you consider the middle game was against a team who were not only our hitherto nemesis but had possible title claims themselves, provided they won all of their remaining fixtures.

We are talking too of a team who had (rightly or wrongly) only lost 3 games all season prior to playing us. Us, a team who were down to bare bones, had been raped of League points by a bent system, were forced to sell their better players.

A team that many were tipping as relegation candidates. Perish the thought but, had we lost all of these matches, we would have made the last sentence a strong possibility, and been in another battle right down to the last game or games of the season.

Now, mainly due to Dyche, the fans, and the players, we have dispelled any of that becoming a possibility, and given ourselves not only breathing room with games to spare, but also a chance of increasing our position.

I'm almost in tears, of relief and joy combined. We have had no luck for years, maybe this is our 'Hand of God' moment – just one more prayer, that we get an honest Investor and ultimate Saviour. 🙏💙

Kieran, just spotted your post after I had submitted mine, but totally agree regarding Doucoure, he hasn't really earned any right to be in the side, apart from that goal against Bournemouth that kept us in the Premier League and him stealing a wage every week. However, I don't agree on a wholesale fire sale, we have some decent players who proved it this week alone, barring the Duke!

I'm sure there's truth in him lifting his game when he needs a new contract. But I'm not convinced he was ever particularly good.

He's a half-decent finisher at times but nowhere good for enough to be a forward. He can cover the ground from box to box but his control and passing ability rule him out as a midfielder.

But he's a bit of a grafter so we put him somewhere between the two positions he can't play and made him the least talented Number 10 most of us will have witnessed.

He scored more goals than some midfielders. He scored less than most strikers. He lost the ball about as often as he kept it. Created less than any Number 10. He pretty much lived up to his billing. He did work hard though.

I wanted him to be released last year purely so the temptation to pick 'the grafter' would be removed. This year it has to happen - we're spending money each week to play someone who has some attributes, but can't play to the required standard in any position.

Ideally, it would be "Goodbye, Abdoulaye," we'll always have Bournemouth.

But we gave him a contract to 2025. He's going nowhere and he'll probably keep getting picked.

He never wavered in doing the job he was tasked with doing, certainly never listened to the noise coming from the fan base, and just put his head down and truly saved the club. Sure, the football has been ugly, the subs and persistence with certain players have been questionable, and we had an awful run for a while.

But he knew what we had, and he did what was necessary. I'm particularly glad he stuck with Calvert-Lewin through his dry spell, kept with Gana (whom I've questioned quite a bit), and found a way to motivate the players after the Chelsea debacle.

Of course our tremendous fans played a massive part as well, and you all make me proud as ever to be a Blue.

One thing to add about Doucoure to the above comments. We all know he has his serious limitations, but in addition to saving us on the last day last season, his form early this season gave us the points we needed to be where we are. If he hadn't done his hamstring, I don't think we'd have been in danger these last few weeks. And he never stops working, loves the club, and has a smile worth a million bucks.

It's on to next season. Dyche deserves another season. We start over with a squad with some belief and a full season under Dyche, having weathered the worst storm any Premier League team could have ever imagined. The miracle would be to keep Branthwaite, bring in a decent attacking midfielder (I'd take Barkley, better yet Gibbs-White if they go down, though we can't afford him), a wide player with pace, and sort the right-back problem.

For now, it's rest easy. Up the fucking Toffees!

When we were in that post-December 15 shameful run, Mr Rathbone posted that the manager had 'nothing' – that's right, 'nothing' to do with results.

We are now safe and have won three games inside a week and consistent, constant, and coherent Bazza Rathbone is now saying that Dyche who, remember, has 'nothing' to do with results, is 'unquestionably Manager of the Season'.

You couldn't make it up,yer slippery eel. Absolute joke/r.

He'll come back with his usual avoidance and he will not answer this question, but Gripes of Rath, can you confirm that you did indeed post that Dyche had 'nothing' to do with results, so that, if wrong, I should apologise.

Brave post... on the Kenwright fan club thing.

I'll bet the many thousands... well hundreds, maybe tens, perhaps the half dozen or so who regularly posted in support of the man on ToffeeWeb will feel appropiately chastened.

Three Hail Marys and one Our Father for each of the bastards.

Great week...

Carlo Ancelotti wanted him and signed him for us, together with James Rodriguez. The attributes both those players had/have, together, pretty much gives everything a footballer could wish for. Sadly, we could not afford to keep James Rodriguez and the shameful appointment of Riff Raff Rafa fucked him off.

Effectiveness over style is what we need in our predicament. Doucoure gives his all for us and when in form, has a massive positive impact on the team, both in attack and defence. Lampard did not see it, froze him out and we were going down. Dyche had faith and Doucoure flourished.

Silk purse with no James Rodriguez? No! Effective, successful, fight through the hurricane shit storm and win? Yes!

Doucoure was a big part of our relative success and gives his all, to significant effect. Well played! This season has seemed like a war against endless bombardments. Doucoure a leading soldier in the fightback. Thank you Duke and thank you to the gaffer!

UTFT.

My dad took me to my first game at beautiful Goodison Park to see the School of Science in 1963. I realised then what a great club Everton were and, despite absolute fools almost destroying our club, we still are.

I am looking forward to next season when hopefully we can rise again.

"And don't forget this man took over after that enormous fucking piece of shite Kenwright went full Stalin and tried to throw the fans under the bus. Everyone one of you calling this man out deserves to apologise. But nowhere near as much as the Kenwright fan club. I blame each and every one of you for all of this mess we, Everton Football Club, are in. And to be honest, I'd prefer it if you all fucked off and never came back you traitorous, blind, ignorant bastards."

You're a sad person,n Nick Page. An angry little voice. How you have the temerity and arrogance and narcissistic blindness to call good people on here traitors and to fuck off, you oh so brave tappy tappy warrior you.

You're a disgrace, soft lad, coming on here with your 1,000 strawmen when fucking no-one on here backed Kenwright, bar one or two,

Limited passing and creative skills matter less when you only have 35% of the possession and often rely on counter-pressing, something he does well, to create most of your chances.

Doucoure often covers the most distance in our team despite being quite a big lad and he seldom gives up the fight. Perhaps in the future, we may aspire to more lofty qualities than this in a number 10 but I reckon he suits Dyche's battling style pretty perfectly and let's not forget he's our top scorer this season in a team that has found goals hard to come by.

If a decent offer were to come in for him, then I'm sure we'd listen, but not many are going to match the wages we're paying him.

The no wins in 14 games is a stat, actually watch those matches and see if the players put effort in. In a lot of those games, we deserved something, it wasn't 14 straight defeats.

In the Premier League, every team has to put the effort in, the difference is decision-making and quality. We have effort in abundance which has got us over the line in a season were the promoted teams haven't been very good.

We need to add to the squad; otherwise, we will be in a similar position next season.

Chermiti showed yesterday that he is a better footballer than Beto. He has a good leap and link-up play. We need to try and get players closer to the strikers next season.

UTFT.

Those few minutes showed me he has no clue how to play striker – again to me, his on-field body language (if you get my drift) showed somebody who didn't know if he was Arthur or Martha: "Where do I go?" ...as he looks to drift back.

Gabriel could play striker – you get on the last man and/or the back line and put yourself about. Lyons could do it, Marshall could do it.

All Keane is good for is going up for corners or putting his boot through a loose ball in the box.

He has been effective in many respects – and I think Dyche has done well in getting that out of a limited player.

But I do agree that that we need to move on from just being effective, and introduce better footballers into the team if we are to move into the Top 10 again. With someone like Sigurdsson in the same role, the football would improve dramatically.

Hopefully from somewhere we will get some stability with new owners with the skills and commitment to lead us forward. Realisticall,y we are still some distance away from this, but the manager, his staff and the players have done their bit in the most difficult of circumstances.

Let's hope that somebody out there will see the potential with the new stadium looking more impressive every week. But from somewhere we need honest, experienced people who have the commitment, resources and vision to take over and manage the club in a proper sustainable fashion.

At some stage, we shall have to begin managing the club like the big undertaking it is, we have had 3 years of near-misses and I doubt we could survive many more.

As for Dyche and his performance as a manager, I think things speak for themselves: a threadbare squad, no money to spend, no background support higher up in the club, two different point deductions in the same season, injuries limiting the squad further… and yet he garnered 44 points with more to come. I think he deserves every bit of praise he gets and more.

Manager of the Season? Yes of me, doubt if he will get it anywhere else. Thanks, Sean, you've done wonders, mate.

We also had to play Brentford, a team who had started to pick up form. But it all kicked off against Forest, who can be a right shower of snidey bastards when they want to be.

Had it all gone pear-shaped in those three games, then Sky's wish of a relegation Friday night shootout at Kenilworth Road would have been one not to be missed!!

Seven days later, and here we are, safe as houses!
To be honest, Don't know what all the worry was for! 😁😁😁

Dyche has 14 months left on his contract, and for what he has achieved in this past 16 months, he simply deserves to see out that contract.

What happens after that, who knows, but as I say, he has earned the right to be here next season.

Remember when Everton were doing well under Ancelotti and remember who got injured just before the team started descending down the league?

Remember when Lampard wouldn't play him and, when Dyche took over and reinstated him into the team, how Everton suddenly had more energy?

He's limited, but he his an incredibly physically strong footballer, who never stops running for the team.

Harrison works hard, and possibly proved the other night that when he's not playing every week, he does possess enough physical strength for this league, but this isn't always possible when you have such a small squad, and that's why physical specimens like Doucouré are so important in such a physically demanding league.

My own view is that I'd play Doucouré out wide and just get him using his physical strength and energy up and down. Although we all have different opinions, I find it hard to believe people disputing that he doesn't add value to this current Everton squad.

Thanks for your interesting posts.

There's nothing of value I can add to the Dyche conundrum, I'm afraid. I share the frustrations many have voiced already, as well as the admiration for a job well done in the end – despite the mind-numbing winless streak, which nearly broke me.

Rob says there's 14 months left on his contract. It would be completely insane to buy him off early, as recent history has surely taught us that any new manager would pose a huge risk, rather than providing some magic panacea to our on-field inadequacies.

So, much as I'd love to see a massive improvement in the dreadful football he has us playing, we clearly don't have the players to perform much better – whatever the last week of remarkable results may suggest if foolishly extrapolated, as fans are wont to do – I think we're stuck with him until the end of next season.

Next season, with players out of contract and players being sold, Dyche's job will be tougher than this – even with a point deduction.

I don't understand why Dyche wouldn't be here? He has probably led the club through the most difficult time in our history. He is straight-talking and protects his players with the press.

Players have stepped up this week but have let both fans and management down in parts this season. Dyche has shown his ability as a top manager.

Who knows what will happen next but to replace Dyche would be a real betrayal.

We haven't been fighting relegation — just the Premier League.

The atmosphere wasn't anywhere near what it was like on Wednesday but I think that was to be expected, but the fans have again more than played their part in making sure we stayed in the Premier League.

For me, while every player has put a shift in during these games this week, 3 players have been outstanding: Gana Gueye, Jarrad Branthwaite and Jordan Pickford.

Who would have thought that Gana would not only be the best midfield player at this club by a country mile but would turn into a goal machine?

Jarrad Branthwaite is quite simply the best centre-back in the Premier League, he is unbeatable in the air, has pace to burn and his reading of the game for one so young is outstanding.

Jordan Pickford might wind me up no end with taking free kicks on the halfway line, dancing round like a cat on a hot tin roof, but when it comes to the business of stopping shots, there is nobody better.

I just hope we can keep these 3 at the club for next season, he can sell any of the others although I would be disappointed if we lost Mykolenko but the rest – get as much money as you can.

I have been critical of Sean Dyche over his tactics and his selections and substitutions but, despite my reservations about his managerial qualities, keeping us in the Premier League with still 3 games left to play, then he fully deserves to be in charge for next season.

We have improved our effectiveness to gain points if not the quality of the product being produced, week-in & week-out. That can only come when we have better quality players and the can only come about when our finances are in a better state.

A change of manager is not even on the agenda at this stage, I would have thought. That will only come about when our expectations rise a notch or two and it starts to look as if our current manager cannot get us to the next level. Who knows, maybe he can!

For now, I am just happy that we are safe with 3 games to go and are the far side of our points deductions. We have prevailed!!!

Would be great if we could unload Beto but that looks unlikely but we can't be wasting our limited funds like we did last summer.

I have to say Tarkowski has been an absolute colossus, true captain material and the rock that our survival was built on.

Wanting better football than what has been produced in 2023-24 is obvious… but maybe, just maybe, if we can give Dyche a bit of time and money, then he might have enough talent to produce such a team?

I honestly don't know how people could say no chance, because our current manager has always had the lowest budget whenever he has managed in the Premier League, and with regards this horribly demanding season, I'm just glad he knows how to cut his cloth accordingly. 👏

I recall asking you some time ago if you would accept Sean Dyche at EFC and your response was: "No, I couldn't cope with his gravelly voice”. I presume you have a change of heart? My comment is of course tongue-in-cheek.

I have just read a report of an interview on the BBC website with Sean Dyche, and he was less than complimentary about the job description he was given before taking the job.

I agree with all who wish to stick with him but he may surprise us all and walk. I'm sure after what he has achieved with us he will not be short of offers.

"It really shows how far we have fallen, most of us celebrating survival for the third season in a row!"

Oliver, we're not celebrating that we achieved something we set out to do at the start of the season. We're celebrating surviving after our early-season ambitions were shattered by the Premier League and the points deductions, the deductions that could have got us relegated.

We're celebrating the survival we achieved even after those points deductions, achieved reasonably comfortably before the season's end.

Don't wobble it too much!

I'm not sure it will be that hard to offload Beto. The deal was structured almost like a loan with option to buy. We haven't actually paid anything for him yet. It might be possible to return him to Serie A without triggering any material payment obligations (other than something along the size and scale of a loan fee for this season).

It wouldn't surprise me if he is not with us next season. Especially since the club has worked hard to get Calvert-Lewin back to fitness after many on here thought he was finished.

"How funny it would be now for Dyche to let Luton win next week and really cause the Premier League a problem with Luton finishing above Forest then the Premier League giving Forest points back at the end of the season …. A right fuck-up – and showing what a complete shit show they are!"

John, that's a delicious scenario! I don't want us to lose to Luton, but...!

I say, fuck Sky and fuck Masters and his corrupt Premier League. Play Lonergan in goal and play the kids alongside the deadbeats like Keane, Danjuma, Gomes and Alli on crutches.

What I don't buy and it wasn't in my thinking was get rid due to the style of play. Winning games is what I want to see, if it's a game like yesterday that we sneak home in, I am more than happy. Losing games playing well, as we did early season at Goodison, I don't care for.

I love watching Everton win games and will enjoy every game we keep a clean sheet as it means we don't lose.

This little winning run I think we should credit Harrison, Godfrey and Young who have given everything. Those players may not be the best but their performances have pleased me a hell of a lot, helping their teammates do their jobs.

Maybe everyone is still celebrating, or many only relish defeats and thrive on bad news!

And as for Sky specifically picking out our game against Luton for the Friday night, expecting a massive relegation battle, I have heard from people in authority that they decided to do this after combing through a few of the threads on ToffeeWeb.

It has been a bit boring to watch, and tense, but Dyche has held his nerve and stuck to his guns – and rightly so.

It would make for a boring website though if everyone agreed. Fortunately, we'll all be arguing as a Premier League side again next season though – largely because our astute coach did not shit his pants when the going got very tough indeed.

We rode our luck a little against Forest and got what we deserved then dared to believe against the RS when everyone raised their game. Yesterday, I was expecting an anti-climax, so full credit once again for not wilting or showing fatigue against a decent Brentford team.

Gana has been superb, what an attitude and engine that lad has. I also think Young deserves a lot of praise for his part. Chermiti battled away without much joy and only scraps to feed on but he kept going too and rightly received a good ovation. I could go on about them all, they were all brilliant across the 3 games.

It has been a long season and possibly the most difficult in our entire history. Sean Dyche has been immense, never shirked responsibility, got on with it (very frustratingly at times, I agree) and made sure of our survival once again.

I can't think of any other manager who would have achieved what Dyche has given the circumstances. He may not be the man to take us to where we want to be but he 100% deserves the opportunity to do so.

Onwards and upwards, it will be a difficult summer once again no doubt. Keep believing, Blues – we have the heart of a lion and are developing teeth to match.

What a week, I can't wait for Luton now because the confidence is clearly very high and we might see our football further improve (the scenario mentioned above regarding a loss to Luton is hilarious though).

UTFTs

I think that the fans who relegated Everton last Christmas are busy plotting another doomsday outlook.

They must be in hiding and avoiding posts from Danny O'Neill and other fans who recognise that the season consists of 38 games.

They didn’t fold when the chips were down. And the chips really were down let’s face it. I for one certainly thought so after the Chelsea hammering. That is the reason why we have survived this season.

As part of that mighty effort they regained our honour as a football club by defeating our mortal enemies at Goodison this week.

Add those two things together and for that they deserve our utmost respect. Every single one of them.

Dyche at the end of his post-match, when congratulated for keepingh the club safe, was very dismissive.

Along the lines of "That old chestnut. You lot wanted Luton to win today and us to lose."

Link

I love skill, touch and technique, but professional football is mostly about grinding things out and this current crop of players, who we all thought were also amongst the most fragile squads we have ever saw playing for Everton, have definitely shown everyone that this just wasn't true.

It suddenly feels like foundations are getting built in a war zone and I'm sure the skill will massively improve now the pressure has started lifting.

Hurry up and sell, Big Al, because it's obvious the authorities are all over you.

I don't blame Dyche for the dysfunction this club suffers from or for the poor squad he inherited. And least of all, for the points deducted. None of that is on his shoulders.

I do, however, dread another season of watching pub level, kick and rush, hope-for-the-best style of football favoured by Dyche. It was only the derby game and the second half against Brentford that he took the leash off and let the players run riot. It's happened in a few other games but he quickly resorts to his favoured tactics of playing a lone striker and kicking the ball as high up the field as possible.

Now I know after the euphoria of yesterday, this might not be a popular observation, but this is not Everton. Surviving, barely, season after season is embarrassing and painful.

We have some really decent players: Pickford, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Onana (yes, I rate him highly), Gueye, McNeil and Calvert-Lewin amongst others, but the tactics used are not suitable to them.

I know Dyche will lead us out next season but I sincerely hope, if we get decent owners in, he doesn't lead us out when we play our first home game in the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.

I hope our US Blues don't misconstrue your statement to Colin. :-)

I have no doubt one or two will stay on but a few are high salary who are now mostly benchwarmers. A further culling is due but what is left and who needs replacement?

We have won 44 points already and may well end up with 47 (or more) which is as many as Martinez managed between 2014-2016 with Lukaku at his disposal.

Without points deductions, we'd be in 13th with a very decent chance of overtaking Brighton and Wolves over the last few games. I'd say that's pretty good work with such a thin squad and would be a good foundation to build an attempt at the Top 10 next season were we not in such a terrible position financially.

I wouldn't be surprised to see players like Brownhill from Burnley and Barkley, both out of contract and cheap.

One of the dads said that, now we are safe, if Arsenal need goal difference to win the league, the Blues should just sit on the grass for 90 minutes to stick it to the Premier League for being twats and Man City for getting away with it. 😂

Not for him the freedom of normal recruitment to alter style or a plethora of stars on the bench to turn games around.

In real terms there was nothing he could do but persevere with his method and hope results would turn. His monumental achievement was keeping the dressing room with him to see it through despite knee-jerk fans and points deductions.

No-one in the Premier League has come anywhere near – he is Manager of the Season.

Some of it is unfair and personal (a lad by me calls him a Tory cunt at least once a game!), some of it is measured and understandable.

One thing that always gets under-estimated in football is defensive stability and organisation. Anyone who has coached at any level can tell you how hard it is to achieve. Yet, apart from a handful of horror shows, in the 16 months he's been here, the manager has instilled that.

Other posters have rightly mentioned that in general football is about hard work and battling things out. The nirvana of perfect football rarely exists.

Under the circumstances he inherited, Dyche deserves a lot of praise and arguably no one could have done better. It's likely though that his achievements won't truly be recognised by some until he's well and truly out the door.

We have at the moment the 4th best defence (I don't know where the Chelsea result came from) in the Premier League after the top three.

It's all swings and roundabouts if you have none Top 6 footballers, do you go all attack as Martinez did and commit more players forward and concede more goals? Or the opposite, which Dyche favours with the players he's had to pick from at Burnley and here.

He will know different ways to play with the best of them but, since he came here and at Burnley, the priority has been do not get beaten, win if you can.

For fuck's sake, apart from the fact he was bang average, never tackled, does anyone seriously think he'd fit into a Dyche team?

Pack it in, fellers, we should be looking forward – not going back.

I'd like to see us go for Brereton Diaz from Sheffield Utd. He grafts.

Read my post @ 65.

And of course, we are celebrating survival – that's what happened – right!

Wobble away yourself. (Whatever 'wobble' means…)

Also, it should be understood if you can’t specify an improved setup with the players presently available you are not being fair to a man that saved our collective ass. That isn’t a challenge or insult.

Fact is, he faced something that would have taken down a Davey Disciplinarian or the Phenomenal One. Silva, I believe, would have also figured something out. Dyche stuck to principles that were breaking the old mindset and damaged some egos. He took the heat without publicly humiliating anyone and eventually found a functional eleven. I don’t think people on here are realizing how difficult that is in these circumstances and in this league.

As far as quality of football is concerned, give him a player or two and then judge his style. List all of the creative players at his disposal over the years and seriously consider the criticism. It isn’t making excuses for a dinosaur, it is about lifting the scales from some eyes.

He ditched the short tie. What do you want?

I don't think a massive rebuild is needed as it's one more season of endurance and then Bramley Moore where all the data scientists and accountants at the club have calculated more revenue.

As I see it, 4 positions in first team that are a problem to solve:
Right back
Centre-back if Branthwaite leaves
Central midfield if Gueye leaves
Right midfield

For me, I've criticised Young a lot. But Young as a back up left back next season seems a better possibly than right back as a decent shout. Not figured out why I see this yet, but can only think that running backwards his right foot is closer to the attacker so he can flick the ball away easier before the winger sets off. Also not sure McNeil covers more defensive positions than Harrison?

Make a choice on Godfrey as right back challenging Patterson or sell and bring in another right back.

Sell Keane and bring in an up and coming centre back.

Branthwaite want to hang on to him. If can't then if sold bring in a £30 million centre-back that is decent so only a small drop off as Jarrad is the possibly best young centre-back in Europe. Don't negotiate this position as defence has to go into next season with two fantastic centre-backs as the main game plan. In one season revenue will be going up so better to keep some of the loan going and bring in a top centre-back for a few seasons.

Even if a decent right winger is brought in, don't go expansive and Pep style football. If all the team is world class on the ball then you can sit in the opposition half. If not then defensive is best and works best for this team.

In reality, next season is probably the last season of struggling with low revenue which affects transfer budget. The year after hopefully it begins to get better.

However, when finances finally get better, this time the club must keep bringing in the likes of Garner and Chermiti high potential well coached young players with high ceilings who have played a few professional games and help them find a way to improve and understand the game. Seeing Lukaku, Stones, Garner, Branthwaite, Onana and more come to Everton and see how they can develop into top Premier League players will help the club attract more players. Signing limited expensive players at the peak will put off young players with much better ability to join.

Europe within 3 seasons if the club believe in bringing in top young players.

Glass half full.

As for the style of play, Dyche doesn't believe in passing it around the back 4 for the sake of it, neither do I, saw enough of that with Martinez and Silva. We have been built on the foundation of a terrific keeper and 2 tremendous centre backs.

Big up to our fans who never gave in, except for a few miseries, but all clubs have them, and this has felt as good a week for our club as the Panathinaikos week felt bad.

Someone said Everton are the Real Madrid of relegation battles and we need to move on from that, but please remember we would possibly have finished in the top half if not for the unbelievable pressure placed on the club by the points deductions.

Anyone who wants Dyche replaced needs their head examining. Thank you again, Mr Dyche, you saved us last season and have moved us on in this one despite all the "noise".

Neither are what we'd like for a squad player in an ideal world but I think I know who most would go for.

That's your truth.

My truth is that, for two seasons running, with a squad shorn of goalscoring and pace, with an 8-point deduction, with neither money nor support from the 'club management', he's kept us up and made me a few quid in bets.

Thanks to Sean, the players and staaarrff.

Anybody?

Now I ask another question. Is there anybody here who thinks another manager -- and be specific, please -- would have done a better job of leading us to safety?

To me, Sean Dyche is nothing short of magnificent. Of our three consecutive survival battles, this is the one that didn't come down to the final minutes, yet this is the one that had the biggest challenges, with the deductions. We've got one true star in Branthwaite and one truly skilled player in McNeil, and the rest are just grinders. There's no pace and no real attacking danger.

Yet Dyche has built what I'd consider to be the best defensive Everton team I have ever seen. They work relentlessly, cover for each other, keep their poise, never shirk a challenge, and block big shots -- Tarks leads the league (again) and Jarrad is fifth. It helps, of course, that we've got a shot-stopping genius on the line.

Four straight clean sheet wins in December and now three more in April. This club peaked when it absolutely had to. And their belief never wavered, even when ours did. To me there is only one man to credit for that. Sean Dyche.

I will openly admit that in recent years I have given my support, qualified as necessary, to Bill Kenwright. In so doing I have attracted a considerable volume of criticism from many on here who totally disagree with my views.

This, of course, is each individual's prerogative and, in the vast majority of instances, the censure directed towards me has been restrained and relatively polite. One of my less controlled critics has been Nick Page who, to put it politely, has been vehement in his disagreement of my views.

As an Everton supporter of many decades, I still maintain that, whilst Bill Kenwright made mistakes and errors of judgment as a director and later chairman, he was, like the rest of us, only human. Arguably in his own way he wanted the best for the club and, very importantly, he is no longer around to defend himself.

ps: Paul, my views on the current standards of higher education on a previous thread were not designed to upset you and, if I have, my apologies.

Brendan #89 – a typically amusing post

Brian #110 – as always a typically insightful contribution.

Ian #114, always a pleasure to see you here.

Dave and Rob, I have thought of you both often this week and imagined myself next to you during the games. You deserved this week. Mazel tov.

"Is there anybody here... anybody... who looked at this club after the Chelsea catastrophe and predicted three wins in six days -- all clean sheets -- including the derby? Anybody?"

Danny, Mike.

I'm ashamed (now) to admit I lost faith after that game and wanted Dyche out and Pickford dropped. I'm happy to eat humble pie and won't say another negative word against either of them.

Ashley Young is still fair game though – he could've cost us massively against Forest. But he didn't and I enjoyed the best week as an Evertonian I can remember in a long while!

As for asking Danny? Don't be silly – we could be mathematically in the conference league and he wouldn't give up!! And good for him – the world needs more Dannys! UTFT

In the end, it was 2-points deducted, and the team smashed four wins from five (after failing to win in the league for months) to make us safe with games to spare.

All credit to the team and manager, who responded brilliantly to the drubbing at Chelsea.

How you can defend Kenwright is beyond my comprehension.

He was only human all right – bagging more than the Great Train Robbers while selling off all the club's assets to satisfy his personal ego – and he never put a single penny of his own money into the club.

He even stabbed his own friends and acquaintances in the back for his own personal gain.

As far as I am concerned, he will always be the arsehole that sucked the life out of EFC.

Open your eyes and see the light.

Mere "errors of judgement" or "mistakes" cannot hope to cover the scale of deceit or incompetence that enriched himself yet paupered the club. I am sure Moshiri is probably rueing the day he met him.

We've achieved a points tally that pretty much all of us would have taken pre-season. But we did it in two short blasts of practically inexplicable form set against a backdrop of playing generally dysfunctional football.

If the quantity of posts per day have dropped since Brentford (or even the derby) then it might be that many are feeling as I do. The season is over, and I'm very thankful that's finally the case.

Of course attention now turns to the ownership and financial crisis at the club.

Relieved on the football front. Fearful on the off field front. I don't feel like there's much to celebrate.

I'd like to see the levels maintained for the last three games to take away the spectre that the Premier League could still open a trapdoor on us, maximise income from league position, and carry as much positivity as possible into the close season.

Flabbergasted that others are already mentally pruning their concept of ‘deadwood' – both playing staff and management – as if distinctly better replacements are already queuing up in their droves.

Doucouré is limited but made an obvious difference when things did go well. I don't agree with the pub-football / unremitting hoofball characterisation of the way the team plays ‘as instructed' by the manager so, for me, he stays simply for some stability until other more important problems are resolved.

I think Beto is a trier and, at the still relatively young age of 26, could be a useful squad player if he improves a bit (timing his runs better) and if his fee and wages don't turn out to be ridiculous.

Mateta at Crystal Palace is an example of a ‘lumbering' striker who looks better having had more time to adjust. Beto may also greatly help Chermiti if Andre Gomes is let go as most would expect (kept on only if willing to take massive pay cut and confirmed he can maintain current mobility levels).

I see more urgent renegotiations (with whoever has actually convinced the manager they are up for the fight) in the summer than wholesale dumping followed by recruitment, irrespective of how / when the ownership of the club is resolved.

The Bayern anniversary for the derby and being very relaxed before the derby and feeling confident under the lights and all the pressure being on them.

Also felt confident for the Brentford game as well, the one I was a bit twitchy about was the Forest game but felt we could get over the line in that.

But the question someone asked about 9 points, nope I cannot say I said we would get 9 points on any ToffeeWeb thread.

I just cannot put my finger on why I felt so relaxed and convinced of a result in the derby, always expect the unexpected with Everton.

With little to no money to spend, Doucoure is certainly not one of the players I would let go.

In regards to selling Branthwaite, unless the player wants to go, I would not sell at any price, take a points deduction instead. Do like other teams do, take a hit rather than sell a player, learn from the Richarlison sale and keep hold of Branthwaite.

I don't support Nick Page's witch hunt but plenty on here were pro Kenwright. Some like Christine and Brian Williams eventually saw the light others like Terry White, Michael Lynch and Darren under his various names haven't.

If you look through 25 years of archives, myself, Don, Colin Glassar, Derek Knox and Tony Marsh were the unpopular canaries in the coal mine.

I continue to believe that was an excellent piece of business. I loved Richarlison, but £60 million was over his value then and remains so now.

His first season at Spurs was a nightmare -- one goal in 27 league appearances covering over 1,000 minutes. His second has been pretty good -- 10 goals, one every 140 minutes. But at no point has he ever displayed the season-changing impact you'd expect from a £60M player.

And Richarlison was never remotely as important to us as Branthwaite is now. No comparison. We needed the money more than we needed the player, which is certainly not the case with Jarrad.

So yeah, definitely keep the kid, unless he demands to leave. He'll be tempted by Carlo and Xavi, so somebody get Jarrad's phone and block their numbers. And all calls from Spain.

You’re right, of course, I did not want Sean Dyche but warmed to him over those first few weeks and really did see how his tactics but also who he was might be exactly what we needed. This time last year I still had reservations – quite similar to what MK posted above – but even with the ups and downs in the final third of last season, I was coming to believe that Dyche was the right fit as this time.

Funnily enough, the things I had liked least about him before he joined us were the reasons I was warming to him: a sort of backs-to-the-wall basement mentality, representative of a club in trouble, fireman, inverted charisma, even the voice and his gloryhole mac that seemed somehow a token of graft and let’s get on with it.

It wasn’t just the results from mid-December 2023 that made me think twice or more but, in times that were becoming scarier with each match and North Wharf Lane intervention, Dyche’s stubborn and immobile selections, set-ups, reactions as games unfolded, substitutions, and learning from games, had me deeply anxious. I was sick and tired of the noise, the grass, the story and that fecking shot stat.

It was never about the style of play, it was always about the only thing that matters when all is said and done: results.

But there is a narrative, so easy to make in hindsight, that he was right to be persistent.

Two weeks ago, Rob Halligan, the bluest of blues, told me that large numbers of the away fans were turning against Dyche. The 3,000 are our best judges and they seemed to confirm the position that I had moved to – early doubts turned into happy to be proved wrong warmth and realism, turned into a sinking feeling that we were sinking, turned into he is going nowhere this season but there is a real need to evaluate Dyche over the summer as one part of a bigger evaluation and rescue,

I still feel that way today, after the last seven days, but I’m moving towards the view that it might be really interesting to see what Dyche might do with proper backing and – Jesus wept, this is so precarious – we come through the summer in better shape. The alternative is that we have a nightmare summer and Dyche de facto keeps the reins and, again, might be the best thing in dire straits.

Another is that either 777 or someone else buys us and dumps Dyche, which might in present circumstances be rash and short-termish and brings in a 38-year-old dashing swashbuckling dark handsome looks youngish Turk.

Dyche said yesterday that he deserves credit and he does. There are two sides to this coin, however: the last week of guts, sheer effort, and drive; and the previous near four months that, without the bookends of mid-April and late-November/mid-December, were nothing else but relegation fodder with or without the points cuts.

Some of the hagiography and canonisation of Dyche over the last twenty-four hours or so is embarrassing. I’m grateful to him as a key element amongst others in our survival. It’s what he is good at. Dyche thrives in basements not first floors or lofts up to now. But let’s see, as others say, what he can do. My own feeling right now is that Dyche as our gaffer means that we are struggling. One season apart, Dyche always struggles in the Premier League.

So, thank you Sean Dyche and all the other features and factors that have made me breathe deep sighs of relief – try not to think of the summer Paul, don’t think of the summer Paul – but you are not a man for all seasons though you deserve a shot at next season.

Let’s see what this behind the sofa summer brings. The summer that is without any shadow of a doubt our most important summer ever.

COYB!

If you look through 25 years of archives, myself, Don, Colin Glassar, Derek Knox and Tony Marsh were the unpopular canaries in the coal mine".

Erm, you left out me and countless others, Kieran. You're no canary hero in a minority and nor are the people you mention. You were not, like me and countless others, battling against an army. That's just egocentric rubbish.

The full-on Kenwright supporters on here being more numerous than full-on sceptics and critics is utter twaddle. Your furious 5 are the tip of an iceberg.

Let's think about this. The mortgage lie. The ring-fenced lie. The King's Dock lie. The Destination Kirkby fiasco. The shareholders' accountability meetings stopped when?

Phew, we were so lucky to have the famous 5 beating their lonely drum in a barren no-rain-for-48 months bone dry wilderness. The chorus of "Kenwright, Kenwright" was so fecking deafening on here,

Thanks Kieran and the other 4 of the furious 5 for leading us out of the darkness into the light.

And there you go again Kieran. Move on mate. "Darren under his various names". Grow up. Unlike you, I've met Darren Hind and he detested Kenwright with real passion. But apparently Dave Watson never took the FA Cup to Darren's road where Dave grew up. He did. I've seen the photographs.

Sure, he totally messed up the club, I get it, but constantly bringing it up helps nobody.

The situation we are in today was made by Kenwright with the help of others. He has to be brought up Paul, because he still remains relevant and to blame and in death still contributes.

For example, Paul, we might be forced to sell Branthwaite this summer due mainly to Kenwright's criminal mis-management of our club,

"Plenty on here were pro Kenwright. Some like Christine and Brian Williams eventually saw the light"

For the record, I first came on to TW around 20 years ago, driven by the duplicity of Kenwright and Co regarding Kings Dock and Destination Kirkby. It was the very reason I posted in what was a very hostile environment. In fact, around that time I emailed Michael and Lyndon regarding the abuse I was getting because of it.

So how dare you imply I "eventually" saw the light! Never once have I supported his tenure or actions that have blighted this club, no matter how well publicized his generosity was or his self-proclaimed title of the world's biggest Evertonian.

Go back on your archives to see my spats with Doddy
Eventually seen the light... Jesus Christ.

Like you and numberless others, I've never typed a word in favour of Kenwright ever on here.

But Kieran for some unearthly reason decided to post that historical revisionism and quite lovely putting himself forward as a key member of the first anti-Kenwright cabal. I hope he was drunk.

Kieran is good at digging up old posts so he might have something on someone from say 2009. His attitude towards Darren touches on snide and brinkmanship, but there is more than enough in Kieran's locker to suggest that this is not his usual self.

I wonder if Brian Williams, Terry White, and Michael Lynch also derserve one.

I know that Darren Hind does but it's dead easy to attack someone who no longer, sadly, posts on here.

Anyone with a modicum of intelligence could see Kenwright for what he was – a bullshitter of the worst kind. I don't like to talk ill of the dead but in that man's case…..

Paul, you've changed your tune with regards to Darren Hind. If I remember well, your live forum spats with him were legendary. Your virtual fisticuffs were, sometimes, funny as hell.

Thanks for your valuable corrective to Kieran's revisionist "I am the Walrus" post, mate. Kieran also informed me a little while ago that I did not go to Rotterdam. From where does this stuff come from? I still have my ticket. Will eye-witnesses suffice, Kieran?

For me, Sean Dyche is Manager of the Season without question. To battle through all he has had to contend with this season and still guide us to safety with games in hand is sensational. To do it all with such calm, assured leadership is also very impressive.

This is the sort of man we need managing our club and helping us rebuild into the future. Any talk of moving him on is lunacy.

I believe that no other manager could have even dealt with just the points deductions alone and kept the club up. When you also add in the poor quality squad he inherited, no money to sign players, and chaos behind the scenes all season too, he really is a miracle worker.

It's easy to manage teams when you have plenty of cash, the best players, and all the decisions going for you – what Dyche has done is much harder.

I got absolutely flamed by Frank Hargreaves (whither he now?) and in hindsight (no pun intended) rightly so. I didn't know the inside story of the lies and the manipulations and was taken in by the boy from the Boys Pen. (I now believe even this to be lies — according to Georgie Best, Bill was a koppite!)

Since then, I've never been a fan of Kenwright but I'm confused about what the fiercer anti-Kenwright “faction” think I, and many others, could have done to get him out?

As far as I can see, the nearest anyone came to doing that was the phantom headlocker who “forced the board to stop attending games”.

Indeed, a regular poster on here, who I won't name, recently attacked another poster on here, also nameless, of being a happy clapper. The crime being that the latter didn't go on the “Sack the Board” marches as the prior did but instead spent his considerable rail costs travelling from London and back to every game we played.

Kenwright's gone. That board has gone… and soon Moshiri will be gone. Stop having a go at us happy clappers just because we didn't wave pitchforks and banners, and accept that most of us didn't like him either – we just saw supporting the team as the more pressing and feasible matter.

An empty stadium would have seen us down a long time ago. UTFT

I am totally surprised by your statement, seemingly in defence of Kenwright mate. If he was such a good Evertonian, as you and others seem to believe, why didn't he leave his amassed millions to benefit the Club he purported to adore in his Will?

When all is said and done, it was by virtue of Everton how he became rich, I know he had a Theatre business too, but even if you said half, and I'm being generous towards the other enterprise at that. What use is all that to him now?

It's like saying forget the two World Wars, as if they never happened! People have to be reminded of these atrocities, in the faint hope it will never happen again! Not getting into Politics, that is another can of worms!

But he's gone and keeping saying how he's ruined the club helps no one. Let's look forward, mate. The future is blue.

It's not a case of looking back but learning from history.