The Clock is Ticking

Koeman has turned us into a laughing stock. We are decrepit at the back and pedestrian in attack, not to mention without left-back cover or a left winger, full stop.

I care very little whether it's Koeman, Walsh, Moshiri, Kenwright or the tea lady in charge of recruitment – bottom line is they fucked up big time.

The apathy around many Blues makes me physically sick. Sure, we may pick up some wins in the next few games but so what? Are we really paying Koeman £6M p/year to beat the likes of Sunderland?

Koeman was brought in to get us top 4 and he has failed miserably. We are further away than under Martinez despite spending heavily, which is something I never thought I would say.

Enough is enough. Give Unsworth til Christmas and let's get some pride back at the club.

Also as I have said in another thread, I have serious doubts about Pickford, particularly his ability to kick/pass the ball. Our style of play is so limited that we regularly pass the ball back to him in order for him to hoof it up the pitch in hope.

What concerns me more is the transfer window just gone and the imbalance of the squad. If this is a long term project then why on earth did we not get a striker and a faster more dynamic left-back. How is the team to build on a foundation that see's Southhamptons ex 3rd-choice right-back as our main attacking wide outlet?!

Maybe there is a plan/system still struggling to emerge that will make a success of this lack of width and pace but there are few signs of it yet.

Koeman's not going anywhere for a while, it seems clear, so I just hope that these 'easier' games give the team a chance to show us what this new project is meant to look like. Stay in the cups and climb up the table and you might yet win a few more skeptics over but any less than that and the tide will have turned for good.

I can't for the life of me understand how our players can consistently apply shit passing of the ball to each other during open play. The Williams pass that led to their second goal was a perfect example.

What type of fucking football are we supposed to be playing? There doesn't seem to be a specific game plan for each game we've faced, particularly the last three games.

Atalanta finished 4th in their league last year so they weren't going to be a pushover. Everyone knows that Spurs playing away from Wembley will be like a home game for them.

Apart from all the hysterics, Koeman has at least 4 more games to get his shit together so he surely has to consider his position.

Man Utd was winnable yesterday and any half-decent side would have come away with something. Not us; we manage to turn a tight game into a crushing defeat. There are no so-called winnable games for us because we've forgotten how to score.

Do you think Bournemouth and Burnley will be worried about coming here? I mean, Burnley already have beaten Chelsea, drawn with Spurs and Liverpool. Our team at the moment, Palace apart, is the worst in the Premier League – it's certainly the worst to watch, so I don't envisage us getting out of this mess any time soon.

The only way forward is to change the manager because, even this early on in the season, we are fighting relegation.

We are far too narrow and this brings problems to all the team. There's no protection or outlet for the full backs, hence why we're being pushed back so deep and other teams are having a free run at our defence and crossing at will (this should have been sorted during the Spurs game).

We then play the same system v Atalanta with their second goal being a case in point (would Lennon if playing on the right afford him the time to get a shot in?).

We're just not putting enough pressure and stretching opponents due to our lack of width. We can only go through the middle with our 3 or 4 Number 10s. It's congested Ronald and it's not going to suddenly open no matter how many Number 10s you play. How many chances have we really created this season? We have the players and the pace in to inject into this team but Mr. Koeman thinks we don't need it we just need passion????

And by the way we should have beaten Man City from the position we were in or at least stretched them a hell of a lot more and made them earn the point. My team for the next four games for what it's worth:

Pickford, Holgate, Keane, Jagielka, Baines, Gana, Davies, Lennon, Mirallas, Sigurdsson, Rooney.

Sort it out, Mr Koeman, or we're going to be embarrassed by Burnley et al.

Without doubt and plain to see our tactics and team selections are embarrassing. The fundamentals and basics are non existent the defending a joke and goes against what kids are taugh at an early age.

If anyone thinks that the so-called easier games are going to give us respite then they are in for a shock. Losing, like winning, becomes a habit.

Like it or not, we are not one of the glamour clubs and, while we are all dreamers, we are an average run-of-the-mill Premier League club. The high profile foreign managers won't come to us so we don't need any of the Z-list that litters the league. It's a short-term merry-go-round – not only the manager but the backroom staff – these guys are not long term.

I world rather go through the next transition period with Unsworth. I am not going down the "he's one of us" road but he has had a good grounding at the club and is an up-and-coming prospect who deserves a chance. I'd rather it be us than him having to go elsewhere for his progression.

I know lots of us are angry and you're right the clock is ticking but we're going to have to swallow a few more disappointments before we kick on.

People say it wasn't a 4-0 result... ermmm, am I missing something here? They scored 4, so yes, it was a fucking tonking and they deserved that by being ruthless in the final 3rd.

This team is shot. Bournemouth will harry and harass us to death next Saturday, and they are pretty decent on the ball. We will struggle again with Koeman insisting on picking the slowest team possible!! A 6-pointer, must win.

I'd have Koeman gone already, this idiot has just about pissed off every single flair player we have. Koeman Out.

I agree, the performances should have been better, but I can never remember a team fielding 6 new players having much initial success.

So what is realistic? Well, as much as it annoys the hell out of us all, I think 7th again is were we should be looking at.

It takes a big man to admit his mistakes, Ronald wants to blame everybody else and will never admit he got it wrong, publicly criticising players that he now needs to use to try and save his job.

How ridiculous is it that Niasse was sat in the away end yesterday? A place on the bench to at least add a bit of pace in the last 15 minutes? No, Ronald said he doesn't rate you, so the worm is not for turning.

Just like Martinez before Koeman, once a player is adopted by the manager as their new love child they become irreplaceable – Koeman presumably missed Valencia being given all the time and space in the world by Baines to hit a shot into the back of the net for the match's opener, which sealed Everton's fate yesterday.

Koeman should have had Moshiri in a kendo Nagasaki style headlock on Transfer Deadline day, and for the preceding weeks.

The fact he was golfing in Portugal is sickening. Whether or not he had placed his faith in the recruitment team is irrelevant. He should be seen to be concerned.

The general is sipping his vintage port, while the rank and file are getting massacred. Ooh, it makes me seethe.

Momentum is key in any sport; if we had held on for a win at City things would be looking a lot rosier. As it is we have the next month to get our act together starting with the league cup game this week. Koeman needs to start earning his money by motivating these multi millionaires into winning football games. At the moment I don't think sacking him would help.

Ferguson wrote a good book about Success called Leadership

Who's the Leader?

See my earlier post. Very few are going to come away with any scalps from those top 4. We have got a great opportunity between now and December and with a bit of confidence we can quite realistically see Arsenal off in that run.

Total focus and belief is all it will take, and wise preparation by Koeamn.

I think now not signing a centre back is almost as important, Jagielka and Williams inability to bring the ball out of defence, both uncomfortable with the ball unsteadies the rest of the defence and slows the movement of play.

Koeman will have to change his attitude, he's too stubborn, he has indicated that Niasse is part of the squad, actions speak louder than words, so get him in the squad and not just for the Sunderland game; that goes for Lennon, Kenny and a few more especially McCarthy when he he is fit.

I will not worry if Koeman goes but while he remains he has got to start righting some of his many faults where the team is concerned, have the attitude of the team for most of the second half yesterday, play at least one winger, stop playing three at the back, it has never worked and mostly pick a settled team and stick with it.

With our 3 No 10s, no pace, no width and a Lukaku shaped hole upfront. The £150M spent. The ageing porky CB's. The lack of cover for both Fullbacks etc etc. The absence of a discernible pattern – the lack of faintest glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

This is 90+% Koeman's Team on the field now, trained, selected and directed by him... His mistakes, if he can't fix them, somebody else has to. The sooner the better.

We need to inject some pace into the team be it Niasse, Lennon, Vlasic – anybody who can do more than trot! Barkley gets better each game that passes by not being on the pitch!

Brian (#12) – I agree top four is fanciful but bottom three is wholly unacceptable. No matter who we are up against next you cannot just turn on form and Bournemouth and Burnley will be no pushover.

Good article but for me the clock is no longer ticking the ruddy alarm has gone off!!

If Koeman, can steady things by Christmas fine, but a New Year will require a new coach if were anywhere near the bottom when 2017 comes to a close. And even if we do have Koeman till the end of the season, anything below 10th should see him shipped-out in May.

Why is Kenwright still chairman when he offers nothing? Moshiri needs to stamp his authority, he has to be ruthless, you don't get anywhere by being nice.

If he lets Walsh do the players-in end of the business, how can he then convincingly give the current players the SAF hair-dryer & ultimatum of pointing towards the exit-door?

Secondly, he's too dogmatic and patient about his own tactics for each game. When he's clearly failed with his predictions about how the game should unfold and we get slaughtered and played off the field after the first 15-20 minutes, he should be able to switch formation (and if necessary, players) long before the break!

(That would be one instance in which I'd not complain about Calvert-Lewin suddenly having to play right wing-back for a while!)

This shows a certain level of indifference towards the club which is also reflected in our play. There's no passion, no fight, no nothing.

Koeman has disappointed me enormously with his attitude so if he's sacked I wouldn't give a toss. He won't be the first, or last, Everton manager to do so.

I also just read that Pickford can't kick a ball. One or two misplaced passes from a keeper are highly seen but please let's not ostracise the kid; a keeper with low confidence is no use at all.

Moshiri is turning out to be a disappointment. Walsh likewise, Koeman ditto.

Our players are still lacking the quality to seriously challenge the top clubs, and for me we look a worst team than last season. I don't think we can be confident of beating any team the way we are set up and with these players.

Two excellent articles by Dave Wraggs and David Booth have elicited minimum response from ToffeeWeb correspondents and I must admit this surprises me. Their theme was the most important issue facing Everton, its board and our supporters: the future of our manager.

Ronald Koeman is starting his second season in charge. He has been handed a transfer fund that our last two managers, Moyes and Martinez, could only have dreamed of and he has spent the majority of it on three players to play in the same position: Klaassen, Rooney and Sigurdsson. This is despite the fact that possibly our most talented player, Ross Barkley, whom somehow he has alienated beyond reason, was already equipped to play in that position. Barkley with a mobile, hard-running striker ahead of him, would have been the answer to so many of our problems.

I accept that Sigurdsson is an asset to our squad; Rooney may have value as a presence around the club, but less and less on the actual pitch... and Klaassen looks neat and tidy and unlikely to ever take hold of a game and really influence the play. But, as correspondent after correspondent over recent weeks has pointed out, we desperately needed pace and a striker. We signed no-one with a smidgen of those qualities.

Pickford and Keane looked to be good signings, though Pickford's inability to pass to his own side is a worrying sign and Keane, having to play alongside Williams and Jagielka, is fast losing his confidence.

Let's look at Koeman as a manager. Four principal jobs are the responsibility of the manager. Firstly, putting his squad together, so that it is balanced and a team. Secondly, training and coaching that squad so that it knows what it is doing and is fit enough to do it. Thirdly, sorting out the tactics for individual games, tweaking it slightly for different opponents and understanding what each game needs.Fourthly, motivating and instilling confidence in that squad. This is simply man-management.

On none of these four criteria does Koeman measure up. He has recruited awfully: the three Number 10s, is the perfect example of a manager who does not know what he wants and what the team needs. For 㾶 million less than he spent on Klaassen, he could have got Mario Lemina from Juventus. This is a player who can run a game, always available in the centre of the park, and passing with precision and subtlety. Southampton picked him up.

Koeman signed Lookman who appeared promising, and has a little pace, but he's disappeared from view. Schneiderlin at Southampton a few years ago was an excellent player in the Barry mould. Now he is anonymous in our midfield and his passing is crablike, it goes sideways and backwards, but rarely forward.

Martina looks a fringe player and presumably will not get near the team when Coleman is fit. However, Kenny could have been given an opportunity. But I fear Koeman is not too fond of our local lads. Barkley's case is an obvious example and Tom Davies seems to be playing less and less.

Tactically we do not have the three players capable of playing as a back three, but we persist in the tactic. We can't counter-attack as we have no pace and those players who have some pace (Mirallas, Calvert-Lewin, Lookman) are marginalised. We are set up game after game to play a system which our players cannot manage.

His treatment of many players seems difficult to fathom. He does not seem very good at the arm round the shoulder and the encouraging word. His man-management skills are primitive. His public criticism of players and of the team is not a good trait in a manager who needs to get his players on side. I don't know if he's lost the dressing-room, but the signs aren't good.

Williams is struggling, Jagielka too. Koeman's been unlucky that he lost Funes Mori and Coleman. Baines is a shadow of the player he was a couple of years ago. So why was Galloway sent out on loan?

There seems to be no vision, no coherent plan, no tactical acumen and above all no sense of joy. Everton players look downright miserable when they come out on the pitch. We play Sunderland in the League Cup later in the week. Rodwell, Oviedo, Gibson and others would quite enjoy doing well at Goodison, it's a banana skin waiting to happen.

I'd like Koeman to resign; there'd be problems recruiting another manager. Whether Howe or Dyche would relish the challenge, I don't know. Perhaps internally, Unsworth or Ferguson could do an interim job. But Koeman is going to have us in a relegation dogfight and his players manifestly do not enjoy playing for him.

Why can we not play 4-4-2. defenders defend first. Fuck the flying left right backs. Wide men produce the flair. (You cannot tell me AC Milan and Barca are wrong playing Deulofeu.) One, yes one ball-winning midfielder, a ball-playing midfielder, and 2 strikers playing off each other.

So I understand Klaassen... ball playing mid. Guy as a ball winning mid. Rooney is slow but he has a good touch.. that won't leave him. Along side a fast pacey striker.

So why the fuck did we spend stupid money on Sigurdsson??? We don't need him. As others have said we don't need 3 number 10's, 4 if you include Barks. Calvert-Lewin can play now along side Rooney. Pulling defense to give the slow Rooney space.

We have the players, the system or lack of it is one of the main issues. Again why complicate matters. Let's get back to the basics.

No, I shouldn't discourage you from venting. But the more unique or informative you can make it, the more likely it is to stand as a focal piece (cf Brian Potter's excellent research piece on The One-Man Wrecking Ball).

There's a desperation in your post, Rick, for something to happen... for us fans to do our best to make something happen. Tony Marsh asks "Where's the Blue Union?" I don't get the sense, though, that Moshiri or his Board will do anything drastic. But I could be wrong!

Forget the scorelines, I expected some kind of football and effort. It has gotten so bad that actually turning up and running about a bit (forget losing 4-0) is lauded as some kind of corner to be turned.

Er, no. It is the absolute least I expect. I would quite like to be entertained every now and again but I've gone without that for most of Koeman's reign.

The man is paid so much and the return on the investment has been non-existent. For my penny's worth, he is done, I can't wait for him to go now.

All those bigging up Unsworth need to bear in mind his utter lack of experience at this level but I'll say one thing for his sides, they always show up and are bloody good to watch too.

There's enough real problems and deficiencies for us to all moan about; let's not invent more.

"But I can never remember a team fielding 6 new players having much initial success."

If that's the case, shouldn't a man being paid half a million a month also see that and not do that?

Ignoring all Koeman's many technical failure, and his disastrous recruitment policy, it is this inability to see that the people of whom he is the boss, need to be encouraged and need to enjoy their work. He is the classic bad boss – whatever happens, it's not his fault and he quickly shifts the blame onto his subordinates.

Koeman was brought in to deliver top 4, the summer transfer activity was about pushing on to that goal.

If Everton truly were an ambitious club, we would see some action if this dross continues. Sadly we won't because the ambitions of this club are to maintain Premier League status and build a new stadium.

Without a decent team, you can stick your new stadium where the sun don't shine. There are lots of teams in the lower leagues with new stadiums. New stadiums do not guarantee results or better times.

A winning team has to be priority and we need ambitious leadership who strive to get us there.

Sadly in Moshiri, Kenwright, Walsh and Koeman, we clearly do not have the leadership and passion required.

We have bigger issues than just sacking Koeman will resolve.

Beyond belief is putting it mildly. Shame on the three of them, and Koeman for putting up with it.

Yes, they played better at Old Trafford but why did they give Man Utd a goal start?

As most Premier League teams don't hold much importance on the League Cup, they will make a few changes merely to give the benchwarmers a game.

Sure they are expected to beat Sunderland but things being what they are at the moment I don't expect anything wonderful but certainly would expect a big showing against Bournemouth.

Why can't he play Holgate, in a back three, if this is the formation he's going to carry on with?

Nowhere near enough thought has gone in to how we were going to play, and he still hasn't played five in midfield with natural width yet.

When the chips are down, you should always go back to basics and, considering most of our buys have been midfielders, then surely it's time to balance out this area of the pitch, and make it easier for everyone because of its simplicity?

We finished 5th under Roberto Martinez who had no money to spend. We spend 𧵎m and Ronald Koeman thinks our ambition should be to finish where we finished last season.

As for no striker, I have said before, let him give Niasse a few games as he can't be any worse than no striker! And I hope he scores a few goals as he deserves a chance to show the management as they have now had enough chances and cash to spend.

As regards performance, I have been watching Everton since 1947 and have seen many Evertons. You have to be strong to support Everton, even slightly insane.

They are playing really badly at the present time. There will still be good times hopefully with Moshiri's cash infusions. However, that money cannot be wasted, as it seems to have been of late.

I'm Everton through and through, Farhad.
I watched the Cannonball Kid in the Boys Pen, Farhad.
Trust me, Farhad, I know what I'm doing.
Show me the money, Farhad.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2017/sep/19/david-squires-cartoon-harry-redknapp-football-managers-early-season-troubles

The lack of playing style is worrying. As is the sheer number of players who are not playing like the should be. Why is that? Excuses can be made for a few of them. Koeman is the manager so the buck stops with him. It's time for him to fashion a winning team, a fixed team. Next four games will hopefully get us back on track.

If you apply for a new job, it is normal practice to provide a CV which should include details of previous employment. In Koeman's case, I made the point that he went to Valencia (regardless of the internal strife at the club) and did exactly what he's done at Everton.

He told three of their senior players that they were not in his plans for the future. The players in Spain need being a bit more vocal than here went to the press. They complained about being publicly humiliated by the manager and one of them even went to court to get his contract with the club cancelled as he wasn't prepared to stay at the club but be excluded from the playing squad for no good reason apart from the fact that the manager didn't like him.

When Koeman took over, they were 5th in La Liga, only four points off the top, but in his 22 games in charge before being sacked Koeman rook them to two points off the relegation zone with only four wins in that time.

The players complained that they were made to run around like headless chickens because he had no real game plan and his tactics were nonsensical. Somehow they reached the final of the Copa del Rey and actually won it because (as stated by the players), they ditched Koeman's tactics and did it their way.

A week after winning the cup, they reverted to playing it his way and were thrashed 5-0 at Bilbao who hadn't previously scored more than two at home all season. Koeman had lost the dressing room, had alienated players, and forced a style of play onto them that they simply couldn't understand or adapt to. Similarities anyone?

It doesn't matter what the internal state of Valencia CF was at the time. The fact was, Ronald Koeman, as the manager, was responsible for team affairs and he failed miserably.

The board of Everton or any prospective employer, on seeing the Valencia job on his CV, (if he bothered to include it), should, in my opinion as a previous manager of a large business, have been probing very deeply into what went wrong during that time. If they still wanted to offer him the job, it should have been with the proviso that we saw none of the kind of poor man-management or alienation of players as exhibited during his time at Valencia.

Knowing Koeman as we do, he probably concentrated on his success in Holland and didn't even mention Valencia. Did Moshiri know and simply ignore his reputation as a poor man-manager and an authoritarian bully? If so, why?

Others have said Southampton fans were gutted when he left. In fact, from what I have heard in conversation with a few of them, they were more upset by the manner in which he left than by his actual leaving. There was probably a fairly even spread between those wanting him to stay and those who either wanted him out or were simply indifferent to where he left or not. He did after all, do fairly well with them, without actually winning anything.

So, I'm in agreement with the majority of posters on this thread. I simply don't think he's the man to take us to the next level. Despite his damage limitation efforts regarding his ambition, it is just another attempt by Koeman's to deflect from his indifference towards the club as a whole.

After the Sunderland game I can only hope he has learned a. Lesson or two and that we will see Niasse, who is after all a striker, and Lookman, being given the opportunity to show what they can do to inject some pace and perhaps some goals into our current non-system of playing. I won't hold my breath however!

It's funny, every time I have to give performance reviews to my employees, I can select multiple options, but there is Meets Expectations and Exceeds Expectations. Meets is in the middle, average.

Exceeds is a person who doesn't just do the minimum, doesn't just get by with what is needed, but pushes beyond what I or anyone else asks for because they don't want to be limited by those lowered expectations.

Which one is Koeman? He's trying to convince people, and sadly some agree, that he is meeting expectations. I wouldn't even give him that.