Contributions from our editorial team, featured columnists and readers.
There is so much magic woven into the tapestry of every World Cup in terms of what happens on the field. In his new book, World In Motion, Simon Hart brings the 1990 Finals back to life with a number of its various back stories and provides so much context to what was a pivotal tournament in so many ways.
That feeling of disappointment from that season never went away. Every time I looked at those three years from 1985 to 1987 something always felt disjointed, smudged. The 1986 season was the one that got away.
Blazing a trail for Everton goalkeepers to represent England was the remarkable Benjamin Howard-Baker. If Brian Labone was “The Last of the Great Corinthiansâ€, then Benjamin Howard-Baker was one of Everton's first.
The 2018 close season has already offered a fresh start and some optimism for Evertonians following the appointment of Marcel Brands and Marco Silva. Now the new management team needs time and backing to effect the big changes needed.
As we stand on the edge of the next take on the Moshiri Brand New Dawn, there is a renewed groundswell of optimism from the glass-half-fullers but there is much to be done to convince those who remain skeptical
Lessons learned, expensive mistakes... time for a re-boot. Nothing worthwhile ever comes easy. If it did, it wouldn't be worth doing.
2017-18 may have offered few moments to savour but it will live long in the memory… hopefully as the nadir in a decade that has promised much but delivered very little
In this unpublished but recently rediscovered interview, the Everton great talks about his career high points and life low points.
Marcel Brands and whoever is drafted in as head coach have a big rebuilding task at hand. It won't happen overnight but where the director of football is concerned at least, Everton appear to have made a significant appointment
There have been mis-steps under Moshiri's reign but they have not caused irrevocable damage. The swift moves witnessed this week provide a means to get the Iranian-born businessman's project moving in the right direction again.
A performance that mostly made the Hammers look a significantly better team than their record and recently averted crisis suggests they are and, eventually, a defeat that may have seemed harsh when comparing chances created but which was wholly deserved on the balance of play.
It's only speculation but Everton could call time on Sam Allardyce's tenure this week. Marco Silva and Paulo Fonseca remain the leading candidates to replace him judging by reports. A look at the former and what he might bring to Goodison.
It seems as though this Sunday's game at the London Stadium could be Wayne Rooney's last competitive match in an Everton jersey. He would leave the Blues again with an air of unfulfilled promise
The latest installment of Becky Tallentire's Real Footballers' Wives features Johnny Morrissey's wife, Celia
Everton in 1971 had a unique opportunity to establish themselves as a power in Europe and as the top team on Merseyside. One week in March crushed those dreams. It took Everton nearly fifteen years to reach those heights again.
To celebrate the 90th anniversary of William Ralph Dean's record-breaking 60th league goal, Blues of all ages gathered at the People's Club Lounge in the Park End stand last Friday evening.
Overall, it looks as though the club have scored with the 2018-19 home strip and another one of those stirring promotional videos to go with it
"Being bold de-risks, being timid increases risk and reduces the prospects for success. Mr Moshiri, time to be bold in every sense."
Lady Luck handed out unjust rewards to an Everton side that only really rallied in second-half stoppage time just when it looked as though Nathan Redmond had secured three vital points for Southampton
A whole generation of Blues may never see days like this again.
"Sam Allardyce is not the People's Choice. He is the Accountants' Choice. That's the state we are in." Arguing that Everton's major shareholder and de facto owner may hedge this summer with the longer-term goal of the stadium in mind.
No club is ordained to be ever-successful but there is a strong case to be made for one club's place at the proverbial “top table†of English football being “rightful†and that is Everton. We need not be apologetic about demanding we get back there or be hesitant in trying.
Everton enhanced their prospects of finishing in eighth spot but Sam Allardyce's search for love from the Blues' faithful is likely to be in vain
Vlasic started in place of Bolasie but it was Cenk Tosun who gave Everton the lead at Huddersfield.
If the various rumours and tabloid website reports are correct, Sam Allardyce travelled to London yesterday looking for assurances over his future but was left largely in continuing limbo. The simple lack of definitive backing for the manager was significant. If true, it suggests that Farhad Moshiri wants time to secure a more permanent appointment to lead Everton forward.
With a clear Plan we can unite, and, even more importantly than that, we have a chance of understanding what we are trying to achieve and how we are going to go about it.
Everton won a match for the first time in four attempts and moved up a place but it was dull fare that featured just one shot on target. Yet the media bandwagon is again, patronisingly, asking what more Blues fans want.
The story of the cricketer turned footballer who played for Everton in the inaugural Football League season
In modern day language it means deferring, putting off difficult decisions, to postpone a difficult action. To me it singularly defines the last 12 to 18 months at Goodison Park.
Despite an utterly forgettable year, Evertonians are still buying season tickets in record numbers but they have been at their most engaged when they've had genuine hope. Farhad Moshiri and the Board's next moves are of vital importance
This game was as neat an illustration of the manager's play-for-the draw lack of adventure as any thus far.
Everton take an undeserved lead through an own-goal at Swansea City but all-too-predictably succumb to persistent Swans pressure in the end.
Despite a late rally by Everton that saw them miss two late chances, a mostly passionless derby ended in stalemate.
Everton went behind after just 4 minutes to the Champions-elect Manchester City and were torn apart with two more slick goals.
Everton have never worn an Adidas team kit...or have they? Not appreciated by many is that the Gallic marque, which burned brightly but briefly on these shores, was a branch of the German sporting behemoth.
Is there sufficient demand for a 60,000-seat stadium and what does the capacity of the new ground say about Everton's ambition?
Following recent comments by Robert Elstone, a look at whether it makes sense for Everton to opt for a smaller increase in capacity at the proposed new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock than was originally thought.
Two goals from Cenk Tosun gave Everton a rare away win after Charlie Adam was harshly sent off for a studs-up foul on Rooney.
Paul reports from the “Everton Football Stadium and Associated Regeneration†meeting hosted by “Downtown in Business†featuring Everton's current CEO, Robert Elstone and Liverpool City Council Mayor, Joe Anderson.
Are we at a point where we can finally throw off the shackles of the past, the lack of ambition, the cautious thinking, the poor decision-making and execution?
If Everton retain any serious interest in their top two managerial targets of last year, they should reopen the communication lines to Messers Silva and/or Fonseca immediately
Everton earned their first clean sheet since Boxing Day and a much-needed win to virtually guarantee safety from the drop
A plethora of corners comes to nothing until Bolasie and Walcott force an own-goal to break the deadlock, with Tosun's fine strike sealing it.
Ashley Williams abandoned his defensive duties and his responsibilities as leader on Saturday. It's time to give the team captaincy to someone far more worthy.
Everton's early promise turned into a familiar collapse and another away defeat under Sam Allardyce as Burnley came from behind to win 2-1 at Turf Moor
The latest away defeat has only increased the gloom around Everton.
Cenk Tosun opened up his account with a fine header in Everton's televised Saturday lunchtime trip to Burnley but the Blues crumpled after the break.
Farhad Moshiri has just passed two years as the club's major shareholder. He will have learned plenty in that time but Everton now need strong and unmistakable leadership from the top.
Charlie Parry enjoyed 6 years with Everton, over two spells, winning the club's first Football League title and becoming only the third Everton player to represent Wales (after Job Wildling and Joe Davies).
The decisions the club makes in the next few months will define our future, once and for all. The right decisions will ensure that our future can be as glorious, and perhaps even more glorious than our incredible past
On the second anniversary of his arrival at Everton, a look at the Farhad Moshiri reign thus far.
Particularly away from home, Everton are boring to watch, easy to defend against and easy to beat. With no signs of progress on that front, can anyone find an argument for persisting with the status quo next season?
A decent first half was followed by an increasingly awful second and a soft goal given up that squandered another 3 winnable points.
This is an opportunity to be bold, not only in terms of capacity, physical features and design and pricing structures but in the whole approach to hosting a football match.
Everton's unexpected 1966 Cup triumph
Ensuring that we protect the essence of Everton when we leave, not only at our new home but back in L4 as well.
Everton could still finish seventh this season despite our many attempts to set the house on fire but the club's record against the top six confirms that, regardless, this will still have been one of regression.
Ryan Byrne's remarkable image, capturing the horrendous moment of impact that broke Seamus Coleman's leg, gets 1st Prize in the Sports Action section of the Press Photographers Association of Ireland Awards for 2018.
Once lauded as Everton's Rolls-Royce, Morgan Schneiderlin has become a source of frustration this season. Blues fans have had enough but it's probably not too late for redemption.
Generally, most clubs have no basis for optimising revenues from across their customer and fan base. Can they learn from business processes that other industries have used for decades in their interactions with consumers?
With a goal and an assist against Crystal Palace this afternoon, Oumar Niasse extracts retribution for that gross injustice back at Selhurst Park.
Evertonians have been struggling to see the light amid this chaotic season but survival in the Premier League could beget the opportunity to reset and restore faith in the Moshiri project
Sam Allardyce is not the problem, he is the primary symptom of incompetence at the highest level.
Pub-league defending from Allardyce's team was ripped apart by Arsenal at the Emirates
After a shocking five changes to his winning side, Allardyce watched impotent as Arsenal smashed four past hopeless Everton before the break.
Seamus Coleman returns but two goals from Theo Walcott give Everton the win over Leicester at Goodison Park despite Vardy's second-half penalty.
Amid suggestions that Ademola Lookman could be sent out on loan, surely there's a better argument for using him judiciously in a Blues' first team that badly needs his precocious talents.
Time for Moshiri to lead, to act and to affect wholesale change across the entire staff of the Club. The fans may put up with money for nothing in the short term because it's in our blood; but don't abuse that love, that trust.
Everton are slogging through the remainder of their Premier League programme hoping to accumulate enough points to justify the appointment of Sam Allardyce and stay in the top flight.
Everton surrender another soft goal in a pitiful first half. McCarthy off with what looks like a double leg break; Niasse equalizes.
Sam Allardyce's unexpectedly rosey honeymoon period offered the journeyman boss an opportunity to reboot and begin re-building for Everton's future. Instead, his joyless, defensive approach has favoured ageing players without achieving positive results.
Taken from his blog, Rodger asks why Evertonians don't hold the club hierarchy to account.
This wasn't supposed to happen anymore after Sam Allardyce was appointed, was it?
Everton were humbled at Wembley by simple but effective football from Spurs, despite a decent first half from new signing Cenk Tosun making his debut.
He may never reach the same level as Wayne Rooney or achieve as much but Barkley's departure has conjured up the same feelings of disappointment and the loss of a homegrown player to a (currently) higher-achieving club.
A fan comes across a note he wrote himself when his dad passed away
Everton were even at the break but had no response to relentless pressure and two impressive strikes from distance.
I was pleased with Sam's appointment, us being in the bottom three, whilst having reservations as to whether he could produce the type of football we want and I am guessing that the board had similar reservations with the short contract they gave him.
A depressingly desperate decomposition of our current managerial situation under Sam Allardyce.
James McCarthy made a surprise comeback for Everton only to gift Bournemouth a goal in another dreadful first half but Gueye gets the equalizer.
Everton's remarkable new-found defensive solidity under Sam Allardyce was in evidence again at the Hawthorns against struggling West Brom.
Everton survived another torrid half of desperate defending and went in at half-time still in the game.
There is a certain type of football that Sam Allardyce like his team to play and it makes for one of the most boring spectaculars. These tactics work well enough to secure a team's future in the EPL but it comes at great cost to the fans who have to watch it every week.
If ever a performance needed to be viewed in its proper context, this horribly defensive display was it.
Rooney rescues an embarrassingly poor Everton display with a fantastic penalty to deny Liverpool their expected victory.
Another excerpt from Faith Of Our Families: Everton An Oral History 1878-2018, published by deCoubertin Books
Everton victories at Anfield are rare so the last one to date, secured by a solitary Kevin Campbell goal, was extra special. This extract from Everton's Greatest Games recalls that evening 18 years ago.
Sam Allardyce takes charge of his first match since agreeing to become Everton manager as Huddersfield Town come to Goodison Park
Wayne Rooney may have grabbed the headlines but this was “Rhino's†night as Everton tonked David Moyes's West Ham at Goodison Park.
Fold away the “Our Motto Is Our Standard†banner and padlock the doors to the School of Scienceâ€. Sam Allardyce, disgraced ex-England manager, purveyor of quintessentially agricultural football and Premier League escapologist is now manager of Everton.
Evertonian observers will know plenty about Sam Allardyce and Martin O'Neill, two of the three names said to be on Farhad Moshiri's shortlist, but emerging Portuguese manager Fonseca is a lesser-known quantity
The interim appointment of Unsworth may have seemed sound at the outset but Everton's worsening plight will surely force the Board to act quickly now
Everton got off to another terrible start after a soft easy goal but equalized off a brilliant Sigurdsson strike before another second-half collapse.
Two shots on target out of five total for Everton tells its own story — a team utterly bereft of confidence, seemingly without much faith in the caretaker boss and, for some of them, no stomach or desire for the fight
It almost seems as though the Football Association has gone out of its way to make life as difficult for itself as possible with their decision to charge Oumar Niasse with “successful deception of a match official†in Saturday's 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace.
A crazy game with Niasse winning a dubious penalty and then scoring an easy gift after Everton twice went behind through naive defending.
His Blue credentials made him the ideal interim coach but the limited options for Koeman's successor mean he could stay in charge for longer than expected...
The story of the Welsh centre-half who at one time was keeping Goodison great T.G. Jones out of the Everton team.
An excerpt from Faith Of Our Families: Everton An Oral History 1878-2018, published by deCoubertin Books
Where there is life there is hope and Everton put the defibrillator paddles to their season today with an impressive recovery from a seemingly impossible position to beat Watford in what eventually became an adrenaline-fuelled encounter at Goodison Park
After the so-nearly response at Stamford Bridge, there was hope and encouragement. Following this 2-0 defeat at the King Power Stadium, Evertonians will be feeling mostly despair as the extent of the mess that their club finds itself in 10 games into the 2017-18 season is laid bare.
Sliced apart by a slick move for a classic Vardy goal after a failed Everton free-kick, Unsworth's side had a mountain to climb.
A narrow loss at Stamford Bridge — or rather the performance that went with it — at least showed that the fight, the spirit, the organisation and the belief can be there to start putting wins on the board in the near future.
An ideal appointment on paper, Ronald Koeman's tenure as Everton boss has come to an ignominious but needed end
Wayne Rooney rolled back the years with a fantastic finish from distance to put Everton ahead early but Arsenal swept through with three goals as Gana was sent off
Last term, this fixture marked a turning point, at least in Everton's home form. The only turning point this season's visit of Arsenal to L4 might spark, however, is an abrupt one in Koeman's employment status… although there's no guarantee that the Everton Board will be so decisive.
Everton under Koeman are simply dull. They're boring to watch, easy to defend against and too easy to score against if you attack them enough within a given 90 minutes.
A poor match came to life with Brighton scoring, Rooney saving Koeman's side with a fortuitous penalty
12 October 2017 marks the centenary of the birth of Thomas George Ronald Jones in Queensferry, Flintshire. The tall, quiet son of a Connah's Quay coal merchant would find his footballing feet at Wrexham F.C. but he would achieve immortality at Goodison Park.
One thing Everton have seemed to lack over the course of the season so far is pace and energy. So, could youth be the answer during these troubled times?
In recent years we have been stuck; our ‘love' puts on some new makeup and we all shout with joy thinking that the glory years are just around the corner... only the corner never comes
a chapter from Jim Koeghan's latest book, Everton's Greatest Games: The Toffees' Fifty Finest Matches which covers standout fixtures from a club history stuffed with great occasions and memorable encounters.
Four years ago, the club removed our cherished motto from the crest. They reinstated it following howls of protest from supporters but if Farhad's latest “statement†is any indication, it never made it back into the mission statement of the Board of Directors
After the debacle that was Thursday night, we licked our wounds and girded our loins and trouped back to the Grand Old Lady via the Room of Nonsense to sort out team and tactics before heading off to sample the real thing.
This was Everton showing commitment, decent tempo and tenacity — in the early going, at least — and it still wasn't enough. Not by a long way.
Despite a bright attacking start, Burnley took the lead with an easy goal. Everton had no meaningful reply, with Koeman now under massive pressure.
Everton should be doing more to keep hold of Barkley, or at least put him to use this season.
To say we expected a hell of lot more this season is an understatement and it calls into question the likelihood of success for Ronald's three-year Everton “projectâ€.
The Senegalese striker helped bail Koeman out of another uncomfortable post-match inquest with a two-goal blast in the space of five minutes that turned this match on its head and delivered three points that seemed unlikely before he entered the fray 10 minutes into the second half
After going behind to a fine Josh King goal, supersub Oumar Niasse came on to score twice and underline his newfound cult status.
Valencia scored a screamer after 4 minutes but Everton came close until they gave up three goals at the end after Rooney had gone off.
The largely one-dimensional approach to recruitment this summer has led to Everton's uninspiring start to the new season, one which has, over the past two games, lurched from concerning into the realm of deeply demoralising.
Everton's showed some attacking intent but allowed Kane to score his first of the season before gifting a finish for Eriksen, and another for Kane after the break.
The wonderfully named Smart Atkinson Arridge was one of Everton's first Welsh international players
The latest installment of Real Footballers' Wives features Norma Vernon, wife of Everton goalscoring legend Roy.
Everton's transfer deadline-day had an annoying sense of déjà vu last Thursday when the window closed without the club being able to land much-needed reinforcements.
Everton tried to keep it tight, and gave up two goals in an abysmal first period.
With just six shots on target in the opening three games, the problems that were laid bare today can't be explained away by mere fatigue alone, even if it was undoubtedly a factor for those who did play in all three matches in just six days. The same nagging deficiencies remain despite massive expenditure on upgrading the team.
Ahead of Sunday's trip to Stamford Bridge, we spoke with Chelsea HQ to get their angle on a fixture that has provided plenty of drama in recent years but which Everton haven't won since 1994.
As with all Premier League clubs, injuries are an ongoing concern for Everton but there are no good resources that show the actual impact that injuries to certain players have on our season. We've teamed up with CL Legal, who have tracked all the injuries to Everton players over the past eight seasons which actually forced the player to miss games.
It's a shame that Dominic Calvert-Lewin's impressive assist for Wayne Rooney in the 35th-minute of this early-season tussle between Manchester and Merseyside at the Etihad didn't end up serving up a precious winner.
Wayne Rooney scores his 200th Premier League goal and celebrates in fine style at The Etihad, where City are down to 10 men.
Gylfi Sigurdsson's arrival doesn't necessarily mean an end to Evertonian longing for the No.10 slot to be filled but he potentially has the talent to operate as the all-important central position behind the striker(s).
The Prodigal Son brought all his experience to bear against Stoke, scoring the winner and helping Everton dictate much of the second half to hold on for a 1-0 victory.
A dreadful half turned on its head with a lovely move, great cross and fine header from Wayne Rooney before the break.
With a newly reinforced spine, Everton look as though they could be a stronger outfit than last season, even without the departed Lukaku. Is it enough, however, to crack the top six or four?
Jack Sharp sits in exalted company as one of England's few dual cricket and football internationals. To Evertonians he is much more than that — an iconic player, captain, FA Cup winner, club director and founder of Liverpool's best known sports outfitters.
On the cusp of a major leap forward for Everton, Ross Barkley, the diamond of the club's academy, has decided to jump ship. It's a sad day for many Evertonians; an indifferent day for many others.
Everton are looking pretty strong
It's time to hold my hands up. I unashamedly supported the appointment of Sam Allardyce as our Manager. I was even prepared to see how this season went with a view to retaining him.
I think Koeman is the "fall guy" for those who are pulling the strings — mostly Bill Kenwright but Farhad Moshiri cannot be exempt from blame.
What happens on the pitch matters most of all so there is an important question the club needs to address before making its next managerial appointment — what is our identity? In other words, how do we want to play? What should an Everton team be all about?
Let's draw a line under this season and go again next season with a new, better, manager. A big breath of fresh air is needed. There's a lot of cobwebs to blow out of the club.
History will show that Ronald Koeman was an absolute disaster for Everton, and that, conservatively, he's probably put the club back at least two years
The talk on everyone's lips after the game of course was, should Ronald Koeman be sacked. It's safe to say, most of the supporters seem to think so. Personally, I'm pretty neutral.
Remembering Gordon West, Everton's larger-than-life goalkeeping legend of the 1960s and early 1970s
It's a mess alright, and I can't wait for this season to end...
The Premier League title is ultimately decided these days by how the top 6 teams perform against each other. And that position will continue to be entrenched. So, what is the future for Everton? I'm genuinely interested in what it is the best Evertonians really hope for any more.
The case for appointing Sam Allardyce, a manager who has seen it all and done a lot of it in the Premier League for many years
Business is about confidence and we have none that I can see. To all concerned: please start living up to the high expectations of your loyal fans and stop the nonsense before it is too late.
The point of this article is in response to the two threads this weekend. One with regards to Allardyce blaming the players' mentality for yet another miserable performance on Saturday against west Brom.
With four clean sheets in four games, it's hard to complain. I'll be interested to see where we stand in a month's time.
Apart from a freak 4-0 win against Manchester City last season and November's 4-0 victory against West Ham, can any of you truthfully remember any other notable game in the whole of the last two seasons?
We still have an opportunity to look up rather than down this season. If, and it's a ginormous if, we can go unbeaten in these games and win the majority of them, this gives us quite a platform and good momentum going into pre-season. This then makes it difficult to move Sam Allardyce on.
Add everything up and, under Koeman, it seems to total something nearing what my Grandad, who rarely wasted words, used to say during matches in the Smith era: a “load of shiteâ€.
We have an unbalanced squad with a risk averse manager and a hierarchy that haven't covered themselves in glory over the past couple of years. At the moment, there aren't a huge number of reasons to be positive. This coming summer will be no more important than any other in terms of the development of the club.
The club since Mr Moshiri effectively took over has been an object lesson in the mis-management of people.
Does the director-of-football model cause more problems than it solves?
Continuing the theme of my favourite players, my selection for the inside right position is Bobby Collins.
A brief introduction to the 48 players who represented Everton between the resumption of the Football League in 1946 and the Toffees' relegation in 1951, starting with the first six in alphabetical order.
Koeman comes across as a stubborn man, but surely he's not stupid; he must change. It must change or the club will change him.
With Sam Allardyce leaving, it's for Farhad Moshiri to put the necessary pieces in place from the top down to deliver success to Everton
Why the sudden upturn in performance? Has David Unsworth finally found his best team, albeit too late? Has the penny finally dropped what is required for the players? Or, is this simply the reaction to a new manager coming in?
Always an avid fan of all sports, I got on the train at Euston to head North last Saturday ready to watch my first match of Dyceball.
As the second attempt at a Dutch revolution at Everton, Marcel Brands promises to bring a slicker Continental approach to a Director of Football role that failed to function as billed under his predecessor.
The game was end to end early on and the home fans made it clear they disliked Davies and Rooney, the former who was really out of sorts, going down on several occasions before he was subbed in the second half.
Next in the series of the best Everton players he has seen, John McFarlane Snr describes right back, Alex Parker
I am genuinely confused about how we have transformed from a successful powerful club on the verge of challenging the European elites into a shambolic enterprise that turns to Sam Allardyce for salvation.
One fan's account of the visit to Split where Everton beat Hajduk in thew Europa League and the travelling fans largely avoided the trouble that was feared from local ultras
It is looking increasingly like a done deal, but I really do not want him back. Here are not one but 15 reasons why we should not even be considering his return.
Koeman seems to be implementing a plan — focus on getting the defence sorted out first and then improve the attacking side of our game — but it takes time
What does Steve Walsh do, what has he done this window, what is he doing today, what was the Italian jaunt for?
What a tremendous trip. I enjoyed every minute. Great company with Gaz and Dan, and it was superb to meet so many other Blues who had travelled from afar, most notably John and Stretch.
Liverpool City Council is proposing to loan Everton Football Club £280 million towards the £500 million it will cost to build a new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.
"Time for my annual transfer piece. Look away now all those who roll their eyes at such speculative ‘football manager' nonsense. Those who devour every piece of tabloid garbage, then look up the player and their stats and their videos; come on in."
"I believe in Evertonians. The passion and commitment is undoubtable and there is no shortage of opinion; but can we turn that enthusiasm and desire into something that will help us move the club forward?"
I've read Paul Traill's excellent report on his trip to Cyprus, but I thought I would give a report on my own experiences.
I'm not one for sacking managers quickly. I like to see managers given the opportunity to build a team. It hasn't been our style and I want to believe it can work under Ronald Koeman. That said, the pressure is on, and failure to beat Arsenal, a Carabao Cup exit at Chelsea, and defeat at Leicester City would pretty much make his position untenable.
Eventually we were able to see the game out and claim a vital, and ultimately deserved three points. Though we were up against it in the final 20 minutes, for the best part of an hour of this game we were the better team.
"This is just meant as a one off as I've spent the day utterly bored got a bee in my bonnet about something Everton related. Who else am I going to bang on about it to?"
Often we talk about what we need and first IXs, but football is a squad game nowadays, and hopefully this season will see us challenge for the top-4, while also making serious tilts to the 3 cup competitions. How is our squad prepared for this challenge?
Is it really that simple to put this down to stick with Koeman or twist and find someone new? Interesting to read forums and see the mixed opinions of those who feel Koeman's time is done and those prepared to stick a little longer.
Third in the series of the favourite Everton players he has seen, John McFarlane Snr describes left back, Jock Lindsay
Continuing the theme of my favourite players, my selection for the centre forward position is Alex Young.
Sam has now failed in his job interview for me, with the only hope of resurrection being an emphatic hammering of Liverpool next weekend, but we all know that won't happen.
I am writing this post on a Sunday morning after the 5-1 defeat at Arsenal and I am sitting here with a cup of tea wondering how many weekends have been ruined since your Chairmanship started at Everton.
My selection for the right-half position in my "Favourite Team" is Peter Farrell. I have no standout memory of Peter other than that momentous night in Oldham, when Everton won promotion in 1954. What I can remember is, an inspirational captain who always gave 100% for the cause.
Now the transfer window has shut and the dust has settled, somewhat, it is time to focus on things as they are and look at the season ahead.
A closer look at the players we have bought in over the last couple of years, especially the ones we have paid decent money for, and maybe even consider one or two alternatives that we might have opted for.
Whatever the reason, I wish that for once we'd just do it. Missing sitters in the last few minutes of a derby against under-strength Liverpool — we won't get many better opportunities than that!
What can make a 550-mile round trip to Goodison worthwhile for a long-time Blue? Some simple entertainment, some goals and an Everton win, of course!
Continuing the theme of listing the 50 players who featured in the Everton team, from the resumption of League football in 1946-47 until the relegation season of 1950-51
Overall a very frustrating day. Time for manager and players to stand up and get themselves welded into a coherent team.
Continuing the theme of my favourite players, my selection for inside left is Roy Vernon.
A resilient effort from Everton and if you cast your mind back a month to that wretched performance versus Southampton, you would never in your wildest of dreams have us walking away from a draw with the champions a little miffed that we didn't have more of a go at them.
As this horrible season comes to a close and with Everton set to play it's 1000th Premier League game at West Ham in May, it is as good a time as any to assess where we are as a football club and what direction we may take in the coming years.
Silva is a pragmatist and he's not scared to experiment tactically. But he's not predictable.
Making the trip from Devon, an account of Everton 3 - 1 Palace
In his fifth installment, John McFarlane Sr names Brian Labone as the centre-half in his team of all-time favourites
Report of the 3-1 win over Crystal Palace
If we are going to sign someone, they should be better than what we have — which hasn't always been the case. So there possess the question: Where can we improve? We desperately need a left-back, a centre-back, a dominating, mobile box-to-box midfielder & last in-line, a winger that would make the starting line up.
Luckily we didn't book our trip to the Netherlands for Everton's game-that-wasn't against Groningen and so, when the game against Genk was announced, Gaz and I were able to book some flights to Brussels Charleroi.
It is often said that our off-field leadership leaves a lot to be desired, but now, more than ever, that leadership needs to show a level of decisiveness that has previously been conspicuous in its absence. This one's yours, Farhad. Our future depends on it.
Following on from my thread about our trip to Croatia, I thought I would give a report on our trip to Atalanta, not giving any opinion on the match itself as we all know what a crock of shit that was.
Koeman's project is not clearly defined. We assume it's about winning something, but really it is just another way of saying we will pay him a lot of money to achieve a goal, and that goal appears to be Champions League football.
I know my memory is fading fast, but I had to look up the results and stats of seasons before Lukaku started his journey to becoming a goal scoring power house.
We are not facing a relegation fight; we will not qualify for Champions League football, and we will not win the FA Cup playing like this, so why on earth do we play the way we do?
This is no Kendall-esque evolution and it cannot be allowed to continue. Time for Ronald to shape up, or be shipped out.
A few weeks ago my Dad, a true Blue of '95, was recovering from illness in the geriatric ward at one of our hospitals...
So the trip to the third largest city in France panned out pretty much as we all expected it to.
Much of the criticism aimed at Ronald Koeman over the past few weeks has centred on his perceived negativity and intransigence in terms of sticking with the same slow possession-based football that fails to yield any real attacking threat and is a throwback to the Martinezesque style of a few seasons ago, but without the odd gung-ho attacking foray.
Congrats, Sam — you have killed our enjoyment of Football. You have killed our hope, our ambition, our pride. The restoration of these cannot begin until you have gone.
Time to return to the present, and to continue the theme of my favourite players. My choice for the outside left position is Tommy Eglington.
A splendid day out at the game. Them fun days only ever happen about once or twice a season so I was glad to make the most of it, even if I paid for it a bit in work today.
Relegation is not a threat, but surely the plan has to be to attack better than that?
The organization was formed on a train journey from Birmingham to Cambridge — after a football tournament. The name NSF was agreed — slight reference to NLF — National Liberation Front — from the Vietnam War. I don't recall that we ever added the CU in our day. Meetings were then held in Trinity College bar and were surprisingly formal — minutes from the previous meeting, motions passed etc.
Allardyce is what he is. A discussion of where Everton are under the new manager.
Since Bill Kenwright took over, we have had nothing but at best a frustrating time. Every managerial appointment has been sub-standard and possibly worse each time. And I haven't forgotten our two or three skirmishes with relegation under Moyes and all the depressing Anfield defeats, other hammerings and abysmal cup exits.
Everybody knows Sam Allardyce will be leaving at the end of the season. We know it, the players know it, Moshiri knows it, Sam knows it. This doesn't stop the circus continuing on into town though and we remain a laughing stock.
"When I think back to growing up, and my life living with the enemy, I smile. It was great living with them, I wouldn't have changed it for all the world."
Continuing the theme of my favourite players, my selection for the left-half position is Brian Harris
Although we can never really know what is discussed behind closed doors, it seems to me that the last three managerial appointments have all been a good fit for the job description as it stood at that moment in time.
Despite the fact that we got a lot of our transfer business done amazingly early, any optimism that was generated is now dissipating and it looks as though we are in danger of leaving things too late... yet again.
Assuming I'm the new manager, I have convinced Moshiri to give me the job, and in doing so I promised I did not need more than £50m transfer kitty.
All in all a good day out. A win which was vital in terms of confidence. Niasse comes in from the cold. Will Big Ron apologise for his treatment of the lad? He should.
The 1960-61 season saw Everton finishing in 5th position, and playing the best football that we of that generation had witnessed. Johnny Carey had lain the foundations of a highly attractive and effective team and Harry Catterick, with a couple of adjustments, led them to the League title in 1962-63.
Win we did. It still wasn't especially pretty up until the winning goal just five minutes later, but we persevered
Staying up is not good enough if the heartbeat of your club gives you no reason to think that it will get better next season without a radical rethink and restructure throughout the club.
Everton last beat Liverpool at Anfield back in 1999. In fact, with the FA Cup 3rd Round loss at Anfield, the dismal record is 16 games without a single win against them.
It might all seem like we are in the midst of a stark winter, but one or two rose-buds are already showing, and spring is around the corner
Between now and the end of the season, there is little to play for so, the likes of Klaassen, Vlasic, Funes Mori and Niasse should be given a chance. Beyond the end of the season, it is difficult to know what we need in terms of transfers in and out for next season.
In my opinion, more than 12 players need to go and the sooner this process begins, the better.
We're experiencing a strange end to a difficult season. It's great to see us finish strongly. In any other season, such a strong finish could be a very good catalyst to hit the ground running with pre-season and start the next season well...
We just don't have the confidence currently. I believe the players are good enough but it'll take a bit longer yet until we get any sort of swagger back. Players just don't look for the ball enough. Too many hide and there's a real lack of responsibility on the field.
A fan reminisces his childhood devotion to Wally Fielding who represented Everton for over a decade between 1946 and 1958
The Europa League campaign doesn't have to be doom and gloom just yet but we are certainly doing it the hard way.
Unsworth deserves his chance. Will he be the one to deliver us, in keeping with heroes in the great bard's rousingly penned victories? Will he make sure, eventually, that all's well that ends well?
There is a missing left side to the squad and the worry is that the erratic Moshiri may be unwilling to rebuild this.
Wayne Rooney walked away twice from his boyhood club and the supporters who loved him and were desperate to see him succeed. What would you have done to pull on that royal blue jersey?
With the fixtures upcoming, I was simply relieved to be coming away with the three points, our first opening day win for five years
All-in-all, a good day out and now we can turn our minds to Thursday when off we go again.
Continuing the theme of my favourite players, my selection for the outside right position is Alex Scott.
The game meant nothing. The team talk on the face of it should have been a piece of piss. “Right you lot, here's your opportunity. Prove to me why you should be in the teamâ€. Unfortunately the majority out there only really proved why they shouldn't be in the team.
The latest away defeat under Sam Allardyce has increased the despondency around Everton
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