Lyon prove too strong for beleaguered Blues

A pretty decent side from Ron, let's be fair to him. Lookman on the bench at least. I can't see them just magically clicking into form though. Although...maybe?

Williams won't help his case! I'd rather play Stekelenburg at centre-back.

Mirallas, Vlasic and Calvert-Lewin should offer a more balanced attack. Rooney should be getting rested more anyway – there's no reason he needs to start three matches in the span of a week.

Guess we'll know around 9:50pm...

Do I really want to? Yes... until their second goal goes in.

Could I ask a favour, can a couple of you unfurl a 60-foot banner that says in foot-high lettering "Okay, we've had enough of you, Koeman, okay!" And can you then get the entire Gwladys Street to start chanting "Koeman Out, okay" from just after half-time.

That needs to happen whether we are 3-0 up or 3-0 down. Thanks ever so much

But as always: COYB!

COYB!

May be I give up, Everton appear to have done so...

Game is on RTL7 in Holland.

Not sure what I'm watching here.. Not the dullest game ever, but Lyon look like they could carve us open at any moment. We'll press to get back in this and concede more.

Bye Ronald. Clown.

This doesn't seem right but I had a 3 team acca with Lyon to beat Everton tonight. Everton losing seems to be a real banker these days. I cashed out early and banked 㿒, may as well earn from this pain we are going through.

If the TV pundits can see that the fans don't like Koeman, and the fans don't like him, why is he still our manager? It makes no sense that we are prolonging the inevitable.

Koeman, you're a clueless, egotistical fuckwit and you've been found out. You peaked at Southampton and you've been rumbled.

You're just another Roy Keane, a once footballer who thinks he can bully other younger promising footballers because you were once a star. You both work in a world where you are surviving on a reputation.

Well, now you are no longer a star –in fact, you've less talent than a fucking starfish, so pack your XXL chinos and sod off into the sunset 'cause you've been rumbled, me old matey.

There is nothing going on in your head other than "Okay, so I am now wet, I have some stubble, okay but this is football." Bye.

Maybe he knows something we don't...

He doesn't have a clue.

Surely there can't be many of you left.

We could have lost 4-0 quite easily other than Pickford. The front end is blunt, the midfield have no penetration, and we're leaking goals. Utter crap, Koeman; time to go.

What is this manager's aim? Is it to win any games? Does he want the sack so he can pocket 㾸 million and apply for the job as manager of Holland?

Does he care about this club and its supporters? He must go and soon.

The spotlight is now on Moshiri. We know Kenwright is a buffoon but Moshiri is rapidly heading that way.

Sound financial management, ambitious plans and a summer of spending has given way to cretinous utterings to Jim White and a highly questionable approach to the current situation with Koeman and Walsh. Both should be sacked pronto for overseeing the debacle we are now witnessing.

Persisting with two men who have saddled the club with a bloated squad with at least 10 players who are at best average is bad enough.

Koeman then adds his own, unique, turd flavour to this particular soup with some mind-bogglingly bad tactics and selection.

Grim, grim days.

If I was in control of things, I would do my best to get Benitez in; otherwise, our long standing history in the top flight will be under threat.

God help Klaassen, he's out of his depth.

I sat in the Lower Gwladys Street and watched that crap again. 😩

BTW, Klaassen is without doubt the worst footballer I have ever seen at Goodison – and that's including Mickael Madar!

Tonight hurt like hell for me. I honestly don't recognise this club anymore. Moshiri needs to step up to the plate and get rid of all the dead wood.

Get rid of tonight.

Me too. Backed the 2-1 win for Lyon at about 12 to 1. We were nailed on to lose. If I don't read tomorrow on BBC that he is gone, I'll be really pissed off.

It's horrible to get to a point when the best football fans in the world, Evertonians, are calling for the sacking of their manager.

It's time to relieve the Dutchman from his duties. His whole tactical approach is consistently shit and he's now making good, decent players look terrible.

Thanks for the effort, Ronald, but your time is up. Best of luck.

Yes, I know he signed most of them.

Holgate is never a Premier League standard player.
Williams maybe once not now.
Martina clueless.
Schneiderlin spineless.
Klaassen the worst of the lot
Keane, England &Man Utd... really??
Calvert-Lewin, a long long way to go.
Sandro clueless.

We are in serious trouble. These players will not become world beaters or even Burnley beaters with a change of manager. Though surely they would improve a bit?? Staying up has got to be the aim now.

I really want to see Unsworth in and see what he can do with a few select "older" players and these kids.

Koeman will be given the boot after Sunday's inevitable loss (sorry...) to Arsenal.

What we could have done with Barkley tonight...

The Williams incident with the goalkeeper and the ensuing melee was disgraceful.

The manager has totally lost his grip and should resign immediately.

A really really bad time to be an Evertonian. We are the laughing stock of English football.

Keane found out tonight, sorry to say, it but looks a Championship player at best. Koeman doesn't seem to know his best players or best formation.

Can he be trusted to get it right in the January window?

I am just dreading every game we play right now. The team's confidence is shot to pieces and I honestly don't know what the answer is. The fans have no confidence in the team, or manager, and things really have gone downhill.

Koeman is in such a state he can't even remember to shave his ginger stubble. I would offer him my razor but I worry what he might do with it in his current predicament.

How are they going to beat Arsenal on Sunday?? I have no idea. If they don't all get their arses in gear, pardon the pun, we will get royally spanked.

I fear Ronnie's days are numbered at this rate. It is not a matter of if, but when he gets the push. I see no alternative but to bring in Unsworth to bring in some kind of organisation in every area of the pitch. NSNO.

This club is weak from top to bottom.

I am positive that we will improve no end once Ron has gone. Just fucking do it now, Kenwright, you smug devious waster.

Ramirez back to Spain as soon as possible as he will become unsettled. Coleman, Bolasie and even Funes Mori to save us from relegation.

Only a stupendous win against The Arse on Sunday should be good enough to save his job.

Interesting to note that one Mikel Arteta was watching at Goodison tonight.

What summed up the night for me was when Cuco and Sandro didn't know what to do with ball and ended up losing it. They both nearly tackled each other. Embarrassing is an understatement.

- Lack of effort/urgency
- Lack of width/attacking intent/too many Number 10s
- Focus on keeping the ball in defensive positions
- Square pegs in round holes
- Poor recruitment/lack of quality in key positions

To be honest, I think some of those were addressed tonight. I saw a huge effort and finally we got width instead of a bunch of defensive midfielders behind a bunch of Number 10s. Unfortunately there's a lack of quality and that did for us.

So responsibility still comes back to the same people. But at least it was competitive and watchable (small mercies)... just goes to show... the things that Ron can do to improve this side are relatively simple. They've all been covered on this site.

As others have mentioned, I don't know what Holgate found funny at the end of the game.

On a separate issue, the fan with his kid in his arms looking to get involved during that load of shenanigans is an absolute idiot.

Pickford kept us in the game and, sadly, their keeper made some good saves too. I believe Pickford is one of the few positives of 2017-18 thus far. He'll do for me.

Since our players often don't have a man to pass to, it's a real shame that our passing is so bloody poor when a pass is on. There's a lot of highly paid pros not 'delivering' on the basics.

I find it hard to credit (the loss of Lukaku aside) how we've spent so much money, including huge sums on premium rate transfer targets, and are playing so poorly compared to last season.

Finally, criticism of our performances aside, I cannot understand the moron who was abusing Sigurdsson while the Icelander was about to take a corner. He'd put Williams's goal on a silver salver for him, and had done all that was needed for a second goal – another peach of a free kick ending up hitting the inside of the post. And yet, as he was preparing to take a corner, this 'fan' was screaming at him: "You're shit, you're shit, you're absolute shite!" Way to go, Blues... :(

Everton lives big and strong beyond Koeman; our time will come.

The formation was definitely better, we had some width and pace from what I saw. Of course we lost the game, which is obviously what matters so it's not much consolation.

That said, we did appear to be a lot quicker and more direct at times.

Like someone said above, there is a team in there somewhere – and it was good to see the right formation for a change.

But... we lost... again.

Really, it can't be this awful!

Be in no doubt, though, that we just haven't got goals in us. That's not going to change with a new manager and that's what worries me most of all.

Pickford is a bright spot.

I never understand this blaming the manager for a lack of confidence – you ask any ex-pro and they'll all say the same thing. The players have to take some of the blame.

Aside from that, I thought we were a lot better tonight.

In all honesty though, the damage was done this summer. Having let three number 9s go (Lukaku, Valencia and Kone), it's criminal we didn't get one number 9 in. We have a lad up front who is full of effort, but at the end of the day, we have replaced a 㿲 million striker with one who cost ٟ.5 million from Sheff Utd. And we have no alternatives.

January can't come quick enough. It doesn't matter who is in charge – this squad is so unbalanced that you could have Mourinho or Guardiola in charge, it wouldn't matter. You can call for Koeman to be sacked all you want, but not much is going to change because we simply have nothing in the final 3rd of the pitch.

We seem to have no longer have a transfer strategy at the club. Steve Walsh was supposed to unearth gems, but can anyone see these gems? Where are they please?

If Koeman goes, I hope Walsh goes with him, because the transfer business we did this summer was a dereliction of duty. Our number 9 tonight was signed as a recommendation from Davie Unsworth. Which begs the question – what are we paying Koeman ٤ million a year for, and why did we pay Leicester ٠.5 million for Walsh?

There is a bigger problem within the club than just the manager.

Makes you wonder how Moshiri and Kenwright became rich and powerful when they appear to be fucking thick.

The only thing that's worse than him at the club is the living nightmare of Kenwright. If Moshiri wants to prove his business acumen – and I don't mean through Jim White – he's gotta get rid of these ASAP otherwise He will prove to me that he is nothing but a phoney.

Like many have said, apart from a bit of an ill-tempered spirited 20 minutes or so, we looked like the away side.

There was little on show tonight to account for the money that has been spent. In fact, from a supporter's point of view, it was embarrassing.

Rumours abound of an emergency meeting, but will that be tomorrow, or when?

The sooner the better.

On to Sunday and I don't even think that a good win against Arsenal will be enough to turn things around. It looks from the outside in, that the issues between the fans and the manager and the manager and his players are far too many in number and Ronald doesn't have the right sort of personality to get the fans back onside anytime soon.

I would put Unsworth in charge tonight or tomorrow morning in order to give the club back it's beating heart, at least until a more suitable manager is found for the long term.

Of course it means that somebody at the club will have to admit that they made a mistake by hiring Ronald and it will also cost the club a significant amount of cash to pay him off, however, that is surely a price worth paying if we want to stop the rot and avoid a disappointing season turning into a calamitous one.

Effort is laudable and there was plenty on show tonight but organisation and discipline are perhaps more important, thus far this season, we don't appear to have either of those vital ingredients and that's why Ronald's race is run.

We are a pitiful shambles and Williams was actually lucky to stay on the field tonight (his desperation, despite the goal, smacks of a player who knows his time is up). Our young players look overawed or under-prepared at present.

The future is not bright. Koeman going will not be a quick solution, but surely anyone else is better. (Although I thought that about Martinez – so what do I know?)

If we lose again at the weekend, then I think the board might do something – my worry is what they do, and who they hand it over to.

Most clubs if they don't have a plan in place, pass it on to the second in command, which in our case is his brother so that's not really an option... which leaves Unsworth as the fans choice, but my view is that it would be unfair to hand it over to Rhino in our current state.

I've seen the names people have been suggesting: Eddie Howe! Sean Dyche!! Tony Pulis!!! Sam Allardyce!!!!!!

Has it got this bad, not one of these comes anywhere near good enough to manage our club. Just to throw a name in the hat, anyone for Laurent Blanc!!!! Available now if we do get rid of Koeman.

Pickford
Kenny Holgate Keane Baines
Gueye
Lookman Davies Sandro
Rooney

At least you'd see some fight and spirit! And not from some pot-shot fans tossing in haymakers at the first sign of a scrap.

What the fuck do we have to lose? I'd take a few inevitable bare-bottom spankings with all the youth because I think that lineup has a better chance of long-term success than what Ronnie is dishing up!

Of course players have to take responsibility but when they have been played out of position so many times, have nowhere to pass forward to because the shape is wrong, have the crowd on their back because they don't know what they are supposed to be doing they are bound to lose confidence.

Look at Barkley. In any other team he wouldn't be expected to tackle back – chase back and get in the way maybe, but not be the box to box that Koeman and so many fans expect him to be. His confidence was shot last season. Spurs and Chelsea wouldn't want him if he was as crap as the manager and many on here would have us believe.

Koeman looks doleful, his ginger beard gives him a desperate quality. Surely he knows he is on borrowed time. Only a good win against the Arse will give him some leeway.

Will he fall on his sword or will our club grow some balls and despatch him tomorrow?

Koeman will be gone in no time. It's just a case of how we go forward. Personally, I never wanted Koeman in the first place as I felt his name preceded his ability. The next man must be the man who is proven and has won many titles, no more of this bullshit choosing a manager with 'potential'.

I'll be honest and say there are only a handful of managers that I would trust with my club: Mourinho, Guardiola, Tuncel, Ancelotti, Conte, Klopp, Emery. As far as I am concerned, anything less than the listed is not good enough for my club. And it so happen's that one of those is currently out of work and just about won everything in the game.

Can we start feeling positive, Koeman falling on his sword will be very short lived, we are Everton, Nothing But The Best... remember??

I don't agree at all about any player not being told to track back – watch any of the top teams, who have the top players, and the reason they are the top players is because of their work rate.

All the creative players in all the most creative teams work harder than anyone else without the ball – Barkley will never be a top player for that exact reason.

Bayern, Man City, Real, Barca, all of them have hard working creative players – what we lack is creative players that can be arsed to do the dirty work as well. So basically, we lack everything required to be a top team!

1) The return to Saturday afternoon footy in the New Year.

2) No more Thursday night arguments with the Mrs: 'Do you think I'm stupid? Even I know they don't play football on Thursdays!' 'They do, honest!'

3) Koeman one game closer to the sack.

UTFB.😜

Davies apart our kids aren't on that level and that showed tonight. Which means we have to buy and, with the exception of Pickford, we've bought some shite!

We need a centre forward and can't wait till January. There must be someone out of contract somewhere in the world. Walsh is a culpable as anyone -or not getting a striker in.

On another note, the lads in the Street End who got involved in the Williams thing need banning for 3 games and Williams needs banning for life.

I was quite happy with the signings of Pickford, Keane, Sandro and even Sigurdsson when we eventually got him. By my reckoning, we've been had off for about 𧴜m for the rest, including the signings from last season.

How is that even possible? Rooney had the choice of the MLS, Chinese League, or the likes of West Ham or us. Not his fault we had a dickhead chairman who was desperate to make up for selling him on the cheap 15 years ago, but imagine what 𧵎k a week could get you? Would any of the teams who we hope to emulate have been in for his signature? Not a fucking chance!

We all called it as the window shut (so could a 7-year-old) but no striker and lack of pace buys you the Everton we are all watching today, a disjointed mess of a squad which will never achieve anything, never mind entertainment value along the way.

To think one of the masterminds of this shambles will walk away like a lottery winner makes me want to puke. Sick tonight.

If he was so poor why would Chelsea and Spurs want him? He is a player who through the efforts of Martinez and Koeman has lost his confidence.

Even low on confidence he produced more than most English players. I can't be arsed finding the stats but they have been widely published.

If we lose heavily against Arsenal on Sunday (a game that Wenger can get his own back on Koeman for mocking him last season) Koeman may be relieved of his duties, one would think, but it's a funny old game and I think we could win. Rooney to score another screamer!

It will be a blessing in disguise to get the fuck out of this Europa League.

The team and Koeman and us lot are really missing Coleman's attacking and defending at right back, and when both he and Bolasie are back, it will make a massive difference to us, as would Barkley's ability.

I've a feeling this is what is keeping Koeman in his job for now.

Posters on here are right: we have not got any quality, we are in a relegation fight with these average players and bad management skills from Koeman and Walsh.

When the likes of Watford, Burnley and promoted Newcastle are outshining you, then you know things are bad.

We need to sack Koeman and Walsh, then let the new manager get these average players out the door in the next two transfer windows and buy some fucking quality players, like Watford seem to have found!

If Koeman is still the manager of Everton at midday tomorrow, I am going to set fire to my season ticket at 12:01. Very carefully, of course!

Yes the manager has to take some of the blame for many things, but this notion that he is the sole reason players gain or lose confidence, is pure fantasy.

Big question for me is; If we showed a better performance by having width through the presence of wingers on the pitch, why has it taken until now for the Manager to wake up to the need to change the formation? That for me is the most damning nail for his coffin.

What in the holy hell is that neanderthal thinking? That is just awful!

I can't see us beating the Arsenal on Sunday for the simple reason that Koeman will revert to type and try and stop them from scoring and pack the midfield with players thinking "What are we supposed to do"?

Tonight's result may be a long term blessing, I've never seen Koeman looked so agitated, his supposed aura of cool well and truly exposed...

We did lose though, but it was fine margins against a decent Lyon side.

All the talk of there being no pace or width and Lookman and Mirallas were our most positive players today. Apart from Pickford, of course.

The custodians of our club are guilty of negligence if they do not act. The players are not blameless, they have been woeful. But, the expectation of several months ago has vanished due to Koeman.

I would not be confident of us beating any team in all divisions. We are, in my view, the worst team in the Premier League. We have relegation written all over us. If Koeman is here at the end of October, I fear for the future of our club.

We have no strength or intelligence in our play, nothing to bind us together, which is why even last season we only managed episodes of higher quality and couldn't build or maintain a game rhythm.

The same lack of constructive hard-mindedness is evident with the manager and the Board. That's where we must start: getting some rigour and savvy into what we do throughout the club. That's a massive task which has been long neglected. Good luck to our next manager.

Look at Martinez's first season. The team played with his attacking gusto but still had the defensive qualities instilled by Moyes. By the end of his tenure, the same players generally were shot.

Managers now try and impose 'philosophies' on teams. That is what happened to Barkley – Martinez tried to suppress his natural desire to run at players straight into the box and suddenly he was holding back looking for the next pass (and told players like Jags to try and play football round the edge of our box). Koeman compounded his lost confidence by so publically slating him.

Can I call you at 12:00 before you strike a match and claim your credits for a Lyon away ticket?

To the guy criticising Tom Davies, yes he was not perfect, and it was not a shining example of his capabilities but all of the above was down to him. He didn't hide, like Klaassen or the others. He got stuck in and worked harder and harder and he raised our tempo and he got us playing and he dragged us back into that game.

That game was an example of who Tom Davies is. A winner. A fighter. Someone who will not quit. Someone who will roll up his sleeves and just work harder and harder and dig deeper and deeper. It doesn't matter if he's not having a good game, he will five everything he has. And he has to play every game. The lad is what this club should be about.

Whilst this was better and the team selection was largely better and there was a welcome return to 4-3-3, it was too little too late. I don't think Koeman has lost the players as they were fighting for him. But he needs a miracle now.

As for the next guy. No not a proven manager like Ancellotti. He's a terrible coach. Listen to the Chelsea, Madrid and Bayern players. They don't rate his coaching at all. We need a coach.

This needs to be fixed on the training pitch. We need a coach first and foremost. Silva is the man for me and I'd use Unsworth as caretaker until he agrees to come, also giving rhino time to stake his claim. But not Ferguson, no. We need coaching and he hasn't proved himself a coach yet, maybe he can take Unsworth's job and show himself.

I just hope we act quickly.

The way the players are performing is not lack of confidence – they are effectively on strike and things will not change until we have a new man in charge who can control the dressing room.

I cannot believe Moshiri and Kenwright do not realise this. If they persist with this ridiculous situation much longer then EFC as a Premier League side are doomed

After a few seconds, he wriggles free and runs back down, we thought to have another go at whomever had riled him in the first place. No, he picked up a 7- or 8-year-old child and went back up the stairs.

We have our fair share of bells.

Oh, the game – not as bad as usual, Davies back on the bench for Arsenal nailed on. Koeman out, but not until Moyes takes the Scotland job.

Calvert-Lewin is not, nor will he ever be good enough to lead the line for a Premier League side. Anichebe is much better. Vaughan is much better.

I still think we have the players to turn things around after Christmas but we will be seeing out 2017 in the relegation zone regardless if we stick or twist with Ronald. The damage was done in the summer when Management and The Board failed to land an appropriate Striker, left centre-back,and to find a replacement Left-back.

The worry for me is the lack of confidence. Not just on the pitch but in the boardroom. On the night of the Jim White / Moshiri fiasco Mk 2, in August just gone, I was alarmed listening to our new majority shareholder. He sounded drunk and like a man desperately in need of the Barkley sale. Has Moshiri lost his nerve with his cash, like Randy Lerner did? Is he on tilt?

If so, the board will be reluctant to sack the manager. Moshiri has already been burned for enough cash as it is, without paying Koeman however many millions to go away.

I think the sensible business move from Moshiri's perspective will be to hope that Koeman can turn it around. I think he will wait and see until late November at least before making a final decision.

And don't expect a big-time striker in January either. It'll be someone like Charlie Austin for ٦M, which for my money is still a 100% improvement on Calvert-Lewin, who is shite.

However, saying this, we still had a right-back playing at left-back and a centre-back playing at right-back, and it showed. What was also clearly obvious was that we lacked a focal point for the team and had no one on the bench to bring on to rectify that, which brings me onto my next point.

We have looked disjointed on the field up until tonight. I initially put it down to gelling problems, but it may go further than that. Why was Martina playing at left-back tonight? Well, Funes Mori is injured, but isn't a left-back anyway. Galloway is out on loan, Garbutt isn't even registered. The knock-on effect our natural right-back cover has to play there, thus a young centre-back still learning the game has to play right-back. The reason we have no recourse to change things upfront, well our other Number 9 (Niasse) wasn't registered either. Unbelievable.

This brings me onto something I said in a previous post, summed up in one word!

Disorganized!

It seems that the disorganization is not just down to the manager or on the pitch. Have things gotten too convoluted and complicated? We have 2 blokes in the chairmen role, a director of football, who I thought was brought in as a scout, and a manager operating with some backroom staff that weren't his choice. It all seems so far removed form the chairman, manager, scout scenario of previous regimes.

All these 'experts' couldn't get a striker in to replace a want away striker, who has wanted away, and made it known, since he virtually joined the club. Madness!

Yes, all aspects of the club seem to be shrouded in complication, from the set-up to the team selection.

Saying that, I saw some reasons to be slightly (and I do mean slightly) optimistic tonight. Arsenal will be the catalyst as to what happens for the rest of the season!

I hate everything I see going on at this club right now. It's pathetic from top to bottom. This is not the Everton I was born into and raised with. It disgusts me.

Nobody inside this club has a single ounce of desire to win something with Everton. The ownership can't give a shit. They just want to watch the value continue to rise by default, as the TV revenue increases.

The players? They aren't here to win anything. Those that have stayed, like Baines and Jags only did so out of a lack of ambition. Any with quality and ambition rightly got the hell out at first calling. The entire thing is rotten.

Unfortunately we have the twin curse of not only being shite but we're also unlucky which is the worst possible combination. We know via Jim White that defeat against half decent teams is not only expected but also accepted. So losing to Lyon is not so bad as they're a decent team.

So on to Arsenal, well we can't expect much there so that one can slide. Chelsea in the League Cup away? Well that's a given so forget that one & so acceptable defeats will be continue to be tolerated unlike at Palace & Leicester who both appear to be disturbed enough by failure to act accordingly.

My guess is that this shite will continue until January when we're dumped out of the cup, probably at home to a championship team, when the board will spring into action & put this Dutch disaster out of his misery when the season is already over.

I think back to those two pivotal matches at the end of Martinez's reign when everyone knew the derby & the cup semi final were guaranteed defeats unless the poor hapless bastard was euthanized for his own good. Faced with that season defining moment, what did our glorious leaders do? That's right – fuck all... & what happened next? That's right .we promptly lost both games.

So then... I suggest we accept our fate because our club has become so comfortable with 30 years of abject failure that failure has now become the status quo & in truth it doesn't even hurt any more because it's not only accepted – it's also expected.

And if that IS the case, it would prove who really is still in charge at our club – and who was the sentimental fool who brought Rooney back!

On a separate note, Koeman really has not got a clue what to do has he? And never had one from the outset, based on the 60-odd games he has been in charge.

Still only one good performance so far, against Man City at home last season. The other 59-odd have been worse than watching England. Every single, solitary, sickening one of them.

He has to go.

Not when we get beaten by Arsenal. Or knocked out of the League Cup at Chelsea. But now, while there's still a chance we can win one or both of them.

Waiting to see if things will change is as stupid as his persistence with the same dreadful team selection time, after time, after time (repeat until fade...).

You know what is really sad? I would actually welcome Moyes back at this point. One thing I could at least count on then would be organized defensive effort. And playing without a striker wasn't unusual under Moyes sadly. Good God, how low have we sunken?

The club's a bloody shambles from the manager through to the owners. We haven't a player that the top teams want, except apparently Barkley and he's been shown the door by big shot Koeman.

Then you come out with you only want one of the world's best managers, I can only hope you have had too much to drink because your grip on reality is way shot.

Koeman has lost all credibility and has to go. The way things are shaping up, we will do very well to finish above half way in the league and that's being overly optimistic.

Whoever is the new manager he will have his work cut out to getting us playing good football again in the short term.

I will concede you one positive, our youth set up seems to be one of the best in the league. As for the rest of our club, well enough said.

Don't worry, the Directors will know that and any fall from the Premier League means financial disaster (Newcastle the exception).

I couldn't see this lot climbing back immediately anyway – they've no guts. I do hope they prove us wrong but we let our best striker for years go which shows the ambition of the club has'not changed.

Never sell your stars – we sold Alan Ball initially and then Rooney, Lukaku, Arteta, Stones... need I say more? I'm afraid there's no passion since the John Moores Era and the Kendall Era. Players sold for short term gains- never works I'm afraid.

Lots of fans have had enough – who can blame them? Moshiri won't make.a scrap of difference... and as for.the Walsh handout, that typifies the club – he just had lucky spell at Leicester and we were stupid enough not to realise it.

Him and Koeman probably hate each other's guts anyway.

They just need a great manager to put them into a system and give them the confidence to go out there and show what they can do. Just because Koeman is garbage, it doesn't mean the players are, Koeman just doesn't know how to fit them into a system that creates a coherent team.

Secondly, Raymond, have you heard yourself??? Do you actually know what Nil satis Nisi Optimum means??? Nothing but the best!!! That seems to be a strange concept for those not old enough to remember the Kendall days.

I have supported Everton since 1982 and we expect the very best. Why shouldn't I expect a world class manager?? this is Everton. Why should I have to accept an Allardyce, or Pulis etc??

Forget Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester City, we are the 4th most decorated team in the land, so why shouldn't we demand the best manager in the land??????

You should feel ashamed of yourself.

P45, no not yet.

Just looked at the fixture list:

Arsenal. Everyone knows they will beat us. An unremarkable 2-1 to them.

Chelsea's kids and B players. Winners.

Leicester. Interesting one this. They are in a bit of trouble. So if fairly committed and if they do us, its P45.

Lyon away aren't going to be as poor as Lyon at our place, and they still won, and they weren't all that poor. Possible P45.

Watford are playing very well. So a loss to them might be expected. No P45.

Crystal Palace Away. Anything less than a win it's P45. But would it be too late?

Scariest time since Moyse's bad season.

I suppose the key question is who's next? Reading back through the posts, it's sad. Halfway through October and I'd settle for avoiding relegation. :^(

If Sandro Ramirez is part of the "bedrock of our future" then we are surely fucked!!! He is, along with Klaassen, absolute dog shit!! He came on tonight ran around a bit and got in people's way!!

When you think of the history of the number 9 shirt at Everton (Dean, Lawton, Pickering, Royle, Latchford, Sharp and (sometimes) Ferguson) then look at the two most recent custodians of that shirt it is heartbreaking!!

And if Ramirez is an example of the type of player our "highly regarded" Director of Football is bringing to the club then heaven help us!!

I'm not saying Ramirez was the reason we lost tonight but, when you're chasing the game and in need of a goal, is he seriously the best we can call upon??

As for some of the others tonight, Holgate is simply not a right back and had a mare. Keane looks like a Championship player but I'm prepared to put that down to his confidence being shot and playing alongside Ashley Williams who should have been sent off before he scored, looks about 2 stone overweight and even had the temerity to give the Gwladys Street crowd the eyes after his goal as if to say "Who's slagging me off now??!!"

Martina is hopeless both defensively and offered nothing going forward. I believe Kenny is injured though, so maybe we have no alternative to Coco at the minute.

Mirallas was his usual self. A few attacking bursts before running out of steam after 60 mins.

I thought Davies did well and looked to get things moving going forward. Also wasn't afraid to get stuck in when needed

Calvert-Lewin is an odd one. Can someone tell me what he's meant to be doing? All the pundits seem to think he's the best thing since slice bread but he very rarely even looks like scoring let alone actually getting a goal. Someone enlighten me .what am I missing??

I could go on but I'll only depress myself further. I hoped he'd take us to the next level, but he's failing miserably. So, for that reason and the utter shite he's serving up, I think it's time for Ronald to go. But does Moshiri have the balls to do it??

I can't see how Koeman can turn it around now and a back-to-basics approach of playing simple football with players playing in their natural positions could hopefully mean this season isn't wasted.

These players have had either Martinez or Koeman putting god knows what ideas in their head over the past couple of years, and when you see videos of Joe Royle's team from the 90s getting the ball forward quickly, it could be something to get some results and a platform to build on coming up to the January window. We've got no chance of getting Giroud now though.

Same goes for Sandro. He came through at Barcelona so they saw his talent. Then like so many others there, he moved on and established himself. Now, under Koeman, he looks like he never played the game before.

Next up: Sigurdsson, a brilliant player for Swansea and Iceland. He goes away on international duty and just scores goals for fun, as well as setting them up. He comes to Everton under Koeman and he looks out of place.

Next up: Keane. Was solid as could be in previous years. Now, under Koeman, he looks worse with every match. Williams also has gotten worse over the past year.

There is a clear trend here, people. These players are not all useless. But the team is useless under Koeman.

“I fully expect that the complete knob who aimed a punch/slap at the Lyon keeper be banned from all football grounds for life.”

Well that's one way to stop Koeman picking him at Centre-Back. ;)

I came on here to write the exact same thing! It's no coincidence that almost every player is having a horrible season.

He has to go. Whether you think it's his fault or not, he is the only person we can change that is going to make any difference. Even if the players are partly to blame, we can't axe the entire First Team can we.

No point in waiting around. Get him out and give Unsworth the rest of the season. The board should be up for it, at least they wouldn't have to give Unsy any money in January.

Williams I think summed up the players' attitude when interviewed after the game, when asked about pressure on the manager after another loss, casually replied "That's football".

These players do not like or agree with Koeman's tactics and are just going through the motions. He has already told them through the media he doesn't believe they are good enough to beat the top teams, so why would they want to give 110% for someone who doesn't believe in them anyway?

It is a ridiculous situation that is even more unbelievable as it is allowed to go on, week after week, and destroying any chance Everton have got of attracting any players of pedigree – only players that can't make it in the top teams but still demand big fees and wages because they were in a big team's squad.

As well as what Ernie said, I'd say we had a young team with precious little confidence who showed some real talent. When the crowd rallied to the cause after the fracas, the boys gave it a go. At the end, you could feel they'd been lifted a little by the passion in the crowd.

Lyon were the better team but ,with a bit of luck, the boys could have got a result tonight that might have been a turning point.

So they've not stopped playing; they're not great – and for me, McCarthy, Funes Mori and Barkley, never mind Seamus, would lift this team – but they're not hopeless either.

I'm sorry but I just switch off when I read stuff like 'Got to the pub late... didn't realise Klaassen was playing until half-time' or 'ashamed and embarrassed to go in public with anything Everton' or 'watched the first-half and highlights...'

We've got problems and the Pope's a Catholic, but you can't half tell the difference on here between those who've been the game and seen (and heard) the thing in the round and some of those who seem to be on here just to sound off.

Oh to hell with you mate. I was there when Carsley struck to beat the shite and watched the players pile on top of one another while I lost my voice for a week. And that's exactly why I said I'm embarrassed right now. This club from top to bottom is showing absolutely no heart and soul and no commitment to win a fucking thin.

Don't fucking lecture me about who has been to the ground and who hasn't. Those at Goodison and following the club around have made their feelings quite known; they're disgusted. That Lyon side was missing half their regular starting 11 and were away from home, and still we looked toothless most of the match.

You cite an idiotic fight that lifted the team? In that fight, Williams should have been sent off; he was lucky. What would you say if the ref had taken appropriate action then?

Nothing is improving. Results are crap. Performances worse. Time is being wasted in not acting and giving someone else a go.

Soon we will be too far behind in the Premier League and out of major cups. Come on board – do your job.

He set up as 4-1-4-1.

He had a centre-half at right-back and a right-footed, weak-defending player at left-back. He continues to play with a right-sided centre-back on the left of the pair.

I have some sympathy for Williams. His choice above Jags, who at least had the "benefit" of being forced to play on the left for 18 months to accommodate Stones, is bizarre.

Keane was never a top defender. His replacement looked very solid against us because Dyche has a system and consistency from front to back and everyone knows their jobs. Not so here.

Schneiderlin was our holding midfielder. Can't understand the comments all season about playing with two. We don't. Not really... both him and Gueye play five yards too far forward of a back line that won't push out. Space behind our sitters is always easy to exploit.

Schneiderlin lets people run past him and is too focussed on the ball. Cost us a goal Sunday as a result. Same lack of awareness as Barkley. If we were going to play one, it should have been Gueye. The centre-backs should have been told to push up and Gueye told that if he was too far away to piss on them then he was too far away.

The four across the middle? I can understand why some described it as 4-3-3. Both Mirallas and Vlasic came inside from the off with the full-backs supposedly providing width. By its very nature, this is slow and gives you a crowd scene on the flanks. Lookman did better. Can only assume that the others played to orders. Mind you, Mirallas does as he pleases anyway. Extended contract? My arse.

Davies worked hard without being creative as he can be and as for Klaassen! Does anyone seriously think he can make the grade in the Premier League?

Calvert-Lewin has potential. But if he carries on with these stupid flicks, I swear I'll go to Finch Farm myself and tear him a new one. He desperately needed someone with him to clatter their centre-backs. Despite what I said previously, Mirallas might, Sigurdsson probably would. He would also be able to drop off into the hole.

Oh, and Pickford. He puts us under pressure all the time with his short distribution. He has a great, accurate left foot but it gets us nowhere. He is so one-footed that you can see the back four hesitating when they play it back to his right foot. Great goalkeepers use both feet, well. He doesn't, he can't, he isn't and won't be. He's also too short. Poor buy.

We need a manager who can use the squad we've got to get some defensive solidity. Won't be easy. The squad is very unbalanced but we have to go with what we have for the next dozen games. We are looking at a relegation scrap to get above 18th. Brighton and Huddersfield will go back down so it's just one place in reality.

Pick a back four and stick with it. Let it build understanding and confidence with Robles behind them in goal, or Stekelenburg, don't mind but stick with him. They've got to push out, as a unit. Forget marauding full-backs until we've got that solidity.

Kenny, Keane, Jagielka, Baines.

Middle four has to have width and energy to work the flanks from back to front, get the ball forward/wide quickly and protect the back four.

Vlasic, Gueye, Rooney, Lookman

Front two, Calvert-Lewin with Sigurdsson working alongside and off him.

Tell the squad that this is the team and that whilst personnel may change roles will be the same.

The man to do this? Benitez. If he won't leave Newcastle, then Allardyce.

Have our standards become so low that we see a team with no purpose energised by the stupidity and violence of Williams, andn suspect refereeing decisions?

The quality we showed tonight was moribund. In truth with the exception of Pickford we could have been hammered. He was excellent, acting in desperation several times after we were cut open.

Sadly, the fact Koeman felt he had the remit to rest players in stead of Sunday's game tell me he's far away from the sack as he can be.

We as a club are in a horrible mess. Another month of this and the ‘R' word will be in regular circulation.

Carl Tiler is laughing his tits off atm! The lad could walk into that side with Keane & Williams playing the chuckle brothers.

Truly abject.

The ‘effort and commitment' were players crashing into the opposition, Davies & Mirallas in particular, with nothing to show for it. It was just an illusion of energy.

Williams behaved like a thug, even his goal ‘celebration' merited a 2nd yellow, the crowd – starved of any other sustenance – latched onto this as a way back into the game. In reality nothing was further from the truth. A mirage.

The selection of a younger side, and the introduction of younger players later in the game whilst it artificially feels great – and yes they run around a lot, –it provided very little quality to proceedings.

So desperate are we for an inkling of improvement that ‘that' performance was considered gutsy and unlucky.

We were terrible, directionless, scored a set piece and did a passable impression of a colander.

One note on the idiot that presides over this shithousery. All night, Koeman was chastising players from the technical area. No encouragement at all.

As per my first post, Pickford deserves great credit for his performance, most poignantly to him, it must just feel like last season. 😵

It's long past the point of no return – a total re-set is required.

Even the potential players are not ready to be starting games at this stage.

Players are shot of confidence and we have too many that do not have the quality required anyway. Inept transfers, the selling of 3 strikers and recruiting zero should be enough for some heads to roll.

Yes, we all got excited at our early business but let's be honest we have been starved of success and any signs of ambition for so long that we were easily fooled.

Kenwright is still chairman and presiding over the clubs worst ever run in terms of any success. Moshiri is not looking like the billionaire investor we hoped for but more and more like just another Kenwright business associate.

We, the long suffering fans, deserve more but we really should be used to it, as at Everton for the last 30 years we have been saddled with no leadership or ambition. The club is happy to just plod on.

I like the idea of Mauro Silva. I also think that Fonseca from Shakthar looks interesting. I really like Unsworth but to hand him this complete mess as his first team debut would seem a bit unfair to me.

The board will be slow to act as usual so I expect it will take a loss vs Arsenal and Leicester to bring things to an end.

I just pray that these players are capable of better as Koeman's failings in no way excuse all of their shortcomings too.

Sorry days

You say we are the 4th most decorated team in the land, yes but that's 20+ years ago and something to be proud of, no doubt, only history does not win you anything now.

You go on to say we have signed great players? This is part of some fans' problem, they over-estimate the quality of our squad and this only leads to more and more disappointment.

I've been a supporter since 1965 but that means fuck-all as far as the position we are in. Again you state you want a top manager and list a number of the so-called elite managers. It's okay wanting something but it's another thing getting your wish. Bear in mind these managers have some of the best players in the world playing for them also.

You mention Big Sam as someone we don't want... I'll tell you what, he would whip us into shape. I would take him all day long as he gets the best out of the resources given to him; it's nice to win pretty – but we need to win first!

I wonder if he has his a perpetual smug self-satisfying smile plastered to his kite now??

2 wins in 12 matches, not the bright new dawn we all expected at the start of the season is it? More worrying is the style of football and manner of the defeats and no signs of a recovery (bit of huff and buff in the second half only last night but ultimate failure doesn't cut it for me.

For those who live in the past and go on about an Oxford moment, well did we not get that a few weeks ago against Bournemouth when the forgotten man scored two and we came from behind to win? Not exactly kicked on, have we???

I've been a supporter for 45 years through good and bad but my enthusiasm levels are at an all time low. The Koeman effect has rubbed off on me so god only knows how the players must feel on a day-to-day basis. It just isn't working.

I keep looking longingly at others now thinking "why can't you be like them?" The emotional and monetary expense has got too much for me now. I think we should try a bit of a separation and then get together again at the weekends once you've finally listened to my grievances, seen the light and changed your ways.

What I do like about Sam is his philosophy on life, when he says that he only sleeps for 5 hours a night, because there is too much going on in the world that people who spend 10 hours in bed are missing. Life's for living, not wasting time sleeping. However, I can't see him coming anyway.

The board will stick with Koeman and we will have to wait to see how much further we sink into obscurity.

Once a blue, always a blue.

I wonder whose fault that is?

Once the blame game starts, it's all over. He's just a big defeat to Arsenal away from the trap door.

What a big let down he's been!

We need somebody with a no-nonsense attitude to galvanise the team and get a tune out of a group of players clearly under performing and bereft of confidence. Unsworth could be a shout; it's a complete no to Moyes.

Unsworth just seems like a no-brainer. At least he would have the players playing for him and the fans would be 100% on his side. He may even have some idea how to organise a football team.

As it is, he'll be tainted as one of Koeman's disasters. I think he's got real talent, but will he get another chance at Everton under the next manager who will surely buy in at least two experienced forwards?

I do not know exactly how much it would cost us to pay Koeman out of his contract (and I guess also it is likely we will have to compensate another club if we lure their manager in), or just what the prize money is this term, but if we got someone who could shift us a minimum 7 or 8 places up the table by the end of the season (easily doable if the squad is used right) there's about 㾻/㾼m(+) straight off recouped.

This is all getting out of hand now and it pains me reading the club, players, manager and virtually everyone down to tea lady getting slagged off day after day on here and in the media. Even Dan Meis and the stadium plans. Quite depressing. Please let it all be over soon and let's get some optimism back.

Smell the coffee, Moshiri, wake up and move us onwards.

Sigurdsson and Klaassen in the middle and let's go for it with Mirallas and DCL (running as centre forward ffs). If it's so important to win do get Rooney there for half time then get Lookman on. Koeman needed to get this team up for it as a massive game 3 points and not to worry about Arsenal.

Koeman has lost it and 12 games in it's going backwards. The fans would have settled for a point with a game on Sunday then to Chelsea to try and build something. 3 games in the Europa still worth 9 pts but we're unlikely to qualify now. Koeman has blown it so let's do the limitation management and let him go.

Sam may appear arrogant to you and possibly many others.

A mate of mine and me were in the clubhouse of a golf club in Spain. Sam was there on his own. We offered him a beer which he declined whilst taking a phone call.

5 minutes later 2 beers arrived courtesy of Sam, then he came over and asked if he could join us. We spent the next hour talking about life in general, rarely discussing football.

If that's arrogant then I'm a Dutchman! Excuse the pun but in comparison our current incumbent Ronald Koeman is arrogant.

However, we are stuck with him, so we can whinge and whine all we like... we are stuck with him.

As for the so-called parent who attacked the Lyon players, I hope he gets a lifelong ban.

As a manager he did not buy into the snooker hall, betting shop and ale house after training that many footballers did and did not allow his players to go down that route..

So we put "a bit" more effort in to the second half – great. My grandsons U14 team put as much if not more huff and puff into a game than these overpaid wasters. Can we fall any further?

To be honest, I am glad to all intents and purpose we are out of this nonsense competition. Play the Under-23s against Chelsea next week and lets concentrate on Premier League survival. concentrate.

As regards anyone slagging off any supporters misbehaviour, if we ban them then we have to include Williams.

On my way out of The Park End I overheard 2 French Fans chatting I went up to them and shook hands and wishes them well. This is the way football should be.

Time to do something Everton. Evil only exists when good men do nothing.

My fear is Unsworth might be too overwhelmed by the size of the task ahead to be thrown in at the deep end without any experience or guidance. We have to get the next appointment right or it could be disastrous.

The lack of quality in this squad is as bad as I've known for the last 25 years. Below-average players signed for huge sums on huge money. What a fucking joke we have become since this idiot got the manager's job.

I have watched the blues for over 45 years and I have to say that it really pains and upsets me to see how low our standards have become. I hope Koeman along with his brother and Walsh are shown the door next week. Because this team won't even beat Chelsea reserves on our showings this season.

As for the Arsenal game, I expect a heavy embarrassing defeat. Please prove me wrong.

Judging by Holgate's disgraceful laugh, Koeman quite clearly has lost the dressing room. But Koeman is not the sole problem of our total shiteness. Our whole squad is full of piss poor players lacking in pace, height, work rate and intelligence.

Stekelenburg and Robles are dirt backups in goal. Pickford is alright but might never be world class. Martina is a decent crosser, but that's it. Not good enough!

Williams is pure shite – and to think he captained Swansea and Wales. Holgate isn't good enough and was bigged-up too early, he gets bullied too much and is bad in the air.

Baines is finished as a top level full-back, time to move him into a holding midfield role. Besic has heart but Is shite and was bought off the back of one World Cup game. McCarthy is always injured. Klaassen is shite but he may come good but is not a £24 million player.

Keane is totally bereft of confidence and we paid way over the odds for him. Sigurdsson is a dead ball specialist, not a true Number 10, which we wasted too much money and the summer on pursuing.

Lennon isn't good enough but is one of our only options out wide. Mirallas blows hot and cold but rarely gets a run of games. Sandro looks like a headless chicken who doesn't know his role. Niasse is shot but he is a striker. Rooney has been our best player which says something. He is past it as a top striker.

Davies is in poor form but is young and needs to be playing regularly, same with Lookman who hasn't been given a chance.

Schneiderlin has been total shite for so long now and needs dropping when McCarthy's fully (if ever?) fit. Gueye is a great ball-winner but nothing more.

Calvert-Lewin gets rave reviews for his performances but he doesn't score goals. Vaughan, Anichebe and even Beckford did. Bolasie is one of our only wingers with pace but is injured and never really lit up the place before his injury.

Jagielka is our best centre-half but is 35, ffs. Funes Mori is decent but has a clanger in him, but he is left-footed and is a danger from set pieces. Kenny hasn't been given a chance.

Coleman is our only world class player who should be captain but he may never be the same from his double leg break. Vlasic and Barkley are our two other players with a touch of class but Barkley has been messed around for too long by Koeman, Martinez and England. Vlasic will be a great player but needs support.

We need a good striker ASAP in January and a left-sided centre-half and left back.

Koeman has to go and Unsworth needs to replace him till the end of the season. Then we sound out a top coach/manager or give Rhino the job permanently.

I'm just sick of the amateur ineptitude of this club from top to bottom. We have no ambition and are too nice and seem to want to be everybody's second favorite club.

There... rant over.

If we don't get banned, expect a hefty fine and maybe our next home game (Atalanta?) to be played behind closed doors.

Kenwright and Koeman out!!

Well said, mate. 100% right on the button. If we leave Koeman in charge any longer, he will ruin the decent youngsters Unsworth has nurtured for years. That is unacceptable.

The first two for hiring this Dutch gobshite in the first place; secondly, for letting him squander the Lukaku money. Walsh and Koeman for overseeing what is now considered to be a disastrous recruiting campaign in the summer.

Koeman needs to go. A manager who constantly criticises his own players, players he bought, is not acceptable. He's a fucking coward in every respect who's only interested in himself.

That fan was pretty incredible, I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before. The worst thing is he'll be banned and his kid will not be able to go to the game again either. What a dick.

Did nobody notice it was a clear push, with no attempt to play the ball (and therefore a penalty), on Williams by the keeper immediately before Williams reacted stupidly by barging into the keeper on the line?

The French media are saying how poor our football was last night. The world's media is focusing on the yob with the kid. The red tops are talking about Koeman looking like a dosser, and the broadsheets telling everyone that we now are the worst English team in European history.

I think we should ban ourselves before we cause ourselves more shame.

Obviously, it is a big step up to the Premier League from youth level, even U20 World Cup level, and he's measured in goals, and in goals he is coming up short.

One thing I would point out is that he has rarely, if ever, started two consecutive games up front. He seems too desperate at times for me. I think the manager (as it may not be Koeman for this entire period) needs to say to Dom: "You are my Number 9, you will start the next 5 games, no matter what. Just play your game and the goals will come." If he got such a run, without pressure, then I believe the goals will come. If not, we are practically in January by then anyway.

Klaassen appears to be completely shot on confidence. I am one of the few who really do rate him. Now, I do not rate him on what I have seen for Everton, it's on what he has done for Ajax. But people need to remember what he is. He is an excellent one-touch footballer; he has a rare and exceptional skill of controlling the ball whilst running at full speed, and somehow changing direction like he hasn't got the ball.

He moves like he's on a computer game. But it's all about one-touch passes, flicks, lay-offs, and these are all done with similar players in tight congested places. The problem I see is that the players around him do not play his way and he cannot be what people want him to be.

Is he a bad signing? Yes, I think he is, but not because he is not a top player, or could not be a top player, but because he is very much a square peg for our round holes. We should look to loan him back to Ajax in January for the rest of the season and then look to recoup our money when he's back in form in the summer. Or appoint a manager who can utilise his exceptional skills.

Last night's formation was certainly a 4-3-3. There's no doubt about it. The midfield 3 were tight and compact. The thing is, the formation can look like a 4-5-1 as the two wingers were actually wide, but they didn't track back like in a 4-5-1. Also, when Klaassen pushed on, it can look like a 4-2-3-1. Push the wingers back a couple of yards and a 4-2-3-1 is a 4-4-1-1. There's tight margins in football.

The key thing between the 4-3-3 and the 4-1-4-1 is Schneiderlin's position. He was in the same plane as Davies and Klaassen. Klaassen was certainly the furthest forward, but Davies got beyond him on occasion, and he certainly was beyond Sigurdsson. Davies dropped deeper than Schneiderlin at times as well. At the end of the game, it was like he was playing centre-half at times, as the players went gung-ho looking for a goal.

It certainly was an improvement last night. Does that mean the performance was good? No. It means it was better. It could not be any worse, that's for sure. But the commitment and the aggression of players, their willingness to accept defeat, has been very visible for the last couple of months. For me, and I assume others, there was a real sign that they cared. They seemed to fight, quite literally at one stage, and they seemed to care.

Does this mean we would accept that performance last night? No, it was still not good enough. What I mean is that last night was slightly better. And you would hope that they can use that as a level to build on and to get better and better.

Why was it better? Davies provided energy and we looked a different side. Had we had Gueye's energy alongside him, even with Schneiderlin sitting, then I think we would have seen even more, as Klaassen was simply dreadful.

Then we move on to the pace and width. Mirallas looked hungry and was having a decent game, by his own low standards, and Vlasic was showing some great attacking play and linking up well with Holgate. With the pace and width, we looked a lot better, like we all said we would if he did it.

The only downside is that defensively Vlasic was appalling – he let the man run past him, which caused Holgate to make the dreadful rash challenge for the penalty, and this was repeated several times in the game. Vlasic has a lot to learn, and as good as he is offensively, he needs to work on his game defensively.

The substitutions were poor. Lookman came on and we went 4-2-3-1 with the 3 of Mirallas, Vlasic and Lookman. Vlasic struggled as the Number 10 and was much better wide. Mirallas was inexplicably yanked off for Sandro. Like Klaassen, Sandro is a decent player, but it is not working. Koeman know's that that substitution could cost him his job or save his job, so why not keep Kevin on?

I would have thought the sensible substitution would be to send on my least favourite player, Besic, and have him sit alongside Davies, and push Sigurdsson to Number 10 and send Vlasic back wide were he had been playing well. Lookman did a couple of things well but, other than that, he was not good either. Like Calvert-Lewin he seems desperate and needs a run of games without pressure.

Sigurdsson looked okay, but that's boosted by a couple of decent set-plays that included an assist. He was too fleetingly alongside Davies in the 2 in a 4-2-3-1, but he showed glimpses that maybe he can replace Schneiderlin there and play as a deep-lying playmaker. He certainly has more skills to play that position than Schneiderlin does; the question will be over his discipline, tackling, and defensive reading of the game. If Schneiderlin is injured, I would like to see Sigurdsson be given a go there.

Not to mention our shit team.

What a mess.

Another game I fully expect to lose in; how much longer can this be allowed to go on?

We will very shortly, be approaching the stage where, irrespective of who takes over, it will be too late to turn things round.

The new man will take time to instil confidence, get the best team combinations, to start getting results. I fear, if the Board don't act quickly, it will be too late.

It seemed like an expensive and pointless transfer mission which might have been a holiday for the scouting team. It is another example of the amateur workings of the club.

That's alongside the tacky and stupid Angry Birds promotion on our shirts, a shirt sponsor with a dodgy Tanzanian betting company which make our home shirt look like a Sunday league shirt, and Moshiri's weird connection to Sky Sports and his mouthpiece in Jim Fucking White – who's a Rangers fan.

Reading George's post at 185 really saddened me. The club needs grabbing by the scruff of the neck and sorting out. It is going to take someone who won't take any nonsense from anyone, players, coaching staff, scouting system, and the board.

I now think that has become too big an ask of David Unsworth – save him for the future.

Red Adair Is no longer with us so that only leaves Sam Allardyce. He will take a bit of persuading (£s) but he will sort it out and, all things going well, set it up for David Unsworth.

Much better last night so there's a bit of positivity – at least there seems to be some fight in the players and they haven't completely given up. Let's take that into the Arsenal game on Sunday although I can see Koeman reverting back to shoehorning Rooney in and it completely ruining the balance of team. Mirallas definitely deserves to start.

Steve (#199): Mirallas was knackered as usual at that point in the game. I'd forgotten he was still playing.

You can't have it both ways!

"Club officials have reviewed the footage of an incident where supporters towards the front of the lower Gwladys Street End became involved in a confrontation between players.

"We have identified one individual against whom action will now be taken. This will include a ban from attending future Everton fixtures, and the club registering a formal complaint with Merseyside Police."

"Maybe our next home game (Atalanta?) to be played behind closed doors."

I live in hope.

Football is a simple game being ruined by “philophosies” ,“Tiki Taka”, “Gengenpressing” etc. It's as if these styles are a modern phenomenon but they have always been around. I was always told to try and win the ball back after you lose it and to make sure you keep the ball.

Players have too many instructions which is why there's more headless chickens around like Sandro.

Koeman goes on and on about “pressing” but we never do it and always play deep which invites pressure and then we can't counter-attack because we have no pace, runners or play any wingers.

A top manager that for some does not look fashionable, but he will, and when he goes on to bigger things, we will be kicking ourselves for not bringing him in.

Having David Unsworth alongside as assistant could be the dream ticket!

But as I said, Vlasic centrally was not working, so it made more sense to push Sigurdsson forwards and Vlasic back wide and bring on Besic, than send on the out of form Sandro, when we are desperately chasing a result. We needed scrappers and, for all of Besic's faults, he is a scrapper.

It's not time – it's past time and it's fast getting to that point for the Board. Will it happen? I don't think any of them has what it takes, it's now a matter of self-preservation.

Farhad Moshiri was not one of them but there were those high up at Goodison Park – let's call them old timers – who were not unimpressed by Koeman's start as Everton's manager, not because of results but approach; his reluctance to ingratiate himself into this club's very particular culture, his sense of otherness...

I can't be 100% certain but surely Simon Hughes meant not impressed? Otherwise that paragraph makes no sense?Hughes continues:

It is Moshiri and not Bill Kenwright who makes the final decisions at Everton now but with Kenwright still heavily involved in counselling and considering he places so much value on personal relationships, especially in lean periods, will Koeman have displayed enough ardor for an institution he loves so much? Koeman was never viewed as a long-term appointment by the fans. It feels like he is running out of friends.

It's little wonder that the team are in disarray and the manager isn't performing as well as he ought to, if the leadership at the club is apparently divided.

Moshiri, if it is he who calls the shots, needs to find out what is happening behind the scenes at Goodison, he has to ensure that it is his vision of the club that prevails; if the Chairman or his board are undermining that vision, he has to act and act now.

The only way that Moshiri has spoken to the supporters on many occasions is via Jim White, why is this? Why doesn't he use the communications department at Goodison to air his views?

Bill has been mostly silent in the last couple of years, as have the other board members. Therefore the supporters are left to fill in the voids when things are going awry and it leaves the club looking amateurish and dysfunctional and open to criticism.

I think I would have preferred a complete break with the past when Moshiri purchased his shares in Everton FC, that's not a slight on any of the previous owners or board members, only an observation that two jockeys riding the same horse in the same race is not usually a recipe for success.

Changing the manager may not have any effect on the team's results if the owner and the board aren't in agreement about the ultimate direction of the club and the method of getting there. It may not be a struggle for power, as has been the issue in the past, but Moshiri and the board have to present a united front for the benefit of Everton FC. Who runs the club is unimportant but the way that the club is run is very important.

Not sure I would've brought Besic on. Sandro puts himself about and has more chance of getting a goal than Besic but as you say the downside is he's out of form/low on confidence.

Ciaran (#210): I brought this up recently on here that Koeman banged on about pressing last season but this season I don't recall him saying much about it, if at all. I stand corrected on this though!

Everton in hindsight have signed a useless manager and you don't have to be a rocket scientist to realise this and that is why Moshiri has to have the guts to fire him now.

This is an awful time for the Everton fans and the club in general. They appeared to have so much talent but nothing is happening on the field. One can clearly see the lack of confidence in almost all the players and those like Holgate and Davies are now going backwards under Koeman and his crew.

Koeman has been unable to inspire or create an intensity level at all this season in any game and it will not change, one can see that in the body language of the man himself. He couldn't even shave before yesterday's game.

Come on, Moshiri, save us from any more pain.

As for, "Let's put Unsworth in temporary charge" – I'm gobsmacked, unbelievable. Big Joe, yes, with Sheeds. Not Unsworth.

My worry is who we bring in, and if it will actually make any difference. All he needs to do is play with some width and pace, which he did last night, and we were much more competitive in my view.

Rightly or wrongly Koeman must go. The whole atmosphere around the club, fans and players seems really dark and heavy under Koeman's tutelage.

Michael, I can lip read and I could see the kid whispering in his dad's ear, “Go on, dad, smash him in the gob!”

Previously I've enjoyed your analysis but I'm afraid that the discussion over 4-3-3, 4-5-1, 4-2-3-1, 4-4-1-1, or 4-1-4-1 is now just a massive irrelevance.Last night, we had as poor a "footballing" back 4 as I can remember.

Add to that the fact that, as much as Calvert-Lewin tries his hardest, we are clearly going to struggle to score goals and I begin to think that formation has very little to do with our terrible situation.

Like some others have already said, I fear that the job may be getting too big for Unsworth and we are rapidly heading into Big Sam territory.

I've seen Refs in Sunday league beaten up, threatened, intimidated and a big percentage is parents who have their own kids playing right in front of them!

It's happened at Heysel, it's happened when Leeds supporters (some of them) ripped up the seats, lunatics have set off flares and killed or seriously injured other fans and there's loads more examples of scum-bag behaviour by supporters of clubs throughout the world.

So swearing, foul-mouth invective aimed at players, is awful but only worse in the level of foul-mouthery. (I know that isn't a word but it's the one that says what I want to say.)

There's a feller that sits behind me who loudly criticises players from the start of every match and carries on right through it. He doesn't swear but what kind of support he gives to the team, I'll let you work out. and makes no concession to our younger ones either... they all get it. He doesn't swear but that seems to make him happy.

Any big crowd where emotions run high, is likely to contain a percentage of cretins who will use the anonymity of a crowd to give themselves an opportunity to display there idiocy. It should not be condoned. If they are spotted, then kick them out.

But by no means let it be spread about, that it is something that happens only at Goodison Park. There will be plenty vultures enough who can't wait to do ordinary men and women down, don't add to it.

It was the football we played that depressed me most last night. I wrote on T/W about a month ago, maybe longer, that to me, we are as bad as in any of the bad times that I've witnessed in getting on for 60 years of watching the Blues.

I can just remember the state we were in before Bobby Collins came to Goodison (poor!) and within a couple of years, we were watching some of the best football I've seen from a team in Blue. Opinions differ but my own is that Catterick dismantled the team that Johnny Carey was building. Others will differ but we saw some great football for nearly a decade. Then it was nearly 15 years of stuttering and sometimes dire, football until we saw Kendall's kids... fabulous but gone all to soon.

Then again, some narrow escapes from relegation, one solitary cup win and then more ups and downs with Moyes and Martinez.

Now, this club, in my view is in real danger of seeing our team relegated. It is in as bad a state as in any of the bad times that I can remember.

I can remember signing the petition to see Howard go. He turned the fortune of the team round and we became the best team in Europe, then it was allowed to be dismantled all to soon.

Can Ronald Koeman get these players to start playing as a team? I very much doubt it.

The Board have a massive, massive decision to make! If they do not make it soon, and in my view it would be right after the Arsenal game, then the chances of us getting right in the middle of a relegation scrap increase with each week that goes by.

I hope to the gods that I'm wrong.

I am still sticking to the "We don't have the funds to sack him" line as I can see no other reason to keep Koeman.

It's not all bad though, guys – we've still got that shiney new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock to look forward to. After all, Moshiri and Kenwright promised us so it must be a cert to happen. We do trust our board, don't we, Guys?

Watching last night Michael Keane was slow and ponderous and I have seen tankers turn quicker in the Mersey than he does. I think playing for Burnley played to his strengths which is heading the ball, and at Burnley he defended just in and around is own box. Now, when we push up, he has no pace to get back. So whoever replaces Koeman isn't going to make Keane quicker or turn better.

I said the other day by and large we have a group of journeymen players, no real special talents and the others are kids trying to learn and make their way in the game. Rooney was a special talent but that's not been the case for the last 3 or 4 seasons. Because of our failure to buy at least 2 top quality strikers, Calvert-Lewin has had to play virtually every game whether wide or down the middle. I think he looks to be a prospect but to expect him to shoulder the burden of being our main striker is bordering on being cruel.

So we can't alter this till January; so I can't see our league position altering too much till then. So a long hard and worrying season ahead, I fear.

"We need to go long and fight for the second balls."

He's basically admitting he can't coach his team to pass a ball! I fucking give up. If this board don't act within the next 7 days, we will be at serious risk of relegation. The manager has admitted to the whole of Evertonia his plan is to twat it long and hope it sticks. I literally don't even want to go on Sunday. Never said that before.

Moyes will be back in charge by the time we play Leicester with the aim of keeping us in the Premier League, we are unfortunately that bad.

Hopefully we can offload these bad buys in the next two transfer windows and buy some good players like Watford scouting system managed to identify.

What system do Everton play?

Which attacking player has started 3 matches in a row, in the same position this season?

What is, for example, take Holgate, Martina, Vlasic, Sigurdsson – what is their preferred/strongest position?

Don't Know, Don't Know, Don't Know.

Why? The manager doesn't know either.

So, get someone in who has a system, plays people in their right place and tells his first 11 that they are his first 11, so they aren't frightened of trying something because they'll be benched next week. That is were the fear we are continually told we are playing with comes from.

Koeman has to go now or, come January, our only signing will be 'Big Sam' to try and save us from the Championship.

Tell your mate that Koeman has lost the dressing room, he did so last season. You can never get that back.

Another manager will at least give some energy and new ideas. Koeman's tactics are prehistoric. Making decent players look terrible. This is why we must change.

I agree with Brian Harrison, that whoever comes in will not likely see us shooting up the table. My view is that we need to have a captain on board who can stop this ship from sinking.

For what it's worth, my view is that a new manager now is probably the biggest risk we take. We have Joe Royle, we have David Unsworth and we have Duncan Ferguson and we should ask them if they would be prepared to take on the job of getting us out of the mess that we're in.

It seems to me that we need to start building a Team from scratch, a team where each man has his strengths improved and his weaknesses covered by the fellow team members around him. That would be a start.

One of our ardent fans pushes a Lyon player and common sense prevails and its over in less than 20 seconds.

I'm not condoning the incident by any means but everything gets blown out of all proportion by the media, who like nothing better than to sensationalise anything that will titillate their customers.

I think you've hit several nails on the head several times there...

It also led to a goal based on aggression and passion. Two things entirely absent from Goodison for a long time. The last time it was really present was in the Dogs of War years.

As for the supporter who had a flap at their goalie, despite all the pearl-clutching from the media, it was far less thanhappens in any town centre on a Saturday night. This was not Inter city firm stuff and would not even get noticed in most European matches. This is a football match, not Magnus Carlsen's defence of his world chess title.

When you get players who spend most of the match diving when someone gets within a couple of yards, I am perfectly happy when Tom Davies, Mo Besic or Ashley Williams gives them something to whine about.

Maybe they should start with a scrap vs Arsenal...

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11671/11089035/ronald-koeman-not-the-right-man-to-get-everton-out-of-trouble-says-simon-jordan

"Hand-bags"?? Williams was the captain for god's sake and he clearly lost it. Sunday pub team behaviour.

And if that's what it takes to be an "ardent fan" then I despair.
It was shocking and abhorrent behaviour that is being shown around the world.

Williams should have in a perfect world calmed down, admittedly, but he was grabbed by the Lyon player and the rest of their team then joined in.

As Charles (#253) says as well, it was strictly handbags. You see much more violence on the field of play every match day when players get shown yellow or red cards.

Koeman looked completely shell shocked on the touchline last night, but the guy does himself absolutely no favours whatsoever with his woeful team selections. Martina must have nude photos of Koeman in clogs to blackmail him with as I can see no justification for his selection in our team; the same can be said for Klaassen Williams and Sandro.

The resting of Baines for the Arsenal game was nothing short of incompetence. Calvert-Lewin is going to be a good player in the future but at the moment he is buckling under the weight of expectation where he should be allowed to develop .

I hope Schneiderlin remains injured for the rest of the season we were much stronger without him. The only positive that can be taken from last nights game was Koeman playing one No 10.

I can only hope and pray that Moshiri ends this soon before we end up in the same self destruct spiral as Aston Villa and Sunderland did.

Mmmmm....

It has already taken over the headlines from the poor state of our team. Let it rest.

At least last night the team showed some heart, the fans were up for taking Lyon on and possibly beating them, until Martina and Ramirez played footsie on the touchline.

We weren't good by any means and we're still miles from being a team; but last night, for about 15 minutes we began to show some bottle (not bottles!!!)

Sorry for not being clearer – I believe that the behaviour of the adult with the child was "shocking and abhorrent."

Williams's behaviour was just stupid!

Raymond (#250),
Are you being serious? It may have been blown out of proportion by the media, but it is totally unacceptable behaviour by the so-called fan, and Ashley Williams, who despite people's opinion of him is a senior pro and should know better. What an example he showed as a representative of our club. This will only mask the real issues we are currently facing, which in turn will allow the board to hide behind doing what they should be doing. P45s for Koeman and Walsh.

Charles (#253),
Words fail me, you do see worse things on the pitch and in town on a Saturday night, but that doesn't make it right.

Raymond (#257),
Sorry, mate, we are just going to have to agree to disagree on this one. The club is well and truly in the doldrums and we don't need this type of behaviour and publicity to further compound our current situation.

In this same situation, the manager would be gone from each of the following clubs: Man City, Man United, Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool. Hell, It might even force Arsenal to get rid of Wenger, except he usually goes out later in the Champions League and floats around the top 4.

This club does not really care though. They have no intentions of actually trying to win anything. The owners of this club view Everton more like Stoke, West Brom and West Ham. Just a club in the Premier League to make up the numbers and keep getting hose fat TV revenue checks.

Only when they feel their gravy train is truely under threat will they take action. That's why it doesn't matter to them that this is yet another wasted season where we've already thrown away any chance of challenging for honors. They never expected that to begin with. The owners simply do not care.

Do we live life completely through the media now? There are thousands of people like Dad of the Year in every large town. And much worse going on. Don't hear much of a fuss. No doubt there's an outcry on "Social" media, a hashtag or two... #takethechildintocare?

No worries, it will all quieten down in a day or two, when the next moral meme comes along – until the club get a fine and other penalties for being unable to predict the exact behaviour of every human in the ground.

Add me to the small minority that thinks the response is inordinate.

4 points from Arsenal and Leicester will buy him time.

A narrow defeat by Arsenal and a good win at Leicester may be enough.

Anything less and Moshiri can not afford to keep him .

Anything less means relegation is a real and present danger. That will cost Moshiri a fair bit more than Ron's undeserved payoff.

The groundworks for a replacement will be being discussed in private.

Did he honestly say that? What a disgrace! I could weep at the thought of this imbecile coaching our team and getting £6 million a year into the process.

He hasn't got a clue and that one statement tells me everything I need to now about the man. For fuck's sake... how have we fallen so low so quickly???

It was one fan... so he extrapolates with a sociology thesis about those terrible Liverpool parents. Did he never go to a football match in the 80s, the utter bore.

In fact, no-one was hurt, at all, not even a little bit. People got a bit excited and there was an idiot in the crowd who tried to get involved. The idea that he could have done any damage while holding a child is just silly.

This was far less serious than the coin throwing which still happens across the park on a regular basis. It was nothing compared with what goes on at matches in the former Yugoslavian countries or Russia.

But in football authority (and journalism) circles, there does appear to be a hysterical reaction to everything so that some Neanderthal insulting a player is instantly an event on the level of Heysel.

Not everything that is bad is as bad as everything else that is bad. Otherwise we find that nicking a couple of sweets ranks alongside genocide.

Charles, what you've highlighted is the intrusion of the machine into one of the last bastions of the people – sport. Been hyping up the drama and the memes apace for the last 20years. Social media has been a godsend.

All part of the modern day bread and circuses.

An adult who had a duty of care for a small child decided to get involved in physical aggression rather than consider the well being and welfare of that child. It was a shocking and disgraceful action.

Koeman being on holiday in Portugal on deadline day was also unforgivable when we desperately needed a striker.

The whole Barkley Transfer to Chelsea fiasco which is totally unheard off.
Everything reeks of mismanagement at all levels.

I found the police action in Barcelona "shocking", I found 9/11 "horrifying" (as I did Auschwitz when I went there in the 90s). I find Corbyn's support of terrorism, murder and torture, "disgusting".

I found last night's incident silly, and that the man should have shown a bit more self-restraint, and should have received a bit of a talking to, but that's about it.

To reiterate, no-one, absolutely no-one, was hurt (so it wasn't anything like as bad as Neil Taylor's tackle on Seamus Coleman, or Keane's deliberate assault on Haland, or many of Steven Gerrard's antics), so in terms of outcomes this was utterly unimportant.

It may be that the club deserves some criticism for not having perfect stewarding, but then the players had left the pitch and were encroaching on the crowd. If they had stayed where they should have been, the supporter could only have got near by climbing over the barriers, which he did not (and I suspect could not have).

Williams was an idiot and his conduct as Captain of Everton was significantly below what could reasonably been expected of him.

You are right that no-one was physically hurt but the experience of that small child must have been terrible and possibly traumatic. The actions of that idiot adult can not be condoned in any way by referring to the level of stewarding.

I just can't understand what exactly happened that triggered reactions of that sort from Williams. Surely Williams is not a madman to hit anyone like that. Probably Koeman didn't even get the message of aggression across correctly.

Small children get very upset when they lose their mothers in a supermarket (the mothers get quite excited too), but again, the experience is not "traumatic".

Being picked up by your father while he takes a swing at someone is probably rather confusing, and may even be a bit frightening. But I'm pretty confident most 3-year-olds would rate being alone for 2 minutes in Sainsbury's as far worse than accompanying your father in a bit of handbags at Goodison, and way below "accident, rape or natural disaster".

We really need to turn down the volume on responses to minor events. I know that there is a vogue for minor perceived slights to be cranked up to hysterical levels by the police and public services, but it does mean that there is nothing left in the vocabulary of emotional response cupboard when something actually bad happens.

And all Williams did was to push the goalkeeper back, I'd have preferred a bit more aggression from a few more players, at least then they look as though they care.

Alternatively, we could introduce rules which ban all football supporters who show more emotion than is evinced when a decent slow bowler gets a maiden on the first morning of a county cricket match. But I don't think it would result in very big crowds.

You attempt to demonstrate an understanding of developmental psychology but clearly you haven't got a clue.

So not a rape or a natural disaster. But very probably from being carried into a violent incident by the adult that you trust to look after you.

We might even benefit by no longer having any meaningful games in Europe as we set about repairing the damage to the collective psyche of the club's players and supporters alike and get back to playing attractive winning football.

If we ever had confidence that the manager and the players that we started the season with were the ones that were to begin lead us to the promised land then surely there has to be something wrong with the currant consensus that the manager is a fool and that his players are just a bunch of overpriced, weak-hearted donkeys.

We all know that this team will play better and that in spite of the disappointing start these players with the addition to a strong number 9 will begin to climb the table and this collective panic will be past us,

We can only look to the evidence of their past history the manager might not be in the worlds top 10 but based on the total body of his work and not the dreadful start he is having to this young season, he would at least be in the worlds top 20.

Even though him not naming the team chosen before every game by the armchair managers like Larry from Litherland, Garry from Gateacre, or Derick from Dingle make him seem like he's stubborn.

Koeman deserves to have a complete season before he is judged. The players that came in in the summer deserve to have a complete season before we judge them.

For me, the players who have been the most disappointing are Baines, Jagielka and Williams and even Rooney – all of whom as senior pro's have not shown any leadership at all.

I could also do without hearing about Safety and people feeling safe every other waking hour, this last few years. It's laughable.

Oh wait, that's normal behaviour. I'm an aging Evertonian.

As Abraham Lincoln said, "If slavery is right then everything else must be wrong". However, this is a website about Everton Football Club – not the rest of the world and comments/submissions should be looked at from that perspective.

Everton losing does not mean we sanction anything or everything else happening in the world.

How do you think the human race managed to get to the 21st century if we don't like loud noises or violent disorder like alpha males fighting for the right to breed?

And yes we still have the same instincts deep down – that's why the man in question didn't put the boy down. Go to the zoo and watch the apes.