Walcott strike earns double for Everton over Newcastle

Yes he’s done alright results wise - however I think Koeman could have just as easily got to the same points total.

What finally pushed me over the edge - is how he is so stubborn & selfish in his team selection.

Surely Vlasic & Klaassen derserve a CHANCE. Garbutt should have been given a chance too when Baines was out. How can you give them literally zero chance, that’s where he’s lost me. He would have been a lot more liked if he gave a game or two to these sorts of players.

Sad to see Schnides start again. Useless 10 yard passer of the ball who gives needles free kicks away because he's too slow, lazy, and poor to be in the right place or track back. Far to reactive and passive.

Just read comments from Sam on Garbutt, I'd rather he play in CM.

Good goal, now Davies or Rooney to mark Shelvy frustrate him and give him no time on the ball.

Defenders stop messing with the ball. A slippy wet surface means quick decisive clearences are needed, not trying to hone their non existent dribling skills.

A reminder, as if we needed one, for a big shake-up next season.

I may be in a minority here, but if he has the heart and desire to be part of this squad, I would like to see him remain.

As I have said on here before, despite the odd inspired ball, Rooney is a passenger in that midfield. Lacks the legs and his passing success rate, especially simple ones, for me is too flaky.

One goal scored.

Marvellously efficient.

Joy untold...sigh.

As Justin #9 says, there was way too much messing around at the back. I’m still not convinced by Keane. He is currently a liability and it was a relief that Ritchie couldn’t get his free kick on target.

The end of the season can’t come quick enough.

3 points I know but seriously, how much more of this drab shite do we have to put up with?

1 swallow doesn't make a summer I know but credit where credit is due.

It wasn't just me then who thought Scheiderlin was playing well then. You're right though. One good game doesn't make up for the one paced, half arsed displays we've seen most of this season

Bolasie ! Oh dear !

Not a pretty spectacle. Though i'm always happy with 3 points. I think. If we won the remaining 3 games would that be enough to earn Sam a shot at next season? Not for me but maybe for the board.

In Allardyce's team he has vanished, because the role he was bought for, doesn't exist in the system played. Sure he could have given more effort in a lot of games, harrassed and tackled more, but he has actually been useful in other ways, breaking up play and seldom looses possession. Many on here have been critical because you lack effort from him, and that's understandable, especially since every point have been very valuable until now. I think he's been used completely wrong by the manager, and thus I think MS has more to give under a manager that want to play possessionbased, attacking football.

Besides good passing today, he also broke up play several times, and recovered the ball when we lost it sloppily in the middle. Some of you won't see it, and are blinkered in your opinions about him, and that's a shame, because I think he and Gana could make a great defensive midfield couple in the right system, with the right manager. This manager is just totally clueless when it comes to playing football with possession...

Allardyce out now!!

Everton Football Club,the ultimate Teapot team... mission accomplished.

We need a different type of midfielder to replace Schneiderlin, Besic, and one of Rooney/Klaassen. Fred is the box-to-box midfielder we need IMO. If we get Fonseca I'm sure he'll try and make him our first signing.

He and Gana were brillant together last season, and I still think that partnership could be immense under the right manager.

Allardyce out now!!

Walcott is class but needs class around him. Gana & Schneiderlin not a partnership at all and have no strength. Bolasie is a luxury player. Rooney should not be at Goodison full stop.

Can someone explain to me what the Fuck Davies bring to any game. He is lazy, casual slow and clueless. Full clear out next season.

One last point. Did you see the face on Duncan Ferguson? He was sick watching half-hearted crap in the Royal Blue shirts. Like the rest of us.

Link

Much maligned (unfairly, IMO) by some, Everton's Community work still merits praise for me.

Newcastle were excellent - what a game and we came out on top!

I believe we will win all four last games

We are looking good right now - what a transformation!!

The positives (not many). I think Morgan was actually pretty good for the 50 minutes he lasted. Three or four times I counted he won the ball back in our around his box, played some nice passes and once even picked up off the defence and drove forward thrift the middle like a proper midfielder! Gueye did some good destructive work and Pickford was rock solid as ever.

Keane for me was also very good, a couple of silly lapses of timing near the end besides. But a lot of good interceptions, headers and reading of the game.

That aside, little to enthuse about. Bolasie was atrocious again and must be shipped out in the summer - he just can't do any the basics right, let alone beat his man or put a decent cross in. The veterans Rooney and sadly Baines just slow the game down far too much. Tosun I find hard to judge - he barely got a quality ball to do anything with, struggled with hold up play but I think with better service he can do a job.

Overall, just too slow, ponderous, passes played behind the man or forcing him to stop his run, or given away altogether. There are talented players there and even more talented players we're NOT USING. Somebody taking the shackles off them - not Allardyce obviously - could make something of at least some of this rabble. We have to cling to this thought at any rate...

If we want a player who can't run or close down but can pass get Pirlo, Carrick or Scholes out of retirement. Someone mentioned Mooy or Shelvy would be massive improvements.

I agree Rooney and Davies passing needs to be improved and more consistent. It would be easier if we had more movement and options. But there forward passes or probably on a par with Schnides who's always going sideways or backwards.

If we were playing possession based football and passing it around quickly I have no issue with passing it backwards or sideways when required but I don't think that's Sam's game plan and it puts our defenders in trouble.

All in all 3 points is great, the play is poor and I'd we win a cup playing that way is be happy. But another full season of that.. my paints drying nicely.

We are looking good right now - what a transformation!!

We only have three remaining fixtures, and to be honest I can't wait for the curtain to come down on this season.

If Schneiderlin puts in a shift and performances like tonight for the remaining games I'd give him the benefit of the doubt. I'd still like him to move on because I'm not convinced on the midfield axis of Schneiderlin, Gana and Rooney. I think we need a player who can get the ball up the pitch, an archetypal box-to-box midfielder like Tom Davis but the finished article.

That said, there's going to be a lot of other players moving on this summer so there's every chance Morgan might still be with us. If so, fingers crossed he's got his head right and he can take this form into next season. We did keep the ball and moved it around a lot better when he was on the pitch tonight.

Another 200m might cover it.

Tactics wise and formation it is easy to see why Sam only has a win ratio of 34% as opposed to Wengers 54%.

Wonder if Walcott will get waterboarded for saying Wenger was on a different level from Allardyce.

I think you're letting your prejudice of Michael Keane get in the way of noticing that he's in the best form of his young Everton career.

Since he's had a regular partner in Jags and not had to play alongside the liability that is Ashley Williams he has vastly improved.

Willams and Funes Mori will be gone next season. We need another CB back to partner Keane and they will be our first choice CB's. My choice would be Alfie Mawson. Hopefully we could kill 2 birds and offload Williams back to Swansea in any deal cos I'm struggling to envisage any other club coming in for him.

He shows for every ball, has more commonsense than many of his betters several times drawing free kicks to break play up and bide time.

Many times tonight tried, albeit unsuccessfully, through balls to get players in behind.

I’ll concede the execution was variable but the brain and awareness is there. I’d also throw the lad a bone that his targets would look more at home on a chess board.

As usual I feel for our centre forward, who looks lonely and isolated whilst his wingers try to be full backs. Proper 21st century tactical nous that, at home to Newcastle.

Not one serviceable cross tonight for the lad. Even for the goal, the ‘cross’ was a high over hit ball which bounced kindly for us.

But to be fair we dominated the game.

Tosun will never prosper as a lone striker and to me I don’t think he’s the answer considering we have only ever played with one striker as a rule for years, and poor Cenk he’s not Lukaku.

The centre of our midfield has got to be the worst I’ve ever seen in terms of movement, creativity and just basically being able to do the basics which seem to be impossible for Gueye, Schneiderlin, Rooney and Davies.

Bolasie and Davies are not at present at Premier League quality footballers let’s be brutally honest about this.

I did think the defence was pretty solid so that’s something to build on and Keane had arguably his best game for some time.

I thought that was unfair, but having now read Steve's post @ 37 describing tonight's game and our current form in the terms he does, I'm given pause for thought.

No-one, with even the smallest modicum of knowledge about football or affinity to Everton FC, could describe tonight's event as "an excellent game...what a game...
We are looking good right now - what a transformation!!"

So if it walks like a Liverbird and squawks like a Liverbird...

Keane still looks as if he has a gaffe in him, but he is looking more rugged and sturdy than at any other time this season.

I'm a big fan of Tom Davies, but he was truly woeful tonight in almost everything he did.

I sugggest you look at the thread from earlier in the day about FS solving the chaos of Everton - on the thread Steven Jones extols the virtues of FS and chides anyone who begs to differ. He is either the best wind up merchant unde the sun, a RS stooge on TW or perhaps most worringly believes every word he says - a kind of Evertonian Donald Trump.

I was there tonight and to use Paul Kelly’s metaphor for our performance (s) (deliberately to upset you Steven!) it was a load of wank juice. But perhaps in retrospect that isn’t the best metaphor as it would indicate that had been some excitement

Leon Osman gave a more sedate approximation of the game saying there was nothing for Evertonians or anyone else to get excited about.

Steven Jones - You are an absolute beaut

Three games remaining and all of them are winnable.

If we win all three we finish 8th (probably) on 54 points. Sam will claim he's worked wonders, the board might find it hard to sack a manager who's won four straight games, and we go into next season doomed to watch this dross.

Sam's been shooting his mouth off. We had the chance to fire him and justify it.

Will we axe him if he wins the last four games?

Seriously frightened we stick with him if he sees out the season on a "high".

I'm going to go curl up in the fetal position and suck my thumb.

Just thinking out loud, It crossed my mind that Big Sam could be released tonight. Moshiri being at the game, the fan appraisal of the managers performance last week, and Marcel Brands announcing that he's leaving PSV. I had a gut feeling that something might be in the offing. It's going to be relatively short transfer window due to the world cup this summer so the board might have something up their sleeve. Probably not, but we can live in hope.

Schneiderlin was very good for the 50 minutes he was on as he was in the previous home match against the RS. I thought twelve months ago a midfield containing both him and Gueye will never give us the control we need. That hasn't changed. With Rooney also in midfield and struggling to get round the pitch we badly lack cohesion going forward. That is not the fault of Allardyce. Whoever is manager next season must address the quality of our midfield play. The solutions do not lie within the current squad. If we sign only one player in the summer it must be a top quality central midfielder who can drive the team forward.

For all the many faults in his play, it is interesting to note that Bolasie is usually involved in our goals. His deep cross tonight from the right wing caused chaos in the Newcastle defence leading to the goal. He also put two decent crosses over in the first half, one from each flank. An obvious message to him would be to stop over-complicating his play and just whip those crosses into the box.

What I saw tonight was a microcosm of Everton for most of the time I've supported them: a team of footballers who aren't all very football-intelligent, and love a slow game. Never a quick throw in, never a cheeky free-kick taken while the opposition aren't looking. The commentator mentioned we have scored the fewest goals from corners this season. I thought to myself that that stat could probably extend over the past five or six years.

I cannot fathom how awful it will be if BS stays on as manager, but the one thing he said in the post match presser I agreed with (and always have) was when asked about the low number of chances. He basically said "I coach the team and select the team, but it's the players that pass the ball and the players that shoot off target." Not what you want to hear from the manager with three matches left, but it is very true.

Well, all I can say after watching tonight's game (and on 59 years as a supporter I've watched a few), is if performances like tonight's have him drooling over the 'transformation' then his expectations are much lower than the majority of us are looking for.

So 'exciting' was tonight's game that I spent most of the second half watching it on my phone out of one eye, with the sound turned off, while watching a dvd on the telly instead. It was incredibly, phenomenally, wonderfully BORING to the enth degree. Even though we won, it still felt almost like a defeat to me.

Allardyce has basically sucked all the romance out of the game, romance? Yes, that fantastic feeling of pride you normally feel as you watch your team emerge from the tunnel, the surge of excitement you feel as your team surges forward in attack after attack against the poorer sides especially and the incredible roar that escapes from your lungs when your team scores a great goal, better still, two or three. Goodison was so quiet tonight, even the goal didn't seem to galvanise the crowd, or the team, and I couldn't be bothered to raise an arm or cheer as I once would have done when that 'romance' surrounding our team existed.

For God's sake Mr Moshiri, help to bring back the romance. Get rid of this terrible man who thinks this was an excellent performance and give us a manager worthy of the name, and worthy of our team.

Over the last few months it's felt like watching a great old relative slowly bleeding to death, when radical surgery if swiftly performed could quite possibly put new life into the tired and terminally ill body. It's time for that surgery NOW, Mr Moshiri. If Allardyce is still on charge for another year the terminal decline will continue and the atmosphere at Goodison will grow ever more toxic as the sepsis invading the body of our club grows worse and worse and every defeat or bore draw will lead to gangrene infecting the entire organism with the fans turning not only against the manager but against the decision facto owner as well as they decide he couldn't run the proverbial you know what in a brewery.

Goodnight all.

Michael Keane has said himself that he's struggled at times this season, but he's getting more confidence now, and that's beginning to show in more consistent performances. I read somewhere Jags saying he's a quiet lad and I think a lot of it's confidence with him. I think he'll come back a better player for this seasons experience. He's definitely improved over the last few games.

I think you're right about Tom Davies. I thought the same thing tonight. I had a go at people a few weeks back when they were saying he's not good enough and slagging him off. I have to concede that he was bad tonight, but he's still a kid. He's had too much expectation put on his young shoulders. The ability is there, but he's still a rough diamond at this moment in time.

Anyway, back in the real world and back in the day when we all got a lot less worked up about things, but the crowd perversely, were more animated and loud. Anyway back then, we used to, if not quite, shrug then go home, we didn't beat ourselves up so much...it wasn't seen as the end of the world...we'd called them 'end of season games'.

If the game was exceptionally dire there'd be a rain of cushions to get the point home...but in the twitter age I can't see people giving their £700 phones the frisbee treatment in lieu of cushions.

Trouble is we've played like that all season and spent nearly 200M to do it.

There are bigger (maybe not fatter) problems than the current short term deficiencies of the guy on the line...who to be fair, has only been here 6mths...it just seems longer

Namely, the long term On AND Off Field direction of the Club.

Over to you Mosh, start at the top...the VERY top and work your way down.

Literally and figuratively Chop, Chop.

Every game we see confirms what we already know, that you can't teach a pig to tap dance.

So if Arsenal win the uefa cup does 8th make europe????

Not sure thats a good thing if we did slip in but is it possible?

That's your opinion Jay, but I disagree with your assessment that Michael Keane has been a complete waste of money. He's made the transition to a bigger a club at difficult time when the whole team has struggled. He's still relatively young for a CB. He had shaky start but he's playing well now. I don't see why you'd completely dismiss him now when he appears to be turning the corner. Give the lad a chance.

As for him not getting into a top 6 side. He's better than several CB's from those sides. How's about Smalling, Jones, Lindelof, Lovran, Klavan, Mertesacker, Holding and Chambers. I'm sure you'll try and argue these players are better but I'd have Keane over any of them.

He just wanted to see if the Liver Birds were blue . He was delighted to see they were (poetic licence as they appeared turquoise . near enough blue for him!)

He was delighted and we should be proud to reclaim the Liverbirds as our own .

BTW my 68% claim was the first half possession, and they put it to Martinez at half time, that it was the most possession in a half since Martinez was manager - not sure where the second half came from.

Well in Mosh!

I wouldnt have Keane anywhere near a top six back four although I do agree he has improved and become more confident with Jags alongside him.

To me he seems like a young Johnny Evans, get one on one with him and go sailing by him and his sense of awareness is abysmal.

They showed how Walcott is now in that, despite being in a system under Wenger where he would make those runs and know where his team mates were going to be. It’s not his lack of skill or footballing brain, since he’s demonstrated those qualities for years under Wenger. Instead he is now in a team that doesn’t play that way and as a result he is often far less useful, as is the rest of the team in attack.

In other words, with a better manager we’d be a better team. We have talented players but no discernible system in attack.

We have at best, an average squad of players, only Pickford, Coleman, and Walcott would get anywhere near a top 6 team’s squad. Major clear out needed in the summer and that includes Allardyce who’s done what was asked of him.

This is fucking unbearable.

Rule 1 of corners as far as I'm concerned - always an inswinger. Causes the most chaos and hardest to defend. Baines, or any left footer if we ever find another one, should take corners from the right, leaving Rooney only half the running to do to take them from the other side.

But Rooney clearly appears to pull rank on set plays and Leighton is too timid to stop him, so sadly that won't happen.

The man is a world class buffoon.

But that concerns me too. We could have a better Schneiderlin attributing his resurrection to the brilliant Sam Allardyce!

As some have said, putting himself in the shop window?

Tosun struggled, I don’t think he won a single header. Rooney was poor. Gueye struggled but improved & had a really good last 25 minutes. Baines & Coleman were very solid.

Davies struggled. Bolasie & Calvert-Lewin tried. Calvert-Lewin won a lot of headers even though he was on the pitch for a short time.

My team for next week would be:

IN: Niasse, Calvert-Lewin & Klaassen.
OUT: Tosun, Rooney, Bolasie.

Cuco drops off the bench. Vlasic comes onto the bench.

Pickford
Coleman Jagielka(c) Keane Baines
Gueye Schneiderlin
Klaassen
Calvert-Lewin Niasse Walcott

Robles, FunesMori, Davies, Rooney, Vlasic, Bolasie, Tosun

I think Sam would win a lot more supporters over doing this - drop the guys who have been given a chance & have struggled & give the guys who haven’t had a chance, a chance to prove themselves.

We were poor again, Allardyce is seriously taking the piss now every time he opens his mouth.
Win or lose, the season is over. Nothing to get delighted about anymore for me. No, I never want us to lose but yesterday was another poor show and a meaningless result.

As for Allardyce wanting to still be manager next season - if he stays it will be a disaster. He's done what he came here to do but then why not push on and go above and beyond to show he deserves to stay on? He's done absolutely nothing. The bare minimum. He had the chance for his massive ego to be stroked by winning the derby and having a proper go at getting 7th but didn't even bother! We are a nothing team. Clueless in the final third. Get him out.

As for Allardyce wanting to still be manager next season - if he stays it will be a disaster. He's done what he came here to do but then why not push on and go above and beyond to show he deserves to stay on? He's done absolutely nothing. The bare minimum. He had the chance for his massive ego to be stroked by winning the derby and having a proper go at getting 7th but didn't even bother! We are a nothing team. Clueless in the final third. Get him out.

One thing I would love an answer to is simply this: the player with the ball has got 3 options, a player 5 yards away unmarked, a player 30 yards away unmarked, or a player 10 yards away with an opponent on his back and another standing guard in case. Why oh why do they pass to the player that is wrapped up in defenders??? Pass and move, pass and move, simple passing with pace and accuracy (I use this term loosely).

I felt sorry for Tosun he had no service at all, fucking big boot up in the air every time. Free kicks floated in defenders have time to adjust, drive the ball in and it gives them something to think about.

Having 57% and beating a team managed by Benitez (who some people would have here) and have won four games is dire. Newcastle set up to defend.

We have a talented pool of players? Who are they?

And Keane could play top 6?

And it's Allardyce who is daft.

Same with Sigurdsson, he's not a winger, with a plodding Rooney besides him. The passing has just become atrocious, the players are not playing their natural game. I don't want to judge Tosun, because I have no idea if he's any good playing in a good side, who play free-flowing football. How many would Salah score for a Sam Allardyce team, stranded with balls whizzing around his head?In fact, I don't want to pass judgement on any new player when we look like a rugby team, launching it forward for territory.

This is not all on Allardyce by the way. First game of the season against Stoke - we played exactly as we did last night. Just a bunch of players who look as if they've just met.

It's our terrible recruitment, exacerbated by poor managers playing survival football. Remember what Koeman said? "They can't do what I ask, so we will have to knock it long and hope to win second balls." After blowing £250m!!!

Sack, sack, sack, everyone who had a hand in blowing our inheritance. Our chance to actually compete. It would have been infuriating just standing still, we've gone seriously backwards though. There are some players who won't get any better under a new manager. The prodigal son for one. Rooney and Kenwright should both take a slow boat to China, with the rest of the dinosaurs.

BMD I think will go on the back burner, I can’t see this board coping with 2 major projects.

Time for the board to be clear on the clubs future.

As an aside, I have been surprised that Moyes is a shadow of the Moyes we knew, and the gaffs he made at Sunderland only seem to be increasing. Similarly, Mourinho makes comments in a similar self-serving vein that the young Mourinho would never had made. Is it something that aging or tiring football managers are prone to do? Anyone who thinks Davie Moyes would be good appointment if he was to come back, has not realised that this is not the same David Moyes as what we had. The fire is dimmed, he's a bit like a boxer who's been down too many times (Amir Khan?), and even though he still should be in his prime, it's obvious his best days are behind him and he doesn't know how to rediscover what made him effective.

So back to last night. I thought we were very good defensively. Sure there was a few moments, but you never get a perfect game, not during this season anyway. Coleman had the handcuffs on too much for my liking but he was very good defensively, and what a header at the end. Baines showed why Martinez thought he could "do a Lahm" and move into central midfield, he stepped in there a few times and his passing was excellent.

Morgan Schneiderlin has quietly been playing his way back into form for a while now. I was a big fan last season, and was one of the last to give up on him this season. I'm very pleased he's coming back into form, simply because we cannot sell him unless he shows clubs what he can do, and that he's still capable. We can't take a £15m-20m hit on him, and there's no way we should sell him and continue to pay his any of his wages, so keep him, get him in form and then flog him. Much better from Morgan. Some forward passes too. I had to give my eyes a rub to see if it really was number 2 doing that!

Tosun didn't get a sniff all game. Nothing was happening for him, but I still liked what I saw. He fought all game long and I felt that if only something would drop to him then he would score.

It may be a very Allrdyce like performance, but it was not vintage Everton. He came out and wound us all up with his comments. The guy is not a good fit for Everton at all. The Everton manager should commend the opposition, win lose or draw. We are a humble club and our manager should be such. We may have had some flashy players over the years, but our greatest teams ('85 and '70) were built on workrate first. Allardyce should have been channelling that since day one. Martinez was said to have studied Everton's history when he took the job and immediately brought that history front and centre. A lot of our immediate history needed no research for Allardyce, so why has he refused to conform to Everton standards and show the side of his personality that is in tune with what Everton are?

Now Allardyce has stuck it to Newcastle, and he does love to get one over on his old clubs, he had better start playing some of the kids. 9th is sewn up now. We're top half for sure. Play Davies, play Clavert-Lewin. Give Jonjo Kenny a game. Vlasic needs a few games to prevent him losing heart. How about big Fraser Hornby? And if he really has balls, give Anthony Gordon at shot at number 10 (if the lad is fit again). Of course, Allardyce will go all out to break his record of not having a winning season since 2007, and will want to leave Everton having won as many points as possible, so that means he'll go with the old guard. Then he'll bang on all summer about how we were about to go to the next level.

If Moshiri does appoint Marco Silva, and I very much believe that it's him or Fonseca, then I will be very disappointed that Silva is not in place now. Why is Silva, who is sat twiddling his thumbs, not down at Finch Farm now, working with the players, assessing the side, and getting a running start to next season? Fonseca, sure, he needs the Ukrainian season to be officially over, but not Silva.

I thought the game was quite open but a lack of quality from both teams made for a pretty average game.

No matter who manages this team next season they will have to balance the squad and formation.

There are questions over nearly every position besides the Goalie and Coleman. I love Baines and Jags but they aren't getting any younger. Keane needs pace alongside him otherwise he is exposed big time.

Bolase needs to play on the right if at all. Walcott wants to play upfront. Tosen can't play as a lone striker his link up and movement is decent.
Gueye and Scheids are limited. Rooney is the elephant in the room.
Siggurdsson where does he fit in.
Some decent youngsters that need a loan to the championship and many other square pegs.

By my reckoning in the current climate a new manager would get about 12 games before the witch Hunters started preparing the ducking stool.

Roll on the summer.

I know the usual Davies groupies will be up in arms over this but although he runs and is always willing, he can't pass or retain possession. The lads had his chance, he's not our future and that's a shame but he'll make a decent living elsewhere.

You and your hilarious mate seem to be missing a glaringly obvious point.

Davies has been average this year, but who hasn’t? Every player in a blue shirt has been average to shit.

How can you judge a young lad in this terrible team?

Yep! Revealing.

Why is it when your name appears next to a post I find myself singing this little ditty:

"Dance to yer Daddy, sing to yer mammy
Dance to yer Daddy, my little man.
You shall have a fishy on a little dishy
You shall have a fishy when the boat comes in..."

Yer bait isn't working Stevie, not with me.

It was that prick Koeman who thought Jags could not play two or three games on the trot, which Jags has proved him wrong.

Well done, Phil Jagielka.

For me, Davies, DCL, Holgate have shown they have ability, but they are not getting the education they should at Finch Farm. The team is being set up to play 'safety first, percentage' football that minimalises technical qualities.

We need a manager, and a coaching team, that will nurture technical ability. Look at the way Hoffenheim, Leipzig, Dortmund and other german teams have developed.

Young teams, do the basics well with great emphasis on the tecnical side. That is where you see teams playing well, developing top talent, not suffering when the best players are then poached,and improving year upon year.

We need to find a manager who will trust and improve our talented young lads, Dowell, Davies, Lookman, DCL, Holgate, Baningime, Vlasic, Kenny, Grant, and others are the hope we have for developing a top-6 team.

That is a much safer bet than another 200 million spending spree on second rate players.

Maybe Eddie Howe could be that manager, maybe Fonseca, maybe Silva. I honestly don't know, but when selecting the manager, the board need to look for these attributes.

Look at the German model, it is the best way for our club.

As others have said, Pickford played well, Walcott offered some genuine pace, Coleman has done well to come back from the career-threatening injury and Schneiderlin had a good solid game without being spectacular. I still see a lot more issues than positives.

Roll on the end of the season.

I concentrated on Keane because I think he can become a good player but he was disappointing for me last night, the match was another boring ninety minutes, I wanted Everton to win like always but didn't even get my arse off my seat when we scored, I'm usually like a madman when we hit the net, this season with Koeman and Allardyce has drained most of my emotional attachment to the blues, hardly any of the players have helped in this direction either, I will leave all the young players out of any criticism for now, they should have been getting helped starting their careers, instead most of them have had to help their seniors, not right that.

I think the attributes are there to be a decent centre half. He's big, he's strong, he's good in the air, he can tackle. But he seems too nice, lacks a bit of fight, and most importantly for me, he can't seem to read a game.

I really like Jagielka. I think he's our best defender still. He's 100% committed to the cause and every Evertonian should love him. He should be coming up to his last home game though, this should be it for him, instead it's likely we need to give him another season. I think of the last pair of 37 year olds we had, and they were very different from Jags. He's still our best because he defends like he's in his 20s and still has speed. But he's not the organiser that Gough or Watson were and for me, that's not helping Keane. He needs someone like Gough or Watson next to him talking him through games. Williams doesn't do that well either, certainly not for Keane, though perhaps he does for his young mate Holgate. In signing Williams I thought we were trying to bring a player in the Watson or Gough mould. Sadly, that was not the case.

Therefore, I think we could do worse than to bring Jonny Evans in next season and look to pair him with Keane or Holgate. Jagielka can act as a backup to Evans. Maybe Evans' organisational skills will bring on our two young defenders?

Tom Davies did not have a good game last night. He has not had a good season. I think he's been badly managed. He played last season without fear. He came in, nothing phased him and he did well. Then people built him up to be the next Alan Ball and suddenly he had a weight of expectation upon him. Next the manager kept taking him in and out of the side, and that carried on when Allardyce came in.

Davies looks like he's trying too hard. He's trying to do too much, and he's trying to force things to happen. He also looks like he's over thinking things. Some of his passing has been dreadful, and that to me, shows that he is caught in two minds about what to do.

His engine is faultless. He gets around the pitch better than anyone. He closes people down. He never lets them rest. He gets forward. He asks for the ball always. He does not put his head down. He keeps going, he keeps running, and he always tries to make something happen.

With the right manager, I think Davies can be a better player than what we've had for some time. He can everything that Gueye does, but then he has even more to his game than Gueye. He just needs to read the play a bit better. He can pass the ball well and has good vision, but he needs to stop overthinking it. His long passing has never been good, but that's something to work on. At youth level Walsh was the passer and Davies was the guy who got about people and got the tackles in, which is why it always surprises me when people talk about him playing higher up the pitch. He's a defensive midfielder. It's an older player's position and he's just 19 years old. He's got a lot of learning to do and he can do it. He will be a top player, just give him time and let him make mistakes and don't get on his back (the crowd doesn't though).

Fran, you mention following the German model and you mention Hoffenheim. Surely your preferred choice would be Nagelsmann? I think we should chase him hard, and try to get him in.

Although he has improved since Seamus, Bainesy and Jags have been back consistently he still seems to lack concentration and awareness.

This seems to be endemic in younger CBs and was a problem with Holgate and Stones.

It seems his lack of pace compounds this and for me it will be a few years before he is a top class CB.

For those calling for Stones to return I would not want him back either.

We need a young aggressive Vincent Kompany type IMO.

But we need to study what these clubs do, which is invest in youth, develop a style for the players to fit into, develop players tecnically, and never depend on any star player.

They know their best players will be poached, so they are always prepared with another young player ready to take on the responsibility.

But they totally blow out the 'need to be experienced, proven, 20+ million' concept that has seen Everton blow 200+ million on player recruitment.

Young and talented players, and good coaching. That is what we need.

What we have is Allardyce, Sammy Lee, Shakespeare, Ferguson - is that really a winning team for developing young techical players?

The thing is, even if he gets back to his much lauded form under Koeman it's still pointless. Even back then it was clear that he and Gueye were both playing the same position and Gueye does it much better.

If it helps us sell him then great.

I completely agree with your assessment of Tom Davies. He is a kid who knows he is out of form and to overcome this he is admirably trying to work harder to regain it. It's a shame some of his more senior teammates haven't been following suit.

Tom doesn't need to work harder though. He needs to relax and feel his football more rather than think it. When he first came on the scene there was a calmness to his play when in possession but now he's trying to force things and it's not happening for him.

I think he developed through the passing structure of the Under-23s that was part of original blueprint Martinez introduced to the club post Moyes. Is it any coincidence that many of our successful young players came through under this schooling. Comfortable in possession and surrounded by players coming and wanting to get on the ball.

In the current set up confidence seems so low and players appear to be running away from the ball instead of dominating it. Tom was used to a system that was attractive and successful and broke into the first team alongside Barry and then an in-form Schneiderlin. This massively helped his development.

This season has been a disaster in terms of style of play. As a team we have no personality or identity. A kid like Tom has become collateral damage amongst the carnage.

I have no doubt Tom Davies will come good. He will rediscover his form and I feel he will develop into a real dynamo under a new progressive coach.

Everton need to develop these kids they have the ability and need to be trusted in the first team. We need to stop buying 28 year old players for big fees and wages who are fucking average Davies, Banningame, Holgate, Lookman, Dowell, Kenny, Vaslic all have the ability to progress.

Add in Pickford and there is massive potential to work with for a creative forward thinking coach. Blend this talent with Coleman, Gueye, Baines, Sigurdsson, Tosun, Walcott and a couple of fucking real quality leaders at centre back and a creative midfielder and we could start to play good football.

We are probably going to come 8th. I despair at how bad this league is!!! Football can thankfully change fast. At the moment I just want to watch a team play with passion. Ball on the deck bags of pace squeezing the life out of teams roared on by a frenzied Goodison gallery.

Keep the faith, our day will come, and young Tom will lead us!

I would take Stones back, at a discount, but not to play him in the centre of defence - I don't think he has the strength for that position. But I would play him in front of the back line, much like Dier at Spurs.

Stones is a Rolls Royce player with all the ball-playing attributes and vision for the game to play as a holding midfielder. Would you rather have him playing there or Schneiderlin?

To be honest I would rather have Fellaini.

Stones is overconfident and with a lot of teams now high pressing he is a liability which if Pep sees it then he must be right. He does not discard quality players.

Benitez played a tight 4-4-2. The two forward players had the sole job when we had the ball at the back of forcing the ball wide from the back four. The two banks of four played it tight and shifted in the direction we played and did a good job of stifling anything on the flanks.

Playing through the middle was playing into traffic and very difficult to play through. The opposition defence and midfield dropped deep as soon as the ball was lost so no space behind.

We need, desperately, as John Raftery says, a strong dominant midfield player who is capable of breaking up opposition play earlier and of taking the ball past the opposition centrally and making them turn. One on his own can't change the approach, we have to push up as a team and compress the game. We can't do that with the lack of pace in the back two.

What we saw on Monday was, without excusing the manager, the best we could do with the squad that we've got. Those talking about giving others a "go" in this context don't understand that getting solidity and confidence in the whole team approach is and always has been, critical. It's what Mourinho has been moaning about from his much better players all season.

When he was at Palace and they went for weeks without turning it around Allardyce calmly said in every interview that the team had to buy into doing what was needed. Further, that once they did they were good enough to do the job required. Eventually they did, confidence grew and results improved.

Whether he is told that he is going or staying, the best thing that he can do for the club as preparation for next season is to play a consistent team in a consistent way, keep three clean sheets and win as many of the three as he can.

As for those who have said that they have hoped we lose games, this last one and previously, really? As my dad always said about voting Labour when the local MP was useless, "You're voting for the party and what it stands for son. You've got to see past the idiots." It's called hope for the future and for much if the past 55 years of supporting the Blues it's all I've had. Optimism has the same root as "Optimum." Mind you, someone did say somewhere "It's the hope that kills you."

Among all the crap that's been around the club this season and players being criticised by TWers and other Evertonians, it was refreshing to see Schneiderlin put in such a good performance in this game. The commentators on Optus Sport were stating what a good game it was, in spite of it being a (so-called) dead rubber. Certainly there was a lot of end-to-end stuff going on but the quality (or should I say, lack thereof) of both sides was evident.

It would be good to see 9 points from the last 3 games, which is doable! Should mean we finish 8th. 54 points would be massive compared to what most of us thought possible before Big and small Sams appointments. So, what would this mean ref retention or departing of the Sams? That is the question!!!

So it's the manager's fault that a player lacks the ability to pass, tackle and retain possession, is it?

Interesting concept.

So, can Stones become a top defensive midfielder. The short answer is no. Watch what he does well. He reads the play, he moves in and he intercepts, he takes a few touches, racing up the field and slides a pass through.

Now if he was 10 yards further forwards, his ability to read the moves is diminished, he's not sat as far back as he is in the centre of defence, he has less time to watch play develop and react. Instead, he needs to be reading it instantly and reacting instantly. It's a different skill.

Next his ball control is great. But this is when he's got time and he's seen the space to move into. In midfield, there is less time and less space. When Stones is faced with less time and space, he struggles and he turns over possession. He doesn't have quick feet. He lacks the ball skills in tight spaces to do what he does well in defence.

Then his passing, he has time and space to consider his options and hit good passes. When he's closed down, he panics and often gives the ball away. Is this not indicative of how he would be with a few players snapping around him?

Stones would be best as the spare man in a back three, as a sweeper. He's no midfielder. I'm sure others considered him there, but no one has moved him there in a game, and I believe that this is for good reason, as explained above, and as the result of careful consideration in training.

The only thing I would say to counter my own argument, is that I would never have seen Eric Dier being so successful in the defensive midfield position and he has really grown into it.

It is now the best time to start making changes to our squad and managerial team.

If Allardyce has any ambition about continuing to manage the team he needs to show in the next couple of games that he can get some kind of attacking performances out of the team instead of just not losing games.

The fans want entertaining football, that is why we pay our money. we don't just want to survive. we want to go out against any team in the league and show some intent on actually winning the games with decent football.

If BFS will not or cannot give us that then its time to look elsewhere.

GIVE US BACK OUR PRIDE
GIVE US BACK DECENT FOOTBALL
GIVE US BACK OUR TEAM

I'd like to think that your final paragraph could result in an opportunity to see John back with us in that role. He is certainly a better footballer than Dier but lacks Dier's ruthlessness. We are crying out for a ball-player in midfield and we have an obvious need for creativity there. I do think that Stones could be our Beckenbauer.

I wouldn't take Fellani. He'd improve us right now but we saw what happened when the going got tough – he gave up. There's no point in having a player like that.

My issue with Jags as a player is less to do with his playing ability and more to do with his captaincy. He just isn't a captain. Never should have been given the position by the outgoing Moyes, and never should have been supported by the playing staff.

We develop players and send them on. Rooney, Barkley, Stones etc. We let them win a few cups, make some good money. Then, bring them back, after their "loan" period, be it five years or more, has ended. Give them, say, £150k a week and let them chill out, wind down, and not fret about having to ever compete in their lives again.

It will, though, enhance our reputation. We can offer an alternative. China? Fuck off, I am going to Everton.

Therefore our best wide players are the full backs. Let them get forward and create space and options. Play a sweeper, someone who can read the game. I'd take stones back for the role but no chance he'd come back. I think Jags is the best reader of the ball but not great on it so it's Holgate for me or Baines.

It may help prolong Jags career as despite the stick he gets he's our best defender and communicator to help guide Holgate, Galloway (I rated him) and Keane.

I want rid of him but maybe the lazy 'extra defender ' Schnides could play sweeper? Let's put Rodwell into the mix, I'm joking but I bet there's a few who would take him back and probably better than Schneiderlin.

Referring to Dier discussion he developed at under 15 playing midfield and defence. It's often the way with bringing through youth in other countries, learn and adapt to different situations by playing different positions. He'll end up at CB in a few years.

The British don't do that past the age of 11. Stones played RB and CB. He's more graceful on the ball with a lighter running style where as Dier is more aggressive in style. Most importantly Dier takes less risks!