Half-Season Report

In my view, overall, considering all games played, I'd say we scrape a C+, and that being generous as the games we've scrapped to draws especially at home, and spewed away, as mentioned in other threads, mean whilst refreshing as it is to see positive football, we are a long way off being a lethal team.

I've not seen the consistent killer instinct in an Everton for 30 years.

It's a different game now in so many ways, training, diets, sports science, improved medicine and medical technology, augers it's changed beyond doubt off the park, but on the park, a player (a good player) will always be a player.

For me we are well short of strength in depth and until we get true belief and conviction from the captain on the pitch, to every squad player, we may well, improve, but we may not catch up with so-called top six / Slimy Sky Six.

I hope and hope the wheel turns fast, but it's getting harder, and harder, to achieve consistency let alone success.

When was the last time we went on a 20 game plus unbeaten run, or won 10 games on the bounce... ?

Until we get a modern day Dixie, we will struggle as we can't score the goals consistently; our Goal Difference, tells its own story. Our goalkeeper needs to stick to goalkeeping, improve his kicking consistency, near-post cover, and corner and six-yard box management. I rate Pickford, but there's loads he can do to be consistent.

You could digress all night, but it's been a mad week in football terms; hopefully tomorrow is our day.

Tomorrow, I'm praying we win at Brighton. A good weekend to all TWrs.

Less stupid rash mistakes and more concentration, ahem Jordan Pickford.

More games like Burnley where we are clinical, and stop missing so many chances like in the games against the top six when we should have taken far more than the solitary point at Chelsea.

I'm going to liken him to s blast of deodorant in a hot night club. Feels a bit fresher but I'm going to wait and see if results improve as the slowies start!!

Don't get me wrong, I believe now is a time for some much-needed stability on the managerial front, but our new owner seems a little trigger happy.

Hopefully, Marco comes through and proves to be the right man long term.

I, like most of us, am not interested in getting 7th and a place in the Mickey Mouse league. No, I want us to be challenging for the Premier League title and the Champions League. Is that too much to ask?

You would think after spunking £90 million on new players there would be a coherent game plan on view, we don't expect it to be brilliant, but at times its been as awful as the dross we've seen for the last few seasons and therefore he's just not good enough.

No doubt he will be given another season. The owner head hunted him after all, be prepared for more chronic disappointment.

Signing Zouma on loan is proving more astute than trying for months to get Mina. Mina looks like an accident waiting to happen. His demeanor is of a lottery winner out of his depth at this level of football.

Bernard is the opposite of what I expected. I expected a player full of quality and guile but lightweight. In reality, he works his socks off but doesn't have enough guile or quality. In each game he has played, he has got himself into fantastic positions only for his head to fall off in the box.

The positives are Digne & Richarlison – both have improved us. Gomes is obviously a quality footballer who I hope we can keep hold of – though even he doesn't look like he has a goal in him.

The spine of Pickford, Keane, Zouma, Gueye, Gomes and Sigurdsson is pretty strong. The missing link is a striker.

On Silva himself, I was expecting an improvement on the previous two managers. I think we are better on the eye but are still wide open and concede too many goals due to his tactics and formation changes. Take Richarlison and Sigurdsson out of the team and we would struggle to offer any threat whatsoever.

If we aren't going to buy in January, then Silva will know the areas that need addressing and he needs to work with what he has to find a way of winning.

C– for me.

Judge Bernard, Mina et al next season when they have had a whole year of playing in the Premier League. Look at how much slating Keane got last year. Then we all found out about his injury and he has looked a much better player this year. And he was coming as an established Premier League player.

Let's be realistic this year and enjoy the football – at least we try to pass the ball forwards and can be much more enjoyable to watch vs last season. It's not been great every week but a decent cup run this season and a decent summer transfer window, then my expectations will be through the roof!

When will people ever learn? Very few find their feet in their first season – especially those from abroad. Yes, spot on there, because Salah struggled last season, didn't he... as did Kompany, Aguero, Silva etc in their first seasons.

The signings haven't really been much of an upgrade, have they... because the points total is more or less the same and the football is just as turgid. We can't defend, got a pedestrian midfield, and have at times struggled to break teams down – especially at home never mind away.

One thing a match-going Evertonian can spot is a good footballer and nearly all of them bar 1 or 2 are good footballers. I'm in the camp that's prepared to give Silva time but please don't kid yourself that it's been any better because it hasn't. The Premier League table doesn't lie.