Brighton do a number on profligate Blues

Agreed with it against Burnley but Brighton are strong on the flanks.

This nullifies our threat up front and invites pressure.

By the looks of it, we've now got Bernard out on the wide left again, where he is much less effective as a winger than in the centre. And we now are also left with Richarlison up front again - a dubious decision, but we'll see.

I don't see why we needed to rest Calvert-Lewin particularly, I would have kept his place in the team. He was building up a decent run of form.

Would've preferred a line up resembling this:

----------Calvert Lewin

Richarlison-Bernard-Walcott

Gomes-Gueye

Digne - Mina - Zouma - Coleman

//////////////////////////////

Anyways, let's hope regardless that it's a roaring success. 3 points would be great.

Brighton are mostly tidy and effective in what they do, but as the half progressed we were clearly the more creative and dominant side.

As Michael says in his live running commentary, let's hope we don't regret more missed chances.

Gomes looks a tad fatigued and as a result loose in some of his passing. I expect Siggy to sub in for him at some stage. The standout player from the first half for me is Gana Gueye. Breaking up everything. Receiving and moving the ball on well in tight situations. Picking up loose passes. Driving forward. Wide range of passing. Barely missed a pass all game.

Not convinced about playing Richarlison up front down the middle against Brighton. DC-L's hold-up play and aerial ability would be far more effective IMO against their defence. And Richarlison really must stop going down under any challenge and have a wee tantrum when he doesn't get the free kick.

Keep it tight at the back as we have, take 1, at least, of our chances, and another away win is on the cards.

Poor result.

How much have we spent compared to Wolves and Brighton? Exactly... Piss poor squad ours. It may take another £200 million before we can match the mighty Brighton & Wolves in the Premier League...

Very disheartening, to say the least... But not unexpected.

We are so inconsistent it's laughable.

Terrible today. No movement off the ball, shooting atrocious, Rich diving and embarrassing, not enough effort or inspiration.

Up and down, up and down, and so it goes on and on. Someone stop the rollercoaster ride, it's maddening.

THis has all the hallmarks of one of the most painful seasons in our history come May.

I really can’t see where this team is going (except down).

To many poor performances against lowly clubs, no heart, passion or personal pride.

Gomes will not stay.
Coleman will.
DCl and Tosser will still be our strikers, they will not play,
No youth will be given opportunities- and we will continue to suck.

The fookin life of an Evertonian is shit!!!

And now I get to watch the shoite tear the Arse a new one!

That's it.

Can't polish that turd.

Hopefully Marcel has seen that shambles and realised that there are different definitions of ‘trouble’, and for a club our size failing to challenge is trouble.

Schneiderlin, Niasse, Tosun, and Davis to move on this month. Midfield, Striker and right back in please.

Coleman is running out of goodwill; he just hasn't got it anymore.
Calvert-Lewin is a waste of space, and I don't see any reason why he's paid to play football.
Walcott had, I think, his worst game for us, which is saying something - we had Deulefeu who is carving wings at Watford and ended up with this absolute waster.
Mina's decision making today when tackling was suicidal.
Richarlison is good but is very immature even for a 21 year old.
Pickford needs to learn how to kick a moving ball, cos he's a liability in that regard.

I'm neither here nor there on Silva yet, but a good proportion of our poor results, especially this month, is down to players just not doing their job.

Why does silva wait so long to make subs when it’s obvious to all watching that at least three players were having nightmares.

Why not start DCL in what was always going to be a physical battle and Richarlison doesn’t fancy these types of battles.

We need a top class striker, it’s that fookin obvious because in games when there’s little space we don’t have the quality to make that difference.

One win in December is a shocking return and we need to probably win five of the next six before the likes of Wolves are over the hill and far away.

I’m really really disappointed that after a decent autumn we have just lost our way and consistency has evaporated.

I can’t see this team finishing much higher than 8th so I really hope Brands has some idea of what we need.

Coleman needs replacing ASAP and how Walcott keeps starting beggars belief the lads been so bad today again.

Gomes doesn’t look fit or is just starting to show limitations Schneiderlin style.

Bernard has technical ability but the lad shoots like a toddler on whiskey and Farley’s.

It's so incredibly frustrating to watch men paid a king's ransom take a day off and not focus, going through the motions.

I'm livid.

There are 1-0 defeats, and there are 1-0 defeats.

This was one of those where you never believed that we were going to score. We could have played that match all day long, and still wouldn't have scored.

I attacked the team selection before the match - my gut feeling from the second I saw it I knew I didn't like it. What I thought would happen, did happen.

The back 5 is a good idea when there's no cover ahead in the midfield - for example in the Burnley game, where Gueye was missing and we weren't playing with a defensive midfielder.

But with Gueye back in the team, that line-up was cowardly. Bernard out on the left where he provides almost nothing. Richarlison up front - just isn't a great idea. It's hardly rocket science - play an out and out centre-forward if you want to score goals.

Yerry Mina's distribution out from the back remains shocking. I have no idea how he ended up at Barcelona. When he can't win the ball, he'll just barge over the opposing attacked and give away fouls in dangerous areas.

Someone tell Keane and Zouma how to head the ball at the goal, because they just can't do it.

Gueye did his job I suppose. Gomes has continually regressed every match for several weeks now, ever since the Derby performance. It is extremely concerning, because everything was going through him at one point. All his passes we're finding a blue shirt - no longer.

Sigurdsson should have started - he does this strange thing where he has a habit of kicking the ball in the net occasionally.

Something Bernard will never do. He has zero killer instinct. None. He is never going to score for us. He runs around with the ball alright, but from an attacking player his finishing is laughable. Walcott is Walcott. Just, so, so, average. Sometimes when Richarlison doesn't score you really wonder what he actually contributes. Other than falling over and swinging his arms around. Let's not forget though, he's still the youngest player on the pitch - I will give him the benefit of the doubt. Others have less excuses.

Complete waste of an afternoon watching that. The only reason the chase for 7th is still on is because so many teams are also as ridiculously inconsistent as us. Extremely concerning performance.

OK. Unlucky on the goal, but we continually broke up our own momentum by giving away so many cheap free kicks.

Totally failed to get any foothold in the game in the second half as a result.

Once again, for me, Silva's substitutions from a losing position too bold, too early. It completely disrupts the balance of the team.

Having started with 3 centre backs, a like-for-like swap of Sigurdson for Gomes (who was off-colour today) would have maintained the balance of the team better.

Thereafter, with Bernard and Walcott returning to being very peripheral, plus Richarlison struggling at centre forward and clearly cutting a frustrated figure, DC-L coming on earlier for any of them with a slight tweak if necessary would have served us better I feel.

With Niasse also added to the fray, by game's end we had a very unbalanced line-up and it showed.

Hugely annoying.

Have to agree with Ian, why change a winning team unless forced upon by injury or suspension.

Also with Mark about playing 5 at the back, no need when we have Gueye back in the team.

If the tinkering continues, god knows what team is going to be fielded in the f a cup.

Another average season and I am afraid to say some bang-average performers. Theo played like it was a warm-up for 90 minutes!!

Top half of the table at best but hopefully a few more transfer windows and we will move forward.

Bottom-half finish on the cards here.

Silva just doesn't seem to have any sort of plan if things aren't working. We are getting lots of excuses but, after hearing them time after time, it gets a bit boring.

Last season, I remember hearing loads of posters saying that we had really good players – we just needed a manager to bring out the best in them. Well it certainly isn't Silva.

Even the shower we have surely must be capable of getting results against the likes of Huddersfield, Bournemouth, Watford, Brighton?

I don't know about the players needing to have a look at themselves but as a coach and manager Silva needs to look at himself.

I'm going now though.

We could have done with him in a few games this season, certainly better than any out-and-out strikers we have here.

Other clubs can win away to top six clubs but, at Everton, apparently transition doesn't allow it so there's the answer.

Joke isn't it, really.

I'd buy you one to help dull the pain were I near you.

Good call.

I really fucking hate football.

I just wouldn't have changed the previous team. Keep the momentum, and take the players off when you need to change it.

Very frustrating, and shows the work and difficulty to float this ship.

Sat in an airport and the departures board more fun.

Oh and I am angriest of everyone on TW. 😠😠🗯️😤👴

I don't expect us to beat the top 5-6 teams every time, but every now and then would show that the players give a shit.

Naismith couldn't even get into the first team at Norwich (when in the Championship). Even the likes of Wigan wouldn't want him.

How low have we sunk, Adam Rooney goes from Aberdeen to Salford and we go cap in hand to Hearts (a team below St Johnston).

I'll never, ever be ashamed of being a blue, but I'm afraid I'm not too proud of Everton at the moment.

His team selections at times seems as he has never seen the opposition play before; he plays players who are way off-form and seems at times unsure of changes that should be made during the game that sometimes seem to just turn into desperation.

I may be wrong but I thought Calvert-Lewin led the line okay and wasn't frightened to put himself about and with the 2 central defenders that Brighton have, he would have been a better choice than Richarlison as he is brushed off the ball easily and is wasted as a centre-forward.

Yes, we cannot be changing managers all the time because of bad results – but the manager has to realize that being given a chance it is time he improved the team to an extent that, week-in & week-out, we are not going from hot to cold.

I may be wrong but usually other teams seem fitter than us and play more as a team.

Unable to beat the Top 6 and the teams around us – Watford, West Ham, Wolves, Bournemouth. This does not bode well.

Didn’t you hear about the unwritten law that because Everton are in transition we can’t beat the top six clubs?

You must have been in a alternative universe because this rule has been out a good while now mate.

Everton don’t beat top six clubs because we are in transition.

Forget the fact that we have pissed away millions and millions of pound on so-called international footballers, and the fact our chairman headhunted a manager he was willing to pay over £10 million to Watford for last year, we are always in that grand stage of transition so it’s ok to just compete and get beat against top six clubs.

Remember it next time we get skullfooked by a big boy.

Short of any decent passing options using the back three and Gana, Gomes was bypassed and swamped. Poor lad, felt for him.

Richarilson still only effective from the left and deeper got kicked to bits without troubling the centre-backs. He's 21 and got buckets of talent, just play him were he's most effective.

We beat them comfortably last time out with a clear plan, this was overkill. Silva worryingly is getting the set-up wrong repeatedly.

Everton are operating with a limp — the right side is completely paralyzed; both players need a rest, there is no production or threat down that side at all.

Then Marco just lashes every forward he has up front, our shape dissolved, 2-4-4 at the end. It looked amateurish and embarrassing.

He has to get his head straight and sort it out. A shitshow? That would be kind.

The hottest of Christmas hot takes.

Yep. This reminds me of Roberto Martinez's second season. We are just mediocre but the optimists says "Well, we are 11th right now but if we win the next 3 games we could still get 6th."

Then we win one, the optimist group expands, then we lose one, slip down again and so on and so forth until the season is over. We roll out Jagielka and Coleman to give the usual soundbites about "We need to do our talking on the pitch, we know we need to do better," etc.

Rinse and repeat.

Walcott is utter crap. Why can't he see that? Remember that fat twat Sam Allardyce saying judge me on my signings? Walcott and Cenk!!!!!!!

Gomes looked knackered or is he carrying a knock? The rest of them were fit enough, but showed an appalling lack of resilience and nous. Ten outfield players waiting for someone else to do something.

I can only imagine what Moshiri thinks he has spent £250 million and we are further away from a top 6 than the day he took over. Only Everton could spend this sort of money and go backwards. Now 10th and West Ham will jump above us if they get anything out of the Burnley game, and Bournemouth will go above us if they beat Man Utd.

It really is hard to try and stay positive, if shooting yourself in the foot was an Olympic sport we would be Gold medalists. Leicester on New Years day and I couldnt tell you what the result of that game will be, even though they lost to Cardiff today.

We've been crap for 20-odd years, nothing suggests that will change anytime soon. We might be lucky enough to see change in another 25 years, but still won't hold my breath.

No wonder we get laughed about by the RS, long-term laughing stock of a club.

Horses for course with this squad but today I believe our starting line up invited trouble.

Being brutal, if Theo, starts v Leicester, I'll be very surprised. It's as good as having 10 men, and with Seamus demise, and plus the whole team generally have a stinker, it's hard to see what comes next.

Their rookie keeper should have been under siege, but playing like this against Brighton shows that we can't cobble two back-to-back wins away, and on this form, being realistic, I sense a very frustrating 2019.

No consistency, same old defence and goalkeeper issues, no craft and guile, another bizarre goal, and not enough class and guile today in midfield and attack is scatter gun.

I reckon Bernard offers more in each game and today he's hooked and Walcott endures again.

Seriously we aren't scoring enough and the Burnley result was a fluke score, and the stats state we hit the woodwork, twice but we didn't score.

Harrowing times, when you can smell the red mist rising and the seismic shift in the dynamic of this season, if as it seems, the title is being given away to the RS.

How and why is it we can't be consistent and just get the simple things right?

I'm not sure for Calvert-Lewin's hard work and efforts he will make the grade. I can't see it happening.

I'm seeing us as making up the numbers in the best of the rest and we won't be top of the rest, this season on today's showing.

Frustrating and sadly it's becoming the normal, for Jekyl & Hyde performances by EFC.

Enjoy the weekend TWrs, and All The Very Best of Health, Happiness and a Good Fortune in 2019, to You and Your Families.🤙🙂🍺🏐☘️⚽️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️🍺

To excuses we were second best all over the pitch and in the dugout!!

I think we've played 22 games this season?? And I don't think anyone except maybe Digne has played every game, yet we are so slow and lethargic it beggars belief. It's been like this for a while now.

The more I see of Silva and the way he operates the more I see of Martinez. Scary.

Funnily enough, we where just talking before the game about Martinez. One of the lads commented about how criticisms of Silva are eerily similar to criticisms of Martinez.

Hope they're wrong, but it is worrying.

You could see their goal coming but no reaction from Silva till too late with Sigurdsson sat there. Calvert-Lewin is not the answer.

For a manager whose record is patchy at best, I see absolutely no hope of any sustained progress whilst he remains in charge although I continue to fear being dragged into the relegation quagmire if the Board fail to act quickly.

Reappoint David Moyes until the end of the season, review how he performs over the nest few months and if there is no positive progress, then see if Eddie Howe could be tempted away from Bournemouth or, if that fails, look at people who have achieved success on limited resources like Derek McInnes of Aberdeen. There are many good potential managers outside the Premiership. The money squandered on so called top managers, Martinez, Koeman and now Silva has produced absolutely no return.

Some are quick to overlook the fact that there is no guarantee that Moshiri will stay and continue to pump vast amounts into new players. He is first and foremost a businessman who wants a return on his investment

Seamus should always be remembered for the top lad he is and he was fantastic for years but the engine has gone now, the body won’t do what the heart and head wants, there’s no room for sentiment in football.

Walcott looks gone now aswell, he came in and looked bang on it in January but his decline has been evident for a good three months or so now.

I still can’t believe after all the money we’ve spent we were still looking to Oumar Niasse to save a point at Brighton, it’s just rather laughable really and it makes a mockery of people who think you can challenge the top six without signing a proven top class striker.

Moyes? Give your head a wobble for fuck's sake.

"Leicester on New Year's Day and I couldn't tell you what the result of that game will be..."

That is bang on. We could win or lose 4-0, draw 0-0 or 2-2, win or lose 2-0 and I wouldn't be surprised at any of those results.

A brief shot of endorphins from the early Arsenal goal there has already been replaced with dread.

It was 1-0 and a boring game up till the last half hour. Journos... bloody useless.

Once again Pickford, made a couple of good saves but positional sense non existent,

Keane could not mark a bingo board. Just a poor centre-half.

Coleman body shape is negative he always receives the ball ready to pass backwards. Will not hit a first time ball, forever taking a 2nd touch. >Put Zouma and Mina as centre-backs and leave it.

Richarleson kept looking for protection from the Ref. Needs more guile.

Digna is fine.

Walcott, a nothing player: no spark, no fight, no vision.

Gana struggles when players around him don't do their jobs.

Gomes wanted to play the killer ball but it never ever came off. Head dropped every time he fucked up and backtracking was poor.

We are a sorry side. Don't forget, if Burnley were a bit stronger, we would have had our arses kick there. Poor poor performance today.

There's half a season to endure, and that's the way it will be bar a miraculous transformation of this squad in terms of drive, fight, guile and belief.

Moshiri won't be going anywhere until the stadiums built. Then he'll be looking to make a killing if/when he's had enough.

We would have been miles better with pellegrini for example (just off the top of my head)

Same old rubbish and he's got his supporters on here (god knows why)

Throwing million after millions away each year ! Why don't we throw daft money at a good manager for a change?!?

Give me strength.

All talk of spending “anything it takes” on Gomes — it's pretty absurd.

Yes he's just one example, he's a elegant passer of the ball etc but does he look like an all round midfielder that will dominate or score goals?

No.

The difference is with better players elsewhere is they turn out in the big games regularly and revel in big occasions. At Everton we usually only win when the opposition are completely abject.

We rarely win when opponents match our work and endeavour.

We replaced half the side in the summer; give them a chance to replace the other half before calling for Silva's head.

Wonder if Mr Moshiri is thinking "What the fuck have I done buying into this club?" Most people would!

£200 + million spent on a mid-table team... Fucking unreal!

Three of the shittest striking options we've had up front for as long as I can remember.

We are too soft and it's time we grew some balls. How we miss a Thomas Gravesen type player.

I said before the Burnley game that Silva could turn out to be a genius or a poor version of Roberto Martinez and at the halfway stage the jury is still out.

Silva, for me, has been a big disappointment as he reinvigorated both Hull and Watford (initially) before fading. This hasn't happened at Everton as we've been usually poor to mediocre this season with one or two bright spots.

I'm sick and tired of waiting for Everton to wake up and become the team that some of us remember. I don't know what the cure is but there's a deep sickness at the club which has been spreading for over 30 years now and it needs cutting out at the roots.

FFS give it a rest; we got beat 1-0. Let's have some degree of reasoned debate instead of sweeping statements.

One transfer window Silva has had, surely we ain't deluded enough to think we are gonna break the top 4 this season or next...

Happy New Year to one and all.

Then to listen to Michael Keane blaming fatigue for today's failings... fatigue, that's an insult to every fan, more so to the fans who were up at the crack of dawn to get down to watch that half-hearted attempt to try and get something from the game.

Then listening, not only to Keane, but the manager Silva speaking after the game, didn't look or feel like there was a lot of life in him either.

We are used to getting beat but the lack of fight, effort and will to get back into the game was really galling today.

Fatigue, well it's starting to get very tedious listening to some of the remarks by the players and manager after each poor display, good job a lot of us are patient.

What do you expect the second coming of Christ, it takes time to build a team.

It took Klopp three seasons to assemble his own team and he made big mistakes in his first season or so.

I could not give a flying huff about our neighbours, for me I want to see what Silva and Brands can do in the next two seasons.

I think Mina,Digni, Gomes and Richarlison are a good start.

The rest he has to try and get the best out of for the time being until he can bring in the players he wants.

Rome was not built in a Day, stop worrying about our neighbours, every team has a blip, it will come over the park, it only takes a couple of injuries to key players, for now I am staying positive and looking forward to Siggerson scoring the winning goal in the cup final.

Onwards and upwards.

I can only assume they worked harder than us and, if so, that's poor stuff and needs sorting out asap.

This is not a team in transition – this is a team that seems to have no direction, and that must reflect from the top to the team manager and his staff... Yes, you have to give a manager a chance and the last manager done what he was hired for, but the present manager does not seem to grasp the opportunity he has been given, and seems unable to learn from his mistakes.

He is, apart from a calamitous mistake from the keeper, able to get results at Chelsea and Liverpool but, up against mediocre teams as today, he fails miserably.

I didn't comment on the Burnley result as I knew it was a one-off – they are certainties for relegation.

I'm not a “Ooooh, we beat Burnley, Silva is a god.” happy clapper.

I stand by my words and if you're not happy with that then so what? I always will support the club – I don't have to support the manager.

I'm not deluded (like some) to think that we are a top 4 side but I'm also not deluded to think this guy is the answer – his record is shambolic.

And no, I don't have any proof of the above, I've just had to rely on my eyes for all the evidence I need.

For that reason I suggest we give Silva to the end of next season before we start to blame him for the mediocrity still swamping FF.

Yes, there are plenty of people on ToffeeWeb deluded enough to think we're going to break into the top four either this season, next season, the season after that, or the season after that, or the season after that...

It contained Ratcliffe, Stevens, Richardson, Sharp, and he might have even said Big Nev. None of them were that good, at the time, and my initial thoughts were what a half a team they became?

I then went home and witnessed that second half of shite, and thought that we have probably got enough good players for half a team! Lunatics the fuckin lot of us, and the only thing tired about Everton today Dave, was having to watch them.

Did Keane really blame fatigue? Really?

If we'd had a European campaign and a run in the League Cup, I wouldn't buy that. We've had the least amount of games possible for a Premier league team this season!!!
I'm afraid he epitomises the lack of determination to succeed that exists in this football club at the moment.

Fatigue??? Give me strength!!

We competed at Arsenal, remember their 1st goal offside. At Utd a dubious penalty for their first Chelsea a good point when Chelsea were unbeaten. LFC a fluke goal.

The balance isn't right yet, but I can see signs that we aren't a bad team, we are however inconsistent. In 12 months time, let's see where we are.

Apart from the 84-87 and 95 years it has been one sob story after another. The 1975 title capitulation with four games to go, the Hamilton incident and umpteen derby defeats, losing to 2nd division West Ham in 1980 FACSF, failing to win a game of significance at home or abroad under Moyes with the exception of the 2009 semi final. Smashing Arsenal under Martinez then meekly losing to Palace and Southampton when we were in the driving seat to qualify for CL. 2 goals up at The Etihad and still fold in the League Cup semi.

These are just some of many examples of the weakness and medocrity that courses through the veins of EFC in the last nearly 50 years. It doesn't matter who is in charge or who plays. It is The Everton Way.

Seamus has lost the pace, bravery and inventiveness he used to possess in bucketloads. He’s now a shadow of his former self and he should now be used sparingly. Either give Kenny a run of games or get Wan-Bisaka in in January whatever the cost.

I hear the same rubbish being spouted season after season.

That kid can't shoot. We're not playing to his assets. His ball control, technical skill, and trickery are superb. Just behind Calvert-Lewin with Rich on the left and Theo / Lookman on the right could be a deadly combination.

I'm not sure what the answer is, but I'd give an arm to see that front four given a try. I think Bernard could unlock a lot of the opposition's defense.

Bring him back? Not for me.

As for Naismith. I had a lot of time for his effort and determination. Like I did for Stracqalursi. Bit give me a peak Graeme sharp any day.

Ok pal :-)

This is not an indictment on either of them it’s just Father Time doing his thing.

As for your excellent post 136, I always remember the Sandy Brown own goal and my dad (rs) saying to me, “that’s you lot finished”. I don’t know if he was clairvoyant or what but even as a very young, Everton mad, kid I felt something had changed. The earth had moved from underneath us. It’s never, ever, been the same since. Even in the 80’s they beat us in the sodding Milk Cup then got us banned.

It’s hard being an Evertonian. It’s a few moments of joy and long periods of sadness and frustration.

It came in a crucial spell of the game, during which Brighton had really shown the initiative after the break, and we had two players booked, and that great reaction save from Pickford, before they inevitably got the goal their desire and drive fully merited.

I think we only succeeded in making things worse for ourselves, with zero leadership again from Silva, who should have reacted much sooner to the game swinging in their favour — well before the goal was actually scored — but I think we all saw it coming, didn't we?

Effectively playing 6 defensive players against lowly Brighton is beyond a joke. If you are going to play with a back 5, you don't play another defensive midfielder in Gana. If Sílva wanted to stick with the back 5, he should not have dropped Sigurdsson from the line-up.

It was clear right from the off that the formation was wrong. Apart for maybe 5 to 10 minutes in the first half ,we were bloody atrocious. The back three of Zouma, Keane and Mina do not have a forward pass between them.

I think I saw Keane make 10 side ways passes to Mina when he was under no pressure himself. The reason being when he did try a forward pass it went out of play.

Richarlison is not a centre-forward and I am getting totally tired of him rolling around the floor like a poleaxed pig when in reality he has not been touched. It was his playacting that broke the game up that eventually led to their goal.

For me, I am beginning to doubt the ability of Sílva. To play such a defensive-minded team against Brighton is just ridiculous. Since the Liverpool game, Everton have just not been at the races. The result against Burnley aside, which is because they are in free-fall, has been bottom-part-of-the-table quality — and that is where we will finish this season. Absolutely pathetic!!

Brighton's Duffy and Dunk were left to take care of Richarlison, who must have been wondering where the rest of his team mates where, as he was left alone and isolated. Coleman still wants to give, but his best days are over, when Everton need Coleman of yesteryears. Everton cannot rise above mediocrity because they cannot beat the better teams or even Brighton away.

Oh, how I would like a goal-keeper to come out for crosses when corners are taken. Makes footballing life so much easier.

I remember reading a report in the Daily Mirror, on 1 January 1984, and the reporter wrote that, on his way to Birmingham, he was going to read George Orwell's 1984, because things couldn't get much worse for Everton.

Eighteen months later, we were voted World Soccer Team of the Year, so I'm going to keep believing, even if it sends me into the nut-house.

I thought we were shite today, but in the past it was just accepted and, whilst it looks the same right now, I'm not sure it is when I saw some of our players' expressions during today's game.

And why would you challenge a striker to give you more... then bench him?

Take a look at Tottenham Hotspur FC. Fantastic football but trophies not forthcoming over the past few years. Liverpool have been building on and off for the past 10 years. Sadly, we are years behind top four. Silva the answer? Well, if three/five hundred million pops up into the boardroom. Jose is free.

My moan today is changing a winning side. Why? Fatigue? Give me strength. January must be a moving on month for some players. Just another Christmas passing with little cheer.

Keep the faith.

We all come on here again and moan like fuck

Still, I'm gonna carry on drinking this nice bottle of red and dream about Cheltenham & Aintree.

I couldn't care where we finish if it's outside the bottom three, but that would obviously change if the football was like today's.

We have some good players now, although some would disagree, but that's because results are everything, and when things don't go well, it's easier and more natural for most to focus on the negatives.

At times this season individually, and as pairs, our 3 centre-halves have played well. I think Silva is just shoehorning the 3 of them in the same team because he doesn't want to drop one.

We've seen recent managers trying to fit in their favourites to a team and that has caused us grief. Silva seems another one.

Silva's tactical awareness, team tactics and team selection is sometimes really baffling.

Just as well he gets it handed to him every other week.

Poor Management, though I will admit that Marcel Brands's mane is every bit as exotic as you'd imagine in person, wow, what a do!

Made up for you. a cracking effort against CH prospect. More to come there too.

Got on E/W so a small profit and a nice distraction.

He is too frivolous in his team selections for starters, he doesn't assess the opposition properly, and is very reluctant to admit that he has made a mistake!

After over 50 years supporting the blues through thick and thin I want to say "Fuck off, Everton! You're shite from top to bottom!"

Before anyone says it I've had a pint, yes, but nowhere near eno. ugh to be unaware of what I'm saying.... That was fucking rubbish and anyone who can take positives out of that are deluded. I saw more hope in the Spurs game than this one!

And my mate took his lad to his first away game to sample our “amazing” away support. Oh yeah – we were loud in the bar and if the players, especially Richarlison and Mina, had been in earshot, they may have been galvanised.

But they weren't – they were on the pitch where all they heard were Brighton supporters!

Another myth destroyed. It's easy to sing when you take the lead in two minutes – today, the fans and the team and the coaches and the tactics were all...shite!

Just because a team looks good on paper, doesn't mean it does the business on the grass.

He should have kept the same team from Burnley and told them "More of the same!"

We're all thrilled with his run. Hopefully he'll come out eating and bucking tomorrow and there'll be one more run before Cheltenham/Aintree. Champ will be among the favourites for the Cheltenham novices (not the CH), so coming second to him was a great performance.

Glad you got on and got a couple of quid from it.

Yes, I know we have better players than last season with a better Director of Football, better manager, backroom etc etc. What I can't understand is why we seem to be going backwards? I almost expected the Spurs result... but not the result today.

So, do we really have better players or simply ones that show off ball skills every now and again? If we have a better manager, why does he make so many tactical mistakes? I think we do actually have a better Director of Football who now needs to show his teeth by “advising or reminding” the manager of what he is there for.

It's too early to judge Silva or some of the players but the day is getting ever closer at the moment. I just want to see steady week-by-week improvement; I am not expecting miracles. I do not expect to see us win 5-1 every week neither do I expect to see us lose 3 out of 4 though (no matter who the opposition is).

After almost 50 years of supporting Everton, I suppose I should know better.

But did not that season end on something of a high? True, we went to hell on a handcart after that!

I am still optimistic that, with 2 more transfer windows, M&M can do much better next season.

This season has boiled down to the FA Cup; if we are lucky with the draw, we could have a decent run.

The real problems are going forward. Gana is a good tackler/spoiler but can't pass water or shoot. Gomes is good but needs Sigurdsson to give him space. Walcott can't keep the ball or produce enough. Richarlison is not a centre-forward so why persist with him there? Bernard works hard and can create, but sends out distress signals when he sees the goal.

I would:

Play three at the back and be looking for a right-back.

Play Calvert-Lewin and give him a proper run in his proper position.

Play Sigurdsson every game as long as he's breathing.

Put Bernard on shooting practice.

Bin Walcott.

Beg Brands to find me some midfield muscle and a goalscorer.

I'm won't have this percentage 'play the system that suits the players' nonsense. Do what Klopp did: have a method and tell the players to adapt or they'll be replaced.

But for me, if Silva's going to have any credibility, he's going to have to pick a team and stick with it long enough for it to bed in.

The halfway house we had today won't help anyone.

Add to that Seamus’ & Walcott’s inability to pass a ball to a black shirt, and a Richarlison’s greedy nature, we had maybe three players on the field who can pass a ball well.

It just doesn’t wash whatever season we are having to lose that game against a side like Brighton.

Silva got it wrong, not for the first time against poor opponents.

5/21, 1 win in 7, that is not transition for me.

Played 20 Won 7

Clean sheets 4

Shots on target 34%

Accuracy of crosses 25%

I couldn't agree more and I think that is what is beginning to happen behind the scenes at Everton right now.

Also, I agree about picking a team and sticking with it, which is also something I'm sure he will begin to do, once this busy Christmas period has been played out?

I'm beginning to worry why Silva has managed 4 teams in 4 years...

I wonder whether these guys gamble on the club eventually coughing up the dosh along the way... ie, play a different way and get some results = less chance of the players I want. I don't know... just a thought.

I know it's been said a couple of million times but we still lack leaders on the field. Watching a Liverpool tonight – skippers left, right and centre. Let's hope 2019 brings improvement; all the best to Blues and their families all over.

Playing 3 at the back (to keep Mina happy) was okay against Burnley, who throw it up to two big lumps up front, but before today's game, a number of us said that 3 at the back will not work against Brighton.

It left midfield weak with Gomes overrun and poor Richarlison on his own up front with 2 battering rams for company while our 3 big lumps of centre-backs were passing backwards and forwards to each other and Pickford because they didn't have anyone in front of them to pass to.

Pickford then launches it up front to their two battering rams who immediately turn the tide against us again.

This was a game that cried out for Sigurdsson's workrate and Calvert-Lewin's physicality up front.

I said when Martinez was appointed that Everton should not ever employ a manager who has had a team relegated. Silva has done nothing to change my view.

I would give him until the end of the season and, if he hasn't shown any maturity in team selection or tactics, I would move on to someone else.

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 it's 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.

Make no mistake, too many changes and the big following Lincoln are bringing to get behind their team, and it could all end badly.

Most on here would agree we start with our closest starting 11 as possible; however, I cannot help thinking we will start with the likes of Schneiderlin, Baines, Jagielka, Tosun, Niasse, Stekelenburg and Davies.

Now after a good injury-free spell, playing week-in & week-out he has regressed to the Championship's level.

Can we say the same of Schneiderlin, Keane, Tosun, Rooney, and surely others I can't think of in the last couple of seasons? What kind of disease is this?

I'm just sick, and bored with writing the same, time and time again. Doesn't it just wear you out? How does Walcott stay on? ARGGHHHHH!

I think I need some sort of counselling.

I hate three at the back. It requires in this modern era, defenders who are hybrids. You need one stellar centre half and two players who can also play full back to give you mobility and a passing range.

We have three Easter island 🗿 style defenders, they have little to no ability to bring the ball out, add a defensive midfielder in there and you limit yourself further.

The best example I can give you is Azpilicueta. The nearest we have would be Baines and Holgate.

Could it work with a powerhouse and Gomes? Maybe.

On your article I stressed the need for Silva not to push players in a formation they could not execute against opponents who can pass the ball.

He needs to learn quickly or the tide will turn. Our patience as a fanbase is now shattered.

Jamie @136, I think you're confusing the Premier League with the Zingari League in Liverpool if you think Bernard is a playmaker — get a grip.

That's me bitch-slapped. Carry on.

Still think he'd be great at that role. Is it not worth a shot at trying?

I just was thinking. It's been 11 years I've been watching. For 11 years (actually about 9 since I found TW) I've been reading about how, "we're only x player(s) away to make an assault on the Top 4."

I'll be on here 11 years from today, God willing, reading the exact same shit.

My hope is drained for the day. Tomorrow I'll start afresh, hope possibly returning?

But this Holiday Season, I've not seen much to think the never-ending loop of death that is Everton - Hope, failure, hope, failure - is going to reverse itself anytime soon.

That's the 'beauty' of being chosen Jamie, you poor fucker, but never a truer word spoken!

It's taken a decade, but you are finally getting it. It's the hope that kills you, mate.

Here's the thing: Our still impressive trophy haul would give the impression that this club does dynasties. It doesn't. We tend to emerge, win a trophy and disappear again. The eighties were the only time in our history we have sustained a challenge over 2-3 seasons. Even that was on the back of total despair and the biggest fan protest in the club's history.

Now you've been around for a decade, expect to start turning all Scarlet O'Hara. The despair you feel today will disappear somewhere between the moment you nodded off and the moment you wake up and realise tomorrow is indeed another day.

Stick around, Jamie lad; when we do get our shit together, the joy is unfuckingbridled.

Nobody parties like the Evertonians.

Richarlison mopes and goes to ground like a spoilt kid. Less talk from him about goalscoring and more about actually doing it would be nice.

I was a big advocate of Silva this Summer but have been underwhelmed on the whole so far. Some better football, one good unbeaten run and seemingly a better calibre of player but way too much inconsistency. But I do believe, if we are to ever make progress, we will need to give a manager time.

We will never know for sure whether any manager will improve things over time (like Moyes did) or make things worse (like Martinez and Koeman did) but I'm still hopeful Silva will fall into the former bracket even if the signs of progress are less visible now than they were heading into the derby.

I have trust in Brands. The guy oozes common sense and football experience. If he backs Silva with more time to get a tune out of these players, then so do I. Our best run (pre-derby) came with a relatively settled team and formation. We had the busiest festive schedule of any Premier League team and I do believe he has had to rotate more than he'd like. Perhaps once the schedule calms we may see the consistency of selection and results return. There needs to be clearer signs in the second half of the season that we are heading upwards for sure.

The rot does run back to Kendall's departure in 1987, and was briefly erased under Joe Royle ("Bollocks to your dream final, lads").

Is it a surprise Kendall and Royle had good derby records and scored wins at Anfield? Both won trophies, beat superior opposition (on paper) – Man Utd hated playing us under Royle, whilst Kendall masterminded some terrific wins (remember he won 3-0 at Old Trafford with a poor side).

There seemed to be a pride, passion and "don't care who you are" attitude in their teams.

Since then, a succession of managers have overseen a culture of acceptance of our lot, which has fed a mental fragility.

I follow the live odds in games. When Everton go behind, the odds on them winning collapse. This is because our come-from-behind victories are very rare.

We have a very poor win ratio away from home. Then there is of course the mental block against the top 6 and the disastrous derby record spanning almost a decade!!

Profligacy in front of goal and poor decision-making is a further symptom of this fragility – seen this season against Brighton, West Ham Utd, Newcastle Utd, Watford, Man Utd, Man City.

In the latest display, Silva got his tactics wrong but, even so, we had the chances to take the lead. He also persists with Zonal Marking which continues to cost us goals.

Yet, once we went behind and he put on the cavalry, we could not (as is the case so often) turn it around.

Brands is being hailed by many. But he and Silva will have a tough time turning around our fortunes. They will need to find a way of reversing decades-old weaknesses that seeps through the club; those old failings which will hold us back from succeeding.

We should have had a back four with the Gana, Gomes, Sigurdsson diamond in midfield, sucking them in and getting the ball out wide fast.

I feel we have lost a bit of shape and coherence lately, with trying to squeeze 3 centre-backs into the team. It's a mistake, we look disjointed and ordinary because of it. Most of all, it negates our prowess going forward by seemingly negating the pace that Walcott and Richarlison have got and what they were bought for!

Finally, stop playing Richarlison as centre-forward! As good as he is, his pace and danger is wasted. Defenders struggle badly when he gets it out wide and is running with it and cutting in or crossing. He is young, inexperienced and a victim to the clever centre-backs of poor Premier League teams, getting held and kicked and beaten to headers. Play Calvert-Lewin from now on; if he doesn't measure up, get someone in who does. Even a loanee in the short term, because Tosun and Niasse are not the answer.

We need a striker of the Lukaku, Costa type, one who won't be bullied and can score 20+, with many goals out of nothing. We are missing it badly. Defences such as Brighton's are not put under stress, and have no fear of our attack — that's got to change.

Whilst it will be a pleasure to get sight of forgotten men like Jagielka and Baines, I, like many others, had rather hoped I had seen the last of Schneiderlin, Niasse and that dreadful goalie who should have been released two years ago!

Of course, were the very worse to happen, little blame could attach to the manager as he will have proved – if he needed to – that, below his 'first picks', the cupboard is bare. And, of course, it's the Premier League places that bring in the money for replacements, after all.

But you are right: when we do pop up from time to time and win something, it really is party time!

I know what Everton do to us, especially with the phoniest bastards in the land riding so high and already taking the piss (please god, let this be their downfall) but, as Darren says, we are fuckin Everton, so let's fight fire with fire and let's go and win the fucking FA Cup!

Yeah, rotation, very professional, very today's sport! Soon they'll be asking for an autumn break to go with those for summer and winter and any chance when there's an international tournament on?

So we have a combination of a new manager and half a new first team plus the same players from the last few seasons. This was always going to be a bumpy ride and I don't know why anyone would think it would be anything other than that!

Maybe Sigurdsson needed benching because he needed a rest, and maybe Silva has no option but to rotate the way he did given the high intensity of games. But, to rotate, we need strength in depth, which we don't have, and that will require more signings of expensive players.

People have said we've spent £200M and are still mid-table. But that's no surprise, is it? These days, £200M will have us treading water, even if the quality of football improves. To compete with the top 4, think 5 times £200M, which would give us a measure of player investment commensurate with the current top teams.

Unless we have a scale of investment like that, to make us one of the wealthiest clubs (like we were with the John Moores money), we're likely to remain mid-table, regardless of new management appointments and new players.

So, unless Usmanov or someone with comparable wealth comes on board, we have to set our expectations at remaining more or less where we are, with the usual ups and downs of a midtable club. There's no point in lamenting the rise of Liverpool under Klopp because their investment has been massive. It's as simple as that.

Pickford £30m
Keane £24m
Mina £23m*
Digne £17m*
Sigurdsson £45m
Richarlison £50m*
Walcott £27m
Tosun £27m
Bernard £9m*
Lookman £11m
Niasse £13m
Schneiderlin £24m
Gueye £7m
Zouma - loan*
Gomes - loan*

The 13 permanent signings listed above have cost £307m in transfer fees and including the loanees, I'd guess the above 15 players cost the club at least £60m a year in wages (this does not obviously include wages for the likes of Williams, Vlasic, Sandro and others).

So various managers over the last 3 years have spent over £300m on a squad of players who are struggling to keep pace with the likes of Leicester, Watford and Bournemouth – each of whom has spent a fraction of that amount. How is that possible?

In fact, over the last 5 seasons, we have spent a gross £400m on players. For those who prefer net spend – we have the 5th highest net spend in the Premier League over the last 5 years. More than Spurs and the RS (thanks mainly to Coutinho).

Most people believe the wage bill is a more accurate reflection of where a club should finish (wages correlate quite closely to final league position); for the 2018-19 season, Everton have the 7th highest wage bill. So we should be finishing 7th per our wages. So, whichever way you look at it, transfer fees or wages, this club is currently underperforming.

Time will tell whether Silva will perform as expected (ie, 7th) or not but, as a group, I think we should probably be resigned to the fact that we won't be breaking into the top 6 anytime soon. For that to happen, we need to perform well and hope one or two of the current top six have off-seasons – which is actually more likely than not... but, given we're not even managing the first part, the second becomes irrelevant.

First off, we need to perform well and improve our crap away record, currently just 9 points taken from a possible 30. We're only 2 points behind 7th but also only 2 in front of 13th. I fully expect West Ham to finish above us as they seem to be playing well now after a bad start. At this point in time, I really can't see us finishing much more than where we are now: 10th. We're just so inconsistent.

18 games to go and 5 are at home to top-six clubs. January is a really big month if we're serious about getting up the league as we have 4 relatively easy games. I just hope Silva also takes the FA Cup seriously so we have something to look forward to – 'cos it's not going to be the league.

Every year is a transition year for Everton – we're somehow special in that way as it doesn't count when other teams change manager and players. We're the only ones in transition so a shite season is allowed... Go figure.

My view on Silva hasn't changed. He's simply another Martinez and hasn't got the ability to work with what he's got. Why we chased him and paid £10m in compensation, I'll never know. Still, he's here now and probably will be next season.

Not true. For a long time under Moyes we had stability and proffered from it.

In the last 4 years, we have had 5 different managers (if you include Unsworth). Of course, that means that we have had lots of transition recently.

I think it's reasonable to allow a manager one season and a few transfer windows to implement their style and system. If we were 11th-14th in the league midway in Silva's second season then I'd be among those calling for his head. As it is, I think he (or someone) needs to be given some time and stability.

Every season (since Moyes) we've been in ‘transiton'. It's a bollocks statement really for the very reason that hardly any club has a manager for more than 2 or 3 seasons these days so technically ¾ of the league are in ‘transition' every season. A decent manager works with what they've got and tries to add to it rather than trying to build Rome in a day.

The list put down shows we've spent a fortune on our first team recently and a decent manager should be able to get them playing better and at least being super fit. There are some really good players in that list so it's a head-scratcher why we're not doing better. I was gutted when the RS appointed Klopp as he's the exact type of person we need IMO. A manager the players are willing to run through a brick wall for, not just go through the motions.

If our players put in a shift every game, we'd be on many more points. Now you may point the finger at the players but it's the manager's job to motivate them and also bring in ones who'll work well under them.

I wasn't impressed with Silva's appointment (never mind the manner) and I'm yet to be convinced. Granted he's only been here since the summer but he's had half a season already and half the first team are his signings. He can't complain about lack of money so it's the old ‘bad luck' story being repeated (already).

I fully expect to finish mid-table this season, so I'm not expecting much anyway. Btw, you use the range 11th to 14th as a guide; you do realise we're only 10th on goal difference?

If Sílva takes the FA Cup seriously, he'll have an easy route to winning the fans over.

Ah I see. You have stepped out of your De Lorean straight from May 1987, sporting a mullet and a copy of Shoot! magazine.

Well, I will try and break it down what has happened in the intervening years your intrepid time-travelling has skipped:

Trophies - 1

Away Record - pitiful.

Record of coming back from a goal down - not very good.

Number of managers in last 5 years: 4.

Silva might have got his tactics wrong yesterday, sure. We are having a mediocre season, agreed. Our ambitions are not being met, no quibble.

However, save the exclamation mark hysteria for a time when he and Brands have had at least a couple of windows to address the deep-seated problems that have existed under this and several different coaching teams.

You're right that too many teams change managers quickly in this league though you'll notice that the top 3 teams have all had their managers in for 3 years at least. Perhaps that's why they are top?

I should imagine that all those other teams do also think that they are in transition if they are in the first year of a new manager. Maybe that's why results are so difficult to predict currently with ‘rubbish' Burnley currently walking all over up-and-coming West Ham and Cardiff beating Leicester away yesterday.

I'm fully aware of our position in the table and goal difference. We could easily be 11th to 14th next week. If that's still the case a year from now, then I'll likely be on the "Silva Out" wagon but, for me, it's early days still and I've seen just about enough to nourish my dwindling optimism.

I hurt just as much as any lifelong Bluenose when we lose and this season will undoubtedly have more ups and downs. It doesn't help with the RS beating everyone but it shows how close we were to them to only lose to a flukey goal and they are beating Man Utd and Arsenal by big margins while we were never in danger against them until that cock-up.

I hope Silva is learning as well as the players because, unless we went and got a world class manager (and let's face it, would they come to us anyway?) which is what the RS did with Klipperty, we need to give him time and not expect miracles in his first season. It may be painful for us supporters but it's better than having Fat Sam in the dugout, for which we must be grateful.

It should not be used as a single justification for poor performances and results. Similarly, it should not be used as a means to berate those who legitimately post we are in a club in transition.

A football club and individual posters are not exempt from life and the laws of nature: everything is constantly in transition. It is a never-ending process.

You have to be a very unforgiving Blue if you wish to attribute to Silva and Brands nearly 3 decades of poor governance, finances, transfer policy, and personnel at the club, barely half a year into their stewardship.

You can extend that to Moshiri who, in his 3 years, has clearly invested time and money in trying to turn the Good Ship Everton around from the vortex is was being sucked into.

Have Moshiri's managerial appointments and player purchases all been successful? Clearly not. But he is swift in taking action when things are not working. If Silva proves not to be an improvement on Koeman and Allardyce, for sure, he will also get his P45.

For me, it is totally legitimate to express some tolerance and a call for patience this season, as so many posters are willing to do. That does not necessarily equate to passive acceptance of poor performances and results, as some wish to oversimplify it.

Again for me, it is way, way too premature to call for Silva's head as some are starting to do. All the more so when you read some proposed replacements:

David Moyes??? Either you have no pride as an Evertonian, or you really don't know your (very recent) history.

Eddie Howe??? Take a look at Bournemouth's recent results: since the start of November. Their form has been worse than ours – P 10, W 2 (home wins to Huddersfield and Brighton) D 0, L 8, F 8, A 22.

Yeah, that works, I guess...

So come on, Amit, tell us when your patience will run out, after how many performances like Saturday, Watford, Spurs, Newcastle – how many times do the tactics have to be wrong? Or is it just punctuation you have a problem with? Sorry, perhaps I should have typed, "with which you have a problem".

Only three years ago, people on here were laughing at Klopp, with his dropped points at home, saluting the Kop after the 1-1 against WBA, etc. They're top because they let him stick to his guns and he bought and sold well.

Silva can't be responsible for our recent history, but he can help himself more, by sticking to a settled team, playing Richarlison in the right position and by doing the two things I like about Klopp – giving the team an identity and sense of purpose that shines through for 96 minutes.

I'll give Silva two seasons. He's being backed and we'll know by then. I can't think of a manager that inherited an imbalanced rabble of a squad and turned it around in months, other than Joe Royle, who then couldn't sustain it. He also proved that getting the best out of a badly-managed half decent squad is easier than improving one beyond the top six. Interestingly, he gave the team an identity and sense of purpose.

A few weeks ago, this site was full of bravado, the team was taking shape. You can acknowledge a very poor run of form without wanting Silva's head.

Klopp took over a Liverpool team that was still top 4 and every few years got into a final and actually won stuff before. Silva took over an Everton team with very few finals, 1 in 20 odd years. And no trophies. Yet must be fired so soon for not winning???

This will take time; hang on for the ride.

Harry Catterick ?! 2 league titles, 1 FA Cup and 1 Runners Up. Finished outside the top 6 once in the 60s (1966) in an era when there were sides of top quality throughout the division. No wonder he's considered the forgotten great of British managers. His clubs own supporters don't seem to know what he achieved.

As for the present, you only have to look at West Ham and Leicester weekend results to see we are in a bunch of clubs who are as capable of winning three on the spin as losing them. A list of also-rans vying for a place in the top six having spent hundreds of millions of pounds. This is as good as it's likely to get.

Marco Silva can do worse that show his team that match.

Commitment, purpose and intensity cost nothing. Silva should have them showing all three every game.

Premier League football is no longer allowed to be like that. It is just about Fancy Dans (of which Richarlison is one) falling over at the slightest touch. I doubt we will see the likes of yesterday's Old Firm game here again.

Chris, unfortunately I think you are right,

The other major factor was the home support which was also incredible and fuelled even more by the players' obvious passion. Oh, for Everton to show some of that.

Slippy's done well up here to be honest. Just did the simple thing of creating a spine in the team. Of course, the pressure will hit him next season, when they'll demand trophies.

If Marco Silva can get some of that steel into us, we would improve dramatically, I am sure.

It's a classic!

I love the way the Ranger's player repeatedly bounces on his feet before the ball is dropped, like a prize fighter facing off against his opponent when the ref calls them together before the opening bell.

Ding! Ding!

Rangers, on the other hand, played to their absolute max and thoroughly deserved the win. Hopefully it's the kick in the arse some of the players need.

Was that Scott Brown taking the drop ball? How old is he?

That dude is hard core.

That drop ball was brilliant. If soccer was played like that, it might even get some traction with NFL Americans! Hockey on feet!

Rangers hadn’t beat Celtic in like 2000+ days. Was bound to happen eventually. More’s the pity.

Calvert-Lewin should have started and Walcott should have been hooked, not Bernard.

When Niasse (who is a trier) is brought on to try and save the game and Tosun is not on the bench, we know we have real problems up front.

Up to the derby match, we looked like we could compete with any team, a view again backed up by a plethora of ToffeeWeb posts at the time. However, on the face of it, one cock-up in the final minute of the derby match has possibly fucked up the whole of December, apart from the Burnley match.

In December, we played 7, won 1, drew 2 and lost 4, scoring 11 and conceding 15. That's fairly shite, especially compared with looking like we could compete with any team.

I don't think Everton have a problem with players giving 100%. There are plenty of instances where players have been shite but come off the pitch knackered and soaked in sweat. I think the problem with Everton is belief.

I don't think we have belief. The entire club, including many of the supporters, don't believe we can achieve anything with what we have. We always hope and believe that success will come at some unspecified time in the future. The idea of 'jam tomorrow' seems to infect us like a plague.

Up until the derby match, there was, temporarily, some belief that we could compete with anyone. But that belief evaporated in the face of a set-back. We'll never compete at the top, we'll remain midtable, unless we have belief.

Silva started out looking like he believed we could beat anybody, and it seemed that the players and many of us believed it too. Now, it looks like there's little or no belief left. Well, it's the same team and manager that was here before December, so in principle we should be able to do now what we were doing then.

Does anyone remember the half Celtic/Rangers and Liverpool/Everton bobble hats in the '80s?

I think the look on Silva's face, shows that he's aware of this, so I'm sure there will be a lot of work being done behind the scenes to rectify this major and obvious problem.

Remember Mystic Meg? She made us believe! But Royle had a very committed team, even though I've always felt that belief comes through because of pride.

Morgan Feeney.

Once upon a time in a derby, the physical nature of such a game levelled up the playing field (to an extent). Nowadays, you can't even fart without someone going to ground or drawing a free-kick. Players like Neymar have set the tone as they see football as a non-contact sport. The less physical the sport, the harder to match the more technically gifted.

On saying that, our record against the ‘big six' is still fucking shocking.

Although we were failing in front of goal, we were taking sides apart in midfield, and in this way rattling the top-6 (and making various people like Liverpool supporters take notice). To me, in that position we just have to stay the course (keep on keeping on, so to speak), and not get waylaid by setbacks which we simply need to forget about.

We do have the players to compete with the top-6, but not the strength in depth to do so consistently or have any 'good chance' of winning trophies, especially given the high intensity pressing these days. For example, we need a backup to the likes of Sigurdsson, who surely cannot sustain the levels of intensity he's shown this season.

But that strength in depth can be developed, firstly by doing what Brands has indicated and keeping faith with the developing talent, and secondly by new signings in the summer and subsequent transfer windows.

In short, we have the ability now to compete with some force, without relying on 'jam tomorrow', but surely cannot do so if we cave in at every setback.

To be honest, I'm a bit tired of the old chestnuts of the disallowed Hamilton goal, the Heysel ban, gamesmanship from the RS, etc as contributors to our demise. We make our own luck in the broad scheme of things, and most of it is down to us, not to others.

Confidence will help the players believe, we desperately need a run of 3 or 4 wins to build the confidence levels back up. As you stated, the derby sapped probably more than any of us realised at the time.

After winning so handsomely at Burnley, I was disappointed and surprised by the Brighton result and performance because I really thought we would win.

A few posters have commented that our support was unusually quiet for an away game, perhaps that was a factor. On a thread last season, I stated that the support at Goodison Park needs to be more vocal and a number of people said the team needs to earn the support by entertaining us. Whilst I can see that particular point, I don't necessarily agree because, to me, the support can be a major factor in lifting the team and helping them to believe. Goodison Park remains quiet (although better than last season), despite the team being more entertaining, so I stand by my point about support.

I don't know the answer and there is no doubt that Marco Silva has his work cut out. We as supporters can help, though, by being more vocal; how we actually instigate that is another issue though.

3 games in a week even with fan rotation takes it toll.

Onwards and upwards (we need a winter break).

It was pure spirit of Everton and wonderful to see, despite the fuck up. I don't care about the result, we outplayed them for long stretches and that is what matters and what we need to hold on to.

We must not lose our nerve because of those fuckers, who wet themselves when they beat us freakishly. I promise you: they will not win the Premier League, Man City are better than them; we are on the rise.

Above all, we must get behind the team at Goodison. I was one of four left on our Park End row against Tottenham by the end. The singing and atmosphere are terrible. Wake up, everyone, for God's sake.

The home support at the moment is woeful and we're much, much better than that. I think it will make a 10-point difference if we support them loudly from the start, however slow and shit they seem to be. If they won't lift us, then we must lift them.

Anyway, I am sure the future is bright with this man. Back him; hold steady.

I haven't heard a dickie bird from the reds I know, and that is very unusual after a derby. They haven't even commented about the cock-up at the end, probably because of the goalkeeping cock-ups they've had. There are a lot of them, and neutrals, who were gobsmacked by that derby performance, and we need to realise that.