Brighton & Hove Albion vs Everton

I hope that is the case, as he would be a major loss, as David @1, mentioned he is a decent goal threat from corners, and has been unlucky with some good headers being saved.

I also agree that we should be able to replace anyone in the squad through injury, but we don't have a ready made replacement for Mina, heightwise, or at set pieces, hypothetically had Zouma still been with us, it would lessen the loss.

He actually is suited to Brighton now who like to play on the ground. Mina is great in the air but Mason can get the jockeying in and move the ball through space.

That plays to his strengths as has acceleration and pace. Despite his other flaws it may well work out okay.

Of course perhaps our attack will help take some pressure off the D as well.

Apparently, he has been working on his English.

(Surely that's vital for a central defender, to be able to talk with those around him ?).

Makes Me wonder how many of our players, staff & manager aren't fluent in a common dressing room language. I mean, Marco isn't exactly as fluent as Roberto Martinez, is he ?.

I'd rashly assumed that this would be a nailed on certainty. How naive of Me, or how naive of multi million pound Everton PLC ?
Or.
Is this the "Injury" that so many of our incoming players suffer from ?

Hope that Yerry is fit for Saturday. He's definately going to score soon. Maybe Marco needs to set him a 12 goal this season target like HK did with Degsy ?

As posters have mentioned I am sure Holgate will fit in comfortably

One good thing that may come out of this is that hopefully one of the youngsters will be on the bench - been calling for it forever! Which can only be beneficial to the Club and the lad.

Apart from Holgate same starting lot as last week please

Link

At the start of the video, you can see Mina walking out with Anthony Gordon, then in the background jogging lightly with the rest of the team in a warm-up. He is also seen briefly doing some gentle stretches.

What you don't see is him participating in the game practice, whereas you do see four other centre backs hard at it: Keane, Holgate, Gibson and Feeney.

Would he get in any of the top 6 teams squads? I doubt it

I'd rather see Gibson who's a highly rated prospect. And giving him game time might persuade him to stay rather than we lose him for free

Holgate is NOT our future. Gibson might be

So yes, he's doing some training... but perhaps not enough for selection? Only time will tell.

Like many have indicated too, I hope if there are to be changes, that is the only one forced on us. This won't be an easy game but is certainly winnable if we play anything like last Saturday.

Edit: unless you simply meant make the 18 as a sub, in which case you're correct

So many Everton managers have risked semi fit players in the past and guess what they rarely perform to the max and often pull others on the team to do a bit extra to cover them. It's detracts from everyone's game, often wasting a substitution.

Many say a ‘half fit so and so' is better than a 'fully fit whosyafather' That applies to Messi and Ronaldo not big Yegsy Mina dog. The lad despite being a behemoth has an indifferent injury record. Just trust Holgate and get a simple message into him and build him up.

Managers mostly go...unless they have no option and are forced to...with what and who they know. Rumsfeld's 'known knowns' Vs 'known unknowns'. So much so, that some will pick a player totally out of position, to play just because they 'trust' him - Moyes, Hibbert, back 4, Vs City.

In my opinion, Silva is much more likely to go with Holgage than Gibson...even though its a risk, both are, up to a point risks. Having Gibson next to Keane might, in the short term, make the latter concentrate better, give him some responsability.

If it was up to me Gibson would be in - you learn by doing. I remember Labone telling Kenyon where to stand for corners, just as, a dozen or so years previously, he was no doubt being told by T.E. Jones...and so it goes.

Alexander #10, interesting speculation -- so some of our new boys might have missed time due to tongue injuries?

Our central defence has been a complete shambles all season. we have conceded more than any other club anywhere from corners and free kicks.
Tomorrows opponents (many peoples favorites to go down) have conceded less.
The much ridiculed Man U defence has conceded less.
Sheffield United have conceded SIX goals less.

You guys are worried about Holgate ????. . How the fuck do you think he feels ? He's being asked to step into this car crash and he will do so in the certain knowledge that the "Experts" who seem oblivious to what has gone on all season, will be ready to jump on his first misplaced pass.

Holgate turns 23 this week. That means the few chances he has had were given to him at an most center halves are not even considered.

It's a monumental ask to expect a young center half to step in for his first EPL game in nearly a year especially given the wretched record of the regulars. . but you know what ? I trust him far more than I trust the judgement of these beauts who are so readily writing him off.

What sort of a club are we ? five games EPL games at center half since he was barely twenty. . and instead of roaring him on with encouragement. The lighthouse loving avit merchants cant wait to write him off

You need to stop speaking for everyone else mate.

Tom Davies being a massive upgrade on Scheiderlin may have surprised you. . but be assured, it didnt surprise "us".

This incredibly naive, but wide spread, belief, that expensive foreigners, with exotic sounding names are always a the better option to a youngster who came through the ranks but cost nothing, drives me nuts.

Expensive flops used to be seen as a negative.

This is another important game because we must correct our away form. As far as I am concerned, though, there is no going back after last Saturday.

We must keep playing in that style and with that commitment. If we do, we will, as a minimum, be one of the most entertaining sides in the League

It will be interesting watching one of the best pressing teams (us) against one of the most press-resisting teams (them).

Silva needs to show he has learned, that he has improved and that he is the man to take us forward.

Our away form is miserable and should be considered as one of the major flaws of Silva's Everton. Beating West Ham at home? Even under Smith those 3 points were pretty much a given.

So another 3 points, Davies and Iwobi keeping their places for sure. Although despite a decent performance, I'd take out Walcott and put Kean on the right (swapping with Rich). Holgate in the centre with Gibson or Feeney on the bench (none of this defensive midfielder as back up centre back malarkey)

I would love to see more of Delph and Gomes together. Especially if we have to play Holgate who hasn't had much match practice in a while. Maybe this game isn't the one, allow Delph a bit longer to recover, but I reckon they are a strong combination

I would love to see more of Delph and Gomes together. Especially if we have to play Holgate who hasn't had much match practice in a while. Maybe this game isn't the one, allow Delph a bit longer to recover, but I reckon they are a strong combination

This game will present a completely different set of challenges to the West Ham game. A hostile crowd and a team ready to scrap for everything is exactly the kind of test Silva should be releshing, the loss of Mina won't help, but his job will be to motivate the squad to go out and attack as we did in the last game, it will be fascinating to see if there really has been a serious revival.

Silva should be full of confidence, he has the full backing of the owner with little pressure being applied by Moshiri who seems to be completely behind Marco and is willing to give him a lot more time than most of us fans would ever dream of.

Tom Davies has his flaws like every player but what he does better than all of our other midfielders is that he moves the play forward. It's so obvious when he plays compared to the sideways and backwards from the others.

If Delph or Schneiderlan are included we will naturally sit deeper as a team.

This game is between the 2 managers. On paper we have better players in most departments. With the right attitude and tactics we should be hopeful of a win though we all know the game isn't played on paper and that the manager has a tendancy to self destruct when we concede set pieces around the box.

Darren @24 I actually think the defence as a unit in open play have been good this year. The defensive coaching at corners and free kicks is embarrassing. At this level players do what they are told the don't follow instinct.

Certainly this game will answer a lot of these questions, as I fear if we lose tomorrow and other results go against us then our next home game becomes yet another must win game.

I would respectfully suggest that thats all this club has ever done is look at up and coming managers. This club is littered with such appointments even going back to Catterick whose Sheffield Wednesday side were runners up in the league. To Mike Walker who had 1 very good season with Norwich, Howard Kendall was doing well with Blackburn. Gordon Lee did well with Nottingham forest. But despits having Moores millions despite having the chances we didnt get one of the stella managers that were about. So no Clough, Robson or Revie who had all won trophies instead we went for managers who had won nothing, but might come good in a club with money.

At this moment in time, regardless of his age, experience and potential, the lad can't defend.
He may well go on to be a top centre half, who knows.
The issue is the here and now.

Keane and Mina together prevents us from playing a high line, which we did with Zouma. I prefer Mina to Keane simply because he is better on the ball; it would be interesting to see him given a chance to partner Holgate for a run of games when he returns to fitness. That would of course require Silva to pick him. His reluctance to pick the young players when the seasoned pros have been poor has been one of the many reasons why he is in trouble still.

Also beyond belief is the old chestnuts we see on ToffeeWeb: He wouldn't get into a top 6 side. Only one or two would get into a top 6 side. I'll just give my opinion on the question of how many of our first team would get into a top 6 side: Probably all of them.

Folks seem to miss the idea of a player gelling or not gelling into a system, and the fact that the top 6 sides habitually sign good but not top players and make them look better, and sometimes top, players by fitting into a well-functioning system.

I wouldn't disagree with keeping him in, but I thought he was caught forwards too often.

Coleman will be so frustrated. Keep him on the bench for one more week then watch him fly in the cup!!

I didn't speak for everyone else, "mate."

Though I do truly appreciate you then moving on to declaring somehow that I prefer high-priced foreigners or whatever shit it was you wrote. So you can get inside my head and know what I'm thinking? Impressive trick, that! Guess what I'm thinking right this very second then.

Lastly, if you think that Davies performance was anything BUT a surprise then you must have a very limited exposure to most Everton fan sites, blogs, YouTube channels, and the like.

I didn't say he couldn't have that kind of performance, I said it was a surprise. Maybe switch to decaf and find your reading glasses. Davies had his best game in terms of not turning the ball over, at taking the ball away, and pass completion percentage. THE BEST. And I loved it! A "pleasant surprise" if you will.

Go rant at someone else, I'm the wrong tree for your little barking noises.

I'm fed up with the “top six” crap as well. Who are the top six now? Does it include United? If so, most of our side would get a game. Only City and the RS are immune to some of our boys staking a claim.

My fear exactly. That because Mina may be out, Silva reverts to his tendency to be safe, and we get Schneiderlin as a result. My personal preference as I've stated consistently, is that I want the exact same team, minus Mina if he can't go of course.

What I'd then like to see is something Silva hasn't shown us yet; having a plan B or an ability to make proactive adjustments if and only if gameplay dictates. Let these guys start and if it doesn't work, then bring in a replacement or 2.

I always want to see us finish as high up the table as possible but that is not always possible as long as we always play good attacking football the results will hopefully come.

Give Silva the time to build his team. Look at how many years we gave Moyes even though he won nothing we remained in the Top League even if our final position fluctulated over the seasons.

Got to be patient. It has only been 9 games.

Proven winners more or less guarantee a certain level of success.

I do think that if Moshiri was deadly serious about us challenging in the same way the the City owners are then he would have tried to appoint a marquee manager.

Money talks and always has. Go and get the best manager and pay top wages and surprise surprise we will start climbing the table and contending for trophies. Banking on potential in coaches and players will only get you so far.

I'll pose this Q here as well. Why would a top-flight manager with proven success, CL pedigree, etc. come to Everton?

City picked Hughes to put a prem foundation in place paying well over the odds for players like Rodwell and Lescott. Mancini came in as the proven winner. It's not rocket science.

Why did Guardiola end up at city or Mourinho at Chelsea or Utd.
LVG, Conte, Ancelotti,Mancini, Benitez, Emery all came over for a massive pay day and chance to compete.

If Moshiri is serious about owning a club that competes he has to dig a lot deeper into his pockets otherwise it looks like we are more of an investment than status symbol to him.

We have arguably the best league in the world with the best players. Any top manager would want to test himself given the right platform.

They both lose concentration and that is a mental thing not something you can coach technically. They are both rightsided players too which I feel will leave Digne a bit exposed.

Lets hope the team can lift their performance again and compensate for it.

So you're suggesting a manager who regularly competes, and likely gets into, a European spot will want to come here to...do what exactly? Take another 2-3 years to do what we all want?

I'll reiterate what I mentioned in another thread; every great manager is built, not born. The example I used was Kloppe. Dortmund took a chance on an unproven commodity, only 2 seasons removed from him getting Mainz relegated. He became a very good manager there, and well, we all know where he is now.

Everton cannot compete with the bigger clubs. Not for players, not for managers. When thinking of those teams, they all have money and aspiration. The climb from good-to-great is much easier on the Continent than it is in the EPL. Frustrating? Absolutely. Fact? Also absolutely.

I think it was Steve F who also correctly pointed out that even if we could attract such a manager, how much more of Moshiri's money would it take to further build out the squad? He doesn't have a bottomless pit of money to spend on his investment, doubly so when you consider the plans for the new stadium.

Like it or not, we are a club that needs to find a Kloppe circa 2008, a diamond-in-the-rough if you will. The fact that it seems as though we have failed to do so doesn't mean we have to stop trying.

All that aside, which manager or managers do you believe would come here and win within 2 years?

What does the duration of time I've been posting here have to do with anything?

Lastly, I've been clamoring for Davies to be in the squad over Morgan since matchday 1. Like some of your brethren here, you seem to have mastered the straw man argument. I'll break it into simple words for you: me saying Davies was a pleasant surprise does not mean I think Morgan should play over him. That sounds like a 3-pints deep argument, when perhaps your faculties aren't the sharpest.

Now, do you get that?

Moyes was us going down the leagues for a young coach. Koeman was us trying to go with what we thought was an elite manager with experience in overseas leagues and a winner.

Silva I suppose is a combination. He is regarded in some quarters as a future star (like Roberto and Moyes once were) but is also a winner abroad (like Koeman and Smith).

It is a bizarre trend that our trophy winning coaches in the last 50 or 60 years were all former players...

Hypothetically if we unearthed the best new manager who came to manage our squad full of internationals we could compete with the addition of more firepower.

Realistically to compete in the prem you have to spend more than anyone else on quality in playing staff and coaching. Only Leicester have bucked that trend and probably only Leicester and Notts Forest have done it in my lifetime.

I can say that Holgate is good and capable, Davies too. The manager I am still out on. My view as just a fan.

But I also suggest the sun may come up tomorrow but suspect Darren, the troll without Twitter, may disagree.

Cue..."the sun did not on Feb 29 1932 as I pointed out and you ignored on 6 Oct 2017"!

Sport? Comararderie? Mutual respect?

For 99% of us yeah...the 99% I speak for..
you consistently think skinned and aggressive troll.

Barred? Soon!

You've been pulled for being high on ill informed opinion and low on knowledge and you counter it with a dazzlingly intelligent response where you label matchgoers as people with their heads in the sand.

Guess what - Looks over both shoulders to ensure nobody else hears. . . The match goers have internet too. . PC's, Lap tops, Phones . . everything. I even saw one fella on Youtube

I mastered the straw man argument when you were in short kecks lad. You havent quite grasped the meaning of the term yet.

Claiming you were calling for Davies to play, then claiming you were "surprised" when he played well, sounds more like the ramblings of a bleedin idiot than the opinion of knowledgeable, socially interactive, skilled debater.

See ya

So who might you be thinking of? Ideally someone who wouldn't completely change our current style and/or players? That alone would set us back years again.

Mark #68 you bring an interesting colour to ToffeeWeb!
"a 3-pints deep argument"!

What happened to #65?

Otherwise, when talking EFC with rational supporters who don't overuse the exclamation key, I've gotten to have a great many intelligent, polite discussions. Ban me? You're well within your right to flag my posts but be sure to point out what rules or guidelines I've broken.

Re: Davies, again I'll reiterate that just because one utterly dismisses sources other than TW or the pub, doesn't mean those thoughts carry any less weight than yours (or anyone's for that matter). It's called variety. Davies surprised ME, despite my wanting him to play from the get-go, half in part because I don't rate Morgan at all. It is also worth at least acknowledging that he did have his best game, ever for him.

Apologies if I've been thin-skinned. It's been an abysmal month for me trying to land a job, and my stress level is through the roof.

Cheers

Perhaps it's worth thinking about if push came to shove that an top manager could make an impact (without needing their hand held) and Brands could focus on getting the rest of the footballing operation up to speed? I think the academy and u23 need reshaping to ensure players are more easily integrated into first team life; same systems etc.

Marco is still very much deep in it for me. He has to string together a very good run of results without consecutive defeats which often under him habitually snowball out of control.

Mark #80 I'm not sure it's you that Dermot is having a pop at.

Sorry yes Lee came from Newcastle not Forest. I know we made attempts to get Revie and Robson but my point was we didnt get them. The man we should have got was Clough but Moores wasnt brave enough. But I still stand by my original comment this club never has appointed the best that money could buy.

Dermot, if I did misinterpret who you were speaking to, my apologies again. Mea culpa.

I was about to post a similar comment to yours.

I take it your comment ‘dazzlingly intelligent', was tongue in cheek.

Mark (various) stop ‘nitpicking'.

On the bright side, and getting back on topic, perhaps there will be a managerial spot opening up soon and I could apply there! I'd cost a lot less, that's for certain!

COYB

Onwards and upwards!

Holgate will do just fine for me... One of the most technically gifted defenders for me and I would like to see him given a run (With Mina preferably)

Watching brief for me. I was still very impressed. You'll have a lot of fun with this fella this season.

As you say. The winner looks very smart

By the way, if people want 'savage', they may want to check out some of our exchanges over Martinez back in the day. Though I suspect neither of us lost any sleep over them.

Holgate will do just fine. Brighton aren't Burnley. He may even be better for us as he's quicker than Mina or Keane.

Lewis Gibson - How many of you shouting for him have seen him? And for how ever many minutes? I've seen a bit of him and he's done well, but he's far from ready. I'd be scared for the lad if he started tomorrow.

Brighton - completely different team to last season. But let's face facts, they will be in the bottom 6. They're exactly the kind of side I would pick for us to play away from home. Villa or Sheff Utd are too physical and play men behind the ball and we struggle with that. Brighton play football and should go toe to toe with us and that's what silva wants. Bournemouth are the same and they beat us, so it's no guarantee, but if I had to pick an away game for us to play next and we had to win, it's Brighton away as my first choice.

Season back on track - if we win against Brighton, reversing last seasons win, then we are one point up on the corresponding fixtures from last season. So, we can build from there and if we then beat Watford on Tuesday then we should be full of confidence for the Spurs game. Hopefully it is still the right time to play them.

Past managers who won trophies before getting the Everton job - Walter Smith won something like 6 SPL's, Bobby Martinez won the Cup, Koeman won 3 or 4 Dutch Leagues, Silva won the Greek League, the Portuguese Cup and the Supercup. I note most people's opinions on that lot. But let's just use Waldo's words and say ALL have been “disappointing”.

Our away form - it's the same under silva as it has been for a long time. That is poor for sure. But it's been going on a long side. We're a home team and have been since I was a kid.

Silva is meant to be best as an away manager. His famous results before Everton all came in away games. This is because of his fast counter attacking teams. You might not think you've seen enough of it, and I wouldn't disagree at all. But I hope Silva can start to show it starting on Saturday. I thought we pressed brilliantly against bournemouth before losing our way. More of that but with better, quality passing and a tempo as high as last week is what we need. And yes, gotta keep the winning side.

I'm 55 years old and my experience tells me that if we're thinking of anything other than a win against the likes of Brighton, we should pack it all in.

I imagine Brighton will look to eek out a result so not expecting a classic. Result all that matters so hoping the team can bring back some point(s) to GP.

Just hope the team is set up the same as last weekend and we don't revert to type.

MARCO - DON"T CHANGE A WINNING TEAM.

If that terrible scenario unfolds, one can only hope that some of our youth will fight harder, rather than hang their heads and disappear.

Rob, above. I want Kean to open his account so badly. Nothing would be better than a jolt of energy after he comes on as a sub, to win the game of course.

As ever we need to score first and hopefully early. Not very good to spend so much money and not be strong favourites for this.

Last week was the turning point but backing it up is the real test, I'm looking ahead to Watford and wondering if Silva will play his strongest team or bring in the likes of Kean.

His level of shitiness is all down to perception he reckons!

Derek @111 If someone had scissors up my nose, I'd say whatever he wanted me to say.

I can only hope this may be the case, BUT only if he pretty much plays with an unchanged side, unless Mina has to be replaced, make that the only change!

Brian @110, I will check that out, but not being a Schneiderlin aficionado, nothing would surprise me with him.

Derek @111, your barber isn't a Brighton supporter is he? :-)

We did NOT "press brilliantly against bournemouth before losing our way" as you describe it.

We had a good opening five minutes and were then overran and out fought for the rest of the first half, being extremely fortunate to go in at half time on level terms thanks to DCL's excellent header.

We then had a good 20 minutes at the start of the second half, meekly conceded two goals and reverted to being rancid and ragged.

Bournemouth's 3-1 win remains their solitary home win this season, only one of TWO home wins in the entirety of 2019 (the other being v Spurs as they were distracted by the CL).

Yes, Everton has for too long been poor on the road. But it is part of Silva's remit to address.

Earlier this week I posted something similar to Paul Tran's thinking @ 108: in an ideal scenario I would welcome us going a goal down at Brighton as long as we got up to win.

We need to get those twin monkies off our backs: never winning in 22 PL games under Silva having conceded the first goal; winning away.

The longer we carry those burdens, the heavier they get.

Yerry Mina has just posted:

“All smiles heading into tomorrow's game.”

Does this mean he's fit and playing? As I said reading far too much into a social media post!

Btw the King Yerald name always makes me laugh, though we don't see much of that on TW.

The weather looks horrid, and Brighton isn't far away as much as I know about English geography. Will it be a soggy bog tomorrow, and to what extend will that neutralize our pace & passing?

While it certainly felt like that, it appears his margin between wins v losses is about a silk's thread of difference in favour of the wins.

I have always advocated that I want Everton to win, preferably accompanied with a decent display, and I can reluctantly accept a loss IF, we have genuinely been outplayed by a better side on the day, OR, we have been on the receiving end of poor decisions and disallowed goals. NOT by a meek and paltry display by players who look like they've never played together before.

If you disagree about how we pressed against Bournemouth, then that's your opinion. I'm entitled to mine. We pressed brilliantly.

Derek you were factually inaccurate.

The best "funny" name I've seen this year was Dominic Carabao-Lewin, that one killed me.

When a team is not gelling, it's players look far more ordinary than when the team gels well. We have very good players, some of whom would easily grace too sided, it's just that they need organising effectively.

Half of them of already left according to the commentary, but then again I could be 'factually inaccurate'. :-)

Curious as to which players on Liverpool are only good, or I guess worse than ours? Or City.

Don't get me wrong, I have no good things to say about either team (especially since one of my best pals is a die-hard RS supporter), but I am legitimately curious as to your thoughts.

" Nurse my sedation needs topping up ". :-)

I'm a big fan of science, ideas and innovation. I use them in my work. They should be done as an add-on to organisation and motivation, rather than instead of them. Far too many coaches/managers try to be too clever and then sell the idea that they 'cant' get the players to understand their great master plans.

It's a fundamental part of the role that is far too often overlooked.

But he's meant to be a good coach. He went to the Jose Mourinho finishing school at Chelsea and learnt the Portuguese's methods on analysing the opposition. If I recall correctly, he was in charge of that after AVB left, or maybe that was the other way round. He also coached the youth side. Nothing about his philosophy was old fashioned or simple. Not unless you're saying he has had a complete turnaround at Celtic and then Leicester. But his beliefs seemed too deep rooted for that.

Whereas after nearly a season and a half of Silva we've only gone backwards. But hey Steve Ferns and Digne think he's mustard so I'll sleep well tonight.

Thanks for answering and explaining in earnest. I will respectfully disagree with most, but I admire your devotedness to our guys!

See Steve, when you come back with 'the fact' that we've won more tackles in the opposition third than any other side in the PL under Silva as some kind of - defence? proof of Silva's what, exactly? (I genuinely don't know if it proves anything) - to me it undermines your credibility.

The sum result this season of our superior tackling in the final 3rd that excites you so much (and of course, we don't know the context in which said tackles were made) is a failure to score in 5 of our 9 PL games. Indeed, DCL's goal at Bournemouth remains our solitary goal in four PL away games this season.

And to correct you. I didn't describe at all the manner in which we 'pressed' at
Bournemouth.

I - very accurately, I believe - recalled the 5 and 20 minute spells at the start of each half in which we held the upper hand.

I would certainly not describe it as you do, that we pressed 'brilliantly'. There really was nothing exceptional about those fleeting moments of ascendancy. Together, they amounted to less than a third of the game and did not result in a flurry of goal scoring opportunities.

As always Steve the issue is not about denying you your right to express your opinion and perceptions of how a game played out. It's how you present your views and always inflate, distort and sandbag them to present Silva in as favourable a light as possible.

We were largely rancid and insipid at Bournemouth and one of the enduring memories of the game was not of our league-high tackling in the final 3rd, but rather - as the manager himself stated post-match - the number of times we lost not just the 1st ball, but the 2nd, 3rd and 4th ball also. That was uttered by Silva himself.

The poor tackling was also the catalyst of Fabian Delph's memorable on-pitch "you're all friggin shite" meltdown even though he was as culpable as anyone.

Lucky for us that was 5 games ago and featured 5 starters who god willing will not be starting tomorrow.

Leicester are currently everything that I wish Everton were, fast pacy incisive fluid football, players that don't fluff their lines in front of goal, a striker that scores bags of goals (who we should have bid every penny of the £75 million we got for Lukaku in 2017 for).

I say good luck to Leicester, they are a club that is moving forward, it's a forward thinking club that has recruited well and is owned by people that seem to understand football.

You are entitled to your opinion. But on and on you will go because you do not accept my right to have an opinion. And no doubt there will be more lengthy posts as this is what you do time and again and quite frankly I've taken to skipping most of your posts as you have a never-ending need for conflict. Go argue with someone else.

I said at the time we sold Lukaku, I wasn't bothered about Vardy's age, too many folk are worried about sell on values when what we should have been thinking about is signing a prolific striker that probably in the last two years would have scored 45-50 goals in our shirt by now.

The summer of 2017 was a disgrace that will live long in the memory, the sentimental signing of Rooney influenced no doubt by our buffoon in the boardroom, the crazy signing of Klaassen for 㿅 million, 㿊 million on Pickford (when there were keepers to be had cheaper and equals to Pickford) 㿄 million on Michael Keane.

Every penny of what we got for Lukaku I'd have went straight to
Leicester and made them an offer they simply couldn't refuse and done everything to make sure Vardy wanted to join us, but that ship has sailed now and one of the reasons why we are were we are and Leicester are arguably going to be in the Champions League again very soon.

Mark@152: It's not devotion, just analysis, and Everton pisses me off the way that good players have been squandered. Liverpool's strength is good organisation, always has been since Shankley. They get 'good' players and make them look better, whereas too often we've signed good players and made them look crap.

Is that an attempt by you tend to revive the claim you made on the Digne thread along the lines of dismissing any and every historical statistics as they are not relevant to the present?

You know, the same thread in which you also attempted your own revisionism of three losses this season which, you claimed, should have resulted in an extra 3 points to our tally.

I'm guessing you still haven't recognized both the hypocrisy and the fallacy of the two disparate claims, Mark.

So back to what counts and EFC, and the South Coast, and what should be a game we can win, if we show the same application, as last Saturday.

Thus lies the question.. I hope last week was no flash in the pan, and tomorrow we are in cruise mode, and win...

Yes win, is all we want, and play with style and win.

Stan, my hope is that we (or he) found a strong foundation to build upon and actually be allowed to gel with one another, since as you pointed out, it sure has been missing. I'd love to be able to say "the sum is greater than the whole of its parts" about our team and be confident that it's actually true.

As a mere mortal, I have only just about mastered the art of turning 'Wine into Water' but I don't boast about it either. :-)

And equally I'm very accustomed to you being resentful towards reasonable, rational and civil posts that legitimately challenge your own views.

Deflecting 'blame' on the other poster and labelling them as some kind of provacateur for expressing an alternative view to your own again does you no credit Steve.

As for mocking my alleged verbiage Steve, I'm guessing there are no mirrors in your house.

Unlike your good self Steve, if the mood takes me, I will continue reading your posts and responding to them as I deem fit.

How YOU choose to ignore or engage in them doesn't make a ha'penth bit of difference to me.

Does he know apps better, can be crunch/analyse the numbers better than the other coaches? Maybe he can. Does he explain things to his players clearly so they know what they're doing? I'd say the evidence says yes.

I have it on good authorities from one former club that he's 'a cocky bastard'. The same two people said they thought he was a very good coach, particularly with the players, and would go very far.

Silva may be from the same 'finishing school', Steve, but I'd argue the evidence in England is that he's a little bit behind some if his fellow pupils - at the moment.

We also beat Leicester 7-1 with a certain Peter Shilton in goal on 30th November 1968. My Birthday. What a present!

Thanks for your concern, but I've got a very good grip on things, ta very much.

How about yourself? Are YOU always going to be 'like this'? Posting 24-7? Pronouncing THE definitive word on Everton, life, the universe and everything?

What joy!

I will now take the utmost pleasure in helping you feel joy!

I'll see you there

My posts to you at 117 and 154 were entirely civil.

What you evidently took exception to was that I offered perfectly rational alternative views to your own reading of the Bournemouth game and the 'supporting' statistics you offered.

Check the chronology and the tone of our respective posts for who truly gets petulant, personal and uncivil.

Clue: it ain't me,mister!

Jay, you might want to just reflect on that statement.

Life, the universe, and everything. Sounds like a Douglas Adams novel!

Sorry ole son, but whilst you've posted a lot of words, you haven't offered any strong, least of all serious opinions, for me or anyone for that matter to 'deal with.'

And I'm certainly not keeping count of your posts. Not enough beads on my abacus.

To be fair if he picks Walcott l would prefer he keeps Sidibe in too. I thought they really played well together. As did Davies and Gomes. And Iwobi made it all tick. What ld like to see is Gomes start quicker tomorrow. I know it was his first game back but he always seems to have to grow into games. He's got to keep the same team, injuries permitting and keep the momentum if we can. Didnt we beat Burnley last season 5-1 then lose our next game? Hope we turn up again.

Jay, have you skipped your Metamucil for the day, is that's what got you all in a bother?

Mark, yes Digne hit a couple sheedy like. I've got Walcott or Davies first score and 3/1... if it wins l'm going on holiday!

I'm not all over TW 24-7 like a rash.

I don't even post every day.

I sometimes initiate discussions. I sometimes respond to posts on themes that interest me.

My posts are frequently sprinkled with qualifiers such as IMO, I believe, etc.

I have NEVER claimed that my opinion is the definitive and only permissible view on ANY subject.

There are many posters who do promote their views as being sacrosanct and untouchable.

I'm not one of them.

What's your excuse? I've got a tenner on the answer being "I'm retired."

Meanwhile, back on topic, anyone take note that Brighton only have 9 goals on the season, and 6 of them came against Watford/Spurs? Certainly Everton would be in a glass house with a stone to truly point fingers at another team's goal-scoring proficiency, but Brighton aren't world beaters not by a long shot. They lost 0-2 to Southampton! That same team that just lost 0-9 to LC.

I like our chances tomorrow.

Each to their own, now to unite for a win.

In our position, we need unity, and solidarity for the cause, of EFC.

I hope and pray in the years left, by the man in the Sky, we see some trophies come in, soon.

Try putting forward your own views, rather than critic others.

All of us have our opinions and we all support Everton. We are always looking for a break through and putting forwarded our humble analysis and suggestions, many of them worthwhi!e, adding to our collective understanding of Everton. A lot is determined by how Everton perform, the heat of the moment and the viewing platform available. Some do a fair bit of homework and it shows in posts.

But any contribution should be respected, particularly those that are prepared to stick their neck out and put their opinions forward.

None of us are actually managing, playing, or coaching Everton and none of us are getting the megabucks being paid out to those that do.

Condolences on your job search ordeal, and best of luck.

Cheers

Hope I'm wrong and we get a rare away win; be brave and go for it, Marco, fortune often favours the brave!

How far "afar" are you?

And again, thank you, Mike. I live roughly 40 miles west as the crow flies from New York City. Can't even find a proper EFC local fan group without going there, or Philadelphia. So I just put my kit on and scream into the void. My wife says I scare the cats on matchday.

Oh, and Rob, I worry about that very same thing. But who knows what the heck Marco is thinking half the time.

There are a couple other Jersey Boys on TW, one who drops in on the Live Forum every week, so you might find somebody to watch a game with sometime.

At my last job, I got the pleasure of traveling to England a few times (all London), and even got to see EFC for my first and only time at Stamford Bridge. Where I learned to not root for the away team in the home section. :-)

I've already started planting the seeds with the wife for an eventual trip to Liverpool. I need to go to a game at the mother ship!

When I made my first trip over after 32 years as a Blue, I was utterly enveloped in a welcoming cadre of resident TWers, not just from Merseyside but from the north of England and Scotland. Enjoyed life-changing experiences and made (I hope) lifelong friends.

You just landed in the best spot ever.

Youre not alone in using ToffeeWeb for a bit of therapy. I find l come on here more when I've stuff l'm dealing with.

Not the best week for me either. I was on my way for an ECG a few days ago. Car broke down om the way. Called a taxi to the train station. They sent the taxi to the station instead of to me. Then when it turned up within 100 yards he got a flat. Then he couldn't get the nuts off... so l ended up loosening them all for him. Then he couldn't work the jack so l did that. Then while l started taking the nuts out he put the jack down again so l had to tell him just step aside and l would do it. Got to the station with 2 minutes to spare and his card machine wasn't working. By the time it did l ran down the steps with the train at the platform and the driver looked at me while driving away. This is my life...

Got to the hospital an hour late, my blood pressure is through the roof and l have an enlarged heart. If Liverpool win the league, l won't be able to take it... but anything else, bring it on!

I was pulled into the football obsession/life by my 2 best lifelong friends, one an Everton diehard, the other, a Liverpool scouser (they taught me all the lingo). I prefer rooting for the underdog so it was going to be Blue all the way. Plus we outnumber him! In his defense, he's an English ex-pat.

David, apologies, I laughed out loud multiple times during your story.

Mike where are you in the States? Also, on behalf of 67% of my people, I'm sorry for the Trumptard.

COYB!

Mark, I'm on the beach in Oregon. Halfway between our moderators, Lyndon in SF and Michael in Seattle.

If you're interested, I wrote a bit of a travelogue about my debut trip to Goodison:
https://www.ToffeeWeb.com/season/16-17/comment/editorial/34817.html%20-%2032

Mark, yes you have to laugh! Unbelievable. They put a monitor on me last week and all shit broke loose. Its just me I'm sure. If it happened to Larry David they'd think it was too far fetched and slapstick. I had this monitor on while purposely trying to keep calm. Went to the shop and a big queue for coffee. They were giving free ones out. Of course l get to the front and the machine breaks down. Then l walk 2 minutes to pick up my pizza and they've given it to someone else. Went to parents for dinner and me Ma left a briefcase behind a door in the middle of the floor. Two black toe nails and a limp. I just drove home took my pills and straight to bed after that.

Anyway, at least l have Everton (ha).

Mike, no way! Oregon is my favorite place in the entire country. My wife and I have spent 2 anniversaries there (in Portland), but we've made several trips to the coast. Visited the Goonies house, had a great meal in Cannon Beach before a great day of hiking, took all the requisite photos of Haystack Rock, and visited a great brewery and Tillamook Creamery in Tillamook. I'd move there if my whole life wasn't on this coast. I'll definitely check out that travel report, sounds amazing!

It used to be if you saw someone in an Everton shirt in California they were Liverpool born, glad to see it's changing albeit slowly. I always felt the club dropped the ball by not promoting Tim Howard's Everton connection, especially after the 2014 World Cup. Visiting Dick's Sporting Goods all we saw was Sky 6 gear.

But even then, it took me some time to "get" football. I knew I was hooked when I could appreciate a nil-nil draw, and all that came with it. The beautiful game, indeed.

Granted when it came time to pick a side, my football-loving friends said I could pick anyone but the Sky 6. Everton it was. And now here I am, complaining about team selection and the like. Which probably also explains my naive optimistic outlook. I haven't lived through years, nay, decades of heartbreak & disappointment. I'll check back in 25 years 😃

I'm a Liverpool lad far from home cos my Swedish wife and I have kids that live on the Left Coast. Everton gives me a chance to forget the politics for a bit even though it's challenging. Screw Brexit, let's beat Brighton!

Silva will always have to make changes with this squad. we don't have any consistent 7/10ers.

Nearly all of our players blow hot and cold. Bernard and Walcott had the faithful out of their seats last week, but they are not going to suddenly become consistent.

Stan's right, we do have more talented midfield players than Liverpool, but they know exactly what they will get from the likes of Milner and Henderson. Gomes, Sigurdsson, Benard, Walcott etc may have more talent, but every one of them are capable of stinking the house out.

The only thing certain about this club is: If we drew an alien eleven away in the next round of the cup, 2,500 Rob Halligan's will spend the next few days figuring out how they are going to get to the dark side of the moon.

I was in Texas a few weeks back, and watched the Everton v City game with Houston locals, after we'd watched the Chelsea v Brighton game. I was interested in their take on Everton. The consensus seemed to be that City, Chelsea and Everton looked class, and that Brighton were workmanlike and ordinary. That gave me some encouragement about Everton, since although we lost there were some positive signs which were apparent to neutrals.

In the West Ham game last week, those signs became clearer. The quality of the football we can play with that team is, in my opinion, the best I've seen since the great Everton days of the late 60s, when we were the best and could thrash Leicester 7-1.

But Everton being Everton, they can lift you up and then let you down with a bump. Let's just hope today's game doesn't do the latter! With Everton, it can be a real roller-coaster ride!

Maybe we should adopt it. Benard and Walcott would terrify the opposition before a ball is kicked.

I don't care how he did last weekend, he's a disgrace.

Compare and contrast our club with Leicester

The happy clappers on here are going to get very upset when it's eventually revealed that there's no new ground.

“No new ground” — Would that be “the Kenwright's” fault?

Did anyone see BBC “expert” Mark Lawrenson didn't think Leicester would best Southampton? He should pack it in.

Oh, and he's got Brighton down for a 2-1 win.

Is there anyone out there who seriously believes we are going to win anything – not just this season but in any time that could be called the near future?

Our biggest problem is clearly scoring goals. Oh, and letting them in. Aside from that, we're all good.

Made up also for Leicester. I quite like Leicester (my late Mum's team) and happy for them especially after the tragedy a year ago. As many on here have alluded to, with more astute direction and management, that could be us - not necessarily banging in the 9 goals, but in terms of progress and league position. Good for them.

I hope we can get off to the same sort of start as the England lads today and finish up with a similar margin of victory - say 3-1 would be lovely. But we are Everton so predictions are never easy. I have a horrible feeling we might take a step backwards and maybe end up at 1-1 today.

And thanks again to Leicester - gained me 47 points on the FPL last night. I need them. Badly.

Good Luck.

Thanks to all the welcomes, hope we're all very happy come 12/5pm.

COYB

Well 8 minutes to go to see if this lad has some balls or not.

Same team for me but I'd also be tempted to start Kean instead of Walcott (not a slur on Walcott last time our but just want to see Kean)