The effort was there

"The effort was there" says it all. This is the bare minimum expected from the multi-millionaires masquerading as footballers. When it's become that rare that it deserves comment, you know the club is seriously ill.

The crowd and team united yesterday. As you say, the reception the players got as they were substituted and their response told that. Although, I did note Allan not being best pleased. But I don't mind that. What player should be or is pleased with coming off? Did you note that Benitez called Allan over a few times to relay instructions? I get the impression he could be the manager's man.

The 2 midfielders (Delph & Allan) were the pick of the bunch for me and I thought Gray gave us an outlet. I'd also give Gordon a mention. Again, nothing spectacular but steady. Let's see how he develops. With Calvert-Lewin on the pitch, we win that.

Strangetwo bunch the Tottenham fans. I always have to travel back with the London fans. I found West Ham entertaining and had a good laugh with them even though we lost and they won. There was something a bit more sinister with the Spurs lot.

They spent most of the trip arguing amongst each other in-between waving Italian flags and singing "Antonio". I actually thought they were singing for the West Ham player, not realising that's Conte's first name.

I ended up speaking to 2 of the more sensible ones, but even one of them spent most of his time trying to wind me up about Sigurdsson. Until he fell asleep. Odd bunch and I've been down here for years.

Chelsea = arrogant. Tottenham = strange. Arsenal = boringly passive. West Ham = probably the most sensible collective fanbase in the capital.

Back to the match. Yes, we didn't get the win, but we got a response following the Wolves and Watford debacles. And it could have gone so wrong with the script written for Conte.

A clean sheet
A point
Back four much better as a unit
Ben back where he belongs in the middle of the back four
Delph's contribution

The manager has got a lot of stick recently for his choices and substitutions, however, he deserves great credit for stick with Ben yesterday and moving him into the middle of the back four. There were many who wanted him benched after the Wolves game.

Until we get Mina, Doucouré and Calvert-Lewin back, it's not going to be pretty, unfortunately.

However, we played a 4-1-4-1. Especially without the ball. So that makes 3 midfielders. Unfortunately that contributed also to a toothless attack. In fact, from what l saw going forward it was a disjointed performance... yes with lots of effort.

Townsend does try hard, works for the team... but l thought he was the reason things didn't click as much as they could have. We had no runners into the box.

Gordon kept picking the ball up deep from Coleman and standing still. Townsend also tried to do Gordon's job on that right-hand side and kind of got in Gordon's way. Weird set-up but it kind of worked... I guess.

This week may hopefully prove to be the turning point in Godfrey's season. He has generally been in very poor form, culminating in his crass error on Monday at Wolves. That might have been the wake-up call he needed. He owed the team something, the manager kept faith with him, moved him into his natural position, and the player showed a huge improvement. Credit to both the manager and the player.

I thought Kavanagh was cowed by the presence of a senior referee, Jon Moss, in the VAR room. Once Kavanagh was invited to the pitchside monitor, there was only ever going to be one outcome for each incident. Were the refereeing decisions clear and obvious errors? I didn't think so. VAR remains as capricious as ever.

I said it last night and have just googled it for confirmation, but remembering when Kavanagh sent Ancelotti off, for contesting Sigurdson's goal against Man Utd at Goodison just before the lockdown, when his deflected shot had totally wrong-footed De Gea, that same cheating bastard Moss was also the VAR assistant that day as well.

A coincidence or an agenda?

I'm not sure how many times he has been sent off in his Everton career to date, but he was extremely luck to stay on the pitch a few years ago in the Anfield derby when he assaulted Firminho by pushing him head over heels into the crowd following another rash challenge.

Simply displays a lack of intelligence on the pitch and should be one of the first out the door as soon as we can strengthen in that department.

I'm following West Ham more now because of Moyes, l'm enjoying similarities to us under him.

Tony, you weren't one of those doing windmill arms trying to get the team to push forwards?

MotM for me was Delph. Always showing for the ball, looking for the forward pass, reading play. He looks fit for the first time since he joined us.

But it's better than Leicester with those annoying clappy things.

Jay (BRZ) may call me out for mentioning Keane again, but I'll back up the positive performance yesterday. He defended well and looked commanding. What a difference having the confidence to play on the front foot and not be worried about the opposition can have on a player and the team. No rabbit in the headlights from Michael yesterday. He played very well.

In Norway we are used to ratings, for movies, music, shows, sports and for product review. So I am always looking forward to your review. Keep up the good work, my friend.🌷

Yes David, Delph was very good, but I'm not sure this would have been the case if our defenders never stayed higher. 👍

Yet, once they are all back from injury, Everton can be a very exciting team again. But how long can Everton carry on without winning even at Goodison will 'see' Everton plunge around the relegation area of the league.

If any team can't win their home matches before their home crowd, relegation is always a possibility. The 2-5 debacle against Watford at home is still a warning sign of worse to come when Everton take on the top 6 in the next round of league matches after the international break.

Another international break giving another opportunity to get the walking wounded fit again, and, for me, we should only seriously offer critique of this manager when we have our spine back in the team and he can finally bring in competition at right-back, hopefully in January.

You (Paul) and Danny O'Neill, present as enjoying the experience of going to the game, meeting friends and opposition fans alike. It is important to remember that it's not always about just the game, and the fortunes of the team: it's about the cumulative experience of following Everton FC, for better or worse, be it attending matches in the UK, or following from afar. I feel ToffeeWeb gives a platform for this, keep up the good work, Lyndon and Michael.

It will be telling to see if the team can continue with the same intensity on show yesterday, for games against the lesser clubs in the future as it's easier to be motivated when the big guns come calling.

It's those lesser clubs that we will have to find a way to beat to ensure that we stay in the division, any points we can get from the others this side of Christmas will be bonus points.

Does that leave anyone around us we can beat??

Just joking, gents – I get what you mean.

Richarlison and Townsend need to stay on there feet more until a 'real' foul against them is felt.

Not blaming Gray, (good player, good buy), but he's had some good goal scoring opportunities in the last few games. Score them and its a very different story.

Much better battling performance. Crowd also louder.

Our midfield 'the engine room ' is why we are an average Premier league team. Lack of quality, pace, leadership, discipline, creativity.

Sadly injuries have not helped as their is no consistency to build a reliable engine with.

That could be Delphs farewell performance. I think Mina is due a game before Christmas. Gbamin, maybe in a midfield 3 but very inexperienced for Premier league.

Satisfied with a draw. Hopefully a few better player's available in a couple of weeks.

The attack was well supplied, but were weak in getting into position to finish. There was a lot of great balls into the area, across the 6-yard box, with no anticipatory runs by Everton forwards.

Holgate is a funny one. I don't think he has reached anything near his potential. I thought he got caught up in the emotion of the game on Sunday when we needed a calmer more mature head. Who that was l don't know. Although Gbamin needs minutes off the bench when we are comfortably leading, and when that will be l'm not sure.

Shame that at home Rafa couldn't have brought on an attacking player to play closer to Richarlison. Just that 2 points from 15 ain't good. Our finishing position will tell Calvert-Lewis and Richarlison if their futures lie with us or if they need to move on. We should be so much closer.

Even though Gray and Townsend are good signings, l would rather they be options off the bench than first names on the teamsheet.

We battled well at home to a fellow average side at this moment that are also at rock bottom.

But the lack of creativity is alarming, nothing ever comes from the middle of the park and that's a worry for a Premier League side that should have aspirations.

I doubt Allan will ever score a goal for us and, while Delph has played well lately, he won't be involved enough and again he'll probably never score a goal or create.

Holgate… I'm sorry, mate, but he's a walking disaster and I sussed it out a good 3 years ago when some were comparing him to John Stones.

For me, Holgate is out the door now, that's his last act, Branthwaite can't be much worse, time to blood the lad in.

A point stops the rot but glancing at the fixtures tells me we will be potentially having "must-win" game's very soon.

I'd say (from my seat) that most left the ground satisfied with the effort shown by just about all of the players. Not jubilated, but satisfied.

The Tottenham fans had a similar, if not more damning view as I listened to them bickering on the train. Convinced in their own superiority, they were fuming they didn't beat us.

I don't think we'll be playing with much creativity any time soon. It's going to have to be about getting forward quickly and using the outlets that Gray and Townsend give us. With Calvert-Lewin back, it will give us more options when we do get into forward positions. Doucouré has the engine and Allan likes to play a forward pass when the option is on in front of him.

Next 3 games. On paper, we lose to Man City, beat Brentford and get a draw against Liverpool.

But it's Everton, so I'm going for a draw at City, lose to Brentford and beat Liverpool. Either way, 4 points and end that 3 game run on an estate high!

And we'll do Arsenal. Arteta will get Manager of the Month and their impressive run will come to an end soon just as we pick up. That's how seasons go.

However, I agree that it was an enjoyable match – it always is when the crowd get going, and the positive outcome from the poor reffing was the Goodison roar and how it was reflected in the intensity on the pitch from our lads.

Danny – I didn't even notice any Spurs fans on my train back to London until I got off at Euston and there a few drunken "Yid Army" chants. When will those arseholes pack that in? I don't care if they think they're chanting Yid in a "positive way", I doubt if any of those pissed up fools were Jewish, and anyone found chanting that should get a lifetime ban from their club.

Yes, those chants are outdated and belong in the 80s, when we were no saints ourselves if we're honest. But at least we've moved on and I don't hear that type of stuff from Evertonians anymore.

That said, as posted elsewhere, I'm on a warning order from Wolves for nothing other than attending a match and being reported for cheering an Everton goal in one of the home stands. Nothing said at the time to me in person, by the way, and I swapped decent conversation with most around me, including the stewards.

I get regulations and safety, but it seems many honest traditional fans are still being tarred with an 80s hooligan brush and many modern fans are "outraged" that someone supports another team and sat next to them. Sad.

Ferguson is 50 next month. Unsworth not far behind. Both yet to take on a full time manager job. Probably never will.

Now I appreciate not everyone is cut out for it and prefer the training pitch.

I said to Mrs Danny, it's a gamble for both parties. But they've both taken it. With my West Midlands leaning, my fear for Villa is either way, they lose.

If he crashes and burns, it's a failed experiment.

If he does well, he is Klopps successor when they come calling. And with him in the seat for 4 or 5 years now (??), I don't see that being in the too distant future. And Gerrard will have his eye on it. That will be his goal.

Either way, Villa eventually lose out here in my view.

He's went gone elsewhere, put himself in the hotseat in order to get where he wants to be. Not sit comfortably at the training ground (Kirkby??), waiting for the call that will never come. Putting aside personal feelings, you have to give him credit for that.

He now has two massive clubs on his CV. Although that will depend how this goes. But he has taken the challenge and put himself out there to be judged.

Succeed and he has a viable chance of managing Everton one day. Failure would prove he hasn't the skillset to be a number 1, and let's be fair: Gerrard has left a golden opportunity for the next Rangers manager.

Ferguson must know he has to go and prove himself surely?