This is Everton

Anthony Gordon – this lad is turning into some player. Donny Van de Beek hardly played at Man Utd but, when he did, I was always impressed. He was terrific yesterday. And I have never seen Holgate and Keane looking so composed?

Let's make Goodison a fortress and continue playing in the same fashion. We are on the tails of Leeds and Brentford. Things are looking far more positive today.

Credit to the manager for his team selection and tactics. Credit to the players for their outstanding effort, and credit to the fans for having Goodson rocking.

If Lampard can continue to get Everton to play like this, week-in and week-out, then it would finally end the barren run of a host of poor managers and take us at last on the journey we have all been dreaming of.

Of course it's early days, and our season may already be mediocre due to managerial failings, but let's continue with a flourish and gain our best finishing position.

The difference between now and past occasions of real adversity is just how much quality we have. This might be as talented a squad (not just first XI) as we've ever had in the Premier League.

The home form will keep pushing us up the table. The away form will be patchy but we'll pick up points.

If the referee / VAR hadn't robbed us of a win at St James' Park, we'd now be 14th and just a point behind Leicester.

No complacency but the players and fans can start to enjoy the football again.

3 or 4 more wins like this then start planning for a bright future.

Can Frank do a Joe Royle in the cup too?!

Congratulations to Alex Iwobi and Jonjoe Kenny both were magnificent. Leeds were disastrously poor though; why their manager is rated so highly I don't know.

Like many, I went to the game full of trepidation but it turned out to be a wonderful afternoon with every Everton player including substitutes playing their part. And how much more enjoyable it is when the crowd are in full voice and humour.

Let's keep it going because, in Frank and his support team, we appear to have last got people who can organise the players and get the very best out of them.

I was only watching on a stream but even then you could feel the atmosphere in the ground. It was simply superb stuff.

The cross from Dele was sublime and the volley deserved a goal, top marks to the keeper though.

Southampton have just picked up 4 points away from home to Spurs and Man Utd, they're on a good run but we all know the Football Gods move in mysterious ways and I've always preferred playing a team who've picked up a few points recently rather than a side who are on a losing run.

We need at least a point next week then another Bear-Pit occasion against Man City the week after.

Not sure where that leaves Dunc. Case in point: Ashley Cole obviously working with the full-backs now look how that's turning out. Early days, I know, but proud to be a Blue this morning.

We're not going down and we're going to win the cup!

It was a team playing for each other and the manager. The crowd was part of it all. What successful clubs need is unity. We harnessed it yesterday and reaped the harvest, absolutely fabulous to see.

What I am interested in ow that the dust has settled is a progressive and sustainable improvement. The big thing at the moment is that, with the new found unity at the club, we can really start to build from solid foundations.

Frank Lampard and his super coaching team have brought us real new hope. The training methods are working, the set-piece intelligence is working. The ideology is getting through loud and clear.

On a par, or maybe even more importantly, is the quiet psychology that Frank is gently using to change the way our players are approaching the game mentally.

Iwobi's performance yesterday showed he has responded to the manager and the coaching staffs advice and belief in him. Other players are being handled just as well from this aspect. It's a hugely important, and often below-the-radar attribute, that changes perspectives and performances.

Finally Seamus Coleman, one or two posters earlier in the week talked about "Who would you want with you in the trenches?" Seamus would come top of the TW trenches poll. I think Frank described him as “What a man” now he has got to know him from close up. Not many would disagree with that.

He may be advancing in years, a tad slower, and be ready soon to play a supporting role as right-back but he is, and has been, a lionheart for Everton.

It seems like someone has had a quiet word in their ears about the first rule of defending – “If in doubt, put it out”. I was pleased to see it.

As a fan base and as a squad, we've had our confidence and belief knocked out of us.

Hopefully that's what this manager will install. He's a winner. He knows what it takes to win.

I said before the match, go toe-to-toe, when many were predicting the apocalypse.

We went toe-to-toe and rinsed them. Will it happen every week? Not yet. But you can see what they manager is trying to achieve and install.

This time Everton, let him do it.

And the players... what a performance from every one of them.

DCL held up the ball well and won a lot of important headers, but you can see he is still rusty.
Richarlison - what a lion hearted player he is. He appears to sulk, but he just leaves everything out on the pitch.
Iwobi - my MotM - I think Lampard gave him a free role - he was here, there and everywhere. Must have covered every blade of grass. If he can just keep up that level of energy and commitment, he may the most amazing turn around story in Everton history.
Gordon - what a player we have on our hands! You can just him growing in confidence and ability game by game. May he have a long and distinguished career with Everton.
Allan - he did his job quietly but effectively. I think he and DvB worked very well together in the middle. He provided the assist once again for the Richarlison/Gordon goal.
Donny - terrific, hard working performance by this guy. You can see the quality that he possesses. Plus a very impressive work rate.
Kenny - the oft dismissed player put in a masterful performance as a make shift left back. His performance would put Digne to shame.
Keane - he was just imperious today and that is what is frustrating. Why can't he play like that every week?
Holgate - the much abused CB put in a majestic performance. His tackling was spot on and no nonsense. Just like Iwobi, is there hope for him? I have always prayed for him to come good.
Coleman - nothing to say that has not been said before. A true Captain's performance.
Pickford - didn't have much to do today, but his kicking was quite assured.

Very promising displays from Dele Alli, El Ghazi and Rondon. When we have Gray and Doucoure fit, Lampard will have a real selection headache.

Leeds were poor today, but also perhaps a bit unlucky that two of Rodrigo's shots hit the goal frame. Everton needed that little bit of luck, and to play like that against a Leeds side that had performed magnificently last week is very, very creditable indeed. I want Leeds to stay up (along with us, of course) - they play really good football under one of the great tacticians of the game.

I am not getting carried away, hopefully this is just the beginning of the revival of our great football club. There is a lot of work to be done by Lampard and his staff and players. The lesson for the players - work hard and you will more often than not reap the rewards. Lesson for us fans - leave behind the negativity and get behind the team for 90 minutes, and we will be part of something beautiful. Come On You Blues!

Really pleased by Iwobi's performance, and I wasn't surprised to see him on the team sheet, would have been great if Rondon scored to cap it off.

But I have seen criticism for Allan on here which I must admit to being astonished by as, for the first time in months, he didn't have to do the work of 2 men. He even seemed like he had gained a lot more pace.

If he stays next season, he has to be captain, the way he organised things and his tenacity was great to watch. But Van de Beek is absolute quality, even Holgate was assured, and Richarlison was an inspiration to them all.

So, well done to Lampard and no doubt Clement had a lot to do with it, and quite probably Cole. Next couple of games look tricky and we can ill-afford to lose them both. It looks like our home form is going to be crucial.

We can nit-pick as much as we want about individual moments or players not being perfect for all of the match, but Frank Lampard has made Everton look like a team again, will they be able to maintain that standard for the rest of the season, we will have to wait and see, but if the players continue to work hard for each other and use the ball as confidently as they did yesterday, we should see the club climb to safety sooner rather than later.

I thoroughly enjoyed everything about yesterday's match and that hasn't been the case for many a long month, I just hope that the team can follow it up next week and for the weeks ahead, things certainly look a lot brighter today than they did on Wednesday morning.

What a great performance all-round. And the look on Seamus' face after scoring that goal says everything about that man.

Congrats to Frank and his team on a heart-warming performance. Amateurs in the club need to stay outta their hair.

Coleman showed his skills and courage yesterday but he also showed his captaincy strength – not something I've seen before in quite the same way. Others have remarked on his words to Iwobi, that was a fine moment.

Gordon remarks on how good a full-back and captain he is.

I've written him off, as many have, but he looked sharp and fit yesterday. He's been a fine servant.

Incidentally, is it true that Gordon is eligible for Ireland? I've seen it mentioned somewhere today.

We, the fans, have got to bring that to every home match for the rest of the season. I've seen a few reports saying that the crowd were raised by the team yesterday, but for me it was the other way round.

The fans were roaring from minute 1 – and booing every Leeds touch – and, for the whole of the first half in particular, the team and the crowd seemed in perfect harmony.

Lampard has indeed unified the fan base in a very short time. A few more weeks of this and we'll be back where we need to be – looking up, not down.

By the way Lyndon, small point, we beat City 4-0!

I guess I shouldn't have made all those suppositions previously!

Loved us pressing high up the pitch. Loved us passing forwards, quickly, instead of the constant turning back. And so pleased for Gordon - he looked devastated from the crowd reaction immediately after defeat at home a few weeks ago. Loved him at U23 level; thought he had been playing conservatively for the first team (having been told to?) for most of his appearances until relatively recently, when his form has hit the roof.

Iwobi. Let's not go overboard. He did okay. He ran a bit and lasted 90 minutes. Effing Wow. No goals or assists yesterday and never looked like scoring. I still think he is holding back. He could do much better... so l am still pissed at him and will remain so till we see better. Take Delli for example who came off the bench and looked real sharp. How many players do we have that could make that space with one touch and swing in that ball for Rondon. I could do it, sure. But then l'd get thrown out the ground for pitch invasion.

Even early season in a struggling side there were signs that he was getting to grips with being a PL footballer.

He was still getting easily knocked off the ball then, but not any more! Without bulking up, not only is he riding rugged challenges on him better, time and again he is winning the ball back for his team. We have scored goals from some of Anthony's turnovers.

Increasingly he is assuming more and more dead ball duties and helping deliver goals with assists.

Some have commented he is not 'fast'. I debate that. What he has is a great change of pace in a one-on-one situation.

Many a time for the first team I wanted him to show what he did for the academy teams. Knock it past the man in front of him and burn him off. He did it at least once yesterday which almost led to a goal. It is something he is increasingly doing now for the first team.

He can also run at pace with the ball at his feet. Where others stutter, he glides, seldom coughing up the ball with a stumble.

He has quick feet, mind and eye to play in some killer one touch balls in behind a defence. He did it yesterday on the Coleman goal. He combined in a similar way with Gray for the latter's goal in the Hull cup game.

Both in the Newcastle game and Leeds yesterday, I thought he combined well with vd Beek in particular in little one-twos and give-and-goes they shared. That implies a smart footballer to me.

Where Anthony needs to sharpen up is to be both more clinical and composed in his finishing. Dom presented him with a golden opportunity in the opening two minutes. A good striker would have scored from that.

He is going to walk away with the Young Player of the Year Award this season. And given the competition, he might just double up as the Player of the season, too.

A crackerjack of a player.

Pete #14, good observation, and the one time Mason did try to play a clever pass out of the back, he handed it directly to Leeds. He didn't do it again.

Barry #20, I think Donny deserves partial credit for that. As he has often shown with Doucoure, Allan is a fine player in combination with an active, quality partner, and he had that yesterday with Donny.

Brent #32, agreed.

David #34, Iwobi was better than okay. He seemed to win every 50-50 and never gave the ball away once he won it. He'll never score much but he did have that elegant assist against Brentford. His improvement is palpable.

Jay #35, excellent analysis. Gordon was my MOTM yesterday and his confidence is revelatory, and elevating. I never thought he'd be much more than a squad player, but he has become a full-fledged star. There isn't much to give Benitez credit for, but Anthony's emergence goes to the plus side of his ledger.

We can debate all day about whether they'll be able to get this squad to perform like they did yesterday consistently. We'll find that out, but I'd argue that better, younger players are more like to join Lampard than Ferguson or Kia's man. Good coaching and good habits drilled into the players is what will instill confidence and belief.

You don't know about anyone in any walk of life until things hit the fan. I'm confident that after taking a very indirect route, our board may have inadvertently found a competent manager and coaching team at last. Team being the operative word.

I'd wager it was Barrett-Baxendale, Cahill and Sharp (and maybe the fan protest) that persuaded Moshiri to turn away from Kia's man.

Bit different to 1984, but I'm starting to wonder whether this will be 2022's Kevin Brock moment?

I'm hoping.

Real shame Van de Beek couldn't be signed on a permanent contract, he seems to have everything in his locker. Reads the game really well, his anticipation and ability to pick out a pass with ease whilst under pressure was a joy to watch, together with his work-rate, makes him an exceptional player.

I thought Iwobi raised his game, deserves the plaudits; however, to justify the fee we paid, I feel he needs to perform to this level consistently and still needs to improve upon his final ball. This performance will have done wonders for his confidence.

Gordon's ceaseless energy and running at the opposition was infectious and he seemed to feed off the creativity and quick delivery from Van de Beek, that partnership affords us real hope going forward.

Richarlison managed to drag the Leeds defence all over the place, creating space and opportunities for others. He's sometimes accused of being selfish but I feel that side of his game isn't always appreciated, he never gives up.

I thought Jonjoe Kenny would be a huge risk at left-back; however, he excelled and put in a real performance. Sadly, consistency is his greatest failing – if only he could produce such form on a regular basis.

Totally agree, the fans were exceptional, songs and huge roars of encouragement coming from all sides of the ground. Gone were the long spells of silence we've become accustomed to followed by the groans at every misplaced pass. At times, it felt like different sections of the ground were competing to voice their support. Hopefully a new dawn.

It was the fans who selected Lampard in the interests of the club. . . I don't believe a word of Sharp's Golf Club leaked muttering. He's just trying to justify his position and remuneration as a Bill Kenwright yes-man.

We also had a number of very good players missing and there is more to come from both Donny and Dele.

There is more to come from this team.

Absolute peach of a cross from Alli and Rondon does everything right, in terms of movement into the space, anticipation and connection. A great save denies a great move and a 4th goal.

Stay on the front foot, Everton.

We have more players to do it now.

For me it wasn't rocket science - Lampard was certainly the the most realistic candidate of the three, ( Rooney was never a serious option for now in my opinion ).
The Portuguese guy would have have been another expensive pay day and I don't think Ferguson is the man to lead Everton.
I said on another thread that Lampard and the coaches he has brought in to the club as part of his team might just be a good fit - let's all hope so.

Holgate also deserves praise
What a difference when he realised he's no Beckenbauer and to just do the basics
Get the ball and move it on quickly, no farting about with extra touches and dribbling. Just defend

Gordon is getting better every week. DCL played really well considering he's been out so long. Iwobi another deserving a mention.

Good as the result was we need consistancy and more of the same starting next week at Southampton

I don't know where this leaves Ferguson. He seemed very detached from the rest of the coaching team, so much so it made me wonder if this was one the the old guard on the board's conditions, to keep Dunc employed, a case of misplaced loyalty to their favourite. I don't personally rate Ferguson, I think Frank's assistants have more capability than he has, but it's sad to see him just being a hanger on. Surely if he has any ambition, he should try his luck managing in the lower leagues and try to prove me and others wrong?

By all accounts Frank asked Dunc to stay on which makes sense if as has been said he's popular with players. I suspect is a transitory move and once Frank's established Dunc will fly the coop. In other words rather than being a victim Dunc is doing us a favor

The importance of the goal, what it meant to him and the catharsis of the moment was etched on his face as he wheeled away towards the Main Stand in clenched-fist celebration.

Call me an old suck if you like but when I saw that expression on his face I wept tears of joy.

That's what this club does to you.

If we could bottle what Seamus has in his heart and make everyone drink it before they pull the shirt on we wouldn't loose many games.

Shame on me for suggesting he was past it. He will decide when the time has come.

Retiring as a millionaire he then continued to show zero interest in football by emigrating to Majorca where he quickly became bankrupt.

He then went back to the biggest sap in Everton's history, Kenwright, and by him was employed, devoid of qualifications, as a coach!

He's never even tried to "progress" his career elsewhere. He is Kenwright-Everton-Billshit personified.

If Lampard on arrival consented to him remaining cos he allegedly "got" the players all well and good up to a point. That said, Lampard brought in three eminently better qualified coaches of his own choice and thus far (only three games admittedly) they seem to be doing pretty well.

One of us today somewhere queried whether Ferguson would pitch in for the newly vacant Aberdeen managership. In your dreams! That'd mean showing faith in yourself as any sort of professional coach in a far lesser league despite being way too long in that supposed role for a Premier League team, and being willing to be 100% personally judged on results in the way lesser league.

Ferguson by his choices and comments agrees with me, he's in no way up to a football-man's top job, and now three new coaches and their manager have reduced his role to what, again?

Major pigeon-feeder extraordinary is all that matters to him is what.

And some call him "Legend"?!!

It's good that the club looks after it's ex players, but we should not be run as a charity and if Duncan has any management aspirations his time to move on is well overdue.

It was a great Everton day on Saturday, sadly we have only seen a few in many years of waiting. You can probably count them with two hands.

Also how many more games will we have at Goodison like this ?

One of the best ones I remember was Fiorentina and I was watching on TV.

We know you don't like Kenwright, but wasn't it well documented at the time that he actually went back to Moyes, worked at the academy for free whilst taking his coaching badges,then got offered a job later on merit? Very little to do with Kenwright.

We beat Southampton and get a point against Man City.

Knowing Everton, we'll do it the other way around as Lampard knows how to play the big games.

Either way, 4 points.

Instead of being the team that was pressed all over the pitch, we did the pressing. Instead of sloppy, mistimed passing, we were precise all over the pitch. Instead of conceding on set pieces, we defended them smartly and scored off of one.

You hit the nail on the head, THIS is Everton.

Although every player played great, I want to single out one Alex Iwobi. From the off, he was on a mission. He didn't give one inch and caused them all sorts of problems. Yeah, several of his shots were blocked but I'd rather he shoot (you never know, deflection, mistake, etc ) than not shoot. He harassed, harried, and ran until he had no more in the tank.

What match for him !!! Class that Coleman immediately went up to him and gave him the recognition he so rightly deserved for arguably his best match ever in a Blue shirt.

Frank is right, confidence is key. If he can get these players' confidence up, we'll no longer be the easy three points but the "uh oh, we've got Everton next."

Long may it continue.

This game will be a true reflection of where we're at and I would be really pleased with a battling point. We could produce the shock of the season against Man City.

Don @51 You can't coach in the EPL without FA qualifications. Apologies if I'm wrong on that but I don't think so.

Having said that, there is a place for passion and love for the club, as Seamus showed the last game. It will be interesting his next step.