How worried should we be?

I don't think past points hauls is a useful form of predictor for any future results with this Everton team.

Yes, Watford and Norwich are rubbish yo-yo clubs but Newcastle have momentum now and maybe Burnley have a little. Leeds have a new manager too and Brentford – who knows?

Yes, we should have enough to stay up but it might be tight. I'm particularly worried about the games piling up due to our cup success and the winter covid backlog. We have at least 15 games left this term, hopefully 17!

This squad in recent times has never performed well twice a week. Every 7 days just about allows the recovery time needed. But the rearranged Newcastle game is midweek and there'll be another mid-weeker now we have the Palace cup game (and maybe a semi-final too). Plus there are 4 games still to be arranged! They will all be midweek between weekend fixtures. That does not fill me with confidence that our squad will be up for games every 3 to 4 days – see our performance at Newcastle mid-week when we'd played so well at home to Brentford in the cup only a few days earlier.

I'm hopeful but nervous in conclusion.

And as for the disappearing Russian (and Cazoo) millions. Well, the powers that be can't be that well-prepared if Usmanov had his $600 million yacht confiscated by the Germans last week!

UTFT

This is going to be an Evertonian Crusade but 5heir needs players in this squad with the same spirit of Everton supporters.

For me it's the mental damage inflicted to the squad from the Spurs defeat. But hopefully it won't get to Death or Glory, as I fear this squad doesn't have enough guts.

Anthony Gordon true grit, if only the rest of the squad had half of his fighting spirit and guts. Alas, one player doesn't make a team.

Frank will have to register as player-manager next season, like Howard Kendall did first time around...

But there's a long way to go but it's no time for feeling sorry and the usual crass apologies from the players. Some players I sense know now that they are done at Everton, after Monday night.

Trying to be optimistic it could be the game (turning point) that can start saving, this season if there's a positive winning response vs Wolves.

I hope Demarai Gray is fit to play, and I'd start Rondon, and maul the Wolves centre-backs.

Well… easier said than done.

Mina has been a huge loss for Everton – he is not only the leader on the field, but he is also a fantastic defender. Everton's record when he plays is very impressive with 50% Everton wins when he is playing, that considerably drops when he is not.

There's still hope, but we'll likely need 3 points this weekend.

We're actually not odds-on to go down; we're still hovering around 7/2 to get relegated.

“Odds-on” actually means something to people who are interested in gambling and probability, and absolutely isn't a phrase to be substituted for the much less specific “highly likely” – which is I think what you mean.

The clock is running and the games left are running down.

Beat Wolves, Skunks at home and the Watford and Burnley away, and who knows.

But the days of beating West Ham, away, on the current form, are very long odds, but it would be great if we did.

Hearts and minds, but we don't have a goal scorer any more as the team, rarely keeps its shape, even when the best players start.

Nirvanas and plenty more, will be needed the next 3 months, to keep Everton safe in the Premier League.

Newcastle's is upwards, Burnley is slightly upwards, Brentford and Leeds are, at the moment, neutral – it remains to be seen if the acquisition of Eriksson and the new Leeds manager is enough to change their momentum from neutral to upwards – however slight.

Our momentum is down.

15(?) left to play, forget this season. In the last 10 years; have we won 'games in hand' when we really needed them? Not very often. When other results 'went for us', have we taken advantage of it? Not very often.

For that matter, when did we last win away at Arsenal.

If you had an accumulator bet and your last race was 'Everton Staying Up' in the 3:00 at Goodison, your finger would be hovering over the 'Cash Out' and you would be sorely tempted.

I for one would hit the button and, if we stay up, that's a nice bonus.

But such is the nature of football and Everton, that two decent results and the whole picture changes – until the next week and we turn in another shite performance.

An unlikely hero will arise, Gomes, Rondon, Tosun, Alli or some other total waste of space...Delph? who knows - or they won't.

And for what it's worth, I think Calvert-Lewin has been given the nod from Arteta and Richarlison is off to Man Utd.

The current hierarchy have truly fucked us in terms of even basic hope.

FFP-wise they've condemned us for some years to paupers when it comes to quality (and I assume "quality" is an unknown adjective in Iran and the Boys Pen when it comes to signings), the war in Ukraine has massively reduced the wealth of Moshiri and his similarly sleazy employer, and we only have the self-serving greedy fingers of shyster Kenwright to, don't laugh, "lead" us into a new world of even moderate success.

Bizarre!

Let's just hope our new blokes, with zero credentials in governing a successful Premier League club at all mind you, namely Sharp, Cahill and, especially, Lampard and his own coaches, can miraculously and quickly meld together to entirely change the culture of our constipated club and generate a huge shit to relieve us from the decades-long shit-fest we've had to endure.

Yeah, we beat Leeds. They have even less than what we've not got. Granted there was something there vs Man City. But it seemed to me our canary died at White Hart Lane on the weekend. I hope I'm wrong and it's still got a faint pulse.

So here we are, stuck on a cliff, and, despite the ropes being dangled for us to grab hold of, we just keep letting it go.

I was a wreck when we played Wimbledon all them years ago in a game that we were lucky to win. I don't know if I could suffer that again (being 12,000 miles away will help a lot).

Our eyes and minds are focused on those teams around us. There are games coming up where the points will go to the teams at the bottom around us because they play each other but then the weekend we play West Ham should see no gain for those same teams around us because of who they play. We need a point at the Hammers so the Ginger One cannot gloat.

My deepest feeling is that, if we get beaten by Wolves this weekend, then we will be relegated. Our morale is already low and defeat could see them crumble completely. If this happens, then Frank may as well play the youngsters and start the future re-build.

Frank Lampard has taken this task on because he is ambitious. This will set his own ambition back a bit and it's hard to know what Kenwright and Moshiri have sold to him. He could walk away if he's finding things are not how they should be internally. I hope he sticks around because he's a clever man, knows the game inside out, and knows what winning is about. He ticks all of the boxes for me.

As for the players, they have been coached poorly at Everton, that's for sure, but how can you come through every level of football and not know the basics?

Passing the ball 5 yards seems difficult for most of these players and most of them internationals too. Passing is just one simple aspect of what they have been taught all their lives but surely a bit of fight to keep us alive is the least we can get out of them.

These fuckers are millionaires on the back of being bang average and it's sickening. Most of them belong in the Championship but us Evertonians don't deserve to be there.

Let's hope Frank Lampard can get it into their thick skulls that they are being paid for something that should come as a basic instinct and they need to show some of it and fight like their lives are on the line.

Best wishes to all you Blues who are heading to Goodison this weekend but I've got those Wimbledon feelings running through my body again.

We are probably taking one or two more points away from home, so we would need nine points at Goodison with some vicious looking fixtures ahead and downright dogfights against the likes of Newcastle etc.

"Having to play Keane (Why one earth wasn't he shifted out 2 years ago?) and Coleman (Why is he still at the club?) most of the season will see you guys go down. The over-rated Calvert-Lewin will not bring much the other end of the pitch either."

I couldn't and didn't disagree.

(Yes, it's that bad.)

I would change that to: Why did we buy Keane? Some may disagree, but I've been consistent since we signed him. Not good enough for where I want us to be.

We, not for the first time, were sucked into the Sky and British media hype of over-rating English, British and / or Premier League players, who are sold at a premium.

Do your scouting and recruitment in the shadows, and leave it to football people. Do not conduct it in the media spotlight. That's how you will uncover gems at decent prices and avoid getting into bidding wars.

On the question: How worried should we be?

I am typically going to bury my head in the sand. Stay calm. Nothing to see here and everything will be okay.

Sorry. That's all I can offer. It's all I have.

The only good thing about Everton right now is their incredible fan base. Angry with good reason, especially the people who travel the length and breadth of this country to watch a gang of cowards serving up unadulterated shite.

These very people epitomize what Everton have always stood for, and, if Everton are to survive, Goodison Park is going to be absolutely key.

Someone said yesterday the win rate without Mina is 25%; with him, it is 53%. I don't know if that's accurate but it shows how important that a dominant centre back is to a team. Mina will be sold in June, his replacement is a huge signing for the club.

Going forward for these remaining games, Frank has to address this and find a defensive formation and formula. It's not easy for him to do it. What combination do you pick? There isn't one right now that is the silver bullet and many of our problems stem from that.

Can anyone come up with a solid defensive solution with players we have got available?

There are lies, damned lies and statistics, however, 8 points from the last 18 games tells its own story. It's hard to believe we had 14 points after match day 7.

Our next 13 games look more difficult than the previous 13 so we have reason to be worried.

Leeds, Newcastle, Watford and Norwich are all in action tonight so its an important night results wise.

In the wind up I think it will be 1 of 3 from Leeds, Burnley and us to join Watford and Norwich.

I can only see Norwich & Watford have less quality than us but bags more fight.

We are in serious,serious trouble!

Lampard, the right man at the wrong time. All I've wanted in recent years is to see an Everton team playing some exciting football, winning more than they lose, occasionally finishing in the European places, and maybe even winning a domestic cup competition. I think that could have happened under Lampard, in the right circumstances. But he's taken over at the wrong time and, even in the unlikely event (based on form) of us surviving, it looks like he'll have very little money to rebuild a squad which is at least five or six players short of being competetive at the top level.

Lampard plays open, front foot football. That's his signature. That won't get this squad wins at this stage of the season.

Watford are probably two more bad weekends away from going.

That leave us, Leeds, Burnley Brentford.

Frankly I'd rather be Brentford with points on the board than games in hand because you have to actually WIN those games in hand for it to matter.

When you are Everton with two wins since September, winning games in close proximity is asking a lot.

Personally I think 34 points will be our tally.

Burnley will get 34 also I think.

Leeds will probably reach 35.

Brentford will get 37.

So that leaves it arguably down to goal difference between us and Burnley.

The concern I have is that Everton are only getting a result every other game and the run-in fixtures are starting to come thick and fast. They don't have the squad or the intensity of training necessary.

Frank needs to have learnt big lessons from the Tottenham game in regard to tactics and selection. The one away game against West Ham, we will have to hope Moyes bottles it, as he is prone to do in the run-in.

I agree with, Don big changes throughout the club are needed to get Everton off their 27-year merry-go-round. Hopefully there are no repercussions from breaching the FFP rules, which if not would give Bill more kudos with Everton's offshore owner.

Bill is worse than Covid to get rid of and a persistent nuance in any path to progress.

Yes, we need to win games but let's gather our courage. The trembling on here is pathetic.

We really have to sort ourselves out as fans: I think a significant number of us are secretly thrilled by the prospect of our failure. The death drive, don't you know.

We're staying up and going to a Cup Final. Until that doesn't happen I won't believe it.

Come the summer we will be talking about next season in the Premier League and Europe.

Yes, I'm an optimistic fool. But that's not an unrealistic outcome.

See you all at Goodison tomorrow. I can't wait.

We are 9 times league champions. We are Everton Football Club.. We have standards. Well, we should have.I have.

When Alex Ferguson, the former Aberdeen manager took over at Manchester United, he didn't accept low standards for a club that, at the time, was below ours on the pitch. He raised them.

Accept mediocracy and you will live in that space.

Be ambitious and you will achieve success. Be submissive and you will not;

Brian @28, yep hang in there. I have a vision of an Everton side that is tough, attractive and ours alone. I believe it's going to happen.

That win rate is a real concern. I did not add it to my post, because I was afraid to look it up. It is grind out a result time, with a team that needs to get it's act together and individual players need to really focus on that. I had to add the latter since I do have doubts.

"What would your thoughts be, if, we lost to both Wolves and the Barcodes, let's say by 0-2 and 1-2?"

NB I'm not being pessimistic or a doom-mongerer, I'm just genuinely interested in what fellow blues would think.

Personally, I'd settle for Frank to play 5-3-2 in defence, and 3-5-2 going forward, with our two young fast lads, Patterson and Mykolenko at R/LB ~ Not going to happen I know.

I have a feeling Frank will go with;

Pickford
Holgate, Godfrey, Branthwaite
Coleman, Allan, VDB, Doucoure, Kenny
Gordon, Richi

COYB

Lose tomorrow and I think we’re gone. There’s no fight, or pride, amongst these players which makes me fear the worst.

I was hoping it was all down to low morale under Rafa, but the Villa match suggested otherwise. Then I hoped an actual manager (no disrespect to Dunc!) might change things. But the harsh truth is we're rubbish and we'll be lucky to stay up.

If we do stay up I'm sure Frank will lead us to a more comfortable finish next season.

What's lacking is confidence. The players get discouraged and here-we-go-again when things go sour.

I predict we scramble four points from the next two games and breathe again.

Then Frank Lampard and Keith Therwell can focus on restructuring the footballing side of this absolute mess of a club.