Everton — The Great Reset?

After a very iffy start, I think Lampard matured a lot as a manager in the final part of last season. That should stand us in good stead.

Let's see what Thelwell can deliver.

I was going to say I admire your optimism but... but actually I just admire your optimism.

Robert #1,

I'd agree Lampard matured in a big hurry and all credit to him for being man enough to accept that his team weren't capable of playing an expansive game. I'd say he had no choice really. "Shit or bust" as my dad used to say.

Regarding Kevin's main point; yes, we can only hope this is the backroom team and the time to eventually change tack. Once again, circumstances have conspired to force a more considered recruitment process on us. Hopefully we will slowly start to see the benefit.

In the short term, we have Lampard developed exponentially as a coach in front of us after having gone through his first 4½ months of baptism under fire. Even with minimal improvements in the first team, I am quietly optimistic in our climb back to at least a mid-table finish next season.

For the long term, we need to re-establish the Talent conveyor belt from the aged teams to first team. I have a lot of faith in Thelwell and Prosser to accomplish what Brands was compromised from achieving, ie:

1) Making sure a single playing style and approach (dictated by Lampard) is to be implemented from first team all the way down to Under-8s.

Rhino was the big elephant in the house that has been preventing that from happening because he valued winning games (as if winning Premier League 2 games has any significance) over development of players. Glad that he is no longer around Finch Farm.

Some argued that Paul Tait has been a fellow culprit, but I'm keeping fingers crossed that Thelwell will be able to keep Tait (and others of Kenwright's entourage within the academy) in check to comply with the overall approach.

2) Setting a set of reasonable pay scales for the U18 and U21 players that are closer to market rate.

This is so that the players can be affordable for Football League clubs (and Scottish clubs) when they are either loaned out (imagine we loan out 10 youngsters like the Chelsea Loan Army and don't have to subsidize any of their wages. If all the landlords in the world can enjoy having tenants paying their back-breaking mortgages, why can't we have other clubs paying us to develop our tenants?) or have to be sold after being deemed not good enough for the first team.

(Cautionary Tales: why couldn't the likes of Pennington, Williams, Dowell be sold earlier and provide the club with better financial returns? The Red Shite sold Jordan Ibe for 10 bloody Million Pounds, for fuck's sake!)

3) Hardware and Software development over winning games.

Yes, one of the approaches in developing youngsters might be to get them dominating each of the age groups during their progressions. But what if we have some late-boomers or eaw prospects (Ellis Simms comes to mind immediately)? We need to build them up on both the Hardware side (ie, skills & physical growth) and the Software side (ie, Professionalism, Work Ethics, Football IQ, Maturity off the field to handle pressures).

To do that, the youngsters would need minutes and opportunities to go through a baptism under fire on the field (hence Brands tried fast-tracking U18 players on to U23 to test their resolve, like he consistently did at PSV with great success). If a starting 11 is to be kept to play the majority of the minutes at both U18 & U21 levels, how can we see other youngsters grow?

In short, the real and exponential improvements for us will come from the youngsters' development, in terms of how many players like Anthony Gordon the Academy can generate and how many like Jarrad Branthwaite we can acquire from other parts of the country and bring them up to the First Team.

Porto and Benfica did it with great applomb, so can we.

The smelling salts the Everton board use, have never cleared the consistent incompetence and poor organisation of the Everton board.

Granted the new stadium has started and hopefully will be completed, but the peace of mind for Evertonians is never there in terms of matters on the park and in the boardroom.

Let's see if this pre-season can become a starting point. The squad needs some proven players to come in ASAP, as the time to tell and avoid the general mess of last season, must be avoided.

As it stands with the squad now, Frank and his coaches are going to have to be very creative and look outside the box, to be able to start this season in shape.

Whose coming in, in terms of transfers, who knows, but hope eternal, and if nothing else the smell of the Blue Smoke lit Goodison and masses of partisan Evertonians is very special. But this season the squad must take responsibility and play for the Everton shirt, every game.

Hope eternal all matters Everton.

Dupont @5,

Good shout. If we can implement some joined-up thinking at the club with an agreed formula running from the youngest age groups up to the first team, we will benefit greatly from our youth development programme.

The challenge for the club is to get such a programme agreed, accepted and in place and that is going to take time even if the powers that be decided to go down that route.

Successful clubs around Europe show us the way.

I was going to say that this should exclude the "perhaps" before I had awful flashbacks to Mike Walker, Fat Sam and Walter Smith!

Looking at some of the reactions on the UK media sites to the sale of Richarlison and signing of Tarkowski, fans of other clubs (or perhaps just pathetic trolls?) seem to think we are nailed on for another relegation fight this coming season, and that Lampard is out of his depth?

The last four or five seasons have clearly had a hugely damaging effect on the standing of the club as a Premier League institution, but then, as we have learned from the experiences of Newcastle and Leicester in recent years, things can be turned around with better recruitment and good leadership.

I share your hope, Kevin, and think next season will see steps forward at Everton FC, both on and off the field of play.

He also instilled an excellent team spirit.

Perhaps, as he found as a player, Lampard isn't a natural - but he works hard to make the best of what he's got and finds a way to be effective.

I'm encouraged and optimistic about him. I just hope he gives up on 3-5-2 / 5-3-2 etc because the players we've got struggle with it.

The question is: Have any of the problems that brought us within a hair of being relegated been solved?

Well, we sold our best player and so far there is no indication of how or if he will be replaced.

We signed a defender who led his side into the lower depths last season and who nobody else wanted.

We are now looking at another defender but so far we have not moved on any of our posse of misfiring defenders.

So the answer to that question, days before the players report for training, is No. Unless we can bring in at least two creative forces in the next month, we can expect much of the same next season. Why would it be any different?

Appointing the untried Moyes was tacit acceptance of no longer being at the top table with a "reset" involving temporary acceptance of simply avoiding relegation. Moyes delivered but rode the donkey of mediocrity for a mind-numbing 11 years… making a fortune for himself in the process.

It won't happen again. Why?

Because Martinez appeared and worked a minor miracle in the loan market, giving opportunities to players not trusted by Moyes from the stiffs. A resultant fabulous first season reignited the real Everton… but it was amidst mass delusion

Without real mone,y could the ascent continue? Could the loanee market really provide more players like Lukaku each year? No. And the accompanying descent was inevitable.

But the point is Martinez let the cat out of the bag – every manager since has had that first season as the gauge. The tacit plodding contract with Moyes had been ripped up and the arrival of Moshiri and Usmanov compounded the matter (illusory as it was).

Frank's issue is the same as all his predecessors: he has to produce a miracle akin to the Martinez first season… then pray the new owners have real money to keep it going. That is his "reset".

Some will talk wistfully about consolidation but previous incumbents will tell you that game is no longer welcome at Goodison Park.

Every other manager since has taken over an in-crisis situation following a sacking or a moonlight flit when Ancelotti left us at the altar. We've been on a downward spiral,lurching from manager to manager since Moyes walked out.

No-one had been given the chance to build anything and we've ended up with a mishmash of a squad as a result. We can only hope that Lampard is given time.

However, we should be able to operate as a club that is generally there or thereabouts for the Europa League, has occasional successful tilts at the Top 4, and wins cups. That is realistic I expect Lampard to go for that.

I also think the loan market still has plenty to offer – especially with Man City, Chelsea and others home and abroad managing very swollen squads. We won't get a Lukaku each year but there will be really good options.

Midfield and attack need work (and have done for years) but, if we don't concede too many (Tarkowski's Burnley conceded fewer than most below 7th last season, and fewer than Man Utd in 6th; 13 fewer than us), then we have a sound chance in most games.

It's not merely about the big names and wealth – though, of course, it significantly is – it's about the indefinable things of blend and toughness and luck. Three or four more astute signings may well make us interesting.

We were going pretty well, of course, under Benitez until Calvert-Lewin got injured and the players stopped doing their best for him.

All is by no means lost.

If the outcome of the strategic review is that Brands went, quickly followed by the Manager, then it wasn't a strategic review. It was a crisis meeting with a couple of knee-jerk reactions based on crowd reactions and Sky Sports News pressure.

On the positive. I do actually have optimism with the new manager, the DoF and their staff. Providing they are given time and patience to do their job. Which hasn't been the case under this ownership.

I do wish we would drop this "young hungry" phrase. A football squad is a balance. Peter Reid and Andy Gray were hardly young and hungry when we signed them. Our first confirmed signing is a 29-year-old seasoned centre-back on a 4-year contract. But he will add much-needed experience and leadership.

On the academy, hopefully the DoF will be allowed to restructure and connect Finch Farm better with the local and regional grassroots football scene. It should be more about development rather than winning. I know that sounds odd because we want to win football matches. But youth coaching shouldn't be about winning at all costs. Yes, winning mentality is part of the development, but the emphasis should be on the development, not the result.

I think it's a telling statistic for a relegation side.

I think you miss the point. Moyes's "stability" equated to consistently unchallenging "little Everton". Martinez showed it need not be that way, albeit with something akin to a miracle in the loan market.

On the basis of aiming high meaning you have further to fall, Martinez's first season standard killed him as it has each following manager. Remember Allardyce got 8th – equating to the Moyes average finish over 10 years – but was chased out.

Evertonians will not accept "little Everton" anymore.

Robert Tressel @18,

I see no evidence to back your opinion beyond blind optimism. I didn't rate Richarlison as highly as some but he was one of our better players and he's gone with little or nothing as replacement.

I hope you're right as a bare minimum but, as it stands with the ownership farrago still in full swing, I can see us in another relegation scrap again and Frank gone by Xmas.

Lampard and Everton got very lucky last season, and although I hope he proves me wrong, I do not believe Everton will set the world alight this season.

With all that is going on behind the scenes, it is hardly ideal preparation for a squad who have also just lost their best player.

Big season for Calvert-Lewin, we must all hope he concentrates on the football – he has a lot to prove to himself and others!

Definitely new and hungry players required all over the park, how we do this is another matter. 14th is my prediction!

A lot of decisions are firefighting against various weaknesses and adhering to the demands of the Premier League Profit and Sustainability Committee. Until we see people of the necessary management ability coming in, it may be more of the same.

Lampard, though he avoided relegation, has still to be tested as an Everton Manager and on the skills to deal with the Everton structure and those that are part of it.

The right takeover parties may change this scenario.

I agree that the balance is the key to any squad. Reidy and Andy were not young when we signed them but were both incredibly hungry and hated losing!

As we all know, football is a team game, not just on the field but also in the day-to-day running, planning and training. I believe that Lampard has had the benefit of all that back-up experience to fall back on – let's hope it continue and there are no bust-ups on the way.

What has really surprised me though is why the fuck did he bring Dele Alli to the club? He must know something that I don't.

Having said all that perhaps the fella is a miracle maker, à la staying in the Premier League, so Alli might be the rabbit that he pulls out of the hat this season – somehow, I doubt it!

Lampard's best chance of getting us up the table next season is through continuing with the tactics he belatedly deployed when his attempts at expansive football failed. Ancelotti showed the way and you could argue Allardyce did too - Moyes and Royle too in different ways. They all found a way to be effective with flawed and limited squads.

Martinez tried and nearly succeeded in doing it a different way. He had the luxury of inheriting a good settled squad. Lampard has inherited a bag of shite so it calls for pragmatism.

Beyond next season, it all comes down to the quality of the players we can bring in via the academy and transfers. That's up to Thelwell more than Lampard. So we shall see what he delivers.

In the meantime I think the fans will tolerate mid-table finishes provided they can see what we're building, get creditable results in the derby and have a good go in the cups.

I hope with all my heart you are right and perhaps Frank's communication skills will placate the fans when losses associated with mid table arise but from past evidence I fear not.

I think this is a big season for Lampard; yes, he galvanised the side into getting enough points to stay in the Premier League, but for me the fans played the greatest part of all.

Some say he failed at Derby in not even reaching the playoff and at Chelsea, despite a very good start, it all sort of fell apart for him. Yes the expectations at Chelsea are at present on a different scale to the expectations at Everton. But I am surer he has hopes of managing a Champions League club, and maybe he has his sights one day on the England job.

What he does with us will I believe define Lampard as a manager – can he take a struggling team with little money to spend because of FFP back towards the top half of the table, which will constitute a successful season? Or will it be another year of fighting relegation?

If it's the later, I think Lampard can wave goodbye to any prospect of a Champions League job or the England job.

It seems like the great escape and the disgraceful managerial appointments have already been conveniently forgotten. Everyone knows who the people to blame for the disgraceful mismanagement of Everton are and if they are allowed to continue, disaster beckons. It's as simple as that… and I don't see any effort to remove them.

So what do I expect this coming season? A great reset? Maybe, but also realism that the squad is unlikely to be as strong or as deep in the last few years, because, IMO, the squads of the last few seasons have massively under-performed, giving the illusion that the squads have been poor.

So the reset might make us like a Moyes side again. We were (generally) better when we didn't have a pot to piss in and certainly more consistent. If indeed, "In Frank We Trust" then this is his opportunity to give the side an identity, something we have lacked for a few years. The latter part of the recent campaign saw that re-connection with the fans, so if he can build on that, we might just get somewhere.

By that I mean can he have enough faith and confidence in these two football men to leave them to do their job - and make sure “nobody” else interferes? I actually thing the main man in this is Thelwell.

I remember when we drew 2-2 at Wolves in their promotion season commenting on here that I thought they would win more games than they would loose. They have gone on to take our spot and going by Kevin's comments Thelwell played no small part in that.

In my opinion Farhad Moshiri should learn a lesson from the one thing he has got right since he bought us - the appointment of Colin Chong as the Project Director for the new stadium. That project is coming along in leaps and bounds because Colin Chong is a proven expert in the construction industry.

Actually, as I am typing this the though has occurred to me that he has actually done the same thing in appointing Thelwell. Proven track record. Maybe he has learnt?

As far as the playing squad is concerned the thing I will be looking for in any new player is “have they got character”? In our current situation that has to be a major consideration when spending what little funds we appear to have available. In that regard I am happy with the signing of Tarkowski - he will definitely strengthen us in that respect.

It's 9 days since your original post Kevin and no new signings as yet. I am hoping we sign Broja and a defensive midfielder. I would be content with that.

We won't be out of difficulties with financial regulations the season after never mind anytime this season so the scouting and finding of unpolished gems will be even more important and accordingly, I don't expect this season anything better than a decent home record and trying to be difficult to beat away from home.

I'd be made up though if we could attract James back for a season, on reasonable wages, so that we have somebody who might release Gordon, Gray and Calvert-Lewin but don't see anyone of high midfield quality coming this season so, backs to the wall it is.

The sun is shining. Tickets go on sale today.

Where is that midfielder?

It's all about desire, and unless the fans find enough desire to let the owner and his chairman know that they are not wanted (if Moshiri sells, minority shareholders will be able to keep their shares – well played Mr 1.3%) and that he should sell up, to the right people, as soon as possible.

Bill Kenwright will maintain our motto of Laughing Stock FC. Nothing will change.

The fans need to re-group and get these people out – the only way it changes.

Sorry but you've got the wrong leg there, where did the sandstone come from? And the dishwater will be the white.

I can't see many new members to the squad turning this around in the short time before the season starts, if any arrive at all.