Pochettino

So sad to see our truly beloved club deteriorating faster than Ross Barkley's form...

ps: Came up today to see the latest stage of the new Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock. Brought a tear to the eye after years of decay-filled stagnation. Let's just hope we still have a club to do it honour...

Frank is no different, people say it's not Frank's fault, he inherited a bad squad... well, he has added 5 players to that list of bad squad players.

Christian Streich has had SC Freiburg competing with the top German club for years, running on a shoestring. He has the ability to improve and get the most out of all his squad, and has the ability to change tactics to counter how other teams are playing, unlike Frank. He is who we should be chasing.

Nothing, and nobody, can change the fact that this club is simply utter toxic waste.

After yesterday, it's over. The club's top-flight life is finished. Plain and simple.

A charismatic leader of men, an inspirational character capable of getting the best out of players is where it's at. Someone who, by dint of personality, can do week-in & week-out what the fans did at the back end of last season.

We certainly don't need any more whiteboard bluffers complicating the world's simplest game.

I personally feel he needs two transfer windows. Get Simms back from loan... try to bring in Brereton Diaz, he knows where the net is!!

Yes, we need funds; therefore Davies, Gordon, Keane, Holgate and Calvert-Lewin can go – they should realise 𧴵M or so!!

Contracts ending should see us lose more deadwood.

Awaiting your input!!

This season remains all about survival and transitions: we need January and the coming summer to clean out expiring contracts (Mina, Davies, Doucoure, Lonergan, Townsend) and deadwoods (Keane, Holgate, Gomes, Gbamin, Dele) that are collectively costing the club an estimated 𧿘k per week on payroll. Without having them gone and the club staying in the league, Thelwell can't re-shape the squad.

His tactics in the second half in particular allowed us to dominate the game. He kept Gordon out wide to stretch the play and it worked. The team simply didn't have enough quality in the final third, and the quality of Wolves' substitutes allowed them to nick the game.

Where Lampard made a mistake was taking off Gana instead of Onana. That and allowing both full-backs to push on at the same time was really naive. We should have accepted a draw and moved on.

I don't think Lampard is a top manager by any means; he is learning on the job. But, if we fans think the answer is to force the sacking of yet another manager at the first sign of trouble, then we need to think carefully.

Six managers in six years is mental, the sort of thing we would expect from Leeds or Sunderland at their worst. We are on the right track to ending up like them if we keep up this level of dysfunctionality.

The fella has had one transfer window and he took the team on an unbeaten run in September that was our longest since 2014. I want to see who the club can bring in first, as it was criminal to start the season without back-up for Calvert-Lewin for the second season running. That one is down to Thelwell and the board.

As so often, I find myself agreeing with you. The first five tepid minutes apart, it was obvious Frank had been working on a strategy. Even his recent interview Lyndon linked on here, he talked about the importance of early tough tackles and we saw that.

The problem was that the players simply couldn't execute in front of goal, Gordon and Maupay specifically. My sense is that Frank and his crew are genuinely trying to improve the play and you can see the strategy (albeit the crosses when no-one is in the box are a bit weird) but the front three – no, front six really – seem incapable of holding their nerve or just lack the requisite talent.

Looking at the cold hard facts of results, my normal cynical inclination would be to compare Frank to Mike Walker. But Walker had no strategy and lucked out on individual brilliance.

Frank has a strategy but lacks individuals capable of brilliance. Like you, I think he's learning on the job etc but I don't feel confident sacking him will result in a turnaround with these players.

He wasn't outcoached in that game. I'd be surprised if Lopetegui's big plan was to generally be outplayed and hope we miss sitters.

I've seen people write that the players aren't even trying or are cowards. Well, I didn't see that either – we moved the ball faster and they pressed and covered ground.

That last minute was frustrating but I think they were showing patience in trying to make the most of their last chance and not simply lump it forward. For what it's worth, I thought Godfrey was repeatedly set up to carry the ball and chose not to.

Basically, I thought they did pretty well.

That's the issue I have. They did pretty well for the standard of player we have, yet still got beaten by the bottom team.

I don't see how changing managers improves that. There seems some kind of togetherness about the team.

I'm sure the answer is transfers. We need a goalscorer more than we've ever needed one.

Yes, Frank is inexperienced. Yes, he is tactically dubious. But manager after manager being the problem? Especially ones so different?

Here and now, we are likely to change managers again in an attempt to rescue the season. But that, yet again, doesn't hide the deeper-lying problems and protects the smirking fat cats in the boardroom.

Your point about a well-run club by an anonymous board speaks volumes. Okay, Abramovic was high profile because of his money.

I moan about the managerial merry-go-around but Chelsea have been just as "bad" over the years. However, it didn't really matter who came and went for them or how often. Their trophy cabinet is testimony to that.

Man City to a lesser degree changed managers steadily when a better one became available. The manager position at those clubs almost became a figurehead for what was going on behind the scenes and in the background.

We hired relegated Wigan's manager, became obsessed with Watford's (who had previously got Hull relegated). Got in a former great player who'd done okay at Southampton but preferred golf to Finch Farm.

I don't care too much for your Allardyce reference though. First, it reminds me that he once managed Everton. Second, wasn't his England career short-lived? One match before resigning for appearing to be willing to take a bung? Okay, a set-up, but the intent and willingness was there. And eventually his fire hose ran dry and he got West Brom relegated.

Anyway, back to your point, it's beyond managers. This club has been poorly run for decades. If we want change at this club, it needs changing at the top.

What was that WW1 phrase? Lions led by donkeys. Only we don't have many lions. More pussy cats led by people who it would be an insult to donkeys if I called our leadership donkeys.

As you can probably tell, I'm still recovering.

He's still a young manager that has just come off the back of managing Champions League clubs with sky-high expectations.

He ain't coming to the club that can't get anything right.

The three levels of a football club need to work, especially the top level. Everton have had two great managers in my lifetime: Catterick who with basically unlimited resources produced two great teams. When he wanted the best left-back in the world, he simply signed him and he broke transfer records to sign players like Kay and Ball.

The other great manager was obviously Kendall who, with far tighter resources, produced a great team built around an excellent middle four: Steven, Reid, Bracewell and Sheedy. Both were able to manage and to get the players they needed; in Kendall's case, he had to shop around, but basically he was backed.

The current situation has seen managers come and go, each has signed players, usually not very well. I'd say only Richarlison in the last few years was a really good buy. Yes, Gray is value for money; Coady and Tarkowski are shrewd short-term signings, but the players we've signed basically aren't going to change much.

Lampard hasn't been the answer to our prayers; he's a bright man, has a GCSE in Latin I'm told. I've A-levels in Latin and Greek, but I wouldn't give me the job either!

But he is floundering and my point is so did the last half-dozen managers at Goodison and so will the next half-dozen unless, another classical reference, the whole Augean stable is cleaned out.

And Moshiri is not Hercules; the new Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock maybe his legacy, and it's a good one, but, while Kenwright and the current board remain, we'll remain in permanent struggle.

It's where the "punching above our weight" mentality first began and its roots began in the Moyes era primarily because Moyes had a canny knack of turning water into wine with fuck-all to spend most of his time here.

It gets me that clubs like Newcastle get a takeover and, within a year, they are pulling up trees but most importantly the mentality is that they shoud be doing it.

Yes, he did a great job at Southampton. Yes, he reinvigorated a stale, middling Spurs team but, when he got to the Champions League Final, he totally bottled it. His players looked confused and clueless and got rolled over by Liverpool.

The following season, he went all Prima Donna – throwing hissy fit after hissy fit and basically downing tools until Levy sacked him. Then he started to play footsie with Man Utd and a few other top sides until they got tired of his Greta Garbo “I want to be alone” routine.

He then gets the Paris Saint-Germain gig and he quickly becomes unpopular with both fans and players due to his narcissistic personality. Despite the wealth of riches at his disposal in two seasons in France, he only won one League 1 title and one French Cup which is like winning the Johnson Paints Cup here. He also failed to win the Champions League which was his only remit.

Overall, Pochettino flatters to deceive, imo. Would I take him over Lampard? Probably, as he seems to know what he's doing whereas Frank looks completely lost at times. Anyway, there's not a snowball's… so it's all academic.

The main issue therefore is what's happening on the field; if we keep getting it wrong there, it will affect any sale of the club and the completion of the new stadium.

That would suggest we need a quality new manager and quickly. No wonder then there's talk of recruiting Pochettino or Tuchel – money talks and either of these guys would come if the money was right, in my opinion.

Pochettino did a great job in transforming Southampton who were in a similar position to the Blues are in right now, when he took over there.

All paper talk I know, ambitious maybe, but I hope it happens.

Mike Ashley was part of the cockney mafia, and had no interest in Newcastle United – that is what the Geordies used to say.

Bill Kenwright is a massive Evertonian who has only ever had Everton Football Club's best interests at heart – that is what the Evertonians said.

We are in a fix. No money, no goals and sinking fast. Why would an already rich celebrated manager risk his reputation by coming to us?

The bookies think our next manager will be:

- Rooney
- Dyche
- Postecoglu
- Martinez
- Bielsa

Is a change really worth it if these are the options? I'm not sure.

The most important thing, whatever we do about the manager, is to buy a striker.

I personally don't think Lampard is a bad manager at all. However, I believe he's out of his depth when it comes to finding ways to win. He appears to be focusing his coaching and tactical efforts on playing through the lines and, from my perspective, at least optically, we've seen some improvement there.

We have looked the “better team” for long spells against all the clubs around us. But we're not getting the results and that's because we can't win pretty with these players. I was surprised in the last 5 minutes of the Wolves game that we didn't have Tarkowski go forward to be a target man. We were in total control of possession.

But that, for me, was an illustration of the limitations of both Frank and the players. We simply don't have the wherewithal to win games at any cost.

We definitely need at least one goalscorer and a midfielder who can create chances for and support the attackers; that isn't Iwobi in my view. Maybe Maupay can become much more lethal, if he has a partner and support, instead of playing the Lone Ranger up front?

If Frank is to stay, my problem is who would he bring in as a goalscorer? And he should know all about the qualities of a supportive and creative, goalscoring midfielder!

I look at McNeil and don't see him fulfilling the role. Iwobi has not proved to be able to do anything effectively. It would be madness for him to be involved in buying a goalscorer, then for him to be sacked.

We cannot win enough games, playing like we have been, with our forwards (although Gray has a decent shot on him) not being able to slot enough chances away.

Robert, should they dismiss Frank, what is your view on Rooney as a manager?

Richard, I think undoubtedly that the root of our problems lies in the Boardroom.

We dominated that last game, but we lost due to inability to put away chances plus naivety in the last few minutes where we should just have sat on a point. Wolves wouldn't have had the chance if we didn't give it to them, why take the risk in the 90-something minute?

My unpopular opinion, as voiced elsewhere, is yes, there are problems across this club and Kenwright may well be part of them (although I'm not sure how much actual ultimate control he has these days and he does feel a little bit like a convenient punchbag for all woes - like the Tories, Daily Mail and immigrants or the Brexiteers and the EU), but the fanbase also has to hold their hands up and take some responsibility.

It wasn't Bill who was baying at the team for holding onto possession and not knocking it desperately forward in the last few minutes, it's not him either that gets on the backs of the players after the second misplaced pass every single game at Goodison – that is the crowd.

I understand the motivation. Of course we all want success, but we need to stop pretending like we just deserve the very best because of the colour of our shirts. However, the truth is we've been pretty mediocre in terms of a competitive team for over 30 years now.

(I'm 48 and started supporting in earnest when I was 10 – I count myself incredibly lucky I actually saw us at the very top of the tree in those formative years, winning silverware and vying with our neighbours for the top honours.)

In the Premier League era, the only really sustained bright period was the Moyes tenancy. The Ginger Messiah restored some pride after the abject years of Walker, Smith, and Kendall Mk 3 which saw us skirting relegation, and had "The Peoples Club" challenging for European slots almost every season despite having bargain basement budgets.

However, even then, when we were on the verge of European qualification, a portion of our fanbase (and many on here) were relentlessly on his back because the football wasn't good enough, or the aspirations weren't high enough, or we weren't going out full tilt against frankly much better teams and would settle for draws or narrow defeats. (I appreciate he wasn't hounded out, of course; he took the poisoned chalice up the M62 of his own accord.)

Ultimately, I'm really not trying to say this is all about the fans in any way – they have no control of recruitment, tactics or business strategy – but they/we do have influence on a matchday.

I think as a club we need to have a bit of an amnesty and maybe try and forget a little bit of the increasingly ancient history for a while at 3pm and concentrate instead on trying to support the guys wearing royal blue jerseys, regardless of their abilities.

They have the same goals we do – they want success and they ultimately want trophies.

Solution: I don't know… but there are no obvious goalscorers or goals in the present team. So, apart from praying there are three worse squads in the Premier league, what do we do?

The likes of (the unwanted) Allardyce or Dyche would probably set up a hard-to-beat team, two banks off four. The defence picks itself, in fact, it is our best hope.

The midfield, well no good choices, but Iwobi is reverting to type – skilful flicks but no end product – and should not be considered an automatic starter.

Up front, hopefully a new signing plus Tom Cannon. In the absence of a new striker, try Micheal Keane or even Yerri Mina. These may give the much-maligned McNeil something to aim at.

Keep it simple, and defend in numbers, and hope for a set-piece goal. Stop the stupid pratting around at the back and hope for a miracle.

I'd have thought Rooney would be a huge risk as the incoming manager in January.

It would be an admission of defeat by the club, in making a move so desperate.

I heard him speaking on the Toffee TV interview and he struck me as a lad who would know a lot about football, and will have learnt the hard way, about management, while at Derby. I think you are right though, plucked out of nowhere to manage a Premier League club! The media would have a field day with it.

I don't even know if he wants to pursue a career in management! I just listened to him talking and it hit me that he would someday make a good manager for EFC, but you're right. Let's see if he can cut it in the lower leagues, if he wants to go into management.

Well said, Robert.

As seems to be the theme of recent years, rumours and discussion seem to default to everything but what is patently required.

New winger or No 10, anyone?

Not to decry Richard's article as an exploration piece but can the club now please attempt to source what we desperately need???

Having said that, the opportunity presented to Lampard, Thelwell and Kenwright in the last window was another shitshow in recruitment, with Maupay, McNeil and Onana being no better than what was already there; I would swap Richarlison for all three of them any day of the week.

One of the most successful managers in history saw the light with the financial shit the club is in and this obviously filters through to the players.

Added to that, Moshiri is totally absent and disinterested and Kenwright thinks he can run the club from London with an occasional visit to a game.

I remember being told that the great Sir John Moores used to go in the dressing room before every game and, if the lads played well and won, he used to go in after the game with brown envelopes for everybody. That to me does so much more than putting 𧴜k a week into someone's bank account.

If the top tier is so aloof, how can we expect today's Championship-standard millionaires to feel responsible?

Our only hope was hard work, togetherness and good tactics – none of which has been consistently applied over 90 minutes in any game recently.

I ask the question: What has happened to the so-called "Strategic review" and "Fans Forum"? – neither of which has been communicating much to the fans.

Personally speaking, after 60 years as a fan, I have never felt so much negativity and confusion about how to go forward.

Do we stick or twist with Lampard and / or Thelwell?

Who out there is there to replace them?

Is the club in danger financially?

Is the club up for sale or are we just looking for investors?

When will we ever get rid of Kenwright and his miserable reign of incompetence?

How can we get back to the standard of player we should have?

I totally agree, but when you say 'the club', who do you mean? Because that is basically my question distilled to its essence.

If that's the only option, I'd rather stick than twist. Changing managers so often has got us nowhere, except in a worse situation than we were before.

Pochettino or Tuchel aren't coming here, and I'm with Colin on that one. I wouldn't touch Pochettino with a bargepole.

Vincent Kompany would be the best shout for me!

Honestly, the broad term of "club" is as accurate as I can frame it.

Through a succession of managers and several DoFs and the uncertainty of who recruited and employed them, combined with similar when it comes to players: I don't know.

If McNeil and Maupay are the best Thelwell and Lampard could conjure, given licence, I'd be stunned. I'm not sure the goals and ambitions of those running the show are all they could be.

Does he have a material hand in decisions as to which player is to be bought, what tactics are to be employed, etc?

Mr Moshiri has stumped up gazillions in the last few years to fund player acquisitions. Yet most have been duds. Why is Kenwright to blame for that?

Maybe look behind the song, "If ya know yer 'istory"! His roll call and form is a long time before Moshiri was here.

Still amazed this needs pointing out but obviously some or most blues only care what happens on the pitch, which is fair enough, by the way. His perception as a caring blue is very clever… I'll let you join the dots in your own time, mate.

Manager after manager has spanked the millions made available on sub-standard players and failed to put a team together that can compete. Some will argue that's the managers' fault.

Or, the club has been so badly run for over 30 years from the top, that managers have been sub-standard. The players they are able to buy are not the best and we pay over the odds — no matter how much money we throw at it.

I've criticised managers for tactical and matchday decisions, just as I have players. Just as much as I'll rejoice in a victory or good performance and praise them.

But if you look at it strategically, this club has stood still for 36 years. And that is down to strategic leadership. I still sit behind posts at Goodison that have barely changed since I went as a kid, whilst others (Man Utd, Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Newcastle) have either relocated or transformed their stadiums.

One person has been involved on that board of indecision-makers since 1989.

That's where that sentiment comes from.

We could do a lot, lot worse than Pukki at Norwich. Works hard, doesn't throw himself to the ground or sulk. He scored more than Richarlison last season, in a relegated team. He's reliable and effective, and not Maupay.

He was born the year after we last won a trophy. 26 years old and never seen our club do anything to deserve that loyal support. Avoiding relegation by the skin of our teeth and the odd win being the perennial underdog do not count.

Please, Kenwright, explain in detail to those young supporters the alleged good times they have had under your chairmanship?

You know full well you can't. They've had none.

It's got to the point where they won't sing "If ya know yer ‘istory". Imagine singing that in the Championship. My lad just rolls his eyes when I tell him about the glory my generation has seen.

The young generation are the main reason our club's heart still beats and will continue to beat. You, sir, just Fuck Off!

When he was coaching Spurs, only Spurs, Man City and Liverpool were playing a high press in the Premier League. I feel he overachieved at Spurs and was sacked at an opportune moment for Levy who wanted the available Mourinho.

I totally disagree with the critics on this post about his credentials. He would be a fabulous long-term appointment.

He's a drill sergeant for fitness.