Another ridiculous defeat for Everton

Sigh.

A disciplined performance with no giveaways in midfield and more than a bit of luck might earn us a point. COYB.

Gana is a class act and we desperately need him in midfield. One bad match does not make a bad player.

Get behind your team for goodness sake.

Matthews revelation has saved us all a few hours of our lives. What else is on Telly?

And even if you go behind, it's not over until that final whistle.

Let's hope the players have that mentality.

They've show a lot of it this season.

Let's go and do this Everton.

Let’s go blues

Everybody was poor. I was especially pissed off with Onana who spent a lot of time ambling about or chatting up Ronaldo.

Even if Gordon wasn't suspended he'd get the hook. McNeil has an opportunity to prove his doubters wrong.

Let's go. Spurs aren't as good as the press they get.

If we all had a quid for every time the favourites lost a footy match we'd all be fucking minted.

I think we will frustrate them and catch them on the break.

Would love McNeil to get another winner. It would do him the world of good. But an O G would do too

COYFBB

Tony, I don't know - really pining for her...

He's a great player, he's not going to keep making these mistakes.

Lukaku, now Onana. Stop the madness, let it grow!!!

I mean what is even the point if that's your attitude? Is there some perverse pleasure from having a glass constantly half empty?
I've been supporting the blues since I was 10 (that's 38 years) and I've been lucky enough to see some glory and some brilliant players, along with an awful lot of abject dross and despair.

That doesn't stop me from getting behind the blues though - even when it was Brett Angell, Shandy van der Mayde or Stuart 'Barn door' Barlow! COYB!!!

Jackass jerk

You're blind mate.

You're blind. He went after him with malice and hacked him down from behind. If you insist on tricking your eyesight and memory, knock yourself out.

Seems odd this refereeing already.

You define intentionally chasing a guy down and trying to break his shin from behind as a trip?

Delusional. You're nuts.

His boot planted in the ground how?

Answer that. Did it have ANYTHING to do with the fact he was chased, hacked from behind with malice? Anything at all mate? Anything?

"The Thin Skull Rule refers to the same law as the Eggshell Skull Rule, the Eggshell Plaintiff Rule, the Special Sensitivity Rule or the Old Soldier’s Rule. The rule states that a defendant’s liability extends to uncommon and even unforeseeable results for the victim."

How's this? I hate the fucker. Son is a Cnut of the highest magnitude. I'll just choose to call him Legbreaker even though you disagree. Swallow it, he's "Legbreaker" forever. If ya don't like it, scroll.

The LF really should be up.

Yup. How's your colon buddy?

Onana runs forward, Everton corner - Not!!!!

Kane shoots, deflected off Tarkowski- ref sees it!!

Fuckin amazing.

No Live Forum today.

Two weeks in a row = grumpy withdrawal. It's like taking the heroine away from the addict.

How does something that bad make you laugh?

Which we miss.

Lyndon texted me last night and said he wanted me to show TW what the "flavor" of the LF is all about. So I picked a fight about Son.

This thread is compensating, per Lyndon's request.

I'm clearly well out of the loop, I've read that 4 times and still not sure what it's meant to mean, that's flown right over might head higher than grays shot over the bar

Julian, maybe Paul tierney is in control of the LF these days?

I speak broken 'Merican. Just ignore.

First half was pretty meh. Let's see if we can nick one second half.

I think it's anyone's game to win, despite Spurs controlling most of the half.

Who do you push wide left if you bring Garner on? Isn't he a central midfielder? I'd never put Iwobe out wide any more. He's 100% more effective central.

No worries, depending on what time I've started on the Everton supporters survival drinks package, I can only dream of speaking broken English

Without goals, you are always vulnerable to defeat in most games against teams with proven strikers.

BTW that Onana tackle was incredible. He can only tackle with his left, but he pulls it off.

There's been a couple of yellows that didn't seem deserved, one for each side, and Richi doesn't seem too keen to score against us. Oh, and are we the only team that from a free kick moves the ball back from the shaving cream mark?

Hopefully, Frank gives them some sort of attacking ideas for the second half.

That tackle was utter gold. Freaking brilliant tackle.

this thread is compensating - like substituting, but compensating because it doesn't stack up. Also a pun on male part size, because the thread can't stack up ever to the LF.

Does that make sense?

It's really shit when you have to spell out what you're thinking.

Sometimes you nail the dive and the Russian judge even give you a 10. Sometimes you bellyflop.

Haha, yeah I get it now. I also feel very silly for not differentiating between the two paragraphs. I read it all as one, which confused me even more. Time for a lie down.

I'd not want to see him miss the WC and I'd be sad for him

What a SAVE from PICKFORD!!!! Holy crap!

Something I have noticed in their use of the multi ball system. Everytime the ball goes out their ball boys get another ball back to their players in seconds. We are still asleep whilst they are attacking, it’s happening every single time.

We have made a good fist of this today, considering our limitations at present.

This has been a managerial shitshow. Defensive turgid, one eyed, scared of your own shadow, grade A bollocks.

Unfortunately same shit, different day isn't it.

Same old story, Spurs play well below par but we have absolutely zero end product.

Another long hard season beckoning with few goals scored me thinks.

Our forward play is nothing short of embarrassing and all this nicey nicey sportsmanship bollocks whilst in the game pisses me off.

At the start and end I'm 100 pc behind it. During the game. Not for me.

Lampard should have kept Maupay on to play off Dom.

Mykolenko has to challenge Kane, even if it means giving away a free kick whilst it's near the half-way line, rather than back off and let him turn.

Even 1 nil down, we still let them have the ball. What the fuck is the point in playing? Just may as well forfeit the match.

I'm tired of this ultra-defensive setup, it's getting us nowhere and boring the pants off the fans.

We can't score goals, it's all on Calvert-Lewin staying fit which I doubt he will; even if he does, I still think we are in for a struggle sadly.

Mykolenko at fault for both goals.

But we need to create more or learn to finish the few chances we do create.

I know Spurs are head and shoulders above us. I expect that. But this spineless brand of football is really pissing me off.

We had two excellent chances and scored none.

Eddie Howe takes over a shambles at Newcastle and even before spending the money they looked a transformed team.

We play the same boring brand of shite every season.

It really isn't, you know, we're irreparably poor, though we occasionally manage to be average on a good day.

We must be the most boring side in the Premier League. That was excruciating.

Go in to the World Cup break in mid-table.

Also missing Patterson. He is way ahead of Coleman now.

Still, Spurs are better than us like Arsenal are better than the shite. I see positivity but it's a long struggle before we'll beat these cunts!

McNeill so one-footed it's unbelievable, he shouldn't be starting. No firepower at all...

So what next???

Spurs are third (now) in the table, competing in the Champions League and a lot lot further along their journey than we are. (You can argue about whether they should be and how we've squandered the last 4-5 years but that's another discussion). They also have a settled side and some world-class attackers.

Whilst Spurs had more possession, and loads more shots, I don't think we were bossed and you can tell from Conte's reaction that it was by no means a walkover.

The penalty was a little questionable for me or at the very least avoidable and the second was a classic counter sucker-punch when we'd pushed to try and get back into it. We did create chances and probably should've been up at the break.

Back to it in midweek! Let's see how we do against the Barcodes!

We have played 2 of the contenders for the Top 6 and have been easily beaten both times.

Lampard hasn't a clue. This is shite, no ambition, and the mindset was so disappointing once we conceded.

Okay, tactics great first half then, after the Pickford fucks up, they went to shit!

They had subs we would love at Goodison.

We are a work in progress, due to mismanagement. They are now challengers on all fronts. The difference is obvious – we have Bill Kenwright, whilst they have Daniel Levy – simples.

I thought Spurs were every bit as boring as us. We gifted them two goals. We missed two good chances. And that's more or less all that happened.

2. McNeil and Gray are both lightweight and give the ball away.

3. Taking Coleman off and putting Iwobi at right back was ridiculous.

4. Leaving three holding mids on at 1-0 until Gueye was hooked.

We have three young forwards who, whilst not prolific, would do more than Maupay and yet they are fucking about in other teams, says it all really.

Overall, we're just bloody awful, the same cringing dread of winning – game after game, season after season, decade after decade.

I didn't see Lampard chickening out of too many tackles but I did see Seamus, Mykolenko and Iwobi not getting stuck in on several occasions.

McNeil and Gray were terrible. Maupay should have stayed on and combined with Calvert-Lewin. Not bloody Rondon. Frank is a fuckin muppet.

I agree, we are a work in progress but, as hard as I try, I see little progress apart from the addition of the new centre-backs.

Let's play 4-4-2. Tackle players on the other team when they have the ball. Pass to a team mate in the same colour shirt.

How has football become so complicated?

Frank, get back to basics.

I said staying up will be an achievement. It will be.

Night all!!

It's all about Palace and Leicester at Goodison.

Is there money to be had betting on Everton losses given the predictability against certain outfits?

es, we get the odd result but generally if you stick a fiver on us getting a stuffing from the likes of Man Utd and Spurs, are you ahead at the end of the year?

No shame in getting beat but 2nd week in a row – performance has been cowardly and meek.

Never a penalty – Kane knees Pickford in the head.

That, and Kane clearly conned the ref.

We sold Spurs our main cheat this summer and didn't replace him.

As you say, we had two decent chances out of nothing and shat our pants on both.

Did you really think we were going to score either? No, nor did I. That's Everton right there: frightened.

I blame fucking Everton in the Community. We are just one ridiculous fucking charity when it comes to playing football!!! I am fucking seething.

In recent seasons, Everton have played better against Top 6 sides than lower table sides.

Never a penalty in a million years, fuck knows why it doesn't go to the VAR to at least look at it, who decides which teams get to appeal through VAR?

We look clueless when the onus is on us to attack, which is very worrying. Not sure how Frank changes it coz there's absolutely zero movement in the final third.

Off to bury me head in several krieks and make the most of being in Brugge.

Onwards and upwards, Blues...

We'll be up against a raucous crowd of fat screaming Geordies; if we capitulate there like we did in February, then the small drop of confidence we should have been on before last week will start evaporating very quickly.

The trouble was we should have gone in 2-0 up.

I'm not sure why Rondon came on, he really isn't any use unless you are banging in dozens of crosses from the wings and hoping one bounces off him. Iwobi was seriously underwhelming today, largely, I think becasue he never saw the ball.

In some ways, I think our biggest loss this year isn't Calvert-Lewin, it.s Townsend whose ability to shoot very effectively from outside the box makes our attacks much more dangerous – indeed we saw that last week with Iwobi (before the Alamo defence was called into play, with the usual Alamo outcome).

Only Coady and Tarkowski played well but under far too much pressure due to the hopeless players in front of them always second to the ball all through the match.

That was the main difference I thought, we've got no penetration and when we do get a chance it is squandered.

Positives? Calvert-Lewin now will be starting, the other four forwards can fight it out to be a starter from now on. We have to start doing more work to get beyond the full back and get a cross in from much more dangerous positions. Although Garner looks like he can supply quality balls in from deeper.

Offensively we are not putting anywhere near enough pressure on the opposition, that's something that now Calvert-Lewin is back must change.

Far too negative, set up to draw and creating nothing becomes boring turgid football.

We had no midfield to speak of, Onana was nowhere to be found, Gana doesn't have a positive or creative idea in his body and Iwobi was played wide where we know he is wasted. We certainly miss Patterson who shows more going forward than anything out there today while McNeil and Maupay might try hard but are just not up to it and Gray looks a million dollars but turns out to be less than 50 cents.

As for the penalty, yeah, right, Pickford perhaps shouldn't have lost control of the save and tripped Kane by putting his head between his legs??? As for the second, the defence was all over the place.

Just as a final little observation, that dirty little hypocrite Son getting Gana booked while he queried his own sending off for that terrible leg break on Gomes!

Sorry, but just an awful display that seemed to lack any sort of plan.

He plays Coleman at right-back (who is way past his best) so has Iwobi covering for him. Lampard then has Gueye covering for the two centre-halves but does not get forward or offer anything noteworthy.

So effectively, Everton had 6 defenders but still get beat. Yet, Frank Lampard was a bustling midfield player with an 'eye' for goal, so the Everton team selection is mystifying. But he will still play a stifling Everton team against Newcastle and Everton will still get beat.

I give up.

I don't often agree with you but you're spot on. We are still making silly mistakes which is costing us points. We are totally gummy upfront (Maupay is bang average) and we are not brave in the tackle.

We lost to two teams who will be challenging for the Top 4 slots whereas, like it or not, we'll be challenging for mid-table safety.

Even playing defensively the first half Everton should have been ahead, and the only way Spurs won despite all their possession was 2 stupid mistakes that they cashed in on.

The opportunities that Gray and Onana had – could you imagine Kane or Son missing them?

We are aiming for around a 10th to 14th position not for Top 6. And the difference is quality in players that we don't have.

Agree we are not brave enough in the tackle, and it's something I can't understand because the ref was dishing out yellow cards like confetti to Everton players.

Garner has got to start because the kid looks like he's got a big heart.

I would like to ask Lampard when has Rondon ever had an impact on a game, his inclusion is a total waste of time. After all the optimism, another loss against Newcastle and we are back in the relegation battle.

Anyway it was better than last season. Rancid club.

Onana could be a real threat just hanging about as a second striker almost but in midfield he's getting lost a bit right now.

Everton are the People's Club, Alan Ball played for us and Dixie scored a hatfull of goals 80-odd years ago. Just be pleased about that!

I fully agree, Nice FC (again).

Spurs losing Richarlison turned the game; Bissouma, as an extra man in midfield, let them dominate.

The penalty turned the game, Ian Edwards can blame Mykolenko, but Pickford totally at fault for losing the ball. Mykolenko should have got the ball ahead of Kane, or at least tackled him, and he's a left-back not a centre-back.

Bringing on Rondon instead of playing Maupay with Calvert-Lewin in my opinion was also a mistake. Frank got it wrong.

But hey, what do I know?

I'll take that.

I've lost count of the number of times we've embarrassed ourselves on national telly.

Everton are still only half a team, and I personally think there is still something wrong with our system.

The midfield balance isn't right, and I think every one of our midfield players go missing at certain times. I feel that the manager has got to switch things around to get the best out of this squad.

McNeil and Maupay.

When you buy shit, you eat shit.

We desperately need recruitment in the creative and forward areas. Gray and McNeil for me are squad players at best.

Next summer is the time to judge Lampard. Until then, the remit is to pick up as many points as possible and get the club into a stable position somewhere between 12th and 14th and the club's objective for this season is met.

No-one on here – and I mean no-one –can quite honestly say we'll be fine with Calvert-Lewin and Rondon. Then he goes and signs that waste of space Maupay.

For fuck's sake, what do these managers see in some players? He won't score more than 5 for us all season. A terrible signing… absolutely awful.

Hanging his hat on Calvert-Lewin was folly. Looks like he'll never be the same player – mind you, the likes of Haaland Salah and Kane would struggle with that kind of service.

Our midfield is fuckin dreadful: can't tackle, can't close down players, and they create virtually nothing. 1 goal more than once in 10 games all season. Another shocking stat to go with the litany of shite stats we seem to compile.

As for our record against Spurs, for fuck's sake, what's that all about? Someone texted me earlier and said we've never scored against a Conte side in 7 games – how utterly fucking embarrassing is that.

Fuck off, Everton, you've once again managed to ruin another bastard weekend for me. Can't fucking stomach them… honestly, I hate the twats.

See you in the Bottom 3 in a few weeks.

Anyways, we are seriously missing Patterson as Seamus is past it and was all over the place today. I love the man but his time is well up and I'd rather see Holgate (if fit) at right-back next game.

I never thought I'd say it but I'm almost certain that it will eventually make me turn my back on watching the game at this level, especially when the VAR doesn't intervene.

Is there any team in the world who would fear Everton? Any team who would be dreading us? Nice Guys United is what we are; from top to bottom.

We've gone from a pretty good team that needed a couple of new players, to an outfit whose aim is survival, with an outside ambition of mid-table.

Half a billion quid's worth of masochism.

But I don't think playing McNeil as a defender will help the cause, as he's never gonna be able to make good tackles when required.

Everyone know Kane's the modern-day Franny Lee, so why wasn't he booked for diving? Where was the VAR?

That referee, the same shithouse who denied us the penalty v Man City last season at Goodison, is as inconsistent as ever.

Two avoidable goals conceded, two sitters missed but offensive play today was almost non-existent, and that is concerning.

I hope the team plays with belief at the Barcodes on Wednesday. Beat them, and I'll be happy.

So, in January, do Everton pay good money for a proven striker? Unless you score regular goals, no football team will flourish.

A disappointing end to this week but next week, let's see.

Tarkowski played very well, and was a positive along with Coady, and hopefully in a few weeks, Patterson coming back fully fit should help get some balance in this team.

UTFT!

Yes, you're right, Spurs are a better team and performance with statistics: 2-0 was the least Spurs deserved.

Just sometimes the predictability of our performances is frustrating. Just one question: Why substitute one striker and replace with another, and your 1-0 down?

Perhaps that's why I'm not a football manager. It's very complicated.

The big decisions in games now is a lottery at best, and the officials for the match and at Stockley Park take the proverbial every week. Tonight's match was no different.

Stinks, this game, as there are rules and ethics, and reading the rules of the game now is like reading War & Peace.

So let's reset for the Skunks, and beat them, but playing a team with attacking capability.

Coleman, rated finished three seasons ago.

Coady couldn't get in the Wolves side and was available at £4 million.

Tarkowski took his team down: free transfer.

Gana was touted round Europe for free by PSG because he was deemed no longer good enough.

Onana, bought for €6million by PSG, sold after 11 games for over £30 million because he wasn't good enough for the French league.

Garner, couldn't get in the Man Utd team: £15 million.

McNeil, took his side down, poor goals, poor assists no pace or threat: £20 million.

Gray, cast off by Leicester City, sold by his next team for buttons £1.7million.

Maupay couldn't get a game at Brighton: £15 million.

Rondon, free, kicked out of China and Russia, didn't have a club, even the manager was a free!

A hodgepodge of a team that all I expect from is to stay in the Premier League and nothing else.

Yet we all expect a team like that to do something. Why do I support them? Because I'm a true blue, born in Everton. Oh, and hope springs eternal!

I was proven right about this evening's game. We did alright in the first half but lost this game because of a serial diver and another dodgy VAR decision, plus some poor subs.

Moshiri is the equivalent of Liz Truss at Everton Football Club. God help us.

The rest is best off forgetten.

The trouble is, they're also quite slow. So we play deeper to cover those flaws. But that means we struggle to create anything in the final third.

Playing 2 wingers while only Maupay is on the pitch is pointless. He can't win headers.

Playing long balls up to Maupay (even on the floor) is pointless, because he can't hold the ball up and bring others into play.

So, if Calvert-Lewin is fit, either he plays solo up front (straight swap for Maupay) and we keep this formation. Or he plays up front with Maupay but we sacrifice a midfield body and surrender more possession to the opposition.

In my opinion, without an overhaul of the squad in January, swapping Calvert-Lewin for Maupay is the only option we've got. If he's still incapable of stringing two appearances together, then we're basically fucked, because we can't find or afford a centre-forward who can lead the line and get us the 15+ goals needed to keep us in the Pemier League.

I wonder whether we'd all be happier if we accepted that we're a dull side of very limited talent, and have been for a long time? I suspect that the answer is "yes".

We need to abandon any realistic hope of ever again being seriously in the hunt for trophies and turn up – eventually, a diminished hard core – to watch a procession of uninspiring games with the odd surprise triumph? That's the truth of us already, isn't it?

What I'm suggesting is that we clear out the delusional nonsense of success being in view, and just relax. Make it all about the matchday experience and take the stuff on the pitch in our stride.

Not sure where that leaves the new Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock – probably a North West version of the North East white elephants.

UTFT, obvs.

We have to accept that we are a very difficult work in progress and that sides like Spurs and Man Utd are way ahead of us.

We have no forwards and Spurs have 2 world class strikers in Son and Keane, yet this is irrelevant. For Spurs in the 2nd half, it was a training ground game.

We have to grind out points now from our peer group and expect to lose against better sides like Spurs. We are absolutely in a relegation battle already in that we are in a group of clubs that could go down.

All the professional staff in his first spell here have long disappeared. He's a shadow of his former self!

Just watched some highlights. The penalty? Marginal contact, fully developed dive. Another one for Salah to practice in training.

Pickford needs to be arguing there, not slumping in surrender.

Be honest, is anyone on here actually expecting us to win at Newcastle because, if I'm honest, I can't see us scoring.

Palace are tending towards poo, Leicester are shite. You know what that means, don't you?

All in all, it was an Everton effort. Our heart and hard work were clearly on display. So were our multiple limitations of talent. We lost to a better side in top form that have won 8 straight at home, to a manager we've never scored on in 7 games. Until we get more better players in, that's the way it's gonna be sometimes.

I'm tired of persuading myself, in the teeth of the evidence, that we're still in the game.

When Iwobi went to right-wingback, we were totally exposed. In the game I watched, Coleman was comfortable on the right, on his own.

You must have been watching a different game because we had a back 5 with McNeil playing on the left.

I think we pick up one or two wins here; defensively we look solid, and not conceding from set-pieces. A couple more 1-0's like West Ham at home will do.

Get to the January window to do a bit of wheeling and dealing if possible.

Kane is a top-level player, and he knew he couldn't have got to that ball and put it into the goal. The side angle tells you everything, but it's gone now. I've had enough of controversy, which seems more important than the game itself now IMO.

"His arm was in an unnatural position" is another one of the things that is killing the game, when you consider that the most unnatural of positions is when defenders put their arms behind their back just in case it hits them on the arm.

Mike, I don't say it wasn't a penalty, it had to be really. If you watch the replay angle from low from our left-back position, you may see what I mean regarding the maximization by Kane.

Tony, most natural position for anyone's arm – attached to their shoulder.

Kane knew the script and how referees interpret that for a home side, especially Sky 6 side in front of 60k fans. The referee was wetting his knickers to give the penalty to the England captain; he should have been booked.

I remember Lloris making far more contact with Richarlison at Goodison and play getting waved on because he allegedly got a millimetre of fingernail on the ball after a major VAR inquest found it. It highlights the way many of these decisions go.

Kane, like every England captain, gets away with murder...

What the hell are you talking about? Surely as a good blue, you speak in haste.

In my opinion, Frankie played the right formation but no balance in midfield, ie, Iwobi, out of his depth, not holding his position {headless chicken}.

Mykolenko needs replacing.

For me. James Garner would be the first name on the team sheet for Wednesday. Ask any Forest fan. To me, he looks the business.

Coady and Tarkowski are our Reidy and Gray, who have been faultless. Considering the FFP, I would love the club to buy world class wingers, young defenders etc. But we haven't got a pot to piss in.

But for the penalty and the deflection, we would have stolen a point which is the most that we can expect when we play Top 4 teams away from home.

I'm not going to go on and on but we just look very weak.
When you get chances like Onana and Gray, you have to take them.

Hoping I am wrong but £20 million for McNeil, even after 10 games, is looking like another fuck-up.

And Tony, agreed on the arm thing on penalties. It drives me nuts how many penalties are given these days on handballs that are clearly not deliberate.

I grew up reffing the old ball-to-hand vs hand-to-ball standards, and I still do. Had that exact controversy in a game last night, waving off a penalty appeal for a shot that hit a defender's arm from about three yards away. "His arm was away from his body!" was the cry.

"This ain't the Premier League!" was my reply. "Ball to hand. Play on."

This manager is a dead man walking; likeable but just not what's needed, he's flailing around trying to learn on the job and relying on the fact he used to be a good player. Rarely works…

Wenger, Mourinho, Klopp, Ferguson, Potter weren't great players but change the ethos; we just can't get our recruitment right, whether it be players or managers.

Our only saving grace this season could be Coady and Tarkowski; I'm sure we'd all settle for survival again and those two are fighters.

A bit off topic but I'd sell Pickford in a heartbeat; Mykolenko is a liability; McNeil was a terrible signing; and don't give Iwobi an improved deal. Sell him and get some money back if anyone would actually pay real money.

Just when you think you're getting rid of some deadwood we go and buy a load more!

Which worked perfectly and didn't need messing with. Almost think they want the controversy.

All the pundits are slaughtering Pickford. Of course he made a mistake, but if Kane was genuine, then it's possible Pickford might have got his jaw broken because Kane would have fell right on top of Pickford, and possibly smashed his head into the turf, although this could only have happened if the Spurs striker had no intention of going down.

Football is turning into Subbuteo, Mike, the table football game where the players had no arms. I'm beginning to detest the game if I'm being honest.

Stop thinking entitlement and start thinking rebuilding. We're getting better, not perfect. Can't win them all and Spurs away is a big ask.

UTFT

Watch it clearly, no contact made with Kane, but a poor reaction from Pickford to recover, and Kane – as he does best, and all the strikers do these days – took a dive.

The referee is so smug, he's above it all. I hope Everton call out use of the VAR in this match, but unlikely, and the biggest hiatus in football is becoming the main talk of the game of football.

Takes the piss, but doesn't detract from a poor Everton second half, all considered.

A big game v the Skunks already, and scoring goals, creating chances is the big issue, and won't be easy to fix and keep a balanced line-up.

Let's hope Patterson comes back fully fit and Everton keep their spirit as they will need it next Wednesday.

McNeil, I have similar concerns.

Mykolenko, I don't know what's happening with the coaching. He's been much better than of late, but seems to be all over the place position-wise, and giving forwards space when he should be closing.

I think we stick with Iwobi providing he is played in the right place. Hopefully bigger money doesn't cause problems.

Spot on with Pickford, Iwobi and Mykolenko comments.

Iwobi is still all fur coat and no knickers in my opinion.

Keeping the ball is everything, and although this is difficult at times when the opposition put you under pressure, it's slowly becoming harder for certain players to do.

This isn't really acceptable, and until it's rectified with better quality, then we will always struggle in certain games.

If that was any of the top sides, their keeper would have got up and been in the face of Kane saying he dove – not our goalkeeper though, he may as well as got up, go over to the ref and say it was a penalty.

We need to learn to take advantage of chancing our luck, trying to get away with something, than look as guilty as hell and not try the big boy's gamesmanship.

Interesting from minute one, the commentators were on Pickford's case about time wasting, yet when one-nil up and time wasting? Oh, that was 'game management' from Spurs.

Two games running we have shot ourselves in the foot.

As others have already pointed out, Pickford's reaction was like an admittance of guilt, when really he should have been in the ref's face, going off his fucking head...

Had he done so, I think the ref would have been told to go and look.

England captain… can't piss him off, eh, Jordan!

Nothing will change and perhaps, conspiracy theory (joking), the FA have decided, with the World Cup a few weeks away, there is no room for inflicting more angst on the maligned England team, with perceived slander of Captain Harry Kane taking a dive, coupled with injuries and poor form for the England team

At least Franny Lee and his ilk executed proper dives, rather than pathetic soft dives, like in today's game. Kane's a good player but has always and will always be one of the worst divers in the game.

But I'm starting to think that the excuse of a fair official at this match plays the rules to a degree and then relies on the VAR?

They get away with murder every game. We have had a few go our way but, in the main, sweet fuck-all. The more it goes on unchallenged and then glorified by typically ex-RS and Man Utd players on Sky and BT Sport, and the Toon Hero on MotD, the more it drives me further away from the game of football.

The past is the past, and I live for the present but the quality of match officials in the Premier League is at the worst level in my view. But dust down and get set for the Skunks on Wednesday.

It's two bad defeats, but a fine margin today, in view of taking good chances to score. If... and only...

Wednesday's result will not decide this season but will set the tone for the pre-Christmas period. Massive game and a chance to make amends and grind out a result.

Okay, I didn't really expect us to go there and tear the book up but trying to defend for 90 minutes plus then relying on scraps up front... Come on.

Second half was embarrassing waiting for the inevitable to happen. Pickford was at fault for the penalty, he should've held that shot from Docherty. Kane is always gonna go down after the reaction from the challenge.

All-in-all, a really disappointing night.

Bit like our laughable 'strategic review' when the head of the snake always survives. Check the club badge ˜– never mind the decision first.

Nothing bitter or biased from me, it's why I fell out of love with post-Sky football a long time ago... albeit I always love the Blues.

Everyone is slaughtering Pickford, and yet nobody is criticising Kane or the officials, shows me that cheating is so much more acceptable than making a mistake in the eyes of the powers that be.

The powers that be = the media.

Pickford
Coleman Coady Tarkowski Vinagre
Garner Onana Gray
Iwobi
Calvert-Lewin Maupay.

No contact with Kane????? Pickford headbutts him in the thigh. I expect bias on here but anyone saying it wasn't a penalty is mad.

Also, McNeil £20 million... Maupay £15 million. He's crap. Maybe both of them.

People getting annoyed because we didn't beat Spurs away, jeez they treated it as a training game 2nd half, they are that much better.

Everton will improve but the angst of time and this latest defeat makes every game massive, as the road to consistency in terms of results is far away. But one week of two defeats doesn't define a season.

UTFTs!

Yes, Kane put himself in a position where he'd likely get a penalty but what would you have him do? Politely hand the ball to Pickford?

By today's standards, it was a penalty and we live in today so it was a no-brainer for me. Pickford screwed up. It happens.

I'm all for tackling time-wasting but there is skill in putting the ball in Row Z to allow your teammates to get back and into position. Sometimes the new ball is back in play before the clearing player has even made it back on the pitch. That can't be right.

Sorry, mate, you're heading into Klopp territory with that complaint.

But Kane dived seconds after contact, from Pickford, very clever, but standard Harry Kane, and all Premier League players, in the same position.

No VAR requirement, and the version of Pickford's body language made up the referee's mind, is shite.

Each to their own view, respectfully it is right, but results wise a bad week for Everton. Overall, there's enough negativity on this thread to last a season.

It's a work in progress, and will take a long time, the next game counts.

UTFTs!

I would just point out that we have won two games this season. Maupay scored the winner in one, McNeil the other.

Not necessarily disputing your opinion -- I was opposed to both signings -- but it should be noted that we would likely be winless in 10 without them.

Sorry, Kieran, it sounds like I'm a sore loser with the timing of the comment, but it's something I've thought for a while now, even while watching other teams that I'm not completely biased about.

It was only afterwards that the VAR said they did not get involved because they did not think the ref had made an obvious error.

If people are happy to accept that, then why the hell when the same thing happened to Everton a few seasons back against of all teams Spurs, Richarlison goes down after the goalkeeper had deemed to have got the slightest touch on Richarlison, Richarlison gets up, keeper in no-man's lands and the ref blows for a penalty.

So why did the VAR jump all over that, and advised the ref to go and take a look? Result: ref changes his mind, not only ruling the penalty out, but denying Richarlison to get a shot off, with the keeper already rounded and beaten.

No-one can tell me the game is not corrupt and the big boys are getting absolutely everything going for them.

Ian, you should be on the telly, because at least you're trying to be honest. 😂

Utter drivel.

That team was set up to defend today. Even when we get the ball, the play is backwards... the person with the ball and those moving for it. Every single player is anticipating getting into their defensive form. A self-fulfilling prophecy.

That team is shit scared to lose... and ironically that's mostly what you are going to get with that formation, tactic and most importantly... mindset!!

That's on Frank.

Sometimes, if you're too adventurous, you get smashed.

The next midfielder, winger or striker we get in January, make sure he knows what goal posts look like from 20 yards or more.

Invited by a mate who's a wealthy Spurs fan, i had the whole corporate experience. Leaving that aside – and I will just say, give me the Blue Dragon or similar pre-match any day of the week – i had to watch that dross amidst the home fans.

Interesting at least to hear their view. Spurs have, I believe, won all their home games – the consensus was that 1st half we managed the defending deep and playing on the break scenario better than anyone they've thus far played.

They weren't anything to write home about, evidently, but upped the tempo 2nd half and got the goal. I was in line and it looked a stonewall penalty to me.

Just all very predictable and the usual sensations of disappointment and frustration.

The incident you describe happened last November. I thought it was disgraceful at the time and still do.

The way you beat a team of superior players is not to challenge them straight up, man to man. The way to beat them is sit back, absorb as a team, and look to sucker punch them on the counter. That's what Lampard did.

It was the right tactic, the right setup and the right mindset. And it could have worked if either Gray or Onana could have put their shots on frame.

But the simple natural law of the game is that, most of the time, the side with the best players wins. Today they did.

We generally did okay for an hour. We looked solid at the back, and had the better chances. It was a marked improvement from last season's fiasco.

I thought the penalty was soft after a massive clanger from Pickford. And then I thought we were shit after that to be fair. But what did you expect Michael? “Another ridiculous defeat… where the fuck was Calvert-Lewin?…Tarkowski helping a player with cramp…”.

We were playing away from home against a team that will likely finish in the Top 5, and we gave a good account of ourselves. They are a better team than us – we are a work in progress.

You sound like an angry man just ranting nonsense. Calvert-Lewin is being eased back. And what Tarkowski did is what most players would do to be honest to get the game up and running again – it was our time after all, we were getting beat 1-0!!

Hopefully Lyndon's report will be more balanced.

You cannot make mistakes against teams like that. We made several.

On the penalty, it was a bit soft but then Tierney looked desperate to give them something all game.

You forgot to mention that the weak link in Spurs' attack (they were better when he went off) was our best attacking player up until 4 months ago and we sold him for £50 million and replaced him with a guy who cost a quarter of that price.

For what it's worth, I thought Tarkowski played particularly well, Coady was solid, Onana, Gueye, Gray and Garner did pretty well. Iwobi, Maupay, Calvert-Lewin and Rondon barely saw the ball.

Pickford made one costly error; otherwise was good. Mykolenko wasn't great, and poor old Seamus …. all those clearances where he sent the ball back into the danger zone. No lack of effort on his part but he looked past it today, I'm afraid.

McNeil… I just am not sure of his purpose but I'll give him time. But realistically we are defensively much improved but it's gonna take time to get the other half.

I did watch the second half but, yeah, after those misses, at half-time I thought: “I've seen this play out a certain way at Spurs about 40 times before.”

That's about as near to a confession as I can imagine.

The ref may not have been bent, but the VAR certainly was.

Pickford, Coady etc should've been dragging the ref to look at the penalty but no, it's ''Thanks very much, it's only Everton.'

Anything like that today against the Red Shite and it would be discussed in parliament.

The problem is we didn't have a threat and wasted the few chances we managed to create. They had the quality when it mattered. In many ways similar to last week. It shows the work we still have to do to get to where we want and need to be. We'll get there, it's just going to need hard work throughout the club.

At first glance, I thought it was a penalty. As soon as I saw the replay, no. Surely they're going to review it. No. Not a chance. No need to look at it because it's Harry Kane.

Someone tell me if I've been on the bitter pills but at the other end and it's Maupay, that definitely gets reviewed and probably overturned. There were other star-struck decisions that went the other way, but I can't be bothered singling them out.

I'll be honest, at the time, I was still mumbling on about Pickford's mistake. I don't like beating up on keepers, especially as Jordan has saved us on more than one occasion. Excuse the unintended pun. But that one cost us the match and I felt for the defence as they had stood up well to the challenge and I hadn't really felt too threatened in an away game against a notoriously difficult opposition on their own turf.

I got shouted at because I mouthed off some choice words at Tarkowski for helping out with the cramp. Bad sportsmanship on my part as you should always help out a fellow player. It was just sheer irony and coincidence that the player went on to score the killer goal.

What's next? Newcastle. We're due a win again.

Limp through to January. All so unnecessary but we will get there.

If Gray looks up and doesn't forget his lines, it's a tap in for Maupay. A part of Gray's game that is stopping him being as good as he could be.

Pickford does excellent to prevent Kane on two occasions. He almost got to the penalty as well.

Apparently it was checked, so I'll refrain slightly. I'm still not convinced it was a penalty though.

Unlucky for that second, which I didn't realise at the time. Iwobi presses as you would expect, but the deflection beats Pickford. I think he'd have got to it otherwise.

But we didn't threaten, so no excuses.

Frank very honest in his assessment.

Ashley Williams commenting on Everton. How dare he.

Harry Kane love fest going on. I don't think they even reviewed the game, just a Harry Kane assessment. The only other mention was Bissouma occupying "the other 2 midfielders for Everton". Is that the best they can come up with because they didn't know their name?

I shouldn't watch! Amateurs or groupies. I can't decide.

The 48 minutes he has played for us in his entire career?

Or his minimal impact this season as a part-timer in League One?

Yeah, in fact I'd be pretty confident in telling you he wouldn't have more effect than Maupay.

Join me in prayer, mate, because hopefully soon Moshiri is going to have to sell and then the Kenwright era will finally be over.

From holes in his shoes to holes in the main stand roof, Bill has lived the dream, made an absolute fortune, and Everton's managed decline would have been so much quicker without the greatest Evertonian alive. 🙏

The script was back on track and that seemed to make them happy.

Later, cooking dinner, I listened to a bit of the Radio 5 live phone-in. Sutton called out Kane for simulating, but the idiot Savage thought it was a stonewall pen. Most callers thought he dived. I was sure that VAR would overturn it and I saw Pickford asking the ref if it had been checked.

There is definitely an unwritten rule, that checks will certainly be made in some cases but perhaps not be made in others.
Rather than clear and obvious errors, I think it is more a case of does it further the needs of the Premier League brand.

Salah, Kane, Ronaldo, Jesus go down after that contact... penalty all day long. Maupay, Ayew, Daka, Pudence go down... forget it mate.

Maybe yes... but why put us in this position of relying on a one-game-in-four striker? Just seemed a bit rash letting him go with only Rondon and an unfit striker left.

I wonder if Ashley Williams commented on his fight with the U12 coach in his son's league?

Do you think that, even if Moshiri is forced to sell, that Kenwright will go?

I don't think Kenwright will ever leave. Well, until he dies.
Hope I'm wrong and that we get rid of the Kenwright curse.

Frank has a plan for playing in defence but not for playing in the opponent's half. When our players stray – that's the correct word to describe the way we attack – into their half, they look lost. The full-backs don't even go there.

We had two good chances to score, both provided by mistakes or poor defending by Spurs players. Spurs became very selfish in the second half and never offered up any more chances to our team, so that was the end of our chances of getting a goal.

Frank's plans seemed to resemble Mrs Truss and her hapless Chancellor's plans: useless and made up as they went along.

It was very uninspiring and more than depressing watching this performance by the Blues. And that was looking at it from the comfort of y living room –what was it like for those terrific fans who made the long journey down there, watching that rubbish, then facing a long miserable trip home?

I really felt for all of you last night and yet most of you will be there on Wednesday night. Frank and his players truly don't deserve you.

Let's see what happens in January. Help is definitely needed to make this squad stronger with in-and-out moves absolutely necessary, and better plans needed to improve our game.

If he's invited or anywhere near the opening of our new stadium, it's like asking Guy Fawkes to open a new wing of Parliament.

Hope he's long gone – tomorrow is not quick enough.

Just prior to the penalty, I had mentioned that the game had been a masterclass (okay, maybe a slight overstatement!) of how to harness a team's individual strengths but recognize their shortcomings.

We knew Spurs are at their most potent on the breakaway yet we defended deep (to our strengths), looked pretty comfortable with and without the ball,l and played to our own, similar strengths and, of course, should have been two up.

Of course, we can look at the unfortunate bounces just prior to Gray and Onana shooting, but it does highlight how much more clinical we need to be when our chances are currently likely to be few and far between.

The Pickford mistake was desperately unfortunate. As Danny says, he has saved us so often in the past 12 months, but when you are searching to be clinical at one end, you need to be 100% at the other.

The rest of the game, of course, was a reflection of our current shortcomings. We really struggle to take the game to opponents, put them under pressure, and when we do, it leaves us open at the back.

A fully fit Calvert-Lewin will help – but when will that be? I suspect only after the World Cup, when the return of Patterson and Godfrey can only help.

I thought that overall it was a better performance than against Man Utd. Last week, we never looked in control, whilst, as said, the first hour today we did.

I'm sure it will be more of the same on Wednesday but we must then make the most of an easier run of fixtures before the break.

There is a resilience about the side which certainly makes me think we can win the games against those teams around and below us.

Finally, a big shout out to Tarkowski who was superb today.

Pathetic justification of pathetic tactics... with the inevitable result.

Too many "glass half-full" merchants on here.

Give Frank full support

If (and it's a massive 'if') at least one of those two big chances were taken in the first half you'd be praising a tactical masterclass. But no, an unfortunate penalty and a deflection and we're suddenly "They're all shite, including the manager."

I thought Tarkowski was immense, and why is he getting grief for helping Højbjerg with cramp? We're 1-0 down and want to get on with the game, for fuck's sake.

The second goal doesn't happen if we're still 0-0, and shows exactly why Lampard set up the team to be ‘safety first'. Of course at 1-0 down we had to change tactics, but we ended up looking much worse as a result.

Spurs are a better team when breaking at pace, and I'm certain we wouldn't have been in the game at half time had we been more gung-ho.

All that said, it's another loss, but I genuinely still see big improvement from last season which is encouraging (if only to me!!).

As others have said, we should probably have been 2-0 up by the time they got their very fortunate penalty.

Once we go a goal down, then of course it's difficult to come back. That's down to the limitations of the players at our disposal though, not the weakness of the tactics.

If we'd been more open and adventurous from the start, we'd probably have shipped 4 or 5 goals.

We remain on course for 10th to 13th spot.

About 25 matches later, our team has changed beyond recognition. I have reservations about the abilities of some of the new recruits, but the reasons around our inability to spend much on reinforcements are to do with our profligacy over the past 5 years, not the present manager.

Yesterday, Frank Lampard sent out a team with a plan. It wasn't a pretty plan, but it was executed well in the first half. It was let down only by the poor finishing of Gray and Onana. We should have had something to hold onto.

I'm sure I was amongst 90% of us who was thinking at half-time “All it takes is a mistake or a deflection and we're knackered” — as it happened, we got both. We were predictably unfortunate in that respect.

Conte changed things when Richarlison had to come off. He used the moment to change formation, something to which our manager was perhaps slow to react. He has shown such reluctance before, but we must bear in mind he has far fewer options off the bench than managers of clubs at the top of the league.

It was always going to be a tough season, and so it is proving. I'm off to climb a Scottish mountain on Wednesday, that will also be tough and there will be stumbles, but sometimes you just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other. That's what this season is about.

They are not, and neither are we.

The last 20 minutes of the Man Utd game last week was a clear example of how we can play when an offensive mindset and tactics are adopted. Our players are not shit – that is just mealy-mouthed justification of a managerial deficiency.

And the usual... "Oh, we'd have lost 15-nil if we'd have tried to play football" is just navel-gazing tripe from the usual sages.

Give me positive play any day of the week... it certainly beats the purported 'pragmatism' of these matchday threads.

That night was a shock to the system. I stayed until the very end. In shock.

Yesterday, we had a plan. It didn't quite come off, but I don't think Tottenham, early title pretenders, got it easy. They had to work for it.

Good call on Conte changing the formation. My brother called that at the time. Maybe forced by the substitution, but he changed it. Good management.

I kind of agree that Frank needs to do things quicker, but there are two things. When it's close you stick to the plan. And also, what options did he have? There's our problem. Well one of them.

I'm nowhere near as despondent as I was at that stadium in March after yesterday.

Good luck on reaching the top of that peak. Which one? Are you a Munro Bagger?

I'm still convinced that selling Gordon was the right option in the last transfer window. Especially as he is now demanding a ludicrous £100k a week in wages which would be totally inappropriate given the fact he doesn't score or create enough goals.

The near £50 million fee for Gordon would've given us the chance to recruit two forwards, who would've given us the goals we need to at least hold a place in the middle of the table.

That opportunity has gone for now and we will continue to struggle to score enough goals until the next transfer window, when hopefully then we can finally address our biggest weakness and is the main reason for our continued struggle to climb out of the bottom positions of the Premier League.

We have made some terrible buys: Maupay, McNeil and Gueye are all dreadful. Onana ambles about and plays simple keep possession passes mostly sideways or backwards.

The only positive is that the defence is slightly improved with Patterson, Coady and Tarkowski, but Mykolenko is not playing well.

I am glad I read your post before I posted as you have the same opinion on yesterday's performance as me. I even read some comments on Twitter last night by those who were part of the 27 Years Campaign, saying you can see improvements.

Well, I am sorry, I can't see any improvements – in fact, it's like watching the dross that Benitez and Allardyce served up.

Our so-called gameplan is to play 10 or 11 men behind the ball, and some smart folk call it the low press – it reminds me of what non-league teams do when they are drawn away to a Premier League team in the cup.

But we are Everton, with a rich tradition, and throwing in the towel before a ball is kicked has never and will never be the way we should set about any game.

Every away game falls into the same pattern, regardless of who is selected; as soon as the opposition get the ball, all our players retreat 2 or 3 yards into our own half.

Now I am not saying that you have to deny the opposition time and space when out of possession but that shouldn't mean we allow their central defenders to camp out on the halfway line for most of the game.

Even the newly promoted sides, who could be forgiven for adopting similar tactics to that, actually play a far more offensive game than we do – what a sad indictment that is of our current team.

I know many posters have referred to the two good chances we had, the first was a 35-yard launch upfield by Tarkowski and Gray managed to get onto the hopeful punt but, as usual with Gray, he just can't finish – a problem that permeates right through our team.

Our second chance was caused by two Spurs defenders getting in each other's way and the ball fell to Onana to run on and try and finish. So it wasn't good play that created the chances, or us putting the opposition under pressure.

Just to say I don't believe that constantly changing managers every 18 months, as has been our MO under Moshiri, is ever going to work. But I just hope that one of our coaches, maybe Ashley Cole or Paul Clement, can have a word with Frank and tell him this approach isn't working.

Last season, we could all understand why Frank adopted these tactics, but he said himself that's not how he wanted to play; so, with the new signings he made, I was expecting a very different approach, but that's not what we are seeing – it's the same turgid set up as last season.

And no I know you can't expect to survive relegation one season and be challenging for a European place the following season. But I do expect my team to attack with some intent when in possession; watching Everton when in possession, we prefer to pass back than forward.

Finally, I know Frank was very unlucky to lose his main striker just before the season started, and for him to miss the best part of the first 10 games, but did he really think buying a 5ft-7in striker with no pace and playing him as a lone striker was the answer to the problem?

Because, as yesterday clearly illustrated, when we have 10 men behind the ball, Maupay being alone up front gave our team no out ball when we did get possession back.

Not signing a genuine back-up or challenger to Calvert-Lewinis still costing us points. Rondon is not fit for purpose, so he cannot be considered.

This has still got to be the priority for the team. We need to retain possession up front and things will then start to work better.

The penalty was nailed on. Pickford head-butted Kane's left thigh at full force. There is no doubt about it all. It's the clearest penalty I've ever seen us concede. If it was the other end and not awarded I'd be chucking things at the TV.

Move on and stop being silly.

Well, I'm in my 40s and have witnessed nothing of this rich tradition. So we're just going to have to earn the right over time to play decent, front-foot football by improving the playing staff.

Otherwise, we'll get a good hiding – especially away at club where our best player from last season isn't even guaranteed a start.

After completely overhauling the squad on the cheap, it's going to take a bit of time for players to gel. Even then, the squad is still patchy and light on top quality.

The thing that will obviously make a difference is a high-quality centre-forward. That is probably true of every team outside of the Rich 7. Just like last season, our finishing position will have much to do with Calvert-Lewin's fitness or not.

We'll have a chance to get another forward player in summer along with a few others (possibly through selling Pickford to Man Utd).

In the meantime, we have to keep it tight away from home.

Frank will make mistakes, like we all do in our jobs – Maupay didn't stand a chance yesterday up against three big centre-backs, not to mention a very physically strong midfield and with no support. Coleman is too far gone now to be able to cope with Son and Iwobi had his quietest game for a very long time.

McNeil gets a lot of criticism on here but I thought he put in a shift as did the also much-maligned Mykolenko. We all know that we need a proper striker and Calvert-Lewin has to get more minutes.

Young Garner looks very useful and Frank has to find a way of getting him into the team – a midfield diamond shape might work and give us more possession?

It would help if Gordon could settle down as he is in danger of becoming something of a prima donna with his reported wage demands, if indeed those reports are true. We need him firing on all cylinders.

This team will take time to settle down. Patterson is badly missed and, if we can get him and Dom fit, then things will look better.

A good team should evolve from this group of players but there will be ups and downs on the way as new players bed in and young players mature.

I can see some improvement in defence but it is still playing 10 men behind the ball and mostly hoofing it out up in the air to a striker who is 5ft-7in!!

What options did Lampard have? Well, he could've put Vinagre on for Mykolenko, who is having a bad spell.

He could've taken Onana off – he is still flickering like a candle, some bright lights but plenty of dull ones with the flame nearly going out, and replaced him with the energy of Doucoure – a risk, I know, but worth taking with us a goal down.

We never had shot on target throughout the game; the two chances we had were created by Spurs mistakes. We have rode our luck since the season began with the goalposts coming to our aid on a few occasions with the opposition missing some great chances. Yesterday, our luck ran out and Spurs benefited with their bits of luck.

I take in Peter Mills's post, always worth listening to, but I think Lampard plays on the back foot far too much and this has cost us points in the home games versus Chelsea and Forest plus the game at Villa Park where it took us 20-odd minutes to get into their penalty area, I timed this while watching our timid efforts.

Frank has a limited squad, I understand that, but surely he can get more out of them, especially going on the attack.

Alternative view of Kane's "Dive" today

I agree completely, I think you and I are lucky in that we are both old enough to have seen all the trophies since the 60s and onwards, where I do have great sympathy for our 40-year-old fans and younger who have seen none of that.

I thought maybe I was being over critical of yesterday's performance against one of the Premier League's better teams, so I just checked on the possession stats for some of our games against the not-so-good teams this season, and they don't make very attractive reading.

This list is purely possession stats:

Everton 48% v Nottingham Forest 52%
Aston Villa 58% v Everton 42%
Brentford 57.8% v Everton 42%
Leeds 69% v Everton 30.9%
Everton 53.6% v West Ham 46.4%
Southampton 55% v Everton 44%
Spurs 61.5% v Everton 38.5%

Another game mid week so we move on.

Another game mid week, so we move on.

Danny - Not sure if Coady did barely get a touch on him but that would have been harsh.

They controlled midfield with the extra man and we hardly got out of our half. 5 at the back doesn't work.

I didn't expect anything from the last two games but I still think we have enough to be comfortably clear of danger this season. Games against Bournemouth, Leeds, Fulham etc will show us where we really are.

I also thought we looked better when Calvert-Lewin came on.

Everton have one point from games against, Liverpool, Man Utd, Chelsea and Spurs which speaks volumes.

When you have no decent scorers, you rely on good defence and not just from the back four so the top clubs will punish you.

We are still weak when not in possession which really puts pressure on the back four and it's hard to avoid conceding for 90 minutes.

We all know this is not going to change soon even if we get one or two wins before the new year.

So sad when you see teams like Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth above you in the table even though it's early days.

Last March, I thought Lampard was hopelessly naive in the way he set the team up for a 5-0 thrashing. Yesterday, he got it right. The formation looked solid against a team which has won 10 consecutive home games. Although he was perhaps a little slow to react to the change Spurs made following the Richarlison substitution, there were no blindingly obvious solutions on the bench.

Having constructed a solid defence behind a better-equipped midfield, the next stage of squad development is blindingly obvious; a more potent, clinical attack. If Calvert-Lewin can be restored to full fitness, he may provide part of the answer. If that proves impossible, we must hope Thelwell can provide a solution in the January window.

In the meantime, I expect us to collect some points from the teams around and below us providing we maintain the defensive discipline we have seen in the majority of matches this season.

I hope Peter enjoys his mountain climb free of any stumbles. My climb on Wednesday will be the 147 steps up to the top tier at St James's. It is the highest peak in the Premier League. The Newcastle team are a much tougher proposition compared with 12 months ago but I am hopeful we might take some tangible reward from the game.

Let's face it, the Premier League as a 20-team competition is a biased farce where 14 teams are fighting to survive only. They should give a trophy for finishing 7th – I'm only half joking but you know what I mean.

I thought we did okay, Onana had a great chance to score, if he had we might have scraped something out of the game, who knows.

As far as tactics are concerned, if you play an open game against the top teams, you're playing into their hands and you're asking to get murdered.

Okay, the defensive option is not great either but it'say, probably the best of a poor choice.

We did start the game with one hand tied behind our back though with Calvert-Lewin half fit, and Patterson and Gordon out, which meant that Spurs didn't have to worry much about our attack.

For those who didn't watch MotD live last night but “ taped it” to watch today….

The “experts opinions” is very interesting regards Everton's performance. Well worth watching. Won't take you long. Why???

Because it was The Tottenham Show. Not one word of mention. It's all about the usual fuckers and no-one else.

Those stairs are brutal John and I consider myself fit.

I might be being pedantic, but are there not regulations about allowing away supporters to be near the pitch?

I'm surprised Newcastle has never been challenged over it.

Sorry to ramble down memory lane, but I remember visiting St Jame's Park in the late 80s when they only had one stand so to speak. The famous Gallowgate end and other side of the pitch opposite their main stand was open terracing. We were stuffed in the corner in some crumbling terrace with a temporary Golf type construction next to us with the home supporters populating. It's the end we now end up in the gods.

Credit to them. St Jame's has been transformed since 1988, whereas Goodison looks pretty much the same bar the Park End.

Same as Chelsea. Remember Stamford Bridge in the 80s?

I digress, lets go and get the points.

For fuck's sake, Tarkowski trying out his physio skills on the snidely Højbjerg. He should have twisted his ankle. We are a soft touch.

For fuck's sake, they are a man down and he acts like Florence fucking Nightingale! Wise up. Would they to us? Never!!!

The first one from Danny: spot on, all Gray had to do was compose himself and play a simple pass across to Maupay, to put the ball in the back of the net. He chose the harder option and fluffed it.

On other occasions in the second half, he drew two players towards him on the touchline, a simple pass inside to an unmarked player could have set us up for a counter-attack; he chose to draw a throw-in instead.

Gray is one of the Anthony Gordon band of players, can create something out of nothing, has the talent to go past players, but instead of then finding a team mate, they end up running down a blind alley and nowhere to go.

The second one I mentioned was in regards to Iwobi and not playing him on the wing or as a wingback and to keep Iwobi in his favoured position down the middle.

One week down the line we execute it spot on, in the first half, then for whatever reason, we move Iwobi and play him more like a wing back and all our good work in the first half is undone.

I am all for tactical changes, but when our player of the season so far, has been outstanding in his role, why would you move that player to another position, I just do not get it.

To my mind after watching it back in the cold light of day, it's simply a case of not having enough quality in the final 3rd, and little goal threat from midfield. So posters calling Lampard a coward etc; he hasn't got anyone to bring on that will get him goals and it's a case of make do and mend until the next window.

But I like where the recruitment is going; they obviously know the deficiencies in the squad and hopefully will bring in one possibly two players at the business end of the pitch, and that would make a helluva difference.

You say tactics. Frank and tactics are not compatible. They don't sit easily in the same sentence. I've said it before: he's tactically inept.

When Richarlison went off, Conte made a switch in formation. Frank was like a rabbit in the headlights. I fear for the rest of the season as he doesn't know what to change and when.

This season, we've had a slow but not terrible start, the 4-2-3-1 / 4-3-3 structure is good – a clear first XI is emerging and defensively we're very good – which is giving us a chance every game we play.

With DCL added to this side, we pose a real threat. Maupay is exactly what you get if spend £15m on "ready made" (ie not very good).

We may get another forward in, in January but don't count on it. Whilst it's obvious we need to invest in forwards, where is the money supposed to come from?

Like I said earlier, we're on course for the likely 10th to 13th spot. Could go higher with a bit of luck - but much depends on DCLs fitness.

Maupay gets slated, but he's done well recently. Yesterday, he done what you want any centre forward to do. He got into a goal scoring position.

The supply didn't come. And it wasn't difficult to do. A simple cut back and tap in. He didn't do anything wrong in that scenario. He actually done everything right in anticipating the time and space.

Realistically, forget all the Top 6 nonsense for now and concentrate on the rebuild of the team. Defensively and midfield have improved dramatically; the final third will come.

Bit less gloom and doom and some positivity. Lampard is doing a good job with what he has.

The problem is that such an attitude becomes very difficult to get out of. You can't just turn it on and off and it's a dangerous assumption that we will take points from the likes of Palace, Fulham, Leicester and so on.

I think we're in a very important phase ahead of the World Cup and I'm concerned that we don't look up for it.

If we don't start scoring more goals, we will just keep losing by one- or two-nil. McNeil, Gray, Maupay and Gordon have only managed five goals between them. Nowhere near enough.

If we are going to play with a front three, then we seriously need a better three than the three we currently have.

Agree with you ref Maupay. Seems to take up good positions but the supply is generally very poor from midfield –
particularly the wingers. Iwobi has looked better, but using him as a reserve wingback when Coleman goes off doesn't help up.

For this reason, I'd like to see Garner given a go. From what I've seen he looks like he can actually pass a ball. Possibly try him in place of McNeil who, from what I've seen so far, offers little.

Had Richarlison still been with us, I suspect he'd have finished at least one of the chances that Gray and Onana missed.

I looked back on both missed chances and in both cases Maupay made the correct run for a tap-in if either Gray or Onana had looked up. What more can he do but try to be in the right position at the right time? This is what Kane does so well.

And again, I know it's not popular but having first raised in his first season. Why can't Jordan hold a shot or at least push it out for a corner instead of back into play? He's is a great shot-stopper but, for me, too often parries the ball back into play, putting us under pressure.

How McNeil stayed on till the end is mind-boggling.

Typical Everton and a manager who still has mediocre players who are slightly better than those who got us into the crap last season.

Thanks for that clip of the penalty incident. At the time, I thought it was dubious, but being down the other end, it's really difficult to confirm if it was a penalty or not.

Kane is already on his way down before there is any contact with Pickford, and Kane being Kane, makes contact with Pickford rather than the other way round.

I watched Kane win a penalty in their midweek Champions League game, which again, in my opinion, was never a penalty. Yesterday's was never a penalty either, though Pickford should have held the initial shot anyway.

Kane is rapidly becoming like Salad and Mane when he was at the RS, diving in the area and winning dubious pens. If that penalty yesterday was down the other end, then it's quite simple, it's not given.

'Gray is one of the Anthony Gordon band of players, can create something out of nothing, has the talent to go past players, but instead of then finding a team mate, they end up running down a blind alley and nowhere to go'.

Spot on, Brian! The only difference is Gray's salary is £42k a week, which is bad enough, but Gordon now wants £100k a week!

If Everton are stupid enough to pay him that, then Moshiri will have learned nothing from his previous mistakes in paying huge amounts of money in wages to very average players.

They should've cashed in on Gordon when they had the chance, it's an opportunity lost as usual.

As you rightly say, we can only resolve this through bringing in better quality.

Now on to the next game and hopefully a little more luck (and fitness for Calvert-Lewin) and we'll get the points.

Everton were in the ascendancy for much of the second half, however, and a flat game erupted into life moments after Delph’s departure.

Kavanagh awarded a penalty when Richarlison, racing on to Anthony Gordon’s header into the area, appeared to be clipped by Lloris as he attempted to round the Spurs’ keeper. VAR advised Kavanagh to take another look on the pitchside monitor, where he adjudged Lloris to have played the ball before the man and overturned his decision. “If that happened in the middle of the pitch it would be a foul and so it should be the same in the penalty area,” argued Benítez. Conte countered: “It is impossible to make a mistake after looking at the VAR. The referee made the right decision.”

Yet Kane was already on his way down and ensured he leaned into Pickford.

So why the hell did var choose to not advise the ref to review Kanes penalty, but were quick to advise the ref to look, when it was against Spurs.

One word, corrupt.

But hopefully this week will see Everton regroup and learn from the Spurs game, and beat the Skunks on Wednesday.

Today hopefully Man City can do the business v the RS, and this weekend will finish on a good note.

The one not given against Man City was beyond belief. A stonewall, nailed-on penalty following a handball by, I think Rodri, very similar to the one just awarded to Leeds.

Yet incredibly the referee (can't remember who it was) was not even advised to go and look at the pitch side monitor. With hindsight though, good job it wasn't given and we scored, because otherwise the RS might have won the league.

Another stonewall penalty not given against one of the so-called Big 6 clubs. As you say, Corrupt!!

What are you saying?

Are you blaming Lampard, who got us out of the mire last season? Give the guy a break, he inherited a team on the floor; he hasn't got a magic wand, but we are heading in the right direction.

Several games coming up where we will win or pick up points. Get off his back!

There does need to be some idea of scoring and ideally more than the other team which is supposed to be the point of the game and which, other than two lone breakaways, I didn't see yesterday.

We aren't there yet though and being negative and hyper-critical now is verging on insanity. Some of the criticism is frankly laughable, especially on tactics and subs. Frank and his team have more football knowledge in their toenail cuttings than the total combined knowledge of some commenters on here.

I'm happy to see Everton develop at a sustainable rate and find their true position in the overall scheme of things but now I wish for an act of God or Frank to shut this irrational negativity from a tiny but vociferous minority up.

Yes, but opinions are precious and always to be respected. No, from many fans they are total bollocks. This isn't aimed at the many wonderful and knowledgeable Evertonians who frequent the site.

I can think of another word "Attwell".

If the Anti-Everton Chris Sutton slagged Kane off for diving, then that's pretty conclusive.

There's the evidence. Not only did Pickford "headbutt" Kane's thigh, he sucked him into a change of direction before doing it.

Retrospective ban for Pickford, I say.

I agree, and that's a good balanced perspective you've provided on where Everton are right now.

For the Newcastle game, can we please replace Gana and Iwobi with Doucoure and Garner, and Moupay with anybody else who has two legs?

Onana to take over Gana's defensive role. Vinagre for Mykolenko as well.

Just seen Salah's goal against the mancs, which is a stark reminder of the difference between a top striker one on one with the keeper and what we have to offer in the final 1/3

Having a player who can win balls and hold the ball up and distribute within the opponent’s half changes the dynamic of a game. As well as the obvious gain of having someone physical as well as mobile who can get on the end of a cross.

His inclusion could well bring much more out of Gordon and Gray who at the moment are caught in the no man’s land of trying to be scorers and creators and not doing well at either. They can focus much more on creating for Calvert- Lewin, this is what they’re better at.

It highlights importance of having a quality challenger / back up to DCL who can bring similar attributes to the team and , who knows, even be better than DCL. I want to see DCL pushed as a player to be better and at the same time I want us to be strong and consistent when he is out. This means being able to continue with our team structure and not have to reinvent ourselves because of a key injury.

No, instead I'm just going to praise Lampard and Thelwell for hopefully beginning to extract us from the £600 million quicksand we were in, to now hopefully gaining a degree of purchase among the clubs who squabble in the swamp about where they'll finish between 8th and 17th.

If we are still in the Premier League when Bungling Moshiri's Delusional stadium opens (in whatever shape), I suggest we should name a stand after Frank and Kevin.

After all, an "F.K. Stand" should resonate with any actual fan who's suffered for the past 30 years, surely?

That was my third visit to the new Spurs ground, and have to say, despite hating everything about Spurs, I am mightily impressed with their new stadium.

For the away fans, at least, entry is quite smooth and pretty quick. The concourse below is spacious with plenty of bar and toilet facilities, unlike where I sit at Goodison, the Upper Gwladys.

Their home end, opposite where we sat, is absolutely huge, though I don't know how many it holds. The whole stadium does generate a decent atmosphere, so much better than the old White Hart Lane. Hopefully we can be on a level par with their stadium when we move to BMD, albeit with 10k less fans.

But it lacks a certain "je ne sais quoi", as we scousers say. A famous river alongside and ocean-going liners sailing past.

Has Conte been charged for criticising the referees in this country compared to Italy, after his team lost at Arsenal? He wasn't criticising them after Saturday's game, but that's modern day football in a nutshell.

I prefer the Emirates but even Brighton is a better away experience in my opinion.

Fulham always a good day out and Brentford similar.

I don't like the Emirates. Literally only serving water to the away supporters at half-time. Maybe that's just me and my half-time problem of getting served.

I've mentioned before that I went to Tottenham for a work meeting 2 weeks before the played the opening match. The concourse we got shown around was impressive. Although that will have been the home section.

I am entitled to my opinion and two defeats in a row backs up my comment. I want Everton to do well and I am not trolling Lampard. I am stating my opinion.

Up front though, we're clearly inferior with the loss of Richarlison, the baby steps recovery of Calvert-Lewin, and the drop in form of Gordon. We've picked up McNeil and Maupay who are – at best – bench warmers.

I wouldn't be surprised to see us in the Bottom 3 going into the World Cup break, but I also wouldn't be surprised to see us 12th or 13th, such is the mediocrity below the Top 6 plus the Red Shite this season.

If we're not in a relegation battle this season, I'll be delighted but, unless we buy at least two top-class attacking players in the summer, I can't see Lampard lasting another year in the job.

His first club sacked him, rehired him the next season, and was relegated. His second club was promoted to Serie A. He lost his third job after three months, driven out by the supporters. He got his fourth club promoted. Then in 2011 he got hired by Juventus, and the rest is history.

I can't compare Frank's Everton performance to his previous jobs, since I never saw his Derby County side and his Chelsea challenge was completely different, but in my opinion, he has improved since coming here and has the potential to be a top manager by the time he reaches Conte's level of experience.

I would expect to see an attacking player signed in January, preferably a young potential star like Onana.

There are two young 18-goal forwards in MLS: Jesús Ferreira and Brenner, who I think would be worth a look at a very reasonable price.

True, we weathered a storm for 10 minutes and then afterwards I thought we were comfortable and with all their striking attributes they created nothing meaningful in the first half. Also, with a bit more composure, both Gray and Onana should have at least hit the target.

To be honest, I did not see Spurs scoring until Richarlison went off and they changed their formation. And let's be honest, it was only a big mistake from Pickford that gifted them the first goal. Up until then, I thought we did a good job in containing one of the best teams in the Premier League.

It all changed after the penalty and we never really recovered. I agree, we have to start scoring more. I am not sure I understand taking off Maupay and then bringing on Rondon??

Surely when chasing a game, we should have had both Calvert-Lewin and Maupay on the pitch. So I was a little confused with the overall substitutions made and the timing. I am thinking Calvert-Lewin has to start against The Barcodes.

As I've mentioned before, we pick up players, thinking we have a bargain, when they have a few decent games – I'm sorry, clubs do not get rid of good players – and a good player is also consistently good.

We are brilliant at collecting rejects from the top clubs, and we wonder why our form is on a roller-coaster. Very rarely we may strike lucky, and Iwobi does show some glimpses of consistency.

The club have no strategy with regards to planning, recruitment, bringing youngsters through from the academy, etc. This is why we repeat the same disasters each season – and this season will be no different.

For supporters, their enjoyment will come from another relegation battle.

Thanks for your reply. Conte is now a top manager who is in the running for most of the top jobs.

It would be nice to think Frank can get to that level, maybe when he gets a few more players in, we can start to believe he can. I have my doubts at the moment but it's obviously early days to predict how he will turn out.

What would you say if we only get 4 points out of the next seven games?