Goodbye to 2023 – Happy Blue Year

This season, I will go back to last Xmas, when we got talking about films over the Xmas period, where have those 12 months gone? Which reminds me again of the film A Bridge Too Far, when Sean Connery spots the escaped lunatics, laughing at them, to which he says, "Do you think they know something we don't?" Quite adapt for the Premier League laughing before the hearing.

Well, after 2 relegation fights of the most corrupt incidents against us, we survived both, this season they had to find another way by docking us 10 points. Yet again, some horrendous decisions are going against us – you would think the Premier League have an agenda to get us out of the Premier League.

We have had the board throw the supporters under the bus, every media outlet ridicule our club. But the fans stuck together and fought back, that is why now is not the time to be divided over Dyche or jump on the players after one bad performance. More than ever, we need to stick together as a fan base, it really is us against the world.

As you have pointed out, 2024 could be a year to look forward to: the new ground completed, new ownership hopefully in, a new board in place, transfer budgets sorted, and a bright new future for our football club.

We have had everything thrown at us, but we came up fighting, and even with the points deduction, we are still just about winning. That is why it is so important we all stick together for the remainder of the season. Write the Wolves game off as a one-off and stay right behind the team.

Always great to read your posts, Danny, along with other posters. Sorry for jumping on your post, but you did make quite a few points I agree with so here was the best place to add to your comments.

Keep the faith as you always do, Danny, and here's to a much better New Year. All the best, mate

Up the Toffees.

We've seen how quickly Everton can struggle and go on horrible runs of form.

I hope I'm wrong but that Onana penalty miss against Fulham right now feels like a monumental needle in the balloon and, coupled with the Doucouré injury, it feels like we need to shake off that sour feeling.

Seasons do tend to turn positively or negatively on things such as that penalty.

I could live to be 100 and I'll never fathom quite why he was stepping up to win a decisive Cup Quarter-Final ahead of James Garner and our club captain Tarkowski.

As I say, we need to regain positive vibes as soon as possible.

These players will now get a chance to rest and regroup for the Villa game, after our FA Cup game.

We would have had to play Liverpool on 10 & 24 January – and I know we all wanted a cup run and a chance of a final.

Looking at the four games we played, I doubt these players would have had the stamina to play a further 2 games in January. What it does do though is gives the likes of Coleman, Doucoure and Young a better chance of being ready for the Villa game, and a few of the players a well earned rest.

Call it negative or whatever, for me, it's common sense. I would even go as far as resting both McNeil and Harrison for the FA Cup game, play Dobbin and Danjuma on the flanks. By all means have Harrison and McNeil on the bench, but I would not start with either, we need them for the Villa game and beyond, before we burn both players out.

This is in the hope any injured valuable first-team players can make a convincing threat for our fixture with Aston Villa. After all, we need to start looking over our shoulders again at the teams below us, such as Luton Town, who have put in very good performances recently.

This means a few more slip-ups and all that good work we have done will amount to a hill of beans as we sit in the Bottom 3 again.

We're not gonna win the FA Cup. We just need to survive the season in the Premier League, so FA Cup games we can do without.

Defeatism? No, just pragmatism!

No wonder this club hasn't won a trophy since 19-fucking-95…

How I long for those plucky days. Oh dear, what have we become?

Probably why this club has gone 29 years without a trophy and it's becoming accepted that Everton doesn't do winning.

If we stay up, I've said it before, sentiment needs to go out of the window and players need cashing in on while they still have some stock (Calvert-Lewin, Onana – just two).

Pragmatism. Rest a good number in the FA Cup. The league is paramount. And it would provide some further evidence as to how good the youngsters currently in the dug-out really are (or are not).

I'm not convinced the likes of Dobbin, Hunt etc are potential saviours or even as good as first-teamers, as some suggest.

8 wins already (!) and still in need of another 5 or so to stay up thanks to the points deduction, so any win in the league is far more important than a cup run.

We go into the New Year with a certain amount of trepidation and uncertainty but some things will not change.

We know that we will still love this club this time next year. Probably even more

We know that there will still be a scramble for tickets for every away game.

We also go into the New Year (as we do every year) in the certain knowledge that Kopites will still definitely be Gobshites.

Happy New Year to every Blue.

On another note, has John McFarlane Snr posted recently? I haven't read any of his thoughts recently.

I'm with Danny. If we put our kids out in the FA Cup, we will lose. Then our first teamers have a record of five straight losses on their mind as we head into tough games.

We only play twice more in the whole of January. There's plenty of time for rest and for Young, Doucour! and Gana to get fit.

Dave, I'm off out shortly to watch an Elvis and Beatles tribute show in my local.

Getting myself in the mood, I've put some music on. The first one that came up was Ray Charles. The words are very apt given your comment.

I can't stop loving you.
I've made up my mind.
I can't stop wanting you.

Not you, Dave — Everton obviously!

Next up is probably going to be Elton's I guess that's why they call it the blues.

Then I'll have to switch off until Selhurst Park.

Okay, until tomorrow morning.

Thanks to Lyndon and Michael for doing all of this for us. I don't think that we have anyone on here from Hawaii or in between Hawaii and Baker Island, so Lyndon will be the last ToffeeWebber to see in the New Year if he is at home.

Everton apart... I hope 2024 is a good one or failing that at least a better one for all ToffeeWebbers.

Even non-Evertonians.

Link

Good luck to you, Dwight, and your partner, and Happy New Year to all.

The Wolves game, hopefully, was a one-off. His tactics backfired and he looked as drained and confused as the players did.

It's up to Dyche if he rests players (Branthwaite, Onana, McNeil etc…) who looked leggy in the last game. I know we all want a cup run but, in our present state, we need to ensure Premier League (corrupt as it is) survival.

Now that we have got our usual Christmas slump out of the way, hopefully we can get back to our form of the previous couple of months to start the New Year in the right way.

One hangover I was hoping would be out of the way is our latest Profitability and Sustainability numbers. I thought we were supposed to have submitted that info by 31 December but I've not seen anything here, or anywhere else, saying we have. It would be good to have that out of the way and know we have no further points deduction to worry about this season.

Colin, the one-off you mentioned… we seem to have a lot of one-offs! 🤣

Look, the team is competitive when the first choice 11-13 are fit. Performances have dropped off when some squad players have come in and played, and the squad is drained.

I'll give Dyche credit. Despite a squad that has seen everything half-decent sold off, he's taken on a team that's failed big style since Carlo.

The football's been better than before. Is it brilliant? Hell, no! We struggle to score goals outside of Doucoure and, if we go a goal down, it's basically curtains. We lack players to turn it around and earn draws.

Young and Keane have been poor, whilst younger lads like Chermiti and Dobbin look some way off Premier League level at the moment. Both need Championship football, but we don't have a squad that allows for that.

The supporting cast of Gomes, Alli, Keane, Young, Danjuma, Godfrey etc is a big drop-off.

If all the lads were fit, I'd be confident. However, that's a big ask and I think to be safe will depend on how many points we get back on appeal. Luton's home form is the danger for me.

Happy New year everyone

Focusing on the now and the positives, and the passion and spirit of Evertonians.

And a touching tribute to Michael Jones (RIP) - the Club often gets things wrong, but on occasions, it gets it so right. Happy New Blue Year!

Hopefully we'll have better times for Everton, like getting some points back, and Dwight's partner makes a full recovery. It must have been hard to concentrate on football.

Dele Alli back on the treatment table yet again, and if Branthwaite is carrying a knock, please play Godfrey against Palace, and forget about Keane in a back five.

What's the story with Gueye, is he heading to Africa?

I got sent an article. We are actually less impacted than most clubs, only losing Idrissa. Some are losing up to four players.

Expect nothing, and you won't be disappointed.

Do any of our American friends have any opinions on these players?