Premier League — Matchweek 18

Brighton gifts Palace a few days early. 1-0.

Jesus H Christ… just had Calvert-Lewin's mush in mine, gobbing on about his face fungus. No doubt a fine performance for his bank balance.

Get back on the bloody field, you fucker, and play properly, will you.

Your performances have been increasingly pathetic over the last few weeks, is that because we don't pay you enough and you have to go out pimping your personality for the Sky dollar?

Jesus H Christ… that has triggered me something shocking.

Wellbeck with a marksman's header
1-1

Michael, have you calmed down now?

I hope so, for all our sakes! **Gulp!**

Words utterly fail me Michael. "Pathetic"? There I was thinking you watched the games to cover them for the site!

I didn't see the football last night.

Michael, have a Gluhwein (mulled wine) for breakfast.

We're playing Tottenham tomorrow!

Aston Villa finally score a neatly worked goal (after a lucky turnover) to go ahead against Sheffield Utd.

Michael, have you seen your fave advert yet?

Or are you avoiding any ad breaks now, and being so severely scarred from your previous encounter with Dom?

BTW, what was your favourite image? The clean shaved, the trimmed, or the restyled? It sounded great in Greek the other night, but still as 'disturbing'/ It's nearly as bad as 'that' Sterling razor ad...

Remember, he's only doing it for his recently born child (I'm sure!) hehe!

Correction: the VAR says no goal; goalkeeper impeded.

Back to 0-0 with over an hour gone...

Horrendous decision to disallow that goal.

Ramsey was pulled and pushed, shirt held as the corner was taken. The hand on the goalie was during that time and only a second.

Even then Sheff Utd cleared the ball and lost it due to their own incompetence. The VAR is a total joke and ruining the game.

More nonsense from the VAR. There were 11 touches of the ball after the “foul”.

Justice, well done officials, gold star. Dirty Aston Villa v dirty Sheffield Utd.

Also, Everton, we score when we want, we score when we waaannntt, Swan Dyche's blue army, we're God's favourite club... 777 Partners, is it manna from Heaven, and other inane drivel from my poor battered mind.

Oh I see, we have secret villa fans on here...

Cheating from the off, dropping like flies, bites em on the butt

Simon,

It came on again at half-time. I was calmly able to turn it off before any serious psychological triggering reoccurred. Although I could feel something building rapidly under the surface, fuelled no doubt by just having read this stinging critique of Lyndon's erstwhile goalscoring hero:

In 13 Premier League games this season, Calvert-Lewin has just three goals to his name and just one goal in his last 10 games suggesting a player who certainly isn't deserving of a new deal no matter his status in the squad.

It's not just Calvert-Lewin's current record which is a cause for concern but his drop in performance levels and influence in Dyche's team at Goodison Park.

In his last three games in all competitions, Calvert-Lewin has registered just two shots on target which smacks of a striker in dreadful form and one lacking serious confidence.

His last display for the Toffees against Fulham in their EFL Cup quarter-final defeat on Tuesday (19 December), the current worries over his form and performance were further compounded as the former Sheffield United man was nowhere to be seen.

The 26-year-old picked up the worst score of any player to start the game at 6.4/10, winning just one of his seven aerial duels in a dreadful 14 per cent success rate and won just two of his ground duels whilst also losing 100 per cent of his three dribble attempts before he was deservedly hooked off.

Can't believe how wrong I was… not!

And now The Blades have scored. Oh dear...

And back to not posting, apologies for any offense, now I understand why mum used to feed me by catapult...

And Villa answer the question as to whether they can win the league or not!

Michael #15, you're so understated and humble.

Wait, hold the back page.

Villa goal in stoppage time. What a run and header! Go Villa!

DCL. Vastly overrated.

They did indeed, Brian! They showed some steel there. I did expect the blades to be sharper under Wilder, he had them well organised a few years back. Villa's first 'goal' of theirs was a goal for me.

What is the point of that silly post on here Les? "Vastly overrated"! Give your head a big fecking jingle bells wobble.

Will we be Santa or Scrooge tomorrow? Scrooge I fecking hope.

Regardless of the result tomorrow will, yet again, be full of VAR controversy.

Any single still photo will never tell the full story. In my opinion that's what has done Villa out of that goal.

How the VAR has improved the game is a mystery to me.

I had to Google where this "stinging critique" of Calvert-Lewin came from and, lo and behold, it's from alleged red shite clickbait merchants Goodison News (who, like Everton News, should be swerved by any Evertonian because every click just boosts their visibility and fuels their nonsense). I'm not sure using a source that almost certainly hasn't watched our games supports your arguments and petty sniping at Calvert-Lewin in your matchday updates.

Calvert-Lewin's role in the current Everton side is centred on a lot more than goals. He's the focal point up front, the lead presser, the guy to run the channels and make space for others. In that regard, he is vital to how we play under Dyche. It's no coincidence that since he returned to the side from his various injuries, we're in top-4 form.

He may not have scored since October but how many real chances has he missed? I can think of the one he somehow volleyed over the bar against Newcastle that, I agree, he should have scored. There was one (I forget the opposition) where he cut back in and shot rather weakly and the keeper saved. And there was that fine rising header at Burnley that was brilliantly saved by Trafford but led to the corner from which Onana scored.

He was superbly placed to pick up McNeil's pass against Chelsea and got clattered by Sanchez who had covered the shot very well before the ball broke to Doucouré to score.

Against Fulham, the only time he got a ball on the floor to do anything meaningful with, he set McNeil up for that shot that he smashed over the bar. The rest of the time, he was merely a lamp post for Pickford, Tarkowski and Keane aim long ball after long ball at.

So, to use that game as a stick with which to beat him is pretty short-sighted, in my opinion. As is calling his recent form "pathetic".

You're right, Lyndon, the columnists, masquerade as Evertonians, but they seem more like trainee reporters, using sensational-style headlines to click their bait.

As for Calvert-Lewin, he's not a great goalscorer; but he does a hell of a lot of work, brings other players into the play, and if can get between 10 and 15 goals in a full season, he'll be doing alright.

I bet that volley over the bar haunts him, but all our goalscorers have had an early start to the season where they missed a bagful of chances between and consequently, we lost matches we shouldn't have, including Man Utd (brilliant goal and all).

We seem to be scoring decently now (pity about Doucouré getting injured); but I think if he (Calvert-Lewin) gets a goal, it might well start him firing again. Sometimes, the harder you try, the more you snatch at it.

Good stop by Sanchez but I thought it was penalty.

Looked like the corruption of the Premier League was at play again tonight via their “paid” officials at Aston Villa?

Not sure if it was to try and ensure Villa don't do another Leicester and lose 'em tens of millions. Or perhaps an attempt to give Sheffield Utd a hand out of bottom 3 to try and drop their preferred candidate into it, or perhaps a double whammy with both, because Villa were most certainly robbed by the VAR.

It was actually comical how they must've minutely analysed the shenanigans from the corner that Villa ultimately scored, to identify the alleged incident tucked away behind all the other mayhem, which having watched in numerous freeze frames from several angles, I would suggest is still inconclusive?

However, to do so, they looked past and ignored what looked like a mass MMA contest with several legitimate penalty claims for holding, grappling, pushing, shirt pulling, etc. In fact, the Villa player who was the alleged culprit, almost had his shirt ripped off his back by the Sheffield Utd player on the line.

It's got to a point now where they don't even try to hide their attempts to manipulate the rules to give them the results they want – in fact, they simply ignore the rules and make them up as they go.

Michael [15] I'm glad you missed it!

I've only seen it once, and in Greek, which sort of desensitised it a little. I couldn't understand what was being said, other than the obvious 'it shaves so clean' etc.

I think if you had to endure it for a second time in such close proximity to the first, it may well cause the onset of PTSD, and encourage an illogical, almost pathological hatred of all things Calvert-Lewin. Oh wait... Hehe. 🤣😉

I didn't catch either of the two games so far, but strategic draws aren't bad, though in truth I'd have preferred wins for Brighton and Villa. As both those teams, as it stands, aren't our main competition.

Watching the Aston Villa - Sheffield United match last night simply reaffirmed my view that it isn't the VAR that is the issue. It's the officials. It borders on corrupt.

That referee and his Stockley Park pantomime villains seemed to have it in for Villa. They should have had two penalties. One was nailed on. A shove in the back combined with a shirt pull. How that wasn't given is beyond me.

Transparency. Don't let them hide behind their decisions. Make them audible and accountable. Make them talk and explain, like in other sports.

Eric (26), It was incredulous that those VAR referees bypassed all those fouls against Villa in that penalty area cameo of the corner and how Villa scored their goal to find the Villa foul which really counted- - - to them.

How has VAR helped to improve the rules of the game, it stinks, which most fans think, we all talk about it, like the weather, but nobody is doing anything about it.

Mind you Liverpool had a good go at it after their Spurs game earlier in the season and that seems to have improved their opinion of VAR since that game!

You know my stance on the VAR and the ineptitude of the officials that seems to border on feelings of an inner corruption, Danny, so after reading you say that Villa should have been given two penalties, I googled which ref has awarded the most penalties,during the last three seasons.

The result showed that Michael Oliver has awarded the most, and one behind him in second is Anthony Taylor, and this was dated back from the 2017 season. I've seen Taylor give some shockers against us down the years, and you do wonder if they do set their stall out before the game to award them sometimes?

I've always thought the Niasse one that got him banned was very debatable (even though Taylor stood before the panel that banned Niasse, and still claimed he hadn't been deceived, saying he still thought it was a penalty). I was also amazed with the one we got when Lukaku fucked up the job in the semi-final against Man Utd at Wembley.

The only thing in the favour of the VAR and these refs at the minute is that people just move on but, if someone wanted to pay me forty grand a year and gave me all the footage, I'm convinced I would be able to expose some really bad inconsistencies which might not be so easy to defend now that some clubs are talking about suing other clubs.

I didn't look it up Tony, but there is a quote from a player on Howard's Way that states hearing the officials talking about "getting" their story straight after a dubious decision. Might have been the infamous Clive Thomas one?

Transparency will drive better standards as they won't be able to hide behind egotistic cloak and dagger "we're in control" attitudes. Yes, we need officials. But they have to be accountable. They are a silent, mystic breed who are far from accountable and never explain their decisions.

Tony,

The fact last night for Villa's disallowed goal was that Ramsey was being dragged all over the shop. For a moment as he was toppling he put his hand on the goalie's arm.

Now when you see a still of that then he's holding the goalie.
In real-time it was nothing. To compound it, Sheff Utd cleared the ball and had possession. They then lost it; Villa went back in and scored

Has any referee gone to the side of the pitch, looked at what the VAR has brought up and ignored it, sticking to their initial decision? I can't think of one…

If the VAR decision can't be instantaneous like the goal line technology, or at least decided within 10 seconds, then it should be binned totally.

Danny,

I'm out on the bevvy today so won't be watching the Sky footy thing. I know they discuss the VAR with that Tranmere supporting ref whose lads happen to be Anfield supporters.

I would like to hear what excuse he makes for last night's VAR fuck-ups.

John,

My two biggest gripes with the VAR is firstly why can't we hear why the goal has been disallowed (so as we can slowly begin to build up a picture of consistency)?

And secondly, with the game now often being played at breakneck speed, on incredibly fast pitches, then surely these refs have sometimes got to look at the bigger picture?

Martial's at Goodison the other week. Fast break - great first touch, but even after debating whether Young got enough of the Man Utd player for it to be given as a credible penalty.

Surely they should have let the picture run to see if the Man Utd player had overran the ball, because the sport is so quick nowadays?

True Tony,

These still photos always look worse and decisions should be based on the full picture.

Audio has to be brought in asap. Keeping everyone waiting and in the dark is a disgrace.

Slightly off this, I watched Everton play Spurs in 1985 and had a rerun on YouTube last night. Great memories, great team and still think that was the game we put Spurs out and us for the title.

A similar result today would be magic!

If my memory is correct, John, then the very next game after that Spurs match was when we beat Sunderland 4-1, on the day I witnessed Everton play some of the greatest football I have ever seen at Goodison Park.

Those two Andy Gray headers were brilliant, the first was definitely my favourite ever team goal, whilst the second was simply outrageous. But I think most people left Goodison that day marveling at the goal scored by Trevor Steven after Bracewell's incredible 50-yard volleyed pass.

Yes, audio is key if we are going to use this technology. It works in Rugby. Nothing is 100%, but people will be more accepting if it is explained to them and those making the decisions are accountable. It will also make them think more about their decisions because they will have to explain them.

John. Let's party like it's 1985 this evening.

John (35),

Have a gander at the penalty given against us when we beat Spurs in the semi-final. I think the referee was the only one who saw any foul by Dave Watson.

God job we went on to win that game and take us to Wembley. If I'm not mistaken, that was the only goal we conceded in that cup run.

I've just watched the highlights of that Sunderland game, and as well as Gary Stevens, brilliantly clearing one off the line, it's a good job the VAR wasn't around in those days…

Cive Walker looked a yard onside when he scored what looked like a perfectly good goal to put the Mackems 2-up, just before Gray scored those two great headed goals.

Dave, I think you're right, it was the only goal!

But I remember in 1966 we never conceded until the Final.

I seem to remember walking to the ground when we beat Sunderland in the 3rd round and hearing some noise from our neighbours???

Must check to see if they played that day too??

John #32,

To me the ref had 2 options:

1: Say that, given the following phases of play, he couldn't go back and strike out the goal.

2: Strike out the goal but award Villa a penalty as the first offence was the Sheffield Utd player pulling the shirt.

Also couldn't believe Watkins didn't get a penalty in the first half.

Tony,

That was the great thing then and indeed pre-VAR. Some really shite decisions which we all argued about in the pub after the match, for or against!

Nowadays… well, say no more!

John 41
Spot on !!!
Will be interested to see what the refs and the Sky Sports arseholes say about it
Terrible decision

Dave checked
Was right
The neighbours got beat by Chelsea 2-1 that day so they must have kicked off earlier
Great days!

John (44), No John we kicked off earlier, me and my mate had a lot of fun with the Red fans, we waited for Liverpool's game to end then walking along by Stanley Park we were asking them, quite innocently, “ How did your game finish mate” walking away with big smiles on our kippers moving towards the next Red fan with the same question.

Yes a bit silly I know but I was only twenty five at the time!

Could be another manager on the chop as West Ham go 2 p against UTD.

Brilliant, Dave!

Maybe it was on the way home for me hearing the noise?
Great season, never forgotten.

Such a long time ago and the memory all over the place?
Take care.

Just about to kick off!!! Fingers and toes crossed!!

John (47), There was only fifteen minutes between the two games, we kicked off fifteen minutes earlier than Liverpool.

Arsenal have had two players booked so far for stopping a Liverpool breakaway… Konate stops Beto breaking away in the derby, no booking.

Bitter? Yes… and twisted too.

You can see our neighbours slowly building up a head of steam, and they are also beginning to slowly work the referee.

I hope this ref keeps calm, but Liverpool will feel they have got one in the bank, after not getting a penalty in the first half. We will see.

Their Ukranian is so slow, that's where a goal might well come from, like the first by hairy shitbag.

How the feck did the shitheads not score there?

Watch Arsenal get done now.

Well, at least Christmas hasn't been completely ruined had that horrible shower of bastards won!

Wolves don't look to bad with victory of Chelsea

Wolves possibly deserved to win today, but my word, Chelsea were awful. That was a bad result for us, as Wolves and Chelsea are now six points ahead of us.

Sheffield Utd Go 3----1 up against Newcastle Woods with a hatrick

Bill-57

That can't be fair if Sheff Utd are playing Newcastle as well as Forest!

Not great for us but love the Geordies getting walloped

Those 'kin Geordies can never get anything right, can they?