Late goals embarrass Trippier as Skunks sent packing

Seems like forever, and I didn't think his injury was that bad. What did he do, lose a leg?

UTFT

Young looks like a defensive attacking decision. ie bring into play the double up on Gordon.

Unless it's a back 5 with Seamus playing on the right side of a 3?

Absolutely fantastic. Great to see the man back.

Young in the middle? That's a new one, looking at the bench it's a worry.

Where the fuck is Young playing? Has to be the central defensive midfielder?

Whaaaaa???? Don't like that at all!

Or is it a 5-4-1??

Really confused.

Savvy veteran move, that!

Dogs of War required please, boys!

Jimmy and Onana are our Dogs of War, mate.

I trust and adore one of them. The other, not so much.

Carlo did it once and it worked.

Jay 26. That sounds a much better idea.

Hopefully it'll be Gordon who gets a red card tonight.

They are quite physical in mf. I just hope we still have enough for an overdue home win.

Don't worry about midfield. We have the gnat of all gnats in Gana. He's been playing well, and he's just a beast in a tackle. We might get overrun, but we won't get out-muscled in midfield.

I thought the same thing. Drop Doucouré and put McNeil behind Calvert-Lewin.

McNeil has an absolute cannon of a shot. I think he'd do okay feeding Calvert-Lewin? Certainly playing off him he'd be dangerous.

Whatever it'll be, it'll be. Time to just get behind the team and pray for 3 points, they'd be massive.

Missing Garner and Onana is going to be difficult for us but there again, when has it ever been easy for us and we are overdue a Goodison win.

To be fair it's worked. My first thought in seeing it was to doubt Harrison. He's not particularly good and usually gets a game by virtue of being the only one in his position. So it's odd to see him favoured away from his wing. But he's done well. Dropped into some nice spots and created a great chance for DCL.

Another day where you can safely say that Patterson and Danjuma aren't seriously in the manager's plans when they're overlooked in favour of more creative solutions to finding players in those positions.

We've clearly been the better team. And anyone who watched Newcastle play Man Utd (and us v Man Utd) will realise how impressive that is. Same story though... can we score? DCL's miss was a howler. To be fair to him he's playing well and his first touch was excellent... but his second was horrendous.

Back on Harrison. I reckon if you saw him running without anyone else near him you'd think he was lightning. He manages to move his legs really quickly without generating any kind of speed. He looks like he's riding a bike in first gear.

Subs may be key. Newcastle are a weary team and incredibly we actually have more options from the bench. It's not been a strong suit of Dyche's but today would be the day to change that.

Commentator on Radio 5 seemed to be thinking deeply about why a team that could ‘threaten' so well had such as poor record at home this season and they'd only scored 5 goals in those games... such a head-scratcher!

Don't let this game slip away. UTFT!

Old man Young and Gueye, two players I've given stick to, both great. Whole team never stopped.

Loved the Olés at the end capped off with the goal. Brilliant and totally deserved too!

Into the top half of the table.

Congratulations on the first Premier League goal of many to come for Beto.

Pleased for Beto. Fabulous result. Happy Friday tomorrow Blues!

Fucking brilliant game.

McNeil quality all night. Doucoure finally in position and Beto – what a run and finish.

Thank you Amazon Prime, stuff Sky!

Pleased for Dyche. Pleased for Beto. McNeil offers far more than Gordon or Iwobi ever did.

I thought everyone did well tonight. The 10-point deduction has galvanised our club and lifted Dyche's standing. Enjoy tonight Blues. UTFT!

Couldn't have happened to a nicer side.

After them twats across the park, I despise Newcastle with their phoney shirtless fat-fuck fans. Everyone's 2nd favourite team, my fuckin arse.

Brilliant by the Toffees tonight and bring on Chelsea. They'll be shitting themselves.

Up the fucking Toffees!

Results like this show that determination, aggression, desire, will to win, effort, organisation & Evertonians can overcome teams with better quality than ours.

Okay their team was not their first choice, but when Chelsea come, City come, any other fucking team come to goodison, play like this and we are capable of beating anyone!

Let them kick it round their own box, like the skunks. soon as they hit the halfway line get on them. .

I'd love someone to tell us how many chances we create relative to possession because we may only have 35% possession but we do go forward with intent, we continously make loads of chances without really looking like conceading many chances.

Tarkowski again!!! A true blue centre-back.

I thought Harrison was excellent tonight, never stops, alway alive and made it hard for the Skunks to get out their half.

This result has been coming for a while, I'm just glad it's them Geordie wannabees who got it from us.

I've always liked Trippier... 😜

You've never seen a better collection of foul-mouthed, ignorant, mean-spirited morons in your life, makes beating them even sweeter.

Still pumped up with Gwladys Street adrenalin.

I've had a sore throat for 2 weeks. I think I've just broken my tonsils.

Customary visit to my Grandad's old local surrounded by Newcastle supporters.

World famous, my arse!

Same thoughts as the weekend really. Dyche has created an environment where no one outworks us. We may lack some quality but he's getting a lot out of this squad.

It's Dogs of War stuff really. It's not sustainable in the long run but it's absolutely what we should be doing right now.

Every player tonight was at least 8 out of 10 and that includes Ashley Young.

Great game. Great win. Great team effort.

However, there appears to be a bit of a sea change. We are beginning to believe that we may beat anyone. Certainly we will be competitive. The excitement is returning. Great performance and result and wonderful to see the old girl bouncing.

So happy for Beto to get off the mark in the league. Took his goal well and will only get better. Great all round performance with good contributions from across the park.

We’d be 10th without the deduction!

Best December in ages already and only a couple of games in.

Just stick with it, one game at a time.

I have just watched possibly the most 1990s game of football I’ve seen for years and loved every second of it. Two British managers, lots of British players.  End to end, bags of heart and desire from both sets of players and a few bits of skill to win it.

Just a brilliant spectacle, and above all else we’re now out of the Bottom 3.

There were lots of great moments, but a few stood out for me.

In the run-up to the second goal, it looked like Newcastle might have a chance of a break but Harrison absolutely sprinted to get into a defensive position.  At that moment, I thought “we’re fitter than them” and it’s a long time since I’ve felt that. I think Newcastle realised that too.  Normally they out-run and over-power teams.  Not this time.  Seconds later, Harrison had dispossessed Trippier and played the ball in for Doucoure to score.

About 5 minutes after that, 38-year-old Ashley Young was launching a one man press from player to player all the way back to Dubravka.  We haven’t looked this fit since Moyes was in charge.  Newcastle knew they were well beaten.

In fact, a special mention to Young who I thought was excellent in midfield today. He’s had a patchy season but he was relentless and decent on the ball generally too.  Coleman was also excellent, and makes a real difference even now. 

In fact, there were good performances all around the pitch and everyone was hard as nails.  Calvert-Lewin, who was not at his best, at least absolutely battered that kid Miley and took the stuffing out of him for the rest of the match.

Winning Joe Royle style – with a bit of post-modern Guardiola chucked in for good measure at the end with a goal after about 50 passes.  Well done, Dyche. We’re on the up.

And it was lovely to see Beto break his Goodison Park duck under the lights!

Fantastic display by the whole team.

WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED

I replied that I couldn’t, as I was going to the match. Little did I know I would see the madness of a 3 goal win and Olé football.

Some tremendous performances, particularly from Séamus, McNeil and Branthwaite, but well done all round.

Did anyone see the Sky coverage from the WIRRAL because the presenter was fearful for his life?!

Were they expecting another phantom headlock incident?

Ludicrous ! No other club puts up with this constant barrage.

I also see the media tonight spinning an article that our ground costs have gone up £150m - they can’t let us have our win and celebrate can they?

I am always positive before a game but once I learned James Garner, was out, Onana still out, no Patterson, Seamus back for first game in ages etc, I feared a draw may have been a good outcome. How wrong was I ?

If we can play all remaining games like that, regardless of who the opposition are, we will be okay. Again hopefully this has broken our Home Match Voodoo. We have played better than tonight and lost !

I kept getting on this day - games on my phone, and we seemed to have a very good record when playing on the seventh of December, so I went into the game confident, and felt like this until the period that Ian E, mentioned@80, (I can’t believe how much I agreed with that assessment Ian, but don’t go and start jinxing us mate - keep moaning!)

The team are working very hard, and although the squad lacks a bit of craft, and isn’t quite big enough, the players definitely don’t mind putting in the hard graft, and this changes everything, with regards how much easier it becomes for the fans, to get behind the team.

Long may this continue, because it becomes infectious, especially when the players started running that little extra half a yard, that makes the angles so much easier for each other. Well played Everton👏👏

That extra yard made all the difference.

And to read that we played well the entire match…damn this feels good. Something about midweek under the lights at Goodison gave me a good feeling about this one, even when it came out Garner was ill. Onwards and upwards.

Random referee comment: Kudos to the assistant who kept his flag down on the Beto goal. That’s one of the most difficult calls to get right as an AR and he was spot on. And by him leaving the flag down, it allowed us to celebrate more appropriately, even if we then had to wait for the inevitable review. Also, just an incredible goal as the ball moved around the entire pitch, the crowd cheering with each pass.

It speaks volumes that the manager and players have knuckled down and focused on the things they can affect. Can’t have been easy, but these wins have shown that the mentality amongst the players is better than it has been for years.

Well done to all, but I’ll single out McNeil finding his form at a very good time. It’s a delight to see how cleanly he strikes the ball, the shot just beat the goalie with sheer pace. Pulls the trigger and bang, he hits it and it stays hit.

C’mon let’s make Goodison a fortress again!

Including our 10 point deduction - add last years results for the games to be played to the ones so far and we are on 36 points. We are 10 points better than last year in these 15 games. Put it another way, our penalty has been negated by our improvement.

Add to this - Forest are now 4 points worse, so we are now above them if we both do as well as last season over the remaining fixtures. We would finish 16th!

Without the 10 points, we would be 13th at the end of the season.

Perhaps the message is - we don't care PL. We will stay up anyway.

Great if the border could be moved just South of their rat infested shithole.

What is that dopey dialect they spout?

Hope the black cats stuff em in the cup.

They all live off roadkill

Oxygen thieving scumbags

What a vile little shit Joelinton is. I'll bet you could hear a pin drop on the bus home with him Myra Hindley and Trippier all on the back seat. that has to be one of the most satisfying thumpings I've seen in about ten years.

Being realistic though, we are a mediocre side. We have two quality players in Pickford and Branthwaite. OK the latter is a work in progress but he's some piece of work. Hope we can keep both of them.

We have a few proper PL players in Tarks, Gana, and McNeil. Hope the latter keeps fit, he's beginning to hit the peaks of last season, and that's not based just on his goal either. We then have some limited but hard working players in Myko, Harrison, Duke and DCL. That may be a little unfair to Myko because he really is in the best form he's ever been. Maybe for him, it's just a matter of confidence, which he seems to have now in abundance. We then have a couple of promising youngsters in Onana and especially Garner.

This group will never win the PL, or get into CL or even just Europe. But with a manager like Dyche whose talent is to optimise the average, it's plenty good enough to avoid relegation. I expect us to do that, handily, but the question for the future, if not now, is how can we give ourselves a chance of getting to the next level?

Garner and Onana not even in the squad, makes last night's result taste all the sweeter, and whilst we won't trouble the European spots via our league placing, one of the cups is up for grabs for a side like Everton.

Seeing as we are nearer to Wembley in the league cup, that should be our target, but at the same time we can't underestimate Fulham, who have also hit a run of form themselves.

Of course we have more points to be won prior to that League Cup tie, as we are not out of the woods yet, mainly, because of that damned ten point deduction.

Great team effort tonight and excellent result tonight, could be interesting Sunday, with City and Chelsea being two teams still not punished, could go up another notch Sunday, with Chelsea in town.

I owe an apology to whoever on TW posted last week that Young should be tried in defensive midfield. I was skeptical. But it may well be his best position, utilizing his abilities as a ball-winner and short passer under pressure, while de-emphasizing the loss of pace that exposes him out on the flank. I'm entirely comfortable with him holding down that spot until Onana and Garner are back.

And here I go with another stupid prediction, but I think that our appeal will be successful in getting back four of the points we were docked. So mentally I have us above Forest in 16th.

I took my daughter for her 2nd game. With lucky fish and chips at the Goodison Superbar doing the trick midweek again 😂. She was pretty pleased.

Dyche has put the fight back in the team.

I only saw the last half an hour - was very concerned that we would struggle without Garner and Onana, but it seems we have such a great spirit in the team that the lads just knuckled down and got on with the job.

Dyche is doing an excellent job, with the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. We should really have at least another 7 points in the board (ok, 17 points!) as we have battered a few teams but lost because we didn't convert our chances.

Hope we have no injury concerns for Sunday, our boys might suffer some of the same fatigue that got to the Skunks last night. Nothing to fear though.

With this squad, we are never going to be challenging top 4 but I hope the Dyche bashers are now tasting a little bit of humble pie. He really is wringing as much as possible from these players. With our first choice CMs missing, to batter them with Young and Doucoure in midfield is some performance.

I know it is early days yet and there will be some tough losses to come but I hope people are not going to be quick to jump on his back when we do have those bad performances. He should be building up a lot of credit with us. I can’t think of anyone else I'd rather have at the helm in the current circumstances.

Now the dust has settled, I am still buzzing, and will openly admit that I had doubts about the eventual outcome when I saw the enforced changes. Goes to show how wrong I/we can be. We have played better and lost at Goodison Park (Man Utd springs to mind) but last night was just pure determination from eleven players refusing to be steam-rollered.

Chelsea next and play like that again, and we will win!

Also, it was brilliant to send the Geordie gobshites back up North with a hammering because they thought all they had to do was turn up and the 3 points were theirs!

And I want to give a shout-out to Mykolenko who has been outstanding these last 6 games or so.

I'm a bit concerned about the chances DCL misses, he seems to scuff every shot and I thought he should have buried that header. But luckily it never cost us – a clean sheet, a Beto goal as well, good night all round! 💙

Oh joy, joy!

Possibly my favourite stat from last night.

I do think, at times, that my love for Everton has driven me to drink!

You would have enjoyed last night. Have a ball out there.

I said beforehand that he was far more likely to target Tarkowski. Three times he robbed him of the ball in dangerous positions. Two of which lead to direct shooting chances. A better p!ayer would have punished Tarkowski as severely as Trippier was punished.

While Tarkowski's battling backs-to-the-wall style of defending has endeared him to fans, Young, who is far more comfortable with the ball at his feet, has become a real target for a section of his own fans due to his lack of pace. His critics have been out in force before each of our last few games and you can be very certain they will be out again before the Chelsea game.

Let's hope they keep it up. Young was the consummate professional last night (again) and he was on the winning side (again).

I guess we just need to have our Heroes and Villains. Especially now it's pantomime season.

Great, great night though.

I don't usually listen to what managers say anymore but, on this occasion, Dyche's comment rang true:

“We've got a very authentic group of players. That doesn't mean we are brilliant but it means we have a connected group of players who really care and I think the Toffees respect that.”

Looking forward to Sunday.

I sat down to watch the game expecting a great game and expecting us to edge it. That would not have happened last season or the season before.

There has been a sea change in mentality and belief and that, in very difficult circumstances, is down to Dyche. All credit to him and his staff. The players are aligning themselves with his ideas and slowly he is turning around the mentality. The players believe they can win.

The reason Young has critics is because he has been a liability. Hopefully a better performance against Newcastle indicates better things to come but one game isn't redemption.

Either the skunks can't spell or they are thanking the Premier League for their support in accepting corrupt money from the Saudis – probably both.

If they lived in Saudi, half of the mutants there last night would only have one hand.

Luckily the first half misses didn't come back to haunt us.
Scoring three was really good, and with Beto finally scoring, he can only up his game.

Defensively very solid, important too.

Well done all!!!

I was in the Upper Bullens last night, I could hear the Geordies but couldn't see them. I did observe a sea of green cards in the Park End at some stage in the first half so I'm really confused 😩

Corrupt Premier League HQ going out of their minds.

We're going nowhere and we're here to stay.

He is hard to shift when he is running directly with the ball towards goal. His upper body strength and height seem to make it hard for defenders to stop him.

[I am extrapolating from a small sample of goals I know.]

As Dave Abrahams said, this was brilliant from every Blue in Goodison Park. Brilliant!!

Can't wait for the Fulham cup tie.

Rob, see how you feel when you get here. Great result yesterday!

Let's hope we can put in a similar performance in 48 hours time.

Brilliant!

I was gutted when I found out Garner wasn't playing but Gueye was brilliant and we hardly missed him.

I also used to look forward to meeting some Newcastle fans in the Tramways before the game. They used to be a great set of fans, and I'm sure some of them still are.

It's a long time since I've witnessed this football club display these qualities.

UTFT

Lo and behold, 3 nil against Newcastle at home in Goodison Park! Thankfully I can re-watch the match! May the good form continue. COYB.

I also thought Harrison looked really good in the No 10 role.

I cannot recall seeing any cards held up in the Newcastle end, but they did have a banner with NUFCand a bloke with long hair printed on, not sure who it was meant to be but had one hell of a resemblance to Susan Boyle.

As for Pickford, he was getting constant abuse second half from their lot, so us in the Park end raised the volume, everytime Pickford got the ball, Pickford obliged by playing the pantamine villain and giving it them back.

As for Gordon, we wound him up that much in the Park End, he bottled it every opportunity he got.

Loudest I've heard the Park End for a long time, even the pensioners, women and kids were giving it back to the Newcastle fans both barrels.

It looks to me like the players are stronger, fitter and more confident in their own abilities, and Dyche and his staff deserve great credit for that. While off-field issues continue to prove chaotic and concerning, on-field performances are starting to look healthier week by week.

I just watched Beto's interview and it got me right in what I think they call the "feels".

We're such a special club. Why can't we show it more often?

Granted, we need to be way more clinical in front of goal but I'll take the result and the significant improvement!

I looked at the table and smiled. Then I figured where we would be without the points deduction, then smiled a bit broader.

Then a scowl came across my face as I considered something...

I've been very clear that I believe we broke the rules and indeed deserve some type of punishment with our breach of P&S rules. We've been run terribly financially, and we've hurt for the better part of almost 3 years because of it.

But...

In what universe do you levy a 10-point deduction when the standard deduction for administration is 9 points???

If we don't get some relief for this completely ridiculous, heavy-handed, make-an-example punishment, the level of accountability, consistency, and frankly corruption with the Premier League is simply unfathomable.

I now get angry about it. The table never has an asterisk or explanation of the deduction. Never a notation about how the punishment is under appeal. The deduction was immediately levied in some weird, Communist-like, rulers-on-high fashion. It stunk to high heaven.

I pray we avoid the drop, and I think we will. When that day comes, there's only one word to describe our escape from the powers-that-be:

JUSTICE

You are right. That forum is hilarious. Nice comments by some "undercover" blues in there 😁.

Liked the comment by "IAmATree" especially.

Skunks are a bunch of deluded Neanderthals who think they are a top, top club with a rich history, for fuck's sake!!!

So pleased for the lad. Things can only get Beto!

I feel your 'pain' Jamie.

JUSTICE is something only for those 'allegedly' serving it...

Yes, I watched the Beto interview after the game, comes across as a very humble guy who loves the club and the supporters. I think Sean Dyche will be in the great position of whether to make changes to the team for the Chelsea game.

Provided Coleman is fit, then I think he may stick with last night's starting team, although to bring in a midfield player which allows Doucoure to play in his favourite position must be a big consideration.

I am getting more and more frustrated by players going down and displaying antics of being seriously hurt but minutes later without the attendance of the trainer they are back on their feet as right as rain. How you stop this, I don't know.

Also, I know Howard Webb rightly wants players who brandish an imaginary yellow cards punished. But last night Gana Gueye made a great tackle on Tripper only for the ref to blow for a foul and then Tripper is in the ref's face holding up 3 fingers suggesting Gueye should be booked.

Subsequently Gueye was booked but the ref wasn't going to book him until Trippier was in his face.

Gravel-voiced Dychey and his irritatingly resilient, bowl swirling Blue Shites v Mellifluous Eddie's heroic, decimated squad of Black and White grunts

Roll up! Roll up! See their delusion! See their lack of self-awareness! See their rancid fat bile! Shake your heads in wonder and laugh aloud! Enjoy their deliciously rabid ironic comments on all things scouse/Everton!

Roll up! Roll up! Enjoy the acid tongue of Gemmill or the Broken Doll or the cutting vomit from Monkey's Fist and let's not forget Dazzler and a cast of dozens. Let your eyes po out of your head as one especially sharp skunk castigates others for Saudi money.

The Prem is probably the most difficult league in the world to adapt to, its fast, physical and demanding.

Lots of strikers struggle in their first season here and when settled and up to peak fitness start to produce the goods. I see a lot of good things in him and my only criticism is that the lad has been trying too hard.

Justice for the 42,000

(the number who go every week).

Pictures of the Saudi prince greeting Putin earlier on Twitter highlights the size of the issues the Premier League has created for itself.

Putin and Russian money sanctions have put us in this mess whilst the Saudi-backed Newcastle are free spending. Regulation can't come soon enough, though I think the horse has already well and truly bolted.

The match had a very similar feel to all of our home games besides Arsenal. We created loads of chances but just couldn't score. A couple of uncharacteristic mistakes from Trippier helped us on our way.

I thought all the players put great shifts in. Harrison had the tricky job of trying to keep Bruno quiet. Hard to pick a MotM but I thought Tarkowski was immense.

Roll on Sunday, same effort same result with a bit of luck.

"Hopefully a better performance against Newcastle indicates better things to come but one game isn't redemption."

It's more than one game, Barry. Do some research. How about smiling for once?

Mykolenko is quite good going forward but leaves too much space at the back at times – but not many variables for that position.

I put that gaffe down to Pickford giving him the ball on the edge of the penalty area when he had Gordon not all that far away from him, Pickford should have weighed that situation up a lot better, imo.

Also, I have not read anyone who claims the 10-point deduction was reasonable. That would imply an upward adjustment is not expected. I think this is a windup.

Tarks block tackle in the first half on Guimares, was the block tackle of this season.

I'll be happy to see more of the same, level of focus, from Everton, for the rest of this season.

Everton, capitalising and finishing off the Skunks, was bliss.

Let's hope for the same v Chelsea.

UTFTs!

My personal melodrama aside, that was a great performance last night. We look good, we look fit and we look like we know what we are doing. The ground was alive, the spirit among the fans and players was a joy to see. Wonderful stuff.

I made no secret of my dissatisfaction with Dyche but the way he has turned this team around has been exemplary and worthy of the highest praise. I take back every negative comment I made about him.

Calvert-Lewin may not be flying but he is putting in a great shift for the team. His presence up front makes the system work. I just wish he had an easier name to sing to. The lad needs a proper song.

As usual you're wrong – try opening your eyes for once.

You obviously didn't watch the game against Forest (last Saturday 5:30 kick-off.) Young played really well, so that's two games.

From my seat (Top Balcony), Tarkowski was at fault there. Pickford's pass was fine, but Tarkowski took a touch and was then pressurised by Anthony Gordon, who should have done better imo.

For me, it was Tarkowski who should've just hoofed it first touch, maybe we've not got the right players to play it out from the back, but I also hate the big kick from the keeper which then becomes a 50/50 for everyone.

I think Pickford bowling it out to the flanks is the better option.

That's marvellous.

Fascinating how the general consensus on every Everton forum you care to mention has Young down as a liability whilst acknowledging he did okay against the Barcodes

Maybe they didn't watch the Forest game either or maybe they did and thought recalling previous performances provided a bigger picture.

It's a toughie.

Absolutely spot on.

Young had an absolute nightmare at Anfield. Since then he has been a target for a section of our fan base. Such is life, but He played very well against Burnley weighing in with a very nice goal.

He kept Mitoma uncharacteristically quiet until that absolute fluke deflection.

He was solid at Palace while others rocked and he restricted the Forest flying machine to one run and one long range effort.

It's a strange one. The "red card waiting to happen" has only had one yellow in that time.

Young has been getting slaughtered before games, but not after. Why is that ?

I have no doubt that you (as will I) will criticise Young when he has a bad game, but You clearly have no interest in jumping on the bandwagon which wants to hammer him before a ball is kicked.

It’s really weird. We have obvious rivalry with the RS, further afield in Lancs you can say Utd, City. Villa as the most played game is a rivalry. That apart I can think of fleeting rivalries usually based around either an ex player/manager going elsewhere or a team that we have a controversial game or games against. For example Oldham under Royle with over time other Everton connections were a rival or sorts or perhaps just an annoyance. Watford fans view us as a rival thanks to a combination of Andy Gray and us poaching Silva. But as I say these are fleeting not so much rivalries as convergences of interest. But for the life of me I can’t see how when or why we ever entered into some kind of rivalry with Newcastle. For my entire life, save a couple of seasons in the 90s they’ve been a pretty crap team from the other side of the country who we’ve never won or lost a high stakes game (eg a final, a relegation decider) against. We haven’t had any meaningful transfers or managers in common save Sam fleetingly who neither sets of supporters liked. Or Rafa who we all despised and they were sort of half and half on. That’s the extent of it. In contrast you could say we are rivals with Spurs based on shared relegation battles in the 90s, that year everyone assumed Klinsmann would win the cup, numerous transfers plus Kenshite publicly calling out Levy for the ESL and Spurs ridiculing our FFP excuse based around Richarlison’s fee. You could even say we had rival Gary Steven’s vying for RB at the 86 World Cup. And yet I don’t hear Everton or Spurs banging on about a rivalry. Clearly the Geordie’s have some sort of warped perception of their relevance to us

When you have not won the league since 1927 or the FA Cup since 1955, it must make you tense.

That’s not even factoring in the 6 relegations.

Fair enough, you're right, we don't have the players to play it out from the back, and Pickford is better if he plays the ball out to the flanks, even if 50% of the time it comes back to him to lash it down the field.

On the occasion I referred to, I was of the opinion that Pickford should have had the sense not to play the ball to Tarkowski on the edge of the penalty area; there was no rush. He could / should have used a different option, again in my opinion.

Brent's on the money, I had heard somewhere that this appeal could go our way, but equally we could be docked more, purely for appealing.

There's a certain logic there. If Everton are going to appeal the severity of the sentence... the Premier League perhaps may be allowed to argue for the 12-point deduction that they initially pushed for?