’Against all odds’ — Everton take a bow after securing survival with games to spare

We have all at some time had to do our jobs with one hand tied behind our backs but to have both tied must drain your will, confidence and desire for the job in hand. His tactics, team selections and game plans have caused grief and disbelief many a time, but they have all been made with the belief at the time of steering the team to this moment — safety — and in their own way, they have worked for the greater good of the team.

Things would seem to be “All is not well with the RS“ who at this moment in time with this season, have only won what their beloved captain Emlyn Hughes dubbed “The Mickey Mouse Cup “ in his day, for its lack of significance, seems little return on “ We're gonna give Klopp the greatest leaving gift ever” yeh right !!!

I think now that the Everton team, the manager, the staff and our brilliant vociferous, devoted fans should take a step back and enjoy the moment, the achievement of the season, along with the glow of a 2-0 Derby triumph still in our hearts, with Blue pride and appreciation for a job done. COYB 💙💙💙😃😃

Yesterday was a poor game but the lads got over the line and that's all that matters at the min. Over the last 3 seasons I've been convinced that if we drop, we end up in League 1! Just like Leeds and Sunderland...terrifying thought.

Well done to Dyche and all concerned.

I like the fact that we stopped over-playing from the back (recent Brighton goal is a good example). We might have tried too many long balls at times but overall we've created more opportunities than the era of sideways and backwards passes.

My Player of the Season is Pickford. I lost count of how many important saves he's made this season.

Notice the media won't let us rest, though, claiming more points coming off, all that bollocks. The league is that corrupt, it's unbelievable. COYB.

Dyche is the only man to take us forward. Who else in their right mind would take this job?! Please don't say Rooney, that's the calibre we would be attracting.

This is outstanding in view of the points deductions this season and the circus that is dragging on with 777 Partners.

Sean Dyche and his staff have been exceptional in leading such a sparse squad to survival this campaign. Let's hope Everton can continue this form for the last three games.

Well done to the whole squad yesterday. That was a good performance on the back of the derby victory. On to the next game.

UTFTs!

Who would we all like to see as our final opponents for Goodison Park, or does it not really matter, as long as it's not the RS?

So, maybe one of those would be a good send off for the Old Lady.

Well done to Dyche and his team and to every Blue. We could have been broken but said No.

We beat Villa 1-0 in our third home League match at Goodison and, as you state, they're the two clubs that have played each other the most in the top flight.

They were probably fuming that it wasn't our neighbours or Man Utd who were about to celebrate such a landmark achievement and wanted it downplaying as much as possible.

Thanks.

Factor into that an 8-point deduction and, despite my own criticisms (like many) of the line-ups, use of subs, one can only conclude what an amazing job he and his staff have done.

No matter how professional the players are, the points deductions must have taken their toll, like winning the lottery and getting a tax bill bigger than the winnings the day after!

Hats off to you, sir!

The horrific points deduction has nothing to do with the people mentioned, yet through thick and thin, we all stayed together and achieved a monumental and humongous task I was not sure was achievable: Premier League status.

Looking forward to next season and beyond. Proud to be an Evertonian, nearly 50 years and counting.

However, he's gone and got the job done, with 3 games to spare with 8 points deducted. He's been exactly what was needed for the times we find ourselves in.

I dread to think of the state Frank Lampard would have been in, dealing with what Dyche has. He's done it without Gordon, Gray or Iwobi to call upon (who Lampard had) so it's no surprise goals have been our weak point.

I know he's not going to get us in the Top 4. He's not winning any modelling contracts, my missus doesn't think he's fit, and he's not studied under Pep.

But he has delivered under the hardest of circumstances, given us a chance of stability, a chance to turn the club around, given us a win at Goodison against the Red Shite, given us a solid back 5 to build from going forward.

I think it would be sensible to keep him next year and see if we progress, for stability, hopefully with less battles off the pitch to fight. He's a safe pair of hands while we stabilise the club.

No more mister nice guy. It hasn't been pretty, but it's been fully deserved for all concerned, the club, the players and the manager.

The two constants saved the club this year: the fans, who have strikingly been the best in the Premier League, and Sean Dyche, who somehow fashioned a pragmatic team with what he had, which wasn't much.

Yet we owe him big time because he delivered when the Premier League, and Masters in particular, were hell bent on relegating the club without wanting to be blamed or shamed.

Make no mistake, we have shamed the Premier League for its actions and intent… shamed also the owner of our club, Moshiri, whose failure of management over his tenure has culminated in his dereliction of duty by his decision to pull any further financial support for the club following his mate's sanction by the UK government.

We have had to endure the 777 Partners debacle, with all parties involved coming up short, Moshiri for backing them for reasons still unknown to us, the slide into a financial black hole that he refused to prevent, the league for its inability to either allow or not allow a takeover… Jesus, what a season.

Through all of this has been Dyche and the squad. I have often said over the past God knows how many years, I support the team and not the club who has failed them in pursuit of personalised agendas. Never has this been more polarized since the passing of the chairman and his lackies.

But Dyche and the rag, tag and bobtail of a squad delivered against all odds and in the worst season in living memory, delivered the creme de la creme, a stunning, title torpedo to our bitterest rivals.

It was the manner of that win and its implications for them, that was the sweetest taste. After the barbs, the ridicule and taunts we as fans have had to endure, especially for so long from a club that totally failed, in any way, to speak out in support of us in our fight against the vindictive sanctions placed on the club, it was the killing blow to their aspirations. They had it coming in spades.

But the fans, my God the fans. I think the world has been amazed by them, rightly so. The support, the passion, the love, has been the vehicle that has delivered for Dyche and Lampard before him. Magnificent.

We may have no God-given right to success but we deserve it.

Next season marks a milestone, a sad one, when Goodison Park is left behind, with it the hundreds and thousands of souls of the fans who graced the terraces, their memories etched into every fibre of wood and steel, every echo of voices will linger long after she has gone. But she deserves a send-off and that victory, so long awaited, went some way to deliver.

The new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock is a folly to its current owner, almost bankrupting him, but it shall become a Mersey beacon on its waterfront, a symbol of pride of our city that will forever surpass anything the arrogant neighbour's do. The city is blue, always was, always will be.

To every Evertonian this, I swear that every single man, woman or child, looked in the mirror this week and smiled, a twinkle in the eye, a heaviness lifted.

We have Sean Dyche, his team and the players to thank for this and so much more. No matter what the next few years bring, he has laid the foundations for rebuilding. Thank you so very much.

Everton – a love of our life.

We have got to protest against Moshiri continuing with 777 Partners, who would be disastrous owners at a time when we could come out of the worst era in our history, find decent owners, and rid ourselves of the deceitful stains embedded into the fabric of our club by a nepotistic conman.

Someone who I know who had gone into town this afternoon texted me and said there doesn't feel like there are many scousers in this city anymore and I replied that you should see it when Liverpool are at home.

Nothing wrong with outsiders, we are welcoming people who live in a very welcoming city, but soon we are gonna be the team with a stadium on the edge of town (they will soon start growing the city towards Bramley-Moore Dock) and I believe that the area around the two Moorefields train stations should be transformed into The Blue Quarter.

First class appraisal.

Why we are here is a shameful indictment on so many, but it was always going to be, rightfully, down to Kenwright and Moshiri. In years to come, Moshiri's incompetence will be forgotten because of the magnificent new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, but Kenwright's folly won't be so easily papered over.

Throwing the fans under a bus will never ever be forgotten...

Sean Dyche stuck to the task in hand and like the fans never stopped believing.

It has been a roller-coaster.

Wednesday night was off the scale, the adrenaline rush I had was so strong that last night was the first decent sleep I have had since Wednesday! A truly great memory that makes the whole debacle worthwhile.

I read a stat today that Everton had the second-best defence in the country. To paraphrase the cop in Red Dragon:

'That's by god remarkable'.

When working in the City centre a good few years ago, it was a privilege for me to have many chats to Margaret Simey, a Liverpool councillor for Toxteth. She was a quiet but determined lady who fought for her constituents every day of the week and refused a Freedom of the City award, saying “I don't need any awards for doing my job, I'm just looking after the people who voted for me.”

That Christine was a long winded way of saying you remind me of Margaret Simey. I couldn't give you any praise higher than that.

I've said many times on here that I wished you doing the CEO's job at Everton, what a difference you would have made instead of the last one we had and you would have told that slimey Chairman where to go and take his bxllshit with him.

Hurry up and get back here, girl!!

Probably the very best post I have read on these pages.

Take a bow.

We'll be there Friday as will you and the other global blues.

I don't need to tell you, but keep the faith. We are there.

And get yourself over to the new stadium. She looks stunning.

His organisation of the back four is the reason for one of the best defences in the league.

I've read it three times now and it's better every time. I will read it a few times more today out of sheer gratification.

I love debating you, and we disagree more than we agree, but right now I would lead a parade in honor of that masterpiece and its author.

Closely followed by Branthwaite, but I would imagine he'll pick up Young Player of the Season.

I have always said that, if we all come together and believe, we will see better days despite the corrupt and disastrous management of our club.

I am sure all Toffees are feeling on top of the world now having gone through emotions of blind optimism to downright depression.

We will not forget the actions and claims of the departing and yet to depart directors who voted themselves a payoff of magnificent proportions knowing that they had put the club into financial difficulties and the divisions they tried to create between the supporters.

May they all rot in hell.

Tarkowski or Pickford for me.

Branthwaite is nailed on for Young Player and maybe just pushing for the main prize.

Has Moshiri said anything about the great job his manager has done yet?

That was like one of those speeches Basil Rathbone used to give at the end of the war-time Sherlock Holmes films.

gather that this may be a long shot, but it might be worth dropping a copy of it to the Everton Matchday programme, just to show the club the traumas that the fans have been suffering, but perhaps making a tweak here and there, notably any references to Moshiri.

Whatever though, still an excellent post. 👍👍👍

My sister is so concerned, she has taken to fetch me from the match and check my sanity!!

I wouldn't mind, her son (my nephew) was raging at the derby, whereas I was just sat there, arms crossed looking at the clock.

Hard to put a value on leadership, but Tarkowski is a captain's captain.

I want to add my admiration for your post and recognised by many staunch TWer's - you brought a lump to my throat.

I never missed a home game from the early sixties until I left the city many years ago but your post reminded me (if it was needed) what it means to be a Blue.

Thanks, Christine – your post should be enshrined in TW folklore. Nothing short of magnificent and moving.

Not only do we endure every emotion under the sun watching the team play, but then go through exactly the same emotions wondering how the teams around us in the league are getting on. I stopped watching their games as I was just putting myself through the agony all over again.

I go to the game with my 2 sons and my grandson. Walking up City Road on the way to the game, one of my sons was looking at his phone and relaying that Luton had pulled a goal back against Wolves.

I said "Don't tell me any more updates until the game has finished." When the other clubs have been playing, I don't check their scores till I know the game has finished.

You would think a 76-year-old would be able to not get so wound up over the results of a football match. But I think I have got more paranoid as I get older.

I am making defensive tackles heading out any aerial threat, no wonder my 14-year-old grandson keeps telling me to calm down, all to no avail.

Next season will be my 70th of going to Goodison, and with it being our last season in the Old Lady, can we just finish mid-table for the health of our magnificent fans please.

I may have mentioned a few times in the past year that my posts seem to fall on deaf ears, that my ramblings were no longer relevant, or I was just out of touch, being at the end of the world. Indeed, the "tyranny of distance" of living in New Zealand and denied the daily emotions of home, is immense.

As an aside, over the years, millions of scousers have sought to travel to the four corners of the earth. I wonder who will be the first scouser on Mars, because there will be a small flag in his backpack with the logo of BMD to plant.

No matter how far we travel, we never left home. That's the way it is for me, I just want to go home.

I love the reference to those Basil Rathbone films too, great actor, but these days I feel more akin to his bumbling sidekick Nigel Bruce!

Dave, what a bloody compliment, Margaret Simey, I had forgotten her, same as Bessie Braddock.. in another universe being CEO would be the proudest, humblest accolade but that day is done, flowers in the dirt.

In the end, being a fan as one of the blues is all I am, that's hard enough, the pain and joy, its frustration and love is captured on these pages of TW. Every one of us has been tearing their hair out, sick with worry, as if it was family, because in reality being an Evertonian is a sense of belonging, a family, my tribe.

One of my earliest recollections was standing, waiting for my Uncle Jimmy outside the ground in Gwladys Street. I doubt I was 4 foot tall, couldn't see him in the throng, I must have looked worried until someone bent down and asked me if I was lost?

I just said I was looking for my Uncle Jimmy. He lifted me high on his shoulders so I could see, then what seemed like a few hundred voices shouted for Jimmy Davies. A hand went up, and the lost was found.

All he said to me as he took my hand was, "You're never lost here, love, you're with family"

That's what it's like being here on TW – family, we laugh, we cry, we live and die, but everyone of us is family and we deserve to be heard.

So thank you for the kindness... ❤️ Thank you for lifting me up again so I could see.

Nights like Wednesday make it all worthwhile and remind us why we support this wonderful basket-case of a club. Keep believing, we are Everton and will be just fine.

Went to the Harlech Castle after the games, anyone who might have noticed I was the one with the black Canada Cap on, I was told I was their lucky charm, and was told they would either confiscate my passport or kidnap me especially after winning 3 on the trot.

The greatest thing was my brother who I stopped with and other family members are Red Supporters and it was music to my ears to hear them confess that Everton were the better team at the derby game.

Also had a pint in the Rocket and the Childwall Five Ways, Oh How The Mighty have Fallen. Even my niece wore a Blue Cap.

I have now got a lot of new friends that say, if I can keep the luck going, they will pay to get me back, but believe me there was no luck involved, Everton stepped up a gear and just outplayed and outmatched Klippity Klopp's team, with no fist pumping at the end.

New stadium looks great, best seen on a ferry that takes tourists along the Mersey.

No suspension. Rules are:

5 in 18 games
10 in 32 games

So, despite 10 bookings, he's not been suspended at all this season.

Unbelievable how their recent history has mirrored ours!
Had we suffered relegation this season, I've no doubt the similarity would have been greater.

From mismanagement, poor recruitment and selling, Covid, Ukraine — it's uncanny. Never mind they play in blue and their fanbase is similar.

This could have been us had we not got ourselves out of the possibility of relegation.

I've followed Schalke since my young days in Germany.

It is indeed uncanny.

The "Kongsblauen". Royal Blues.

Take their name from the district in the north of the city from where they come from.

Once successful but have lived in the shadow of their rivals Dortmund, who obviously have links with Klopp and their supporters sing that song that should never be named.

Their academy has produced some fantastic players. They were probably guilty of using it as a cash cow too much and it cost them.

Although in Bundesliga 2, they seem to have pulled away to safety.

Still attracting 62000.

A proper club, just like Everton.

I recommend it to everyone. Great day out.

The Schalke Mile reminds me of County Road and there is a fantastic bar in the city centre.

You will be greeted with the phrase "Gluck Auf", a traditional miner's greeting, which is where the city's roots where.

We were at the match when the last coal mine closed and the miners were on the pitch singing their traditional song.

Proper club. Proper supporters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP1mLUBJKR0

I first entered the Grand Old Lady in 1970, aged 13, and have been a part of, and enjoyed, a lot of joyous memories with our Great Team. But the truly heartfelt emotion of the achievement of this season has got to be up there with the best.

Yes, I agree with a previous post, your article should make its way into the matchday programme – what a legacy for all future fans to have it etched into the history of Everton Football Club.

The raw emotion of this season put so eloquently, will show forever the passion that this fantastic worldwide fan base means when you are a part of it.

Thank you.

I read the article this morning and was about to post a comment about it but you beat me to it.

John - you are right with your 'their recent history has mirrored ours!'

Very interesting read - the title of the article says it all:'Schalke's fall to the edge of existence'

I picked up on the following and thought where have I heard these type of comments before!

Schalke is the most extreme case of a club trying to live beyond its means. Embolo and Bentaleb are just two examples of poor recruitment in recent years.

And not only have Schalke bought badly, but they have also sold poorly. Key players such as Leon Goretzka, and academy prospects Sead Kolasinac, Max Meyer and Joel Matip, who should have represented good avenues for profit, left on free transfers.

A stretched balance sheet came under further strain as the Covid-19 pandemic choked off the income from gate receipts and dented the value of the Bundesliga's television deal.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 brought an abrupt end to the relationship with Gazprom – the energy giant majority owned by the Russian state and the club's main sponsor.

“Decisions have been made in the past that were totally wrong and have cost a lot of money” Anja Wortmann, Schalke Supporters Club board member, tells BBC Sport. “The team they put together didn't fit and didn't play well. There was a ‘hire and fire' culture for new coaches.”

Current manager Karel Geraerts, hired in October, is the 11th permanent Schalke boss in 10 years.

The swift series of pay-offs, hefty transfer fees, punishing interest rates on borrowed money and world events have taken their toll.

But we are in a vacuum, we have no owner and no board that can make those decisions. I can't see Colin Chong having the authority to make these important decisions and, until the ownership problem is resolved, the problems for the club will just get bigger.

Despite there being rumours of interested parties willing to buy the club, at this moment, 777 Partners can't get approval from the Premier League and I can't see them carrying on funding the day-to-day expenses if there is no likelihood of getting the Premier League to agree to them taking over.

But, even if there is another owner waiting in the wings, how long will it take to get the approval from the Premier League? Even Sir Jim Ratcliffe's partial ownership of Man Utd took months and who could argue with his credentials?

So, if 777 Partners withdraw and Moshiri refuses to fund the day-to-day running, then new owners could be faced with a club in administration and all the ramifications that brings.

So, Moshiri… what is happening with our club???

The next home match, we should all walk out on the 77th minute, every single Evertonian should be prepared to do something like this for the good of our club.

It's time for Moshiri to take the hit, for the sake of his departed friend!

I've even heard it said that our stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, has got a lot of similarities to that beautiful stadium in Gelsenkirchen, John?

A red heart Christine? What the bleedin' hell are you thinking girl!!💙

The Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock will be special.

I'll leave my emotional feelings about Goodison until another time.

Everton Football Club - Club of the Year

Don't you think they look so much better than those red ones... 💔!

Now we can just begin to look forward to a brighter future.
The Kenwright gang tried to blame us for protesting at their terrible running of the club. The owner lied to us as well as making stupid decisions which we will pay for for decades.

Then the Premier League tried to kick us while we were down. Dyche and his staff and the players have come through the shitstorm. The win against them was cathartic.

I wonder if this was the Kevin Brock backpass moment? "You lost the league at Goodison Park" and our players came of age with those three home wins.

I tell my sister off when she sends me a red one!

Thank you for the heartfelt comments. I know some have suggested I send it in for the matchday programme but it contains criticism of the club's owner and past chairman which would obviously not be taken well. But removing such would by default, leave the article a shadow of the original and have a far lesser impact than the whole truth as I see it.

But that's okay; people here on TW understand the big picture, something I think some still would not appreciate in a matchday programme. Even an abridged version would not make it with just one more game at home... but thank you for thinking that it would even be worthy of inclusion.

It's been a season to forget, ruined as a spectacle, and I am glad it's over but the reality is the ownership and future financial stability drags on...