Painful at the Lane

At the end of last season, I had thought that a priority was to strengthen our right side. Harrison had been ineffective and Young dreadful, giving goals, penalties and games away. In the last few games, his legs had clearly gone.

Now the message has gone to the rest of the squad that it doesn't matter how badly you play, you'll get another season if your face fits.

Somehow, Dyche needs to get some confidence into his team. Right now, motivation means more than tactics.

Young Dixon was really the only choice, nobody else offered anything to write about. I could criticise all of them, some more than others, but what's the point at the moment?

Will we get better? Doubt it… unless two or three signings come in and Dyche has seemed to Kibosh those moves.

I'll be at Goodison twice this week hoping for the best. That's all we seem to have left, faith is dwindling and charity looks to be going elsewhere!

My mate, Steve and I, got there just as the rain stopped so had plenty of time to have a mooch around the local area. I've been to all our games there and it's a great stadium but the outside looks very bland apart from the glass fronted sections.

As to the game itself, Spurs could have been two or three up before they scored. Up until then, Pickford had kept the game level but, after his brain-fart, it was just a matter of how many they'd score.

Dyche's team selections defy logic. Doucoure was totally anonymous and Harrison is, quite frankly, a waste of space. I hoped they'd both be subbed at half-time but, when they finally were, we looked a much better side. How much longer will Dyche persevere with them?

Ndiaye, even playing out of position on the left, made an immediate impact in fighting for the ball and getting a foot in. Defenders will always be aware he's on the pitch!

Lindstrøm was less effective but did have one good run and cross.

Dixon had a pretty decent game and looks very promising.

As you commented, Tim Ireogbunam was pretty ineffective but did win the ball and try to get things moving but Gana just wasn't at the races.

McNeill was McNeil; constantly running into blind alleys with little end product. Calvert-Lewin looked disinterested.

I thought we were a bit flattered by 4-0; it could have been a lot more!

All-in-all, a wasted 15-hour round trip, the one positive being I missed getting drenched!

A predictable defeat but the manner of it is more worrying. Dyche's loyalty to Doucoure and Harrison is baffling to me. Keane is a total liability but needs must I suppose until Branthwaite is fit.

So on to Doncaster, who will fancy their chances. I was intending to go but just seen it's on Sky Sports+ so that makes up my mind.

I will be back at Goodison for Bournemouth hopefully in a better frame of mind.

Once the fourth goal went in, we thought there was no point in hanging around, considering, as you say, the queues for the train stations. We didn't fancy the 45-minute walk up Seven Sisters Road, so headed back to Northumberland Park, got the overground to Tottenham Hale, then the tube back to Euston.

We must have got to Euston in record time from Spurs, about 5:15, 3 hours before our train, which turned into 4 hours because of problems with animals on the line, causing all kinds of disruption, with delays and cancellations.

But we go again on Tuesday. Play the strongest possible side you can, Dyche, because this is one game we cannot afford to lose. We need to get the confidence off the ground, and the next two games offers that opportunity.

Young Dixon looked understandably nervous in the opening minutes but settled in and I also thought he was MotM. I am looking forward to seeing more of him and hoping that he can make the right-back position his own with Paterson providing back-up.

The rest of them were awful. Pickford was almost caught twice before Son dispossessed him, very unusual for him to be so unreliable, I also thought he should have come for the cross that led to the third goal.

A really worrying aspect of our 2 games for me is how easily the opposition has cut through us on the break, the defence has been all over the shop in both games.

It's rare for me to knock Dyche because I think he had done a fantastic job under extreme circumstances but what is the point of buying players if he doesn't play them? He was talking about the need for belief and building a team… what the fuck?

The team yesterday only included Roman Dixon and Tim Iroegbunam because the first choices were injured. Have we really bought players who are not considered good enough to start games?

Anyway, rant over! Fortunately it is very early in the season but we need to see a reaction in the next 2 games; otherwise, I am worried that the rot will set in.

Doncaster Rovers up next and the perfect opportunity to try something a bit more adventurous. Come on, Sean Dyche, show us something different.

Doucoure shouldn't be anywhere near the starting eleven, add a player who is missing in action to seven defensive positions and no wonder we're not creating. But there's a lack of pace and creativity all over the pitch, he's not the only problem.

Lack of fight, organisation and folding so easily is a major concern, we're simply not that hard to beat.

One of the quietest away days that I recall, just an observation. Might be because, even at one down, we don't really look like a spirited team that can recover.

Bournemouth and Doncaster are big games now to get some confidence back.

I just repeat my usual: Like winning, losing also becomes a habit. Of course we will lose games; however, it's the way we lose them.

The midweek game gives us a chance to get a bit more confidence going into the weekend. God forbid, if we don't get 3 points next week, the shit will really hit the fan!

The descent has been accelerating for at least 2 seasons and fans voting with their feet (just read of a load more abandoning ship before the end) confirms even shallow optimism is beginning to wear thin.

The fans will most likely have Dyche out by Xmas and the merry-go-round will restart, a new manager bounce now our established cunning plan of survival.

The words "pissing against the wind" comes to mind.

I fear for us falling on Tuesday. I'm hoping we manage at least a point next Saturday. A tough season ahead. I agree with you about Tarkowski carrying an injury.

I would offer the observation that Spurs had sussed our game plan out and prevented Jordan any time on the ball. I'm sure that other teams will have noted how this tactic prevents us from trying to build up from the back and relax.

Fuck, he legged it down the tunnel after a few handclaps though funnily enough turning round to different parts of the ground as if he was at the old lady, and then that fucking weird Trumpy presser.

Paul, I wouldn't say all, but some are definitely turning. I can't speak for Rob and I think we'll have him for the season.

I think that the last singing from the 3,000 was in that sequence of corners before half-time. So, there were no anti-Dyche songs, I'm assuming?

Pickford came in for most stick. He made a mistake. That's football.

the one thing the away fans will never do, unless it was Benitez or Allardyce, is turn against the manager in unison.

Obviously I can’t hear fans from all corners of the away section but, as Danny says, there are always one or two muttering of discontent, but not something you would hear on the TV.

Like Danny, I too think we will have him for the season. For fuck's sake, it’s 2 games into a 38-game season, and as I said last week after Brighton, and also last night, we can’t be having any more performances like these.

We will play better and still lose games, and if it’s possible, play worse and win.

Sad to hear that was going on at the ground too. There has been so much uninformed shite on here and heroic keyboard screaming at Pickford. Not one of them mentioned the 3 great saves he made before their first goal.

He wasn't the only player over the 95 minutes.

It is only two games but I am deeply concerned from what I have seen in both of them. Scared to be honest. It's something I did not expect. He has to make changes everywhere – selection, set-ups, training etc. He keeps moaning about how tough the job is but he knew that when he took it on.

A successful transition in ownership could well change everything and get us out of the bog we are in as there is not one of us whose entire Everton view is not clouded by ownership, finances, debt etc. It's like a constant drumbeat that will not go away.

I'm hearing that Guehi is heading towards the red shite with Gomez going the other way. Surely we have to put a loan bid in for Trippier and unskunk him?

It was a terrible result and performance but hardly a surprise. The consolation, as one of my friends on the coach suggested, is that we have been here before: 12 months ago, we lost our first away match 4-0, lost Calvert-Lewin with an injury, and looked completely out of sorts.

Now, 12 months on, we have key players out with injuries, in particular Branthwaite and Garner; plus a clutch of new players yet to be fully integrated into the team. This is not the best time to introduce young players to the Premier League but I thought Roman Dixon showed some promise in really difficult circumstances.

I think our biggest weakness is in midfield. It fails to create or destroy. The departure of Onana, frustrating though he could be, has left a huge gap in the defensive midfield area which exposes our back line to direct lines of attack; Mitoma box to box last week, Van de Ven box to box yesterday.

Iroegbunam is still learning on the job, lacks the positional sense which comes with experience, and looked overwhelmed. He and Gana seem to want to play the same game, chasing, tackling and running forward but neither offers control. Sorting out a midfield combination is an immediate priority which the return of Garner might address.

In attack, the Doncaster game is an ideal opportunity to start with Ndiaye and Lindstrøm. The former has looked lively in his two cameos. While Lindstrøm has been quieter, he at least seems ready to shoot on sight. Both have pace which might improve our playing style and goal threat if we can get the ball to them. A big ‘if'.

It is early days. We are far from alone in suffering a poor start to the season. Early results can mislead. In 2021, we made a good start to the season only to run into trouble, big trouble, as the season progressed.

As John says, we had a very similar start last season, faced Doncaster in the Carabao Cup and then got a scrappy draw at Sheffield Utd. It's almost Déjà Vu this season, although I'm very much hoping for a win against Bournemouth and will then take the scrappy draw at Villa.

John being the voice of sense. Good to see you too, John. Hopefully catch you at the next one.

I had the same thought about the Villa game last season, Calvert-Lewin took some stick off a few fans when he went off injured although no one could see he had a cheek like a golf ball. In fact, I think we were actually worse that day than against Spurs.

I was also thinking about the mauling we had at Chelsea and things really did look grim but we pulled it together and finished strongly.

A good result against Doncaster is a must and that will hopefully build some confidence for the Bournemouth game.

But I am seeing and reading some quite toxic stuff, a video of fans abusing our players boarding the train home, and some strong emotions on this site too.

I've booed at Goodison, in the emotion of the moment, but when I was a ticket holder I stayed till the end, always, and never wavered in supporting my team of 60 years and counting...

This situation that our club is in now has no parallel, the overflowing emotion is blowing valves and bursting blood vessels… You are a voice of reason, we need that now, balance, equilibrium...

I feel we are at a tipping point, at all levels in the club, and it's hard being a supporter right now, but if the fans can't stick with the club, with the players, and each other, this could unravel... Please don't let this happen, guys.

Let Jarrad stay, let Calvert-Lewin get 15 plus goals, let the young guys settle in and give us the energy and enthusiasm to compete in the Premier League, we deserve that, and two games in is too early to quit.

His rather bizarre comments at the end of both recent league games seem to give the impression; is he finally letting the pressure get to him? With little or no public statements from anyone at the club, is it any wonder he feels isolated?

Apparently, there were no directors at the Spurs game yesterday, only Thelwell and two others in the directors box, little wonder he feels as if he's fighting a losing battle.

However, his silly comments about the talk amongst fans of the expectation this season was 'European football' was plain daft. No Evertonian I know was ever optimistic about chasing a European spot this season.

As for the two games I've witnessed to date, make no bones about it, we're in deep shit. We offer little or no goalscoring threat, and Dyche's tactics of playing 'hoofball' to a lone striker, is simply caveman football.

The second-lowest goalscorers in the Premier League last season surely told the manager something had to change in the way he sets the team up? We know he has little or no money to spend but the selection of Ashley Young last week against possibly the fastest winger in the Premier League was a terrible error of judgement from an experienced manager.

I wonder whether the players have stopped listening?

A couple of Spurs lads I know – don't let Rob know that please – say again and again that the new place has zilch character and that it might be impressive (but not from outside) in a sort of modern stadium way but match-going is not what it used to be. It's also in the same shithouse area and actually looks odder there than the Lane – like a spaceship just landed.

The new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock will have plenty of character because of its location and the effort that has been made to respect the surrounding built environment. It looks miles better from the outside than the Spurs spaceship.

Thanks again for your support and the rest of the 3,000.

They rotated it 180°, which is what I believe we would have had to do if we had decided to redevelop Goodison, requiring buying up land and houses. Tottenham had the use of Wembley during the rebuild. God forbid had we had to use the obvious.

You are right: as impressive as it is inside, from the outside it is pretty unimpressive.

I had to stop and ask a couple of police officers where the stadium was. They laughed and told me to walk to the next left joking that you wouldn't think there was a huge stadium around here.

Agree on our new stadium at Bramley-Moore Docl. It is in an iconic setting.

Forgive me if I've forgotten. Where are you located? It would good to meet up, either at Goodison or the new stadium.

I moved here in 2000. Had a season ticket 1977-2000, although I sadly didn't live in our city permanently from 1984 on, but it's still home. Born in Bootle; grew up in Crosby. I was in York, Cambridge, Warwick, London until I crossed the ocean.

Thanks again for your support and I hope that it helps with your horrible loss mate.

Describing how you "Sat on a metal bench with a bottle of Pepsi that you picked up from Sainsbury's around the corner." While the privileged in our two-tier system sat in plush restaurants eating expensive meals and drinking expensive wines whilst looking down at you? Sad, but true in our unfair two-tier system.

Danny, you are a poet my friend. Bring on the revolution, and we will be sitting in those restaurants, looking down on the once privileged bastards groveling like pigs, fighting for the scraps of the once two-tier system that we throw to them!

I feel much better now.

I have described Danny as 'Brysonesque' (Compliment) on this site previously and I still believe this.

His adventures certainly entertain me!

Thanks Danny.

True that Danny entertains sometimes more than the very team we support.

The big seven, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley and William Blake, and after the Spurs game, Danny O'Neill.

"Better to lose once 4-0 than lose four times 1-0."

RIP, Sven.

How Danny, Rob et al continue to travel the length and breadth of this country, week-in & week-out, with so little reward, is testament to their loyalty and fortitude. I find it increasingly difficult to get up and go to Goodison every other week.

Those blues who travel the country deserve a medal, or, in Danny's case, a Pulitzer prize!

As a former resident of North London, I find it a piss-take that the Old Bill mugged off Danny about the close and obvious proximity of White Hart Lane. It's not that prominent and you can't see it from the likes of Ally Pally or the Heath like you can London Stadium, Wembley and the Emirates.

But nonetheless, not one of my preferred London grounds.

Speaking to Spurs fans, some of them resent the new WHL as they think building it cost them trophies under Mauricio Pochettino in the latter part of the last decade. They think they should've invested on the pitch instead to supplement the Kane, Dele, Son, Vertonghen side.

Those who renovated. Old Trafford ĥas turned into a rust bucket. Liverpool have probably gone as far as they can. I'm always impressed with Villa Park.

Our new stadium will be unique in a fine setting. If it is finished at the end of the year, use it. Test runs for the U23s. Put mathes up on the big screens as most struggle to get tickets for Goodison.

Instead we're restricted to a mobbed ground-floor bar and, for those of us canny enough to find it, a first-floor bar up the escalators where it's much easier to get a pint and gaze on the 3,000 songsters below. In fact, when I used it last there were more bar staff than customers.

Another thing I noticed after Saturday's games. Chelsea fans were moaning that the pubs near Wolves ground were home supporters only. Oh the irony!!

Keep the reports coming, mate, your eternal optimism is still much needed.

We would have had to do something similar with Goodison had we opted to stay there.

I'm glad we're moving to Bramley-Moore Dock and it will regenerate the surrounding area that has been neglected for too long.

Get in touch, Lee. 0796 6007546