Brilliant 10-man defence seals fantastic win at Brighton

Fingers all very firmly crossed. I am hopeful – something I would never say under our previous manager. Still hopeful too that Doucoure picks up a small niggle in the 2nd half which keeps him out for a few weeks at least.

Good to see Garner on the bench and able to take over. Just a niggle. Nothing serious.

Is Dyche still picking the team??? 🤔

I think we could nick a draw here but a win would be nice.

Aw… what a shame! Yippee.

Right now, we need someone like that until we start to retain the ball better.

I believe that Dyche being about right was what he said in the presser? The other interesting thing he said was having to strengthen the left-back slot. Perhaps he meant cover for the slot rather than Mykolenko being no good?

Surely we would be better served with one of the U21s getting some first-team experience?

Expect a tight game.

You're not going to use all your subs anyway so it doesn't make any difference to those who are/aren't going to get a game.

That's a twat comment.

And then, super cool and super accurate for the penalty, after a long pause and a lot of pelters from the Seagulls. 0-1 and 3 points to play for!!!

But did he really merit a booking for daring to flap his arms like a liver bird? Maybe the ref though he was taunting the Seagulls!!!

But it's been relatively comfortable and we're leading. Not much to complain about there.

Especially given the fact we have now lost DCL to injury. We can’t bring on an extra striker, if required, now. Maybe you think we could thrust Begovic into a strikers role?

Sherif might not be ready for a first team debut, but at least he would have been there if needed

The penalty was properly given but I wouldn't blame the Ref for not seeing it, so one to VAR.

Expect nothing again second half from him.

The Moyes DNA football is exactly the same, frustratung, four and dreary...but he has turned into Miss Marple.

Churlish, I know.. but the criminal waste of the last 8 years is fucking maddening.

Anyway, on we go. Vital win.

I must admit, I enjoyed those scenes at the end. I've got loads of time for us being hated.

I'll give Dyche a bit of credit too. A lot of that second half was what he's drilled into this team. I don't know if I ever saw the cynicism before though. There was some delightful shithousery in there. Obviously got under their skin. Great.

Just brilliant.

True grit.

Well done to every player, they all put a damn good shift in and deserved the 3, hard earned, points

Three points it is but a lot more work to be done.

Oh David Moyes, Davy Davy Davy Moyes

Enjoy a win FFS.

Pathetic.

Another fantastic three points towards Premier League football at Bramley Moore next season. With the other teams around us losing yet again, I can't see us needing more than another three wins to stay up.

Absolute joke.

Brilliant defending especially given the injuries and then being down to 10 men

We’re showing some great resilience and getting the results. 7 points clear….woo Hoo!!!!

COYB!

Get yer cheque book out, Friedkin. Or else

I thought Gueye was immense today, and can someone tell me why Dyche never gave O'Brien a chance, fair play to Moyes.

Gutted for Dom, we need a striker in this week, because Beto was very poor again today, as was Doucoure.

Great to see Garner back as well, hopefully Tim will be back in the squad, with Mangala injured as well, and with Dom and McNeil out for a while, we desperately need a few additions.

I presume most here would be Everton supporters. Are you a Moyes supporter instead?

I'm looking for him too. As soon as I heard he'd predicted disaster again. I logged onto Sky Bet and lumped on us to win.

Hewey.

Wanna meet up at the next home game? I have a business proposition for you.

Still, the pretty stuff will just have to wait till we have better players...

A solid back three, and when you take into account we lost Calvert-Lewin early doors and only had Beto as the only other striker, then I thought that was a solid performance by Everton, even going down to ten men, again he used subs for tired players, switching tired players with fresh legs.

Now to try and get a striker in, get Iroegbunam and Garner back and also an option for Stanley Mills on the right to rotate with Lindstrom.

The big Achilles heel is a centre forward, we have to get someone in this window, more than any other area on the pitch.

P.s, get that song going Danny on your way home, the times they are a changing, sorry mate I said a 2 nil win, cannot win them all :-)

In Moyes we trust

Up the Toffees.

Calvert-Lewin could be done for.

We have to win at home against Leicester on Saturday now.

Let's see if you remember the meaning of the motto

Forget the way we played — the result is everything!

3 points next week is a must.

I was screaming at my iPad when Beto went down for him to fuckin' get up and give Moyes his due he was screaming at O'Brien and Mylolenko to do the same because it was all going to time added on.

Another precious 3 points, no matter how ugly we played, so no complaints from me, the state we are in, it's the points in the bag that count.

Seriously, your advice is to send a player on to hobble around on an injury, probably making it twice as bad?

Clueless doesn't come close…

No credit due to David Moyes then, Annika?

Hopefully it hasn't been too costly injury-wise.

Well done, Moyes and the team.

3points is the best possible result any team can achieve.

Away, given the circumstances, is a great result. Platitudes about the motto are hollow. Moyes has 6 points from potential 9. He has overseen an improvement in performances. What more could we realistically ask for?

If you can't see and accept that......

There are lots of things to admire about games like that.

Considered and sympathetic on here by comparison.

He went off injured, don’t need to be Mystic Meg to know he had a problem especially considering he’ll have known he couldn’t be replaced.

He came back on after the injury and lasted about 30 seconds.

And of course you are now playing Mystic Meg assuming Moyes didn’t know the rules as opposed being caught out because he had an enforced substitution in the first half.

Alan: quit the purity test. We need to progress in stages and winning matches is the most important thing right now.

I reckon we need two more wins and a couple of draws. Hope we get them quickly.

Amazing how a win or two can totally change the narrative!

Yep looking forward to that French arsewipe’s social media post tonight.

I expect that we will be higher in the table as the season progresses and a mid table finish would be acceptable given our poor start and form before Dyche was sacked.

And no I don't mean he shat on the pitch.

I cant say I was really expecting a win, but I thought a point was quite possible.

Blasted injuries again, we do seem to get our fair share.
For those moaning about our play, they don't award pts for style.

Disappointing to lose Dcl, the only negative on the day.

I know Brian, unbelievable !

Apart from us, the bottom 6 (including Spurs) have only 1 win between them in the last 5 games.

Pressure is off as we enter the final week of the transfer window - so we can think a bit longer term, rather than do business in desperation (which in fairness to Ryan is what I think he meant by earlier comments - although he can speak for himself on that)

Pissed on their Chips and nicked their ice creams ! :-)

Hopefully Mangala is just a knock because we would seriously miss him. Beyond that, we're going to need a rethink. Beto simply cannot hold ball up, keep us up the pitch (in the way Calvert-Lewin can) and with an accomplice like Doucoure who can't hold a ball anywhere on the pitch, then we will struggle.

Putting that aside, what a great effort today. What a team performance and what a welcome 3 points. Going to have to think hard on team selection from here. Need some forward additions desperately.

Some people just like to moan. They must have very unfulfilled lives.

No, I'm an Everton fan and have been since my dad took me to my first match when I was 6.

Just makes me laugh when people can't enjoy a win because of some dislike of a man they've never met.

COYB

And I couldn't be happier.

Fortunately, I don't think Moyes will be thinking we're anywhere near getting out of this mess yet.

People banging on about style of play after we've just won away at Brighton are clueless about our current reality.

Just recall Maupay from his loan at Marseilles.

Problem solved.

Leicester, Ipswich & Southampton replaced
Luton, Burnley & Sheffield Utd

22 or 23 games played - 15 or 16 to go.

Southampton - 3 points worse than Sheffield Utd; 20 points would be a miracle.

Leicester - 4 points worse than Luton - and hopefully 7 after next weekend (we lost to Luton 😱). 25 points would be a challenge.

Ipswich - currently 4 points better than Burnley but, looking at the fixtures to come, I cannot see them improving on Burnley.

Conclusion - forget your 40 points. Forget even 35. I reckon 30 might be good enough. A win next weekend and we will just need 1 or 2 more to be safe.

Thank you, Mr Moyes. Back to relaxed March to May that we enjoyed between 2004 to the last couple of years.

The fracas at the end showed the players and coach are united. MotD 2 weeks in a row!!

Nice one mate.

We really should have been relegated by now but each time we've managed to scrap our way out of it. Obviously things need to change or, sooner or later, fighting spirit won't come to the rescue.

As an aside, Moyes became only the third manager to reach 700 games, so he must have done a thing or two right.

Interesting little chat you two are having. Caution tells me to look down. Ambition tells me to look up.

There can only be three outcomes to tomorrow's game between Spurs and Leicester and, to be honest, guys, I'm going to be okay with any of them.

I will eat my hat though if we don't get 37pts, the teams below cant stop losing which is also a great help.

Things never stay the same so we will have to see.

But I still don’t want him long term.

My stream ended at the final whistle. If the aftermath involved some shithousery from our players then the afternoon just became even better.

Safe journey home to all who travelled.

I think that is fair enough Annika.

Not on the poor footballer bit -he makes me, a vets journeyman clogger left back look like Johan Cruyff - but the demotivated bit. He was a wild bull and terrorised Dunk from the moment he came on and battered their goalie. He’s a shit footballer but he causes absolute mayhem and did more in that last 30 minutes than DCL has done in 30 games.

The away end were roused and responded in spirit and roared our approval!

Not good enough but love you forever for the effort, Beto lad!

Addition - O’Brien gets us. Again he was one of the first to the fans at the end. He was ripped a new one in the first ten minutes but learned from it and took control. I see him replacing Tarks as our defensive rock next season

UTFT

Good to read! :)

I'm 66 and they are all older than me.
They're shithouses!

Must say I don't mind a bit of ‘afters' whoever started it.

It feels like we are coming back to life at last, we always cared and hoped, but only showed it now and again.

Maybe it was the Moshiri era just sucking the life out of us. Yes, our squad is not very good but the fight should be there for every minute of every game, until back on the bus.

Up the Toffees!

Perhaps it could be our new club logo.

But I also didn't think that game was back to the bad old days of not contributing to games at all. We tried to move the ball and work positions in the first half.

We weren't as good at it as the opposition but the team got themselves high up the pitch and tried to move it around. Arguably the best chance of the half in open play was when Beto tried to control the ball with his studs.

The second half was backs-to-the-wall stuff. I think we understand why. We'd lost the forward player who can control a ball and find a teammate, we lack midfielders and can't replace them as they tire, and Brighton are a good side who were coming on strong.

There's nothing wrong with defending like your life depends on it when you're one up away to a good side. My issue was that we were defending like that at 0-0 at home against average sides — regardless of result, that's a spiralling path to oblivion.

I think we've already seen that's now a thing of the past. I don't see the negativity. It's a good day.

Idrissa looked in pain too.

Hopefully Iroegbunam and Garner are ready to step in.

He's savvy and we don't have an obvious replacement.

Brian @74. It was sung enough. Much to Mark Murphy's probable annoyance, I told him it was 12-8 to Marching over Davey Moyes from my seat. That was during the match.

Ryan, don't turn it into so-called 'Moyes haters and Moyes devotees'. We got 3 points regardless of how we achieved it even though that 2nd half was intense to watch.

I told a friend off for using the word 'Moyseiah'. It makes me cringe. We're not Geordies, Keegan-style devotees.

But credit so far. We're not out of the woods just yet, but there is much more belief to think we can be. Feet on the ground though.

A great win indeed. Well done players, manager and supporters. Beat Leicester and we'll be in a whole different place.

I mean, for fuck's sake, he was here for 11 years, he's going to screw up in pressers and get things wrong.

We need a clean slate, give the man a chance to build something. We may actually be able to fund him this time and I for one feel he has earned that. 700 Premier League games is a massive achievement and deserves respect.

A fantastic 3 points, we are going to be okay. The summer will be the rebuild and reset.

This time around, the manager seems to be more laid back on the touchline, the experience he has of the Premier League, being familiar with the club and what it means to us Evertonians made his appointment common sense.

A good start for Moyes – tough tests to come of course. In saying this, I didn't think we would beat Spurs or Brighton so happy days!

Up the Toffees.

What happens had it been a goalkeeper who picked up an injury or second yellow card?

I honestly do not have a clue so happy for someone to explain it, thanks in advance.

Totally agree about O'Brien. I like this kid a lot. Effort, determination, and some weird likable blue collar thingy going on with him.

He's a no-nonsense, get-to-work fella.

Once a manager has used his 5 subs, you're not allowed to bring another one on if a player gets injured, even a keeper.

I do think that, if a player gets a concussion injury after you have made 5 subs, then you can make a 6th

The only difference was we managed to get a penalty for once. That'll do just fine in terms of getting to the end of the season, but let's not get too carried away here.

Some whopper on here was suggesting he should have played on.

Showed some on Final Score and it looked like the Brighton players were a bit cross.

As Peter said, above, I really hope our lads wound them up. The sign of a unit becoming cohesive. Let's have some of that against our neighbours please!

Moyes's focus right now will be on getting us those points required and, once we're mathematically safe, he'll look to start targeting to finish as high as possible.11th is still a realistic target.

Huge win today and on we move to Leicester, another big 3 points there for the taking.

So I'm not sure why a 5th sub could not come on, and what the time frame is to use all 5 subs.

You can have up to 5 subs but only get 3 separate opportunities to use them. So, although we had only used 4 subs, we'd already used our 3 opportunities by the time Mangala was injured (Calvert-Lewin 13'; Lindstrom 28'; Garner & Young 78').

Bill #157 – Moyes agrees with you and said at the post match interview (EFC YouTube) that Dyche had them well drilled. Although I'd have gone a different route, I've been impressed with Moyes's honesty and approach so far.

If we only made 4, I have no clue why we couldn't make a 5th.

I hope we bring at least two new signings in order to make us more of an attacking threat… and take the load off our hard-working defence.

Apparently, Pickford (according to Brighton fans) gave their North Stand the fingers and fist-pumping etc etc.

I just was on the Brighton fan forum (NorthStandChat) and it appears we football fans are all the same – their coach is a tube and needs to go.

Very funny!

Physio assessment inconclusive. He tried to 'run it off' and went down again. As he hobbled off, he was in obvious pain. Sadly, it looks like he has strained his medial collateral ligament and sometimes this injury is also associated with meniscal tears or even ACL tears. It really looked bad to me (just watching on TV).

If Moyesey has said since the game that it is bad then unfortunately I'm not surprised. Fingers crossed because, like many have said, he's improved our midfield and will be missed.

Cheers for the clear up.

Look, I don't think you get it. It's not the quote that people have a problem with. It's what the quote represents.

It represents a manager who has never won an away fixture at Anfield, Old Trafford and Bridge during those 700 games. He's only won one at Arsenal.

It represents a manager who lost an FA Cup Final in a fashion that made the process of qualifying for it almost redundant. He scraped past Man Utd's youth team on penalties to do so.

It represents an FA Cup semi-final bottle job against not just an average Liverpool team, but a poor one.

It represents playing away in Florence and producing one of the worst Everton performances of the last 50 years.

It represents a bottle job in a quarter-final at home to Wigan and being annihilated. Wigan would later go on to show how to turn up to a FA Cup Final with more than a knife to a gunfight.

It represents almost every Merseyside derby between 2002 and 2013 where he produced teams that were bullied by their opponents.

It represents managing 700 Premier League games yet never having a striker score 20 Premier League goals.

It represents absolutely no major silverware in a 25-year-plus managerial career.

Djokovic tore his last year, surgery and he was back 3 weeks later. Unlike myself, who tore mine January 2024, I have been left to rot and get on with it.

Shame we have picked up 2 injuries although without Beto on the pitch we don't get the pen. I didn't understand why the player didn't get a booking or even red card. It's a deliberate hand ball regardless if there was contact with Beto the lad purposely knocked the ball out with his hand.

A disciplined defensive performance with Branthwaite having a solid game.

We all know how limited Doucoure is but until we find someone else to cover as much ground as he does he will be in the starting 11.

Lindstrom has the lungs of a sparrow. He looked knackered with 55 mins on the clock but is showing more in the last 2 games than he has all season.

We played over 20 mins with 10 men. Great attitude and concentration across the backline.

We played 107 minutes today. The added time needs to be more transparent. I understood the first half but the 2nd half with more than 9 mins was a bit of a mystery.

Gana Gueye was fantastic today and my motm. I would like him to get another contract.

Win next week and we can all start to relax a bit.

Nice victory for Moyes in his 700th... may there be many more.

Danny's right. This "I love Moyes", "no, I hate Moyes" stuff is fucking irritating.

He's our manager, and the last time I looked, we support the club, and we stick together. Being an Everton fan is stressful enough without us knifing each other.

Most certainly we got lucky with our goal. To win a penalty in the way we did is almost a once in a season scenario. We were however well overdue a slice of luck especially away from home.

There were several candidates for our man of the match including all the back line, the two central midfielders and Ndiaye. I thought Gana was our outstanding player. His work shielding the defence with countless interceptions, tackles, blocks and clearances was of the highest level.

When his partner Mangala was forced off he redoubled his efforts in those closing minutes despite having taken a knock himself earlier in the second half. If this proves to be his last season Idrissa will be remembered as one of our most consistent players of recent years.

Two consecutive wins is a huge plus for a team hovering above the relegation places. The gap has increased to seven points, easing considerably the pressure we were all feeling only ten days ago.

Three more wins and a few draws should be sufficient to stay up. To achieve more than that will require new arrivals this month. I am not holding my breath on that….

That said, it's also worthy of acknowledgment that our players looked 100% committed to the cause, as fabulously paid professionals should be of course.

BUT, I for one take heed of what Tommy Carter says (#168).

Moyes to me made good for himself under Kenwright. Whilst he was never given the funds the successful teams had (Leicester aside) he chose to put up with it for years as Kenwright made him a top-paid manager despite never coming close to winning a trophy (we got hammered by Chelsea!) and managing some hideously embarrassing defeats.

To think about him in comparison to Wenger and Ferguson is laughable. He must be the luckiest manager in history.

But we got three points today, so well done DDDM!

When you had to keep selling your best players because our Chairman did not have a pot to piss in, Moyes knew he was up against it, against teams who spent loads of money.

For the record, Moyes has the following wins against the top sides:

Chelsea – 8 wins
Man City – 15 wins
Liverpool – 6 wins
Spurs – 11 wins
Man Utd – 7 wins
Newcastle Utd – 11 wins
Aston Villa – 13 wins

All right having a pop of those teams on their own ground, what Moyes is good at is getting results against the best of the rest and, to be honest, I would rather pick up 3 points against Leicester than say Man Utd, Man City or Arsenal.

I agree with your positions regarding Moyes but I'm going to watch MotD in a decent mood for a change.

To be fair, I don't think even the most brazen Moyes acolyte would elevate him to the august levels of Ferguson and Wenger.

700 games, however, no matter how the naysayers and begrudgers try to downplay it, is a significant milestone.

"Luckiest manager in history." I'm reminded of the line... "The harder I work, the luckier I become".

I just want a manager that can make us successful and win us trophies. And I know that Moyes will not achieve this.

I'd love to think that he's returned with a fire in his belly to achieve success where he fell short last time 'round. However, I just don't think it's in his nature – he hasn't got that extra something that winners have.

I didn't want him back, but I appreciate the solid start he's already made: clear evolution from the Dyche era, imo.

"The best we can expect from Moyes is survival in the short term."

How much is that worth then – especially in light of new owners?

Nonetheless, I would rejoice if he also managed to lead us to success in the Cup!

part from the first Martinez season, first season of Silva and Carlo early spell, after watching 4 seasons of horrible fighting for safety, I will settle for a bit of stability right now, I will take a cup final and some Top 8 finishes.

Move into the new stadium and look to rebuild in the summer.

But I would certainly, at the very least, stick with Moyes for the first season in the new stadium; evaluate it after that.

Small steps, it will take a few seasons, but for now we have to give Moyes a chance rather than keep replacing managers. It was obvious Dyche was not up to the task, time will tell if Moyes can steady the ship, but me personally.

I've said for a couple of months we should have brought Moyes in, who knows the club inside out; anyone else was a huge risk — and I stand by the claim that he will pick more points up than Potter at West Ham.

The phrase is “I would like….”

Wanters don't get!!!

I didn't want Moyes, for reasons I've already given, but when people like Christine were calling for him, it began to make sense, and when Mark says the younger fans love him (my sons and godson all wanted him back), then because these people are the lifeblood of Everton (casting my mind back to the coach welcomes, instigated by a lot of our younger fanbase), then hopefully he can deliver them the FA Cup.

Save our money for next season because we are safe, Ryan? Be bold, kid, start dreaming of seeing Everton win again, because I'll promise you there's not many things better in this life!

It's all that matters today. How's the rest of yous?

People remember "knife to a gunfight" and going to the best team by a country mile at the time. What people do not mention is, a few seasons ago, we were right in the brown stuff.

West Ham had a European final coming up, nothing to play for in the league. West Ham were playing two teams level with us either side of the final. Moyes could have rested players, but he fielded his strongest 11 in both games, winning them both.

Whatever the gripe people had with Moyes, we all need to get behind him and the players, give him time to get the players fit, work out a system, address the striker situation…

But already we can see the likes of O'Brien and Patterson given a chance; Harrison and Young – well as he has played the past few months – no longer guaranteed starters.

I know some will mention Doucoure but, at the moment, until Garner and Iroegbunam are fully fit, there's little option for Moyes to change it, other than put Harrison Armstrong in.

Keep the faith, Tony and Dave, and get that season ticket renewed.

Are you not allowed to celebrate scoring a goal?

We know all about Moyes, we know what state Everton was in when he left, and we know what state it was in when he picked it back up three games ago.

And now we have two wins against Brighton and Tottenham.

I'm good.

"Just look who got back today
That red head Scot who has been away
We'll stick it to Brighton on our way
Driving all the begrudgers crazy

The Moyes is back in town"

That we aren't playing like Barcelona is nothing but a statement of the bleeding obvious and why do some on here have to criticise the team for its obvious short-comings? Tell us something new and something positive.

There are no bad things to say about today's performance, it was an amazing win at a place where wins are difficult to come by. I'm basking in it and offer nothing but praise to the team for it.

Over 500 of them were when he kowtowed to Kenwright, getting exceedingly rich in the process, know what I mean?

I know what you mean but nothing but a snide comment. If you don't like managers who earn a lot, then you should find another sport.

Just watch the after-match presser and Moyes handles them really well. We are doing amazingly well and we should be positive about it but fans will be fans.

Iroegbunam's return cannot come soon enough, as Doucouré is frankly woeful. I lost count of the number of times moves broke down when the ball reached his feet. His distribution is awful and he is invariably caught in possession.

Shame on Calvert-Lewin's detractors. Some people would have you believe that he invites injury. He was desperately unlucky to get injured again, just when his career seemed to be getting back on track.

For all Beto's endeavour, he is not the answer. Let's see what the Freidkins are made of, as Moyes needs to act swiftly to sign a proven replacement striker immediately. Patterson and Garner ought to be given extended runs. Both players with an eye for a pass.

It is unrealistic to believe that we can repeat today's nail-biting outcome indefinitely and unfair to ask that of players. Moyes didn't win the game today, the gallant warriors in Royal Blue did and they deserve every accolade.

We proved against Spurs, particularly in the first half, that we are capable of fluent football. Let's use that as a blueprint and the yardstick going forward in our next fixtures.

When we weren't doing so well under Dyche... where were the "gallant warriors"?

Gana looked totally amazing, our best player in recent years and for me as good as the best, like Makelele.

O'Brien? A really good buy.

Well, looks like we got one.

I think the point is not that the going rate for football managers is grossly overblown but that the Everton hierarchy were quite content to pay top dollar for lap-dog subservience rather than to maintain the highest expectation for performance on the pitch.

(Those lamenting on another thread his estate may take a loss on the share price forget he sold a lot more to Moshiri at more than full price for the takeover - a very good return seeing as it was the club that paid for his original takeover).

I never blamed him for going to Man Utd – he had to be ambitious (and to be honest, I wanted him gone around 2010 as I could see we were never going to break that self-imposed glass ceiling).

That said, this version of OFFM is 61, a lot more mileage under the belt, and with the exception of the European Conference League win for West Ham, a collection of largely negative experiences since leaving us in 2013.

I wanted Dyche gone; to my mind – despite the obvious PR push in the media – the team weren't functioning and we were going to drop.

I didn't want OFM to become OFFM. That said, I couldn't see who else we could get. So, whilst I think his return smacks of pragmatism, sensible pragmatism is what we probably need. The 2½-year contract is probably what he will need to steady things and remould the squad.

However, my fear is he's a Powermonger, like his idol Ferguson. For that reason, I hope TFG keep the Director of Football model, and keep the football operations side under collective control — and not OFFM.

We lost against Villa, but by all accounts had more possession and actual shots at that goal thing, than previous games. Two very creditable (albeit arse-clenching) wins later, and I have to admit it looks like a good move all round.

Long story short: Welcome home, OFFM, but I think he owes us. (No more narrative about "We're lucky to have him" — he's lucky we'll have him back!)

“It is unrealistic to believe that we can repeat today's nail-biting outcome indefinitely and unfair to ask that of players.”

We won't play teams as good as Brighton every week so we don't need it to be 'indefinitely', just 'periodically'.

As for the “unfair to ask” part, what about ‘maximum effort is the minimum requirement'?

Moyes did very well for me despite having to work under the cancer of Kenwright. I'm not sure that there's much to learn looking at those times now though?

Sean Dyche had lost any mojo he ever had and we just needed a competent stager to get us back placing one foot in front of the other.

Is the person who will ultimately lead us out of the ‘wilderness' already leading us or is he still waiting for our clarion call? You can ask people to be patient for the answer but can't stop people asking that sort of question.

If people have necks on here, I'd like to.

Delighted Moyes is back... feels like we have an identity again.

Moyes is a steady builder... so the best we can hope for is a bit of stability, a return to upper midtable, and maybe a cup run at some point.

By then we'll be wanting more and he'll be considering retirement. Even better if we could actually succession plan our next manager under him.

That's probably the best situation possible and I'd absolutely take it. There's no miracle quick turnaround. It's gonna take time, and a whole lot of spending money. That is, to do it right.

But through the greatest of good fortune, we have someone to step in for Mangala, because Jimmy Garner came back just in time and looked to be moving quite well today.

Does anyone remember 2 goalies being injured in the same game? I certainly don't. Couldn't we take an extra goalie to help in the warm up, but not name him as a substitute?

If youngsters find it dispiriting to see a couple of GKs on the bench, then do what Armstrong is doing and earn it.

By my reckoning, we have accumulated 12 points from 9 games in December and January, mostly against teams who are in the top half of the league and in good form.

We have a really good team spirit for a side who has spent so much time at the bottom end of the league, we also have a good defensive structure but we badly need to improve on our attacking threat.

Tarkowski was again excellent yesterday, especially after the final whistle, the drag back on Minteh's shirt was exceptional.

I agree. I was very disappointed when Moyes was appointed but now I realise that he is probably the best option in the short term.

As far as winning trophies with him — it just ain't gonna happen.

I was over the moon that we got another 3 points and, if we beat Leicester next week, then I think we'll only be a couple of wins from safety — who would have thought we could potentially be safe by March a few weeks back?

I think Moyes will be in charge next season, Christine, for a couple of reasons:

The first consideration is the parlous state of our finances (which will take time to improve); it would probably cost the best part of £15M to sack Moyes and his team only 6 months into his deal. We will need almost a whole new squad of players in the summer and every penny will count!

I think our small squad will be losing about 10 players, considering loans and contracts? I think Moyes can probably be trusted to help rebuild the squad with a restricted budget.

I think he might be entrusted with seeing us stabilised and hopefully top half finish by the end of his tenure; I wouldn't be surprised to see him finish out the full 2½ years of his agreement.

Fingers crossed the injuries aren't as bad as feared, we were just starting to look like we might have a half-decent squad in the making but could be 1 step forward and 2 back. Next week is huge.

His record first time round had a club that didn't have any money to spend finishing around 7th, a position the last 3 managers would have died for.

He has come back and won 2 games in 3 days in the Premier League, while Dyche won 3 in 6 months.

Had he not come back, we would never have known if O'Brien was any good – and he is; we might not have seen a rejuvenated Lindstrom.

I have always rated Gana as a top player and, in the last 2 games, he has been head and shoulders our best player, but the Muppet who covers Everton for the Echo had a couple of players with higher ratings for yesterday's game. You could see how special Gana is rated by his fellow pros with their reaction towards him at the end of a game.

Moyes has come into a difficult situation — a team that struggled to score or win games and a striker who had been a shadow of the player he was 3 seasons back.

Yet, in a few training sessions under Moyes, we were beginning to see the old Calvert-Lewin returning, looking hungry to be involved, and scoring a great goal. I would imagine if Kane or Salah had scored, it we would still have the pundits talking about it.

I am delighted to have David Moyes back; when the news broke, I was delighted as I knew with him in charge we wouldn't go down.

I always say, as a player or manager, never go back… but in his case, I make an exception to that rule. I can guarantee that, when he does leave, this club will be in a far better place than it was when he took over from Dyche.

He's got through that, and will kick on. He's class, and I love him in our blue shirt. New contract needs signing.

For impersonating a seagull – seriously!

Another Everton first!

Yesterday, he did one of those “just flicking at the ball” and it went straight to a Brighton player just outside the penalty area who, luckily, made a mess of the shot. He then redeemed himself by getting his head to a goalbound shot and diverted it for a corner.

Jeff, he played very well last season under Dyche so I doubt he is the problem. That is why I think Tarkowski's form at the moment is essential to the way the team is performing; yesterday's performance wasn't much different to the way Dyche had them playing.

Don't believe what Mark Murphy says about The Goodison Gang” song, he loves it.

I was with him and his son down on the concourse before the match and Mark was belting it out! Just a pity I never caught him on video. 💙💙💙👍👍👍

Fortunately, there was none of it in the stadium yesterday, certainly not loud. Maybe there were a few conversations on the concourse or pubs before the match, but all I heard during the match was 3,000 Evertonians or more supporting Everton and pleased with 3 points however we got them.

I understand the pro-Moyes side and there are different categories within that. The likes of my younger brother, who has waiting for this since 2013. Others who see it as pragmatic and he can dig us out of the mess we are in. I could say it's a generational thing, but there is a mix.

The younger supporters in general were full of it leaving the ground and the ‘Davey Moyes' chant took over from the others, but then so were all the travelling blues.

To explain the ‘not for me' camp, it's worth understanding some of the reasoning. Again there are different reasons. A few bullets:

1. No one I have spoken to begrudged him the move or opportunity to join the then Champions, Manchester United. It was the manner in which he approached it. Cloak and dagger, denying any dealings with Sir Alex, when it is apparent that conversations were going on long before his departure at the end of June, during which time, he was allegedly training Man Utd – on Everton's payroll.

2. Frustration with his inability to take us further. He had some good teams, but didn't have that ability to take us further. The glass ceiling.

3. Not wanting to go back to the past.

4. The Kenwright relationship. I get your point, Martin, but many saw him as compliant and collaborative with Kenwright. His sidekick, who, between them, developed the ‘plucky little Everton' narrative. See you in April, by the way, Martin.

I'm probably 2 & 3 with an element of 4.

There will always be two sides to a debate. Right now, all of us want the gloom of this season lifted from us. It's been a good start, but we're not clear yet. It's two wins in three and long may it continue.

Football being football, we won't win them all, so we need to hold our nerve if things don't go so well for a few games.

That off my chest, no more on the subject from me. Last time I looked, we all support the same team and it's vital we get behind them. Anyone who doesn't think there is a bond with the supporters and team, should witness the scenes at the end.

Get the blue flares out. You can sing what you want!!

Moyes has come in notably upbeat because, when all is said and done, he does genuinely have a strong emotional bond with the club. I think there has been a 'new manager bounce' as a result. He is in any case a somewhat better manager than Dyche in my opinion.

I don't see Moyes as someone who will win trophies with us. Partly because he is not a natural winner but also because he has nothing like the raw material to do that. But given the state we know we are in, I would certainly take the Moyes of old, okay maybe shrinking from the really big challenges but also beating up the lesser clubs pretty consistently. We haven't done so much of that these past few years.

There should be more money from next season which will make us quite a bit more competitive in the transfer market. I think he is the man to take us to the next stage, back in the top half, assuming a decent budget.

Beyond that and towards more ambition to win stuff? Well, he almost certainly isn't the man for this job… but that is far enough away not to worry about for now.

You are so right. I am proud to say that whoever was in the managerial seat in the past, I have always supported them right up to the end. I want Everton to succeed no matter who the manager is. Dyche used the word custodian in one of his last press conferences to describe his role. Managers come and managers go but Everton will remain.

This "them and us" stuff nearly had me finishing up with the site over the past few weeks.

The one big thing plus over the recent years has been the incredible support being provided by the younger generation, they have kept going in circumstances where others might have given up. Hopefully, they will see better days ahead whoever is the manager of our club.

Yes, exactly.

Have to laugh at a booking for flapping your arms and tons of minutes added each half. Don't refs just love us?

Feeling far more positive. COYB.

A missed opportunity!!

We'll get him at the Bournemouth match!!

I always read your posts on your travels to games and how you mix with some of our opponent's supporters travelling back to Euston. I posted what I did because quite frankly I am sick and tired of hearing fellow Blues going on about Moyes not being a winner.

Well, in the 70-odd years I have been watching Everton, I have only seen three managers win anything, so can we stop talking as if Everton have been perenial winners? Two of the managers that won anything are dead and the other is heading towards 80.

To win trophies, you usually need to be backed by billions and yes I know Leicester won the League and Cup without the riches of other clubs, but that was a once-in-a-lifetime occasion.

Moyes didn't have a glass ceiling, the club did; he bought some great players that not only improved our team; and, when it came to sell them, Moyes practically single-handedly kept this club afloat financially as well.

He was given a pittance to spend compared to the other managers chasing trophies. Anybody who thinks he didn't inform Kenwright that Man Utd had spoken to him are living in cloud cuckoo land.

Also, many moan because he came back for Fellaini and Baines… well, tell me anybody who moves companies and doesn't want to bring people in from his old company who will improve the new company?

Strange how this is brought up as if this was unusual and wrong, yet everybody was quite happy for Silva to go back to Watford and bring their best player here… double standard, methinks.

But I have had my rant and now I will try and just comment on each game and not go down the manager comparison debate.

In the last 20 years, only 3 clubs outside Man City, Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea have won the FA Cup. Same with the Carabao Cup.

As far as the PL is concerned it's even worse. Since Blackburn Rovers won it in 1994-95, only the Leicester City surprise win has managed to break the Man City, Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea stranglehold.

So as far as 'winning stuff' is concerned, I don't think Moyes's record is any worse than any other manager's is. The reality is that at the moment the best any club outside of the 'rich' clubs I have mentioned can hope for is a place in the lesser European competitions. Because a Top 4 finish or a domestic cup is out of the question until we can afford to sign world-class players on £500,000 a week 10-year contracts.

What a bizarre statement. Football fans sometimes say the strangest things.

The weaknesses are still there and the bloody injuries but they held out and it was good to see the bench players doing their bit.

Moyes isn't going to get us into the Top 6 this season for obvious reasons but, given the right backing for next season, we could see a positive revival of this great club.

Alan Thompson said why not just throw Mangala back on and let him hobble around, purely just to make numbers up? I'm pretty certain once a player has left the pitch due to an injury, and I'm sure the officials would have been informed he was coming off, he cannot be allowed to return to the field of play – unlike Pele in Escape to Victory.

The other point about the number of subs we had used. A club is allowed three slots in which to make upto five substitutions. We used one in the first half, replacing DCL with Beto. We used a second one replacing Lindstrom with Patterson, and our third and final slot when replacing Ndiaye and Doucoure with Young and Garner. So even though we technically still had one sub available, we had no slots available to make it.

Maybe Mangala should have complained about concussion which would have allowed us a concussion substitution.

However, in my opinion, we have to put all that to one side and concentrate on getting points on the board and clear of the relegation zone.

Dyche came in to an absolute basket case of a Club. I thought he should have gone a few weeks before he actually did, though looking back I think he did a great job under the circumstances. Not only a manager and coach but Club spokesman due to a non-existent board.

Regardless of who's in charge now, like or dislike Moyes, he's here and the only thing is to back him and celebrate every point we get.

The Friedkins will stabilise us financially, organise us as a proper business, first time since John Moores. Moyes will ensure we start next season in the Premier League. We will shortly be moving to an absolute fantastic stadium and all that entails.

The future is bright and Blue. Let's all just get on with supporting the manager and team until the end of the season, then we can get back to normal and slag everyone and everything off!

Not at all, I fully understand that logic in light of our current position and desire to beat the drop.

Beating Leicester would deny a relegation rival the opportunity of getting 3 points as well as giving Everton 3 points. That's why it's called a 6-pointer.

It is out of the question that we could have won a title. Maybe a cup. But it seems much more likely that we'd have lurched from one disappointing manager to another – much as we have since Moyes.

The problem for the past 35 years has been the abysmal club management – which leaves whoever is in charge of the football with a weaker squad and a smaller budget than the teams who are winning things.

It would be doubtful if any other manager would have won anything while Kenwright was running the club but here's another question for you:

Would Moyes have stayed if he hadn't been getting paid the huge wages Kenwright offered him? Wages that were far too much for his ability.

He was lucky his family connection got him the job at Man Utd — he soon proved how out of place he was at a top job.

Every blue is delighted and relieved by the last 2 wins, but there are posters like Ryan @ 52 and 54 pile straight on to polarise and create divisions. I didn’t agree with Alan’s posts but he was simply expressing his view.

Most of the “them v us’ tenor of every post match thread be lessen if supporters of Mr Moyes accept that other fans are lukewarm about his hiring and want more proof than the results of 2 games. Time to accept it, as only sustained success will change minds.

On the Moyes as a winner debate.

Brian @ 232, you say that you are sick and tired of hearing fellow blues going on about Moyes not being a winner. Is he a winner? What has he won in his 700 premier league games as a manager? Please let us know and we can update his wikipedia page.

Frank @ 233, “I love the idea that Moyes can't 'win stuff'. What club or manager can?” Since 2000, Portsmouth, Wigan and Leicester have won the FA Cup and Leicester, Blackburn, Middlesbrough, Birmingham City and Swansea have won the League Cup. Were they better teams than us at the time of winning their trophies? Not my recollection and i doubt that their managers would have benchmarked high than David Moyes either.

Honestly, if you are going to challenge your sceptical fellow supporters on Mr Moyes’s hiring then you need to come up with better arguments than these.

But these are besides the point aren't they?

The real point is that (and it's not just the dismal Kenwright years) the club has been set up for failure for the entire Premier League era and it's only luck, the fans and the intervention of managers, including Moyes and Dyche, that have saved us from going bust and / or dropping down the divisions.

You could summon the ghosts of Clough, Kendall and Cruyff to take over and we're still not going to win anything more than a cup.

The whole club needs sorting out so that we can finally compete financially.

I think the point they were making was beating Leicester and other teams around us was probably more important than beating Man City or Arsenal.

I wasn't a fan of Moyes coming back, but I support him 100%, because he's our manager now, and you can see he's giving the players a total lift. Even starting O'Brien, and Calvert-Lewin looks a different player.

Sadly doing his hamstring is a blow, but even yesterday bringing on Patterson and Young to double up and help the fullbacks, something Dyche wouldn't do.

I think it's time to forget about the past because, in my opinion, he did a tremendous job with no money. He had to sell players and bring in players for less money. Kenwright ran the club into the ground, and no matter what kind of relationship they had, you can't blame Moyes for how the club was run.

Something that Brian, Frank and Robert would have you believe was next to an impossibility.

Honestly.

What has been impossible in the past 35 years is any sort of sustained period of top 4 finishes and tilts at the title. We just haven't had the money or the players. That's down to abysmal club management and finances. So if we can get that sorted out, which is what the Friedkins are hopefully set to do, then we'll be much better placed in league, cups and Europe.

I don't think any ghosts will win anything but, if Clough had taken over when he was in his prime, then I think we would have seen a much better well run club but it would have had to have been without Kenwright having anything to do with the club, Clough wouldn't have put up with him after just listening to him for more than 5 minutes!

Ted Bates at Southampton?

With Calvert-Lewin now out for a while, would it not make more sense to pay up his loan fee and bring another player in on loan, as well as buy a couple of players???

Southampton won the 3rd Division title with Bates as manager, he also won the freedom of the city while there! LoL,

Paul, you made me work hard to find those facts out… pack it in!

I wouldn't pay much notice of what Alan Myers says. He's usually wrong about most things.

Dario Gradi at Crewe? Lower level admittedly. Maybe Jimmy Sirrel at Notts County?

We might get the odd bit of luck, as evidenced by yesterday's penalty, but we never fly under the radar because the name Everton still focuses attention.

We will never win another trophy until we have a good team and that costs real money — an unlikely scenario with the present owners.

Of course it's conjecture and opinion but I am with Dave Abrahams in his view that no other coach would have survived the way Moyes did. His years at our club were not the success story he seems to believe.

Having said that, it was wonderful to see him celebrating with the players after an immense effort. Long may it continue. There is, though, some resentment from a few of the Moyes boys against those who opposed his appointment, which is odd.

There will be bad days ahead but that is the sort of team we are, whether it is Moyes or Dyche. The mood is good, though, so well done David Moyes.

"We are much more likely to win a trophy if we can build a good team and that costs real money or long-term strategic planning an unlikely short-term scenario with the present owners."

Eight managers. That's a pretty short list. Not to mention Souness was managing Liverpool at the time he won it. Martinez was managing Wigan at the time they won it. But they also got relegated in the same season.

Harry Redknapp basically bought it. He bankrupted Portsmouth with his spending and no doubt would have fallen foul of the financial rules had he tried the same thing today.

Laudrup managed Swansea City but was sacked in his second season after they ended up 2 points above the relegation places.

Alex McLeish won the Carabao Cup in 2011. That's 14 years ago when clubs put out weak sides because there was no money in it.

But regardless, these managers won years ago. Now, getting past the rich clubs is almost impossible.

But the realistic alternatives (people like Steve McLaren and other frauds) may well not have assembled the same quality of squad as Moyes – and there's a good chance they would have relegated us too (as per Steve's list of clubs that won a cup but then faded into obscurity).

None of us really know.

But what is pretty clear is that titles, top four finishes, cups etc are all dominated by well-run clubs with big budgets and the best squads. I'm optimistic we can join that gang over time – but until we do, we're going to struggle to win anything, whoever the manager is.

When Everton win, we should just be happy, but not for a few people who like David Moyes, because it seems like they can't wait to start telling us how great he his. (Maybe I'm wrong and they were just defending him from a couple of irate old school Evertonians who have always wanted more for our club?)

I hope he keeps winning but, whenever anyone shows a glimmer of talent at Everton, I think back to Darren Hind (who doesn't come on anymore) because he was definitely on the ball with regard to the status that players or managers receive after just a couple of good performances or decent results.

Moyes definitely had a glass ceiling; otherwise, he surely would have concentrated on trying to win a few cups, is my own view.

TFG have learned lessons at Roma and will approach their purchase of Everton in a safety-first, sensible and slow rebuild of the team and club.

Too much money involved for them to do anything else in my opinion, and of course as with other clubs – currently it doesn't matter how rich our new owners are, PSR rules apply.

More money generated from the new stadium should provide the manager & director of football with a better transfer budget but it has to be spent wisely.

The South American guy who is an expert on players was on the radio last week saying TFG are already expanding their scouting network for both us and Roma.

This has to be welcomed, we need to copy the likes of Brighton who have made an absolute fortune from spotting talent in these leagues. Down the line, we could see us and Roma doing deals to work around deals.

How I read that Michael was that a win against Leicester was likely to be the classic (cliched!?) 6-pointer in the context of recent history - whereas the other teams mentioned would mean 3 points for Everton, but their loss of 3 points would mean very little in terms of Everton's overall position!

Though I could be wrong!

I will back him, because he is our manager. He changed the formation yesterday, while the game was in play. Something we haven't seen for a long time.

His enthusiasm at the end with the players was plain to see. So with more experience welcome back. UTFT

Fred Everiss – West Brom
Jack Addenbrooke – Wolves
Will Cuff – Everton
Bill Murray – Sunderland
Syd King – West Ham<–>David Calderhead – Chelsea

Although a few of them won stuff they had some barren years in between. ;-)

Sadly, our last purple patch was in an era of poor socio-economic factors, hooliganism and poor attendance. Our average attendance in 1984-85 was late 20k's (give or take), and you could pay on the gate for the majority of matches. Top priced tickets were £4.50.

Phil Carter led the Premier League breakaway but him and the board had no structural or financial vision for the crossover and thought Everton being one of the so-called Big 5 was enough. Well, history shows it wasn't.

I was critical of Moyes and his inability to navigate big matches. I'm now in the "I just want us stable and an element of tangible progression" camp.

In reality, he is just doing what he did the first time he came. as did Allardyce. He's won a couple and dragged us clear of the Bottom 3. In fact, after Allardyce's first game v Huddersfield, we were clear of danger after the West Ham win a few days earlier and went from 13th to 10th.

I know I am in a massive minority but Ancelotti's spell was a massive disappointment to me. He should have qualified for Europe but he is barely criticised because he mainly does well against Liverpool.

He made comments regarding comparing Ferraris to Fiats in a press conference at Madrid when he left. Minimal criticism of him from the fanbase and it was, "He's only telling the truth" attitude. Also "I'm not a magician." Beating Sheff Utd, Fulham etc at home with that squad doesn't need Dynamo's influence.

2nd at Christmas, unprecedented away form, tempered by some of the worst home form against relegation teams. He let James play when he felt like, and let him jet off to Columbia when mathematically, a European spot with still a possibility. IMO he had downed tools and his lad was de facto head coach. I'm not convinced Madrid wasn't on the table a lot earlier.

The club were criticised for budgeting for a 6th place finish, when really that was realistic but the form after Xmas was terrible. Carlo gets away with it, because of who he is and is admittedly a good bloke.

Had we have finished a few places higher in Europe, who knows, we may not have had the carnage of the last four years.

He also came to us looking for a job after being sacked by Napoli, who have since won a title.

We can all look at things in different ways.

Me, I think Silva was the one that got away but again that is my opinion.

What I meant by putting Mangala back on was just to stand on the halfway line, the centre spot, just to make a Brighton defender stay with him. At one time, they had more players around our penalty area than we did as even their keeper had gone up and, of course we had only 10 players.

I really didn't mean he should come back if it is a very serious injury. As for being allowed back on, I don't see why he wouldn't be as he was just getting treatment for an injury.

Steve (#242);

I agree that the 3 points is important but after showing good work in midfield in both the Villa and Spurs games we didn't show it at all in this game and, as vs Spurs second half, we just fell back to defend the lead. This time I'm not sure that we even got into their half more than 3 times in the second half and rarely had men who weren't in or around our own penalty area for the entire half, and that was my main gripe, I'm sure I won't have to explain that to you.

During Moyes's last spell at the club, it was stated that Everton, under Kenwright, budgeted for an 11th-place finish and everyone was happy when we finished above that mark but I couldn't say how much that generated or if the wage bill was running at the presently reported 90% of income.

I see this as Friedkin's first task, cutting outgoings, as the first thing you do to turn a business is to deal with those things you can control first and those out of contract at this season's end offer just that opportunity.

While I was one of the first to say that I wasn't keen on Moyes coming back long term, that is more than for the rest of this season as he's not a manager, third longest serving or not, who has won anything other than that one trophy with West Ham, I did think he would be the right man for the rest of this season but not if we are just going defend in our own area every second half or when we have taken a lead.

I loved James but you're spot on what you say – he did let Rodriguez do whatever he dictated.

That said, I loved him and his maverick ways – that's why I have got a lot of time for Ndiaye, another marvel.

Back to yesterday, great win and a dogged display I was convinced we'd have perished under Dyche; now, not a prayer we are going down. Even looks like we will reel Spurs in, and Man Utd.

Onwards and upwards to the new stadium... I cant wait.

Some managers there most of them pre-decimal coinage eras!

Bill Murray was Sunderland manger for 18 years, never won anything although seven of them were during World War 2 and unfortunately, he was manager when he got done for illegal payments to players. I think they might have been relegated for this.

Not sure about the managers you mentioned.

The immediate injury situation up front is dire, it will be very interesting to see if the manager has learned anything (as he said) and can develop a way through the challenge.

Yes, I think Jimmy Sirrell got promotion wth Notts County and maybe a title that got them promoted to the top division, he served three spells with County totalling 13 years.

Dario Gradi spent a long time with Crewe in different positions and had some success with them but his main job was finding young players and selling them on which kept Crewe afloat.

He won an honour MBE or something similar but was stripped of his title later on for well-known reasons.

You beat me 3 - 2! Kendall and Royle for me.

Robert, I too think a FA Cup win is not beyond the realms of possibility.

It’s happened before. Coventry (v Tottenham), Wimbledon (v them), Wigan (v Manchester City). Why not?

Dispatch of Bournemouth and we’re in the last 16.

Stark contrast to when I was looking out for Ipswich, Wolves results only a few weeks ago.

Be an interesting watch the u21 tomorrow and what players will be involved, I can see Sherif, Mills, Garner, Harrison Armstrong and Iroegbunam involved at some point, with a view of bringing them into first team training for the remainder of the week.

All eyes are still on the transfer window, with hopefully a forward coming in, I think the main rebuild will come in the summer with just a couple of additions being added this window.

It's not personal because I don't know anyone on this website but that's just a moronic statement. Not to mention the club has a duty of care to their employees. I would have thought the 'socialist' city of Liverpool would be protective of employee rights.

Like when our 'fans' booed DCL when he got a fractured cheekbone.

That will breed a certain confidence in them, so another hard fought win is needed !

I personally agree with that you say. Ancelotti was an absolute disaster for the football club. Him and Moshiri nearly bankrupted the club.

He the went as soon as he could to Real Madrid, leaving us in the crap. In fact he said himself that he offered himself to Real Madrid. Disgusting behaviour.

When he came I was really excited but apart from 5 games or so it was a disaster.

I just watched it back - he gave the Brighton fans the finger, so I guess he got booked for that!

Albeit I agree there was waste with Klaasen etc. We brought big money in with Lukaku and Stones under Koeman if I remember right.

Even Allardyche got Tosun and Walcott for £50m. We were also led to believe James was on a high 5 figure salary when he was on £200k pw.

Didn’t Benitez roll out the magic / magician line as well?

I too thought we were a bit hasty dispensing of Silva.

Hopefully some good fortune in the transfer market the next few days. A few powers in would ve very handy including the rarest of players available, a decent forward, striker, false 9, any one who get score goals.

Great fighting, gutsy and disciplined performance and the Everton supporters were fantastic my lads m8, went, and it was up there with something else!

Credit to Everton FC, and the Evertonians who went the game, and followed the game, from near and far on Radio and TV.

UTFTs!

I think that was definitely one of his better lines!

Further to your reference to Jimmy Sirrel you may find this interview with him back in 2008 of interest.

https://leftlion.co.uk/features/2008/09/jimmy-sirrel-notts-county-manager-interview/

Not that Maupay has one iota of Marsh's wayward, or any other, abilities though.

Moving on, I see tonight that left-back Antonee Robinson now captains Fulham and is the USA player of the year.

Everton sold him for a mere £2mill under the self-confessed football guru u-no-who, as Bainsey was in sight of imminent retirement.

Thank God we've been so well served at left-back ever since eh, for shed loads more than £2mill to boot, to the club's adverse cost to this very day?

FSG, are you listening?

That WBA chap was manager 45 years and won two cups, so some sparse years in between

They've not done much since either barring Jeff Astle's heartbreaking header whicm my Albion supporting mate likes to remind me of.