Steady, sensible, moderate football is not what supporters want to pay money to watch

This is why Southgate, with perhaps the best group of England players for decades, didn't win a thing. Way too conservative, safety first football.

It was never going to work in the recent Euros, nor in the previous one vs Italy when we scored first, then predictably parked the bus and hoped to hang on.

We apparently have a 'Sows Ear' of a squad and nobody would ever confuse Dyche with a 'Silk Purse' Kompany might qualify but he got Burnley relegated, Luton gung ho'd their way down too.

So if not Dyche, who?

Brighton seemed ( on the evidence of beating us) to have found some unknown genius, but many Augusts and Septembers are regularly littered with 'one hit wonders'

I'd love those days of yore to return, back when there was only 1 Dr Who not feckin17, back when The Lone Ranger was peak TV viewing - Hiyo Silver Awaaaay.

We could do with a magic Silver Bullet to cure our ills.

We may moan & groan about the negative, defensive play but with the squad we have currently, albeit improving, 'going for it' in the Premier League is likely to be dangerous.

Who'd be in Dyche's position right now?

You're not the Andy Dempsey that worked for St Helens council are you?

Having a go football with players who are not at that level is suicide. But having a manager who does not believe in his players is suicide for the team and club. Failure to to so does not make him a good Premier manager!

So where are we?

We have a manager with a limited squad of players, some of whom he clearly has no faith in. Good players won't sign new contracts in such an environment, they don't want to be dragged into the mire that reduces their potential either, thats human nature.

We had reached such depths that we employed agent Benitez, got rid of our better players and gave starting positions to 39 year olds. Its no wonder we have few players coming through the ranks and making it in the first team.

We are where we are because of decisions made off the pitch but made worse by the several managers squad building. It had to be cleared up and cleared out. Dyche deserved the plaudits for keeping us up, but the brickbats for the longest winless streak in our history, in team selection that pitches athletes in their prime against players who would have struggled 10 years ago against them.

Such intransigence is what Dyche is known for, I read a facebook post (wish I could find it again) where a poster copied an article from a Burnley Fan site four or five years ago with exactly the same criticisms of him, style of play, favoured player who would not be dropped such as McNeil who would be totally ineffective in games they said..

In short though, we knew the man when we brought him in to keep us in the Premier League. He has done that, but keeping him for a season too long will end in the same fate as Burnley. Do we stick or twist? Is that a decision for this season or next?

Not a question of if, but when..

I thought back to being a cocky 16 yr old trouncing merseyside boys 3 nil with an "up and at 'em, devil may care attitude"; ran them ragged we did.

The problem was that was just the first half.

Their better players eventually got their act together and hammered us 7 - 3 and this is how it works when massive disparity occurs. And lest we forget we are absolute garbage.

Risk averse trench warfare is a far safer option and coaches concerned about their own neck (they all are) will ALWAYS default to this option.

Remember Martinez? - alright going forward but couldn't defend to save his life heard even during his record first season.

It doesn't matter how we play the only salvation is winning.

We've all seen Keane bringing the ball out, performing Cruyff turns and taking the ball under pressure. Why are we not trusting him to do this?

Holgate is like a young Beckenbauer. He has style, pace and panache. It irritates me we don't trust him.

McNeil is like a prime Kanchelskis, bombing up the wing and pinging in crosses. I get annoyed that Dyche holds him back.

Harrison is proper silk: god, when he takes it on the half-turn and dribbles past 2-3 players, it gets me juiced up. C'mon Dyche — you should be playing him every match.

Gana. Ah man, the creativity this guy has — it's simply not describable: the number of assists he gets per season!!!

Doucs, Doucs, Doucs - his Steven Gerrard esque passes, tackles and goals will make him a hall of fame candidate.

Beto: Anelka has nothing on this guy — pace, control, touch….what skill does this guy not have?

Maupay - sheer class; I don't need to say more about this guy do I?

What other gems am I missing?
The veteran right backs: Young and Coleman - these guys defy age - pelting up and down; up and down that line

The goal machine DCL - what a gift of a player this has been for Dyche. He's single handedly saved Dyche from relegation the last 2 seasons

Now the unproven Chermiti. Yes I know he's never scored an EPL goal and I know he's being eased into it but why can't he just be made our 1st choice no.9??? He's shown enough talent by now. He's even scored 2 goals in pre season

Dixon - crickey this guy is pure mustard. Now I accept he's never played men's football before but he has superstar written all over him. If he doesn't become the next Kyle Walker then I'll eat my hat. Play him NOW!

These players have been absolutely brilliant under Rafa, they've been class under Frankie so why the heck can't Dyche let the hand break off and just play the expansive football that we all want??? C'mon man - enough with this keeping us safe.

I want to play like Burnley and Luton did last season. It's over to you, Dyche!

The future of the club is stake and I'll put up with whatever it takes to preserve it so that kids who have never seen a trophy just might get a chance to in a new ground.

You're not some enlightened daredevil calling out the "masochists" who love this dire football, you are a tub-thumping wannabe cheer leader who doesn't get it that there's not a proper footballer in the squad.

My buddy Andy is right. At the moment, all that matters is survival in the Prem for one more season, to enter the new stadium as a top-tier club. If conservative, less-than-dazzling football is the price required to maintain that status until a new owner takes over, so be it.

We have a roster that still lacks pace, still lacks style, still lacks the ability to put the ball in the net. Hopefully Thelwell's wizardry with loans and delayed payments is improving that. But until we're able to recruit talent that is truly on a par with the rest of the league, we have to assure that we make the very best out of what little we have. And no manager is better capable of that than Sean Dyche. He has proven it the last two seasons and will prove it again this season.

Stay up. Stay up. That's all that matters. Not style. Not "man-to-man" to please the crowd. Just stay up. Dyche will accomplish that mission until the new era dawns.

Now is not the time to throw him overboard.

You should work that out before you offer such inflammatory stuff.

But, this doesn't excuse the faults of our manager either. Ever since he came here he's displayed his usual traits of favouritism and negativity. The selection of Michael Keane ahead of Coady (who was only average at best for us but still better than the calamitous Keane) and the second half against Brentford when we defended a 1 goal lead and didn't have a single period of pressure. Against Brentford. At Goodison Park. Pathetic!

This season he starts his favourites yet again when he could have easily played O'Brien or Lindstrum or N'Diaye and talks his usual guff about being "Premier League ready". Maybe they aren't, we don't know, but we do know Keane and Holgate are finished at this club. We also know McNeil was completely anonymous for over an hour but still left on the pitch. It was infuriating to watch.

Dyche is a tiresome manager who will not budge, I'm from Burnley and my family and friends are all Clarets, they've told me what he's like many, many times.

We just have to get through this season and tough it out, then hopefully we can part company with him and bring in a much better manager.

No idea who, like.

A lot of the time it is tedious to watch, but, they can turn it now and then. I just wish they wouldn't play within themselves and with seeming fear.

Reading the reports Lee, I think you and I could be on the bench tomorrow!!

Go and play without fear Everton. We will be behind you.

Mismanagement for years has lead us to this position otherwise we wouldn't have Dyche as our manager.

This is the reality of premier league football.
We are outspent by every premier league club. We have lost promising young players and sold our better players.

Dyche actually got us playing like a team last season. It was functional and got us the points required. We are again weaker this season due to selling and releasing players, week 2 of the season and we don't have a right back in the 14 available senior players.

How can we play fast attacking front foot football with this squad?

The media darling clubs get the rub of the green from the league and refs. The teams near the bottom get the shitty end of the stick.

Every week is the best ever week of football ever.

As a football fan the league has become saturated with safety first football due to Pep and the non contact nature of the league. It's pretty sterile to watch.

I would like nothing better than to see us play an attractive winning style of football but I think in order for us to do that we need a total reset. By that I mean relegation would happen and then a few years in the championship whilst the club foundations were built back up.

Whilst we are in the prem we are bringing in big money to keep the club afloat, we are treading water waiting for the inevitable.

Dyche and his team are solely responsible for keeping us up for the last 2 seasons under unbelievable pressure. The man deserves some credit and some slack.

I suppose the question is this: do you mind which division you watch this attacking football in?

But we'd win more by being courageous! We wouldn't be relegated! Fortune favours the brave!

Really? Is that really true when you look at the squads, the managers, the resources of other clubs in the Premier League?

We could have gone more adventurous under Moyes, once he'd got us set up as a stable club with First XI of a decent standard. But the standard of players relative to the rest has seriously declined since then.

If you want Premier League football next season, the very best chance we have by an absolute mile is to stick with the rigid defensive structure and the safety-first football.

If you don't like it, then I hope you can come up with around £300M in the next day or two to spend on players before the window closes.

And that is with multiple combinations of players over the last 7 years. We have just not had the quality of players and depth to do it.

The problem runs much deeper. A decade or so of disjointed recruitment, criminal mis-management, Boys pen bill etc. We all know the history, unfortunately.

I don't think for a minute either Dyche or Thelwell are happy with the squad balance or the lack of quality. They are working within tight parameters and we are scrabbling amongst the dirt for players.

Who knows if the new signings are any good? The idea that they can't be much worse is a dangerous one - they might be and that could be disastrous.

Dyche's football is soporific and maddening. However, he clearly sees it as the only way to stay competitive given the squad limitations. I rarely post after heavy defeats. Last week saw a torrent of criticism, a lot of which is justified, but a lot of it is over the top.

I don't know how much more I can take of this style of football. Going the game has become a trial. However, the prospect of relegation still hangs heavy.

I'm still siding with view that our best bet of starting life at Bramley Moore in the top flight is by sticking with the manager. He's done it 2 seasons in a row with a weaker squad than Lampard took to the brink. Any decision to remove him could prove to be fatal. On the other hand another couple of heavy defeats and things will turn toxic.

We are stuck between Scylla and Charybdis (and no they are not Greek centre halves, although I'm sure either would be an improvement on Mick Kegger). Supporting Everton is like an epic tale of from Greek Mythology. Hubris & tragedy a constant.

I've depressed myself.

As rubbish as we are, I still can't help but feel we'll nick something tomorrow with a typical Dyche-ball set piece performance...it's the hope that kills you!

I don't know the answer. Often, I think I'd rather watch us play better football in a lower league. But is that even an option? If we went down, we'd probably play even more depressing percentage football in an attempt to go back up again.

I'm tempted to support Everton but watch another, lower- or non-league club for fun. If we're still playing this kind of football in the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, there's no way I'll be keeping my season ticket for more than one season there. It's only the Goodison atmosphere and memories that are keeping me going to the match right now.

Football fans are a different breed, imagine going to see an artist you like coming on stage drunk forgetting his words, time after time would you still pay to watch that artist. This used to be were working people got their entertainment at the weekends but seems now its an industry more concerned with turnover than entertainment.

I don't know the answer to the problem but now and again I would like our fullbacks to overlap, and sometimes be brave enough to have more than one man in the opponents penalty area. I am not asking to play like City, just now and again try being a little more attacking is that to much to ask for?

I agree. You might get a result one game going gung ho. but the opposition Premier League teams would be onto you the next game.This already happens and it isn't only the top half of the table. The lower table teams would do that as well.

You do need a offensive system, with players developed to suit, continuously focused on developing and improving there game. and need to a about to adapt during a game with different tactics and to different tactics.

Everton fall short in all these areas to some extent most games and have done for years.

Come on blues, have some faith. We can get a result. I go into every match thinking that regardless of who we are playing.

Also, Ben King at #8, that's funny as fuck! Doucs, Doucs, Doucs with the Steven Gerrard-esque passes has me dead! 💀

Anyone who wants us to rock up and start playing like prime 2008 Spain is a 🤡>

Do we have to have almost constant hoofball from Pickford?
Why does every dead-ball situation have to be aimed at Tarkowski when Calvert-Lewin is also available?
Why cannot McNeil just occasionally run down his wing and cross the ball with his left foot?
Why do we need all 11 players to defend every corner?
Why cannot we have someone available to support our lone centre-forward?
And how long are we going to continue with Doucouré as our number 10?

Okay, we do not have the best players but the same tactics for every game only adds to the boredom and frustration.