Season › 2024-25 › Opinion › Talking Points Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party by Barry Rathbone | 02/09/2024 5 Comments [Jump to last] It was always going to be sticky — one of our better players had to be sold with the club in financial turmoil and doubts lingering over Branthwaite and Calvert-Lewin. Even a settled comfortable mid-table outfit will have crap results; that is a symptom of “mid-table”. And we are neither mid-table nor settled. With a whole bunch of newbies, how likely is it they could come in and instantly revitalize things? Well, the fact is they nearly did. In the midst of pain, the consensus up to the 87th minute was “Hey, this is good”. Okay, it all went to hell in a hand cart with most pointing at Dyche’s substitutions but others reasonably asking: Why couldn’t the defenders defend during that crucial period? The point is: Do you choose to focus on the first 87 minutes with the potential that was shown? Or the 9 mins of disaster that is argued to be at the manager's door? I’m going with the first 87 minutes given the circumstances. Article continues below video content My hope is the newbies will come through and see it through next time. Plus pitch forks and torches just don’t work; fans should know that given the amount of times they’ve tried it. Better to get behind all concerned. Return to Talking Points index : Add your Comments » Reader Comments (5) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer () Paul Kernot 1 Posted 02/09/2024 at 23:28:25 Short and sharp there, Brian. The reality, like an ocean, is much deeper and scarier below the surface. With the limited knowledge we have, I'd be pretty sure we can't afford to Sack Dyche, even if Moshiri, Textor, our non-existent board, and the Toffee Lady wanted to. Yes, he may well turn it around so we survive once again in this all-important season… and yes, we've knee-jerked in the past when in this situation.I agree, I thought we were cruising to our first victory after a good, if not great 85 minutes on Saturday. None of that eases how gutted and nervous I still feel right now. Paul Ferry 2 Posted 03/09/2024 at 03:31:28 Paul Kernot @1: "Short & sharp there Brian". Short as it was, Paul, it clearly did not grab your full attention! Ernie Baywood 3 Posted 03/09/2024 at 04:00:35 I think you can focus on both. The 87 (actually about 83) minutes showed great promise but they were the opposite of what this manager has generally delivered. I think it would be very generous to give him too much credit for it. I'll give him limited credit for finally accepting what should have been obvious.The other 10 to 15 minutes were ridiculous and everyone takes their share of the blame.The promise of the pre substitution period could be repeated. Though if I wanted high energy, fun football then I'd walk Dyche out of the door first.I do worry about the impact of his post match comments. And we don't even know what he said in the changing room. I'll guess it was nowhere near as much as he said to the media... which might in itself be more damaging. Mark Murphy 4 Posted 03/09/2024 at 22:01:25 Too subtle Paul…Happy birthday by the wayUTFT Danny O’Neill 6 Posted 04/09/2024 at 06:07:24 Short and sweet Barry, but succinct and to the point.You always play to the end.We didn't, but it's behind us now, so we look forward. Add Your Comments In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site. » Log in now Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site. How to get rid of these ads and support TW © ToffeeWeb