Dyche: 'There is no money'

Can somebody please explain these pearls of wisdom to me?

“Finding the moment of truth has been really difficult. We're playing against sides who can find that moment of truth and they certainly did today.”

“I've spoken freely about it in the press. They ask me to be honest, I'm honest. Erm…this strange sort of story started building last season at Goodison… that we'll be in Europe …and I'm going ‘look at the last 3 seasons. There's got to be a truth line, we're rebuilding a side..'”

What the fuck is he on about?

Did anyone else hear the emergence of these mass rumblings around Goodison last season that [on the evidence of what we had been watching/enduring] we were going to be ‘getting into Europe' this time round?

Anybody? Anybody at all?

We went four months without a win, for fucks sake. Europe?

That's teen talk. "So I'm like and she's like ... ". "Whatever ... ". " ... and I'm going.".

What an unimpressive tit he is. I know he grew up in Kettering but I still find him a tad lacking in the articulation and thinking departments.

He's not that bright and fuck me he plays up to the Average Joe "I'm fairly handy at dry walling, lasagne was posh in our house" type as if his job depends on it (maybe it does?).

Hero of the people('s club?). He's falling and failing on all fronts now. The "realistic he's what we need" camouflage is looking threadbare now.

He still has a bit of the wily fox in him though. He knows he has a good few months of job safety ahead of him as Moshiri devotes all his time to getting his blue monkey off his back.

Moshiri does not have the time or interest in sorting out on-the-pitch footy issues. He's been off-the-pitch for years. Keeping the thing just about going is all that matters and we sometimes see him in a hard hat at the dock.

Dyche soldiers on in a Kettering C&A sort of way, clinging to his heroic image of basement scrapper, crossing all seven fingers that there is another April just around the corner.

Sometimes it snows in April, Dychey, and I cannot see a way that he will be driving the bus in the spring, unless we do not get sold.

But... Mr Dyche, our team's tactics and formation is simply about containment, there is no intent, no motivation. 95% of our players simply go through the motions.

Playing 4-5-1 clearly doesn't stop defeats, packing the midfield with defensive-minded players doesn't stop defeats... Again, could you please explain to this layman why you persist with it?

You talk about no money, you talk about selling Onana and reinvesting it on O'Brien, Ndiaye, and bringing in Lindstrøm, fair enough, but again could you please explain why the former, a fine young athletic defender, is 3rd choice behind players who are proven liabilities?

And why, as positive forward-looking players, the latter are 2nd choice behind established squad members who have proved time after time their inability to A) score, B) string more than 2 backward passes together, and C) have no creativity???

He's only in a job still because we didn't have the funds or board to sack him on that 4-month winless run last season.

The way we're playing, it looks like it will be another 4 months before we get a result.

It's doing nothing to prevent clubs like Man City from buying who they want, yet preventing the likes of Everton, who are in dire need, from signing anyone.

When will it end? Fair play seems to be the last thing FFP is achieving.

Where's the Arteta money?!

Oh, wait.

I still say we should have gone the Bielsa route. Sure we might have gone down and that's making a lot of assumptions, but we would be a better side and in better shape.

Anyone who thinks Michael Keane should be on the pitch for our great club needs to be shown the way out. It's the Moyes mentality, but worse.

Dyche is full of excuses.

Onana has already gone, with the strong possibility Calvert-Lewin and Branthwaite will follow, leaving desperate faith in unknowns and untried players from the stiffs.

This was the Wigan plan under Whelan when he closed the chequebook and sold Martinez's best players. Yes, they scraped by defying relegation for a few seasons — they even had a miracle winning the FA Cup — but eventually they went down.

Some circumstances are just insurmountable.

But Brighton have been doing this for about a decade and they battered us 0-3 at home with no Ben White, Robert Sanchez, Bissouma, Cucorella, Caicedo, Trossard, Mac Allister, Dan Burn etc… should I continue?

Ireogbunam (who we need a nickname for ASAP) has been better than Onana anyway, so what is the ginger beaut even talking about?? Moaning like we are holding him back!!

I'm a Dyche fan but I really suspect he doesn't like us scouse fans and thinks we expect more than we deserve etc…

Moyesie In — because, even though we would play the same, Moyes genuinely doesn't look down on us. And by 'us', and I don't mean the club, I mean the fans.

I think Dyche looks down on us and is playing line-ups that he knows we don't like just to prove he's in charge and has the bigger bollocks!!

Knobhead… I reckon Textor will get Graeme Potter in anyway.

The difference between Brighton and Everton is night and day, they built a team bit by bit with a plan in place, then developed the players into valuable assets who they could sell on for big profits. Everton on the other hand, tried to shoehorn expensive players into some sort of set-up, that was neither designed nor suitable for the players that they bought in.

Worst than that the financial overlords didn't stop and think about FFP or any other financial restrictions and continued to chase the dragon by lashing more and more cash to try and fix the problems of the team, or to dismiss the manager(s) at great expense to the club, both financially and reputationally.

Due to the lack of oversight and signing cheques as if there was no tomorrow, we found ourselves forced into selling players, mostly at a loss on the original investment, it's no wonder we find ourselves in such a perilous predicament.

Everton is a curious beast, it's leadership has low expectations but the fans still dream of better days, and it seems that too many managers in recent years seem to want to blame the supporters for having that dream.

I've posted on another thread that most Evertonians I'm aware of are fairly grounded in their expectations and know exactly where the club is currently at.

We are mostly humble and realistic in our expectations, but we don't accept surrender, no matter what the odds are, and I'd argue that those qualities are what has helped keep the club in the Premier League these past few seasons.

I imagine Dyche starts the season with a number of points to target. I doubt that figure is 114. Or, to put it another way, I doubt he expects a win in every single game.

We have no money. He's been dealt a shitty hand and done a good job. Am I happy with these two defeats? No. Am I going to scream for the sack like I'm on a TalkSport call-in? No.

Some embarrassing opinions here. Time for a reality check — we're rubbish and we sell our best players every year. That's not sustainable and it's not the manager's fault.

Yeah, we've had some shite managers, but this guy takes the biscuit. It obviously comes down to making the most of what you have. This shit-bag has many more resources than previous managers. He's the personification of negativity.

Burnley were the scourge of the Premier League. Unwatchable, Diabolical. What was the point? Survival for survival's sake.

We are the new Burnley. Shocking such a mighty respected club should end up with this Neanderthal fraud.

I agree that the manager has been dealt a bad hand; however, he isn't one of those recent managers appointed by Everton who was promised something that the club couldn't possibly deliver — he knew exactly on what basis he was being appointed and why. That's one of the reasons that I find his complaints more than a bit hollow.

Likewise, we fans know why Dyche is here, and even though there is an outcry whenever we drop points, it's not because we think we have a divine right to be victorious; rather, we realise that every point dropped makes the task of staying up that much more difficult.

See where we are at by Bonfire Night is perhaps the right thing to do, but that won't happen if the boss continues to mope and complain about having to carry the world on his shoulders and expecting fans to put up and shut up and worship at his feet.

On Dyche, someone said it perfectly last weekend after the Brighton game. I posted on another forum about cursing our luck for not offloading Calvert-Lewin and getting Minteh.

The other poster replied that it would have been a coup to get Minteh and he'd have been a great signing — the problem is Dyche wouldn't play him and he'd be on the bench for Jack Harrison.

And there is the crux of the problem with Dyche — and his players having to have Premier League experience nonsense...

It's not a lack of cash that's the Number 1 problem, it's your no tactics, pass back to Pickford to hoof up the sidelines to nobody tactics that are the problem.

Don't tell me players can't pass a ball 5 yards to each other? They have been instructed not to. "Pump it long, lads!"

Look at the players that are injured: Patterson couldn't get a game when he was fit; Coleman was finished 2 seasons ago; Young, well, no explanation needed there.

Only Branthwaite and Garner are first choice but do the tactics change when they are available? No, they don't. But of course, there are no other managers out there… right?

I did because, no matter where the starting 11 play, there was a total absence of tactics other than work hard... headless chucks... hassle and harry... they did, they chased, dived in, ran… but it was like watching a good Premier League side playing a League Two side.

What should have happened is an acknowledgement of where we are and the lack of resources. Park the bus and concede two-thirds of the pitch, let them have possession where it can't hurt us. Pick the ground to fight. Make it difficult for them to break through. Pack the defence. Instead, we had the team battling every ball, everywhere. They fought an aimless fight and just picked us off.

Tactically inept. Little or no shape. Holes aplenty. Add to that individual mistakes and you end up where we did. On the end of a drubbing.

One hopes the return of two or three players, the sale of a couple more, will bolster the team. Not every team is Spurs. On my poor feed, there was a shot of Dyche chatting or remonstrating with his offsiders, who looked at him and just turned away... they had given up and Dyche had nothing more to offer.

There is no point in just pointing fingers at players, owners, we are where we are and we have to get out of it quickly. If Dyche is to stay then he has to change the lack of tactics.

Listening to Dyche, nothing has changed from the previous few years but, if anything, tactically and player-wise, it has; we are a poor team, poorly led and of no confidence. Something has to change. Fresh faces, a couple of wins, returns from injuries, all of it will help. I just hope it's sooner than later.

And Dyche!? He's losing it. What is this crap: "I work on realities and it is difficult at Everton Football Club. There are plenty of myths about it. The latest was a myth about us being in Europe. What happened in the last three seasons? We're we not trying to be in Europe?"

Who came up with this "myth" and who is spreading it around?

And if that turns out to be the case, what then? I'm sure that there are good players and managers who would swerve us in a heartbeat. If Dyche does not change things we could be drowning not waving by the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ, because he is not going anywhere until Moshiri gets rid of the blue monkey on his back.

To be honest, I'm scared.

Dyche would have us believe our expensively assembled squad can do no more than hoof the ball away. But the Brighton manager let his team play football. The kind of football we saw flashes of when the “not Premier League ready” Lindstrøm and Ndiaye came on. But by that time it was too late.

McNeil was trying to be Roy of the Rovers but failing miserably, the defense had thrown the towel in, as had Calvert-Lewin and Doucouré who somehow was too far forward to help the midfield but not forward enough to help Calvert-Lewin.

Meanwhile, Dixon and Armstrong — with no top-flight experience in any country — were “ready” to be dropped in or… was that Sean's cry for help?

From the get-go, our backs-against-the-wall approach invited trouble. We had that flurry of corners near half-time, none of which looked like getting us a goal.

Post-match Dyche is lamenting the departure of Onana, a guy who was stuck on the subs bench towards the end of last season. Absolute Luddite.

Even Hasenthal made Southampton look half-decent when he let them play… but old Dyche, hit and hope. Absolute shambles — as Burnley resident. Joe McMahon warned us it would be.

It's not exactly helpful when you label and castigate others but offer nothing that is actually constructive.

The best way surely to engage with those you castigate is to set out for them the reasons for hope. Otherwise, your post is clinging fingers.

He's a '70s manager in the 21st century. He's up against managers who are years ahead of him in tactics, planning and execution.

When everyone's (almost) getting young, astute, Spanish (or Basque) managers who are serving up exquisite dishes, we are stuck with the bloke from Kettering and his pie and chips menu.

I am pretty sure that any manager we sign now in place of Dyche will not be able to get a tune out of these players. The players that we have at our disposal are slow, poor and a mishmash of multiple managers in the past. For fast and expansive football, our squad is very unbalanced.

Most of the players have weak mentalities and just lack the game intelligence. Dyche has these weaklings at his disposal. Our football is dire but the only manager who has done it before and can get this squad to perform is Dyche.

Players like Young, Keane and Holgate are mistakes waiting to happen and have fragile confidence. Keane and Holgate need to be shifted ASAP. Doucoure and Mykolenko are poor footballers. Patterson and Seamus mostly injured.

McNeil and Harrison work hard but are slow and have no output. These players are only good options from bench.

Only good options we have in midfield are Iroegbunam and Garner. Gana is good but also a mistake waiting to happen.

In terms of strikers, if the midfield is slow and not creative what can we expect from our strikers?

Unless and until most of the above players are replaced or are not first choice, we are not going to progress. Until then we will be witnessing this dross performances. Only positive is Dyche has added a few players which will definitely make a difference in coming games.

Yes, the last two games have been embarrassing but I'm hoping that Dyche will learn from his mistakes and surely implement the changes. Once we have all the players back, the performances will definitely improve.

Of all the relegation battles, this is the one that we should definitely win. With new ownership, new ground and improved commercial performance, we will surely succeed.

It's very possible we've played 2 teams in the Top 7 and, though the performances were dire, it will be our results and performances against the other 14 teams that mostly decided our fate. Bournemouth will be a better marker of where we are; if we are as dreadful against them, then Dyche will be under severe pressure.

Four wins in 2024 and no away wins and he's still here.

Dyche has a formula which most opposition teams can adapt to. He needs to vary tactically and use a full squad, creating competition for places. Dyche's idea of change comes across as punishing those out of favour.

There seems to have been a fall-back in player development, coaches, and training over the Summer, resulting in elementary errors. Any attempt of proactive play is wrecked by it.

I thought Everton had a good transfer window, bar the Calvert-Lewin failed transfer. But Dyche seems unwilling to change. Being forced to play Dixon shows his misjudgement, as does the late use of subs.

Calvert-Lewin played as he normally does, looking isolated and not showing the movement and positioning necessary to help play. When he did get the ball, he miscontrolled — a real confidence boost to the opposition defence.

I just wonder how confident the Everton players are regarding Calvert-Lewin. He will be first on the team sheet against Bournemouth to keep him in the shop window.

Just wonder if he is creating some sort of distance between himself and the club and getting ready for a possible parting of the ways?

Loads of references to the kind of money that has been spent by the likes of Spurs. Someone wrote a comment that he is 'building a remoteness to himself and devoid of responsibility. He needs binning quickly.'

I'm not sure if I'd go as far as that regarding binning him off so early in the season. I think we need to get passed the end of the transfer window when the season begins to settle down and he knows the players he has to work with.

I'm not making excuses for Sean Dyche but it must be difficult planning when two of your better players are rumoured to be leaving.

Yes, we know we've no money, but what we have is him being paid handsomely to sort this mess out!

I'm grateful for him keeping us up the last couple of seasons, but get a feckin' grip, Sean, before the crowd turns.

Well, it's me. If all it takes is to spend enough money to buy ready replacements, then I could do that, gis the job.

Coaching? No, just hire a few mates preferably who may have played the game or just former players and even better if it was with us.

If all else fails, then put the blame on the DoF, if you have one, for not buying the proper players — you know, world beaters with Premier League experience and knowledge of or overawed by a club with our history or look great in all black, washed out white, or treatment room bandage.

And I don't want to hear any talk of repaying any of the £3M bonus for just doing that for which you were hired, no point in us all being broke.

Anyway, I'm off home early now in case there are any juniors to watch as I don't play golf.

You give a job to a perennial loser, what do you expect?

This tool is gonna take us down, we need to act now before it's too late.

Obviously, Everton will give him 25 games, then pull the trigger. Wank manager, wank club.

Spurs yesterday were full of players that cost over £30M and even had Richarlison (£60M) & Gray (£40M) on the bench. Brighton are now in that bracket too with their level of spending this summer.

We've spent over £30M twice in our entire history; it's only a matter of time before it all catches up and, if you look at our team yesterday, it's night and day in comparison.

Our most expensive signings in the line-up yesterday are still those that we overpaid for back in the early Moshiri years and, barring Pickford, Keane (£25M), Doucouré (£20M) are players that some/most would seem surplus to requirements yet still playing, week-in & week-out.

The rest of them are mainly a bunch of misfits, a few have potential, a few are pretty good and a few are just very average. And in the new players signed, they probably all do need time in fairness, time we haven't got unfortunately.

We've also got about 3 or 4 players that want out. It's an absolute mess and Dyche has got a ridiculous job on his hands.

I'm not a massive fan of his but you really do need to appreciate how much of a mess it is first before over-reacting. We're years away from getting out of this hole!!

That is half or more of what is wrong at Everton, the players are just not good enough. If there are no more players coming in the next few days, then we will be watching the squad that will take us down in our last season at Goodison and it will be a long time before we see Premier League football at the new ground.

That is the reality which I see right now.

I'm sure, once we get a few wins, normal service will resume, ie, poor football but just about good enough to stay up.
Until then a clean sheet would be nice.

O'Brien for Keane ASAP and Pickford needs a rollicking!

And the tactics??

The truth is the squad, manager and current owner are awful. It's just the same thing over and over again.

Yesterday's post-match press conference waffling about expectations of being in Europe. Where did that come from?

God, the football is awful to watch. It's another long-suffering season on the cards. Patience is fast running out.

We have been operating as though we were relegated at the end of the 2020-21 season. The quality has deteriorated massively in that short space of time — and other clubs have overtaken us as a result.

The gulf is widening.

Please do not credit Hurzeler with Brighton's good start. Credit the patient creation of an outstanding squad and the spending of €170M on players this summer alone.

Please do not pretend the likes of Hurzeler or Postecoglu could achieve anything whatsoever with this Everton squad on the relegation budget available.

I see Kieran above (sorry to single you out) describing us as having an expensively assembled squad. This is simply not true.

Everton's spending in the past 3 years is the lowest in the Premier League and top echelons of the Championship. We are not just a bit behind - we are the absolute outliers by a mile.

We are €100M adrift of Norwich! We are €120M adrift of Luton! We are €150M adrift of Burnley! We are €200M adrift of Ipswich!

We are a colossal €550M adrift of Spurs.

Think what that means in terms of player quality. It means that, without having to sell a single member of our squad, we could buy a full First XI of €55M players.

As per Brighton last week, Spurs' squad is in a different league to ours.

And do not believe for one moment that the restriction on our finances is PSR related. The issue is not staying within financial restrictions - it is about staying afloat as a club. If the takeover does not happen, then we will almost certainly go bust.

Dyche, dismal though this is, remains our best chance of staying up this season. When the new players have settled in and the injury list reduces, we will improve. But this injury crisis is going to really hurt unfortunately.

Pickford
Dixon O'Brien Tarkowski Mykolenko
Garner Iroegbunam Gana
Lindstrøm Calvert-Lewin Ndiaye

He will definitely not put this side out though.

I'm being presumptuous... Hopefully a takeover will happen very soon. And then hopefully stability, from an owner who genuinely loves Everton FC.

I still think there is a reasonably competitive team that can be selected from this squad, provided Sean doesn't over-rely on the experienced players who have seriously let him down this season. He is his own worst enemy at the moment in his caution on selections.

He also doesn't help himself with post-match comments. I don't know any Everton fans who have predicted we might reach Europe over the last 3 seasons, as the story has been purely one of survival as a club (never mind relegation).

We also know we have become a selling club — Richarlison, Gordon, Iwobi, Onana — but that also opens up opportunities if the DoF is wise in spending. But, if Dyche fails to select the new players signed or talented young players until he feels he has a stable performance base, then he might find himself in real trouble.

He can be realistic, but he is sounding a bit too defeated in his comments above.

As for the Bournemouth game, out of that starting XI, only Pickford would definitely get in Bournemouth's side. It has more pace and creativity (at the expense of solidity and work rate) but it is still not very good — and relies on players who we all hope will turn out to be good, but (in the case of Lindstrøm and Ndiaye) are only here because they failed at Napoli and Marseille.

Dyche has to find a way of joining up play at a fast pace. I'm not sure he has the personnel. Only Iroegbunam and Ndiaye look capable of such football.

The players we have look a complete ragbag of misfits, put together out of necessity with no game plan in sight. Dyche's tactics? Poor recruitment? Or just the way it is because we're skint?

The Athletic seem to infer that Textor's takeover won't take place until next year — if it happens at all.

“Here is an individual who seemingly wishes to buy their club, but only next year, after a stadium refinancing deal is in place, and also only after he has managed to sell his 45 per cent shareholding in Palace. That's a stake in the south London club which, confusingly, the American is so determined to sell that he… recently tried with one final bid to become Palace's outright owner.

All make sense? No, me neither.”

I thought The Friedkin Group might be pragmatic owners, altough not wealthy enough to really progress the club. But, they were just pursuing a fire-sale price for a Premier League club so I am not sorry to see them exit the process.

The only person who knows where this is going is the dismal and dreadful Moshiri.

Pickford
Dixon Tarkowski Keane Mykolenko
Gana Garner (if fit)
Harrison Doucoure McNeil
Calvert-Lewin.

I went to the game yesterday and the two of them contributed more in their first 10 minutes on the pitch than Harrison and McNeil have done in 2 games. Our midfield was simply unable to get possession and feed them consistently.

Dyche will definitely stick to tried and tested formation and selection next week. We should expect a similar approach to the one he took to the home game against Bournemouth last season.

He said we were too passive at the start but we have been far too passive in most games that Dyche has been in charge, and he is on the touchline — why didn't he tell them to push up another 10 yards?

We have heard about the infamous Gaffer's Day as part of the pre-season ritual, but we have looked yards slower in thought and deed to our opponents.

He claims, probably correctly, that we have no money… then why buy Ndaiye, Lindstrøm and O'Brien and then claim he isn't playing them because they don't have Premier League experience? I guess he forgot Ndaiye had a season in the Premier League with Sheffield Utd.

Our tactics under Dyche is 10 men behind the ball and leave our striker isolated 3 or 4 yards in the opponent's half with nobody within 20 yards of him. Those who say nobody could do a better job, I would argue there aren't too many who could do much worse.

He in his short time here has 2 unique records, the 15-game winless run is the worst by any manager in our long history, and another first was achieved yesterday, he became the first Everton manager to lose the first 2 games of the season by 3 or more goals.

Also, he has started both games with the same front 4 who played in the majority of those 15 winless games, they were part of a team who were only just ahead of Sheffield Utd in goals scored.

Defensively under Dyche, we have been solid in part to him selecting Branthwaite and secondly his 10 men behind the ball tactic is probably why we had a good defensive record and a poor goal-scoring record.

I think he and we know that, until there is a change of owner, he will not be replaced as manager. In his two post-match interviews, he has basically said this is what Everton Football Club do: have a few wins, like the back end of last season, then go back to losing games, as if none of this is down to him.

He also said that, after the finish of last season, fans were talking about Europe for this season. Now I don't know who he was talking to but I never heard one fan mention Europe and even our most optimistic fans were suggesting maybe 10th which seemed to me to be very optimistic.

So basically we are where we are, we have no money, the fans get too high after wins and too down after losses and he reckons this is the template of Everton Football Club.

He said he and his coaches are trying very hard to change that mindset; well, I have to tell him what he and his coaches are producing is some of the worst and most negative football I have ever seen us play.

It won't ever be pretty. It won't be functional in an attacking sense. It probably will be barely watchable and some of the tougher fixtures will involve a white flag. But scraping somewhere around the mid-30s is very doable.

Losing Calvert-Lewin might throw a spanner in though.

So we cannot pretend that there's some easy tactical / personnel shift that should see us safely through the Bournemouth game. It is only against the three promoted clubs that we have the advantage of better players when everyone is fully fit — and even then it is getting marginal.

As to the earlier comments # 43 about our selling opening up opportunities for the DoF — again, some truth in that. But the scale and duration of the selling is huge. No other Premier League club is operating under anything like the same conditions. It will be impossible to sustain Premier League football under these conditions if we have to endure another transfer window like this with the extreme cost-cutting measures.

I mean… Keane instead of Jake O'Brien, Ashley Young continually gives the ball away or gets booked. Beto has to be worse than the lad we got from Russia at least he would score a couple of goals.

In the last 4 years, we have bought players and even now we still don't spend money wisely except for the odd good player.

So who is in charge of that and why are we continually poor at recruitment? Some people say, for the price we can afford, there are no reasonable quality players available… but there is if you look harder.

Brighton continually pick players and managers for small fees.

Why do we continually suck at the basics of football?

And is Jarrad Branthwaite really injured?

Keane has had his chance, now put O'Brien in so we actually defend crosses and offers an attacking option at corners.
Get McNeil playing further forward as a proper winger or swap him for Ndiaye.

We offer very little going forward, but that's because most of the players have prioritised their defensive duties so constantly get wave after wave of attacks coming at us.

Surely the best form of defence is to attack and maybe we can actually give the opposition a few problems.

Arguably last seasons first XI (although Patterson is a stretch)

Pickford - £28m
Patterson - £14m
Tarkowski - £0m
Branthwaite - £1m
Mykolenko - £23m
Harrison - £0m
Gana - £4m
Garner - £11m
McNeil - £17m
Doucoure - £22m
Calvert-Lewin £1m

Total £121m…

The others… (who actually cost decent money)
Beto - £25m, Chermiti - £12m, Keane - £22m, O Brien - £19m, Ndiaye - £18m, Iroegbunam - £10m, Maupay - £12m.

Total £118m. (Don't think I've missed anyone - not counted the likes of Coleman and Holgate who were signed for a pittance)

That's around £240m spent on the current squad in total. Brighton spent £170m on just a few players this summer.

There are some shockers in that list - but the reality is that Dyche is working with peanuts while other mediocre teams are spending far more on their squads.

Dyche has had a shocking start to the season and has made some poor decisions - but now is not the time to be hasty.

And it is Dyche's style to bed in new recruits slowly. I am confident that we will be seeing something like Steve Brown's team in post 41 above, but it will take a few games for that to happen.

As others more knowledgeable than me have pointed out, there is an absolute massive gulf in player quality between Everton and about 15 teams in the league.

So, should Dyche be given a free rein? Absolutely not, but knee-jerk reactions given our struggles with finances and injuries are just overlooking reality.

Surely, Sean, if your mantra is right, you send on Maupay and Beto, who have both experienced the heat of the Premier League. However, you did not.

So is it experienced and hardened players or better players who should play? Yesterday you chose better players as subs.

As we are desperate for a win, we must play:

Pickford — he needs game time, had no pre-season.

Dixon, Keane, O'Brien, Mykolenko — leave Tarkowski out, he needs to recover from the injury he's carrying. God help us if we need to call on Holgate at any stage.

Lindstrøm — needs games, Iroegbunam, Armstrong, Harrison — to see if he can play the position and effect play which he can't from the right.

Ndiaye — needs games and can link with midfield and attack.

Calvert-Lewin.

Subs: Virginia, Beto, McNeil, and the rest, picked from the U21 side that played Chelsea.

Crocodile tears over Onana, the emerging talent that he
chose not to select.

I don't believe that Doncaster have any outstanding players but you can be certain that they will be organised, have their tactics sorted and are wholly committed.

We would all forgive our player inadequacies if the same could be said of the team that Dino Dyche sends out week upon week.

If the takeover is not sorted out, we run the risk of going into Administration, we have generated huge losses over the past number of years and our accumulated losses are off the charts.

Other posters have set out the cost of our first eleven. A mixture of low-cost recruits or loans. The sins of the past keep on hurting us.

I am still comfortable that, when the injuries clear up and some of the new additions are incorporated into the team, we will stay out of the Bottom 3.

We over-achieved last season!

We do have a poor manager, and squad, but I firmly believe there are 4-5 worse than we are.

The takeover is killing us but we have to try and survive until that happens.

Paul Ferry 31, sorry to interrupt your late night romp with the missus. Just think of Dyche in a floppy hat, mink coat, bling and a huge Cuban in his mouth (NYC 70's pimp style) to get your libido up and running.

Sad as I am, I've just done the same exercise for the Bournemouth squad. I think it may surprise a few people that they have spent €310M on theirs.

With the missing €70M, we could have the likes of Wan-Bissaka, Greaves and Philogene and a few more besides. No more Young, Keane, Holgate etc etc.

The denial you talk of at post 59, Christopher, seems very hard to shake off. Because "we are Everton", I think there's an assumption that we must have better players than the likes of Brentford, Bournemouth, Forest, Palace etc etc - but it's just not the case. The sins of the past indeed.

Make a fist of it, Dyche. Don't cry cos you're down to your last bullet. Think about the situation, adapt and strive to do the very best you can. Stop crying and dig in, for fuck's sake!

That's how I feel about Everton's prospects at the moment, I wasn't having a go, by the way, at Dyche. He's not perfect and has his faults but I doubt if any manager could have kept us up like he has done over the last two seasons.

The whole club is in a right mess. I still don't understand why the people who have been trying to buy the club have not been listened to by Mr Moshiri, like 777 Partners, The Friedkin Group, and now this fella John Txtor from Crystal Palace have been given the go ahead to put their cards on the table and prove their merits. It looks like all their cards are deuces and not good enough to improve Everton FC.

The squad is too small, definitely not enough real talent there, and as the injuries up to now have proved, that leaves the team in a desperate state. If no players come in, even on loan, then I fear for what will happen on the field for the rest of the season.

I would really love to be proved wrong over this.

A journalist asked him would Roman Dixon be at Everton when the transfer window closed? He seemed perplexed at first, then the journalist asked if he would be sent out on loan.

Dyche said we will have to see what happens, but with a 36-year-old and a 39-year-old being his main rivals surely he should be included into the first team and not sent out on loan.

He seems very reluctant to promote youth and, if you have got no money, then it's more important that we develop our youngsters.

Seeing as Dyche cited the lack of Premier League experience as to why he hasn't started Ndaiye, Lindstrøm or O'Brien, what would be the point of sending Dixon to a lower league club? Just more nonsense.

I couldn't help myself last night, hitting the lay button at 3.0. There'll be at least three teams worse than us by the end of the season. A financial silver lining is all I can see right now.

Dyche is rightly talking about players' nervousness in the final third. I'd argue he's missing the real point, which is that these players have no consistent record of scoring goals. They're being asked to do what they don't really do.

I hope he benches Tarkowski, Harrison and McNeil and plays O'Brien, Ndaiye and Lindstrøm against Doncaster. And against Bournemouth. Let them loose, let them play, let them learn. They won't do that on the bench.

Sean Dyche's latest comment has been met with scorn and ridicule by many of the fanbase. "Well, why are you giving contracts to Coleman, Begovic and Young?"

Well, to begin with, because they're very cheap options. Anyone arguing with any integrity would acknowledge that Sean Dyche would prefer to be buying in Iceland rather than diving through the bins outside.

We have no money. We really don't. We're being outspent and beaten to targets by Ipswich, who were a League One side 17 months ago. We looked at some great prospects this summer, and were, by and large, beaten to most of them. Leicester and Southampton have also outspent us.

As Robert Tressell has tried, at great length to point out, Everton have been spending at Championship level since the 2020-21 season. We're operating on the lowest budget in the Premier League. We're being outspent and beaten to targets by Ipswich. Posters on here constantly bash our players, and yet by their logic, Sean Dyche is somehow underperforming with the players they routinely derogate. Square that circle, please.

Does anybody remember how much money Rafael Benitez spent the summer he came in? £1.7 million. Wages and his own distaste led to him removing James Rodriguez (how Everton that we never got to see him), while a slowly diminishing Lucas Digne was sold, with the money being used to pay for Mykolenko and Patterson (another victim of the club's instability).

Frank Lampard was similarly hamstrung in the market, losing our talisman, Richarlison, who was never adequately replaced. We brought in prospects rather than ready-made players (other than Gana and Tarkowski), and Lampard made do with Anthony Gordon, who by then had been seduced by Chelsea, leading to his diminished output before he eventually left for mighty Newcastle.

Sean Dyche's transfer dealings have been similarly lean, with a similar focus upon building for the future. As much as people throw the accusation at him that he only plays and buys old players, he's certainly not buying old players. Look through our recruitment since he came in. They've pretty much been kids and tyros.

2021-22: £+3.3M,
2022-23: £+44M, 
2023-24: £+50.55M,
2024-25 (thus far): £+30.57M.

As it stands, our net transfer dealings since the summer of 2021 amount to a profit of £128.42M, not allowing for loan fees (and bear in mind, we have also loaned players out).

By the summer of 2021, the squad was already in significant decline compared to 2016. The club has realised it could no longer spend, owing both to the building of what remains our great hope, and because of the profligate stupidity of a succession of managers who had left the club poorer than Liam Byrne alleged that the country was in 2010.

He said: “What about taking responsibility at 0-0? Strangely, it is easier to take responsibility when you are one or two goals down. Every manager will call it 2-0 football and then everyone starts playing. What about playing when it is 0-0?

“So within all the challenges, which are quite obvious, we have got to remind ourselves of the truth of what we are, and what we are trying to achieve, and that part of the mentality of the group, we have shown before how positive it can be, we let it go too easily.

“And today, we know they are a good outfit who have spent money on some real talent. They are in a big stadium, their first game at home and everything, and they started like that, and we just started a little bit subserviently.

“We had good organisation but the first goal was a sign of it, everyone just backing off and just letting players run into the box and that kind of — it is only two or three yards but it is two or three yards of intent to go and stop moments like that.”

This gives us a good 9 months to find someone to take us forward and, with a bit of luck, new owners, new boardroom and new management will rid the club of the deadwood that we lug along every season.

I'm not being funny, but if I was in a constantly unstable and miserable workplace, I think I might have lost my enthusiasm and joie de vivre, especially knowing I could be somewhere else, albeit not as prestigious in history, but still picking up a fat wage in happier surroundings.

The club has a long-standing illness and, until that Bellwipe Moshiri is out of the picture and more astute, professional owners are in place, no manager can even begin to fix us properly.

It's really sad that a lot of fans, including myself, are past caring nowadays, it doesn't even ruin my weekend when we get beat like it did many years ago.

"Moment of truth," I think Dyche is using code for 'when it matters most,' Spurs turn up, but Everton players don't turn up.

Does anyone believe that a different manager will turn them into good players? I don't. The atmosphere is getting toxic and Dyche may go. We still owe him a thank you for keeping us up in unprecedented circumstances imo.

I doubt any replacement will get any more out of them and it will just be Groundhog Day. But without the ginger fella as an easy scapegoat. Think I'll be happy to see him go just to shut up the noise.

As my dad's mate says when he gets in the car after most games: "They are just shit players, Frank!"

But any statistic that tries to judge the merits of the squad and then includes Calvert-Lewin as a £1M player is practically worthless. Calvert-Lewin, while he's still with us, could be put to more use than simply filling a shirt.

The quality in the squad is poor by any 'traditional' or aspirational measure but we're far from the only ones in that boat. There's experience and some quality left in this squad.

This is where a pragmatist shows his worth and finds a way to get just a bit more out of what is available to him. I maintain that Dyche isn't a pragmatist. He's just incredibly limited as a manager and conservative with his reputation. He knows one way and that's what we'll get regardless of who is available to him.

Do you think he would come back here?

Recruitment has been indifferent over the summer and the squad is visibly weaker this season than last, so we have what we have. The team therefore needs organisation and a game plan beyond booting the ball up the field and see what happens.

Defending corners is a weakness and attacking corners lack any sort of threat, as do free-kicks. There doesn't seem to be anyone who can deliver quality balls from deadball situations.

These are things which should be sorted in training: practise, practise, practise…

That said. He also has a case to answer. He should have known that when he walked into the biggest club he has ever been involved with.

I have tried to support him and will continue to do so but I hated this interview. It had an all too familiar ring to it.

After initially loving the respectability Davey Moyes brought back to our club. I grew to hate him being our manager. I couldn't wait for him to go and take his glass ceiling with him. He left, but the glass ceiling didn't go with him. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect a steady stream of managers to come in and one after another, lower it still further,

Dyche came in at a bad time. The club was in disarray, but he also came in at a good time (for him). He didn't need to manage expectations. His predecessors had done that for him. Most Evertonians already had humps on their backs trying to bend under the increasingly lowering ceiling. He may not have been everyone's first choice, but he was granted almost universal support.

Dyche is a spikey character. That much is clear, but he really does need to alter his rhetoric. His last two post-match interviews will only serve to alienate an already dwindling support for him.

I want him to stay because I think he represents our best chance of getting to the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock with Premier League status intact. but, for fuck's sake….

This club is in total turmoil. The last thing we need is even more division, but by talking about "Everton Football Club" as if he is remote from it, barely a week after his swipe at the faithful, he is further antagonising people who are already pissed off with the way he sets out his team. He really needs to stop bleating about a position he readily walked into with his eyes wide open.

I want Dyche to do what he does. I'll put up with the ugly stuff if he can help this club defy gravity, but he needs to regain his composure during interviews. He needs to get his players grinding out enough victories. He needs to start earning his money.

Until he does. He needs to shut up.

Personally, I'd like to see Lee Carsley come in now but it's not going to happen. Dyche has lost the players, fans etc and, every week that passes, he becomes more alienated.

I think Moyes would come but would only want him as a filler till we eventually stay up or go down.

In terms of squad value, we are 16th, a full €35M adrift of our next opponents, Bournemouth. That's a Wan-Bissaka and a Sander Berge sized difference — so it does make a difference.

As well as having spent €70M more than us on their squad in total, Bournemouth have also:

- spent €104M this summer compared to our €50M

- a net spend of —€40M this summer compared to our net spend of +€33M (a €73M difference)

- a net spend of —€232M in the past 3 years compared to our net spend of +€102M (a whopping €334M difference)

As will often be the case, it is only Pickford and Branthwaite that would be likely starters for them out of our entire squad. Calvert-Lewin might fight it out with €37M Brazilian striker Evanilson.

Compare us now to where Silva had us with a side of:

Pickford
Coleman (the younger model)
Digne
Keane
Zouma / Mina
Gueye (the younger model)
Gomes (before injury)
Sigurdsson
Richarlison
Bernard / Iwobi
Calvert-Lewin

Again, Branthwaite would get in that side — Tarkowski possibly — but who else? The deterioration has been rapid and severe.

It's hard to take, of course, because this absolutely should not be the case. We shouldn't be operating as small club in comparison with the likes of Bournemouth — but that's where Kenwright and Moshiri have left us.

A bigger problem comes at the end of this season when the contracts expire for Gueye, Doucoure, Calvert-Lewin, Keane, Holgate, Maupay, Young, Virginia, Begovic and Crellin. That's three or four players likely to play a lot of games lost from an already small squad.

Unless the takeover has completed by then, I think we're probably finished. We can sell Branthwaite of course, if we manage to hang on to him past the next week, but his sale will need to generate funds for 5 players at least just to field a First XI and bench.

Still, at the moment, we are one of 5 clubs to have lost both their games. We're by no means adrift. As per last season, it is a marathon not a sprint — and Dyche (boring and crap though his team is) has pulled off two survival campaigns against stiff odds.

I stuck my next out in an article that said we'd finish 12th. Looks a bit optimistic as it stands — but I still reckon 12th to 14th provided we hang onto Branthwaite and Calvert-Lewin and sign a right-back!

I came here and did my job only to be undermined by ineptitude in the owners' box and underperformance as to the terms of my contract. You want to bitch about style? Have some of this!

How it is. You asked for it.

After yesterday, I doubt even Pickford would get in any other Premier League side and, apart from Branthwaite, he's our biggest asset. The rest, without exception, would not get other clubs fans salivating over the prospect of them signing for them.

I got all excited about Lindstrøm, Ndiaye and O'Brien and I've never actually seen them play even 5 minutes. But they're wearing the Everton shirt therefore they must be better than Bournemouth (eg) players…

We've become irrelevant. I can't see any glimmer of that 11 plus bench suddenly gelling to become a team. UTFT

We've got one left-back that has no competition to his place, right-back is a massive problem, and the final third of the pitch is probably the worst in the Premier League or close to it.

Thelwell is looking at youngsters who will have a big sell-on. Great and fully agree, however, we need decent players in now.

I have never understood why we never signed McGinn when he was available.

There's a lad who plays for Dundee, Luke McCowan. Last year of his contract, midfield, Captain of the team. We could get him for sweets and believe me, based on the last 2 games we've played, he'd walk straight into our starting 11.

Not to worry… let's just keep looking at players who want big contracts, lots of money and are prima donnas from overseas.

Then get the following off the books in anyway possible.

Holgate, Keane, Patterson, Doucoure, McNeil, Calvert-Lewin, Beto and Maupay.

According to Transfermarkt, that lot is supposed to be worth, £102M on a good day for EFC, when the signing club is having an off day. Personally, I reckon less than £70M.

For right-back, get Coufal in on loan from West Ham - he ain't playing many games with Wan-Bissaka just signed. Or a better option, Chalobah on loan from Chelsea. He can play centre-back too.

As centre-back cover for the Holgate, Keane axis, I suggest Mario Hermoso who has been released by Athletico Madrid. He can play left-back too, so there is our cover for Mykolenko. At 29, he still has 3/4 years left to play. If or when Branthwaite departs, he's an experienced centre-back - Champions League, Former Spanish International - to take over, whilst O'Brien covers both centre-back positions.

Then there's Cameron Burgess at Ipswich. Now appears surplus to requirements at centre-back. He can also play left-back. Australian International. Fit as a butcher's dog. Played 40 games for Ipswich last season at centre-back. Not picked for the first two games this season. As cover, a sound bet and won't be expensive to buy. His contract is up next summer.

Seeing as this weekend has proved difficult, after Saturday's debacle and I keep getting a headache, I shall leave midfield and defence for another time. Now for some more paracetamol!

Surely a good coach could set a team tactically to offer some threat to the opposition and identify the opposition's weakness?

In-game management and perception of what's happening in front of him and reacting appropriately to the situation?

Some smidgeon of entertaining football?

Is Dyche really the only manager we deserve?

These are Premier League football players yet you watch them and they can't do the basics that you train an 8-year-old lad on a Sunday morning field to do.

They can't pass and move into space, they can't shoot, the cohesion is awful, and frankly when you are playing two games of football and hardly mustering a shot on target, I'd be embarrassed to be called a Premier League football player.

Are they really really that bad?

I don't think Dyche is doing enough to get more out of them technically, maybe work rate wise yes but is he improving any player at all? No is the answer.

Jack Harrison was a better player at Leeds with more goal threat because Bielsa allowed him more freedom, Harrison's own stats state as much.

Is Dyche holding players back from technically improving their games? Absolutely.

Truth is we need a change and the players need it too. Dyche knows it but he ain't walking.

He is out of ideas and he needs to be given his cards. Enough is enough.

There appears to be a lot of people who are certain we are going down.

I wonder if any of them will come visit you on Betfair?

I'm guessing none.

Dyche is sounding pretty negative here. All of a sudden, it is Everton's fault.

He isn't part of Everton any more?

Our system was found out long ago. Selling Gray and Iwobi made it worse. Now we have less capable elements that must be deployed to compete against others who have improved both in terms of quality of squad and partnerships therein.

What Dyche offers is a rebuild of the type many fans do not wish upon their image of the club. It is like one of those Yank takeover dudes looking at the books and telling the owners they were living on unrealized expectations. However, if you accept the realities, the football realities, ahem, then we have a chance here with him leading the club no matter how unpalatable for some.

Have some Kettering cheese to go with that bottle of whine.

It's so hard to watch other matches again as everyone looks better. We are a one-trick pony under Dyche and teams can easily work us out. We have rode our luck the last couple seasons but can't rely on this again and again.

Every part of the club is a shambles, I think we can all agree on that. Lose to Doncaster and next weekend, does the dinosaur need to be pushed?

Indeed, although Jim agrees with you (# 85), he also makes the point that our players can't do the basics and (paraphrasing) don't meet the standards of a Premier League player.

I agree with that. Our right flank is definitely not of Premier League standard. It is Championship standard. Our midfield trio is very borderline — certainly not better than the midfield trio of, say, Ipswich (Phillips, Cajuste and Luongo) or Leeds (Ampadu, Gruev and Aaronson) or Burnley (Cullen, Ramsey and Brownhill).

You're right Jim (#85) that Harrison scored more in an open attacking Leeds side. But that Leeds side leaked goals and went down because of it. Harrison was an auxiliary right-back again yesterday to help compensate for Dixon's inexperience (he would have been murdered otherwise) — and we still lost 4-0.

I have been thinking the same: Relegated; Championship team; Championship players; Championship Squad; Championship training and tactics; Championship Manager.

That's what the performance in the past two games has written all over it. The team is not even challenging in the Premier League.

Having escaped relegation so many times, nothing has changed to progress the club or team on. It is not being better than other teams. It is dependent on them being worse. But these teams are trying to progress and learning season upon season in the Premier League. Even if they are relegated and come back up.

Everton can't go down to come back up, because it spells financial oblivion. There is no plan other than staying in the Premier League.

Words fail me…

I don't think anyone is pretending that the new signings are “really good” players or that or next opponents have comparable players. Nor that just about every team in the Premier League has assembled a more experienced squad than Everton.

You continually argue that:

a) the squad is not good enough;
b) the Academy players are not good enough to make the first team;
c) now the new players are not very good.

And the outcome of that analysis is what — we should make no changes to the team, formation, tactics?

Last week, you were scoffing at the idea of playing Roman Dixon or any Academy player in the first team. By 5 pm yesterday, the only players to come out of that performance with any credit were Dixon and Armstrong.

We only became competitive when Lindstrøm and Ndiaye came on, but your main talking point today is that they were not successful at their last clubs where they spent one season each. Best not mention the form that earned them the move to Napoli and Marseilles respectively.

If there is a point you are trying to make, I guess it is that Moyes was the height of our recent success and that there is little or nothing we can do apart from accept the current reality?

I would certainly be interested to hear what you would propose we do to improve the team's results in the next 5 games.

Talking about Dyche is semantics. We couldn't afford to pay him off, just on cashflow. We are a loss-making club, still with some ongoing stadium costs, and our owner won't put another cent in. Most likely Dyche will quit mid-season and we'll find out the level of manger we can then afford to attract.

Unless the takeover happens, we are going to fall apart. I'll not be remotely surprised to see Jarrad go next week. I tend to agree with Robert T's assessment of our squad quality. Where he and I differ is I think there is zero chance of 12th. We just need to understand whether all of Ipswich, Southampton and Leicester are worse than us.

We do have a right back after all. The defence line needs to not play so deep. We need a designated defensive midfield player to marshall the gap between the defensive line and midfield. The attacking midfielder should be able to attack the centre of the opposition defence.

Ideally the midfield should be made up of a trio. This is not happening. Gueye's attempt at long passes and Doucoure's flicks do not constitute an interplaying midfield and never have.

The wingers need to play higher trying to get beyond the opposition defensive line. Calvert-Lewin should be dropped to the bench and Beto tried. He does not offer a sufficient threat either physically or positionally and I don't think his team mates have confidence in him. If he is not providing a threat, how do you get the ball to him? He is marked out of the game.

Dyche has to utilise the squad better, particularly the new recruits. He has to be more proactive in his substitutions to provide much-needed tactical variation. Teams are able to training during the week how they going to play against Everton and provide the same end product on matchday unhindered, with success.

Above all, errors have to be cut out, which will destroy any Dyche Tactical plan. As ever, Everton will learn this the hard way in the coming months. But we do need the ownership issue sorted out somehow. Everton cannot continue as a zombie club.

We've got players in the last year of their contract. That impacts their transfer market value massively. A huge issue for the club, but not necessarily an issue in the matchday squad.

Calvert-Lewin, for example, would be worth substantially more if he signed a new contract but it wouldn't make him a better player.

I'm not arguing that we have great players. I'm arguing that we have players who are at least comparable to our rivals and could be utilised more effectively.

I always think back to Joe Royle. He came in and identified a handful of strengths in the squad and played to them. That is what a pragmatist does. It wasn't pretty but it was effective.

I get sick of hearing that Dyche's Everton play long ball football. Long ball football involves playing to a target man and getting players around them.

It's not true — we don't play any kind of football, long or otherwise.

This team is going to need to score a few goals. What is the plan that makes that possible? As far as I can tell, the plan is hoping that teams playing out from the back will gift goals to us.

He has never produced or bettered any players that have gone on to the very top level in his entire managerial career.

He couldn't even identify a player in Branthwaite during his first pre-season with the club and was convinced Michael Keane was a better option for the starting XI until Keane played his way out of the team.

If Thelwell and the recruitment team have identified and signed these players during the summer than I'm not sure Dyche would have the capability of recognising the potential talent amongst them.

He would much rather have a squad full of ‘experienced operators' whatever that means. As far as I can see, he wants experienced losers.

'As far as I can tell, the plan is hoping that teams playing out from the back will gift goals to us.'

That is what I see as Everton's opposition plan. Everton, whether it be long or short, are gifting all over the pitch. There may be a few players who are playing okay but that is not much use when they are surrounded by incompetence.

Where I see Dyche as having fallen down is in his statistical approach. He has allowed players to have slipped on their focus of developing their game.

But the last post is right — he favours experience over youth, like all relegation survival managers. It is only when forced to change that he will give youth a chance, eg, Braithwaite. Dixon and either of the two back-up centre-forwards. Though I do think Calvert-Lewin's selection is more about retaining value and being in the shop window.

We might have to sell a couple more to keep the lights on for another month or two.

We have a billionaire owner who has no idea how to run a football club. No plan, no ambition from the start and now has given up to the point of falling to look after his own asset.

Yes, we are for sale… but you wouldn't trash your house before prospective buyers come around. That's the stupidity of the current situation and he's let it go on for too long.

He obviously doesn't care or want to be there — get the deal done and get out as quickly as possible!

Moshiri even got repaid £25M by Friedkin, rather paid to the club.

Moshiri can put more cash into the club, but I don't expect him to. By next Friday, I'd expect us to have signed no one, and, knowing Everton, sold Calvert-Lewin.

This might please some that don't see Calvert-Lewin as good enough, but for me it will be just another good senior pro to go out through the door in the last 5 years.

I saw the rumour of Calvert-Lewin to Chelsea late last week…

That's a lot of boots to clean and not much room on the bench!

I'm scared… in fact, I'm shitting myself because, under Dyche, I can't honestly see where the next goal, let alone win, is coming from.

As for that statement about Europe, well, I've honestly never heard one Evertonian utter a word about us getting in Europe. The realists amongst us would like to see us finish mid-table for a couple of seasons then push on.

There's a manager and coaches out there who would 100% get something out this squad; unfortunately, it's not Sean Dyche and his lot.

Selling Calvert-Lewin and not getting a replacement will relegate us.

The Club is rudderless and sinking fast.

No one I know thinks our players are better than Bournemouth's.

Most of the Blues I know, and I know a lot, are realists, not dreamers; I certainly don't look through blue-coloured spectacles.

It's the shite football I'm seeing dished up, week-in & week-out that annoys me.

He's a dinosaur who talks complete and utter nonsense.

Once he's gone, he'll be very lucky to work in the top 2 divisions again.

Spot on. We can see it. It's all so obvious.

Calvert-Lewin gets stick but he never gets a decent ball or cross played to him, nor is there ever anyone near to him, apart from a couple of defenders.

I am totally with all those of us who believe that a different manager could get a decent tune out of the players we have.

It won't be a millionseller chart topper but will be bought (streamed I suppose) by many. All the right notes if not necessarily always in the right order. Currently, horribly out of tune and just plain dull, boring and repetitive.

When will Dyche ever accept that he bears some responsibility for the current level of performance?

It's players' mistakes. It's referees. It's VAR. It's the fans. But not me, guv. I only pick the (same) team, set the (same) tactics, choose not to make substitutions when things are clearly not working. So it can't be me!

But if it is the lack of money which makes it difficult for us to compete with others in the Premier League, surely that should not apply against Doncaster tomorrow night? Shouldn't it? Or is Dyche already preparing his latest excuse should there be a poor result?

In addition, his post-match ramblings are reminiscent of Bobby Brownshoes at his best — and at least he had the excuse of talking in a second language.

God, it's hard being a Blue.

Dyche has accepted responsibility. What are you talking about?? Don't you listen to his interviews or have you already decided your opinion in advance?

You're taking absolute rot, pal?

Just because he's sharing other valid contributing reasons doesn't mean he's not taking responsibility — he always fronts up and does so

And guess what? He's the only person at the club that does.

Give your head a swivel, mate, and think about your posts before you hit ‘submit'.

Apologies if I've missed those interviews (or parts of) where Dyche does accept responsibility. You're right that there's a danger of only listening to those parts which confirm any prejudice that I might already have.

I'll listen more carefully next time. Cheers mate.

"Not ready for the Premier League"

I have heard this statement come out of Dyche's mouth often and frequently when it comes to new recruits or younger players within the squad during his tenure. 

Imo, I feel it is he who is not ready for the Premier League.  His style of football is very boring to watch, to put it bluntly. 

I have watched his line-up of mostly 4-5-1 against any team and every team yield very little in terms of wins.  His Plan A is play not to make the opponent score. Should the opponent score, Plan B is play not to make the opponent score again, is how I interpret it.

People I've read say not to sack Dyche. I say we definitely should. I have never been a fan of his appointment. I remember Arteta and Emery were available at the time before his arrival, look where they are at now. History, when it comes to success has shown that former players managing the team has given this, Why?

Imo, they get Everton! everything associated with Everton! I would take Baines to manage and get Dunc as his No 2. The last time I felt passion for Everton before, during and after a game was when Dunc was caretaker on the sideline, the atmosphere in the stadium had me genuinely emotional; that has dissipated since.

Dyche lost me completely when he made a statement after we beat Brighton 5-1 in that he didn't know where that performance came from. I thought he would've said something along the lines of "That's what we've been practicing for and it's finally paying dividends."

I've never heard of Brighton's new manager before. He came to Everton and lined up 2 fecking strikers and started one of our summer targets (who if we had got, would be where on our team? Yep, on the bench, not ready for the Premier League).

Any success this season with Dyche will only prolong our suffering with his Dycheball. Imo his style of football is survival championship at best. I watched the first half of Ipswitch against Liverpool before our Brighton game last week. Based on that 1st performance they'll be up on us 3-0 within 20 minutes. Their introduction to the Premier League: Liverpool (home) and Man City (away). They played forward-thinking football and scored first against Man City.

I hope the new ownership comes through quickly and rid us of this fool for a manager, who IMO is not ready for the Premier League.

I admit I have only seen the highlights on MotD but didn't he just come on for the last few minutes? Perhaps the secret to getting 'acclaim' from some fans is to only play a few minutes.

Meanwhile to all those doom-mongers already predicting relegation, just a gentle reminder that there are 36 league games left and so far we have played 2 decent teams.

Sadly, at the moment, we need to compare ourselves with the lesser teams of the Premier league. Beat or at least draw against them and pick up points from some of the better teams will see us right this season.

I'm not sure he's fronted up anything. He's cited ‘individual' mistakes as the problem in the first two games. He can be quoted on that.

Yet none are mistakes. Young didn't make a mistake. He was punished for his shortcomings. Simple as that.

Pickford likewise. Play more passes to your goalkeeper than you do forward passes in every single game and the chances of him losing possession are increased. I can count on one hand the amount of mistakes Pickford has made in his Everton career playing in a poor team for bad managers.

Let me tell you the next ‘mistake' from Michael Keane is just around the corner. And the likelihood of that occurring correlates directly with him being selected to start.

When Young or Keane make a mistake, he can say that you don't expect experienced players to do that.

Sean Dyche protects Sean Dyche. When things go badly, he points to something that isn't his doing. Or he points to any metric he can find to prove that he's actually doing a good job with others letting him down.

He had plenty convinced that we were just unlucky because of our xG. Then, when the xG dropped, it ceased to be the metric of choice.

This lad is now closing in on 22 years of age and joined Everton aged 10. He's only played 36 games of league football, all but three (for us, off the bench) in the Championship.

Strewth, he's not in any way a prolific scorer but so low have we been sunk under Moshiri and his "champion" chairman that we were grateful to sell him, but may well need him in our joke of a forward line just now.

But we can't afford him, can we?

In recent years when things have got really bad - it's usually been because (a) the manager couldn't organise a defence (b) the manager couldn't settle on a formation or personnel.

Dyche, boring though he is, does know how to organise a defence and does have a clear sense of formation / personnel. There are other options of course but they are not particularly stellar options - they have their weaknesses just as the approach we are taking has its weaknesses.

For the time being it makes sense just to get behind the team and Dyche, recognising these early season setbacks won't be the only defeats we have this season.

The outcome of the transfer window and injury crisis will be more significant than a disappointing home defeat to Brighton and an fairly unsurprising defeat at Spurs.

Hopefully tonight gives us something to cheer about.

There will probably be a few twists and turns before the deadline.