Pickford wins duel with Gordon in goalless affair under the lights

Okay, I get the tried and tested thing of using Keane against Newcastle at home after such a poor run of form. And I could even accept that making a gaff in a crucial home game could dent O'Brien's confidence. But when oh when will Dyche give Jake O'Brien a proper go?

Love to see his energy in defence and in set-pieces up front. Are we missing something? For fuck's sake …

James Garner deserves huge credit. Very little got past him down their left in an almost faultless performance under real pressure.

There is only one imperative this season – keep our status in the Premier League before we move to the new sadium. At 5 points out of 7 games, we are just about scratching it. Last Saturday morning, we were yearning for 4 points out of the 2 forthcoming home games; we have gained them.

This is what it looks like – unpleasant but necessary.

We had our best player out, the Newcastle players are all fighting for places for the big games. I think a point is a great result at this point in time against a Top 10 club.

I would like to see Mangala and Ireogbunam start the game together.

A well earned point but it is so dull and tedious to watch. It needn't be. A Goodison crowd roaring is always worth an extra man. We need a manager to bring back that fervour.

"Keep your shape and smash it up to Dom."

Team talk over.

Dyche deserves a lot of credit for what he's done, particularly last season, but in my eyes he's also spectacularly rewarded financially for being a manager in the Premier League, so no loyalty is owed.

If he achieves a Premier League place for next season, we can thank him and move on.

My own thoughts were that Young and Keane played quite well and, maybe, Garner was our best on the ground. A point was a decent result.

I think it would take between £300M to £500M spending to get us to the Top 6. The difference in quality and squad depth is enormous.

Friedkin won't spend anything like that. I think the ambition from the new owners will be to stabilise the club in mid-table (8th to 12th) with very modest spending.

Dyche remains a good manager for that. He got us to 12th last season after all.

I doubt the owners will be remotely concerned by style of play etc. They will be more concerned about staying up and putting in place some better foundations for longer-term success.

Unfortunately, this won't please the fans who see the takeover and move to the new stadium as a return to the big time. It's nothing like that though. Moshiri has left us absolutely miles behind.

I get the frustration with the forward play (or lack of it) but we just don't have the quality there at the moment, but the huff and puff at least lasted for 95+ minutes.

So, on this occasion, against a better-organised team (and club), the point was a decent return.

Sometimes one chance put away is enough to win a game, and this is Dyche. But personally, I think we will improve and look better against the lesser teams and push on a bit, and perhaps, on the odd day, spank one or two of the better teams.

Not much to get excited about but keeps us in a holding pattern until we are transformed into Real Madrid (or 1980s Everton).

He should be picking Iroegbunam at least for home games but a draw is a good result with only one first-choice defender available and Tarkowski in such shaky form.

Dyche is in his last season –Friedkin will want a more entertaining approach for his £600M or so… surely??

Craig Pawson was only interested in Everton not winning. In what was a very close offside decision, he was imploring the linesman to raise his flag. Had Gueye smashed the ball home after the challenge on Calvert-Lewin, Pawson would have given a free kick against Calvert-Lewin. Chris Kavanagh was on VAR so it is academic anyway.

We have games coming up that are winnable and we must gather the points while we can as we enter a tough period before Christmas.

On the whole, I was happy.

I would love to know what tactical coaching goes on at Finch Farm on a daily basis, because we have become so one-dimensional in hitting a long ball to an isolated Calvert-Lewin or a 40-yard diagonal ball to our wide men.

For those who will argue you can't play any other way with the players we have, well how do you know – because we haven't tried another way. For those who say Dyche deserves credit for keeping us up despite 2 lots of points deductions, I totally agree.

I don't see Dyche being able to change his beliefs and get us to be challenging for a Top 6 spot, and surely is it too much to ask that our once great club starts to make strides to make that happen.

Yesterday, I thought the much-maligned Keane was our best player, and Garner and Young performed well. I am afraid that once again Tarkowski, without Branthwaite, his deficiencies were again on display. A needless penalty given away as again he tries to use muscle rather than brain which permeates through everything he does.

He was lucky towards the end of the game to be awarded a free kick when he had time to clear a ball, but chose to wait so he could take ball and man, but missed both and left Joelinton in the clear.

The one highlight was watching Ndaiye, what a talented player, he went past Trippier at will and did the same to the other full-back, but there isn't anybody close enough to play a one-two with him. He his a very talented player but the way Dyche sets the team up, we will never get the best out of him.

Calvert-Lewin is not the player he was. Yes, he is still good at winning headers and holding the ball up, but we need more than that from our main striker. I would hope that Broja and Chermiti are soon fit enough to challenge him for a starting place.

Harrison was his normal industrious self without being effective, and McNeil was mainly anonymous for most of the game.

I just hope we are still outside of the Bottom 3 when Friedkin takes over and can make the changes that are needed to see us moving forward.

It was a definite penalty on Calvert-Lewin as Burns stepped across and in front of him to impede him, with contact. Pawson was definitely biased and Dyche should report this to the referee officials and have Pawson downgraded.

Let's hope that we get the right-backs back from injury, move Garner back into midfield and put our best team out for consistency and wins in the next few games.

The richest within that group are staggeringly rich – with second XI teams that are comfortably better than our fully fit first XI (which is rarely fully fit).

It is not too much at all to want Top 6 finishes but a bit unrealistic to expect them any time soon.

I think, if a club is well managed and financially sound, if they can come back into the Premier League 4 years ago and now can be considered a Top 4 contender, is it really too much to expect that we could compete for a Top 6 spot in the next 4 or 5 years with the right owner and manager???

The new Stadium will be the "jewel in the crown" and developing the surrounding area will surely be on his radar to maximise his investment.

Cometh the hour, cometh the stadium!

Following that, the good thing was that we earned a point from it all which was very welcome. The recovery of Chermiti and Broja can't come soon enough as they should be tried in place of Calvert-Lewin who isn't really doing anything on the goal-scoring front and doesn't look as though he will at any time soon either. He can't be relied upon as a striker any longer, even though we are in dire straights at that end of the pitch.

That means assembling a First XI of players who are all Champions League quality or thereabouts – with a Second XI that is at least as good as our current First XI.

It'll take some doing, and in some respects the manager is not really the critical role in all of this. It's more down to how quickly and effectively the Friedkins can modernise and professionalise the club generally, in order to deliver a much better standard of player to whoever is the manager.

"The surrounding area" has always been the magnet – it was the reason Usmanov bought into the new stadium idea.

I said this when the stadium was first mooted. That and the Cunard building where progress would be monitored.

Ndiaye was exciting but lacked support, a couple of times he did very well, passed the ball and the recipient gave it away instantly. Harrison once again worked hard but offered nothing in the final third, he doesn't have the confidence or pace to beat his man.

We were woeful with the ball again, really concerning.

Happy with a point and a clean sheet, all-in-all.

There's a lot I don't understand about what teams do at set pieces (looking away from the ball, having Ashley Young mark Dan Burn, repeatedly taking outswinging corners etc), but fouling someone who's nowhere near the ball and wouldn't beat you in the air if he was makes me think the match-fixing task force should start an investigation.

Tarkowski owes Pickford at least half of his wages for this week.

Actually I agree; however, the absolute last person to comment on Tarkowski's brainfart is Carragher. Lescott still has bruising on his neck from Carragher's "brainless" takedown in the derby.

As a Rovers fan that endured the long trip [to Plymouh] yesterday, I thought the way Rooney's tactical approach was way more progressive. The movement to overload midfield was impressive, creating space out wide – Ibrahim Cissoko had our full-back on toast.

Not to mention spitting at a 15-year-old girl.

Keane may be getting back his best form but we are still getting outplayed in the middle of the park.

Some of Dyche's decisions are baffling to say the least and quite honestly we didn't deserve to win this game but picking up points is better than losing so let's hope they can ride their luck until the mess gets sorted.

Everton are following Dyche's simple survival plan and it is not pretty. A result like that is a good result for the simple survival plan. It can then be easy to bring up the missed opportunity of a penalty, but that does not change the simple survival plan and the expected low expectations.

It is a maxim that sorting out a problem normally takes as long as it's making.

Survival in the Premier League is the objective.

It can be done… Similarly the God awful Barcodes.

I have yet to see a team win the league without the manager being one of the best around. The really good ones who stay at clubs for a few years usually lay down good mentalities that are at the club many years after they have left.

I hear some question Guardiola; forget the top players he has bought — his true worth to Man City is the work he has done with the youngsters, like Foden, Palmer, Rico Lewis, Delap, Oscar Bobb and probably many more youngsters we will only hear about in years to come.

Same as Busby created at Man Utd a tradition that Ferguson carried on with the Class of '92. That's what top quality managers do, not only create winning teams but underpin that with quality coaching to provide the club with youngsters.

Is that still the latest fitness forecast for those two?

We need Harrison on the right as he helps our RB more than Lindstrom. Jack may not beat his man but he moves well and doesn't clog space.

Garner looked much more composed and put the ball in for Doucoure offside goal. I think he just needed fitness.

Newcastle should be kicking themselves after seeing our backline and coming up with nothing.

That's 5 points from 3.

DCL although worked hard, was well shackled and they do have a strong midfield, so a point wasn't too bad.

It shows how important games against those bottom 10 teams will be, because I can't see us getting too much joy out of the better defences.

Dyche could have tried to interchange the 3 of mcneil, Harrison & Ndiaye in the game they all are capable of playing any of them 3 roles, so why not try if not having luck a certain way ?

1. Var kills it for the match going fan. There's just too many other things going on in the game. Each set piece there's probably 4 or 5 things going on. For each Tarkowski foul, there's an ndiaye being dragged back to play attackers onside.

2. The lack of subs is a joke. Players running on nothing at the end. He got away with it, but it could be costly.

3. Not signing trippier feels like a good decision. He looks done, and is on big dough. Bullet dodged.

4. I am not a young fan, but him and Keane did well enough to be fair.

5. Loved ndiaye, and it shows that there are good players out there. Not buying emerging talent and selling our better players has been a killer over the last 4-5 years.

6. I don't like the coward football we play. We generally have little attacking idea, and give away possession cheaply. We are a poor team.

Yesterday's game easily polarizes two schools of thought: One we are shite… Dyche is shite. And the sooner the TFG take control, things will get better.

The other is we are playing to stay in the Premier League with the resources we have. We play the type of football based on our resources and Dyche tries to play to our limited strengths.

There is nothing wrong with playing balls towards Calvert-Lewin that misses out the midfield and moves us into the opponent's half which occasionally results in a goal chance. Occasionally we try to play out from the back as we did a little more last week but at other times it has cost us a goal.

I am in the school of thought that favours the second point of view. Yesterday, we had yet another different back four. One that earlier in the season did not work with Keane and Young being the scapegoats. But yesterday, those two were two of our best players.

I think if we had Branthwaite and Mykolenko, Dyche would have played a different game and we might have had more possession. But even without these two we created 2 goal-scoring chances that could have given us 3 points and moved us up to 15th.

Doucoure's goal was well created and scored but was wiped off. Either Gana should have scored or Calvert-Lewin should have got a penalty which was not referred at all to VAR!

In the past, I have been critical of Pickford for not dominating his 6-yard box but have admitted he is an exceptional shot stopper, including Gordon's penalty.

So where does this leave me or us? Although things should get better if or when TFG takes control, I don't think because of PSR we will see any drastic improvement of funds, so we are likely to still play a brand of football that will keep us in the Premier League and I think we all agree Dyche is as good as or even better to achieve that.

Does anyone think Mourinho would achieve that? TFG must be wetting their pants thinking that about being relegated.
So I see more of the same. Improvements will come with the return of our best players.

Broja might be better than Calvert-Lewin? Not having the Premier League steal any points from us. Last season, we would have been in mid-table but for them and we all agree we have a better set of players.

Hopefully by January we will be in mid table far enough away to survive our customary run of defeats in January.

Contrary to what many expected beforehand, Young, Keane and Garner proved to be our best outfield players, fully justifying the manager’s selection. James Tarkowski was very poor; a liability at times. Loss of full fitness often precedes a loss of form. That appears to be so with James.

Our biggest problem was in central midfield where Newcastle controlled possession and territory. The Mangala/Doucouré partnership will not work against top six clubs. They do not link effectively with or without the ball.

Mangala, who like Allan a few years ago has no pace, generally struggles unless he has the ball at his feet. We saw an example in the second half: Joelinton gave him a start in a chase for the ball but within ten yards overtook him on our right flank. It was no surprise to see the Belgian withdrawn a couple of minutes later. As some have suggested a better partner for Mangala might be Gana who, aside from his finishing, was excellent in his half hour on the pitch.

In the end though it was a point won against a team with top four ambitions.

Yes, it can be done, but both Aston Villa and Newcastle Utd were run better. They both went down into the Championship and came back up again. Everton going into the Championship would have faced financial oblivion. The football may have been okay, but the finance end would not have been.

Both those clubs have not got the same culture as Everton, though Howe is in danger of bumping off the familiar glass ceiling. To a certain extent, both these clubs gained by relegation. Everton would have had Wimbledon beat them years ago, but the opportunity faded from then.

The Friedkin Group have a real big job ahead of them. At least they have the know-how to do it. The new stadium may provide a similar catalyst to relegation. The Everton turnaround, like their history, may be like no other. Yes, it could break the mould.

Going forwards he should play Mangala, Gueye or Tim and Garner. Then play Lundstrom or McNeill in front of them, with DCL as the CF and Ndiaye given a free role to cause problems from either wing. Given the strength in midfield one of the full backs can then move forward in support as could Garner. We would still have 5 players to defend against a breakaway attack from the opposition.

4 3 2 1
Pickford,
Coleman, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko
Garner, Mangala, Gueye or Tim,
Lindstrom or McNeill, Ndiaye.

The Republic of Ireland have dropped O'Brien from their squad for the upcoming Internationals. I hope it's because he's not been playing and not because he didn't impress when coming on as a sub during the last International break.
DCL.

Like your team though, I also think we should finally give up on this out and out winger stuff, don’t think the players excel in that role anyway, and pack the midfield more.

That team should read (4-3-2-1):

Pickford,
Coleman, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko
Garner, Mangala, Gueye or Iroegbunam,
Lindstrom or McNeil, Ndiaye.
Calvert-Lewin

For some reason DCL appears at the end of the last paragraph. I know he's isolated most of the time but that takes the biscuit!

We created one chance which Dominic and Gueye managed to mess up. We were outplayed for most of the game.

Newcastle will finish in the top six and we were lucky to play them with a depleted attack.

Maybe they were lucky to play us with Craig Pawson refereeing? I have yet to see him have a half decent game refereeing anyone, he is terrible reffing us.

Smash and grab or catenaccio is still a valid tactic in todays best game ever, every weekend hyped to death football.

They scored zero goals with multiple players on the pitch that cost more than our record signing which is siggurdsson about 7 years ago! We have to make things difficult for other teams we can't just roll over.

I'm only guessing, but do you have to put the electronic ticket into your wallet on your phone?

If you're not sure as to what to do, I'm sure the frequently asked questions on the club website will provide some clarity.

If not, in your position, I would contact the club directly to find the answer to your issue.

In addition to my recent post, I found this guide on the club website which may help? It's very poor of the club to not give purchasers of tickets a little more up-to-date guidance on how to obtain the ticket.

How to guide Everton digital

Spit not only castigated Evertonians but the club itself for that amusing video of Gordon's penalty, this from a guy who emptied his lungs onto a 14-year-old girl and wore a t-shirt supporting Suarez's racist comments.

A guy whose own father was turfed out of Villa Park for being drunk and disorderly while his son was playing for England, and yet some on here affectionately refer to him as “Carra”.

Unbelievable.

30 years ago, we had Des Lynam, Trevor Brooking, and Alan Hansen. Now we have Gary, the other Gary, and Carragher, with a battalion behind them who are even worse.

I remember when Carragher started out with his 50 pence opinions and strangled delivery. 'Never in a million years is this gonna last' I thought.

What I didn't realise is they are deliberately trying to ruin things, hence Jamie, Alex Scott, VAR and a host of other abominations.

And yes, I'm a bit disappointed it's not an obvious or easy process to get a matchday ticket.

Those were the days.

Cruyff, Neeskens, Ari Haan, Rensenbrink, Van de Kerkoff, Kroll, great great players from the Dutch teams of the 70s, great memories.

Rinnus Michels was decades ahead of his time. A true Dutch Master.