Everton thrash Leicester to ease relegation concerns

Edge of the seat time.

For Moyes to get as many wins in 4 matches as Dyche managed all season would be some achievement.

COYB

Doucoure has some big moments for sure. His only goal of the last match two seasons back kept us up of course. Without that goal, we were down. I will always personally be very grateful for that!

Then this earliest ever home goal in the history of the Premier League. Not bad at all.

Personally, being a layman, not a football manager, I would have dropped him for Harrison Armstrong!

Well played David Moyes! Getting the team to have belief and confidence again, getting the fans back on side. Fantastic.

Beto is a better finisher than DCL. Not a high bar that of course, but gotta love the lad! What a Portugeezer that's a pressure easer!

UTFT! COYB! NSNO! 💙💙💙

He has been pure class this half.

Welcome back lad.

They're Premier League footballers. How on earth did people get convinced that they couldn't play any football?

Looking strongly like we're about to have 3 wins on the bounce, consecutive home games where we've scored 3 in a half, and pretty much clear of trouble. Quite a turnaround.

And almost just to rub it in Beto, who knows how to finish, gets a third very similar to the first two.

My hope now is that we don't sit back trying to just see out time, the whole of the second half, as their central defence looks there for the taking.

If Duke commits a foul and Leicester score one second half, then I’ll also get £40 for that (can cash out for £9 now).

I jokingly mentioned that Beto would get a hat trick too, wish I’d bet on that!

Beto looks like a proper striker.

Mykolenko transformed and back to his best, he’s put some cracking crosses in these last couple of matches.

Daddy’s fucking home (tee hee).

Im still not sold on Beto. His general play is crap.

Best game Doucoure has had all season.

Otherwise Alcaraz played here at racing club in argentina and he was pretty good, hope its done finally

Brilliant performance and 8-0 wouldn’t have flattered us.

James Garner MoTM.

I didn't understand the point of bringing Young on as a sub and it looked the ideal moment to give Armstrong a run and Ndiaye shows what ball players can do.

So much for Mr Dyche the saviour but new manager bounce or just the Moyes effect it's good to see us playing some football again.

The only downside of the game seemed to be the totally inconsistent refereeing as he seemed reluctant to give fouls in the box which he gave when committed outside, and was VAR involved at any time?

Well done blue boys and another hat tip to Moyes 3 wins on the bounce is madness.

I'd have been happy to see Armstrong, but I was happier to see Tim.

Well done Davey boy..

Graham 35.

Have a day off. We don't get many Saturday evenings to celebrate together. Lets grab it while we can

Could ask for more but I won't, so far so good for me!

Garner, Beto, back 4: all superb!! How lovely to be 10 points clear of the team 3rd bottom!

Woo Hoo

I don’t think Moyes has the same impact at another club. And I don’t think Everton get the same results with a different manager. It’s quite a synergetic relationship I think

I would disagree. I think it worked out nicely at WHU for Moyes. Look at them before and after each of his spells. The problem with Moyes is his glass ceiling of inferiority. It isn't a problem now for us as we have underperformed for years but towards the end of his last spell here, and his last at WHU he showed he struggles to "kick on" to the next level. As I say, we are a long way from that point yet but it has been his achilles down the years. For now though, onwards and upwards.

1. Shane Long, 7.69 seconds
2. Philip Billing, 9.11 seconds
3. Ledley King, 9.82 seconds
4. Doucoure, 10.18 seconds

3 wins in a row and creating chances at will. Amazing what confidence does. And a new manager.

Relegation fears all but gone with an effective 11 point gap and now it’s time to start looking up the table rather than down. Reckon we can get an old Phil Walling seventh-ish? (Spoiler alert- almost definitely not!)

Kudos to Moyes and Mackinley methinks.

Congratulations to the team! Congratulations to David Moyes! Congratulations to the fans!

Let’s see. I guess it depends what Moyes’ overall brief if.

No doubt it was initially to steer us away from relegation. Beyond that, who knows

Anyway, so far, so good. Manager of the month?

He certainly must be in the running

Moving up the Table. That is what it is all about.

I think the fitness thing too has to do with having the freedom to move around. Dyche had basically 7 men permanently stationed between the center circle and our box with the other three --each isolated scattered about the over half waiting in vain for a long punt from Pickford. The former 7 weren't allowed to move the latter three didn't have to as the ball rarely got near them.

Q/ Would Ndiaye still be on the pitch two games ago to get his goal and our 4th; or would he have been subbed for having run his socks off?

Even the subs today were made 5-6 minutes later, and I thought it was clever Timmy getting on for 13-14 minutes and running around with purpose.

All in all, a good display all round; and I would just like Jesper to get a goal, and build up his engine to his Frankfurt days!

To be fair, he's hardly had a good run in the side.

Garner and Gana immense. Douc showing why despite his limitations he always plays. O’Brien showing his quality. Ndiaye bringing the flair and creativity we need. Beto doing what we need, putting the ball in the net. Lindstrøm coming into form. Tarks and Branthwaite shutting things down. Hard to be critical of anything, but the ref missed that penalty on Beto, and as someone with several concussions, it was hard to watch them let Jarrad back on after the head injury.

Maybe Moyes has his limitations, but right now he’s exactly what we need. Feeling a lot better about the derby and the rest of the season. All smiles today.

I support the Chicago Blackhawks hockey team, which scored today in 7 seconds.

Not saying anything about my own performance last night with the missus, but...

You “hate” Moyes. No, you “despise” him.

Discuss….

57 seconds! 👏👏👏

A great result, performance & scoreline.

Admittedly, against a poor Leicester team. Getting the results are most important thing.

Garner looked better than ever been in a blue shirt.

Gana played well, Myko looks reborn.

Beto. oh Beto !! Showed today if we play to his strengths he can finish, he didn't need to touch the passs from Garner, just finish it !! If he's taking touches his chances of scoring rapidly diminish!

I said on another thread, it's almost like he's coming into a different team now, with new manager, tactics and style.

So he may flourish, he certainly did today.

Save some goals for the RS though blues !!!

UTFT !!!!!!

She was in tears you evil man you!! Your wife actually thought you'd sneezed, and then you started apologising!?

More self-control mon ami! Hehe 😉👍💙

I hope Moyes can do that he’s beat two very poor teams in Spurs and Leicester and beat Brighton in the same way that Dyche won many victories for the Blues.

Moyes has done well in getting us further away from trouble let’s see how we fare against some of the top teams.

Garner excellent today, my MOTM, but Beto will get that and I wouldn’t begrudge him of that.

Onwards and upwards.

The players look like weights have been lifted from them.
Moyes deserves credit. I never thought myself it would go as well as it has.

Fucking COYB
💙💙💙

No doubt Dyche will believe he sowed the seeds, but surely it’s shows the size of the gulf between his ‘style?’ and a manager who can ‘manage’.

In the space of a month everything about the club has changed, years of weekends wrecked by Everton may be coming to an end at long last. Keep up the good work!

Benefit of hindsight accepted, did anyone really believe that Dyche would have kept us up? His constant drivel was embarrassing, he had the players all along but just wasn’t good enough to realise.

I was a pleasure to witness today and enjoy meeting people on a Sunday/Monday with a smile on my face for the third week in the trot
What a transformation
COYB

I don’t think I’ve taken any credit away from Moyes if you read my post just asking if he can do it against the top teams which I think is pretty fair.

Let’s be honest Dave have you seen a better win than that Derby game at Goodison last season in the last few seasons, maybe Brighton away in the 5-1 win which Dyche managed.

I will give credit today that he played Beto and formulated the team to play to his strengths rather than expect him to play like DCL. He can’t do that role. He can’t win headers like DCL, his first touch isn’t the best and his all round play lacks quality. But he’s a big powerful guy who is direct, and put him through on goal and you will see his qualities.

Those qualities are similar to those of Lukaku who was much maligned by Everton fans for his ‘lack of effort’ hold up play, inability to press and poor Touch. However he was a world class finisher and playing to his strengths maximised his impact for us. Beto has nowhere near that level of quality, but he’s a dangerous player that can be effective, if you play to his strengths

Give him another chance ????

It is a fair point and if you look at Dyche's later results (draws with City, Chelsea and Arsenal) those were impressive. But in that vein you could also say he was the inverse of Moyes. His team seemed to do well when it wasn't expected but when we should get results we didn't. There are more average/poor teams than "Big six" so on balance Moyes is likely to accumulate more points. It is just we have to endure meek surrenders in what Moshiri would call "expected losses."

Pat Nevin (February 2025): "Moyes the magician"

Great tempo, great forward passes, lots of more energy and team cohesion.

Fair play that Vestegaard was horrific. He makes Michael Keane look like Baresi. Probably the worst centre back performance I've seen this season.

I honestly don’t think there is much difference between the two them but I think Dyche deserves great credit for twice helping to keep us up which a quite a few fans have denied him the credit of.

I wasn't eluding to you not giving credit mate. We will never know if Dyche would have beaten these teams.

I think the players had stopped believing I what Dyche was trying to do and it gradually wore them down.

It's OK getting draws at arsenal, City and Chelsea, but then getting beat by Bournemouth, aftef leading 2-0 beat by Southampton, drawing with Leicester

Drawing with west ham, Brentford etc.

So not beating the big teams doesn't bother me if we are beating all the others.

It's early days, Moyes has provided the bounce that the owners needed.

It's given the players a boost, the fans a lift and a bit of respite from the pressure.

I'm not getting carried away, but no-one can deny its been a fantastic Start.

Its not a done deal yet but I think its safe to say we will be playing in the Prem. next season.
There are only the top 3 teams that have conceeded less goals than us so we can thank Dyche for something.

I expected Moyes to do a good steady job but I didn't expect 3 wins and goals so soon.
I hope its not too much a flash in the pan.

You raise an interesting question.

N’Diaye, Mangala, O’Brien, Broja and Tim all look like good players to me.

I know 2 of those are loan players but his job is to get them to the club and that’s what he did.

The fact Dyche chose not to play O’Brien was his prerogative and the fact he couldn’t get a performance out of Lindstrom says more about Dyche than it does the player.

To obtain £50m for Amadou Onana also was tremendous business as I honestly don’t see a player there.

Harrison is obviously the influence of Dyche, as is Young.

Chermiti is a player whom many of us think has promise and his injury record could not have been predicted by Thelwell.

Danjuma has obvious talent and was a good loan signing but Dyche wouldn’t play him.

I think the questionable business obviosuly lies with Beto and Maupay. The Maupay signing has obviously become an awful transaction but we will get a fee back for him.

I also think at no point was he ever used properly at everton, up front in a 2. Like he was at Brentford on loan last season where he performed better than most of our attacking players.

His business in selling players I assess is first class. He has moved an incredible amount of dross on in the last few years and we are at long last seeing the club shift young players on for fees instead of hanging on to them for a decade hoping they’ll come good. So no more Matthew Pennington and now we have Stanley Mills. And good luck to Stanley, I hope he becomes a top player but Thelwell has moved him on and for a few and that model is a good thing for me.

Personally I think he has done and is doing a very good job. I think we would be foolish to move him on

Looks to have had a point, despite the mockers.

The old that is strong does not wither
Deep roots are not reached by the frost…

It goes to the heart of the DOF argument.

It certainly seems in our case that Thelwell was buying well but Sean wasn't making the most of those acquisitions. Moyes has come in and almost immediately made a better fist of it.

Let's hope it continues in a similar vein and this partnership blossoms.

When he was here last time the team you were proud of won the princely total of zero trophies. For which your hero was paid vast sums.

All credit to him for the recent upturn in performances and 3 great results. But I also suffered through the 11year glass ceiling period.

So I need a damn site more proof that Moyes can lead us to the promised land than 3 games can provide.

Aren’t the reports though that we are looking for replacements for Thelwell?

If you "suffered" under Moyes first period, how would you describe the period since he left?

Summed up my comment well. He had brought well with restrictions. Linked to good players who couldn’t get over the line due our financial limitations (Diaz,kudus and dummies).

I think he will do well with money…keep him on

According to the "reports" we are going to replace Moyes at the end of this season.

"Clickbait" Tommy... ignore it.

Quit the purity test.

We’ve won 3 of the last 4 since Moyes came in. Looking back when Dyche was in charge, do you think those results were likely? If you want wonderful football and nil satis nisis optimum, you shoukd go and choose the team of the day. If you want a warm, fuzzy feeling, try Everton right now under Moyes.

Pickford. Can’t see him ever leaving, could even see him breaking Nevs appearance record. We’ve been lucky to have him

Tarks Been an absolute great free transfer. A leader. Let’s hope we can get another two years out of him

Jarad Top prospect. Can’t see us keeping him if I’m honest but here’s hoping

Jake OBrien Early days but definitely got potential

Myko. Love his attitude but I’m not convinced he’s got enough going forward to be a long term solution.

Seamus club legend but all good things come to an end. He’ll be on the back room staff no doubt.

Young has been worth the contract but you can’t be giving 40 year olds another PL contract

Keane his time is up but I’ve always had a soft spot for him. He is just fatally slow on the turn.

Patterson Jury’s out but I’m not sure he’s a good enough defender.

So our priority must be getting some decent full backs

Ireland kick off their campaign with a win

And dry January ends but

Still off it...as long as we keep winning.

I've booked something for my wife Breige's 65th in later February and I'm starting to feel a bit conflicted already.

(Obviously haven't booked "under a minute" Gaynes)

Leicester’s defence was dreadful, wide open, but great credit has to go to the planning for the game, and the performance of every player. I feared James Garner would struggle in place of Mangala, but he was excellent. The defenders did their job very well, and I was made up Ndiaye got the goal he deserved - what a joy it is to watch someone try different things.

One regret from the day is that our first goal wasn’t delayed by 5 seconds. It was special to see Goodison’s fastest ever goal in its final season, but it supersedes the 14 second goal scored by Howard Kendall in 1970 against Chelsea as we surged towards winning the Title, a memory seared into my 14 year old brain!

I was convinced we were going down with Dyche. The man was clueless and had lost the team.

A word of caution. If memory serves me right, Moyes often won manager of the month but didn’t we go on a bad run afterwards? Like I said, I’m going on memory.

She has seen a little bit of history today, hopefully something to tell her own kids one day, and I saw something I haven’t seen out of an Everton team for a very long time, which was a collective calmness when in possession of the football.

Stop talking about the league everyone and let’s start focusing on Everton parading the FA Cup, around Goodison Pk, before she closes her doors forever🤞

Fucking ridiculous. Some people being asked to put aside their affection for Moyes (reasonable, we're Everton fans first). Others should put aside their animus and focus on the team, rather than their veiled nonsense and other such remarks.

Fact is, this could have been six or seven. Not unlike the Spurs game. Can we focus on that, the performances, and the team instead of this endless group therapy session about whether we're happy or not to have rehired David Moyes?

While we won’t meet many teams as supine as Leicester were today hopefully the confidence gained will carry over into the tougher challenges which lie ahead.

Posters still talking about what happened regarding the ginger one's first tenure back in the dark ages need to have a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror and consider getting a life. Or another hobby.

COYB!! Bring on the shite.

But don't discount the courage of Gueye to release him. He took a chance.

And don't discount Tarkowski's resolve to not hoof the ball. Nothing moving ahead of him, Leicester refusing to press him, and he just stayed on the ball for an eternity. Refused to go back, refused to hoof forward. Insisted that the ball was going into midfield and the two in the centre would need to move to make that happen. That's what leadership looks like when you believe in the instructions given to you.

Also interesting reading phrases like "All you Moyes doubters eat your words"

Why? As a Moyes doubter, I think he's done what he always does and it's why I said I'd take him til the end of the season but, and I hope he proves me wrong, he'll always beat a Leicester but never be any better than that.

I think it shows that Dyche was so far out of his depth and our players aren't as bad as some would have us believe.

(BTW I do think if DM didn't freeze against top teams he'd be genuinely an excellent manager, but he does talk negative and he does bottle it against the best, which is why his record is disproportionately bad against "the big boys".)

One has class, the other blamed everyone bar himself and only had a plan A who refused to give other players a chance, same 11 every week, took Branthwaite a few Months of last season to finally be given a chance, O,Brien not so lucky.

Moyes, we,us, the fans and players are in this together, the fans and players have been magnificent, Sean Dyche did a fantastic job at Everton.

Dyche, it has been like this before I came the players did the opposite of what I told them, I cannot do anymore with these players.

In just over a few weeks, O,Brien has been given a chance, not before bloody time, the midfield is being encouraged to get more forward to join the attacker, fullbacks allowed to cross the halfway line, the players look a lot fitter

Dyche has gone and now we have a new manager whatever happens going forward, or what went on previous, I’m finally enjoying watching football being played again at Goodison.

It does not matter if you are in the Dyche camp, the Moyes camp or whatever, let’s just enjoy watching Everton, and savour our final season at Goodison Park.

This time he held onto it until Gana got into a position to receive it and then a quick ball into him and he then played first time into Garner who played a sensational pass into Beto to score. Under Dyche that wouldn’t have happened as he was all about percentage football

I'm sweating about Mangala's injury but Garner shows with style. What a splitting pass that was!

Just watched Moyes' after-game interview and he gave credit to Dyche and his team for the foundation laid and he's building on top of that. I think TFG is right to pick Moyes as he can appreciate what's its there and make tweaks to make it better rather than another rip apart and rebuild.

COYB

1) David Moyes has the team playing out the ball from defence - and they look confident doing it.

2) Myko has been instructed to push; his crosses were a big improvement.

3) We lost a tidy midfielder who can look after the ball, and replaced him with another - well done Jimmy Garner.

4) Lindstrom looks like the player we hoped.

5) Having Beto in attack forces us to pass the ball forward rather than hoof those aimless high balls up the other end.

I agree with Tony, let’s put together a cup run.

On MoTD I saw another wonderful piece of skill, Mattheus Cunha's goal was just breath taking, the skill, the poise, the confidence, the arrogance, just great. The low key response from the so called pundits, was typical. If that had been Salad, Isak, they would have been wetting themselves. What a talent Cunha is. Now he would be a signature signing, come the summer.

Another thing Go and get Robinson from Fulham before the RS get him, just saying.

What gets me is that it's not just a good goal - it's a brilliant goal. 4 players, patience, crisp passing, then a creative and brilliantly weighted pass, then a great finish. That's elite level stuff. Amazing goal.

And it's not the first time. Ndiaye's goal against Spurs was a similarly brilliant goal except Ndiaye was the one released by Gana and he carried it instead of passing.

And of course Dom scored a beauty after a nice pass into him (Gueye again?).

We didn't use to score, but we also certainly didn't score beauties! When was our last really great goal? We've just got 3 in a little over a week.

I think it puts to bed the idea that these players can't play football. If that was City then the media would need an extra box of tissues while typing their reports.

Being able to finish in the European places is possible for around half the teams in the PL, but breaking into the CL spots, and consistently doing so requires a lot of money. History has proven this. Arsenal, city, Utd, Liverpool, spurs, Chelsea and Newcastle have spent the most over the past 5 seasons. Utd and Spurs are having blip seasons, but with exception of Forest, who have spent heavily as well, it’s pretty much as you were for the big spenders.

Moyes never had that money at Everton. He had more at West Ham, but no so much as to create a squad capable of troubling the big spenders consistently.

So, basically, Moyes achieved exactly what you would expect.

If Moyes had been given the money that Koeman, Silva, carlo or even Aladyce received would he have achieved more?

Who knows. But for now he is getting better performances out of the group he has than the previous manager.

Of note, Thelwells work looks a bit more promising since Moyes came in. Big Jake, Lindstrom, Mangala, Ndaiye all look like good players, who were badly used or coached by Dyche. We would still have Keane and Young as first choice players if the change hadn’t been made.

Ernie #124, exactly, and Tarks also had one of the nicest passes of his Everton career for Beto's first goal. That's a big change under Moyes as well.

Jack #132, sorry to hit you with a double dose of bad news, but Cunha just today signed a new 4.5 year contract with Wolves to end all transfer speculation, and Robinson's ambitions are such that he would never even glance at a team not in the CL -- especially us, since he's a boyhood RS supporter.

Even though you could argue the latest effort was against a poor Leicester team, some of the football produced was a joy to watch. We haven’t been able to say that too often this season.

Credit to him for what he has produced so far. But that hasn’t changed my opinion of him as our long term saviour.

The confidence on the park is great to see, and belief and spirit has returned.

Early days but plenty to build on.
Hopefully a few signings in this transfer windiw final hours.

UTFTs!

I never suggested getting Thomas Franks was doable. You asked me to suggest my alternative to Moyes, which I did.

As I have said in earlier posts, credit to Moyes for what he has produced in the short term.

Do I think he is the man to lead us into the promised land? Absolutely not.

I will enjoy the so called wzrm fuzzy feeling you mention for now. But, in the long term, I would like the same feeling against the big boys. If Moyes can, given time, produce the same results against the top clubs, I will hold my hands up and say how wrong I was.

Until then I will enjoy our recent resurgence, but very much doubt Moyes is our long term saviour.

I will reject your suggestion of selecting the team of the day. If that is allowed by you, of course?

Come on without, come on within,
You’ll not see nothing like the Mighty Everton!
Come on without, come on within,
You’ll not see nothing like the Mighty Everton

For our younger fans - based on this song from the 60’s
Link

What is the long term only a succession of short terms. So, let’s live in the now, savour the Moyesiah’s about-turn in our fortunes, and let the (brighter) future look after itself.

But let me try.

1) “Posters still talking about what happened regarding the ginger one's first tenure back in the dark ages need to have a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror.”

We are meant to ignore his 27 year managerial track record, including 11 years at this club. Ignore his 1,154 games as a manager and concentrate on 4 matches simply because it suits your narrative. And if we don’t, we have to take a “long, hard look at ourselves?”

2) “Consider getting a life. Or another hobby.”

Well this is the best of all. If we don’t agree with you, then we should consider not supporting Everton. Who are you to tell your fellow blues not to support their club?

Respectfully suggest you wind your neck in.

And by the way, I thought we played great yesterday. I’ll see where we are after Bournemouth and Liverpool before buying into more deeply to the mass hysteria.

We are not talking another 11 year reign. We are talking keep us up, and turnover players for the following 2 years.

What's his target in that time. Probably top 10, and depending on his luck in the market, a European push.

As I've posted previously my seat is really close to the home dugout so close you can hear what's said to players.

You can argue all you want about the merits of each manager but for me the key is people management. Dyche forever barked orders at the players. They were not allowed to do what they did naturally and play football. Moyes still gives instructions when needed but it's not barked at the players rather more subtle advice. He gives them confidence to play.

Look at how much better Lindsrøm is since he's taken over. Maybe Dyche barking orders impacted his confidence.

You only need to watch the last few games and you can see the positive impact Moyes has had on the team, the players seem happier too.

The debate about Moyes and the glass ceiling is fairly mute. The glass ceiling was imposed by the worst chairman and owner this club has ever had. I think he's the right person for this club now. The 2.5 years is a good time to build a new foundation. If he stays longer will depend on how well he does. If he does well and stays, great it means Everton are doing well. If he has us safe in midtable and we get a manager to kick on, I'll still be forever greatful as we are not looking over our shoulders again.

Since Moyes has taken over I'm enjoying watching Everton again and going the match. It had become a chore going under Dyche. A lot of match going fans I've spoken to feel the same.

Ill take some goals and some wins for a while.

Let’s just enjoy the ride and hope it continues.

I am also with Tony A lets win the cup and dedicate it to Goodison UTFT

Looking forward to the FA Cup tie against a current bogey team, I hope we play a full strength side and that the Bournemouth manager decides to rest some of his injury ravaged squad and make it a bit easier for us! If we could go into the derby on the back of 4 wins in a row then the atmosphere at Goodison should be electric and confidence high - the other lot will be odds on favourites but it would be special to beat them under the lights at Goodison and put a dent in their title hopes.

On that subject, watching MOTD and you see them given a super soft penalty and us denied a worse looking one, hope the tables are turned against them and they’ve used their ‘luck’ up for a couple of weeks.

David Moyes meaning of Attack.......... . Get the ball forward and score a few goals!

Think I prefer the Moyes meaning! 😁😁😁

I’m delighted your little girl witnessed such a piece of history (as I should have been that my grandson also did). I hope it lives long in their memories.

The players have been granted a new freedom to express themselves, which has enabled them to display their true capabilities. This was never the case with Dyche's outdated negative approach. Another excellent all round performance yesterday.

It is imperative that signings are made before the end of this transfer window. The squad is threadbare and the season has a long way to go. If they do not materialise, then all the hard work and promise achieved since Moyes arrival, could easily be compromised.

Leicester were dreadful, yet by the same token, we punished them. Garner looked a better player with movement in front of him. Beto looked better when the ball is slipped in for him to run onto. O'Brien has the makings of a good footballing defender, who looks more than 'Premier League ready'.

Let's enjoy this run. The midtable squad is suddenly looking like a midtable team. That means we'll get the odd disappointment too, remembering the Moyes flip side of meandering draws and defeats from the past.

For me, the first steps for the future are TFG running Everton like a proper business, and Moyes making the team relatively normal, going the right way up the table.

Then, and only then, will I think of 'better' managers for the future. Let's make ourselves attractive to them first.

The whole energetic performance was totally different to what Everton fans had to endure under Dyche who must be thinking why didn’t my team play like that?

I’m not sure what his role should be titled; Sacrificial lamb, Sap, Bollockee-in-Chief, but it serves a vital purpose!

But just to clarify your interpretation of my words. I'm not creating a 'narrative' about Moyes, I'm just going with the facts, three wins from four, eight goals scored, nine points from twelve. I repeat, that's not a narrative, they're the facts.

I'll boil the second part of my post down for you. I'm not bearing any grudges towards David Moyes for what happened in the past. I don't particularly care about it, it's in the past. I think that holding a grudge helps no-one, it doesn't allow you to move forward with anything. So I prefer to stay positive and open-minded. A lesson that life has taught me.

But if you wish to continue raking over the past history of David Moyes and Everton, go ahead. Your prerogative. Enjoy yourself down there. Personally I think there's far more important things in the world to be concerned about.

And no, I won't be winding my neck in :)

Pre match Mike G predicted a 4 goal haul for Beto over the next run of games. Mike I hope you have errored on the conservative side!

For the moment lets enjoy the weekend and feel a bit more confident that BMD will host Premier League football in August!

Play the ball on the ground in front of the centre forwards and they score. It reminded me of the song: 'feed the Yak, and he will score'.

Touches - 48
Goals - 1
Successful passes - 22
Successful attacking third passes - 9
Chances created - 2
Pass accuracy - 69%
Ground duels won - 9
Recoveries - 6
Successful dribbles - 4
Fouls won - 3
Successful tackles - 2

That workrate is phenomenal. 9 out of 11 ground duels won, and 6 recoveries at the top end of the pitch. Moyes will be pleased to have that and skill in a young player, thst can score with quality. Major plus.

An important point about DCL he probably would have taken a touch from that excellent through ball for Beto's second which might have squandered the chance. Beto showed real composure letting the ball run past him to provide time to calmly slot.

We could have done with such coolness in so many other games.

It just goes to show, that with basically the same group of players, who many had mostly written off, a different strategy and self belief can dramatically change results. Kudos to Moyes and the players for their joint effort and rightfully claiming 9 points, which couldn't have been envisaged prior to his arrival.

Winning breeds confidence, and 11 confident players going in to any match, provided complacency is not allowed to rear it's ugly head, can only augur well for the upcoming fixtures.

Last week at Brighton when Pickford punched the ball about three feet and Brighton got three or four corners from that causing some panic from them, Tarkowski looked at him after the initial poor punch and said something to him, quietly, possibly “ You could have caught that” which was easier, to me, and Pickford just held his hands out and shrugged his shoulders.

Pickford rants and raves after every attack, wastes time, even like yesterday when we are 3-0 up and three minutes to go!

As I keep mentioning our defence is a big part of what we get right, that was another club we have nilled.

Moyes was always going to be a pair of safe hands and he's done brilliant but lets not forget that Dyche put together the players, so credit him for that.
Moyes is an old fox, what he doesn't know about football isn' t worth knowing.

We were well overdue some feel good and things look a lot rosier now.

DCL was on fire against Spurs and scored a truly brilliant goal and although I've heard people say that the Leicester keeper was slow off his line and showed Beto too much of the goal yesterday, you can only put away the chances you have and Beto absolutely buried his.
Shame about DCL because both of these men have already looked much, much happier, better players for Moyes, than the forlorn, rustrated, isolated figures they cut in the Dyche set up.

I think Dyche would have beaten both Spurs and Leicester, but that he would have done so by pursuing his holy grail - The clean sheet.

This was much more fun

It is not all down to Moyes, the players have to take huge credit as well, but why not just take one game at a time and enjoy the football we are playing at the moment..

Moyes is no longer the Young hungry Manager we had, me personally I think he is older wiser and better, he has learned a lot and we will find out in the cup game and the Derby how far we have come, in his second stint.

Up the Toffees.

Annika - Get real. In the period Moyes was here.
Premiership = Arsenal, United, City and Chelsea
Cup = Arsenal, United, City and Chelsea - plus Portsmouth beat 2nd div Cardiff and Wigan (yes they beat us en-route).
League Cup = yeah but staying in the premier league was more important for most clubs and only 3 of the winners was not the above or Spurs.

Only 5 managers outside of those of the Sky Darlings won a trophy out of 36 presented.

Sean 191
We're unlikely to have scored 3 goals against Spurs, I agree (though their defence was very generous). But your post is a bit harsh on Young, one of the better players in the last ten or so games under Dyche. Playing a CB at RB has been a great move so far by Moyes, but Young hardly the main reason we stank previously.

Thank you David Moyes.

I married a guy whose team started winning everything. I then saw him become increasingly depressed, especially in the Spring. He was a nightmare at weekends. Then Everton appointed Moyes and he relaxed again and Spring time was a joy.

Over the last 3 years he returned to that depressed husband again, but not just in the spring - from August to May.

I have my happy husband back. Thank you for a second time.

https://www.sofascore.com/football/match/everton-leicester-city/GY#tab:statistics

Unusual to have a left winger with those stats, but long may it continue. Not the quickest, but he's a real handful and could be a big part of the club for many years to come.

You can only beat the teams put in front of you, enjoy the moment while we can.

Against any team in PL you need a strategy which exposes their weaknesses. That's been the case in all of these games. Spurs play a high line and allow teams to get behind, Brighton struggle to score against a low block and Leicester are awful and slow at CB.

We played on these weaknesses which shows an element of proactive coaching which was totally absent this season. Moyes may have his faults/limits etc, but he's clearly on another level to Dyche at analysing the opposition and adjusting his tactics to suit.

You have to score goals to win however and the Blues have shown a lot more prowess in the last three games and defended what they had for a change.

We won't win every game from hereon in but we are all a little more confident than we were. C.O.Y.B.

Giving good advice is a lot different from constantly barking orders, and I think another very good piece of advice, will have been to explain to players like Lindstrom, that once you start running and working hard, then the Everton crowd will always get behind you.

Harrison’s confidence has been destroyed because he was definitely getting picked for his defensive duties, and as much as he has been helping his fullback, this hasn’t been getting reciprocated, when he has had the ball.

Confidence is key, because it helps brings a calmness that hasn’t been around for a very long time and this is why I enjoyed that third goal so much.

Under normal circumstances Tarkowski would have been looking to hit the big stupid diagonal, and there is no way he would have been able to keep hold of the ball, without the crowd getting exasperated.

I was already clapping because he’d had the calmness to wait for a little forward pass, and I carried on clapping when Gueye played the next pass calmly around the corner to Garner, and then my clapping was drowned out once Garner played the next pass, and before you knew it Beto, had scored a wonderful goal.

When the Everton crowd are happy and begin to unite, the confidence that is given to the players, already has people commenting that we already look a lot fitter.

This is why it is so important to get your players playing with belief and confidence, because once you can do this, the crowd suddenly becomes a lot more important to the players.

I think we have enough in our squad now, to be able to keep us safe, as we have all our midfielders back now. Though after watching his post match presser a couple of times, I'm not sure he's sold on Alcaraz looking at his body language; he leans back and folds his arms when asked...

Then, we have been told that between four to six (eight) weeks we'll have all our strikers back (YC, DCL and Broja), and to be completely honest; it's looking like we don't need Seamus. Though I'm sure he'd appreciate a couple of cameos at Goodison in her last ever season.

If that is actually the case, and Moyes can get some results from this lot; I've highlighted the fixtures I think we'll get points (wins) from, and italics for maybe a point or better:

8 Feb 2025 Bournemouth H FA Cup
12 Feb 2025 Liverpool H PL (Last GP Derby!)
15 Feb 2025 Crystal Palace A PL
22 Feb 2025 Manchester United H PL
26 Feb 2025 Brentford A PL
8 Mar 2025 Wolverhampton Wanderers A PL
15 Mar 2025 West Ham United H PL
2 Apr 2025 Liverpool A PL
5 Apr 2025 Arsenal H PL (Going on recent history)
12 Apr 2025 Nottingham Forest A PL
19 Apr 2025 Manchester City H PL
26 Apr 2025 Chelsea A PL
3 May 2025 Ipswich Town H PL
10 May 2025 Fulham A PL
18 May 2025 Southampton H PL
25 May 2025 Newcastle United A PL

So with what could well be five more wins, and picking up 2-4 draws or wins, I'm pretty confident we'll be playing PL footy next season at the Everton Stadium. Where realistically, we only need another 12 pts it has been estimated (It'll take us to 38 pts)

Which, to me means two things;

The last Goodison Park derby game is not a free hit, we want to beat the RS off the park!

Secondly, we've just entered the 30th year (That is three decasds!!) since we've won anything. So, for Tony A, his kids, and all the other TWers who want silverware, and for all the younger fans who never saw the 80s team, or the '95 cup win. I really, really hope that Moyes goes pedal to the metal to win the cup, for the fans, the community and for the Grand 'arl Lady herself!

Not to mention, we get a free ticket to Europe! Do not pass 'Go', do not collect £2mn!!

WSNBM COYBN!!

I'm an Evertonian, always have been, always will!

I support the club, first and foremost.

I support the manager, until either he is sacked or he leaves (Though I can and will criticise when due, however, I try not to bitch)

I support the players, until either they are sold or they leave (Though I can and will criticise when due, in a critical fashion hopefully?))

Last season Luton got 5 points from the 14 fixtures still to play, Sheffield United 7 and Burnley 9.

So far this season the promoted teams are matching the points of those 3.

If any of them 3 get more than 30 points then put money on them winning the title next year (a la Leicester in 2015).

Let us look back on this post and see if we would have been safe already and none get more than 26 points.

I think your estimate is very conservative there Simon, I don’t think we will need more than 2 wins and a couple of draws. I think it will be Ipswich, Leicester and Southampton and I will be amazed if any of them get more than 34 points.

It won’t always be like yesterday but Moyes deserves big credit and I’m so pleased for Beto who I thought was underused by Dyche and misused when he did play.

Bournemouth and Liverpool will be far tougher but confidence is up now and they won’t fancy coming to Goodison right now.

The same players have been just awful under Dyche, as MK says, the change of manager was critical in the change of approach, getting more out of the same team, same players.
Let's not get carried away though, there are going to be a few potholes in the road to recovery, big ones, but it's important that we win when and where we can, pick up points in places where we wouldn't have before. Moyes will do that because of his approach and the freedom given to attack.
Self belief and attitude breed confidence. Confidence wins games. We are already better off, not on paper, but on intent. All the same underlying issues still require fixing, but at least those shortfalls are tempered by attitude of manager and players.
Put the other lot to the sword and we will be world beaters. Come on you blue boys, make me smile once more!

That's the problem

There will be bumps in the road to come. But we are scoring and playing better football. Maybe a bit more luck too - but it would be churlish to put it all down to luck.

It is a really good start and bodes well. It bodes even better if the quality of the playing squad can be improved in the next day or so.

As others have said, the lousy form of the bottom 3 and their abysmal defensive record means they will struggle to get more than 3 wins - let alone the 5, 6 or possibly 7 they will need to stay up.

Let's go big in the cup and beat Bournemouth.

"You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes, well, you just might find
You get what you need!"

©Richards/Jagger

I agreed with that at the time, but you wouldn’t have thought it watching us!!

Moyes gives the impression he knows what he is about.Under Dyche Everton would have drawn those games at best and probably lost one, if not two games.Dycheball had run it's course and the opposition had it's measure.

Barber curently brighton, macintosh former city and currently Fulham, and Vinai Venkatesham former arsenal.

Jack Harrison has been very poor and this has affected any footballer’s greatest commodity, which is confidence, but he might really surprise everyone playing in a team that is playing further up the pitch, and with fullbacks no longer restricted to just playing in their own half.

Can you Imagine Pienaar, playing out wide, with no overlapping fullback? My own view is that he’d have done even worse than jack Harrison and his confidence would have also been on the floor. We will see

That’s right Colin, I remember that time well. You were indeed the only voice on here insisting that we needed a new coach who “coaches football” “months ago”. You led, The rest of us followed.

But this is even more cranky:

Colin Crooks (187): “When I look down on the pitch, I see very little difference between the shape of Moye's Everton and the shape of Dyche's”.

I had to read that around a dozen times and put my eyes back in. Erm, overlapping full backs, reconfigured back line that no longer sits deep all the fecking time (hence through balls through the middle), a shape/set up that allows us to get the ball forward quicker with players in place to put in crosses that actually reach one of our players. Nah, “very little difference”.

Only really one good delivery that Doucoure, should have done better and hit the target with, but in this five minute spell, just before half time, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mykolenko, getting forward on the overlap in this manner

I could spend time explaining to you that playing the same formation does not have to have the same results if you play it with a more positive attitude. A confidence. a willingness to break ranks at the right moments. select the right players but what would be the point ? You havent got a scooby. If I asked you to name the Formation yesterday you would have about as much Idea as you would in naming Dyches formation. You simply wouldnt know.

Stick to your unerring ability to be able to spot-the-bot. This footy lark entails an awul lot more than sitting sniping at opinion you cant begin to understand

I can't remember who it was Tony, but someone posted after the match yesterday that we need a new left back because Mykolenko was not very good going forward. He is, in my opinion, our most improved player since Moyes came back. I have really enjoyed seeing him get much further up the pitch and the smile back on his face.

Apart from being played out of position, he constantly gave up possession too easily and his passing was often suspect. Now I don't believe playing on the right instead of the left would alter or improve any of those abilities. I don't think Moyes is an admirer of him either, and yesterday's brief cameo substitute appearance was possibly a shop window opportunity.

I agree Tony, Harrison under Moyes would be a different player.He may be even played in his proper position.

Make a cup of tea Paul. Sit back. Do a little bit of work and wait for the next bit of obsessive doggrel bluster. Incoming.

Neil @169, agree, right now, regardless of "side of the divide", we should just enjoy the moment. We won't win them all, but let's not implode and descend into mudslinging and "told you so" debates when we lose a couple. I certainly won't and most regular readers know my stance.

Two wins takes us to 32. We are likely to win more and pick up a few draws. We're not quite there, but on the right track and I for one, am confident we will do it.

I watched the highlights this morning and the full 90 later on.

Once again, the team looked confident, unlike earlier in the season. Once again, they were pressing, supporting each other, comfortable on the ball and not fearful of it. Our link-up play at times was a joy to watch, especially down the left.

Call outs on a few players.

Beto is not and never was a target man for Pickford and Tarkowski's long punts. Just like Calvert-Lewin, he was chasing his own flick ons waiting for the cavalry that was in the distance and never arrived in time. Play the ball on the deck with a defence splitting pass for him to run into the space however, and he's maybe a different prospect. Cool finishing, although fluffed his lines for a hat trick and should have won a penalty in my opinion.

Lindstrom is a transformed player, and is playing with renewed confidence.

Early days with him only just back from injury, but James Garner looks a very good player. His range of passing and ability to open up a defence is something we've lacked. And he has other tools in his box including not being afraid to go in for a hard, but fair, tackle or two. I hope the boy from Birkenhead stays fit and has a run of games.

Ndiaye. I don't need to say much, as I've been saying it all season. What a find. Not just a good player, that excites the crowd, but tenacious and refuses to give in if possession is lost to turn the game around. For the 3rd goal, he made three centre backs look confused as if a wasp was buzzing in their ears, bit at their ankles, tied them in knots and left them standing as he bore down on goal. The finish, although from open play, was almost a carbon copy of his penalty at Brighton from a similar position.

And Doucoure getting in on the act as well. He's been the whipping boy of late. Fortunately, he finally had his boots on the correct feet. Well taken goal and great anticipation to get in a position to get the shot away across the goalkeeper.

Effort, desire and playing football we want to see. We all want the result, but if we see that level of commitment and performance, we will be behind them. That's all we ask. We have had both recently, although there was a nervous end to the Tottenham match and that 2nd half at Brighton lasted an eternity as we hung on.

So, happy Evertonians and happy players who have their mojo back.

Bournemouth next. Let's take the cup seriously. Dispose of Bournemouth and we're in the last 16, one step closer to Wembley. Let's give these young supporters a taste of what it's like, as they have never had it, yet keep going week in, week out. Total respect.

Probably the last opportunity for me, my son, my youngest brother and nephew to have a photo at Goodison together. I've suggested the Holy Trinity with the club crest on the Main Stand in the background.

After today, one point behind West Ham and Tottenham. Only 3 behind Manchester United, a game in hand, we play them at Goodison this month and have a better goal difference, albeit by one, as it stands. Looking up not down.

Last point, there are no free passes in football as much as in life. Especially not in a Merseyside derby and certainly not the last one at Goodison Park. Let's give Lucifer's children the unwelcome they deserve.

I've been quietly impressed by Moyes (and coaching team I presume) tweaking our tactics to take advantage of the oppositions weaknesses.

I remember saying to you earlier in the season that there seemed to be some sort of magnetic field preventing Mykolenko going past the half way line.

Good to see him getting involved more. He may not be the best marauding full back, but is a good defender in my opinion.

If Harrison goes,, then I agree with Ian, and think we must have someone else lined-up, but if he stays it wouldn’t surprise me if we begin to see a much more positive player.

I don't see anybody saying the formation was different, just that it was played with a more positive attitude. Thats what I said in the first place

Prepare for more incoming light feather bluster Paul. Exciting this.

There’s better left backs, up and down the country in B-Wing, is how one of my funnier maté’s describes him, and he has looked like he has got the weight of the world on his shoulders, which is understandable considering what is going on in his homeland.

Early days but one of my favourite sights in football, is wide players running into the space ahead of them waiting for the football to be played in front of them.

I absolutely love watching this type of football, because I believe when it’s done right that it’s impossible to defend against, and if we start getting this right, more players will just naturally run forward into the opposition’s box.

Let’s hope so - even if it’s still early days

One good performance (yesterday) should be what we see each and every game. Hopefully, he acknowledges the difference and repeats if picked !

You attack ME... and I'm stalking YOU ?. Do you think nobody on here can read ????

You really do hate it when somebody fires back at one of your numerous unprovoked attacks on other posters dont you. Classic bully behavior

Do you really think I would discuss Footy with YOU ????.

Not while my mrs has a cat

Derek, he has been poor, much of the team were.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmQp6bAzH4w

Touch. Class. Confidence. And a massive thrill for me.

The confidence is gone now, but that player is still in there, and his work ethic remains an example to every footballer.

He will likely depart Everton in the near future. Many here, perhaps most, will celebrate. I won't.

I'll thank him for an indelible memory.

I think there could be a player in there like others have mentioned, but he could be one of those where the negativity's gone too far and he needs a change.

I'm struggling to recall ever seeing him at LW except maybe once or twice as a late-game sub.

The fact that Dyche continually played him on the right, probably has dented or irreparably damaged his confidence. Having said that feel sorry for the lad, but, if we can offload, I still would if it was down to me, which again it isn't, but you know what I mean !

It doesn't make him a world class player but similar to Dom, if the team can create chances, deliver quick passes and crosses for him to get on the end of, he'll score goals.

Duke is also capable of scoring goals, some amazing and important goals. But without wanting to take away any shine from the win, let's just say he's very inconsistent with the ball at his feet.

We have enough about us to avoid relegation but we need to stay together, stay focused and take every game as being the most important.

As for Harrison, he's played almost exclusively on the right for us barring the odd game or substitute appearance. He's very left footed and if played on the left would be more useful to deliver crosses and passes. He also works hard for the team.

But he shouldn't start there ahead of Ndiaye or McNeil (who interchange well together). He back up only. We need better quality to deliver better results in the right midfield / forward role.

For me, he's just not good enough, but like every Everton player, deserves support and encouragement. Any boo-ing and other abuse by our own fans is disgusting.

There's still a lot of football to play, its important to sick together, enjoy the wins and quickly learn to overcome any defeats.

His first touch is sublime, often catching a high dropping ball out of the air. His short passing is quick and accurate.

He is most definitely not a right winger. He has been forced to play as cover for an elderly fullback. His correct position is further in towards the middle. Whether that is a role we can accommodate, or need, is another matter; but I suspect another team would be glad to give him a try.

If Harrison was playing at 10, or on the left, as any sane manager would deploy him, he'd show distinctly better results.

So I will get real when you do the same

Like you said I can’t remember a time when Harrison played on the left under Dyche.

What sort of mindless twat would boo an Everton player coming onto the pitch, absolutely terrible if that was the case.

You comment was Unless I am mistaken which means you have doubts.
I actually wrote that Wigan beat us en-route to their win. Just take my facts and accept them. We lost to Wigan. You did not need to question your memory. I told you.

So one frustrating game - but how exactly would we have won with more adventure??

I had started tiring of Moyes around 2010.

That Wigan match was the final nail for me. It was such a missed opportunity and we froze like a rabbit in the headlights.

And then that semi final against them when they were there for the taking. We opted to sit on and hold a 1 - 0 lead, inviting them on. It took me a while to get over that.

It was time for change sooner that when he did leave in 2013 under circumstances that still haven't been forgotten by many.

He's back now and it's been a decent start, picking up the points we desperately needed and we're in a much better position.

I thought of you at 4.30 on Saturday, it was only around that time that I stopped worrying, Bournemouth at home had a terrible impact, and said to myself "Danny can enjoy the last 20 minutes today".

I don't get too caught up with the Deadline Day stuff. We have what we have, hopefully, we can bring in one or two to improve things but we are no longer desperate and new additions should only be brought in if the are for the long term.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHto2ljstws