I'm at a loss to describe the line up as the teams kicked off, I think it was meant to be 4-4-2, though it was a sort of 3-1-4-2 actually on the pitch, with Unsworth somewhere between the back three and the midfield, in a sort of left-back-half position. And with Mike Reed as referee, anything could happen.

Sheffield kicked off and had the better of the early exchanges, without really threatening. 'Better' is a relative term, of course. In an exam 1% is better than 0%. And this was about the shape of the game. Gemmill caught the eye with some clever touches, feeding Jeffers on a couple of occasions, though both came to nothing. Campbell was competitive in the middle, always proving a handful for the Wednesday defence. But it was huff and puff football all the way through the first half, a first half enlivened only by two incidents. The first was a well taken goal by Jeffers, who gently lobbed a Srnicek dropped ball into the empty net, the second being a powerful drive across goal from Barmby, which would have been parried out by a decent keeper, to the lurking Jeffers. Srnicek not being a decent keeper, he flapped and missed and the ball went out of play. On the day Srnicek was woeful, we were worse.

A half-time scoreline of 1-0 was probably a fair reflection – given the performance, Wednesday were headed for the drop.

The second half kicked off with a Jeffers tap to Campbell, who passed it back to Dacourt, who drove it out wide, beyond the chasing Barmby. That just about encapsulated the whole of the second half. The tap and the long punt. Two taps saw Wednesday pick up all three points. The first was a pitiful attempt at a back pass from Unsworth, after a susicide ball from Materazzi (though he could have hoofed it clear without too much problem) which fell at Carbone's feet. If there was one player in the Wednesday side who could worry us it was Carbone. We didn't want to see what he could do, we just wanted to keep him kept out of the game. With only Myhre to beat he duly despatched the ball into the net. 1-1.

In case we hadn't seen the goal first time round, not having the luxury of the pitchside TV replay at Goodison, Materazzi treated us to a rerun. A short push back to Myhre, in nipped Carbone, game over. 1-2.

After that it was all punt and hope. Back to the early season game. This time Campbell was the target man. He tired towards the end, so Smith replaced Materazzi with Ball, Grant with Degn and eventually Barmby with Bakayoko. But it was all huff and puff. No real endeavour, no real commitment, pick up your pay packet and let's play again next week. The only bright spots on a torrid afternoon were Jeffers and the appearance of Degn, who promises much down the right hand side. He's got good close control, good vision and crosses the ball well. Will he be too late to turn the tide of inevitability?

Sadly, I think so, as considering today's overall performance, it isn't Wednesday who'll be looking forward to a Division 1 derby match with neighbours United, its us with Tranmere. But maybe Blackburn's deadly run in will just save us.

Man of the Match:

No one of any note, but if I have to give it to anyone it will be Jeffers, for an honest performance. Barmby tried hard, to no real effect (was that due to the quality around him?) and Degn, for his promising 15 minutes, ran them both close.

Team Performance:

Beyond description, even for Mr Verbose. Two points I will make, though. Firstly, Dacourt is playing like the footballing equivalent of a eunuch. No testosterone in his play. Referees must take much of the credit for this. Dacourt, too, has to shoulder some of the responsibility and get on with life. Secondly, Grant, despite all of his undoubted talent, just cannot produce it when it matters. Its time for him to either show his mettle and deliver big time, or make way for someone who can – though in our current parlous financial situation, it might be a case of batten down the financial hatches for a few years in the wilderness, offload all of those Premiership quality (where?) players and rebuild with the kids – that's if their agents don't have them moving on too!.

I saw today's game as the start of the run-in to the end of the season. Having suffered three straight defeats it was important, as much psychologically, to win this game. This would then, in theory, set us up nicely for the remaining home games.

Walter tinkered once again with the side. A second game in three days was deemed too much for old man Watson and he was rested. Michael Ball was also demoted but this was something that, in all honesty, had been coming for some time. The curious Michael Branch experiment was also ended with Jeffers coming back and Branch not even on the bench. This all gave us a line up of Myrhe, a back four of Weir, Short, Materazzi, and Unsworth, Grant and Dacourt in centre midfield with Gemmill on the right and Barmby on the left. Up front were Campbell and Jeffers with Simonsen, Ball, Cadamarteri, Bakayoko and Degn on the bench.

The first half went quite well for us. We looked pretty solid, we passed the ball OK everyone was doing their job. Wednesday even gifted us a goal – a long ball from Unsworth to the edge of the box, Srnicek dithered, Campbell went in and the ball fell to Jeffers who did well to loft it over the stranded 'keeper and into the net.

After the goal we continued to go about our job well. There was certainly no sign of sitting back on the lead, we continued to go forward looking for more. We never really looked like going as far as actually scoring but we were consistently moving forward.

I would sum the first half performance up as competent. We weren't good, just competent. If we had carried on in that vein we would have been OK. Alas we didn't, instead we put in a second half that can only be described as shambolic. The tone was set early on. Craig Short, captain for the day, chased a ball towards our right hand corner flag. He had a couple of options, a pass to Myrhe or, safety first, concede a throw in. Instead, under no real pressure, he managed to concede a corner.

Suddenly we were under the cosh. We survived the storm for 5 minutes, not entirely convincingly, but survive it we did. Then having seemingly survived the rather ineffectual best that Sheffield could muster, we committed suicide. A long hopeful punt reached the edge of our box, Myrhe should have come out and taken charge of the situation, instead he left it to Materazzi who passed it across the edge of the box to Unsworth, Unsie clearly wasn't expecting the ball, he was caught a bit cold and attempted a rather panicky back pass which was horribly mishit and fell straight to Carbone who wasn't going to miss from there. Unsworth ultimately made the bad back pass but to my mind Myrhe and Materazzi were equally culpable.

If that was bad worse was to follow. Ten minutes later another long, hopeful punt, Materazzi was chasing it back, he tried to play it back to Myrhe but got no purchase on it and instead Carbone ran gleefully onto it to dispatch his second gift of the day.

We were now in serious trouble. Defensively we were shaky, our midfield had gone AWOL and Wednesday were nullifying the aerial threat of Campbell. We looked pretty clueless. Walter started to change things around. Ball and Degn came on for Materazzi and Grant. The reshuffle saw us go to a back five with Ball and Degn as wing backs, only this time they looked like proper wing backs playing well in advance of the central defensive trio. Degn even had a few promising attacking bursts down his flank, but ultimately it came to nought.

The final throw of the dice was to bring Bakayoko on. Barmby was the one to make way, a little mystifying that one, I can only assume it was linked to his recent injury and that maybe two games in three days after his recent layoff was a bit too much for him. Again the change didn't measure up to much. Bakayoko had a few half decent touches but nothing that looked like he was going to dig us out of the hole we were in.

To no-one's great surprise full time was reached without us dragging ourselves back into the game. Yet again we had had plenty of time to do something. Over twenty minutes to get back into it, yet we never looked remotely like doing it. Our football, to the end, remained largely clueless.

Psychologically this was a colossal loss, and the manner of it only makes it more so. This was a poor Wednesday side. For 45 minutes we had the better of them and were in control, that should have been the springboard for a relatively comfortable victory. Instead we were treated to a 45 minute display that was as bad as anything I have ever seen from a blue side. Firstly a succession of nervy unconvincing defending ceded them the initiative, this was followed by two disastrous defensive errors.

Clearly we aren't down yet. Win our remaining three home games and we should be safe, but quite how the team picks itself up from a performance like this, I really don't know. What I do know is that if we play like this again we will be down, and deservedly so.

Individuals

• Myrhe 6 A couple of good saves but shares the blame for their first goal.
• Weir 6 Did OK, defended fairly well and generally found a blue shirt.
• Short 5 Not impressed, played a part in the defensive uncertainty that plagued us all game.
• Materazzi 5 At fault for both of the goals and a long way short of his best throughout.
• Unsworth 5 Having done OK in the first half had a fairly torrid second half.
• Gemmill 6 Showed up quite well in the first half, linking quite well with Campbell. Faded in the second half.
• Dacourt 4 Not at the races today. All in all a fairly dreadful performance, made more so by the knowledge of what a gifted player he is.
• Grant 5 Another who struggled.
• Barmby 6 Did his bit, but not as sharp has he was prior to his injury.
• Campbell 6 Had a very productive first half winning almost everything in the air. Wednesday got wise to him in the second half and he was never the same influence.
• Jeffers 6 Continues to impress. Took his goal well and got into a number of goal scoring positions.
• Degn 6 Fairly impressed. Had a couple of decent raids and looks to have some promise.
• Ball 5 Didn't notice him too much, certainly didn't really get forward much.
• Bakayoko 5 Did OK.

Team Probably a 6 for the first half, 3 (and that's being generous) for the second.

Man of the match. No-one stood out in a dreadful performance but I thought David Weir did as well as anyone.

2:57 pm and the familiar Z-cars theme struck up as the teams emerged onto the field, Everton being lead out by the raffle winner of 'Captain for the day', Craig Short.

The teams were announced to the crowd, Sheffield Wednesday first, for whom Andy Hinchcliffe received a warm welcome. Next, Everton and Walter Smith's surprise of the day was relegating Michael Ball to the bench, although leaving Branch out of the squad totally after his inept display against Liverpool was one decision Walter did get right.

Everton lined up 4-4-2 with at the back Unsworth, Materazzi, Short and Weir. In midfield was Barmby, Dacourt, Grant and Gemmill, with Jeffers and Campbell upfront.

The game got under way; from the outset, Everton looked comfortable and in control. Gemmill and Jeffers quickly gelled together as the former Forest star played Jeffers through twice with good vision only for Jeffers to first be unable to get a shot in, and second to hit wide.

Carbone came close next when an Andy Booth knock down found the Italian in the box only for him to fire ...onwards and upwards over the bar.

Twelve minutes gone and Everton found the breakthrough that they deserved. David Unsworth crossed the ball from out left, Campbell challenged Srnicek for it, the ball breaking free to Jeffers on the edge of the box and – with all the poise of an established goalscorer at top level – Franny lifted the ball over the stranded Wednesday keeper and into the net: One-Nil!

Everton continued to look good, especially Campbell who, with his arial domination around the Wednesday area, was creating chance after chance.  Two chances went begging for Jeffers and one from Barmby when Campbell knocked the ball into Barmby's path only for him to drive it across the front of the goal and wide.

Sheffield Wednesday were also not without their chances through Thorne and Carbone, but the only real chance that made Myhre work was an Andy Booth header that forced the Everton keeper to drop to his left and save.

With half-time came the added joy of the other relegation candidates results going our way, on top of what was looking like a possible three points won for us.

How wrong can you be! It appeared that a totally different team came out to play in blue for the second half.

The contrast after the break was alarming,as Everton seemed to fold and let Wednesday dictate the play for periods, whilst struggling to stay in the game themselves.

The unthinkable soon reared its ugly head when, on 52 minutes, Wednesday equalised after the usually dependable two of Materazzi and Myhre hesitated as they went for a through ball... Marco chose the short pass to Unsworth that put him in deep doo-doo. He then tried to stab the ball back to Myhre but mishit it completely and gifted Carbone a half-chance that he was grateful to accept, placing the ball under Myhre: One-One.

Minutes later and Everton's hopes of going in front again were dashed when a penalty decision was turned away by ref Mike Reed. Srnicek made an excellent save from Jeffers in the box and, as the ball broke to Scot Gemmill, he was brought down unceremoniously by Andy Booth.

There then followed two half-chances for Everton in the shape of volleys over by Unsworth and Dacourt. Dacourt looked quite pissed by his miss and was geed up by Campbell who then orchestrated the crowd into life.

However on 68 minutes a near carbon copy of their equalising goal put Wednesday ahead. Materazzi again was cast as the villain when he tried a short pass back to Myhre, only for Carbone to nip in and score: One-Two.

In desperation, Walter Smith threw on Peter Degn,  Bakayoko and Ball for Materazzi, Grant, and Barmby respectively, switching to a 3-4-3 formation with Weir, Short and Unsworth in defence, Degn and Ball on the wings, Dacourt and Gemmill in central midfield, and Bakayoko, Jeffers and Campbell up front.

It proved to be not enough, however, as ample chances were created but not finished off, Campbell having his fair share. But in the dying minutes it was Wednesday who could have stole a late goal when Carbone broke and crossed to Jonk, only for him to head over.

With the final whistle came the now familiar chorus of boo's, and the grim face of reality staring at us, in that that Charlton had won, dropping us into the bottom three.

Ironically enough the scorer of the Charlton winner was the one and only Graham Stuart,who just happened to keep us up, with a couple of goals on the last day of the season a brief few years ago....

Man of the Match: Both Materazzi and Dacourt, I felt had bad games today – Marco especially as he was at fault for both goals and he was taken off later on. Weir played one of his better games in a blue shirt; Barmby was his usual industrious self and Gemmill... well, I've seen worse, although his vision looks a plus point.

From what I saw of Campbell, he looks quite a decent acquisition. He won everything in the air around the Wednesday box, laying the ball of well into the bargain. He also got into positions were he was able to have an attempt on goal, although sadly he couldn't score, but I'm sure that will come within the next couple of matches.

So I give it to Campbell for the promise he showed.

This fixture, against a declining Sheffield Wednesday team who had lost their previous five matches, and next Sunday's home date with Coventry City were seen by the Merseyside diehards as the springboard for a push towards safety. The manner of this abject surrender leaves even the most committed of their supporters wondering were the next win is coming from.

Many in a 35,270 crowd departed before the end of a dire display which extends a miserable run to four points from 21. Those who did remain turned on the players for the first time in Walter Smith's nine-month reign as manager.

"I have always thought we would stay up but results and performances like this make the question marks bigger," reflected Smith, who rarely experienced the emotion of failure during his triumphant time at Rangers.

A strangely laid-back Smith added: "When you lose like that it becomes psychologically difficult to pick them up. But we have to pick them up - and we will."

Everton have only six more chances to extricate themselves from the bottom three and they face the prospect of yet another nerve-jangling day of reckoning on the final afternoon of the season at the home of an equally desperate Southampton. Their fate will be sealed before then if they continue to battle as abysmally as yesterday.

A team who have struggled all season to score on their own ground could hardly believe their luck when Pavel Srnicek, under pressure from new on-loan centre forward Kevin Campbell, presented Francis Jeffers with the opener after only 11 minutes.

The stage was set for Smith's side to express themselves and drag their worried opponents into the dogfight. Instead, Everton went woefully off the boil, allowing Wednesday to seize the initiative and then steal the points courtesy of two appalling defensive mistakes which were expertly punished by the impressive Benito Carbone.

David Unsworth launched the 15-minute spell of trouble. Put under pressure by a casual sideways nudge from Marco Materazzi, he was torn between a back-pass and an attempted clearance and the nippy Italian pounced to beat Thomas Myhre with some comfort.

When Carbone was presented with an almost identical situation following Materazzi's failure to control the ball just outside the penalty area, the finish was equally confident.

"We needed that," said Danny Wilson, Wednesday's manager, who can breathe more easily after arresting a worrying slump towards the danger zone. "We had a bit of a cushion, but if Everton had beaten us today it would have put us under pressure," he said.

Wilson must have envisaged a run of sleepless nights as Everton dominated the early stages and took a deserved lead through Jeffers' clever volleyed lob into an unguarded net.

That was only the 10th goal Everton have managed in 16 home Premiership matches and they rarely looked like improving their miserable average. A Nick Barmby attempt from an awkward angle and a couple of speculative attempts from Jeffers were the best of their first-half efforts and they were no better in the second half when chasing the game.

Wednesday could have scored a third in the dying moments when Wim Jonk forced Myhre into a rare save on a depressing afternoon.

Their fourth consecutive defeat and a goal that gave Charlton victory at West Ham provided by Graham Stuart, a player they discarded, leaves Walter Smith's side in the bottom three and the signs are that no one at Goodison Park believes they can drag themselves back from the brink this time.

Wednesday, too, were in distinct danger of being sucked into the struggle for Premiership survival after a wretched sequence of five defeats and when they gifted Francis Jeffers the chance to put Everton ahead it seemed they were intent on professional suicide.

The perception of 18-year-old Jeffers and the aerial prowess of Kevin Campbell, making his home debut, promised a route to salvation. Wednesday, without Des Walker for the first time in two years, were in disarray, their self-belief holed.

The early indications of a recovery were evident in the closing stages of the first half and at the start of the second, Everton handed the initiative to Wednesday's little wizard Benito Carbone.

Two errors, one by David Unsworth and the other by Marco Materazzi, presented the opportunities and Carbone calmly dispatched them. He was the source of terror throughout that second period, draining dry any resources of optimism Everton possessed.

Anxiety riddled the home ranks and Carbone's impish skills exploited their malaise with unfettered relish. Only a couple of extravagant saves by Thomas Myhre spared Everton a more comprehensive defeat.

Wednesday are now virtually safe, but for Everton the run-in looms like a trudge to the gallows. Walter Smith, their embattled manager, wore the countenance of the condemned as he conceded: "I've always thought we'd stay up but when you get results like this the question mark gets bigger.

"We have to show determination and character to get out of it. This defeat wasn't down to anxiety, just errors. The disappointing thing is the manner in which we lost. It was only two bad errors on our part that decided it."

Everton had the benefit of Wednesday's generosity after just 11 minutes. Unsworth played a speculative punt forward and Pavel Srnicek, the Wednesday goalkeeper, inhibited by the presence of his defender Jon Newsome, spilled the ball. Jeffers reacted instantly and coolly, lobbing it into the unguarded net from the edge of the area.

Campbell's flicked headers provided constant encouragement for Jeffers and supporting midfield players, but Wednesday somehow came through the rest of the half unscathed. Nick Barmby thrashed an effort across the face of the goal and Jeffers could not direct his overhead kick on target.

By the break they might have paid the price for allowing Wednesday too many sights of goal. Carbone and Emerson Thome headed wide, but Andy Booth forced Myhre to plunge smartly to his left to protect his team's advantage.

Wednesday intensified the bombardment in the second half and the pressure took its toll after 52 minutes. Unsworth, patently rattled, nervously attempted to push the ball back to Myhre but barely made contact and the keeper was powerless to prevent Carbone's equaliser.

Myhre leapt acrobatically to beat out a shot from the ever-mischievous Carbone but the second goal came Wednesday's way in the 68th minute. To compound Everton's anguish, it was a Carbone copy of the first. This time his compatriot, Materazzi, fluffed his back pass and the striker beat the exposed Myhre.

Wednesday came close to adding a third, Myhre making a fingertip save from Wim Jonk, but potentially terminal damage had already been inflicted on Everton.

Everton's fourth successive defeat yesterday, greeted by loud and thoroughly deserved derision by their supporters, plunged them into the bottom three of the FA Carling Premiership. On Saturday, they had battled hard if unavailingly against Liverpool: the chances are that the only Merseyside derby next season will be between these sickly Toffees and Tranmere Rovers.

After a tolerably proficient first-half performance, in which Francis Jeffers's twelfth-minute strike represented something of a Goodison Park goal feast, Everton's subsequent decline bore all the hallmarks of a team destined for relegation.

Sheffield Wednesday took control and eventually took all three points, too, courtesy of a couple of defensive howlers that would not have been out of place over at Stanley Park in a Sunday morning pub game. Victory ended their own run of five consecutive defeats and means that they are probably one more win from safety.

But for Everton, the prospects are grim. Four times in the past six seasons, they have flirted with danger and when they trooped, crestfallen, off the pitch to find that Graham Stuart, one of their former players, had scored the goal that gave Charlton Athletic victory away to West Ham United and condemned Walter Smith's team to eighteenth position, that dalliance had developed into a full-blown affair.

Everton can still save themselves. Of their six remaining matches, two are at home against their fellow strugglers, Coventry City and Charlton, but the doomsday scenario shared by increasingly distraught supporters has Everton playing Southampton at The Dell on the last Sunday of the season needing to win to survive. Last season, they stayed up on goal difference; this time, that may prove beyond them.

For Smith, after a decade of trophy-hunting with Rangers, this is a new and unpleasant experience. "It was a disappointing result, but even more so when you consider the manner in which we lost it," he said. "We handed Wednesday the game."

Wednesday's equaliser, in the 52nd minute, was a gift pure and simple; their winner 16 minutes later came with ribbons and bows attached. The guilty men on both occasions were Marco Materazzi and David Unsworth, defenders with a combined transfer fee approaching £6 million. They held their heads in collective shame – and were entitled to for the first goal.

Materazzi's initial half-hearted clearance was fraught with danger and Unsworth compounded the error with an extravagant mis-kick that presented Benito Carbone with a clear shooting opportunity. The Italian seized on the opening, sending a low, right-foot drive beyond Myhre's right hand and inside the far post.

The roles were reversed for the second goal. Unsworth failed with a routine header, Materazzi made a pig's ear of his attempted back-pass and Carbone stole in grateful and unguarded again.

There was no way back for Everton, who withdrew Materazzi, switched to three at the back and flooded midfield. But their heart as well as their composure had gone and Wednesday coasted through the closing stages with ease.

The first half had been so much more promising. With Campbell a prominent spearhead and Gemmill delivering a series of precise passes, the two newcomers had caught the eye on their home debuts alongside Dacourt in midfield. Everton fully deserved the lead given them by Jeffers, 18, who lobbed the ball calmly into an empty net from 18 yards when Campbell's aerial challenge on Srnicek dislodged the ball from the Wednesday goalkeeper's grasp. It was only Everton's tenth goal in 24 hours of football at Goodison this season.

"We were desperate to win today and in the end I think we deserved it," Danny Wilson, the Wednesday manager, said. "We can't relax just yet,but this has made it a lot easier for us." For Everton and Smith, the agony is destined to continue for some time.

Coventry City         1-0  Southampton              21,402
Boateng 64                                        
Everton               1-2  Sheffield Wednesday      35,270
Jeffers 12               Carbone 53,68
Middlesbrough         3-1  Wimbledon                33,999
Ricard 1,28 Festa 8        Cort 75
Newcastle United      1-1  Tottenham Hotspur        36,655
Ketsbaia 78                Anderton pen:50  
Nottingham Forest     2-2  Liverpool                28,374
Freedman 61,               Redknapp 15, Owen 72
van Hooijdonk 90     
West Ham United       0-1  Charlton Athletic        26,041
                           Stuart 75            
 

Arsenal               1-0  Blackburn Rovers         37,762
Bergkamp 42           
Leicester City        2-2  Aston Villa              20,652
Savage 62, Cottee 71       Hendrie 2, Joachim 48


 

Club                          P    W    D    L   GF   GA   GD   Pts
Manchester United            31   18   10    3   70   32   38   64
Arsenal                      32   17   12    3   43   13   30   63
Chelsea                      30   16   11    3   45   23   22   59
Leeds United                 31   16    9    6   52   28   24   57
West Ham United              32   13    8   11   34   40   -6   47
Aston Villa                  32   12   10   10   41   39    2   46
Derby County                 31   11   11    9   35   36   -1   44
Liverpool                    30   12    7   11   57   41   16   43
Middlesbrough                31   10   13    8   42   41    1   43
Newcastle United             32   11    9   12   43   46   -3   42
Wimbledon                    32   10   11   11   36   48  -12   41
Tottenham Hotspur            31    9   13    9   35   37   -2   40
Sheffield Wednesday          32   11    5   16   38   36    2   38
Leicester City               30    9   11   10   32   39   -7   38
Coventry City                32   10    7   15   34   43   -9   37
Charlton Athletic            31    7   10   14   34   41   -7   31
Blackburn Rovers             32    7   10   15   32   43  -11   31
Everton                      32    7   10   15   26   40  -14   31
Southampton                  32    8    6   18   28   57  -29   30
Nottingham Forest            32    4    9   19   30   64  -34   21