Goodison Glory

Strongest 11 available and some

youth on the bench. 

Arsenal 4-2 DCL

Continuity will be important for him, so really nice gesture from the club. 

17 hours ago, Matt said:

Expected to be honest. 

I didn't - I thought he was off to punditry - was that just for euros?

1 hour ago, patto said:

Sometimes you have to hold your hands up and admit he isn’t good enough and take a hit which we have done in the past I’d be happy if we could get anything near 20m

Wouldn't be so bad if we didn't constantly hold our hands up and say we got it wrong - moise kean springs to mind - at least we made a profit on him. My point being our scouts are shit at finding goal scorers. 

If he doesn't move to get game time he's not going to make it into the national side

17 hours ago, Palfy said:

And we loved every minute he gave us. 

I remember thinking what a breath of fresh air...someone who can pass. 

I thought another company (debt restructuring) were putting up the money for the stadium completion.

not sure of the terms, and it's ultimately more debt than we have today but hopefully at better interest rates (in the short term at least)

I thought I already showed that there have been managers with similar or even worse winless records that Dyche - two were sacked, one wasn't, one probably won't be.
 

Dyche wasn't. There was probably "just cause" to do so, and we can all have our opinions on that and none are right/wrong. History can't even tell us which path was the right one as the outcomes are not all the same. 

In the end he wasn't sacked (for whatever reason). And we stayed up. 

41 minutes ago, MikeO said:

Shevchenko, Henry, Inzaghi and Gerd Muller

So there's actually four missing unless my memory is playing tricks!*

*I may have cheated

I may have misquoted the question (you cheater..lol). Looking at the answers perhaps it is CL era only.

Henry and Muller (Thomas) were the missing ones.

I'd argue that the defense performing well was not in spite of dyche...but more likely because of him. One of the things I don't like about Dyche is that he sets up not to lose. How many times have we complained about us facing shitty (on paper) teams at home and not going for it. 

We are also top 5 in most defensive categories (clean sheets, fouls against, offsides, interceptions etc)..you can't tell me that none of that is prepared for on the training ground.

My summary is:

1. Dyche should get credit for the winning streak and the defensive performance

2. He should carry the blame for the losing streak, regardless of external circumstances

3. At most clubs he probably should've been sacked for going so long without a win. Possibly our board gave him the benefit of the doubt or possibly we couldn't afford to change management staff again AND thought the 3 promoted clubs are so shite we will prob be okay.

I'll give you a clue....players with 50 goals or more in European Cup/CL

20 hours ago, London Blue said:

When he has played he has looked good, he has the physical attributes, in that he is fast, and strong enough to hold the ball. His passing is good, and he likes to get forward and is good at delivering crosses into the box.

Defensively he is ok, still learning his game, but tackles well and tracks his man. When he has made mistakes his speed has got him out of trouble. Is he a world beater? No, but he is good and with the potential to get better. I would start him over Young. 

I had to double check what thread I was in…I was reading about Young and then read “he is fast and strong enough” and I thought hang on WTF……had to check back and realised it was Patterson 

Luton at home was a massive let down for me…..we had a couple of good wins prior and we were battering them first 15-20 mins..then just awful after that.

I would also say both cup games where we were knocked out were massive lets down…Luton again ffs…..and then the pen loss to Fulham because it was a game we should have won and would have had a chance to get to a final.

In terms of good….the same 3 games as the other nominations. Chelsea/Newcastle was just a sweet run of games, especially with the points deduction.

I’ve seen him called out on here for joking around with players from the opposition…..I noticed as he was running out of the tunnel for 2nd half he was having a laugh with the Sheffield Utd subs (who were coming in)…..I think he is just immature/naive…call it what you will…..but def we need to get shot, I can see him squandering what ever natural talent he has…and being a pogba esque player (not comparing them in terms of ability, just not all there between the ears and full of ego)

29 minutes ago, Hafnia said:

So what you are saying is that my assertion that dyches ability to set up a team to defend whilst not having any other credible facets of play is valid? 
 

yes we can defend which I believe is massively in part to having the 2nd best centre half in the league after saliba.  Think back to last season without branthwaite.... for me without branthwaite we go down. 
 

compare our players to other teams midtable to bottom 3.  We have more quality than people see. 

Personally I'd rank Micky Van Der Ven (sp) and Ruben Dias higher.  Id reluctantly say VVD is still better also. 

I'd argue branth is more important to us than the others are to their teams tho. 

I hope we keep him for years to come!

3 hours ago, Cornish Steve said:

If we erase the Chelsea match, we have the best defensive record in the league. With DC-L getting back to form and the promise of Chermiti next season, we may begin to score more goals. What's really lacking is our midfield, and that should be the focus of our summer signings.

(If only we'd managed to sign Kudus.)

what is the best defence based on ? clean sheets (Arsenal were best), Goals Conceded (think we were 4th best even without Chelsea goals)

5 hours ago, Matt said:

I'd have Romey as public relations and HR to save money.

Surely MikeO has to be in legal...dotting the I's, crossing the T's and correcting the.....well everything

We are playing some nice stuff. Obviously the opposition is shite, but so have we been for large parts of the season.

Lovely goal...good movement and passing all round. 

Next one for anyone bored

Who are the two missing players from the names below?

Raul, Ruud van Nistelrooy, ____, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Robert Lewandowski and ____

The answers were:

Tomkins 

Fabianski

milner

Young

Evans

7 hours ago, MikeO said:

Ashley Young must be one.

Jonny Evans.

Lallana possibly but not sure Southampton were a PL side in 07/08.

Milner.

Fabianski.

You've got 4 as well MikeO

better than my abysmal 2.

@c1982 You've got 4 of them there