Cornish Steve

We paid for him about the amount we're assessed to have exceeded the limit averaged over 3 years. Given the accusation made against him, his value dropped to zero - we lost the lot, plus his salary. In our submission to the league, we included this as an example of extenuating circumstances.

Looking at it from a pure numbers perspective, one incident alone could be said to have caused this situation: recruiting Gylfi Sigurdsson. Of course, we can say the same about choosing to work with Usmanov, but I think the Gylfi situation puts the whole thing into perspective. Should a club face such a punishment over the mistaken hire of one player?

It's quite extraordinary. Even ardent Liverpool supporters are lining up behind Everton and against the Premier League. Whoever would have believed that? I wouldn't mind betting that Everton will be mentioned in parliament this week, such is the intensity of public feeling around this decision.

I'd better give the correct answers. Left to right, the shoes belong to... Top row: Martinez, Koeman, Allardyce Middle row: Dyche, Lampard, Silva Bottom row: Moyes, Benitez, Ancelotti Allardyce's shoes, worn during an interview, were outrageous. Ancelotti's appear to be made of Italian leather. Martinez, Moyes, and Benitez all wore brown.

You got one right.

Can you tell whose shoes are whose for each of our last nine permanent managers? (Each pair was worn during their time as Everton manager.)

Maybe they need reminding that three teams are relegated. Even if we'd scored no points at all, two of them would still have been relegated. This is all a complete farce.

What happened? Was the news about the points deduction too much for TT to bear?

This is one of the biggest mistakes ever made by the Premier League, and it's going to create a huge backlash. Looking at the situation objectively, there are some positives here... - Certainty is better than uncertainty. While the decision is extreme, at least we now know what it is and can deal with it. - It's going to put a huge spotlight on the big teams. I don't see them continuing to get away with their financial shennanigans. - This is the right time and the right season to face a points deduction since, on the pitch, we're on the up and up. - If we appeal or even sue for lost TV revenues, it will bring a level of accountability the league has been sorely missing. Oh how I wish we'd secured three points against Brighton and not just one. We wouldn't even be in the bottom three.

This could mean we finish about four places lower than we otherwise would, meaning a reduction in TV money of several million pounds. It IS a fine - and a complete farce.

Palfy, get outta here! This is the great class debate.

They did a newer version...

The real definition of working class...

I agree with your reasoning and your thinking; I'm simply pointing out my experiences in Britain and with British companies. It's quite different in the US. Years ago, I was selling to a technology company in Massachusetts and meeting with their executive team. When the meeting started, we're all wearing suits, including four VPs from that company. After about 20 minutes, the door opened, and this scruffy guy in jeans wheeled in a tray with coffee and snacks. Surprisingly, he hung around for a few minutes until we stopped to take a break. I always make a point of saying "hello" to people and thanking them when appropriate, so I did the same to this guy. He shook my hand and said "I'm Andy XXX, the CEO. I own this company." As you rightly say, appearances can be deceiving. In contrast, I met with a VP of technology at BT. Since I'd heard his name, I went over and said "Hello. You must be Dave." His response was "No. I'm Doctor David XXX." With great pleasure, I responded: "Nice to meet you. I'm Doctor Steve" (since I, too, have a PhD). Sometimes it's possible to put an immediate end to snobbery.

It's very very different in Britain. In London, I initially worked with a team of people who were all Oxbridge graduates. While they were very nice and welcoming guys, I was always aware that I came from the wrong place, spoke with the wrong accent, and went to the wrong university. A few years later, I led a multinational project involving a team in Britain and had to speak with the principal consultant about using the same editing tools as everyone else. His response was "Lord so-and-so is my uncle. I do things my way, OK?". The fact that I was leading the project was immaterial; he pulled rank based on class. I've never experienced anything like that in the US.

How does this play out in practice? After completing my PhD, I started my first real job in central London. The closest I could afford to live was in the suburbs of Rugby. It was during the time when Mrs Thatcher pursued a policy whereby families could purchase their council house at a discount, leading to mixed estates where some houses remained council houses and others were now private homes. My wife and I purchased a terraced house in such an estate. Every day, I would cycle to the railway station, take the 92-mile train journey to Euston, and then walk 30 minutes to my office just off Oxford Street, leaving home in the morning when it was dark and arriving home at night when it was dark. Some on the railway station knew that I lived on a council estate, so I was shunned and looked down on. My neighbors saw me leaving for work in a suit, so I was shunned by them as well for not being working class. Frankly, life was miserable and hard. When you took into account the cost of daily train fare, I was earning significantly less than a next-door neighbor who lived solely on unemployment benefit. Indeed, some suggested I quit my job and go on the dole since it would mean a significant "pay raise". That neighbor had a car; we couldn't afford one. That neighbor took holidays; we never could. How does class work in situations like this? Was my education or my income the best judge of class? Does wearing a suit preclude one from being accepted by neighbors in a working class neighborhood? Does living on a council estate stop someone from being accepted as a professional working in the big city? Class is a complicated thing, but the implications on a person's life in Britain, at that time, were significant. I found the pressure on my family so unreasonable that class structure was one of two principal reasons why I chose to leave the country.

It is when you're not India.

New rules at TT? I thought discussions and discussion titles were purposely at odds.

Years ago, when I worked in central London, you'd sometimes see researchers on the street seeking short interviews with certain types of people. These researchers were always looking at the ground. Why? I learned that shoes are the single best indicator of a person's class. (Incidentally, back then at least, there were five: upper, upper middle, middle, lower middle, and working class. For the record, I fit best the definition of lower middle class.) Someone who's upper class tends to wear expensive and well-polished shoes, whereas someone who's working class takes very little care of their shoes. Wealth can be deceptive - you can be poor and upper class, and you can be rich and working class - but shoes less so. I never forgot that and, when meeting new people for the first time, sometimes take a quick glance at their shoes.

We're much more of a team, as well. Someone mentioned in the Mykolenko thread that Gray would never pass the ball to him. Put it another way: Gray is a selfish player. Better to have a solid team than a collection of prima donna individuals. The story about Onana being punished for being late is part of the same narrative: the actions of an individual must not be allowed to hurt the team. They're all in it together. Players appear to be talking to one another more, and they're not afraid to challenge their teammates. This is good to see. By the way, there was a lot of concern after the transfer window that we'd spent too little and sold key players without replacements. Looking back, it was a superb window for us and just goes to prove that good recruitment is more about strategy than money. Let's hope we pursue the same approach in January.

"When compared to forwards in Europe’s top five leagues over the past 15 years, Calvert-Lewin ranks in the 93rd percentile for goals, 91st for shots, 94th for touches in the opponent’s penalty area and 98th for aerials won." Those are remarkable numbers.

It takes a certain style of play to improve from 17th to 12th (which is about where I think we'll finish after points are docked). It will take a different style of play to improve from 12th to 8th, say, and a different style of play again to progress from there to top-6. Right now, we're on the first step of that journey. The style isn't pretty but it's increasingly effective. Let's rally around that for now and stop worrying about whether Dyche has the smarts to succeed with Steps 2 and 3. Maybe he does and maybe he doesn't, but that's for a future discussion and not for now. Currently, he appears to be succeeding with Step 1, which is more than we've witnessed in recent years.

Everton 2-1 United McNeil

It's a measure of our optimism that most of us predicted an Everton win against Palace. The winner for the week is Finn balor for predicting the win and identifying Doucoure as one of our goalscorers. Bill forgot to predict, but Boston Toffee failed to win any points, so there's no change at the top for the season.

For round 11, three of us predicted a 1-1 tie. Congrats to Matt for predicting Mykolenko as our scorer. For the season, Bill is beginning to catch Boston Toffee.