RuffRob

I really do hope Benitez does get a fair crack at the whip. When he as had a reasonable selection of senior players available he's not actually done half bad. I am assuming the bargain basement players brought in are all Benitez's signings. So far goal and assist return for money spent has been very good - and arguably better than all the wide players we have seem in the past 5-6 years, many who have cost £20-30M. The Gray signing has been a stroke of genius, so for this signing alone he deserves the chance to bring a few more players in to suit how he wants to player. This lad is hungry, a bona fida match winner, British, 25 years old, can carry the ball, got pace and can put in a delivery, and has a shot on him - he is every bit the £25M+ player Iwobi isn't. I really hope in the second half of the season we are a lot luckier with injuries and we have a decent crack at seeing what our best 11-15 players can do under Benitez, maybe with a sprinkling of new additions in January.

3 strikes in the back of the net, some great finishing from Richy tonight. Could have dropped his head after two disallowed efforts, but kept on working and got his reward.

Digne form has been pretty erratic since Baines retired. No competition and pretty much a free run at the left back spot. Can be frustrating when you know he has so much more to his game than what he is showing. We have been needing our big player to step up this past month and he has not really been anything to shout about, maybe Benitez just letting him know he is happy to play people ahead of him

big shout to the fans tonight

for fucks sake, when your lucks out!!!

I think a lot will depend how much closer Douncoure will be to being match fit and sharp, in his first matches back he has understandably not at his dynamic best. We are a different team both defensively and offensively when he is at the races. Can be the difference between picking up points or not.

https://theesk.org/2021/11/20/part-iii-evertons-ownership-and-leadership-the-director-of-football/ this is an interesting read - some it up nicely

What a desperate situation we are in after all this money spent. because he is now at the helm, I desperately want Benitez to do well, as whether we like it or not, he is going to have more of a say on how this squad develops over the next 12 months with no DoF in the wings. You are probably right, he may not last that long as fans will simply not take to him, especially as you say the sacrificial lamb of Brands has now gone. One part of me says get rid and lets just be done with it as Benitez is simply to fractious other part says as the bloke is now hear and getting used to the squad lets give the bloke a chance. It's supposed to be enjoyable following your team. This is like purgatory - a wealthy investor finally comes in and seems to be a footballing fuckwit of epic proportion!.

Article sound much like I feared - too many cooks spoil the broth. Not so much since Benitez has come in as been very little time and no money to spend. but over the whole time Brands has been here and with Walsh also. Its a big problem managers and DoF not agreeing - I was surprised when we brought in Ancelotti and didn't see him aligning with what Brands remit was and we heard the same when Benitez was appointed. What is the point of DoF at Everton? If all it true in the articles why on earth didn't Brands just walk? Was getting an inflated pay cheque that's why, just like the players he's been trying to dump. Severance pay will now have to come out of moneys saved this summer. No point at all having a Brands type at the club, if owners are only half letting them do the job. Mixed messages, interfering and impatience from owners is the crux of our problem - I think we all know this. I think all of us fear are that unless the owners change the way they run this club its going to continue be groundhog day for us. My fear is the only way out out this nightmare any time soon is that if Benitez does the business. The ongoing circus of the last 5-6years is now driving me mad.

I don't think anybody can argue with that, given the money spend. I am not wholly positive that the DoF we have had have had the degree of control they would have liked - a lot was thrown at Walsh, but I have read since that some of the signing in the Koeman regime where against Walsh's recommendations and also Walsh had brought Erling Haaland for a trail only for the club not to support him in bringing him to the club. I think some may have had starry eyes for bigger name players. My issue perhaps with Brands is that he hasn't really brought much to the party - there is not really a squad bulging with carefully and skilful bought young talent, which I thought was his remit. Richarlison - played in Prem and we paid extremely good money for him. A Silva player, so no real DoF vision in this transfer. Iwobi - paid massively over the odds, and all seemed to know this, my only hope was that Brands was somebody who had cleverly seen something others hadn't. This has not proved the case. Kean - we seem to be lucky we are getting our money back. His persona did not ever seem to fit this club. We are paying very good wages to three Barcelona rejects. Nothing special done there - we paid decent money for they along with top dollar and taken our chances with them. Bernard was always going to be light weight for the cut and thrust of the Prem. As uninspiring as it maybe a Townsend type free transfer serves to be far more useful. Delph - enough said Gbamin - injury aside, we still paid good money for him, not really a hidden gem. Deadwood - he shifted hardly anything, contracts simply ran down and player released - Hell, even I could have done that. Top and bottom is there was never enough evidence for me for him to get another contract in April. Maybe we will find out further down the line that had his hands ties or was vitoed in some of decision. but whatever the case on the evidence he has very little to justify his role this past 3 years.

Unfortunately, the money spent on Iwobi alone was enough of an alarm bell for me. Pretty much everybody - Everton supporters, - Arsenal supporters and media alike knew from day one we paid massivly over the odds for him. That signing should have never happened.

Ridiculous - the Everton team Ancelotti left behind was diabolical, the play and in the end the results since January has been as bad as anything we have seen. Benitez start of this season in the first 6 or 7 game was actually better than the start of last season for Ancettoti - So I call Bullshit on your statement about Benitez not coming close to Ancelloti. With a fit squad of player the team looked considerably better under Benitez in the first 7 games than it looked in the second half of last year. Result have gone to shit since what is an injury crisis, so actually injuries is a perfectly valid excuse. Do you really think our middle of the league squad should be just as strong when a considerable proportion of our best players are not available? Fact remains no matter who the manager is with a a fit squad we are basically a 7th to 11th place premier league team, you have a prolonged injury crisis to two or three of our better players and this squad is a 12th 17th place team. This is the harsh reality - at best a we have an ordinary squad of players by Premier league standards. That's out main problem and not that we have a ex Liverpool manager at he club.

Pound for pound Martinez probably inherited one of the best performing Everton squads that we have seen in many a year. Moyes had build that team that punched well above its weight over many a season. How is the 'team' Martinez inherited in any way comparible to the current team that Benitez has inherited. Martinez inherited a relativly sucessful team to build upon, Benitez has inherited a failing team in need of a rebuild. Martinez job was infinatly easier than the one Benitez signed up to this summer.

In this day and age in the Premier league a £1. 7m spend is basically a token sticking plaster. Benitez should actually be applauded for the over all return so far for the bargin basement additions. Grey is argubley one of our players of the season so far and one of the first names on the team sheet and Townsend has so far got a better scoring rate than many a recent winger at the club, and cost fuck all rather than +£20m, already adding more than the departed Bernard and Walcott. If you think Benitez or any other manager is going to get this already failing and then injury ridden squad playing as a well oiled machine in just a few month at the helm your not in the real world. It takes a few seasons to get an ordinary squad in to any sort of unit. When he was fit DCL was getting plenty of chances and getting the goals in and Doucoure was upping his game from last season. I thought before the injury crisis, and it has been a crisis Benitez team was looking ok. So i want to see what happens in a run off game when the injury crisis is hopefully behind us, rather than see any sort of panic sacking.

A perfect storm has now brewed for us - we have had a really shit run of game results wise massively influenced by injuries and as players are starting to come back from the Man City game onward we pretty much come in to a run of very tough games that we would 'struggle' in even with a full squad. The run of shit results is going to continue up until Xmas, the fact is we are mainly going to be playing better teams in Arsenal and Chelsea. I have been saying for months we need to right off this season right up until Xmas. Rafa is always destine to get a less than fair crack at the whip than probably any other manager. We all know a bad run would turn the atmosphere toxic. Changing the manager before Xmas is not going to change a thing at this club - Anybody who thinks giving Benitez the boot is going to make everything OK is deluded. In the current status quo - a new manager now is just another lamb to the slaughter. In April/May last year you could tell Ancelotti just didn't have a clue how he was going to get much of tune of this team. Benitez is essentially stuck with the same players, except they are 8momths older !. The quality of the vast majority of our squad is the heart of problem. Benitez is the one person in key position at the club who shoulders no blame for this. 'Benitez out' is a total red herring and I would be even more ashamed of those at the top of this club if they gave him the boot for the current state of affairs at this club.

One think for sure it Rafa just can't take any blame for the current squad having spent less than £2M, and with a lower wage bill than when he started - which is proven as simply woefully inadequate. Getting on Rafa's back for the current situation on the quality or lack of in the squad beggars belief to be honest. Talk about venting frustration in the wrong direction. Story going around today - that one of Brands or Benitez may be looking at the door. https://www.footballinsider247.com/sources-benitez-and-brands-in-line-for-everton-sack-after-major-development/ Unfortunately, just the discussion above about our 'backs' situation above does not look great on Brands CV and you add to that the signing of Alex Iwobi for the fee paid and Brands is not looking all that great in my book. I don't think since Brands has be brought in he has done better than any other director of football type out there, there are plenty of example of other team who have brought in young players who could now be sold at a great profit. I don't Brands as done anything 'special'. The only benefit of the doubt I can give Brands is that he has also had a major clear out job on his hands - and it has not been easy getting rid of some the players he has also been stuck with!! We seem to be expecting Benitez to be making a silk purse out of a sows ear, and Brands has to shoulder at least some of the blame for there being a sows ear of a squad to work with. If one of the two HAS to go to shake things up - then it has to be Brands for me.

Doucoure back and Gray fit enough for the bench. lets hope maybe an upturn in our fortunes today.

I am really hoping Gordon will get his first senior goal today. Think it is over due for him, but just have a feeling he might just get one today. I hope its a winner .

it almost sound like the team will almost select itself with whoever is injury free and fittest to play. Can't say I am a massive fan in starting a host of youngsters in a make shift team which is low on confidence. Perhaps bring them on later in a game with fresh legs. The senior pro's need to be putting in a hard shift to at least wear the opposition out a bit. At least give any youngsters a half decent platform. You can give them nice clear instructions of what you want from them based on the game that is going on in front of you. It is a bit more sink or swim for them when you starting them. It just not a great team to be doing than with them at the moment, I just don't feel we have the capacity to 'carry' a youngster who might fine it tough going from the off.

I am going to hold out and base my opinion on what I actually see from the fella at our club - which is hopefully after a half decent transfer window and at least 12-18months in to working with a squad of players. To me that that's the minimum amount of time you need to give somebody to build some sort of a team - (Benitez or other). We all have to remember he is still working with an eclectic squad made up from the signing of 5-6 different managed - and a failing team at that. he was never going to come in and overnight turn us in to competitive team with this bunch. Not bothered about 'quotes' or 'opinions' from others. Internet is full of useless or half baked opinions. Just because something is printed these days, doesn't mean there is any sort of truth about it. What I have seen so far is - fit and available squad, we where winning games and doing ok - nothing spectacular, but effective. - threadbare squad due to injured players, we are not winning games and struggling in the toughest league in the world. If you have been keeping a keen eye on Benitez over the years and have detailed dossier on him then fair do's to you, I have not been scrutinising him in any sort of detail over his career, all I really know is he won a fair bit of stuff in a number of countries, the Newcastle fans quite liked him in his last premier league job a couple of years ago (and would have snapped him up again last month if he wasn't with us), and he is generally well respected by most in football for his knowledge, hard work and dedication. I will give him a fair chance to build something.

Given that a significant proportion of the best players in a relatively poor squad have been missing for 2/3 or more of the 15 or so games Benitez has actually had at the club, I think it's extremely harsh to be judging Bentiez as inept. Its taken new manages far longer to get a tune out of an injury free worldie of squads and get them playing as a team - give the bloke a break and half a change to make a go of the job for fucks sake. It's 15 games man with a crocked thread bare squad and a negative spend in players!!

As sad as it is the reality is that Cities players are faster, stronger, more skilful and more intelligent - its why City paid so much for them and why they get the biggest wages - they are among the most prized and elite athletes in world football. Coupled with that they play well as a team who have developed over 5 seasons or so being coached by arguably one of THE best coaches in the game. If City get their own tactic right (and why wouldn't they), there is nothing or very little we (or many other teams) can actually do about it. With the players we have there is no other tactic other than to hopefully cling on and if you get really lucky land a sucker punch. Home and away - city on average are winning games by more than 2 goals.

said it a few times, the first half of this seasons is a complete right off given the players we have injured, not to mention our record signing also out of the squad. Our squad is wafer thin on quality, so the shear volume and quality of the players missing over the past 2 months means it actually a job to field a competitive team in any Premier league games - (its a cliché but its the strongest league in the world by a mile?. Never mind the juggernaut of a squad like man city. Benitez has been as unlucky as you could have been in his first quarter as an Everton manager. he has not been able to put our any sort of consistent team - for weeks now it been sticking plaster after sticking plaster. Given the transfer window he was allowed - basically a clear out and bargain basement squad filler, the relatively poor squad he has inherited and luck he has had with injuries (to the better players) then I am not surprise we are not doing to well at the moment - its actually to be expected. I think 'tactics' can only go so far when you simply field inferior player in a weekly make do and mean formations in premiership league games. I currently have nothing but sympathy of him at the moment. Because I don't think there is a manager out their past or present who would be excelling in these circumstances. Roll on the New Year when we hopefully have players back and match fit.

lets just hope this becomes more of a normal performance under Benitez. Some players can be more effective under certain managers. fingers crossed this is the case and of course stays fit!.

spot on - there are very few 'easy' games in the prem league - quite a bit of 'snobbery' thinking we should expecting to win this game or that game. Not a massive difference in quality between ours and Wolves squad - so to me last game was a very tough fixture for us to get anything with a depleted squad, I imagine the non-bias booking has wolves odds on to win. On any day we can beat Spurs at home, but equally they have a good enough squad to turn us over. Another tough game for a depleted squad. This is why I am resounded to let this season just pan out. Benetez has not been here anywhere near long enough to build a 'team', so we are not going to have the stability that a long term manager brings to developing a 'team'. This is what is needed to climb this league table. Optimistic we can pick up the points if we play well.