Crystal Palace (Away) Saturday Novermber 18th

[Romey 1878]

Just now, Shukes said:

Ye my answer was tongue in cheek as well mate. But we could have easily fell apart after going behind twice, but managed to scrape a point however lucky it was.

This season is just horrendous isn’t it? Feels like it’s been going a year already  

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

Sorry mate bought you were directing it generally at those that are confident we won’t.
i would say that picking up points when you are playing this bad is a positive though. Not pulling up trees but a step in the right direction.

Definitely , we were absolutely shite and nicked a point , we can only improve. My worry is we have the joint worst defence in the division, with Palace , and we can’t score . That’s a recipe for disaster

[nogs]

2 minutes ago, badaids said:

I wish I shared your optimism.

If they play like that in every game they will start to win.  If we carry on playing like that we will start to lose - we can't ride our luck for the whole season.

 

Two important things have changed the last two games. We're coming back after going behind, which was just not happening under Koeman. And we've scored 5 in two games, which again was just not happening. I'm not pretending it's great, but it's all about surviving now, and those are two things to cling onto. 

[Bailey]

2 minutes ago, Romey 1878 said:

The horrible thing is it’s hard to see how it’s going to change. Hopefully a new manager can see a way through it because Koeman and Unsworth couldn’t and can’t. 

We definitely need some fresh ideas to be brought into the fold because I only see very marginal improvement and given how shite we were under Koeman I was expecting a much bigger difference.

2 minutes ago, Palfy said:

Can we all be agreed now that Schneiderlin and Gana should never be seen on the pitch together again, I know I've said it hundreds of times it makes us to defensive to negative, drop them both and start with Davies and Besic in their positions and only have one on the bench, then we can reinstall Vlasic to the bench to use when we need a impact player to change a game 

At the moment I dont think it matters who you play in midfield. Besic has been shite this season too. Siggy played in there today and he was crap. Only Beni, McCarthy and Davies have been slightly more than piss poor at points this season.

 

[nogs]

7 minutes ago, Romey 1878 said:

The horrible thing is it’s hard to see how it’s going to change. Hopefully a new manager can see a way through it because Koeman and Unsworth couldn’t and can’t. 

It's not until we can make wholesale changes to the playing squad. 

[nogs]

7 minutes ago, Palfy said:

Can we all be agreed now that Schneiderlin and Gana should never be seen on the pitch together again, I know I've said it hundreds of times it makes us to defensive to negative, drop them both and start with Davies and Besic in their positions and only have one on the bench, then we can reinstall Vlasic to the bench to use when we need a impact player to change a game 

I was saying that in September. It's just so fucking obvious. 

[nogs]

3 minutes ago, duncanmckenzieismagic said:

Definitely , we were absolutely shite and nicked a point , we can only improve. My worry is we have the joint worst defence in the division, with Palace , and we can’t score . That’s a recipe for disaster

 

We've scored 5 in two games

[Bailey]

Just now, nogs said:

It's not until we can make wholesale changes to the playing squad. 

But should we really have to? Its not like we have a terrible group of players. They are shot to bits at the moment but we have enough talent in the squad to be playing far far better than we are.

[JoeQuince]

11 minutes ago, Palfy said:

Can we all be agreed now that Schneiderlin and Gana should never be seen on the pitch together again, I know I've said it hundreds of times it makes us to defensive to negative, drop them both and start with Davies and Besic in their positions and only have one on the bench, then we can reinstall Vlasic to the bench to use when we need a impact player to change a game 

I really don’t think Gana is the problematic part of the equation. Schneiderlin has been ghosting through games and playing like an absolute knob. I also don’t know that Davies is responsible enough to play alongside Gana. He has a lot of loose touches and brain farts. Besic has never shown that he can be relied upon. Gana with Baningame (I know I spelled this wrong) looks like a promising pair, if we are to play with two defensive midfielders. Or Gana with McCarthy, who we know is a strong, responsible player that never stops working .

I would rather see us play with an inverted triangle. Gana at the base, with two more advanced players ahead of him (preferably a healthy Ross Barkley and either Sigurdsson, should he ever get his game back, Vlasic, Lookman, or Klaassen).

[Sibdane]

Disappointed again to not see Vlasic, but at least Sandro got some minutes

[nogs]

Just now, Bailey said:

But should we really have to? Its not like we have a terrible group of players. They are shot to bits at the moment but we have enough talent in the squad to be playing far far better than we are.

I'd say the evidence on the pitch is they are not good enough. Talent and scouting stats mean fuck all if you don't produce when it matters. I thought the squad Martinez put together was full of promise and was ruined by his dreadful approach to defending. I think this squad is full of shite. So yes, £140 million later, we need wholesale changes. 

[Shukes]

15 minutes ago, Romey 1878 said:

This season is just horrendous isn’t it? Feels like it’s been going a year already  

It’s rough mate it really is. But us Everton fans are hardened to it haha!

[Palfy]

2 minutes ago, Bailey said:

We definitely need some fresh ideas to be brought into the fold because I only see very marginal improvement and given how shite we were under Koeman I was expecting a much bigger difference.

At the moment I dont think it matters who you play in midfield. Besic has been shite this season too. Siggy played in there today and he was crap. Only Beni, McCarthy and Davies have been slightly more than piss poor at points this season.

 

It does matter you can't carry 2 midfielders that show no fight for the game that hardly contribute anything, Davies and Besic would battle win the ball back work there nuts off, which in turn would allow your play makers like Gylfi more freedom to be creative rather than spending all game defending and trying to win the ball back, because the 2 dicks that started are incapable of either. Yeah it matters Bailey it matters a lot.

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

We've scored 5 in two games

Oh come on seriously ?
We have been gifted at leat 4 of those goals and we are averaging just 1.3 goals per game (https://www.premierleague.com/clubs/7/Everton/stats)

You honestly don’t think that’s a problem?

[MikeO]

1 hour ago, duncanmckenzieismagic said:

Honest question to Bill, Matt and anyone else who thinks relegation is inconceivable.
Given we have just been fortunate to get a point against the side who are bottom of the table, and who before today had only amassed a grand total of 4 points all season. If we are not in danger who is?

As three of those four points came against Chelsea I'll guess them.

[Paddock]

How we got a point today escapes me- we are in a right mess and were totally outplayed. Unsworth is not right for the job. We’ve literally stolen the last 4 points- it’s not good enough and something has to change as our luck wont hold out like this forever.

[pete0]

Other than one play at the start of the second half, were DCL should have scored, I don't remember us stringing a few passes together and surging towards goal. Niasse worked with scraps and I genuinely don't think any other striker in the league would have got us them two goals today. The midfield is embarrassing, left the striker isolated and didn't shield the defence at all. There's no fight in Schneiderlin, no brain in Gana, and Lookman isn't ready for this level yet. The midfield didn't even engage in a battle and sat that far back you'd think we were a league one team.  

[Palfy]

7 minutes ago, pete0 said:

Other than one play at the start of the second half, were DCL should have scored, I don't remember us stringing a few passes together and surging towards goal. Niasse worked with scraps and I genuinely don't think any other striker in the league would have got us them two goals today. The midfield is embarrassing, left the striker isolated and didn't shield the defence at all. There's no fight in Schneiderlin, no brain in Gana, and Lookman isn't ready for this level yet. The midfield didn't even engage in a battle and sat that far back you'd think we were a league one team.  

Agree with everything you said there good post.

[Cornish Steve]

Two comments. First, let’s remember that Palace beat Chelsea and have been a bogey team for us in recent years. Second, many called for ugly wins or draws over exciting losses. We got a point away. I’m ok with that right now. 

[pete0]

14 minutes ago, Palfy said:

Agree with everything you said there good post.

Cheers Palfy.

Gana never being goal side and Schneiderlin's lack of commitment is doing my head in. It's got to the point where I'm wound up just from looking at the team sheet.

[nogs]

1 hour ago, duncanmckenzieismagic said:

Oh come on seriously ?
We have been gifted at leat 4 of those goals and we are averaging just 1.3 goals per game (https://www.premierleague.com/clubs/7/Everton/stats)

You honestly don’t think that’s a problem?

 

I wasn't talking about the first 10 games of the season. I stated a fact - we've scored 5 in 2. If you want to bandy averages about, that means we've averaged 2.5 goals a game in the last two. 

I don't really think it matters how they come. We needed to start scoring more and we have done. 

[nogs]

47 minutes ago, Paddock said:

How we got a point today escapes me- we are in a right mess and were totally outplayed. Unsworth is not right for the job. We’ve literally stolen the last 4 points- it’s not good enough and something has to change as our luck wont hold out like this forever.

So come on then you've made it obvious what you think of Unsworth - get your balls out your pocket, who should we get in? 

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

I wasn't talking about the first 10 games of the season. I stated a fact - we've scored 5 in 2. If you want to bandy averages about, that means we've averaged 2.5 goals a game in the last two. 
I don't really think it matters how they come. We needed to start scoring more and we have done. 

As I said we have been gifted 4 of those goals so IMO we still have an issue

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

Two comments. First, let’s remember that Palace beat Chelsea and have been a bogey team for us in recent years. Second, many called for ugly wins or draws over exciting losses. We got a point away. I’m ok with that right now. 

Can’t say fair than that , but it’s a good indicator of where we are in the grand scheme of things that we are thankful for stealing a point from the side firmly ensconced at the bottom of the table

[nogs]

7 minutes ago, duncanmckenzieismagic said:

Can’t say fair than that , but it’s a good indicator of where we are in the grand scheme of things that we are thankful for stealing a point from the side firmly ensconced at the bottom of the table

 

And that's exactly where we are. Forget performances now, it's all about points and survival. It's going to take more than one window to turn things round because our squad is so far from being what it should be. So there's no point being surprised we're shit anymore - here we are, it's going to be a long process. 

[Paddock]

37 minutes ago, nogs said:

So come on then you've made it obvious what you think of Unsworth - get your balls out your pocket, who should we get in? 

I don’t know but as last ng as he is experienced and knows what he is doing managing at the top level I will be happy. We need some identity- every game the team has 3 or 4 changes, 2 subs made at half time on a regular basis. We need continuity, players to form partnerships, players knowing their roles, round pegs in round holes and a manager who can instil confidence and belief.

I’m not sure I’m even arsed who that is anymore but we desperately need it put in place. For the record, I have nothing against Unsworth, I’ve said many a time if we were on 37 points with 10 games to go I’d be happy to try him out but we are an absolute shambles and I want someone in place who has experience in top flight management. He’s too much of a risk- if we go down it would finish us, the stadium would be gone the lot.

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

And that's exactly where we are. Forget performances now, it's all about points and survival. It's going to take more than one window to turn things round because our squad is so far from being what it should be. So there's no point being surprised we're shit anymore - here we are, it's going to be a long process. 

Totally agree it’s all about results now, we need points on the board and I dot care how we get them
We didn’t deserve anything out of that game today so I am delighted with the point

The point being that some people believe we are too good to go down and as desperate as I am to jump on that band wagon I just don’t believe it

[Palfy]

1 hour ago, pete0 said:

Cheers Palfy.

Gana never being goal side and Schneiderlin's lack of commitment is doing my head in. It's got to the point where I'm wound up just from looking at the team sheet.

I think most of us are feeling that way an hour before kick off you see the team sheet and you know we are going to struggle, what I find hard to comprehend is that the management can't, who are meant to be the professionals here cause the ones being paid to do the job look more like the amateurs.

[nogs]

1 hour ago, duncanmckenzieismagic said:

Totally agree it’s all about results now, we need points on the board and I dot care how we get them
We didn’t deserve anything out of that game today so I am delighted with the point

The point being that some people believe we are too good to go down and as desperate as I am to jump on that band wagon I just don’t believe it

 

No we're not too good to go down I agree. We're awful. But now I've seen some fight in us, I think we'll do enough, at home especially. If we fight, Good is on becomes a very hard place to play. But it's a massive job long term turning this around and it's down to the board now to get a fucking clue because we haven't had one in a while. 

[nogs]

1 hour ago, Paddock said:

I don’t know but as last ng as he is experienced and knows what he is doing managing at the top level I will be happy. We need some identity- every game the team has 3 or 4 changes, 2 subs made at half time on a regular basis. We need continuity, players to form partnerships, players knowing their roles, round pegs in round holes and a manager who can instil confidence and belief.

I’m not sure I’m even arsed who that is anymore but we desperately need it put in place. For the record, I have nothing against Unsworth, I’ve said many a time if we were on 37 points with 10 games to go I’d be happy to try him out but we are an absolute shambles and I want someone in place who has experience in top flight management. He’s too much of a risk- if we go down it would finish us, the stadium would be gone the lot.

Fair enough. I think the quality and balance in the squad is more of a problem than the manager, I just want a decision as I don't think the uncertainty helps at all.

I don't agree about relegation. I think we'd win the Championship by a country mile first time of asking. Not that I'm suggesting I want that of course, everything we do the rest of this season has to be about making sure it doesn't happen.