I really think we need to take into account that we've just been hammered when analysing his comments. If he spoke about Newcastle in such glowing terms and said things like we're way behind them, they have speed, strength experience and squad depth that we don't have then I'd say stop writing us off before the game, but we were schooled by them just before he spoke so why should he hide his disappointment and honesty on the issue. Keep in mind that we have been poor for years, and any time we get overly positive we crumble. Moyes has been our most successful manager since the cup win, but the 80s really in terms of any consistency. Maybe this club needs the underdog mentality, because we can't seem to transition to a we can beat anyone attitude on a consistent basis, especially among the top performing clubs of recent years. It's always a bit of a suprise when it happens, we all know this.
Maybe I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt because I want to, but I'm a lot more comfortable as a Toffee since he came back than in the recent
past and that includes his dose of realism even if it isn't very inspiring or full of false promises, which quite frankly I find more reassuring after a loss than something deluded like we should be beating these but they hammered us and I don't know why.
He also signaled the our board by praising Newcastle(who deserved praise btw) that they have more depth and the window is coming. Newcastle were very good defensively and very effective up front, and thinking or saying otherwise only makes us look worse than we are, maybe that is the balance he's trying to strike.
As for Bournemouth he did not rank them with Newcastle, he ranked them lower and said 'we have to add to our points there'. That's not anything like a sword to a gunfight chatter. If we lose it, I have no doubt he will point to Bournemouth being strong at home and our shortages in the squad again, but I won't hold it against him if so. I care more about his pre match presser comments and attitude. What he says after a heavy loss is always going to fall short.