The point of no return

[Gladystweet]

The point of no return? Nah... We might as well pack it all in if that was the case.

Don't get me wrong, we are a mess right now, through from boardroom level right through, but we are only a reshuffle or 7 away from back to dining at the big table. Football is a fickle game and can "sometimes" change overnight.

As Royalblue66 alluded to though, I dont think this will be a quick fix but my blind optimism thinks (hopes) this will all change for the better... one day...

Well, if it's the point of no return, that means we can only go forward.


I've got my optimistic pants on.

 

[deipnosophist]

On the minus side, we're not as attractive to playrs now as we were a year ago. The football is unbearably dull and the club is clearly split, on and off the field. Many of our better players are approaching the end of their careers.

On the plus side, a competent manager and a good transfer strategy shouldn't be beyond our reach.

This is the reason so many Evertonians are clamouring for an extended contract for Capt Jags. If an individual exists that has the leadership qualities to navigate the good ship Everton toward the safety of the nearest sand bank, then that man is Capt Jags.

 

[MikeH72]

There is no quick fix. and the sooner we realise this,the better.

You know what would’ve helped with that? A £150m transfer war chest. If only we had one of those to not spend on mid table players, oh wait...

 

[MikeH72]

West Brom and Stoke have both made terrible managerial decisions this year. To sack Pulis and hire Pardew was an awful decision his record is terrible, an then they kept him far to long.
Stoke kept Hughes far to long.
Both teams have brought really badly as well.

We have a very good squad which is better then both of WBA and Stoke. We are along way from being relegated, look at our last 3 home games, we have 2 shots on targets and got 5 points, we have quality in our squad and team

We don’t have a good squad at all. We all saw in the last game that without Walcott in the side, we have more or less no genuine quality whatsoever.

 

[MrGrumpy]

I am not convinced we do have a very good squad.

The balance is awful, too many players with the same skill sets and most of which have awful flaws that they repeat time and time again.

Most of them are talented don't get me wrong but we need loads more diversity in the squad instead of having loads of like for like replacements.

Also players who move would be nice.

I do agree with you but we also gave the line of Lookman and Vlasic who under the right manager will shine

 

[PeregrineT]

Its the the trying and failing that should scare you. Its the point we stop trying.

The path to success is littered with mistakes, failures, and disappointment, and the difference between those that get there and those that dont is not that they figure out the magic formula in week 1, its that they keep trying and trying until they hit the winning combo. When we get complacent and stop fighting to make the top 4, thats when we die.

 

[Debunkology]

People write posts like they haven't lived through the 90s, or under the skint Moyes era. The fact that we are ACTUALLY moving stadium is a miracle in itself. As an Evertonian I haven't felt more optimistic for the future than now. Yeah, I was too young for the 80s. But we're been in far worse predicaments. Like being in shitloads of debt and selling off every asset, or watching the team play with no strikers.

 

[mikey 62]

If you'll forgive a rather unfortunate political analogy here, we're in the position of the Conservative Party just under a year ago - an utterly inept campaign, an uninspiring team, a hopeless, clueless leader clearly out of touch with the support at large, but they still won, and we'll finish (on paper, at least) as comfortably in the top half of the table!

forgiven mate ,

Comfortably in the top half of the table , after how this dour season , Ill take it
lets hope we beat the R/S in the elections next season

 

[Moggers]

Well, if it's the point of no return, that means we can only go forward.


I've got my optimistic pants on.

Very true mate

 

[brieverton]

To a large extent, outside the top six in particular, every club is hoping to hit on some winning formula, things are done and decisions made but as with the position we are in now, we are hoping to stumble on a gifted manager, who can sign talented players, and propel us upwards. That "strategy" makes us no different from Newcastle or West Ham, however much we like to think otherwise.

I am not equating us with those clubs either, just to say that I have not particularly seen evidence of any plan or implementation of a plan, that makes us different to them in the here and now.

We had somewhat of a big moment, with Moshiri's arrival, and then preceeded to fall into the same trap that clubs before us have experienced, no coherent transfer strategy, and throwing good money after bad.

If you want to predict the future, then look to the past. It will be difficult but not impossible to buck the trend of the last thirty years which has seen Everton engage in what is really no more than a managed decline.

The question now is, are we doomed to our fate, are we institutionalised as a club to stagnation, or can we really and truly do something to break the stranglehold of the sides above us.

This is something I have yet to see or hear from Moshiri. We have started hiring and firing managers with regularity, and are about to hire our second DOF in two years. Decisions are only justified if you get them right. Bournemouth could hire a DOF. So could Leicester take on another new manager.

The conclusion if there is one, is that we stand or fall by the decisions of Moshiri and the board. The stadium might act as the catalyst for a new period of growth and expansion, leading to success on the pitch. So might the appointment of a competent, industry-expert CEO.

But Moshiri actually has to plan for success, and structure the club accordingly. Everything that is done at GP and FF, every miniscule thing, has to be geared towards improvement and achievement. The whole club has to be lead from the front, from the top down, and we move forward as a whole unit and make the best decisions with the information and resources available.

In that respect we sorely lack top class, driven, talented individuals, and until we get them, then its more of the same whether that's under Allardyce, Fonseca, or anyone else. If we get the right people, then the residual strength of our name, what's left of it, might be ripe to capitalise upon and see us compete.

 

[Papa Shango]

I do agree with you but we also gave the line of Lookman and Vlasic who under the right manager will shine

They are fine as young prospects. No guarantees that either of them will make it though (to the level we need them to be anyway).

We lack pace, power and most importantly brains.

 

[BirkenheadBlue]

Looking at the League this year there won't be at least 3 teams who are not worse than us at the very least

That is one of the most weirdly structured sentences I’ve ever seen

 

[Cels]

I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rosy garden.

Along with the sunshine, there's gotta be a little rain sometime

 

[Charles Hawtrey]

Thinking about the whole situation I think we are at a crossroads, inflection point or something like that – but its one we face regularly and we are not alone. Well documented that todays Premier League breaks up into three distinct groups. That’s not to say that membership is permanent in any of them nor is it to say that current membership ensures a particular outcome. For proof of this see Leicester’s title and Stoke’s relegation. But based on this seasons teams:
Start End

Group 1 Group 1

City City

UTD UTD

Chelsea Chelsea

Arsenal Arsenal

Spurs Spurs

Redshite Redshite



Group2 Group2

Everton Burnley

Liecester Everton

Burnley Liecester

West Ham West Ham

Stoke Newcastle

West Brom Watford

Southampton Bournemouth



Group 3 Group 3

Swansea Brighton

Newcastle Huddersfield

Watford Southampton

Palace Palace

Bournemouth Swansea

Brighton Stoke

Huddersfield WestBrom

So the Goal of Group 1 teams is to be in the top 4 but they are maintaining a Euro presence every year.
The goal of Group2 teams is to become a group 1 team, or stay in Group2 and definitely not join group 3 and get into a relegation fight (our panic of 2017)
The goal of group3 teams is to get 40 points, don’t finish in the bottom 3, and begin to cement a place in group 2 if possible.
For all of the teams stability and guaranteed levels of income are paramount.

All this points to our particular crossroads offers a couple of potential directions
1) Move up into Group 1 – only achievable if the stars align, ambitious management , abundant funds, or all the above - I’d call this the Fonseca option.
2) Cement the 7th place trophy as leaders of Group2 , we’ve been here for a few years… I’d call this the Howe/Dyche Option
3) Things go south and we spend next year in Group 3 – chances are not getting relegated but being worried about it all year – I’d call this the Allardyce option

After all this the realization is ‘yes – we are at a point of inflection’ but it is one where the outcomes are likely limited. The likely range of outcomes for next season are that we finish between 5th and 14th depending on the path we take this summer. Its not very likely (though I wish) that we win the title and its not very likely we go down. Its clearly decision time as to which path we want to take but the outcome is at worst another year like this one with perhaps some better teams coming into Group 3 that push our comfortable place in Group 2 a bit.

 

[TippEverton]

Along with the sunshine, there's gotta be a little rain sometime

It's been pissing down on us a long time now though, FFS