Uncomfortably Numb

[evo1878]

Well written article and sums up how I feel too. But I lay the blame more with Kenwright and Moshiri. Hate Allardyce’s Tactics. Always have done no matter what team he managed. I don’t fault the guy for taking another rich payout. It’s been obvious from the start he’s been playing percentage results. Win our home games forget the away games. It smacks of Moshiri’s ‘acceptable to lose games’ attitude. What has happened to our once great club? Kenwright you utter beaut for investing nothing, winning nothing, extracting millions and leaving us Moshiri as your 20-year legacy.

For all our sake as disgusted as I am with Allardyce I hope his plan works...
Brighton at home is an utterly massive game and it never ever should be for a club like ours.

It’s followed by the 2 other home gambles. Southampton & Newcastle in terms of being unacceptably massive.

My fear is practically all our games are relegation 6-pointers. We may be sat ‘uncomfortably’ in the top half right now but every team below us are in a relegation scrap and they see Home games against us as a 6-pointer. So add 3 points to the likes of West Ham, huddersfield, Swansea and Stoke at our expense and suddenly we cannot afford anything less than wins against Brighton, Newcastle and Southampton at home.

I think this will be a rare season where 40 points will still mean relegation because I can see every team from stoke upwards winning 4 out of their last 10 games because there’s virtually no difference between us and Stoke and anyone in between.

 

[TraffordBlue]

I'm not happy with a lot of things that Allardyce is doing but I do believe in giving people a chance.

As time has gone on I'm more inclined to agree that he's not the right option, especially with his ultra negative tactics but I don't really agree with the witch hunt many have gone on since he was appointed. It's ridiculous when you've got fans writing off players after a couple of sub appearances and managers before they've even had a game in charge.

Like half the same fans haven't been wrong about countless players before, let alone managers. Half of them would have sacked Kendall after a month in charge, given the current climate.

It's messed up and when many of our fanbase are so impatient it makes you wonder what any prospective manager might think of coming here when offered the job, given he'll know how many fans will want him gone if he can't break in to the top 6 in his first season.

What I am finding baffling about some of the 'haters' opinions is the way they try and rewrite history.

I read something earlier that the fans online aren't happy with some comment about Klaassen that he made where he said he hasn't done enough to be in his plans. Well from watching every performance Klaassen has put in this season, I can't argue with Allardyce's opinion that he isn't good enough for a place in the team. The vast vast majority of the fans were (rightly) unhappy about Klaassen's performances when he was played, because he showed absolutely nothing. And I mean that. I can't think of anything that he did that impressed me more than what is expected of him as a professional footballer. No pace, limited passing range, no aggression, little vision, weak in the tackle, can't shoot outside the box etc.

And now some of these same people are demanding he get a chance and slating Allardyce for not playing him. The previous 2 managers didn't fancy him either after those poor performances early on. He's genuinely the last player i'd be considering adding to the centre of our midfield to get some creativity from.

The performances away from home have been dire under Big Sam, which they also were before he came in, but the home performances have improved against the lower sides (except for the Split home game and West Ham one which were also good before he arrived).

 

[Bob Elstone]

Well written article and sums up how I feel too. But I lay the blame more with Kenwright and Moshiri. Hate Allardyce’s Tactics. Always have done no matter what team he managed. I don’t fault the guy for taking another rich payout. It’s been obvious from the start he’s been playing percentage results. Win our home games forget the away games. It smacks of Moshiri’s ‘acceptable to lose games’ attitude. What has happened to our once great club? Kenwright you utter beaut for investing nothing, winning nothing, extracting millions and leaving us Moshiri as your 20-year legacy.

For all our sake as disgusted as I am with Allardyce I hope his plan works...
Brighton at home is an utterly massive game and it never ever should be for a club like ours.

It’s followed by the 2 other home gambles. Southampton & Newcastle in terms of being unacceptably massive.

My fear is practically all our games are relegation 6-pointers. We may be sat ‘uncomfortably’ in the top half right now but every team below us are in a relegation scrap and they see Home games against us as a 6-pointer. So add 3 points to the likes of West Ham, huddersfield, Swansea and Stoke at our expense and suddenly we cannot afford anything less than wins against Brighton, Newcastle and Southampton at home.

I think this will be a rare season where 40 points will still mean relegation because I can see every team from stoke upwards winning 4 out of their last 10 games because there’s virtually no difference between us and Stoke and anyone in between.

Those games are never 6 pointers.

There’s not a chance in hell we’re getting relegated.

 

[Toffe3m4n]

Brighton at home is an utterly massive game and it never ever should be for a club like ours.

It’s followed by the 2 other home gambles. Southampton & Newcastle in terms of being unacceptably massive.

My fear is practically all our games are relegation 6-pointers. We may be sat ‘uncomfortably’ in the top half right now but every team below us are in a relegation scrap and they see Home games against us as a 6-pointer. So add 3 points to the likes of West Ham, huddersfield, Swansea and Stoke at our expense and suddenly we cannot afford anything less than wins against Brighton, Newcastle and Southampton at home.

I think this will be a rare season where 40 points will still mean relegation because I can see every team from stoke upwards winning 4 out of their last 10 games because there’s virtually no difference between us and Stoke and anyone in between.

Disagree. Chances are there'll be at least a couple teams hovering just above the bottom 3 come May that won't have hit 40 points themselves.

 

[TraffordBlue]

I think this will be a rare season where 40 points will still mean relegation because I can see every team from stoke upwards winning 4 out of their last 10 games because there’s virtually no difference between us and Stoke and anyone in between.

This isn't a dig but how have you possibly come to that conclusion?

Southampton for example have got 5 wins in 28 attempts. And you think they will win 4 in the next 10?

I think 38 points will be enough to stay up.

 

[RichardP]

We can make all of the above permutations irrelevant if hit 40 points sooner rather than later.

Best result for Saturday imho, though, would be match postponed due weather. If it goes ahead I can see another unhappy away day!

 

[Caolam]

Could we have a copy of that sent to Fat Sam's in box. By his calculations that would be 13 fans who are not behind him.

 

[KaiserEFC]

What I am finding baffling about some of the 'haters' opinions is the way they try and rewrite history.

I read something earlier that the fans online aren't happy with some comment about Klaassen that he made where he said he hasn't done enough to be in his plans. Well from watching every performance Klaassen has put in this season, I can't argue with Allardyce's opinion that he isn't good enough for a place in the team. The vast vast majority of the fans were (rightly) unhappy about Klaassen's performances when he was played, because he showed absolutely nothing. And I mean that. I can't think of anything that he did that impressed me more than what is expected of him as a professional footballer. No pace, limited passing range, no aggression, little vision, weak in the tackle, can't shoot outside the box etc.

And now some of these same people are demanding he get a chance and slating Allardyce for not playing him. The previous 2 managers didn't fancy him either after those poor performances early on. He's genuinely the last player i'd be considering adding to the centre of our midfield to get some creativity from.

The performances away from home have been dire under Big Sam, which they also were before he came in, but the home performances have improved against the lower sides (except for the Split home game and West Ham one which were also good before he arrived).

It’s not just the Klassen situation though is it, it’s everything else.

The home performances are utterly dire, we don’t play football and there’s zero entertainment. The vast majority of the fan base are hating it and you just can’t argue with that. And do you not think a competent manager would do something to change our away form?

 

[TraffordBlue]

It’s not just the Klassen situation though is it, it’s everything else.

The home performances are utterly dire, we don’t play football and there’s zero entertainment. The vast majority of the fan base are hating it and you just can’t argue with that. And do you not think a competent manager would do something to change our away form?

I don't think they are to be honest. I'm enjoying them more than I was under Koeman, and the Watford game was absolutely terrible under Unsworth until we got the first goal back.

The away games are horrific and I will agree fully on that, which is part of the reason that I will want him gone at the end of the season. His attitude in the away games has been pathetic and the Watford game the other day was the final straw. I want a manager next season who will try and approach every game based on the opposition whether home and away and not whether it's an away game and therefore we must go in to it with caution. Even when playing poor sides like Watford and West Brom.

 

[Philw]

I'm not happy with a lot of things that Allardyce is doing but I do believe in giving people a chance.

As time has gone on I'm more inclined to agree that he's not the right option, especially with his ultra negative tactics but I don't really agree with the witch hunt many have gone on since he was appointed. It's ridiculous when you've got fans writing off players after a couple of sub appearances and managers before they've even had a game in charge.

Like half the same fans haven't been wrong about countless players before, let alone managers. Half of them would have sacked Kendall after a month in charge, given the current climate.

It's messed up and when many of our fanbase are so impatient it makes you wonder what any prospective manager might think of coming here when offered the job, given he'll know how many fans will want him gone if he can't break in to the top 6 in his first season.

This situation is nothing like you've suggested, and not comparable to any other situations. This is about BFS, in many people's opinions, not being suitable for our club. Not just because of the results or performances, but also - indeed mainly - because of his personality, style of football, and way of working. Those who were willing to back him (like me) hoped he would change here. It has become clear that this is not going to be the case when it comes down to his personality and way of working. Patience has nothing to do with it. He is what he is, and that is not acceptable or good enough for many fans. To suggest otherwise as you have above insults and belittles the inteligence of anyone who feels that way imo.

Pretty well written and certainly heartfelt. I don’t remember feeling this much animosity to Koeman and Martinez at the end even though it was clear they were finished. I didn’t feel so offended by the sight of them in the giant coat or the ill fitting training range or unable to listen to the post match drivel about ‘phenomenal performances’ or ‘But that’s Futbol’, I just cannot allow my ears to be assualted by the dire, unsubstantiated egotistical schmuck any longer. It will be a Blue Letter Day when he goes and it cannot come soon enough.

I wanted Moyes out 2/3 years before he went. Martinez about when he did/the same season at least. Koeman similarly. But it is different with BFS. I liked Moyes, and he did great for 7 years. I only turned against his performance as manager, not him, towards the end. Same with Martinez. Koeman I never really liked his style much, but I thought it might be good for the team after Martinez. Allardyce I just hate the way he acts. Nothing redeemable about him for me, and therefore he needs to go, as he is not doing anything results wise that anybody else couldn't.

 

[murphy89]

I can completely understand why Sam was appointed when he was. Moshiri has invested circa 300m, including how much he bought the club for (and yes, I include his loan to pay off debts), he is never going to sit by and let the team get relegated. It would devalue his asset and basically lose him a lot of money.

After the Southampton game, I couldn't see us staying up and I think a lot of fans would agree. So I wouldn't say that at that time hiring Sam demonstrated a lack of ambition, more that it demonstrated Moshiri was unwilling to sit by and see us slip out the league and the financial complications that brings; regardless if that made some fans upset or not. Infact, can you imagine he had stuck with Unsworth as Sam would have made fans unhappy and we were now sitting in, or just above, the relegation zone?

Unfortunately, with Sam comes terrible football and his ego. This a cross to bear until the end of the season, when I fully expect him to be shown the door - along with Steve Walsh.

However, this needs to be a learning curve for everyone at the club, including the fans. Whoever comes in must be given time and we must accept that progress would be finishing 7th again, maybe even closing the gap slightly. We need to back whoever comes in through good times and bad. If we bring in a possession style manager, not boo when moving the ball across the back at 3-0 up. We need to find an identity again and stick with it. One of our major problems is the we have flipped between managers which such contrasting styles and part of the reasons the squad is so unbalanced.

This summer is the true test of Moshiri's ambition and next season is the true test of our fan base. We can't expect instant success and we need to take the rough with the smooth. There was time under Moyes at Goodison when we literally sucked the ball into the next, drove the players on. Now fans go, sit down and moan that the game is flat. We have our part to play as well. Through patience, support and noise.

So whoever comes through the door in the summer; Fonseca, Silva, somebody else, lets give them the time to build a side again.

UTFT

 

[anjelikaferrett]

Agree with every word.

 

[RichardP]

Looking ahead, I think we need to be careful when replacing BFS. That he needs replacing is an absolute given for me and the end of the season would be the right time I think.

The danger is that Moshiri then starts to splash the cash again starting with a big name foreign manager. We don't just need a great manager. We need a great manager who would be a good fit at Everton. Koeman never really was and BFS certainly isn't. Martinez looked as though he might be for a while but that was due to the residual influence of Moyes imho.

So, for me, ideally we want a top British manager or a foreigner who has already been successful in UK and understands what we are about.

In many ways, Martinez successful first season defined what we need - a hybrid of Moyes and Martinez and the closest I can think of to that is Eddie Howe.

Would it be a gamble? Probably - but so was Howard Kendall. He was 39 when we won the title in 1985.

Would he be interested? Ask him.

Would he try to play the sort of football that we want to watch? Definitely.

Does he know how to organise a defence? Yes.

Does he like Everton? Big fan as a youngster.

What's not to like?

 

[eddy]

after today I feel we are staring into the abyss
feel sorry for the fans who went today

 

[seer]

Couldn't even be arsed to watch us on the telly today. Think it's the first match I haven't had a single iota of motivation to watch in one form or another in my entire Everton supporting life of 40 years