c1982

Chilwell out for the rest of the season at least. It would be a big ask, with the amount of games they’ll have in all comps, for Alonso to play every game. They’ll be looking to compete on all levels so can pretty much guarantee they’ll be in for a left back who can play in the Champions League (not cup tied) in January - Digne would probably be ideal for them.

I can see Chelsea keeping a close eye on this with January in mind.

He’s our best defender by a mile - we’re so much more organised with Mina on the pitch. We do need to replace him though; the drop off when he’s not in the team is worrying and, unfortunately, he misses far too many games through injury so I’d reluctantly sell but we need to replace him with a leader/dominant centre back.

Didn’t seem many but the atmosphere was fantastic as people left their seats.

Richarlison just ahead of Keane and Gray. Special mention for Gomes’ cameo too. I feel so relieved!!!

I’ll stay seated but only because I can’t see how however many hundred/thousand will fit in the Lower Bullens concourse area without it being dangerous - I do think there’s a safety risk to this if people leave their seat but don’t actually leave the stadium.

The bigger picture is, if a player isn’t going to work out, he needs to retain some value - calculated risks. Every signing is a risk - most of the signings pre-Brands were premium price with little sell-on, mainly because of their age. Since we’ve had Brands, generally, our more expensive signings have retained/added value. Iwobi stands out - supposedly Brands didn’t approve but Moshiri cracked on regardless.

I disagree - most of the Brands’ signings at least break even but most make profit. The mess that ‘Walsh’ (I actually feel sorry for him and think he wasn’t allowed to do his job) left takes years to repair - Brands, less so.

Sack Benitez to replace him with Mourinho… modern day Everton.

Everton fans as a reaction to that lot singing YNWA.

A bit more context. Personally, I usually need a piss around that mark so will probably be out of my seat anyway!

We did it perfectly with Baines by bringing Digne in while he still had a bit left in the tank - it’s not bloody rocket science!

I can’t disagree with this…

Part of me thinks this is going on but, if it is, why hasn’t he left? Maybe his style/‘blue print’ just isn’t suitable for this league or club. What I’m certain of is hiring a new manager every 12months and each time allowing them to bring in ‘their’ players and ‘their’ tactics isn’t the joined up thinking that this club needs and it’s the reason we’re experiencing this shit show currently. The DoF should surely be directing the football unless I’ve really misunderstood that title… direct a style, a recruitment strategy, academy to 1st team, etc. I don’t see a lot of that at EFC.

Our biggest problem is injuries - no doubt about it. Credit to Benitez he’s actually trying to do something about this. Fully fit all season, we’d probably be around 6th and pretty optimistic about tonight. The big difference between us and West Ham (mentioned above) is injuries - yes, they’ve had a couple but take Rice out AND Antonio and maybe a couple others for a series of games (like we’ve had to cope with) and their results will suffer. Moyes/Benitez- whoever it is would suffer with this injury list. Benitez hasn’t helped himself though by not trying something a bit different - maybe giving a couple of the younger lads a chance rather than Rondon mainly! Different systems maybe? Ironically, we’ll probably see a tactical change tonight - I think we’ll see Allan, Doucoure and Delph as a 3 (which would probably help us get a bit of control against most teams) and Gray, Richarlison and Townsend/Gordon as a 3 - we’ll still get battered though!

Every team beat every team in empty stadiums - the results stand but they’re all a bit of an anomaly.

Exactly this! Although, I did get excited getting back to Goodison after lockdown for Southampton - short lived!

…and we’ve somehow managed to get into a similar position where something like this could happen again

Realistically, mid table mediocrity is where we are - our average position has been 9th since Moyes left and that’s after spending how many million? Moyes only finished below 8th on 2 occasions in his 11 whole seasons. We’re just not very good and have probably been the most overrated team in the league in recent years. Mid table mediocrity would be easier to take if I could see we were building something but I just don’t see that joined up thinking at EFC and I don’t see much to be proud of… in fact, if we weren’t moving into the new stadium, I’d happily give up my season ticket and I’ve felt this for the past few seasons.

He’s doing really well at Derby with the shitstorm he’s walked into. No doubt he’ll be high up on our annual next manager list… (keep it quiet but I wouldn’t be wholly against the idea).

Fair play He does a lot gestures like this - many do and Kane seems a really top bloke.

Doucoure- sloppy at times but much better than anyone else in my opinion. I’d have happily had Delph alongside Allan to push Doucoure further forward - we may have actually troubled them with him getting into the box.

This is very hard to take today because I’m pretty sure every other team in the league beats Brentford today as they were so poor. This isn’t the Brentford who beat Arsenal and matched Chelsea/Liverpool; they’ve got a few injuries and look very average. Sadly, we’re an absolute shambles. Okay, our defence (bar Coleman) and midfield look okay but where would you rank Iwobi, Townsend, Gordon and Rondon as an attacking 4? I don’t think, there’s a weaker front 4 if you look at the weekend line-ups. In reality, all are back-up but that in itself is worrying. I like Gordon and am happy to have Townsend as an option but in reality, unless we are pretty much fully fit, we are a very poor side.

I’ve listed my ticket (and my dad’s) - just can’t face the 200mile round trip in shit weather - getting home at 12:30 to get up at 6:30 - can’t be arsed! Gone for 0-5 on my Super 6 - really can’t see any other outcome at the moment.