Relegation

[ToffeeTim]

Hopefully not seen as a doom merchant but say we got relegated , what reception would you give the players / staff last home game when they do the lap around ground at end ?

Chances are if we go down, it will go to the final day and we are away. Final home game could be very bad though if we are on the brink after a poor result against Brentford. Let's hope not though. That game could potentially be where we save ourselves too. Long way to go.

 

[Bkk Andy]

i think it's called being in a different generation lol

Nah, I think it's called drive, ambition and personal pride Vs being relatively unsuccessful

 

[Saint Domingo]

I mean most people should be confident of us not going down because for the last few months all we’ve heard is that the players are better than they are, they just need some coaching, they just need some set piece organisation, Carlo had us in europe etc.

What’s the worry then?

Or is there a nagging feeling that the people who were calling out that the players were utter mince and the squad culture and mentality regardless of the manager had been a problem for most of the last five years might have actually been right?

It was more fun to just senselessly blast Benitez though wasn’t it, hope for a silver bullet appointment, and then call everyone who didn’t join in the witch hunt as some sort of Benitez loving kopite.

I think Lampard knows what he’s doing and has his head screwed on. I think we’ll stay up (just), but it wouldn’t shock me at all if we went down because all of the problems we’ve had for years are still there.

Did Benitez get the results to allow him to stay? Obviously not. Did he make mistakes? Of course he did. Did fans wanting him out after a couple of losses help anything? Did blaming absolutely everything that has ever gone wrong at Everton, or ever will go wrong on Benitez help anything? No. Some fans were so triggered by Benitez that they could barely recognise any other issue at the club without frothing at the mouth calling people kopites.

A sad sad state of affairs. Just praying Frank can turn things around now but Tuesday night was just an absolute classic, injuries all over the shop, a complete lack of effort and desire from some players, and defensive errors from the usual clowns. He has a massive job on his hands.

 

[coollino]

Nah, I think it's called drive, ambition and personal pride Vs being relatively unsuccessful

I've got what could be seen as a very good management job and I wouldn't particularly say i have too much of those in a work context. I'm just good at the job and treat everyone equally.

my drive, ambition and pride is all in my personal life, not a company i work for.

 

[Zeitgeist]

If we do manage to stay up and find some kind of mid tableesque form, which I believe we can under lampard. Only reason it didn't go so well against newcastle is because gomes and allan crumbled. We still had 20 minutes of us looking the better team.

But anyway, if we do manage to stay, this has got to be the biggest warning signs to the club that some players need replacing, the entire defence bar Godfrey and Mykolenko, Branthwaite and Patterson (as hes yet to play).

Keane should be shipped out, Burnley would likely take him back, Holgate should be (has some good attributes but does not have the concentration levels required to be a week in week out starter. As much as I like Mina, hes just pissing me off now, see you later if you can't commit to us with all these feather injuries.

This is the first thing that needs addressing before anything

 

[Death]

We won’t go down …. Come back to me in may

Like ye. If you gave me 4/1 odds right now tht we will stay up id gamble a 1r on it. But we certainly aren't in a position to be poo pooing the idea of it and being so blasé and confident. Its a real concern and should be of most popular of issues in the realm of Everton looking how things are and have been.

 

[ToffeeTim]

I mean most people should be confident of us not going down because for the last few months all we’ve heard is that the players are better than they are, they just need some coaching, they just need some set piece organisation, Carlo had us in europe etc.

What’s the worry then?

Or is there a nagging feeling that the people who were calling out that the players were utter mince and the squad culture and mentality regardless of the manager had been a problem for most of the last five years might have actually been right?

It was more fun to just senselessly blast Benitez though wasn’t it, hope for a silver bullet appointment, and then call everyone who didn’t join in the witch hunt as some sort of Benitez loving kopite.

I think Lampard knows what he’s doing and has his head screwed on. I think we’ll stay up (just), but it wouldn’t shock me at all if we went down because all of the problems we’ve had for years are still there.

Did Benitez get the results to allow him to stay? Obviously not. Did he make mistakes? Of course he did. Did fans wanting him out after a couple of losses help anything? Did blaming absolutely everything that has ever gone wrong at Everton, or ever will go wrong on Benitez help anything? No. Some fans were so triggered by Benitez that they could barely recognise any other issue at the club without frothing at the mouth calling people kopites.

A sad sad state of affairs. Just praying Frank can turn things around now but Tuesday night was just an absolute classic, injuries all over the shop, a complete lack of effort and desire from some players, and defensive errors from the usual clowns. He has a massive job on his hands.

Pretty much everyone knows the players aren't good enough, but the squad came 10th last season so relegation would be enormous underachievement and is unacceptable. No one is saying the players and squad are good. But they are not relegation standard either.

The issue you didn't mention is that we are now in a huge rut. We went 1 win from 14 matches before the manager took over. He has inherited a side used to losing every week and breaking that habit is extremely difficult. We allowed the situation to spiral way too much before we made a change. Fundamentally, we appointed the wrong manager, and waited too long. Now we have a squad lacking confidence, with morale on the floor, and a team not used to dealing with this sort of pressure.

The only way we get out of this situation is by winning a couple of matches, but it's very hard to win when you have a team who lack belief and have forgotten how to compete. What we need is a horrible, ugly, backs to the wall, jammy, 1 nil win. That's what brings back belief. Going through adversity and getting 3 points. But it's hard to see where that sort of win comes from right now.

 

[MikeH72]

I mean most people should be confident of us not going down because for the last few months all we’ve heard is that the players are better than they are, they just need some coaching, they just need some set piece organisation, Carlo had us in europe etc.

What’s the worry then?

Or is there a nagging feeling that the people who were calling out that the players were utter mince and the squad culture and mentality regardless of the manager had been a problem for most of the last five years might have actually been right?

It was more fun to just senselessly blast Benitez though wasn’t it, hope for a silver bullet appointment, and then call everyone who didn’t join in the witch hunt as some sort of Benitez loving kopite.

I think Lampard knows what he’s doing and has his head screwed on. I think we’ll stay up (just), but it wouldn’t shock me at all if we went down because all of the problems we’ve had for years are still there.

Did Benitez get the results to allow him to stay? Obviously not. Did he make mistakes? Of course he did. Did fans wanting him out after a couple of losses help anything? Did blaming absolutely everything that has ever gone wrong at Everton, or ever will go wrong on Benitez help anything? No. Some fans were so triggered by Benitez that they could barely recognise any other issue at the club without frothing at the mouth calling people kopites.

A sad sad state of affairs. Just praying Frank can turn things around now but Tuesday night was just an absolute classic, injuries all over the shop, a complete lack of effort and desire from some players, and defensive errors from the usual clowns. He has a massive job on his hands.

Why did you think it would be any different? It was the most predictable thing imaginable that it was going to be like that. It’s one of the many reasons why the appointment should never, ever have happened. The other being that he’s completely finished and outdated as a manager and has proven that in his jobs previous to this one.

 

[tom_b1807]

These lot don’t have the stomach for a relegation scrap. I can’t think of any of our players that have been in this position before? Maybe Godfrey and Doucoure?

 

[Dixieslaces]

Everton players pop into GOT for a quick overview of the consensus

GOT " nah we'll be fine just need to string a few together and we will be mid table then re-build next season"

An optimism built on a "too Big to go down mentality" yet here we are staring into the abyss, after an abject season due to piss poor decision making at the top, a waste of space and hugely wrong manager appointment and some very "lucky" players(ahem!!) plying their trade for huge sums of dosh.

Everton Players report back to the rest of the squad "GOT reckons we will be ok, so as you were lads, just look like your trying and all will be well, but they do want some of us binned off, Keane, you seem to be top of the list and you Mase!"

 

[Gilbert..]

Ashley Cole should hopefully be of some assistance too. One cant make a silk purse out of a sows ear but.

This.
Chickens coming home to roost. Said once said it 100 times on here in the past few years or so. We havent a decent defender at the club. And if you cant keep clean sheets you'll always be in trouble. We have to more or less score a minimum of 2 goals in every game to stand a chance of 3 points because we dont keep clean sheets. Carlo, i've forgot more about football than most people know ancelotti, knew it. Thats why even at Goodison against the likes of fulham and burnley he had to protect the defenders. All of them are the epitomy of bland average defenders. Keep reading nonsense on here about Mina. He's bang average. and not what we need now either in terms of spirit and fight. He has none. All the stuff we had with Godfrey being this super new defender. Then i'd watch him and couldnt match up what i was reading with what i was watching. Godfrey at least is not Mina in terms of fight. He has that. Keane. Just awful recruitment. Posted before that i dont think koeman or anyone involved with this signing even bothered to go watch him at burnley. Digne. Been done to death this one. Couldnt defend. Coleman. Seamus coleman signed and was playing for Everton when i was in my (late) 30s. Im now in my early 50s and seamus coleman is still playing for Everton.
The goalkeeper. Again been done to death. But this one i'm torn on. Would he be better with a better defence? Is he part of the problem that the defenders dont have confidence in him? I dont know with pickford now.
But the whole back line needs replacing and has done for a while. There are other things of course but this defence is as good a reason as any as why we are fighting relegation.

 

[ForeverBlue92]

Pretty much everyone knows the players aren't good enough, but the squad came 10th last season so relegation would be enormous underachievement and is unacceptable. No one is saying the players and squad are good. But they are not relegation standard either.

The issue you didn't mention is that we are now in a huge rut. We went 1 win from 14 matches before the manager took over. He has inherited a side used to losing every week and breaking that habit is extremely difficult. We allowed the situation to spiral way too much before we made a change. Fundamentally, we appointed the wrong manager, and waited too long. Now we have a squad lacking confidence, with morale on the floor, and a team not used to dealing with this sort of pressure.

The only way we get out of this situation is by winning a couple of matches, but it's very hard to win when you have a team who lack belief and have forgotten how to compete. What we need is a horrible, ugly, backs to the wall, jammy, 1 nil win. That's what brings back belief. Going through adversity and getting 3 points. But it's hard to see where that sort of win comes from right now.

The fact Michael Keane looked like Maldini last season shows the season behind closed doors wasn't real football.

Zero pressure riding on the games.

We were in the bottom 3 under both Koeman and Silva towards the end of their tenures - this squad has prior form.

 

[sbbefc]

Why did you think it would be any different? It was the most predictable thing imaginable that it was going to be like that. It’s one of the many reasons why the appointment should never, ever have happened. The other being that he’s completely finished and outdated as a manager and has proven that in his jobs previous to this one.

This is the thing, and what many of us were saying in the summer. He would have had to win practically every game to keep the fans on side. Just far too much baggage with the bloke. That brings on immense pressure on both him and the squad, even before a ball is kicked. Just an absolutely mad appointment. He got off to a good start despite (imo) not playing that well. Personally I wished him well (if he did well EFC did well) but it doesn't change the above mentioned facts.

I also think he was past it as a manager, but I think even so, if he had the same qualifications and without the baggage he might have done a little better. Why did we chose someone and invite so much pressure on ourselves. Madness

 

[ToffeeTim]

The fact Michael Keane looked like Maldini last season shows the season behind closed doors wasn't real football.

Zero pressure riding on the games.

I agree with that, but a drop from 10th to 18th or lower is still completely unacceptable. The difference between last year and this year shouldn't be 20 or more points less.

We allowed the previous manager to lose far too many matches before we acted. The longer we kept Benitez the tougher the job became for the next manager. I said it plenty of times around Christmas, but it wasn't rocket science.

 

[Saint Domingo]

I agree with that, but a drop from 10th to 18th or lower is still completely unacceptable. The difference between last year and this year shouldn't be 20 or more points less.

We allowed the previous manager to lose far too many matches before we acted. The longer we kept Benitez the tougher the job became for the next manager. I said it plenty of times around Christmas, but it wasn't rocket science.

What is also overlooked is that Ancelotti is one of the greatest managers (tactically and man management) of all time. There were several results that season we should never have got but we did because he was a genius.

The fact that we ended his reign playing five at the back, getting walked through at home and with defensive errors left right and centre was what was most worrying. It was guaranteed that the next manager we would get in wouldn’t be as good as him but people have the form under him as some sort of yardstick, it’s not. This squad has been trash for ages and it took one of the best managers of all time to get a tune out of them for a few months before even that was too much for him.