I think that a big reason that Everton are in this mess is due to the constant upheaval of managers and their backroom staff. Not just the ridiculous pay-offs we have to sort out but the fact that each new manager wants to come in and bring in their own players to put their stamp on the side, which comes at a cost as well. To carry on doing the same thing over and over again and expect different results is, as they say, the definition of insanity.
I personally didn’t “want” Sean Dyche before he came in and I don’t “want” him now if we are talking strictly football terms. I do realise, however, that we are in a fragile position to say the least with everything surrounding the club, mainly off the pitch and he seems a man who ticks a lot of the boxes, at least for the short term, until we maybe get ourselves back into better fettle.
He has proven before that he can work with limited players, he can navigate the market without having money to spend. He seems to keep a level head about him, whether things are going good or bad. Although I cannot stand some of the soundbites that he comes out with e.g. change the story. The man is, at the very least, honest and upfront. I know Everton football club is a different animal to Burnley football club but he pretty much ran everything there and made them a Premier League (PL) football club and even got them into Europe. I think over his time there, his actual spend was something obscene like 70-80 million.
If you look at this season and everything that has happened to disrupt him and the team, it could be argued that this season has been a success and the job has been done. If we add the 8 points back, it puts us level with Brighton in the table in 12th position, with games left to play against 2 of the worst sides in the division. If you would have told me that is where we would have finished at the start of the season, all things considered, I would have bit your hand off for it.
When you drill down even further and truly scrutinise the state of this club at every level, be that FFP, debts, Farhad Moshiri, Bill Kenwright dying, it shows that he has done well to keep us in this league.
Perhaps, for me, the biggest indicator of whether it has been a job well done or not, is the actual players he has at his disposal to win PL matches. I have thought it for countless seasons, even before we started facing relegation questions, but we are absolutely crap. Not only do we lack players who have the necessary talent and technical expertise to navigate this league, we also lack the characters and basic competitive athletes to compete in it.
Aside from Pickford, Tarkowski, Jared, Gueye (getting on), I wouldn’t bat an eyelid if anybody else left this team. We are riddled with average players and even worse, average personalities.
Coleman – Gets a pass.
Patterson – People can talk about his potential all they want. I have seen absolutely nothing.
Godfrey – Athlete and a diminishing one at that thanks to C.V, but certainly not a footballer.
Holgate – Enough said.
Keane – Possibly the worst player I have seen play for this club, given that he actually has a level of ability. Absolute airhead.
Mykolenko – Much improved player. Tries his hardest but an average footballer.
Young – Dreadful signing, but what can we expect at his age.
Gomes – Never got sucked into the hype when he first came. Shadow of that since the injury. Never fit. Runs in treacle. 1 game showing some nice passes against a bottom half club doesn’t wash for me.
Onana – Was buzzing when we signed him after watching him in the Champions League for Lille. Has all the attributes. I still think he will leave us and go on to show what a top player he is, when he is actually playing with other decent footballers. Totally understand peoples’ criticism of him this season as for me it seems like he has thrown the towel in, knowing he is off with a big move. Not great mentality for sure, but people who say they think he is crap are kidding themselves. There is a reason the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Arsenal are after him.
Garner – Solid footballer, not too many bad things to say about him, but I think he plays within himself a bit, which makes sense, given that he is so shy off the pitch.
Harrison – Grafts. Chipped in with a few goals and assists. Played out of position all season and had no one behind him either. It is what it is.
McNeil – Grafts, but I think running around so much is to mask his average ability. He leaves gaping holes in the midfield that does more harm than good. Predictable, as every player in the PL knows he can’t go on his right side. Maybe better suited to central role, which is where he started his career.
Danjuma – Didn’t want him after what he did. Shows poor character. Waste of a decent loan spot. Will never trust anyone who smiles and laughs when they are sat on the bench.
DCL – Nice kid. Still had his fair share of injury problems and even when he has played, hasn’t been 100%. Good forward, but I have said it even since the days he was scoring under Carlo. The lad is not a striker and will never be a finisher. He needs to play in a 2, or he is much less effective.
Beto – Had some terrible luck from the get-go. Came to a new country / league. Dom decided to be fit for a few games for the first time in forever. Was left to feed off scraps and dying embers of games. Confidence was slowly but surely chipped away, due to, imo, poor management from Dyche. Tries his balls off. Has near-identical numbers to Dom when it comes to goals / minutes ratio. Despite his size and stature, his game is running in behind and facing goal. We simply don’t play that way. If he stays beyond the summer, I genuinely think he will get 10+ goals with a decent amount of game time.
Chermitti – For me, a ridiculous signing when you think that we had Simms for free and spent £15 million on him. Baffles even more when you find out later how bad our finances were. Not the kids fault though and impossible to judge him.
When you look at that squad and then add all the off the field stuff, I can’t think of many managers that would manage to keep us in the league this year.
Dyche is by no means a sexy manager and his football is even less so, but he is doing his job so far.
Written by BlueNose1878! May 04 2024 08:14:25
