I never realised it was such hard work being a snake. I'm only a the London Colney roundabout now,having stopped for the odd rodent,it's true.
Evening chaps Can't wait for this one We are playing terribly and have been pretty much since that last minute sickener in the derby. Up until then we'd been doing pretty well and were reasonably happy with progress. Almost mirrors your drop off last season I guess, which is interesting itself. I'd like to make it back to the brother-in-law's in Croxley Green in one piece, so just point and laugh rather than giving us a slap please? Anyway, we won't sack Silva anytime soon but mostly because we have made the conscious decision to back a horse and then stick to it rather than the regular sackings we've handed out in the last few years. Silva is fortunate that he's arrived at the point we need stability otherwise he'd be in trouble currently. The fact that he's safe has very little to do with him. On the fence - I've seen some very good, but some truly woeful stuff. And yes, we absolutely cannot defend set pieces. After we roll over tomorrow night, I'm expecting a slightly improved performance on Saturday but the way things are going a point would be a great result
Welcome back TB9, nice to see that you are appreciating that all that glitters is not Silva, just be thankful (or not) that Monaco didn't come calling while you looked half decent. I don't believe I am alone in really, really, really wanting to win this one which almost guarantees you a result. Doubt you'll get a slap on the way back to Croxley, more likely sympathy, after checking you haven't nicked anything.
If we play anything like the same sort of stuff we have done in the last month or two, I think you'll all be astonished at just how poor we are at the moment. It's difficult to see how we win on Saturday the way things are going. Feels like we've run out of ideas and teams know how to contain us and hurt us. Wolves could have taken two or three players off for the last half hour on Saturday and comfortably beaten us. It was embarrassing. I like to think I'll avoid a slap too, but I'm taking my youngest with me, not as a human shield (frowned upon these days), more hoping that his (absolutely fake) angelic demeanour will disarm any would-be Scouse bashers. I'd usually go for a couple of pints in Wetherspoons on the high street beforehand, but not sure if I will this year.
We're not Millwall, reckon you could probably walk down the High St, shirtless, sporting a full tattoo of Slivva on your chest and Gray on your back with impunity. It's a game we need to win so much to exorcise our personal demons that we will undoubtedly lose.
Strong chance of a ‘reverse Howe’ & that your lad will leave the Vic a lifelong Hornet. Good to see you back, TB.
Spoons should be fine but just try to avoid the posse heading out of The Upper Rous. A prod from a walking stick on the Achilles can be painful &, in the wrong hands, a tartan rug can be a lethal weapon.
Luckily for you, you’re playing Watford on Saturday and we do like to help to restart a struggling teams season. Our fans will spend the first 10 minutes booing, hissing and speaking parcel-toungue to Silva, when they realise that we’re not two goals up and haven’t even been in your half, they’ll sit on their hands for the following 86 minutes while you’re lot play like Barcelona. Watford 0 Everton 2 Richarlison 16 mins Doucoure OG 62 mins. Richarlison and Doucouré to run over to the Everton dugout and have hugs with Silva after the second.
I would think it's appropriate for this one occasion to drop the Z-Cars tune as the players walk out and replace it with the theme from Blackadder.
We did try to tell you about the set-pieces.... But welcome back. I am no Silva fan. And I actually agree that he is just one of the symptoms and not the whole cause of your struggles. But as is the case in the majority of these situations, its the manager who pays the price - and he certainly doesn't help himself at all it must be said. And he now has 2 dreaded votes of confidence from the board and owner in the space of little over a month. Everton may well be trying to build something for the long term but I still have huge doubts over your owner who I still think is a guy who wants everything yesterday deep down. Would be surprised now if things stay as they are if Silva lasts out the season. As for Saturday - well, you aren't the only team not playing well. While our results have been a mixed bag and not terrible, the performances have dropped from the start of the season and we have some seriously off-key performers at present. If everything clicks again Saturday, and the players are fired up to stick it to Silva, we may well win comfortably. But if we fall into a malaise as we tend to do recently, I can see you taking a point or all 3. Its days like Saturday where the crowd could really make the difference. But Vicarage Road just isn't a hostile place and we'll likely have as many fans applauding Silva and Richarlison as we do fans giving them hell. Either way, both sides of the fence will quite down after 5 or 6 minutes...always do.
Bring the cat. I thought showed good movement and a couple of times looked dangerous in the penalty area.
Reminded me of Deulofeu. Started at one corner flag & ended up at the other. Looked fantastic but no real threat. Presumably made space for others.
I'm not convinced our players have any axe to grind with Silva. The Everton players on the other hand....
Obviously would love to win this one, as much for ensuring we do not go on a winless streak. They wheeled out Silva’s win stats on the radio the other day and it pretty much amounted to a win %age at Hull, Watford and Everton around 45% for the first 10-12 games, then anything from 9% to 18% subsequent 10-12 games. I’m surprised the simple tactic of “lumping it into the mixer” against him hasn’t been used earlier with each incarnation.
Whilst Deeney says too much in the press, one of the things he has openly said was that the players looked at the manager (Silva) when he was having his dalliance with Moshiri and questioned his commitment and that they saw a difference in him once the links were public. They will be civil and shake hands etc when they see him. But I would imagine Troy will be in their ear about showing him he was wrong in his actions.
It's weird that they can't see where the problem lies. If Allardyce had Mina and Zouma it'd probably be a very solid defence. Silva would probably make Van Dijk look bad.
Other than set pieces, we haven't actually looked *that* bad defensively for the most part. Mina is injured and Michael Keane has regressed back to the levels of last season. On Saturday, the main problem was that we had no invention and we were tactically out-thought. It feels like we have become easy to work out. Silva will get time, no chance he gets sacked this season unless we are dragged into a relegation fight. The DoF we appointed in the summer has demanded some stability and said he wouldn't have come to Everton if there had been demands for a quick fix. The hope is that Moshiri is now seeing that thing money at stuff and changing everything if it doesn't work straight away isn't the way forward. His comments at the AGM and in the media recently support that, but you never know. As I said earlier though, Silva is going to get this time, but it's not because he's earned it. Some of the stuff recently has been as spineless as the last month's of the Martinez era.
Anyway, on a brighter note, hope you've all got your Man City scarves ready for this evening. Debating whether I should learn the lyrics to Blue Moon for the occasion. This is one game where Silva has a pass for all that Zonal marking going wrong
Shipping 10 goals at home would be instant dismissal. I reckon 4 or 5 goals could possibly see him out.
