Dr Gloom

Damn, only £5m? Hoped we’d fleeced them for even more

don't worry, i wasn't going to

rattled

did you predict them to go down this season too? i lost count

saw some pictures from inside the new everton ground on insta - i love how steep the stands are. i hope we go for something similar in our new build's kop end

Nice one man. Sounds like a good move

he's been frustrating because we've seen how good he can be. on this season's form, he looks like a better option playing on the flanks, or higher up the pitch, than he does as one of the central midfield three. i wouldn't get rid just yet but it's been a difficult couple of seasons for him.

yeah, i don't think our dad's army back line can play such an aggressive high line or forest will kill us. we need to press them but we need to do it sensibly and sandro needs to patrol in front of the back four and help them out. definitely put livramento back in for this one. bloody hope botman is nearing a return too. schar is off it this season and we looked very tight at the back with him and burn together. i'd put miley in midfield too. he'll give us more control than willock if joelinton is still crocked

saturday was his first poor game for us in a long time. but then he wasn't alone - the whole team stunk the place out.

i'm delighted for you. meanwhile we just had our third consecutive window without major investment in the first team. there is mitigation for us losing. there aren't any excuses for going down with a whimper the way we did on saturday.

you played well and fully deserved the win. I’m not trying to take anything away from your lot. I was optimistic ahead of the game but tbh wouldn’t have been surprised if we had lost. Our record at your place stinks and you have a much better squad than us despite your patchy form this season. But that doesn’t mask the apparent lack of effort on our part. The least you expect from an Eddie Howe team is to make it difficult for the opposition. We expect our players to battle for the second balls even when we are being outplayed. That was completely absent on Saturday. It was a throwback to the Mike Ashley era.

man city was the worst, for me. against fulham we played okay in spells. i think silva out-coached howe in the second half, which is fair enough. it happens but at least we tried. bournemouth were just much better than us. caught us napping playing us at our own game with their aggressive press. saturday felt like a lack of effort. i dunno if it's mental fatigue, players playing within themselves ahead of the cup final or what. it's the biggest criticism you can level at howe because even on bad days, the players seem to play for him. against man city it looked like they turned up looking like they expected to lose and downed tools.

I’ll caveat that by saying I’m a massive fan of Howe and everything he’s done in his three and a bit seasons. Makes that no show of a performance all the more baffling/frustrating. Bruno’s post-match interview was honest and illuminating. But he needs to look at his own performance and fix it. As do all the players tbh - even Tonali, who has been flawless for months. We can say it was a blip if they respond in the right way against forest. We saw how good we can be against Arsenal. If we don’t put in that kind of effort every week, we can forget about top 5.

harsh but fair (going on the headline, I haven’t read the article). I agree that it was the worst performance of the season - possibly even if Howe’s reign. Losing there was no big shock but the performance was. We didn’t compete, which isn’t something you could level at the players since Howe has been in charge. I can’t explain that performance - really hope/expect a big reaction at home against forest because it wasn’t good enough. You’re going to lose games in the PL. We’ve no divine right to win but you have to put a shift in and there was a noticeable lack of effort on Saturday.

on a massive wedge though, apparently

anti-Elon Tesla club. Bought it second hand so I didn’t give my money directly to him bit yeah, like many hand-wringing lefties I’ve got mixed emotions driving it now

Don’t hate the player

PARKLIFE!

I’m going to this game and I’m on a one match winning streak, so chill out lads. We’ve got this one. You’re welcome

Just turn up and give it a go. Battle for the second balls, press then with energy, get in their faces. Try and impose our way or playing on them. That’s all you ask for and then if we lose to the better team, fair fucks. We failed to turn up for the last three trips to Wembley tbh. No disgrace losing to Liverpool in the final but it’ll be too depressing/predictable if we play like we did yesterday.

Even if Howe has played the wrong system you would still expect a level of intensity and competitiveness that was completely absent yesterday. Felt like more of an attitude than a tactics problem to me. I don’t imagine Howe told them to stand off them all game and play without any commitment or energy so this one is on the players rather than the coach for me.

yeah, it’s fine to lose the tactical battle - particular against a coach like Pep and the players he can call on - but yesterday looked like a lack of effort. There was no snap in midfield, no desire to win the 50 50 balls and at least make it hard for them. It’s hard to explain really. When so much is at stake, why can’t they get up for certain games?

Why is Renton wearing chef’s whites?