Our Everton jury have their say on the big talking points from Goodison Park
Everton’s inconsistent Premier League form continued on Saturday afternoon as they were held to a goalless draw by Brentford. Jeers from Blues supporters greeted the full-time whistle.
Thomas Frank’s side played the entire second-half with 10-men after Christian Norgaard was sent off following a VAR review. However, the closest Sean Dyche’s side came to a breakthrough was when the ball fell to Vitalii Mykolenko a couple of yards out, but the Ukrainian could only fire over.
Next up for the Blues is a trip to Old Trafford on Sunday before they welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to Goodison Park next Wednesday. And with Saturday’s game in mind, our Blues jury has returned to have their say.
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Alex McMonnies – I would be keeping Dyche in the job
December is just on the horizon and with it comes an exceedingly difficult set of fixtures for Everton to navigate their way through.
It would seem that Sean Dyche is running out of time to turn things around for the Toffees, and, based on the last few weeks, my gut instinct is that as soon as the Friedkin takeover is completed, the 53-year-old will be dismissed from his position and the Blues will begin searching for their eighth permanent manager in as many years.
While I understand the frustration amongst the fanbase, I’m still not sure this would be the right decision to make. I freely admit that I expected us to be in a much more secure league position with a much higher points total to our name by this stage of the season. In the last few games, things have looked well and truly hopeless in front of goal, and Saturday’s uninspired 0-0 draw against Brentford, who played more than half the match with only ten men, was incredibly concerning.
Should the right candidate be identified to replace Dyche, then I can get behind him being sacked. But bringing back someone like David Moyes would hardly be an inspiring appointment, and it’s no good bringing in another stop gap when that’s literally what Dyche was in the first place. Just a couple of weeks ago, Friedkin-owned AS Roma brought 73-year-old Claudio Ranieri out of retirement to become the club’s third different manager this season already. This doesn’t fill me with confidence that they’ll get it right should they decide to pull the trigger on Dyche upon completing their takeover of our club.
Personally, I would be keeping Dyche in the job until the end of the season, at which time his contract runs out, which gives the new owners more time to choose the manager who will lead this club into the new stadium. I believe this would feel like much more of a fresh start, but of course Everton still need to be a Premier League club by that point.
Dyche has most likely got the next few matches to prove that he can still achieve this objective, but it’s going to be tricky. On Sunday, the Toffees will provide the opposition for Ruben Amorim’s first home league game in charge of Manchester United, followed by the hosting fellow strugglers Wolves in midweek before contesting the final ever Merseyside derby at Goodison Park against a high-flying Liverpool side. Whatever Dyche can salvage from those three games could go a long way to keeping him in the Everton dugout.
Daniel Smith – Full-time jeers were fully justified
Saturday’s draw with Brentford was frustrating and disappointing in equal measure. The jeers at full-time were fully justified.
This should be a season in which Blues supporters relish every opportunity they get to go to Goodison Park. But the reality at the minute is very different.
One of the big issues at the minute is that it is becoming impossible to defend Sean Dyche. As a team, we have become so predictable and boring in the process.
Granted, there are major issues at the club, but one of the biggest is the manager’s position. These next two games are huge, as a result.
A trip to Manchester United this weekend is first up for the Blues, but, in truth, next Wednesday’s game against Wolves is the real big one. And of course, in true Everton style, their results have picked up in recent weeks.
But failure to beat them at Goodison next week will leave the Friedkin’s with a big decision to make.
