Everton 22-23: Breakin' the Law

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
The scuttle but is that Bielsa is the consensus candidate in the organization but that he is making A LOT of demands, not his own salary but bringing 100% of his own staff, acquisitions etc. and a my way or the highway attitude. Which imo is exactly what the club needs. I don’t think this squad can be adapted to play Bielsa ball in half a season so if we go this way we have to expect that we might go down, and be ok with that, with the faith that he’ll bring us right back up with an organization that’s top to bottom firing on all cylinders and have us competing for Europe. If that’s not what you want you shouldn’t go with him.

FWIW theLeeds fans 100% say we should grab him and not look back.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
Immediately, there was an uproar among the fans, following which there were anonymous leaks from the club that, among other things, Barrett-Baxendale had been put in a headlock.

{snip}

As it happens I have met Denise Barrett Baxendale. She came to the NYC Everton pub one night to buy a round for the supporters group; she was in town to visit the architect for the new stadium, which is her doing and she deserves all credit. I chatted with her for a few minutes. I was impressed.

I also remember that if she's five feet tall, it's not by much, and a grown man would probably have to bend over at the waist to put her into a headlock. It would be easier to literally pick her up and throw her. So I share the skepticism of the fans that the incident happened as reported, if at all. The board didn't want to face the protests in Goodison, so they came up with a face-saving rationale - blame the fans.
Some guy on Everton Twitter who makes custom merch, like our dirtynine, has started selling this:

View: https://twitter.com/JustDoodlinRob/status/1616541470999171084?s=20&t=VJhd72bdsOT2zLUsIw574A
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
Btw I understand I’m in a position of saying that a story of a woman being assaulted has been fabricated, which is ordinarily something I would have a big problem with. Here, it smells really bad. I am not saying that she was even the leaker, necessarily, but given the totality of the circumstances I think the odds that this happened in the way it was reported are low, and that this was a deflection campaign.
 

67YAZ

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 1, 2000
8,729
The Athletic contradicts the Guardian, says that Morishi did explore a sale with a US-based group last year. But that fell apart and the current focus is on bringing more investors, including increased stakes from some current partners, to support the stadium development and squad improvement.

It was revealed in June that Moshiri entered into discussions with US consortium KAM Sports, helmed by Minneapolis-based property developer Maciek Kaminski, last year with a view to securing stadium funding but those talks developed into a full-blown takeover proposal. The group is believed to have valued Everton at around £500million.

KAM Sports secured exclusivity over further takeover discussions, showing Moshiri was at least open to the prospect of a full sale. But that period elapsed without a deal.

Discussions continued a while longer, initially with a view to reviving the deal, but by November, confidence in coming to an agreement had completely waned on all sides. Moshiri himself lost faith in the group’s ability to complete a takeover and talks ended abruptly. There has been little prospect of a deal being resuscitated. Last month, KAM Sports completed a takeover of Greek top-tier side Panetolikos.
 

the1andonly3003

New Member
Jul 15, 2005
4,371
Chicago
Everton’s Identity Crisis - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Indeed, of the six most recent (permanent) managers to have clasped English soccer’s great poisoned chalice before Lampard, so far only one — Sam Allardyce — failed to recover, and that might be attributed at least in part to his pre-existing, not especially flattering and largely self-inflicted caricature.
Not sure about that. Sam's reputation is that he prevents relegation, hence he only gets jobs of trouble teams.

I remember going to a baseball game in San Francisco a few years ago with my wife, who is no fan of either sport. So powerful is social conditioning, though, that after a few minutes even she turned to me, with the air of a disappointed line manager conducting a performance review, and asked why it was that the fans were not swearing at the opposition team.
Rory Smith, what a chap
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
I expect to get something in the games hosting Arsenal and in the derby at Anfield (the reverse was a goalless draw but hard fought and an excellent game really). It’s games like West Ham and Villa where Everton struggle.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
Strong possibility that we get nothing in the window.

I think if we got in Dyche sooner, we would have solidified things soon enough to spend the Gordon money well, and to be at least as attractive a destination as Southampton or Bournemouth. As it stands we're being avoided like lepers. I can't blame them either.

FWIW I think Dyche keeps us up, even if we don't get anyone in. I was very concerned about chucking out yet another manager and I thought I saw enough from Lampard that I didn't favor firing him sooner. I was wrong. Lampard has a definite managing profile after three jobs and it's not that good: on the plus side, he forges real connections with the fans and players, which helps in recruiting as well as on the pitch. He can coach up individual players. But his sides just don't have any coherence and after awhile they become easy to play through. For a GOAT or GOAT-adjacent midfielder he was awful in setting up the midfield. His task was made harder in that Idrissa Gana Gueye has lost a step, but having helped Iwobi rejuvenate his career, he then yanked him out of position and scrambled Iwobi, Gueye, and Amadou Onana (huge man and talent to match but still raw) in the least productive way possible. He seemed to have it sorted in the beginning of the season - Everton was back-to-front the better side in the derby at Goodison this year ( although it hadn't yet come clear how much the LFC midfield had dropped off) - but toward the end of his time it was intermittent pressing without coordinated line movement and forty yards of green in the middle of the pitch. Not good when you have Coady and Tarkowski as your CB, who despite their otherwise solid play cannot deal with the likes of Bowen, Mitoma, or Ward-Prowse, to name a few who have torched us recently, when they pick up the ball in the attacking third with no one within five seconds of closing them down.

Dyche will do better. It's just a shame that we have such a shitshow.
 

the1andonly3003

New Member
Jul 15, 2005
4,371
Chicago
I expect to get something in the games hosting Arsenal and in the derby at Anfield (the reverse was a goalless draw but hard fought and an excellent game really). It’s games like West Ham and Villa where Everton struggle.
My FPL selection should have listened to you. Went for Odegaard and blanked.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
It’s been working. The derby not so much, because Liverpool got wide and forward with Darwin and Salah just blowing right past Coleman and Mykolenko. You’ve probably seen Coleman’s goal to beat Leeds last week- he’s a wise old head and can be quite good in spot duty- but in an amped up Anfield in a derby he just could not muster the physicality to match Farwin.

it worked flawlessly against Leeds, who were awful. I was embarrassed as a USA fan at such a feckless showing, yo literally could have put a traffic cone out in Pickford’s spot and the outcome would not have changed, I don’t think he touched a ball delivered in anger all day.

Doucore, in Lampards doghouse, has come alive with a remit to just run and run in central midfield although he blew three great chances in the Leeds and Arsenal games. McNeil has been revitalized. The problems are

that without Dom as a 9 the setup lacks a focal point, and the only strikers when he’s (perpetually) out are not traditional target men- academy product Ellis Simms, who has been great on loan at Sunderland (and is the hot item as a a sneaky differential in Evertons FPL DGW) has the size but is more comfortable as a false 9/player facing goal; Maupay, who is 5”7’; and increasingly forgotten man Gray, who seems better in limited duty centrally than he was out wide but can’t get a start under Dyche.

the slowness of the defense is the other issue. Dyche doesn’t need or want his defenders to play a high line and the system if working well protects the back 4 with the midfield 5 but a good counter still rips right through us as Pool showed. Tarkowski is a Dyche favorite of course and is thriving in both boxes- sadly Tark on corners is our biggest threat right now- but pairing him with Coady, they have nous and grit but no pace. Mykolenko is a good defender but poor going forward and with Patterdon out, Coleman‘s guile only goes so far- he was helpless against Pools aggression on the counter, could not co pi e with Darwin or Gakpo. Would prefer an in form Godfrey to pair with Tark, or next seasonJarred Branthwaite who did well in spot duty last season and is beasting it on loan atPSV Eindhoven.
 

CouchsideSteve

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 16, 2013
438
Norwalk, CT
I haven’t participated in this thread to date, but I’ve been a major Everton fan for the last decade and I’ll opine: Extending Pickford is a huge win, IMO. He could have leveraged a transfer to Tottenham or Man United this summer (especially if Everton are relegated) for a pittance. Now they at least have bargaining position if he wants out.

Pickford is a good keeper, who is popular with the fans. He looks bad when he misreads a situation, but at his best he’s really good — Chelsea last year stands out.

Personally, I hope he stays for the full contract. He’s the best player on the squad, with a bullet.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
Pickford seems hot or cold. Team seems too slow as a whole.
Pickford has been fine. The link to fbref at the bottom shows that, by their PSxG (post-shot xG) stat he’s saved more goals than he “should” have, and most of the underperfomance was realized in two terrible games. For most of the season he’s been solid to spectacular.

The team is not blessed with pace, it must be said. Dyche has set them up well in a 4-5-1. The most effective unit has been the midfield three of Gana, Onana, and Doucoure. Tough to play through and increasingly and surprisingly effective in attack. Doucoure was in Lampards doghouse but he’s been rejuvenated under Dyche. 2 goals and 2 assists in the last 3 games, and he’s missed three sitters. He has a clanger of a touch but he runs his ass off.

A downside of the formation is it puts Iwobi wide, and he’s better centrally. He’s been ok but not at his best. On the other flank, though, McNeil is another player having a renaissance under Dyche. But the best part of his game is crossing into the box and the biggest problem, of course, is the lack of a target man due to DCLs fragility and the criminal failure to add another strikr. Maupay has been a bust, but to be fair the team doesn’t play to suit him and a 5’7” guy just can’t get on the end of crosses. The solution, borne of necessity, has been to play Gray centrally as a striker, and although he’s not a classic holdup player he’s been decent. His numbers would look even better if CAR hadn’t screwed him out of a goal. Grays physical tools are those of a winger but his decision making has always been poor out there. Centrally he seems to simplify his game. Of course now we have a wonderful selection dilemma now that ancademy product Ellis Simms shocked Stamford Bridge into silence with his 88’ leveler for his first PL score.

View: https://twitter.com/Everton_Extra/status/1637534175682080773?s=20


The delayed roar of the Everton fans from their section at the other end of the ground is fantastic. You can get a glimpse of Pickford celebrating with them.

Real class. Although he’s a big dude he’s not a classic #9 target man, he plays on the floor. We’re not currently set up to accommodate him but quality like that needs getting into the lineup.

So we haven’t been as defensively solid as you’d expect for a Dyche squad, although the numbers are skewed by a 4-0 loss at Arsenal where we kept them quiet til just before half, and Saka scored a worldie and we fell apart. The surprise has been that despite our limitations we’re finding ways to score, especially away. A healthy DCL would be huge. I’m glad they played it safe and didn’t rush him back, after the break I expect him back.

I think we stay up.

View: https://twitter.com/EllBretland/status/1637178608857882624?s=20


Since Dyches appointment we are solidly mid table form (11 pts in 8 games).

So yeah, still not a very good club, but he has them set up for success and has instilled real belief and resolve. If they’d sacked Frank and brought him in a month earlier we’d be comfortably safe by now.



https://fbref.com/en/squads/d3fd31cc/2022-2023/matchlogs/all_comps/keeper/Everton-Match-Logs-All-Competitions
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
The league statement says almost nothing - the club has been referred to investigation over a potential breach, the results of the inquiry will be released, no further comment at this time. It's for the 2021-22 season.
 

the1andonly3003

New Member
Jul 15, 2005
4,371
Chicago
Would Everton and City be expelled from PL at the same time? That would make 5 promotions from the Championship! Should be fun. It'd be ironic if Liverpool win the title the season after, and everyone calls for an asterisk because of a weaker league.

Too soon?
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
Would Everton and City be expelled from PL at the same time? That would make 5 promotions from the Championship! Should be fun. It'd be ironic if Liverpool win the title the season after, and everyone calls for an asterisk because of a weaker league.

Too soon?
62607
 

the1andonly3003

New Member
Jul 15, 2005
4,371
Chicago
Flash forward to tomorrow morning.
Everton Board of Directors: Congratulations Sean! Thank you for saving our season and keeping us up. Now that we are staying up for another season, it's time to turn the page to the '23-24 season. You may be used to the tight purse strings at Burnley, but we here at Merseyside operate differently. Who do you want for next season? We will go get them. No restrictions.

Sean Dyche: Oh, geez. Thank you for your confidence. Well, I think I can make due with this current squad. But since you're offering. I really like the boys out at Southampton, whose been here for a while: James Ward-Prowse, Che Adams, Jan Bednarek. But I very much would like my old boys back: Jay Hernandez, Ben Mee, Ashley Barnes - we got Burnley up to 6th together. And surely, we can do it again!

This is how I picture Dyche's summer wish list :p
 

singaporesoxfan

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jul 21, 2004
11,882
Washington, DC
Now that I can post in this thread without fears of jinxing anything... I'm immensely relieved, but also I feel like Dyche-ball got a bad rep. I didn't really watch Burnley under Dyche, but I definitely wouldn't say Everton were parking the bus or hoofing the ball and only going route. The build up generally was much better under Dyche, and in particular that Brighton game stands out as a perfect example of counter-attacking football. Everton were let down by poor finishing, but even just using xG stats as a rough guide, they certainly created chances.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 2, 2006
22,345
Philadelphia
What's the latest with the sale of the club? That seems like the key to everything going forward and it should be much more straightforward to value the club now that they've escaped the drop.
 

67YAZ

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 1, 2000
8,729
Back in January, there was a flurry of stories about Morishi putting the club up for sale. A couple months later, it was that the club were looking for investors and more financing on the stadium.

Last week, the Mirror said an American-led consortium was in deep talks to buy. Who knows?

Between United's protracted sale and Liverpool's open-ended search for new investors, it seems like the global economic climate has slowed big money deals.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
Now that I can post in this thread without fears of jinxing anything... I'm immensely relieved, but also I feel like Dyche-ball got a bad rep. I didn't really watch Burnley under Dyche, but I definitely wouldn't say Everton were parking the bus or hoofing the ball and only going route. The build up generally was much better under Dyche, and in particular that Brighton game stands out as a perfect example of counter-attacking football. Everton were let down by poor finishing, but even just using xG stats as a rough guide, they certainly created chances.
Agreed.

Not a coincidence that Calvert-Lewin was healthy for that Brighton game- he makes the whole shape work. Without him as the target, they struggle- but as the season went on NcNeil, Doucoure, Iwobi and Garner all got better at making runs. It’s still not an elite attacking side because these players haven’t shown the ability to do it week in week out. But they did have some freedom to get forward and even if Doucoure is never going to be a KDB or Bruno or even a Mac Allister he blasted the everloving fuck out of that ball on Sunday.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
Back in January, there was a flurry of stories about Morishi putting the club up for sale. A couple months later, it was that the club were looking for investors and more financing on the stadium.

Last week, the Mirror said an American-led consortium was in deep talks to buy. Who knows?

Between United's protracted sale and Liverpool's open-ended search for new investors, it seems like the global economic climate has slowed big money deals.
there are two groups interested in investing. I’ll get the deets off Everton social media.
 

singaporesoxfan

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jul 21, 2004
11,882
Washington, DC
there are two groups interested in investing. I’ll get the deets off Everton social media.
It's MSP Sports Capital (Jeff Moorad's shop, owns X Games, McLaren, and a bunch of European clubs) and 777 Partners (owns a bunch of historical clubs that have fallen on hard times) right?
 

singaporesoxfan

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jul 21, 2004
11,882
Washington, DC
Kenwright is like a Scouse Dan Snyder, local boy made good who fulfilled his dream of owning his club, only to grow hated by the fanbase after turning a dominant team in the 1980s into a struggling one
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
It’s an apt comparison. It breaks down inasmuch as Snyder is a malicious human being whereas Bill is only a well intentioned windbag who refuses to admit he’s over his head- he wants to keep playing with his train set.

I’ve met Barret-Baxendale. She was in NYCin 2019 to meet with Dan Mies, the new stadium architect, and came to the NYC Evertonians’ pub to buy a round for the supporters. I was impressed. She deserves credit for making the stadium happen. The land use approval process is fraught and previous efforts failed. It’s a significant achievement. i don’t blame her for the on the pitch mess except only as 1/n of the board, hers is not a role where footballing decisions are made. It’s fair to criticize her for the clubs desultory efforts in areas such as sponsor procurement, marketing, communications (the club is terrible about bc transparency)etc.

Kenwright really is the worst. More on all of this in the morning.
 

OurF'ingCity

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 22, 2016
8,469
New York City
It’s an apt comparison. It breaks down inasmuch as Snyder is a malicious human being whereas Bill is only a well intentioned windbag who refuses to admit he’s over his head- he wants to keep playing with his train set.

I’ve met Barret-Baxendale. She was in NYCin 2019 to meet with Dan Mies, the new stadium architect, and came to the NYC Evertonians’ pub to buy a round for the supporters. I was impressed. She deserves credit for making the stadium happen. The land use approval process is fraught and previous efforts failed. It’s a significant achievement. i don’t blame her for the on the pitch mess except only as 1/n of the board, hers is not a role where footballing decisions are made. It’s fair to criticize her for the clubs desultory efforts in areas such as sponsor procurement, marketing, communications (the club is terrible about bc transparency)etc.

Kenwright really is the worst. More on all of this in the morning.
Yeah, there seems to be a decent amount of respect for her in the fan community for closing the stadium deal. My view on it is if Kenwright leaves, I'm fine with a totally new board - fresh starts, clean slate, and all that. But if Kenwright stays than it's clear BB, Sharp, and Ingles were just sacrificial lambs which would suck (although Ingles needed to go regardless probably given the smoke around breaching the financial fair-play rules).
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
Kenwright has to go. Has to.

fans are apoplectic today because there was an announcement coming in 48 hrs, on Monday. No announcement yet. I’m guessing it has to do with the disposition of his shares of the club.
 

fletcherpost

sosh's feckin' poet laureate
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
12,139
Glasgow, Scotland
@OCST … I think I read somewhere that Kenwright was staying on?
Correct.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65895380

Long-serving chairman Bill Kenwright will remain at Everton after being convinced by owner Farhad Moshiri to help the club through a "period of transition".
Kenwright, 77, has been the subject of protests from supporters, who have long called for him to leave his post.
He has spent 34 years on the club's board of directors.
Moshiri, who will join the club's board, said Kenwright's "knowledge and vast experience" was key for Everton.
 

67YAZ

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 1, 2000
8,729
If a sale is imminent or even far down the road…how is Moshiri making a hire like this?