Everton banter 3

01 Feb 2026 11:45:49
For me, Moyes' use of O'Brien yesterday perfectly summed up why I, and so many others, cannot stand him.

Selecting a centre back at right back, who has shown himself to be completely ineffective in both attack and defence in the position, despite having 2 recognised right backs on the bench, is one thing - but for me, it's the way he used him:

Any other manager could look at that situation and think 'he can't dribble, run or cross, but he's huge' - let's stick him high and wide, ping balls to him in the air, and have him knock them down for KDH (moved to the right of the midfield 3) to run onto and break between their CB and LB. Almost an old fashioned little-and-large striker partnership, but wider and driving into the channels.

Obviously I'm not saying that would immediately work and we'd have won 3-0, but the point is, even when you're dealing with a bad hand, there are ways to look at what you've got and try and mix things up to suit the cards you've been dealt. Moyes Does Not Do This. He has his colossal centre back at right back, and he is asking him to do the exact same role he would if it was Patterson: overlapping runs, drive into space and whip in crosses - none of which he can do.

There are so many managers who would have looked at out available players yesterday and done something with them to try and get something out the game. Even if we go with the back 5 again, even if we put Dwight at left wing back, or we put Rohl at right back and have him sit narrower - there is countless things the manager Could try, but we have the only manager in the league who just thinks "eh, stick the big lads in, they're defenders, aren't they? "

This is why Moyes is a dinosaur - it's the same mentality as a Sunday league manager - and i'm afraid his understanding of the modern game grows more and more distant with each match we absolutely slog our way through.

01 Feb 2026 13:57:46
We did get something out of the game.

01 Feb 2026 14:37:24
We didn't deserve to. We were better in the second half, but first half we had 0 shots, 0 shots on target, 0 chances and 0 corners - the first half is the tactical result of how the manager has spent the entire week preparing the team, and this isn't the first time it has gone like that.

{Ed025's Note - it was awful Alex..

01 Feb 2026 09:47:18
Whilst this is a rumours/banter page and everyone is entitled to their opinion—and I do enjoy reading the different viewpoints—some of the takes on here are genuinely wild. Sack Moyes? Seriously? Have people already forgotten the last four seasons and the absolute dross we were forced to endure?

Is the football brilliant? No. Could we play better? Absolutely. Do we all want two proper full-backs and a striker? Of course we do. But this is clearly a work in progress, and we all need to show a bit of patience. This squad wasn’t built overnight, and it’s not going to be fixed overnight either.

We only have to look back at the money that’s been wasted—buying three number 10s, signing sub-standard players, and ending up with a completely unbalanced squad. Moyes and the club need time to clear out the dross, rebalance the squad, and build something sustainable.

And to be honest, I didn’t want Moyes back in the first place. Players and managers returning to a club rarely works out. I’m delighted to be proven wrong though—and right now, in Moyes I trust.

If, at the start of the season, we’d been offered mid-table safety with an outside chance of Europe, we’d have snapped their hand off without hesitation.

01 Feb 2026 10:20:40
Spot on Preston.

01 Feb 2026 10:41:03
I think most of what you've said is entirely fair, but the point is that many of us have lost faith in Moyes being the one to take us forward. He may well have steered us clear of the rocks, but that doesn't mean he knows where he's going.

Last night's team selection, playing 4 centre backs and a teenage centre mid at right wing, resulting in a sum total of 0 shots in the first half, is a perfect example of why people don't want him.

I understand it feeling entitled to see the progress we've made and still be unhappy, but I think the football is too poor, the tactics too predictable, and the direction too aimless. Plus, if we're being brutally honest, our position this season flatters us, because so many other teams have been So bad.

01 Feb 2026 11:20:58
Have to say, I’m with you, Preston. He’ll have less excuses next season of course, as we hope there’ll be a second overhaul.

01 Feb 2026 11:35:17
The selection wasn’t what I’d of picked but maybe it shows the unbalance of the squad after years of mistakes.

I’d point to what moyes did at west ham, took them from relegation fight to win a trophy in Europe. Their fans wanted him out and look at them now!

I’m not saying moyes is going to be the man who takes our great club back to where we feel it should be - challenging for major trophies. But I do feel that the next couple of years needs to be a stable and he is the man for that.

We all want better and love to have it now but fans should be careful what they wish for. There is no divine right to success and it will take a bit of patience.

01 Feb 2026 11:42:22
Seams a don’t lose don’t win mentality with Moyes unless Patterson wasn’t fully fit I can’t understand like many that bizarre team, ironically the managers after Moyes served up football just as bad, and yet we’ve come full circle and back with Moyes.


I doubt where winning anything with but I fear what happens after him, proof is the last several years and a look where West Ham are. I’m not saying history will repeat itself but who knows.

01 Feb 2026 11:46:19
We’ve been a work in progress for over thirty years now, and in that time Aston Villa have been relegated and played in the Champions League. So just how long is it going to take exactly?
That performance yesterday was all down to the manager being negative and stubborn. It’s almost like he didn’t want to upset his centre backs so he found a way of playing all of them. Now people might not like Patterson but he brings a better balance to the defence, and not giving Aznou a chance is simply baffling.

And what’s happened to Merlin Rohl?
I defy anyone to tell me that what we watched yesterday was progression it wasn’t, and had Dyche done that you would all be on here today screaming for him to be sacked. For me Moyes is a slight upgrade on Dyche and that’s about it.

01 Feb 2026 11:57:07
Every week i look forward to the 2 hours of watching Everton.

Every week i'm left disappointed because the manager chooses to play the sport in the most negative way possible.

Points good, league position good. But let's not pretend it isn't sheer luck. Some of them wins we’ve been battered, you play the same game 10 times and you lose 8 of them. League is also strange this season with lots of teams similar points. we can be bottom 5 in a matter of weeks.

Not sustainable at all. We have good enough players to play passing football, not just hoof diagonal, depend on set pieces and defend our six yard box + hope for pickford worldie save x2/3.

01 Feb 2026 13:59:23
We’ve heard this before. Anything good that happens is luck, anything bad that happens is Moyes. Daft.

01 Feb 2026 14:59:50
We must have been 'unlucky' to almost get relegated last few seasons in that case. Gained Grealish + KDH who are significantly better than what we had under Dyche. Football is the exact same, as is the tactical set up.

01 Feb 2026 15:16:40
Not a big fan of Moyes, but if we have been let down by anybody, it's TFG, or at least, their so call expert recruitment team, IF their is money to recrute players, loan or buy, there have been numerous deals that have been done elsewhere that would have been good value and would have strengthen our side .

01 Feb 2026 15:23:55
Did they let us down in the summer? KDH? Grealish? Or are we ignoring the good signings to fit the narrative?

01 Feb 2026 17:43:08
No, they just spent £42m on a player that does not not belong in the premiership.

01 Feb 2026 18:32:39
As is often the case, we’ll just pick out the negative bits then. Let’s forget tying top players down to long term contracts too.

01 Feb 2026 07:39:04
{Ed's Note - Shappy has posted a new article entitled, The Dalot Dilemma: Why United Should Keep Their Reliable Right-Back

31 Jan 2026 22:40:10
Sack moyse. We've a good team here, not the players fault.

01 Feb 2026 00:05:23
Hard to watch, same stuff game after game, Strange team selections, players in positions that they are not used to, players who are purchased for specific positions left out, pathetic first half play. late substitutions, a rally in the second half and points gained but points lost.
Yes we have done better than previous years and it is not too bad, we will not be relegated and might even get into Europe.

I suppose that we should be grateful. Why then do I want better tactics and performance?
Please don't tell me that we are a work in progress and when we get in 2-3 new players we will be much improved, I haver been hearing that for 30 years.

01 Feb 2026 09:24:46
Our performances are down to one man Mike. Those wearing Moyes tinted glasses won't have anything said about Davey, even if they themselves said they didn't want him back. I and others get slated for calling him.

He's a dinosaur in a modern world and there's better about. But some will think yesterday was a great result for us. We should have beaten Brighton as like Leeds and we didn't. I'll be glad when he's gone.

01 Feb 2026 11:22:21
It’s not as simple as Moyes in or out for me Nick. He’s in the results business and results have us 8th in the league.

01 Feb 2026 12:58:00
Thing is Mike you've been hearing that over and over because we keep ditching managers after no time at all and starting again! Now in the first full season of the club looking stable and zero prospect of relegation already at this stage you're campaigning for the manager to get sacked because the football isn't pretty enough yet!

01 Feb 2026 13:36:44
All really interesting points re moyes. I like moyes and i wouldn't sack him but i get the unrest, there is no denying that the football is terrible and the tactics yesterday were alarming. Agree with playing mcneil at full back. Anzou played great when he got his chance, if your good enough your old enough.

i'm grateful to dyche and moyes for getting us out the mire because 2017 to circa 2023 was an utter disaster and embarrasing but at least I've now got a team that i'm proud to support.

01 Feb 2026 13:56:48
It’s not pretty, it’s not even football as I know it. Will say it again Villa have been relegated and have achieved Champions League while we are still a team in transition. Just think about that for a bit.

01 Feb 2026 15:24:58
Not in one season though, BMD. Would you have accepted a top half finish this season on day one? I wouldn’t have.

01 Feb 2026 17:27:51
Don’t you men you would have JB?

01 Feb 2026 17:29:56
No it took Villa four seasons to go from promotion to Champions League. In that time we have done nothing.

31 Jan 2026 21:08:34
We are a hard watch sometimes, some of moyes decisions were borderline psycho, I know this is a progressive season compared to last four but given the modern game and the modern footballers is DM the right man to take us to the next stage i'm forever thinking of his phrase of bringing a knife to a gunfight.

{Ed025's Note - what was that first half all about though BN? It was like watching paint dry mate. And yes I am blaming Moyes for that. Same as last week and the same as most weeks,so bloody negative..

31 Jan 2026 22:01:53
It is the same most weeks ed, and has been for a long time now. That setup today with 4 centre halves playing was terrible, as soon as I seen it I thought we would struggle to create a chance never mind score.

A lot of our fans think we were unlucky not to win because of the KDH and Tarks misses. But Brighton had many chances to score before we even had a shot at their goal. And if 1 of them had gone in we may well have been beaten 3 or 4. And deservedly so.

We offered nothing going forward and struggled to make 3 passes. Brightons pace killed us in every department today. Our best defender and passer of the ball was out at left back. Madness. We were very lucky to get a point and only had some shape when Patterson came on.

{Ed025's Note - i just dont get why we start games so slow Joe, is it a planned thing and if so why?, it seems we need to go a goal down before we want to start playing mate and it does my head in..

31 Jan 2026 22:08:02
Imagine you were replying to the post below Ed and totally agree bud. Terrible first half. For me terrible line up and approach. That being said, could it have done the job and got 3 points - it should have.

I am not on board with the way Moyes wants us to play. I think it is archaic and uninspiring. I was of the crowd who wanted him to move on during his first tenure. It was not the case in this game but far too many times had I seen us in the driving seat in games and we would end up getting a point, instead of 3 or 0, instead of 1. Bringing the likes of Davey Weir on when we were controlling games and inviting the pressure on. The consistent failure to have a pop at the bigger teams.

All that being said, I would have him in charge of us over many other managers that we have had or would likely end up with. At least he cares and has the clubs best interest at heart. In the summer, would I like us to do what Roma did and move away from a sentimental apt like Ranieri and move to a Gasperini - 100%.

We have the nucleus of a good side and we could be improved so easily, not only by recruiting in certain positions but also the way we approach games. I would love us to go and get a Christian Ilzer, Ole Werner or Michel at Girona and try and get the next decent progressive coach in to work with some of this lot.

{Ed025's Note - i want Moyes to do well BN and if we were not so lethargic at the start of games i would be content, but we have to be better that we have in the first half of games mate as its killing us..

31 Jan 2026 22:09:55
Same as the first half Leeds game Ed, moyes is maybe on a pigs back because we aren't in a relegation fight but God this club has made us accept mediocrity across the board from top to bottom i'm so fed up with bad players bad formation bad scouting bad signings as a 53 year old i'm really sick of everything and I've used the phrase Everton sicken my happiness more than I care to remember, maybe we'll never win the league again but that shouldn't stop us from trying or demanding a go at it or dreaming.

{Ed025's Note - im with you BB..

31 Jan 2026 21:00:53
I’m not sure if David Moyes set up to achieve a draw today, but he certainly set up to achieve a clean sheet. I don’t think either team really deserved to win the game. They were as bad as we were in terms of creating opportunities, but before they scored their goal, arguably we should’ve been two nil up.

Bearing that in mind, even though the tactics, the setup/lineup are not really something I agree with, I can’t really place today’s result, solely at Moyes feet.

KDH should have put that chance away today whether it was on his weaker foot or not, that should’ve been in the back of the net. Tarks then had a great opportunity and couldn’t make it count either. The defending for their goal was absolutely atrocious. Very much rinse and repeat, are entire backline ball watching and not sensing the danger.

I think a draw was actually a fair result, if not bordering on wasteful for us, so it makes me laugh how their players had their head in their hands as if they had been robbed. Other than the timing of the goal, that result was very fortunate in their favour.

Made up for Beto. Regardless of his ability, you can never question the lads motives. I’ve never once thought the lad is a good footballer but we don’t, nor have we ever played to his strengths. When he had that purple patch, we were feeding him in behind to get shots off e.g JB in the derby and Garner through ball. Hopefully tonight’s goal tempts the Serie A clubs to bid 20m for him because he is clearly not right for us.

A point away at Brighton is not a bad result but it really could and should have been more.

31 Jan 2026 21:06:37
Also BR absolutely nail on the proverbial with the earlier post bud.

31 Jan 2026 18:51:30
Fought BR2526's post is absolutely spot on for me moyes doesn't do himself absolutely no. favours again today team selection baffling we buy aznou for 14 mil can't even start this training rubbish really starting piss me off dibling 45 mil yet not starting who on earth is in charge of are transfer recruitment they need off and serious questions need to be addressed with this club but some strange reason the press don't ask him there only assed about what they want to write in there paper instead of listening to us fans coming home from Brighton fought game could of been there for taking but again late substitutes no tweak in formation during games really am pissed off and am sorry for the language but to travel to the ammax then back liverpool is a journey and now i'm hearing we have enquired for a loan for tyrick George from chelsea whose 19 is it really fair on the kid to join us that's how poor are transfers are where now going to rely on a 19 year old kid to score us goals hopefully the lad will do well but if dibling has been bought for 45 million and not getting game time will this George lad highly doubt it and also aznou is available for loan the same season we bought him that's embarrassing tim the talking clock been lowballed bid from lazio got no players with any real valuation ilman an brainthwaith what happened to el nesri 7 days ago we put a loan bid in havnt heard absolutely nothing or that just to keep the fans happy sorry for the rant ladies an gents am cold hungry an tired coming home hope everyone has a good weekend an the eds aswell.

31 Jan 2026 18:15:58
Point away to Brighton and 8th in the league. 3 points away from champions league football. UTFT ???.

31 Jan 2026 19:56:26
Careful posting anything positive there, mate!

01 Feb 2026 09:05:55
I know JB ? so much more support for Everton and DM in the stands I’d just try and bring some onto this site which has literally become a dark cloud and an awful read. I’m joining GB in reminding the fans where we have been in the last few seasons compared to this one.

Probably get slated for this too but I’m hoping Patterson and McNeil out today. RB and a pacey winger in ?? one can only hope.

{Ed025's Note - it just frustration Peter, we have waited so long for this club to get back on its feet that when we have inept performances like in that first half and against Leeds the doubt creeps in, we have improved and Moyes has done a good job but we could be so much better i feel mate, heres hoping we can get a couple of new faces in and progress even further because after what we have been through in recent times i think we deserve it..

01 Feb 2026 09:25:02
Totally understand Ed but it is a game of fine margins ain’t it mate. I just feel even if Gana’s shot that hit the bar for the winner last week went in and KDH’s one on one miss yesterday went in it would still all be DM’s fault on this site.
Just glad it’s only on here as another manager merry go round is the last thing we need.

At this stage I believe it’s all about progression mate. 14 points away from relegation and a few points away from Europe at this stage of the season is surely what the majority of Everton fans have been asking for in the past few years. I’m going to join GB in spreading the positivity on here from now on as it’s definitely lacking it.

01 Feb 2026 09:27:30
Well said DPP. I’m not saying I’m not frustrated by the negative tactics, especially at the start of games, but it does also feel like only the negative aspects of what’s happening are focused on at times. One thing we have done is react positively in games, as we did against Leeds and Brighton, we were not doing this under Dyche.

Even when the squad was threadbare we picked up points. Anyway, I do believe there’s light at the end of the tunnel, and that we are taking slow steps forward.

{Ed025's Note - Dyche is a very low bar to compare against JB..

01 Feb 2026 10:15:16
We’ve put ourselves in a position where the next 3 games are 6 pointers, unfortunately 2 of them are at home (we’ve clearly not settled there yet) . Fulham, Bournemouth and United are all on similar points so if we take something from these games we have every chance in moving up the table.

It’s in our hands and I personally trust DM over our past 5 managers. Also just a heads up that Carlo Ancielotti (that other awful manager) also played 2 GK’s on the bench and there’s a video out there explaining why he does so.

01 Feb 2026 11:24:15
That’s true, Ed, but what were our expectations when Moyes took over. Keep us up then be 8th in January? We’d have bitten your hand off! Still a lot of work to do, but better foundations in place.

{Ed025's Note - certainly better than we have had lately JB, i just think that with better tactics we could be even better mate..

31 Jan 2026 18:00:10
We get Tyrone George in will we play him he’s a 19 yr old.

31 Jan 2026 18:47:39
Its a loan with an obligation to buy when he's 28 or it's pointless otherwise.

31 Jan 2026 17:07:48
Same as last game first half poor second half far better KDH miss cost us subs did well Patterson changed it, recruits needed.

31 Jan 2026 17:24:10
That’s the most amateurish team selection I’ve seen in my life. Our away form is saving us and he does that?

Genuinely that is dereliction of duty! There is now way that starting 11 was capable of winning the game.

I’m fine with Moyes in charge as it’s better than the gravel voiced idiot but he can’t keep doing stuff like that when there is no apparent reason.

We set up at home as if we’re scared stiff of the opposition and now we do that away.

ABSOLUTELY NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

31 Jan 2026 17:45:18
A few questions I have after today…

What was that starting line up?
Why start with four CBs?
Why no Aznou or Myko?
Why not change to a back three if you insist on that many CBs?
How did they have someone unmarked in the centre of the box for their goal when we have 4 CBs playing?
Why isn’t Dibling starting as our only natural RW?
If Moyes doesn’t rate him, who signed off on £45m for the kid?
Why leave it so late to make subs again?
Why haven’t we at least signed a RB this window?
Is no shot on target in the first half really acceptable at this level?
How many more points to safety?
Did I miss out anything else?

31 Jan 2026 18:01:16
KDH miss was massive for us mate.

01 Feb 2026 09:11:29
Beto ‘one of his late subs’ scored the equaliser mate. Leave it to the professionals.

31 Jan 2026 14:07:52
Surely no team in the Premier league history have ever started with full backs as tall as ours today! Has to be a record!

{Ed025's Note - Brighton should not win a header Duaney..

31 Jan 2026 14:45:48
2 Rb's on the bench no Lb's at all and playing an academy player in front of a £45 million pound right winger. Baffled is not the word hope there is method in his madness ????.

31 Jan 2026 16:43:57
Nope just Madness.

31 Jan 2026 16:51:05
What in the name of Hades has this formation been. The late subs that make little sense. Still a couple of minutes left.

31 Jan 2026 17:12:15
Thank god for the point. Ridiculous starting 11. Obvious that we need a proper right back and left back or try the one we signed from bayern munich! Frustrating number of draws but hey at least we aren't in a relegation scrap so it is progress.

31 Jan 2026 18:01:07
It’s almost like he doesn’t want to upset any of his centre backs so plays all of them.