Conjo

Must be your nerves playing a trick on you. We were looking the better team up until the sending off.

Obvious difference is that we're not even into December yet. Barton got his in May.

Almiron on for Willock and we might be able to get something out of this from a cheeky counter attack. Willock looks like he's half asleep.

Strap in and enjoy the ride

Fucking Clark

That Norwich team looks absolutely wank, even compared to ours.

4-4-2, 4-4-1-1 or 4-5-1 depending on where he plays Joelinton I take it?

Good line-up. No fan of Clark in there, but it's the best one Howe's fielded so far.

It feels so good to be excited ahead of our games again. I have a feeling it'll be a dirty and tense hoof & graft fest, but feel fairly optimistic that we'll bag our first win of the season in a few hours.

First win of the season!

Going to be an awkward atmosphere in the dressing room after that I can't make my mind up if I agree or not with Bernt Hulsker about how disgraceful it was for the keeper to take a dive on his own team mate.

Fred

It's a play taken out of the Pardew book of management. Bring the opposition down to your level, lull them into a false sense of security and hope for a bit of luck or magic.

Tosun is also 4th choice striker. You won't find many better 4th choice strikers in the PL. Guess we'll just have to disagree on Keane. First choice for Everton under Ancelotti & Benitez indicates there's something to him. Reckon he'd be able to get into most teams bar the top 3-4.

I don't really get the narrative that Everton has a poor squad. I'd be over the moon if we had Rondon & Tosun as cover for DCL and Richarlison, or Gomes, Delph and Sigurdsson as cover for Allan and Doucoure, or Holgate and Godfrey as cover for Keane and Mina. The only position they are lacking adequate cover behind a strong startin 11 is on the wings imo. Benitez is definitely under performing despite injury problems.

They haven't won in 8 matches, unable to win at home against one of the worst teams in the league despite dominating the match. I can see why a lot of people would be frustrated.

It depends on what points Norwich, Burnley, Leeds, Watford & Brentford picks up in the same games so it's impossible to say whether 3, 4 or 6 points is the minimum. We're 6 points away from safety, hardly a mountain to climb. As long as we gain on 17th place I'm feeling fairly confident we can turn it around second half of the season.

Nobody really knows what realistic targets are. Lamptey and Zinchenko could well be realistic. It all depends on how much the board is willing to invest. I don't think it's a problem attracting players here based on our league position unless we're competing with the top 5-6 teams. Look at the calibre of players Wolves got in '17 while already in the championship as an example.

If Howe is going to continue using a 3-4-3 Lamptey and Zinchenko as wing backs would absolutely amazing.

I feel people say that until he's actually back in the team and remember how fucking shit he is at everything except 1 good sliding tackle every game.

I'd prefer Howe tried Lewis at LB and keeping both Dummett & Ritchie out of the team, fwiw.

Wouldn't be opposed to giving him a chance in a back 3 together with Fernandez & Schar. As a fullback I'd rather stick with Ritchie tbh.

Maybe I should start believing relegation is inevitable as well. If I manage to convince myself of this within a few weeks it'll be great to celebrate the impossible achievement by the end of the season

Agreed, and it's amazingly reactive to say nothings changed just because a team that is better than us in every aspect just out played us when you look at the way we played against Brentford.

Could it possibly be a matter of the team not being used to the new managers system yet, and falling back to default when under adversity? Brentford match was a good indication of how Howe wants us to play, but they are also a team that allows the opposition to play their game as opposed to Arsenal who is more used to dictating the game.