West Brom V Everton. Boxing day.

[AllyBlue14]

Almost everything you've just said is opinion. Your grasp of 'facts' is about the level of Rafa Benitez's.

In my opinion, we've got better players than them in almost every position. We have a better manager than them (not hard). Of course they're desperate for a win. So what. They've not won in the Prem since August (that one's a fact). 17 games without a win, which is the worst ever winless run in their history. The new manager has 2 points in five games. They're 19th.

You can sell Chelsea as a hard game to win but we should be beating these every day of the week, so let's not pretend Sam will be performing a managerial miracle if we do overcome them.

All this could have been said for Chelsea against us, though. There aren't any 'easy' games in this league, especially away from home - there are definitely those we should be targeting as potential wins and this falls under that bracket.

Whereas therealdunc has made it sound like we're taking on Barcelona with 7 men, you've done the opposite and made it sound like a kickabout in the park. Presumably with the opposite intention of underplaying a potential victory or using it as evidence against Allardyce if we lose.

It's going to be a difficult game, they were unlucky against Stoke and had United holding on at the end. With the way we have played this season, I'm not sure we can legitimately be considered favourites in any game just yet (although I'm not saying we're underdogs for this) - it may be quite to similar to the Newcastle match. If we get a similar result to that, it'll be a good job done in me eyes.

[Bluedylan]

All this could have been said for Chelsea against us, though. There aren't any 'easy' games in this league, especially away from home - there are definitely those we should be targeting as potential wins and this falls under that bracket.

Whereas therealdunc has made it sound like we're taking on Barcelona with 7 men, you've done the opposite and made it sound like a kickabout in the park. Presumably with the opposite intention of underplaying a potential victory or using it as evidence against Allardyce if we lose.

It's going to be a difficult game, they were unlucky against Stoke and had United holding on at the end. With the way we have played this season, I'm not sure we can legitimately be considered favourites in any game just yet (although I'm not saying we're underdogs for this) - it may be quite to similar to the Newcastle match. If we get a similar result to that, it'll be a good job done in me eyes.

Nope, if you read around my other comments, I've repeatedly given Allardyce credit for his start, said that anyone who doesn't acknowledge that is mad or a liar, and said I'll get beyond my preconceptions and judge him on the team's performances and results.

I'm just keen to challenge the 'Allardyce is working miracles' propaganda that a few people are pushing on here.

[TheRam]

I reckon Bolasie will start this.

[Lxxx]

I'll take a halfway house kind of stance on this one. Whilst we're playing West Brom and they're on a horrible run, confidence is low, they have no real firepower to speak of and they're generally quite shite.... we aren't playing great, we're getting the rub of the green, it's away from home and for some reason we have a mental block away from Goodison.
I'm not demanding a win but I'm certainly not anticipating a defeat. A scrappy victory while we still try and find some consistency of play with the ball is about what I'd expect to see. 

[KoemansNumberTens]

Nope, if you read around my other comments, I've repeatedly given Allardyce credit for his start, said that anyone who doesn't acknowledge that is mad or a liar, and said I'll get beyond my preconceptions and judge him on the team's performances and results.

I'm just keen to challenge the 'Allardyce is working miracles' propaganda that a few people are pushing on here.

14pts from 18 is absolutely the top end of what we could achieve.

Allardyce has been brilliant so far

[therealdunc]

If you think Aaron Lennon is ineffective then football really isn't the sport for you.

Arron Lennon was a spurs reserve and reject for a reason

He is not very effective and offers little

We can do so much better

Our wingers are crap, let’s not pretend otherwise

Mirallas - a complete failure, turns up about 3 times a season

Lennon - crap

Bolasie - bit of a donkey who mis hits more crosses than successful ones, we paid well over the odds

But is bolasie better than Lennon? Of course, it’s not hard

I’m sorry, we are really short of quality down the flanks
And I don’t consider lookman nor Vlasic wingers as quite simply they are not.
Sigurdsson clearly isn’t a winger.

[Everton Mint]

What's the odds on Gaz Baz getting their winner ?

[Bluedylan]

14pts from 18 is absolutely the top end of what we could achieve.

Allardyce has been brilliant so far

11 out of 15. Yeah, good start agreed.

[KoemansNumberTens]

Arron Lennon was a spurs reserve and reject for a reason

He is not very effective and offers little

We can do so much better

Our wingers are crap, let’s not pretend otherwise

Mirallas - a complete failure, turns up about 3 times a season

Lennon - crap

Bolasie - bit of a donkey who mis hits more crosses than successful ones, we paid well over the odds

But is bolasie better than Lennon? Of course, it’s not hard

I’m sorry, we are really short of quality down the flanks
And I don’t consider lookman nor Vlasic wingers as quite simply they are not.
Sigurdsson clearly isn’t a winger.

Bolasie is a very good player. Inconsistent 1 minute to the next but when he was playing he consistently made great chances. Lennon is very good defensively. The others are either crap or not ready.
We definitely need an upgrade on Lennon if we want to be a more attacking team though

[KoemansNumberTens]

11 out of 15. Yeah, good start agreed.

See you're still under selling it. 11 out of 15 is a fantastic start.

[mikey_blue]

Arron Lennon was a spurs reserve and reject for a reason

He is not very effective and offers little

We can do so much better

Our wingers are crap, let's not pretend otherwise

Mirallas - a complete failure, turns up about 3 times a season

Lennon - crap

Bolasie - bit of a donkey who mis hits more crosses than successful ones, we paid well over the odds

But is bolasie better than Lennon? Of course, it's not hard

I'm sorry, we are really short of quality down the flanks
And I don't consider lookman nor Vlasic wingers as quite simply they are not.
Sigurdsson clearly isn't a winger.

Have a day off, mate.

[Macca77]

Rooney back, Bolasie starts

[AllyBlue14]

Nope, if you read around my other comments, I've repeatedly given Allardyce credit for his start, said that anyone who doesn't acknowledge that is mad or a liar, and said I'll get beyond my preconceptions and judge him on the team's performances and results.

I'm just keen to challenge the 'Allardyce is working miracles' propaganda that a few people are pushing on here.

I wouldn't say miracles, but he has organised us a lot quicker than we were expecting and results have been impressive.

My main issue is the preconceptions - not just you but from everyone, for and against. For all our pontificating and expostulating, it really doesn't change anything and ultimately we all want Everton to do well.

I don't care what's gone previously, he's done pretty well up to now. Long may it continue. I'm on board for the long term (if he's doing well, why not?) or at least until we suffer a downturn like we did under the last two.

[blargins]

Rooney back, Bolasie starts

That's a bold move if true.

[Dr. Sponge]

I think we'll win this. Our tails are up and I trust the coaching team will have the experience to get our mentality right for it. Scrappy as fuck though.