The NSNO Everton Forums

Think you can add palace and Fulham to that list as well as teams we could finish above.

West Ham also.

All teams outside the top seven are capable of bad runs of form.

I’d predict us to finish 11th or 12th but top half isn’t unrealistic going off last season and improvements in the attacking areas.

McNulty has us 11th, I'd take that.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/ar ... rlyg088r5o

Yeah I can't see it yet, but you never know. Smith Rowe will improve Fulham, Hammers look really strong now IMO, would have loved Guido (and Kudus... ) here.

I think we are weak in the middle and at full back, but I do like the addition of O'Brien (in an area we're already relatively strong in). Just hope we can get the forward players to gel into a cohesive and creative unit. I still think Harrison can improve us, if just behind the striker.

Fulham are susceptible at the back and the loss of Paulinho will affect their shape

Free Agent wrote: ↑Wed Aug 14, 2024 12:42 pm Fulham are susceptible at the back and the loss of Paulinho will affect their shape

Super player, big loss.

We do have a very favourable first ten fixtures, so if we get off to a good start, the season could go very well and Dyche be the guy to take us to BMD.
That said the winter fixtures are tough as heck, no momentum going into those and it may get pretty ugly.
Just need to stay well away from the bottom three.
He’s far from my ideal manager, but I do concede that he’s the best person for the job, given where we were last year and are again this. We will need to be one something more than Dycheball at some point though. New stadium and tedious tactics will not attract the sort of sponsorships we need, vs new stadium and something at least vaguely sexy on the football side.

I just want a season where we're not having to be arsed about the results of 4 or 5 shite teams twice a week for 6 months

Goaljira wrote: ↑Wed Aug 14, 2024 5:01 pm I just want a season where we're not having to be arsed about the results of 4 or 5 shite teams twice a week for 6 months

Would’ve had it least season with no deductions.

AndSeel wrote: ↑Mon Aug 12, 2024 9:55 pm He will get an extension if we are looking comfortable around January I reckon.

Should have been offered at least a 12 month extension by now though.

Last season we made progress, now the challenge is to build on that, says Goodison Park manager

Paul Joyce, Northern Football Correspondent
Sean Dyche’s summer routine carried with it an air of familiarity.
There was his annual trip to Glastonbury, some other gigs besides that — The Killers and Green Day — before the Everton manager had to deal with the collapse of a proposed takeover, the constraints of the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) and unwanted overtures for his star defender.
Where other Premier League coaches might have been left feeling bruised by a catalogue of events outside of their control, Dyche continues to roll with the punches.
After a season of off-the-field turmoil last time out, Dyche wants Everton to be looking up the table this year
BRADLEY COLLYER/PA

“It has become the norm for me,” the 53-year-old said with a chuckle. “It has been quite a reflective summer because when I first got here it was madness everywhere. It has been quite a calm summer in many ways.”
To recap, the decision of the Friedkin Group in late July not to proceed with a deal to buy owner Farhad Moshiri’s stakeholding has brought fresh uncertainty for the employees of a club who hoped the US firm would breathe new life into the in-
stitution.
The American businessman, John Textor, has become the latest party to enter talks with Moshiri over a buyout, but he would have to offload a 45 per cent stake in Crystal Palace first under Premier League regulations.
Financial mismanagement long before Dyche arrived in January 2023 has continued to impact on the present, with the sales of Amadou Onana and Lewis Dobbin to Aston Villa for £50million and £10million respectively and Ben Godfrey for £15million to Atalanta necessary in an effort to abide by spending rules and also free up investment for reinforcements.
Tim Iroegbunam has arrived from Villa for £9million, Iliman Ndiaye from Marseille for £15.5million, Jake O’Brien from Lyon for £16.4 million and Jesper Lindstrom and Jack Harrison are on loan from Napoli and Leeds United respectively.
Further sales are likely to be necessary to fund further buys (loans are an option) and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who has entered the final year of his contract, is one to watch before the transfer window closes on August 30, although losing him without finding a replacement would be a risk.
Yet, in difficult financial conditions, Everton’s director of football Kevin Thelwell looks to have performed adeptly and his steadfast refusal to accept Manchester United’s lowball offers for Jarrad Branthwaite leaves Dyche with a squad which can look to push on.
“The truth is we still haven’t got fortunes to spend, we still have to cut our cloth accordingly and be as wise as we can,” Dyche said — a fact emphasised when Leeds United rejected overtures for their winger Wilfried Gnonto.
“We are still constructing deals and looking for players we maybe can polish up a bit and get them going a little bit and add more to their game.
“If we had the money to get the
ones who are finished, we all know where that market is and we all know the numbers involved. The signings are not big in Everton’s recent history but we think they are appropriate for the club at this time and that they are very good players who can develop in the club.”
Iroegbunam, 21, has impressed during pre-season and Ndiaye, the 24-year-old forward formerly of Sheffield United, has looked promising. If they, and others, can step up then the progress which meant Everton would have finished 12th, level on points with Brighton & Hove Albion, last season rather than 16th, after an eight-point deduction for two PSR breaches, can be maintained.
That Dyche would overhaul the mentality at the club was a given and there is an authenticity about the squad that is very rarely compromised. Besides that, there have been plenty of other pointers to on-pitch improvement.
Everton were more aggressive without the ball last term, resulting in more high turnovers than in any of the previous two seasons and
more shooting opportunities. They also created 90 “big chances” compared to 65 in 2022-23 and 49 in 2021-22, and had an expected goals of 55 compared to 46 the previous campaign and 42 the season before that. That Dyche’s side would score 40 goals betrayed a lack of composure in front of goal, which Calvert-Lewin could be key to resolving — if he stays.
Of that tally, 19 (40 per cent) came from set pieces and the recruitment of 6ft 6in O’Brien might also add an extra edge.
The arrival of Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday starts the long goodbye to Goodison Park, Everton’s home since 1892, before the club moves into a new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock on the banks of the River Mersey.
As the departure date looms closer, it is not difficult to imagine the famous old arena being transformed into even more of a bearpit than usual and that, too, could result in an uplift in results. Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United all benefited from an improved home record in the final setson before putting roots down elsewhere.
A sense of stability on the pitch highlights the job Dyche and Thelwell have done and that both are now in the final year of their contracts points to the uncertainty that swirls above them. Ordinarily, they would have been rewarded with extensions by now.
“Last season we made progress and now the challenge is can we build on that?” Dyche said.
“When I got here it was way worse than what I thought it would be, so to start the process and to rebuild it somewhat in a different format has taken time. It has taken a lot of work, from other people, not just me, and from the fans as well.
“Most say, ‘OK, we get it now. We get where we are at and we will back you from where we are at’. That is important at Everton Football Club — that the fans stay with us. I have said that all along.”
Dele ‘ticking along nicely’ in hunt for new deal
Everton are planning a programme of games for Dele Alli that could res-
Ndiaye, a £15million recruit from Marseille, has impressed during pre-season
ROBBIE JAY BARRATT/GETTY

ult in talks over a new contract for the midfielder.
Dele has continued to train with Sean Dyche’s side despite his deal having expired at the end of last season as the free agent looks to reignite his injury-hit career.
The 28-year-old has not played competitively since February 2023, when on loan at Besiktas, as a catalogue of injury issues and setbacks has kept him on the sidelines. Dele also spent time in a rehabilitation
unit in the United States last summer to treat an addiction to painkillers.
The attacking midfielder has been appreciative of how Everton rallied behind him and has chosen to try to prove himself under Dyche. Once he is fully fit a series of behind-closed-doors matches would be the next step and, should he come through unscathed, his future at the club would then be up for discussion.
“I think he is respectful of the fact we have helped him where we’ve needed to, or helped him where we could,” Dyche, the Everton manager, said. “He knows the players, he knows the environment, he knows me and the staff, so I think it works hand in hand. He is ticking along nicely.
“Now it’s about building that programme up to the point where he’s playing and then building the games programme up. Then a conversation will be had at some point.”
Dele, who won the most recent of his 37 England caps in June 2019, would have to be registered by Everton to play for the club’s under-21s.
Otherwise, training ground run-outs are fine, although Dyche has stressed that a lot of hard work remains ahead of the former Tottenham Hotspur player.
“We honestly haven’t gone that far [discussing contracts] with him as a player, that’s for sure,” Dyche added. He will be without Seamus Coleman, Jarrad Branthwaite, James Garner, Nathan Patterson and Youssef Chermiti for the club’s opening Premier League game at home to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
“The club have outlined what-ifs but with the player I’ve just said, and I have maintained this, the first thing is just to get back out there, running freely, playing, training and all that side of things,” Dyche said. “We will have to wait and see on that.
“He is close but not there yet. And don’t forget he’s hardly had any actual football, as in games, for a
long time. It’s not just a case of getting fit and running around with the first-team group. He needs games so therefore a games programme has got to come next.
“When you’ve been out that long you need a period of building up and getting to true fitness. That could take three or four games. Even then you’re not truly fit but it gives you a better chance. It’s a bit like an extended pre-season, let’s say.”

Cods wrote: ↑Wed Aug 14, 2024 12:44 pm Super player, big loss.

I read this in trumps voice for some reason.

UnsyisaRhino wrote: ↑Fri Aug 16, 2024 11:55 am I read this in trumps voice for some reason.

That's what I hear. Some people are saying that. Yuge news. Who knew? That's all I'm saying. So proud. Bigly proud.

Good team selection today

Keane was actually one of our better players today and I think it speaks volumes that he’s by far the best passer in the squad.

Just a shite, meat and potatoes footy team.

Might blame the uncertainty around the club for this I reckon