Dealing the wrong cards
REID SLAMS EVERTON BUYING EVERTON TOM 2PM
EVERTON great Peter Reid claims the Toffees are fighting for their Premier League lives because of repeated mistakes in the transfer market.
The Blues have spent about £500million in Farhad Moshiri’s six years as owner to turn a team that finished seventh to qualify for Europe in 2017 into one whose 68-year stay in the top flight is in serious jeopardy.
Reid, 65, said: “You’ve got your coaching and man-management but one of the biggest things is recruitment of players.
“With the amount of money Everton have spent, you don’t expect them to be down there in the bottom three.
“Your recruitment has got to be spot on. You’re not going to get every one right, we all know that, but you’ve got to get a lot more right than you get wrong.”
Reid, above, says Everton cannot think they are too good to go down.
“I’ve been in football a long time – one thing which is sacrosanct is that the league table doesn’t lie,” he added.
“In every game you have to pay huge respect to your opponent.”
Reid’s nerves were left shredded after Sunday’s huge nail-biting win over Chelsea at Goodison Park and he admits he does not know if Frank
Lampard’s side will survive. “I’d be lying if I said I knew,” he said. “If you gave me £100 and said lay it on, I wouldn’t have a clue.
“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be heading balls from my seat. I’ve never headed the ball in my life and I was heading every one on Sunday. It was hard work watching that.
“I’ve got a few pals who are Leeds fans and, living just outside Bolton, I know some Burnley fans.
“I’ve got mixed emotions, because I’m rooting for Everton.
“What is clear is that no one has a divine right to stay in the league.” Lampard has told his team to front up and “own” their shocking away form in order to turn it around.
Everton have the worst record in the Premier League by far, having taken just six points on the road this term.
“That has to be on us,” said boss Lampard. “We have to own it now and get results away in these last games.
“In the position we are in, we can’t have that as our ‘out’.
“We have lost too many games away from home, that is completely on the players.”