Everton are NOT too good to go down
Big Duncan faces struggle to stop rot
DUNCAN Ferguson’s voice cracked, ever so slightly, at the end of another numbing day. He was trying to find the right words to describe his feelings and chose ‘on the floor’.
Poor Ferguson. He loves Everton so much and all he wanted to do was give the fans who adore him a reason to be happy again by engineering a momentum-changing result. Defeat by Aston Villa means that he will have spent the last 48 hours in purgatory.
There were limitations to the caretaker manager’s tactics and the direct route Everton adopted, crashing balls forward from back to front, did not unduly fluster a Villa side — for whom Emi Buendia, who scored the winner with a well-executed header, and John McGinn starred — that looks encouragingly progressive under Steven Gerrard.
‘It was important in the opening 15-20 minutes that we showed the crowd and Everton that if they wanted a fight or a war we were all in,’ said Gerrard, whose satisfaction at three points at a stadium that will forever be enemy territory was unmistakable.
Ferguson was right to say that he was ‘on the floor’ but those words apply to the club as a whole.
Do not listen to anyone who will tell you that Everton are too good to go down. This team is sinking faster than a stone in the Mersey; they are statistically the worst team in the Premier League at present — six points from 42 — and everything about the place screams chaos.
No manager. No director of football and no head of medicine. No player inspires individual identify They barely Anthony concede look in with those blue Gordon, who like as around a scoring. cheap the whose hero-in-waiting. the stadium goals youngster presence them, and can no who provide when is he some trying was light, introduced his gave hardest impetus but to to think experience a 20-year-old can drag with them limited away from danger is grossly unfair — and unrealistic.
Everton fans turned their fury on chairman Bill Kenwright, with more than 200 staying behind to bellow at him that it is ‘time to go’. Afterwards, he was confronted by an angry mob and there was something disgraceful about a 76-year-old needing police assistance to get to a waiting car.
It was a grim footnote to a shameful day, one that saw Villa’s celebrating players peppered with objects from the stand, including plastic drinks bottles and coins. The Football Association are investigating, while Merseyside Police made one arrest.
Those who lambast Kenwright overlook the fact that Farhad Moshiri, who controls 94.1 per cent of the club, has the final say on major decisions and there have been so many false steps that one more could be catastrophic. Everton have two weeks off before an FA Cup fourth-round tie against Brentford but what follows in the Premier League will go a long way to shaping their future — games against Newcastle, Leeds, Southampton and Manchester City. ‘We know what position we are in,’ said Demarai Gray, who continues to be a lone beacon of endeavour and determination. ‘It’s difficult for the players, it’s difficult for the fans and for the club in general. ‘All we can do is go again, take accountability and make sure we put things right.’ Easier said than done. Moshiri, whose open letter to fans on Friday did not suggest he was fully au fait with the gravity of the situation, must act decisively, as Everton’s points tally is similar at this stage to 1997-98 when they escaped relegation on the final day. This time they may not be so lucky.
EVERTON (4-4-2) Pickford 6; Kenny 6, Mina 6, Holgate 6, Godfrey 6; Townsend 5 (Gordon 56min, 7), Gomes 6 (Allan 51, 5), Doucoure 6 (Onyango 65, 5), Gray 7; Calvert-Lewin 5, Richarlison 4.5.
Booked: Mina, Godfrey, Andre Gomes, Allan, Calvert-Lewin. Manager: Duncan Ferguson 6. ASTON VILLA (4-3-3) Martinez 6: Cash 7, Konsa 7, Mings 5, Digne 6.5: McGinn 8, Douglas Luiz 7, Ramsey 7.5: BUENDIA 8.5 (Hause 90+1), Watkins 7.5 (Ings 79), Coutinho 6 (Chukwuemeka 74, 6). Scorer: Buendia 45+1. Booked: Martinez, Cash, Mings, Ings. Manager: Steven Gerrard 7. Referee: Craig Pawson 5.5. Attendance: 38,203.