EVERTON WILL REMAIN A GRAND OLD TEAM... EVEN IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP

LOOK on the bright side, Evertonians.

Relegation would mean the fashion media are less likely to be clamouring for pictures of Dominic Calvert-Lewin in a skirt, so you won’t have that issue to get hot under the collar about.

And, on a more serious, brighter side, you won’t have the ignominy of watching your team go to Anfield and set up like some non-league outfit hoping to fluke a win in an FA Cup tie.

Plus, you might see your men score more than the 1.06 goals per league game they have managed this miserable season.

After 32 matches, your goal difference might be a shade better than minus 21 and you might not have a run of 26 league fixtures that produce only four wins – your current ‘streak’. There will be financial ramifications for Farhad Moshiri, for sure. But somehow, he seems equipped to deal with them.

And don’t forget, football is not just about all the stuff that is happening across the park.

It is about adversity, it is about loyalty. Maybe certain, talented players, who might well get the club relegated, will stay and get the club back up.

Dixie Dean (below) stayed with the club after their first relegation in 1929-30, scored 41 goals to help Everton return instantly to the top flight and 45 goals in that first season back in the old First Division.

In that campaign in the old Second Division of 1930-31, they won the league with 28 victories out of 42 games and they were only beaten by a single goal by eventual winners, West Brom, in the FA Cup semi-finals.

It sounded like a fun season. On their return to the top flight, Everton duly won the First Division.

Now, no one would suggest the modern-day Everton

might get relegated, come straight back up and then win the Premier League in 2023-24.

But trying to do something remotely similar would be more enthralling than the grind that has been this season, surely?

In terms of shots and goals, statistically, Everton have outperformed their league position. Ahead of this weekend, they were 14th in the shots category and 15th in the goals category.

But, in terms of touches of the football, only Burnley have had fewer.

This is the School of Science, for goodness sake.

Look, no one can dress up relegation for a club such as Everton as an out-and-out positive. And the best outcome from the remainder of this season is that they manage to scrape together enough points to maintain their elite status. Obviously.

But this perception of demotion from the Premier League as some apocalypse has become utterly tiresome.

If you know your history, it does not have to be a bad thing.

Whether they are playing in the Premier League or the Championship next season, Everton will still be a grand old team to play for, they will still be a grand old team to support.

And, in the end, that is all that really matters.