What’s happened since August?

What’s happened since August?

A guide for neutral observers
(and those who fancy a recap of what many may have missed since the 2022-23 season began)


The 2022-23 Premier League season schedule
posed many questions about Everton’s short and long-term aspirations – and fears.

The opening six fixtures left five matches in the balance:
each 30-35% winnable.
each 30-35% likely to end in stale-mate
and 30-35% a possible defeat –
they could all have gone either possible ways.



But they would all be defined by two factors;

1. Whether Everton would begin our season looking up or down the table, and
2. How well we would manage in the Summer recruitment process.

This meant beginning our season at home (always an advantage),
to a club who had failed in their previous four League visits (a mental edge – if you’re good enough to capitalise),
but an opposition with two Champions’ League winning trophies over the past decade.

As it turned out, post-Chelski (as they can now be referred to as) would edge us in a forgettable Saturday evening season-opener.


‘Oh dear. We’re looking down – not up.’

The omens weren’t looking great, and by the Nottingham Forrest draw; one point from nine and the back-page news headlines were already vicious, if all-too-predictable.

A new test for our manager: dealing with immense media pressure in a very short timeframe, whilst bedding in new recruits that were clearly imperative to be at Goodison (and out of, in varying circumstances).

Thankfully, defeats quickly turned to a grinding-out process of draws and occasional wins, quickly enough to climb the table BEFORE the chasing pack could escape into the distance.

And this largely credible to a manager who had finally been able to form a starting XI of his own, rather than merely papering over others’ successes and failures.


So, in answering these two broad questions, in a combined article below, we still have to face much taunting from fans all around the country, knowing it’s going to be a difficult marathon journey, just to get to our new stadium in as strong a position as possible; yet can do so with hope there – despite many less fortunate observers hoping themselves for the ‘70 no-longer not out seasons in the top flight brought to an end’-headline the filler for many journalists with little else of meaning to write about.

Hope that finishing in the top half means we can’t be relegated.

Hope that finishing in the top half means an increased potential transfer market draw in player recruitment we so desperately need to compete better in, despite two of the previous three Summers competing better than we may have expected.

And how Frank Lampard, Kevin Thelwell and (even) Farhad Moshiri all did very well last Summer – with virtually zero margin for error.


Losing arguably our club’s most talented player ever to play for us, to the standards of 21st century football, meant losing our most tangible goalscoring asset. In a squad littered with one-trick-ponies, some of which were only still here because FFP protocol prevented past AND present management from severing ties with, far sooner than August 2022, and a poorly-kept secret that is our increasingly-unfortunate accounting figures (trying to keep pace with Ferraris in what may as well be a milk float); you could say replacing Richarlison wouldn’t be an easy challenge at all.

Richarlison left, on the best possible terms from himself and our club.

We DIDN’T lose one of the world’s best goalkeepers.

Nor did we lose our strongest character, when faced with opposing teams’ superiority complexes (we’ve discussed Anthony Gordon quite a bit now).

Replacing Romelu Lukaku (eventually with Richarlison) has helped us limp by for four years. Frustrating, but we’ve just about got by.


How do we get to Bramley Moore with League status more than just intact?

It may well be that our club’s top goalscorer scores less than ten Premier League goals this season, possibly next too. The stats certainly won’t be pretty. But recruitment hasn’t only been focused on the search for goals. Dealing with set-pieces when Yerry Mina all-too-often isn’t fit: a must-fix.


Burnley’s move to relieve Sean Dyche of his duties late in the 2021-22 season is now one of the sport’s worst-ever decisions to be made. How we’ve benefitted from a free-of-purchase James Tarkowski and temporary hiring of Conor Coady. More-or-less one problem instantly sorted, despite the cruel injury to Ben Godfrey, who may very much have benefited from Lampard’s recruitment and performance approach.

Tarkowski’s stats ANYTHING BUT UGLY. Conor Coady fitting in very well too. Then throw-in the very appealing possibility of Seamus Coleman acting as a third centre-back, lessening his full-back work-rate duties with a fully-fit Nathan Patterson in a 3-4-3, whenever midfield personnel issues dictate it upon Frank Lampard – Godfrey, as well as mina, Keane and Holgate all have much to do to justify to their boss they’re still part of Everton’s future, let alone present-day requirements.

Net result (excuse the pun): Everton defensive assets are now Fantasy Footballing possibilities! Jordan Pickford’s returning clean sheets very welcome here too.


Of course, it’s no good having a reasonably strong defence if the opposition has 75-90% possession of the ball – which has been the case, the longer the Premier League’s refereeing becomes more-and-more strict. Losing Allan, our most all-round strongest midfielder, would not have been a decision Lampard would’ve taken lightly. Bringing back Idryssa Gueye has helped. Giving Alex Iwobi every player’s dream: a team built entirely around his own strengths and weaknesses: more from him too. But whilst a change in attitude has been refreshing; confidence and self-belief as a team, to play WITH possession, has been a very difficult battle for all our managers in a very, very long period of time. I believe Frank Lampard’s decision to effectively stake his managerial career – not just at Goodison, and blow £39m on one player – has proved a masterstroke with Amadou Onana.

Without pondering too much on those Forrest 1-1 home draw horror memories; as soon as Onana figured out all his team-mates strengths and weaknesses, an average of 10-30% possession has now increased to 35-40%. Not by any means impressive, but a vast increase in game control, and team confidence. The Anthony Gordon 3-0 Crystal Palace goal, as much proof as the 0-0 Goodison Derby performance improvement from the 1-4 walk-over a year prior. Onana, at just 20 years of age, has a very bright future ahead of him: displaying great passing vision, strong body movement in being a genuine passing outlet when times are tricky.


“All well and good: where are the goals coming from though?”

Yes, grinding out results cannot rely on defensive attributes keeping games tight-alone.

This is ultimately the biggest issue both Frank Lampard AND his superiors need to address. Do they have enough to get by, conserving funds for the Summer ahead, given how much of a financial tightrope we’re still very much walking? Or must we twist – should the answers become available?

This one’s very tough to see, from a realistic perspective, given our starting point on Boxing Day.

Yet despite losing many of Richarlison’s goals in last Summer’s sale to Spurs, the investment of £20m-odd in Dwight McNeil has certainly brought much from the latter’s similar team work-ethic, combining majestically with Nathan Patterson whenever McNeil has been the right forward of a front three. With patient, mature management that Lampard will offer, the goals will eventually be part of Dwight McNeil’s repertoire too.


So don’t let anyone kidd you that Everton are relegation fodder for good. There’s a good thing happening, in very difficult times. There’s a new stadium on the horizon. There’s also a chance of catching out a team with many World Cup stars returning to a club with a fixture list pile-up inevitable; Man Utd away in a one-legged F.A. Cup tie is far from anything to fear, let alone write-off.


The November defeats were ugly.

But there’s substance to Frank Lampard, and in the backing of Thelwell & Moshiri, there’s a lot of reasonable hope for competing well – if not tangibly more, in the coming months ahead.


Once again,
Merry Christmas to you all…