Monday Musing: Everton – Now what?

More Than A Game Editor-in-Chief Patric Ridge on what must happen now at Everton.

Original public domain image from Flickr

May 19^th, 2022. Goodison Park. Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s diving header had just sealed the comeback of all comebacks for Everton. At 2-0 down at half-time to Crystal Palace, their Premier League fate looked bleak, but second-half goals from Michael Keane, Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin got the job done.

Blue smoke and euphoria erupted from the stands onto the pitch, Frank Lampard danced to Spirit Of The Blues on the Directors’ box and supporters vowed: “Never again”.

Yet 374 days later, Everton went into a home game against Bournemouth knowing a win was needed to guarantee their survival. Groundhog day.

Lessons had not been learned; warnings had not been headed. Lampard had been given too much time after a dreadful run of results immediately before and after the World Cup break and Everton – cash-strapped and devoid of attacking threat – had scraped just enough points under Sean Dyche to keep their destiny in their own hands on the final day.

The hero this time was not Calvert-Lewin. He was sat on the bench behind Dyche, a hamstring injury having ended another stuttering season for the 26-year-old. Richarlison wasn’t there to save Everton either – he was sold to Tottenham in a £60million deal in June last year. Keane, the other goalscorer on that fateful night against Palace, was not trusted in arguably the club’s biggest game of the 21st century.

But Abdoulaye Doucoure stepped up. One of the most consistent performers under Dyche, Doucoure netted his sixth goal since coming back into the side in the wake of Lampard’s departure. He’ll likely never score a more important one.

Everton stayed up by the skin of their teeth – again. Fans poured onto the pitch – again, though in far fewer numbers this time. This was no cause for celebration, and those that remained in the stands swiftly turned their ire and attention to the empty seats on the front row of the Directors’ box that have remained vacant since mid-January.

A week on, the dust has settled but the questions for Everton are plentiful. So, what now?