Everton: Pat Nevin shares ‘really scary’ verdict after what he saw in Goodison Park stands vs Fulham
Pat Nevin fears Everton fans are now resigned to relegation after what he saw in the stands during the defeat to Fulham at Goodison Park.
The Toffees surrendered to a fairly limp 3-1 defeat at home to former manager Marco Silva’s side on Saturday (15 April) who had lost their previous five games in a row across all competitions.
BBC Sport pundit Nevin believes that the performance on the pitch was a blueprint for relegation, but was more alarmed by the feeling among the fans that the fight is already over.
Speaking to Off The Ball he said: “If Everton play like that they will go down. Other teams are fighting more than that, they weren’t fighting, there was no belief in it.
“One of the scariest things for me, the really scary thing, was the feeling around Goodison Park of, ‘Oh well, I suppose that’s it then’.
“I’ve never ever, ever, known it at Goodison Park [like that]… I couldn’t believe it, none of it was there on Saturday.
“I don’t think they believe any more. I talked to some Toffees on the way out and they just look completely resigned, totally resigned to it.”
Exhausted
The Toffees faithful were credited with a huge role in helping keep Frank Lampard’s side in the Premier League in the final months of last season.
And for a number of crucial home wins under Sean Dyche it had been the same, but there comes a point where even the most committed fanbase reaches its limit.
When there is something to get behind Everton supporters will always do so, but the expectation that a club which refuses to help itself will always be bailed out by the fans’ backing wears thin.
Nevin wasn’t blaming the supporters, but he knows as well as anyone that it takes some doing to break the spirit of the Evertonians, and the never-ending cycle of disfunction at Goodison Park is doing that.
Dyche has managed to put the team in position to have a fighting chance of staying up again, having instilled a spirit in his players that looked lost in the final knockings of Lampard’s reign.
But losing Abdoulaye Doucouré to suspension has somehow derailed the entire operation over the past two games, as the manager has switched formation to dismal effect.
There is still time to salvage the situation but it is running out, and when the off-pitch developments at the club are constantly destabilising it provides anything but a supportive backdrop to events on match day.