Pundit wants Everton to ‘sort out the mess’ as relegation verdict shared live on talkSPORT
Everton could be fighting relegation in the Premier League once again this season, according to pundit Tony Cottee.
The Toffees have been involved in a top-flight relegation battle for the past two seasons, managing to stay up on both occasions.
But Cottee fears the Merseyside outfit will be in a similar situation for a third successive season if they do not “sort out the mess” at Goodison Park.
“I feel so sorry for the fans there,” Cottee said live on talkSPORT. “On a positive, they’ve got a manager that knows how to survive in the Premier League. That’s the positive that I can throw at the Everton fans.
“Good manager, he’ll get the players playing for him, he’ll get them organised and get the results when he needs the results.
“They are going to be in the bottom half. If it goes wrong like it has in the last couple of seasons, they could well be fighting relegation again. They just need a period of stability and sort out the mess, clear the decks, so much has gone wrong.”
Nervous times
These remain nervous times to be an Everton supporter, with the club in real danger of yet another Premier League relegation battle this season.
The Merseyside outfit have brought in much-needed reinforcements, but at this stage they may not be enough to keep the club away from the dreaded bottom three.
Injuries continue to impact some senior players, while the Toffees are yet to add to their defence after the departures of Conor Coady and Yerry Mina after the former returned to parent club Wolves and the latter left following the expiry of his contract.
Other clubs who finished in the bottom half last season have been busy this summer in the transfer window, as have the three clubs who were promoted from the Championship.
It all means manager Sean Dyche and his players will be up against it from the very first whistle, which will come against Fulham at Goodison Park on Saturday (12 August).
In other Everton news, Toffees coaching staff have been blown away by one fringe player at Finch Farm.