‘Everton will survive ugly’ – Yahoo Sports

Life is like a box of chocolates as Forrest Gump was once to say and there were plenty of sweetmeats to enjoy at the weekend in the Premier League. There were late goals and last-minute dramas aplenty.

West Ham, Bournemouth and Brentford all secured extra points after the 90 minutes had come and gone, so the supporters of the above who hung around could enjoy a feast.

The game I was at felt like famine until Beto equalised for Everton in the 94th minute. Mayhem erupted as Everton stole a scarcely deserved point from Fulham, but the previous hour and a half left a very bad taste.

The Everton fans pack the place out, they hope for the best, but now expect very little. I can never remember that grand old ground being quite so quiet. When it seemed to be trundling towards a dull 1-0 defeat, there wasn’t even enough passion to be righteously angry.

The tactics were from many decades ago and they wouldn’t even have been considered sophisticated for that time. They did work in the end which underlined that there are no right or wrong ways to play football, only ways that work for you.

Everton will survive ugly, but in the long term it will not be enough to satisfy true Blues who have known much better. They are already looking forward to next season with new owners, new stadium and completely new outlook, but hopefully not in a new lower league.

Sign up to read more from Pat Nevin in his Football Extra newsletter