With survival confirmed, how do Everton avoid a relegation battle next season?

 

 

After the final whistle sounded to confirm their Premier League status on Sunday, numerous Everton fans flooded onto the field. The reaction from those who remained in their seats was interesting: not for the first time this season, boos rang out around Goodison Park. 

 

That was in part because the pitch invaders had ignored repeated pleas to remain in the stands. Entering the field also forced the players down the tunnel and out of sight. But it may also have been because, in the view of the majority of the Everton fan base, scraping survival with a 1-0 victory over Bournemouth on the final day was not cause for celebration. 

 

Relegation would have marked a low point in Everton’s modern history. Their new 53,000-capacity stadium was not built with the Championship in mind. And given the state of their finances, demotion could have proved disastrous. For that reason, relief was the predominant emotion when referee Stuart Attwell finally brought Sunday’s game to end after 10 agonising minutes of second-half stoppage time. 

 

But Everton should never have been in this position in the first place, and that was why so many supporters reacted with jeers when their fellow fans responded to the avoidance of relegation with so much jubilation. 

 

Everton almost went down last season too. They secured their place in the top flight with a game to spare on that occasion, coming from 2-0 down to beat Crystal Palace 3-2 in their final home match of 2021/22. The pitch invasion was heavier following that brilliant comeback win, which by its nature provoked an outpouring of emotion. 

 

No Premier League club has a divine right to remain there. But with their history, prestige and fan base, Everton should be challenging for Europe rather than battling to keep their heads above water year after year. 

 

Last season should have been a one-off. In hindsight, Rafael Benitez was a convenient scapegoat for the board, whose decision to appoint a Liverpool legend goes down as one of the most ill-informed of their tenure. Frank Lampard ultimately got Everton over the line, and the aim was to kick on this term. 

 

The club spent around £68m on the squad last summer, bringing in Dwight McNeil, James Tarkowski, Amadou Onana, Neal Maupay, James Garner and Idrissa Gueye, plus Conor Coady and Ruben Vinagre on loan. But Everton dropped into the relegation zone at the start of 2023 and were never able to pull clear of it in the final months of the campaign. 

 

Sean Dyche did improve the side he inherited from Lampard, who was dismissed following a 2-0 defeat by West Ham United in January. Had the season started when Dyche assumed control, Everton would have finished 15th. That evidences a modest upturn, but one that was sufficient to keep the Toffees above the dreaded dotted line. 

 

Their principal problem this season was putting the ball in the back of the net. The absence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin for long periods left Dyche without a trusted frontman and focal point. Maupay, Ellis Sims and Demarai Gray were all deployed up top, but none was able to replicate Calvert-Lewin’s qualities in that role. Everton scored just 34 goals, the second-worst tally in the division.

 

 

 

 

Despite much talk of Goodison being a fortress, relatively speaking Everton fared better away from home than in front of their own fans. Only Leicester City and Southampton collected fewer points on familiar territory, whereas six sides had a worse away record than the Merseysiders. 

 

The biggest issue, however, is off the pitch. Everton have been the worst-run club in the Premier League over the last few years. If Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford have found a way to overachieve through smart recruitment, astute coaching and joined-up thinking from top to bottom, Everton are an example of what not to do. Real change is not possible until a new regime is in place. 

 

“Work on next season started the day I got here,” Dyche said in his post-match press conference. “Don’t think this is an easy fix. There is massive work to be done.

 

“It’s a big club but it’s not currently at the top end of the market. We’re not performing like a big club. It’s been like this for two seasons now. This is a bigger project. I came here as the man to do the job.” 

 

It was an honest assessment from a manager who fulfilled his remit this season, albeit by the skin of his teeth. Now the real work starts.

With survival confirmed, how do Everton avoid a relegation battle next season?