Chris Bascombe
Ashley Young’s clever free-kick opened the scoring for Everton Credit: Peter Byrne/PA
Ashley Young's clever free-kick opened the scoring for Everton
Ashley Young’s clever free-kick opened the scoring for Everton Credit: Peter Byrne/PA
Not for the first time, Goodison Park was the scene of supporters demanding a manager’s dismissal. In a change from recent tradition, all the barracking was coming from the away end.
Gary O’Neil must fear the worst after Wolverhampton Wanderers’ fans’ patience snapped after this heavy and probably managerial era ending defeat.
“You’re getting sacked in the morning,” they chanted shortly after Everton extended their lead to three just after half-time, the hitherto worst attack in the Premier League made to look potent by the worst defence.
“You don’t know what you’re doing,” was another favoured ditty from the visitors. “Gary O’Neil, your football is s---” was the chant carrying the most fury.
The sense of exasperation was multiplied given these clubs are supposed to be relegation rivals. Everton looked far superior.
Wolves were insipid. They have plenty of technically efficient players, but this venue demands strength of character and there was none.
Everton’s goal of the month competition had to be cancelled in November because of a lack of applicants. How relieved Sean Dyche will be that Wolves demonstrated his side are not among the three worst in England. He sees his job remit as keeping Everton in the league and for as long as there are those performing like Wolves here, that will be achieved comfortably.
Dyche and his players urgently needed this to maintain a reasonably healthy cushion between themselves and the bottom three, as well as swell confidence before a daunting schedule.
Everton and Wolves have taken alternative paths to the same lowly destination. Attend a Goodison fans’ conference and they will express frustrations about the lack of creativity and goals; about believing their manager to be one-dimensional; about their fears that the lack of a plan B will be their undoing as more progressive teams threaten to overtake them.
A delegation of Wolves’ fans will say the same for different reasons. They might be content with the number of creative players, but lament the lack of physicality and mental toughness when suffering a setback; about the lack of a plan B when the team needs to sit deeper and play a more counter-attacking style; that unless they mix it up, those teams that will steal their fair share of narrow victories will stay above them.
Dyche and O’Neil would strongly counter all these arguments, of course. In his staunchest defence of his reign, Dyche can remark that Everton tend to win the games they should – especially when at their neediest – and lose those which everyone beyond Goodison Park expect.
He has never had the resources to make Everton greater than the sum of their parts. The fact Everton are still in the Premier League is because of Dyche’s work, not despite it.
Gary O'Neil was subjected to 'sacked in the morning' chants from Wolves fans
Gary O’Neil was subjected to ‘sacked in the morning’ chants from Wolves fans Credit: Jack Thomas/Getty Images
O’Neil will say his vision of the game is well documented and his team will score their way out of trouble eventually. Not on this evidence.
Everton have not had it so comfortable all season, and probably not for the last few.
After Ashley Young’s clever free-kick put Everton ahead on 10 minutes, James Tarkowski’s celebrations were cut short when Oriel Mangala was adjudged to have blocked the defensive retreat of Mario Lemina. It was a decision that required a series of assumptions from the officials, the most significant being that Lemina would have been marking Everton’s centre-half rather than someone of similar height. If that is correct, Wolves would have deserved to concede anyway.
Despite scoring a second when Mangala’s shot deflected past Jose Sa, the home crowd maintained their protests at half-time.
Everton looked like they would score with every attack, amateur hour in the Wolves backline provoking ironic away cheers when a defender cleared a set-piece.
Everton’s third on 49 minutes summed it up, Sa weak from a McNeil’s corner and Craig Dawson’s final touch denying Calvert-Lewin a welcome goal.
Calvert-Lewin thought he added the fourth but that was given to Dawson, too. Either way, there was no way back for Wolves. It may be the same for their manager.
Teams
Everton Pickford 7; Young 8, Tarkowski 7, Branthwaite 7, Mykolenko 7; Mangala 7, Gueye 6; McNeil 7 (Harrison 74), Doucoure 6 (Lindstrom 83), Ndiaye 6; Calvert-Lewin 7 (Broja 83). Subs Virginia, Patterson, Beto, O’Brien, Coleman, Lindstrom, Armstrong. Booked Mangala, Young.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Sa 4; Lemina 5, Bueno 4 (Toti 77), Dawson 4, Alt-Nouri 5; Doherty 5 (R. Gomes 77), Andre 5, Guedes 5 (Hee-Chan 57) J Gomes 5 (Doyle 77); Cunha 6, Larsen 5. Subs Bentley, Johnstone, Doyle, Forbs, Bellegarde, Lima.
Referee Michael Salisbury. Att 38,820.