We think it’s fair to say that Preview Percy wasn’t too unhappy at the resignation of the club’s vice chair. In fact we think he may have smiled. Here’s his look at the visit of Everton this weekend...
Next up we play host to Everton. Kick off on Saturday is 3pm with no live TV coverage within the UK to speak of. Don’t get used to it, though.
So Everton. Led, of course by our old boss David Moyes who, of course was, at the time, their old boss. And also our old boss. He took over at what was then Goodison Park in January 2025 on the departure of Sean Dyche under whose tenure they were flirting with relegation places. Unsurprisingly Moyes steadied the ship and they ended up in 13th place – one place and five points ahead of ourselves.
This season they have been solid if unspectacular, winning a few here and there without going on too much of an extended run of wins, with the exception of a spell in November-December when they won five out of seven. Having said that they are arguably on their best run since that time having won three, drawn one and lost two.
The wins came away at Newcastle (3-2), and at home to Burnley (2-0) and Chelsea (3-0). The draw came away at Brentford (2-2) whilst the defeats came at Arsenal (2-0) and at home to Liverpool the other day. All of which has left them with 47 points from the 33 played so far, sufficient to give them 10th place in the current table.
There was just the one new arrival over the winter window in the form of Tyrique George. The 20 year-old winger came in on an end of season loan from, where else, Chelsea. The youngster has been capped up to Under 21 level and the deal that brought him from Thameside to Merseyside does contain an option to buy.
They do have a few injuries. The on-loan Jack Grealish has been out for a while and will remain so until the rest of the season. He’ll be joined by Jarrad Branthwaite who hadn’t long been back from a hamstring injury when the other one went.
Whilst those are definitely out there is a slight doubt over top scorer Bento. He got a bang on the noggin the other night which left him with blurred vision. Intriguingly, the injury wasn’t designated as a concussion knock which means that there’s no statutory period of absence for him. They’ll keep an eye on him up to the last minute – particularly as he has netted four in his last five.
And on we move to the wild and wacky world of association football. And the prime focus this week has been on our very good selves with the welcome news that the Baroness has left the room. Now there has been speculation going on that this would happen going on since January. Indeed the Baroness has herself said that she has been considering her departure since then. It’s almost as if something happened in January that prompted her to consider her position.
The departure was pretty much welcomed unanimously amongst the supporter base with some curious exceptions amongst some of those in the journalistic community, who felt the need to inform us as to just how jolly grateful we should be to have had her gracing the simply wonderful stadium we now occupy with her presence.
And I’m sure all of us at some stage have walked away after another defeat saying to ourselves “well that was awful, and I have a rubbish walk back to the station which will be made even longer by people waving stop/go boards in our faces. However, thank the good lord that we have Baroness Brady running things. I will sleep soundly knowing that she who oversaw the greatest stadium move ever (her words not mine) will always be around to guide us”.
In the words of Martin Samuel, the Baroness has left the club in a “better state than when she arrived”. Which is a puzzling statement to make in the light of the recent announcement of a £104m loss with an accompanying statement that player sales and/or a shareholder cash injection would be required to keep the club the right side of football financial rules. Because I’m pretty sure that when the unholy trinity arrived we were in a pretty similar state, the only thing having changed being that we no longer have our own ground as an asset to use.
We’ve written before on this site of the implied contempt for the fanbase the club as a whole have appeared to display over the years. Sending the Baroness along to deal with supporters was a reflection of that. Having attended one of the early meetings with supporters after the move I have first-hand experience of that.
Having asked about the extraordinary interest rates charged by the then Chairmen on loans made to the club, I was given the most patronising of answers implying that there were tax reasons behind those rates. Unfortunately tax is something I know a bit about – I have letters after my name and - and once I pointed this minor fact out, I was given a mumbled non-answer followed, presumably, by an instruction that I was not to be invited to future events of that nature.
The Baroness’s departure was accompanied by a statement that Daniel Kretinsky had been increasing his shareholding to equal that of Sullivan. Whilst some sources denied that was the case, the club’s statement on the changes cited Mr Kretinski’s position as being “co-chairman” – a degree of parity with Sullivan hitherto unacknowledged.
One has to say that his 'farewell to Brady' statement wasn’t his finest hour. Apparently much of what she did was “unappreciated”. Maybe, but I’d venture to suggest that citing the transfer of poor old Declan Rice as an example probably wasn’t the best of moves – Declan for one would probably take issue with that as he heads for another trophy-free season. Meanwhile, the question as to whether the Baroness is to be replaced and if so by whom remains. I have a horrible feeling that the word Mandelson might get bandied about.
On the pitch, it was slightly disappointing to come away with just the point – I thought we were much the better side in the first half and though Palace had a bit more about them post half-time, it is notable that the nearest they came to scoring involved a blatant handball. One of those points that we have to respect. High spots were the continued good form of Dinos and Axel D in the middle and, while we are talking about appreciating all that the Baroness did for us, we should remember her if, come the summer, we don’t have enough money to bring in Disasi on a permanent deal.
On the injury front there are no new worries to concern us and, on that basis, one might expect an unchanged side for Saturday. However, there may be some slight tinkering in defence where alphabet soup may be on the menu with AWB potentially replacing KWP at FB.
Which brings us round to the prediction. I’m going for a home win this weekend. They will be difficult to break down, but I’m banking on Summerville to shake off his ring-rustiness after his recent injury to come good for us. So Mr Winstone, please could you take the £2.50 I was going to place in the Baroness Brady farewell gift fund (I’d have wanted £5 change mind), and place it on a wager on us to win 1-0.
Enjoy the game!
When last we met at the Ozempic: Drew 0-0 (Premier League November 2024)
A first half of few chances was followed by a much more enterprising second half from us. Pickford had one of those MOTM days that kept the score goalless.
Referee: Stuart Atwell
“Underappreciated” in the same way as the Baroness has apparently been “underappreciated”. Which probably means that he got a decision right once but nobody noticed. Keep an eye out – it might just be his week to do just that.
Danger Man: Bento
Top scorer with nine, four of which have come in his last five.
Percy & Daisy’s Everton Fact Of The Week Type Thing
Everton once had a player who won a League Championship medal and was relegated in the same season. Kevin Langley joined the Everton side who won the 86-87 title, playing enough games to win a Championship winner’s medal. He then went on loan to Man City for the closing stages of the season, getting relegated in the process.
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