WHEN, on Friday, David Moyes enthused over the job Owen Coyle has done at Bolton Wanderers, he probably wasn’t expecting his players to help underline the fact 48 hours later.
After a difficult week both on and off the field, Everton continued to test the patience of their supporters as they slumped to a truly abject defeat at the Reebok Stadium.
Never mind the wayward passing, the woeful defending and the worrying attack. The most alarming aspect of this performance was the lack of fight, desire and spirit shown by Moyes’s men.
Having only days earlier seen concerns over the financial state of the club confirmed by the latest set of club accounts, the fretful Goodison faithful were desperately seeking some reassurance.
It wasn’t forthcoming.
From the first whistle, Everton were second best, slow to react and lethargic, the polar opposite of the enthusiastic, energised showing that earned a thrilling comeback win against Blackpool the previous weekend.
Yes, the threat of the in-form Louis Saha was sorely missed in attack, the visitors’ insipid efforts going forward offering little encouragement for the forthcoming FA Cup fourth round replay at Chelsea.
But even the Frenchman couldn’t have salvaged this car-crash of a display, Everton’s worst since the New Year’s Day defeat at Stoke City and one Moyes rightly believes is a contender for most pathetic of his entire nine-year reign.
All across the park, his players simply failed to perform. Even the usually reliable figures of Marouane Fellaini and Tim Cahill were dragged down by the malaise around them, only Leighton Baines able to look his unhappy manager in the eye in the dressing room afterwards.
A calamitous early goal from Gary Cahill that went in off John Heitinga set the tone for a truly forgettable afternoon that was already heading for defeat long before Daniel Sturridge netted Bolton’s second, and his third in as many games, midway through the second half.
Both goals owed much to poor defending, Everton now having kept just one clean sheet in their last 18 games.
