Everton ended 2024 with a limp defeat to Nottingham Forest.
Their high-flying visitors took an early first-half lead after Chris Wood was able to play a one-two with Anthony Elanga before lobbing Jordan Pickford.
Sean Dyche’s side saw their misery compounded on the hour mark as Morgan Gibbs-White was given the freedom to rifle into the Park End’s net.
It means the Blues now only have a three-point safety cushion from the Premier League’s relegation zone at the season’s official midway point.
Here were the key talking points from Goodison Park:
Blues backsliding into trouble again
A fourth consecutive year ended in all-too-familiar fashion at Goodison.
Backsliding towards a relegation battle at the season’s midway official point has become as much an annual tradition for Everton as Christmas itself.
Expectations had been raised by a recent upturn after Sean Dyche’s side took points off several Premier League’s big hitters during the festive period.
But no sooner had the Blues made those incremental steps that they were brought down to earth with a reality check by a former basement-battle rival.
Nottingham Forest used their own brush with potential demotion last season as fuel for a remarkable ascent that has seen them move up to second place.
Their hosts, meanwhile, barely landed a glove and are now just three points clear of the league’s bottom three with a less than favourable game in-hand.
Judging by the half-hearted boos that greeted the final whistle, even long-suffering Evertonians have grown fatigued by this latest bout of jeopardy.
Make no mistake, though, Goodison’s farewell risks being another nail-biter.
System, not personnel, is the problem
Despite his side’s hat-trick of shutouts, Dyche opted for a rare change in tack.
Armando Broja was entrusted to lead the line ahead of Dominic Calvert-Lewin for his first start in a royal blue shirt after several impressive cameo outings.
Yet the Chelsea loanee suffered a similar misfortune to his striking cohort.
For all his drive and determination, Broja struggled to impose himself in the same way that Everton’s much-maligned No.9 has fallen short this season.
Dyche’s rigid system left the Albania international found wanting for a decent line of supply while opposite number Chris Wood enjoyed a hatful of chances.
Attempts to redress the balance in a two-pronged attack with Calvert-Lewin off the substitutes’ bench lasted barely three minutes before he was hooked.
His replacement Beto, similarly, failed to produce any meaningful impact in yet another subdued appearance with Forest already two goals to the good.
The Everton manager might wish to revisit his plan of constraining square pegs in round holes before considering further personnel changes in future.
How long does Dyche have left?
Everton’s recent change of ownership leaves Dyche in precarious territory.
Already jettisoned twice after takeovers at former clubs Burnley and Watford, the former defender knows that the game is almost certainly up for him again.
His contract expiry at the end of the season offers The Friedkin Group an easy get-out but whether he reaches that stage is increasingly less certain.
By personal admission, his players failed to execute many of the core principles that he demands during the opening 45 minutes against Forest.
At this stage, it would be a stretch to say he has lost the dressing room yet there is no escaping the fact that the same battle in the stands is long gone.
TFG will take no cues from Farhad Moshiri’s chaotic ownership but the former majority shareholder once hit the nail on the head about the Goodison crowd.
According to Moshiri, any manager who oversees back-to-back home losses risks being ‘disowned’ by Everton’s passionate and long-suffering support.
Dyche has used up more than his allotted quota on that front and if results continue to deteriorate, the Friedkins will need to speed up his exit strategy.
