The firework explosions outside Goodison Park to greet the goal which ultimately kept Everton up were impressive enough…but nothing compared to the pyrotechnics inside the ground.
A strange kind of fury descended on this ramshackle old stadium, faces contorted with an emotional outpouring which defied description: two parts relief, one part joy, and a pinch of anger thrown in.
No wonder. These Everton fans have suffered so much in the past few years, thanks to the frankly bonkers recruitment policy of the club’s owner Farhad Moshiri, both on and off the pitch.
Rafa Benitez was of course the most barmy of all, instantly turning a loyal support towards mutiny, but others were almost equally perplexing. Frank Lampard. Sam Allardyce too. All Moshiri appointments. Say no more.
And the list of expensive failures that each manager brought into the club is a heavy price the club is still paying – half a million wasted on the vanity signings by an owner who has no clear direction…but many, many crazy ideas.
So that release, a truly deafening moment on 57 minutes when Abdoulaye Doucoure got the goal his committed performance deserved, said much, but chiefly: enough is enough, this can’t go on.
This is two seasons now spent in the relegation zone – and the threat of it has lingered for much of Moshiri’s reign, where before, the club was always happily lodged within the Premier League top 10.
Their opponents Bournemouth are an example of a well-run club, and the Blues owner only has to look at the likes of Brighton and Brentford to see the value of long term planning and cool, emotionless analysis in the transfer market.
The fear for the club is that Moshiri’s apparent vanity project continues, and this becomes an annual event. The truth is, Everton showed little quality, but an impressive fight in staving off relegation for another season.
Yet without a full restructuring, without sensible investment in the right kind of players, and without a clear identity and philosophy on and off the pitch, the fans will abandon the club…and Moshiri has no philosophy it seems.
Even in celebration – and it was joyous at the end – they made clear they can’t suffer much more. It is time for this strange owner to pack up and go.
