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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Adam Jones

Everton graffiti is the wrong way to highlight Goodison Park problems

These are the last few years that Everton will be playing at Goodison Park.

Their exciting work at Bramley-Moore Dock perhaps takes away from that salient fact sometimes. What has been a legendary home for the club across generations won't be there much longer.

On the pitch, that's why it's so disappointing to see a side that is faltering.

These need to be the moments in which the club are preparing to give Goodison the send-off it deserves.

Instead, regular losses and disappointments have led to protests in the stands as fans remain frustrated at the running of the club and the current direction of the Blues.

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But even the most exasperated of those supporters would not have wanted to see graffiti on the side of the stadium late on Tuesday night.

Amid huge uncertainty around the managerial position over recent days, it would seem that Vitor Pereria's name had become the front-runner ahead of the likes of Frank Lampard or Wayne Rooney.

Pictures then surfaced on social media of graffiti daubing the outside of Goodison with a simple message: "Pereira out, Lampard in".

It's not clear who exactly committed the act, and that anonymity can lead to questions being asked about the situation.

But if it was supposed to send a message to the club's decision-makers, then it's the completely wrong way to do it.

Was it actually an Everton fan? Or was it someone else who saw an opportunity for a cheap laugh?

Regardless, it's a truly idiotic move.

And it shouldn't detract from the feelings a lot of supporters have right now.

Debate continues to rage on about who should be the next Everton manager, with each of the three main candidates for the position all having their groups of supporters - some more than others.

But, realistically, there isn't a standout name that is going to unite everyone straight away, and so frustrations in some quarters over the managerial situation might persist even after a decision is made.

Saturday afternoon's match against Aston Villa also showed that protests against what is happening higher up at the club won't be going away either.

After creating a good atmosphere for the match, which unfortunately proved fruitless in the end, a number of supporters stayed behind in a sit-in protest against the running of the Blues.

Chants against the board could be heard, a number of banners were on display.

What's most pertinent is that it was a peaceful display inside the ground.

This was hugely different to graffiti on the side of the stadium.

It sent a loud message, despite on a few hundred fans being in attendance, and it was performed without criminal damage being made to the famous ground.

It's as simple as that.

Those fans who stayed behind after the Aston Villa defeat had, and still have, a right to protest if they believe that the running of their club is awry.

You'll hardly ever get 100% of the fanbase backing a certain point of view in matters as contentious as this, so there will always be those who disagree.

But everyone can respect the right to protest if it's done in the right way.

Graffiti on the side of Goodison is the other side of this, one that nobody wants to see.

It's a dark undertone to the feeling around the club, and an unacceptable act.

Perhaps we'll never know the motive of whoever took their spray paint to Goodison on Tuesday evening. Were they trying to get a rise, or were they trying to send a message?

If there's one thing that can unite Evertonians at a time of such division, though, it's the knowledge that this is not an acceptable way to vent frustration.

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