"What went wrong? Well, it's hard to put your finger on it. In a sense, the very teamwork that had brought us so brilliantly to this point proved to be our undoing. Faced with a series of long throws that were hurled into the near post in search of Ferguson's head, we called back reinforcements and the likes of Paolo Vernazza, Allan Nielsen, Tommy Smith, Peter Kennedy and Tommy Mooney answered the call. Which was fine in itself, but left us painfully short of outlets when we did manage to clear the danger.

The midfield, which had previously been so commanding (particularly Vernazza, who'd managed to be both combative and creative in equal measure), began playing alongside the defence. We invited Everton into our half, fighting them on the edge of our box rather than on the halfway line. It was asking for trouble. We got trouble."

Most Relevant Aspect of Babycare
Winding. A necessary evil that inevitably provokes scowls and discomfort and often results in either unshakably deep sleep or a ghastly mess…

Going down instead of us because:
This will be the season that the world finally wakes up: Andrew Johnson is not that good. And they don't have Big Dunc to bring on in his place.

BSaD Verdict
Everton's fortunes seem to have undulated over recent seasons - good, bad, good, bad, albeit last season's mid-table finish wasn't quite the disaster that it could have been at one stage. Which should make this a relatively good one for David Moyes' side; it will be interesting to see whether Andy Johnson copes with the expectation that a partnership with Beattie will yield - one suspects that, if he stays fit, Lescott might prove a better buy. Top half.