Before this game, Sean Dyche insisted the credit for his team’s recent upturn in form was down to the players. But as Everton ended 2024 on a low with a 2-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest, fingers are inevitably going to be pointed at the manager.

After coming from behind to thwart Manchester City, the Premier League champions of the previous four seasons, at the Etihad Stadium on Boxing Day, the Blues boss said: “I think we’ve slowly but surely built to that moment and now it’s taking the next games on and trying to turn draws into wins, but if you can’t, then still not getting beat and staying true to that mentality.”

Those foundations came down as abruptly as a Christmas tree after the big day here though as once again Everton struggled to take the initiative in a fixture in which they were expected to go on the front foot.

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This might have been the Blues’ first Premier League home reversal for almost four months since they somehow conspired to turn their most emphatic display this term into a 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth – up next of course – following a late capitulation, but in between these two losses, they have continually flattered to deceive when the emphasis has been on them to take the game to the opposition, other than the 4-0 demolition of Wolverhampton Wanderers, whose own supporters told Gary O’Neil: “Your football is s**t” and taunted him with: “You’re getting sacked in the morning.” (They weren’t that far off).

Everton laboured to a 2-1 home win over Crystal Palace with little quality either side of a seven-minute brace from Dwight McNeil, whose left foot is currently being missed in a team desperately short on creativity; they needed penalty heroics from Jordan Pickford to earn a stalemate with Newcastle United; a late equaliser from Beto to earn a share of the spoils against Fulham and then were woefully short of ideas during another goalless draw with a Brentford side who had lost all their previous away matches and had 10 men for over half the game.

Dyche has shown he can put out a team of spoilers to keep their shape and frustrate the big guns at times, but even in these tough times, Evertonians demand much more than that, especially at Goodison Park.