The end to Everton’s season has been woeful. After carrying momentum into the final international break of the campaign, a run of seven games without a win has cost the club dear.
Two months ago Europe, and maybe even the Champions League, was within reach. But instead it is Bournemouth, Sunderland and Brighton who will also experience famous nights under the lights.
Everton will also be playing night games next season but they will once again be subjected to the misery of Monday matches as eight Premier League rivals - nine if Crystal Palace win the Europa Conference League next week - savour a taste of what they crave.
The past seven matches have seen injuries and bad decisions prove destructive to the Blues' hopes and ambitions. Missed chances, defensive lapses and questionable tactics have also hurt those dreams of more enjoyable days on the immediate horizon.
Everton travelled to Tottenham Hotspur as the supporting act in the big story of the final day of the season. But, like across the last seven matches, they played a leading role in their downfall.
That was particularly evident in the defining moment of the game when, just before half-time, Joao Palhinha rose unchallenged at the back post to head against the woodwork and then reacted quickest to rebound to save Spurs’ top-flight status. It was a lead they deserved against a limp opponent that made silly mistakes, was outmuscled in midfield and which struggled to retain the ball against a team that should have been wracked with anxiety.
A late flurry of opportunities almost salvaged a point, Tyrique George forcing a sublime save from Antonin Kinsky in stoppage time. But once again, the Blues were the perfect opponent for a team that needed a win.
The inquest over how Everton’s season has ended should have started when all hopes of Europe were destroyed by Sunderland last week. It is true that few expected European qualification at the start of a campaign in which stability was the primary goal. Yet to have squandered a golden opportunity to take a shortcut to clear, tangible progress deserves scrutiny - of the manager, of the players and of those above them.
The Blues have fallen short in too many areas at the crucial moment to avoid some serious soul-searching.
Everton could have ended this season in the top six. Instead they sit in 13th, the same place they occupied last year and would have, deducted points permitting, finished the season before. They have one more point than they earned on the pitch in each of those campaigns.
Questions over whether progress has been made are not unfair given that context, though the Blues’ journey to 13th has been much different this year. There is a lot to be said for a first season in five in which relegation was never a threat - for all the disappointment of recent weeks no Evertonian would have swapped their place for that of a Tottenham or relegated West Ham United fan today.
The avoidance of a survival fight was a low threshold to aim for, though, and no-one should be satisfied with how this campaign has ended, even if parts of the season hinted at progress.
The claims of CEO Angus Kinnear ahead of the Sunderland match, that Everton can be “happily dissatisfied” with this season, were a red flag. If the Friedkin Group (TFG) wish to take Blues supporters with them as they rebuild the club - raising ticket prices by almost three times the rate of inflation for some on the way - they must make clear they understand the dismay currently flowing through many parts of the fanbase.
Their work, and that of David Moyes over the past 18 months, has helped Everton lay a foundation that can be built on. Yet while sustainable progress is essential there will be little patience for a project that shows no clear strategy over how fans will enjoy the famous nights it feels every other club has savoured across the past few years.
Kinnear’s notes point to TFG having faith in manager Moyes, while his comments on the summer and beyond highlight a belief he will oversee the next steps the Blues hope to take. There is no doubt he also craves a bright future for a club that has bounced around in chaos for almost every year he has been absent from the dugout this century.
For all the trauma of recent weeks he also provided some wonderful moments since his return. It has not all been about delivering a dose of medicine to a club still paying the price for years of recklessness. It was not that long ago that his name was the subject of vociferous chants of support from the stands, particularly away from home.
For the club to move forward there has to be an understanding from everyone the Everton revival goes far beyond him, though. This is most pertinent when it comes to recruitment. Moyes must have buy-in to who is signed but the new model has to be one that can survive and thrive whoever is in charge.
Bournemouth and Brighton’s qualification for Europe, and Brentford’s near-miss, follows years spent creating a structure in which what happens on the pitch is not solely defined by the manager. The Blues have to spend money this summer and Moyes should have influence - there is no point signing players he will not use. There is also no point spending millions on signings whose shelf-life at the club ends when Moyes’ tenure does, whenever that might be - and as it stands that is in just over 12 months.
There were a host of factors that made last summer so messy, including that the new panel of senior leaders at the club was not in place when the transfer window opened. While there should be some understanding of that - and that a lot of clubs spent a lot of money on a lot of players who have not made an impact this season - several of the deals that were struck have looked increasingly perplexing as the season has gone on though, not least those of Tyler Dibling and Adam Aznou.
Both could yet develop into important players for Everton but the club can ill-afford expensive misjudgements and there is no excuse for there not being a detailed plan that addresses core needs in place for the coming months.
That is because some of the issues are so glaring. The Blues must, above all else, sign a specialist right-back this season. For too long the club has muddled through with square pegs in round holes. That is no slight on Jake O’Brien - the signing of a right-back would free him up to move into his preferred position, where he has excelled when given the chance. But the Blues lose too much in attack and defence by asking him to persevere as a centre-back playing right-back. That was abundantly clear inside 15 minutes as Mathys Tel caused him no end of problems, drawing him into an early booking and then teasing him for the rest of the match.
Pace and ruthlessness is also needed. There is a cruel irony in Everton’s fastest players being a central-midfielder and a centre-back - and their best finisher being another defender. That Merlin Rohl’s introduction on the right of midfield has been so useful shows just how important speed is and how little the Blues have.
Imagine the damage a genuine winger with that acceleration could cause? Creating chances is one thing but Everton need someone who can finish them and too many big opportunities have been missed at key moments despite the 17 league goals collected by Beto and Thierno Barry. The latter, a surprise introduction to the starting XI, once again had limited impact on the match and was booed off by an away end still frustrated by his exploits on and off the pitch.
Not all of the Blues' problems will be addressed this summer - there is a lot of damage to undo from previous years. But above all there has to be an awareness within the club that the past seven weeks have been a calamity and that must drive a serious effort to demand more.
The problem for the Everton hierarchy is that for all the importance of a sensible, sustainable rebuild, another year has gone by in which other clubs have shown their fanbases that success is possible without perfection.
The Blues can aim for both in the long-term, but in the short term they have to aim for more.
