Forest send Blues a reminder

Everton remain under relegation threat as they fail to build on recent promising displays

- JOE THOMAS

AS Nottingham Forest supporters filed out of Goodison Park they roared: "We're going to win the league."

The chances are they will not, but their joy, and the fun that away end is having up and down the country, is a feeling that has long been alien to Blues through several seasons of misery.

There are plenty of reasons for Everton supporters to look forward to the future as the club stabilises under new owners ahead of the summer move to a new home.

This is the present though and the final year at Goodison was marred by another away win on a dreary afternoon in which Everton struggled to compete.

Forest are having a campaign they could only have dreamt of in August.

That is the problem for Sean Dyche and for those who make the decisions at Everton.

Forest are the latest side to show that a team can go from a relegation fight to one that inspires hope and draws thinking that any match could yield three points.

In contrast, supporters into Everton remain trapped in that cycle of struggle.

This is a club that has not been as well-run as the likes of Brighton or Brentford, and have had less money to spend than Forest.

Supporters know that. But they are not wrong to want more from a side that can fight for draws against those with Champions League ambitions but then struggles to muster a threat when they face a lesser light.

This fanbase is justified in its hope the final campaign at the Grand Old Lady would not be one of forlorn journeys home after listening to away end after away end enjoy their final trip to Goodison.

The pressure to improve is one that will be passed on to new owners The Friedkin Group very quickly. The stability, resources and expertise they will bring should make progress possible.