Our Everton fans here in the Transfer Tavern are slowly warming to Sam Allardyce, as he steers the Toffees well clear of the relegation zone and into a possible 7th place finish.

Everton’s form has been indifferent so far under Allardyce, however, they’re picking up wins and move upwardly in the table which is pleasing a lot of the regulars in the bar.

After spending a ton of money in the summer, many of the local fans here in the bar thought Everton would be fighting it out for a top-six place or maybe more. It didn’t exactly turn out that way for the Toffees, who instead found themselves too close for comfort to the relegation zone.

They now sit two points away from Burnley in 7th place, Allardyce will be looking at picking up back-to-back wins this weekend and if he wants to achieve that then certain players need to be dropped.

Our landlord as glossed over the last team sheet and made a few calls on who should make the cut…

Michael Keane

With defence being a bit of an issue this season, it’s opened up former Burnley defender Michael Keane to exposure in his first season with Everton. Many of his fellow centre-backs this season haven’t been at the level they should be and Keane is, at the moment, following suit.

Many of the regulars would love to see Mason Holgate restored back to the first team on a regular basis but Allardyce will have to look at centre-backs in the summer as the options at the moments are at a bare minimum.

Oumar Niasse

Oumar Niasse has come good according to some of the regulars in the bar, after a rocky start at Goodison Park. The same patience with the fans needs to be shown to already unsettled new signing Cenk Tosun, though the Turk needs to acclimatise.

While Niasse is in good form, a game against struggling Watford may be the leap of faith Tosun needs to announce himself onto the Premier League stage.