Sam Allardyce might have hoped that his critique of Everton’s pathetic (his words) defeat by Arsenal would, in some way, have soothed the pain and yet he only succeeded in adding to the sense of disillusionment festering among a seething support.

The headline confession that he had borrowed the game plan of Swansea City, who had beaten Arsène Wenger’s side four days earlier, and attempted to replicate it overlooked the reality that he has different players. For a start he has Michael Keane, not Alfie Mawson, in his defence.

However, it was the reasoning behind his insistence that Ademola Lookman would have made no difference to an abject 5-1 reverse at the Emirates that served to expose the sheer scale of the mess that has