Everton have once again forged a new set of heroes as they have escaped the drop, but this is a vicious cycle which needs to be put to an end soon.
No longer can this once great club keep narrowly avoiding relegation, and admittedly were it not for two separate deductions, their safety would have been assured a long time ago.
Sean Dyche has worked veritable miracles in leading this side to such a position, but now he must continue that progression into next season or else risk the fans starting to turn on him, as many did during the Toffees’ four-month winless spell in the Premier League.
However, it is unquestionable how far they have come, with the manner in which they ground out yesterday’s result so shockingly easy.
For the neutrals, though, it was far from a spectacle.
Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer praise Everton star
The Toffees were workmanlike in the way in which they went about claiming a win over Brentford, scoring on the 60-minute mark and never looking back.
They went largely unthreatened as they strolled to another clean sheet, assuring their top-flight status in the process.
The lack of action was painfully outlined in Match of the Day’s coverage last night though, with Alan Shearer, Gary Lineker and Ian Wright having little analysis on the 1-0 scoreline.
However, the former did seek to laud the backline, highlighting a few key men as their defensive statistics flashed on screen: ‘What a job Sean Dyche has done. Incredible. Pickford, Tarkowski, Branthwaite.’
Lineker would highlight one player in particular, singling out Jordan Pickford: ‘Pickford has had a great season.’
Jordan Pickford is Everton’s relegation hero again
Although he enjoyed another relatively quiet afternoon at Goodison Park yesterday, Pickford remained professional in the business he was forced to go about.
After all, there was one particularly stunning second-half save, with the scores at 0-0, where he sprung across his goal line to deny Ivan Toney from tapping in at the back post.
This marked one of four stops he was forced into making, whilst he also punched three crosses too, via Sofascore.
Uncharacteristically dominant inside his penalty area, the 30-year-old was everywhere, and deservedly earned his 12th clean sheet of the season.
Only title-challenging Arsenal have recorded more, and only the top three have conceded fewer goals than Everton.
Such sparkling figures for a side battling the drop indicate that they should not be where they have been of late. Pickford certainly deserves better, and hopefully, in the coming seasons, they can progress and give him that degree of success his sparkling relegation form has earned.