Slaven Bilic believes Everton supporters mustn't allow glory days of years gone by to cloud judgement over what is a realistic season for the current crop of players at the club.
The Blues face the challenge of turning their season around following the dismissal of Frank Lampard and require a number of players to start pulling their weight in order to remain in the division.
Unlike last season, Everton cannot count on the goals of Richarlison and have often been without Dominic Calvert-Lewin due to his repeated injury struggles. Many fans had hoped last season's survival heroics would be a distant memory during the current campaign but the Blues are again battling to beat the drop.
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Bilic, whose two seasons at Goodison Park merited 14th and 17th placed finishes, is of the view Everton remain a 'massive club' but fears fans' expectations are being shaped by success witnessed in the 80s.
"Everyone is saying 'We want to stay up, we want to stay up, we want to stay up' and then when they stay up, at the start of next season they would like to compete for a Champions League spot. Unfortunately, it doesn't go," Bilic told Sky Sports News.
"The size of the club is unbelievable, I have been there. It's a massive club. It doesn't matter what happened in the 80s with Gary Lineker or with Dixie Dean, it doesn't matter. Let's go step-by-step, it's a massive club but it is frustrated big time with the situation that has been going on for years and years now. From my point of view, it creates that atmosphere."
A no-nonsense defender during his playing days, Bilic explored a coaching career two years after leaving the Blues and is currently in charge of Watford. Football in the modern era is certainly a far cry from the sport the ex-Croatia international was involved in, and Bilic is of the view stars of today cannot handle pressure in the same manner due to the rise of social media.
"Nowadays players are more fragile than the players 20, 30 or 40 years ago because they feel that criticism from social media and everything. They feel it," he said.
"They are only acting like they are strong, it's impossible to ignore it. When you lose confidence, you lose ability and, suddenly, you are nowhere near the [same] player. Then it looks like you don't care because you are blocked. Of course they care."
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