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I didn’t sleep last night. I just laid on my back, stared at the ceiling and contemplated the depth of my failures. I’m not very good at losing.

The funny thing is though…I didn’t even lose. But when you’re 2-0 up with 17 minutes to go against a West Bromwich Albion side that’s lost its last seven games on the spin and you end up with a 2-2 draw…that’s almost worse than losing.

I am so embarrassed by this late capitulation that I make a couple of changes. Ever since it emerged that Chelsea were seriously interested in Seamus Coleman, we’ve seen a significant drop off in his performances, so young Rick Karsdorp can step in and give him a chance to give his head a wobble. Idrissa Gueye is back after suspension and he returns to the team too. Middlesbrough, under Aitor Karanka, are the most defensive team in the league and are second bottom. But West Bromwich Albion are bottom and look what happened there…

Middlesbrough’s defence sits deep, so deep they send the crowd to sleep. We have all the possession but it’s midway through the first half before we start to convert it into chances. Romelu Lukaku hits the post and sees another effort brilliant saved by Brad Guzan. The American is on hand to deny Ross Barkley too. Half-time comes and goes with no change in the flow of the game. And then, on a very rare foray forward, Jordan Rhodes wobbles in the box and collapses to the floor, pointing accusingly at a baffled Ramiro Funes Mori as he goes down. The referee gives the penalty and Rhodes brushes himself down, steps up and scores. He’s on the list.

Ten minutes later, and while we’re still dominating I might add, Boro toss a long ball into the box and this time Funes Mori hits Rhodes at about hip level with both feet. I am astonished that he isn’t immediately dismissed and I can have no complaints with the penalty. Fortunately Rhodes, presumably still in shock after being assaulted, sees his second spot kick saved by dear old Joel Robles.

Moments later, there is a brief flash of justice as Gerard Deulofeu, watched here by scouts from PSG, Real Madrid and Manchester City, tees up Romelu Lukaku for an equaliser. But while we continue to dominate, we just can’t score. I take off a defensive midfielder and throw Oumar Niasse up top as well, but he squanders a one-on-one in injury time and for the second time in three days, we’re held to a draw by relegation fodder. I will stare at the ceiling again tonight, I fear.

I go home and I go straight to bed. I leave my phone downstairs on the kitchen table and so I don’t get any of the news alerts. We weren’t the only Merseyside team to suffer a disappointing result. West Bromwich Albion beat Liverpool…

And so after a run of just one win in six, we host league leaders Arsenal. Arsene Wenger’s side haven’t been beaten since August and they’ve scored 39 goals already. I think he may have finally cracked it, they look unbeatable. But we’ve just failed to win against West Bromwich Albion and Middlesbrough. I guess everyone looks unbeatable when you’re Everton.

The festive season fixture congestion is taking its toll on Arsenal’s key players and they look leggy from the start. I know that all we have to do is hold them at bay for the first half and then we can pick them off in the second, but five minutes into the game, Kevin Mirallas hauls down Theo Walcott for a very obvious penalty. For the second time in two games, dear old Joel Robles saves the spot kick.

That stop breathes new life into the team and Lukaku goes up the other end and smashes a shot off the post. Arsenal have been served notice, but they don’t respond. Then Deulofeu slips a low cross back for Lukaku to slam into the back of the net. We’ve barely finished celebrating when Deulofeu meep-meeps past Nacho Monreal and slips it to Barkley for a second. Arsenal are gone now, there’s nothing in their legs for the second half and James McCarthy nods one onto the crossbar shortly after the break before Lukaku capitalises on the third Deulofeu assist of the day and his tenth of the season to make it 3-0.

The transfer window is about to open and I need to sell before I can buy. Yannick Bolasie’s £22m deal to Lazio is done, but I also have to accept that Ashley Williams isn’t going to make the grade here. I know this because he isn’t even making the grade for the U23s.

Darron Gibson has made one contribution to the team this season and that was to give the ball away against West Bromwich Albion in injury time for their equaliser. I’ve got Mo Besic coming back from a long-term injury in a couple of months and Gibson hasn’t done anything in the U23s to suggest that he should stay either.

It’s also time to say farewell to Gareth Barry and Phil Jagielka. They are set for release at the end of the season, but with a combined wage of £110,000 per week, I am very open to letting them move on early, that’s nearly 10% of my entire wage budget right there.

Our last game before Christmas sees us play the champions Leicester City who have found life rather harder this year. Claudio Ranieri’s side are flirting with relegation and it’s been suggested that his job may even be on the line.

Ranieri is in real trouble. We run out 3-0 winners and it could easily have been double that. Lukaku plays in Deulofeu for a lovely first, Deulofeu plays in Lukaku for a deftly taken second, the Foxes can’t do much more than kick us up in the air to slow us down and we can even afford for Leighton Baines to miss a late penalty, not least because James McCarthy puts away the rebound. It is arguably our most comfortable game of the season and our eleventh win as we approach the halfway stage of the campaign. Our run of one win in six could now be reinterpreted as one defeat in 14.

My main concern now is the transfer window. With the exception of Lukaku, who has missed half of our games through injury, every key player is being scouted by an elite European club. Funes Mori, Mirallas and Deulofeu have all told me that they want to leave and I’ve told them all that I’ll accept reasonable offers, should they be made. But I don’t want them to be made. I want to keep my boys together. The next month will be tense.

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