Everton 0 - Stoke 1

No no no!!!!! after the recent good form and wins I fully expected us to beat Stoke too. don't get me wrong, its never easy against them but with being at home thought we would have enough to do it.

from the sounds of it the boys put their all in and we played well enough but just couldn't carve a goal out against a resolute Stoke defence. seems once we went down to the Huth goal they shut up shop and we couldn't prise them open despite trying our best.

oh well theres always next week :-)

RIP Gary Speed

not gonna say a lot cos what can you say apart from condolances to his family & friends and is a terrible tragedy. rip speedo - everton legend

Bolton 0 - Everton 2

whats this i see - about as common as an honest politician , its an everton clean sheet :-) v good to see one though as not kept one for ages i don't think and a great win for the boys too

the star of the show was Big Mau Mau - he was superb and ran it for us. looks like signing that new contract has given him an extra spring in his step. and of course he netted the first goal - what a goal too , lovely teamwork and football culminating in a cross from Bily and a neat finish from the big guy.

talking of  Bily as well - what a game he had. actually playing in his natural position he was mint and looked every inch the player i thought he always was. still think he can make it with us and is quality and was so happy to see him do well and get some praise.

great second goal too from velios - after coming off the bench again too! looks like we've got our very own super sub. must be all those tips from big dunc - glad he ignored the 'grab him round the throat if he gives you any lip' one ha ha (sorry only joking big dunc) :-)

all in all a great win so well done boys :-)

Everton 2 - Wolves 1

so glad we managed to scrape through and win this one!! really needed it as i think it could have been the start of a downward run with confidence at rock bottom if we hadn't. sometimes it takes a scrappy win like this to get your season going (seems this turning points in a season after a poor few months are a feature of the Moyseiash reign)

can't remember too much about the match although that bloody Hunt scored again against us didn't he?!! that man has deffo got something over us , he loves scoring at Goodison. maybe we should buy him and then it would be ok ha ha!  loved Baines pen for the winner , v cool & calm - just rolled it in like he was practicing. which is the point i guess ha ha :-)

rodwell did well for england

i don't think anyone would disagree with the above statement - indeed all the new boys like jack and phil jones did well and englands midfield looked transformed without the lumbering, one paced Lamps and the overrated Stevie G. it was worth noting though that Capello seemed to play him a bit further forward than Moyes does for us and gave him more licence to get in the box and support the attack. as it seemed to work is this the way forward for Jack at Everton? maybe he isn't that suited to his current role as the pairing with Fellaini in front of the back four as DM / playmaker.

i know playing there is what got him into the England team but maybe he could be even better playing like he did for england? i know my previous post advocates Fellaini switching back to a more attacking role too and i know that both of them can;t play up there so a choice would have to be made. i guess what i'm getting at as result of this is that we could do with a new DM too to take over from the current pairing. IMO we have never replaced the immense Carsley in that role yet. just remember Super Lee used to play that role on his own and still did it better than Jack & Mau Mau

Legend

New Contract for Fellaini

so i see Big Mau has signed the contract at last after months of negotiation - as i have posted in the past i do like the Big Fella so am pleased we have tied him down for another 5 years. at least if any does try to nick him off us they will have to pay top dollar for him :-) although obviously i hope we hang onto him as we do all our best players

one little point though - does anyone think with our current goal scoring crisis we should move him back up front like he was in his first season? don't forget he picked up a few goals then and was effective , if not pretty or the most elegant. but the situation we're in at the min we need what works , not what looks good!

Is Steve Round Evertons Premier Problem?

canvassing opinion amogst the lads as to where we seem to be going wrong at the min and the spotlight fell on tactics , formation and how poor we look in general play. theres no movement into space when players don't have the ball to provide options for those that do, no attacking verve to get up there and worry the oposition, no desire to run with it and do something out of the ordinary and no triangles to allow us to play it barcelona style through and round teams.

now you could blame the players but most of us felt all of the above really comes down to what the players do in training and how they are set up / instructed to play. as the above problems seem to have got worse lately could it be the influence of Steve Round to blame? Don't get me wrong we were never Brazil circa 1970 when Irvine was assisstant but we were better than this. Maybe its just Irvibe stood up to Moyes more and would tell him when it wasn't working or his ideas were rubbish?

one thing has to be said though - we have lost most of our creative, skillful players who would bring the verve to our attack so it could just be that. we don't know what the players are told and it could be they're just not good enough to do it like we used to anymore?

I'm bloody knackered wheres me fags?

Marounne Fellaini - sorchio or not schorchio?

my thoughts today turn to a man who , like so many of our players at the moment, divides opinion amongst the fan base. or to put it bluntly some people think he's mint and others think he's gash! the one and only Mau Mau 'Big Fella' Fellaini.

i have to agree that the man is frustrating at times and almost like one of those luxury players that you have in your team when you're miles better than everyone else and winning everything in sight (just like us then ha ha!) i will come out though and confess that I like him and think he is a good player - maybe not as good as some think but still someone to hold onto and play every week. for one he can actually control and pass the ball to another everton player on the deck which makes him better than 50% of the others (taxi for Jags). and he does have skill - remember that move on Bellamy against City when he just nailed him?! i think the things that goes against him is that he is one of those players that just looks untidy and cumbersome due to his height. and the hair don't help - for crying out loud lad , get it cut!!

don't make me go the barbers i'll do anything

Everton 0 - Man Utd 1

what a strange game this was in many ways. because basically we were pretty much the better side and had the majority of possession for a lot of the game. so why did we lose in the end? our trouble is the same as last year - we have no penetration in the final third and no goalscorer there banging them in week in , week out.

look at how they won - just a move of quality with a genuine goal scorer on the end to finish it off. i know there are other areas of the team that need work (right winger, right back) but i really think at least one top class striker is needed next time any money is going round

Royston Drenthe - Real Madrids loss

just wanted to post quickly re one of our latest acquisitions, Ricky Royston Drenthe. what a player this lad looks - pace, skill and a directness that we haven't seen at Goodison since Mustard burst onto the scene the other year. just hope he keeps it up and improves cos he offers us a creativity and a talent that we are lacking at the moment particularly in wide areas.

only trouble is - if he does too well he'll probably be pinched by city or someone in the summer!!

Chelsea cup game

what a shame we lost this one cos they didn't field a particularly strong team and reckon we could have beaten them with a bit more quality. i guess the sending off didn't help mattes for Royston - seemed a bit harsh as i think the second yellow looked worse than it was. although when you go in like that you're always in trouble if you don't get it right. looks like we're gonna be concentrating on the league again this year ha ha!

on the bright side Bily played well and showed his promise - i think most agree now that tim should be dropped and Bily put in his place in that supporting role behind the front man. Bily has a foot like a jackhammer - he would easily get 10 goals a season if played regular

Fulham 1 - Everton 3

Come on!

What a great win this was - specially with it being darn sarf where we never do that well to be honest :-)

i think the very early stunner from royston really settled us down and almost sealed it for us from the start. they did come back into it well and there goal was equally as good - question mark over Hibbo letting him have the space to do it though and maybe Tim for getting done from there?

great couple of goals to wrap it up though - can you believe Zamoras miss though ha ha?! OMG that was one of the worst ones ever the big donkey. really good
                                                                                finish from King Louis though for our second - have 
                                                                                 to say though he needs to keep scoring cos he does
                                                                                nothing else in the game at present!! nice to see Jack
                                                                                scoring too - a rare treat :-)

Big Dunc is back!!!

OMG how exciting is this?!!! News on the fantastic Toffeeweb site is that the Big Yin is back where he belongs at Goodison. this has got to be the most exciting couple of days ever - first the Roses reform and then this. am so happy - like all Evertonians I absolutely love Dunc and am so pleased to hear he's back where he belongs. is apparently just informally working with the academy while he does his coaching badges but i would love to see him involved with the first team asap. give them all the shake up and fire in their bellies they need!

Big Dunc for manager in a few years time anyone?! :-)

Jimmy Mac

'Jimmy Mac when are you coming back' as the song goes. well right now as it turns out! the boys seem split 50 / 50 on this - some think its a backward step and shows how desperate we are to be bringing back an older version of a player who wasn't good enough first time round. others (including me) think its a good thing - another player into our stretched squad who can play in a few different positions and has premier league experience. he also has creativity and the ability to unlock defences which is lacking at the min.

will see how it all turns out but should be good :-)

Please let me be back in Goodison when I open my eyes

Chelsea game

we were gash , we lost - end of story! to be honest i didn;t expect anything with how we're playing at the min and being away to them lot who we can never seem to beat. time for a shake up of the team Davey according to all the lads. why not start with a more attacking formation and give Gueye, Strac, Velios, Barkley, Drenthe a go from the start? can't be any worse than whats happening with the current lot he picks!

rooneys dad

this is old news a bit but was talking with some of the boys re the alleged (I will repeat that in capitals as nothing has been proved as yet and he is an innocent man for all we know so is ALLEGED still) rumours re Rooneys dad and betting irregularities. how does this relate to everton i hear you ask? well i'm sure some of you still remember wayne used to grace the goodison turf before he buggered off to supposedly better things.

thing that struck everyone was that if it relates to games Shrek was involved in then it would be very interesting indeed. cos then the spotlight of truth would surely come his way and a few other players in the premier league  too i bet. who can forget the betting scandals in cricket specifically Hanse Cronje? and even in our game with the Grobbelar allegations? and didn't Fash the Bash get accused too as well at one point? (i will point out as well that these were totally unproven allegations and these two were found completely innocent too)

YMCA Its Fun to Stay at the YMCA

would it be so outlandish  to think match fixing goes on in our beautiful game with the amount of money involved now? is up to you but i know what i think - but that is just my personal opinion of course and i have no evidence to ! back it up

Billy

whilst i was looking at the scores from last nights international footy i noticed that our lad Bily scored for Russia last night after coming on. and it got me thinking about this enigma of a player we have in our midst at Everton. its fair to see he's not everyones cup of tea and hasn't set the world alight in his stay with us so far. so the question that springs to mind is: is he rubbish or he is decent?

i've always thought and still do that he is a very good player that is made to look bad by not getting a good run in the team to settle in and being played out of position. i also think he's being asked by Moyes to do things he's not good at and should not be in the team for - such as tracking back and tackling.

its fairly obvious to me that he is an attacking player and needs to be played as such in a central position just off the front men (the famous 'in the hole' position) where he can use his skill and creativity freely to carve so chances out and get some shots in. does anyone hit it better from long range than him in the current squad? i think not and is crazy not to have him playing where he can use that

It doesn't rain like this in Siberia

that derby game

this is the first day i have felt able to post after the debacle that was last weekends game versus the dark side. i'm not going to go into the main talking point in detail again as everyone knows about it by now and knows it was one of the worst decisions made in recent history (strangely a lot of the others were against us too?!) at least the red card has been rescinded now but doesn;t make up for the three points lost or being beaten by them lot at our place! i managed to watch this one and we were looking pretty even up until the sending off and could well have gone on and snatched a win i think. 

i think the bigger point it raises is the issue of cheating in the modern game - or gamesmanship as the pundits and newspapers who wish to sweep it under the carpet when used by one of their favourite teams call it. i think we're all in agreement that the way Suarez went down and writhed around was a disgrace and directly influenced the refs decision. this issue needs sorting now as it is a cancer that is slowly killingthe game and sending out the wrong signals to kids & society in general.

my solution? i've heard a few good ones but i think anyone who goes down like Suarez did should have to go off the pitch for at least ten minutes and not be allowed back on till after that time. after all if you're hurt that bad you would need at least that long to recover surely? in regards to general diving or conning the ref i would give them a five game ban if on review they were found guilty of it. well they can rescind red cards based on the footage after the game why not this too?

 

who's got the best haircut nowdays?

with the couple of new signings and a few ppl leaving i think the time has come to consider a v important question. who of the current squad has the best barnet?

likely candidates are:

Big Felli (still rockin that Afro)
Royston (i think its a variation on a mohawk)
Baines (the classic indie boy mop)
King Louis (if its still blonde)

Can't think of anyone else to match those boys and for me it's Big Felli every time - the man is a god on the pitch AND in the barbers :-)

na na niii - is tulisa an everton fan?

just saying cos that what the rumours I've heard are - comes from a time she did a show in Liverpool and got given a everton shirt by a fan?!

deffo fitter blonde

Everton 3 - Wigan 1

Great win for us this one specially with goin behind for starters. must say i feared the worst when that happened - not cos Wigan are anything to be scared of but cos it looked like being one of those days where we weren't gonna get going.

Thank god for Super Jags pulling us back into it with his headed effort - just what we needed after slipping behind to that rat De Santo's strike. and then thank god for moyes making a good couple of subs with royston and velios coming on to make the difference

really pleased for the young boy Velios - he played well against Villa when he came on and did the same again in this game. looks like moyes has found another bargain deal here - he looks to have the lot and that crucial eye for a goal. was great that royston got on the scoresheet too - on his debut too! both good goals too - we have been playing well though so no surprise and well deserved

villa game

cos i am late with reporting on this and still gutted we didn't win I will keep this short:

we played well specially in the first half when we battered them
Velios looked a bit tasty and maybe deserves to start the next few games
deserved to win so a right bugger we only drew
we seem to have a real problem against Villa these days - not beat them for ages boo!
pies were not up to usual standard apparently
someone saw Britney Spears in the crowd so he reckons

so there you go - all you need to know ha ha :-)

Hit me baby one more time

will the new boys get thrown in?

after the enforced international break (nice timing as usual!) things will get back on it again this wkd in the league. so who reckons Moyes will throw the new boys in with a big slap on the back and a 'show us all what you can do'?

my own personal opinion is a big NO! why do i say that? cos if you look at all Moyes recent signings for the last few years he normally leaves them on the bench for an eternity and gives them the last ten mins of the game to try to do something (usually when we're already losing). by the time he does deem its ok to play them properly and give them a run in the team they've either given up & gone home or have spent so much time on the bench they're welded to it

but you never know , with numbers being low and injuries building he may prove me wrong :-)

transfer day dealings

what a transfer window that was - looked like it would be a quiet one and then exploded into life for us Toffees at the end! was at least nice to see some new signings for once specially as it looked like we wouldn't have any

so lets deal with the outgoings first - yes thats you Mr Arteta. I think like most Evertonians its a mixture of emotions on this one - am really sorry to see him go as he was a fine player and wish him all the best. Seems even worse cos theres no ready made replacement for him to take over the creative area of our team. However.........£10 million for a 29 year old who has frankly being average at best since his injury?!!! yes thanks Arsene you fool , i'll take it :-) specially with getting his massive wages off the books too which will help out our Finances. and maybe with him gone it will give others a chance to shine - am thinking Big Fella here as he should become the main man for us now in midfield and might give him the chance to shine. I see the Yak has gone too - not much to say on this really , it was pretty obvious he was never gonna play much again under Moyes so might as well get some money for him while we can. Bit gutted to see Jermaine B go though - still think he would have been a good player for us and we have jumped the gun a bit there. To my mind he never really got a fair crack in the team - and even then he scored ten last year which isn't bad (more than Big Vic who plays regular right now!)

On the brighter side we have had a couple come in - biggest one of them is Drenthe on loan from Real. He looks like a good player to me and I remember he was very hyped up a year or two back so could be a very good signing. well at least add pace & cover to our left side and offer us some genuine width there for a change. don't ask me about the other fella - records show he's scored loads in the Argie league so knows where the goal is but its a step up playing here for him. Meant to be  big strong boy & quick too so hopefully will come good for us and lets face it we need some strikers in!

Bias at the Beeb

How predictable - those numbskulls at the BBC show their true colours (red!!) when discussing anything Everton related. It also raises a further, more serious concern as to how they still favour certain teams (the so called big 4 / 5 / 6) like Man U and Chelski in how things are reported.

To prove the point you only have to observe the outrage and disgust on Final Score at our win yesterday - it was reported as daylight robbery and we didn't derserve one point lett alone three. Which may well be true, however........................ When one of their favourites manage to scrape a lucky win after being outplayed it's the sign of a team showing character and going places by winning even without playing well. Or its a classic away performance where they've soaked up pressure masterfully and hit the other team on the break like true champions.

Fair, impartial???? - hardly!

Blackburn 0 - Everton 1

Well well well , that was a close call eh?! What a weird match too - a tale of three penalties (you don't hear that very often) although the only important thing was we scored ours. At the end of the day a win is a win no matter how you get it and three points and our first league win is very welcome :-)

Having said that we were a bit lucky from all reports I've heard back from those who went - obviously they missed two pens before ours and also had the better of the game and chances. One of their boys even managed to smash one off our bar when it was easier too score ha ha!

Big Fella managed to do something similar though apparently - a lovely ball was played into him and all he had to do was stroke it home. Which he managed to not do and put it over doh!! I blame the afro still! He did redeem himselfy though by winning our pen at the end - it surprised me though cos most refs automatically give the foul against him in challenges. Well done to Mikel too for keeping his nerve and slotting it home - you always knew he would :-)

Lady Luck at least smiled on us for once so heres hoping she continues too :-)

Everton 3 - Sheff Utd 1

oh yes boys , this is just what we needed after last weekends disappointment :-) well done to the lads for negotiating a potentially dangerous tie and cheering everyone up :-)

have to say didn't look too promising when  I heard Big Vic was in for jermaine to lead the line up front but happy to say he had an alright game and even got on the score sheet. sounds like a good effort too from all accounts. Sounds like Big Fella had a good game on his return to the side too as did Rodders. could this be anything to do with him playing more centrally where he is obviously better?! hoping that the penny has dropped with Moysey on this issue now and he keeps him there if he does play.

we had the better of the first half although managed to concede a soft one again - really need to tighten up in defence as clean sheets seem allergic to us at present! to make it worse it was another  Jags blunder that let them in! time to take the Arsenal money & run perhaps ha ha?! after that setback though we recovered and hit back well.

second half was a bit more of the same but no further goals unfortunately. sounds to me like young Barclay had another good one too so is starting to look the real deal. he seems to have time & space when he needs it and also the vision to pick a pass and the skill to pull it off which can only be good. also it seems my personal fave, Little Leon Osman, had a stormer too. well done little man :-)

Everton 0 - QPR 1

Oh dear, oh dear - and another season starts with the usual let down! why is it that we start every season the same these days? surely Moyesy must have worked out the same as us fans now its happened a few years on the trot and realised its time to look at how our pre-season works. cos at the minute it just doesn't! we always look about a month behind the rest of the league every year now till October time which is crazy!

However, on the plus side my mates who went to the game report that we were unlucky to lose and played alright which is something I guess. They reckoned it was the same problems as last year - created some good chances but no-one there to finish them off. Also, our play up till the final third was good but a lot of the time we just couldn't make that final pass to penetrate. So we still need a goalscorer and a playmaker - also a genuine winger to add width to at least one flank would be nice too. Reports also came back that young Ross Barclay played well and looked at home in the first team which is encouraging for the season ahead. He looks a very good player and could be one of the bright notes this year.

On the down side - well we lost at home to QPR didn't we which is pretty bad. They're an alright team I guess but we should really be winning teams like that specially when they're still adjusting to the PL. Also, why is Rodders being played out of position constantly on the right of midfield? It is destroying the lads confidence and making him look worse than he is. Play him in the middle of not at all Moysey! And why take off Beckford for Fellaini when we were chasing the game? I know he didn;t have the best game but surely it made more sense to put another striker on not take our only off?

You have to remember though that its only the first game and we always start slow so no need to panic yet. Onwards and upwards as ever :-)

please Jermaine don't go :-(

so the rumours been doing the rounds a few days now - Sven wants our Becks to join the big money revolution at Leicester. I for one really hope this doesn't happen as I really like him and think he is a quality player with goals written through like a stick of blue rock. Also don't forget he's one of the current squad who has got pace which is particularly important for us up front where he can get in behind teams and stretch them at the back. Lose him and we're back to Big Vic lumbering about like Sloth off the Goonies and The Yak strolling about like he's off to collect his pension from the post office (which he probably is , nigerian passport eh ha ha?)

i would much rather a few of the others went before him (like the Yak or Yobo) and certainly think the £3 mil offered is far too cheap if we were gonna sell. its depressed me thinking about him going so fuck it i'm gonna put another picture of pamela anderson up to cheer us all up for the first game when it finally arrives :-)

did you just say liverpool only drew?!

In your face Dalgliesh

with the absence of any Everton game to discuss in the new season I needed a distraction to occupy my mind. and what better and funnier distraction than to laugh at those twats from across the park who only manged to scrape a draw at home to the Black Cats despite spunking millions and millions on players all summer. looks like 'King Kenny' (urghhh i hate even typing that!) isn't quite the messiah you thought he all was eh boys ha ha ha! the man has pissed millions up against the wall on rubbish like Henderson and Downing ha ha , not so clever now is he. and to think they were all trotting out the usual 'we'll challenge for the title this year' bollocks all summer in the papers and on tele (and whenever you had the misfortune to bump into one around town)

and before I get called bitter blue and told we are better than them and shouldn't stoop to mocking them and revelling in their failure - sorry it might not make me the better man but it makes me the happier haha :-) almost as happy as this:

New Season kicks off

and so here we go again - the new season kicked off today and we have another year of thrills and spills following the blues to look forward too. or not quite yet ha ha - thanks to the rioters the game we should have been playing today at Spurs was called off. so we have to wait for our curtain raiser and see how the team is looking

a big hello to all you fellow Blues and hope you enjoy following the blog as the season progresses :-)

canales or defour

word on the street is that the housewives favourite, Jose Mourinho, is keen to help us out and lend us a young spanish boy called Sergio Canales. apparently Jose wants him to gain some first team experience and is willing to let him go on a season long loan to get it. so the million dollar question is: is he any good and worth having? from what i've heard he is a skillful, creative attacking mid which is one of the areas we need someone in. who can forget all the matches and draws in the season just gone when we were crying out for someone with some inventiveness to get us a goal or carve a chance out of nothing. so worth a gamble i reckon Moyes my good man.

another strong rumour is that we are after Steven Defour, one of Big Fellis old teamates from Liege. I have seen him a few times in the european games and he looked pretty good to me. strong worker and runner but with plenty of skill - not a bad age either as i recall. so another winner i reckon. time to get your cash out Bill and give Moyesy some backing for once.

Jimmy Vaughan off

sad news has been announced regarding one of Evertons most loved and injury prone youngsters, James Vaughan. Reports are coming out that we are going to sell him for a couple of million to Norwich within the next few days.

Have to say I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand it is shrewd business by Moyes to offload someone who is injured all the time and so never plays or is a useful member of the squad to keep on the payroll. And to get a reasonable fee for him to is smart dealing also and would allow us to reinvest it to get someone who isn't such a sicknote. But...........part of me is sad to see the boy go as I, like a lot of Toffees, have a fondness for him and a hope that he will still come good given one more chance. The lad is a goalscorerthrough and through and quick with it which is really what we are missing. I guess he was so hyped up when he broke through into the first team a few years back that we still want to believe he can fulfill that potential with us a la Shrek the Third (unlucky at the weekend by the way Wayne ha ha)

but as with everything in life business is business and nothing lasts for ever so I guess it's just the right time for all involved to part ways. goodbye and good luck Jimmy :-)

whos going down? and who can we nick off them?

it's getting towards the end of the season now and the relegation issue looms large for some clubs. luckily not us but we could be involved in the sense that we could pinch some good players off the teams that do go down.

so who could we get in theory? well i think we all agree a striker or two would come in very handy next season. in light of this then i would take DJ Campbell from Blackpool as he is quick and knows where the goal is. also that Ba at West Ham looks good and I wouldn't say no to Carlton Cole either. i also like that Zigic from BHam - yes he's a is lump but i think he has some skill too and scores.

other players that spring to mind who i would like are Adam and Vaughan from Blackpool, N'Zogbia and McCarthy from Wigan and Parker from the Hammers.

only thing is we have no money so prob won't get any of them!

and the season ends with a.........whimper!

not too much to say about the game at the wkd against West Brom - suffice to say the boys have gone on their summer hols early by the looks of it ha ha! i didn't get to this one but a couple of the lads did and apparently I didn't miss much. as above the boys seemed to not really be up for it. i guess we've got seventh and not got any chance of sixth so in some ways its understandable.

but having said that this is our club they're playing for and are handsomely rewarded for it and so should be able to motivate themselves for games. it would be nice for us to end the season on a high after all and take some confidence into next season. oh well onwards and upwards :-)

Everton 2 - Man City 1

another fantastic win for the boys and particularly pleasing to put one over on big spending City again ha ha! as the goodison faithful sang 'Lescott , Lescott whats the score'  oh well i'm sure his luxury mansion and garage full of cars made him feel better last night the twat!

truth be told it was a classic game of two halves though - we were not that great in the first and were probably a bit lucky to go in only one down. now common sense tells us that Moyesy must have got stuck into them at the interval as they were a different team after the break. although Big Dunc had made a highly public visit to Goodison for this match so maybe he got in there and shook a few of them up. can imagine how Big Dunc having you up against the wall by your throat and telling you to get your finger out would motivate you ha ha. so glad he was there by the way - living legend whatever anyone says and always will have a place in my heart.

anyway second half we slaughtered them - the catalyst on the pitch seemed to be a particularly crunching tackle from Jack and the resultant flare up. they don't like it up them Captain. the other thing that seemed to swing the game in our favour was Tiger Tim coming on. not sure why as he is only half fit and a bit rusty but it just seemed to unnerve them and make them panic. he won the free kick that we equalised off - fine delivery into the box and great header from Sylvain. and what about the winner eh?! Little Ossie continues his fine form of late with a great run and header that flew over their keeper into the net. fantastic lad!

the best thing for me then happened actually after the whistle when a proper bust up occurred which resulted in Nev giving Mancini and Platt what for in no uncertain terms and having to be held back. seems like they were trying to have a go at Shay and our Captain wasn't standing for any of it. well done Phil - its that sort of spirit and sticking together that makes us so much better than any other team.

photo of said dust up below:

big duncs soccer school

i hear from various sources that the legend that is Big Dunc is involved / running a soccer school over in Spain. as i understand the big man lives over that way these days so it would make sense i guess. unconfirmed (and totally made up) sessions could be:

how to be a man and take no grief from anyone on the pitch
how to terrify the other lot from over the park just by looking at them (hello sammi hypia)
how to celebrate by winging your shirt over your head and look cool as fuck whilst showing your tat off
how to care for your pigeons
how to be what a footballer should be unlike these modern nancys and mercaneries (which we thankfully don't have at everton anyway)

as you can tell i am a massive Dunc fan and love the big guy to bits - i think i would prob faint if i ever met him ha ha! :-)

another win Everton 2 - Blackburn 0

Yet again we have another fine run in to the seasons end and our form , as in previous years, is mint. happy days :-) the boys obviously prefer playing in the sun ha ha as this time of year is always good for us.

Am well pleased whenever we beat this lot cos they are one of the nastiest , dirtiest teams around if you ask me. another fine performance from Ossie - come on Capello you can't seriously leave him out of the next England squad if you are really picking on form and not on favourites?!!! he would be a revealtion on the international stage and be just what england need to progress in the major competitions. thought Maggie looked good again as well and i think next season will be good for him. i really like the three in behind Beckford at the min - ossie , billy and maggie are all tricky , skillfull and just worry other teams which is mint. with Beckfords pace making room for them to advance with the ball and shoot or pick a pass it is a good team and formation for us and should be used now as our normal one i think.

big game next but almost past the other lot from over the road now - in your face Dogliesh!! :-)

summer transfers

its gettin towards the end of the season and as usual all our thoughts turn to transfers - who's coming in and also who will be going out. its always exciting , always frustrating and never easy!!

so who should be shown the door with a fond farewell and thanks for everything - while hopefully making us a big wedge of cash to re-invest in their replacement? word round here is that Billy is the number one that fans think should be out - although i would have to disagree personally. played in his right position regularly i think he'll come good but it seems most have run out of patience with him. he should make us a good bit of money if he does go and shouldn't be too missed as he's not a first team regular. the other one i hear mentioned a lot is Big Vic - seems everyone has had enough of him too. too slow , too lazy , too rubbish i hear everyone hear cry so seems like he would not be missed either. probably wouldn't make us much but at least would be off the wage bill. other candidates seem to be King Louis who is generally thought too old and injury prone for another season and Johnny H who is still about as popular as Hitler with most fans!

and who should come in? well i've not heard anything definate yet so no names to pass on really. you sort of have to go the fantasy football route and think who you would personally like here. maybe tempt that new Brazillian lad they're all on about over eh?

Murder at Molineux - Wolves 0 , Everton 3

And it was us doing the murdering thank god!!! i spoke to a couple of the hardy souls who follow the boys away regular and they told me that , although Wolves had good possession and spells of pressure, the result was never in doubt. we were just too classy and good for them.

as we all know it was a magic spell leading into half time that allowed us to wrap it up and take control. well pleased that our main man Becks scored - lovely little run and flick header to put it away. what about Big Phil lashing in the second too - he doesn't score many but they're always worth a look when he does. a lot of the boys think he meant to cross it but i hope not or it might have had somones head off how he hit it! and then the icing on the cake was our man from behind the iron curtain smashing one home. Now we all know Billy is an enigma wrapped in a puzzle as he can look amazing one moment and rubbish the next but the way he strode upfield and put that away was mint. i think he really needs to be played in that role just off the front man in a more central area to get the best out of him.

special shouts this week - well my eyes and ears on the terraces gave me two tips for it. first up is the man of the moment Ossie. now i know i have gone on about him for the last few weeks and don''t want to sound like some obsessed fan but he had another stormer. he should be in the England squad on this form and I actually think international football would suit him more than the Premiership. his guile and quick feet would be just what Capellos load of wasters need next world cup. also the new lad Maggie got a good write up - he's quick , direct and full of running which is refreshing and always good to see.

if you ask me that other lot from over the road are getting worried now we're steaming up behind them - would love it so much if we finished above them and 'King' K****y the twat :-)

Everton 2 - Aston Villa 2

what a game eh?! and why is it we always play well against the Villa but can never manage to beat them in recent times? this game was no exception although to be fair they played their part and were dangerous for most of the game as reflected in the score.

would it have been any different if Becks 'goal' off the underside of the bar had been given? maybe so - it was a bit unforgivable though of our entire defence to fall asleep and let Bent run off the back of them straight after though. i thought we'd recalled Big Joey Yobo for a minute cos that was the sort of stuff he used to get up too. his movement was good no question but we shouldn't have just let him go and then start to panic when he was clean through.

great game & goal from ossie again though although i can't believe Friedel let his shot through - his wrist was limper than Louis Spences for that! great nerve from Bainsey too to put the Pen away to level it - all he needs is a haircut and he'll be alright ha ha :-)

well done lads

I know its a bit late but just had to say well done to the lads for the great win over Fulham in the last league game before the international break. a playas gotta handle his business so been tied up with paper chasing till now but they did good. as usual they made us sweat and bite our nails for it by allowing Fulham to get one back and come at us but by all accounts in the pub from those who went it was a good performance. Really nice goal from Shay too - did you see the trickery from Ossie to cross it too? that defender just fell over his legs go so tangled up ha ha! i have to admit a soft spot for Ossie anyway but he is on fire at the min - whatever they're putting in his tea at Finch Farm is obviously working :-)

just a shame King Louis got himself nailed again and for the rest of the season by the looks of it. its a shame but i think his time is pretty much up now with his age and injuries so time to get in that transfer market over the summer Moysey for a quality replacement. still loving Becks though so he will do us fine for this season now and many to come. that boy is so quick , hes like a gazelle on steriods :-)

who loves ya moysey?

looks like the season may have taken an upturn once more with us sitting in the top half of the table within striking distance of europe so the discussion on the street turns to our beloved manager. from what i hear from fellow evertonians this guy so defines the term 'marmite' he must have it running through his veins. thats right , when it comes to ur davey you either love him or hate him.

so which camp do i  sit in then  hear you ask? i'm firmly in the love camp (as strange as that term sounds ha ha!) although it has been tested this season on a number of occasions. but i have been thinking over the last few days - have we overaccted this season as to whats happened? after all we're in 9th place with a lot to play for still and europe still a distinct possibility so come the end of the season we may have had a good one and wonder what we've all been moaning about!

football eh? its a funny old game :-)

Hot Rod to drive into the sunset?

Breaking news on the street is that Man U are going to be putting a bid in over the summer for Jack Rodwell. We have all heard the rumours before as Old Red Nose obviously likes the look of him to revitalise his ageing midfield but seems he will actually be going for it this time. It could all be the usual rubbish of course but I get the feeling this has more than a hint of truth to it and has been on the cards a long time. Some sources even claim the deal is done and will just be announced in the summer when the window re-opens?

To be honest me and my mates agree it's not the end of the world if the boy goes as long as get good money for him (i.e at least £25 million and upfront cash , none of this drip payment bollocks) and Moyes is given the money to spend on new players. If this happens it will benefit the team and club overall and allow us to push on next season a la the Rooney money. Rodwell is nowhere near as good as Shrek was then and to me looks like he'll end up a good player but certainly not as special as all the hype would have you believe at the min. Otherwise he would be running the show for us now he's played more this season and he ain't really has he?

Although maybe Jack should take a warning from everyones favourite granny nobbler and how his move to supposedly bigger and better pastures worked out. yeah he scores more goals now and has a few more medals but has he developed into the Messi like talent he had started to show at Everton? The answer is no - he never goes past ppl anymore or takes ppl on like he used to with us. His development as a player has actually gone backwards as he is simply not as exciting or unpredictable as he was when he bestrode Goodison Park

Everton 1 - Birmingham 1

Typical Everton eh? After the jubilation of the Newcastle victory they have us crashing back to earth again with this result. Don't get me wrong at least we didn't get beat but was expecting to win this one with Brum doing so poor this season! It sums our rollercoaster season up really that one minute we look like we're gonna go on a run and then slip up the next game.

To top it all off Mikel goes down with a hammy and looks like he'll be on the treatment table with the rest of them for the remainder of the season! Nice goal from Johnny though - no chance of the keeper stopping that and Ossie played well again which we'll need with most of our midfield crocked. Really poor goal to concede though - marking anyone?!

Oh well onwards & upwards to the next game!

Newcastle 1 - Everton 2

Well what a difference a few days can make! Apologies for not posting about this fantastic win till now but have been struck down ill for the last few days. Too much excitement with a brilliant performance from the boys obviously!

I'll be honest, Newcastle away is never an easy place to get a result and after the Reading fiasco I wasn't overly optimistic about it. But as always like a true bluenose I secretly fancied us to do something anyway and it turns out we did - and how!

The teamsheet before the game looked promising and was very pleased to see Neville restored to midfield and Hibbo to right back. I don't want to claim any credit ha ha but maybe Moyesy saw my last post on here?! The rest of the line up looked good too - was nice to see Mikel going out to the left to make way for Phil as I personally think he is better out there. He always seems to have more time and space to hurt the opposition on the flanks and hardly ever loses possession there.

Looks like Moyes got the team and tactics spot on this game as we were easily better than them and fully deserved the win. The first half didn't start too well having said that with Phil picking up a knock to the ribs - proof of a hard fought game as usual against the barcodes. Thankfully he was ok to carry on and we started brightly enough.Then, as if on cue, the defensive frailties that have plagued our season appeared to undo the good start. That cretin Nolan (he has got to be one of the dirtiest , annoying players currently playing!) got a shot in and it rebounded to their forward Best who nodded it in from close range. Bugger!

From then on they got into the game more and it looked like we could be in for a long afternoon. Was quite funny when Hibbo went through their fancy dan Guirerrez like a dose of salts. Take that my old son ha ha. We broke out quick after an attack from them broke down and Ossie fed it to Mikel who did really well to get it back into him. The finish from Ossie was even better - he went for placement and put it away superbly. Was pleased for Ossie as he gets a lot of stick but has been playing well the last few games.

We'd only just calmed down from that when we went and grabbed another one. We got a free kick which Baines whipped in superbly right in the corridor of uncertainty(copyright A Hansen BBC) and Jags steamed in round the back and put it home. Has Jags even ever scored before?! Good time for his first one anyway if not.

That was pretty much it for the first half although Phil had picked up a knock which meant Johnny Boy H was out for him in the second. Luckily it didn't affect the performance too much and we weathered the storm to hold out for the win. In fact we should really have won by more with King Louis and Beckford missing a good couple of chances each to seal it. In fact Beckford got the hook towards the end - his link up play had been a bit poor so maybe thats why Big Vic came on for him? Or maybe Moyesy just thought it would be funny to see Nolans reaction to him coming on with the court case thing between Vic and him. They did have a little set too but nothing too bad - certainly not like the last time when Nolan had absolutely caned Vic the twat.

All in all a really good performance and win for the boys and credit to Moyes too for the tactics and subs which worked well. Keep this up and we'll be in with a shout of europe next season wahey!  

Gutted Part II

Ok so I have calmed down a bit after getting our trousers pulled down and bums spanked by Reading and thought it was time to reflect on whats wrong in the team at the moment. Although the poll on this blog asks the question of whether a mass clear out is needed I don't believe it is. The answer if you ask moi is to get all Marty McFly and go Back to the Future. And no I don't mean for Blue Bill Kenwright to grab Moyes' head and rap on it while saying 'Hello is there anyone home McMoyes'

In my opinion our problem lies in the fact that we have no protection in front of the back four anymore which results in teams breaking on us far too quick and strolling through our midfield like a hot knife through butter. Fine players though Felli, Teta and Jack are none of them can play the defensive midfield role well that I believe we need. So what to do? Well I may get slaughtered for this but if you ask me Moyes should being Neville back into that role which he has performed so well in times gone by and re-instate Hibbo at right back.

When we used to have these two in those positions we were so much tougher to play and score against and were much more solid. Yes I know all you purists out there who think we should be playing like golden era Brazil will disagree as individually Nev and Hibbo aren't the most creative or skillful. But you have to look past this and see what they bring to the team. And what they bring is clean sheets, wins and points.

Now I may be wrong but if you look at the league table that is what we need right now cos we are right in the brown stuff potentially still. And if it means we go back to scraping out one nil wins and sacrificing some of the fancy dan tippy tapping passing we are failing with now so be it

Gutted

Well what can be said about last night's debacle at Goodison? I am actually still too upset to post a proper analysis of the game and go fully into what went wrong.

Suffice to say that I think all us fans know everyone from the Chairman down to the players has to take their share of the blame for a disgraceful performance. What hurts most is that most of the players out there last night (with a couple of notable exceptions in Baines and Howard) looked like they couldn't be arsed. What happened to playing for the shirt, the club, the fans? How come we can turn up week in week out and show proper passion for our team and they look like they're rather be out shopping spending their latest bucketload of cash we funnel into their pockets.

I know one thing for sure , it's time for Moysey to start earning his corn and whip the lads into shape and rescue our stop - start season. Come on Davey boy, sort it out!