Monday, 23 March 2009
No money - No problem
David Moyes has scoffed at the spending row between Sir Alex Ferguson and Rafa Benitez.
The Manchester United and Liverpool bosses spent the build-up to this weekend sniping about the amount of money each has shelled out in pursuit of the Premier League title.
Benitez says Ferguson as the financial clout, while the Scot says he has had the figures checked and it is the Anfield club who have splashed out more on transfers.
But Moyes, who has guided Everton to sixth having spent far less than either, says he is he delighted with his shoestring achievements so far this season and that money should not be the be-all and end-all.
"I was laughing about it," he told Goals on Sunday.
"One was saying you've been spending a bit more than me but when we go to play Liverpool or Man United it very rarely gets talked about.
Educated
"When you cross that white line it's 11 v 11 and you just get on with the job. Over the years we have to take a few beatings and folk say 'why have you not won? Is that the best you can do?', it is obvious why.
"But I'll tell you what, this year we've had a right good go at stopping the teams above us and that is credit to the players and the attitude they have and the spirit they've got.
"I think the supporters are all pretty much educated but when it comes to two o'clock on a Saturday and they're walking to the ground, you're not worried about whether the opposition have spent more money than you, all you want is to get a result for your team - whether you've got the money or not.
"And in the main, we've done that with the budget we have."
Moyes also refuses to believe that the top four in the Premier League is beyond the reach of anyone but those two, Chelsea and Arsenal.
Tight
Everton are the only side to have broken that monopoly when they finished fourth in 2004-05 and made the qualifying stages of the Champions League.
This season Aston Villa have been as high as third and for Moyes, that proves that there is still hope for the so-called smaller clubs.
"I think my job is to get into the top four, without or without what we spend," he said.
"I think Villa have done a great job, I really do. I actually thought three or four weeks ago, Aston Villa were in poll position - and they still might actually make it.
"But we're pushing hard, we want to try and get in there and our games against the top four have been quite tight."
Moyes also had a dig at some his Premier Leagye counterparts for signing too many imported players.
Opportunity
He says he takes great pride in the young talent Everton have produced down the years and believes the likes of Jack Rodwell and James Vaughan are far better investments than expensive foreign singings.
"I want young players to see Everton as a place to go because they can actually get near the first team," jhe said.
"We don't block it up with players from abroad, we try to put our own boys in. What we're doing is giving them an opportunity and they think they've got a chance.
"What we are then saying is come on then, let's see if you can actually make it onto the pitch. In the end you have got to give the young boys an opportunity and see if they can take it."
The Manchester United and Liverpool bosses spent the build-up to this weekend sniping about the amount of money each has shelled out in pursuit of the Premier League title.
Benitez says Ferguson as the financial clout, while the Scot says he has had the figures checked and it is the Anfield club who have splashed out more on transfers.
But Moyes, who has guided Everton to sixth having spent far less than either, says he is he delighted with his shoestring achievements so far this season and that money should not be the be-all and end-all.
"I was laughing about it," he told Goals on Sunday.
"One was saying you've been spending a bit more than me but when we go to play Liverpool or Man United it very rarely gets talked about.
Educated
"When you cross that white line it's 11 v 11 and you just get on with the job. Over the years we have to take a few beatings and folk say 'why have you not won? Is that the best you can do?', it is obvious why.
"But I'll tell you what, this year we've had a right good go at stopping the teams above us and that is credit to the players and the attitude they have and the spirit they've got.
"I think the supporters are all pretty much educated but when it comes to two o'clock on a Saturday and they're walking to the ground, you're not worried about whether the opposition have spent more money than you, all you want is to get a result for your team - whether you've got the money or not.
"And in the main, we've done that with the budget we have."
Moyes also refuses to believe that the top four in the Premier League is beyond the reach of anyone but those two, Chelsea and Arsenal.
Tight
Everton are the only side to have broken that monopoly when they finished fourth in 2004-05 and made the qualifying stages of the Champions League.
This season Aston Villa have been as high as third and for Moyes, that proves that there is still hope for the so-called smaller clubs.
"I think my job is to get into the top four, without or without what we spend," he said.
"I think Villa have done a great job, I really do. I actually thought three or four weeks ago, Aston Villa were in poll position - and they still might actually make it.
"But we're pushing hard, we want to try and get in there and our games against the top four have been quite tight."
Moyes also had a dig at some his Premier Leagye counterparts for signing too many imported players.
Opportunity
He says he takes great pride in the young talent Everton have produced down the years and believes the likes of Jack Rodwell and James Vaughan are far better investments than expensive foreign singings.
"I want young players to see Everton as a place to go because they can actually get near the first team," jhe said.
"We don't block it up with players from abroad, we try to put our own boys in. What we're doing is giving them an opportunity and they think they've got a chance.
"What we are then saying is come on then, let's see if you can actually make it onto the pitch. In the end you have got to give the young boys an opportunity and see if they can take it."
Sunday, 22 March 2009
BLUES LOSE AT POMPEY
Everton: Howard, Jacobsen, Jagielka, Lescott, Baines, Neville, Osman, Pienaar, Felliani, Jo, Saha
Bench: Gosling (Jacobsen), Rodwell (Jo), Nash, Castillo, Wallace, Baxter, Agard
Referee: Peter Walton aka Les Battersby
Having just about recovered from the euphoria of Thursday night’s Hall of Fame Dinner at the Adelphi, we had to embark on our longest trip of the season, 500 mile round trip to Pompey. What a night Thursday night was, Big Dunc along with most Toffeemen in the room shed a tear during his emotional speech, it was undoubtedly the best yet – well played Snaggy, Tommy Birch & Roger – PLEASE do not make this the last one! It gave us plenty to talk about on the long journey, Blue Bill, Tony Kay, Rhino, Diamond Geezer, Howard forgetting he was presenting Dunc, Ernie Hunt bladdered and wearing a red wig but most of BIG Dunc, unbelievable!
So the luverly SKY had decided that for our longest journey they would give us a 12.45 kick off, where do they get their ideas from? Probably the FA!
This on the face of it was a tricky fixture. Whilst we owed them one for the 3-0 defeat at Goodison, which was one bizarre result given the balance of play that day, but Pompey are just above the relegation zone and playing for their Premiership future. The Toffee’s on the other hand had not won away since Boxing Day and we needed the 3 points to put pressure on Villa and The Arse so plenty to play for. We had heard that Timmy was not in the frame and knew Joey was out so what would Moyesy do? It was a debut for ‘alright ‘der’ Lars Jacobson at right back, The Jag and Roger in the middle, in midfield it was Fella & Nev in the middle and Jo plus King Louis up front, so 4-4-2, Moyesy was going for it.
In the middle was Les Battersby look-a-like Peter Walton. The sun was shining on the south coast, it was like a summers day and the Toffeemen were there in force, in fact we were bladdered when we got there – still from the Hall of Fame! We had the perfect start. After a good period of early possession Distin fould King Louis on the edge of the box and Bainsey stepped u to the plate having taken over the mantle in the absence of the best little Spaniard we know. Now Bainsey hit the bar from a similar positon last week so expectations were high and Hayley did not let us down. He left wavy Davy routed to the spot as he bent it round the wall and inside the right hand post. Just 3 minutes gone and the Toffeemen were dancing, long journey, sun, Stella, mental celebration – my head hurts!
With the Blues on top and playing well, Les Battersby came up with his first howler. Peanuts was clattered from behind by one of Pompey’s big bruiser’s, Jeez they are a big side, this time it was the right back, the result was just a ticking off. His next howler proved more costly. Johnson had a shot from way out, it nearly killed a seagull on the beach and Walton claimed that it had come off Bainsey. From the resultant corner the ball was knocked back into the box, Lars was easily outjumped by Johnson and the Freak outjumped Roger to nod in the equaliser.
Walton continued his howlers booking Ossy for a foul on Nugent when it looked like he got the ball. Next we saw the ugly side of Jo, from a neat move down the right the ball fell to him unmarked on the edge of the box with only Wavy to beat. He looked up, saw Coco between the sticks and pulled his shot well wide of the post, it was a shocker. Jo had so many options it was embarrassing to see the final result, not even forcing a save, he needs to do far more to get us looking for his signature.
King Louis tried the spectacular just before half time trying a scissor kick from a Lars cross, it looked good but went wide. Two minutes added time went without incident and we went in all square when really we should have been in front and the worrying thing was that Pompey were upping their game. Moyesy needed to work some half time magic.
HALF TIME 1-1
We have a phrase, ‘The Toffeemen never let you down’, sure enough, the second half was to epitomise the phrase. Must win game for Champion’s League challenge, must outfight Pompey as they are fighting relegation, must not lose, Toffeemen have been up since 6am for a 500 mile round journey so they must perform. Guess what? Second half, remember the half-time concerns? We never heeded them, we were poor, in fact poor is possibly too good for the description, FOR FUCK’s SAKE POMPEY WERE UP FOR THIS! Why weren’t we? We were shite in the second half, King Louis did not look fit, Jo tried hard after realising his 1st half howler could dent his future wage packet, Ossy was Ossy (Moyesy’s face after one free kick was a picture), Lars got subbed because after 8 months up to his debut he still looks like he enjoys Chinese Takeaways and more to the point he did not excel on his debut. But who did?
Toffeeman Nugent was subbed for Kanu after just over an hour, at the time it looked like a strange decision, 5 mins later, we were behind. Unbelievely we left the Freak unmarked from a corner, he ran from the edge of the box and outjumped Saha to head the winner. I say the winner because despite 15 mins to go we had been so poor it was difficult to see a way back, guess what? There wasn’t. Herman could have been sent off for elbowing Fella but we were clutching at straws.
How fuckin’ disappointing? If you look at the run in’s for Villa, The Arse and ourselves, ours is by far the easiest, starting today but with the Pompey crowd behind them they saw out what was in the end an easy victory, they even hit the post with 10 mins to go, we just caved in. Bitter disappointment. Super Dan came on for Lars or Lard but to no avail.
Final whistle from Les and we’d lost, a few shockers today, in no particular order really, unless you want to read into this, Ossy, Lars, Fella, Louis, Peanuts, Jo and Roger. Blue Kipper Star Man was Phil Neville, never gave in and kept on trying despite this very bad day at the races. Ah well, two weeks rest, get Timmy back and get back on to winning ways against the Pie Eaters but it now looks like UEFA Cup again next year. COYB FTRS
Full Time 2-1
Bench: Gosling (Jacobsen), Rodwell (Jo), Nash, Castillo, Wallace, Baxter, Agard
Referee: Peter Walton aka Les Battersby
Having just about recovered from the euphoria of Thursday night’s Hall of Fame Dinner at the Adelphi, we had to embark on our longest trip of the season, 500 mile round trip to Pompey. What a night Thursday night was, Big Dunc along with most Toffeemen in the room shed a tear during his emotional speech, it was undoubtedly the best yet – well played Snaggy, Tommy Birch & Roger – PLEASE do not make this the last one! It gave us plenty to talk about on the long journey, Blue Bill, Tony Kay, Rhino, Diamond Geezer, Howard forgetting he was presenting Dunc, Ernie Hunt bladdered and wearing a red wig but most of BIG Dunc, unbelievable!
So the luverly SKY had decided that for our longest journey they would give us a 12.45 kick off, where do they get their ideas from? Probably the FA!
This on the face of it was a tricky fixture. Whilst we owed them one for the 3-0 defeat at Goodison, which was one bizarre result given the balance of play that day, but Pompey are just above the relegation zone and playing for their Premiership future. The Toffee’s on the other hand had not won away since Boxing Day and we needed the 3 points to put pressure on Villa and The Arse so plenty to play for. We had heard that Timmy was not in the frame and knew Joey was out so what would Moyesy do? It was a debut for ‘alright ‘der’ Lars Jacobson at right back, The Jag and Roger in the middle, in midfield it was Fella & Nev in the middle and Jo plus King Louis up front, so 4-4-2, Moyesy was going for it.
In the middle was Les Battersby look-a-like Peter Walton. The sun was shining on the south coast, it was like a summers day and the Toffeemen were there in force, in fact we were bladdered when we got there – still from the Hall of Fame! We had the perfect start. After a good period of early possession Distin fould King Louis on the edge of the box and Bainsey stepped u to the plate having taken over the mantle in the absence of the best little Spaniard we know. Now Bainsey hit the bar from a similar positon last week so expectations were high and Hayley did not let us down. He left wavy Davy routed to the spot as he bent it round the wall and inside the right hand post. Just 3 minutes gone and the Toffeemen were dancing, long journey, sun, Stella, mental celebration – my head hurts!
With the Blues on top and playing well, Les Battersby came up with his first howler. Peanuts was clattered from behind by one of Pompey’s big bruiser’s, Jeez they are a big side, this time it was the right back, the result was just a ticking off. His next howler proved more costly. Johnson had a shot from way out, it nearly killed a seagull on the beach and Walton claimed that it had come off Bainsey. From the resultant corner the ball was knocked back into the box, Lars was easily outjumped by Johnson and the Freak outjumped Roger to nod in the equaliser.
Walton continued his howlers booking Ossy for a foul on Nugent when it looked like he got the ball. Next we saw the ugly side of Jo, from a neat move down the right the ball fell to him unmarked on the edge of the box with only Wavy to beat. He looked up, saw Coco between the sticks and pulled his shot well wide of the post, it was a shocker. Jo had so many options it was embarrassing to see the final result, not even forcing a save, he needs to do far more to get us looking for his signature.
King Louis tried the spectacular just before half time trying a scissor kick from a Lars cross, it looked good but went wide. Two minutes added time went without incident and we went in all square when really we should have been in front and the worrying thing was that Pompey were upping their game. Moyesy needed to work some half time magic.
HALF TIME 1-1
We have a phrase, ‘The Toffeemen never let you down’, sure enough, the second half was to epitomise the phrase. Must win game for Champion’s League challenge, must outfight Pompey as they are fighting relegation, must not lose, Toffeemen have been up since 6am for a 500 mile round journey so they must perform. Guess what? Second half, remember the half-time concerns? We never heeded them, we were poor, in fact poor is possibly too good for the description, FOR FUCK’s SAKE POMPEY WERE UP FOR THIS! Why weren’t we? We were shite in the second half, King Louis did not look fit, Jo tried hard after realising his 1st half howler could dent his future wage packet, Ossy was Ossy (Moyesy’s face after one free kick was a picture), Lars got subbed because after 8 months up to his debut he still looks like he enjoys Chinese Takeaways and more to the point he did not excel on his debut. But who did?
Toffeeman Nugent was subbed for Kanu after just over an hour, at the time it looked like a strange decision, 5 mins later, we were behind. Unbelievely we left the Freak unmarked from a corner, he ran from the edge of the box and outjumped Saha to head the winner. I say the winner because despite 15 mins to go we had been so poor it was difficult to see a way back, guess what? There wasn’t. Herman could have been sent off for elbowing Fella but we were clutching at straws.
How fuckin’ disappointing? If you look at the run in’s for Villa, The Arse and ourselves, ours is by far the easiest, starting today but with the Pompey crowd behind them they saw out what was in the end an easy victory, they even hit the post with 10 mins to go, we just caved in. Bitter disappointment. Super Dan came on for Lars or Lard but to no avail.
Final whistle from Les and we’d lost, a few shockers today, in no particular order really, unless you want to read into this, Ossy, Lars, Fella, Louis, Peanuts, Jo and Roger. Blue Kipper Star Man was Phil Neville, never gave in and kept on trying despite this very bad day at the races. Ah well, two weeks rest, get Timmy back and get back on to winning ways against the Pie Eaters but it now looks like UEFA Cup again next year. COYB FTRS
Full Time 2-1
Friday, 20 March 2009
EVERTON V POMPEY TEAM NEWS
The Blues make their longest domestic journey of the season to Pompey, so what do the TV execs do, give it a dinner time kick off to really piss the fans off. Joey Yobo as we heard earlier today will be out for a good few weeks with a hamstring problem, so that may mean a first start of the season for Lars Jacobsen who had his own injury worries last year. We hear on the grape vine that Moyesy may be resting Tiny Tim, but I reckon the Aussie will fight tooth and nail to start, but if he does start, it will be the usual suspects in the line up, as that's all we have.
The players are most definitely focused as at the Hall of Fame Dinner last night, I got chatting with Phil Jagielka (name dropping, you bet I am), and I said get us to the Cup Final Jag. He told us he did not want to talk about it, as we had loads of important League games to play, and it was on Moyesy's orders, get in there, now that being focused.
The Blues are still in hot form, losing only one match in eighteen, and conceding only once in the last five games. In saying that though we have to go back to Christmas since our last Premiership win on the road, also our last two away games ended up in nil all draws, so were due one on the road. We owe Pompey after our thumping 3-0 defeat back in August, and our form at Fratton Park is good losing only once there since 1957. COYB FTRS
Moyesy says: There has been a momentum going for a few months. The players have kept going and shown great attitudes, wherever they have been asked to play. We have ground out results in the last few weeks and prior to that we were playing some fantastic football in a great style. Aston Villa and Arsenal are in the pole positions to qualify for the Champions League and we want to hang on to their shirt-tails and keep close to them.
We have to win our games and they have to win theirs to stay away from us. We have closed the gap a bit but there is a bit to go and we won't be giving up. The points total we have now won't be enough to finish in sixth position because the teams below will gain more points than that. We have to keep picking up points for that reason too. We would like to be able to spend a bit more to give ourselves more of a go at getting closer to them. But with what they (the board) give me, we do everything we can. The players here have done a great job and I would like to give them added support. They deserve it, you can see the way they are playing and the spirit they have, so if I could add one or two to support them, it would be ideal." (21/03/09)
XI To Start: Howard, Jacobsen, Lescott, Jagielka, Baines, Osman, Pienaar, Felliaini, Neville, Jo, Cahill
Everton from: Howard, Neville, Jagielka, Lescott, Baines, Pienaar, Osman, Cahill, Fellaini, Saha, Jo, Rodwell, Baxter, Nash, Castillo, Jacobsen, Gosling, Wallace, Van der Meyde.
The players are most definitely focused as at the Hall of Fame Dinner last night, I got chatting with Phil Jagielka (name dropping, you bet I am), and I said get us to the Cup Final Jag. He told us he did not want to talk about it, as we had loads of important League games to play, and it was on Moyesy's orders, get in there, now that being focused.
The Blues are still in hot form, losing only one match in eighteen, and conceding only once in the last five games. In saying that though we have to go back to Christmas since our last Premiership win on the road, also our last two away games ended up in nil all draws, so were due one on the road. We owe Pompey after our thumping 3-0 defeat back in August, and our form at Fratton Park is good losing only once there since 1957. COYB FTRS
Moyesy says: There has been a momentum going for a few months. The players have kept going and shown great attitudes, wherever they have been asked to play. We have ground out results in the last few weeks and prior to that we were playing some fantastic football in a great style. Aston Villa and Arsenal are in the pole positions to qualify for the Champions League and we want to hang on to their shirt-tails and keep close to them.
We have to win our games and they have to win theirs to stay away from us. We have closed the gap a bit but there is a bit to go and we won't be giving up. The points total we have now won't be enough to finish in sixth position because the teams below will gain more points than that. We have to keep picking up points for that reason too. We would like to be able to spend a bit more to give ourselves more of a go at getting closer to them. But with what they (the board) give me, we do everything we can. The players here have done a great job and I would like to give them added support. They deserve it, you can see the way they are playing and the spirit they have, so if I could add one or two to support them, it would be ideal." (21/03/09)
XI To Start: Howard, Jacobsen, Lescott, Jagielka, Baines, Osman, Pienaar, Felliaini, Neville, Jo, Cahill
Everton from: Howard, Neville, Jagielka, Lescott, Baines, Pienaar, Osman, Cahill, Fellaini, Saha, Jo, Rodwell, Baxter, Nash, Castillo, Jacobsen, Gosling, Wallace, Van der Meyde.
Liverpool Club Shop
You don't have to take the piss out of the redshite. They do it themselves.
Fuck me. You can just see the 'Sons/daughters/knob 'eds Of Shankley' on their next jaunt with these on.
The redshite cape can be bought from the official redshite shop.
Turner out on loan
Nottingham Forest have swooped to sign Everton goalkeeper Iain Turner on loan until the end of the season.
The 24-year-old is set to make his debut for the struggling Championship side when they face Wolves on Saturday.
"I'm looking forward to it," Turner told BBC Radio Nottingham. "I've been hoping to go out on loan all season.
"I'm here for seven games to show what I can do, I've been dying for the chance. Forest are a good team but the Championship is a funny league."
Turner joined Everton from Stirling Albion in 2003 but has made only six appearances for David Moyes' side.
He has had spells on loan with Chester City, Doncaster Rovers, Wycombe Wanderers, Crystal Palace and Sheffield Wednesday, but has not played a competitive match since May 2007.
Turner added: "I had an unbeaten spell at Palace and a good spell at Wednesday too, so I hope I can keep that run going.
"Most teams want an experienced keeper, someone who can talk to the rest of the team, so the more games you play I guess the bigger your influence is."
Forest boss Billy Davies was desperate to bolster his squad after Saturday's 5-0 humbling at Burnley, which left them in the relegation zone ahead of the visit of leaders Wolves.
"It's no secret that we've been looking for a goalkeeper to provide competition," said Davies, who publicly criticised Forest keeper Paul Smith at the weekend.
"Iain Turner fits the bill perfectly. He is a keeper with good pedigree and great potential and this situation helps us and Everton."
The 24-year-old is set to make his debut for the struggling Championship side when they face Wolves on Saturday.
"I'm looking forward to it," Turner told BBC Radio Nottingham. "I've been hoping to go out on loan all season.
"I'm here for seven games to show what I can do, I've been dying for the chance. Forest are a good team but the Championship is a funny league."
Turner joined Everton from Stirling Albion in 2003 but has made only six appearances for David Moyes' side.
He has had spells on loan with Chester City, Doncaster Rovers, Wycombe Wanderers, Crystal Palace and Sheffield Wednesday, but has not played a competitive match since May 2007.
Turner added: "I had an unbeaten spell at Palace and a good spell at Wednesday too, so I hope I can keep that run going.
"Most teams want an experienced keeper, someone who can talk to the rest of the team, so the more games you play I guess the bigger your influence is."
Forest boss Billy Davies was desperate to bolster his squad after Saturday's 5-0 humbling at Burnley, which left them in the relegation zone ahead of the visit of leaders Wolves.
"It's no secret that we've been looking for a goalkeeper to provide competition," said Davies, who publicly criticised Forest keeper Paul Smith at the weekend.
"Iain Turner fits the bill perfectly. He is a keeper with good pedigree and great potential and this situation helps us and Everton."
Thursday, 19 March 2009
Lescott wants Europe
Joleon Lescott is hopeful of Everton finishing high up in the European spots this season, and says he and his team-mates are taking each game as seriously as the next.
"Every game is vital now as every team is playing for something," Lescott told BBC Radio Merseyside.
"We're confident, playing well and creating chances. We've got to go into every game showing a lot of respect."
Speaking about Saturday's trip to Portsmouth, the defender said, "We don't want to talk about revenge but we owe them from early in the season when they beat us 3-0 here.
"So we're going there showing them a lot of respect but feeling confident.
"We don't talk about the record ourselves but we're confident going into every game and we believe we can create chances."
"Every game is vital now as every team is playing for something," Lescott told BBC Radio Merseyside.
"We're confident, playing well and creating chances. We've got to go into every game showing a lot of respect."
Speaking about Saturday's trip to Portsmouth, the defender said, "We don't want to talk about revenge but we owe them from early in the season when they beat us 3-0 here.
"So we're going there showing them a lot of respect but feeling confident.
"We don't talk about the record ourselves but we're confident going into every game and we believe we can create chances."
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