The Turning Point?

Hello Blues,

Writing about Everton in the past few weeks hasn’t been all that fun, a bit doom and gloom! But as you can see from the title Saturday was loads better?! And hopefully the turning point in our season –

Now go with me on this analogy, winning a football match is like baking a cake. You need the eggs, the flour, the sugar and the butter but you also need the icing and cherry on top, I know how cliche! Whereas up until Saturday I think we had the eggs, the flour and the sugar but were missing the other vital ingredients, yet with the return of Seamus Coleman and Ross the Boss Barkley we were complete again and even had the cherry on top, with a clean sheet and three goals.

Following four away games on the trot, there was a strong atmosphere around the ground on Saturday, everyone knew it was a must win game. There was a sense of nostalgia with it being ‘retro day’, all fans reminiscing about the good ole days of winning! Following the international break it was important we got the three points.

I was nervous ahead of the game, Villa always seem to do well against us and in recent seasons Agbonlahor just loves scoring against us, the body language of the players before we kicked off did nothing to calm these nerves either!

But we were all pleasantly surprised, Jags seemed back on top form (thank goodness!) even more so now he has scored 3 in the last 4 if you include the England games, still no Distin however Martinez insisted on the Radio City Everton show there was no rift and he just needs rest. Hmm.

Barkley was incredible, his spark is well and truly back and it ignited the whole team, he was getting shots in, made himself a nuisance to the defence and was just generally back to his best! Naismith had a great game, he just doesn’t stop, he was everywhere! I was pleased to see Lukaku on the score sheet, he too put in a good performance.

The defence seemed much more steady than in recent weeks. Alcaraz was impressive, very calm and collected with the little he had to do.

The whole play was much tighter and more compact, they didn’t seem to be as many ‘dodgy’ passes and no unforced errors. We kept the ball much better on Saturday than we have in awhile. With McCarthy and Coleman back, they are two players that hold the ball really well and more so than the benched McGeady and injured Mirallas.

We had a much less ‘gung ho’ approach to the game even when 3-0 up, Martinez was clear in his tactics to keep the ball, no need to get ourselves into a mess, we had 61% of the possession so it seemed to work!

It was overall a really good solid performance, seeing us score 3 fantastic goals that has lifted us 6 places in the League. Martinez seems to have learnt from the errors that have cost us in recent games.

I really hope this is the turning point in our season and from here the only way is up.

Until next time Blues…

New Season Expectations

So last season was pretty decent right?

Martinez’s first season in charge was a roaring success with some historic victories and many young players coming to the forefront.

Roberto’s first win against Chelsea? THAT John Stones penalty at last season’s pre season? Ross Barkley losing his cool with Arteta, Baines’ stunning free kicks, the momentous win against Man Utd and doing the double, the 3-0 win over the Arse, need I go on?

But what’s in store for this new campaign? Well none of us has a crystal ball but I’m sure we’re all hoping for more of the same?!

Over at the Everton Page they asked the question, what were we hoping for this season? Finishing above the reds or getting some silverware?

Here are some of your thoughts –

Views from ‘The Everton Page’

 

Views from the ‘Everton Page’

Liam – I like your optimism!! If only! But hey, it’s anyone’s game!!?

For me, some silverware would be great, especially the FA Cup, you can’t beat it!! Building on our displays last season is key, so we can keep pushing for the top positions and the top players. I am pretty excited to see Besic in action, from what we have seen in pre season, he looks in fine form and as though he will be a killer threat up front.

I am also excited to see how other young players will develop under Martinez’s watchful eye, we are going to have a top class squad in the coming seasons if we can hang on to the youngsters!

Not long until we kick off the season away at Leicester and it has to be all 3 points!

Watch this space!

 

Until next time Blues…

Results! Win or lose on Saturday?

This question has caused a lot of controversy and debate among us blue noses, thank you to everyone who voted and had their say. Before I reveal the results, here are some of your thoughts:

David Bernard emailed in his thoughts: “I just can’t bear the noise that comes from those with red-tinted glasses. They think that they are special and that they have rights over everyone else – they’re not and they don’t. We were robbed of our next trophy in 1985 this is great opportunity for some payback – the fact that Gerrard blew it for them makes it all the more sweet.”

Here are some of your thoughts from various social media outlets:

Opinions from ‘The Everton Page’ on Facebook.

 

Opinion from my personal Facebook.

 

Opinions from ‘The Everton Page’ on Facebook.

 

Opinions from ‘The Everton Page’ on Facebook.

 

Opinions from ‘The Everton Page’ on Facebook.

 

Opinion from ‘@TheToffeeLady94’

 

As you can see, the views are pretty split, both sides have valid points! Everyone is entitled to their opinion, I am a strong believer of this, and I can understand both sides, however, here are my thoughts!

I despise Liverpool as much as the next Blue, but my love of Everton is much more than my hatred of the red shite and no matter what situation I will always want us to get 3 points and win. No matter what. End of. Finito.

Just because Champions league is pretty much not going to happen now doesn’t mean we don’t want to go out fighting! Tottenham are sniffing at our heels and if we don’t keep winning we could end up with 6th, which would still be amazing considering it is Martinez’s first season in charge, but our top priority is to finish as high as possible. Surely?

Yes it would be good if Liverpool didn’t win the title, I think we could all do without them parading around the city thinking they own it, but still, Everton is our first love!

I agree with what some of you have been saying in that perhaps it is an age thing and at twenty, I may not be old enough to completely understand the things older Evertonians have been through at the hands of the reds. I thought ‘Ken Smith’ posed a great question – what if it was the other way round? Do you really think Liverpool would be rooting for us to win the title or would they want to throw one of their games if it meant preventing us from winning the title? Yeah…..I’ll let you ponder over that one.

And now for what you have all been waiting for….*drum roll please*….the results are in:

 

So there you have it, only just over half of you want us to win on Saturday. 55.05% to be exact. 11% weren’t sure what to think, so sat on the fence and the remaining 33.9% of you want us to throw the game and lose.

I was surprised at how few of you want us to win on Saturday, just over half of the Blues that voted want us to win. But everyone has their reasons for this and it has caused some healthy debate among us! As I say, I whole heartedly want us to win, that is always my priority, no matter what. I also think it would be a shame to lose on our last home game of the season in Roberto Martinez’s first season in charge, but we’ll have to wait and see what Saturday brings.

 

Until next time Blues…

 

Best and Worst Everton Signings

Every club has had got that ‘dud’ signing, the one everyone was so hyped about and turned out to be a massive flop and disappointment.

But then there are those who defy expectations and become a club legend.

Ringing any bells?

Over at the Everton page we conducted a little opinion poll to find out who you thought were the best and worst signings of the past 30 years.

And here are the results: *drum roll please*

 

Opinions from the ‘Everton Page’

 

 

Opinions from the ‘Everton Page’

 

 

Opinions from the ‘Everton Page’

 

Sorry I couldn’t share all your opinions but once again you haven’t let me down Blues!

I have compiled all the names and here are the most voted for!

Best Signings –

Tim Cahill – photo courtesy of ‘O-posts’

1. Tim Cahill
2. Leighton Baines
3. Seamus Coleman
4. Mikel Arteta
5. Kevin Campbell
6. Phil Jagielka
7. Tim Howard

And the worst signings –

1. Alex Nyarko
2. Per Kroldrup
3. Andy van der Meyde
4. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov
5. Nuno Valente
6. Scott Gemmill
7. Claus Thomson

 

I’d like to share my opinion with you, although I am going to restrict my thoughts to the last 13 years (of which I have been a season ticket holder) as it would be unjustified of me to pretend I know exactly how they players were previous to the last 13 years and make a decision based on this. Don’t worry I do ‘know my history’ and have heard of the stories behind the players but as I say it makes sense for me to stick to the time zone I am more aware of!!

So my top 5 best signings are:

1. Leighton Baines
2. Tim Cahill
3. Mikel Arteta
4. Seamus Coleman
5. Landon Donovan

Leighton Baines, signed from Wigan for just £6m and is now worth triple that! He can take a pretty decent penalty, make a decent tackle and score some decent goals!! What’s not to love?! Ah Tim Cahill, our favourite Aussie! He came from Millwall for just £1.5m and instantly took his place among legends. Mikel Arteta graced Everton in 2005 and I instantly fell in love! He was quick, fluent and took some cracking corners! Seamus Coleman came to Everton for just £60,000 and look at him now! He is one of the best right backs in the country! And finally, Landon Donovan, he joined the Blues in January 2010 on loan and straight away he made his mark in Everton history. He returned a year later also and I think he really picked us up and added a fresh perspective at a time in the season when we needed it!

And my 5 worst signings are:

1. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov
2. Andy van der Meyde
3. Scott Gemmill
4. James Beattie
5. Alex Nyarko

Considering we paid almost £9m for Billie, what did he really do? He scored a few goals yes, but that’s about it, he was lazy, sloppy and bad mouthed us after he left! As did my next culprit Andy van der Meyde. Where do I even start with him? He made the headlines but not for his antics on the pitch, no no, just airing his dirty laundry! Scottie Gemmill was another disappointment, what exactly did he do?! Just pissed about with the reserves! Now onto James Beattie, bless him, I don’t know why but in naming him on this list I feel like I’m kicking a puppy! He’s a little sweetie, but was so overrated! At the time he was our record signing and he was plagued by injuries, got sent off for that head-butt on William Gallas and not much else…Finally Alex Nyarko, well, as a centre midfielder you’ d expect him to score a few goals, not one. Yes one goal. He was another bone idol player. I mean who requests to be substituted?! Gah!

 

Here is David Bernard’s top 3:

“Best – Tim Cahill, Seamus Coleman, Nigel Martyn.

Worst – Per Kroldrup, Stephen Hughes, Vinny Samways.”

 

And finally Dan Griffith’s comments:

“Best Signings: Timmy Cahill and Seamus Coleman were picked up for virtually nothing and both players developed into £10m+ players within their careers and I’d say Nigel Martyn. We were in a position where we had never really found a good keeper after Big Nev left. Martyn came in and was phonominal when we really needed him. Worst: Earl Barrett, Jason Keirton, Per Kroldrup..”

 

Until next time Blues…