*jaw drops in incredulity*

Barmy, truly barmy :

Bitter gobshite Kopite ravings

"the only way Everton can breach the superiority complex we hold over them is by playing more games than ourselves, which tells its own story"

No trace of irony or winking smilies. The delusion levels are off the scale. I am embarresed for all the numerous spot-on rednoses who have to share a stadium with bell-ends like that. I think we can forget once and for all about Evertonians being the only bitter footy fans on Merseyside.

It does however tell a story about how far we've come under Moyes when they have to resort to this in order to make their season look better than it actually is. For the record I am convinced they will still finish above us. Everton are motoring along whereas most of their team is out of form, you have to ask questions of the manager for that but ultimately there is much more to come from them.

The magic of the cup

It has to be said that this weekend has been ace. Pompey, West Brom, Cardiff and Barnsley in the semi-finals of the cup. Brilliant stuff. Can't wait to see how it pans out. I know Portsmouth must be massive favourites now but surely this weekend has proved that you just can't predict anything in this year's competition.

Back in the League Everton kept up the pressure on liverpool and perhaps more importantly Villa.

Sunderland 0 - 1 Everton

Despite my doom-mongering yesterday's other premiership results were good news for us with City and Blackburn both dropping points...The Stadium of Light was a difficult place to go. Sunderland are hapless away but pretty decent at home. The 1-0 win was another top result. Great to see Johnson getting back in the goals after working so hard for so long and getting nothing in return.

back to earth with a bump

Well that was a thoroughly depressing week. Since the highs of the Portsmouth game it was gone steadily more depressing.

It's fari to say Fiorentina gave us a lesson on Thursday....we just didn't get hold of the ball at any stage. The night before our lovable neighbours had rested 4th place from us with a fairly simple 4-0 win over West Ham (Have they declared in true Curbishley style?). The Italians just kept possesion and Everton never really got going...after 20 minutes we were scrapping to get back into the game (and giving away numerous niggly fouls). Only being 2-0 down actually flattered us. We just looked a class or two below the Viola...I know they are a really decent side and bang in form but we are meant to be the same. Oh well, hope we can turn it round next week.

Then the next day we get the news that James Vaughan's knee is giving concern and he's been sent back to the specialist...hope he's okay. It'd be heart-breaking for him if he's going to be dogged by injury.

Today has done our European hopes no good whatsoever. Newcastle capitulated against liverpool and in the cup Utd got mugged by Portsmouth and Chelsea met a Barnsley side full of endevour and belief....fantastic performance. Real FA Cup magic. I couldn't really enjoy any of it because ultimately it means another UEFA place going elsewhere.

However take your hat off to Barnsley....brilliant, brilliant stuff. What footy is all about.

Awesome

There are times when being an American would be an advantage...Everton's results at City and at home against Portsmouth were prime examples 'cause the only way to describe them was "Awesome!"

It's brilliant stuff. Make no mistakes this was two very tough games. City's form at Eastlands (as everyone seems to be calling it now) is brilliant whilst Pompey are one of the strongest teams away from home. The fact that Everton just always looked like winning is what's the most impressive. They were clearly the best side in both games (despite what Sven or Redknapp might claim).

We know it can't go on forever but at the moment it's just so good to be a blue, Yakubu is just making it all look so easy. Johnson is doing everything you'd want from in. The midfield is fizzing and the defence is looking very assured.

Next up Fiorentina! It doesn't get any easier does it. Whatever happens now this team are fantastic.

Pet hate of the day

Pet hate of the day :

Upside down Union Flags (aka Union Jacks)

This is incorrect. It just looks totally wrong.

This is how it should look :



Simple : The diagonal white stripes go on the top on the left side of the flag. Easy.

Yakubu & AJ feast on Brann

What a pitifully awful headline...apologies but I couldn't resist.

Everton 6 - 1 SK Brann

So going into last night I admit I felt nervous. In the first leg Brann looked nowhere near as rusty as we thought they would and although they looked fairly tame going forward they were busy and dilligent pressing and closing down. I know that sounds like damning with faint praise but there was definitely a job still to do last night.

Wouldn't say I was looking forward to the game but I was anxious to get out of work and get moving fortunately one of my bosses at Hit Search is a blue and so after an afternoon of search engine optimisation ( ;) ) I got off sharpish, drove home, wolfed down a pizza and made the train with 1 minute to spare.

Evertonians are a superstitious, nervous bunch and I was pretty unhappy that people were outside Goodison handing out flyers for flights to either Rosenbourg or Florence for the next round, if anything was going to tempt the fates it's that I thought...met up with my brother outside the church and then headed into the Gwladys Street. The ground was pretty full most notably the away section which much have had 2 or 3 thousand people in it. Plane-loads of Red shirted Norwegian football fans arriving at John Lennon Airport, I'm sure that's almost unprecedented ;) :P )

Another potential bad omen was that for some reason the teams emerged to total silence...no z-cars (apart from a few people playing it on their mobiles purely tradition's sake). Superstitions aside Everton just looked more at the races than Brann. Again they pressed a harried well enough but the first half hour seen a few half chances for them and a shedload of posession for us, ultimatley you just knew that was going to tell in the end.





It turned into one of those night when everything went in...four great goals and two lucky ones. Johnson and Yakubu both tipped in with two superb strikes apiece (Johnson's second being the pick of the bunch coming in the 90th minute after a lot of people had already hit the road). Arteta got a wicked deflection for his and Yakubu could barely miss to round off his hatrick. His middle goal where his feint sent two defenders sprawling before he calmly passed it just inside the post was brilliant.

Pienaar was back and looking brilliant, on this form he is putting Fernandes in the shade (You hope Fernandes get's up to speed soon becasue on current form he isn't looking worth the money Valancia will want for him). Stevie P did everything but score as did Anichebe who was so desperate to get on the scoresheet (He looks really eager to get the two goals he needs to become the club's all-time leading scorer in Europe). 6-1 to Everton, their goal coming on 60 minutes when a daisy-cutting free-kick somehow evaded Tim Howard.



Everything went right for the blues but this didn't bother the SK Brann fans. They really were brilliant. They sung and danced all night and got an ovation for all sides of the ground as we trooped to the exit.

Everton take on Fiorentina in the next round...the real business end of the tournament now. It'll be very tough but this is what we want. COYB!

Even the clown is telling the circus to stay in town

BBC SPORT | Sepp Blatter hostile to Premiership 39th game plan

The president of football's world governing body Fifa has told the BBC that plans by the Premier League to host games abroad will never happen.
Sepp Blatter also warned that the proposal could harm England's attempt to host the 2018 World Cup.

"This does not take into consideration the fans of the clubs and it gives the impression that they just want to go on tour to make some money," Blatter said.

"This will never happen, at least as long as I am the president of Fifa."

It has to be said I am loving this...the greedy money-men are looking massively foolish now. The whole idea of playing a randomly drawn 39th lague game and then having the rest of the world fight over who gets the 'honour' of hosting it was just so repugnant to anyone who knows the game. Kudos to everyone who remembered what footy is all about.

The only thing I can think of is that the whole idea is merely a stalking horse for something else 'cause it was just so bizarre and awkward and at odds with the spirit and integrity of the game.

Yak apologises

To be honest his performance last night was apology enough.

EVERTONFC.COM: | YAK'S APOLOGY

"Yakubu has apologised to his 'Everton family' for his late return from African Cup of Nations duty.

The Nigerian international was speaking after returning to the Blues' starting line-up for Wednesday night's 2-0 victory over SK Brann in the Uefa Cup.
It was the player's first taste of action for The Toffees following his punishment for returning to Everton three days later than expected after Nigeria's exit from the African Cup of Nations.

He produced a typically robust and full-blooded performance alongside Andrew Johnson in tough conditions in Bergen.

Afterwards he admitted he owed everyone associated with the Club an apology.
He told evertonTV: 'I feel like a part of a family here with everyone working together. We want to win something and achieve something together. I am so pleased to be playing again and it is thanks to the players and the manager.

'I came back late and I have apologised to everyone for that, the supporters too. It happened for personal reasons but I promise it won't happen again. I am so pleased to be back again now and playing again.

'The gaffer was very angry,' he continued, 'I have spoken to the manager and now it is over. I think the players were glad to see me back. It is good to be in a team where you know the players want you.'"

Cricus told to stay in town

Great to see that the rest of the world has more common sense than the Premier League's greedy chairmen.

BBC SPORT | Asia opposes Premier League plan

"Asian Football Confederation president Mohamed bin Hammam says he is strongly opposed to the Premier League's plan of top-flight clubs playing games abroad.

The English season could be extended by one match with the 39th round being played in five overseas venues.

'We'll vote strongly against it. The Premier League is putting money before responsibility and dignity,' Hammam told BBC sports editor Mihir Bose.

'As far as Asia is concerned, I'm not supportive of this initiative.'

The plans to play a 39th round of games abroad from January 2011 have sparked widespread criticism.

And the BBC has learned that world governing body Fifa is also lukewarm about the idea.
It has made it clear it will not consider the proposal unless it comes from the English Football Association, rather than the Premier League."

And the US has said it would only entertain the idea if Fifa approved it.

However, some federations in the Middle East have expressed an interest in the plans.

Qatar says it would love to stage a game in Doha while Saudi Arabia says it would be interested if the matches involved big teams such as Manchester United, Chelsea or Liverpool.

Hammam believes the Premier League and its chief executive Richard Scudamore should have thought more carefully about the proposal before it became public.

"I wish the people in charge of the Premier League would think twice about organising any matches outside England in Asia," added Hammam.

"Friendly matches I'm not against. I welcome that. But I cannot digest at all that a different league will be played in another country than its own.

"There was no consultation, I just read about it in the newspapers.

"But the recommendation as far as this is concerned will be no. There's no question of the Premier League organising such a match in Asia.

That's restored a bit of my faith in the game.

THE CORDAROUNDS BLOG

THE CORDAROUNDS BLOG

What an odd, odd site. Perticularly liked their soft-o-meter with it's rating of : As soft as "A freshly laundered bunny".

Gerrin!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It wasn't pretty, defniately not pretty SK Brann were no pushovers....given that was effectively the first game of their season they did well. Everton stroked it about well enough but Brann always looked dangerous on the break...but for a bit of a lack of sharpness and possibly a lack of match fitness we could have been facing a defecit going into the second leg. Credit to Everton though, they stuck at it and although they weren 't really firing on all cylinders we deserved the win. Our first was a great strike from Osman after 59 minutes. A really good goal curled into across the goal...it was just reward 'cause Leon had a similar effort saved in the first half. After that I think Everton benefitted from Brann coming forward more and perhaps the Norwegians were a bit leggy...late on a fantasticly curled, weighted low cross from Lescott found a suspiciously offside Anichebe to cheekilly knock it in for 2-0. Great result...a few of the 1000s of Evertonians spilled onto the pitch at the final whistle for a good natured pitch invasion at the end much to the annoyance of a stern Phil Neville.



Special mention has to go to both Yakubu and Moyes...Yak screwed up, Moyes sorted it (along with the rest of the squad apparently). No posturing, no pouting, no media battles, no agents. Well done lads. God I love Everton. COYB! Top marks got to the travelling blues who debuted their new song "Find the Yak and he will score!". Brilliant!




Note the sponsorless kits...that would have looked great if we'd have had our traditional white shorts and socks. I thought Utd's Munich memorial retro style shirts looked fantastic at the weekend (pity about the result). A great tribute to The Busby Babes.



Whilst on that subject hats off to everyone who was at that game for giving the occasion the respect and gravitas in deserved. Deep down we all knew the City fans would do themselves proud.



changing subject completely : This is my song of the day after hearing it on BBC Radio6 recently.

Moving swiftly on

There are two possible mitigating reasons for not posting anything since the weekend.

The first being I've recently changed jobs and so whilst I am no longer trundled nose-to-tail along the M56 every morning to Manchester I am massively busy trying to learn the ropes at my new place. The new place is Hit Search Limited who specialise in Search Engine Optimisation and Pay Per Click internet advertising (do you see what I did there?!?!). As far as I can tell so far my job is to sit in the corner and look bewildered ;). Many thanks to Andy Redfern & Andy Donaldson (You see! How confusing is that?) for being patient with me. Anyway bottom line is having a busy but fun time at Hitsearch and I'm really enjoying driving 14 miles a day instead of 75.

No-one at my new company can tell me the name of this fellow though :



The other reason is that I've only just woken up from my Everton induced coma after the Reading game at the weekend. Poor was the politest word I heard used to describe it. Both teams STUNK! Not a lot else to say really...With Yak going AWOL before the game it left us a bit toothless. AJ worked himself into the ground but there has to be someone to pass to. Arteta and Cahill both had bad games and Fernandes is still finding his feet.


Thank God for Jagielka who had a great game whilst all around him looked lost!

Reading are in a false position I'd say...they looked tidy and businesslike. You'd struggle to tell who was 4th and who was 4th from bottom. A cutting edge is all they need. After the weekend the relegation battle is looking pretty messy. Sunderland won but Wigan looked decent...Reading look decent every week but lose, Derby (obviously) & Fulham look in trouble but apart from that it's tricky...unless you look further up and see Newcastle floundering....but surely that can't happen.

The circus is leaving town

Premier to play fixtures overseas

"The English Premier League is considering playing some matches overseas, BBC Sport has learned.

At a meeting in London on Thursday, all 20 clubs agreed to explore a proposal to extend the season to 39 games.

Those 10 extra games would be played at venues around the world, with cities bidding for the right to stage them.

It is understood the additional fixtures could be determined by a draw but that the top-five teams could be seeded to avoid playing each other."

This has got to be a joke...if that happens footy is over. It's just a circus after that. 39 games a season? You play everyon ohme and away then well all decamp to Thailand or Kuala Lumpur for a randomly chosen one-off fixture in order to make a bit of extra cash....nah, that'll be it for me.

I THOUGHT this would be the weirdest sporting story of the day until this turned up on the radio on the way home :

"Pakistani cricket captain Shoaib Malik has threatened to sue an Indian family for alleging he married their daughter over the telephone five years ago.

He has accused the Muslim family from the city of Hyderabad of committing an internet marriage fraud against him.

The family says that the marriage took place in June 2002 after a two-month courtship with witnesses on both sides.

When news of the relationship became public in 2005, it was hailed as a love affair that crossed borders.

But now it has turned sour with both sides threatening legal action.

"I was interested in marrying her after she told me she belonged to an Indian Muslim family in Hyderabad and sent me her pictures," Mr Malik told a news conference in Lahore.

He said that although he had spoken to the woman, Ayesha Siddiqui, on the telephone and chatted to her on the internet, they never actually met.

Mr Malik said that he came to realise in 2005 that the girl in the photograph was not who she claimed to be and that the relationship ended in that year.

He said that the Siddiqui family in Hyderabad had tricked him on the internet into believing she was the girl in the picture.

"I can claim with authority that no nikkah [Muslim marriage ceremony] has ever been performed [by me] with a girl having a name of Ayesha," Mr Malik said.

"This is an accusation against me, and I will take legal action, both in India and in Pakistan."

However, The Times of India newspaper has quoted Mohammed Ahmed Siddiqui, the father of the woman, Ayesha, as saying Mr Malik should acknowledge the marriage took place in June 2002 - for which he has proof - and that he should divorce his daughter.

Mr Siddiqui argued that Islamic Sharia laws recognises the exchange of marriage vows over the telephone and has threatened legal action against Mr Malik.

He said that his daughter has been ill since Mr Malik denied his relationship with her.

In 2005, Ayesha told the BBC that the two had met for the first time in Dubai in 2000 where Shoaib had come as a member of a Pakistani team and she was there with her family shopping.

Ayesha recalled that they bumped into each other accidentally at a hotel where she had gone for a meal and had left behind her keys.

A young man came to return the key who she said turned out to be Shoaib.

Shoaib Malik became Pakistan's cricket captain last year after the team's surprise exit from the World Cup. "

Cricket365 - Malik Denies Telephonic Marriage

BBC Sport - Pakistan captain in 'love scam'

Telegraph - Pakistan cricket captain's 'net marriage fraud'

What we've always suspected : Everton are cursed

This made me laugh (thanks to Ger on ThePeople'sForum for posting it):

Everton are just unlucky

THERE are times in my life when I'm incredibly grateful to my dad for taking me to see Southend United on my 11th birthday.

It was freezing cold, everything smelt of fried onions, someone urinated on my trainers and Huddersfield won 1-0. But somehow it felt so right.

It was the start of an unlikely love affair with a football team that is doomed forever to wander the lower leagues like a mournful wraith.

Southend will never win anything of note, we will never field England internationals and we are unlikely to launch our own TV station, but my God, it must be more fun than being an Everton fan.

Everton are that bloke in your office who arrives an hour before anyone else and always stays late, but never gets that pay rise.

They're the desperate wedding guest who never catches the bouquet.

They're the house-trained, fully-grown Labrador in the dog pound that never gets chosen because the puppies look cuter.

They are destined to do everything right, but inexplicably fail.

Have a look at the League table, they're in fourth place. Reckon it will last? Of course it won't.

Fractious, underwhelming, underperforming, inconsistent Liverpool will somehow recover and snatch it from them.

Why? Because things like that happen to Everton.

Even when they did somehow scrape the final Champions League place in 2005, they ended up crashing out in the preliminaries.

Everton being Everton, they were inevitably drawn against the only other decent team forced to jump through the hoops, Villarreal, and they lost when they had a perfectly good goal disallowed.

I don't know how the Goodison Park faithful manage to get up in the morning, I really don't.

It was happening again at the weekend when they were denied a perfectly good goal by Sepp Blatter's Offside Clarification of 2004.

Andy Johnson, who scored when he was onside by a comfortable margin, saw his goal ruled out because he was deemed offside.

The problem, you see, was that Johnson was offside when the move started, but was deemed to be onside because he wasn't interfering with play.

Then, when he was onside, he was deemed to be offside, because it was the second phase and despite being offside, but onside, for the first phase, he was onside, but actually offside for the second.

Thanks for clarifying that, Sepp. Keep up the good work.

Another take on the whole thing is this :

Everton paying for pact with devil

Evertonians must like tension – the years we spent on the razor’s edge of relegation weren’t able to be healed by warm, coddled mid-table safety for long. Now we have a different set of reasons to grab every point that we can get.

Whereas in the past we would breathe a long sigh of relief at the season’s end – at the dodgy offside goal we scored (and the ref didn’t notice) – now we count the points struck off our potential final tally by officials in need of dark glasses and white sticks. A point here, a disallowed goal there ... it all counts, and it all makes a huge difference. Like the princess who had umpteen mattresses between her and a pea, a miniscule refereeing mistake can have gargantuan consequences.

Pierluigi Collina’s heart-breaking and unfathomable decision to disallow Duncan Ferguson’s equaliser against Villarreal that stopped us cold at the Champions League qualifier stage still haunts me. This season, however, the gaffes could stop Everton from even getting to that stage.

I have to wonder if the FA charge against David Moyes for his post-derby Mark Clattenburg comments (”Didn’t Clattenburg go to Hong Kong with Liverpool for the Asia Cup this summer? Maybe he wants to be their friend”) was recently dropped because the FA feared where this investigation would focus.

The Merseyside derby result hangs on my back like a black dog, as do the two points dropped against Blackburn at the weekend, when James Vaughan and AJ combined wonderfully, but were denied cruelly by the linesman.

To borrow and bend the Bard: As flies to wanton boys are we to the referees; they cheat us for their sport.

As it is, Everton are in fourth spot but remain uncomfortably close to the chasing pack. If certain results had gone the way the laws of the game intended and myopic refs hadn’t missed legit goals, we would surely be more securely ensconced in fourth place.

Despite a video dossier to the contrary, the knee-jerk reaction of most refs to the sight of AJ taking a tumble is to treat it as a dive, such is his reputation. AJ is forced to chase long balls and lost causes, evade defenders, sidestep his reputation as a diver, stay on his feet despite being fouled, and then score – a thankless task.

The fact that Everton haven’t been awarded a single penalty in the Premier League this season speaks volumes. Add to that the several penalties we have been awarded by continental referees in the UEFA Cup games we played this season, and you wonder if there is a congenital British eye defect inbred amongst referees and linesmen.

Looking back at Everton’s miraculous 3-2 win against pugnacious bruisers Wimbledon back in 1994 – coming back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in truly amazing circumstances – I always suspected a Faustian pact secured this win. Are we paying for that luck now?

Personally I can't see it, surely if Hollywood has taught us nothing else is that the devil is contant;y looking after his charges...I prefer to think that being an Everton fan is a path full of trials and tribulations that ultimately leads to righteousness. I've got to cling to something I suppose. ;)

Twenty20

New Zealand V England, Eden Park, Auckland. New Zealand

Great to have the cricket back although it was a bit gutting it not being on Radio 4 long-wave this morning. Nice to see England get off to a winning start too.

Love this picture :

Dazed and confused

Two things today :

Lewis Hamilton subject to racist abuse by Spanish fans

What on earth is all that about....if it wasn't so offsensive it's almost funny it's that petty & pathetic. Utterly horrible.


Dispicable.

To his credit Hamilton came out with a nice statement about the whole thing :

"The truth is I feel somewhat sad," he said. "I love this country, especially the city of Barcelona. The people in Spain have always been very warm."

Further backing up the general consensus that as well as being a superstar he's a really nice bloke too.

Benjani deal will go through

This is puzzling too, don't see how they can get that transfer through. You either meet the deadline or you don't. The waters wer eespecially muddied by City saying they felt pressured and bullied by Portsmouth and Benjani waiting until the last possible moment to turn up and get the deal done. I wonder if this is some good old fashioned Harry Redknapp wheeling and dealing.

The Day The Rugby Died - The Rugby Forum

Melodramtic but I tihnk this article deserve an airing :

The Day The Rugby Died - The Rugby Forum

Wednesday 9th January 2008. That was the date which may well be remembered as when England blew their chances for the 2011 World Cup. Despite being less then 4 months since the unexpected World Cup final appearance and the wealth of young talent presently in the Guinness Premiership, England may well have already thrown their chances away.

How is that possible? It’s a full 3 1/2 years until the world turns it’s eyes to Middle Earth and the next All Black hype machine becomes a disappointment… Well, yes, there is a long time to go. However if England’s rapidly ageing squad is to evolve onto the next generation, the old guard need to take a step to the side along with the upper echelons of the Union who prefer old names for money rather then young talent for success.

With the announcement of this squad for the Six Nations, there were many familiar faces amongst the names reeled off; Ben Kay, Mark Reegan, Joe Worsley, Ian Balshaw, Charlie Hodgson, Jamie Noon, Mike Tindall and Jonny Wilkinson, with Phil Vickery as captain. In fact, there is little change between the squad announced for this tournament and the squad taken to France in 2007.

This is a worrying turn of events considering how few the young English talent who’ve turned heads so far this year in the Guinness Premiership have been only called up to the Saxons, more worrying the number whom are ignored completely; Gloucester’s Andy Titterell, Ryan Lamb & James Simpson-Daniel, Leicester’s Ollie Smith, Jordan Crane and Danny Hipkiss, Bath trio Abendanon, Banahan and Lipman, London Wasp Tom Palmer and from ND1, Saints Dylan Hartley and 20-try Chris Ashton all missed the cut for Brian Ashtons squad.

For those still unaware, England’s Six Nations squad currently looks like;

Backs: Balshaw (Gloucester), Cipriani (Wasps), Cueto (Sale Sharks), Flood (Newcastle), Gomarsall (Harlequins), Hodgson (Sale Sharks), Noon (Newcastle), Richards (London Irish), Sackey (Wasps), Strettle (Harlequins), Tait (Newcastle), Tindall (Gloucester), Wigglesworth (Sale), Wilkinson (Newcastle), Vainikolo (Gloucester).

Forwards: Borthwick (Bath), Croft (Leicester), Chuter (Leicester), L Deacon (Leicester), Easter (Harlequins), Haskell (Wasps), Kay (Leicester), Mears (Bath), Moody (Leicester), Payne (Wasps), Rees (Wasps), Regan (Bristol), Shaw (Wasps), Sheridan (Sale), Stevens (Bath), Vickery (Wasps, capt), Worsley (Wasps)

Some fans will say with great enthusiasm “that looks like a step in the right direction” seeing the inclusion of Haskell, Croft, Rees, Cipriani, Wigglesworth, Payne and Vainikolo, but how many of these names get starts over the 5 match series is questionable. With the selected 32 as it stands, a likely XXII for the 2nd Feb against Warren Gatland’s Wales will be as follows;

1. Sheridan
2. Regan
3. Vickery
4. Shaw
5. Kay
6. Haskell
7. Moody
8. Easter
9. Gommersall
10. Wilkinson
11. Sackey
12. Flood
13. Tindall
14. Strettle
15. Tait

16. Mears
17. Stevens
18. Borthwick
19. Rees
20. Richards
21. Cipriani
22. Vinakolo

That team simply isn’t good enough and it certainly isn’t “moving forwards”. Sure, a couple of names have been brought in on the bench, but as a side with the perfect opportunity to build a strong squad before the next world cup, debuting 29 year old Vinakolo as a sub (who will be 33 years old in 2011 and has been pretty average since he promising Gloucester debut) or making the bright young talent of Cipriani play second fiddle to Jonny Wilkinson, who’s once bright superstar talent is fading fast, is a far too conservative selection for even the most Nazi of political commentators.

Other annoying risks being taken include the Matthew Tait, whom can’t neither tackle or go into contact without knocking on, at fullback where he’s been playing poorly for Newcastle and old warhorse Mike Tindall at centre, whom even the most one eyed Gloucester fan will tell you isn’t a shadow of his former self.

In the pack, Vickery, who has displayed neither the leadership skills nor playing the ability since his horrific injury 2 years ago, not only remains in the squad but also retains captaincy. Ben Kay, who’s not been remotely useful for neither club nor country since 2003 and Mark Regan, who’s only possible use is to wind up the opposition and annoy the referee, also worm their way into the side somehow.

Also on the wings are have Paul Sackey and David Strettle. Both are good workers for their club sides in the Premiership, but neither player is of international standard for power, pace, vision or skill. This presents a problem all of it’s own against any team managed by Warren Gatland and Shawn Edwards; Countering the Blitz defence.

There are 3 ways to get through a team using a Blitz;

- Cut out to the centre who will scissor with the wing, which requires very deft hands from your 13 and perfect timing from your winger.
- Chip over the fullback and collect, which will require the wings and centres to burst out the blocks and maintain the pace.
- Bulldoze your way through, which requires your whole pack and both centres to pick, drive and protect for the duration.

As the expected XV does not have anywhere near what is required, chances are high of Williams or Brew coming up the outside and intercepting everything Wilkinson or Flood float out to Strettle and Sackey, provided the Newcastle duo don’t simply hoof the ball downfield every time they get it. Should those wide passes happen and get intercepted, every time the Prince of Wales will end up one-on-one with Tait it’ll be try-time.

Add to this Jones’ trickiness or Hooks’ running ability pulling the string at 10, the rejuvenated Henson running the show at 12, the balls to the wall play of Thomas at 13 and the dangerous counter attack running from Sweeney at fullback, then England could be in deep trouble against a very different Welsh side to that which disappointed during the World Cup. A win is still expected of the home side, but an easy victory certainly will not be.

Consider the backline of;

9. Andy Gommersall
10. Jonny Wilkinson
11. Paul Sackey
12. Toby Flood
13. Mike Tindall
14. David Strettle
15. Matthew Tait

Apart from Jason Robinson, that is as near to the best England could have hoped for in Paris last year, but now it is completely unacceptable. Consider the Saxons backline likely to appear at some point against Ireland ‘A’ on Feb 1st at Welford Road;

9. Danny Care
10. Ryan Lamb
11. James Simpson-Daniel
12 .Anthony Allen
13. Danny Hipkiss
14. Chris Ashton
15. Nick Abendanon

In every position on the field, the Saxons will feature younger, quicker, stronger and better players then their 1st XV counterparts. This looks fantastic for the future (one would assume), but because of the way the England team is run and the nepotism involved in selection according to what club they play for, the world be lucky to see more then 3 of those players ever progress to the full international squad.

The hope that a new, young, hungry England team would run out against Wales at Twickenham on the 2nd of February 2008, aiming to rebuild and reclaim their world crown was dashed with the announcement of the same old squad England have used for the past 5 years.

And that’s why January 9th 2008 will be remembered, at least in English minds and hearts, as the day the rugby died.

oh for ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff

I hate to say I told you so but :

"as I type I havea feeling England are going to get mugged by Wales despite clearly being the better side." Stuart Brandwood - 17:46 2/2/08

England 19 - 26 Wales

I could just see that coming from miles off....disgusting second half performance.

I have just seen Andy Johnson score Everton's goal today at Blackburn and I am apoplectic...how onside do you need to be?!?!?!?!

ONSIDE! Conspiracy theory, corrupt referee etc etc etc


Andy Johnson clearly onside

Almost

Blackburn 0-0 Everton

Apparently Everton were robbed this afternoon, perfectly good Andy Johnson goal chalked off by the referee.

Grrrr!

Waterloo lost away to Nuneaton but picked up a losing bonus.

:( :( :(

Not a happy bunny because as I type I havea feeling England are going to get mugged by Wales despite clearly being the better side.

At least Peterborough won

so/so

Bit disappointed with the 0-0 last night, it was just one of those nights. It had "Bad night at the office" written all over it. It was, in fact, surprising that we didn't get mugged at the end.

Everton played well enough without ever really looking like they hada cutting edge. Arteta looked strangely reticent but Spurs are in impressive outfit at the moment so I'd take the point.

Phil Neville makes the right noises AGAIN

Gutted after Wednesday but Neville has summed it up well :

Phile Neville "Not the end"

"I said in the dressing room after the game, this is not the end. This is the beginning. The beginning of playing in games like this where the pressure is really on and making sure we go out there and enjoy it. We’ve still got fourth place to play for and the UEFA Cup, so let’s make it a great end to the season and not wallow in defeat, although this does hurt.”

Neville added: “This can’t be a negative. We have to take all the positives out of this Carling Cup run. We’ve changed the perception of what people think of us, teams are respecting us more now. We must make this the start to a great end of the season. We have Tottenham and Blackburn coming up next week, which are two massive games.

“In my previous two seasons at the club, around this time we have had nothing to play for. Now we have everything to play for. Every game seems like a cup final, and for me in particular that’s what I want, that’s the level I want to be playing in football.

“No-one likes to lose a semi-final. But as we said after the Arsenal and Manchester United games in the league, big games are decided by small percentages"

Make no mistakes about it, it was a good night to be a blue. If nothing else it was worth going just for the noise & singing before the game. I have never experienced anything as loud and intense. Fantastic. Once the game started it was a tense, nervy affair. Everton played well but Chelsea kept us at arms length....we had just turned up the heat when they picked us off on the break. A shame really 'cause if we'd have got that goal the place would have went mental. On another night at least one of the 3 or 4 decent chances we carved out would have went in but really The Pensioners deserved it. All you can say is that it might have been different if they needed a goal out of the game. Hope they win the final, it'll help to have an extra UEFA place going to the league. Great to see Fernandes back, he looked brilliant until he tired. Lescott was beyond awesome too.

Ah well, disappointed but proud was the general consensus...when the final whistle went everyone started singing and applauding the players effort. It just wasn't our turn.

WEIR & UNSY BACK BLUES

WEIR & UNSY BACK BLUES

Former Everton stars David Weir and David Unsworth have sent good luck messages ahead of the Carling Cup semi-final.

The Toffees take on Chelsea at Goodison Park on Wednesday evening and the two ex-stalwarts are right behind their old colleagues.

"It will be a great occasion with hopefully the right result," said Weir.

"I will be involved in Rangers' match with East Stirling but I will be chasing the Everton result as soon as the final whistle goes.

"I was at Finch Farm recently to see the lads and I was pleased to see that the old Bellefield spirit has been carried to the new place. They are a terrific set of lads and I would love it if they could turn Chelsea over and reach Wembley.

"My sincere best wishes go to you all and I hope the fans get what they deserve...a truly memorable night and a place in the final."

"Unsworth, who was a member of the last Everton team to play in a cup semi-final, the FA Cup in 1995, is also keeping his fingers crossed for a home win by the right score.

'I would love to be there because I just know from first-hand experience what Goodison is going to be like,' he said.

'There is nothing like it when it's rammed full and rocking. I well recall THAT Wimbledon game when the atmosphere was unbelievable...and the place only had three sides!'

'And Evertonians still speak to me about our semi-final win in 95. We knew how much it meant to the fans and I know that the current set of lads do as well.'"

Great to hear from two of my favourite players before tonight...I am dreading and looking forward to the game in equal measure.

Calming the nerves

Martin Samuel has written a few good articles about Everton, here's the latest :

"The title of pound-for-pound champion is a peculiar thing. There is no belt or crown awarded to the holder, no tangible financial benefit. There are no bragging rights, either, considering all the experts in the world could never produce a standard formula for measuring who would come out on top if every boxer on the planet was shrunk or inflated to the same size and weight and then judged purely on ability.

Yet the designation of the pound-for-pound champion is taken seriously enough by The Ring, the respected boxing magazine, for there to be a permanent list in existence. The most recent, published on January 14, had Floyd Mayweather Jr, the welterweight conqueror of Ricky Hatton, at No 1, unsurprisingly considering his record of 39 undefeated contests and six world crowns at five weights.

Joe Calzaghe, Britain’s own super-middleweight, is fifth, his record of 44 unbeaten contests the most impressive of any boxer in the top ten. It could be argued that he deserved to be higher, which is perhaps the beauty of the pound-for-pound rankings. Because they are unquantifiable, all are subject to opinion. Nobody is right, nobody is wrong, but welcome to the debate nonetheless.

In reality, Mayweather would get his clock cleaned by Wladimir Klitschko, a heavyweight champion, because of his 100lb weight, 10.6inch height and 12.6inch reach advantage, but that is only an accident of birth. The Ring’s pound-for-pound table is there to give an idea of who would be best were boxing handicapped, like horse racing. There is no equivalent of this in football, but if there were the Mayweather position could well go to Everton.

Is there a better run, better managed, better value-for-money team in the Barclays Premier League? Is there a group of players giving more bang per buck, a team who could correlate their financial outlay and status with recent success and claim to be offering a superior return? Everton have not won anything of late, but who, beyond the elite four, has?"

Everton, pound for pound champions

And here's one about Moyes :

"Last week David Moyes marked 10 years in management. 'Ten unbroken years,' he said. 'And 28 in football. Since I signed for Celtic at 16 there's not been a day when I've been out of work.'

It is a remarkable record. A modern manager who has never been sacked. After four successful years at Preston and six at Everton, he is now the third longest-serving manager in the Barclays Premier League, although for reasons best known to the men with more money than sense, keeps being ignored when certain jobs become available.

Mike Ashley clearly suffered a short circuit in his brain when he turned to Kevin Keegan this week and Daniel Levy, the cowardly chairman of Tottenham, has proved something of a Euro-snob.

But Sir Alex Ferguson recognises the obvious qualities in someone he once considered for the post of his deputy and said as much recently.

In his Manchester United programme notes he suggested that Everton were the club most likely to break into the top four. And why? Because they have a group of gifted young players who will continue to grow together and one of the finest young managers in the game.

Moyes is far too modest to respond as he enjoys lunch in a Lancashire hotel.

'I'm not someone who seeks recognition,' he said. 'I just let people judge me on my work.'

His work at Goodison has been impressive. He was seventh in his first full season, 17th after that, but then fourth, 11th and sixth. Today his team are fifth and on the same number of points as Liverpool, in the latter stages of the UEFA Cup and in the semi-finals of the Carling Cup. And here's the really amazing bit. After six years he is close to breaking even in the transfer market. No wonder his contemporaries at the League Managers' Association have twice voted him Manager of the Year."

Yipes

Seen the goals from the Wigan game, actually felt sorry for Titus Bramble (I must be getting old)...He is such a weird player...rock solid 99.9% of the time then he just goes bonkers.

If you watch the replays from the low angle you just see the moment when he scuffs his backpass and the crowd all reason what's going to happen. Credit to AJ for not celebrating his mate's mistake.

YouTube - fonejacker- doovde ready for de HD

YouTube - fonejacker- doovde ready for de HD



I find this dead, dead funny but then again I am in a stupidly good mood after Everton's 2-1 win at Wigan. AJ and Lescott netting before the break and holding on after a Jagielka own-goal. Haven't seen anything of it yet...aparently it was a scrappy game on a rubbish pitch and we were lucky to nick the points but who's complaining.

COYB!!!!!!!!!!!

Wigan Athletic 1 - 2 Everton

Fame at last plus a bit of infamy too

BBC NEWS | In Pictures | Your pics of Europe's Capital of Culture

The BBC used some of my pics for their Liverpool : Capital of Culture gallery. Particularly like the Everton ones.

and in other news a guy also named Stuart Brandwood from Warrington tried to win £50k for admitting going on a prostitute and drug orgy!

Not me! Not me! Not me!

McFadden moves to Birmingham City

EVERTONFC.COM: | FADDY DEAL COMPLETED

Sad to see James McFadden go but it's probably best for everyone. The fees being talked about are around the £5.5 million mark...it's difficult to turn that sort of cash down.

I'll never forget either of these though :







And how crucial a strike was this :



Hope it goes well for him (apart from when he plays us), this could be a great move for him 'cause he'll get the run of games he needs.

ANOTHER dull but informative blog entry!

The centre of the country

Centre points of the UK

Geographic Centre of Great Britain :

Geographic Centre of England :

Geographic Centre of Scotland :

Geographic Centre of Wales :

Geographic Centre of Northern Ireland :

Dull but useful blog post

MySpaceTV Videos: How To Sharpen A Knife by Gordon Ramsay

How To Sharpen A Knife

We want a match of the day

c'mon BBC, give us our Match of the Day for rugby. We know you'd do it brilliantly!

Stop shovelling money into Jonathon Ross' pockets and get Ruck of the Day going! I know Waterloo aren't going to feature any time soon but surely everyone would gain from having a weekly show covering Guinness, Magners & Heineken games.

We want a Match of the Day for rugby

Facebook group"

MotD for rugby petition

Fernandes joins Everton on loan

Manuel Fernandes joins Everton on loan

Glad we've tied that up....he has got bags of potential. If he reproduces the form he showed last time it should be good.

Everton 1-0 Man City

Everton 1-0 Man City

Whatever way you look at it that's a great result. I know City haven't been taking it on the road this season (They went until after christmas before they dropped a single point at home!) but that is a vitally important win for us. I didn't make it to the game so can't really add much but I am so chuffed Lescott got the goal after his funny aberration midweek.



My optimism about the semi-final second leg is diminishing rapidly...They now have Anelka who, as far as I can tell, isn't cup-tied.

Went to town on Friday to see the opening ceremony of Liverpool's Capital of Culture celebrations. Brilliant event...everyone seemed to love it. The crowd was immense have heard figures between 25,000 - 50,000. I think it was a lot more than they were expecting.

Capital of Culture opening

PEOPLE WHO HATE PEOPLE

Much as I love the folk on FiveLive Breakfast and Drive (Nicky Campbell, Shelagh Fogarty, Peter Allen and Jane Garvey have been synonymous with my daily commute for as long as I can remember) this made me chuckle :

PEOPLE WHO HATE PEOPLE

It also has a link to a Holy Grail of mine...The fantastic Mitchell & Webb Train Crash Radio Interview Sketch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To balance it here is the Breakfast blog entry for tonight's Capital of Culture events :

5live breakfast blog

City prepares for culture party

Liverpool prepares for Capital of culture party

Liverpool 08 : Grand opening

Here we go...

Liverpool is preparing to twist and shout about its Capital of Culture title with acrobats, pupils and a former Beatle at the official opening.

The People's Opening event will take place in front and on top of St George's Hall in the city centre.

It will kick start a year-long programme of more than 350 events, which are set to attract an extra two million visitors to the city.

The ceremony starts at 2008 GMT and is expected to attract 30,000 people.

More than 600 performers will take to the stage during the event.

The show's centrepiece will be a rooftop performance by Ringo Starr who will be premiering a new song.

semi dissappointed

Well you've got to look at that as an opportunity lost. 1-1 against 10 men in the away leg and we sat back and tried to play out the draw. Can't blame Lescott too much, pretty sure it must have been a foul by Wright-Phillips. Now we need to grab a goal at Goodison...This is possibly a better situation that having to nervously sit back and defend from the off. We are still in the game (a lot of blues would have taken 1-2 before the game started). The 2nd leg will be a tremendous occasion...really looking forward to it. COYB!

Chelsea 1 - 2 Everton, Carling Cup Semi-Final 1st leg

Looks like Manny Fernandes is coming back to Goodison after ditching us at the last minute to not play Champions League football with Valencia (3 appearances). A loan will suit everyone...he's got to establish himself at Goodison and prove he's worth a permanent move because ultimately Steven Pienaar has taken his place pretty well. If nothing else he'll fill in whilst Pienaar is away and Osman is getting back to fitness. He can't command anything like the £12m transfer fee Valencia paid for him now.

Phil Neville keen to revive Goodison glory days

Phil makes all the right noises yet again

Phil Neville keen to revive Goodison glory days

"He has 10 medals, from the surprisingly small, delicate one that denotes you have won the FA Cup to the more conventional hunk of gold given to those who have taken the Champions League. However, should Phil Neville lead Everton to the Carling Cup, he admits it will mean as much as any of them."

"It would be one of my greatest achievements," he remarked while preparing for the first leg of tonight's semi-final against Chelsea. "I am captain, I am older and the next medal is always the best. To take this club to Wembley would be sensational. The fans are dying for silverware."

Winning silverware is something that outside the 'big four' has gone out of fashion. There are those who would prefer a Champions League or a Uefa Cup finish to a League Cup or even an FA Cup. They talk about the importance of revenue when football is essentially all about glory.

When Neville left Old Trafford for Goodison Park three years ago, Everton had qualified for the Champions League. Their 'campaign' lasted for a single round which they lost to Villareal. The image of the then Everton captain, Dave Watson, sleeping with the FA Cup in 1995 will not go away.

"Three months after we had qualified for the Champions League everyone had forgotten about it," Neville said. "People still talk about the Howard Kendall days and those players still walk around as legends. That's what happens at clubs like this. If we win this year, it would be remembered forever.

"Technically, we are a better team than the one which made the Champions League in 2005. That team were mentally tougher than we are but, technically, we play better now.

"The mood has changed towards Everton. I noticed when I came here that the glass was always half empty. Because of the lack of success over the previous 10 years, there was negativity and now people look forward to games."

This struck me as interesting on the official site (Phil Neville : One more) :

Phil Neville wants to complete his domestic medal collection.

The League Cup is the only trophy to elude the Blues skipper and he wants to win the competition with Everton.

David Moyes’ men take on Chelsea in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final on Tuesday evening and Neville admits the prospect of leading Everton out at Wembley would be the proudest moment of his career.

He told evertonTV: "This is the only winners medal I have not got. I have two losers medals and normally I give my medals to my father.

"But those two losing medals I have kept in a drawer at home. I look at them occasionally to remind myself of what it is like to lose a major final, and it is something I do not want to happen again.

"To be the Everton captain that leads the side out at Wembley would probably be the best thing that has happened in my career.”

Interesting how he keeps the losers medals in spur him on to get the one medal that he hasn't been able to give to his dad yet.



Everton have lost our fight to play Pienaar, can't really complain about that rules are rules I suppose. We are very short on creativity in midfield now...A decent solid Everton-like performance would be great tonight. It's going to be tough, we are 4th favourites. A final would be fantastic. COYB!

Give them enough rope...

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Clarkson stung after bank prank: "TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson has lost money after publishing his bank details in his newspaper column.

The Top Gear host revealed his account numbers after rubbishing the furore over the loss of 25 million people's personal details on two computer discs.

He wanted to prove the story was a fuss about nothing.

But Clarkson admitted he was 'wrong' after he discovered a reader had used the details to create a £500 direct debit to the charity Diabetes UK."

Ha ha ha ha, What a pompous, supercilious oaf that man is. It's frightening how many people seem to worship him and his smug cronies on Top Gear.

Carling Cup Semi-final team selection issues.

Tricky one this....does the rule state that it's 14 days before THE first game or THEIR first game. We really could do with him. It's a shame South Africa are being so tough about it all, but then again I suppose they don't want a late injury to disrupt their plans.

MOYES EXPECTS PIENAAR TO PLAY?: "Everton had been negotiating with the South African Football Association in order to secure Pienaar's services for the first leg of the Carling Cup semi final on Tuesday.

But recent reports in South Africa said the international management were expecting Pienaar to join the squad on Sunday.

And now Moyes is highlighting the 14-day rule to lay claim to the midfielder, who is on loan from Borussia Dortmund.

Fifa regulations say a country can claim their player 14 days before international action.

The African Cup of Nations begins on January 20, but South Africa aren't in action until January 23 - which is 15 days after the game at Stamford Bridge."

Also we have this from new signing Dan Gosling

Former Brixham United youth team player Dan Gosling joined the Barclaycard Premiership elite yesterday when Plymouth Argyle agreed to sell him to Everton for £1.5million.: "'I've never met Mr Moyes, because all the negotiations have been done over the telephone,' said Gosling in an exclusive interview with the Herald Express last night.

'However, he's got it wrong if he thinks I'll settle for anything other than making the first team squad at Goodison Park.

'I shall do my best to knock on the first team door straight away.'

Gosling, discovered by local talent scout John James playing for Brixham United under-12s in the Pioneer Youth League, has made 24 first team appearances for Argyle since making his Coca Cola Championship debut at 16.

'It's going to be a lot harder for me at Premiership level, but I know I will relish the challenge of trying to break into the Everton first team,' he said.

'I don't know what position they have in mind for me having played at full-back and in midfield for Argyle. I haven't really discussed that side of it, but I'm comfortable playing anywhere and will play anywhere.'

Gosling says he definitely won't feel out of place rubbing shoulders with Premiership talent having played with a number of the country's up-and-coming stars for England"

Can't beat a bit of confidence. Hope he lives up to his hype.

Take a bow Chasetown and Oldham

Exclusive: Chasetown teamtalk from FA Cup draw with Port Vale

Chalie Blakemore

In the aftermath of our ignaminious FA Cup exit I thought I'd point you towards Chasetown FC who were the lowest ranked side in history to reach the 3rd round. Their manager Charlie Blakemore is like Winston Churchill. These are amateurs taking on professionals....and they won. You get a lot of smug inverted snobbery from rugby fans about the corinthian nature of their sport and the cynical nature of "diveball" or "poofball" or whatever they want to call it...but whilst the Guinness Premiership aristocrats are busy ringfencing and looking after number 1 football is still, for all it's faults, a meritocracy. This is 3rd round day....Our ground was packed to the rafters. my club got dumped out by a team in the doldrums of the league two division below us. Raise a glass.


Although I have to say..............M-People really were CACK.

Everton 0-1 Oldham

Balls! Thoroughly pissed off with that. Not a hint of sour grapes or bigger fish to fry...I love the cup. Congrats to Oldham....but Argh! One of THOSE afternoons but I suppose that's the cup for you : Some years you grab the glory, some years the rest of the country has a laugh at your expense. "Meet those two imposters just the same"

Everton 0-1 Oldham: "League One Oldham stunned Premier League high-fliers Everton with a deserved FA Cup third-round win.

Gary McDonald's spectacular 25-yard strike seconds before half-time capped a superb display of resilience and effort from John Sheridan's side.

James Vaughan and James McFadden wasted early chances to put Everton ahead.

Oldham held Everton at bay with relative ease after the break, although substitute Yakubu hit the post with only seconds remaining."



Anyway...off to have a beer. At least 'loo won...with a Stuey Bonus too.

Liverpool: European Capital of Culture - Telegraph

To my chagrin and shame I find myself reading the online edition of The Telegraph ak The Torygraph more and more often...if I can manage to to get past the editorials and politics it 's pretty good (although I am a loyal Times reader). Anyway :

Liverpool: European Capital of Culture - Telegraph:

"We support it to our fingertips, defend it against sneers of outsiders who go on and on about the scallies, burglars, thugs, drug dealers, whingers and footballers' wives who make the headlines and always crowd out any good news about our native city. Never mind all that, we say. It's going to be wonderful. Just watch us."

Kirkby development plans

Kirkby development

Roll up! Roll up! Feast your eyes on Everton's future!

AJ is A-Star

A-Star is the brainchild of Fitz Hall, Andy Johnson, Ken Bonsu and Ronnie Wilson, and was set up with the aim of encouraging young people to express themselves in a positive manner and to make it possible to be around role models who do not glamorize crime, guns or drugs. With the death rate among teenagers increasing Fitz and Ken wanted to do something.

So the name A-Star was chosen (A-Star=every child is a star) which fits in with the government initiative “Every child matters”

With those core beliefs in mind and heart. The guys set up a unique company that hopes to offer real opportunities for young people with a wide ranging choice of activities to participate in and hopefully gain employment in a chosen field.

A-Star

The mystery of the "A" goal celebration is solved! Top stuff, hats off to all involved.

Pienaar hopes to delay departure

Hope Pienaar can get permission to play in the semi...we are missing key players with Osman out and Arteta suspended (Thank you Mr Fabregas).

BBC SPORT | Football | African | Pienaar hopes to delay departure

Steven Pienaar hopes to be given special permission to delay his departure for the African Nations Cup.

The Everton midfielder wants to play against Chelsea in the Carling Cup before linking up with his South African team-mates.

The 25-year-old is one of a host of Premier League stars who will leave their clubs behind to go to Ghana.

The tournament kicks on 20 January but Pienaar wants to delay his departure until the last possible moment.

The South African squad come together on 5 January but, with the Carling Cup semi-final clash occurring three days later, Pienaar hopes a compromise can be reached.

He told Everton's website: "I'm supposed to be going on 5 January but we are trying our best so that I can stay for a bit longer.

"I hope we can agree on it because I am in-between at the minute and there is nothing I can do.

"I am like any other player and I want to be involved in the big games. The semi-final with Chelsea is so important and I want to be a part of the team that goes to Stamford Bridge.

"You always want to play for your country but you also always want to play for your club."

Bafana Bafana do not start their campaign until 23 January against Angola, raising hopes that a deal can be struck.

"I'm stuck in the middle but I hope the association gives me a day free because they know how important this game is for me," he added.

"It will be sad going away for so long especially when the team is doing so well. The spirit here is tremendous."

Clipper Round The World Yacht Race

Race Viewer | Multimedia | Clipper Round The World Yacht Race

This is ace....live tracking of Liverpool08's progress in the clipper race!

Clipper Race

Everton did brilliantly to put the Arsenal disappointment behind them...it was, just like the Utd game, a big blow but both times recently we've reacted well and put in a solid, businesslike performance to put things right. 6 points was the minimum we needed over Christmas so job done.

Great tribute to Phil O'Donnell from James McFadden too

Middlesbrough 0-2 Everton

Rubbish blogger alert

I've been busy & lazy in equal amounts recently so now blog.

Will get some match reports in ASAP. In the meant-time this picture says it all :

Weekend report

Let's start with The Yak....he looks the business at the moment. I think that's the first perfect hat-trick I've ever seen. One with the left foot, one with the right and header (in one half with no-one else scoring in between). Brilliant stuff. Yakubu Aiyegbeni take a bow.

BBC Report

Telegraph Report

Times Report

We are now 10 games unbeaten with 8 wins and 2 draws. This run is bound to come to an end sooner or later but now we have West Ham in the league cup and again in the league days later then what's effectively a friendly against AZ Alkmaar & United away (not holding much hope about getting anything from Old Trafford) before Bolton on Boxing Day. Desperately hoping we can get to the semi-final of the Carling Cup and take 4 points from the two league games . Keep them crossed.



Annoyingly Waterloo made wholesale team changes & contrived to lose against Ealing to crash out of the EDF Energy Trophy. Pity really a cup-run might have been nice.

Echo Report

Ricky Hatton found Floyd Mayweather just too good. Hard work only beat talent when talent doesn't work hard. For all the pre-bout talk of arrogance and complacency Mayweather just out-boxed Ricky. Pity, but ultimately the better boxer won and no-one can complain about it.

odd

BBC NEWS | UK | Jockeys acquitted of race-fixing

I have no interest in horse racing whatsoever but it's very odd that Fallon got off after all the phone evidence...just shows what you can achieve with an expensive lawyer :


The joy of text

and

they are watching me

CONSPIRATORS running a multi-million pound race-fixing scam made a desperate bid to confront Kieren Fallon after he lost them £160,000.

The trip to the jockey's home in Cowlinge, near Newmarket, on May 26, 2004, led to a "sinister" encounter for a plain-clothes police officer who was monitoring the gang's movements, the Old Bailey heard yesterday.

The incident unfolded 11 days after Fallon won a race which the prosecution allege he was supposed to lose.

Fallon, 42, fellow jockeys Darren Williams and Fergal Lynch, both 29; driver Shaun Lynch, 37; and barman Philip Sherkle, 42, all deny conspiracy to defraud.

Miles Rodgers, a professional gambler, also denies the charge as well as a charge of concealing the proceeds of crime.

The allegations revolve around 27 races between December 2002 and August 2004. It is alleged Fallon rode in 17 of these races and a total of £2.12 million was gambled on the races.

Fallon's mistake, when he rode Russian Rhythm to victory in a prestigious race at Newbury, led to Rodgers, the alleged ringleader of the conspiracy, losing a total of £160,256 he had laid on six Betfair accounts backing the horse to lose.

Jonathan Caplan, QC, prosecuting, said: "Rogers and the other conspirators were clearly expecting the horse to lose under Fallon, but things went wrong."

The loss of such a large sum, one of five occasions on which Fallon is alleged to have lost the conspiracy money, provoked an instant reaction.

On May 18, Shaun Lynch, the alleged middle-man between Rodgers and Fallon, was in phone contact with both men before driving with Rodgers from South Yorkshire to a Leicestershire racecourse where Fallon was riding.

Fallon was later seen travelling from the racecourse to an airport in Rodgers' car, the prosecution said.

On May 26 a far more dramatic incident occurred, Mr Caplan said, when Rodgers, Shaun Lynch, Sherkle and another man decided to confront Fallon at his home.

Sherkle and the fourth man, who has not been charged with any offence, booked themselves into the Bedford Lodge hotel in Newmarket under false names and with a false address, paying their bill in cash, the court heard.

That night at about 1am the four men set out for Cowlinge.

They drove on the unlit country roads in Rodgers' Mercedes car, observed by surveillance officers in an unmarked vehicle, but at some point they became spooked, Mr Caplan said, and drove up behind the police car with headlights on full beam, blocking it in for a minute before reversing away.

The plain-clothes officer drove into Newmarket, but the Mercedes followed, the court heard, and made several slow passes, only leaving when a marked police car arrived. They then checked out of the hotel at 1.40am.

Mr Caplan said: "The prosecution stresses the sinister behaviour of Rodgers and the others towards the surveillance officer on the unlit roads.

"They would not have known that he was a police officer, but they were obviously concerned that they might be being watched."

He also told the jury that the incident was "totally inconsistent" with the suggestion by Fallon that information passed to Sherkle had simply been friends' tips about races rather than part of a criminal conspiracy.

He said: "The persons who came specially to Newmarket were unhappy with the loss on Russian Rhythm and were anxious to confirm with Fallon, and if necessary confront him, regarding a more reliable working arrangement for stopping horses in the future."

Fallon's win on Russian Rhythm was not the only time his success on the racecourse cost the conspirators large sums of money, Mr Caplan said, and a series of text messages sent after another win, which allegedly lost Rogers £105,000, were also shown to the jury.

On July 23, 2004, Fallon rode Daring Aim to victory at Newmarket despite telling Rogers he would lose, the prosecution said.

A flurry of phone calls between Rogers and Sherkle and Sherkle and Fallon followed.

Texts found on phones Fallon and Sherkle used dating from the day after the race included the following messages.

Sherkle to Fallon (at 12.17pm): "If u don't speak to me now I won't be able to help you."

Fallon to Sherkle (at 12.22pm): "They will take my licences off me if they drift like that last night. They are watching me."

Mr Caplan said the texts were a clear indication of the relationship between Sherkle and Fallon, with the barman offering to "help" the jockey after he lost the conspirators a £105,000, and Fallon insisting the "drift" in the betting odds caused by the large sums of money Rodgers was placing would raise suspicions.

The court heard another text found on the phone, which was undated, was from Fallon to Sherkle and said: "No I can't chance it."

An example of the alleged conspiracy in action, Mr Caplan said, was clearly seen in a race at Lingfield on March 2, 2004, when Fallon came second in a race, allegedly winning Rodgers £26,599 from a £72,000 stake.

Just before the race the security department of the Jockey Club learned about suspicious betting patterns on Betfair, laying the horse to lose, and the steward was informed.

Mr Caplan said a veterinary officer watching the race was "astonished" that Fallon "appeared to stop riding the horse" as it came into the home straight.

He added: "The trainer, Andrew Balding, had entered the horse for the race with a high degree of confidence that it would win. Having built up a huge lead, the horse should have won. He knew that once Fallon had eased the horse up then it would not be able to pick up and run on strongly again. Mr Balding's feelings were anger and disbelief."

A stewards' inquiry found Fallon to have broken racing rules by failing to ensure the horse achieved the best placing, but this was regarded as incompetent, not cheating.

Mr Caplan said an Australian expert who viewed the race later expressed concern about Fallon's ride.

He said: "Passing the two furlong marker Ballinger Ridge (Fallon's horse) was five or six lengths in front and running within himself.

"But Fallon dramatically slowed his momentum to the point where he is doing virtually nothing."

The case continues.

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JURY TOLD OF RACE CONTACT PATTERNS

THE JURY at the trial of the alleged race-fixing conspiracy have been told of patterns of mobile phone contact on race days and the complex network of accounts allegedly used by Miles Rodgers.

Jonathan Caplan, QC, for the prosecution, told the jury Rodgers would wager "very large amounts of money" on a horse to lose, knowing the jockey "was prepared to cheat by using tactics on course to stop the horse if it was likely to win."

Caplan indicated Rodger's bets usually amounted to more than 50 per cent of the Betfair market in a particular race. The prosecution claimed the majority of bets were usually of more than £100,000, winning around £20,000.

Caplan said: "The pattern of contact by mobile phone on race days was nearly always the same, whichever jockey was riding. The jockey would call or text Rodgers, or Fallon would call or text the intermediary, who would then almost instantaneously contact Rodgers, and Rodgers would then begin to lay the horse on Betfair."

Jury members were supplied with a list of 12 Betfair account holders Rodgers admitted to operating to place large bets. Nine of the accounts were held by residents in the Sheffield area, and three of the accounts used the same password.

One account used was Miles Rodgers' partner, Joanne Richardon. The 'joricho' account was opened on January 23, 2002, and the account laid five of the 27 horses. Betfair closed the account in March 2004 after Rodgers used the account to lay his own bets via telephone.

Andrew Richardson, Joanne's brother from Sheffield, also held an account which laid two of the 27 horses.

Darren Armitage, from Barnsley, held an account called 'william', believed to have been used by Rodgers, which laid 21 of the 27 horses.

Brian Pilkington is a business partner of Rodgers also from Barnsley. His account opened on February 25, 2002, and laid 20 of the 27 horses.

Pilkington's brother-in-law, Philip Knight, from Northamptonshire, held an account also allegedly used by Rodgers and took part in 21 of the 27 races.

Peter Hayman, a jeweller from Sheffield, Nigel Schofield, Jeremy Holloway from Hamworth, Paul Hall from Doncaster, Clyde Griffin from Avon, Mrs D Griffin and Richard Hopkins from Tamworth were also cited as the other account holders.

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MOBILE PHONES RULE 'WAS BROKEN'

MOBILE phones used by Kieren Fallon and Fergal Lynch were not registered as demanded by the Jockey Club, according to prosecution counsel Jonathan Caplan QC.

From September 2003, club rules insist mobile phones used by racecourse jockeys must be registered with the club to regulate use and protect the integrity of racing.

The prosecution said Fallon had three additional unregistered "pay-as-you-go" mobile phones that were seized by police on his arrest.

Fallon is alleged to have used the phones to communicate with Philip Sherkle while Lynch used an unregistered mobile to communicate with Miles Rodgers.

One example laid by the prosecution of the chain of communication was that referring to the 6.55pm Goodwood race on August 14, 2004.

Miles Rodgers laid a bet between 6.35pm and 6.51pm on the horse Goodwood Spirit, ridden by Kieren Fallon.

He was 2-1 favourite but finished third in the race. Prosecution evidence shows Fallon called Philip Sherkle at 11.43am and 12.04pm on the day of the race. A further text message was sent from Fallon to Sherkle at 12.08pm. At 12.09pm Sherkle texted Miles Rodgers the message "6.55 no 4 n".

The bet placed by Rodgers for the race went under the account name Paul Hall for £116,738, and the bet won £29,822.

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PUNTERS WHO PLACE WEB BETS AGAINST EACH OTHER

BETFAIR is the leading internet betting exchange which allows punters to place bets against each other rather than a bookie.

When you place a bet, you are effectively backing your opinion against the opinion of someone else or several other people. The betting exchange simply acts as a middleman between the two sides of the betting market.

You never know who you are betting against, but Betfair matches your bet with other punters, stating the amount you are prepared to stake and the odds you are willing to accept or offer. The exchange does not have an interest in how much people win or lose - they make a profit by taking a percentage of each stake as commission.

The difference between a betting exchange and a bookmaker is that on Betfair and similar sites punters can bet that a horse will lose. This is called "laying" a bet.

When someone lays a bet, they take the role of the bookmaker and are liable for the payout according to the odds they have accepted.

It is this type of bet that the conspirators are alleged to have used to profit from fixing races.

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THE AMOUNT OF MONEY RODGERS BET - AND WON AND LOST ON 17 RACES

* March 2, 2004: Ballinger Ridge, 3.30pm at Lingfield, horse came second, Rogers bet £72,000 and won £26,000.

* May 15, 2004: Russian Rhytmn, 2.40pm Newbury, won, bet and lost £160,000.

* June 14, 2004: Levitator, 9.15pm Warwick, fifth, bet £79,000 and won £10,800.

* June 20, 2004: Krynica, 5.50pm Pontefract, won, bet and lost £165,000.

* June 30, 2004: Bubbling Fun, 3.40pm Lingfield, third, bet £58,000 and won £11,000.

* July 8, 2004: Bonecrusher, 7.55pm Epsom, fifth, bet £101,000 and won £21,000.

* July 10, 2004: Right Answer, 2.05pm York, second, bet £120,000 and won £20,000.

* July 15, 2004: Favour, 8.10pm Doncaster, seventh, bet £100,000 and won £12,000.

* July 19, 2004: Doctor Hilary, 2.45pm Ayr, second, bet £106,000 and won £25,000.

* July 23, 2004: Daring Aim, 6.15pm Newmarket, won, bet and lost £105,000.

* August 6, 2004: Dubai Adventure, 7.25pm Ayr, sixth, bet £57,000 and won £3,800.

* August 13, 2004: Lost Soldier Three, 3.25pm Newbury, second, bet £77,000 and won £18,000.

* August 14, 2004: Goodwood Spirit, 6.55pm Goodwood, third, bet £116,000 and won £29,000.

* August 14, 2004: Rangoon, 8pm Goodwood, second, bet £89,000 and won £36,000.

* August 16, Dial Square, 6.55pm Yarmouth, 17th, bet £39,000 and won £2,600.

* August 23, Barking Mad, 6.55pm Windsor, won, bet and lost £106,000.

* August 24, Beauvrai, 4.15pm Yarmouth, won, bet and lost £19,000.

Why Kirkby is the Everton's only option

Why Kirkby is the Everton's only option

Everton Shareholder Robert Earl : "We are getting a non reimbursable cheque for £55m from Tesco and it is absolute manna from heaven."

Very, very odd. Something as significant as this and it's only getting mentioned now?

Fatty's gonna get ya

Mayweather V Hatton



Hope Hatton can do it...it's a been a great build-up to the fight. Mayweather's cocky pantomime villain routine is great for the media and Hatton's jocular, self-effacing persona makes it impossible not to warm to him but they are both fantastic fighters.

After Tzsyu and Castillo you are just used to Hatton ding whatever he puts his mind to...this will be tough though.

Asda and Everton go head to head

Asda and Everton go head to head

Everton plans anger shareholders

"Asda is in talks with the company proposing a £200m regeneration of Kirkby, in opposition to Everton FC's new stadium plans.

Development Securities said the supermarket giant was "on board" with the alternative scheme to redevelop the area without the football ground.

Everton's 55,000-seat stadium, which will incorporate a Tesco store, has sparked concern from residents.

The latest proposal involving Asda has cast doubt over the stadium plan."

"Everton owner Bill Kenwright faced a barrage of criticism at the club's annual general meeting over plans to move to a new stadium in Kirkby.

Shareholders accused the club's owner and directors of not properly exploring other site options.

Mr Kenwright, also club chairman, was accused of "being the man who murdered the soul of Everton".

But he insisted he was looking at all the options available to the club, including staying at Goodison Park.

Feelings have been running high for months as Everton have entered into discussions with Tesco and the authorities in Kirkby - significantly outside the city boundaries - over a new home for the team. "

Interesting stuff but I think it's worth stating that the fact that the stadium isn't in the historic boundaries of Liverpool-proper is a minor consideration to me. The over-riding factor is that the whole plan is totally average from top to bottom, start to finish. If it was a great stadium in the great location with great transport links I'd be all for it. The Kirkby plan is none of those things.

Top dogs

Everton 1 - 0 Zenit (Эвертон 1 - 0 Зенит Санкт-Петербург)

Top of our group with a game to spare...not too shoddy



It wasn't a classic but that's a job well done. Zenit were a good side, they should never have been down to 10-men (even I saw that from the very back of the upper Gwladys). They close down everything but ultimately the extra man told and an up-and-down Everton won out.

McFadden took some stick for his performance but to my mind he was just trying too hard...he was always showing for the ball, his decision making just screamed of a player who was desperate to make somethnig happen. Looked gutted to be going off when subbed but I have it on good authority that he was celebrating like a proper blue when the goal went in.