Column Carling Cup runneth over... Santosh Benjamin 12/12/2007 43comments | Jump to last I for one am bouncing off the walls with joy at 3 AM in the morning here in India as we progress to a cup semi-final after an eternity! We fielded the best side possible at our disposal against a confident West Ham side who had just beaten Rovers in the league at the weekend. We started well and were not afraid to shoot at goal but tragedy struck in the 12th minute when Carlton Cole got past our defence to round Howard and score.Questions need to be asked of the defenders on that one although apparently there was a hint of offside. Cahill shot straight at the keeper and a few other good attempts went begging including Cahill failing to tap in a loose ball in the box. Then, as we started to gain the upper hand, little Ossie stepped up to slot home splendidly, after some great work in the build-up by Arteta and Co...with the final calm pass from Pienaar. We went into the break on level terms and I expected us to attack from the get-go in the second half but the early part turned out to be a well-fought battle. The Hammers made the substitutions as time wore on and I was worried as we had not even had a shot on goal in the second half. The Hammers seemed to be committing a lot of fouls but we couldn't make the free kicks count. I was expecting a change with either AJ or Vic coming on to help us avoid ET...but Moyes(who knows best!) stuck with em and with less than 2 minutes to go in regular time... Jags sets up the Yak (who is hungry and needs to be fed on a regular basis!) who finishes as a striker should... Upwards and onwards we go now and I'm not even worried about who we play in the semis... let's just make sure we have a full strength squad to play on the day. This cup run is getting me really excited with the prospect of a cup final (which has eluded us for so long) in our grasp. I have to applaud the effort and skill of the lads..and not to forget the amazing team spirit which is so evident after each goal. Moyes has indeed done an amazing job with our club and I won't agree with anyone who says otherwise. Think all the lads had a good outing: Howard: our rock at the back... Lescott: growing in stature with each game, whether at full back or centre back Yobo, who is doing well with a new partner in central defence.. Jagielka: growing in confidence and has two assists to the Yak now... Neville: best man at right back for us Carsley: can never be more grateful for his presence in our team; can we please extend his contract too before it runs out? Show him how much he means to our club! Arteta: good game again but wish his corners were better ? and free kicks... Pienaar: I know we are waiting 'til the end of the season to sign him ..but please don't mess this one up! The lad is a gem and he says he loves playing for us ? especially coz of the fans! Great layoff to Ossie for the first goal. Cahill: shoulda scored on a couple of occasions... always looks dangerous when we attack. With the hungry Yak being fed, I hope Tiny Tim gets ravenous and grabs a few at the weekend. Ossie: the man keeps amazing me with his strking technique ? he has scored some great goals for us over the years and if you look at them, many are of supreme quality. Great goal, lad... Yakubu: he certainly seems hungry and happy with what he is being fed, so let's keep the supply line going so he can keep scoring em... lovely goal to prevent a nerve-wrecking and tiring extra time/penalties. Moyes: his decisions have started to invite less abuse from all concerned. He has made his share of mistakes but seems to have learnt from them and is guiding us into unchartered waters (at least in the recent past, anyways!) I hope the lads can put on another good show at the weekend against the Hammers... and we can send a few young lads for experience with the seniors to Alkmaaar. COYB Reader Comments Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer Steve Jones 1 Posted 12/12/2007 at 22:15:19 Report abuse Yak attack!!! 15 starts 10 Goals, Double figures before Christmas, the stats do the talking.... Keith Glazzard 2 Posted 12/12/2007 at 22:38:30 Report abuse Leon is too small to play in midfield. Yakubu is a lazy git who can't play a full game. Thank heavens Moyes didn't take the coaching notes from these pages. Peter Pridgeon 3 Posted 12/12/2007 at 22:56:10 Report abuse Fantastic write up Santos, I nearly wet myself laughing at your comment belowJags sets up the Yak (who is hungry and needs to be fed on a regular basis!) Keep up the good work Michael Ttacey 4 Posted 12/12/2007 at 23:02:10 Report abuse Thank heavans that Moyes doesn’t take team selection notes from you Keith. I will take a lazy git any day if he scores 10 in 15 games any day!!! Santosh Benjamin 5 Posted 12/12/2007 at 23:05:57 Report abuse thanks Pete...glad i could make you laugh... Peter Manning 6 Posted 12/12/2007 at 23:07:41 Report abuse Santosh.I was working tonight and only had BBC five live updates to help, plus txt from home. You sound like you watched it on TV. Am I right ??? Terry Maddock 7 Posted 12/12/2007 at 23:11:40 Report abuse We are back to playing the "beautiful game". Moyes selections/signings are coming to fruition..his tactics are spot on and we are looking a class act...absolute wanking material....alll the doubters..I remember one post this week.. ( along the lines of ..this game is DM?s defining moment ..or some crap like that) well on your knees and beg forgiveness,,,and we are still nowhere near the finished product...Gavin R. Tony Marsh , Brian Waring..l loved all your pre season optiimism(that was sarcasm)...Thank god DM is the manager and none of you doom mongers...I TOLD YOU SO...OH YES I DID....COYB David Barks 8 Posted 12/12/2007 at 23:39:30 Report abuse Nowhere to be seen now are they Terry. Gerard Madden 9 Posted 12/12/2007 at 23:39:57 Report abuse I’m overjooooyed at the way things are for the club at the mo, there are a few ’blues’ who continue to try to spoil the atmos but the team is doin’ us proud and ruining their attempts. :lol:The Yak was a great acquisition and is proving it more by the week, we’re involved in all competitions into the New Year and i’m sure we’ll strengthen again next month. Roll on the UEFA Cup knockout round in late Feb too!Great great times to be a blue - and most of us will not allow that very small band of miseries to spoil our enjoyment. :) Colin Wilkes 10 Posted 12/12/2007 at 23:44:50 Report abuse Great comment Terry I am sick of hearing people slag Moyes off. "he cant take us to the next level" "he doesn?t make decent signings" etc etc. Wake up and smell the coffee boys who do you want Fabio Capello?? COYB Mick Mac 11 Posted 13/12/2007 at 00:03:35 Report abuse Grat write up santosh. I appreciate you taking the time. I was stuck at work with a load of mancs and arsenal fans so had to wait for the odd update at the bottom of the screen. Cheers David Graves 12 Posted 13/12/2007 at 00:52:19 Report abuse Carling cup semi final, knock out stages of the Uefa cup, top 4 by January. Moyes must go. Steve Ryan 13 Posted 13/12/2007 at 00:47:05 Report abuse Smug as ever David Banks. The reason you dont hear from them now is that Moyes has finally got them playing football on the deck which is all they were asking for. His dedication and committment were never in question. Santosh Benjamin 14 Posted 13/12/2007 at 01:12:18 Report abuse Peter manning...actually followed it on Soccernet Gamecast..plus Football365 Live..which give live updates and game details..we dont get to see these games here in India... thats the best i get here..but when we keep winning like this..feels great anyways. David Barks 15 Posted 13/12/2007 at 04:05:33 Report abuse Steve Ryan,Wrong mate, you all said Moyes was incapable of producing what Everton is doing at the moment. The posts were endless with "he’s taken us as far as he can", and "he is in over his head in Europe", we’ll crash out before the group stages, he doesn’t know how to manage in the Cups, we’ll have another down season because he didn’t make the signings we needed, he’s a ditherer, we don’t have a squad capable of competing in Europe and the league. We said that he could take us farther and was just being careful with his signings. We’ve been proven right, just admit it. Anthony Doyle 16 Posted 13/12/2007 at 06:12:31 Report abuse For info - the Game was live in South Africa as most of the Everton Uefa games have been. Also most of Everton’s Premiership games are shown live every week (or delayed) and we see every Premier game each week, about half of them live.This is like the old Everton when I was their in the sixties - roll on! Bruce Rumble 17 Posted 13/12/2007 at 06:30:44 Report abuse You lot knocking the team and Moyes are disgraceful (Everton supporters or not). Take the results we have been getting, 11 games undefeated, EUFA quali, carling cup semi final on the face of things. An Everton team playing well and getting results. Moyes has assembled a great talented squad, who are now playing the ball on the ground. And yes there’s much more improvement to come, but let it happen... when it aint broke don’t fix it... Jason Siri 18 Posted 13/12/2007 at 06:34:45 Report abuse Great write up Santosh... hope DM rotates the squad for the Alkmaar game.... VDM, Gravesen, AJ, Anichebe, Boyle, Hibbert, Wessels maybe? Our main squad deserves a break! Peter Sosnowy 19 Posted 13/12/2007 at 07:53:17 Report abuse Santosh, this victory is so sweet to me you would not believe, my brother is a big WHU fan, I still have nightmares of Frank Lampard "Senior" running round that corner flag after scoring the winner against us in the cup. No texts today I bet.By the way I was at that Oxford game when Kevin Brock did that aweful back pass for itchy Heath to score.I can feel it in my blue blood, we are on the "March".The future’s bright, it’s Blue & it’s Everton. Dave Wilson 20 Posted 13/12/2007 at 08:19:44 Report abuse Steve and David Sounds to me as if you were both around during the good times, So neither one of you need me to tell you football is cyclicalSteves correct, the fans were right to complain about the garbage we were being served up, we’d had season after season of it, Davids also right, changing managers at the first sign all is not well a recipe for disaster, his belief that giving the tools to do the job, DM would deliver, is proving an accurate one. The trouble is, although our numbers have been strengthened, compared to the "big four" we still have a small squad, so a couple of injuries and suspensions may swing the debate Steves way again - trust me David, Steve would rather it didnt. For the record, Although I didnt openly complain, I too doubted DM, but he is showing definite signs of being able to prove me wrong and quite frankly I’m loving it Terry"marsbar"Maddock 21 Posted 13/12/2007 at 08:16:34 Report abuse Just to add to what David Barks said earlier..DM’s detractors have not posted anything positive about him..in fact the criticism has often been scathing..He has been called clueless,smallminded, tactically inept, not up to the job...never was their a "his commitment is not in question" added on the end..!What we are seeing now is the result of a lot of hard work put in over a period of time.Time that was needed, because we have not had the funds to buy success and have had , on occasion , to rely on team spirit and a never say attitude thats been instilled by David Moyes. As a young manger at his first premiership club he has of course made mistakes and will undoubtably make more as he continues on his learning curve..But one thing he has always done has improved the quality of player we have,lowered the average age of the squad and most importantly of all ..He has raised the expectation levels of every Evertonian.Since Joe Royal left and pre moyes..our main aim had been to avoid relegation..we now expect european qualification...and next season the bar of expectation will be lifted higher again..we will expect a cup final, a top four place, a challenge for the title...All these things are being spoken of with a touch of belief...My trust in our manager is total..yes he does not always do things the way i would like, and he does not buy the players I would choose, nor does he always play the formation I would pick..but more often than not he gets it right..Every player we have at the club has increased in value since we have bought them, which to me says that DM and his team have improved them..even Yakubu now seems to have a work ethic to go with his goalscoring. If you have 100 million pounds to spend and you buy 15 players, it may well turn out that 3 or 4 of those players may not make the grade, or may not be right for the premiership..but nobody will notice if the other 10 or 12 can do the job...But if you are Everton..? well for Every Cahill, Arteta,Lescott,Howard, Pienaar..you will get a Beattie or a Kroldrup and they will stand out because they take up a huge percentage of our transfer budget...Again i think DM, compared to those with larger pockets, has been superb in the market..and now he finally has his team we are seeing how he wants them to play.. Its a good time to be an Evertonian and I think its only going to get better...and yes we are all entitled to our opinions..but in the main lets get behind the best young manager in the country..this could be the start of something big... a lot of you got it wrong..and will of course be sitting ,waiting for a dip in form or a transfer that doesnt work out , to have a go at him again..We appear to now have how to play in europe sussed out..(not yet world beaters) and we now seem to have playing in cups sussed out( yes its only a semi final) and we definately have the league sussed out(yes we wont win it)..but I really believe that David Moyes believes NIL SATIS NISI OPTIMUM. Dave Wilson 22 Posted 13/12/2007 at 08:54:26 Report abuse Sorry SantoshMeant to say, enjoyed your article, nice one ian bushell 23 Posted 13/12/2007 at 09:26:37 Report abuse nice one santosh.i am getting that childlike exictement and not just because xmas is round the corner...i feel we are reaching an invisible tipping point that if crossed will lead us to the sweet golden pastures of glory..... sorry about that, i just couldnt help myself.on another note, we were ignored by the media last night (TV). I believe they were all camped outside gerrards house awaiting developments. i guess the powers that be have to get their priorities right though! John Lloyd 24 Posted 13/12/2007 at 09:40:59 Report abuse Being born in 1980 although I was alive I didnt enjoy the success we had as much as people a bit older & I am not saying we are there either........just wanted to say that it is a great time to be an Evertoninan, probably the best in my life (95 cup run aside maybe)Also Santosh may have posted the funniest line ever posted on here with the "Jags sets up the Yak (who is hungry and needs to be fed on a regular basis!) " comment, comedy gold my friend.I dont like the way this is being used as a tool in a slanging match between some fans over Moyes, if people earler in the season or in the last few years have been disgruntled then they have had a right to do so, but all this ’I told you so’ business we’re getting now is equally as petty and makes the people spouting it look like a gang of fruits. ian bushell 25 Posted 13/12/2007 at 09:43:33 Report abuse nice article santosh..keep it upi have the excitemet that my daughter is feeling right now and not just cos its xmasi feel we may be reaching a magical tipping point that if crossed will mean sucess is inevitable...oh god!!humour me please i cant help it.sorry to digress but....it was interesting to see that the TV moguls decided to have their camera crews camped outside gerrards gaffe last night. after all the alternative of screening a carling cup quarter final wouldnt have entered their radars would it.i hope moysey lets the lads know about the contempt the media have for us Ed Casey 26 Posted 13/12/2007 at 10:57:29 Report abuse Anyone read the comments from Curbishley - how bitter is he. He basically called us cheats - well I hope we can be as ’professional’ again on the weekend and put a few more passed them.Ed Jay Campbell 27 Posted 13/12/2007 at 11:42:00 Report abuse Terry Maddock I have been very critical of Moyes in the past and rightly so in my opinion but I will acknowledge that I do believe NOW he has learnt from his mistakes in the past (Hibbert at right back., Neville in midfield, Beattie etc etc). He is moving Everton in right direction no question. Don’t mind gettin proved wrong that’s fine by me. Hope it extends to the ground move as well coz I hope that fall’s flat on it’s a*se. Terry Maddock 28 Posted 13/12/2007 at 12:14:19 Report abuse John Lloyd... I dont think its a cade of anything becoming a slanging match...except when the much overused phrase "Moyes Apologists" continued appearing... I think all the majority of the pro-Moyes camp where saying is "give the guy a chance" and of course credit for where we where then as compared to now. Newcastle Utd are a perfect example of a lack of continuity off the pitch bringing about a lack of success off it... my main object has always been to get people to try and accept that Moyes will make mistakes, but will ultimately learn from them ? much to our benefit as we are seeing now during our magnificent run.(which of course would have seen us in 5th place on 30 points but for Clottenburg). Luke Brooks 29 Posted 13/12/2007 at 12:30:17 Report abuse Lads, went to the match last night and am absolutely buzzing this morning. Some like Moyes, some don’t. Some think this is the best team since 87, some don’t. One thing is for sure...we have the best fans. We stood and sang our hearts out for 90 minutes solid and the lads responded. AJ and Vic went as mental as we did when the Yak scored. WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED....COYB!!! Steve Templeton 30 Posted 13/12/2007 at 12:36:30 Report abuse Jay Campbell, So the upturn in our fortunes is down to the fact that Moyes has learned from his mistakes in the past by listening to people like you and changed his team selection and nothing to do with the fact that he is now able to choose from a (nearly) fully fit squad which allows him play the players in their best positions instead of filling in holes in midfield?You should be on the payroll. Santosh Benjamin 31 Posted 13/12/2007 at 12:25:36 Report abuse Thanks Dave, Pete, Jason and others for your encouraging comments. I had a hard day at work today but the high I was on after our win kept me going... Coming back and reading your comments is amazing. Let's hope we can keep moving upwards. COYB Robbie Kirkham 32 Posted 13/12/2007 at 12:45:59 Report abuse What i like about us now is even if we go a goal down i?m always confident we?ll get something out of it last night was superb my 1st away game of the season as well loved it. Where are those people who were saying we haven?t beat a top of the table team yet? very quiet now eh well done Moyes and the lads for making us proud again!!! Jay Campbell 33 Posted 13/12/2007 at 12:51:06 Report abuse Steve Templeton he has persisted with to many ordinary players for too long in the past and he has insisted on playing players out of position which is a FACT. Granted the squad may nearly be fully fit but it still doesn?t excuse the way he has approached games in years gone by!!! Don?t tell me your memory is that short!!! Refering to your childish comment about me being on the payroll well I tell ya I would never have played Hibbert for as long as he did and he wouldn?t play ever again. I never would have kept Beattie for as long as he did, or Naysmith and all them other carthorses he had at the club and I would flog McFadden to the first potential buyer in January if some stupid twat is daft enough to buy him. Moyes still thinks this talentless clown is gonna come good!!! Yeh sound!!!My point was for all his faults he now seems to me to be changing his approach to games and has dropped the element of caution that he has had in previous seasons which he should be given credit for.By the way don?t forget as he said last night we haven?t won a fuckin thing yet. Keith Glazzard 34 Posted 13/12/2007 at 13:00:43 Report abuse The "experts" on MoTD last Saturday had a chuckle at DM’s expense, poo-pooing the idea that we could get ’more’ out of Yakubu. Moyes is quoted in my paper this morning as saying -"People who know Yakubu will tell you that {scoring goals} is what he does. But he’s bringing more to us - the way he linked up play and brought others into the game, his movement, his work rate. He was fantastic."Last laugh to Davey, I think. Stuart Cann 35 Posted 13/12/2007 at 13:03:33 Report abuse When you look at the players DM inherited and the cash we have had to spend over the lsat few years its not a suprise to me that this has taken time for DM to build a side like we have, but well worth waiting for... We have such an amazing blend of players now and I dont care what anyone else says Everton are going places. And I dont care if it takes another 5 or so years to win the league if we keep improving like we are, we have got many years of sucsess ahead. The likes of big Vic and JV comming through the ranks ? they are so hungry and have great attitudes, love the game and the club and don't have to write it on a vest to prove it ? unlike some other fat twat who has not improved since leaving the biggest and best club in the world. Thanks DM you are already a Everton Legend. Dave Lynch 36 Posted 13/12/2007 at 15:04:01 Report abuse Lots of positives.And rightly so, have slagged of Moyes myself in the past and think he has deserved it.But credit where it’s due, cap doffed in his and the teams direction we are playing great stuff at present.Just hope the AN doesn’t have to much of an effect on us.Now lets have the kopites in the semi’s. WE OWE THEM ONE BIG TIME ! Brian Waring 37 Posted 13/12/2007 at 15:45:16 Report abuse Terry Maddock,if you read some of my contributions to some of the threads this week, you will see I have praised Moyes on a few occassions.I have done it because he does deserve a lot praise for the way he has us playing,and he is starting to look the real deal,long may it continue.If he continues to get the team producing the type of football we are playing at the moment,I am quite happy for him to be the man in charge.But when we were playing hoof-ball and really shite football,he deserved every bit of criticism that I aimed at him. David Barks 38 Posted 13/12/2007 at 16:50:04 Report abuse Brian, I don’t think that is the issue. I think the issue is with those who were saying Moyes was in over his head and had taken us as far as he could, so should be sacked. Criticizing his past decisions is different from all those who wanted him sacked because they felt he was not good enough. Tell me, where has Tony Marsh went. We are playing fantastic and he has not been heard of for weeks. But to start the season he was on here constantly saying how poor Moyes is, that he was incapable of advancing us in Europe, and should be replaced. Holly McGill 39 Posted 13/12/2007 at 17:08:15 Report abuse Hats off to everton football club and all who participated so splendidly in east london last night. Our first league cup semi final since 1988 and both yakubu and moyes have left me with egg on my face these past few months. proud to be an Evertonian right now. Lets beat those cockney wankers again this weekend.When you want to come. steve wolfe 40 Posted 13/12/2007 at 17:16:54 Report abuse why do people have to come on here and bloody gloat!!! david barks wind your neck in ,cant you just appreciate a good victory without turning it into a bloody argument David Barks 41 Posted 13/12/2007 at 18:04:20 Report abuse Steve,So when we lose we have to accept the people calling for him to be sacked, being called Moyes Apologists and all that. But when the results show that our opinions were correct we can’t state this. And I was not coming on here to gloat, I didn’t start anything, I was answering Brian’s post. danny hall 42 Posted 13/12/2007 at 18:12:54 Report abuse so proud to be a blue right now.keep the run going! Brian Waring 43 Posted 13/12/2007 at 20:43:05 Report abuse David,I must admit I thought Moyes had took us as far as he could,and I was calling for a change.But,I have to hold my hands up and say it looks like I was wrong!(boy,did that stick in my throat)My other half is downstairs now making me a piece of that humble pie. Dave Wilson 44 Posted 13/12/2007 at 21:07:28 Report abuse David your taking the shine off this, stop this "I told you so"we’ve won nothing yet , so stop making out you’ve been in some way vindicated, lets just all of us enjoy the progress Paul Dewhurst 45 Posted 13/12/2007 at 23:36:50 Report abuse Those of you who are having trouble watching the games tryhttp://livefooty.doctor-serv.com/Doesn’t always work and you can some times spend an age for the buffering..... but it does work and you will get all kinds on there. Even the saturday gamesWell worth a look Terry Maddock 46 Posted 14/12/2007 at 09:38:56 Report abuse BRIAN WARING... well done..thats very gracious of you Brian..Lets hope this success continues and we can all continue to get behind a great manager and a great team.... © ToffeeWeb