Where do we set the bar?

Maybe it just purely comes down to a generation thing - if you had the fortune to witness mid-eighties Everton in their pomp then it familiarised you with that taste of real success. Once you have tasted the finest Aberdeen Angus, reconstituted burgers from Aldi will just not do. Negative reactions to defeats like Saturday should not be simply cast aside as knee-jerk reactions. Scratch beneath the surface of the tangible progress we have made this season and you will always find a critical underbelly of supporters who will constantly demand more ? they should not be castigated for this, they simply want better because that?s what they were brought up on. They're not bi-polar or depressives, just starved and hungry!

Equally, those brought up during the Walter Smith era have a different set of expectations as they never had the fortune to see those triumphant homecomings on Queens Drive ? they should not be castigated either.

You could argue that, after the barren years we have endured, we should be bloody grateful for a season like this. I understand this argument but simply don?t sit in this camp. I for one worried during my visits to places like Plough Lane and regular hidings at Highbury whether we would ever get to this point again. I?ll be honest enough to tell you that I did actually have a word with myself the other day to say ?what a difference that we have reached this part of the season and it is important for positive reasons not relegation ones?.

I have to admit that I was one of the people calling for Moyes's head not so long back but I now realise that jibbing him would have been a suicidal move (great hindsight isn?t it?). He has completely turned the iceberg-bound Everton liner around and is getting us closer to the ultimate aim. That said, there is room for improvement and the installation of a technical coach versed in European football would really help move us on and challenge Moyes in some of his thinking, line-ups, tactics.

As I?ve said before and I?ll say it again ? I want Moyes to improve and I want him to be the best. He undoubtedly has the passion and determination (and has also got better at quickly recognising and eking out crap which I hope applies to Neville this summer) but is also prone to petty fiefdoms in his team selections and occassional brain storms in tactics/line-ups. You could also say that on occasions he is too negative/reserved/sets the side up to defend.

My biggest disappointment this season was not the Uefa Cup. It was the second leg of the Carling Cup, one goal down and one up front at home, all to play for... What did we witness? ? 70-odd frustrating minutes of Johnson up front on his own. Totally useless and I was raging.

The problem and reality is that we do actually care what the redshite say if were completely honest with ourselves. I grew up with their ?banter? in my face and it?s something I don?t endure now simply because I no longer live on Merseyside. Maintaining a healthy difference of opinion and some respect has been completely destroyed for me recently by their condescending twat of a manager. If we didn't care, why is their result the one we look for straight after ours and why do we walk around beaming when someone turns them over?

I was at Manchester Airport last year and heard a load of their shower (Athens-bound for the final) taking the piss out of the possibility of Everton meeting Bolton in the final. Sorry, it devalued what we were doing and I have to say that the Uefa Cup IS the lucky losers cup. (If Champions League drop-outs weren?t allowed to go in, it?s worth would increase no end for me).

For someone whose footballing support did start in the early eighties, I also grew accustomed to watching Ian Rush piss on our chips on many occasions and I can tell you that there is no better feeling than beating them ? I've been fortunate enough to have been to most of the Derbies where we have come out of top but also unlucky enough to see McCall?s efforts come to nothing and dodgy referees denying us our just rewards - Poll cancelling out Hutchison's goal; Twattenburg etc etc. The reality is that Liverpool through their relentless spending have acquired a potent weapon to use against us in the next Derby (as well as their customary luck) and I can see tears before bedtime. I hope I?m wrong...

I suppose what I'm trying to say in a round-about way is that the level I and others set the bar is different to many and is a direct function of what we have seen during our living, breathing time as Evertonians. Personally my bar is set at going into games like the Derby with a realistic hope of winning them. That also means a realistic chance of winning trophies each season.

Let's just try and respect that there are differing groups with differing ideas on where the bar should be set and leave it at that. Let's drop all the sniping at each other and remember that we are all fortunate enough to be following an Everton side who have moved away from the dark days. This is football at the end of the day and not about reaching the intellectual high ground or obliterating fellow opinion into a thousand pieces. Let's hope we put the further blocks in place to take a quantum leap this Summer.

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