Aug 31 - Gravesen's secret to success "I can't play well if the team is not doing well."  Hmmm... that may explain what was happening last season, with the lost dog impressions...

Aug 31 -  Thomasz Radzinski is back in training after recovering from a hamstring tear that has kept him sidelined so far this season.

Aug 31:  Everton Press Officer, Alan Meyers leaves the club today, to be replaced by Darren Griffiths, the excellent commentator for Internet audio webcasts of Everton matches.  

Aug 31 - The inaugural Blues Quiz night will take place on Friday night in the Legends Bar in the Park Stand at Goodison (8 pm start).  Every one is very welcome - and admission is only £1.  There will be a bar, and food is available.

Aug 30 - Hedman Deal Collapses Coventry were presumably asking too much for Magnus Hedman as Everton fail to agree a fee for the Swedish No 1 goalie.  Maybe it was all a scam to put the willies up Paul Gerrard?

Aug 30 -  Everton's home fixture against Chelsea has been moved to Sunday 18 November with a 2pm kick-off to facilitate pay-per-view coverage. 

Aug 29 - Cut-Price Palace Everton are to give the fans a welcome gift by cutting ticket prices for the Worthington Cup 2nd Round tie with Crystal Palace in two weeks.

Aug 29 - Everton's remarkably successful Youth Academy gets a big spread in today's Daily Post.  Much of the credit goes to 1960s legend, Colin Harvey,

Aug 28:  Everton Reserves, reigning champions of their Northern section of the FA Premier Reserves/U-21 league, kicked off the new season against Aston Villa with Danny Cadamarteri opening the scoring on 62 mins only for Villa to equalise.  Paul Gascoigne played. 

Aug 28 - More Elleray madness  David Elleray has admitted he made a mistake in sending off Gary Doherty for committing the foul on Kevin Campbell that gave Everton the match-saving penalty against Spurs.  Ferguson's goal, of course, still stands. 

Aug 28 - Pembridge injured Mark Pembridge has had to withdraw from the Welsh squad after having to be substituted against Middlesbrough due to a calf injury.

Aug 27 -  Gemmill speaks softly A rare chance for hard-working Scot Gemmill to bask in the limelight after his screamer that sealed the win for Everton on Saturday.

Aug 25 -  Everton to face Palace  Everton were drawn at home to Crystal Palace in the 2nd Round of the Worthington League Cup this morning.  The tie will be played in the week commencing 10th September. 

Aug 25:  A Scott Gemmill wonder volley following a first half header from Kevin Campbell gave Everton a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough and sent the Blues back to the top of the Premiership on goals scored.  

Aug 24 - Tal awaiting his chance  Everton's Israeli winger Idan Tal says he has benefited from his first full pre-season and is hoping to get the chance to show Blues fans what he can do.  One thing is for sure, as a player who can beat a man with skill, he deserves an extended run in the side.

Aug 24 - Dunc doubtful for 'Boro  TeamTalk claim that Duncan Ferguson has joined the growing Everton injury list and will miss Saturday's match v Boro.  Walter Smith, however, is hopeful that he and Steve Watson will pass late fitness tests.

Aug 23 - Tarrico Video Trial  Argentinean Mauricio Tarrico's unforgivable lunge at Thomas Gravesen will be the subject of a video review by the FA disciplinary panel!

Aug 23 - Naysmith fit again  Gary Naysmith should make a welcome return to the Everton squad this weekend, and has been called up for Scotland, along with Davey Weir and Scott Gemmill. 

Aug 23 -  Add Watson and Pistone to the lengthening list of walking wounded who may miss Saturday's encounter with bottom team Middlesbrough.

Aug 23 -  Former Blue Anders Limpar talks to Umbro about Everton's prospects this season suggesting that the 1995 cup win shows that anything is possible. He's not convinced Ball will be missed, though.

Aug 22 - The atrocious tackle by Tarrico left Thomas Gravesen stunned and numb. He talks to the Echo about how it could easily have broken his leg – a tackle David Elleray saw nothing wrong with! It leaves Walter Smith with a burgeoning injury list.  We count up to eight of the Premiership squad who are now out injured... But the official website says none!

Aug 21 -  The midfield star of the first half against Spurs, Thomas Gravesen, is facing 4 to 8 weeks off with a badly gashed leg that required 30 stitches thanks to Tarrico's reckless tackle. 

Aug 20 - Everton 1 - 1 Tottenham Hotspur: Everton had their long-suffering supporters - not to mention their manager - tearing their hair out as their long-ball tactics failed to kill off Tottenham after the visitors had been reduced to 9 men. Duncan Ferguson's second penalty in two days earned a point following Darren Anderton's controversial opener.

Aug 20 - Walter Smith knows what he wants from Everton at Goodison Park this season: a return to the form of two seasons ago, when we were scoring for fun!

Aug 18 -  Everton gave two fingers to the critics predicting their doom this season with a hard-earned opening-day win at Charlton Athletic.  David Weir atoned for an earlier blunder that had allowed Jonatan Johanssen to put Charlton ahead by smashing home the winner 13 minutes from time.  Duncan Ferguson's penalty had equalised for the Blues just past the hour.

Aug 18 - Everton for Europe  After a nightmare last season, the Everton players are heading for Europe under the leadership of their new captain, Kevin Campbell.

Aug 17 - Unsworth:  Spot on  A nice piece on David Unsworth in the Liverpool Echo exemplifies Rhino's attributes that goes beyond penalty-spot confidence.

Aug 17 - Ball move gets green light Michael Ball's transfer to Rangers has finally been sanctioned by the Ibrox board despite the fact that the player doesn't look like being able to play for six to eight weeks because of injury.  The fee is believed to be £6.5M, although this has yet to be confirmed.

Aug 17 -  A rumour from France suggests that although Marseille want to sign Attilio Tokoli from Dunferr, he's saying he wants to join Everton. Is Walter planning an early season surprise?

Aug 16 - Nyarko Loan Move Alex Nyarko has joined Monaco on an extended loan deal with a view to a permanent £3.5M transfer. 

Aug 15: New fitness régime Hopefully, the appointment of a new Head Physiotherapist at Everton, and expansion of the medical facilities at Bellefield, does not portend a season with more injuries than the last nightmare?  We will of course be better prepared to deal with them...

Aug 15 - Myhre in the mire Thomas Myhre wallows in self-pity at the way Walter Smith has written him off. 

Aug 15: Season Preview: The Curtain Rises  Another of our correspondents chips in with his analysis of Everton's chances in the Premiership this season; Julian Cashen puts the pressure firmly on Walter Smith to produce the goods before Christmas – or else! Walter himself believes Everton are in good shape for the new season.

Aug 15 - Nyarko Loan Move  Midas Soccer claim that Alex Nyarko has joined Monaco on a two month loan with a view to a permanent £3.5m transfer.

Aug 14:  Season Preview: What's Another Year?  Less than a week to go, and Colm Kavanagh has somehow found the time to consider Everton's future season without maligning the reputation of Manger Walter Smith, or mentioning Paul Gascoigne.  Is he in denial???

Aug 14 - Everton to go down The Guardian's Dan Rockwood [who he?] is calling time on Everton's precarious life in the Premiership.

Aug 14 - Ball forced to prove fitness Rangers are requiring that Michael ball trains hard with the Rangers players for a week – despite his niggling knee injury. 

Aug 13: -  Espanyol were the opposition for Everton's last pre-season game – and a very special opportunity to remember the incomparable Alex Young in this, his testimonial.  After Unsworth missed a penalty in the 2nd minute, Joe-Max Moore glanced in an excellent Pembridge free kick on 24 mins.  There was no further score.

Aug 13 - Visions of Gold A nice little poem that captures something special about Alex Young, and bridges the gap in time between then and now – and written by a red!

Aug 13 - Everton set to struggle The BBC sports pundits weigh in with a predictably unenthusiastic assessment of Everton's prospects for the coming season.

Aug 12 - Gravesen, Alexandersson, Tal and Myhre all will miss the Alex Young testimonial against Espanyol on Monday night as they are involved in midweek international matches.

Aug 12:  Radzinski the realist This interview with Thomasz Radzinski in the Sunday Mirror pulls no punches in terms of pre-season optimism, with the Polish-Canadian expressing neither surprise nor regret that the club he has joined aspires to attain the lofty position of 10th in the Premiership.

Aug 12: - Different Worlds The widening chasm between Everton and Liverpool in terms of investment, aspirations and achievement, is analysed in depth in this two-page spread by Ian Ridley in The Observer.

Aug 12 - Ball may need Op The Mail is the usual source for bad news about Everton, and they don't let us down with this story that Michael Ball's £6.5M move to Rangers is all but dead in the water: .  

Aug 12 - "Treated like an adult" Fans of Walter Smith will not want to read much into the comments of a certain Arsenal player who clearly still loves the club he left in pursuit of greater footballing achievements... 

Aug 11 - Alex Nyarko may still go to Monaco on loan after it was revealed that the French League club has rekindled their interest in the want-away Ghanaian. 

Aug 11:  Everton took a reserve side down to Herefprd, and ran out 2-1 winners over the non-league side, with goals from Nick Chadwick and Idan Tal.  

Aug 10 - Walter smith has named Kevin Campbell as the man to lead Everton's onslaught on the Premiership this season.  Davey Weir is given the role of vice-captain.

Aug 9 - Gary Naysmith is expected to be fit enough to get a run-out against Hereford United at the weekend.

Aug 9 - Prodan slinging mud With Everton for once playing a cagey game to avoid another Bilic/Williamson saga, Daniel Prodan slags off Walter Smith and the club in this selfish outburst following  the collapse of his move to Goodison: 

Aug 9:  Everton Shareholders attended a special Shareholders' Forum at Goodison Park this evening, to put questions about the Kings Dock project and other issues to Everton's Board of Directors, including Bill Kenwright and Sir Philip Carter.  ToffeeWeb has a report of what was discussed.

Aug 9 - Michael Ball's transfer to Rangers has been delayed by injury concerns, with rumours that the player could be unable to play for up to a month.

Aug 9 - Ince builds tennis court! .. in Heswall!  Midas soccer are doing their dubious best to keep the prospect of Paul Ince's transfer to Everton smouldering away...  

Aug 8 - Israeli defender Shimon Gershon has thanked Everton for the week's trial in Tuscany but expects to stay with Hapoel Tel Aviv with Walter Smith looking unlikely to follow up his interest in the defender.

Aug 8 - £50,000 threat Everton get headline billing in The Telegraph for incurring a £50k suspended fine based on another poor disciplinary record of 5 red and 89 yellow cards last season. 

Aug 7 - Prodan Plug Pulled Everton have called off the transfer of Daniel Prodan after negotiations hit the rocks – not over the cash for agents problems rumoured yesterday, but over clauses related to medical issues that Prodan and his advisors had trouble accepting.

Aug 7:  The fourth and final stop on Everton's Northwest Mystery Tour is Wigan.  Wigan got an early goal but SuperKev equalized just before the break.  Kev completed his hattrick and Stubbs got one, then Ferguson and Alexandersson to complete the rout.

Aug 7:  Emotional goodbyes for Ball: After being branded as a greedy mercenary, lifelong Evertonian Michael Ball showed some inconsistent emotions as he said his goodbyes to the club, indicating this was not the outcome he wanted.

Aug 7 - Myhre rejects Spurs move  Tommy Myhre has turned down an opportunity to double his money as second-string goalie at White Hart Lane, saying he must have first-team football – for the sake of his teetering International reputation.

Aug 6:  Season Preview: The new season will be crunch time for Walter Smith who - given the current boardroom stability and unlikely repeat of last season's injury crisis - must prove once and for all he has what it takes to manage in the Premiership.

Aug 6 - Negotiations surrounding Daniel Prodan's proposed move to Goodison are progressing slowly but are apparently stalling over various points of disagreement concerning the Romanian international's personal terms.

Aug 6: - Brian Viner, in his occasional Everton-centric column in The Independent,  ruminates over the enigma that is Everton, the loss of Michael Ball and tries to pick three teams worse than the Blues for relegation this coming season.

Aug 6:  SoccerNet quotes Walter Smith's confident expectation:  'We are hoping that Paul will be back with us in a couple of weeks. When the injuries clear up, he will be back playing for Everton again.'

Aug 6 - Make sure you bookmark the very smart-looking new website for the increasingly popular Everton fanzine Speke from the Harbour, edited by Mark Staniford.

Aug 5:  The Sunday People claims that Paul Gascoigne is once again close to a parting of the ways with Everton after more injury worries are threatening his ability to play a part in the new season campaign.

Aug 4 - The annual ferry-ride to the Birkenhead side of the Mersey ended in the usual pre-season defeat to Tranmere and the entirely predictable collateral damage in the form of a hamstring problem for Radzinski.   

Aug 4 - The £6.5M transfer of Michael Ball to Glasgow Rangers entered its final stages as the young Evertonian reached agreement on personal terms with Walter Smith's old club. 

Aug 3:  Webmaster Lyndon Lloyd thinks there has been no public outcry over Michael Ball's imminent sale to Rangers, and wonders if that is because the fans aren't sure of the real reasons for his departure? Viewpoint

Aug 3:  A journalist at SoccerNet departs from the Club line about the Michael Ball saga, giving more credence to the belief that the loss of this rare young talent is the work of Walter Smith.

Aug 2 - Everton have confirmed that Tottenham manager Glenn Hoddle has made an enquiry about transfer-listed goalkeeper Thomas Myhre, although no official bid has been lodged.

Aug 2 - According to the Echo, Michael Ball relishes the prospect of playing for Rangers, but still wants his £750k "loyalty" bonus sorted.  

Aug 1: - It seems Walter Smith will of course get his way, selling yet another Everton Player of the Year (his fourth, Everton's sixth in six seasons!), this time to his old club, Rangers.  By far the best young prospect to come through the Youth Academy for a decade, lifelong Evertonian Michael Ball is being forced out of Goodison after the Club terminated negotiations on a new contract.