Match Preview

Well, Orient are struggling in the 3rd Division and, since hammering Portsmouth 4-1 in the previous round, have been shipping goals at a rate of knots.  We're stumbling along in the Premiership "mid-table".  Obviously there should be absolutely no contest and only a win by at least 3 goals to nil will be satisfactory.

Team news for Orient?  Their fifth successive league defeat on Tuesday night saw their Captain Dean Smith (who?) pick up a knock and has become a doubt, as has self-proclaimed Evertonian Andy Harris (once on Liverpool's books).  Their star of the FA Cup so far, Steve Watts, who has scored in their previous three rounds, is also struggling but may make it.

Us?  I think we'll all be delighted to see Jesper start so that we can stop worrying about his trip to Croatia...  (Is it just me that thinks the fact that the world's best Knee specialist is based in Croatia rather surprising?).

Dunc and Campbell — barring last-minute injuries in training — will line up together again and this should be a great opportunity for Dunc to get his first goal in open play this season and for the two of them to get 90 mins under their belt.

Watson is apparently likely to be fit but I'd love to see Hibbert given another game as he hasn't done anything wrong to justify him being dropped.

As long as Alexandersson's thumb is okay (!) then we should see two wingers at Goodison with two target men in the middle — Is this the first time since the Sharp/Gray days?  Possibly, but I don't think either of the present incumbents of the Numbers 9 and 10 shirts deserve to be compared to our League Champions and European Cup Winners and Nick ain't no Tricky (Trevor Steven)!

Xavier? (and now for a brief aside that is in no way a preview - as usual...)  Interesting to see a number of people complaining that we are letting him go and that it would cost £3M or £4M to replace him.  What planet are they on?  As surefire as Christmas arrives in December so does Xavier's "virus".  At a time when games come thick and fast, he vanishes!

He's probably given us half a dozen quality games and all of those at centre-back.  He has absolutely no pace or mobility and no commitment whatsoever to the Blue cause.

This season he has made 13 appearances but last year graced the Blue shirt a pathetic 11 times. It's no coincidence to me that, at the start of this season when he needed a new contract, he at last was available and playing consistently.

He also by the way only cost £1.5M so, were we to get £750,000 after 3 years, it would not be a bad return.

Personally I will not be that sad to see him go, even if it does mean that we may see Unsworth in at centre-back once or twice this season until we bring someone else on board.

To keep him would probably have cost a small fortune in wages and, with a new contract in the bag, watch the "niggles" and "viruses" appear again.

So, back to Saturday and what is there to say ?

Orient will probably try to fly at us early on, in which case, we just need to stay calm and pass the ball around — Passing to other people in Blue that is, preferably over a distance of 10 to 30 feet.  Once we see out the first 15 mins, let's get the goal and then relax.  Another before half time (flying header from Dunc) and then Campbell seals a comfortable win on the hour and we see the game out 3-0.

Likely?  Probably not... and let's be honest we'll all be a touch nervous until we get 2 goals ahead; but this is a no-brainer and, if the lads apply themselves, we can all settle back on Sunday to watch the Arse kick the Reds out of the Cup knowing that we are safely in the hat for the 5th round...

BlueForEver

Gazza Reincarnated

In recent years, we've had too many cup embarrassments against lower-league opposition to take this tie for granted.  True ,we should win comfortably... but then we should have beaten Crystal Palace, Tranmere, Bristol Rovers and York City.  Walking up to the ground, I was hoping that for once we would see a professional display with a comfortable win and no unnecessary drama.

Thanks to the reduced ticket prices, Goodison was fairly full.  However, it did lead to problems outside for those of us who had elected to pay on the gate.  Despite arriving not long after 2:00, it was soon apparent that we weren't going to get into our usual Upper Gwladys spec.  We elected to head for the Main Stand and ended up getting into the Top Balcony without any problems.  This was my first visit to the Top Balcony, and bloody 'ell it's a long way up. Having watched a good 98% of my football from behind the goal it was very strange to watch the game "side on", it took me a while to get used to picking out the flight of the ball.

The Orient filled half the Bullens; they also had their mascot out on the pitch... it's a tired old cliche but this really was their Cup Final.  There were a few nice touches before the game: the mascot came and sought out Gazza, and asked him to go and meet the fans.  He wandered over to receive a hero's welcome.  They made an pitch presentation to Kevin Campbell, to commemorate his part in a previous promotion of their's.  Then finally we played "Their Tune" over the PA — Tijuana Taxi — or "It's A Knockout" to the uninitiated.

With none of Everton's injured warriors available for selection, there were no changes.  Hibbert continued his run at right back; Campbell and Ferguson continued their march to match fitness out there on the pitch.

First half

Despite never getting a total grip on the game, we always managed to do enough.  The goal came early on, at about ten minutes.  Hibbert was released down the right and his cross was headed, quite spectacularly, into his own net by an Orient defender.  Naturally, we have to acknowledge the element of luck but it was an excellent cross by Hibbert, and it demanded that the defence tried to deal with it.  Quality ball into the box and then anything can happen.

That was nice to settle the nerves of the team and crowd.  What we needed now were more goals to put it beyond Orient.  The second came courtesy of Gascoigne and Ferguson.  Gascoigne ran at the heart of the defence, he had a touch of luck with a ricochet but had the awareness to keep control and lay the ball off to Dunc who side-footed it home.

That should have been the stepping stone to putting the game safe but this wouldn't be Everton without a wobble.  Indecisive defending allowed a long-range shot which Simonsen could only parry to an onrushing attacker who found the net.  A sloppy goal defensively, and, just at the point at which we were beginning to subdue Orient and their fans, we gave them a lift.

We rode out the little storm as the Goodison "faithful" started to get agitated with the players.  With time running out in the half, we reestablished our two-goal cushion — Gascoigne was again the provider.  He found acres of space by the left edge of the penalty area, eventually his team mates spotted him and gave him the ball.  He brought the ball into the area before passing it on to Campbell who did well to spin on the ball, hold off a defender and find the net.

Second half

With Alexandersson being forced off with injury in the latter stages of the first half, we were now shorn of natural width.  To compensate this, Walter switched us to 5-3-2 with Unsworth operating as the third centre back, Hibbert and Naysmith as wing backs, and Moore as one of the midfield three.

The majority of the second half was undertaken on cruise control.  We never dominated the game but never looked in danger of conceding another goal.  Chances came and went but we seemed to be back to trying to pass the ball into the net.

The fourth killer goal finally came, and it alone probably justified the admission fee.  Gascoigne picked the ball up in our half and just ran at Orient.  He got past a couple with a combination of quick feet and strength before slipping the ball through to Campbell who, one-on-one with the keeper, lifted it into the net.  A class goal and Gazza at his best.

Summary

This was a fairly professional, routine dismissal of lower league opposition.  Even though we never, Gazza apart, played with any real sparkle, we always did enough, and always showed enough of our quality.  The sole objective of Cup football is to get through to the next round; we — unlike some — got there!

Ratings

• Simonsen 6  Thought he should have done better with the initial shot that led to the goal; he certainly should have done more than just push it out to their player.  Apart from that, he dealt with everything else with an air of assurance.
• Hibbert 7  Clearly showing the benefit of a run of games.  Played very well; no need to rush Watson back.
• Unsworth 7  Got the usual cat calls for some misdirected passes but did his job defensively.
• Weir 7  The usual.
• Stubbs 7  Becoming as reliable as Weir.
• Alexandersson 6  Struggling for sharpness and confidence.
• Gemmill 7  Hard working, never hid; did well.
• Gascoigne 8  Getting better and better.  OK, it was only Orient but there was real quality on view, along with the stamina to keep going to the very end.
• Naysmith 7  The usual unfussy display.
• Ferguson 7  There appears to be a mood amongst the "faithful" that Dunc can do no right.  The people around me seemed to find fault with everything he did on the pitch, whinged that he was like a statue and then whinged when he wasn't stood on the penalty spot awaiting crosses.  The way I saw it was that a player, a long way short of match fitness, who is only playing because we have no viable alternatives, paced himself through 90 minutes; he used his experience to find space on the pitch to make himself available for passes and lay-offs; he also got himself in the right position to score.  This was no barn-storming Dunc performance but he made a contribution to our general play, rarely gave the ball away, did OK, and is now, hopefully another 90 minutes closer to match fitness.
• Campbell 7  Another who isn't being given much credit for playing his way to match fitness.  Did well with his two goals — hopefully a sign of a returning sharpness.
• Moore 6  Looked bright and lively; always looking to get involved.  Did OK.
• Tal 5  Didn't get long.  But didn't overly impress.

Team 6  Did what they had to do.  Nothing more, nothing less.

Man of the match Only one proper candidate - Paul Gascoigne.