Match Preview
Pressure is building on Walter Smith after four depressing defeats,
and especially the gutless capitulation to Charlton. Smith's comments
recently in the Telegraph suggest he may not want to shoulder
the burden for much longer... Will the prospect of a fourth
relegation battle be the final straw?
Or will the Everton Board be stung to act? Unlikely, given
the unusual position of power Walter Smith has at Goodison Park.
He has a long-term contract that would cost at least £1.5M to buy
out...
So Walter Smith still has to motivate his poorly performing
players to put in some effort on what promises to be a difficult
road trip to Teesside. Hopefully, they won't have been up all
night bringing the New Year in...
Continuing injuries to Campbell, Gravesen, Pembridge, Pistone,
and now Radzinski mean that Walter Smith's selection options are
strictly limited... unless he is bold and courageous enough to look
further into the Reserve team. But let's be realistic: that is
extremely unlikely.
And what of Middlesbrough? Well, they are in nearly as bad
shape as Everton. Their last win was nearly a month ago and
they have also lost their last four games, so this one holds every
promise of being a pulsating classic... NOT!
The most probable score line on the basis of recent from would be
0 - 0, and that would represent a precious point for injury-stricken
and motivation-bereft Everton. But Walter Smith's usual
inclination is to play for that from the start, hoping to protect
the point he believes we have already. And we just know that
ploy so often ends in tears.
We have to hope that Walter is sufficiently mad with the players
to "inspire" them to something better. But the
reality is that tactics, team selection, game planning, and
motivation are all areas where Smith has shown himself and his
side-kick Archie to be most wanting.
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Charlton
Athletic (H)
