Match Preview

2-0 down at home against one of the worst teams to ever "grace" the Premiership after only 45 minutes — and we were lucky it was only that bad !

Deane is a "Never-Was" but we managed to make him look quality.  Gerrard obviously helped their cause but hopefully Moyes will have learned a lot about what dank grey torpor has been seeping through the club for so long in those first 45.  And if it's just that Gerrard must be sold in the summer then I will accept the loss of 2 points.

As always, we look for plus points; the fight and spirit shown in the 2nd half does provide that.  Moyes's strength in sending them out "same again, you got us into this mess" — and then his willingness to make substitutions when there is long enough for them to make a difference — bodes well.

The performance of Nick Chadwick ("Johnny-on-the-spot"?) was excellent.  Surely that will be enough to hold off the challenge of Campbell for a starting role against Southampton.  Our first visit to St Mary's.

Southampton have little to play for other than pride.  The club has little money and you don't expect Strachan to make many staff changes during the summer so the team may have a touch of "end of season-itis" about them.

They have quality players — Wayne Bridge is making a mark at international level and I for one would be surprised to see him at Southampton next August; Pahars — the Latvian Michael Owen, has pace in abundance and on a good day is a quality finisher; James Beattie complements Pahars well and does look like he could operate for a better team; Svensson — a very underrated player who pulls the strings for them.

They deserve their place in mid-table but, if we beat them, we go above them.

I am a touch concerned.  Weir is starting to look tired and Berti Vogts is doing us no favours by making him play every minute of every Scotland game.  Stubbs's level has dropped a touch and we really need those two at their best for us to function well.

Gravesen will surely start but with Gemmill alongside him we still lack creativity, surely Linderoth should be given a run?

Blomqvist should be back and Moyes seems to have faith in Alexandersson; if they play then Radzinski and Chadwick can expect to have a degree of quality service.

Any result is possible.  We battered them at Goodison (although there was a bad 20 minutes in the 1st half) by stepping up the pace and having the midfield drive at them.

If the effort of the 2nd half against Leicester is replicated, 3 points are there for the taking.  Radzinski desperately needs another goal and a full debut goal from Chadwick would not surprise any Evertonian.

A 2-1 win is my prediction.  A win for us and a loss for Fulham would put us in a very strong position for the InterToto Cup but let's see how the results do go before we discuss the pro's and con's of that...

BlueForEver

Watson strike keeps hopes of Top 10 finish alive

Everton banished the mathematical question mark over their Premiership future and have a top-10 finish in sight after grinding out a 1-0 win in their first match at Southampton's St Mary's stadium.  Steve Watson scored the only goal with a well-executed finish four minutes before the interval as the Blues notched their third away win of the season and completed the double over the Saints.

With Duncan Ferguson suspended for his moment of madness against Bolton, Kevin Campbell made a rare start up front alongside full debutant Nick Chadwick, who had scored twice in three substitute appearances under David Moyes.  Lee Carsley also returned to the starting line-up, playing in an unfamiliar role wide right of Scott Gemmill, Thomas Gravesen and David Unsworth.  Paul Gerrard retained the goalkeeper's jersey, but after last weekend's performance against Leicester, that could only have been due to the hip injury Steve Simonsen sustained playing for the reserves midweek.

Sadly for Chadwick, his first full appearance lasted just 24 minutes of a turgid first half, during which both sides squandered possession like a Conference side and struggled embarrassingly to create anything resembling a chance.  However, the visitors were the more enterprising and organised and 12 minutes after having a goal-bound shot well-saved by Paul Jones, Chadwick was flattened by said Saints 'keeper and had to be stretchered off with what appeared to be a bad ankle injury.

Youth star Wayne Rooney had been warming up for most of the first period, but it was Thomas Radzinski — and wisely so — who came on to replace Chadwick.  While the injection of pace was welcome, Moyes's side were largely unable to provide the front two sufficient service to cause some damage.

Then, on 41 minutes, Jo Tessem's wayward backpass went straight to Campbell who noted Steve Watson's surging run into the area, fed the defender with a perfectly weighted pass, and the Geordie clipped the ball over the on-rushing Jones to give Everton the lead.  A very composed striker's finish of the like, no doubt, Walter Smith hoped he would deliver when he played him up front during the striker crisis back in December.

For the home side, only Marian Pahars threatened, once from a James Beattie knockdown that Gerrard did just enough to clear and, right on half time, when the Latvian seized on a mistake by Alessandro Pistone but ballooned his effort from the angle high and wide.

Despite the fact that Campbell pulled up just before the break with what looked like a neck strain, Everton made no changes in personnel at half time.  There was, however, a noticeable improvement in the style of play.  While David Weir and Alan Stubbs were cleaning up Southampton's increasing attacks at the back, the Blues grew in confidence going forward themselves, often feeding Radzinski down the channels where he wreaked havoc with the Saints' jittery rearguard.

The Canadian striker's electric pace nearly yielded a goal on 53 minutes when he received a pass from Gemmill, played a one-two with Campbell before sneaking around the back of Paul Williams to fire a shot that was well-saved by Jones for a corner.  It was a rare moment of incisive football because, while Moyes's side were the better attacking outfit of the two, Campbell still looked a shadow of his former self; his first touch seems to desert him and he runs increasingly down blind alleys — but perhaps he was a little "ring-rusty".

To be honest, for a team that started the day in 11th, Southampton were woeful and never looked like scoring. The home crowd were left baying at referee Halsey when he rightly turned down Pahars' penalty appeal and booked the Latvian for diving — while Pistone did appear to obstruct him, Pahars' swan dive was obviously designed to earn a spot-kick.

Everton continued to have the better opportunities, notably when Watson barrelled his way across the by-line and seeing a deflected cross palmed away well by Jones, and when David Unsworth tested the 'keeper with a swirling free kick that was also touched behind for a corner.

With the clock running down and the home fans venting their spleen at the referee, Campbell had one last effort when he muscled two defenders into a near-catastrophic error on the six yard line but poked the ball the wrong side of the post.

While this was hardly a tidy display by Everton, it does further emphasise the transformation that the team has undergone under David Moyes.  Whereas under Walter Smith the team would probably have tried to cling desperately to the slender 1-0 advantage in the second half, under the new manager they asserted control and went for more goals.  

It is pleasing to see that, although there is plenty of work to be done, the Blues look well-placed to finish comfortably mid-table and have the opportunity at least to end up in the top half of the table come the end of the season.

Bring on the InterToto

"Well Boys, Term's nearly over; you've done your exams and just about got the pass mark.  It's the last week of term so I've decided to let you bring some games in and play amongst yourselves"

Do you remember those weeks at school?  Well, end of term-itis was definitely present, at least for the first half yesterday.  Southampton were showing off their nice new classroom (very "nice" — if you know what I mean — Nice in the sense of uniform, dull, uninteresting and functional!).  

Headmaster Strachan was strutting up and down the touchline, having apoplectic fits when decisions didn't go his way.  Meanwhile, the new head of department, Mr D Moyes, showed lots of good organisational skills, good imagination in his choice of pupils for his new class and the kids seem to like him too....

OK, enough of the analogy... down to business.  I quite like going to Southampton, mainly because its only about 80 miles away from me.  I was doubly keen to go as it was the first chance to see St  Mary's.  

And first impressions are ok — there's a Park & Ride from the motorway on the outskirts of the city which was free and reasonably efficient.  We found a half-decent pub just across the railway line (the King Alfred, I think), linked to the ground by a new footbridge, meaning you can finish your pint and be in the ground within about 5 minutes.  And it was a lovely warm spring afternoon.  Shame to ruin it...

And then we got into the ground.  Very functional: the toilets were aplenty; you could get food and drink relatively easily; the seats were roomy...  But then you looked around... you realised that its really not a very interesting stadium at all.  

Sure its 100 times better than the Dell (but that's not saying much is it!).   Everything is straight lines.  All four sides look the same... Which is the main stand?  Which is the Southampton end?  Which is the away bit (well obviously the bit I was sat in but you get my drift)?  

I can't see people eulogising about having spent a great evening at St Mary's in the way they talk about, say the majesty of the San Siro or the Nou Camp.  Maybe that's unfair — Southampton probably didn't set out with such lofty ambitions but to end up with this...  Bill, I hope you were there and took note — the stadium part of this ground is everything Kings Dock mustn't be.  Let's have some variety, lets have some idiosyncracies, lets have some features please....

Oh, nearly forgot the match.  This was such a drab game.  For once I agree with one of Strachan's ramblings — that the players should get together and refund the money people paid to watch it!  From memory, Gerrard didn't have a serious save to make, Jones at the other end saved 3.  It was that sort of game.

Strangely, Moyes put out what looked on paper a very Smith-like side.  Normal-ish defence, very workmanlike midfield, Campbell and Chadwick up front.  The most pleasing things were (a) Chadwick getting a start; (b) Pettinger getting a place on the bench, in for the injured Simonsen; and (c) Rooney! 

Can you imagine dear old Walter sticking a 16-year-old with hardly a reserve appearance behind him on the bench???  Never in a month of Sundays (or maybe once every Preston Guild...).  The crowd loved it.  Every time he came down near the Evertonians, they all chanted his name.  The poor lad must have been wetting himself. 

As it turned out, he didn't get onto the pitch — but he'll be on by the end of the season.  Chadwick only lasted about 25 mins before being stretchered off — which leaves only 3 eligible/fit strikers in the club — Rooney, Radzinski & Campbell — err... make that 2½!

We were average, Southampton were worse.  The game was forgettable.  Here's my end-of term report...

Players

• Gerrard - He has no future in the club.  He's totally lost his confidence, helped not a jot by the antics of the Evertonians.  Every thing he does is either greeted by boos when he does something wrong or sarcastic cheers when he does something right.  How to make someone really feel at home eh?  Best fans in the land?  I don't think so... When was the last time you heard the Red Noses taking the piss out of one of their players???
• Watson - Average
• Weir - Class
• Stubbs - Good trier
• Pistone - The second class act
• Carsley - Journeyman
• Gravesen - Completing the triumvirate of class players
• Gemmill - Another good trier, somewhere between Watson and the gang of three
• Unsworth - Every club should have one. He's not class, he's not a journeyman - he's most definitely somewhere in the middle. But he'd be in my team every week.
• Campbell - Long past it
• Chadwick - Looks good but too early to tell
• Radzinski - Class?  He can't even spell it.

So, in summary Moyes has a lot of thinking to do this summer.  Defensively we're looking pretty solid.  Put Hibbert in in place of Watson and it looks good.  Midfield we desperately need some inspiration.  Gravesen must stay, Gemmill should stay, Unsie shouldn't have to play there. 

Up front is where the problems arise.  I've got no time for Ferguson these days.  Campbell is gone; Radzinski should be on his way, which leaves no experience whatsoever.  The summer months are going to be a major test of Moyes ability to find players of quality — and the Board's ability to find the bottom of their pockets! 

Bring on the InterToto...