Match Preview

Newcastle arrive as visitors to Goodison Park after a very poor start — 1 point from their first four games and failure to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League.  Just as last season, questions are being asked of "old Man" Robson and Shearer.  Have they both passed their sell-by date?  Have Shearer's legs gone?  Undoubtedly the answer to both questions is "No".  Shearer will once again give our backline a real test and the return of Bellamy will bring genuine pace to their frontline.

Pace and drive is their forté in the middle of the park with Robert, Dyer, Solano, Jenas, Bowyer and Viana all willing to carry the ball forward and Goodison's favourite ex-son Speed sitting in behind them.  On its day, that midfield is as good as anything you will see; however, it does still lack experience and this — allied to their tendency to over-attack — certainly allows the opposition to get at Newcastle's weakest point: their defence!

At present, question marks exist over the availability of both Shay Given and Jonathon Woodgate; however, it appears most likely that Given will play and Woodgate miss out.  Without Woodgate, the backline is gaping with Titus Bramble and Andy O'Brien both questionable in their decision-making and, whilst I am a fan of Bernard's attacking qualities, he can get caught out at the back.

Everton: Any idea how we will line up?  Moyes has based his philosophy on the mantra that if you have the shirt and perform you keep the shirt.  Flip side of that is if you don't perform then you lose the shirt — after the Derby, I guess a lot of them are worried!

I can't imagine that Stubbs and Yobo will lose their places — though Yobo was perhaps the most disappointing in the derby.  The full-backs however could change.  Unsworth was murdered by Diouf and I would expect to see either Naysmith or Pistone line up at left-back with Hibbert arriving on the other flank if Pistone switches. 

Midfield should see Gravesen start in place of the departed Pembridge in the middle with Kilbane making his debut on the left. Linderoth appears likely to hold the middle with Li Tie's injury, and Watson has probably been our most consistent performer — voted August Player of the Month by the discerning readers of ToffeeWeb!

Now we get to the forwards — blimey!

We have already had Radzinski, Rooney, Chadwick and Ferguson play upfront this season and now we also have McFadden and the return of Jeffers (not to mention the injured Campbell)!

Given the competition, I would expect McFadden to make his debut on one of the flanks eventually — but not just yet (he may even struggle to make the bench) — and Chadwick may be the biggest loser in this race unfortunately.

That leaves England's youngest ever goalscorer, England U21's record goal scorer, last years top Premeirship goalscorer for Everton, and Big Dunc (4 goals in 2 games this week) competing for the front two places.  Do not be surprised to see Rooney start on the bench.  Moyes has tried to protect him as much as possible and now we have numbers upfront I imagine that he will revert again to his super-sub role for the time being.

I'd expect Radzinski and Ferguson to start with Jeffers and Rooney on the bench (what a bench!!).  Both players will know that they have to perform with the two scallies waiting to come on and that incentive allied to Newcastle's weaknesses at the back should see goals in this game.

Once again, we need Yobo to get back to his high standards and Stubbs to battle away against Shearer.  The midfield will be a minefield but we will have genuine width and competitiveness in Watson and Kilbane.

We will certainly have to take our chances this weekend if we are to come away with the required 3 points — but we should do.

2-0 to the Blues and the start of a very interesting run of games!

Blue4Ever

Lee Doyle

Report

Firstly Mr Styles.  I'm not normally one for going over the top about referees but this guy just did not handle the game properly at all.  An abysmal performance that should warrant attention from the FA.  Far, far too card happy in what was not an overly physical game - one or two nasty incidents aside.  Never allowed the game to flow and made some diabolical decisions.  Their first penalty was fair enough; the second was a blatant dive by a player who should not even have been on the pitch after fouling then stamping on Rooney, forcing him to leave the pitch.  Bernard got the rough end of the stick in this fixture last season - well he certainly made up for it today.

Some of the decisions that went against Ferguson were farcical.  They were getting free kicks for fouling him for fucks sake!  Talk about a reputation preceding you.  The "pogo moment" where he protested at Styles lecturing him on the use of arms while jumping was funny but he was making a serious point.  Strangely, "elbows" Shearer did not get the same advice on this subject.  Funny that.

Anyhow here be my Player Ratings:

• Wright 6 : Not much to do before he was withdrawn. Don't understand why he started as his knee is obviously still not right
• Hibbert 5 : Not one of his better games. Made a couple of good tackles but often caught in possession and his passes didn't find their targets often enough
• Yobo 6 : Still looks a class act and didn't make any major errors although he was bundled off the ball a couple of times
• Stubbs 6 : Looked as though he was finding it tough going against Shearer and the horrible Welsh midget but coped reasonably well.
• Naysmith 5 : Fairly decent first half. His lack of pace and quality was exposed in the second. I'll have to see it again tonight but from where I was sitting it looked as though he had to go when he brought Dyer down.
• Kilbane 6 : Never heard so many diverse opinions on an Everton player's debut. Ian Snodin gave him man of the match, some called him a disgrace, some said he didn't get involved enough. For me, he got plenty of the ball, moved around the pitch well and hit some useful passes although in all honesty they were probably outweighed by bad ones. He was better than I thought he would be though. May not be such a bad signing after all.
• Gravesen 8 : I thought he was excellent today and showed some great touches. His range of passing was excellent - from crossfield balls landing at feet to pinpoint through balls to Radz. We saw the headless chicken emerge a couple of times but I think I can forgive him that when the rest of his game was as good as it was today.
• Linderoth 5 : Made little impact and was chasing the ball most of the time. Still needs time to bed in I think before a proper judgment can be made.
• Watson 7 : Usual 100% effort and caused them some problems down the right flank. Bit surprised that he was the man to make way for Ferguson.
• Rooney 6 : Didn't get chance to get into the game before Bernard injured him. The tackle looked nasty - hopefully he's not seriously injured.
• Radzinski 8 : You've got to love him! Kept going right till the end, used his pace well and won us the penalty that rescued a point. I love the way that he goes for the ball in the air even though he has got next to no chance of winning them. Real commitment to the cause.
• Martyn 6 : Little to do. Could do nothing about either penalty. Kicking a bit dodgy though.
• Jeffers 5 : Good reception for the lad but he looked a little out of sorts and didn't see much of the ball.
• Ferguson 6½ : Was not allowed to get into the game by Styles who punished his every move in the box with a free-kick to them. Linked up with his team-mates well outside of the box though. Had the bottle to take the penalty, and took it well. Would like to think he still has a part to play but I think it will take more than showing his tattoo to the crowd to win a lot of people back over.

Deep Blue