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Season 2004-05


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April 2005


News Headlines & Features

Blues frustrated at the Cottage
30 Apr - Everton came out to great traveling support at Craven Cottage and started brightly but had a goal disallowed in the first minute!  Cahill was then forced off by a nasty Diop challenge, and it got much worse when Collins John fired Fulham ahead.  Despite a strong response from Everton it was ex-Blue Brian McBride who gave the Cottagers a vital second goal, giving Everton a massive mountain to climb.  Diop was sent off after getting a second yellow but Everton failed to capitalize on the opportunity and fail to consolidate fourth place, which they will hold for at least another week as Liverpool dropped two points at Anfield.

Chelsea set to go easy on Bolton
29 Apr - In this article which appeared in today's Telegraph, Henry Winter reveals that Chelsea are likely to rest a number of their players for tomorrow's match at Bolton so that they will be fresh for the second leg of their Champions' League semi-final at Liverpool on Tuesday. The prospect of this is both good and bad for Everton as we all hope to see Chelsea knock out the Anfield upstarts but are also relying on yet another Chelsea victory at the Rebock to supress the on-going battle for 4th place in the Premiership.

What Lies Ahead?
27 Apr - Anthony Newell has put together an incisive overview of what lies ahead on and off the field this coming summer.  Will manager Moyes see enough cash to strengthen his squad?  Can James Beattie come good?  Duncan for another year?  There's even room for good old 5Live's regular curmudgeon, Alan Green!  We're assured that Mr Green is relishing the prospect of covering Everton games in Europe next season!

FA and Premier League bust-up?
27 Apr - Since there seems to be nothing else anyone wants to talk about, we're also making it our lead story, with a nice LFC crest alongside it. The link is to a piece from the Evening Standard which forsees a bust-up between the Premier League and the FA over the hypothetical question of the day: If Liverpool go on to win the European Cup, and If Everton finish fourth... well, you know the rest.  And now, everyone and their mother, including Kenny Dalglish, is set to pontificate their own meaningless opinions....  Come on Chelsea!

Super Spin from Mr Wyness
26 Apr - Everton CEO Keith Wyness primes the spin-machine with an extra load in this amazing piece of devisive revisionism posted on the Club's offical website: "“What is also important is for us to remember the summer and Bill [Kenwright]deserves a great deal of praise also for providing David [Moyes]with the platform and stability to move forward and create the environment that allowed the squad to flourish and to get the results that we have done." Not a mention of the persistent uncertainty over Fortress Sports Fund, Moyes's inability to strengthen the team effectively, and many other annoying little details. Incredible!

Pride ain't the word
25 Apr - Caught in an off-hand moment musing to his many admirers on an Everton discussion forum, Colm Kavanagh waxes lyrical in his praise for David Moyes, the players, and an Everton season that has reaped a very special reward: European football by virtue of the team's league position. Today's victory for Arsenal over Spurs confirmed that the lowest position Everton will finish this season is 7th, and that guarantees a place for the Blues in Europe next season.

Moyes hopes for Beattie's Best
25 Apr - While many in the Goodison crowd bayed in frustration when James Beattie missed a real siter after 9 minutes of Saturday's Birmingham game, David Moyes is more reflective about the striker and what he can bring to Everton when he starts firing on all cylinders.  "He snatched at his chance but that's what forwards sometimes do. Hopefully, he'll keep getting the chances.  I hope to see the best of him this season, but he just needs a little bedding in."

Everton 1 - 1 Birmingham City
23 Apr - David Moyes made three changes to the side facing Birmingham City, with Watson, Ferguson and Bent replaced by Pistone, Beattie and Osman respectively. A pretty lacklustre first half performance saw Everton trailing 1-0, courtesy of our old friend from across the park, Heskey. Moyes brought those three payers back on in the second half and it was Ferguson who stabbed home a vital leveller that Everton rarley looked worthy of as they failed to recreate the dominance of Wednesday night's heroics.  Report from Paul Traill

He Ain't No David Brent!
21 Apr - Seb Gordon pays homage to manager David Moyes - for the manner in which Moyes has turned matters around, fashioning a side to compete at the top of the League and perhaps more importantly instilling that self-belief now so evident in the playing squad. Mourinho may collect the silverware but it is Moyes who deserves the managerial plaudits. Cometh the hour, cometh the man: David Moyes...

Everton 1 - 0 Manchester United
20 Apr - A great night for Evertonians, thanks to a headed Duncan Ferguson goal ten minutes into the second half of an action packed match, evoking memories of old. Quite simply put - Everton, as a team tonight, were magnificent and thoroughly deserved victory which strengthens the Blues' grip on that coveted fourth place in the Premiership. The dream continues... Match Reports now added.

Rum Business
19 Apr - Michael Coffey analyses the state of the modern game and the hurdles facing Everton as we continually try to claw our way back to the pinnacle of the domestic game. Citing Tesco's superb strategy where "every little helps" has pushed that company to the top of the tree, he wonders what lies ahead for the Club, mindful that we now have Sir Terry Leahy installed as an advisor to the Board.

Think Of The Poor Fans!
17 Apr - Rick Tarleton awaits the return of Wayne Rooney and his Manchester United teammates to Goodison Park for the second time this season, this coming Wednesday night, for one of those oft-hyped six-pointers! The question of loyalty and what it means for different groups of people who are so intimately involved in our beloved game looms large in Rick's interesting assessment.

Once A Blue...?
16 Apr - The clock ticking, losing 2-1 at home and playing towards the Kop end. Time for a splash in that opposition penalty box, Stevie? Of course! Shame about the following effort from twelve yards, eh? Listening afterwards to various radio phone-ins, we suspect poor Stevie walked home alone!

Fellow Blue In Need
16 Apr - Ian Macdonald from the Everton Independent Blues asks Evertonians to come to the aid of a fellow Blue, Stan Tyrrell, who is seriously ill. Stan was voted Everton Fan Of The Year by the Liverpool Echo and plans are afoot for a benefit after the Birmingham City home match next week in Crofts.

Satis? — damn right
15 Apr - Someone has finally stepped up to question one of the meandering dissertations Rob Fox assembles for us. Paul Appleyard was not impressed by Rob's latest offering, and proceeds to take him to task on a number of his sweeping or speculative assumptions, ending with a shocking but sadly accurate assessment of the real value of the big-name signings that fans tend to crave after.

Satis?
13 Apr - After the great result from Sunday's game, Rob Fox is able to provide a more upbeat analysis of where we may be headed, empahasizing once again one of his familiar themes — that David Moyes is in it for the long-haul and is brave enough to avoid making short-term decisions that could arguably have secured more immediate returns.  Instead, he is always planning for the future and taking the right steps to build a solid team that can vie for top honours.  In short: In Moyes We Trust!

Slick Everton turn on the style
10 Apr - Everton capitalised on Liverpool's defeat yesterday in the best possible way, blowing Crystal Palace away at Goodison Park with four goals, the last of which was scored by James Vaughan. The 16 year-old made history, first by coming as the club's youngest ever player and then taking Wayne Rooney's record as youngest scorer. The impressive Mikel Arteta opened the scoring, whipping a free kick home in the 8th minute and Tim Cahill trebled the advantage with two goals inside the first 10 minutes of the second half. Cue Vaughan who came off the bench to seal a fantastic win that re-establishes Everton's Champions League credentials and offers hope for the visit of Manchester United in 10 days' time. Kudos to Moyesey for his tactical change. Reports by Paul Waring and Paul Traill

Blues' blushes saved by City
9 Apr - A fantastic last-minute winner from Kiki Musampa produced a dream result in the most fitting way for Everton fans who were hanging on the news from the City Stadium today. Any result for Liverpool would have taken them above Everton into fourth place but that was not to be after City's late rally sunk the nasty reds to make sure they are kept at bay for at least another week. With the pressure on Everton slightly reduced, let's hope this inspires them to play the football they need to play tomorrow at Goodison Park to ensure the right result — a resounding win! Elsewhere, Middlesbrough and Charlton both lost; of the European challengers, only Bolton managed to pick up three points today. Opportunity knocks!

Is Vaughan ready for his debut?
7 Apr - It wouldn't be ToffeeWeb if we didn't pour some tepid water on the latest straw offered up for the grasping... but we could not supress this special report from Mike Brennan who went to Haig Avenue on Monday with his young son, specifically to run his eye over young James Vaughan. One match is hopefully not enough to make an accurate assessment on the lad who could steal Joe Royle's record on Sunday and become Everton's youngest player ever. Lyndon Lloyd is wary of rushing him into the first team.

The Spinners! by Colm Kavanagh
5 Apr - The remarkable article by David Prentice in the Liverpool Echo last week — the first in a special series examining the financial state of Everton Football Club — continues to draw the attention of Evertonian commentators, including our own Colm Kavanagh, who takes pains to provide background information and context for some of the strange claims made. What new and great achievements by CEO Keith Wyness will be revealed in Part Two?  We can't wait...

Slip, slip, slipping away
3 Apr - Everton's Champions League aspirations were again made to look overly ambitious as the urgency and incisiveness their situation requires simply wasn't there against relegation-threatened West Bromwich Albion. Thanks to the returning Mikel Arteta, the Blues were more tidy and inventive in their passing but they created few chances, all of which seemed to fall to Marcus Bent who was foiled in equal part by Russell Hoult and some off-key finishing. They then conceded a soft goal at the back post when Gera headed home but the brief spell of pressure they applied late on was never going to be enough. Four defeats in five is relegation form, not what you'd expect from a team hoping to be mixing it up with the Real Madrids of this world next season. Report

 

Snippets & Rumours

Chelsea are Champions
30 Apr - Roman Abramovich reaps the ultimate return on his massive mega-millions investment in Chelsea as they are proclaimed Premiership Champions after beating Bolton 2-0 and doing Everton a huge favour in the quest to retain 4th place.

Mother of all Derbies?
30 Apr - If the dreaded 4th place/Champions' League scenario plays out, Peter Fearon suggests a good solution: a massive derby play-off for next season's ECL honours!  Ideas and comment on the same subject from James Brand, Brian Parker, and Andrew Loomis.

Windy City Blues
29 Apr - Ahead of Saturday's game at Craven Cottage, the FulhamUSA website features a nice interview with Diane Salisbury, who runs Everton's North America supporters club out of Chicago, IL.

Simon Davies A Done Deal?
29 Apr - ToffeeWeb understands that Everton and Tottenham Hotspur have agreed a deal which will see Welsh international Simon Davies moving to Goodison Park this summer.

Hats Off To Leicester City
29 Apr - Ian Macdonald from the Independent Blues relays news of the recent tribute to the late Bernard Murphy and his family by the people of Leicester City. A nice touch from The Foxes...

Women's FA Cup Final
29 Apr - Everton Ladies play Charlton Athletic on Monday in the Women's FA Cup Final, to be held at Upton Park/Boleyn Ground, London, kick-off:1 pm.

Stubbs and Pistone miss Fulham
29 Apr - Alan Stubbs and Alessandro Pistone are both set to miss Saturday's match at Fulham through injury. Gary Naysmith is also injured.

Another vote for 4th Place
29 Apr - In the continuing debate over the Uefa/FA/4th place saga for Champions' League qualification, another Uefa spokesman has backed potential 4th place over potential holders... but says it is up to the FA.

The 4th place debate continues
28 Apr - "Liverpool are almost certain to miss out on the Champions' League next season if they finish outside the top four in the Premiership even if they win the competition this season."  That's the reassuring news from today's Independent.  The FA Board are due to dicuss the issue today, but are unlikely to make any decision.

Lions get Lyons
28 Apr - Mick Lyons, Everton great from the 1970s, has been named the new coach (ie, Manager) of Australian 6PR(?) Football West Premier League club Stirling Lions.  Lyons follows in the footsteps of another former Blue, Steve McMahon, who was appointed manager of Perth Glory - a founding member of the new 'A-League' which kicks off in August.

The suspense continues
27 Apr - Chelsea and Liverpool played to a pretty even 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge in the first leg of the first-ever all-English Champions League semi-final — despite the collective prayers of hundreds of thousands of Evertonians for a decisive and unassailable Chelsea victory. The Uefa/FA/4th Place saga looks set to continue for at least another week...

Hands Off! It's Ours!
27 Apr - Korean Evertonian, Koi Ng, tries to remove the emotion from the argument over who plays in next season's Champion's League. In the meantime, we all hope Mourinho's lot have the answers!

Remember back in '75?
27 Apr - The Uefa/FA/4th Place saga has some resonance for Everton that predates 1985, and is remebered in this Staffordshire piece from the Stoke City perspective.

Killa looks to Europe
27 Apr - Kevin Kilbane looks forward to playing in Europe next season, with both Everton and Ireland.

Lee Molyneux turning heads
26 Apr - A feature on 16-year-old Everton and England Youth star, Lee Molyneux, who is making a good impression.

Paul Gregg salutes achievement
26 Apr - “I would like to congratulate David Moyes, his staff and all the players after qualifying for European football for the first time in 25 years as a result of the team’s league position.  The next four games are incredibly important as they may result in an even bigger prize of Champions League qualification.  Every Evertonian will be anxious to see how the Club will move forward following this success.” — Paul Gregg

Poigniant plea from Howie
26 Apr - Howard Kendall, speaking on BBC 5Live, reminds how Everton suffered unjustly at the hands of Liverpool under the Heysel ban, and says how wrong it would be for them to be given preferential treatment ahead of Everton this season, if they win the Champions League.

Thanks from the Walnut Blues
26 Apr - The Walnut Blues offer their thanks after last Saturday's benefit at Croft's Social Club for Everton Fan of the Year, Stan Tyrrell. It goes without saying that we all wish Stan the very best.

Ball Boys bag all the balls
25 Apr - This dubious article suggests some cunning machinations afoot regarding the activities of the Goodison Park ballboys last Wednesday. An new ruling from Uefa will no doubt be forthcoming...

Subs changed the game
25 Apr - Mikel Arteta praises the astute substitutions made by David Moyes on Saturday that changed the pattern of the game for Everton, with two big men upfront allowing them to get the ball up quicker... Come back Unsie — all is forgiven!

Uefa say it's up to the FA
25 Apr - In the hopefully unlikely event that Liverpool are successful in the Champions League, Uefa Chief Executive Lars Christer Olsen says that the decision on the fourth English representative would be down to the FA, although he thinks it should go with Premiership placing.  The BBC interpret this as the FA asking for a fifth place, which Olsen rules out.

No Regrets!
24 Apr - David Moyes sounded content with one point yesterday. Considering his thoughts were offered before Liverpool collapsed (again!) at Palace, it's not hard to see why Moyes remains confident: "We're pleased with our points total and we know that we've got some big games to come."

European Football next season!
23 Apr - Barring an almost impossible scenario, Everton should be playing European football next season for the first time in ten long years. Today's results mean that it is next to impossible for Everton to finish lower than 7th, with a Uefa Cup place going to that slot because the FA Cup finalists will both qualify for the Champions League (by virtue of their league positions).

Gap opens just a little...
23 Apr - Despite Everton's faltering performance today, the gap behind them to aspiring Champions League contenders Liverpool and Bolton opened up again to four points — and Everton still have a game in hand! Liverpool were beaten by Palace and a lovely headed goal by Andy Johnson from a superb first-time volleyed cross. We can smell it!!!

Come To Crofts After The Match!
22 Apr - Please attend if you can and assist with the benefit for Stan Tyrrell. All are welcome, a small donation on entry is suggested, a price of a pint. Crofts is two minutes from the ground, if you're looking at St Luke's church turn left and two hundred yards down the road is Crofts, the old supporters club.

Prentice Calls For FA Action Now
22 Apr - Dave Prentice, writing in the Liverpool Echo, calls for the FA to act now and clarify the position regarding qualification for next season's Champions League. As ever, the silence from the FA remains deafening. Perhaps they're praying for a Liverpool exit along with Evertonians!

Confident Weir Challenges Reds
22 Apr - Defender David Weir has issued a challenge to our rivals from across Stanley Park. "It is a big prize we are fighting for and everyone is pulling out all the stops as it gets closer to the end of the season." Don't tempt fate there, Davey!

Passports at the ready!
21 Apr - A home win on Saturday lunchtime over Birmingham City will guarantee European football next season. It has been 25 long seasons since Everton qualified for European football via their final League position (allowing for Championship winning sides!).

Simply Awesome!
21 Apr - David Moyes pays tribute to the Goodison faithful for the atmosphere created last night which evoked comparison with the great night back in 1985 when Bayern Munich were sent crashing out of the European Cup Winners Cup.

Moyes Asks For Focus
21 Apr - David Moyes offers all who will listen (not easy, today!) that victory over Man. Utd. is now in the past. We must focus on the huge match this coming Saturday when Birmingham City come to Goodison.

Moyesie's Pride!
20 Apr - The thought of leading Everton into Champions League battle next season fills David Moyes with immense pride. "For me, getting Everton into the Champions League would be my greatest managerial achievement so far in my career, but that's a way to go yet." Too right, Davey!

Reserves Held By Leeds
19 Apr - Alan Irvine's young reserve side shared the spoils with Leeds United's reserves (managed by ex-keeper Martin Hodge) in an entertaining 1-1 draw at Haig Avenue, Tuesday night.

Anyone play left back?
19 Apr - David Moyes might have a defensive crisis on his hands tomorrow night for the visit of Manchester United. Already denied the services of both Alan Stubbs and Alessandro Pistone, there are worries that Gary Naysmith will also be missing.

Papa Don't Leave...
19 Apr - Fulham manager Chris Coleman claims that midfielder Papa Bouba Diop is going nowhere. That may be the case should he choose to remain at Craven Cottage! Meanwhile, he continues to be linked with a move to Goodison.

Talking the talk
18 Apr - The Liverpool Echo credits Mikel Arteta with slightly more than he actually said about lessons learnt from the last time we played United. The Echo also carries this longer interview with Arteta.

Gerrard On His Way?
18 Apr - Despite not yet being offered an extended deal at Everton by manager David Moyes, young Anthony Gerrard has not given up hope of staying at Goodison Park for another year.  "It's a possibility, but at the moment I'm just content with being on loan here (Walsall) and when the season is over I'll see what options I've got and consider them all," said Gerrard.

Moyes Ready To Make Changes
17 Apr - Manager David Moyes suggests "horses for courses" with just six games left this season. Sounds as though the 4-5-1 formation that has served us well this season has been finally put to bed...

Emre's "extensive discussions"?
17 Apr - On London Marathon day, Sky Sports claim that Everton are leading the chase to sign Turkish international, Emre. Should he sign for the Blues, what odds he becomes known as "Dick"!

Allardyce Keen On Catching Toffees!
17 Apr - Bolton manager Sam Allardyce's wishes for a last-day cliffhanger between his Wanderers and Everton at the Reebok Stadium remain on track after Bolton's victory at Charlton yesterday. Bolton can move into fourth place with a home win over Southampton this coming Tuesday night.

Bolton emerge as the threat
16 Apr - Bolton Wanderers leap-frogged Liverpool and pulled to within two points of Everton with a 2-1 win at Charlton. The Reds twice had to come from behind to draw with Spurs and now lie three points behind the Blues, who now have a game in hand.

Cahill On A Par With Lampard?
16 Apr - With just six games left, manager David Moyes sings the praises of Australian midfielder, Tim Cahill...

We smell money
15 Apr - The Liverpool Echo delves into a bit of predictive book-keeping, toting up the increases in money that will be coming Everton's way this season.

Beattie on the mend
15 Apr - James Beattie expects to start training again next week after recovering from ligament damage to his knee, but won't be ready for the United game on Wednesday.

16 years ago today
15 Apr - Today marks the 16th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster when 96 fans lost their lives at an FA Cup semi-final.  While Liverpool FC was directly affected, many Evertonians had friends and family on the Leppings Lane terraces that day while Everton were involved in the other semi-final.  The fight against perceived injustice on the part of the establishment continues from the people of Merseyside and the Hillsborough Justice Campaign.

England duty counts Vaughan out
14 Apr - James Vaughan is likely to miss an important part of Everton's run-in because of European Championship commitments with England U-17s. They have matches on May 3rd, 5th and 8th, with possible semi-final and final fixtures on the 11th and 14th which would count him out the Blues' matches against Newcastle, Arsenal and Bolton next month.

Stubbs won't give up hope
14 Apr - Alan Stubbs talks about the shoulder injury that is likely to keep him out of contention for the last six games of the season.

Big Dunc makes a difference
14 Apr - Duncan Ferguson leads Opta's Premiership super-sub table, having made 27 appearances from the bench, and being credited with a beneficial influence on match outcomes worth 13 points so far this season.

Reserves struggle at Leeds
13 Apr - A young Everton Acedemy side lacking any senior players came unstuck at Leeds this evening, losing 3-0.

Cahill fingers Arteta factor
13 Apr - Tim Cahill reinforces to the Liverpool Echo that Mikel Arteta was a key factor in Sunday's important win over Crystal Palace.

Vaughan playing in Europe
13 Apr - James Vaughan is virtually a dead cert for the England team due to compete in the European Under-17's Championships in Tuscany during the first week of May, and could miss some important games for Everton.

Local award for Academy prodigy
13 Apr - John Paul Kissock is not a name many Evertonians will recognize, but the 15-year-old has been featuring in Everton's Youth Academy Under-18 campaign this season, and last night was named Young Sports Personality of the Year at the City of Liverpool's Annual Sports Awards.

Weir on Vaughan
12 Apr - Some sensible thoughts from David Weir, who talks appreciatively about James Vaughan in this article from the Daily Post.

Here we go again
11 Apr - "We'll be working very closely with the club to ensure James is allowed to concentrate on his football and not be too distracted by any unwelcome interest." Familiar words from Vaughan's agent. Even Bill Kenwright broke his silence to comment on the Premiership's youngest goalscorer.

Arteta's apology to Palace faithful
11 Apr - Mike Arteta has offered his unreserved apologies to Crystal Palace's supporters for celebrating in front of the away section yesterday. The Spaniard confessed that he didn't know they were the away fans — in the excitement of scoring his first Everton goal, he just ran to the nearest fans.

Agent cool on Gravesen's return
11 Apr - Thomas Gravesen's agent, John Sivebaek, has poured cold water on suggestions that his client could return to Everton in the summer.

Stubbs facing extended lay-off
10 Apr - Alan Stubbs was added to the injury list today when he reptured ligaments and separated the acromioclavicular joint in his shoulder in an aerial challenge with Palace's Andy Johnson. He won't require surgery but he will face "weeks" on the sidelines according to the Official site.

Vaughan breaks four records
10 Apr - James Vaughan broke three records today: youngest ever Everton senior player; youngest ever Everton goalscorer; youngest ever Premiership scorer, and youngest ever Premiership player to score on his debut.

Ferguson to be offered new deal
10 Apr - Everton are reportedly ready to offer one-year contract extensions to Duncan Ferguson, Alessandro Pistone and Lee Carsley.

Fogarty on the death of football
10 Apr - ToffeeBlogger, Kenny Fogarty, gives a chillingly accurate account of the corrupt state of Premiership football, where Chelsea can buy the title and the big three are in a separate league to everybody else. Is the domestic game dying at the hands of corporate greed?

'The Red Echo'
8 Apr - That's how many Evertonians have long regarded Liverpool's biggest local paper because of their bias towards Liverpool FC and, as highlighted on the People's Forum, their actions in recent weeks have done nothing to change the perception of a decidedly less-than-level playing field.

Reserves edge Newcastle
7 Apr - A single goal by midfielder Alan Kearney was enough to lift the Reserves to a 1-0 win over Newcastle in a behind-closed-doors affair at Bellefield this evening.

Correction for US/Canada viewers
7 Apr - Contrary to what we previously posted, the home game with Crystal Palace will not be screened on Sunday in the US and Canada. Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports World are broadcasting it on a one-day delay at 3pm ET / 12pm PT on Monday.

Attack as the best form of defence
7 Apr - Everton are hurting for goals and some fans are advocating the blooding of young James Vaughan against Palace. While agreeing that we have to go out and attack on Sunday, TW columnist Lyndon Lloyd urges caution against relying on an untried 16 year-old and advocates handing striking responsibilities to Leon Osman instead.

Transfer speculation on a roll
7 Apr - Although there are still a couple of months left of the season before the transfer madness starts again in earnest, speculation is already swamping the media, with Davies and Keane coming from Spurs, while Stubbs is going back to Bolton...

Palace is a must-win game
7 Apr - It's fast becoming another football cliché but Sunday's match against Crystal Palace really is a must-win game.  "How often in the last 10 years have Everton entered this point of the season with something positive to play for?" asks David Moyes.  Indeed!

The glass is half empty
6 Apr - A quartet of less-than-cheerful Fans Comment articles reflect the mood of many Blues right now. Seb Gordon bemoans our lack of firepower, Steve Thompson lashes out at Bill Kenwright, Stuart Reid analyses our current form and Peter Fearon is firmly on the CL-or-nothing bandwagon.

Some won't like this
6 Apr - Not because we're linking to 'Kipper (and therefore not adhering to the bizarre polarized world that must, apparently, exist between our two Evertonian communities), that's the title of this well-penned piece by Joe90 about the effects of self-perception.

Vaughan to play against Palace?
6 Apr - David Moyes has shown little inclination to bring in any new blood from the reserves, but Sunday could be the big chance for recent England Under-17 goalscorer James Vaughan.

CL qualfication is paramount
5 Apr - Everton director Paul Gregg has publicly called on the club to put all its weight behind supporting the team's bid to qualify for the Champions League and postpone decisions on new investment until the summer.

The run-in on TV
5 Apr - The TV schedule for Everton's remaining games is taking shape, with six of the seven being televised live somewhere in the world and the final game likely to also be shown if the Blues are still in the Champions League mix.

Player of the Month: March
5 Apr - We only played two games but March was a pretty bad month anyway seeing as we lost them both, so this month's poll is either going to be very hard or very easy. Vote away...

Where did it go wrong?
5 Apr - In The Times, Oliver Kay provides little new insight by way of explanation for Everton's return to relegation form once the team had attained the magic 40 points on Boxing Day.

Pistone expects to re-sign
5 Apr - Alessandro Pistone expects to extend his stay at Goodison Park by accepting the contract extension on offer from Everton.

The view from across the Pond
5 Apr - Steve Green, a Canadian-based Blue, looks on the bright side of life — while admitting that his geographically detached status makes this an easier position to adopt — and suggests that Everton's lack of readiness for the Champions League means that missing out on qualfication for that competition wouldn't be a bad thing.

Reviving the relegation mindset
5 Apr - This piece on WSAG reinforces the Champions League vs UEFA Cup argument and suggests Everton should use their past experience of fighting off relegation to their advantage in the run-in.

What a difference one game makes
5 Apr - TW reader Daniel Mckeown does an about turn on his previous optimism and is now not so sure that Europe will do us any good given the small size of our squad and the number of players out of contract this summer.

David Moyes: Positive Thinking
4 Apr - The diverse snippets from David Moyes that form the basis of this Daily Post article provide an excellent lesson in the value of positive thinking... or, on the other hand, is David Moyes starting to become ever so slightly delusional? "There is no fear about not getting in the Champions League because we weren't expected to be here." — despite being in the top four for most of the season... TW readers disagree

In Moyes We Trust...
4 Apr - ...says David Prentice, who continues his camelion-like transformation since that cutting piece of journalism at the end of last season pissed off the players and no doubt the club. More players in January would not have been the answer...

Beattie injury confirmed
4 Apr - James Beattie, of whom a fear was that he is injury prone, sustained a tear to a medial ligament when he fell during training ahead of Sunday's match, and will be out for around three weeks.

In the blue corner
3 Apr - In this interview with David Moyes in the Sunday Herald, Michael Grant hears about Everton’s transformation from Premiership lightweights to European contenders.  In it, Moyes states: "Talk is cheap. You have to be able to deliver.” — which we are adopting as ToffeeWeb's new motto.

Telling it like it is
2 Apr - For the small group of Evertonians who might really want some insights into what's really going on at EFC, this lengthy analysis by Kenny Fogarty on his ToffeeBlog was prompted by what he sees as a recent whitewash job from David Prentice.  For the majority who are more sensitive and don't like anything negative said about our great club... DO NOT FOLLOW THIS LINK!

Catch us if you can
2 Apr - Alessandro Pistone rightly says staying ahead of the pack is within Everton's purview, although the gap is now down to just one measly point. Less talk: more action please, Sandro!

The Aussies love Tiny Tim
2 Apr - Lots of good stuff in these three articles from the Sydney Morning Herald, along with a Fact File of sorts on Tiny Tim Cahill, who has no intention of forgetting his roots down under... and in the Pacific.

Another April Fool?
1 Apr - Part One of a "special series examining the financial state of Everton Football Club" appears today in the Liverpool Echo. It tells us what a wonderful job Keith Wyness is doing; promises an incredible £30M for David Moyes (but wait! The real number for transfers this summer is only £12M...); slams Paul Gregg's attempts to find backers; and makes just a passing mention of the mysterious Fortress Sports Fund.

Treasured tradition trashed?
1 Apr - Since football was invented (in 1993), one annoying throwback has continued to irritate the wonderful governing body at the FA... but no longer! 40 years of tradition means nothing to the unifying principles of the Premier League, who have commanded that Everton will not be running out to the Z-Cars theme any more after the Crystal Palace game. But wait... those wags at the Official Everton Website proudly acknowledge they had plenty of Evertonians fooled with this April Fool's joke.

Moyesie's Pride!
 Apr - The thought of leading Everton into Champions League battle next season fills David Moyes with immense pride. "For me, getting Everton into the Champions League would be my greatest managerial achievement so far in my career, but that's a way to go yet." Too right, Davey!

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