Match Report

It was a reasonably entertaining game — Everton started quite brightly, linking up in midfield well were Carsley(!) and Gravesen.  Despite not being a fan of Gravesen, he was playing some nice cross-field passes at a success ratio of around 2:1.  I would also add that his touch to set up Campbell's goal was pure class.  Kilbane's goal was a wonderful finish in a mixed performance from him.  Osman looks like he will be very important for us this year.  I think he looks very confident and one of the few who might offer us something different this season.

Elsewhere, Pistone looked inept at left-back.  If this is his strongest position, then we have problems.  He got skinned by the Wednesday no-mark several times as well as being caught out of position on more than a couple of occasions.  He also lacked pace, as well as any sort of commitment to anything.  I'd rather have Naysmith there to be honest.

Sheffield Wednesday were pretty dreadful. Their keeper was shocking and their defense woeful - hell - they even made us look pretty useful.

Martyn Did all he could. Didn't do anything particularly wrong.

Hibbert Same old story. Not a clue when distributing. Sometimes appears confused and careless.

Pistone Lost any faith I had left in this guy. Looks out of position and out of touch. A new left back would be nice. As there's no chance of that, Naysmith must play there. The worst player on the pitch (with the possible exception of the Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper).

Stubbs Still slow, still shite.

Weir Ditto. I fear for us if Yobo gets injured this season. To have both of these clowns at the heart of the defense really doesn't bare thinking about.

Osman Confident display. Nice passing and touches. Looks like he's enjoying playing - at least someone is. Will play a big part for us this year I think.

Kilbane A mixed display. Fantastic goal. Showed some nice control but occasionally his passing was somewhat all over the place.

Carsley A reasonable performance here. Battled as he usually does. Passed it quite well at times.

Gravesen Little doubt that a lot rests on him this season. He passed the ball quite nicely without so much tendency for outrageous ambitiousness. Undoubtedly a lot will be expected/required from him this year if we're to avoid the unthinkable.

Campbell Jumped, skipped and fell in all the right places.

McFadden Looked frustrated at times and it was easy to see why.  Whether this guy has got what it takes we'll find out this season — I suspect not.  Showed flashes of skill rarely but usually without end product.  Looks more useful as a winger IMHO.

Substitutes:-

Wright Currently suffering with anorexia. Not been fed since 2002. Looked out of practise but he will soon be so light that he will be able to 'float' in the nets. This new attribute may enable him to place a very reasonable challenge for Martyn's shirt.

Naysmith Better than Pistone.

Bent Nice flicks and one-twos. Other than that, showed little tonight.

Watson Looked fat. Scored a couple. One was quite lucky. Was the 'danger man' in the Sheffield Wednesday programme. I laughed, but they were spot-on.

Chadwick, Fox, Clarke, Gerrard Too little time on the pitch to fully gauge them. Chadwick doesn't look great, mind.

The View from Holland

Since Sunday’s defeat in Texas, Bill Kenwright (- of all people!) told Paul Gregg that “talk is cheap”. Lord Grantchester made an incredible ‘U-turn’ without actually clearing anything up. David Moyes used the words “ridiculous” and “gambling” while talking about our threadbare squad. Sir Phil Carter asked us to concentrate solely on events on the pitch (- a bit hard don’t you think?) and Eddie Bosnar finally signed for Everton Reserves.

Every time I log on to the internet, new stories pop up all over the place and very few are pleasant reading for Evertonians. It’s getting more and more ridiculous and frustrating every single day.

How much more can we take? Here we are finally having a manager that seems to have all the necessary attributes to try and emulate Howard Kendall’s achievements in the 1980’s, here we are having a young player that comes along only once in a life-time and could become to closest thing to us ever seeing anything like the immortal Dixie Dean in the flesh. We should be proudly belting out our Everton ditties down the pub or at work every day, but we’re not and it’s disgraceful! There are actually only very few people who can take us out of our misery (- dare I say one or two?) but who for whatever disgusting reason, simply refuse to.

I spend too many hours on the internet not believing what I read, not wanting to admit what it all means for the immediate future of our club. I almost feel I have to apologise for writing about something as trivial as a friendly football match.
Still, amidst all the chaos we travelled down to Hillsborough tonight and, incredibly, Moyesey and the lads even managed to put a smile on my face!

I left work two hours early to listen to the game, only to find out that evertonfc.com didn’t have live commentary tonight! All I could do was stare at the line-up and ‘refresh’ the latest score page every 5-10 minutes. Another goal for Leon Osman, another goal for James McFadden, another game for out-of-favour Peter Clarke and debuts to Daniel Fox and Anthony Gerrard.
Quite pleased with a 4-1 lead towards the end, I switched off. Only to find out later that another four goals had been scored in the last 10 minutes or so and that our skeleton, jet-lagged squad have now managed to score 12 goals in our last three games. I don’t care how poor our opposition might have been. Winning 6-3 against a League One team certainly provides al whole lot more entertainment than, let’s say, travelling all the way to Toronto to get beat 1-0 by FC Porto!

Whatever happens between now and the start of the season, of one thing we can be sure. The manager and the players representing Everton Football Club will receive incredible support from loyal Evertonians. It’s us against the board and The People’s Club against all odds.

Rob van Dijk

Steve Milne