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ToffeeWeb Season Diary

Season 2006-07

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July 2006


News Headlines & Features

Club América 1 - 1 Everton
29 Jul - Everton's second and final friendly on their brief tour of the USA was a rematch of the Copa de Tejas game two years against Club América. Mikel Areta put the Blues ahead after 5 mins with a brilliant free-kick and a lively game ensued, but Everton were denied victory by a late equalizer from Nelson Cuevas, and the Mexicans won on penalties when Alan Stubbs bounced his spot-kick off the crossbar. Match report.

£80million takeover looming?
28 Jul - The London Evening Standard are reporting that another takeover battle is set to commence at Everton in advance of the upcoming season. They believe that an unnamed Surrey-based Russian is prepared to bankroll an attempt by Paul Gregg, to wrest control away from Bill Kenwright. Philip Green is denying interest in a counter consortium, with his friend Mr. Kenwright and such an article wouldn't be the same without reference to Randy Lerner, the American tycoon recently linked with Aston Villa. The Everton Board have posted an announcement attesting that no takeover approach has been made so far.

Anichebe on the mark in Columbus draw
26 Jul - Victor Anichebe furthered his case for greater involvement at first-team level with another pre-season goal, this time earning a draw for the Blues against Columbus Crew of the American MLS. Ex-Rangers midfielder Sebastian Rosenthal opened the scoring when he slammed a deflected shot past Richard Wright in the 14th minute. But the lively Anichebe received trialist Delron Buckley's lay-off 11 minutes before half time and slotted into the far corner with aplomb. The 18 year old brushed the post with an almost identical effort two minutes later but apart from a Buckley header that was directed straight at the 'keeper, Everton rarely troubled their hosts again. Another good workout and 90 minutes' fitness training for the likes of Joleon Lescott. ToffeeWeb Report

''Moyes forced me out of Everton''
25 Jul - In Wayne Rooney's autobiography My Story so Far, Rooney attributes a breakdown in his relationship with Manager David Moyes as being one of the main factors that led to his departure from Everton. Rooney cites revelations about his reaction to the infamous whorehouse as clear evidence of a leak by Moyes to the local papers, and claims "I would have gone almost anywhere just to get away from David Moyes." Reactions in our Mailbag while Gideon Haigh in The Guardian scoffs at the notion that Rooney's book will reveal anything that hasn't already been dragged through the gutter press.

''A good workout''
24 Jul - Post-match analysis of the high-profile friendly with Celtic appears to have people worried by the fact that AJ has still not scored but David Moyes takes a more balanced view: "I thought AJ played well. I would have kept him on later but he has a bit of a groin strain. He'll give us a threat. Their keeper made a couple of good saves from him. If he plays like that, he will be difficult for defences. " Moyes added: "We played well enough and we didn't deserve to lose the game. We showed that Everton are a good side. We are just short of a month to the start of the season and we're doing OK. I thought today was a good workout for us."

Better late than never!
22 Jul - The rather protracted saga of Joseph Yobo and the "Will he, won't he" sign his new contract dilemma is finally over, and the Nigerian captain has signed to extend his contractual committemnt to Everton for a further four years. He told Everton TV: "I have waited a long time for this to be sorted out. There was no doubt of me being happy, I wanted to stay. But I wanted a commitment from the club. At the end of the season I spoke with the manager and he told me the ambitions of the club and that was the first step. Then I accepted that I wanted to stay."

Welcome to the Jungle!
22 Jul - Defender Alan Stubbs, who spent five happy years at Celtic, has admitted that tomorrow's pre-season match, at Parkhead, will be an emotional return. "I am really looking forward to it. It is going to be emotional. Celtic did an awful lot for me and sometimes you can't put into words how thankful you are." He added, "hopefully if I am playing on Sunday I can try and show what the fans meant to me. The club were amazing to me and my family." The match kicks off at 2pm with live TV coverage on Channel 5 in Britain, and live streaming on the internet via Everton TV outside the British Isles.

Spencer plays in reserve victory
21 Jul - Everton's young second string side, guided by Andy Holden, have begun their pre-season with a victory at Burscough. Goals from Steven Morrison and Kieran Agard, one in each half, saw Holden's side victorious, with recent signing from Oldham Athletic Scott Spencer, playing in his first Everton game. Coach Holden said afterwards, "it was a good team display. For a few of the lads it was their first game of the summer and they came through it well."

Hopes pinned on Arteta
21 Jul - Everton coach Alan Irvine has been talking about Mikel Arteta's recovery from a bout of chicken pox, and is pleased with what he has seen so far. No Evertonian needs reminding that so much of our creative play last season came through Arteta, and without him, we looked poor. Despite the hype over the signings David Moyes has made, Arteta remains our only source of midfield creativity...

Van fails his MOT yet again
20 Jul - To say that former Dutch international Andy van der Meyde has struggled with injuries since joining Everton is a bit of an understatement. Yet again, his groin injuries are causing concern amongst the management. Assistant manager Alan Irvine says that "Andy has a problem with the same area of the groin that kept him out for a long time last season. We are concerned about that. It's the part where you strike the ball and Andy strikes the ball very hard with a great deal of power.". Damaged goods if ever...

Moyes talks up Davies
19 Jul - David Moyes believes Simon Davies is going to show he is capable of giving much more to the squad than last season when he was hobbled by a number of niggling injuries. Davies himself has expressed his own bitter disappointment at how last season panned out for him and is he looking to be a lot more involved this time around ? starting tonight at Deepdale as Everton visit Preston NE; kick-off 7:45pm

Damn the smallprint!
18 Jul - The Liverpool Echo claim that CEO Keith Wyness is monitoring Fiorentina's current problems in Italy after their demotion to Serie B. It is now feared that Everton will remain out of pocket as the club had a number of bonus payments written into Per Krøldrup's deal when he left Goodison Park and Fiorentina's absence from Serie A could jeopardise how much they eventually recoup. Nothing new there, say some, remembering our agreement with Glasgow Rangers, allowing them 'off the hook' with the outstanding balance of the Michael Ball transfer fee.

Van der Meyde set to deliver?
17 Jul - Andy van der Meyde has his work cut out this season after producing little of note in his brief contribution to last season, other than rumours of a being partial to a drink or two. At Vale Park on Saturday, he began to show signs that he is worthy of the Number 7 shirt, with a couple of superb defence-splitting balls played in behind the Port Vale's defence. He faded in the heat during the second half, showing that more work is still needed, but let's hope these are positive signs!

Fans mob AJ after first showing
16 Jul - After the final whistle blew at Gigg Lane on Saturday, Everton fans mobbed Andy Johnson in the centre-circle, all wanting to shake the new signing's hand and if possible get a souvenier. AJ gave up his new mustard shirt and a pair of boots to the happy fans who had watched him be thwarted on no less than four occasions by great saves from Bury's Alan Fettis.

Off we go again
15 Jul - The World Cup is over, and in no time at all we're off on our pre-season jollies.   This season, David Moyes tries something new, with Everton in two places at once, playing equally strong teams that both kick off at 3pm against Bury and Port Vale.   Andy Johnson is the star attraction at Gigg Lane, while fans at Vale Park who were hoping to run the rule over Jolean Lescott learnt he would miss the game with a virus.  Final scores:
Bury 1 - 3 Everton & Port Vale 0 - 2 Everton.

Sheedy is back
14 Jul - Kevin Sheedy is to make a return to the club where he enjoyed so much success and silverware during his career. An integral member of Howard Kendall's highly successful mid-80's side, Sheedy now returns to the club in a coaching capacity, replacing Gary Ablett at the Youth Academy. The ex-Irish international, now 46, will work primarily with the under 18 side.

AJ's first Gigg ? not his debut
13 Jul - True to his word, David Moyes has split his pool of first-team and reserves down the middle to provide two roughly equal squads for the games against Bury and Port Vale that will both kick off at 3pm on Saturday. Those wanting to get an early glimpse of Andy Johnson wearing a blue shirt (but NOT making his debut ? that comes later) need to book their passage to Gigg Lane, while Joleon Lescott is likely to partner David Weir at Vale Park. Icelandic youngster Bjarni Vidarsson is selected and is in the squad for the Bury game.

New Squad Numbers Announced
11 Jul - David Moyes has announced numbers for his Everton first-team squad, with James Beattie taking up the famous Number 9 shirt while Andy Johnson will wear 8, Joleon Lescott 16, and Tim Howard 24. Richard Wright is still Number 1(!) but Tony Hibbert gets promoted to Number 2. Other changes include Andy van der Meyde getting pushed up to Number 7 and Victor Anichebe to 28 as Carsley slides back to 26. Bjarni Vidarsson still has the Number 41 shirt and has reappeared on the Official Everton Website.

"Don't even think about moving here!"
11 Jul - A Merseyside council has removed itself from the bidding war for Everton's new ground by backing two neighbouring authorities' campaigns. Sefton chief executive Graham Haywood will advise them to consider Liverpool and Knowsley's offers to build the 55,000-seater stadium in the city or Kirkby town centre. Mr. Haywood stated that "it appears that both Liverpool and Knowsley councils wish to attract this development and before local and press speculation creates the impression that Sefton council is seeking this development, I believe that we should make our position clear."

Football's fooked!
9 Jul - The 2006 World Cup will be remembered for what was supposed to be Zinedine Zidane's golden swansong. Instead, the lasting image will be of this great player viciously head-butting ex-Everton defender, Marco Materazzi, in the chest with a force Duncan Ferguson would be proud of. Materazzi had scored the equalizer with a great header after giving away a penalty when his foot appeared to clip Malouda's trailing leg, allowing Zidane his moment of trickery and skill with a great chipped penalty. And it was Materazzi who fired in one of the five perfectly taken penalties (were you watching, England?) that did it for Italy. Not an honourable day for football, with the sleaze-ridden, match-fixing Italians bagging football's biggest prize.

Columbus Crew v Everton on ESPN2
8 Jul - Everton's first pre-season game of their US tour is to be broadcast nationally across the USA on ESPN2. The match will be played in Columbus, Ohio, at Crew Stadium, the home of Major League Soccer side, Columbus Crew, on Wednesday, 26 July, and will kick off at 7 pm EDT, instead of the originally scheduled 7:30 pm.

Valente's Portugal falter
5 Jul - The last Everton player to be involved in the World Cup bade farewell after Portugal departed with a whimper. Despite Nuno Valente putting in another solid, quality performance, the rest of the feigning cheats probably deserved to go for their continual play-acting that has duped referees since a couple of ultimately futile bookings were given out for diving in the early games. France v Italy looks like being another glorification of high goal-efficiency football as their 4-5-1 formations battle away for the one goal that will decide it...

Yobo signs new deal
3 Jul - Although yet to be officially declared by the Club, it appears that defender Joseph Yobo has put pen to paper and signed a new deal extending his contract with Everton for four more seasons. According to Nigerian magazine Kick Off, Yobo has already secured his new deal. "I just did not want to rush into making any public statements. I wanted to focus on my football and do well for Everton. But I had already made up my mind to stay long before the season ended," Yobo stated. He attributed the delay in his signing the new deal to "certain little bits that had to be sorted out."

Summer's over: squad returns to work!
3 Jul - David Moyes welcomed back his first team squad on their first morning of pre-season training, at Bellefield earlier today. New signings Joleon Lescott and Andy Johnson were present but our three World Cup players remain on extended leave, with Nuno Valente looking forward to playing in this Wednesday night's World Cup semi final against France. The squad will travel down to the West Country for a week-long training camp. Moyes said, "We're all pleased to see Nuno doing so well and we'll be thrilled for him if we don't see him back here for a little while longer. The rest of the lads were all back in today then we're heading down south for a few days to a place we've used before."

David Moyes poured cold water on the rumours linking Blackburn Rovers' Australian international Brett Emerton with a move to Goodison Park this summer.

Rooney sees red
1 Jul - Playing alone up-front for England in the Quarterfinal against Portugal, Wayne Rooney (a former Everton player) was sent off after 62 mins. The offence seemed to be for pushing Ronaldo in a mild fracas that followed the award of a free-kick against Rooney after he accidentally stepped on Carvalho's testicles as they wrestled for the ball. England had been poor up to this point and Portugal weren't much better, despite having Nuno Valente playing well for them.

 

Snippets & Rumours

Moyes pleased with progress
31 Jul - David Moyes is pleased with progress made on the USA tour, and is seeing signs that competition for places is producing better performances from his players.

History Rewritten?
31 Jul - Colm Kavanagh hints at the real untold story...

Reserves lose Motormen friendly
29 Jul - Everton Reserves were beaten 2-1 in their pre-season friendly against Vauxhall Motors. New acquisition, Scott Spencer, played but it was Steven Morrison who got the Blues' only goal.

Club to unveil smartcard solution
28 Jul - The Everton TeamCard, the new smartcard season ticket, membership and loyalty scheme, will be launched by the club on 3rd August. The first phase of the rollout will be marked by a photo-call at Netherton on Monday.

Carsley jets out to Dallas
28 Jul - Lee Carsley has joined up with the Everton squad in Texas after dealing with a family matter in England and flying out to prepare for the friendly with Club América.

New stadium by 2009?
27 Jul - This Telegraph article has Goodison sources confident that if all goes well (emphasis addded) Everton could be in their new home by 2009, unlike Liverpool who have said that even in a best-case scenario their new stadium will not be ready until 2010.

Stretford slithers off the hook
26 Jul - It appears though a judge has ruled that Paul Stretford and his Proactive Sports did not poach Wayne Rooney from Proform Sports Management.

Compare & Contrast
26 Jul - Comparing two departures that have wrestled with our emotions...

Buckley trial extended
26 Jul - Delron Buckley has been given additional time to make an impression on David Moyes, and could get more of a game on the Blues' two-match tour of the USA.

Bilic named as Croatia coach
25 Jul - Former West Ham and Everton defender Slaven Bilic has been named as Croatia's new coach.

Van der Meyde misses USA trip
24 Jul - Andy van der Meyde's injury problems continue. The Dutchman will remain on Merseyside while the rest of the squad is in the States as he bids to recover from a niggling groin injury.

McFadden set to extend contract
24 Jul - James McFadden is apparently close to accepting terms on an extension to his contract at Everton.

Celtic edge Everton in friendly
23 Jul - Alden McGeady's 77th-minute strike was enough to win a pre-season friendly described as "reasonably entertaining" by the BBC. Player ratings from Luq Yus here.

Pieroni confirms talking to Blues
22 Jul - Auxerre striker Luigi Pieroni has confirmed that he has spoken to Everton in recent weeks. "Everton wanted me. We had talks but there has been nothing concrete," he explained.

Everton TV
22 Jul - Nick Armitage gives Everton's internet TV service a try...

Keeping EFC in Liverpool
21 Jul - Poll results on a potential new stadium outside the City

Dunne captains City
21 Jul - Richard Dunne, former Everton defender, has been appointed Captain of Manchester City for the forthcoming season.

Goodison Smoking Ban
21 Jul - Everton will ban smoking in the Family Enclosure from the next game, and could extend that to the entire facility by the turn of the year.

Blues draw blank at Deepdale
19 Jul - Everton and Preston played out a goalless draw in Paul McKenna's testimonial game. Andy Johnson partnered James Beattie for the first 45 minutes before being replaced at half-time. Read this match report by Paul Traill

Boss admits Celtic's Nace interest
19 Jul - David Moyes admitted in an interview with Radio Clyde that Celtic have shown an interest in taking Gary Naysmith back to the Scottish Premier League. Everton are believed to want around £1m for the full-back.

Lescott back in training
18 Jul - Joleon Lescott has returned to training after his weekend chicken pox scare but he is unlikely to feature at Preston tomorrow.

Bloggers say Top Six!
17 Jul - A couple of lads who blog on about Everton believe a top-six finish is possible. But they desparately desperately need a proof-reader. So do we, it seems!

Club clarify Silva situation
17 Jul - The failure thus far to get a work permit for midfielder, Anderson da Silva, appears to lie behind why the Brazilian has still not joined up with the first team squad. He was loaned to Malaga for the duration of last season.

Moyes to run rule over Buckley
17 Jul - Everton have taken South African international, Delron Buckley, on trial for week with a view to signing the 28 year-old left-winger from current club, Borussia Dortmund.

Tim Howard joins the squad
17 Jul - Tim Howard has finished his post-World Cup hols and joined the squad in pre-season training at Bellefield today.

N° 9 shirt comes with a price
17 Jul - In handing the Number 9 shirt to James Beattie, Davd Moyes has a;so raised his expectations for the striker: Moyes wants to see a return of 20 goals this season.

Short on Materazzi
16 Jul - An Everton teammate back in the late 1990s, Craig Short offers his thoughts on Marco Materazzi.

Hopkins joins Waterford Utd
15 Jul - Waterford United have announced the signing of former Everton Youth Academy player Paul Hopkins, who was released by David Moyes earlier this summer.

Neville at it again!
15 Jul - Phil Neville is yet again touting his England credentials in the belief that Steve McClaren might be watching his pre-season performances...

'NIMBY' call from Sefton residents
14 Jul - Sefton council cabinet members are backing their Chief Executive's plans to lodge a written request to Peel Holdings to drop its proposal to develop a new stadium for Everton on green-belt land near Melling. Local Switch Island residents say any ground for the Blues would be "unwelcome" in their neighbourhood.

Reasons to be Cautiously Cheerful
13 Jul - If not in July when can you be?

What's age got to do with it?
13 Jul - Paul Tran on the subject of supporting Good Football

Last Man Standing
13 Jul - Has the stand taken by David Moyes put Everton at risk in the diving stakes?

Moyes full of praise for Nuno
121 Jul - David Moyes is full of praise for Nuno Valente's performances for Portugal at the World Cup in Germany.

Vaughan on path to full recovery
12 Jul - The latest assessment of James Vaughan's progress in recovery from his knee problems is good, with no swelling or other concerns as he continues to gain strength.

Moyes's call to curb diving
12 Jul - After a World Cup tournament ruined by diving and feigned injuries, David Moyes is calling on his players and the rest of the Premiership to take the lead in curbing this growing trend.

Everton Former Players' Foundation
16 Jul - New website launched for the EFPF

Materazzi and other assorted 'Everton flops'
12 Jul - Was Marco really a flop at Goodison?

Arteta gets the pox
11 Jul - Mikel Arteta has contracted chickenpox and was sent home form Everton's Devon training camp last week to avoid infecting the other players.

Beagrie plays on at 40
11 Jul - Peter Beagrie, 40, has agreed to a one-year playing contract at Grimsby Town.

Blues still short Marco cash
11 Jul - Everton are using Marco Materazzi's sudden rise to world prominence on the back of his busy World Cup Final to further their pursuit of £500,000 still owed the club by Perugia to whom they sold the controversial defender in 1999.

Matterazzi: Everton flop?
10 Jul - One-time local journalist, Phil McNulty, blogs on about former Everton "flop", Marco Materazzi.

Making the Wright move?
10 Jul - Goalkeeper Richard Wright is set to make a move to Southampton according to media reports. Southampton manager George Burley, who worked with Wright while he was in charge at Ipswich Town, has earmarked the 28 year old Goodison keeper. Bye bye, Dicky?

Valente thanks Blues fans
7 Jul - Nuno Valente has thanked the Everton fans for their support during the World Cup, and is looking forward to the new season in the Premiership.

Li Tie set to join Blades
6 Jul - Li Tie's move to Premiership newcomers Sheffield United is set to go thorugh after he was granted a work permit.

Ablett goes back to the kopites
6 Jul - Gary Ablett has left his post as Everton U-188 coach to take on Liverpool Reserves as he seeks the highest Pro License from the FA.

More on Anderson da Silva França
5 Jul - This 'news' is from last month, with the Malaga club website indicating that Anderson has spoken on his personal situation thusly: ´Looking ahead to next season, I will return to my club (Everton) for pre-season training, and believe they will go with me... although we will see what happens.´ [Thanks, Jez North]

Club clash for Tim over Asian Cup
5 Jul - There is a strong possibility that Everton will be losing the services of Tim Cahill for a number of games in the coming season, with Australia playing in the Asian Cup.

Nil Satis Nisi Optimistic
4 Jul - Peter Laing is feeling good about the approaching season.

Tim mobbed at old school
4 Jul - Tim Cahill was over the moon with the hero's reception given him by the pupils of his old Bexley North primary school in Sydney, Australia.

No tears for Wayne
4 Jul - Wayne Rooney: They said he would mature at United... Yeah, right!

Jeffers joins Blackburn Rovers
3 Jul - A free agent after being released by Charlton, the former £8M Everton and Arsenal flop is being "incentivised" to resurrect his failing career at Blackburn Rovers.

Every Little Helps
3 Jul - A new stadium financed by Tesco? Nick Armitage turns the spotlight on the supermarket giant...

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