COLUMNIST KEN BUCKLEY

From my seat: Blackburn (H)

By Ken Buckley   ::  21/01/2012 Blackburn, from the bottom three of the league, turn up with a handful of travelling fans and met a Blues side who seemed hell bent on taking their place in the bottom three, such was the apology for a game that I have witnessed at Goodison for some time. Bolton was bad but this was worse yet somehow we managed a point toward what can only be safety this season.

Yes we are hamstrung by injuries yet the line up named, on paper anyway, looked superior to the visitors yet the reality was on grass we were lucky to come away with that point toward safety.

Both sides had chances early doors when first Anichebe got his legs and feet in a mess and made quite a hash of what should have been a volley on goal then Hoilett showed hoe dangerous he was going to be all match when his run and pass fed Dunn who shot and Howard saved with his feet.

As the half went on the visitors were looking more likely than the hosts and a Dann header came back off a post to put further jitters up both players and faithful.
On 25 mins we attacked and a sort of disjointed move saw the ball get into the box and come off Fellaini and drop for Cahill to convert. His first goal for over a calendar year and one we all hoped would get the monkey off his back.

We all celebrated and looked forward to a couple of more goals to seal a win and put pay to the story that circulated before the game that Cahill had been poached by an Italian cruise ship line as a skipper on its vessels on the fact that he hadn?t hit anything for ages.

We were to get none of these things and Blackburn from that point onwards seemed to dominate and Dunn hammered one against our post as they refused to lie down and in truth pushed us further and further back. We did manage one lonely effort just before the break when a Cahill header was saved well by the keeper.

Half-time and the chat was of a negative nature as changes needed to be made but a look at the bench offered little comfort.

Blackburn came at us when most thought we would go forward as we were at home and get a second that would in all probability kill the game. Strangely the opposite happened and we went deeper, attacking players became mid-fielders and we seemed to have a strategy of hold what we have which to anyone who had witnessed the first half would have realised that tactic was foolhardy such was our dearth of any sort of form.

The game became fraught as the faithful got the jitters and this transmitted to the players and we were witnessing play that showed no confidence which in turn produced no adventure which annoyed the faithful and turned the players into little more than play it safe drones. This fuelled up Blackburn who suddenly believed that bit more and buoyed by our timidity or was it fear went for it.

The managers took the state of play into account and on 55 mins our man was first to blink and changed Saha for Drenthe and pushed Victor up front with Landon going left. Unfortunately it did little to change anything with the exception of one Drenthe run and cross which although dangerous found no-one up in the box and the ball merely travelled across the box and away.

At the moment busting a gut to get in the box to take advantage of a cross that may come in is not on our agenda. Isn?t that the basics of the game when your team attacks? Maybe I am out of touch with the modern game yet I can?t see a better way of threatening a goal.

Blackburn brought on Formica for Dunn on the hour mark and he dictated the midfield and drove Blackburn forward and they were having some success in driving us back and but for the excellent Heitinga and his sidekick Duffy who blossomed under the tutelage of the Dutchman we would surely have conceded such was our trepidation of all things football.

The equaliser was looking more likely by the minute and on 70 mins it duly arrived in bizarre circumstances when a regulation free kick was delivered into the box which is normally meat and drink to any keeper seemed to go through the hands of ours and bounce behind him for Cahill to blast into the body of a Blackburn player and enter the net. The nature of that goal seemed to sum up our day.

As the final whistle beckoned Duffy had a header hit the bar and bounce out and at the other end a Blackburn chip shot went just wide. Then right on the death Fellaini had a header kicked from the goal-line and the follow up shot was saved by the keeper.

Final whistle and some boo?s but the vast majority leaving the ground with the word ?Shite? well to the fore yet the queue?s at the ticket windows were deep as fans got Fulham and Wigan tickets amongst others. It may be dross but hope still abounds if those queues were anything to go by. I am no different having secured my seat for Friday night.

MotM ? Heitinga with a special mention for Duffy. If some if not all of our other players had performed as admirably as those two we may well have been celebrating 3 points.

Overall a game to forget and move on but I must admit I was very disappointed with Donovan. When the going got tough and 50/50 tackles were about he bottled it making me believe that whilst he may enjoy being with us he is certainly not going to put his return to the Galaxy anything but a fit and healthy one.

It is now becoming clear that realistically staying away from the bottom three is our main aim and looking at our squad the January transfer window will bring little respite. We are at present going backwards and in my book the only people who can do anything about this tragic state of affairs is the present Chairman and Board. What that might take the form of I don?t know but they will be forever be remembered for what they did next.

As the man in front of me said ?We should be beating teams like this?... Whilst I agree I also thought ?I bet the Blackburn fans are thinking exactly the same thing? Now that is tragic.

Still soon be Friday and up for the cup ? see you there.
UP THE BLUES

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