COLUMNIST PAUL TRAILL

Disgusting abuse of the fans

By Paul Traill   ::  14/03/2012 Saturday 3 March 2012. It?s 9am, vey rainy and I?m stood in a growing queue outside the Goodison Road Box Office. The Box Office won?t open for at least another hour but we queue all for the privilege of attending the Merseyside derby at Anfield. ?I hope Neville and Co appreciate this? mutters the lad next to me. I should think so to. It?s only £48 a ticket!

Fast forward to 23:28pm, Tuesday 13 March and I?m sat here at home dejected and disgusted. Just how can Everton, and David Moyes in particular, show such distain to 3,000 loyal Evertonians ? many of whom have paid well more than they can probably afford just for the privilege of attending that tripe? We should all get a refund? at least a partial refund or some sort of future discount. That was totally unacceptable.

What I fail to understand more than anything else is why Moyes would do this? Why make SIX changes to a team playing well ? ahead of a Merseyside derby? Why do this in a derby when a win would take us above Liverpool, into seventh and breathing down the neck of Newcastle United in sixth position? Why would Moyes do this when the national spotlight is on him just ahead of his 10-year anniversary as Everton manager? Why risk making such a fool of himself? I hope the ?10 more years? chants from the Kopites was as painful to him as it was to us.

The unbelievable decision I refer to was discovered amidst a lively atmosphere in the pub before the game. When I checked my phone to find Cahill, Neville, Drenthe, Jelavic, Osman and Heitinga had all dropped out, I was just dumbfounded. Shocked. "There goes that one," I thought. Anichebe, Stracqualursi, Pienaar, Jagielka, Rodwell and Hibbert all in. Shuffling your pack a bit is fine. Neville for Hibbert was OK and Coleman looked jaded on Saturday anyway so he could have been rested for Pienaar and Straqualursi for Jelavic perhaps would have been OK but the rest... in a Merseyside derby? Do me a favour, Moyes.

I don?t feel comfortable criticizing Moyes as, all-in-all, I think he?s done an excellent job at Everton, but I feel very let down by him after tonight?s decision. As with most of you I?ll wager, £50 is a lot of money to me and a sum I won?t part with easily. I?ll update you on my efforts to seek a refund on this debacle though I won?t exactly be holding my breath. Failure to win on Saturday and I?ll seriously have to consider my season ticket decision for next season? which is normally a formality. Nil Satis Nisi Optmimum? Do me a favour, Moyes.

Still the build-up to the game was great. The pub bouncing, the march across Stanley Park tribal, and the crush into the ground very old school.... Everton in reality were on the ropes from the start. Suarez I think denied early by a great Howard save and then again by an even better Rodwell tackle. I think Gerrard also came close to scoring. At the other end, Pienaar blazed over with our best chance probably of the whole game.

To be fair to Moyes and Everton, we were a little unlucky to concede in a period of the game when we actually had a bit of ascendancy. We forced a few corners and had a lot of play in and around the box but were unable to make that final killer pass or get that last shot away ? Leon Osman in particular very noticeable by his absence during this period. I thought he really could have made a difference here following his fantastic display against Tottenham on Saturday.

On a breakaway, however, Liverpool took the lead. I forget exactly how it happened but just when it looked as though we may have cleared our lines and with Howard off his line stranded, the ball fell back to probably the one player we didn?t want it to ? the Liverpool skipper ? who looped the ball back into the net beautifully. 1-0 Liverpool... but enough cause for optimism at the time.

Optimism generally eroded during the rest of the half with just a Stracqualursi header straight at Reina all we had to show for it. Instead, I think Henderson drilled one wide and Liverpool really could have been further ahead before the interval.

At the restart, Everton began on the front foot but again got caught out on the counter-attack, the ball coming to Gerrard. ?Oh fuck? I said as it was obvious what was coming: 2-0. As much as you tried not to believe it, you just couldn?t see a way back from here.

Lord only knows what Moyes and the bench were doing as they tried to decide who to change and when to change it but it all looked quite a circus down there. Quite why it took us so long to change it when it was so evident it needed changing, I just don?t know. The away crowd screamed at Moyes to change it but there just seemed to be no urgency at all. Eventually change he did. Stracqualursi, Anichebe and Coleman replaced by Jelavic, Osman and Drenthe? maybe we should have began the game with something like that team.

It was difficult for the substitutes to get going and they never really did so. A smart move down the right resulted in Rodwell jabbing woefully towards goal and it was cleared away. Jelavic also tucked wide with a decent chance though Fellaini had earlier been flagged offside. There was precious little else by way of attacking threat in front of the Anfield Road End in the second half. Baines and Pienaar tried to combine down the left though always seemed to try and be too clever rather than be direct. On the other side, Drenthe tried his best but lacked any effective support from Tony Hibbert.

Prior to the match, I?d arranged to meet some Liverpool supporting friends of mine and grab a lift back from them. I was supposed to meet them at The Albert but couldn?t handle their smug faces so texted them to let them know I?d be making my own way home with about eight minutes on the clock. All that was left was for some moron in the Main Stand to mimic ?Pushing down walls? at us in reference to the Heysel disaster ? quite how anyone wins with that one I don?t know...

And for Gerrard to take out Pienaar with his elbow but get away with it. Elbow clashes happen ? deliberate or not ? but not at least checking if the lad you?ve just smashed is OK is pretty unforgiveable for me. Instead, Gerrard paraded around as though it was something to be proud of. I do recall him going down in a heap for no reason when jumping with Pienaar a few years ago and getting the South African sent off.

They say cheats never prosper but this one does. He did again tonight, bagging his hat-trick late on. I?d left by then and so have no idea what happened and nor do I ever wish to see it. With Gary and Sue already departed, I took my opportunity to go before stoppage time began and just ran and ran as far away from that nightmare as possible ? only to of course hear a roar as I got away from the ground.

I boarded a bus to get into the city centre. One small dose of humor arrived with Kopites arguing amongst themselves regarding who called who a knobhead as the bus closed in on over-capacity. Back in the centre, another bus later, and I?m home, shortly to bed to switch off from tonight?s nightmare. That was as bad as I can remember from Moyes. A truly abject and disgraceful way to treat such loyal supporters.

Every cloud has a silver lining and all that, and one can only hope that we can lift ourselves to the levels we know we can on Saturday and book another trip to Wembley. Should we accomplish that, I still don?t think I can forgive tonight?s shambles? though it will certainly help.

Player Ratings:

Howard: Made a few decent saves but beaten three times at the end of the day. 5

Baines: Probably worked as hard as anyone but didn?t combine with Pienaar nearly as well as he can do. 5

Jagielka: I can?t believe Moyes rested Heitinga for this game given the form he?s been in. Truly incredible. Jagielka was all at sea in the first half. He improved slightly in the second half but I?d have played Heitinga all day long for this one. 4

Distin: Did alright. Not the worst culprit on the night. 6

Hibbert: Hard to fault him defensively. Hard to defend him offensively. His level of discomfort on the ball is so apparent it?s painful. Offered nothing in attack when we needed better. 5

Fellaini: Didn?t even nearly reach the quality and effort we know he can. 5

Rodwell: Good Lord. What a stinker. A truly inept display. £20 million? Yes please. I?d bite the hand off. 3

Pienaar: My man of the match. Not everything he did worked. Actually very little he did worked but he worked harder than anyone else and was always the most likely to create something for us. 6

Coleman: Not good. I question the wisdom of him playing in a game like this so soon after a tough game against Tottenham. Surely he should have been one of the ones rested given he?s not long back from injury? A poor display. Rightly subbed. 4

Anichebe: The odd thing he did was OK but he just didn?t get going. As with Coleman, simply the wrong game to be plunging him into given he?s returning from injury, particularly as there was no good reason to play him. 5

Stracqualursi: Didn?t get going and looked a bit clumsy rather than classy. He seems to reserve his best appearances for Goodison Park. 5

Substitutes:
Drenthe: Had a go at least. Took his defender on and tried to get a few balls in and some shots away. Should certainly be in the team for Saturday. Presumably will with Pienaar cup-tied. 6

Osman: Tried to get involved but really wasn?t helped by his team mates at all. 6

Jelavic: Showed the odd bust but didn?t hustle enough for me. Expected a bit more from him really, even though it wasn?t the easiest game to come into. 5

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