Blues to face Carlisle in FA Cup 4th Round

These sorts of disappointments have been going on for a long time!!

That Carlisle team included Chris Balderstone, who played cricket for Yorkshire and Leicestershire, and actually played two tests for England in 1976.

Agree it could be tricky, but we're banging goals in for fun.

As are the opposition though...

Yes, sort of had the same feeling when hearing we were playing Carlisle.

I remember the 74 season very well, when we lost those 2 league matches to Carlisle. I use to go home and away in those days.

I think that they were promoted with Luton. Only to go down as soon as they came up. But not before putting 6 past us.

I think we could struggle against these. Redshite, didn't find them a push over as Collin, said.

one thing we know about the blues, we do everything the hard way.

You will remember the 3rd round draw at home with Altrincham, and the 4th round home defeat to Fulham, then!

But then the superb 2-0 win at Highbury.

I still don't know what to make of that team...

Davies, Bernard, Lyons, Kenyon, Sergeant, Jones, Clements, Dobson, Latchford, Connolly...

I am missing one; who played up front with big Bob?

I am sure Harold, Colin or another ToffeeWebber will come up with the answer.

The thing that has always struck me with us is that we always let a goal in against a player who never scores or is on a barren run, particularly a striker who has just signed for his new club and hasn't scored yet. I wonder if we've always done this?

Funny about Earl Barrett. Let me guess, a header from a corner?

I do remember Royle playing him over Matt Jackson who I always liked. Barrett seemed to be one of Royle's favourites despite Jackson being a better footballer. I think Jackson scored in the last minute against Bristol City in the cup away on a crap pitch (although my memory may fail me) and also against Spurs in semi which is the best I've ever seen us play. He also contributed massively to the goal in the final.

Royle was stubborn. I wasn't a massive fan but he did keep us up and win a cup and I can't imagine any other manager being able to do that for us in 95.

Out of interest, what do you make of our team as manager? Personally I think we're not far off. Besic to me is a great find I didn't realise how good he was and hope he keeps it up. I think the keeper situation is the biggest drawback and a massive challenge for Martinez to solve. I don't see Robles as answer although would be made up to be proved wrong.

I despised Sheringham for cheating to get the penalty. However, my own opinion was that Big Nev was Man of Match in final as opposed to Watson despite the award going to him. I am hugely biased however!

Very talented young players coming through (in 1984, it was Steven, Stevens, Heath, Sharpe, Sheedy, Ratcliffe) but failing to find any consistency. I would love history to repeat itself, but I'm not sure RM has the same drive as Howard Kendall.

I'm sure it was the same in 1966 when I think the only goals, Everton conceded were in the final. I might be wrong about that because I wasn't born, but I'm sure it's a story I've heard more than once. Where's Mystic Meg?

3-0 3-0 3-0 3rd 4th 5th rounds.
0-0 0-0 2-0 6th round including 2 replays.
1-0 semi final.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-35292813

You're right about 1966. Also in 1968 we only conceded 1 goal at Leicester on the way to the final and then Jeff Astle's winner.

A good omen maybe was that we beat Carlisle away 2-0 in the 4th round in 1968.

Derek, has any team ever won the cup without conceding a goal? That was never a pen at Elland Rd, in 1995; so, if Martinez would have been in charge, it would have been us!!!

But rather than try and divert a football conversation into another boring and pointless discussion based on nothing but 'in my opinion'..., why not discuss actual football.

In terms of the Cup, Considering our League form is totally inconsistent, this could actually be a great year for silverware. 4th is gone, as is 6th most probably. Hopefully next season we'll see the Cup as an unwanted distraction from our title challenge and use to only blood youngsters and train up squad players.

This season, however, we have a team that can beat anyone on its day. We can also lose to anyone, but hey. We can score goals, and entering with the correct mentaility can win this cup. Spurs, Arsenal, Utd and Leicester will be focussed on top-4 and the title, a well as CL for Arsenal. Chelsea are crap, and will focus mainly on the CL.

We could well have 2 merseyside finals this season, which would make things rather exciting in such a frustrating season.

2 Cup wins wouldn't half perk us up, and could be enough to keep the wunderkids. (2 Cup wins would do a hell of a lot more to convince them to stay than a 5th place finish, for example)

Come On. 2016 is the year we find thekey to the silver cabinet.

Regarding Viv Busby who joined Howard Kendall's coaching staff alongside Adrian Heath, a fellow Evertonian said to me "Howard, Adrian and Vivian, they sound like three shirt-lifters mates"!!!!

You are spot on with Jim Pearson. I dug out some old programmes from 1974, he came from St Johnstone.

Yep, I was at the home game too. I remember Billy Butler's words over the tannoy at full time like it was yesterday, "Well there's my Christmas ruined!"

I've been waiting patiently for our time to put those flukey results to bed. Trust me we will waltz through.

COYB

I've much fonder memories of our 2-0 Fourth Round win there in February 1968, Jimmy Husband and Joe Royle scoring in each half. I travelled with some friends on a football special from the old Liverpool Exchange Station. On the journey back from Carlisle the diesel locomotive broke down on the climb over Shap, and we arrived at Preston over 2 hours late, with no chance of getting back to Liverpool in time for our last train home.

We were stopped on a through road (no platform) and I shouted over to a Railway Policeman standing on the station that we were stranded and needed to get off to get a train to Wigan. Amazingly, he allowed us to open the door, climb down from the carriage, cross the tracks and clamber onto the platform. Imagine doing that today!

A repeat result on the 31st will do nicely, this time I'll be watching on TV.

Don't know if my memory is playing tricks, but I have it in my head that, in both the 3-2 defeats at home v Carlisle and Sheff Utd, we were leading 2-0. Is that right?

Yes, Connolly broke his leg against Altrincham, or had it broken for him. More or less on the half way line in front of the Bullens Terrace. I was standing a few feet away. He basically got kicked on the lower leg. Sat there abusing the ref for not giving a free kick! The other bad thing about that game was that we fell behind to non-leaguers and only managed a draw thanks to a Dave Clements's penalty.

Peter McHugh (#9),

You wonder whether we are vulnerable when a club has a new striker who hasn't scored for them. Try this for size. Journeyman striker Jim Melrose scored 3 against us on debut for Coventry in 1982. But wait, there's more. He scored another 3 against us playing for Charlton in 1986. Not sure whether this made Jim famous, but he certainly wasn't famous for anything else.

Karl Parson (#36). I really like your optimism!!

That's the first flukey result put to bed. The second comes on 31 January 2016.