Sunderland vs Everton

"... Evertonians are just anxious for the team to get on the field to see what's next now..."

I so love this weird feeling of 'anticipation' that has infected me this season. I'm no longer begging for blessed mediocrity to replace our old avoiding-relegation-struggles, I'm expecting(!) progression from my team. I'm not 'hoping they feel inspired' to progress, I'm expecting it!

And yep to that line up!

I expect a tough game. Sunderland won't be an easy place to go and get points under Moyes I wouldn't imagine. Need to keep Defoe quiet and we'll do well.

Still expect us to win this one though but we need to get at them right from the off, none of this skipping the first half and only putting in an effort when we got 1 or 2 down.

Moyes left fuming as Ronald Koeman says "I was a better player than you and I'm going to bring more trophies to Goodison than you ever did". I'm slightly over-excited. 0-4 Lukaku brace. I see an easy win and top of the table in 3 games time.

He missed the last two Euros and World cup. Treated shabbily by the two England managers before Fat Sam.

Definitely needs marking carefully.

Moyesie will make sure they're up for it. Everton to win though 3-1.

Subs:
Robles
Coleman
Funes Mori
Deulofeu
Davies
Kone
Cleverley

Stekelenburg
Holgate Williams Funes Mori Baines
Idrissa Barry
Deulofeu Barkley Bolasie
Lukaku

Coleman off the bench...

Or a 3-4-2-1

Stekelenburg
Williams Jagielka Funes Mori
Coleman Idrissa Barry Baines
Bolasie Barkley
Lukaku

Funes Mori suits three at the back, I'd be tempted to drop Jags to the bench and start Holgate, moving Williams to the middle. But that's not likely.

Not sure why the twat hates us so much, we made him a multi-millionaire, built up his reputation and helped get him his dream job, wasn't our fault he fucked it up, twat.

It could backfire on him if the Black Cats take his comments seriously and play like they believe him but I think they will give us a game to prove him wrong, therefore a win is not guaranteed by any means.

Long drive up to, and back from, Sunderland on Monday. Hope it's worth it.

The sentimental old fool in me feels sorry for Rodwell and Pienaar, but I hope we bang a few nails into Moyes's coffin with a good win up there.

I would absolutely have taken him when he went to Sunderland, and I still would. I think hes a great player, and bizarrely on someone who relies on a bit of pace, hasn't dropped off into his early thirties. Which either shows great professionalism with regards to his fitness, or very good movement and positioning, I think hes a great player and echo the earlier thoughts of him being still worthy of an England call up... for what that's worth...

COYB

4-0 to us.

The defence will have to be on its toes – Defoe and Watmore are sharp.

But when you look at that line-up of Lyndon's and the bench it looks to me that once again we have got just too much fire power for them.

Everton to win one-nil with Lukaku the scorer.

Go away and check your facts. That we made Moyes a multi-millionaire. Yes, we did. But how much did he make for Everton FC. The answer is 100's of millions. And when he left us the valuation of the players for insurance purposes was nearly £200 million. Also from 2003 to 2013 pound for point he was the best manager in the Premier League. Those are the Premier League's figures and not mine.

Again, when he left us, he handed over a top 6 team that was in Europe and had finished above Liverpool for the 2nd consecutive season, for the first time since 1937. You should be having a pop at Martinez who destroyed everything that Moyes built and was possibly the worst manager in the history of our great club.

So, Kevin, the next time you want to slag Moyes off remember this: in his last 8 seasons he finished in the top 6 on a a net spend of £800k.

I should imagine this will be a close battle with them difficult to break down and us still a little cagey on set pieces.

Obviously I'm praying it all starts to come together and Lukaku nails them with 2.

One thought about Niasse. If Championship teams can still take loan players(?) ... would it not be good to get him playing somewhere / anywhere?

It would be to everyone's advantage if he went... but I am not convinced that he could cope in the Championship.

"Unlike last season I'm looking forward to games again."

Exactly how I feel. Looking forward to this one. I think we'll win.

I mean come on. For £13 million (plus salary etc...) there must be something positive in all of this.

I spent some time re-watching the YouTube clips and the impression of Bambi on Ice kept coming to mind. But seriously, he did seem to have the uncanny knack of bamboozling people in his immediate vicinity, including players on his own team; just when they were expecting a return pass, suddenly it is a miss-kick and a richochet and in the back of the net!

I think a loan is a great idea.

Obviously we paid a ridiculous fee for him, he didn't make the price and I wish we hadn't signed him but he is here now for the foreseeable future so let's make the most of a poor deal. The people who brought him here need castigating a lot more than Niasse.

I'm not sure about him having a bad attitude, as some are saying on here, but we've seen enough of him to know he has no technique. Against Jablonec he stood on the ball and fell over while shooting – I don't think I've seen a pro do that before.

Agree that the blame isn't with him, but I wouldn't be bothering trying to make anything of him. No loan, either sell him or give him away.

The misguided appointment of Roberto Martinez only served to show how right Moyes was for our club and those who forever focus on the manner of his leaving may well look a little more kindly on him after the news of the pay-off afforded his successor!

But Dour Davey is no longer ours so I hope that our present manager (OPM, anybody?) beats him 6-0 on Monday and thus the spell he held over me will be exorcised for ever.

I would even prefer Valencia before Lukaku to start the game, but Lukaku should stay on the bench to learn some manners.

Spurs could have ran out winners only for Stekelenburg... and Stoke should have pinched an equaliser when Arnautovic misplaced a pass... but, that said, they didn't. As for the West Brom game, we should have scored 4 in the end but obviously made it tough for ourselves.

No, I'm expecting a tough game on Monday and personally think a draw... But obviously I hope it is 3-1 or 4-1. One thing's certain: we won't play as bad as the last time we played there... I hope!

Hope you're right, Andrew, but right now, knowing footy the way I do, I just hope that statement isn't filed under the FAMOUS LAST WORDS file.

They have too much talent to be upset by this bunch of rejects and, as I said, only stupidity would cost them

More venom in your comments towards Moyes than the sum total of any reported or rumoured "dissing" of Everton from Moyes. Guess he and Rom must have run over your dog or cat somewhere in the past.

He was our manager. He is not our manager any longer. His contract ran down and he left. The club was in good shape when he did leave, having increased its points total in his last season over the season before.

He held onto a player they needed at Sunderland who was under contract. He didn't say anything about Everton that was disrespectful in doing so.

Blow up dolls and other such nonsense aside. LET IT GO, MAN!

Won't stop me from getting up at 1:30 to watch it though.

His actions and words after that towards our club were disgraceful, and btw that is well documented. If you want to suck his arse, go ahead, the man's a first class prick imho.

I have all day long for your comments Jim, fellow 'Merican. Your insights cut to the chase, and frankly I actually get a bit "proud" of you when you post as it's very, very nice to see an American with an excellent knowledge of footy. Flies in the face of a silent stereotype of us Americans... ;0) We clearly know nothing about the game of soccer Jim!

Whereas I personally thought Tim Howard should move on, your defense of him on these pages last Spring made more sense than many sensationalist contributors would "allow".

But this Moysie thing...

David Moyes should be thought of favorably by Evertonians in my opinion... IF ONLY

He was a solid manager, although none too flashy. He did the Club well, and when he moved on it was time to do so.

But he tarnished his "legacy" with his attitude when he ascended to the summit of the football manager world at Man Utd. His condescending and arrogant comments about Everton – and especially the way he handled the Fellaini / Baines offers and dealings – ruined for me all the warmth and love he should be remembered by.

He got really cocky and condescending. And God / Buddah / Deity Almighty gave him one hell of a humility lesson in the end.

One he deserved. And one Evertonians are right to smugly enjoy.

Leave a Club with class, and don't shit on the doormat on the way out. If you do, you won't be welcome back.

It's natural, and justified, to harbor some resentment towards the man.

I think you can appreciate this... Roger Clemens joins the Yankees... Brett Favre joins the Vikings,... David Moyes talks utter shit and thumbs his nose at Everton after twelve years...

It just doesn't sit well. Like a burrito with a shit ton of hot sauce – tastes good while eating, but ends bad.

I blame no one for not letting it go. I blame no one for harboring resentment and near hatred for the way he left.

Surely you can understand this resentment?

It's a real hoot watching people blow up at others regarding their OPINION of Moyes.

Asked on Friday if he had sympathy for Martinez, Moyes said: ‘I definitely do. But I also know that if I was the Everton manager and Sir Alex had come asking for Baines and Fellaini, I would have found it very difficult to keep them.

'I always felt the right thing to do was what was right for the players.

‘All we can do is our job here. Roberto is in a new job and I am sure he will get to understand how Everton work. I know exactly how Everton work. I signed every player at Everton.

‘I respect Everton greatly and I don’t want to do anything that would in turn affect them.

‘Of course, taking their players would affect them but I am certainly only doing what I have to do in my job.’

The bid was probably, from our point of view, a private thing and I guess when we make a new offer we will keep that confidential as well,’ he said.

‘I speak to (Everton chairman) Bill Kenwright most weeks. I get on with him. So there is no disrespect. This is just a case of making an offer.

‘The transfer window is open and you can say yes or no, it’s as simple as that.’

No, I've never understood the vitriol towards him. He was the Man Utd manager trying to snare a bargain for Man Utd, on the back of his understanding of his former employer.

During his time with us he achieved progress for a few years then went stale. I wanted him out and didn't like the farewell he was afforded. It felt small time. But once he's gone, he's gone. I'd assess his time with us as a relative success, and his time after us as an irrelevance.

Two-faced classless overrated nobody who has been found out big time since he left the comfort of no pressure to perform with us.

When he said - I am sure he will get to understand how Everton work.

That particular part of the comment was the real dig. It was condescending and arrogant as hell and showed no class whatsoever. It was like, "I've moved on to better things, but I'm sure Mr. Bobby Brown Shoes will figure out how things work at that 'not as well endowed' Club soon enough."

Total and complete dick comment and to not recognize it as a total jackass comment is either disingenuous or ... well I'm trying to think of a word Ernie and nothing springs to mind that wouldn't ruffle feathers and you're not the person who deserves any ruffling so... you get the point.

People will say what they want you to hear. When Moyes was manager of Everton he fought tooth and nail to keep Lescott from going to City. IMO, he did not give a fuck about what Lescott wanted, so your comment where Moyes states "I always felt the right thing to do was what was right for the players" looks a bit loose to me.

Going forward, Moyes did not want Kone to come to Goodison and with him being the manager of Sunderland, well, that was his decision. So do you think that Moyes gave a second thought as to what Kone wanted??

Personally, I felt that Moyes handled his move to United with all the dignity of a total twat and if you are told by all and sundry that you are good, as Moyes was, then I suppose you start believing it yourself. Well, Moyes found out that he was really just bang average.

We have the players to beat Sunderland and Moyes knows it, so let's go up there and do it.

Moyes is a strange character! I, like you, knew no other.

It's like your father, when you turn 12, starts flicking cigarette butts at you and leaves your Mom to go fuck the neighbor.

But the 12 years prior he actually did good by you...

Well, I'm with the Jersey style of retribution - Rock Hard Ron is gonna implement Dutch justice and I'm going to love every second of it. I'd like us to thrash these fuckers 7-0 and laugh at Heat-Mizer-Gingy-fucked-up-accent-former-manager with evil satisfaction and spiteful enjoyment!

Talk shit on your way out the door... classless douche.

Then he comes back within a month or so of being applauded by the fans, and insults our club, by doing exactly what he criticised Man City for doing over Lescott. Self-serving tool who has been embarrassed at OT and in Spain. Hope we snot them and the fans turn on him.

1-4 to The Mighty Blues with a post match comment from DM along the lines of 'knife to a gunfight' against the big boys.

(Currently having my pre-match meal and hydrating at the airport.)

Some people like him and respect him for the job he done at Everton, and it's fair to say his net spend over his tenure was very good and kept Kenwright at the helm. BUT, that was always my problem, with Moyes and his relationship with the chairman. (He kept him sweet, got rewarded, and had way to much power for such an ordinary manager).

Moyes, the cheeky bastard, said I know how Everton, work? He only ever worked for one Chairman, during his time at Everton, so surely his comment should have been more personal, and directed at Kenwright rather than Everton Football Club.

Let's face it, no way would any manager ever have been allowed 11 years in the job at Everton without getting us a few cups, before Kenwright came along. Fucking no chance... None whatsoever.

Time to put an end to years of negativity, time to look forward and start believing that the good times are on the way back.

Hope I am not coming over as negative – but you can't take anything for granted in this Premier League.

We need players hungry to keep and to get back their place in the starting 11. It all points to an on-form starting 11 and a chomping-at-the-bit bench.

They will play defensive and hope Defoe can poach a goal given half a chance.

There's no easy away games, especially with home town refs.

As for the match I think it will be a hard fought victory by the odd goal with Rom to bag a brace. 2 - 1 Everton.

On the Moyes issue my own personal opinion is he did a fantastic professional job while at Everton on very limited resources. He gave us 10 years and left us for the biggest job in world football at the time.

Fellow Blues would be welcome after my delayed Aer L flight.

Just arrived at hotel.

Several rs on the plane - must be a connecting flight to Oslo.

However, this also means we've got a disproportionate number of Evertonians over here too when compared to say Spurs or even Arsenal. RS and Utd make up about 40% and 30% of football fans respectively. (Figures pulled directly out of My Arse)

From my estimations the order of most supported clubs in Dublin would be,

1) RS
2) Man U
3) Villa, Everton, Arsenal
4) The Rest

Anyway call into the Mercantile and ask for me by all means, I'll happily introduce you to the gang and get you talking about all things Everton. Lots of the members are regular match going season ticket holders that take a Ryanair flight every other week.

We are the best fans in the world - all over the world.

We have fans that go way back to the days of Tommy Eglington and the likes that were huge stars both here and in England. Actually I forgot to mention Leeds. They have a solid fan base here.

Dubliners overwhelmingly follow Northern teams. In part due to family connections. Giving myself as a primary example, my Dads from Scotland road and all my family on his side live in the Norris Green / Croxteth area to this day. Going to the match and to see my family has always been a case of two birds with one stone.

Those without family ties usually followed the teams that were winning titles, which for large swathes of the last 50 years has been RS & Utd.

Ireland is full of Glory hunters. Fair weather fans who really couldn't care less either way. If I ask someone who they support and they say either of those two teams, I immediately discredit them and talk about something else.

Oh and by the way, most Taxi Drivers in Dublin are Nigerian and they, to a man, support Arsenal. Go figure.

Plenty of reds here are due to Kewell or Johnston just as many blues are due to Cahill. The thing is, you come across plenty of supporters who couldn't tell you much about their club or who they are playing that weekend, but the Evertonians are different.

I remember meeting a young lad who loved talking with me about our history. Aussie born and barely out of his teens and he knew the lot. I had a good Singaporean friend who was one of the most obsessed blues I ever met.

Don't think I've ever met a 'casual follower' Evertonian.

The idea that the egg marketing board chose a character so rude, miserable and bad-tempered to present their product is an indication of how well-loved he was.

Anyway at exactly 8 mins 36 secs, you clearly see a rather intriguing Everton-related headline on the back of a newspaper.

Question - anyone know what the headline is referring to?

At 8.36 - Link

The fact the paper was ripped, then popped up whole again with that headline... does that have any symbolic meaning?

Someone needs to enlighten those of us adoptees who clearly don't know their 'istory well enough...

Unless they were all on the piss in Spain in the summer of 65, the only connection I can see is the away game Vs R. Zaragoza in the ECWC in Nov 66.I seem to remember it was all a bit dodgey over there with Reffs and other carryings on.

http://www.linguasport.com/futbol/internacional/clubes/c2/C2_67gds.htm

Morrissey sent off during a mass brawl. I reckon that would qualify as uproar.

SAM's verdict
Most probable score: 1-1 Probability of draw: 27.9%
Probability of home win: 40.8% Probability of away win: 31.4%

SAM (Sports Analytics Machine) is a super-computer created by @ProfIanMcHale at the University of Salford that is used to predict the outcome of football matches.

I actually read that about six hours ago, but have only just stopped laughing long enough to type it out (I'm probably going to be like Mr Burns pissing himself for an entire month after he remembered mangling a fairground workers leg with a dodgem car when he was a kid).

Pretty sure he also mumbled something about the Ark Of The Covenant being in a museum at this very moment if he'd been given the chance to go after it instead of Indiana Jones, but I'd kind of lost interest by then.

I actually enjoyed the last season that Moyes was in-charge, and we were definitely getting better, but for someone to make such a comment is usually because they are full of their own importance.

The fact was the squad never really had enough depth, and for a team that was getting closer, then to spend the Lescott money the way he did, shows you how the conversations in the mirror must go when he's home alone, with just him and his ego!

What I do find interesting is the mix of players and the managers that bought them, especially with my own predicted line-up..

Stekelenburg, Williams, Gueye, Bolasie = Koeman

Barry, Lukaku = Martinez

Coleman, Baines, Jagielka, Mirallas, Barkley = Moyes

Me thinks that tells a story!

Surely there is something horribly wrong with those percentages if the most like result is a draw?

Mathematicians and data analysts step forward.

http://www.football365.com/news/lukaku-unhappy-with-everton-relationship-strained#fb-comments

Fully support the clubs stance on that; there's no way they should be paying for that.

Come on fella. Don't believe everything you read.

At least Rom tweeted that it was BS and so he dealt with it well.

Need to get the glass half-full again, starting with payback tonight.

Link

It sounds like his initial big break came about because his Sengalese team mate Ibrahima Sonko told his Turkish club manager to take a chance on him and he paid for this flight himself.

No doubt the lad had amazing pace when younger and that can help you score lots of goals against poor defenders but it sounds the lad has managed to fool a lot of people to big money moves and it sounds like Loko Moscow got him voted best player in Russia to help secure a big move away.

Link

Whilst some might feel sorry for the guy as it sounds he's been found out to be a bit of a fraud or maybe has some other problems, the fact remains that he seems happy to stay and take a large salary as this is probably his nest egg for life.

Sounds like his brother Baye Ibrahima Niasse also has a hard time settling down into a club if you google him.

From 23:45, a very enjoyable interview with Joe Royle - Link

As ever, Joe is engaging, informative, articulate and intelligent.

And him talking about Alan Ball just reinforces why Ball is (still) my all-time Everton hero.

(What I wouldn't give now for a player who could be described as 'the worst loser ever'.)

They're uninspired by Moyes; think their transfer dealings are shoddy and believe their owner is ripping them off.

Depressing reading.

Hopefully three points to us will make them even more depressed.

I agree with many others, Holgate should stay; remember when Baines came straight back in from injury against Man Utd and we were a complete defensive shambles because he was not 100%? The old adage 'If it is not broke, don't fix (or fiddle) with it" comes to mind.

We could play Davies or Colman in McCarthy's position. I would also bring Bolasie on in the last 40 minutes when Sunderland's defenders are very tired and it would give us more chance of fast incisive play with increased chances of a penalty.

It could be that the computer (SAM) gave a percentage to all the possible scores and the most likely score was 1 - 1. "Why then is the probability of a home win greater than this?" I hear you ask.

Here's an example. Let's say the computer predicts that it will be any one of these scores (and no others):

1-0 20%,
2-0 15%,
3-0 12%,
0-0 10%,
1-1 28%
0-1 15%

Then the probability of a home win is 47%, draw 38%, away win 15%. The most likely score though is 1-1 at 28%.

[If you're still reading this post, you are as sad as me.]

I was in Tom McCardle's, a club in Temple Court off Dale Street. Bally was having a good craike with a gang of supporters, Reds and Blues, one of the red fans said to Alan "Smithie will have you in his pocket on Saturday." The derby game was that weekend. Alan turned round and pointed to his arse and said. "That's all Smithie will see of me on Saturday." That's all he did see as well.

Coincidentally, that's my main problem with God, she seems to think she's Alan Ball!

The Belgian FA should pay it, I would have thought.

Apparently it is reported that a private jet was hired to bring the Belgian players based in Manchester and Liverpool. Everton refused to pay while the other clubs paid the £6,500 for their players.