Hafnia

I take his interviews with a pinch of salt if I'm honest. I have done even when we do well or things are going well. It's just not as irritating when we are winning.

Whether it suits me or not I would subscribe to anything Carragher says over savage. Take the blue tinted shades and watch carragher on a Monday night with Gary Neville and its an education. They've taken analysis to the next level. Savage? Yard dog player who still has a semi on cos Moyes wanted to sign him... Says it all. Robbie Savage in an Everton shirt??? He doesn't even research his stuff or make his own opinions. He uses BBC researchers. He's full of shit.

Okeefe nailed it, absolutely nailed it. Far too much has been made of our style of play, for me it wasn't that, it was Roms attitude. Its a worry, for years we had Duncan ferguson frustrating us when he wasn't quite interested. The thing is, when he wasn't interested he still had a minimum level of quality that was higher than Roms. When Rom isn't interested he really is shite. I understand Ferguson after reading his book. He wasn't lazy, it wasn't that he didn't care. He needed to be accountable, he needed to be given a challenge. He was a better player than we seen, his natural football talent was up there with the best. I'm reading Ronnie O'Sullivan's book at the moment. He is the most talented Snooker player ever but suffers from his chimp brain taking over. I actually think Rom needs sports psychology. He needs to understand his triggers. As ive said before he is either 9-10 out of ten or 5-6 out of ten. There is no standard. Players like McCarthy or naismith will get you 7/10 as a minimum because if their mentality. Even when things ain't great they stick at it and work for the team.

The lad talks sense, simple as that. Interesting, well thought, and refreshing after reading that shite savage spewed out.

You watching team America again to brush up on current affairs?

I think if Martinez gets the sack there will be 1000's of applicants. Savage, Higginbotham, lukaku, grand old team posters, it's all good.

Well lets discuss... For me something that you may not receive a custodial sentance for is open to debate. Tax avoidance, assault, drink driving, fraud, kinda the things that you may get community service / fine. Rape and killing people? Think that's on a different level. For me it is.

I don't see how you can be lucky over 38 games. Teams found a way to play against us and that's evolving. Martinez has shown indications that he will evolve. Let's see how he does.

Clearly there is a need to seperate the elements, not because they played for us. Duncan was found over the limit also. However his imprisonment for a nudge with his head was ridiculous (read up on the fisherman as well).

Stay in and read a book, don't watch "Team America" as your means of educating yourself.

And it requires fuel, would you like to know how many people have been involved in wars over oil? Does that mean we should ban fuel? Wars have been going on since the beginning of time. Primarily it was over territory, resources, water. anything that equates to political power. There is not one religion that demands that people kill another human being in the name of. Nor is there any reason that a human should need to kill over oil, water, land.

Do you drive a car MC?

I thought I answered it. To answer it any person in a position of trust or esteem should noty be employed if they are criminals. Which is why I said, they could be a self employed plumber but would you hire them if you knew them??? I'm sorry but he's destroyed his chances of being a sportsman - they have an image "image rights" - would you want a convicted rapist playing for Everton? its his right but ultimately he will find it tough to find an employer.

I totally disagreed with Lee Hughes and Luke McCormick playing again. But that is the law Matt. Imagine what would happen if people were free to treat drunken people as they will? I've put a girl in a taxi before now who literally didn't know where she was, a few blokes closed in on her offering her more to drink. She had no recollection the next time I spoke to her. I know her husband. The other footballer got off because she was apparently willing to go to the hotel with him, Evans never met the girl and spent time hasstling the porter for a key card after receiving a text off his mate saying "i've got a girl" - just wrong whichever way you look at it. The circumstances and non violent aspect is why he only got 5 years. I don't have a priviledged job but am a professional and I would not be employed in my role having done what Evans done. Evans would have to be self employed from what I understand, not many people take chances on convicted rapists, it doesn't go too well in job interviews and background screening on job offers would flag it up if anyone tried to lie.

No one is stopping him from earning a living - he can be a taxi driver, labourer, plumber if he wants? Some may choose not to use his services but thats the way it is. The same with football - fans are making their voices heard. Desperate clubs who need goals are prepared to compromise their morals but the fans aren't. If footballers started to realise that they are in a priveledged position then maybe they wouldn't behave like animals. "We could have had any girl we wanted in that nightclub. We were drinking, having fun there. It’s not uncommon we pick up girls. Footballers are rich, they have got money, that’s what the girls like." Here's it best summarised by someone who analysed the case (not me):- "She made no complaint of rape to the police - she could not remember. They were investigating the disappearance of her bag when they found out the full story. Macdonald was cleared because he had a "reasonable assumption" of consent (the girl went willingly with him to the hotel room). Evans was convicted because he had never even met the girl and the jury were of the opinion that she was in no condition to either consent or deny sex with him. Perfectly sound judgement, and the jury, who heard ALL the facts in court found him unanimously guilty."

He's on license. If he was a boxer he wouldn't be allowed to fight till he had served 5 years. Since when should convicted rapists be allowed to have a job of choice? If he was a Doctor or a lawyer would he be able to practice again? I'll be honest I found the whole Tyson thing distasteful. From a personal perspective I myself still wanted to see him fight - but ultimately he was a convicted rapist. I actually think the circumstances for the Tyson case were more questionable than Ched Evans. Tyson said on the balance of his behaviour towards women over years he deserved to be punished but he says he was wrongly convicted. If Evans clears his name then fair enough but i'm sorry, he was found guilty and his appeal was kicked out. Being a professional athlete is a privledge. The NFL have the right approach.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30742947 I think Mr Bruce needs to have a long word with himself. If anyone has truly looked at this case and looked at it properly then i'm sorry but the lad is guilty according to the letter of the law. He may not be guilty according to his morals but what he did was wrong. The girl had never met him, he pestered the porter to give him a room key. His brother and mates were outside trying to film? How did they know what was going to happen??? The girl was out of it - the toxicology reports supported that.

I thought it was for the challenge, thought the ref was quick to go for card

If Savage actually did his research he would find out that Alcaraz missing from Wigans team was a contributory factor in them being relegated not because of his inclusion - they conceded an average of 2 goals a game without him and 1.4 with him. He won 92% of his tackles in the games he played in their last season, was ranked in the top 10 for interceptions. People talk about getting the ball to lukaku quicker - for me its not a siple case of that - clear the lines means less chances of making a stupid mistake at the back - granted, and yes i'm sick and tired of conceding goals due to stupid errors. Look at lukakus goals last year, the majority were balls played from the flanks - not from direct balls or through balls. And yes, that is why the number of crosses into the box is telling. The most accurate thing he says is:- "he needs to show they can defend and win when they are not playing well. So far, that has not happened." Other than that it looks like Savage has done his research on Grand old team.

The booking the other night? Absolutely farcical, the player simulated that he had been kneed in the back, Eto just ran into the back of him, it was a foul nothing more. The ref was abysmal and couldn't wait to get his card out.

Nah, the lad has a bad game and can't control a ball - that's when he's 21. When he doesn't score or plays bad then the Jpeg showing number of goals scored by the time a player is 21 years old along with Neymar and co pops up. Being pro-active I have no problems with, all professional footballers should continually look at ways of keeping ahead of the game. If Martinez treats them like adults, which from what I am seeing he is doing then its a great thing. The unfortunate problem is that it can lead to problems. I'll use an example:- Roy Evans. At Liverpool he was part of the furniture. He coached under 4 successful managers, Shankley, Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish. After coaching under a no nonsense manager in Souness it was his time to have a crack at the big job. Evans was actually doing a great job after Souness. Bought well and brought the likes of McManaman, Fowler and Redknapp into the first team much more than they were previously and finished runners up in the league. The problem he had was that the younger players found him a soft touch - the spice boys. He gave them a bit of freedom and they took advantage - Mark Wright hated some of the young lads for the way in which they took the mickey.

I don't think he's had a continual succession of games in the same position. Example he looked a little bit weighty and rusty the other night. In the games he has played he has given some ridiculous examples of ability - some of the best play i've seen from a forward at Everton.

Ha ha, I read that back and it looked like I played to a high level!! Not bad level, west cheshire prem. Sean Thornton who scored against Chelsea for Sunderland was playing for the team I represented not long ago. Bit of a waste.

That's the point Joe, is Martinez happy about it? He has no point but to appear ok about it. Apparently he wasn't too pleased about garbutts interview, so can't see how he will be with this. Hey ho, we will never know until a book comes out.

I'm more than happy for players to cajole their peers. Naismith is a senior player who carries weight in terms of experience. Lukaku as I'm always reminded is 21, he's still learning and needs his focus aligning When I was 21 senior players helped/bollocked me. Martinez has done a good job at reducing the pressure on Rom. Yet Rom took it upon himself to undermine his manager. Whether it happened is irrelevant, the fact that Durham and gough were talking about it tonight in depth says a lot.