London Blue

I would love scoles here on the above but..... 1) we have more attacking midfield players than we can shake a stick at, Fellani, cahill, Osman, Baxter, Pienaar can all play there. If we got scholes he would be great for experience and i bet he would make a great coach but as he has said he wants to finish playing for Oldham as fair play to him for that. 2) Rodwell is the future, scholes is mostly the past. We should keep Rodwell no matter what, if we take scholes it should be sepperate to Rodwell. Although Scholes's wages would reduce the wages we could offer to the DM, Richt Back, and Wingers we need!!

Give him a new contract NOW. He has proven himself and as we have been handing out new long term contracts to key players surely it is time to hand a contract extension to Pienaar. I think he is a very loyal player and will stay if we treat him with respect and offer him a new deal.

Well, I think it was a game to far for us. The players gave everything in true Everton style and I love them for it, and am proud of each and everyone of them. I cant help but think that Pienaar, and Osman were carrying injuries, if they had been fully fit who knows. If we had had the Yak, Arteta and Jags fit and playing I think we would have won. Next season bodes well once we have them back fit and playing again. One things for damn sure Cashly and Malouda retired Hibbo today. True Blue but just not good enough at this level. Lets see what the summer brings, I hope a fully recoverd Arteta, Yak and Jags. A new Right Winger and Right Back and Loan striker (Jo) or Owen would do us nicley! COYB

Agree but if the deal was structured with say £8 million down with the rest over time, I can see that happening - I hope

The Moutinho question will be resolved one way or another - I dont know which way. Even if we dont get him our prioraties remain a right winger, and cover for Baines and Pienaar. Our limited resources should be pent there. Phil wont go on for ever, but I can see him playing with us for next season and probably the one after that, he is a model pro. Cover for him and Rodwell (who I think is blessed by being equally good at CB or DM) would be better served bu a loan or promissing youngster this season and a replace ment next season. If we get Moutinho he will be the replacement for nev in the long term as he can pass, tackle and create a very well ronded midfielder. I think NRC had the potential a couple of seasons ago to be very good but as someone else has said has not made the required improvement. Very good as cover but not the quality we would need to persue for the champions leauge place. The money villa would charge use - especialy with Barry of to the shitepool would as I said take away from the limited resources we have.

Would love him here too but we have to ask ourselves the following questions: 1) What positions do we need to improve? A) Right Winger, cover for Baines, Cover for Pienaar 2) With Nev, and Rodwell do we need another DM? A) No 3) Would Aston Villa be prepared to sell a player to their closest rivals? A) Probably Not. 4) With so many players available on a free, or loans (like Castillo last season) why spend precious money on R/K 5) If we get Montinho we will have the followings midfield players Pienaar, Arteta, Osman, Cahill, Fellani, Nev, Rodwell, Gosling, Montinho even with europe and the addition of a much needed Winger we would not need another DM. IMHO

Dont think Yobo's going anywhere. He loves the club, has good relationships with the manager, players and fans and is a top earner. With Jags out for a while he has the chance to play and make a case for his role in the side. Also playing in Europe regularly and part of a team who will be challenging for the top 4 next season - please god! Only if Arse came calling would he be tempted - but even then I think he would stay -I hope!!!

Cant see us playing 442, the form chelski are in theyd rip us appart. We cant afford to lose this game badly for the phycological effect on the team at the cup final. As good as Chelski are at the moment they are not that good at home, notlob pushed them and other teams have given them a real scare. If we play 451 with: Howard Hibbert Yobo Jaggs Lescot Gosling Rodwell Cahill Nev Pienaar Jo We try to hit them on the break, and have Nev and Rodwell hold the middle. I dont expect to win this, even a point would be a bonus, what I do expect is to let chelski know they have been in a game, and hit them with the same again but with fellani in the final. I'm not worried about Rodwell and Gosling they have both impressed me greatly for different reasons Rodwell has that priceless knack of having time on the ball, no matter where he is he just has time to pick a pass, which he also very good at. I tryley believe he will be Everton and England Great. Gosling has a great engine, he just run and run, hes fast and his running is intelligent, he can also cross a ball. COYB

Great game for the neutral, hell on earth for the fans! We played some great football, passing was very good, movement to, the whole team looked very well ballanced and cohesive. Howard was poor, he just doesnt inspire confidence when dealing with crosses, wether its due to injury or loss of confidence I dont know. The defence played ok I thought, the Carew goal was howards blunder, the free kick shouldnt of been given for Milners goal, it was never a foul. Howard should have alligned his wall better. The pen wasnt a pen, you those types of attempted clearences week in and week out in the prem. Young is a dirty diving cheat. I used to really like him but not now. Same for MON used to think he was a great manager but now he is so blinkerd and annoying I just cant stand him. would have settled for a point before so not to dissapointed but we were so close to winning - just goes to show that 1 or 2 things can change a game. COYB

First 20 minutes are key, Villa have poor home record, if we can frustrate them or even nick a goal in the first 20 mins then we will do well. Also depends how cahill playes in midfield, if he does as well as he did against Wigan then I am optomistic, but Barry and Petrov are good players, we need to stop them from bossing the midfield. I think that Jo and Fellani will cause Villa all sorts of problems. If Osman and Pienaar play well then I can see their defence really struggling. Our defence on the other hand is as solid as ever with Hibbert back, although Carew is a very good player he is very hit and miss, I hope he is the latter against us! Revenge wil be high on the list, DM wont have any problems motivating the team! I predict If we score first 3 - 0 to us If they score first 2 - 2

What a game, what a result. The players, manager and staff deserve all the plaudits they will get for this result. The crowd was nervous at first, but as the team started to play some sublime passing football, the crowd rawed them on - just amazing! Reminded me very much of the way we dismantled Bolton, just we did it better. Fellani repaid my faith in him - Ive been saying that he was quality and next season wil be the making of him, today we saw a glimse of what he can do for us. I hope we sign Jo he is getting better and better for us especialy at home!

Wigan are a tough side no doubt, but they have their own problems with cattamole suspended, the Zaki fiasko and I think they have other injury worries. Moyes will have no problems motivating the players as: 1) We are home 2) Players pride, dont want to lose twice on the bounce, certainly dont want to have the double done on us twice! 3) Europe, with West Ham winning yesterday we need to get a result to maintain the gap to them. Aston Villa face Man U and if we win we are right on their tail. 4) FA Cup players are playing for a place in the team ( although with our small squad the team mostly picks itself) The thing is we have to cheer them on, if we are nervous the players will pick up on it and it will effect them. So shout out and turn nervous energy in to volume. COYB

Dont tempt fate We play to our strengths, thats how we win games. Our back 4 have coped very well with all types of threats this season. With Cahill and Fellani we always have a chance with crosses, + Jo and Saha and Fellani are good on the deck. 2 - 1 to us. Cattamoll is suspended and so is Zaki and Nzogbia has an injury I think. Up the blues.

Gosling?

Good line up, would swap Jacobson for Hibbert if he is fit. Should do them as Moyes will NOT let 2 teams do the double over us in 2 consecutive games I predict a fair sized win for us 3 - 1. Moyes will have them fired up, and the players will have something to prove. COYB

Wont go to West Ham they dont have the money for 1, or the squad. Secondly they will probably be signing a striker in summer, there quite well coverd in midfield. Third he would want to go to a team with a chance of getting champs leauge thats the top 6 in EPL. If he was going to go anywhere appart from us then Aston Villa might be his destination if they sell Barry to the RS. Realy hope its us, though we need a winger more imho. Both would be nice

Thanks for the kind words lads . Just a word on pienaar, I think the lack of end product is because he is still getting used to having a combination of Jo, Saha, Fellani and Cahill up front. Strikers like balls deliverd to them in different ways, and with the strikers changing practicaly every week its difficult for him and the team as a whole to set into a rythm. Once we have a set striker (assuming we play 451) the team will get used to feeding them. The great thing about Pienaar is that he works so well with Baines who is one of the best crossers Ive seen at GP for a long while. Pienaar puts in a shift and helps out getting back. Baines and Pienaar never give the opposition a rest, next season if we can get hibbo overlaping and a right winger I can see us realy causing other teams problems. Osman is a enigma, great feet, good vision and can score goals and deliver good crosses, just like he did for the goal against stoke. He just cant seem to stick it all together over a run of games. He is small, if I were DM i'd lock him the the gym over summer and not let him out until he can bench press Fellani Maybe if he had more upper body strength he wouldnt be bossed so much. I think Osman is a good squad player and may make more of an impact from the bench or comming in for a couple of games then going back to the bench rather than starting every game when he seems to get burnt out after 5 or so games. Ive spoken alot about Fellani already and I stand by my judgement that next season will see the best of him. In the game yesterday he was caught between a rock and a hard place, his game is about getting forward, but with Saha and Jo playing we ended up playing a 433 at times. He is not a defensive mid by any stretch (anyone whos seen him tackle knows that!) and he ended getting caught in no-mans-land, not able to play his normal atacking game as he didnt want to leave the midfield short, but not able to cope when trying to work with Pip bossing the middle. Pompy did to us what we do to other teams ie boss the midfield with numbers. Lesson learnt for next time if you play Fellani you need 2 people behined to work the midfield. Dont want to start talking about next season just yet as have still got to finish the job on this one, but with a couple of additions we realy could have a go at fourth.

Although we played very poorly, we know the reasons why, and so does DM (please god!). We have a couple of weeks off now with internationals which mean hibbo will be back and the back four will be the same that has served us so well. The time off will give the players a chance to recharge their batteries. Lets not forget we have been on a great run ever since the villa game, even then we played well but lost. There was always going to be a game when we just didnt play well and get nothing from it and Pompy was it. DM will have them fresh for Wigan with some people back. Lets not get all doom and gloom. Wigan is a key game for us, we must get 3 points and I'm sure we will, with vaughn back, hibbo back, cahill back and the squad rested we should do them, if we play 451. There is nothing like the Glawdis raw, it lifts the team and puts the fear of god into the opposition so lets put this behined us, trust DM and Steve Round to get the players heads back up and concentrating, and cheer them on against Wigan. We still have a great chance for 5th, which means more money and better seeding in Europe, and a FA cup Semi to look forward to, and we could be playing UTD at the right time. Head up lads its not over yet!

I think the reason we played so poorly was because we played 442 not our usual 451. I can see why DM did it, Cahill was out injured and the pompy defence has been gash so maybe wanted to play 2 upfront to put pressure on them. Trouble is though that we always play better when we are 451 - the players seem to be more comftable with it. I would have played 451 with pienaar, nev, rodwell, fellaini, osman and jo upfront with saha to come on. I hope we play 451 against wigan or we could suffer. Also how the hell did pompys second get past the man on the post, jacobson wasnt in position, if he had been then we wouldnt of conceeded a second. Although we were shit today and didnt realy deserve a draw.

Look at his performances for the National side, for Standard and for us prior to Hull at home and you wil see his touch passing and heading were very good, (yes he tackled like WWF wrestler). Since then he has been injured and is low on confidence. He is a EVERTON player so lets treat him like one and lay off of him, give him time to settle and recover from injury. Next season will be the one to let him show what he can do. He will be used to the priemership, speaka de lingo and most importantly of had a full pre season with us. DM would not of spent £15 mill (apparently) on a dud, hes been scouting him for ages so have other clubs. Other managers and pundits and fans raved about him earlier on in the season, lets not demonise the lad and point out every mistake he makes. Its not productive and it sure as shit wont help him regain his confidence and settle.

Some one better tell DM that as VDM has been sitting in First Class for the past 4 years!

I know but he has been injured, maybe I'm making excuses but we must give him support, he is low on confidence. DM gave him a pat on the back as he left, he knows the big guys been injured. I trust DM and as I said next season will be the real test.

Have to disagree, like alot of continental players his first touch is good, as is his passing, and his movement, especialy getting into the box is impressive. Look at the games he played for us before he was injured - we were all singing his praises. He is still injured and with a back injury or any injury that affects mobility it effects everything else. Next season will be the test for him, by then he will be speaking english and he will of adapted to the premier leauge. Also this is a young lad who has moved abroad to a country he doesnt know, doesnt speak the language. DM and the coaching staff will have alot of time to work with him and mold him into what they know he can be. Lets not forget its not easy playing in a team thats constantly changing when youve been in the squad for years let alone when you arrived in the summer! Give the boy a break, cheer him on, and lets see what he does next season. I promise you he will be immence for us

We were crap no denying it. I think it was down to the following: Fist game since losing Arteta and boy did it show. It will take time for the team to adjust to playing without him, I think if we suffer no more injuries we will improve as the team adapts. Gosling needs a rest, he is not ready for week in week out action - great one for next season but not ready yet. Fellani is still carrying an injury but his mobility was better today and he will get better. His passing is good and he has good vision, he just cant tackle. Once hes learnt english, and can communicate with the team it will help. I still think this guy will be quality for next season. I think we should treat this season as his schooling in the priemership. We mustnt get on his back support the lad and he will come good. Castillio is cack ill cheer him on while hes in our shirt but ill personaly take back to Red Star. Not prem quality and low on confidence. Yobo who has been a great player for us previously was today very poor, You could just tell the whole team was nervous when WBA attacked, he can head but he just kept backing off when they ran at us and added pressure. Once we have Lescot and Jags back we will be solid again. I think normally it wouldnt of matterd but with all thats happend to us this season Yobo was just to scared of making a mistake and it infected the whole team, even the great jag. At one point today we had Jo, Saha, Cahil, Osman, Pienaar, gosling all playing whichj ment we just had nev holding midfield we were WAY TO OPEN - great to watch though. Jo looked nervous today again I think he needs a confident team to get the best out of him and once we have adapted to life without Arteta for the rest of the season he will improve, and having Cahil and Saha around will help. We will be much improved for Blackburn - Moyes will see to that Up the Blues

Have to agree that although I would love to see him and Jo up front for us it isnt going to happen. Financialy its going to cost an awful lot to bring him here plus the wages, if anyone gets him it will be Man City. It does raise another point "How many strikers do we need?" Saha - Injury prone but class when fit, may stay on next year depending on... Jo - Undoubted quality and skill, needs arm round the shoulder (like pineear) but a very good left footed striker gives us a different option. Bags of pace, skill and control. If we sign him and please God we will he gives us mobility and the option to operate in a advanced left position and cut in. Yak - Lazy?, Slow? Lond dry spells? 20+ goals last season, Usualy in top 5 strikers list at end of the season. I think with the team we now have he will prove to be one of the highest scoring strikers we have had in a long time he is a natural goal scorer and with Jo in the team and us playing balls on the deck he will really shine. Ananchebe - Strong, Powerful, Terrorises defences. Lazy, loses interest, sulks, not prolific? All aply to him on his day he is a handful and a real asset to the team. If he can have the consistancy he showed against Villa and RS and develop an eye for goal then he is going to be very good, if not then he needs to be cut lose - next season will be key for him. Vaughn - Speed Speed Speed, enthusiastic, eye for goal - Injury prone, runs around like a headless chicken, hurls himself into tackels he doesnt need to. IF he can stay fil, learn were to run to and when and calm down a tad then again will be aquality act. Along with Anachebe next season will determin his Everton future. Then we have Cahil who is arguably the best attacking midfielder in the leauge at the mo, great at operating behined a single striker, drawing off defenders and bursting into the box. Set pices cause opponents nightnares always in their faces a very very good asset. Fellani - potential to be a very very good player, can head, good control, can pass, strong as an ox, but tackles like hulk hogan. In my opinion a all round midfielder who is better going forwards and helping lauch attacks - not a holding midfielder by any strech. We are well coverd in attack and dont need another striker appart from Jo (if he carrys on as he has started!). Any money we would have spent on Love would be better spent on a genuine wide player with pace, control and a good accurate cross, and possably a holding midfielder to cover nev and protect rodwell. Step forward Many on a years loan with option to buy