Zoo

Ferguson was not a bully and I find it strange that someone on an Everton forum would spend so much time and effort trying to put down one of the great legends that we have had at this club. Ferguson was a hot-headed guy and there is no argument about that but when meeting him off pitch it's obvious what a nice guy the man really is. Sure he's been involved in one or two incidents on the pitch but people have been asking for it (for example - Scharner insulted him in his language) and along with that point name me someone that hasn't been involved in an incident; Roy Keane, Steven Gerrard, Anthony Hutton... the list is endless and it will continue to grow for as long as football is being played in this country. Duncan was a fanstastic footballer and I find it quite sad that someone is trying to put him down like they are doing given what he has done for our beloved club. So if a burglar came into your house you woulden't attack them? Give me a break.

I was thinking the same myself. It has been black & white from day one that even if we signed Donovan before the window opened then we could only play him in January when we face Bolton and the window is open for all English clubs. I think that we should be able to do well without him though, he will be a much needed boost to the team but I don't want us to put all our hopes into him as a player. We are a football club that have eleven men on that pitch - not one. We need to improve as a team and work hard as a team and although Donovan can't play against WBA we should not doubt the fact that we can get a result against them because we are more than capable. Also I'm guessing that Donovan will be playing against Tamworth? I'm guessing that Moyes will want to get as much out of him as he can before he heads back to Los Angeles Galaxy.

I wouldent dream of selling Heitinga, Baines, Jagielka or Fellaini as at the moment they are all playing well. Johnny is our rock in defence and when he is playing alongside Jagielka the two of them really are a force that keeps us from conceding goals. Another trait which is valuable is that Heitinga has shown that when he gets the ball deep in defence he can play it out to feet and also advance into a more attacking roles which is what we need considering that both Jags and Distin find that task rather difficult. Baines for me is another one that we should not be letting go - Leighton is probably our biggest playmaker which is crazy considering he is a left-back and the number of times that he darts down the left wing and overlaps the left midfieler is unreal, his crosses do usually end up with us scoring goals/hitting the target and without him I think we would really struggle to score. Rodwell for me could go because I think he's massivly over-rated and we could get a massive sum of money for him seeing as the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham have all shown interest. I'd much rather see a top, established player in his role than him himself because in all honesty (even though most of you will disagree with me) I don't see what all the fuss is about with Jack. Billy also can go, I like him a lot and think he should have been given more playing time but I think we all know that come the 31st of January he will be playing his trade in Germany. So to answer your question Joey I'd let Jack and Billy go and have them replaced with someone magic.

Excited about this kid! His third goal was probably the best in my opinion. Smashed it as hard as he could yet did it with deadly accuracy to get it up into the top left corner away from the keeper who dove low. This is someone that I think we would benefit from having as most of his goals (from that video anyway) seem to be either from balls over the top or from the wings. I can see Leighton whipping in a few balls and him getting onto the end of them showing us what Tim Cahill has been lacking in recent months. Hope this one comes off though!

Gerrard was never a blue. There is a picture of him knocking about the place of him next to the FA Cup wearing at Everton home shirt but I think it was just part of a family thing rather than him actually supporting us. I'm pretty sure that he has been a Liverpudlian all his life (and to be honest I don't see that changing anytime soon). You're right with McManaman and Carragher though, both of them supported Everton along with Michael Owen (who is now at Manchester United) and Robbie Fowler. Like I said I can't see it happening I'm just saying that there is a rumour that Leon once supported Liverpool rather than us.

It says on Wikipedia that Leon Osman was a Liverpool fan when he was a boy along with the likes of Jose Baxter and Dave Watson. If this is the case then him crossing the park would be a lot easier than with most people in the footballing world. Having said that however I don't know how much truth is in that and I'm pretty sure that because Leon has been with us for such a long time he would have dropped his Liverpool roots and started becoming a blue, pretty much what Jamie Carragher did but obviously vice versa. Like I said, Osman may well have been an Evertonian as a boy but I'm just going off what his Wikipedia page says. Along with that I can't see Kenny wanting Leon in his team and I don't think Leon would want to go, if I'm being totally honest I believe that Leon will finish his career with Everton along with Tony Hibbert.

I think that racism happes all around football and although its not a good thing for the sport I think it would be very hard to get rid of altogether. The article posted above is quite un-clear as to what it has been seeing as racism, most clubs will have supporters in their stands that will use racist words as part of their vocabulary but don't mean it to any offence (for example - whispering a quite joke about Saha to his mate) whilst it's in no ways acceptable I'm sure that any club with black players will have people sitting in the stand making racist jokes about them. I mean the article says that Arsenal are one of the best grounds for anti-racism but your not telling me that some bloke at the back of the stand hasn't whipsered a quick joke every now and then to his mate about one of the players ethnicity. For me racism gets too far when the abuse starts to get aggressivly aimed at a certain player which is in my opinion disgraceful (and this side of the game should full be stamped out). I remember back in 2003 (I think) Dwight Yorke was warming up for Blackburn Rovers when two of the fans in the main stand started to do rather exaggerated monkey impressions at him. Yorke himself pointed the guys out to his manager and they were both ejected from the ground - in my opinion that is when racism goes too far and should be wiped out from the sport. Another example is in the Russian league not too long ago, Roberto Carlos was running down the wing when he had a banana hurled at him which forced him to leave the pitch in anger seeing as it had happened the previous week too. Once again there is no place for this kind of behaviour in football and there is no reason why it shoulden't be stamped out altogether. The point I'm trying to get out about these two incidents is that I have never seen it at Goodison in the years that I have been going. Never once have I seen someone from the Upper Bullins hurl a bag of bananas at one of our players and I've never seen anyone from the Main Stand get up and start doing monkey impersinations, what I'm trying to say is that I disagree with the article totally, Everton Football Club has been penned a 'racist' club when there are much, much worse clubs out there.

Other teams will probably see Cahill as a top player because of the success that he has had at our club. Since coming from Millwall he has really made a name for himself and worldwide he has become a household name. The problem is whether other teams managers think the same as they are the ones that will be parting with the money. If we was to accept offers for Cahill then I would like to see more than five million being put onto the table considering how the current markets are going. He has had a poor 12 months with us but he still has abilities that can be used to get more money out of teams such as the heading and scoring ability that he displayed when he was first signed. I think if Moyes was to negotiate strongly enough we could be heading towards higher offers and could then use that money to get a top player. With regards to the match I'm not expecting much. West Brom are on a high at home after their 0-0 draw with Manchester City and will be coming at us full force expecting to win. With our performance against Sunderland we will just have to hope and pray that Ossie wears his shooting boots at the Hawthorns so that we can bag a few penalties to convert into points. Would take a draw; West Brom 1 Everton 1

He's a bit of a prat that Hutton if I'm being honest. I always used to like him because I thought he was a solid defender when he was playing for Tottenham and then slowly he's started putting in worse and worse with his challenges until he's now turned into a total thug on the football field. I was watching his challenge on Long in the WBA game because I missed it on Match of the Day and it was nothing short of reckless. He jumped into Shane with two feet and they were way above the ground, his reaction in my eyes didn't express any sort of sympathy towards Shane and it was a wonder why he didn't get sent off. I also looked at some of the comments under the YouTube video and one was from an Aston Villa fan who said that although he is a part of their team none of the supporters like him because of his thuggish, reckless attitude and that they were all applauding when he was sent off against Arsenal for his challenges on Robin van Persie. Football does not need players like him, it's as simple as that.

He's probably going to Swansea so that he can get into their team rather than being stuck in their reserves, I don't think it's a case of not having much ambition. If he came to Everton (or Liverpool as I heard Kenny was in for him) then he might turn out to be a decent player but might not be up to the standards of the fringe players that we already have such as Vellios and McAleny and because of this he might end up playing no games for us, growing older and then being released when nobody wants him and he's forced to carry on his football at a small Irish club. If he joins Swansea however, they are a mediocre team anyway so he would have a much better chance of breaking into their team and making a name for himself, sure once he has made his name known then he can move onto the big clubs and play top football but at the moment he might just be wanting to break into an English team and Swansea is perfect for that.

I don't think so to be honest. Gareth Bale is playing in his position and he's been on fire recently so I can't see how Kranjčar could have any way of sticking him on the bench. Put it this way, I haven't heard his name being called out recently and I think his last goal was around about the beginning of the 2009-10 season. He would definatly come on loan to us and I could see that one coming off more than Pienaar seeing how little he has been playing. I think that since 2009 when he joined Spurs he's only played 41 times (according to Wikipedia) when considering there are 38 games in a season isn't exactly spectacular. However, like you said having both Pienaar and Kranjčar suits me fine. Anyone that has pace and can get us goals will suit me no matter what their names are or what their shoe size is.

Osman seemed like he was on top form today so he's getting my MOTM vote for this evening. He got himself into the box on a number of occasions and even managed to win us a penalty, which was a horrendous, career ending challenge from Cattermole that should have him banned for the rest of the season! There was a good shift today from Hibbert too and Baines who stuck in a really good goal, Drenthe aswell did look alright in my opinion even if he is getting some critisism from the people on here tonight. If I'm being honest what wound me up the most was Saha. The ball came across from the corner and he cocked his header right up despite being un-marked by the whole Sunderland team. Instead of scoring he put it wide and then yawned as he walked away which just shows that he's not arsed about putting in great performances for Everton Football Club anymore. Vellios needs to be starting in his place from now on.

Isn't this thread for talking about the Sunderland game rather than bickering with each other? I'm not getting involved into this argument but please, just agree to disagree because when it's all said and done it's an Everton forum not a Jeremy Kyle forum. Just watching MOTD now so I can watch our highlights from todays game (if there was any) and I think that next weeks game against West Brom is going to be ten times harder considering how they've just taken points of Manchester City. They looked really good in defence and obviously the result will give them a massive boost, if we are going to get all three points then we need to go at them from the word go and I think we all know with how to team is being run at the moment that isn't going to happen.

Two minutes to go we might aswell see what McFadden can do for future referance. I'm pleased with this substition to be honest, he might come on the pitch and play with the heart and spirit of Vellios and Stracq and do something for us even though he has been given very little time. Edit; Funny to see that both Liverpool and Manchester City could only manage a draw. Liverpool are in the 90th minute at 1-1 with Rovers and West Brom have just blown for full time with the game at 0-0. Does this mean that Manchester United are top of the league given that they've just thrashed Wigan?

Thanks Christ! Saha is off the pitch and Vellios is on. In my opinion it has been left way too late and Vellios should have come on around the 70th minute mark but I guess its better late that never, if we are going to score then he is the man to get it. I'm with Bailey though about the whole Gueye situation, Gueye is a midfielder so Moyes hasn't really gone all out attack just yet, we're still playing defensive football which we have been doing since the season started. 2 minutes to go and we might just have one point in the bag, it just hurts to know that it could and maybe should have been three.

Going on an attack and then passing the ball back to Howard is the story of our season. We have simply lost our drive and fire to go at teams and that's why I love Drenthe so much. He is the only player in our team that will run full pace at someone, take them on and have a crack on goal which is really depressing. I also got a little bit annoyed when I looked at the Manchester United game; Berbatov has just scored to make it 5-0 to them against Wigan and that goal gives him a hat-trick - when was the last time we put anything like five goals past a team and when was the last time one of our strikers netted a hat-trick?

Keepers pat the ball down if they feel that the shot is coming at them too hard or it is moving in the air. Given the position that the goakeeper catches the ball at if he caught the ball but spilled it then it is more than likely going to bounce out straight in front of him where a striker is likely to be whereas if he pats the ball down at his feet then the ball bounces back up into the keepers body whilst at the same time slowing down providing an easy second catch. Having said that however Howard does seem to do it a lot and a few times he gets himself into a muddle. Along with that all I can do is echo what people on the forum are saying - bring Cahill off and invest in some firepower up top. Edit; I haven't got a stream, who has replaced Drenthe? (Bad move in my opinion by the way, would much rather have seen Cahill coming off).

I don't know off the top of my head what all our subs are at the moment but I think that we've got both Stracq and Vellios on the bench and I personally would bring them both on now. The game is currently in the 69th minute which means we would have a good 20 minute spell of attacking tired, mediocre Sunderland defenders with two fast-paced attackers that look like they could get goals. I'd play Vellios up top in place of Saha and leave Stracq just behind him where Cahill is at the moment, like people have been saying above me if we go for this head on we will win.

1-1 (Baines 51') I don't really care if Osman cheated to be honest to get that penalty. Everyone goes down easy every now and then in the box and we can't surely moan at scoring a goal. If we are now drawing then what is to say that we can't push on for the winner, I just hope that like I said earlier we get into Sunderland's faces and get the win because we are good enough to beat these today.

If we don't change the team then we will lose - simple. I'm a bit of a fan of Neville and I pretty much defend him whatever he does but I do think that he and a few others players are too old for the situation that we are in. We are 1-0 down to Sunderland who don't look that clever as it is and the only way that we can get back into the game and win is to get in their faces and snatch some goals which just isn't going to happen with the speed of some of our 'old players'. In other words - forget tippy-tappy football, lets get the ball into the box and score. If we had the likes of Barkley, Vellios and Stracq on the pitch then we would probably be winning but once against Moyes has cocked up big style. The formation, tactics and squad are a farce today and until something changes I can't see us pushing up the table. I mean lets face it, we took three points off Swansea but 1-0 is not a flattering result. I hope we make changes because we are good enough to beat Sunderland, it's just a shame we just keep shooting ourselves in the foot with bad managerial decisions.

Experiment failed in terms of Cahill I think. His time at Everton must surely be up by now, even when he is dropped and then given the chance to prove himself he dosen't so what's the point in keep playing him when we could have Osman in his role or even just going two up top with the likes of Straq/Vellios. Hell, maybe even put Straq in Cahill's position because whenever he comes on he looks keen and willing to have a go (the exact opposite of Timmy). Also, is it just me or should we be looking to sell Cahill him in the summer? I mean, if we're not going to use him then we might aswell sell him while we could still get some money out of him. I mean, I'm sure a few million would be put on the table in order to acquire him which could be put to good use.

Sunderland score, 1-0. (Colback 26') For me it's just sounding like a bit of a handful. From the sounds of things on the updates Saha isn't on top form and there arn't many chances that we are creating for ourselves. I thought it would be a little hard playing against Sunderland given the boost that they have from having Martin O'Neill but I expected us to have a go at them seeing as we got three points out of Swansea. Oh, and apparantly Titus Bramble has gone off for them with an injury - I was looking forward to us getting a cheeky goal due to him cocking up at the back again like he usually does. I've not got much optemism for this match now, but I'll still be following, we can't afford to lose this match given the way that the Premiership is shaping up at the moment.

Another defensive formation from Moyes there, something which we don't need against Sunderland regardless of them having a boost from Martin O'Neill. Having Cahill is always a bonus when he is on flying form but as we know for the past 12 months he's been anything but that. The article that was posted on this board a few days ago was explaining how Cahill responded badly to being taken off against Norwich but has since shown determination in training to win his place which is why I think Moyes has decided to go with him today rather than sticking with the team that played midweek. If he can go out there for us today and put in a decent shift then I will be more than happy it's just that with seeing him for so long now being a very mediocre player I'm not sure having him as our attacking-midfielder is something to jump up and down about. However, Drenthe in the team makes me happy as for me he was the reason we got a point against Norwich and the reason that we took three off the Swans. With Drenthe on our wings we should be able to stick some goals in the bag and hopefully come away from our travels with a valuable three points. Saha being our main striker again is not something that I'm happy about. I have to admit that I think that some people are jumping on the bandwagon and giving him a lot of stick (more than he deserves) but nevertheless he has been playing piss poor of late. His stats are embarrasing for a Premiership striker and I think it's time that we started giving the full 90 to the likes of Vellios than to Louis who dosen't give anything to the team while he is on the pitch. It might seem a bit hypocrital of me that little bit; I do agree that Louis is getting abuse for being lazy and not finding the net but I do think that people are constantly looking at things to moan about with his game when 'some' of the things that he does isn't that bad. For example against Swansea he made about 3 or 4 decent runs yet people still critisised him for them... No Fellaini is also a slight worry as he bossed the pitch when we was playing Swansea midweek and like Drenthe I think he was one of the main reasons why we won that game and didn't end up at 0-0 - has Moyes come out and said why he isn't playing? Because I know for example that Seamus isn't because of that injury he's picked up. I'd be gutted if he was being left out of the team because we're looking to sell him.

I woulden't be too surprised if Pienaar was to come back to us in all honesty. He will get first team football which he hasn't had for a while (hasn't he made something like 7 Premiership starts since his move?) and while he is with us he will have a chance to prove to Redknapp that he has the ability to be in their team. Once the loan deal is over he's back with Spurs where he can start to challenge for a first team place - we obviously win in this situation because Stevie will be playing out of his skin to get himself some permanant first team football and as a result will be getting us results. But I agree with Greavesy about Maggie. He looks good for the future but at the moment the club is crying out for some established players. Youngsters are not the way forward at the moment with the current state of affairs within the team.

When I was at Goodison it definatly looked that Tim had got a sulker on. He whizzed his shirt off and walked down the tunnel aggressivly as if he was in a mood with Moyes and the crowd because when the microphone read out that it was number 17 coming off most of the people in my stand cheered. Tim as a person (prior to the Norwich incident) has been great so far in my opinion its just that on the field he is just not good enough for Everton anymore. It seems that he has lost confidence (probably due to not scoring since the 80's) and whenever he does get the ball he seems so easy to push off it and even when nobody puts in a challenge on him his decisions arn't too great either (bad passes, weak shots etc...). I sometimes feel that the only reason he has been playing of late is because he has in the past come up with some pieces of pure gold and Moyes seems to like him. Having said all that I never like seeing a player playing badly and TC is no different. I hope that he scores a goal and gets back to winning ways because when he is on top form he's one of the best players we've got - its just a shame that we have forgotten who the magical Tim is after this long, long spell of him playing badly.