Everton Player Ratings Vs WBA (A) 1st Sept

Well, there were 2 reasons I didn't update yesterday, one I was far too hungover, and secondly I was still too disappointed by the shocking performance! I'd loved to say we just lost, but once Darron Gibson went off, we never had a midfield. There was no invention, and we kept lumping the ball to Fellaini when he was being marked by 2 lads who were 6'4''!

Howard kept us in the game in the first half, with a save from James Morrison in injury time. We could have played for hours and we would never have scored if we had played all night, as proved by Fellaini when he side-footed over the bar when it was harder to miss!! Still, let this one go, as we have had a great start to the season, just a shame it is ages to we play the Toon!

Anyway, I can't offer many high scores this week, but here are my ratings.

7

Made several good saves, including a cracking one handed save from James Morrison, but could have taken more responsibility for their 2nd.

6

I like Phil, he is no nonsense, just does the simple thing, but just never got going in the game.

8

Jags was my Man of the Match for Everton. More so, because his partner in crime didn't have the best day!

6

I can't bring myself to give Sylvan a 5, but it wasn't far off. He just never seemed comfortable, and I was always waiting for a mistake. I know one thing, you won't get two poor games in a row from Sylvan.

7

Tried throughout, and got into some decent positions. Was close to man of the match for me. Partner in crime Pienaar was off form, so it hampered him a little.

6

You can see why we signed Naismith, he will definitely work for us, just needs to get his creative or goalscoring boots back on

6

Never thought we would miss a £500,000 signing as much as we miss him! Thankfully we have an international break coming up for him to recover.

6

Quiet game for Ossie. Always capable of a goal, but hardly saw him touch the ball.

6

Probably Peanuts worst game for us! You know your midfield has had a poor game when peanuts gets a 6!

6

Frustrating afternoon. Wasn't help out by the lack of invention, but to be fair to McAuley and Olsson, they did a job on him - something other teams would have watched! Missed a sitter!

6

Didn't get any opportunities really, which is a shame seeing as he only needs one touch.

SUBS

7

On for Gibson.Will always try his best, but if everyone is fit, I can't see him starting many. Still, he is a blue, and won't ever let us down, even if his positional sense does frustrate me at times!

6

On for Naismith. Never really got into the game, but once match fit, and used to his team mates, you can see glimpses of talent!! Make yourself a hero in October!!!

6

I wanted to give him 5, but feel I am being too biased!! I don't know what he offers us! Infact, it worries Everton fans more when he comes on, then opposing fans! Has never moved on from when he made his debut years ago, similar to Rodwell in that sense! Sod it, 5!!

Keeper Watch 1/2 Sept

Onto the 2nd week of my new series, most keepers were pretty solid this week, so it took a lot of thought and throwing around of decisions before I finally came up with my top 3s!

OVERALL BEST PERFORMANCE

3rd - Tim Krul - (NEWCASTLE UTD Vs Aston Villa) Fast making a name for himself, has really become a sold keeper in the past. Newcastle Utd will do well to hold onto him, as he has another good game, making several saves from the Villa attackers.

Runner Up - Mark Schwarzer (West Ham Utd Vs FULHAM) - It may seem strange to have a keeper on the list when he conceeded 3 goals, but without this stalwart (fab word!) in goal, it would have been many more!

WINNER - Brad Friedel (SPURS Vs Noriwch City) - Last week's runner up, never put a foot (or hand) wrong! Mr dependable, defying his years! Earnt Spurs their point, just a shame that it is only going to be a matter of time before Hugo Lloris gets a game!!

BEST SAVES

3rd - Simon Mignolet (Swansea City Vs SUNDERLAND) - Got down quickly to a well struck low free kick taken by Jonathan De Guzman.

Runner Up - Kelvin Davis (SOUTHAMPTON Vs Man Utd) - Now, one or two might wonder why a penalty save such as this one has made the list, especially with it being a poor pen! The reason it is on the list, is that Davis did his homework, he knew RvP was going to hit it to his right, and more importantly he probably read it in his eyes! Also, it was such a poor pen that it almost deceived Davis, and he was under it when he made the save.

WINNER - Mark Schwarzer (West Ham Utd Vs FULHAM) - Nothing like a good reaction save, as Ricardo Vaz Te zipped down the wing, and swung the ball in for Mohamed Diame to run on to and then for Schwarzer to tip it onto the bar!

MOMENTS TO FORGET

3rd - David De Gea (Southampton Vs MAN UTD) A vote of no confidence for De Gea from Alex Ferguson! We all know De Gea needs beefing up, and is poor at crosses, and with Rickie Lambert playing up front, Ferguson decided to take De Gea out of the picture, and put him in the spotlight!

Runner Up - Kelvin Davis (SOUTHAMPTON Vs Man Utd) - More then made up for his shocking clearance which landed at Nani's feet, and then led Jos Hooived to make his rash challenge! His clearance was the 2nd poor one in a few mins!

WINNER - Pepe Reina (LIVERPOOL Vs Arsenal) Moved up one place from last week's Runner up spot! Pepe's head is not right at the moment, you can tell by the way he was muttering to himself after he let the goal in! Carzola (who is looking like a good buy) took a shot from an angle which shouldn't have caused any trouble, but Reina went down in stages and diverted the ball into the net. Pepe is beginning to let mistakes creep into his game!!

Premiership round up! 25/26 Aug

So, the 2nd weekend is over and done with, so here is my quick round up as to how things went!

We might be incredibly early in the season, but Chelsea currently sit on top of the table, with 3 wins out of 3, the latest win being a 2-0 win over the Toon Army, with goals from Hazard (pen) and Torres. I know it's early days, but I thought Chelski had paid over the odds for Hazard, but in his few games so far, he has looked the part. It's shame that clubs have to shell out £35m for someone to look the part! Think one or two clubs need to look at how Moyes does it! The 2nd goal was courtesy of a long distance toe poke from Fernando Torres! Is he beginning to look like the player of old?

In 2nd place are Swansea, and yes I know only 2 games have gone by, but they deserve to be up there. I watched them on Saturday afternoon, and West Ham were just no match for the. Brendan Rogers had Swansea playing good football, but Michael Laudrup just seems to have given them something extra. They were helped on their way from West Ham's experienced keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen as he got down too slowly and directed the ball into the net. From then, the result was never in question.

Coming up in 3rd are my team, Everton! I have to say, it's been a shocking week, for all the right reasons!! I could not believe I was watching Everton, not only were we passing and moving, but we were scoring, and winning games early in the season! You know confidence is high at a club when Phil Jagielka pops up on the right wing to whip in a pinpoint cross! Pienaar scored a cracker, and Jelavic's movement brought him Everton's 3rd in a 3-1 win. Fellaini scored in his 2nd game running, although Shay Given could rightfully claim an assist! Villa did get back into for a while, even with a man being sent off. They pulled one back with a goal that Howard should have done better on, we took Gibson off, and then momentarily lost control. Still, we got it back, and being a typical fan, I know we played well, but after scoring 3 in the 1st half, I was hoping for one or two more in the 2nd half....lol.

Man Utd got their 1st win of the season, thanks to a lovely finish from Van Persie, and a goal from another new signing in Kagawa. Utd did go 1-0 down to a well taken free kick that Damien Duff put away. De Gea proved his shot stopping is second to none with a terrific double save, but then also proved coming out for crosses is his weakness, as he came out for a ball, got nowhere near, and Vidic sent the ball into his own net.

Ali Al Habsi was in stunning form to stop Southampton registering their first points of the season, stopping everything thrown at him, including a stunning save from Adam Lallana. Wigan won 2-0 with goals from Fanco Di Santo, and Arouna Kone. Kone looks like he could help himself to one or two goals this season. Infact, I don't think they will miss Victor Moses, £9m is good business if he goes!

Norwich and QPR played out a 1-1 draw. Cinnamon Jackson (As Paul Merson would say!) gave Norwich the lead, and then John Ruddy saved a pen, only for Bobby Zamora to encroach and score from the rebound. Ironic really, as the referee was pointing out for him to not stand in the D before the penalty was taken, yet allowed him to encroach as the penalty was being taken!

AVB is still looking for his first win in charge of Spurs, as they drew 1-1 against WBA. Assou-Ekotto gave Spurs the lead with a deflected shot. Spurs could have been 2 up, but Jermaine Defoe had a goal ruled out for offisde, shame, as it was a good finish (well, not shame for baggies fans, they were happy to have it disallowed...lol). WBA threw everything and the kitchen sink at Spurs, and in injury time equalised as the ball bounced about in the area, and James Morrison tucked home.

Onto Sunday, and first up with Arsenal at Stoke City. It finished 0-0, and that's about it, it wasn't a thrilling game, but it was the first time that Arsenal had dealt with Stoke at their place. He drifted out of the 2nd half, but Santi Carzola is looking half decent. Jermaine Pennant had a shout for a penalty, and at first glance I thought it was, but on the replays it would have been harsh, but I have seen them given!

The super sunday game was bottom of the table Liverpool (yes I know they won't finish there, but this is a rare moment for me to enjoy) up against Man City. Lucas lasted just 3 mins, Raheem Stirling is looking like a future star, and Joe Allen, although not worth £15m, can definitely pass a ball. Pool took the lead through Martin Skrtel, with a bullet of a header. Into the 2nd half, and CIty equalised when Reina went on a jaunt!! No idea where he was going, and neither did Martin Kelly as he didn't expect the ball to be hitting him. The ball fell to Yaya and he finished to make it 1-1. Jack Rodwell came on to the applause of pool fans....lol...and had a hand literally in their 2nd goal. Rodwell was harshly pulled up for a handball, and although I cannot stand the fella, you have to take your hat off to that Uruguayan bloke who curled the ball round the wall and into the bottom corner. I have to be honest, I couldn't see City scoring, but then Martin Skrtel played a blind back pass, straight to Carlos Tevez! 2-2!!

The only other thing to come out of this game is how annoyed I am getting with Martin Tyler! He is a good commentator, but having City on 2 weeks in a row, in high scoring games, I am sick the back teeth of hearing how City only win games 3-2 now!! Bore off Tyler!!

Keeper Watch 25/26 Aug

As I am a keeper myself, I have decided to start a new series, and focus on the goalkeeper's weekend performances, from brilliant saves, to shocking moments. There are 3 categories and awards, best overall performance, best save, and shocking moments.

First up are the top 3 BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCES of the day

3rd - DAVID DE GEA (Man Utd Vs Fulham) - People might question him on his ability to come out for crosses, but you can't deny his shot stopping abilities! Kept Utd in the game with several saves.

Runner Up - BRAD FRIEDEL (Tottenham Hotspur Vs WBA) - 40yo and still going strong, and probably has a few years left in him! It makes such a difference to have a keeper who the back four can trust. Pulled off a couple of one on ones in the 2nd half.

WINNER - ALI AL HABSI (Southampton Vs Wigan Athletic) - If Wigan are going to stay up again, they need to be winning games like this, and they will do that if Al Habsi keeps them out at the other end. An underrated keeper, was absolute superb yesterday saving everything thrown his way.

BEST SAVES

3rd - JOHN RUDDY (Norwich City Vs QPR) - Ruddy did what all keepers hate, saved a penalty and saw the rebound go straight to a forward who scored! To be fair, Zamora encroached, and Ruddy will be disappointed, but the penalty save in the bottom left corner was still great as he tipped it on the post.

Runner Up - ALI AL HABSI (Southampton Vs Wigan Athletic) - There was a number to choose from, but in the 1st half, Al Habsi tipped a stinging shot from Adam Lallana onto the bar, and over for a corner.

WINNER - DAVID DE GEA (Man Utd Vs Fulham) - A fantastic double save as he dived to make a save, got up to managed to divert the rebound onto the bar! Brilliant save!!

SHOCKERS

3rd - JUSSI JAAKELAINEN (Swansea Vs West Ham Utd)  - Just edged out De Gea (for his help in Vidic OG). Jussi has been a solid premiership keeper, but when down in stages yesterday as he deflected the quality named Angel Rangel's cross cum shot into the goal.

Runner Up - PEPE REINA (Liverpool Vs Man City) - Went walkabout for City's equaliser when they made it 1-1. Came out for a cross and was nowhere near.

WINNER - SHAY GIVEN (Aston Villa Vs Everton) - I almost feel guilty giving this one to Shay as he is such a quality keeper, but I have no idea what he was doing with Fellaini's header. There didn't seem to be any spin, and it never changed direction. Just have to put it down to one of those things! I doubt he will be on my list again!

Aston Villa Vs Everton plater ratings (for Everton)

Well, this wasn't the Everton I know and love! I was dreading this being a case of 'after the lord mayor's show', but it was completely different, we were superb. I watched the game on a live stream and loved every moment, well most of them! Below are my ratings -

TIM HOWARD - 7 - Completely redundant in the first half, and not so busy in the 2nd half. Thought he was at fault for Villa's goal, but on reflection, it didn't half serve when you saw it from the angle of the player who shot!

PHIL NEVILLE - 7 - Solid as ever, everything is simple and done well!

LEIGHTON BAINES - 8 - Tim Howard said on football focus, if Baines leaves, he would cry! I know how he feels! He also said he is solid, consistent and an 8 every week, I could agree more!! Mr dependable!

PHIL JAGIELKA - 8 - Barring 5 mins when Villa scored, he had an easy afternoon. What he was doing on the right wing for Fellaini's goal, I don't know, but glad he was, what a cross!!

SYLVAN DISTIN - 8 - Would have had a goal had it not been for Darren Bent heading off the line. Part of  a solid defensive unit!

LEON OSMAN - 7 - Will always give everything, and is always an outlet, but must be the player most at risk with the arrival of Kevin Mirallas.

STEVEN PIENAAR - 8 - Very close to being man of the match, cracking finish, and nearly had a 2nd, had it not been for Given's save. We are a completely different team with Pienaar, he is our creative outlet.

STEVEN NAISMITH - 7 - Fairly quiet game really, no issues though, can see him popping up with a goal or 2 once he settles.

MAROUANE FELLAINI - 8 - Please god, just let the transfer deadline pass! Unplayable at the moment, and scored again, with a little help from Shay Given.

DARRON GIBSON - 9 - Man of the match for me! Has never lost a league game, what a quality record. We lost our way a little when he was subbed. Can pass, has a shot on him, just missed with a dipping volley, and all for £500,000!!

NIKICA JELAVIC - 8 - It's so nice to have a forward who moves! Lovely finish, and yet another goal with his first touch! Could have had a few more as well.

SUBS

SEAMUS COLEMAN - 6 - was given 30 mins, can be a good outlet, as he isn't frightened to run at people, but didn't have much of a go yesterday.

KEVIN MIRALLAS - 7 - I expect he might start Vs Orient in the cup, and will be great to see him play. Looks like he going to fit in, can play in a number of positions, isn't afraid to get hold of the ball, and had a goal disallowed!! Bloody eagle eyed linesman!!

JOHNNY HEITINGA - Not on long enough to get  a mark, but great to see him on the pitch again

Everton Vs Man Utd match report

Right, I now feel I can justify doing a match report for last night's game! I am still smiling, and laughing, and I can even remember some of the game! If you had watched the media, before the game, you might have forgotten that Everton were playing, such was the fuss made of one Mr Van Persie.

But instead of a smooth Dutchman with a cultured line in goalscoring grabbing the headlines, it was a rough diamond from neighbouring Belgium with a wild haircut and an attitude to match who had the final word on Manchester United's campaign opener. Marouane Fellaini was a giant last night, not just in stature, but in ability. International team mate Kevin Mirallas was introduced to the crowd just before Kick Off, even he now must realise what kind of club he has joined!

Fellaini didn't just dismantle the Man Utd backline, he completely destroyed it! OK, Utd, had a few defenders out, but that wasn't our fault, and can take nothing away from the performance. It is only one game, and I wouldn't suggest the Man Utd dynasty is over, but you can bet your bottom dollar that Fulham will be putting their foot in next week!

Not only did we start a game with desire and passion, but we kept it going throughout, even when on the backfoot! The tempo, the tactics, the commitment, and the sheer passion of the crowd all forced United into a reverse gear they have previously had little use for. Van Persie must have been watching and wondering what was happening, and by the time he was introduced, Everton had dug their trench and it was too late!

It was Everton who enjoyed decent possession and showed danger every time they fed the ball towards Fellaini, who used his strength to unsettle not just temporary defenders, but Nemanja Vidic too, who looked decidedly rusty after his long term lay off. In the first half, Fellaini posted his intent on 14 minutes when he burst through two challenges to find a shooting chance from a tight angle, but his clever finish found the post with David De Gea beaten. (That shot seems so long ago!!)

For much of the rest of the game, it seemed a contest between the United keeper De Gea, and the Everton team! I don't think anyone has ever had an issue with De Gea's shot stopping, and he was superb last night, keeping the score down to 1! (Can't quite believe I have just typed that...lol)

De Gea saved two efforts from Pienaar - one from a looping heading which was tipped over the bar, and a curling effort towards the far post, which was put out for a corner. De Gea wasn't finished there, as he saved superbly from Leon Osman, when a goal seemed certain! As a keeper myself, I thought it was a world class save, and even a 'save of the season' candidate! Many Everton fans around me were saying 'he just reacted' or ' it hit him, he didn't know about it' - but that's his job, to react and get in the way! Doesn't matter how he does it! De Gea didn't stop there either, as he pulled off a top corner save to deny a deflected free kick from Leighton Baines! If it sounds like it was all Everton at that point, then that's because it was!!

United had only one moment before the break, when Howard saved well from Rooney's free-kick, and the pattern continued afterwards, with Fellaini again causing havoc and Osman this time beating De Gea... only for the crossbar to save United's skin, although to be fair, he should have scored! I was beginning to think it was going to one of those nights, and if he hadn't already been playing out of his skin, step forward Screech!!

Former Utd player Darron Gibson swung in a corner, and up rose Fellaini to head the ball down into the corner and send Goodison mental!! I love Fellaini's song, but never have I heard it sung by the whole crowd! It's hard to describe the euphoria and joy going round the stadium, I just hope Sky Sports could pick it up!

As expected, Utd started to pile the pressure on, but Everton stood firm as Jagielka threw in a few last minute tackles, including a great goal line clearance, and to my surprise Hibbo stayed in position to make a couple of fabulous blocks. Everton began to sit back (why on why do we do this time after time?!) and my heart was going mental! Van Persie came on, but to be fair only touchd the ball a handful of times. I was more worried when Ashley Young came on, and his ability to fall over! Everton, not surprisingly with the effort they had put in, were dying on their feet, and eventually with 10 mins to go, we saw some substitutions to help the players out!

Fellaini more than earnt his MoM award, and was thankfully subbed in the last few mins, so he could receive a well earned standing ovation!! Darron Gibson even joined in with a chorus of 'It's a Grand Old Team...'. It was a proud evening, and a enjoyable ride home! Must admit, if it was on a Saturday afternoon, I would have been nursing a hangover on the Sunday!!

Next up this evening will be my player ratings!!

Premiership round up! 18/19/20 AUG

So, the Premiership season has kicked off, and to be honest, it has been a little short on controversy for an opening weekend...lol...although yesterday I said I would be an adopted Baggie, and how they delivered!! In what was probably shock result of the day, the Baggies well and truly beat the red side from across the park 3-0. From the highlights, you can Brendan Rodgers wants them to play football from the back, but not sure Martin Skrtel is completely happy with that, as last season, that ball would have been hoofed out, or played long, but yesterday he dallied (quality word...lol) and gave away a pen as Shane Long made up for a shocking penalty miss just a few mins early. It could have been worse for the reds had James Morrison not missed a sitter after being set up well from Lukaku. Still, I am happy with the end result!!

Not far behind on the shock value was Swansea and Fulham both winning 5-0 against QPR and Norwich respectively. First up QPR will have severely disappointed their fans after a number of summer signings. Rob Green let one slip through his hands to start to rot, and one of Swansea's new signings Michu must be thinking he has it made! His 2nd goal was just pure class, and I expect we might be seeing some more of his lovely touches this season. Swansea have been many people's bets, along with Norwich, to have 2nd season syndrome and struggle. On this evidence of this game, if they carry on playing football this way, they will be fine, but much of that will be if they can keep hold of their players during this transfer window.

Norwich let in 66 goals last season, and it didn't start well for them yesterday as everything fell into place Fulham. I don't think it will change Clint Dempsey's mind, which is a shame, as the way he is leaving the club is showing a little disrespect to a club who have really developed him and put him on the world scene.

Fat Sam led West Ham to a sneaky 1-0 win over the Villa. The goal looked offside, and as much as we criticise referees, and yes I will be do so many times this season (hopefully not tomorrow), but yesterday the decision to allow the 'offside' goal was a good decision by Mike Dean as the ball just glanced of Villa defender Ciaran Clark. Villa seemed to have plenty of possession (from MOTD highlights), but had no killer instinct, and at times, I had even forgot that Darren Bent was playing.

The Sat 3pm kick offs finished with a bore draw between Arsenal and Sunderland, though I expect Mackem fans are much the happier (I would be if Everton got a point there!). The only major highlight seemed to be the poor miss from Arsenal debutant Giroud.

Into the evening, we went to St James, and saw Newcastle Utd take on Spurs and Villa Boas! Newcastle look like they may well keep up their form from last season, and a terrific finish from Demba Ba - only his 2nd goal since Pape Cisse joined - gave the Geordies the lead! Spurs equalised with 15mins to go wth a poacher's goal from Jermaine Defoe (I really rate Defoe, and am surprised he has never been snapped up by a bigger name, no offence Spurs fan, as he is a natural finisher). Ben Arfa scored the winner from the spot, after he won the penalty by wriggling through 2 players on the edge of the area.

Onto Sunday and we started with Chelsea Wigan, and after just 7mins, Chelsea were 2 up through Ivanovic and Lampard. The game ended 2-0 and in a way Wigan did well to keep it to 2, as their fans must have feared the worst. Next up were the Champions Man City against new boys Southampton. For me, the biggest shock was that Jack Rodwell got a start! Aguero didn't last long, and went off with a knee injury, which City are saying doesn't look as bad as first feared, I hope so for their sake, as the look on his face, it suggests he may be out for a good few weeks.

Southampton battled well, and just before half time, Tevez broke the deadlock. To be fair to Southampton, they kept at it, and changed it after half time, and Ricky Lambert, who was unlucky to start on the bench, equalised, and then a complete shock was on the cards, as fellow sub Steven Davis beautifully controlled a shot into the bottom corner. That served to kick City into gear, and then we had to spend the next 20mins with Martin Tyler reminding us of the final game of last season! And what happened? The same, as City came back to win 3-2 to win with goals from Dzeko and Nasri.

So, one game left, and it's the mighty blues who await the visit of Man Utd, and Van Persie!! And several other superstars, but I don't care, as yet again I am hopeful of a good result, and night games at Goodison are a joy to behold!! And we will have an atmosphere tomorrow, especially with the added bonus of our new signing Kevin Mirallas, though he cannot play as he missed the Friday deadline!

Premiership!!

Well, it's the long awaited start of the Premiership, I shall be doing my best to do weekly reports and discuss the controversial decisions! Let's be honest, we know there will be one today!

Yet again Sky Sports have ruined the start of the season though, and I have to wait until Monday to start my season, which just feels like an anti climax, especially with our first game of last season being postponed due to the Tottenham riots!!

So, bar following Pompey today, I am going to have to be an adopted Baggie!! Boing Boing!!