Toffe Dan & Everton / WBA

[sharrowblade]

Just a message to say thanks to Toffee Dan for sorting out the tickets for me and the little un's. Nice meeting yourself and your lad, he's good company.

Managed a couple of teamsheets from reception as advised.

Good to see someone play as bad as the blades.

Many Thanks, let me know if you're ever over this side of the pennines at BDTBL.

All the Best. SB

[ToffeeDan]

You're welcome. Glad you had a good day out.

Kind of strange really - everyone focuses on the final result but we missed a season's worth of decent chances and - well Mr. Mason just isn't a referee is he? It's beyond me how anyone could be 5 yards away from 3 incidents in the space of 15 seconds and fail to see a leading elbow (in the box/right on the line) - not only fail to recognise a foul (just like he didn't recognise Karl Henry cut Heitinga in two in the Everton-Wolves game), fail to stop play for a head injury - fail to see the 2 footed lunge on Arteta by the same player, fail to see Arteta's retaliation (wrong tho' it was it was half hearted) - and, having consulted the assistant take the easy way out - SORRY to sound like I'm bitching but to pay good money and have an idiot ruin things for your side is most unsatisfactory. Fair play to The Baggies (the above incident aside) - they took their chances and finished deserved winners in the end. How we didn't win this game I really don't know - even with 15 to go and down to ten men I still thought we'd win.

But you know you've got an idiot for a ref when he's more concerned with ensuring the wall is 10 yards back than producing an obvious yellow (or red) card for a premeditated nasty tackle on Pienaar (no lecture, no card) and more interested in booking Beckford for I presume foul language - even if that wasn't a foul (questionable). I'd rather see a ref melt into the background - and get 80% of the decisions right - than be a complete dipstick. It's as if some of these refs go out to say 'I'm the teacher and you are the petulant schoolkids'

[sharrowblade]

Evening Dan, here's a un-biased neutral's view,

I thought you lost it in the first half hour. The first goal lifted them, first chance, free header for Scharner and then the confidence flowed. Everton had no shape, there was no spark, Arteta too deep for me, Jags had a nightmare, Hibbert's never been a premier league defender and Baines is.....well he's a wigan fullback isn't he. Heitinga was dreadful, Pienaar was lightweight, and upfront Anichebe and Yakubu were lazy. In the first half you couldn't string more than two passes together, the distribution was like watching United. At the moment you have the look of a team that is being carried by one man, Cahill.

The sending off did raise the tempo, I personally blame Beckford if he had scored like he should have with the one on one, we wouldn't have any argy bargy .
yes Jara's challenge was naughty, and yes I was amazed he let it go, of course once he had let it go, I thought the outcome was inevitable, Jara's challenge on Arteta wasn't too clever but Pienaar had just had a go, and then Arteta's a silly boy and he definately has to go. I agree that I'm surprised that Mr Mason he had to consult the Linesman over it because he saw it and had a very good view of it.
However, Cahill also got away with a very naughty one too.

Once Beckford had contrived to put his volley into the top stand when my granny could have scored, the writing was on the wall. In a way it was a strange game, I thought West Brom thoroughly deserved to win, Everton never really got to grips with Morrisson, Brunt & Dorrans. The lad who got sent off also had a good game defensively, and let if Beckford had got his scoring boots on he could have had a hat-trick. The chance late on when he hooked it wide summed up Everton's afternoon.

I know it's only one game, but the most worrying aspect for Everton is that West Brom were quicker to the ball and more importantly they worked much harder when they didn't have it.

There certainly wasn't much to warm Everton fans up, on what was a very cold walk back to the car. By the way it was a brisk -7, on the way back over the Snake Pass.

Finally, Dan, I wouldn't go booking your cup final tickets just yet.

Cheers SB

[WileBrownAstle]

That was big result for us yesterday.
Boing Boing
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[ToffeeDan]

You're not far from the mark Pienaar apart (and I think Arteta is being forced to play too deep). Most of what you said about West Brom was right except that, in the first hour, they were a little disjointed too and Everton should have taken advantage of this - and didn't. Somehow I feel that 13 of the 19 players in the Everton team this season carry a lot of blame:

GROSS ERRORS
Howard, Beckford (with allowance for his moderate ability) for terrible errors and Distin (vs Man Utd)

(and Jags who keeps slipping over)

LACK OF FITNESS
Anichebe, Yakubu (some excuse),

LONG TERM INJURIES (unable to contribute)
Osman, Rodwell, Neville, Saha, Fellaini

INDISCIPLINE
Fellaini, Arteta (and of course Cahill)

EFFORT
Heitinga (and Saha again) - for not giving a toss (and maybe Arteta)

PARTIALLY EXEMPT
Hibbert (but he's not brilliant is he?)

Baines

Pienaar (apart from failing to sign a new contract and being out for a few weeks - plus slipping over at Sunderland to concede a soft equaliser by not marking the opponent)

Coleman (but also injured/tired)

and Cahill (who is carrying this team from all over the pitch but will be absent in January for 6 weeks, ha ha!)

So we need to give Cahill the armband and sack the lot of them.

[sharrowblade]

Yes, the timing of the Asian Cup, isn't going to do you any favours.

Listening to the old boys around me, Mr Moyes does not appear as popular as he used to be.

I see you've got Chelsea at the weekend, I honestly believe someone is going to get a pasting shortly from them. They may not have won recently but they are creating a lot of chances sooner or later they're going to start going in, let's hope it's not your boys as I've got Jags in my fantasy football team and I took berbatov out last saturday

Once again all the best. SB

[goodison]

Jags is doubtful for the game tomorrow.