retired_exoticpanther33

Sat 25th Oct

FA Barclaycard Premiership

Blackburn 1 - 2 Everton

Starting XI
Wright, Hibbert, Naysmith, Stubbs, Yobo
McFadden, Kilbane, Davis, Arteta
Rooney, Ferguson (c)

Everton manager Jamie Mellor fielded an unchanged side for the third match in a row, and was rewarded with a third consecutive victory, this time away to Blackburn. The 3 points gained here propelled them up to 12th in the league, leaving them only 2 points from a place in the top half.

Wayne Rooney was once again the star of the Everton show, bagging both goals in this creditable away win. Mellor must have feared the worst for his side's mini-revival when, in the 4th minute, Aussie Brett Emerton curled home a beautiful freekick from about 20 yards, leaving Richard Wright helpless. However, the goal only served to galvanise the Everton defence, who did very well to withstand intense Blackburn pressure for the rest of the first half.

The second half was much more even, with Everton's improvemen aided in no small part by the introduction at half time of the lively Daniel Braathen. The young Norwegian caused all sorts of problems for the Blackburn defence, but as the minutes ticked past, it seemed like it just wasn't meant to be Everton's day. Then, in the 84th minute, a defensive header from Alan Stubbs landed at the feet of Rooney on the halfway line. The young striker advance about 15 yards, before firing a sharp pass out right to 75th minute substitute Massimo Maccarone. The Italian ran at his defender, who backpedalled into the box. Maccarone looked up to see Rooney arriving in the penalty area at full speed. The pass into Rooney's path was perfect, and the England front man stroked his 5th goal of the season home past Brad Friedel.

From there, if there was to be a winner, only one side was going to score it, as Everton threw everything they had at the Blackburn goal. In the 90th minute, their pressure was rewarded. A Kevin Kilbane corner from the left was swung out to Li Tie on the edge of the box. The Chinese international played a quick ball back to Kilbane, surprising the Blackburn defence. The winger then crossed into the crowded penalty area, and who should pop up with the header into the far corner, but Rooney, one of the smallest men on the pitch. The scenes of jubilation in the Away end signalled a hard fought victory for Everton, and the belief that the tide was finally changing in their favour.

"Well, I'm delighted about the result of course, but I'd rather not have too many games like that," said Jamie Mellor after the match, "It's no good for my nerves at all. Again, what can you say about Wayne Rooney. He had a quiet match i thought, but that's the mark of a great player, that he can suddenly pop up and change a game in the space of a few minutes. Again though, i can't go without mentioning Richard Wright. He was our best player on the day I thought, and he stopped Blackburn from being totally out of sight before half time."


FA Barclaycard Premiership Table
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> P Pts1 Arsenal 10 272 Chelsea 10 233 Newcastle 10 214 Liverpool 10 215 Tottenham 10 206 Man Utd 10 187 Birmingham 10 168 Man City 10 159 Wolves 10 1410 Aston Villa 10 1411 Blackburn 10 1312 Everton 10 1213 Southampton 10 1214 Portsmouth 10 1115 Leicester 10 916 Charlton 10 917 Middlesborough 10 818 Bolton 10 719 Leeds 10 620 Fulham 10 2</pre>

retired_exoticpanther33

Wed 29th Oct

Carling Cup 3rd Round

Wimbledon 0 - 3 Everton

Starting XI
Wright, Hibbert, Naysmith, Stubbs, Yobo
McFadden, Kilbane, Davis, Arteta
Rooney, Ferguson (c)

A comprehensive, straightforward win for Everton against First Division strugglers Wimbledon. The Toffees' newfound confidence really showed, as the MK Dons were more or less finished off in 4 first half minutes. The architect of their demise was Wayne Rooney, who has been in sparkling form for resurgent Everton of late. The first goal came on 17mins, after a fine sequence of passing from Everton. The ball finally found its way to the head of James McFadden, who flicked it on to Rooney on the edge of the box. Rooney took the ball on the volley, crashing his shot in off the underside of the bar, leaving Steve Banks no chance.

A similar finish came just 3mins later, when Kilbane found Ferguson in space on the left. The big Scot played a delightfully chipped cross in to Rooney, who took the ball first time on his left foot, and curled a second volley of the match past the Wimbledon keeper.

From there on in, Everton eased off, preferring to play possession football in a match they were never in any danger of losing. The match was finally killed off in the 68th minute, when Steve Watson met a Kevin Kilbane corner, planting his header past the flailing arm of Banks and into the Wimbledon net. When the final whistle blew a little over 20mins later, Everton had restricted Wimbledon to only 1 shot on goal, and that was off target.

"I'm very glad to be in the next round of the cup," said Jamie Mellor, "and especially to have gotten there with such an assured performance. I know some people have said that this competition has been devalued of late, but at the end of the day it still provides a route into Europe, and that is something we are definitely looking towards at this club."



Sat 1st Nov

After several excellent displays for us over the past month, I was delighted today when Richard Wright was named the Barclaycard Premiership Player of the Month for October. It is a fitting reward for the excellent form he has been showing of late.

I was a little less pleased to be drawn away from home against Man Utd in the 4th Round of the Carling Cup. However, given their history of fielding a weakened team in this competition, I hold out great hope that we can make it to the next round.



Sun 2nd Nov

FA Barclaycard Premiership

Everton 5 - 0 Wolves

Starting XI
Wright, Hibbert, Naysmith, Stubbs, Yobo
McFadden, Kilbane, Davis, Arteta
Rooney, Ferguson (c)

Everton were yet again unchanged as they ran amock against a poor Wolves side at Goodison today. For once, it was not Wayne Rooney however, but another young striker who was the star of the (late late) show. The rout was begun by Duncan Ferguson in the 19th minute. Arteta slid the ball through to Ferguson, who fired in a shot from the edge of the box. The hand which Matt Murray got on the Scot's strike was not enough to keep it out of the Wolves net.

Everton did not score again until the 58th minute when Steve Watson fired home the loose ball after Murray had blocked substitute Anatoli Todorov's header from a James McFadden corner. It was Todorov who was to take the plaudits (and the matchball) in the end however. There were only 10mins on the clock when the young Bulgarian, on as a half time substitute for Duncan Ferguson, latched onto a McFadden cross to head home. His personal tally was doubled 3mins later when he slotted home a penalty, after McFadden had been felled in the box by Okoronkwo.

Todorov completed his hattrick in the final minute, when a loose ball from Okoronkwo fell at his feet in the box. He wriggled free of his marker and finished coolly into the bottom corner.

"Obviously after that second half, and especially that last 10mins, Anatoli is going to take all the headlines tomorrow," stated manager Jamie Mellor after the match, "but I'd like to reserve some praise for James McFadden. He's had a great game today. He set up one, won the penalty for another, and was involved in two more of our goals. I felt the other team really struggled to cope with him down our right hand side today, and his willingness to run at defenders with the ball really sets opponents on edge."


FA Barclaycard Premiership Standings
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> P Pts7 Man Utd 11 188 Man City 11 189 Everton 11 1510 Aston Villa 11 1411 Portsmouth 11 14</pre>

retired_mollymay

Good to see you've turned around the bad start to the season!

I started a game with the Toffees a couple of days ago myself so I may have start my own story so we can compare seasons.

Its interesting to see the different transfer deals you've made compared to me, where you seem to have concentrated on the midfield and up front (davis, Arteta, Todorov, Maccarone). I've signed 2 centrebacks and a midfielder (Mexes, Radoi and Kallstrom), but have left the strike force alone (Rooney, Radzinski and Jeffers are all playing very well so far).

Good luck in the upcoming derby game!

retired_exoticpanther33

yeah, you should definitely start a story. considering there are a fair number of Everton fans on these boards, i've never seen an Everton story before

in terms of team strengthening, i felt that (as in r/l) it was definitely our midfield that needed bulking up the most. our defence isn't too bad (at least on paper :p) although someone will need to be brought in to replace Stubbs before the end of the season. I brought in Todorov so i could send Jeffers back to Arsenal. Not because he is no good, simply to cut a big chunk out of the wage bill. (which allowed me to bring in Arteta, who has been a revelation - after a slightly shaky start)

i've actually played through into the 2nd season on this game - not telling how it all turns out though. although i will say i have some nice surprises coming in terms of end-of-season transfers, so stay tuned.

nice to know someone's reading this.

looking forward to seeing your story too.

cheers
J

retired_lizm5285

heh i was thinking myself that there wasn't a toffee story at all and i'm making one myself today

but i have to say i'll be watching this one closely nice job

retired_exoticpanther33

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Nadessico:
heh i was thinking myself that there wasn't a toffee story at all and i'm making one myself today

but i have to say i'll be watching this one closely nice job <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
wow... we're going to go from no Everton stories to 3 in short order :cool:

and thanks for the compliment next part should be posted a little later tonight.

J

retired_exoticpanther33

Sun 9th Nov

FA Barclaycard Premiership

Southampton 6 - 4 Everton

Starting XI
Wright, Hibbert, Naysmith, Stubbs, Yobo
McFadden, Kilbane, Davis, Arteta
Rooney, Ferguson (c)

An absolute feast of goals today at the St Mary's Stadium saw Southampton overcome Everton in what was definitely not a day for defending. The scoring started in the 17th minute, when McCann found Beattie with a long cross-field ball. Beattie crossed well for Kevin Phillips, and the ex-Sunderland man rose to head home from less than 6 yards. The lead did not last long though, as Everton hit back 3mins later through their own England striker, Wayne Rooney. Winger James McFadden found Rooney with a delightful thru ball, allowing the England man to advance on Saints' keeper Niemi unhindered. The big Fin blocked Rooney's first shot, but could only parry it back into the youngster's path, and "Roonaldo" slotted home from a narrow angle.

Southampton's lead was restored in the 24th minute, when Le Saux picked up a poor clearence from Mikel Arteta, and squared for McCann who buried his shot past Richard Wright from 10 yards for his first ever goal in Saints' colours. Ten minutes later, and the lead was doubled. A long ball from Kenton was nodded down by James Beattie, and David Prutton hammered home a swerving, dipping volley from all of 30 yards. Four minutes later though, and Everton had halved the deficit. Arteta, making up for his earlier mistake, chipped the ball over the head of Lundekvam, allowing Rooney to run onto the ball. The forward rounded the Southampton keeper, and fired in his second of the match, and 10th of the season.

Half time came with the score at 3-2, but the second 45 minutes was to continue in much the same free-scoring style. Thirteen minutes into the second period, David Prutton rose to head in his second goal from a Graeme Le Saux corner, restoring Saints' two goal cushion. The very next minute however, they were pegged back yet again straight from the kick-off. Davis played the ball to McFaddeno on the right, who slipped it to Arteta. The Spaniard played an exquisite ball over the top to second half substitute Todorov, who confidently finished past Niemi.

However, it was to be a false ray of hope for the Toffees, as Southampton effectively killed the game with two goals in two minutes. First, in the 64th minute, McCann grabbed his second, capitalising on Everton keeper Wright's failure to hold a Brett Ormerod close range header, to finish calmly into the right hand corner. Then, two minutes later, substitute Jo Tessem, who had only been on the field for 5mins, buried his header past Wright from another Le Saux corner. At that point, the match was really over, but Everton salvaged some pride when, in the 66th minute, after good work from McFadden and Naysmith, Sean Davis played in Arteta, who crashed in a volley on the turn from the edge of the box.

The score remained the same for the rest of the match, despite Everton's best efforts to throw anything they could think of at Southampton to try to get back into it. It was a deserved win for Southampton, in a match which could have easily had another three goals for each side.

"I can't really complain about the loss today," stated a downcast Jamie Mellor afterwards, "we defended atrociously at times, and deserved to concede the goals we did. The only thing that stings is that we've gone away from home today and scored four goals, which really should be enough to win the game. The lads upfront have all performed well, but we really need to have a look at our defending over the next week, especially our positioning from set pieces."



Wed 12th Nov

FA Barclaycard Premiership

Everton 0 - 0 Bolton

Starting XI
Wright, Hibbert, Naysmith, Stubbs, Yobo
McFadden, Kilbane, Davis, Arteta
Rooney, Ferguson (c)

Everton will wonder how on earth they have managed not to win this game, having been on top of their opponents for the entire match. They managed four times as many shots of goal as Bolton, but found Jussi Jääskeläinen in inspired form. The Finnish stopper kept out everything Everton threw at him, and earned the man of the match award for his trouble. Of Everton's 15 shots on target, their best opportunity fell to Mikel Arteta, who found himself with the ball in yards of space, only to shoot straight at Jääskeläinen from inside the Bolton 6 yard box. Wayne Rooney also hit the bar with a crashing drive from fully 35 yards, and landed a beautiful lob onto the roof of the net with the keeper stranded.

"There's not much to say about games like that. We should have won, plain and simple. We know it, the fans know it, and I'm pretty sure the opposition know it." stated a disappointed Mellor after the match, "On another day, we could have won that match by 3, 4 or even 5 goals, and i don't think anyone would have cause for complaint. But sometimes that happens in football, and we'll just have to pick ourselves up and get on with it. We've got a really tough game in 10 days against Arsenal, and we'll have to devote all our efforts to preparing for that."


FA Barclaycard Premiership Standings
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> P Pts9 Blackburn 11 1810 Southampton 11 1711 Everton 11 1612 Charlton 11 1613 Aston Villa 11 15</pre>

retired_exoticpanther33

Mon 17th Nov

Today, I had a £4.5m offer for Valencia striker John Carew accepted by the Spanish club. If we can agree personal terms with the player, he will join at the end of this season. Carew will provide the perfect replacement for Duncan Ferguson, who I don't believe will be physically up to the challenge of another Premiership season - and certainly not at the level which I hope we will reach next term.



Wed 19th Nov

Carew and his agent today flew in and we were delighted to agree terms on a 4 year deal with the giant striker. He will sign for us on 1st July next year.



Sat 22nd Nov

FA Barclaycard Premiership

Arsenal 3 - 0 Everton

Starting XI
Wright, Hibbert, Naysmith, Stubbs, Yobo
McFadden, Kilbane, Davis, Arteta
Rooney, Ferguson (c)

Arsenal won comfortably in a match that they had sewn up before half time. Their dominance was obvious from the first whistle, and was confirmed as early as the 8th minute when Freddie Ljungberg received a flick back from Thierry Henry, and smashed in a driven shot from 30 yards. The game was finished off in a six minute period later in the half, with two strikes from the Gunners' near-£10m signing Sanli Tuncay. The first was a simple finish from inside the six yard box, after Henry's shot had cannoned back off the post. His second, a header from a cross by the marauding Sylvain Wiltord, signalled the end of Everton's challenge for the match.

The Toffees improved after the break, worrying Arsenal at times, mainly through the aerial threat of Duncan Ferguson. However, they never gave the impression that they were a threat to Arsenal's lead. Everton's cause was not aided by the fact that Sean Davis and Wayne Rooney, arguably the side's most important players, both had terrible games today, failing to exert any influence over procedings.

"We were never really at the races today. Arsenal are the best side in the country at the moment, and if we wanted to have any chance in the match, we really needed to bring our A-game. That didn't happen, and we lost the match. I would like to spare a positive word for Joseph Yobo, who was a cut above today, and helped stop the scoreline from becoming even more embarassing." When asked if their recent upturn in fortunes was proving to be nothing more than a fluke, Mellor replied, "No, i don't think so. I don't think there are many neutrals who would have expected us to get anything out of today's game. The last couple of matches before today have been a little odd, but i feel confident we can get back to winning ways sooner rather than later.



Thurs 27th Nov

West Brom today came in with a £1.1m bid for young midfielder Leon Osman. I called the player into my office, and explained that I was accepting the bid, because I thought it was best for his career to be playing first team football - something he would have a better chance of at WBA. He thanked me for my honesty, and I thanked him for all his hard work in training and for our reserve team.



Fri 28th Nov

Today I was faced with a tough decision. Aston Villa made a £2.1m bid for Tomasz Radzinski. Now, while I knew that Radzinski's pace could be an asset to us, I also knew that he was not even close at this point to making it into my Starting XI, with both Rooney and Todorov ahead of him in the "little man" stakes. I decided to let the player go, and wished him well for the future.



Sat 29th Nov

Duncan Ferguson had picked up a slight thigh strain in midweek, so Kevin Campbell would start up front along with Wayne Rooney. I left the rest of the side unchanged, giving them a chance to make up for the poor showing against Arsenal last week.

Leon Osman signed for WBA today for £1.1m and a 30% sell-on clause, and reserve team goalkeeper joined Nottingham Forest for £750k


FA Barclaycard Premiership

Everton 3 - 2 Man City

Starting XI
Wright, Hibbert, Naysmith, Stubbs (c), Yobo
McFadden, Kilbane, Davis, Arteta
Rooney, Campbell

Everton battled hard today and were rewarded with a victory against Man City, breaking their run of 3 games without a victory and propelling them into the top half of the league for the first time this season. The Toffees were once again inspired by Wayne Rooney, who set about the City defence from the kick off, as if determined to prove that his poor showing last week against league leaders Arsenal was a one off.

He was rewarded in the 21st minute, when Kevin Campbell, in for the injured Duncan Ferguson won a header wide on the left. Sylvain Distin should have dealt with it easily, but the French defender slipped at the vital moment, and Rooney was onto the loose ball like a flash. He ran at the Sky Blue's goalkeeper Marcos, forcing him to backpedal, before calmly slotting the ball inside the Brazilian's near post. Everton were totally dominant at this point, and looked certain to increase their lead. But instead, it was Lars Ricken who levelled things for City two minutes later. Everton's defence found themselves out of position, and were unable to deal with Sommeil's ball over the top. Ricken controlled well, but was forced out wide by Joseph Yobo. Nevertheless, the German midfielder somehow managed to slide the ball into Richard Wright's goal from the narrowest of angles.

This goal only seemed to increase Everton's (and Rooney's in particular) desire to win the match. With 10mins remaining in the half, McFadden received the ball on the right. With a drop of the shoulder and a quick step-over, he went past Distin as if he wasn't there, before sliding the ball perfectly into the path of Rooney about 10 yards outside the penalty area. The youngster set off towards goal, beating Salvador Carmona with ease, then lifting the ball over the onrushing Marcos and into the empty net.

Halftime came and went, and the score remained the same, which it did until the 75th minute. Rooney received the ball in the box from substitute Daniel Braathen. The Everton no. 18's volley was blocked by Marcos, but only fell to Li Tie - only on the pitch at that point for 10mins - who finished into the unguarded City goal. The Toffees seemed to be cruising at the point, but with 9mins left on the clock, Luis Enrique (on loan from Barcelona) received the ball from a Ricken cross, and glanced his header into the far corner. This set up a frantic final few minutes, as Man City tried in vain to claw back another goal. Everton's defence stood firm, and the three points stayed at Goodison.

"I'm delighted to have secured the three points today, and to have emerged from that little run of bad results we've had of late. Let's hope from here we can push on up the table." When asked to describe Rooney's contribution to the cause today, Mellor remarked, "Wayne was fantastic. He was nowhere near his best against Arsenal - but that could be said of the whole team - but he's gone out and shown what he can do today." Mellor was stern when asked what he thought about reports that Real Madrid, Chelsea and Man Utd were lining up end of season bids for the youngster, "No way is Wayne Rooney for sale. He is the sort of player you build a team around. He isn't going to be going anywhere while I'm in charge here."


FA Barclaycard Premiership Table
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> P Pts1 Arsenal 14 392 Liverpool 14 313 Newcastle 15 294 Man Utd 14 275 Tottenham 15 276 Chelsea 15 277 Birmingham 15 268 Blackburn 14 219 Southampton 14 2010 Everton 15 1911 Man City 15 1912 Charlton 15 1713 Portsmouth 15 1614 Aston Villa 15 1615 Wolves 15 1416 Leicester 14 1417 Middlesborough 15 1318 Bolton 15 1219 Leeds 15 1120 Fulham 15 6</pre>

retired_lizm5285

wow Carew, if u get him ur set lol

how do u get rooney to score lmao, he puts the ball over the bar more than Jonny Wilkinson

retired_exoticpanther33

ummm... i can e-mail you what player instructions i have him set on if you like... your e-mail in profile?