Everton v Aston Villa Preview

Club football makes a welcome return this weekend after a fortnight-long international break, with Aston Villa the visitors to Goodison as we begin life without Mikel Arteta.

Forwards Jermaine Beckford and Yakubu have also departed since the last-gasp win at Ewood Park, whilst Argie forward Denis Stracqualursi and Dutch winger Royston Drenthe have joined from Tigre and Real Madrid respectively.

Their first match will be preceded by a protest against the stagnation of the club staged by a group of supporters under the banner of 'the Blue Union'. You can find out more about that here, but I'll concentrate on what is going to happen inside the ground.

Supporters wishing to see Stracqualursi and Drenthe make their debuts may have to wait a while as there are doubts over both players' match fitness. Which is understandable, considering that neither have played for over two months.

Victor Anichebe has also been ruled out for three months after picking up a groin injury playing for Nigeria. That news leaves us dangerous short up front with Saha and Stracqualursi doubts and Anichebe out. Cahill and Fellaini it is then...

There is, however, some positive news on the injury front as Seamus Coleman and Magaye Gueye could be available for selection against Villa after recovering from ankle and toe injuries respectively. Leighton Baines, who withdrew from the England squad due to injury, may also make the game, whilst David Moyes revealed on Friday that 'John Heitinga had a bit of a knock but hopefully he will be okay'.

We often struggle against Villa. Indeed, we haven't come out on top in 10 attempts since May 2006. The fixtures do, however, tend to be tight affairs - with Villa's last-minute 2-3 win at Goodison a few years back a prime example. Last campaign's corresponding fixture finished in a 2-2 draw which, but for some poor officiating to disallow Jermaine Beckford's goal, could well have been a home victory.

The second-city claret and blues are unbeaten in three at the start of this campaign, with two Alec McLeish-inspired goalless draws and a home win over Blackburn so far. Like Everton, there is clear frustration amongst fans at Villa, demonstrated by the attendance of under 31,000 for the derby clash with Wolves at Villa Park.

They sold two of their most prized assets (Downing and Young) this Summer but still have plenty of firepower to hurt Everton. Darren Bent is a slight doubt but, although I certainly hope the game comes too soon for him, he is expected to be fit. Jermaine Jenas and Alan Hutton are in line to make their debuts. Oh, and sod's law N'Zogbia scores...

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STAT'S LIFE

Welcome to stat set no. 4 of the 2011/2012 campaign

• Only one of Everton's last eight league games has seen more than 2.5 goals.
• This fixture is the most played top-flight fixture (192). Villa have 72 wins to Everton's 70.
• Tim Cahill has 7 goals against Aston Villa - his highest number against any team whilst playing for Everton.
• If selected, Phil Neville will make his 200th Everton appearance and Leon Osman his 250th.
• This is the 550th league match in the managerial career of David Moyes.

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StickyToffee Prediction: Everton 1-1 Aston Villa

Deadline Day Review

Well, deadline day was a lot more hectic than we all had envisaged.

Before the clock struck 11pm and the transfer window was gently closed (it wasn't slammed shut as Sky Sports would have you believe), a trio of players had left for pastures new and two new faces had been brought in for the season. Our strikeforce has thinned further after the departures of Jermaine Beckford and Yakubu to Leicester City and Blackburn Rovers respectively, whilst play-maker in chief Mikel Arteta has taken up the opportunity of Champions League football at Arsenal.

Over £15m was raised through those three sales but none of the money was reinvested as both new recruits - Argentine striker Denis Stracqualursi and Dutch winger Royston Drenthe - have joined on loan deals.

INS

Denis Stracqualursi

Argentine forward Stracqualursi has joined on a season-long loan deal from Tigres in his homeland. I, like most, had never heard of him before, so I am only really going by what I can find on his Wikipedia page - which yesterday read: "In August 2011 Stracqualursi became a mongrel by signing for the stupidly rich Premier League team Everton, owned by Sheik Kenwright."

Which proves the reliability of Wikipedia. Anyway, from what I can gather, he's 23-years-old, 6ft 3 and finished top of the Argentinian goalscoring charts last year after netting 22 times in 35 appearances. Previous top scorers in the Argentinian Primera División include a host of players who have enjoyed successful careers in Europe; Javier Saviola, Mauro Zárate, Fernando Cavenaghi and Lisandro López, and so David Moyes will be hoping that Denis can prove a menace to Premier League defences.

When we were struggling in the mid-nineties we brought in a 6ft 3 centre-forward on loan. And that one didn't turn out too bad...

Royston Drenthe

Our second loan signing was Real Madrid's 24-year-old Dutch winger, Royston Drenthe. Middle name Ricky, of course. Drenthe, who can operate in midfield as well as in defence, was signed by Real Madrid in 2007 for 14 million Euros. He featured regularly at first, but gradually fell out of favour at the Bernabéu before spending last season on loan helping Hércules get relegated.

The wideman arrives on Merseyside with a bit of an off-the-pitch reputation as a loose cannon, just like another Dutchman well known to Evertonians, 'Shandy' van der Meyde. On the pitch he will add some much needed pace to the side - you would be hard pushed to find a faster player in the league.

Drenthe is a free agent at the end of the season and so, if everything goes well, we might be able to extend his stay at Goodison.

OUTS

Shane Duffy

Teenage centre-half Shane Duffy has joined Scunthorpe United on an initial month-long loan deal. The 19-year-old has European experience having played for Everton against AEK Athens and BATE Borisov, and will now look to force his way into the first team setup by getting regular games for League One side Scunthorpe.

Yakubu

'The Yak' will be put on a new diet of Venky's chicken following his transfer to Blackburn Rovers. The fee differs according to which report you read but it is believed to be around £1.5-2m. A snip of the once club record transfer fee of £11.25m that we paid for his services, but after not featuring for a while it was best to get that than nothing.

It also means that he is off the wage bill, something that is critical for Everton if we are to bring in any players in January. There has been no word on his fellow Nigerian Joseph Yobo, whose transfer to Fenerbahce has been put on hold all Summer.

Jermaine Beckford

£4m profit in just over a year and 10 goals to boot sounds like very good business. It does, however, leave us criminally short up front, with only Vellios (young), Stracqualursi (untried), Anichebe (useless) and Saha (perma-crocked) to choose from.

Beckford jumped two leagues to sign for Everton and, taking that into consideration, ten goals for the season was a very decent effort. They were memorable too - the last-gasp equaliser at Stamford Bridge, the goal at Anfield and who could forget the Roy of the Rovers effort on the final day?

Ever since his touchline spat with David Moyes last season in the 0-3 win at Wolves last season there has been a sense that he was not in the manager's good books. And so the lesson to be learnt is never mess with a Glaswegian... or you might end up with Sven.

Mikel Arteta

It was on. It was off. It was on again.

That was the story of Mikel Arteta's deadline day move to Arsenal. After 6 1/2 years of plying his trade at Everton, I don't begrudge him the move to a side that will contest in the Champions League season on season. It's not a question of money as most outlets are reporting he took a pay cut to become a Gunner (goner) and so after so long of having had the pleasure of watching him I wish him all the best in London.

I was - to coin Harry Redknapp - 'gutted' to see Mikel leave but the timing of it frustrated me more than anything. With so little time to find a replacement, the only place the £10m is going is to the bank. Apart from the 85p in every pound that goes to Finch Farm, of course...

Thanks for the memories Mikel - it's been a pleasure. You leave with my best wishes and you leave behind some great memories - the wondergoal against Fiorentina, the derby winner, the equaliser against United, the unstoppable free-kick against Hull. The best little Spaniard I knew.

Whilst I'm sad to see the back of Arteta, it is a part of football. Players will come and go and break fans' hearts. But Everton are forever. It feels very much like the end of an era. But that only means that another is about to begin. Marouane, Jack, Ross, Denis, Royston... over to you.

Beckford Bid Accepted

Everton have agreed a £4m fee with Leicester City for the sale of striker Jermaine Beckford, according to BBC Radio Leicester.

Beckford, who joined Everton on a free transfer last year, scored 10 goals in his debut Premier League season to finish the campaign as the club's joint top scorer.

Leicester, along with Southampton and Blackburn Rovers, had made their interest in the player known and were believed to have tabled a £2m bid.

That was rejected by Everton, but Foxes boss Sven Goran Eriksson has returned with a £4m offer, which has been accepted.

The deal is not done yet, however, as the player still needs to complete a medical and agree personal terms with the Midlands outfit.

Rumour: Beckford In Demand

Blackburn Rovers will attempt to lure Jermaine Beckford to Ewood Park after missing out on Yakubu, according to clicklancashire.com.

Yakubu snubbed a move to Ewood Park and Rovers are now rumoured to be interested in ex-Leeds striker Beckford.

Blackburn join Southampton, Leicester City and Nottingham Forest in the hunt for Beckford but it is unlikely that Everton will sell, especially with so little time left to find a replacement.

Rovers recently missed out on Hoffenheim's Vedad Ibesevic, something that has lead to them weighing up a move for the Everton man.

Blackburn Rovers 0-1 Everton

It was a case of daylight robbery at Ewood Park this afternoon as a last-minute Mikel Arteta spot-kick stole all three points - this after Blackburn duo Hoilett and Formica had both been unsuccessful with penalties of their own.

Everton have goalkeeper Tim Howard to thank for the undeserved victory - the American custodian saved the first spot-kick, saw the second hit the post and made a number of crucial saves to deny Rovers.

Everton had performed very poorly throughout but referee Lee Mason handed us a golden opportunity to punish Blackburn for their missed chances in the dying moments. Marouane Fellaini was felled in the aftermath of a Phil Neville long throw and Mason pointed to the spot for the third time in the game.

Spaniard Arteta kept a cool head under huge pressure to send the travelling support behind the goal into delirium. A performance as bad as I can remember but a fantastic result.

* * *

David Moyes named a 4-5-1 formation with the line lead by lone striker and midweek goalscorer Victor Anichebe. Tim Howard, rested for Wednesday's win over Sheffield United, took up his usual goalkeeping position behind the regular back four of Leighton Baines, Sylvain Distin, Phil Jagielka and Phil Neville.

A five man midfield consisted of Ross Barkley, Marouane Fellaini, Leon Osman, John Heitinga and Mikel Arteta with Victor Anichebe on his own up front. Louis Saha was not included in the squad - which, I assume, is down to injury - and Jermaine Beckford and Tim Cahill were left on the bench. Jack Rodwell missed out due to illness.

The first half was a totally drab affair notable only for David Dunn's shot, which hit the inside of Howard's right hand post and bounced agonisingly across goal to safety.

Everton's best moment of the opening period was Leon Osman's header from Ross Barkley's right-wing cross, although it failed to trouble Paul Robinson in the Blackburn goal.

David Dunn and Morten Gamst Pedersen both suffered injuries for the hosts, with Mauro Formica and Radosav Petrovic both having to be introduced before half-time.

Half-time: Blackburn Rovers 0-0 Everton

Whilst the first period was a frankly dreadful watch, the second was a bizarre one. Everton started after the interval as if they had just woken up, and conceded a penalty in the first minute after half-time.

Ross Barkley slipped inside the area and Mauro Formica fell over the youngster's trailing leg. Formica certainly made a concerted effort to fall over the outstretched limb but referee Mason didn't hesitate in pointing to the spot.

Tim Howard made a great penalty save low to his left hand side from Junior Hoilett and Everton somehow managed to clear the danger. Undeterred, Blackburn kept on coming and the visitors were struggling to get out of their own half.

The relentless pressure created a few good chances for Blackburn but each time Tim Howard was up to the task. Instinctive saves from Samba and then Formica kept Everton level - although the pressure culminated in another penalty just a few minutes later.

Formica won it after a combination of Jagielka and Distin bundled him over and the same player stepped up to take it. Formica went the opposite way to Hoilett and had Howard beaten... but not the post.

David Moyes withdrew Ross Barkley in favour of the vastly experienced Tim Cahill, a substitution that helped Everton push further forward. Leighton Baines stung the hands of Paul Robinson with a fierce shot from an acute angle.

The same player then turned provider as he teed up Marouane Fellaini, who should really have hit the target with an effort from the edge of the penalty area.

However, Everton were soon on the back foot again and Howard had to be alert to save from Formica. We were hanging on to a point as substitute David Goodwillie then saw his effort clip the top of the crossbar after Formica and Hoilett had carved open our defence with worrying ease.

In stoppage time Everton were awarded a spot-kick of their own when, following a long throw by captain Phil Neville, Chris Samba bundled over Marouane Fellaini just inside the area. It was a dubious penalty but we did not care a jot.

Mikel Arteta, who had looked off the pace in midfield, stepped up, kept composed and rifled the kick into the right hand corner. Unbelievable.

Robbery, theft, luck. But 3 vital points.

StickyToffee Player Ratings: Howard 10, Baines 6, Distin 5, Jagielka 4, Neville 4, Arteta 5, Heitinga 5, Fellaini 4, Osman 5, Barkley 5, Anichebe 4.

Subs: Cahill 5, Bilyaletdinov 5, Beckford 3.

Blackburn Rovers v Everton Preview

Having managed to get our season off to an even worse start than usual at home to QPR last weekend, we now travel to Ewood Park to face the team that beat us on the opening weekend last year, Blackburn Rovers.

In August 2010 a rare Tim Howard error (literally) handed Blackburn three early Premier League points - points which proved to be oh so vital for Rovers come the back end of the season.

Since the end of last season, Evertonians have endured a painful Summer and the loss to newly-promoted QPR did little to apease frustrations. A comfortable midweek cup victory over Sheffield United saved our blushes for the time being, but already in the season the game at Blackburn looks a huge one.

A pair of losses to QPR and Blackburn - two of the pre-season favourites for relegation - would signal an even worse start than usual. It's not a 'must-win game' but frustrations will continue to grow if we come away empty-handed.

Injury wise, there are no fresh concerns for Everton - although there is a lengthy injury list, especially considering the season is still very much in its infancy. Seamus Coleman (ankle) and Magaye Gueye (broken toe) are definite absentees, whilst Tim Cahill (illness) and Jermaine Beckford (knee) both missed Wednesday's Carling Cup tie.

Marouane Fellaini and Mikel Arteta are both nearing full fitness after completing ninety minutes against Sheffield United. Louis Saha also played a part in Wednesday's win although he has had Evertonians worried this morning after tweeting: "I had better mornings #gutted".

There is no indication yet if the bad news is injury related but, if it is, I'm surprised he's lasted two games to be honest. Let's hope he's fully fit - and he was just gutted about not having any milk to accompany his cheerios.

Diniyar Bilyaletdinov is available for selection again after serving his suspension, and so taking everything into account I predict that the team will look something like:

Blackburn should have their man-mountain of a centre-half, Chris Samba, fit again for the game, whilst David 'Junior' Hoilett and new striker David Goodwillie are my ones to watch.

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STAT'S LIFE

Welcome to stat set no. 3 of the 2011/2012 campaign!

• Only one of Everton's last seven league games has seen more than 2.5 goals.
• Blackburn have the worst shooting accuracy of any Premier League side so far this season - just 22% of their efforts have been on target.
• These two founding members of the football league first met in November 1888, when Rovers prevailed 3-0.
• Tim Cahill's current run of 11 league matches without a goal is his longest drought in six years.
• Blackburn have won just 2 of their last 16 matches and have not kept a clean sheet in their last ten.

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With both sides having showcased their defensive frailties so far this season, I'm going to predict that both sides will score. I can't see Blackburn netting more than one against us though, and so I'm going to plump (and hope) for an away win.

StickyToffee Prediction: Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Everton

Everton v Sheffield United Preview

After succumbing to a home defeat at the hands of Premier League new-boys QPR, Everton are quickly back in action in midweek with a Carling Cup tie against League One side Sheffield United.

The Blades have made a rather better start to their league campaign, unbeaten in their opening four games with an impressive 10 points that leave them in third place on goal difference.

As we are Everton, we have already managed to pick up a significant number of injuries from playing our single league game. Jermaine Beckford, Louis Saha (surprise surprise) and Tim Cahill have been labelled doubts for Wednesday's game, whilst Seamus Coleman and Magaye Gueye are definitely out and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov is suspended.

That means that an already struggling forward line could have to rely on youngsters such as Conor McAleny and Apostolos Vellios or out-of-favour duo Victor Anichebe and Yakubu.

My team (assuming the trio of 'doubtful' players do not play) would be:

The tie will see centre-half Phil Jagielka face his old club and he is sure to get a warm reception from all four corners of the ground. A fans' favourite at Bramall Lane, Jagielka won the club's player of the year award three times on the bounce before moving to Everton.

Also facing his former club will be Sheffield United goalkeeper Steve Simonsen (above), who was signed by Everton in 1998 for a fee in excess of £3m, but failed to establish himself as number one at Goodison before moving to Stoke City in 2004.

It is of course a game we should win but given our poor start to the season and recent record in the cups mean we are not as clear favourites as one might assume. David Moyes will surely play a strong team as he bids to win his first piece of silverware in his decade-spanning tenure with the club.

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STAT'S LIFE

Welcome to the second set of stats in this new feature for the 2011/12 campaign:

• Should Everton score once (or more) against Sheffield United, they will have netted 200 goals against the Blades in all competitions.
• Everton's win percentage in matches against Sheffield United at Goodison Park is just over 57%.
• If selected, Tony Hibbert will be making his 250th Everton start.
• This is the fourth meeting of the sides in the League Cup. Everton have won two of the previous three fixtures.
• Everton last exited the League Cup at the second round stage in 2001, when they were beaten on penalties by Crystal Palace.

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We should have enough to beat Sheffield United - although we said the same thing against QPR and in previous cup ties against Oldham and Reading (amongst others). It will not be an easy fixture but I am going to predict an Everton win (before we get beat at Blackburn in Round 3).

StickyToffee Prediction: Everton 3-0 Sheffield United

Everton 0-1 QPR

New season. Same Everton.

That was the overriding feeling of fans exiting Goodison Park yesterday, after a first-half Tommy Smith strike had compounded a miserable Summer on the blue half of Merseyside.

Many expected QPR to be rolled over following their opening-day hammering at home to Bolton, but an accomplished defensive performance from the visitors combined with a toothless one from the hosts handed the Londoners their first points back in the top-flight.

After last season's home results against the 'lesser sides', coupled with our record at the start of the season, perhaps we were a little overconfident. QPR must be praised for their performance though - they were much more defensively sound than last weekend and inflicted our fourth consecutive opening day defeat, a club 'record'.

With injuries to wide players the line-up was always going to be a case of 'square pegs, round holes', but even so it was an uninspiring one.

The back five picked itself (Howard; Neville, Jagielka, Distin, Baines), but the rest of the side caused quite a shock. Jack Rodwell started on the right wing, with John Heitinga and Leon Osman in the centre and debutant Ross Barkley on the left. Tim Cahill supported Jermaine Beckford up top.

Arteta, Fellaini and Saha were all on the bench. It was to do with a lack of fitness I assume, but it came as a shock after being told that all three were ready for the season.

QPR started the game reasonably well and Tommy Smith went close with a snapshot on the half-volley that flew just wide of Tim Howard's post. Everton responded with a series of crosses, from one of which Beckford attempted an overhead kick - but got it all wrong.

Jack Rodwell went down in front of the Gwladys Street in what looked a decent penalty shout. The referee was having none of it, however, and having seen the replays I am inclined to agree with him. Not a penalty for me, although I have most certainly seen them given.

Everton's best chance came from a familiar outlet - a Leighton Baines free-kick. The left-back was handed the opportunity by the excellent Ross Barkley, who jinked past a host of QPR defenders on the edge of the area before being brought down.

Baines smashed the resulting set-piece against the underside of the crossbar before the ball bounced agonisingly over the Everton players following up.

Just as the home side looked to have a hold on the game, we fell behind. Phil Jagielka squandered possession on the edge of the box and Everton failed to clear before Tommy Smith swivelled and finished instinctively into the bottom corner.

Tim Cahill uncharacteristically missed a header from close-range before the break and Everton could have had another penalty for a push on Cahill by Fitz Hall.

Everton emerged early for the second half and straight-away had a good chance to draw level. Jack Rodwell was sent through after Ross Barkley had cleverly left a pass, but the England U21 midfielder wasted the opening with a weak shot.

David Moyes had the crowd in disbelief as he replaced Jermaine Beckford, meaning that we were chasing the game without a recognised striker.

His replacement, Marouane Fellaini, immediately carved out a chance for Tim Cahill, whose angled shot was saved by Paddy Kenny.

Louis Saha came on for the final 15 minutes, but a Ross Barkley long-range effort was the closest we came to rescuing a point. 0-1 it ended, a fourth consecutive opening day defeat and a thoroughly frustrating afternoon.

But hey, what did we expect? It's the start of the season, after all.

StickyToffee Player Ratings: Howard 5, Baines 6, Distin 6, Jagielka 4, Neville 5, Barkley 7, Heitinga 4, Osman 4, Rodwell 4, Cahill 4, Beckford 4.

Subs: Arteta 4, Fellaini 5, Saha 4.

Everton v QPR Preview

Everton belatedly begin their Premier League campaign on Saturday, having not played last week due to panic on the streets of London. We still managed to have a better opening weekend than QPR though - Saturday's opponents were thumped 0-4 at home to Bolton.

After waiting so long for the return of the football season, the postponement of the Spurs match came as an obvious disappointment. There are some positives that we can take out of it though, something I have gone into further detail on here.

The extra week has seen the return to fitness of the best little Spaniard we know, Mikel Arteta, meaning that the only absentees are Seamus Coleman and Magaye Gueye (both injured) and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, who is suspended following his dismissal against West Brom at the tail end of last season.

Our opponents have plenty of injury and suspension troubles of their own; Jamie Mackie still hasn't recovered from a broken leg he suffered last season, Clint Hill was shown red in the defeat to Bolton and Kieron 'glass ankles' Dyer lasted all of 4 minutes into his QPR debut before being stretchered off.

It has been a turbulent week for Everton and The Blue Union's interview with Bill Kenwright proved very interesting indeed. The Chairman confirmed Evertonians' fears that we have large debts that need to be addressed before we are able to invest in the club, and that banks are becoming less and less willing to support us in the way of loans.

It looks as if we are in for a tough few years unless a sugar daddy comes along and the interview has compounded a Summer of frustration and stagnation on the blue half of Merseyside.

On the pitch, Everton hastily arranged a friendly with Irish side Bohemians following the cancellation of the Spurs fixture. On a rain-soaked Monday night in Dublin, Everton took the lead thanks to a poacher's goal from Jermaine Beckford - his first goal of pre-season - but were pegged back by a fine individual effort from Anto Flood.

For the first half of the game we had nigh on 70% possession but just a single shot on goal - let's hope it doesn't prove to be the same old story throughout the coming season.

Saturday looks sure to be an interesting game - how will both sides respond to off-the-field worries and an opening day drubbing respectively? The newly-promoted Hoops may be reeling from the crushing defeat to Bolton and they do have a few players who could hurt us.

Jay Bothroyd took a tour of Finch Farm in the Summer but Everton were unwilling to match his wage demands. He may regret that decision but, although I for one am glad we swerved him, he and DJ Campbell are a lively front duo.

However, QPR's main man is clearly Moroccan magician Adel Taarabt. If we can nullify him - as Bolton did so effectively last week - we nullify a large proportion of QPR's attacking threat. I suspect Marouane Fellaini will be asked to do a job on him in a defensive midfield position.

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STAT'S LIFE

Welcome to a new feature for the new season - 5 of the best stats in each and every match preview!

• Everton have lost 99 home matches in the Premier League - let's hope QPR don't make it 100!
• Our last seven league goals have been scored in the second half.
• If selected, Tony Hibbert will be making his 250th Everton start. Perfect time to break his goalscoring duck!
• Everton have not kept a clean sheet in their opening fixture since 1998.
• A defeat would mean four successive opening day losses - which would be an unwanted record.

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It is a fixture we should most definitely look to win, although we are Everton and we never ever do things the easy way. Just ask West Brom, West Ham, Wolves, Birmingham, Reading etc.

I am going to predict an Everton win though - Jermaine Beckford and Mikel Arteta to get to goals.

StickyToffee Prediction: Everton 2-0 QPR

Rumour: Beckford Wants Stay Despite Championship Interest

Jermaine Beckford wants to stay at Goodison Park despite interest from a number of Championship sides, according to skysports.com.

Southampton, Nottingham Forest, West Ham United and Leicester City have all expressed an interest in signing the striker, with the latter believed to have tabled a £3m bid.

Beckford ended last season (his debut campaign in the top-flight) as Everton's joint top-scorer after netting 10 goals, a haul that included a Roy of the Rovers effort to seal a final-day victory over Chelsea.

Sky Sports are reporting that David Moyes may be willing to sell Beckford for the right price, but that the player is happy at the club and will only look for a move if he is told to move on.

Everton 0-1 Villarreal

The now traditional home friendly is usually a chance for Evertonians to catch their first glimpse of the club's new signings, although, as we all know, this Summer has been a very difficult one at Goodison Park.

Indeed, our efforts in this year's transfer window were typified by one of the matchday stewards, who quipped "I'm surprised I'm being paid to be honest".

Our efforts on the field also proved to be inadequate, as an excellent Guiseppe Rossi strike secured a friendly win for Villarreal. A nasty injury to Seamus Coleman did nothing to lift the spirits of the frustrated Evertonians.

Tim Howard was re-instated in goal behind a back four of Baines, Distin, Jagielka and Neville. A youthful midfield consisted of Fellaini, Barkley, Rodwell, Coleman and Anichebe, with Louis Saha heading the attack.

Back-up 'keeper Jan Mucha was joined on the bench by Hibbert, Heitinga, Cahill, Yakubu, Vellios, Bilyaletdinov, Baxter and Beckford.

The one major positive this Summer is the emergence of 17-year-old Ross Barkley, who, even at such a tender age, has looked the real deal in Everton's friendlies thus far. That trend certainly continued last night.

In the early stages Barkley showed a few great touches in midfield. He was a the centre of a move that ended with him striking a ferocious volley well over the bar. Minutes later he collected the ball on the edge of the area, feigned to shoot and played an exquisite chipped through ball into the path of Leighton Baines.

Baines was offside and contrived to miss anyway, but it was a moment of genuine quality from Barkley. The youngster didn't stop there - and in the following interchanges he played through Seamus Coleman, only for the Irishman to also be ruled offside.

Barkley also went close himself as he met Baines' cross well, although his half-

volleyed effort went just wide. At the other end, ex-Manchester United man Guiseppe Rossi went close with a free-kick after Fellaini had clipped the ankles of Cani on the edge of the area.

Indeed, Rossi (Guiseppe, not Barkley) was a livewire all evening - a less chubby version of Carlos Tevez. He had a couple of decent snapshots before the half was out, but nothing that Tim Howard wasn't equal to.

Louis Saha saw his effort fly wide via the fingertips of the Villarreal 'keeper, before the half ended on a very sour note. Carlos Marchena slid in needlessly on Seamus Coleman and you could tell straightaway it was a bad 'un.

Coleman went down with his hands on his face and was replaced immediately by Tim Cahill. A later scan thankfully revealed that there had been no fracture to the ankle, although the suspected ligament damage is still likely to keep him out of action for a significant period of time.

That was the last action of the first half but Everton created their best opportunity of the match straight after the interval. Leighton Baines beat the whole right side of Villarreal's defence, played a one-two with Louis Saha and was was one-on-one with the keeper, 10 yards out. His shot was straight at the goalkeeper though and the scores remained level.

Villarreal scored what proved to be the winner on 64 minutes - a superb effort from Guiseppe Rossi. A free-kick on the edge of the area was rolled into his path and Rossi slammed a thunderbolt right into the top left hand corner. Tim Howard had absolutely no chance with the powerful shot, which drew applause from both sets of supporters.

Villarreal took control of the game from that point onwards. They were far superior in possession and didn't let us have much of a kick, with substitute Oriol seeing a good effort saved by Howard. The situation was not helped when our most creative player, Ross Barkley, was taken off. It was another impressive performance from the lad and he was given rapturous applause as he departed.

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that i hope to see a lot, lot more of him this season.

The remainder of the match turned into a bit of a snoozefest to be honest. Jermaine Beckford gave Carlos Marchena a taste of his own medicine with a two-footed tackle of his own, whilst Tony Hibbert was told to "SHOOOOTTT" from inside his own half.

It ended 1-0, a result that was just about deserved for the Spanish side. The injury to Coleman added further doom to an already depressing evening. Still, at least the Premier League is back next week.

I'll be at Spurs on August 13th fully expecting to be well beaten. Expect the worst and you'll never be disappointed. As an Evertonian, that's becoming more and more a quote to live by.

StickyToffee Player Ratings; Howard 7, Baines 7, Distin 7, Jagielka 6, Neville 6, Coleman 6, Rodwell 5, BARKLEY 8, Fellaini 6, Anichebe 5, Saha 5.

Subs: Cahill 5, Heitinga 5, Hibbert 5, Yakubu 4, Beckford 5.

Werder Bremen 1-0 Everton

Everton stuttered through a thoroughly disappointing 90 minutes in Bremen on Tuesday night, with Sandro Wagner's first half goal enough to see off a disjointed Everton side.

It is only pre-season though, so nothing to worry about. We came through the game without any injuries, which is the biggest positive you can take from any friendly. And we were treated to another glimpse of the talent that is Ross Barkley. Remember the name.

Jan Mucha and Tim Howard shared the goalkeeping duties, with the Slovakian playing the first half before being replaced by the mad Yank at half-time. The back four had a familiar look of Hibbert - Jagielka - Distin - Baines and, in the absence of Phil Neville, Jagielka was made captain.

Teenage prodigy Ross Barkley was handed a starting berth in midfield alongside Leon Osman, John Heitinga and Tim Cahill, whilst Victor Anichebe once again partnered Jermaine Beckford up top.

Alongside Tim Howard on the bench were; Seamus Coleman, Phil Neville, Apostolos Vellios, Louis Saha, Magaye Gueye and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov.

Yakubu's exclusion from the squad rang a few alarm bells, although I am now led to believe that he stayed at home to be at the birth of his child. One person who Evertonians were extremely pleased to see in the line up was Phil Jagielka, the subject of two recent bids from Arsenal.

The opening period was pretty even, with Ross Barkley providing a good outlet on the right wing. Indeed, most of Everton's good play came through the youngster, who looked comfortable on the ball and equally so when cutting inside and using his left foot. It's clear we have a special, special talent on our books - something noted post-match by both Tony Hibbert and Sylvain Distin.

Baines also looked lively as ever and put it a peach of a cross for Tim Cahill, whose header was unusually mistimed and off target.

Bremen also had chances - not least the absolute sitter missed by Sandro Wagner. A ball was chipped across goal and Mucha was beaten all ends up. It was a free header, four yards out, but Wagner somehow managed to miss. It wasn't quite on the level of Yakubu at the World Cup, but it's up there.

Wagner did make up for the shocking miss just minutes later, although the opening goal had more than a slice of fortune about it. Back-up 'keeper Jan Mucha flapped at a cross, allowing Wagner to prod home at the second time of asking.

Everton made a couple of changes at the break. Tim Howard swapped places with Jan Mucha and Louis Saha did likewise with Victor Anichebe. Unfortunately, Bremen had also made a few substitutions, which included the introduction of exciting midfielder Marko Marin.

They took control of the game and chances fell to Marin and Aaron Hunt. Louis Saha and Jermaine Beckford were not adequately supported by Everton's midfield, a situation that only got worse when our most creative player, Ross Barkley, was taken off shortly into the second period.

Leighton Baines went closest to leveling the scores for Everton. For once the left-back hit a poor free-kick that cannoned straight into the wall, but Baines hit the rebound thunderously against the post.

The game petered out into a 1-0 defeat, a disappointing result and performance. But hey, it's only pre-season!

StickyToffee Player Ratings: Mucha 5, Hibbert 5, Jagielka 6, Distin 6, Baines 6, Cahill 6, Barkley 7, Osman 5, Heitinga 5, Anichebe 4, Beckford 4.

Subs: Howard 5, Coleman 5, Neville 5, Bilyaletdinov 4, Vellios 4, Saha 4.

Birmingham City 1-2 Everton

Everton were made to work extremely hard to earn their 2-1 victory at St. Andrew's this afternoon, but second-half goals from Leighton Baines and fit-again Louis Saha secured a third pre-season win in four games.

David Moyes named a strong side for the Midlands fixture; Tim Howard was between the sticks for the first time this pre-season, with a back-four of Baines, Jagielka, Heitinga and Hibbert. The midfield quartet was Bilyaletdinov, Neville, Osman, Coleman and in attack were Beckford and Anichebe.

The new yellow away kit was the only thing making its debut for Everton and the first half certainly suggested that Everton were suffering from a lack of fresh impetus that could have been provided by a new signing or two. We were second best throughout the first period.

Chris Burke, and later 58-year-old Stephen Carr, capitalized on slack defending by Diniyar Bilyaletdinov but both struck their efforts straight at Tim Howard in the Everton goal. The also-returning Tony Hibbert had a tough afternoon dealing with the pace and trickery of Birmingham's Nathan Redmond - who is simply one of those pesky, annoying little pricks.

Everton's best efforts of the first half came via Jermaine Beckford, who did well to wriggle out of the defender's reach and create a shooting opportunity, and then Seamus Coleman, who looked dangerous cutting in from the right hand side.

Chris Hughton would have been much the happier manager at half-time, and our boys were in for a hammering.

Birmingham started the second period in exactly the same fashion as the first and, although they rarely troubled Howard, David Moyes won't have been impressed by our defending in both open play and from set-pieces.

We did take the lead in the 58th minute though, and from a familiar source. Leighton Baines - who further endeared himself to Evertonians in the week by saying that "there's more chance of me winning the next Grand Prix than joining Liverpool" - lined up a free-kick on the edge of the area and, well, we all knew what was going to happen next...

The deadliest left-foot in English football struck again with a well placed free-kick into the bottom-right corner. The goal was Baines' last action of the game as he was then withdrawn and replaced by fit-again-but-probably-not-for-long Louis Saha.

Saha didn't take long to make his mark on the game, reminding us all what a clinical finisher he can be when he is on song and off the treatment table. He found space 20 yards out and hit a low right-footed shot into the corner of the net. It was a goal of great finesse that proved once again what a fantastic player he can be.

More Everton substitutions followed, including the return of the somewhat prodigal Yakubu who, for one reason or another, missed the tour of America. He was welcomed onto the field with a chorus of 'feed the Yak and he will score' and he certainly looked as though he had been well fed.

Birmingham then managed to pull a goal back - which, for their first half efforts, was deserved - through Scottish forward Adam Rooney (no relation). It was a good finish too - Rooney applied a neat little flick onto a wayward shot to divert it in and make it 2-1.

Magaye Gueye - who played at Oxford last night - was introduced and went close with a long-range free-kick, but 2-1 was how it finished. Not a very convincing win but a win nonetheless. There are certainly things to work on before August 13th, but I'd certainly take a scrappy 2-1 win at White Hart Lane on the opening day!

StickyToffee Player Ratings: Howard 7, Hibbert 6, Heitinga 6, Jagielka 6, Baines 8, Coleman 6, Neville 7, Osman 5, Bilyaletdinov 6, Beckford 5, Anichebe 6.

Subs: Distin 6, Cahill 7, Saha 7, Barkley 7, Yakubu 5, Gueye 6.

D.C. United 1-3 Everton

Everton rounded off the pre-season tour of the US tour in style as goals from Victor Anichebe, Dinyar Bilyaletdinov and Magaye Gueye secured a 3-1 victory over D.C. United in the US capital.

For the first time since his involvement at the Gold Cup, custodian Tim Howard joined up with the Everton squad prior to kick-off. The American stopper signed autographs for both sets of fans at the RFK Stadium, although he didn't play any part in the game as he had just returned from extended leave. That meant that Slovakian Jan Mucha was between the sticks for the third game running.

Seamus Coleman again took up the right full-back slot, with captain Phil Jagielka, Sylvain Distin and Leighton Baines making up a full-strength back four. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov started on the left, with Tim Cahill and Jack Rodwell in central midfield. Evertonians were also treated to another glimpse of teenager Ross Barkley who was stationed on the right.

Victor Anichebe partnered Apostolos Vellios in attack, which meant that the substitutes bench comprised of John Heitinga, Phil Neville, Leon Osman, Conor McAleny, Jermaine Beckford, Magaye Gueye and young goalkeeper Adam Davies.

In sweltering conditions across the pond, Everton started the game brightly and were ahead inside four minutes. Leighton Baines played the ball into the left hand channel where Victor Anichebe collected the pass and finished well from an acute angle.

D.C. United had a couple of opportunities, the best of which was a long range effort from skipper Josh Wolff (who possesses quite possibly the most American name ever). Everton, though, doubled the advantage on 16 minutes in exquisite fashion.

Vellios, Rodwell and Barkley combined before the later played a killer pass that left Bilyaletdinov through on goal with only the 'keeper to beat. The Russian did the rest, slotting the ball home with aplomb.

Anichebe, Barkley and Coleman all went close before the half was over whilst at the other end DC threatened with a couple of set-plays. Indeed, the performance of young Ross Barkley was something to savour, a tantalizing glimpse of the player that has been touted as the best player at Everton since a certain Wayne Rooney.

Without wishing to place too much pressure on young shoulders, if last night's performance was anything to go by then we have a real talent on our hands. There was one instance where he jinked past four or five defenders before playing a defence-splitting pass to Coleman. He clearly has exceptional talent, but we must not build him up Michael Branch style.

At the interval Osman and Gueye replaced Barkley and Vellios, and just a minute into the restart DC had halved the deficit. A long ball was played down the centre of the pitch and was poorly defended. Jagielka allowed Chris Pontius to get goalside, and the DC player drilled the ball past Mucha.

Despite the setback, Everton continued to have the better of the chances. You would have put your house on Tim Cahill to score with a free header from six yards out, but his effort went narrowly wide. Bilyaletdinov's shot scraped the crossbar after a short corner routine, and Rodwell sent a shot over the bar when he may have been better advised to slip in substitute Jermaine Beckford.

Seamus Coleman almost scored a brilliant own goal, but fortunately for him his touch diverted the ball onto the woodwork and not into the net. At the other end, Everton made it three on 83 minutes when two substitutes combined.

Magaye Gueye fed Jermaine Beckford on the left-hand side, with Beckford chipping a great cross to the far post where Gueye had the simple task of tapping home. The goal made it 3-1 and that was how it finished.

StickyToffee Player Ratings: Mucha 7, Coleman 6, Jagielka 5, Distin 6, Baines 7, Bilyaletdinov 7, Barkley 8, Rodwell 6, Cahill 6, Anichebe 7, Vellios 5.

Subs: Osman 5, Gueye 6, McAleny 5, Neville 5, Heitinga 5, Beckford 6.

Philadelphia Union 1-0 Everton

As in the defeat to Manchester United back in April, a late Hernandez goal proved the difference between Everton and their opponents last night. This time it was Philadelphia Union's Christian Hernandez who struck with three minutes to go to hand the Union victory.

In a keenly-contested and largely even match, both sides played some nice football in extremely hot and humid conditions. Everton just about edged the first half with chances coming primarily from set-plays. Magaye Gueye again impressed, with Arteta influential in midfeld.

It was goalless at the break and wholesale changes did nothing to help the pace or rhythm of the game. The heat was clearly affecting the Everton players, whose shirts had turned a darker shade of blue due to the sweat. Philadelphia, who are in mid-season fitness, really started to look threatening in the last half hour as Everton dwindled.

They did manage to get the win courtesy of some calamitous defending three minutes from time. After Jan Mucha had saved well, the ball was not properly cleared and Hernandez capitalised on the mistakes to put the Union ahead. Nonetheless, there were plenty of positives, for example the performances of Apostolos Vellios and the returning Ross Barkley.

* * *

With Tim Howard 'rested' after his Gold Cup exploits, Jan Mucha donned the gloves (and the camouflaged kit) in the Everton goal. The back four was Leighton 'Beatle' Baines, John Heitinga, Phil Jagielka and Seamus Coleman.

In the centre of midfield was Mikel Arteta alongside the slightly less cultured Phil Neville, with Magaye Gueye and Diniyar (or, according to the Philadelphia pitch announcer, Dimitar) Bilyaletdinov operating the flanks. Tim Cahill supported Jermaine Beckford up front.

Everton controlled possession for the opening 20 minutes, although the best chances fell to the noggins of the Union's Danny Mwanga and Carlos Valdes. Mikel Arteta went close with a free kick that hit the side netting, before the Spaniard sumptuously released Jermaine Beckford who controlled the ball well but skewed his effort off target.

It was a slow-paced yet even fixture, which probably had a lot to do with the temperatures that, even late at night, were approaching 90 degrees Fahrenheit. It was so hot that, had he been playing, even Tony Hibbert may have opted for a short-sleeved shirt.

Both sides made changes at the break. You probably don't care about Philadelphia's, so I won't bother telling you. Everton replaced Arteta, Beckford and Gueye with Jack Rodwell, Apostolos Vellios and Sylvain Distin. Phil Neville moved to right back, Seamus Coleman switched to right midfield and Johnny Heitinga also moved into midfield.

Greek striker Vellios had a large impact on the game and used his physical presence well. He struck an ambitious effort from almost 40 yards, as well as winning his fair share of headers and loose balls. John Heitinga tried to replicate his goal v Birmingham but his effort sailed wide, and Seamus Coleman showed exactly why fans call him the Irish Messi as he took on the whole Union defence before seeing his curling shot blocked.

Union did look slightly more dangerous as Everton started to wilt, with Roger Torres running the show in the middle of midfield. Everton introduced Ross Barkley and Conor McAleny in place of Bilyaletdinov and Cahill.

It was especially nice to see Barkley play after the horrendous injury he has suffered. He showed glimpses of his talent, with a nice turn and shot that was well saved, but also his inexperience in giving the ball away a couple of times.

With just three minutes remaining Union took the lead. Mucha saved well but the ball was not properly cleared by Rodwell, and then Distin. The game of pinball ended with Hernandez, who struck low into the net to win the game for the Union.

There was still time for John Heitinga to get himself sent off, but it was a ridiculous decision. Heitinga collided innocuously with a Union midfielder and the card-happy ref reached straight for his back pocket. Johnny 5, quite rightly, stormed angrily off the pitch. Good luck to whoever calmed him down.

The game ended 1-0 to the Union, but as we all know the results in pre-season don't particularly matter. Plenty of positives including the performance of Vellios and the return of Barkley. And, as mentioned hundreds of times in commentary, it was a 'good workout'.

StickyToffee Player Ratings: Mucha 7, Baines 7, Jagielka 6, Heitinga 7, Coleman 6, Bilyaletdinov 6, Arteta 8, Neville 6, Gueye 7, Cahill 5, Beckford 5.

Subs: Rodwell 6, Distin 5, Vellios 7, Barkley 7, McAleny 5.

Toffees Bury The Shakers In Pre-Season Opener

With no new faces at Finch Farm so far this Summer, the only Everton debut made at Gigg Lane was that of the new retro-styled home kit. It was a positive result for the Toffees though, as goals from Yakubu, Magaye Gueye (2) and Leon Osman secured a 4-1 pre-season victory.

At half-time it was 4-0, everything was going swimmingly and Sky Sports were even reporting that we had planned a bid for Charles N'Zogbia. 45 minutes later it was 4-1, Jermaine Beckford was lying on a Gigg Lane treatment table and our bid had been downgraded to 'interest'.

Everton aren't we?

* * *

Jan Mucha kept goal in what may well prove to be his last appearance for Everton, with the Slovakian international said to be interested in a move away from Goodison in search of regular football.

John Heitinga started alongside Sylvain Distin in the heart of defence, with Phil Neville operating at left-back and Seamus Coleman reverting from the right side of midfield to the right full-back position, something that David Moyes has indicated may happen as the Irishman's career progresses.

Fit-again Marouane Fellaini was handed a starting berth alongside Leon Osman in the centre of the midfield, with Mikel Arteta and Magaye Gueye operating the flanks. In attack Jermaine Beckford partnered Yakubu, for whom the game was his first in Everton Blue since his loan spell at Leicester City.

The substitutes bench was warmed by Tim Cahill, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Victor Anichebe, Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka, who - presumably - would have donned the goalkeeping gloves had Jan Mucha picked up an injury (Jags famously once acted as an emergency 'keeper for Sheffield United).

There has been growing discontent amongst Evertonians in recent week due to a Summer bereft of any meaningful transfer activity. God knows what would've happened had we been beaten tonight.

It was a good job then, that the Yak had had a pre-match slap-up meal. He opened the scoring on 17 minutes. Mikel Arteta's corner was headed on by Leon Osman, and then Marouane Fellaini, before the big Nigerian leapt (moved his noggin) inside the six yard box to head Everton in front.

It was the cue for the song book to be dusted down and utilised. The travelling Scousers cleared their throats after a few months without their weekly sing-song, and soon chants of 'Who needs Cantona... when we've got Barry Horne' were heard. Next came 'Sharpy (Graeme Sharp - in the evertonTV commentary box) give us a wave' and one that hasn't been heard for a while - 'Feed the Yak and he will score'.

The mood was heightened when Magaye Gueye made it two shortly afterwards - capitalising on a mistake by a Bury defender and slotting home at the second attempt.

Leon Osman - probably the pick of the Everton bunch - added the third. Build up play from Arteta and Neville on the left saw the diminutive midfielder receive the ball on the edge of the box. Some brilliant footwork saw him escape a defender, he took one further touch and curled the ball home seamlessly.

Maggie Gueye - sporting a quite frankly awful mohawk - added a fourth before the break, driving the ball through Steven Schumacher's legs and into the net. Party time!

David Moyes rang the changes at the break, introducing Bilyaletdinov, Anichebe, Baines and Jagielka in place of Fellaini, Heitinga, Arteta and Distin. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov was especially impressive in a central midfield role, playing a couple of 'worldy' passes.

Jermaine Beckford pulled up with a hamstring problem soon into the second half and Everton, quite sensibly deciding not to risk him, played out the rest of the game without a full compliment of players on the pitch.

Bury managed to pull a goal back through a free-kick from ex-Everton youth player Steven Schumacher. The Bury skipper's free-kick took a slight deflection, although Jan Mucha - in full camouflage - should have done better.

4-1 it ended and it proved a good night for Everton, who will be glad to get back to on-pitch matters rather than off-pitch ones. The injury to Beckford was a sour note but hopefully it doesn't prove too serious, and there was even time for the annual Bury pitch invasion, with Jagielka and Yakubu (unsurprisingly) the slowest off the field and therefore the ones that got mobbed.

I believe that's what they call a good night's work.

10 Reasons to be Positive

The title tells you all you need to know about what this post entails, so without further ado...

1) First and foremost, supporting Everton is a privilege and a blessing and we should always be proud to be able to say that we are Evertonians. We are born, not manufactured. We do not choose, we are chosen. Those that understand need no explanation. Those that don't, don't matter.

2) We have the best left-back in the country. Back in 2005 a certain Leighton Baines was plying his trade in the second tier of English football with Wigan Athletic, before being signed by David Moyes for an initial fee of £5 million. Now he has played for his country, captained his side in Europe and been crowned Everton's player of the year. His exclusion from the PFA team of the year was a disgraceful show of ignorance from his fellow professionals as his 11 assists (a total only bettered by Drogba and Nani) and 6 goals, coupled with solid defensive displays, have been a major highlight of our campaign.

3) It seems to happen to us every year but we've been blighted by injuries - and we surely can't have the same bad luck again next year, can we? Fellaini, Saha, Cahill, Arteta, Jagielka to name but a few have been out with long term injuries but should be fit and raring to go for the start of next year. Although, in Saha's case, it will probably only be a few games before he's out again.

4) We might have a bit of money to spend. We won't have as much as the teams around us, but Vaughan has already left for a decent amount of £2.5 million and Yakubu, Yobo and Mucha look set to follow. This could raise as much as £10 million for players that we didn't have last season - so they would not be a big loss - and with our manager's eye for a bargain, the money will be well re-invested.

5) Our season wasn't too bad. It was disappointing, yes. Frustrating, definitely. But we ended up a place higher than last year and in most other years 7th would have had us reaching for our passports once more. Add to that the fact that all the teams above us have spent much more money and our season doesn't seem so bad.

6) From 2011/12, UEFA are introducing a 'financial fair play' system that requires clubs to break even over a three season period. If they fail they will be banned from European competition, and so the introduction of the system should level the playing field and allow cash-strapped clubs like ourselves a better chance. It is the brainchild of UEFA president Michel Platini and you can read all about it here. At present Man City, Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool would all be ineligible to enter the Champions League or Europa League, although our neighbours would probably be able to bend they rules again like when they finished 5th in 04/05 but still managed to wriggle their way into the following year's Champions League. Not that I'm bitter or anything...

7) We have an excellent youth system. The academy that has produced, amongst others, Jeffers, Osman, Hibbert and Rooney, continues to churn out bright young talent. Jack Rodwell and Seamus Coleman are established members of the first team, whilst players such as Vellios, Gueye and Duffy are on the fringes. Add into the mixer Luke Garbutt, Ross Barkley, Jose Baxter and Joao Silva, and the under-18 side that were recently crowned champions of England, and there is plenty of scope for the future.

8) We have players coming back into form. Mikel Arteta has produced some performances towards the latter end of the season that have reaffirmed Evertonians' faith in the Spanish magician. John Heitinga had his best game of the season against Chelsea on the last day, whilst the return of Phil Jagielka has brought a renewed solidity to the back line. Jermaine Beckford looks like he's finding his feet at the top level, whilst even Victor Anichebe has put in a few good performances towards the end of the season.

9) There's no football this Summer. Whilst this may mean a few months of boredom for us fans, it's a positive for the players. They can all have a rest (except Rodwell, who is involved at the U-21 Euros) and be in peak condition in time for August. Tim Cahill has not had a proper rest for years, so it is especially pleasing that he has asked to be left out of Australia's Summer friendlies, choosing instead to concentrate on Everton.

10) Our manager is a genius. He has transformed the club from a mediocre side that twice narrowly avoided relegation from the top flight into a side that expects European football and is disappointed to finish seventh. He is more important than any player and in my eyes he is the next best thing to God.

Come on you Blues...

Season Review

It's been less than a week since the culmination of the 2010/11 league season and we are already facing up to the prospect of a long, football-less Summer, with only Jack Rodwell's involvement at the U-21 European Championships to get our Everton fix.

One thing we do get plenty of, however, is time. Time gives the opportunity for reflection, for optimism to breed and for fans to scour YouTube for compilation videos of their club's latest transfer targets.

I've decided not to waste my time researching our supposed transfer targets as I would be on YouTube all day with the amount of players we get linked to: Bothroyd, Campbell, Owen, Callejon, Ba, blah blah blah. I'll believe it when it's on the official website - and even then, I'll have my doubts.

Anyway, I've decided to pen a review of our season. Let's start at the very beginning which, in the words of Maria von Trapp, is a very good place to start.

August 2010

Blackburn Rovers 1-0 Everton: The season kicked off on August 14th at Ewood Park after a positive pre-season had fuelled aspirations of European football. However, the hope was quashed as we failed to recover from an early Nikita Kalinic goal. We played well enough to win the match but were found to be lacking in the final third, with Tim Howard's error gifting Rovers all three points.

Everton 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers: The type of home game that summed up our first half of the season. Cahill gave us the lead but one goal was all we could muster, and we were duly punished.

Everton 5-1 Huddersfield Town: The first win of the season came in the Carling Cup, as Fellaini, Rodwell, Beckford, Saha and Osman saw off Huddersfield. A bad night for John Heitinga though, as the Dutchman missed a penalty and scored an own goal.

Aston Villa 1-0 Everton: A totally undeserved result. After we fell behind early on we dominated the match but once again could not find the net and we ended the month with a solitary point from a possible nine.

September 2010

Everton 3-3 Manchester United: One of the highlights of the season. We took the lead, only for United to score three without reply. At the end of normal time the points looked to be heading down the M62. Cahill and Arteta had other ideas though, and two goals in injury time salvaged a great point. Phil Jagielka almost completed what would have been one of the greatest comebacks ever but missed the chance to make it 4-3.

Everton 0-1 Newcastle United: After the excitement of the last home game, this one was a totally different story. Newcastle came, scored, defended and took home three points from the type of game we should be winning.

Brentford 1-1 Everton: An utter low point of the season. On a freezing cold Tuesday night we exited the Carling Cup at Griffin Park. After Seamus Coleman's goal was only enough to earn us a draw we lost in a penalty shoot-out. Although I did manage to high-five Yakubu as he collected the ball from in front of the Everton fans.

Fulham 0-0 Everton: A game that will not live long in the memory but we picked up just our third point of the season.

October 2010

Birmingham City 0-2 Everton: Our first league victory of the season was a straightforward one at St. Andrews. The pink kit got a second airing and goals from Cahill and a Johnson own goal secured victory.

Everton 2-0 Liverpool: A second successive win and suddenly everyone thought we'd turned the corner. The elation of derby victory is a high point in any season, and goals from Cahill and Arteta gave us all a day to savour in a season to forget.

Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Everton: We stretched our unbeaten run to three games with Leighton Baines' exquisite free-kick earning us a point at Spurs. A good display meant that we returned with a very good point.

Everton 1-0 Stoke City: Our third win in four games made sure that we went the month unbeaten. Yakubu's goal was enough to see off a resilient Stoke outfit in a hard-fought match.

November 2010

Blackpool 2-2 Everton: Seamus Coleman bagged on his return to his old stomping ground as we twice came from behind against a free-scoring Blackpool side. Cahill got our other goal (above) and guess what - it was a header.

Everton 1-1 Bolton Wanderers: It was another disappointing home result, but notable for a fantastic goal at the death from Jermaine Beckford. He received the ball in the corner of the penalty area, took a touch and curled a shot over Jaaskalainen. Beauty.

Everton 1-2 Arsenal: Our seven match unbeaten run was ended by an admittedly excellent Arsenal side. Trailing by two, Tim Cahill's 89th minute goal could not inspire us to a comeback like the one we'd witnessed against Manchester United.

Sunderland 2-2 Everton: A lively but scrappy game ended two a piece. Cahill's header and Arteta's deflected strike sealed a point, but Beckford would have been disappointed he didn't make it three after missing a gilt-edged chance.

Everton 1-4 West Bromwich Albion: I don't even want to think about this one.

December 2010

Chelsea 1-1 Everton: A point at the home of the reigning champions was an impressive outcome, and the manner in which we earned it even more so. We were indifferent for the first period and were deservedly behind, but a Leighton Baines-inspired Everton kept going and were rewarded four minutes from time thanks to the striker's instinct of Jermaine Beckford.

Everton 0-0 Wigan Athletic: Just as it seemed we had turned the corner, a poor, poor performance. Wigan came to Goodison not wanting to be beaten and thanks to our lack of cutting edge, they weren't.

Manchester City 1-2 Everton: What better early Christmas present than a victory at (middle) Eastlands? Tim Cahill caught City napping to steal an early lead, and Baines had the audacity to nick a second within 20 minutes after a fluent team move. The bunch of overpaid, egotistical prima donnas were upstaged by a club with morals, values and spirit on a night that reminded us what we all love about Everton.

West Ham United 1-1 Everton: Our Boxing Day clash with Birmingham was postponed due to frozen pipes at Goodison, so we had time to finish the turkey before travelling to Upton Park. HIBBERT SCORED!!!!!!!!!!! Oh... wait... it was an own goal. Coleman equalised to claim a point.

January 2011

Stoke City 2-0 Everton: A New Year's Day trip to the potteries proved fruitless as we got exactly what we deserved. A bad day at the office.

Everton 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur: A much improved team performance produced another great Goodison night. Louis Saha scored his first league goal for 11 months from 20 yards and Seamus Coleman's late header secured a deserved win. Moyes had a go at playing 4-4-2 and it paid off as our power and pace won an enthralling match.

Scunthorpe United 1-5 Everton: Just as in the Carling Cup we won our first tie 5-1. In the new third kit, sumptuously described as 'vanilla', we dominated an awful Championship side and Saha, Beckford, Coleman, Fellaini and Baines all scored in the rout.

Liverpool 2-2 Everton: 'Win at home, draw away' is the key to success in

football, or so we are led to believe by the pundits. After our victory in October, Distin and Beckford scored our goals to claim a satisfying point.

Everton 2-2 West Ham United: An unimaginative performance against a poor side left us needing equalisers from Bilyaletdinov, and then Fellaini, to earn a point in a match from which we'd have been looking to take all three.

Everton 1-1 Chelsea: After demolishing Scunthorpe we were given a much tougher test in the next round of the FA Cup. King Louis' goal glut continued and it would have sent us through but for a late Chelsea equaliser. Onto a replay then...

February

Arsenal 2-1 Everton: A month of ups and downs started with a loss at Arsenal. The King gave us the lead (although he was well offside) but we couldn't hold on.

Everton 5-3 Blackpool: A Goodison classic. Four goals from the man of the moment, Louis Saha (above), and a wonderful fifth from his strike partner Beckford. In an enthralling game the lead exchanged hands multiple teams leading to a score that was frequent in the days of Dixie Dean & co. What's more, it could have been five for Saha as another effort was incorrectly adjudged to have been offside.

Bolton Wanderers 2-0 Everton: From the sublime to the atrocious. This is what Everton do to you. Many suggested that this was the worst performance in Moyes' tenure, and the ginger genius cut a solemn and downbeat figure on the bench. If there was ever a game where I really could have done better than some of our players, this was it. Well, I couldn't have done any worse.

Chelsea 1-1 Everton: And from the atrocious, back to the sublime. We matched Chelsea for 90 minutes, taking the Cup replay to extra time. It looked, though, that all our endeavours had been in vain when Lampard scored for Chelsea in the 108th minute. Not to be deterred, and roared on by 6,000 Evertonians (1,800 Chelsea fans came to Goodison for the first leg), Everton fought on. Baines' last-minute free-kick earned a penalty shoot-out. Baines then contrived to miss our first penalty, but we pulled it out of the bag. Heitinga shoved Ashley Cole, Howard saved from Anelka and Phil Neville stepped up to score the winning penalty. Cue delirium in the Shed End.

Everton 2-0 Sunderland: We followed up the cup success with the type of comfortable and straightforward win that we had not had enough of so far the season. A brace from Beckford was enough for all three points.

March

Everton 0-1 Reading: Such was the way we knocked out Chelsea in round 4, many blues were thinking about whether a trip to Eastlands or Villa Park was on the cards for the quarter-final. This air of arrogance seemed to rub off on the players, who produced a lacklustre performance and were punished by a solid Championship outfit. We were not aided by the fact that Beckford arrived at the ground three minutes prior to kick-off having been stuck in traffic, but Reading were well-organised and deserved victors. After such a disappointing night we left with a slice of dignity intact after clapping Reading off the pitch - something that manager Brian McDermott and many of his players later eluded to.

Newcastle United 1-2 Everton: Everton: they knock you down and then they pick you back up again. An impressive victory thanks to goals from Leon Osman and Phil Jagielka. Arteta was moved to the wing where he had an excellent game.

Everton 1-1 Birmingham City: A fantastic goal from John Heitinga - his first for the club - was not enough not beat Birmingham. Once again, a fixture we should have won but didn't due to a lack of cutting edge.

Everton 2-1 Fulham: Everton marked David Moyes' ninth anniversary of taking charge with exactly the same scoreline - and against the same opponents - as his first match. Saha and Coleman scored our goals in a comfortable and deserved victory.

April

Everton 2-2 Aston Villa: A lively game which saw us take the lead through Osman before Darren Bent scored twice to give Villa the advantage. Bainesy levelled from the spot but we were incorrectly denied a goal when Beckford's effort was adjudged not to have crossed the line.

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-3 Everton: After a opening spell of Wolves pressure, we assumed dominance with three wonderful goals. The first was a Beckford header from a Leon Osman cross, the second a thunderbolt from Phil Neville and the third was the best of the lot - a 30-yarder from everyone's favourite Russian.

Everton 2-0 Blackburn Rovers: A straightforward, comfortable victory inspired by Leon Osman. Ossie provided a creative spark that unlocked Blackburn's defence, then Bainesy made sure of the victory from the spot.

Manchester United 1-0 Everton: Our unbeaten run came to an end after a resilient performance at the home of the champions-elect. We looked as though we may be able to snatch a point, but you can never write United off and they scored seven minutes from time. Ferguson then had the audacity to moan to Sky about the amount of extra-time given!

Wigan Athletic 1-1 Everton: A tale of two penalties at the DW: one taken, and missed, by Mikel Arteta and one taken, and scored, by Leighton Baines. A fair result though.

May 2011

Everton 2-1 Manchester City: A victory for class over cash, the spirit of Everton outclassed the Manchester mercenaries. After a dour first half we were 1-0 down, but in the second we witnessed Everton at their very best; unbridled, fluid and magic to see. Osman - 5ft 8" - scored one of the best headed goals of the season, and Distin grabbed the other.

West Bromwich Albion 1-0 Everton: After such a good win, we should have expected an uninspiring loss. And that is exactly what we got.

Everton 1-0 Chelsea: There was nothing to play for on the final day but we ended on a high thanks to a goal from Jermaine Beckford (above) that will go down as one of Goodsion's greatest. He picked up the ball on the edge of his own penalty area and ran solo to the opposite end, before calmly chipping over Petr Cech in front of the Gwladys Street. A standout moment in a forgettable season.

So, there you have it, my season review. We've been less consistent than my Mum's watery gravy and there's been more ups and downs than Jordan's knickers. But we have seen enough towards the end of the season to retain hope for the next campaign, and even though our season wasn't the best our seventh place finish was an improvement on last year.

It's a funny old game.