Loan Watch: 6th November

Shane Duffy (above) got another ninety minutes of playing time under his belt as Scunthorpe lost 2-0 at Bournemouth in League One. Scott Malone and Wes Thomas scored the Cherries' goals.

Femi Orenuga was not involved as Notts County drew 1-1 with Wycombe Wanderers.

Jose Baxter missed Tranmere's goalless draw with Colchester through suspension following a red card last time out.

Luke Garbutt helped Cheltenham Town into third place in League Two with a 0-1 away win at Bradford. Robins boss Mark Yates described his side's performance as 'the best of the season'.

James Wallace made his debut for Shrewsbury Town, but only lasted 24 minutes before he was shown red for a lunge on Dagenham & Redbridge's Jon Nurse.

Connor Roberts made his second appearance for Northern Premier League side Burscough and impressed in goal for the Linnets, despite his side going down 2-1 to Frickley Athletic.

João Silva played for Portuguese side Vitória de Setúbal as they drew 0-0 with Gil Vicente on Sunday evening.

Loan Watch: 30th October

Everton players had mixed fortunes with their respective loan sides this weekend.

Shane Duffy celebrated his loan extension at Scunthorpe United in style with his side's first goal in a 4-2 victory over Tranmere Rovers. The Irish defender headed home after 20 minutes to cancel out Mustafa Tiryaki's early opener for the visitors.

Jose Baxter was also involved in the fixture at Glanford Park, playing for the visitors, Tranmere Rovers. At least, until he was sent off on 63 minutes for a foul on Scunthorpe captain Sam Togwell.

Femi Orenuga (pictured above, right) made his second substitute appearance for Notts County since joining them little over a fortnight ago. The winger was introduced on 72 minutes - at which point County were already trailing by 3 goals to 1 - and his side went on to lose 4-2.

Luke Garbutt retained his place in Cheltenham Town's starting XI as the Robins' impressive form continued with a narrow 2-1 victory over strugglers Plymouth Argyle. Away side Argyle took a first-half lead but two late goals - one of which was scored from the penalty spot after a foul on Garbutt - were enough to hand Cheltenham the points.

Connor Roberts kept goal for Burscough in their Northern Premier League clash with Buxton. The Everton Academy 'keeper, playing his first game for the non-League outfit, helped his loan side to a 2-2 draw.

João Silva played for Vitória de Setúbal against his previous loan side União de Leiria. Silva, who was with Leiria last year, played the full 90 minutes as Setúbal went down 2-0.

Joseph Yobo played ninety minutes for Fenerbahçe against Karabükspor. Despite going a man down early on Yobo's side ran out 1-0 winners.

Loan Watch - 1st October

Away from the disappointing events of the 216th Merseyside derby, several of Everton's players were in action for their loan sides this weekend.

João Silva scored for Vitória de Setúbal as they beat Rio Ave 2-1 on Friday night. You can see the Portuguese striker's goal in this video - about 2 minutes in.

Jose Baxter made his second appearance for Tranmere Rovers in their 0-0 draw with Bournemouth at Prenton Park.

Shane Duffy played the full ninety minutes for Scunthorpe United as they won 1-2 at Stevenage.

Luke Garbutt, who only joined Cheltenham Town this week, was an unused substitute as his new side secured a great 1-3 victory at Bristol Rovers.

Joseph Yobo was involved in a great game over in Turkey, where his Fenerbahçe side eventually ran out 4-2 winners over Büyükşehir.

Araz Abdullayev came on as a 74th minute substitute as Neftçi Baku beat Simurq 2-1. The Azerbaijani winger is not on loan - but Everton have first option on him should he be granted a work permit.

International Round-Up: 1st September

Several of Everton's young players were in action tonight for their respective national sides. Here's a round-up of how they fared.

I'll start with a fixture that took place last night. Teenage defender Shkodran Mustafi won his first cap for the German U20 side in their 4-2 victory over Poland in Offenburg. Mustafi has previously represented his country at U17 and U19 level and was promoted to the U20 side for the win over Poland.

Striker João Silva was named amongst the substitutes for Portugal's U21 Euro 2013 Qualifier in Moldova tonight. The Everton striker, currently on loan at Portuguese side Vitória de Setúbal, came on after 67 minutes as goals from João Pereira and Rui Fonte handed the Portuguese youngsters a 0-2 victory.

Shane Duffy was an unused substitute as Ireland U21 beat Hungary 2-1 in their Euro Qualifier. Robbie Brady put the Republic ahead on 15 minutes but Hungary drew level before half-time through Portsmouth's Márkó Futács. Arsenal's Rhys Murphy scored the winner for the Irish youngsters on 69 minutes.

Jack Rodwell started for England U21s as they took on Azerbaijan in another of the Euro U21 2013 Qualifying matches. The opposition included winger Araz Abdullayev, who recently joined Greek side PAOK on loan for the season. Another Everton player, Ross Barkley, was on the bench for the hosts.

In the fixture, held at Watford's Vicarage Road, England took the lead after just 5 minutes when Craig Dawson headed home from a Henri Lansbury corner. Lansbury himself doubled the advantage soon afterwards with an excellent volley after good work from his Arsenal teammate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Jordan Henderson put England 3-0 up before half-time and further goals from Lansbury, Martyn Waghorn and Craig Dawson after the break secured an emphatic 6-0 victory.

Joao Silva Returns To Portugal On Loan

Everton's Portuguese forward Joao Silva has returned to his homeland on a season-long loan deal at Vitória de Setúbal.

Silva signed for Everton for an undisclosed fee in June 2010, only to join Portuguese side U.D. Leiria until the end of the season in the following transfer window. He scored four goals in his short stay with Leiria, two of which came in the final-day 3-3 draw with Benfica.

He has now been sent out on loan to another top-flight Portuguese club, with the news being confirmed in this article in the Daily Mail and on Portuguese football website abola.pt.

Evertonians have not seen much of Silva at all. He has yet to feature in a competitive match for the Blues and, although he made a couple of appearances on last year's tour of Australia, he has not been included in the first-team squad for any of this year's pre-season friendlies.

Perhaps the management at Everton feel he is not cut out for the Premier League, but best of luck Joao.

Oxford United 1-0 Everton XI

As a Southern Toffee at a loose end on a Friday night, I headed along to see the 'stars of tomorrow' in action against Oxford United yesterday. The young Toffees put in a strong performance but were sunk by a fantastic James Constable volley.

Alan Stubbs' squad included five players that had joined up with the first team on the recent American tour; Ross Barkley, Magaye Gueye, Conor McAleny, Apostolos Vellios and goalkeeper Adam Davies.

After paying my £14 - yes, £14 for a reserve friendly - I was admitted into the Kassam Stadium. It was, quite frankly a bit shit. The most obvious thing about the ground was that it only had three sides, a fact that, to the continuous annoyance of the ballboys, meant that anytime a shot flew over the fence behind the goal, it would have to be found somewhere in the car park.

I only just arrived in time for kick off after getting trapped in Friday night traffic, although luckily the 60s style scoreboard told me that the line up was; Davies, Browning, Duffy, Mustafi, Garbutt, Orenuga, Forshaw, Barkley, Gueye, McAleny, Vellios.

With it being a youthful side against a full-strength League 2 side, I was expecting quite an even game. The first half proved anything but. Everton dominated proceedings with Barkley and Forshaw in centre midfield controlling the game.

I had been looking forward to seeing Barkley play for the first time, and I wasn't disappointed. Although he faded a little after the break, for the first 45 minutes he was the best player on the park. His touch, control and passing were all flawless, he always looked for a forward pass or a run and he was utterly comfortable on the ball. He was the creative hub of the team and bore likeness to an on-song Mikel Arteta.

Winger Femi Orenuga also impressed on the right-hand side. He is quick and skilful and reminded me somewhat of Shaun Wright-Phillips. On countless occasions he beat his man and delivered teasing crosses into the box.

Conor McAleny looked lively throughout and was always on the move. He was denied by the foot of the post, shortly before Magaye Gueye had warmed the keeper's gloves with a rasping free-kick. It was fair to say that Everton had the best of the first half, but Vellios' headed effort shortly before the break was another missed opportunity.

Vellios was replaced by Joao Silva at half-time, with Lundstram, Hope and Bidwell all entering the fray later in the second period. Oxford came back into the game and almost went ahead when Tyias Browning's short backpass was well dealt with under pressure by goalkeeper Adam Davies.

Everton should have taken the lead shortly afterwards with a solo counter attack from Ross Barkley. The blue-booted youngster 'did a Beckford' and ran with the ball from inside his own half towards the opposition goal. He was joined by Silva and Orenuga, but elected to try to chip the 'keeper rather than pass. His shot went just wide and that was just about the last action we saw of him as he was withdrawn by Alan Stubbs.

Oxford scored what proved to be the winner on 58 minutes - and it was a goal worthy of winning any match. The ball sat up nicely on the edge of the area and James Constable needed no invitation, sending a powerful volley into the top left hand corner. Unstoppable.

Oxford held onto the lead but it was a pleasing performance from the young Toffees, who did threaten later on in the game through Orenuga and Duffy. It ended 1-0 but as we all know the results are irrelevant in pre-season.

For me, it was an enjoyable evening and a good opportunity to see first hand tomorrow's Goodison heroes.

Remember the name - Ross Barkley.

StickyToffee Ratings: Davies 6, Browning 5, Duffy 6, Mustafi 8, Garbutt 7, Orenuga 8, Forshaw 7, Barkley 8, Gueye 6, McAleny 6, Vellios 5.

Subs: Silva 5, Bidwell 5, Hope 5, Lundstram 5

Southport 2-0 Everton XI

An Everton XI was well beaten by Southport this afternoon in the final of the 2011 Liverpool Senior Cup as goals from Karl Ledschan and former Everton youngster John Paul Kissock handed the Sandgrounders a deserved 2-0 victory.

The Everton side was Mateusz Taudul, Tyias Browning, Shane Duffy, Shkodran Mustafi, Jake Bidwell, Jordan Barrow, Adam Forshaw, Jose Baxter, John Lundstram, Luke Garbutt and Joao Silva.

The Blues were behind in just 90 seconds, as a long throw-in was not dealt with by the Everton defence and turned home by Ledschan. Southport doubled their advantage on eight minutes as the outstanding Kissock curled in a free-kick from 30 yards.

Everton, without Conor McAleny and Apostolos Vellios who are in America with the first team, failed to recover from the two early goals.

Anton Forrester, Adam Forshaw and Adam Thomas all came on to try to salvage the result but all Everton's efforts were in vain.

It was a below-par performance which ended in Southport running out comfortable winners. Captain Jose Baxter tweeted: "For anyone who came to watch us today I can only apologise because we were awful."

Dynamo Moscow 0-2 Everton Reserves

Everton deservedly secured third place in the 2011 VTB Lev Yashin Cup with a convincing 2-0 win over hosts Dynamo Moscow on Saturday afternoon. The Toffees missed a penalty and received a harsh sending off before a Conor McAleny brace secured an impressive 2-0 victory.

Everton's captain Jose Baxter saw his first-half spot-kick hit the crossbar after Joao Silva was hauled down inside the area. The scores were level at the break, and after the interval Everton were soon down to 10 men following the dismissal of Aristote Nsiala.

Everton showed their fighting spirit and a double from Conor McAleny was enough to earn a bronze medal, whilst simultaneously making sure that it was an awful weekend for the hosts.

* * *

After seeing his charges lose narrowly to German side SC Freiburg on Friday, coach Alan Stubbs made four changes to his U21 line-up. Conor McAleny replaced Apostolos Vellios in attack, Luke Garbutt came in for Jake Bidwell at left-back, Jordan Barrow took up the central midfield role in place of John Lundstram and, in a late change, Shkodran Mustafi pulled out and was replaced by Aristote Nsiala in the heart of defence.

That meant that Everton lined up in a 4-4-2 formation as follows: Adam Davies; Tyias Browning, Aristote Nsiala, Shane Duffy, Luke Garbutt; Jordan Barrow, Jose Baxter (c), Adam Forshaw, Araz Abdullayev; Conor McAleny, Joao Silva.

The Everton substitutes were; Mateusz Taudul, Jake Bidwell, Shkodran Mustafi, John Lundstram, Anton Forrester, Apostolos Vellios and Hallam Hope.

Everton started the game brightly an Joao Silva was presented with the game's first real chance after being sent clean through. The Portuguese forward lifted the ball over the 'keeper, but his shot clipped the post and bounced agonisingly out of play. Conor McAleny also had a good chance in a lively opening spell from for the visitors.

Minutes later, and with Everton doing all the pressing, Silva was hauled down inside the area and the referee had no option but to award Everton a penalty. Jose Baxter stepped up, but drilled his effort against the crossbar and the sides remained level at the break.

At the interval Vellios was introduced as Everton pushed for a breakthrough goal, and recently-signed Polish goalkeeper Mateusz Taudul came on for his Everton debut.

Soon after the interval Everton found themselves down to 10 men after defender Aristote Nsiala received his marching orders. A yellow for an 'elbow' was quickly followed by another for dissent (from a Russian referee whom he could barely understand), and the centre-half was harshly sentenced to an early bath.

Undeterred, Everton kept pressing and no sooner had Nsiala finished running his bath had Everton taken the lead. Greek substitute Apostolos Vellios put through Conor McAleny, who lifted the ball over the 'keeper to put the 10 men in front.

McAleny notched his and Everton's second just a few minutes later to cap off an excellent display by the Young Toffees, who will return to England with the bronze medal.

Everton Reserves 0-1 SC Freiburg

An U-21 Everton side lost by a solitary goal to SC Freiburg in the VTB Lev Yashin Cup in Moscow this evening, and will now face hosts Dynamo Moscow in tomorrow's 3rd/4th place play-off.

Adam Davies donned the gloves in goal for Everton and was protected by a back four of Tyias Browning, Shkodran Mustafi, Shane Duffy and Jake Bidwell. Captain Jose Baxter lined up in midfield alongside John Lundstram, Adam Forshaw and surprise inclusion Araz Abdullayev. There was a Portu-Greek combination up front as Joao Silva partnered Apostolos Vellios in attack.

New signing Mateusz Taudul was named on the bench and was joined by Aristote Nsiala, Conor McAleny, Jordan Barrow, Hallam Hope, Luke Garbutt and Anton Forrester.

Azerbaijani winger Abduallayev, 19, was invited along to the tournament by Everton, who last year secured first option on the Neftchi Baku player - subject to the youngster being able to obtain a work permit.

Except for the official Everton updates on Twitter - which were hampered by internet problems - there was not a hint of coverage of the match on the internet.

From the little I could gather, however, Everton started well and centre-half Mustafi was denied by a great save from the Freiburg goalkeeper. However, the Blues fell behind just after the half-hour mark to a 25-yard strike from Freiburg's Erich Sautner.

Despite some positive play from skipper Baxter, and a penalty appeal from Hallam Hope, 1-0 was how it stayed as the young squad were unable to find a second-half equaliser.

In the other game in the 4-team tournament, Serbian side OFK Belgrad defeated hosts Dynamo Moscow 3-1, meaning that the final will be contested between OFK Belgrad and Freiburg, whilst Everton will face Dynamo Moscow in the 3rd/4th place play-off.

Those fixtures will be played tomorrow - be sure to check back then to see how the Blues fare.

Blues To Travel To Moscow

An Everton U-21 side featuring the likes of Jose Baxter, Joao Silva and Apostolos Vellios will prepare for the new season by participating in the VTB Lev Yashin Cup alongside SC Freiburg of Germany, OFK Beograd of Serbia and hosts Dynamo Moscow.

The squad, managed by Alan Stubbs and Andy Holden, will travel to the Russian Capital for the tournament, which takes place on the weekend of the 16th and 17th July. It will be held in honour of the former Soviet and Dynamo Moscow goalkeeper Lev Yashin, considered by many to be the greatest goalkeeper of all time.

Stubbs told evertonfc.com: “The football should be tough. It is worth remembering it will be our first competitive action of pre-season and we are up against players who are well into their seasons so, from a fitness point of view, we are going to be up against it.

“We’ll go there and enjoy it, there will be an edge to the football because of who we are playing and hopefully with it being a week into pre-season the lads will be desperate to get the ball out and play some games.”

“We are up against a top Russian team, a top-flight side from Germany and a top Serbian team. German sides are always of a certain quality, Serbia produce technically gifted players and you Dynamo are going to be good.

“It will be a challenge but I am quite optimistic really. I think we have got a good bunch of lads with a fair bit of quality and I am hopeful about both this trip and what the season may bring.”

“It is great to be involved in something like this and I think it shows the Club’s stature,” he added. “I think 10 years ago there would have been other clubs getting asked to go, so it is a feather in our cap that we have been asked to play against sides of this quality.”

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...

Loan Watch

Within no fewer than eight of our squad scattered around the continent on various loan deals, I thought I would check on their progress at the temporary clubs.

Joseph Yobo moved to Turkish giants Fenerbahce in August 2010 on a season-long loan deal. He made his debut in the Turkish Super Lig in a 2-0 defeat, a game in which he had to go off injured. However, he has recovered to play in 21 of the 28 games so far this season, in the process helping his adopted side to the summit of the league. The most recent fixture (9th April) was a 3-1 away win at Eskisehirspor and Joey played the full 90 minutes.

Joseph Yobo has become a key player for Fenerbahce

Iain Turner signed for Preston North End in February 2011, on a 93-day emergency loan. He has replaced Andy Lonergan as PNE's number one, and his arrival has coincided with some good Preston form, demonstrated in consecutive wins against Scunthorpe, Coventry and Swansea. However, the form seems to have come a little too late in the season and Phil Brown's team are languishing 23rd in the Championship, with only six games left to try and avoid relegation. He was in goal for the most recent fixture (9th April), a 1-1 away draw at Portsmouth.

Iain Turner's Preston are relegation favourites

James Vaughan joined Crystal Palace in January, the latest move in a series of loan spells (Derby, Leicester and a previous spell at Palace). In all he has scored nine goals for the Eagles, including a hat-trick vs Portsmouth, and has become a key player in a team fighting to beat relegation. He scored the winning penalty in the club's last win, vs Barnsley, but couldn't help as Palace slipped to a 2-1 defeat at Ipswich (9th April).

Vaughan scores 1/3 of his hat-trick against Pompey

Yakubu was also shipped out to a Championship club in January, heading to Filbert Street to play for Leicester City. He has made thirteen appearances for the Foxes, scoring seven goals which included a recent hat-trick against old club Middlesbrough. He is a 'Wolves player' in my opinion: too good for the Championship but not good enough/ too lazy for the Premier League. Managed by Sven, Leicester have drafted in a host of marquee loanees and lie ninth in the table, five points off the play-offs. This weekend they recorded a 4-0 win over Burnley with Yak playing the whole match.

The Yak scored on his debut vs Preston

Joao Silva, signed in June 2009, was sent back to the Portuguese first division for some regular games. He joined a side called U.D. Leiria. Joao scored in his club's last match against Maritimo, but couldn't prevent a 1-3 defeat. He is likely to figure in their next match away to Setubal (10th April, 16:00). U.D are currently 10th in the 16-team Portuguese league.

Joao looks the part in an U.D. Leiria shirt

Shane Duffy joined Burnley at the end of March on a 28-day loan. He played 90 minutes against Ipswich, a game which Burnley lost 2-1, but has not played since. Burnley have slipped in recent weeks, and now lie 11th in the Championship table.

Shane has only made one appearance for the clarets

Kieran Agard joined Kilmarnock on January deadline day in a loan deal that went almost unacknowledged. He has indeed only made two substitute appearances for Kilmarnock and hasn't even featured on the bench for the last two games.

Agard has gone from bench warmer at Everton to bench-warmer at Killie

James Wallace joined League 2 strugglers Stockport County in February and made an immediate impact, scoring a wondergoal on his debut, although his side lost 1-4. He has played nine times for Stockport who unfortunately are rock bottom of League Two and look likely to be playing the likes of Newport County and Kettering Town in the Blue Square Premier next year.

Wallace has been a shining light in Stockport's woeful campaign