Tomorrow brings a taste of what is to come

Everton travel to Wigan tomorrow night and get a taste of what is to come in Kirkby if the new stadium gets through the Public Inquiry currently taking place in the town.

Wigan got a new ground about a decade ago as part of a package deal with ASDA and their "masterplan" in building a retail park on the outskirts of Wigan - Everton plan to copy them, but add an extra tier to the ground and go with "blue" Tesco instead of ASDA, but the principle is exactly the same.

A retail park is built around a big carpark, with an anchor supermarket bringing in the majority of the customers.  Every fortnight tens of thousands of extra people - with no interest in shopping - try and cram through the roads to get to the football stadium that is on the other side of the shops, tucked away almost as an after thought.

Football and retail are not easy partners.  Shoppers are inconvenienced, shopkeepers are generally out of pocket because of this, and football club gain nothing from having a supermarket next door - yet this is the route Everton want to take, and will fight the public inquiry long and hard, to the tune of around £800,000 in legal fees along, to get.

If any Evertonian reading is going to Wigan tomorrow night, take a long hard look around as you queue in traffic to leave the area, and wonder what it will be like in Kirkby.  Sure, the stadium Everton plan will have an extra tier, but it will essentially be a carbon copy of the Wigan set up, just with more people....

Wayne Rooney - Cartoon Villain

Wayne Rooney didn't score his 100th goal today, but he's still a hot topic of discussion.

The classless idiot had a poor game by his recent standards, and his foul on Mikel Arteta in the second half today was the beginning of his downfall at Goodison Park.  Taunted by the Everton fans - as he has been since his move to Manchester United four years ago - he kissed his United badge and held one finger aloft to the Park End.  Classy.

Seven years ago, Wayne wore a shirt proclaiming "Once a Blue, Always a Blue" to allay fears that he would skip signing a profoessional deal at Goodison Park in favour of one of the "top four" sides.  Instead, he waited two years after his debut and left under a cloud of hatred.

But let's not let a fat ex-Evertonian with a penchant for the elderly get in the way of what was a poetic performance from Everton in the second half today.  Everything clicked.  The Blues chased, hassled, and harried their way back into a match that many would have accepted ending at 1-0.  Steven Pienaar and Phil Jagielka deserve special credit and Marouane Fellaini became a totally different player after the break.  Whatever was said at half time needs repeating on a regular basis!

United couldn't cope with the Everton pressure, and Ronaldo and company seemed completely out of sorts at times, with only the fact that it was the hopeless Alan Wiley in charge saving them from losing numbers as frustration bore through, with Rooney inciting the crowd and Berbatov using his elbows more than his head when he jumped for the ball.

Everton's season needs to kick start itself from now on, and hopefully the confidence taken from today's win should carry on at The Reebok on Wednesday.

No clean sheet since February

Tim Howard has failed to keep a clean sheet since February, and today his average of conceding at least two games per game in the Premier League continued as we were beaten 3-1 by Arsenal.

For 45 minutes though, it was such a different story to that which we've seen so often this term.  Leon Osman got on the end of some excellent work by Steven Pienaar to put the Blues ahead.  Osman is a much under-rated played in the Everton side, but his presence in the side is as important as that of Pienaar, who is starting to overtake Mikel Arteta in the affections of Evertonians.

Yakubu and Osman both had good chances to put Everton further ahead as Arsenal floundered and resorted to the long ball approach - although when Everton played the long ball in the second half, it was still greeted with moans of "hoof" from the intelligencia who had clearly only just looked up from their books.

Theo Walcott's inclusion from half time paid dividends for the home side though, and they found an outlet for their passing game, so it wasn't long before they were back in their groove, and the goals flooded in despite several of Everton's under-performers raising their game.  Joleon Lescott looked a changed man after the international break, which Marouane Fellaini actually looked like a footballer for most of the game.

Arsenal were reminded that football is a man's game when Tony Hibbert's robust challenge on Denislon (in which he won the ball) was greeted with hand-bags from Gael Clichy, who promptly found himself entangled with Tony Hibbert whose hands found their way around his throat.  Both were booked for the incident although lesser referees than Mr Walton would have reached for the red-card as the crowd begged for blood.

It's only Livepool

Not many Evertonians expected to win the derby at Goodison Park this season, but if anyone expects a home defeat to "that lot" not to hurt then they're in for a surprise.  Being beaten by Liverpool on your own turf hurts.  A lot.

Almost everyone I spoke to before the game - infact no, everyone I spoke to before the game - was expecting a three or four goal defeat, so poorly has our season started.  "A nice dull 0-0 draw will do" said the woman I sit next to in the Main Stand.  But when it comes down to it, are we really prepared to lose?

Tony Hibbert's return to the team meant Phil Neville was pushed forward to midfield to protect the back four, and Segundo Castillo was dropped to accomodate the captain, with Fellaini preferred in his place with Osman, Cahill and Arteta, leaving the Yak upfront on his own.

The first half went well for the Blues, and at half time the majority of us thought we should have been at least one goal ahead after Tim Cahill squandered a wonderful chance infront of the Gwladys Street and Yakubu rushing a chance to fire wide.  There was, however, still an element of doubt among us.

Fernando Torres had cried his way through the first half but was alive enough to score two in quick succession to end our hopes of a derby day win, and the late introduction of Louis Saha proved too little too late, despite the former United man firing a fierce shot just wide.

Old Mother Riley lived up to form by sending off Tim Cahill for a tackle that deserved a yellow, and the Everton midfield finally managed to get hold of the ball, although they proceeded to play it around and backwards as though we were winning 2-0 and not being beaten at home.

Our form of conceding two goals per game continues as we head into Thursday night's game against Liege and something needs to be done.  Fast.   David Moyes is yet to sign his contract, we are out of the Carling Cup, and our season could soon be over if we don't turn things around.

It's a mickey mouse cup anyway!

Who wants to win a Mickey Mouse cup?  Not Everton, apparently!

We're out of the Carling Cup at the first hurdle, we started the season without any dreams of wnning the Premier League, and in a week's time we face Liege in a game we must win - but with our worst defensive record for donkey's years.  The 205th Merseyside derby really is make or break.

We go into Saturday's game leaking goals and with the defence suffering a huge crisis in confidence and form.  Conversely, Liverpool's leading lights go into the game with Steven Gerrard requiring just one more goal to get his century and both Torres and Keane with "droughts" to come out of.  It couldn't be scripted better could it?  They've even got Old Mother Riley to referee the game in Mark Clattenburg's suspension-forced absence.

But for once why don't Everton spoil the story?

The derby at Goodison last season ended with a 2-1 defeat that sent the Blues on a 12 game unbeaten run after feeling cheated by Clattenburg and robbed by "Cara" and "Stevie Lar" while Phil Neville was lucky to escape with both legs still connected to his body after Dirk "fell off the side of a gothic cathedral" Kuyt's assault.  But this time, why not use it as a springboard to better things with a win?

A win against that lot would set us up perfectly for the trip to Liege, and could kick-start a run of form similar to last term - and end yet another Kopite dream of Premier League glory. 

David Moyes needs to drum the hunger into his players for Saturday.  Feed the Yak and he will score - keep him hungry the night before and he'll go on the rampage.  Get the team to a hotel the night before away from the WAGs, tell them Stevie G Lar's been calling the names in town, say Carra said that Kuyt's more attractive than their WAGs, and show them Andy King's goal from 1979 over and over and over again.

A win on Saturday could be the re-birth of our season (as I'm sure as hell Phil Neville will tell us in the next few days) so let's see the fighting spirit Everton - the fans will be louder than you'll hear them again this season when Saturday comes, so it's down to the players on the pitch to feed off that and show the killer instinct is still tere.

Two points dropped or a point rescued?

Either way you look at it, a draw away at Hull isn't good.  Coming from 2-0 down and ending the game looking like the side most likely to win shows that Everton may well have the kind of fighting spirit in the squad to fix the leaky defence.

Lescott was dropped, and rightly so, but new boy Fellaini once again failed to inspire confidence in his £15m price-tag.  Out-jumped at the far post and standing at almost six foot five and costing us an early goal doesn't quite a record signing make.

When we fell two behind at the beginning of the second half, it seemed like it was all over, but then the perenially injured Louis Saha made his long-anticipated Everton debut - and what a difference he made.

The Yak had looked lost upfront on his own and without any real service to speak of, and the Frenchman's appearance was exactly what he needed.  Neither went on to score the goals that grabbed our point, but both combined wonderfully to set up Leon Osman for our second goal, which had a touch of 1966 about it!

We really need to shore up our defence and Tim Howard needs to learn how to communicate with his defenders and let them know when they don't have to rush to play the ball and risk the own goals we've conceded that - for two of them - he has to take responsibility for.

Not perfect, but we can still win

We never make it easy for ourselves, but we can still beat Liege in Belgium.

Joleon Lescott continued his run of terrible form at left back tonight and simply must be replaced against Hull at the weekend.  If only to show him that he's not indispensible.

At fault for both Liege goals, Lescott often did all the hard work of winning the ball before simply gifting it to Liege, and even his usual superb distribution suffered again tonight.  His forward play and ability to beat a man, however, was still much appreciated and his link up play with Arteta down the left was a joy to behold on the rare occassions he showed it. Leighton Baines is just as capable at getting forward, however, and when you pay £5m for a left-back, you want him to get a game ahead of a centre-half who's simply filling in.

Luckily, while Lescott was dragging his poor form out, Yakubu was forging forward with his excellent goalscoring streak, and made it four out of five with the first equaliser of the night on 22 minutes.  He is exactly what Everton have been crying out for for so many years, and his form of last season has served to spur him on this term.  His awesome finishing should be "fed" more and more, rather than forcing him to come deep to collect the ball.

Tim Cahill grew into the game in the second half before running out of steam, which coincided with Leon Osman's tiring after being an inspiraton in midfield.  Neither, though, no matter how impressive, could match Segundo Castillo and his massive calves.

He bossed the midfield and the promise he showed against Stoke last weekend materialised and blossomed against Liege - if he continues to grow then he'll be peaking just in time for the derby at the end of the month.

Capping off his home debut with a goal grabbed the man of the match award for me, and the way in which it came again answered Evertonians prayers.  A ball looped out from the Liege area and as it dropped the Ecuador international smashed his enormous right calf-powered boot through it from all of 30 yards and wheeled away to the joy of the fans as the ball nestled in the back of the Park End net.

We've left ourselves with a tough task in Liege in two weeks, but a single goal can easily put the Blues through - if we can tighten up our defensive frailties.

Everton 2 - West Brom 1

We were lucky to escape with three points today but we took our chances and they didn’t.

Simple.

Who needs new signings when you have Yakubu?

Feed the Yak and he will score! Good to pick up the first win but a better performance would have been nice.

We were the better side

Fans at the ground said: "We are short of numbers and it showed."

"We ran out of legs at the end. We have to bring in some more faces if we are going to make a challenge the top four.

"A very bad start. Losing to a late goal always hurts but we were the better side."