COLUMNIST KEN BUCKLEY
From my seat: Blackburn (A)
Comments (23) : On a cold damp dull day, the snow around the pitch edges was the brightest thing on show for the first 25 minutes. Arteta then went on a mazy run across the box and engineered a shooting chance that the keeper could only parry out but, before a Blue foot could reach it, a defender hacked it for a corner. From that corner the ball was cleared to the edge of the box where the lurking Osman took aim but seemed to mistime the shot hitting it into the ground and it passed the post by inches.
The next bit of excitement was when Dunn deliberately handled to stop a Blues break. He had already been booked for a foul and by the letter of the law should have been off; the ref's decision... free kick only. This was compounded near the end of the half when it was Dunn, who should have been off, headed a goalbound header from Jags off the line.
Not much of a first half really and the chat at half-time was that we should go 4-4-2 with the introduction of Vaughan for Osman who didn't really look at the races. The second half started with no changes but was lively from the off, a Bentley shot was well turned for a corner by Howard and from that corner we went upfield and Arteta fed Manny in with a clear sight of goal but he contrived to hit it straight at the keepers shins, he should have done much better.
We were well on top now and the travelling Blues gave the game a 'Home match ' feel. About 25 minutes in we got a free-kick in a good position and, for once, Arteta let someone else take it. Up stepped Manny and hit a beauty which hit the post! I guess it was just not his day on the goal front.
Blackburn were forced into making subs such was our dominance and it certainly worked as they came into the game more and it got a bit testy and one incident between Arteta and Gamst saw them both booked after a bout of handbags.
Around the 75th minute mark I got my wish: Vaughan replaced Osman and we went 4-4-2 with Manny going wide left midfield. It paid dividends and we looked more of a threat to their two central defenders. With a few minutes to go, Vaughan out jumped one of them and followed his header toward goal where their keeper was hareing out of his area to clear. Vaughan slid in, won the ball and from a prone position scooped it across for AJ to pick up and go past about three defenders and slot home. We all celebrated, then the linesman put his flag up, it was ruled out I had no idea what for in fact I think some of the players who had come up to mob AJ were out of position when the free kick was taken which resulted in a mad scamper back to defend.
It could have been worse for right at the death Santa-Cruz turned one over our bar with only Howaed to beat. Final whistle and it felt like a defeat and daylight robbery.
Overall, I thought we were the better team but until we find that killer instinct in front of goal that is so important in tight matches, we might find it hard to hang on to fourth. But we are still there and, with the ACN three to return, who knows...
My man of the match was Lescott who was imperious for the whole game. Reading next and three points at home is vital, let's hope we can field a fully fit and rested team. UP THE BLUES
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As usual, well written, well ballanced. Your do right to point out the poor refereeing, but its so refreshing to read a post/article which didnt offer this up as the only reason we didnt win, we were unlucky, we could have finished better and yes the decisions were desperately poor, but there was a combination of reasons we didnt win - some of them were within our powers to put right - We have just played possibly the best two teams outside the 4 and without reaching our peak in either match we dominated both,
I couldnt agree more about Vaughany either, We have to find the killer instinct, every time he comes on we are suddenly more aggresive and far more threatening. Come on DM this kid is the hungriest player in our ranks, a place in your starting 11 is becoming a must !
Like Ajay, I live in India where the match was not broadcast live. From what i gather though, most people with half a brain (that of course excludes Steve McMahon and other ex RS idiots on ESPN-STAR Sports) agreed that we were denied a stonewall penalty and a perfectly legitimate goal by AJ! I dont think that there is any conspiracy as such but I do think that the officials in some of the games this year have been terrible and could surely cost us at the end of the season. I agree that all the teams are at the mercy of these bumbling chaps but some of the most blatant ones have been surrounding us.
From what i read, the defence was great again..with Howard, Lescott, Jags and the other doing well. The midfield was perhaps lacking with Pienaar away. Upfront AJ was good but Vaughan was clearly an amazing sub... and his effort and committment to set-up AJ was tremendous. If we can start scoring again then I dont see why we can't hold onto the 4th spot till the end of the season.
Let us hope that like the time when Clangerberg denied us a sure win and we went on a great run,we will again trample all the teams in our path in the coming weeks and make 4th spot ours and progress in the Uefa Cup...COYB
Also, we had many glorious chances, Arteta cracker, Manny open goal, close shaved free kicks, AJ run etc. We managed to bring hell to Blackburn.
Oh, and the goal counted as the linesman belongs in a zoo. That bastard was probably on the payroll of Blackburn. There were 3 defenders behind the ball and there is no way in hell AJ was offside. When Vaughan headed the ball, AJ was walking back without interfering with play. Bastard belongs in a zoo.
Fortunately the game was shown live here in HK (we get to see EVERY Blues game here, hurray !), and that’s why it hurts even more to see how clearly we were robbed these two points by the inept linesman. I was jumping up and down on the sofa when the goal went in, and nearly threw the remote at the TV when the linesman raised his flag half a decade later !
Still with the few crucial players to come back from AFCON I think we are in good position to clinch that 4th place. COYB !
Just to let you know that besides the usual ESPN Star, there are other sport channels in Asia. The match was shown live on tv here in Singapore. The cable tv operator here bought the screening right directly and do not depend on ESPN. Instead of only able to show 2 games at any one time, it’s usually 3 games live for 3pm Saturday KO. So I have watched almost all the Everton games on tv so far this season.
One thing I think everyone has forgotten, the AJ penalty claim? From what I seen of it, it was a blatant foul on AJ and yet another nailed on penalty denied.
What does AJ have to do get a penalty? Been here before many times haven?t we?
Apart from that I thought our lads played really well.
Keep up the good work Ken.
Early last season, I think it was against Sheff Utd, he dove to win another.
Then he was famously fouled in the box over and over again without reward, leading to the video compilation and subsequent ?apology? from Keith Hackett.
AJ has clearly been fouled in the area at least half a dozen times this season. Not one has been called a penalty.
Yeah, I think there?s a conspiracy of sorts among the officials against Johnson. And I think that dive against the Blades is the reason. You may remember that on the eve of ?06-?07 DM made a fair bit of noise about ordering his players not to dive. I think that pricks like Wiley, Riley, Dowd et al have put that quote together with that one dive and decided that they?re gonna use it to bludgeon us with.
I fully endorse the position taken by Moyes in not commenting on match officials. As a father of two lads who play football on a Sunday morning, I?ve virtually given up commenting on the appalling behaviour of parents and supporters at junior football in particular the vitriol launch at referees. Without the referee, there would be a match.
I accept that a professional officials should take some flack, and that they are massively handicapped by the absence of technology to support their decision making process, however Whiley should have consulted his linesman, at least I would have had a sense that the possible error was considered.
On a more positive note, I think we have come through a sticky period well and we can look forward to our African players returning and contributing to the final third of the season. I am particularly pleased on how some of the so-called fringe players have really stepped up to the mark of late Hibbert, Jagielka, and Vaughan. Finally, he may be off the pace over 90 minutes, however Fernandes displays a level of peripheral vision on the Scholes level, as the season reaches its climax, his vision and passing will win us games.
But hang on one cotton picking minute, let?s utilise the full extent of our cognitive thought process. Just imagine that maybe the extra space created in midfield by the substituted Osman/Cahill/Carsely (take your pick) allowed the ageing but excellent Tugay to thread a ball through to one time Everton target Benni McCarthy who slotted the ball into the net. How many of us would be screaming at Moyes this morning as we sat in 5th position behind our stuttering neighbours for throwing away a point by making changes when we looked like the only team that was going to score?
The simple fact is that none of us are blessed with an ability to see into the future, so who knows what may have happened if Moyes had made the substitutions earlier or not, but what constantly irritates me is when supporters offer this as flimsy evidence as to the shortcomings of our manager and deliver it with a fist clenched banging on a table style. Moyes is paid to make these decisions and he is judged by Evertonians all over the world that have the benefit of analysing the game long after the players have returned to the team bus.
We can disagree with his team selections and disagree with his tactics as a much as we like and it is part and parcel of football that many of us have opposing views. But that doesn?t excuse people for stating it constantly with absolute fact that more decisive use of substitutes would mean we would win more games. Where is the evidence for this?
That was a stone dead red for the Blachburn wanker
that was a stone dead pen for AJ
That was a stone dead goal thieved from us
you can expect one lousy decison in a game - but THREE !!!!!!
Although the result did not go the way we all hoped, I thought the performance was the best we have put in for a while. Let''s face it, Ewood Park is a tough place to go and the way we played showed we are no pushovers. I've recently been dissapointed with AJ's perfomances but yesterday he was magnificent and also the same with Mikel Arteta, who has not been as influential as last season but has still been class.
I'm hoping yesterdays perfomance could give the squad the spark weve needed to go on and start to believe that we really could come fourth and win the Uefa Cup. Also with Yak, Yobo and Pienaar all returning from the ANC I feel there are better times for the Blues to come this season.
Its ours to lose it, after all.
I’m not sure what others think but I really feel we should keep him up top alongside the Yak. He’s doing more to keep his place than Cahill at the minute. I’m often quite critical about Johnson but it was extremely refreshing to see him looking so positive.
Minor point: the word is "dived" - a "dove" is a posh pigeon!
its well done.
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1 Posted 03/02/2008 at 03:49:25
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For once, everybody (BBC, SkySports incl. Matt Le Tessier) were unanimous that Everton played great football and deserved to take all 3 points, but for the linesman’s decision. (The muppets at ESPN-Star Sports in Asia thought otherwise, but one of them is an ex-RS, so who cares?).
I hope this feeling of being hard-done-by the decision will inspire the Blues to go on another great run till the end of the season (like it happened after the infamous Clattenburg derby).
One grouse against DM is that he brought on Vaughny too late. Surely, he should be the starting partner for AJ until the Yak returns. What a tremendous level of commitment from young James to create the goal opportunity for AJ !
Another clean sheet - considering the run of almost a dozen games at the beginning of the season when we conceded goals every game - this is absolutely fantastic. The Lescott - Jagielka partnership seems to be doing great for us. How long before Jagielka gets a call up to the England side ? Selection problems for DM after Yobo returns from Africa!
Must say that it is fantastic to be a Blue now. The team is playing great football in spite of missing several key players and many others with fitness problems (Cahill, Osman, Baines). We outplayed a strong Blackburn team away from home. I feel confident now that we can challenge for the 4th spot all the way to the end of the season. COYB !!