ToffeeWeb - Season 2008-09

The Mail Bag

Goal at Goodison....

With all the despondency and negativity I've felt this season, I have lost some of my passion and interest in the club. I don't know if this has happened to a lot of fans or if it's just me. Match days just don't mean as much as they used to. Yet somehow, I have spent the weekend really looking forward to sitting down tonight with a cuppa to watch the game. It's weird because I haven't felt like this since the opening day of the season. I'm not complaining though, it's really nice to feel this way in the run-up to a game.

It got me thinking... and the one thing that has stuck with me all season is that little buzz of anticipation I get when I hear a commentator say the phrase "Goal at Goodison". That couple of seconds of a wait while you get transferred over to the reporter at the ground, trying to gauge if that's the home support or away support that's cheering before he speaks, that elation you feel when he says that it's the home team that's scored. I know, I know... I'm 34 years old, not six, but in a way it's comforting to know that I haven't become that cynical about things just yet.
Kieran Fitzgerald, Dublin Posted 24/11/2008 at 10:31:15

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Michael Evans
1 Posted 24/11/2008 at 15:19:02

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Glad you’re not cynical Kieran and I hope you enjoy your cuppa and the game tonight ( COYB). My philosophy on supporting Everton has always been that you must be brave enough to experience the full range of emotions that the club evokes. Granted there may be weeks... months... years... decades of despair, frustration, disappointment, despondency (the list is endless really ) involved. However, occasionally just occasionally there are little moments of joy and hope. These might be as rare as AVDM buying a fruit juice but they are there nonetheless.

Andy Crooks
2 Posted 24/11/2008 at 15:50:25

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Kieran, I know exactly what you mean. The little knot in the stomach that follows "there?s been a goal at Goodison". Also, I listen a lot to Everton on the radio and last season on numerous occasions the opposition scored the very moment I switched the radio on. Therefore, I must not listen at all or cannot leave the radio once the game has started. These thing are important, you know.

Alan Codd
3 Posted 24/11/2008 at 16:16:34

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I know what you mean mate.
For some reason the whole day out is not the same anymore, maybe its the whole expense of it or Davey Moyes brand of Hoofball, i just dont know.
Maybe its because Big Dunc is no longer here!!

Chris Lawlor
4 Posted 24/11/2008 at 16:14:26

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Im with you on this one Kieran. I’ve found myself a little less enthused this season aswell. I still watch all the games and read everything that appears via the media but I have noticed my infatuation has waned a bit this season.

I think this has more to do with the state of the game as a whole as against purely Everton. Im a bit of a purist and possibly guilty of a bit of nostalgia but I cannot stand the way the game has sold its soul these days. Saying all that I’ll be sat down tonight in front of Setanta with a brew waiting with baited breath for a good result! It aint easy being a Blue but I wouldnt swap it for anything mate.

Michael Hunt
5 Posted 24/11/2008 at 17:12:45

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Will S(et)anta come early this year and bring the good boys of Goodison early gifts as we visit the JJB.... unfricking likely as Rob Styles is the ref!

Feeling a little ?pre-festive seasonal? already so.... ?jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, oh what fun it is to sing when Everton win away?!

COYB!!!!

Dick Fearon
6 Posted 24/11/2008 at 19:09:27

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Kieran, these downside moods will pass over. Many times over the years I have felt that my passion for the club was not being reciprocated by those in charge.
The last time it got me really down in the dumps was on a cold dismal wet away game at Blackpool in the sixties and before that when Davy Hickson was transferred.
A bit more recent was Duncan Ferguson’s retirement. For all his faults in the genteel department undoubtably he was a fierce and passionate everton man. When he went a little bit of me went with him.
Then along came Cahill to reinvigorate my blood. As with Ferguson but for different reason’s, Tim reciprocates my passion for our club.
Hang in there Kieran, It will all come flooding back.

Chris Wright
7 Posted 24/11/2008 at 22:40:45

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I was just thinking the same. In fact I can?t believe just how I feel about the blues at the mo. Matchday used to be the highlight of the week, I used to look forward to the pre match drink and chat, the game going mental at a goal and either the highs or lows of a win or loss (or draw).

Now it feels like a chore, I go because I always have but if I stopped going I?m not sure I would miss it. In fact, I wish I could hand back my season ticket and just pick my games. I can?t remember going mental at any goal this year, whether at the ground or on the radio. It?s apathy on my part and having seen the attendances at Goodison this year and the complete lack of atmosphere I?m not sure I?m alone.