The Mail Bag
Tony Backs The Blues
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For those of you who haven?t seen Tony Cascarino?s Premier League Guide in The Times today here?s what he?s written about us for 2010-11 season?..
?Everton
I expect great things. They were as good as anyone in the second half of the campaign in 2009-10 once their injury glut had cleared. If all the key players are fit, I think they will spring a shock and qualify for the Champions League.
Predicted Finish ? 4th?
I?m not his biggest fan but good effort, Tony ? nice to see a pundit put their cock on the block and back the Blues.
COYB!
Mike Green, Posted 09/08/2010 at 15:24:17
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Big season anyway, coyb
The bet with the RS is that we'll finish above them, simple as.
The bet with the manure is that we'll finish in the top 3.
Originally we'd provisioanlly agreed that each bet was gonna be £20 each but I went on to explain to them both that I reckoned that Everton's midfield was the best in the league. I listed 5 players Arteta, Fellaini, Pienaar, Rodwell and Cahill and instantly they began saying "A tenner will be enough".
Seriously though if you were to name the top midfielders at all the best sides does anyone have that level of talent?
He's an absolute tool
However, the year before they said we'd be in 8th place at the end of the season and that's exactly where we finished.......
They predict first place for Manure but then the paper is really the Manu admiration club in disguise.
Personally, I'm convinced we can achieve a top 4 place, injuries and bad luck notwithstanding. COYB!!!!!
Come on Peanuts, do yourself a favour and sign on like Mikel....
I've read 7 or 8 of these season previews now, and literally every other one I have read has tipped us to come 7th, despite saying "this could be Everton's year, if the key players can stay fit" not one of them has tipped us to even crack the top bloody 6.
So nice one, Tony Iceycreamo.
Shortly after I posted this I got an email from a RS mate of mine saying "I can?t believe Cascarino thinks you tossers are going to be 4th!"
The only people he'll be getting any agreement from is us, so again - nice one Tony, credit where credit's due.
Lee, they beat us twice last season with one of the worst redshite squads I have ever seen, they beat us with 10 men at Anfield. They also had a shite season, but still finished above us.
Let's just take one game at a time, and hopefully.......?
Everton (1983-84) P42 W16 D14 L12 F44 A42 GD2 Points 62
Everton (2009-10) P38 W16 D13 L9 F60 A49 GD11 Points 61
No-one saw us coming in 84-85. I know there were 4 less games, but the stats look very similar. If we can stop losing stupid points against lesser team and rise to the occasion in the big games, we could really cause a shock.
It's slightly frustrating that the so-called top four has been extended to a top seven this season and we still aren't in it?
Sneaking under the radar will prove quite amusing though and it'll be hilarious to see the media all coming out and saying how they predicted Everton would be a force to be reckoned with.
Personally I see a top four finish as the very minimum I am expecting and see us very much as title contenders.
We have a fabulous squad full of class, experience, youth and more than a few wild cards. More importantly, they're ALL fit.
Behind them is a terrific manager and a discernable sense of confidence - both from him and the team on the pitch.
Only once in the last 44 years have I felt as optimistic as this... it was 1984 and we went on to win the league!
In 83-84 we came 7th, 18 points behind Liverpool, last season we came 8th, 25 points behind Chelsea with 4 games less.
Too much a gap to bridge....?
Our downfall in 84 was drawing too many matches, only Norwich drew more, by one game. Our downfall last season was drawing too many games, only Stoke drew more, again 1 more.
So - convert those draws into wins, turn the title chasers over on home and away and we're there. Easy!
If Everton can start well then there's every chance they can challenge for a Top 4 spot.
Blackburn away though. Tricky first game.
Saha ran out of gas by February last season & the Yak hasn't performed since his return from injury coupled with the hangover of a dismal WC for Nigeria.
I sense Vaughan will always be a sick note and Anichebe just doesn't convince me that he has the potential to be a prolific goal scorer.
Beckford remains our great hope and I have a lot of faith in him, he has pace & strength to cope with the demands of the PL. Don't know enough about Gueye to comment yet but here's hoping he will be the surprise of the season.
If we are to challenge for top 4, Pienaar, Felli Osman & Bily will have to pitch in with their fair share of goals when called upon. I'm talking at least 7 or 8 each over the season. This IMO will be the difference between a top 4 finish and top 7 or 8 finish It's taken for granted that Cahill & Arteta will pitch in with their fair share.
Can't wait for Blackburn on Saturday.
Bily ? great shot on him; Micky ? pearling free-kick taker; Timmy ? does it already; Peanuts ? scored some corkers; Rodwell ? his goal against Manure was class and he can shoot from distance; Maro ? his's head can do some damage. It's all there. COYB
I think we need to remember that we don't have the distraction of a European campaign unlike our rivals this season and only a few of our players went to the world cup.
In fact players like Arteta, Yak and Fellaini have not played a lot of football and will hopefully be raring to go. Rodwell, Coleman are getting better all the time and the addition of Beckford should hopefully give us some depth up front.
Villa could well be buggered with O' Neill going and Milner almost gone. The RS are such a good team, they thought their best chance of beating us last season was to kick us off the park! Their preseason results also look distinctly average.
All in all I think we've got a better chance than we've ever had of securing a top-4 position. Certainly our squad is the strongest we've ever had, compared to our rivals.
However, I was interested (and quite proud) to finally see Everton being seriously considered as contenders for both. One of the 8 named Everton in their top 4 and 3 of them named Everton as their favourite to lift the FA cup.
Here's the link : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1301430/Whos-money-Sportsmails-experts-new-Premier-League-season.html
Our backline might be our Achilles heel but I expect Jag himself will scores 1 or 2 goals past Howard... just like the previous seasons...
I'm aware of that, I'm suggesting that the team was/is good enough to beat them regardless of the actual result. We drew with West Ham too and we're better than them.
The point being, I was exercising my optimistic streak, it's ok, is back in the box now...
COYBs !!!!!!
Oh and Davey lad, don't get tempted by the American with the short arms and long pockets who owns the club down the M6 with the most fickle fans in the land. Stay where you're loved!
Are you not starting to realise that it is not only over optimistic fans like myself who are looking at our squad and thinking that they are man for man on par with most of the teams who will be challenging this term?
But Tony Cascarino is not a great pundit.
But I like to say as a ToffeeWebber pundit, I think we can finish in the top 4!
After a couple of days thought, I decided that we were definitely worth a punt at that price, so I decided to put £20 on each way. The only problem was that I didn't actually get round to physically doing it til this morning and guess what? The odds have been slashed to 150/1.
I can only assume that the fact that our most talented and influential player has finally signed a new contract, coupled with yesterday's announcement that Villa are on the rocks, has bumped us up the list of teams in with an outside shout of causing a shock this season.
All I can say is, if you are contemplating having a flutter, then do so now before he odds get slashed again.
ps. Beckford at 33/1 for top goalscorer seems like a decent shout too, anyone know the odds for Beckford as top English goalscorer?
Odds on Beckford are 66/1 shortest, 100/1 the longest.
Take Beckford at 100/1 e/w, pays out Top 4 at 1/4 odds which is a great bet I reckon.
Good luck.
The girl behind the counter obviously thought I was nuts when she saw the shock said odds had on me. ?Really, that much?? I spouted.
Since when had the bookies even given away their cash? Obviously never... however, I do feel 150/1 represents a mighty fine proposition for a side that has only lost twice in the league in 2010.
No, I am not saying here we are destined to win the league this year, even with the magical 24-year thing (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/everton-fc/everton-fc-news/2010/08/07/everton-fc-will-secure-shock-premier-league-title-victory-this-season-100252-27013503/) a lot of people have noted lately... but, with a good wind behind us, who knows?
Whether you put my optimism down to blind logic or madness, if we manage to keep our key players out of the treatment room (and lord knows we deserve some of that luck) and we get off to a flyer, our odds will tumble faster than the dark-side?s credit rating.
Did I back us? No I didn?t. But it told me this: I believe, even though we are now seen in some quarters as a growing commodity, our stock is still seriously undervalued. So I wagered £50 of my kid?s inheritance and opted for a top 4 finish and got a more realistic 6/1.
I don?t mind telling you I won?t be kicking myself if we did walk away with it, because 350 quid and a big shiny pot in the trophy room next May will do me well proud.
COYB!
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1 Posted 09/08/2010 at 16:16:12
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Why not? We've lost something like 2 or 3 competitive games since the back end of last year, we have a fully fit squad - key members of said squad on long term deals. We KNOW we can beat City, Utd, Chelsea and anyone who thinks we can't beat Liverpool needs their head read.
The only thing I see standing in the way is how we handle the pressure of being expected to win every week, home or away.
This is our year fella's, let the haters and negativity commence.............