Match Preview
Welcome to Hearns and Steve "Nugget" Davis ...
Well, Orient are struggling in the 3rd Division and, since
hammering Portsmouth 4-1 in the previous round, have been
shipping goals at a rate of knots. We're stumbling along
in the Premiership "mid-table". Obviously there
should be absolutely no contest and only a win by at least 3
goals to nil will be satisfactory.
Team news for Orient? Their fifth successive league
defeat on Tuesday night saw their Captain Dean Smith (who?)
pick up a knock and has become a doubt, as has self-proclaimed
Evertonian Andy Harris (once on Liverpool's books).
Their star of the FA Cup so far, Steve Watts, who has scored
in their previous three rounds, is also struggling but may
make it.
Us? I think we'll all be delighted to see Jesper
start so that we can stop worrying about his trip to
Croatia... (Is it just me that thinks the fact that the
world's best Knee specialist is based in Croatia rather surprising?).
Dunc and Campbell � barring last-minute injuries in
training � will line up together again and this should be a
great opportunity for Dunc to get his first goal in open play
this season and for the two of them to get 90 mins under their
belt.
Watson is apparently likely to be fit but I'd love to see
Hibbert given another game as he hasn't done anything wrong to
justify him being dropped.
As long as Alexandersson's thumb is okay (!) then we should
see two wingers at Goodison with two target men in the middle
� Is this the first time since the Sharp/Gray days?
Possibly, but I don't think either of the present incumbents
of the Numbers 9 and 10 shirts deserve to be compared to our
League Champions and European Cup Winners and Nick ain't no
Tricky (Trevor Steven)!
Xavier? (and now for a brief aside that is in no way a
preview - as usual...) Interesting to see a number of
people complaining that we are letting him go and that it
would cost �3M or �4M to replace him. What planet are
they on? As surefire as Christmas arrives in December so
does Xavier's "virus". At a time when games
come thick and fast, he vanishes!
He's probably given us half a dozen quality games and all
of those at centre-back. He has absolutely no pace or
mobility and no commitment whatsoever to the Blue cause.
This season he has made 13 appearances but last year graced
the Blue shirt a pathetic 11 times. It's no coincidence to me
that, at the start of this season when he needed a new
contract, he at last was available and playing consistently.
He also by the way only cost �1.5M so, were we to get
�750,000 after 3 years, it would not be a bad return.
Personally I will not be that sad to see him go, even if it
does mean that we may see Unsworth in at centre-back once or
twice this season until we bring someone else on board.
To keep him would probably have cost a small fortune in
wages and, with a new contract in the bag, watch the
"niggles" and "viruses" appear again.
So, back to Saturday and what is there to say ?
Orient will probably try to fly at us early on, in which
case, we just need to stay calm and pass the ball around �
Passing to other people in Blue that is, preferably over a
distance of 10 to 30 feet. Once we see out the first 15
mins, let's get the goal and then relax. Another before
half time (flying header from Dunc) and then Campbell seals a
comfortable win on the hour and we see the game out 3-0.
Likely? Probably not... and let's be honest we'll all
be a touch nervous until we get 2 goals ahead; but this is a
no-brainer and, if the lads apply themselves, we can all
settle back on Sunday to watch the Arse kick the Reds out of
the Cup knowing that we are safely in the hat for the 5th
round...
BlueForEver
Gazza Reincarnated
by Richard Marland
In recent years, we've had too many cup embarrassments against lower-league
opposition to take this tie for granted. True ,we should win comfortably... but then
we should have beaten Crystal
Palace, Tranmere,
Bristol Rovers and
York City.
Walking up to the ground, I was hoping that for once we would see a professional
display with a comfortable win and no unnecessary drama.
Thanks to the reduced ticket prices, Goodison was fairly full.
However, it did
lead to problems outside for those of us who had elected to pay on the gate.
Despite arriving not long after 2:00, it was soon apparent that we weren't going
to get into our usual Upper Gwladys spec. We elected to head for the Main Stand
and ended up getting into the Top Balcony without any problems.
This was my
first visit to the Top Balcony, and bloody 'ell it's a long way up. Having
watched a good 98% of my football from behind the goal it was very strange to
watch the game "side on", it took me a while to get used to picking
out the flight of the ball.
The Orient filled half the Bullens; they also had their mascot out on the
pitch... it's a tired old cliche but this really was their Cup Final.
There were a
few nice touches before the game: the mascot came and sought out Gazza, and
asked him to go and meet the fans. He wandered over to receive a
hero's welcome. They made an pitch presentation to Kevin Campbell, to commemorate his part in a
previous promotion of their's. Then finally we played "Their Tune"
over the PA � Tijuana Taxi � or "It's A Knockout" to the uninitiated.
With none of Everton's injured warriors available for selection, there were no changes.
Hibbert continued his run at right back; Campbell and Ferguson continued
their march to match fitness out there on the pitch.
First half
Despite never getting a total grip on the game, we always managed to do
enough. The goal came early on, at about ten minutes.
Hibbert was released down
the right and his cross was headed, quite spectacularly, into his own net by an
Orient defender. Naturally, we have to acknowledge the element of
luck but it
was an excellent cross by Hibbert, and it demanded that the defence tried to
deal with it. Quality ball into the box and then anything can happen.
That was nice to settle the nerves of the team and crowd.
What we needed now
were more goals to put it beyond Orient. The second came courtesy of Gascoigne
and Ferguson. Gascoigne ran at the heart of the defence, he had a touch of luck
with a ricochet but had the awareness to keep control and lay the ball off to
Dunc who side-footed it home.
That should have been the stepping stone to putting the game safe but this
wouldn't be Everton without a wobble. Indecisive defending allowed a long-range
shot which Simonsen could only parry to an onrushing attacker who found the net.
A sloppy goal defensively, and, just at the point at which we were
beginning to
subdue Orient and their fans, we gave them a lift.
We rode out the little storm as the Goodison "faithful" started to
get agitated with the players. With time running out in the half, we
reestablished our two-goal cushion � Gascoigne was again the provider.
He found
acres of space by the left edge of the penalty area, eventually his team mates
spotted him and gave him the ball. He brought the ball into the area before
passing it on to Campbell who did well to spin on the ball, hold off a defender
and find the net.
Second half
With Alexandersson being forced off with injury in the latter stages of the
first half, we were now shorn of natural width. To compensate this, Walter
switched us to 5-3-2 with Unsworth operating as the third centre back, Hibbert
and Naysmith as wing backs, and Moore as one of the midfield three.
The majority of the second half was undertaken on cruise control.
We never
dominated the game but never looked in danger of conceding another goal.
Chances
came and went but we seemed to be back to trying to pass the ball into the net.
The fourth killer goal finally came, and it alone probably justified the
admission fee. Gascoigne picked the ball up in our half and just ran at Orient.
He got past a couple with a combination of quick feet and strength before
slipping the ball through to Campbell who, one-on-one with the keeper, lifted
it into the net. A class goal and Gazza at his best.
Summary
This was a fairly professional, routine dismissal of lower league opposition.
Even though we never, Gazza apart, played with any real sparkle, we always did
enough, and always showed enough of our quality. The sole objective of Cup
football is to get through to the next round; we � unlike
some � got there!
Ratings
- Simonsen 6 Thought he should have done better with the initial shot
that led to the goal; he certainly should have done more than just push it
out to their player. Apart from that, he dealt with everything else with an
air of assurance.
- Hibbert 7 Clearly showing the benefit of a run of games.
Played
very well; no need to rush Watson back.
- Unsworth 7 Got the usual cat calls for some misdirected passes but
did his job defensively.
- Weir 7 The usual.
- Stubbs 7 Becoming as reliable as Weir.
- Alexandersson 6 Struggling for sharpness and confidence.
- Gemmill 7 Hard working, never hid; did well.
- Gascoigne 8 Getting better and better.
OK, it was only Orient but
there was real quality on view, along with the stamina to keep going to the
very end.
- Naysmith 7 The usual unfussy display.
- Ferguson 7 There appears to be a mood amongst the
"faithful" that Dunc can do no right. The people around me seemed
to find fault with everything he did on the pitch, whinged that he was like
a statue and then whinged when he wasn't stood on the penalty spot awaiting
crosses. The way I saw it was that a player, a long way short of match
fitness, who is only playing because we have no viable alternatives, paced
himself through 90 minutes; he used his experience to find space on the
pitch to make himself available for passes and lay-offs; he also got himself
in the right position to score. This was no barn-storming Dunc
performance
but he made a contribution to our general play, rarely gave the ball away,
did OK, and is now, hopefully another 90 minutes closer to match fitness.
- Campbell 7 Another who isn't being given much credit for playing
his way to match fitness. Did well with his two goals
� hopefully a sign of a
returning sharpness.
- Moore 6 Looked bright and lively; always looking to get involved.
Did OK.
- Tal 5 Didn't get long. But didn't overly impress.
Team 6 Did what they had to do. Nothing more, nothing less.
Man of the match Only one proper candidate - Paul Gascoigne.
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