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Season 2004-05


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June 2005


 June 2005


News Headlines & Features

Money Talks, by Ray Mia
30 Jun - This commentary from Ray Mia pretty much sums up most people's responses to the range of transfer sagas, new signings, re-singings, and potential prospects excersing David Moyes as he builds for pre-season training. Ray also goes off on one about players' salaries, which is a bit of an old moan... yes the salaries are obscene, but if you have a problem with it, you should not come anywhere near football, because anything you do actually supports and encourages it. Sermon over!

Goodison in Virtual Reality
29 Jun - Hopefully this will not be breaching any copyright laws; it's a fun site that lets you explore the intricacies of Goodison Park through the medium of 3D interactive virtual graphics, courtesy of Marc Rea at his VRGP website. Marc has been developing this neat application as a project at John Moores University. To get the full version burnt on CD, and sponsor Marc in the New York Marathon for the Western Spirit charity, go to his order page and fill in the order form.

Opener moved to Sky on Sunday?
28 Jun - Everton's opening game of the season, at home to fellow Champions League contenders Manchester United, may now take place at 4pm on Sunday 14 August.  This Sunderland fans' website is listing games to be televised live on Sky next season [although please be forewarned: no other sources are confirming this list at the moment].  Other televised fixtures listed are Middlesbrough (h) and West Brom (a) in November; Liverpool (h) in December.

And now it's gone...
28 Jun - The picture of Tim Cahill modeling the new Everton kit, which was sent to us by a web designer who extracted it from a flash countdown file that is no longer available on the Internet, is considered by the club to be copyrighted intellectual property. Everton FC have requested that we remove such images until their official release on Thursday. We have complied with this request.

Krøldrup signs on
27 Jun - Per Krøldrup was on Merseyside today having a medical and finalizing personal terms as his £4.5M transfer from Udinese to Everton was completed without incident.  The powerful 25-year-old defender discussed his move with fellow Dane Thomas Gravesen, and is saying all the right things about his new employers.  Now, can we have a couple more midfielders — Mikel Arteta, perhaps — and a top-class goalscorer please, Moyesie?

Crunch Time
25 Jun - With the news yesterday that yet another Everton transfer target, Belozoglu Emre, has chosen filthy lucre and lack of ambition at trophy-less Newcastle over the prospect of Champions League football at Goodison, it may be hard to get your head around the challenges David Moyes faces this summer. But Paul Cooke is convinced that what Moyes is doing is for the long term, and for Everton's best interests.

Li Tie close to a full recovery
24 Jun - The Official Website carries some promising news about Everton's forgotten man, who suffered a fractured shin nearly 18 months ago and then reinjured the same leg in a reserves match last season as he was well on the way to recovery.  It's been a long, frustrating and very worrying time for the Chinese International, who will be looking to regain his match fitness, starting with Everton's now traditional pre-season training camp in Austria.

Blues kick off with United clash
23 Jun - The fixture list for next season has been released and Everton will kick off the 2005-06 season with a home clash with Manchester United.  A match-up at Bolton follows in the Blues second match of the campaign before David Moyes's side play newly-promoted West Ham.  The Goodison derby is scheduled for 28 December while we travel to Anfield for the reverse fixture on 25 March.  The final game of the campaign will be against West Brom at home.  For the full list, click here.

Contract extension for Turner
22 Jun - Everton have secured a three-year extension to their contract with Iain Turner, the young Scottish goalkeeper who joined the club from Stirling Albion 18 months ago. Still to break in to the first team, he has had loan spells with Chester City and Doncaster Rovers. Let's hope he is performing better than Richard Wright, who was initially hyped as England's next No 1 but has deteriorated markedly while at Everton.

Kings Dock project finally starts
21 Jun - A ground-breaking ceremony marked the start of construction on the Kings Dock project, featuring a £165M arena and conference centre that will in 2008 become a lasting feature on the Liverpool's famous waterfront skyline. But Everton are playing no part in it, despite years of wonderful hyperbole from leading proponents who predicted this as a new beginning for the club. "The Everton Stadium plan fell through not because of the city council or its partners, but because Everton FC did not come up with the money." Said Sir David Henshaw. And that remains a huge missed opportunity for Kenwright and Co.

Krøldrup set for Everton talks
20 Jun - Everton have confirmed reports that they have agreed a fee with Italian side Udinese for the services of defender Per Krøldrup. Communications head, Ian Ross, didn't confirm the price but a figure of £5M is being widely speculated. The 25-year-old defender will now travel to Merseyside to discuss personal terms and undergo a medical, but given recent disappointments in the transfer market, no one at Goodison is counting any chickens until they've hatched.

The real deal for football's future
19 Jun - The takeover of Manchester United by Glazer's megabuck manipulations may be of only passing interest to Evertonians, but Andy Burnham — who is himself an Evertonian — sees in this a clear polarization for the critical question of future club ownership in English Football.  Drawing heavily from his massive involvement in Supporters Direct, Andy sees Supporters Trusts as the mechanism for fans to finally put control of their clubs where it should be: in their hands.

Forssell changes his tune
18 Jun - When you get the once-over from the Club's consultants... medical consultants?  But it wasn't a "full" medical.  And he was only in the UK to visit friends, remember; nothing to do with a possible transfer to Everton.  Why would you come out with all this cock and bull?  "The reason I am saying this now is that David Moyes and Bill Kenwright were the reason I went to Everton that weekend."  And the reason you didn't sign?  Could it be that Everton withdrew on the basis of a dodgy knee?

Return to Scotland a long way off
17 Jun - Some candid comments from David Moyes show that he is determined to win fame and fortune with Everton, building on the success of getting into the Champions' League Qualifying Round.  While he would obviously consider managing one of the Old Firm clubs if the time was right, he sees that as being a long way off, and stays focused on more basic needs — Job One being to make sure that Everton stay in the Premiership!

Win the Official Season Review DVD
15 Jun - "Champions League... We're Havin' A Laugh", that's the title of the official Everton FC Season Review DVD for 2004/05 and it went on sale at the Megastore yesterday. This must-have record of our best season in far too long goes on sale nationwide on the 20th but we have three copies to give away free. Click here to enter for your chance to win.

Growing up in Public, by Rob Fox
14 Jun - The normally unflappable Rob Fox is having some trouble maintaining his usually calm and confident assurance that David Moyes knows what he is doing, and that what he is doing is the right thing for Everton. The problem is Parker, and what this presumably failed transfer means to Everton in terms of implications, insinuations, and inferences that can be drawn about everything from the salary cap to the Board's level of ambition.

Leon Osman signs a new contract
13 Jun - Leon Osman, who had a good season for Everton, scoring seven goals in vital games that Everton went on to win, has signed a new four-year contract that is set to run through 2009.  There were many rumours and fears that the lively midfielder was having some problems at Goodison Park in recent months, and it could have been the uncertainty over his contract that was affecting his game, but he seems very happy now at the prospect of playing in Everton's Champions' League campaign.

A pyrrhic victory?
12 Jun - We'd hoped to have left this one behind but the mostly intelligent comments of Gabriele Marcotti in the Sunday Herald are well worth a read: “We’ve got rules, but if you’re big enough, rich enough and make enough of a fuss, we’re happy to ignore them.”  However, the conclusion regarding what would have been a better course of action for all involved is not the sort of thing we want to hear, as he completely ignores the accepted principle set at the start of the season — that the top four teams play to qualify for the so-called Champions' League.

Cahill's national service pledge
10 Jun - So what's Tiny Tim up to for his summer hols? Playing footie — that's what.  In this interview feature for the Sydney Morning Herald, Tim Cahill speaks freely about the joys of being a footballer for Australia's Socceroos, and being a footballer for Everton's Blues. Loyalty to his family's adopted country is obviously a big deal for Tim.  And he has some interesting things to say about his loyalty to Everton.

What a difference a year makes
8 Jun - Feeling a bit depressed after the latest transfer saga shenanigans have taken the wind out of your sails?  Don't worry... be happy.  Neil Martin sees everything as positive in the new firmament where the light of David Moyes shines brightly, attracting new stars to build a great Everton side for the future.

The Price of Progress
7 Jun - In a brilliant piece penned by our columnist Nick Armitage, he captures what it means to be a football fan then and now... poignantly contrasting the football experience many fans grew up knowing and loving to the corporate money-fest that is relentlessly headed our way. Of course there is nothing we can do about it, other than relieve our angst just a little bit by revelling in nostalgia for what was, and is no more...

Everton will not be bumped from ECL
5 Jun - In one of the strongest statements yet reported from a Uefa official regarding their upcoming decision on making room for Liverpool in the Champions' League, communications director William Gaillard confirmed: "I have heard the claim that Everton may be ordered to drop out because they finished fourth in the Premiership, but that is not the case." Well, let's hope his friends in Uefa, who have a record of speaking with forked tongues, stick with what he said so definitively: "Under no circumstances will [Liverpool] be allowed to take the place of another club, particularly an English one."

McFadden scores again for Scotland
4 Jun - James McFadden, Everton's enigmatic winger who seems perennially unable to come to terms with the Premiership, was on target once again at full international level as he tucked away Scotland's second goal in a vital 2-0 World Cup Qualifier win over Moldova at Hampden Park. Manager Walter Smith had kept Faddy on the bench until the 74th minute, while Everton teammate David Weir played the full game in the Scottish back four.

ToffeeWeb Player of the Season
3 Jun - It's no great surprise that the player who perhaps above all others is most responsible for Everton's presence in next season's Champions League should be voted the overwhelming winner in the vote for ToffeeWeb Player of the Season. Tim Cahill finished as the Blues' top scorer with 12 goals — scored from midfield, no less! — and at a mere £1.8m surely qualifies as signing of the 2004/5 Premiership season.

Forssell set to sign today
3 Jun - It looks likely that Everton will unveil Mikael Forssell as their second major signing of the summer either this afternoon or over the weekend with the news that the Finnish striker has taken leave from international duty to fly to Merseyside and complete a £3m move from Chelsea. And ToffeeWeb understands that his good friend and Chelsea team-mate Scott Parker is due at Bellefield next week to undergo a medical and discuss personal terms, while David Moyes is believed to have lodged a bid for yet another Chelsea star, Carlo Cudicini. Optimistic times, indeed...

Arteta's heading home
1 Jun - Despite having the first option to buy the Spaniard (now expired), it looks increasingly unlikely that Everton will sign Mikel Arteta on a permanent basis from Real Sociedad.  Conflicting reports from Spain suggest that either the Everton Board tried to negotiate a lower transfer fee than originally agreed with the Spanish club or the midfielder himself failed to agree personal terms.  Either way, the talks have stalled and while many rate Arteta as being key to any success next season and there is still some hope that an agreement can be reached, it doesn't look good.

 

Snippets & Rumours

Naysmith out until August
30 Jun - Gary Naysmith had an operation on his ankle in May and will not be fit to partake of pre-season training until the end of July.

Carsley on the mend
30 Jun - Lee Carsley spent most of his summer break recovering from a nasty knee injury sustained a few minutes before the final whistle of the last season's final game.

Four more, says Moyes
30 Jun - David Moyes is hoping for another four new signings. Just so you don't miss the main quote, we will repeat it here too: "I am confident that we will have more new faces - hopefully they will be here before we go to Austria next week."

Kilbane signs new 3-yr deal
28 Jun - Kevin Kilbane has agreed a new deal at Everton that runs through 2008 on more favourable terms for him, superseding his current contract that expires next year.

Nev: direct and to the point
28 Jun - Neville Southall says Everton should sign Craig Bellamy: "He's likely to score you goals and although he might kick off occasionally, what he can give you is something that nobody else can."  Why can't we bring back Nev as our Sensitivity Trainer?

Arteta wants to stay
27 Jun - According to his agent, Mikel Arteta's priority remains to stay at Goodison and sign on with the Blues on a permanent basis. However, personal terms relating to the different tax structure in the UK remain the obstacle, with Everton's offer coming some way short of the mark.

Goodison unlikely for TNS
27 Jun - Suggestions that TNS could play their home leg of the upcoming ECL First Qualifying Round at Goodison are off the mark due to construction work and it being in a different Uefa member country.

TNS: Everton connections
25 Jun - Evertonians with Welsh Champions TNS are relishing their pairing with Liverpool in the First Qualifying Round for next season's Champions League.

Moyes on his hols in Thailand
25 Jun - Not much of note in this oddly written semi-interview from Bangkok's The Nation, whose intrepid reporters spotted David Moyes and his wife catching a few rays in Samui.

Fixture shuffling begins
24 Jun - The home game with West Ham that was scheduled for 24 August will have to be rescheduled because it clashes with the Blues' Champions League Third Qualifying Round second leg tie.

Champions' League Qualifiers
24 Jun - The draw for the First and Second Qualifying Rounds has taken place, and it narrows down the range of possible opponents Everton will face after the Third Round draw in Switzerland on 29 July.

Derby photo competition winner
23 Jun - The winner of that now famous photo of the goal celebration during the Goodison derby has been drawn and it's congratulations to Neil Bula. If you weren't the lucky winner, you can still own a print by purchasing one at BigBlueTube.com

Michael Essien is crap
23 Jun - Rob Fox is seeking to stir things up a little with another in-depth analysis of Moyes in the Transfer Market.  He moves in mysterious ways...

Media finally figures out CL seeding
22 Jun - The mainstream media seems to have finally twigged to Everton's parlous seeding situation in the Champions' League, as if it was new news.  We have been publishing this link for weeks.  Go read it if you really want to understand the system.

Tiny Tim needs a rest
21 Jun - Tim Cahill came on for Australia as a sub after 61 mins, got booked within a minute, and then missed a glorious sitter as the Socceroos crashed out of the Confederations Cup losing 2-0 to Tunisia in their final group game in Liepzig.

Names to conjour with...
21 Jun - Teerathep ``Leesaw'' Winothai, Sompong Soleb and Rattaphol Piyawuthisakul were the three Thai youths who faired rather badly in the first Chang exchange deal with Everton.  But this Bangkok Post article says that Sompong and Rattaphol have returned to training with Everton, so maybe they will feature in next season's Under 18 Academy games...

Tommy puts a word in
21 Jun - Per Krøldrup is excited by the prospect of playing for Everton after hearing good things about the club from fellow Dane Tommy Gravesen.

Cahill gets a few days off
21 Jun - Everton will allow Tim Cahill to miss the training soiree in Austria so he has a chance to recover after Australia play their last Confederations Cup match tonight against Tunisia.

Paging John Kilgarriff
21 Jun - Would John Kilgarriff who ordered one of our ToffeeWeb T-Shirts please get in contact with the Webmaster via the feedback form. Ta.

Another 'trophy' for Newcastle
19 Jun - In The Observer, Paul Wilson questions the wisdom of Scott Parker's move to trophy-less Newcastle, in preference to the challenge of playing under the Manager of the Year in the Champions League.

Don't Panic!
19 Jun - As Newcastle look set to steal yet another of Everton's transfer targets with the offer of silly wages, Richard Price says "Don't Panic!".

Cahill only manages a booking
18 Jun - The Australians found Argentina just too much to handle in today's Confederations Cup game in Nuremberg, where Tim Cahill managed to get a yellow card after ratcheting up six fouls in a 4-2 loss to the South Americans.

Big Dunc signs in
18 Jun - Duncan Ferguson sealed the one-year extension to his contract that reportedly lowers his wage packet significantly, stating that he still thinks he can do a job for Everton in his 11th season with the Toffees.

Stretford must answer FA Charges
17 Jun - Paul Stretford, the agent who engineered Wayne Rooney's transfer away from Everton, has been charged by the FA for breaching the Fifa players' agents regulations and FA rules.

An Agent's lot
17 Jun - Ex-Everton Reserve player Neil Sang talks to the Liverpool Echo about what he does now: he's a Footballers' Agent.

Thailand trip details confirmed
17 Jun - Everton will compete with Bolton, Man City, and the Thai national team in Bangkok next month for the Premier League Asia Trophy.

New Chang deal agreed
17 Jun - Everton have agreed a three-year deal to extend Chang's shirt sponsorship.  Worth £2M each year for the Blues, they will try the Thai youth experiment again, with three youngsters joining Everton's Youth Academy.

Who's lying now?
16 Jun - Mikael Forssell "categorically denies" having a medical at Everton that he failed, thus refuting the earlier statement made by Everton coach Alan Irvine.

Here we go again
16 Jun - Columnist Nick Armitage is also having some trouble believing the nonsense that is going on in the transfer market this season.

Watson still hopeful of staying
15 Jun - While flattered by the interest shown in him by West Brom boss, Bryan Robson, Steve Watson has admitted that he is still keen on staying at Everton. The 31 year-old has taken a few days off to mull the situation over.

Osman nearly went to Portsmouth
15 Jun - Leon Osman was given a very tempting offer by Portsmouth before he agreed to re-sign with Everton, so Alan Irvine reveals in The Echo, where he also talks about re-signing Gary Naysmith.

Moyes frustrated
15 Jun - Nothing new in this recap of the transfer window so far for Everton and David Moyes, who is suffering under the stiff competition (and deep money bags) from other clubs. Alan Irvine backs this up here, confirming that Forssell failed his medical.

Nace re-signs
13 Jun - Gary Naysmith is delighted to have re-signed with Everton for another three years.

Luring players to Goodison
13 Jun - There is little news in this Soccernet piece where Norman Hubbard reiterates the transfer sagas involving Everton so far this summer: "Champions League football gives them a unique selling point, but will that bring the players Moyes has targeted?"

No Mercenaries Please, David!
12 Jun - Everton's dalliance with the possible signing of Scott Parker has raised mixed feelings, focused here by Martin Doherty.

It doesn't add up
12 Jun - The recent twists in Everton's transfer sagas have left many fans dazed and confused.  Jez Clein is having trouble with the money maths...

Tim, Dick & Harry
11 Jun - Okay, there s no Dick, but Tim Cahill thinks Harry Kewell has "nothing to prove" (except perhaps that his groin surgery has solved his recent injury problems) and, if he were to become available, Everton should snap him up.

Ladies chief gets MBE
11 Jun - Everton Ladies manager Mo Marley has been awarded the MBE by the Queen in her Birthday Honours List as recognition of her service to women's football.

Moyes Interview: Part 2
10 Jun - In the second part of the LMA interview with David Moyes, he talks about Duncan Ferguson and the Champions League.

Liverpool in at Round 1
10 Jun - As widely expected (except by Evertonians!), Uefa have changed their rules to allow Liverpool to defend their Champions' League trophy next season, but they must enter the competition at the First Qualifying Round.  Revenue may be affected only if all five English teams reach the group stages.

Playing catch-up
9 Jun - In The Independent, Paul Walker provides a potted summary of where Everton stand currently with regard to a slew of ongoing transfer dealings.

Building the Squad
9 Jun - Everton fan from Canada, Andrew Gaule, has some thoughts on the players who are interesting David Moyes in the transfer market.

Four to stay; three to go
8 Jun - Leon Osman, Gary Naysmith, Duncan Ferguson and David Weir have verbally agreed to accept contract extensions that should keep them at Everton next season. Watson, Pistone and Stubbs have not, and appear to be on their way out.

Wish you were here
8 Jun - This one's a bit old (15 May from Australia) but has a nice contrasting counterpoint for David Carney, once an Everton Youth Academy player, who hopes to be playing for Sydney FC in the World Club Championships next December.  His old Everton pal from that Academy team, Wayne Rooney, won't.

Arteta negotiations continue
7 Jun - Sky Sports report that Real Sociedad president Jose Luis Astiazaran is flying to Merseyside to try and resolve the impasse regarding Mikel Arteta's proposed transfer to Everton. The method of payment and not the £2.8m fee itself is believed to be the problem. And then there are the player's personal demands...

Moyes the Magician
7 Jun - Not much new to speak of in this 'exclusive' interview with David Moyes at the League Managers Association website.

No medical for Forrsell
7 Jun - Mikael Forrsell was in England at the weekend, but reports that he was having a medical at Everton were apparently rather untrue.  This story indicates the real problem is the return of his knee injury...

Everton still chasing Parker
6 Jun - Everton have countered suggestions in the media today that they have dropped out of the race to sign Scott Parker by announcing that they still want to sign the midfielder. Reports have suggested that Parker wants £15,000 a week more than the Blues are prepared to offer.

Wynness takes a stand
6 Jun - CEO Keith Wyness has come in for criticism for seemingly supporting Liverpool's bid to enter the Champions League by the back door without reservation. So, it's pleasing to see him come out and state that he is not in favour of any move that will include our rivals but also dilute the revenue pool allocated to English clubs.

Blues confident of 'double swoop'
6 Jun - David Prentice hopefully opines that Parker and Forssell will become Everton players... eventually... while in Newcastle's corresponding ic-sponsored organ, The Chronicle, we have lost out on both players (see Rumour Mill link above). Yes it's Silly Season!

More adulation for Osmo
5 Jun - Celebrated Finnish composer and Everton fan, Osmo Tapio Räihälä and his Duncan Ferguson-inspired composition "Barlinnie Nine" get a nice write-up in the Arts section of The Scotsman.

Weir happy to sign 1-year extension
5 Jun - After previously sounding right narked about the paltry offer of a one-year contract extension at Goodison, David Weir now says he would be happy to sign "to be there to help Everton do well next season."

The Quiet Man of Goodison!
5 Jun - In an interview given to Vincent Hogan of the Irish Independent newspaper, Kevin Kilbane takes time to reflect on the season just finished. As the season drew to an emotional close, two defeats and the jammiest of results over in Istanbul left Kilbane with one thought, "It felt like we'd been relegated." I take it that the 2-2 draw with Israel last evening will not have pleased all in the Kilbane household either!

A Shakespearean Drama
3 Jun - What would be The Bard himself's take on the Champions League qualification debacle? Perhaps something like this...

Good old Mr Generosity
3 Jun - Despite the fact that it contravenes UEFA's rules and could end up costing Everton £5m in lost Champions League revenue, Keith Wyness is still backing Liverpool's entry to the Champions League next season. Perhaps the ground-share proposal isn't dead after all...

Champions' League Seeding Update
3 Jun - The linked site confirms that Everton's Uefa coefficient is well below the threshold required for seeding in the Third Qualifying Round of next season's Champions' League. But we won't know who we will be playing until the draw is held in Switzerland on 29 July.

Game-by-game season comparison
3 Jun - Although Everton seemed to stutter a bit over the second half of the season, Steve Flanagan's final comparative analysis shows that incremental improvements over last season continued to acrue pretty much to the end, with 22 additional points lifting us from 17th to 4th.

Tal wants to come back...
2 Jun - ... although not necessarily to Everton, where his problems were due to him being played out of position!  Idan Tal was voted best player in the Israeli league for Champions Maccabi Haifa, and would like to give the Premiership another shot.

Fox saddles up with Walsall
2 Jun - Defender Daniel Fox, released by Everton this spring, has joined Championship side Walsall who recently snapped up Anthony Gerrard, also let go by David Moyes.

Faddy's frustrations
2 Jun - Jamie McFadden, who never seems to miss a chance to talk to the press, admits to some frustration in his quest to become a first-team regular at Goodison Park: "I think I have improved as a player but the only way to tell is if I get a decent run in the side and am playing week in, week out."  Perhaps someone should let him know the season is now over...

Please form an orderly queue
2 Jun - Another Bose article in the Telegraph suggests that ex-Tottenham board member Howard Shore is leading one of three consortia looking to invest in suddenly fashionable Everton.  Keith Wyness has confirmed that "preliminary talks" have been held with Shore's group (last November, according to The Echo ) but nothing more than that.

The cost of a Uefa climbdown
2 Jun - In today's Telegraph, Mihir Bose details the millions that Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Everton stand to lose in revenue from the "market pool" should a 5th place be created for Liverpool in next season's Champions League. Wouldn't it be easier to just stand by the qualification rules?

There's a light in your eye
1 Jun - Everton's young Scottish goalkeeper, Iain Turner, is to undergo laser eye surgery to correct a problem with his eyesight. The short-sighted shot-stopper will miss his country's Uefa European Under-21 Championship double-header against Moldova and Belarus because he is having laser treatment on his defective vision.

Familiar story for Nyarko
1 Jun - Ex-Everton midfielder Alex Nyarko has had his contract terminated by Norwegian side IK Start after failing to show up for training on Monday citing family problems.  The Ghanaian has played just 53 minutes for the club since he joined, mainly because of injury.

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