ToffeeWeb - Season 2007-08

The Mail Bag

Manny Gets Green Light

Great news for everton! The news comes as plenty of uncertainty surrounding the area. Some believed Fernandes would not be allowed to take part due to the fact he appeared in this season's Champions League with Valencia. The rule apparently states that players who move from a team competing in the Uefa Cup to a team competing in the Champions League are then eligible to play Champions League football. However the rule does not apply if a player moves from a team competing in the Champions League to a team competing in the Uefa Cup.

Fernandes' situation is an exception however. according to rule 17.18, which suggests that extra players can be made eligible before the first knock out round, and due to Valencia's non-involvement after not qualifying, Fernandes is free to participate.

Excellent boost for the teams road to Europe.
Rob Chanman, Melbourne Posted 14/01/2008 at 13:08:08

back Return to the Mail Bag

Comments

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer

Neil Styles
1 Posted 14/01/2008 at 14:17:44

Thats wonderful news Rob. If Manny can reproduce some of his play of last season and progress from where he left off, I think we may achieve the European success that has eluded us for over 20 years now.

PS If anyone here has seen the Manny interview on EFCTV could you just say a few words about how he came across. Did he seem happy to be back etc

Dan Mckie
2 Posted 14/01/2008 at 14:27:14

His words made him seem pretty happy and he stated that if he never liked it here then he wouldnt have come back, however, some on this site have suggested that his interview performance was a little wooden and others expected 1 or 2 cartwheels from him! :)

Kev Clark
3 Posted 14/01/2008 at 14:37:14

Any idea whether this rule covers loans as well as perm deals? This is Everton remember, no leighway from Uefa for us!

I hope he can play though, and I look forward to seeing him back in a Blue shirt on Sunday!

Martin Cutler
4 Posted 14/01/2008 at 14:57:20

I’m guessing EFC must have been checking on this in the background because this is now Breaking News on their site.....if they knew upfront he was eligible they would have said (and Manuel would have known in his interview) so I guess the "glass is half empty" brigade can have a moan about us getting him not knowing if he would or wouldn’t be eligible!
Whatever.......I’m kinda of shocked at how negative some people have been about us getting him and then the way the interview was conducted!
I saw the interview and I actually thought he came across somewhat shy, his English is very good (although not perfect) but I didn’t see anything wrong with the conversation at all....as the guy said if he didn’t want to be here he wouldn’t be here!
And I have no problem whatsoever with his return....with Moyes in charge...I trust him to get the get the best out of Manuel for the remainder of the season and beyond if that’s the way it goes, which hopefully it does.

Jon Berry
5 Posted 14/01/2008 at 15:46:36

Just look at how Moyes has turned around the careers of Arteta and Pienaar. Two gifted players who where becoming journeymen destined to never live up to their potential. Moyes has proven to be as good as anyone at getting the best out of these types of players, and I have no doubt he will do the same with Fernandes.

Andrew Fletcher
6 Posted 14/01/2008 at 16:24:57

Great News, lets hope we raise the money and get him signed at the end of the season instead of dragging it out until September, same with Pienaar.

Juhn Teo
7 Posted 14/01/2008 at 16:36:11

The OS has stated that "Everton had named just 24 of the possible 25 players in their list of registered players for the competition and will make Fernandes the 25th player on the list."

Is this a hint that we won’t be signing anyone else in the transfer window, seeing that we have already registered the maximum number of players possible for the UEFA Cup? Or can we re-submit a new list of 25 before the deadline of Feb 1st, in the event that we do sign another new player before then?

I would appreciate if someone could shed some light on this, as it seems we won’t be making any more signings based on this quote.

Jay Harris
8 Posted 14/01/2008 at 16:49:39

I doubt we will make any more signings.Moyes himself said in interview that he didnt anticipate any further arrivals,although he also said he didnt think we were in for MF while Ian Ross was in the middle of negotiations so there?s always hope.
Arshavin is class and hardworking and thats what we?ve got to be looking for at this stage of the suads development.
NSNO

Colin OKeeffe
9 Posted 14/01/2008 at 17:24:34

The arrival of Fernandes is great news as it adds another creative element to the Everton midfield which, as we have seen recently, can quickly lose this crucial quality when injuries, suspensions etc hit home. It will also present Moyes with an interesting selection problem when all our midfield is fit and available. If Moyes continues with 4-5-1 and we assume he sees Neville as a full back (which is a big if) then he’ll have to select 5 from Arteta, Piennar, Carsley, Osman, Cahill and Fernandes. If we assume Fernandes quickly hits the form he showed last season then i’d argue he should be an automatic choice, alongside Arteta, Cahill and Piennar. As Carsley is an out and out defensive midfielder then he gets the nod from me over Osman. My ideal 11 would then be Howard, Neville, Jagielka, Yobo, Lescott, Carsley, Fernandes, Arteta, Piennar, Cahill, Yakubu. If a more conventional 4-4-2 is required i’d sacrifice Cahill for Johnson, as to me Cahill is a specialist second striker rather than a midfielder. Anyway, its nice for Moyes to have some options to ponder over and proof that Everton are quietly developing a decent squad.

John Andrews
10 Posted 14/01/2008 at 18:20:57

Sorry but nothing to do with the current conversation. Does anybody know what shirt number Fernandes will wear please as my son wants a shirt with his name and number on it.
Thank you.

Tris Allerton
11 Posted 14/01/2008 at 18:28:12

John, according to the OS his squad number is 23.

Berry McWilliam
12 Posted 14/01/2008 at 23:02:08

Juhn,

I would presume moyes named those 24 squad players prior to the start of the Uefa Cup fixtures, leaving one spare space in the event we did sign someone during the January transfer window. Seeing as though this was done several months ago I don't think this could not be seen as an indication of Moyes?s transfer plans right now.

As for resubmitting a Uefa Cup team list, this sounds highly unlikely as why would moyes only name 24 of 25 players in the original if he could adjust it in January. Those are my thoughts anyway.