You?ve got blue tinted specs mate. Have a look at how many points we?ve taken from the Sky Four in the last two seasons.

www.RightResult.net shows we should have finished fourth.
The incompetent or biased officials cost us a Champions League berth and preserved the RS’s place on the gravy train.

All the other 16 clubs are miles away from the top 4. Has for RightResult, thats just fantasy land crap.

We finished a good 5th but need some good buys in summer to compete with those teams that finished above us.

Think your spot on Brian and Michael, biased officials is one reason, at least we finally got a penalty on the final day to save face. I think the main reason though is the loss of Cahill early part of the season and during the West Ham game, our results dipped when he wasnt available. Also Arteta was injured for a large part of the season. I'd like to see how Liverpool would get on with out their two best players Torres and Gerrard, doubt they would have made Uefa Cup qualification.

RightResult is not crap, it is based on video analysis of the actual incidents. It is spurious in some ways i.e. a penalty may not be scored always. However, it is worth attention as it proves the decisions do NOT even themselves out over a season. That is just a myth to make the league seem fairer than it is (due to incompetent or even subconciously biased officials).

OK we are not up there with Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea but with the right additions we could be in for a shout at fourth. I honestly don't think that Liverpool are that much better in first choice players, it's when we have to use the squad players that the difference appears. Is Rafa as good as the kop think? I doubt it. Take Torres's goals away and they would have struggled to stay fourth.

Given that the BBC have lost the international rights in part due to negative comments made by this bunch, especially with the Croatia game, did you notice that at the end of MOTD they all gave a glowing endorsement of the Premier League this season. One after the other, loved to say how exciting it had been, yet it came over very stage managed.
Maybe with the Everton comments they were perpetuating the myth that the top 4 can't be caught.

What?s with this right result mullarkey?
How far do we take this nonesense?
If Hitler hadn?t gone for Russia when he did. Would EFC exist?
If the ref had seen this, that or the other. We would have been here or there.
We finished where we did because we deserved to finish there. END OF.
Although looking at the Scholes decision yesterday?

At the end of the day the only league that counts is the one we finished 5th in. I know we have been robbed over the course of the season but it aint gonna change the fact we finished 5th.

Roy
You?re spot on. All the top teams have some outstanding talent: Rooney, Ronaldo, Torres, Gerrard, Drogba, Ballack... That?s why we need a "big" player in the close season. If you look at Arsena,l their failing this year was losing Henry. And Barcelona struggled (by their standards)without Ronaldhino this season.

They are the players who make a difference and in a tight game win the game for you.

Ant n Dave (Ant n Dec?!)
The costly (approx. 20 million cost on missing out on 4th) should be highlighted coz it’s getting worse and unless it is highlighted it will continually be swept under the carpet. Obviously ranting on here serves no purpose, but I wish the managers would make appropriate representations to put pressure on to improve this key area that unfairly protects the ’Big4’.

My own opinion is that there is some shit in that league. 7 teams finished with 40 points or below and then Boro and Newc had only 42 and 43. That is effectively 9 teams who on, going on Premier League history would have all been in with a shout of struggling on the last day of a season, having been around the 40 point mark. Basically half the league were not good enough to be in the actual normal Premier League based on its history. To me this suggests that Everton and similar teams at the minute should be fighting for 5/6/7th because there are so many teams on a hiding to nothing. It’s then a case or reviewing how we did against the ’top 4’ teams....i’m afraid, not good enough. Lapses of concentration twice against the Mancs. Wierd games against Arsenal...the first looking like we’d twat them and the 2nd looking like a testimonial. Chelsea outplayed us in both games but we took a point away. And then the derbies. 1st one a sham. The 2nd was simply depressing. So bascially 1 point from 24 against them. That’s the difference i’m afraid. For us to even have a chance that needs to be at least 8 points. The derby represents our best chance at 3 points from any of these games, just because it’s a derby. Arsenal at home, I always fancy us as well.

I have to agree with the original post.
I was really annoyed with their comments but even more angry with the so-called 20 minutes highlights. They did not show a single one of the saves Harper made etc. We had the least time on MOTD but finished 5th !.
Yes we need improving just as all the teams will try and improve but most these biased ’pundits’ could mutter was how good a job Moyes has done. They could have expanded on our season i.e. semi final Carling, uefa ETC but it defo sticks in their respective throats.

One point re Hansen however - 1995 Cup Final - my Dad who had not missed a cup final since before 1966 was near the front of the queue (as I was away) and lost out after it all went off when the ticket office opened. It turned into everyman and woman for themselves and by the time he reached the ticket window they had all gone.
We then tried all sorts of ways to get tickets up to the final but just could not. My Dad has always got his ticket. - So a week later I dropped off handwritten letters at a number of the current and ex EFC/LFC players houses. ( A mate was a taxi driver ).
I knew it was a very long shot but detailed what had happened ( it had been reported in the ’Echo’ by then anyway ), and also my Dads history of following Everton.
About 2 days later my phone goes at 8.00am and a Scotish voice asks if it is Paul. No I did not recognise his voice straight away but it was Alan Hansen.
Told me straight away that he could not get a ticket ( anyone remember - they were like gold dust ) and that he had read about the chaos the day they went on sale. He then asked what I thought might happen in the game and we had a chat for about 10 minutes. He then signed off with I hope you beat the Mancs.

Quickly answer the cynics - I bumped into Alan Hansen 2 weeks later in a shop in Southport and went over to say thanks for taking the time to call. He remebered and we had another chat.

So although he is a biased red he is okay.

Anyone else throw the Wembley turnstile operator a £5 or £10 to jump in for the 1985 Cup final ? I gave him a tenner, met my Dad inside then used his stub and one from year before to get passed the coppers.

1986 - Derby Cup Final - Dad in, me no ticket again ( lots of reasons ). I was under the window were people were being pulled up into the stadium and right there when they dropped the big lad.
So many down there we then all pushed against one of the exit gates.
10 mins before kick off it went down. I was in the second row in, about 6 wide. Absolutely ecstatic.
Ran around the final corner of the stairs and at the top there was a line of huge coppers with batons out.
Fatal error - instead of carrying on running and hitting them with full momentum, we stopped. The biggest copper said you can all come in if you get through us. A bit of a charge but a narrow stairwell going up - no chance.
Back outside - game kicks off.
30 seconds later a lad already in has a ticket for sale for £10 ( more than face value then ),through the barriers as they have not tore the stub off. I got there second - first bloke thought it was a forgery ( loads about ) but as said my Dad was already in and I knew it was real - quick tenner paid - straight to turnstile - tried to keep the ticket in tact so I could re-sell as well but they would not have it. No time to argue.
Missed first 7 mins.
Great moment - shite ending.

I was in the Everton end for the 1985 final.

How nobody was killed I will never know. You are right to say that it was just a case of bunging a note to the guy on the turnstile.

If it was as overcrowded as I remember then he must have retired on the proceeds.

If I remember rightly it was all over the papers the next day about turnstile operators at the Everton end being caught with an average of £250 on them each.
There must have been 20 or 30 turnstiles to go at.


Shite end there to.

After match legged it to Wembley Central cos had to get back to Liverpool to work late. Covered in blue and white. Ran in and shouted for next train to Euston - Platform whatever just about to go. Bombed down stairs - fly onto train as doors shut - saw an unsually spare seat on a packed train - dived onto it and finally looked up and around.
I was on the Manc train - I was 22 by the way.Packed all staring.
Did only thing I could do - sat there and took no notice of the jammy bastards and thought of how close we were to shutting the red shite up once and for all with the treble. First team to do it. Look on my cousins faces when I got home if we had won.
Soon as in Euston straight off to the Liverpool train platform and loads of blues already there on the slope. Seperated by a couple of platforms from the Mancs. Good 45 mins of singing and banter before trains went.

Mental.

Liverpool spent 27 mill on 1 striker to get them 30+ goals and it took them from 4th up to 4th place !! that shows you how far away we are. But i dont think its a million miles away its just 3 or 4 seasons away . Keep doing what we are doing this summer bring in 3 or 4 top quality players that can really change/win us games like Yak has this year and we can start pushing the top 4 ,

But the problem is for every 40 mill we spend they have 80 mill to spend. Look at chelsea 22 mill on a right back !! if we get 22 mill for all our transfers it will be a big budget.

Anthony Osullivan,
Liverpool finished 3rd last season and the season before that. Why do people conveniently forget that arsenal finished below liverpool 2 seasons in a row. The top four change places between themselves. Liverpool have torres and gerrard and they are going to buy even more players in the summer. The fact is they finished 11 points above us and unless we match them in playing staff, the best we can hope for is 5th place.

Hanson is an obnoxious, self-opinionated man. Shearer, on the other hand, is quite likely the least intelligent pundit ever to grace our screens. So I think their opinions deserve to be taken with a pinch of salt.

Paul Lally, I bet you were one of the first to slag off the reds for their behaviour in Athens. Hope I never have to queue up next to you dickhead.

Just a quick comment on my thought of the Sky Sports Coverage of the last day of the season.

In past seasons Sky have been excellent with the coverage, showing the important games, and updating viewers with the goals as soon as they went in. they also showed the league positions if the score had stayed like that.

I watched the Chelsea game, but i have spoken to others who watched Man U and also the other match, they all agree that this year we had none of the passed coverage, if we were lucky, every 15 minutes they showed the latest scores at the bottom, and there was hardly any talk of the games that were going on.

In a way I felt a bit robbed, it was an anti-climax to the season.

All credit to the Blues and Davey Moyes this season. I have thoroughly enjoyed the way we have played (except a handful of games). Heres to a prosperous pre-season!

I’m afraid we are going to be stuck with the Big Four (hate that phrase) for some time yet...

The Champions League revenue has been ruining the Premier League for years now - the rich get richer every season, whilst the rest scrap it out for ’best of the rest’ status, and a possible domestic cup final. I remember this kind of concern being raised when the Premiership itself was formed - though this was about the widening gap between the top tier and the lower divisions. And look at the size of that now!

Having said that, well done Blues - 5th place is a fantastic achievement, and I can’t wait to see our UEFA Cup exploits next year!

I can’t believe you are actually interested in what Hansen and Lawro have to say.... shame on you.

Agree with Tim Churchill. Who cares. More motivation to get up and at ’em next season.

I’ve heard in a few interviews that the players get motivated by how much the press and media belittle them. If anyone can break the ’’sky’’ four its Moyes. I think stability is the key. If we keep building as we have been we can attract better players and unearth some more gems and hopefully push on. By the way does anyone else notice how the pundits on sky change their opinions all the time and insist that they had always believed that something would happen when they were arguing the polar opposite two weeks earlier?? I don’t know if that sentence even makes sense...Anyway well done Everton COYB

Andy Ellams -
Paul Lally, I bet you were one of the first to slag off the reds for their behaviour in Athens. Hope I never have to queue up next to you dickhead.

Where do you get off - Did you even read the bit about my Dad being muscled out of a legitimate ticket ?
I hope I do stand next to you in a queue and I will respond accordingly for calling me a dickhead.

I had family at Hillsborough, Hysell and Athens with tickets and no, they were not involved with any of the above incidents.

in 85’ it was terracing - and 86 - the first ever FA Cup Final Derby.
Thousands went without tickets then - it was part of the norm.
Tragedy changed everything.
At the time no-one thought of the dangers of overcrowding.
Where you ever in the Street End/Park End in the 70’s - obviously not.

And to finally answer your question - no I did not slag off reds for Athens.
The Greeks should have learnt lessons from previous big matches re security and UEFA should never have awarded the final to that stadium in the first place.

Is that okay for you Andy, you self righteous twat.

Paul - Don’t worry about Andy (Mr PC) Ellams - he trawls the threads looking for any post he can take offence at and then attempt to take the moral high ground. Self-righteous, pompous, holier-than-thou... - don’t know how he copes at matches given all that nasty swearing and pushing that goes on...cripes!