It’s an odd game to judge. Normally I would be first out of the traps to slam Moyes for his negativity and cautiousness, but what I saw was a Portsmouth side that was really up for this, that had been given the greatest pre-match motivational speech in the history of the game, and that had really gone out, with the full backing of their raucous fans, as if their lives (and obscene salaries) depended on getting their first points of the season.

I thought Pompey played like terriers for almost the entire match, making it very difficult for us to play any cultured football, while in Dindane and Smith, they had a couple of players who where utterly determined to show us a thing or two. However, I don’t think they were dirty and it didn’t strike me as a dirty match. The Bily and Pienaar incidents were essentially accidental, although I know some referees would have called and carded both of the perpetrators. Beyond that, it was to my eye a better-than average cut-and-thrust Premier League game.

In a sense it was Fulham all over again, I suppose... and the similarity in the basic structure of the two games should not be too easily dismssed. But perhaps the difference was more than the the fact we kept the goals out this time, whereas at Fulham we didn’t. Had Davey actually learnt something from the Fulham game? It could so easily have gone exactly the same way. But for the crossbar and Howard’s shoulder, it would have done...

Come on Lee... Pompey were fighting to avoid the worst start to a Premier League season. They have got to stop that run sometime and they wanted today to be the day. They also wanted to show they were 100% behind their manager in the face of all the bad press the club has received.

It really gets me this... after the Fulham game, Moyes's head is called for, three games later all the negativity disappears and then one average performance and Moyes is criticised again.

Lee you are totally incorrect with your knee-jerk analysis. I too didn’t like the way we surrendered possession and invited pressure on ourselves but to suggest Pompey deserved to win is a poor show. At best they deserved a draw. They had four good chances: 1) header off the bar; 2) header off the line; 3) shot saved by Howard; 4) Howard’s save with his shoulder. We too had 4 great chances: 1) the goal; 2) Cahill’s shot from distance that nearly caught James; 3) Cahill’s header cleared off the line. 4) Fellaini’s header just saved by James.

If anything, we need to learn to kill games off and keep possession — something we had been doing very well in the last few games.

So please lets save the criticism of Moyes and his tactics until we are at least half way through the season and then we can see what sort of football we are producing on a consistent basis.

What worries me most is the quality of this season's new signings.

Sylvain Distin
This is a quality player who looks like he has compeletly adapted to life at Everton. Superb transfer but he’ll be 32 in a couple of months. Not exactly one for the future.

Johnny Heitinga
Admittedly it's early days but, so far... worryingly bad. First saw him getting skinned by James Milner in the England/Holland game. His Everton career so far has not been much better; he looked very ordinary against Blackburn and was pretty awful against Pompey. So far, the only thing he’s done well is making Hibbert look good.

Diniyar Bilyaletdinov
Looks to have a decent left foot but so slow. Must be the slowest winger in the Premier League. Also doesn’t have much physicality. Are his lack of pace and strength going to be his downfall? Why is he always a sub? Does Moyes already suspect he’s not gonna be able to handle the tough Premier League?

Sorry to be negative, but I thought the 2nd half performance was identical to the Fulham game, only this week we got lucky, our inability to keep the ball and — more concerning — the apparent lack of fitness in the final 30 minutes will be punished by better teams. Our lack of pace makes breaking out when our goal is under seige non-existent. 3 pts is 3 pts but against a team like Spurs, let alone the Sky 4, if we don’t up our game, we’ll get slaughtered.

Michael, the fact it was "Fulham Mark 2" is the exact point I’m trying to make. Portsmouth - the most woebegone and lacklustre side in this division - were at times made to look deadly and it was solely due to tactical decisions made by Moyes from half time onwards. I actually believe he’s practicing for Europe, where such tactics are at times beneficial. However, in the Premier League it’s suicide.

Paul - not once, ever, have I called for the head of David Moyes. Ever. Not once during his entire reign. And I’m not doing so now. All I am saying is that today he got it badly wrong at the interval. Portsmouth did deserve to get something out of the game today (it could have been 3-0 Everton if we took every chance, it could have been 4-4 if everything went in, or it could have been 4-2 Portsmouth if all the reasonable chances went in).

Don’t you think that to kill a team off when holding a lead that you need to score a second, rather than hope the opposition can’t put one past you? Or if you are going to go all out defense, do you at least put two strikers up front and play it long?

Today, Moyes may as well have played 6-4-0 in the second half - the fact we had no attacking outlet meant we couldn’t hold possession.

You’re right in saying that we should wait for a while to conclusively state if Moyes is getting it wrong (which is why I say "how long is it going to be before..." bad things happen, not that they are now!). But it is worth pointing out when things are looking a bit suspect for the long term.

We won today despite Moyes, not because of him.

Lee,

You really need to get out more and watch some football, maybe watch a match that doesn’t involve Everton. "Portsmouth - the most woebegone and lacklustre side in this division". Sorry, but that is just not true, that would be Hull City. Portsmouth have been extremely unlucky, but not just in today’s match, but against Villa they basically had them pinned in their own half the entire 2nd half. They have been fighting tooth and nail and did so today.

When looking at a match try to remember that there are two teams out there, as John Lloyd pointed out today. They were fighting as hard as I have seen a team fight, and yes they got unlucky with a few near chances. But did we not also nearly score about three more? See, this is the problem. Many people when watching their team have tunnel vision. All they focus on is their team and their players, instead of taking in the whole picture. You want to talk about, it cold have been this score or it could have been that score. Well it wasn’t. Everton took their chance and won the bloody game away from home. Ask Chelsea if winning away from home is an easy thing after they were beaten 3-1 by Wigan, or Villa who lost away to Blackburn.

Wigan and Blackburn are two sides we just beat, Blackburn in convincing style last week. People rushed on here to say these victories meant nothing because they are poor sides. Well, tell that to Chelsea and Villa tonight. The fact is there is no easy match, and sometimes you have to grind out a result away from home. We did that today, with another clean sheet regardless of how it came. We didn’t play our best match, but Portsmouth probably played their best of the season. But we still won, away from home, keeping another clean sheet while Chelsea and Villa dropped points. That’s a job well done and "good enough" on the day.

Alright, Arsenal vs. Fulham today (which, amazingly, I watched - given I apparently only watch Everton!). Arsenal looked complacent today and Wenger got things wrong as well - not altering things and inviting Fulham on whilst sticking to a failing outlet in Bendtner. It was only a superb goal from van Persie that got them out of jail.

In fact, Arsenal today were identical to Everton in almost every way. They got the win though against a decent Fulham side on their own patch.

There are no easy games in the Premier League - which is exactly why I’m saying Moyes was wrong in resting on our 1-0 laurels in the second half. Given no game is easy, you make sure your side offers a threat of your own and if your side isn’t doing so, you change things around. That’s what Moyes didn’t do.

Oh, just to add, because of their financial situation, losing a myriad of playing staff and no results whatsoever, Portsmouth are undoubtedly the most beleaguered side in the league. Hull, who punched above their weight by merely surviving last season, are not going to be as dispirited - simply because they are not the established Premier League side that Portsmouth ought to be.

Lee,

Have you watched Hull?? I mean seriously, Hull have effectively thrown in the towel while Portsmouth continue to fight with all their heart. Again, this idea that Moyes and Wenger invited the other teams on, THERE ARE TWO TEAMS ON THE PITCH! Fulham played well, that’s why they were dangerous and Arsenal were not able to get into the flow of the game. Is it too much to ask for Evertonians to give the other team some credit every once in a while and not believe that every time a team nearly scores it must be Everton’s fault?

’Diniyar Bilyaletdinov
Looks to have a decent left foot but so slow’

Before we signed him everyone was saying how quick he was from his highlights. We really should stop judging new signings after 3 games and give them a bit of a chance to settle in.

I am afraid I have to agree with Lee! I also thought that the negativity shown by Moyes almost cost us the three points.

Why is the Russian bloke always on the bench? There has been talk that Moyes is trying to bring him on gently. Considering that the Russian season is almost half-way through, is this really necessary?

Lee, the basic premise of your article is what exactly? Not good enough to win today? Not good enough, full stop?

If you indeed saw Fulham v Arsenal today, you will have seen that Fulham played very well and were a little unlucky to lose. However, you will also have noticed that Arsenal looked every inch the better side in general, only they were not quite at the races, and won the game because of a top quality finish from a top quality striker, as well as a few very good saves from a very good GK.

And you know what, if you were a neutral, you would have seen exactly the same at Fratton Park, only Pompey were Fulham, and Everton were Arsenal.

And Dick, once again, your reviews of our new signings shouldn’t even be included in the ’jumping the gun’ section, so early have they arrived. How about giving them say a month to 6 weeks before we chuck them in the Hibbert and Osman pile eh? FFS (shakes head melodramatically).

I watched the game on the tele... I agree that maybe Moyes was somewhat negative but I disagree that Portsmouth were there for the taking.

I was surprised at their Premier League position given their performance... not necessarily a skilled one but definitely a gutsy / determined performance and based on the chances / goal-line clearances / woodwork / goalie saves etc., it really could have gone either way... i.e., it could easily have been 3-0 to us and we wouldn’t be complaining then would we?

Your underlying point about DM is still valid — I won’t dispute that... but equally I won’t dispute the all-important three points we got either!

Whats the difference between 2 teams having 4 decent chances each?

Answer: One of them actually scored!

During a game we all talk/shout shite due to being caught up in the moment, but afterwards most people take stock and talk sensibly.. except of course those who wouldn’t know a good football team/manager if they watched football for a 100 years!!

What part of 4 games, 4 wins, 0 goals against don’t you get?..We are a good team who are getting better after a crap start.. We are the 5th best team in one of the best leagues in the world, we aren’t shite, we’re actually quite good and getting better!! I could say more but I don’t want to send the manic depressives who post on here into apoplexy!!

Rodwell was my man of the match once again. Fellaini was shite as usual.

Fuck it 3 points is 3 points. I watched the start of the game, first 20 mins and then had to come back to work, and did not leave thinking by any means that the game would be in the bag.

The atmosphere must have been serious down there. They really were like wounded lions scrapping for everything. The fans were so loud on TV and fair play to them, they fought. I think a lot of teams would've struggled there yesterday. Look at Blackburn, who thought they would do that to Villa or Arsenal struggle so much (should have been beaten).

Like it or not, lads Everton are at a level where we are going to have many matches like this all season. Moyes must stop wearing out his strikers and replace them. Attack a game for once at the end with 2 fresh men up front. Make the opposition defenders terrified to leave them. As Van Morrison said...There’ll be days like this!!!

Paul Hornby...If anything we need to kill off games more and keep possession.

And this is not a Hibbo dig, (he is what he is and I quite like his pluses meager as they may be)

We will NEVER ’kill off games’ and ’keep possession’ by bringing on Hibbert.

Maybe if Pienaar had not gone off and Bily on, Osman could have been subbed by some sort of...?? well, not a defender anyway.

OR

Was Osman taken off with the express reason to keep it tight...? I say yes.

Moyes will always, unless forced by circumstances beyond his control (ie, nobody else left) go defensive.

Dominic, I thought it was the otherway(ish) around: Fellaini wasn’t bad and Rodwell was a bit slow and slack in thought, word and deed and looked a bit un-Kaiser-like today.

Pompey have done very well for themselves in regards to performances, they’ve simply had no luck in front of goal (off the bar, off the line against us) so to write them off just because they’re bottom of the league is stupid... weren’t we second from bottom?

This early, the league does lie, and I think they’ll survive. Anyone who talks about how woeful Pompey are based on league position — think Everton are a mid-table club? Thought not.

Today, both teams rode their luck — the result could have easily gone either way, and the scoreline could have been pretty big to either team. I was actually pleased that, in the classic 20-minutes-of-worry that Everton usually put us through, that we didn’t concede.

But facts is facts — we scored, they didn’t. We won. They didn’t.

With regards to substitutions, I challenge anyone to do better. All these Football Manager predictions are all well and good, but there is only one man who knows his squad, his squad’s fitness levels, ability, etc, and his name is Mr D Moyes.

Also, give Heitinga a break for pete’s sake. New league, new club, shoved into about three positions... jeez... who do you think he is? Dean Cain?

Not the most inspiring performance, but three points nevertheless. And with two home matches coming up against Stoke and Wolves, I expect us to be up into European places within a couple of weeks. Considering our position just a few weeks back, this is the best we could have hoped for.

4 games and 12 goals without reply. The key to success for a club like us is not to concede. And our defense is showing that never-say-die spirit which is instrumental to us pushing on. Yes, we rode our luck against Pompey. But we held out, got the result, and also created more chances. It wasn't just backs to the wall stuff, we could have just as easily won 3-0 as we could have drawn 1-1. These are the margins in football sometimes.

That said, this was the first time we beat a team that looked really hungry, and threw everything they had at us. To get a result against a team fighting in that way, can only been seen as a positive. Onwards and upwards, there is no point complaining about the performances until the results are going the wrong way.

I agree with Lee Kidd on this one — he is not saying that we had a God given right to thrash Pompey. Just that we should have done better than to sit back and hope that we see this one out. I never see the Top 4 teams doing that against any opposition, at ANY stage of the match.

It is this kind of a negative attitude that cost us the Fulham match, and very nearly cost us 2 points yeaterday.

What I guess Lee and I and others are worried about is what signal it sends out to the players — did they come out of the match thinking "We played good football, bring on the next opponents," or "Whew, that was close, will our luck hold next week?"

Everyone's entitled to there opinion and here's mine. Don't think we'll play a team that's fighting for their lives every week, and that's what Pompey did. Although we weren't great, not many teams will relish playing them right now. The Fulham game was awful but when you compare today's game and their position, there's no comparison.

Good 3 points today if a bit scary but good anyway. By the way, I don't know what game some people watched but Fellaini was our best player, full stop.

Make no mistake, that was a great 3 points, Pompey might be on their arse at the moment but they’re playing well and were 100% committed. Also the sign of a good team is to not play well but dig in and scramble the 3 points, the Mancs have been doing that for years.

Give the new lads a chance to settle in. How ironic is it to read back some of the match comments and hear the armchair Hansen’s slagging Heitinga and actually happy to see Hibbo at RB again!

To all those whinging about negative tactics, how many points did Spurs and the shite take yesterday compared to us?

Well said Mac, I wish the shite were playing them next week, because no-one will fancy going there right now.

I’m not saying it wasn’t a good three points - in fact, I’m saying it was a great three points! I know Pompey were fighting for their lives, which makes the decision to hold on for dear life to a 1-0 lead for the entire second half even more unfathomable.

Literally, my entire point is that any top side would have dropped a bit deeper but employed two strikers on the counter if they know the other side are going to "kitchen sink" it.

It was never going to be an easy game, but we made it a lot harder on ourselves. That’s why I said Moyes "gambled on the most desperate side in the division not being able to pull one back in front of their home supporters."

Just to make it clear, this isn’t a rant saying we should have stuffed them 10-0 because they’re bottom of the league!!!

Fair point, Lee. I was more concerned some people thought Fellaini was shite, when he was our star man.

I see what you mean Lee, but I am afraid by saying you thought Portsmouth deserved to win, that is doing a massive discredit to our defence and goalkeeper.

Moyes decided that our defence could cope with Portsmouth’s attack, and decided that we should play deeper. And we won, so that decision was vindicated. Now had he decided to leave two up top and try to go for the second goal, and we then conceded, would you be on here saying ’Fair play, at least Moyes tried to play offensively’?

Even when we were playing defensively, we still created chances to score more goals. I won't say Portsmouth were ’lucky’ not to have gone two down. Their defense and keeper simply played well, and cleared the danger.

Fellaini played really well in my opinion today, Dominic; care to expand on why you thought he was shite?

We were appalling, it was embarrassing to watch. Unless Pienaar or Baines are involved, any joined-up play is non-existent. Fellaini and Osman were atrocious and I’ve got to say Rodwell wasn’t in the game. Saha had a decent game... pity he had no support. We played like a team of strangers!

Firstly, Pompley were no mugs and might even still stay up if they play like that every week.

Our inability to keep control of the game in the second half was surely down to two things — inability to hold onto the ball upfront and lack of speed to hit on the break. These are failings that have been with us for years, not necessarily just yesterday. Once Pienaar went off, we seemed to have nobody comfortable with the ball at his feet going forward.

Yes, Moyes is responsible for buying players and tactics but I felt our backs-to-the-wall attitude yesterday was forced on us by the opposition’s attitude and our persistent failings above, rather than Moyes’s explicit negativity.

Fellaini played well, Rodwell was quiet and Osman was found wanting again.

Howard 8
Jonny 6
Yobo 8
Distin 8
Baines 8
Osman 5
Cahill 5
Rodwell 5
Fellaini 8
Pinnar 8
Louis 8
Fellaini was excellent at times neat tidy an all over the pitch. You obviously don't like him Ray.

Talk about being a game of opinions; there are obviously some supporters that hate certain players, and if the player scored 4 had 3 assists and cleared 3 off the line they would still have a negative comment — and the opposite is true and there are some players that can be underperforming and don’t get critisised.

Step forward Tim Cahill, who hasn’t played well all season and yet I don’t think one poster mentioned it. At Portsmouth he was to say the least peripheral didn’t give enough support to Saha and his body language was all over the place, and at the moment he’s more of a liability.

Spot on Dave, Cahill was a liability and so was Osman and Jack was quiet. Fellaini and Pienaar were are best midfielders yesterday.

I think if we had started with Bily wide and Osman on the other flank and Pienaar behind Louis in the Cahill role we would have won easily.Moyes threatens to do this now an again but he bottles it.

You create your own luck as far as im concerned, unless a ref makes a poor decision, or perhaps if a player makes an uncharacteristic mistake or gets a freak injury.

• Was Saha’s goal lucky or was it the quality of the players touch, control and finishing?
• Was it lucky that Howard made a couple of great saves or is it because he is a quality shot stopper and keeper.
• Was it lucky our defence held off a wave of attacks making last ditch clearances or was it the quality of our defenders?

If anything, I'd say we were unlucky to have so many injured players and especially loosing our player of the month Pienaar which greatly affected the game.

No we weren't lucky; if we win the next 10 games 1-0 in a similar way to the season we finished 4th when we had a lot of 1-0 wins then that is no coincidence.

Personally, I’m disgusted we won with a goal that was straight out of the hoofball manual. Efan Ekoku would’ve been proud of that in his crazy gang days. Terrible, terrible, terrible!!!

I have said for the longest time on this site that Everton’s midfield is woefully inadequate. We just do not have any good speedy strong ball-winners except maybe Pienaar who yesterday was quieter than usual.

Fellaini, Cahill and Osman just don’t cut it. Unless one of them pops in a goal one wouldn’t know they were playing. Fellaini has been a poor buy — very one-paced and cannot tackle. Osman, until his substitution had only done one thing, supply the cross from which Fellaini should have buried. Rodwell is still learning and is getting better as a Carsley-type deep lying defensive player.

We are getting points now with a struggle and that’s all we can hope for at least until the injuries to Arteta and Jags clear up.

At the end of the day we've won a tough game down at Pompey who are, even at this stage, fighting for their lives and looking for that all-important first win of the season.

To me, its a sign of a good side when you go away to places like Portsmouth, play shite and still get the 3 points — that's another win under our belts, another clean sheet and eventually these results will breed more confidence in our side and hopefully we will start to pick up even more in the coming weeks.

At this stage, I don't care how we win as long as we do because, after the start we've had (a 6-1 loss against Arsenal, 1-0 defeat at Burnley, the Lescott transfer saga, and our late transfer dealings), I don't think were doing all that bad now.

If we can keep picking results up here and there, let the new boys settle and bed in more, and get the injured players back to fitness and in the side, then I'm pretty sure we will start to see the best of us — just have a bit of patience, fellow Evertonians!

Another point as well: people having a dig at some of the new boys, especially Heitinga and Bily... I mean it's just stupid, how long have they been at the club, 3, 4 weeks and they've only played an handful of games and people are complaining as if there already not good enough! It's a joke, especially people moaning about Bily, he’s made two sub appearances in the Prem, a couple of cup appearances too. And don't forget, he’s made 5 assists in that time too... and people are saying he’s too slow for a winger... blah, blah, blah!?!

For one, he isn't a winger, he’s a central midfielder by trade that sort of plays the Cahill role but can play out wide and that's where he’ll probably get used for us. From what little I have seen, he’s going to be a player for us; he might not be the quickest but he’s definitely got quick feet, good technique and skill, an eye for a pass... and his delivery from set pieces is going to be a vital weapon for us!

People need to give these new boys more time to get settled into Everton life and let them get a run of games under their belts, and I mean a run of 10 to 15 — not 2, 3 or 4 before passing judgement!

Spoke to many Russians who all say Bilyaletdinov is fast and technically brilliant, they just said he will be too weak for EPL. I'm excited by the start he has made — he looks very Pienaar/Arteta-esque... Anybody think Anthony van den Borre worth bringing to Goodison?! He was rapid and very attacking...

I agree with Tom, I’ve also been saying for ages our midfield isn't good enough to make us a CL side. We lack pace and power but we’ve had this problem for 4 seasons and done nothing about it. It's why we have to play 4-5-1 all the time. We get overrun at times with 3 in the middle... imagine if Moyes did ever go 4-4-2 against top teams.

Instead of signing Fellaini, I’d have loved Moyes to get Palacios before Spurs moved in for him. Tough tackling and gets about the pitch as well — just what we needed to free up Arteta in a 4-4-2 midfield.

David Hallwood

Spot on, Cahill isn't technically gifted enough to contribute to smooth free-flowing football, we have better footballers who should start before him. Bily shoulda started on the left with Pienaar central, Cahill on the bench.

Two points:

(1) I find the regular denunciations of Osman (and Hibbert) truly laughable. Here’s a lad who plays out of position, yet always gives everything for the club he loves. He knows how to hold the ball. He always looks for solutions in the forward direction. You really cannot expact more.

(2) This brings me to Fellaini. Why all this enthusiasm? Is it the wig? Or are you afraid of having to admit the fact we may have wasted €15 million on a player who clearly does not seem to be capable of adapting to the Premier League? I was watching him very closely yesterday. He was total crap. I will bring a note book along for the next game and jot down every bleedin’ mishap of his.
But then, even Neville had his partisans claiming him to be some midfield genius.

Midfield is looking an area for concern for me AGAIN this season. If you look at Pompey’s midfield from yesterday

04 Mokoena
05 O’Hara
11 Brown
23 Boateng

its hardly anything to be worried about so why the need for us to go with 5 in midfield?

Also Heitinga... I know it's only early days but his lack of pace really concerns me.

So Dominic, you can see "every bleedin’ mishap" Fellaini is responsible for, while Osman "always looks for solutions in a forward direction"?!? You forgot to add the words "... and nearly always fails".

Take that ridiculous moment where he received the ball in the middle of the park, acres of space, no pressure, controlled it well (nice first touch, excellent ball control), then looked for the forward solution, which was to pass it directly to a Pompey player 3 yards in front of him!!!

Some utter shite being spouted from the FM / armchair brigade, I see. I can only make this assumption because some of the comments bear no resemblance to the game I watched live:

1 – Fellaini was way better than Osman. He hardly lost possession, made a number of good interceptions and was threatening at set pieces. Osman looked tired and slow and produced one cross of quality, but he gave up the ghost in the second half. 3 games a week is too much for him, especially as he usually has to graft to make up for his lack of physical attributes. Fellaini was involved in the best move of the game in the first half with a one-two with Saha that almost came off.

2 – Cahill was shite? What? Cahill was Cahill. He made some superb runs off the ball, ghosted in at the near post on a couple of occasions and only received one decent ball from Baines which he headed over the bar. He nearly scored from a corner and as usual his tackling and passing were distinctly average. You should also watch him at set pieces when we defend — he usually does a good job against aerial threats from the opposition.

3 – Heitinga looked lost. Having Osman infront of him can’t have helped, but he seems prone to losses of concentration. That said, his passing is good and we did look dangerous on the right; pair him with Pienaar (with Bily on the left) and I can see the forwards getting good service from both flanks. If he can add decent defending to his game he will become a top all round full back. I think Moyes will definitely have to work on this.

4 — I have seen far too little of Bily to judge his abilities. I was not at the AEK game, and he has only had a few minutes in the PL. The second-half showing was negative from the whole side overall and he hardly had the opportunity to link up with other attacking midfielders in the the opposition's half as everyone was 20 yards too deep.

From where I was sitting, this was a carbon copy away display, the formula for which we have developed over several seasons. We defend deep, look to fight for second balls further up the pitch and threaten from set-pieces.

Louis Saha was the difference between a win and a mediocre away performance which would have been the case had he not been on the pitch.

I noticed we have begun to pass the ball a little more but to me the side is only set-up to gain results away from home in the PL through deep defence and scrapping for second balls and set-pieces.

As has always been the case, this is only justifiable if we get the results. When it doesn’t come off, as against Fulham, severe criticism is right.

Regarding Osman 95% of us agree he is not good enough. Some of the other 5% say he is out of position. Doesn’t matter what position you are, if your not quick enough or can’t tackle then you are not much use unless you are a goalkeeper or a Duncan Ferguson type forward.

However he keeps his starting role because of Moyes and will continue to do so because other players get injured. Meanwhile, people like Baxter and Gosling do not get as much time as Osman has had over the last 2 years which maybe because Moyes is not impressed with them either?

Amit Vithlani: There is no such thing as a FM brigade in the 21st century. With a good internet connection, it is possible to watch virtually every single Everton game live.

Michael: I think it is very difficult to discuss without statistics to back up our claims. I will bring my notebook for the next game. Mr Wig will be subject to close scrutiny.

Amiit, you make some interesting observations that I am somewhat disinclined to read following your irritating opening salvo... although you are not alone in using this device to denigrate the views of others in a failed effort to inflate the value of your own.

We all watched the same game. Anyone suggesting otherwise needs serious help. The difference, which so many seem incapable of digesting, is that we view the same things in a different way. Or we draw different conclusions about what we see. So... can we PLEASE have less of this nonsense?

Offer a differing viewpoint by all means, that’s one purpose of the forum, but please stop with these ridiculous blanket put-downs.

Sorry but I knew as soon as I saw the teamsheet we would struggle: Pienaar right, Bily left ffs.
Portsmouth have had a massive upheaval and are slowly getting better. Micheal pointed out about their pre-match talk, doubtless Merson's comment about lose this and your relegated. I thought Dindane looked dangerous and I wouldn’t mind O’hara for us.

Hart had also sorted out that nutter at full back and brought in Ben-Haim. All-in-all, if they carry on like that, they will turn a lot of teams over at Fratton Park. So 3 points away... great!

How irritating it is to read people questioning all the new signings on here after just a few games.

They have all moved countries as well as clubs and have a plethora of things to get their heads around. Give them a break.

Laughably, the same people who were slagging Hibbert before Heitinga arrived are now ’relieved’ to see Hibbo replacing him from the bench, while Distin’s age is now a concern for some! Could you make this up??? And the reason Bily has been on the bench has been because he picked up a groin strain in the Athens match and had to go off, if you remember. Obviously, Moyes is easing him back in gradually to avoid making the injury worse. It’s what you do with a Squad. Simples!

It was not very convincing at Pompey and we had the luck we did not get at Fulham. Both performances were eerily similar, but sometimes you take the 3 points and move on. The team is still gelling and we await the returns of Mikky, Jags and Big Vic so 3 wins from the last 4 league games will do for now.

Dominic; David Moyes has all the statistics he needs at his disposal and has his reasons for both the big Fella and Osman being in his team, it is all about opinions but they each contribute in their own way.

Fellaini is there for a specific reason, he is not a great all-round player but he is very effective and very important to the team.

Before Fellaini came along the common theme of most fans on ToffeeWeb long before the need for a RB or a RW was the need for some height as our "midget gems" were "too lightweight". So Moyes purposley went out and bought the biggest and best young prospect he could find in Europe.

You might also remember at the start of last season, before Fellaini arrived, the amount of goals we conceded from set pieces which I believe was no coincidence and probably the reason Baines couldn't break into the side, we were very vulnerable because of the lack of height in our side and always outnumbered by bigger players of the opposition.

Fellaini still has plenty of improving to do but he is very young and will learn a lot. In my own opinion, he keeps the ball very well, doesn't waste many passes, he keeps the game flowing and I have seen him put in a few good through-balls to split defences, he holds the ball up well and is very important in both boxes.

Set-peices, especially corner kicks, are a massive part of the game, and with the delivery of Pienaar, Baines and Bily to players like Cahill, Fellaini, Saha and Distin, they will be key to many of our points this season.

There good points, Amiit, well said.

Dominic just what game were you watching; "Fellaini was total crap" what he wasn't better than Cahill, Osman, and a quiet Rodwell yesterday.
If you cant see that you need to get down to specsavers or whatever they're called, you too my friend are a Fellaini hater arent you? There are certain players that dont do it for me, but at least if they have played well I would admit it. It's called an honest opinion.
He's a young lad and I think he will turn out to be a great player for us, just like Rodwell will do. That's of course if Billy Bullshit doesn't sell Rodders. Anyway Dominic go and get some giggs — and I don't mean from Manchester.

We still look vulnerable away from home, especially in the middle of the park. Rodwell, Cahill and Fellaini don’t demand the ball like Neville and especially Arteta do and we tend to go long.

I’m hoping it was more to do with the small, tight pitch and a team full of fight and determination. I hope that’s the case anyway. To be fair to Moyes we’ve lost our first choice central midfield - Phil Neville and Mikel Arteta. A lot of teams would struggle in our situation.

The decision to play Osman over Bilyaletdinov was baffling though. I don’t mind Osman in the middle but it’s been clear for ages that he offers nothing as a wide player.

I’d like to see Cahill and Rodwell in the middle with Fellaini in front of them. We need a ’runner’ in there, someone who presses the ball and gets in opposition players' faces. Rodwell and Fellaini are too laid back to play together, especially away from home.

Connor, I agree that we look vulnerable away from home. I don’t understand why we play so deep on a 1-goal lead. It came back to bite us against Fulham and almost did yesterday.

I am surprised that you think the return of Neville will, in any way, improve us. I don’t think it is a coincidence that we have won without him. If he returns to our 1st team midfield, look for the results to dip.

Peter Gunby, I can understand why teams play deep when they’re in front, what I don’t understand is, if a manager is going to organise his team like that then surely he must have pace throughout the side. Man U did it for years; go 1-0 up, 10 men behind the ball when it broke in their favour have 2 or 3 players that can sprint to the other end, it’s this lack of the ability to counter-attack that leads to so many squeaky-bum times...

Just a thought, didn't it take Phil Jagielka a few games to settle in when he arrived? Give the new lads a chance.

"We feel at this Club that our performances have to be right. It’s all well and good to talk about getting a result, but how do you go about getting a result?" - Tim Howard.

Says it all for me!