I would have been more relaxed if Oviedo had come on instead of Heitinga we would not have to change the shape of the side. Oviedo is a natural sub for both Baines and Pienaar. We surrendered the attacking side of our game completely when both Osman and Pienaar came off. Jagielka ended up playing left side instead of central where he is better suited.

I would also agree with Ross Edwards - our 18-year-old youngin who did a great job announcing on the PA yesteday 9/10 and he even stumbled over Naismtih - that Naismith was a bag of shite in admittedly a last quarter run-out and giving him the same rating as Lu and Nuts - Jesus wept!

Paul I know ratings are in the eye of the beholder and I also know that I rattle on about this week-in-and-week-out but you have an unenviable ability to pull off howlers!

Apart from that goal v Chelsea of course.

This comes up time and time again.

It's done like this at our request - Derby at Goodison first, as the club is worried that having the Derby at home in the second half of the season would impact on ST sales.

This comes up time and time again.

It's done like this at our request - Derby at Goodison first, as the club is worried that having the Derby at home in the second half of the season would impact on ST sales.

An Anfield Derby second would create more interest for TV as there is more to play for than if it would be at the start of the season.

That's my (wrong) take on it.

http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/fans/faqs/how-are-fixtures-compiled.html

The clubs obviously have a say in the schedule.

If Baines stays, which looks likely, whats going to happen with Oviedo? This very talented and likeable lad has had a raw deal throughout his Everton career.

I might be reading too much between the lines but I remember RM said that McGeady can contribute to the experience or learning or something of that matter.

My belief and this is the same for many players is to cross train players into other positions, probably the first being Oviedo. That will also be true for other players of cos if my guess is right.

I'm equally surprised Ovideo not having a part in Norwich, but if RM fully rotates between him and Baines, say Oviedo playing the full Brom game, I actually don't see a problem short term.

There was a thread on here about it, I don't know if anyone can search the site for it.

I'd agree with Paul Ferry that Stones had a bit of an off day too. Seemed to get caught out by a few long balls....but he's young and will have learned some lessons hopefully.

As for Naismith, again useless performance with nothing positive. If it weren't for the fact that most of our reserve players who are close to the first team are off getting valuable experience in the lower leagues, I'd have one of them on the bench without hesitation ahead of Naismith.

I'm sure Naismith isn't as shit as he's showing. He probably plays better in and around the box where he doesn't need pace, to be able pass, or to get past anyone, but played on the wing or in midfield he's as bad a footballer as I think I've ever seen. How you've given him the same rating as Pienaar or Osman is beyond me.

My first option though is not Oviedo but Baines into a DM. Quite a few reasons for that, tactical, cover, skill set and succession wise. But it's really personal preference. And surely RM sees things that I didn't consider yet, e.g. age, transfer or a million reasons.

I can see Oviedo and Coleman being trained as wingers or into Bale-ish players. The reason I say Oviedo first is his natural flexible positions and availability of direct cover, although I consider Coleman closer to the Bale mold than Oviedo. Based on what I see of course, which might be a selective sample of their performance.

We'll see. Injuries will be the headliner for the next 2 weeks but I'm sure we'll see a bit of this transformation coming soon.

Having said that the whole team seemed to fall apart when Naismith came on, but I don't think we can blame him for that.

There are certain parameters they try to work in. (Travel distances over Xmas and New Year being one, though sometimes you wouldn't think so).

Police forces also have input, as well, obviously, as TV companies. It's no coincidence that Sky's "Super Sunday" of the top 4 playing each other on the same weekend is a regular occurrence.

Clubs can also make requests. Everton's request was purely from a commercial point of view that they would prefer to host the Goodison Derby in before Xmas, as they fear having it after Xmas would adversely affect Season Ticket sales (but lead to more people buying half STs). That's why this season they make a big play of "Man Utd, Man City and Arsenal included in the ST deal".

Liverpool were happy to go along with this as it gives them a home derby on the run in to their eventual title win... er...

It's been this way for years now. It's up to you if you believe me or not. I've been wrong before, I'm sure I will be again in the future.

David. You got it right with Naismith. People calling him useless are insulting Martinez.

Harold, yep, that's the same way in NFL or other sports too. Even with the license to roam, I'm sure there are defined tasks for each position. Even Barkley seems to be defined within a certain area and tasks based on the tactic.

As for the winger role, I've never given it much thought, so when you mentioned the regular vs inverted, it made sense. It does seem to me that McGeady will have a more diversified winger role while they might get Coleman and Oviedo to do winger duties. Wonder if we'll get someone to be the target man for the crosses but that might be a distraction form the way the current team plays. If I'm to judge from the Noriwch game, we might be able to benefit from those speedy strikers with a delicate touch.

I was thinking, given his workrate, is it possible to convert him to a DM? I know size and height might be an issue but it does open options for both us and Naismith. More ball winner than control or playmaker.

One of your more insane suggestions there I think.

Oh - how's the plan to spend less time on ToffeeWeb going? You must be asleep by now surely - it must be 3am for you!

The ToffeeWeb article referred to above, http://www.toffeeweb.com/season/13-14/comment/talkingpoints/26106.html, advises, "So keenly anticipated is the Merseyside derby that for the last 10 years, alone in the Premier League, it has been governed by special rules. The first fixture will now always be at Goodison and the second, after Christmas, at Anfield. This prevents supporters having to wait more than a year for what they always used to consider their most important home fixture and avoids the situation that cropped up 50 years ago, whereby Goodison Park did not see a derby game during the whole of 1963". The quote is taken from an article in the Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/nov/21/everton-liverpool-merseyside-derby.

Personally, I think this explanation is a smokescreen. I can't find a link, but I have previously seen a more plausible reasoning, along the lines that a lot of Everton fans buy season tickets to guarantee attending the derby. If the Goodison derby is in the first half of the season then a full season ticket needs to be purchased, if it's in the second half of the season, a half season ticket will suffice. In my opinion, the special rules were introduced and have been maintained by the powers-that-be at Goodison.

Apologies that I can't find a way to slag off our bastard offspring on this occasion.

COYB!!!!

94-95 season results:

Liverpool (h) W 2-0 (21 November 1994)
Liverpool (a) D 0-0 (24 January 1995)

95-96 season results:

Liverpool (a) W 2-1 (18 November 1995)
Liverpool (h) D 1-1 (16 April 1996)

So it has happened in the Premier League era.

It's a shame some posters on here feel the need to disect your very comprehensive view of the game and performance ratings, trying to score points like children is not clever, same old crowd dishing out the same old sarcasm. have a go yourselvesif you think its so easy,

I've just seen Sam Higgins post, you beat me to it Sam

Just in case your wondering I regularly attend the Grand Old Lady.

Figures that the idea was way out there with Naismith. He works hard tho, but best to offload him in the summer, good for both parties.

We can beat rs any day. It's really down to tactics, some luck and quite honestly, refs. Sunday refs are horrible! And from what I heard its not an EPL thing.