Kanchelksis: Kyiv will be a very difficult game for Everton

If you recall, there was a hold up in his transfer from Man Utd to us over a claim, supposedly from Shaktar Donetsk, about money they’d be entitled to.

Also, after we sold to Fiorentina, he didn’t exactly hang around long there either.

If you Google "andrei kanchelskis gambling debts" there is a load of info regarding the position at the time, and also in the following link, if you scroll down to a piece taken from the Independent there is sobering article on Ukraine football...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/how-bribes-and-secret-bank-accounts-led-to-a-bomb-in-the-directors-box-1111058.html

You wouldn’t see Kanchelskis arsing around with this sideways and backwards football, he merely got the ball ran forward and twatted the ball at goal as hard as possible.

Totally unplayable during 1995-96 and along with Limpar, when they were on fire it was scary.

Contrast that season to the mundane dross nowadays.

I agree 100% with you.

Going out of Europe will help this dreadful season how exactly??

Lets be honest, it is not a case of us being "too good to go down" but more a case of three below us being "too bad to stay up".

I get the feeling we will probably stay up with 38 points this season, somewhere down the line we’ll eek out two more league wins and a smattering of draws.

Stay in Europe as long as is possible and keep some hope alive for the long suffering fans in what has otherwise been a disastrous season from start to finish.

As far as I’m concerned the moment we go out of Europe is the moment the season is over in terms of interest.

Should we spend as much money as we could on champions league quality players in order to really have a go at getting through the group stage? Or should we accept that champions league qualification is unlikely the following season and therefore we shouldn’t break the bank trying to have a real go at it?

I’m not sure what calibre of players we’d attract with our league form or style of play even if we did qualify for the Champions League. But, if we did make it, I don’t think we’re in a position to have a real go at progressing in it due to how far we have regressed this season.

Not trying to make what would be an incredible achievement sound negative, but the club are in disarray at the moment and not in the best position to prepare for Champions League football. But, then again, that would be next season’s worry. Long may this Europa League run continue. It’s all we have left to get excited about.

And the fans... the Elland Road semi and the final at Wembley were two of my greatest days as a Blue.

Kev might not even get his end of season hammy strain.

Big games such as the 95 semi at Elland Road and the Final at the old Wembley are the ones that fan’s remember.

We haven’t had enough of those memories at this club during the 20 year period that has followed 1995’s unexpected success and we certainly haven’t seen enough big games at Goodison, I want to see a European semi final at Goodison Park under the floodlights again, I mean Christ we haven’t even seen a that many League Cup semi’s have we?

Its high time some of the bits of glory we are seeing other clubs have come the way of us now.

And yes, in 1995 we were fighting relegation untill Rideout scored at Portman Road only just before the end of the season. League form was terrible but that FA Cup was brilliant.
I was 20 at the time, my first - and only - trophy as an Evertonian in my adult life. I remember walking around town the day after thinking "now I am a FA Cup winner, they’ll never take that away from me".

Go on lads, let’s give it all we’ve got in Europe AND make sure we stay up.

Every game is difficult when you are on a bad run and they donÂ’t come much worse than EvertonÂ’s which in all honesty has been a bad run all season.

There are a lot of good teams left in Europa league and if the Blues do get past Kiev one hopes they donÂ’t get Wolfsburg again who are a different side now.

Brian #009
Hit the nail on the head

I could be wrong here but was Barkley’s goal against QPR our one and only goal from outside the box this season? What a sad stat. Can someone tell me if that’s right?

He of course joined after the 95 Cup final so played no part in that.

It’s important we stay in the Europa League. We are not exactly facing a fixture overload given earlier cup exits. And we seem to need game time to work out our current funk.

You could be right about goals from outside the box, at least in the Premier League!

I do not and never will forget Jags at the Kop though, a once-in-a-lifetime hit, never before and never again let’s put it that way.

We never shoot outside the penalty area. There is only Barkley or Mirallas likely to have a shot, Barkley hasn’t took on that many this season and I might be wrong but I think Mirallas scored at Spurs from distance?

You could watch Everton for years and never see a 30-yard hit from Macca and well Besic is going the same way. Barry at least did score a goal 25-yarder last season at home to Norwich, that stuck out in my memory because it was Barry... haha.

We haven’t scored a free-kick this season have we?

If we go there needing to win I fear we’ll struggle.

So again, stating the obvious really...

It would be nice to have the Goodison crowd right behind the team as well on Thursday night. The players need us on-side more than ever right now.

Still, neither of them goals resulted in victory. Although, at the time, JagielkaÂ’s felt like it because of the timing.

You wouldnÂ’t know if they were under orders not to shoot from distance. Nothing would surprise me with the Spaniard...

It really would be good to let Martinez go now. ItÂ’s a shame that Kenwright is such a lame-duck chairman. Is loving the club with gushy sentimentality qualification enough to be a chairman when he steadfastly refuses to let go of the rings and make though decisions? Both Martinez and he need to walk for the good of our club.

God, Kanchelskis was a terrific player. Him and Limpar in the same team/squad made the dour Royle look like a good manager at times.

About the time we signed him was also when names were put on shirts. There was a programme with James Bolam where he made reference to this, viz: "Kanchelskis? How the hell can you read that at the speed he goes?"

Just having him in the side pegged back two defenders to cover his breaks. Anfield derby 18 November 1995 and the 5-2 Sheffield Wednesday away game stand out.

What a great player!

You could even add a double Andrei got at Ewood Park in 1996 , a game I had the luxury of being at, we won 3-0 at the home of the reigning Champions at that time. (Blackburn Rovers, yes it did happen, younger fans...)

Kanchelskis also scored the winner at Highbury in our last win at Arsenal and a bit historically really in that we will never win again at Highbury, obviously.

Certain players just go through spells of sheer brilliance and watching Kanchelskis between 1996 and 1996 was a privilege.

A proper "phenomenal player".

As for Thursday, I'm actually very confident. We've done well in Europe, it seems to suit us. As others have said, we need at least a 2-goal lead because the return leg will be very difficult.

But hopefully we'll be able to counter them like we did Wolfsburg and Berne.

I can't wait.

Sadly yet another false dawn, as we lost Andrei and Parkinson to long-term injury. There was also a rumour (rife at the time) that Ian Wright was going to sign because he didn't get on with the manager Bruce Rioch.

If that had've come off, it would've been a phenomenal, phenomenal side.

The game is over two legs and the home leg is NOT the be-all and end-all.