Everton paired with City in last eight of the FA Cup

Ugoddabefuckinkiddinme.

Our cup record versus man city is p 7 w 4 L 3, last match up was in 1981

Are well..we had a good run...please don't come on here thinking we are going to beat city

Have they got any European games around that time ?

lovely

Have they got any European games around that time ?

Arse.

It was rigged. Where is Rudi Giuliani?

This was predicted, interestingly, on another Everton site well before the draw was made with reference to a senior retired TV and football figure who said that the two clubs were the "cold balls".

Coincidence I'm sure.

No reason we shouldn’t beat Citeh, if we are serious about lifting the cup that is.

Just hope we're up for it and all players are firing on all six cylinders. They can be beaten.

City play Borussia Munchen Gladbach on the 16th then us on the 20th. We are at home and we would need to beat them at some point to win the cup.at lealeast we are home

Five of the 7 times we've played city in the cup, the winner has reached the final. (Twice Everton, Twice City) On 3 of those 4, the team win the whole thing. City in 81 being the time the finalist lost. Our last win versus them in the cup was 1966.

If we want to dine at footballs top table again. we have to expect to be eating with the posh guests. We as a club need to be involved in these high profile games. Performances like last night earn you the chance to be part of the party.

I've almost forgotten what goes on behind the green door.

Bring it on!

Another year without a trophy...great.

2nd leg of the champions league on the Wednesday before the cup game.
Fingers crossed for extra time and injuries to De Bruyne, Foden, Silva, Jesus, Sterling, Gundagen, Aguero, Mahrez, Dias and Ederson.
Not much to wish for!!!!

I think this will solve the Europe versus the Cup debate. We do City and we will, we will go all out for the Cup.

Would have to play them sometime and rather play them in the QF at home rather than a semi final or the final bring it on pretty sure they’ll have CL games and the League Cup Final to contend with . we would likely come up unstuck with the likes of Southampton or Sheffield Utd away

Could do with Leicester knocking Manure out

We would have had to beat City anyway if we want to win it. Least we'll know early whether or not we're good enough. Better than getting to a final and getting hammered by them.

Ohhhh bugger.

You know what? I don't feel despondent about that at all.

Sure, would have welcomed an easier tie. But the way we are playing now I think 'Why not? Bring it on!'

Check out their fixture list compared to ours between now and then. They're going to be busy boys.

Next Wednesday's league fixture against them will be an interesting pointer.

Exactly, Neil. By March 20th they will be due a long overdue defeat.

Michael FFS stop being so negative ! Imagine the players are sat at home thinking the same ! Get a grip man

Michael Barrett

Bet you’ve never been mistaken for a ray of sunshine

Michael Barrett, we get your point, even a defeatist grammatically wayward one.

If you want to win the FA Cup you have to beat the best, or close to the best, at some point in the competition so bring 'em on and let's see what happens.

Looking at the other options, we haven't beaten Sheff Utd in the cup since 1906, and having all but given up the league they would be up for the cup. We've played Utd three times this year without winning. We've lost our last two cup clashes with Leicester. We almost always lose to Chelsea, and Bournemouth most recently embarrased us at home in May.

The reality is that you're going to have to beat the best at some point. And as we've seen in "easy" quarter finals in the past: Wigan, Middlesborough, you can't assume you'll beat a lesser side.

I thought it was the RS over the road that were deluded ffs give ya heads a wobble

True, Jay. Actually, there are no easy games for Everton. We contrive to make that so, therefore I am happy to have a tough game which we will contrive to make easy.

Well said Darren. Something I can definitely get on board with. A terrifying prospect and mouthwatering all in one. We can do them, we’re good enough (Godfrey will be up for it). Never a better chance to really shine and give it to the bias meeja at the same time.

We would have had to have played them at sometime if we are to win the cup so why not now. Would prefer to lose ìn the 6th round as opposed to the final or even semi-final.

One of those things chances were we'd play them somewhere. At least we've got them at Goodison.

Likely we don't progress, but, if we do damn we've got good shot of lifting the trophy!. Reason for hope not fear.

Michael Barrett

"Another year without a trophy...great."

You're right, Pep is going to be in the hot seat this summer

We can take these!! We have to take a positive attitude into this game!

City are good but not as good as they have been in the past and we are much better

Michael . fuck off will yer

What Grant #21 said - rather play them now in the thick of it all including City playing Borussia the week before, than play them later in front of the whole world when they would go all out to win a final

Pick the best team. Leave the tactics to Ancelotti and go for it. No easy games at this stage as everyone sees the pot getting closer

We can do this, they have big games coming up, champions league 4 days before our game.

Our eyes will be on one thing and one thing only. Semis here we come.

On another thread boxing is all the go so: The bigger they are, The harder they fall: On we go to the semi final.

This is a great draw. Bring it on.

Last night proved the magic of the FAC.

Inspiration, belief and grit won Everton the game last night.

Same again as last night and let City worry about us.

There’s gonna be some tempo, as we host them next Wednesday and the game that they got postponed, 4 hrs or so, before KO, on 28/12/2020.

Now let’s prepare for Fulham.

John#36.
👏👏👏👏👏

Have we ever had all our FA cup games at Goodison before? This is four in a row with no option of "away" replays either

Need to give it a go a la the Spurs semi all those years ago.

Fannying around with a mindset of hanging on hoping to nick one will see us eviscerated. Nothing to lose as every man and his dog will have City as easy winners.

“Victory belongs to the most persevering.” – Napoleon Bonaparte

From a proper Citeh Fan mate of mine .

Yes we have too many matches !
Could be your year 👍

We are going to end their winning league record next Wednesday and then we get another go at em in the cup. Good stuff. I reckon we’ll have Chelsea in the final with Carlo winning with us this time. Allan, James, and DCL with our goals in a 3-0 win. Easy this footy lark.

Olsen
4 CB defensive formation.
Coleman and Digne wide midfield.
Allan Doucoure Davies CM
DCL lone striker.

Draw and pens! Olsen the hero.

Hells clucking bells Michael Barrett this is why we have not won fuckall since 95 big negative attitude you have to win every game you play to win a ko cup, if I posted on here Saturday morning and said this week we would score 8 goals against two of the sky 6 drawing one and winning the other what would you have said (yeah two words second one is off). P.M.A. we are EVERTON we can win this

Love it Stu yes Carlo beating Chelsea in the final has a bit of a ring to it

If we want to win the FA Cup, we would most likely have net Citteh at some time! On BBC, one live post said, "Everton are going to have to win this the hard way...!"

Thinking back to 1995, our last three ties were against Newcastle, Spurs and United, all three of them were favourites to beat us and riding very high in the Premier League!

Joe Royle, who took over that seson with us in the bottom three, actually advised Blues to put a fiver on EFC for the Cup before even the third round was played. Has Duncan Ferguson got the same feeling this year?

We’ve done better this season against the top teams. We’ll have to defend better than last night but they won’t relish playing us.

Until the scoreboard tells me otherwise, hell yeah I believe our players can do it. They earned that last night and that is not delusion it is well deserved loyalty. Mind you I'm not requiring anyone else to believe, you can believe what you want. I've seen enough to justify fucking off the stats and the pundits and giving this a go.

Well, they did wriggle out of their last match at Goodison when we were on a run... 'cos they had an injury or two.

They're very good, but human. They'll know they have a job on.

Called it! Rather play them now than in the final. Shit draw though. Wanted them to get Utd.

Everton v Leicester city final. I'm telling ya!!

Same as a few others I’m not really despondent, and would sooner play them next, rather than waiting to play them on the wide open spaces of Wembley.

Watching City dismantle Liverpool on Sunday, I was thinking how much more difficult Everton would have made the game for City, so I won’t have long to wait and see!

Well, as Carlo's son in law told me today, the club want to reach the heights that city have over the last few years. This game will be the perfect way to start!

As others have said we’ll need to beat them at some stage to win the cup. Imagine the semis featuring Everton, Saints, Leicester and Chelsea. we would fancy our chances against any of them so it’s all about this one game. At home. With them competing on every front possible. Optimism fellow Blues, optimism!

Andy, 48
I take it you noticed how good, and positive Seamus was last night. If he can repeat that performance a few more times this season l will be happy. If DCL is fit he will need some service.

I love your prediction, Rob!

We can use the league game as a tester. This is the sort of game that James and Allan joined us for. We need Dom fit and with Richi showing signs of a return to form we can give them a game if we can get tight at the back again.
We’ve done well against the top sides this season- bring it on!!

Our last two games have shown desire and hunger to win. Yes man city are the form team at the moment but a one off game. Let's be positive.

March 20th is my 60th or 39th to my friends! COYB make it a special one

On the one hand - d'oh! On the other hand - odds are we'd have to go through them one way or another if we want to win the competition, so why not sooner rather than later?

Honestly, if we'd drawn Sheffield United, everyone would be tense and terrified that we'd contrive a way to screw it up... this way, we can go into the quarterfinals with no fear.

(Also, I'd like to think that City isn't overly pleased with the draw either)

As has already been said - if we want to be the best we have to beat the rest and it is truly gratifying to see the positivity on this site following that draw.

In the thread after last night's game, many were saying how the mindset of the players had seemed to have changed in the last few weeks and that we now had a team of "fighters".

I would add that, after reading the above comments, the mindset of the supporters (at least on ToffeeWeb) is also changing (if not having already changed), to one of greater positivity - and it is wonderful to see.

I honestly believe that if we lose to Man City in the cup this year, the abiding feeling will be - "well City, enjoy it whilst you can, because it will be different next year."

I do believe that the club, your club, our club, my club, is changing and changing for the better.

Look out world!

6-5 to Everton this time...

Then 7-6 in the semi

This could be a blessing in disguise. We are home and they are fighting on multiple fronts with a very packed schedule. It will mean the world to us and substantially less to them, particularly a QF. If we win we have a real chance of silverware. If not we will have a few less games and more energy to concentrate in finishing as high as possible in the league.

This is the best possible draw for us; focuses the mind on actually winning the Cup and treating this game like the final.
City will not approach the game in the same manner and we will win.
It’s far from delusional to think you can win an FA Cup quarter final at Goodison.

Gerry, what a final, Everton 8 v 7 Leicester!!

Is that before extra rime, Rob?

Gerry and Rob, and that's not counting pens, right?

Extra time Brent. No pens Mike. Great game!!

We will meet City having knocked Burnley for six - and a few days after München Gladbach have kicked the Mancs out of the CL.

Hey, ya never know. I'm sitting here watching Barnsley dominate Chelsea.

Rob, are we Covid-free by the final and everybody vaccinated? So fans can attend again? I've got all the away credits for this season!

Its doable. We have beaten them before on a few occasions and we certainly CAN beat them again. And forget about the old stats as they were a yoyo blub until sheik Mansoor bought them.

If you're going to win this cup, you'll probably have to beat City along the way. Was just hoping it would be in the final

Yep Brent. We're on our way! Are you sure about having all the credits, as I never saw you at Southampton! 😁😁😁

Brian (43). John #3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." In terms of what you were saying - I think this articular verse of the bible might have been written for your purpose.

I can’t imagine Pep was doing somersaults when that draw was made. This will bring out the best in us. At home, fighting spirit and Pep having one eye on the Champions league. Sure what else would we want.

Presumably, if we beat City it'll then be Manchester United in the semi & then Chelsea in the Final - so we can avenge our Cup Final defeat to them under Moyes.

I did wave to you, Rob.

Just hope we give them a game.

Any man worth two Bob wants to test himself against the best...go Ed you blue boys...

Should have put my comment on here rather than the other thread.

Fancy us against anyone on our day right now. And in this competition, you have to win every game regardless of who is in front of you. It's not like the league where you can drop points but still succeed.

In previous successful or memorable cup runs, we've overcome the odds; in fairness, against the backdrop of the national media, we did last night. Why not next round?

Play them now; get'em outta the way... then a free road to the cup.

This is all working out perfectly.

Bag of shite

I’ve not seen much of city this season but most sides seem to be a bit disjointed. We have to be better than we were against spurs and we’ll struggle if we don’t have players back in midfield. That said, Richarlison is coming back to form and dcl would get in anyone’s squad at the minute, so cmon you blues

So to win The Carabou Cup we would have had to beat West Ham, Utd, City and Spurs. Now FA Cup would be Spurs, City and possibly 2 out of Utd, Chelsea or Leicester. Champions League will be easy after this!

Just seen the draw. Well if its meant to be our year we will have earned it. Will they relish coming to Goodison ? I doubt it. A never say die attitude like last night and you never know. Thats the magic of the FA Cup - the unexpected happens and I believe we will somehow do it. Belief is everything. I believe.

Sooner or later we had to come up against a decent team. On paper it looks tough but, ICIT!!

Neil # 64 - that’s two things we have in common - Evertonians and 20th March. Could be a day of great jubilation 😁 for both of us and Evertonians in general.

At least it is at Goodison. Better now than after.

Last time we got to the final we had had to get past 4 Premier league teams to get there.
3 of them above us in the league at the time. (Liverpool, Villa and Manchester Utd).
That is what you have to do to get there.
As someone has already mentioned, in 1995 we were the media's underdogs in every match from the 5th round on.
It's cup football. Nobody knows what is going to happen. But I know, I have never gone to, or sat down to watch, a game involving Everton not believing we can win it.
I won't be offering my life savings to Paddy Power on the basis of the result. But I will be believing until the final whistle tells me otherwise.
If you want to write off Everton before kick off. Buy a red shirt and sod off.

In 66 I had just come off a night shift and before having any kip I spent two hours helping friends lay 15 m2 of concrete then dashed to lime St to catch the last football special to Bolton where we were very much the under dogs in an FA semi final vs high flying Man U.
Pundits of those days gave us no chance against the likes of Denis Law and Knobby Stiles in a star studded United.
We did not shit our pants like some of you posters are doing.

Will King be cup tied? (You had to be on the live forum)

Hahaha! Jesus, the knife to a gunfight brigade are out in force..
I hear Damial Amokachi just turned 28, maybe we could draft him in for some FA cup heroics...

Chelsea one up with what really looked like offside to me.

Ian #89 - too much statto analysis, that.

No knife to gunfight anymore. We just look the gun in the eye(brow). Carma, carma. Tutto bene.

I thought that Brent. Abrahams looked well ahead of the ball as the pass came in.

Laurie #94, I always knew I was I good company. And yes indeed sir, no reason why not if our heroes put their minds and soul into it

I don’t think Citeh will be happy with the draw, they would have preferred anyone else. We are one of the top teams in the division, of course we can beat them.

This is exactly the game we should be looking for.
In case no one has noticed, Everton's profile has jumped in leaped and bounds since Carlo took the reins.
Our performances have improved in leaps and bounds too.
Our expectations have always been at the highest level.
We should therefore not be afraid that we have the opportunity for our performance to match that expectation.
Bring in on you Blue Beauties.

Who ever is going to win the cup this year will have to get past City at some time or other. Might as well be now at home. After that game yesterday, we'll never be more confident. It's that or the final. I know which I prefer.

Don’t think City are bothered who they’ve been drawn against to be honest, they’ll hopefully already have the League Cup in their Trophy cabinet and their main goal will be to finally get their hands on the CL and and will probably win the PL - the FA Cup will be well down on their priory list and we HAVE to take advantage of this

Every year in every cup there are much bigger upsets than Everton beating City.

They’re a good team. We’re not bad. It’s two teams over 90 minutes, not an entire season. Far from a foregone conclusion. Let’s see what happens.

It’s a good opportunity to compare ourselves against the best and every time we do that we improve.

If we’re not good enough to beat them then we aren’t good enough to win it and that’s fine by me.

Not sure where to post this but is there any news about the injuries to Dom and Lucas Digne?

On a positive note, when this game is played it will be a top 2 game.

City are on a fantastic run of results. They are not infallible. They have buried some teams and struggled with lesser rated sides. We seem to have grown as a team recently. The hunger and desire is back. We wont go toe to toe with them. What we can do is match or exceed their effort. No team wants to face an inform Doucouré, Davies, Richarlison, Sigurdsson and DCL. City have a lot of games coming up. They have injuries too. All runs come to an end. I just hope it's us that end that run.

Michael Barrett is being slammed by so many early posters and RIGHTLY SO. WE always have to be positive even if you are POSITIVE that we will lose which we won't. To win the FA Cup you have to beat good teams and "if" Man C are to win the cup then they will have to beat a good team "EVERTON". However that will not happen. I feel very positive because if I am negative then I will be miserable right up to the middle of March.
Michael Barretts response (29) was about as wimpy and unimmaginative as expected. Come on Mr Negativity surely you can do better.

John Stones clanger hands a win to the Toffees

I'm much more hopeful of winning silverware whether it's this year or next simply because we finally have a manager who knows what it takes to win and is a winner!
I think we'll beat Man City in one of our home encounters. Just unsure of which one.🤔

Hopefully we can overcome home disadvantage. After we queried the late postponement in December, Guardiola vowed they would beat us in the rearranged league game. We need to get stuck into them next week.

As many have already said, if we are to win a trophy we have to beat the best. We are at home, what a pity Goodison won't have a rocking crowd.
We of course will need to be at our best on the day, but another opportunity for Godfrey to tell them all to fuck off !
COYB.

We need to play our best and have a little good fortune but if we do beat them I think we'll go all the way and win it. We beat Newcastle United at home in 1995 in the quarter finals and they were one of the best, if not the best side in the league at the time. We also beat Spurs and United so we were wrote off several times before winning it.

Every one of our players has to be massively fired up, on the edge and hyper aggressive. We can’t allow it to be a PlayStation stroll for City. Goodison has to breathe fire, so let’s hope there’s a few thousand fans allowed back by then.

I actually prefer playing City. I think that Everton are better playing against a open footballing side rather than a side who sits back and defends.

This is Everton, we'll beat City.

Then get beat by Bournemouth in the semis.

There is no doubting City are a class side, but they are beatable.

The game is about 6 weeks away, anything can happen injury wise, Will be less so harmful for City, but if we can have our strongest 11 all available, we will give City a game and can certainly go into the game with a very good chance.

We have just come off the back off beating Leeds on their own patch, getting a great result at Old Trafford, and a win last night with a depleted bench, centre forward going off injured, but we dug in, anything is possible with this set of players, we just need Lady Luck on the injury front, to be kind to us.

The one team I wanted to avoid was the one we drew. My initial thoughts were negative, "Well that's the end of that then." However, I sat myself down and gave myself a good talking to.

I often accuse Everton players of being weak minded, not showing bottle, belief etc, the classic 'knife to a gunfight' mentality, and yet there I was a hypocrite exercising the same weak thoughts.

The last 2 games have shown that Carlo is slowly turning that mindset around in the players and that needs to permeate throughout the whole club, including the fans. If we believe we can beat City, then the players will too. Carlo, you have made me a believer, no more knives, we have got AK47s!

Well what a cup draw we have, I can imagine Carlo blowing the froth off his cappuccino after seeing that. Oh and Ferguson throttling the cat. 😂.

Fully fit squad for us and Citeh requiring a result against the Gladbach in the second leg I'd say we've got a chance. Keep the faith, gotta believe 👍

Wonder if Gbamin will be fit for the tie.

Doubt it Brian. I'm not sure we'll see him this season. I'm also not sure the the club are being totally transparent about his comeback.

In many facets of life, the reward for doing a hard job well, is another hard job... they can get anybody to do the easy jobs.

It was hardly unexpected... no Bournemouths for us... plenty, me included, called it right after the Spurs game.

Total bag 'o' shite. Rather have met them in the final, bastards !

The bigger they are the harder they fall. I fancy us to win this. :) And Michael have a day off.

The tie of the round, national exposure and Redshite nowhere to be seen! Got to be a good thing really.

Our record against ‘top teams’ this season is good. Why not?

I imagine by that time some fans will be welcomed back to Goodison, or that would be asking too much?

If that's kind of possible, I believe we can get through them all the way. If not, I believe as well we can do it.

After last night, I really believe we can do anything we want. These players have shown how much they want to succeed.

COYB!!

For years we've accused the team of having 'no bottle' and not being 'up for it' but as soon as we get a tricky draw many on here have already thrown the towel in.

I'd much rather face City in the 6th Round than in the Semi or Final. On our da,y and with no VAR cock-ups, we can beat anyone, including City.

We turn up for the big games, as Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea and Leicester have found out. I'd be more worried about our complacency facing Bournemouth or Southampton.

Let's really go at them!

If you didn't know better (do we?) you'd think the draw was made by geographical location.

Why should we fear them? Anything seems possible this season. I don't want to tempt fate so I will say the next part in hushed tones.

We have a key player in Richarlison potentially returning to form, Gomes, Davies and Sigurdsson are much improved. Godfrey and Keane looking superb at the back and we seem to have discovered some fight, let's get behind them and have a real go! Something seems to be clicking into place.

Nicholas Pinon – I've been meaning to ask good sir and as you've just posted I'll do it now; what can you tell us about the River Plate player De La Cruz who we have been tenuously linked with, isn't he going to be out of contract soon? What is his preferred position and can you see us being in for him?

League game next week will be a good pointer as to what might happen in the cup tie, only season we get drawn at home every tie.

No fans allowed!... Everton that.

Man City are fantastic but that plays right into the detailed performances we have to put in against top opposition. We have been the best at stopping the best this season.

Bring it on. 100% effort gives City a tough game.

My first thoughts are "it's gotta be us getting this..." Well, I guess it is what it is. This season, we have bettered our record against the top teams. With a more counter-attacking approach, who knows.

We struggled against the teams that we are supposed to beat, but have held out against those who dominated the play against us. Nothing else we can do, other than cheer the team forward.

City are running scared from us. Can’t keep hiding behind the virus pep. Coyb

One of my mates is a City season ticket holder and he is less than pleased with the draw, seeing it as a really tough game.
Have faith chaps- Carlo can find a way!!

I'm looking at this tie from the other side. Apart from an improved Chelsea. Who else would City like to avoid (for now) in the cup? I couldnt see Saints, Bournemouth or Sheff U stopping their progress. Maybe United because of the derby "form goes out the window" element. They owe Leicester a good hiding. That leaves us. They could have had a much easier task after a Euro game midweek.
Beat City. Get the red half of Mancdom in the semis then take revenge over Chelsea in the final. UTFT.

It is the toughest draw we could have had. Home advantage means little.

No need to be intimidated by Man City though, we have fighters, flair and quality. Add to that the burgeoning desire and team spirit and we can get through.

Winning and knocking out the ‘current’ best team in the country will then give us complete belief that this is our year to win the FA cup and that no team is going to stand in our way.

Fully fit squad and a never say die attitude as against Spurs and who knows semi final.

Doing the double over City in just over a month will really make a statement.
And I disagree with a poster, being at Goodison means everything, you need every advantage and this will be crucial along with Carlos cunning plan.

Tough draw but what I expected. Recent results show that we are now playing with a lot more belief and more importantly fight and pride, something that has been in very sort supply over recent times. Players are now wanting to play and be part of what Ancelotti is building at our beloved club. City won't be looking forward to this game and as long as we play with passion and belief we can win. On a different topic has anyone heard a whisper, have any insight to what is going on with the BMD development?...we were told end of 2020 then hopefully January... nearly half way through February and still all quiet on the Western front. I hope the arrest etc of Joe Anderson hasn't put a spanner in the works.

Jason @ 142; works for me mate, I'm in.

Great draw for us.
We are just beginning to put things together as a team and squad.
Richy is getting back to his old self, Alan is ready to return and just the type of game to James to star in.
Hopefully we will have everyone fit to start.
With Carlo's tactics and all the positivity around the team at the moment I predict a 3-1 win for us.
COYB

I just hope we turn up and put in a performance both in the Cup and the League game next week. If we do that we have a chance of turning them over. We must not pay them too much respect!

If we had been drawn against Saints or Sheffield I would have been more worried which Everton would turn up. The lads will be focussed and certainly not complacent. Anything can happen in Cup football.

We'll beat City.

Martin@145.

Our away form is better than our home form. Being drawn at home puts more pressure on you but you don’t have the fans to get behind you. I would rather have been drawn away.

Gerard@146

I haven’t heard anything at all about BMD but I’ll make something up if you like.
It’s how it usually works on ToffeeWeb when BMD is mentioned.😁

I didn’t know Guardiola, vowed to beat us John@116, and this surprises me because I didn’t think this was Pep’s style. I remember him being disappointed with Everton’s response, but he was quite complimentary about us I thought, because he said that anyone questioning wether City, had pulled a fast one would have to be mad, because Everton had quite a few injuries, and he reckoned most of them would be back fit, to play in the rearranged game.

To beat City, you’ve got to have a bit of luck, and watching them lately, (they’ve just broke the record for the most consecutive top level victories) John Stones, had been absolutely brilliant at making football look easy, so I’d say he’s the player that needs to be ruffled first?

Exceptional draw, we have to play City eventually to win it so now is as good a time as any, better than losing at Wembley to them for me. We can beat them. No more Mr Negatives.

Can you still bet on Man City to win the FA Cup? Then they can be beaten.

COYB!

Interesting to see what Carlo does in the league match in Feb. If, like Dunc said, the target is the cup this season its got to be tempting to play a weakened squad or a more defensive setup for the league match. Try to get them into a complacent attitude for the 6th round.

Worst possible situation would be to go in to the league match full blast, like with the Spurs game, and get soundly beaten. That way we'll go into the cup match nervous and it takes us long enough to get started in a game as it is these days.

Great to see the positivity on here - as others have said, it is essential that the players have the same mindset going into the game. God forbid they adopt the defeatist attitude of Michael (Mike??) Barrett, who gives the impression of having been Private "we're doomed" Frazer in a former life!
I've supported EFC and been a regular at Goodison Park for 60 years - I've never once thought that a win in an upcoming game was impossible and the only thing that scares me now is the virus (and I've now been jabbed!), certainly not a home Cup quarter Final against Man City.

Tony (154), yes John Stones, playing like he’s got himself together, mentally, now, a proper footballer, City playing brilliantly without De Bruyne and Arguera, I’d play on the left back Shevalenco, he tends to lose concentration and gives the ball away a bit, quite a lot for a City player, if the crowds were back I’d really fancy us, even without them we’ll give them a good game.

As we have seen over the years anything can happen in a one off cup game, I think this is a great draw for us. All the pressure will be on City and our lads can play with freedom I fancy us to win one of the next 2 games against them and if we can beat them on Wednesday what a massive boost our lads would get. City are far and away the best team in the Premier League, and have been without their main striker for most of the season. But with no De Bruyne and possibly no Aguerro I really fancy our chances on Wednesday, just a pity we wont have DCL to put pressure on Stones.

Also I love nothing better than playing a team who have just broken the record for the most consecutive wins in the Premier league. We also know that Pep like Carlo likes to rotate lets hope he gives Sterling and Foden a break against us. I know he wasnt happy to the clubs reaction to the late postponement to this game due to City having players contact Covid, and he did vow to beat us when the game would be played, but he also said he would rather Everton had adopted Carlos reaction to the postponement.
So he just might play his strongest side against us and make changes to his side to play Spurs this weekend.

#4 Michael Barrett - Oh dear, my first time as a contributor, I want to be positive so MB why do you even bother. Of course we have every chance of progress, City will be in a huge run of matches, so injuries will be an inevitability.
Come on Blues, we are on the verge of having a full squad available and if you want to win it, and you have to beat the best to lift the trophy.

I really don't understand the pot hunting mentality and the suicidal idea that playing City will stop us winning a pot. The game has changed and for the health of the club domestic pots are verging on irrelevant, even the FA Cup as it only gets us into a minor European Competition. The top table now is positions 1-4 and the teams that fill those positions are the best. Those teams can sometimes afford to go for the domestic pots too because their squads are so strong but clubs like us have one duty which is to finish as high as we can in the EPL even at the expense of the tarnished silver. Success is so much more complex than it was pre EPL, Sky and BT, it is far more complex and interesting than simply winning domestic pots. Pot mentality is so 1980's.

We drew Manchester City at home in the 1981 FA Cup quarter finals also. Forty years ago now. Unbelievable. I went to that game and was only 16 at the time. We had previously knocked out Arsenal (who had been to the last 3 finals), Liverpool and Southampton. I was convinced we were going to win the Cup that year and was gutted when Paul Power equalised for City with a few minutes left. Then we lost the replay 3-1 I think. It hit me really hard at the time, but little did I know good times were not too far round the corner and Paul Power would play a very significant part in the 86-87 title winning season.

Michael Barrett
Do us a favour get a grip with your negativity,of course City are going to be favourites but they were red hot favourites against Wigan a few year's back and look what happened. I bet you tought Spurs were going to beat us as well. We are a team that's starting to believe in themselves. Wait till after the game to predict another year without a trophy,but please don't come back on here if City do win and act as if you are the all seeing eye. Have some faith not just blind faith we have to start to believe

Martin - there you go again highlighting the financial clout of the media and linking it to ambition, and success simply to wealth. Of course, to win the prem is the ambition, but there are something like 92 clubs in the football league, 80/85 odd or more can only dream, and their supporters enjoy the game as much as us (if not more). The cup competitions provide a real kudos even if it only means a one off "giant killing" for lower ranked teams.

So please don't denigrate the cup competitions as irrelevant. They might be to the likes of City, RS, ManU, etc etc but they (particularly the FA cup) retain some real magic.

Would I prefer the FA cup or the prem champions? - Prem every time 4th in the prem to FA cup ? No contest FA cup every time.

I do, however, appreciate that top 4 is probably a better business proposition but these are the times we live in.

Sadly

But then I am a fan of football.

Martin #155 "Exceptional draw, we have to play City eventually to win it so now is as good a time as any, better than losing at Wembley to them for me. We can beat them. No more Mr Negatives."

Martin #162 "I really don't understand the pot hunting mentality. domestic pots are verging on irrelevant...,Pot mentality is so 1980's."

Our record this season against the leagues stronger teams is pretty good. We have nothing to fear and if we show the same belief and will to win, we have the players to damage them. COYB

No contradiction Brent, I want Everton to win every game but won't lose any sleep if we go out to City. My point is that we should never concentrate on winning pots at the expense of league performances

Kim, I'm only pointing out that our success as a club is judged absolutely on how well we do in the EPL and not at all on how well we do in domestic cups. When you say you are a fan of football what do you mean by that exactly? If you are a fan of Everton you should want them to be successful measured against the metrics that matter. On that basis wishing for pots rather than EPL position looks like a selfish position?

Martin, I'm sure you'd accept that we can't realistically think we'll beat them with anything less than a full-strength side. Would you put out a full-strength side?

Martin " the metrics that matter". And that's an opinion.

Martin, how did we get to a situation in a professional sport where you'd rather finish 4th in one competition rather than win another.

The whole competing in the Champions League is above everything else, even the World Cup now is huge con that has been pulled off by the money men.

I want both: Top 4 and FA cup win. Can we do both? Why not? The whole mentality of this club needs to change including us as fans. I’m as guilty as anyone of thinking we will do a “typical Everton” but I’m and hoping that our mentality is being changed gradually by Ancelloti.

Why can’t we go for both league positions & the FA cup?
From now the FA cup will only add potentially 3 more games to our schedule, other than those potential 3 games, we only have league games to concentrate on, we are not in any other competition.
I got into following Everton & playing football myself for the success on the pitch & the glory of potentially winning a trophy.
I never got into Everton for interest of how much money the club could make, I couldn’t give a rats ass about that, I am a football fan & only interested in the football.
It is sad that since Sky rebranded the league & over time, a generation of fans have grown up preferring to finish 4th because of how lucrative it will be for the team to qualify for the champions league, than the euphoria of seeing your team lift a trophy.
Don’t get me wrong, I would love to see us qualify for the champions league as much as the next blue, but never at the expense of competing for trophies.

Paul@163, can’t believe that was 40 years ago that game, and I still haven’t forgiven Jim Mcdonagh, for coming off his line to enable Power, who was stretching like mad, to just about get his toe on the ball to lift it over our keeper!

Martin, go onto a commerce website mate, your logic makes a lot of sense financially, but not to humble football fans, who just want to see their team win some cups!

Andrew 172

I think there is actually logic to both sides of the argument. Personally this season I’d prefer a trophy given the 26 year drought.

However in the long term regularly qualifying for the CL probably brings you more trophies. The TV rights, the sponsorship opportunities, the ability to attract top players comes with it and puts the club in a stronger position.

Doing both would be nice though

Martin, how did we get to a situation in a professional sport where you'd rather finish 4th in one competition rather than win another?

Andrew. I would say that you have to weigh up the the importance and effect of each competition, both on the club as a whole, and the finances, would have.
Winning the FA Cup would be amazing in the short term, but qualifying for the CL has a much bigger chance of growing the club's success.
It would increase our profile Europewide and make us a more attractive club to play for.
If we were to reach the knockout stages then the financial gain would also be big plus!

Come on Martin, wanting to win the FA Cup is not "pot mentality". I do accept your point but that is an unfortunate phrase. The magic has faded a bit but for me anyway it is still magic.

Pot mentality? I’ll have an eighth of that chance maaaan

Hi all, I can't believe that anyone who has experienced a minimum of one season watching football, hasn't recognised that 'anything can happen in a game of football'. I must admit however that I have yet to see a team lose a game that hasn't been played, [other than for disciplinary reasons]. The fact that Wigan Athletic who suffered relegation after beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final, in my opinion strengthens my. belief.

The debate over a trophy v a top 4 finish is both a redundant and a circular argument to me.

Yes, football finances are now as important as they ever have been. Yes, to compete at the very top end you need loadsa money. But THE key ambition of any sports club or individual sports person is to WIN. Win competitions. Win leagues. Win cups. Win medals.

Getting on the honours board matters. It raises the profile of the club (and individual sports person), which in turn can improve its finances, which in turn enables the club to attract and finance the purchase of better players, which in turn...you get the rest.

I've always been bewildered by comments saying that they DON'T want European football (in any given recent season) because the squad couldn't handle the fixture workload.

You simply cannot cherry pick these things. You have to grab what you can from the tree when the opportunity arises.

So for me it is a case of not prioritising one over the other, but simply observing the tired old cliche 'take one game at a time and see where it takes us.'

I'm quite sure that with 17 PL games to play and possibly 3 games to land the FA Cup Carlo and his team have not prioritised one over the other, but are simply working towards both goals: a top 4 finish and an FA Cup victory.

We may fall short of both. But for the first time in many a year there is a buzz about the club that we really could be on the cusp of something here.

Graham and Brian, I get what you're saying but the idea of cherishing 4th place to qualify for a competition where just being in it without winning it is deemed to be some sort of glory is what is killing my love of the game a little bit more each year.

The thought of Arsenal players going a decade without a trophy but ending season after season dancing on the pitch liked they'd won the treble because they'd just nicked 4th place is not what it should be about.

Jay, "Getting on the honours board matters. It raises the profile of the club (and individual sports person), which in turn can improve its finances, which in turn enables the club to attract and finance the purchase of better players, which in turn..."

Yes, another important consideration - profile and pulling power - Carlo ditto.

Hi Andrew [182],

I am of the same mindset as you: a top-four finish is good for the club financially, but doesn't guarantee success in a European tournament. As many have stated, the idea of attempting to win both the FA Cup and accomplish a top-four finish is something the club should strive to achieve but, if it's a choice of either/or I'll take an FA Cup Final win every time.

Jay #181,

I agree. Not only that but, the more progress is made in one or more competitions, the more able Everton are for further competitions they may get in to.

Play all the kids in the dress rehearsal on the 17th, and maybe go for a 2-3-2-1-2.

No particular reason, just confuse them for the cup game and keep the pros fresh for the derby.

If we win, great, if we lose, meh. All about the cup now.

Cup versus European position is in reality a pointless argument for a top club because the winning philosophy means trying to win every game... so not one or the other but both.

All I say about my position is that, if there was a choice and if we had to concentrate our resources on one or the other, then the one that gets top 4 finish in the Premier League would get top priority, even if it meant fielding the U23 side in the FA Cup. I think historically clubs have always followed this philosophy?

As I say, it's probably a choice that we won't have this season. It's just a wonderful situation now in that we can talk of one or the other with hope for both in the not-too-distant future.

I would love us to beat Man City because they are the best.

Before the DVDs come out and the open-top bus is hired, could we please have three points and a decent performance against Fulham on Sunday?

We have been here before... many many times!

Jay 181 & Brent 183

Totally agree.

I don’t post vey often as there are a lot of negative posts which to me is not what being an Evertonian is about.

Regrettably I’ve had to give up my season ticket (health) but when we do get back to some sense of normality (whatever that is) I will really miss it.

I’ve sat/stood through 57 years of joy and pain, but never wavered in my loyalty.

Probably won’t post again for sometime to come.

Just get behind the team and be positive, there’s too many other problems going on around us.

Stay safe everybody.

Paul Goodchild #163. The pain of that 1981 defeat against Manchester City is still with me today after 40 bloody years, ouch, the memories.

I remember the joy as a young lad of being in the Upper Gwladys at Goodison to see us dispatch Arsenal in the Third Round, that great Kenny Samsom own-goal and the second which I don't think was over the line!

I remember listening to the radio and 'kicking every ball' as a kid as we beat both Liverpool and Southampton in two tight games and the joy of victory.

I used to take my tiny pocket Aiwa Transistor Radio into school every lunchtime to listen to the FA Cup Draw being made and really hoping it was going to be the year when we finally won something! A big huddle of kids around the radio as the draw was being made and me relaying each tie to the others verbally because the signal was pretty shit and the volume on the radio poor too!

Probably my best school mate (he had come over from Manchester) was a big Man City fan so that made defeat all the more painful, both games were around the time of my birthday so added pain. We battered them at Goodison and McDonagh certainly didn't cover himself in glory, should have won it at home, another painful missed golden opportunity.

John & Andrew

Elaborating on your points, the financial benefits of a top four finish are meaningless until that money results in some tangible benefit. Case in point; Kevin Keegan. He is viewed as ultimately a failure at Newcastle because while he got Champions League football, he won nothing, and they wasted all the money they earned, as they did again with Bobby Robson who also got Champions League football.

Their trophy cabinet has been bare for 50 years and that is what fans focus on. There isn't a cabinet for receipts from Champions League games.

Hi Martin [187],

I respect your view but I would suggest that your statement of "I think that clubs historically have always followed this philosophy", should be amended to, "I think that for some time now, clubs have followed this philosophy."

It's my opinion that the decision to increase the number of qualifiers for the 'misnamed' Champions League, and the money available, was instrumental in causing clubs to field weakened teams and the subsequent short-changing of fans. I know that my outlook on football may be dated but that's the way I've 'always' been historically.

Great post by Kieran that highlighting Newcastle, sums it up exactly for me. If we were to win the FA Cup again, we would all remember it and cherish it, a trophy, at last!

Then again, no fucking Everton supporters would probably get to see it, that would be just typical!

I've said this before, we need to win a trophy just to shut those fuckers up over the park. I'm getting pretty peeved off with their "Won nothing since 1995" songs, banners and replies on various forums, so it's about time we added to the honours list. Players are in the game to win medals, and you don't get a medal in your trophy cabinet at home for finishing third or fourth in the league (is there still a runners medal given for coming second in the league?).

So just for this season, let's go all out to win the cup and make top four a greater priority next season!!

I had one of those "Oh fuck me" moments in 1995 when we drew Spurs. I was hoping for Palace.

Then we hammered them.

Then according to everyone who knew anything at all about footy, including my mum god bless her, said we had no chance against Man Utd.

Then we won the Cup! Oh fuck me!

Carlo's very clever rotational policy has the added benefit that we have two players now for every position, and so congestion should not be the problem it once was. That said, City will be cruising towards another League title by the end of March and will feel indestructible, it would take a superhuman effort by us to derail that sort of momentum. With Carlo though, anything is possible. Look how his Napoli team beat all conquering Liverpool last year. Hope for the best, but expect to go out.

@Laurie Hartley(94) and Neil Copeland(64) - my birthday is on the 20th of March as well. Proud to know that I share that date with fellow Evertonians!

John McFarlane Snr yes yes young man, yes yes and thrice yes.

A cup all day all day I tell you.

Maybe we could have both in this the strangest (shittest) of seasons but if I could choose one, it would be Seamus lifting the famous old pot for the 6th time in our illustrious history.

Up the Toffees.

Tony 204

So I'm not the only one who noticed the ceasefire? I have a sense it will end about two minutes into the Fulham game. The officers will be back in the trenches blowing their whistles driving us to return to our pro-Carlo/anti-Carlo, Pro-Tom/Critics of tom, Pro-BK/BK is the antiChrist, usual tactical positions but it has been nice to have a bit of a lull in the hostilities. Funny how a single humdinger of a game can raise all our spirits.

Looks like Digne will sign a new contract next week which is amazing news and I'd hop that we'll soon reward TD with a new contract. I never thought that I'd say this but I believe that a new contract for Ziggi would be really justified. Weaknesses are OK as long as they are known and can be managed. He is doing some amazing things at the moment.

Plus Calvert-Lewin's equalizer last week Kieran! I was hoping it was gonna be the Fulham or Man City game, that brought back normality on these pages, and then hopefully back to rejoicing again next Saturday night.

He’s getting on now though Martin, and still has 18 months left on his current contract? He’s doing his best Kieran, it won’t last whilst Martin is feeling so positive!

And Tony, don't forget the lore of a football match breaking out there.

Fair comment Tony, I thought, or was once always hoping, that the end of his contract was imminent. I trust Everton to do exactly the right thing with him. I love Everton so much at the moment and it's all down to one man, the people's hero, Bill Kenwright.

I never could Dale, it's one of the most inspirational things I've ever watched mate. I was driving down Hardman Street, during the summer and looking at St Luke's (the bombed out church). I saw a statue, in the gardens. Instinctively I thought it might have something to do with this miraculous event, so I parked my car up and went and had a look.

It was a statue of the greatest game ever played (imo) and it made me happy and proud, that it was remembered so fondly in our football mad city, mate!

It’s not as good as yours Martin, you’re reminding me of Joe Pesci, in Goodfella’s at the minute mate, although I’m not sure The Duke will ever be beaten though! You really are one funny guy!! Brilliant.

We were fighting for our lives in 94/95 and I don't remember prioritising league over cup. I can't see how trying to finish (at best) runners-up in the league could mean we would prioritise this season the league over the fa cup!

Trying to draw some comparisons to the last time we played them in 1981. In the previous rounds that year we played Liverpool (that was Varadi's game), Southampton and Arsenal. We drew the first game 2-2 after leading twice and lost 3-1 in the replay at Maine Road.

They beat Ipswich in semi-final and then lost to Spurs in the Final after a replay when Ricki Villa scored that goal.

If any of this is incorrect, sorry... but it is all from memory. But I cannot draw on any comparisons good or bad.

Well said, John @180. I was a bit depressed at first but, now the dust has settled... Why not, eh ? The Wigan game is a fine example. Let's do this.

Brian #177, wish we could have a Guinness mate and debate that one.

I tend to lean with Kieran, Graham and Rob in preferring the Cup to the CL at this point. In the cold light of reality, we are not yet equipped to compete successfully in the CL -- we don't have the midfield quality or depth in attack -- and I don't want to make it in just to go out at the group stage. I want to hit the CL like a bomb going off, and we're a good 4-5 players away from that.

The Cup, however, is something we can cherish forever. I've only seen us win one, '95, and I still remember every detail of the day, including what I ate for breakfast in that ManU pub.

Hi Simon [220] I thought that post [180] had slipped under the radar, it's just the way I view football and have done for a long time. There have been many occasions when the lesser teams have triumphed and Everton have featured in quite a few. I now go to the game with an open mind, my disappointment is not as severe as it was when I was a youth.

Mike 221

I've only watched us win it once too. The first football game I ever watched -- just through happenstance was the 1985 European cup final -- Heysel stadium... I don't remember many games after that until the 1986 cup final which I thought we had in the bag once Lineker scored...

Andy and Martin, it wasn't a bad try though.

We beat Man City in a semi-final as recently as 2016. Granted it was the first leg of a two-legged League Cup semi-final, and we did get knocked out, but it was still a semi -final win. I think we owe them for the injustice of the goal scored after the ball had clearly gone behind for a goal kick to us.

So much negativity with this fixture, it's mind-boggling. How can we ever do anything as a club, if we don't get behind the players and make them feel 10 feet tall.

No wonder some players have struggled with confidence i.e Tom Davies, but look at him now, and it's the same with Dom etc. Carlo had given these players self-believe and we as fans need to be doing the same.

So let's get behind the whole team and proclaim that we are going to beat Man City and, if not, we are going to die trying. :) COYB

I don't know who was worse Rob, Atkinson or Martinez, because they both made disastrous decisions that cost Everton a cup final place that night mate.

We deserved the win at Goodison, and we were doing alright at Man City, until he replaced Deulofeu with Kone and left Lennon on the bench, which was a balmy decision that totally exposed John Stones.

Without tempting fate too much I well remember the 1966 tie. Man City were top of the Second Division and we won after a second replay at Molineux 2-0 with Fred Pickering and Derek Temple scoring.

In the first game at Goodison, 0-0 — Mike Summerbee dropped his shorts to the Gwladys Street!! 60,000 crowd.

Replay at Maine Road: 0-0, Harry Dowd with an incredible save from Alex Young's great header! 63,000 there – tickets were like gold dust

Of course we got to Wembley without conceding a goal.

Happy days indeed!

Santosh #200, welcome to the club!

Hi Paul, I'm afraid that you've got your wires crossed, the first game was at Maine Road, and the replay at Goodison, I was at all three games. In fact the only game I missed in that Cup run was the Bedford Town fixture, and that was because an exiled Evertonian had written to the Echo advising fans not to travel, because there would be no chance of getting a ticket.

My uncles, Phil and Tommy, told me that the mounted police were handing tickets out to those who had travelled ticketless to Bedford. The attendances were 63,034 at Maine Road and 60,349 at Goodison, the attendance at Molineux was 27,948 (apologies for being pedantic).

John 235

You're dead right – sorry, must be old age creeping in!! – seemed just like yesterday.
We went to Man City one Sunday to buy our tickets the queue was halfway around Manchester!

John (235), Brian Labone and Gordon West came down the queues before the Bedford game selling tickets, at the correct price. The Police were even looking at the tickets because they believed some forged tickets had been circulating.

I went to Maine Road and Wolves but was actually locked out at Goodison. The one and only time I've been locked out!

I seem to remember going to Manchester on my motorbike, one Sunday, to get a ticket.

Hi Paul [236] I wasn't trying to be a smart Alec, and I'm glad that you accepted the post in the way you did. I also know a little about old age, when I say to my Young Lady who's 80, "I feel like an old man" she replies "You are an old man" and she's not wrong [enough said].

Hi Dave [237] correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that Everton put sixpence on the admission price, and when questioned later they claimed that they were charging what City charged for the original game. Again, I may be wrong but I can remember it being 3/6p for the ground, I don't know what price they charged for the stands.

John (240), don't know John to be honest, at the first game I remember Ray Wilson having a great game, hardly gave Mike Summerbee a kick of the ball.

The only time I remember a price rise was for Brian Labone's testimonial, they put the ground price up one shilling, don't know about the stands.

Guys,
Take each game one at a time.
There will be ups and downs!
But we are Evertonians👍
Upwards and onwards.
57 years later through thick and thin Everton 👍👍👍

Hi Dave [241] I am 99% sure, I was relying on you for confirmation, perhaps someone onsite can ease my mind and restore my confidence.

I wish some would stop shitting their pants with drawing City, after the last three games, we should fear no one.

What a pity Oxford utd back in 86 did not have the same attitude as some on here.

I get City are a class side, it will be tough, no doubt about it, but if we turn up, city will face a sleeping dragon that has been poked, and awoken and hopefully hungry.

Brian,

That"ll do me before bo bo"s

👍

Bloody hell – I'm glad some of you on here aren't in the home changing room before kick-off!

Motivational? Inspirational? Leaders? Fighters? Believers? You ain't.

Bring it on !

Got to beat the best to be the best innit. Winning a cup game gives you the privilege of trying to win the next one until you either get knocked out or win it.

Man City have been on a fantastic run. But runs come to an end!

If we can get our best 11 on the pitch with a strong bench, there is no reason not to believe the lads can do it. No more knives to a gunfight!