Baines Gets England Nod
Leighton Baines has been named in Stuart Pearce’s England squad for this month’s friendly against Holland.
The Blues defender currently has six caps to his name after breaking into the international set-up in March 2010 and is in one of the final selections ahead of this summer’s European Championships.
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“It all started for me the first time I walked into Goodison Park. They had never seen me play in an Everton shirt but were welcoming and accepting and I wanted to reciprocate that by giving everything every time I wore Blue”
“There is something magical about this club that captures you the minute you step into Goodison – and it doesn’t let you go.”
A couple of quotes from Landon Donovan who has now left Everton for the second time and returned to Los Angeles and his parent club LA Galaxy after another loan spell on Merseyside. He didn’t feature in the weekends FA Cup win over Blackpool suffering from flu which unfortunately meant he missed his chance to play for Everton on the final weekend of his time at the club. I say final, he could well come back again on loan, permanently, or will at least come back as a fan, if his latest interviews are anything to go by. To say Donovan endeared himself to Evertonians during both brief spells at the club would be a massive understatement. He has become so highly regarded amongst our supporters that nobody wants him to leave and the majority of us are gutted that he has to go back to America. Continue Reading
The big team news yesterday was the absence of new signing Nikica Jelavic from the squad. The Croatian was ruled out of the game after suffering a muscle injury in midweek so Everton fans will have to wait at least another week to see their new striker run out in Royal Blue at Goodison. David Moyes stuck with Cahill and Stracq up front whilst Steven Pienaar continued on the left after impressing during his second debut for the Blues last weekend at Wigan. There was a chill in the air around Goodison Park yesterday but for some reason I had a good feeling about this one. Meeting Howard Kendall before the game certainly lifted my spirits and thankfully it turned about to be an excellent afternoon for Evertonians. Continue Reading
Baines hails January recruits
Everton defender Leighton Baines feels the club’s January signings have provided a timely boost for the remainder of the campaign.
Boss David Moyes snapped up Croatian international Nikica Jelavic in a £5.5million deal from SPL side Rangers on deadline day, while midfielder Darron Gibson secured a permanent switch to Goodison Park from Manchester United earlier in the transfer window. Continue Reading
Last week’s Transfer Deadline Day brought about one of the most surprising deals in recent times at Everton Football Club. No it wasn’t Tony Hibbert’s loan move to Barcelona, I am talking about Louis Saha’s move to Spurs. Harry Redknapp chose to take our French striker on a six month deal and although I was initially shocked at the move, once I thought about it and digested the news it began to make sense for Everton, Spurs and Saha himself. He was nearing the end of his contract at Goodison, he was out of form and Everton aren’t doing very well this season. Spurs have given him the chance to play at the top-level for a further six months, they are flying high in the league and could provide Louis with a great way to end his career. As much as he frustrated myself and many other Evertonians for the best part of twelve months, I’ve always had a soft spot for King Louis. During his early days at the club I grew to admire his technique, his ability to score with both feet and show flashes of e Continue Reading
Premier League strugglers Wigan take on Everton today although it has to be admitted that both teams have been underperforming so far this season. However it is Wigan who are firmly rooted to the bottom of the league whilst the Blues have moved in the right direction and currently sit tenth in the league after a cracking win over Manchester City mid week. Continue Reading
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Well well well, who would have thought it. Four players in, two players out, progress in the FA Cup and a win over top of the league Billionaires Man City. The life of an Evertonian can be gloomy at times, but yesterday it was the exact opposite. Everything seemed to go right, in fact Tuesday 31st January 2012 should be renamed ‘Everton Day’ instead of deadline day! From start to finish, yesterday provided excitement, drama, constant speculation, followed by sheer delight on the pitch, off the pitch, in the stands, and for all Evertonians Worldwide. What a feeling it was last night going to bed, and its a feeling that continues as Blues digest the fall out from a great night at Goodison Park and great day for the club as a whole. Playing on a Tuesday night felt strange, yet exciting, but playing on a deadline day Tuesday night after just signing a brand new striker felt even more strange and exciting. You got the feeling before the Continue Reading
It is believed that Everton have matched Rangers’ £7 million valuation of the striker as well as doubling Jelavic’s wages, boosting his current £20,000-a-week deal to £45,000. Continue Reading
Everton progressed to the Fifth Round of the FA Cup after victory over Fulham on Friday night. The Toffees booked their place in the hat with a morale boosting win and put in a good performance in the process. David Moyes handed starts to Denis Stracqualursi and Magaye Gueye and Phil Neville started at right back. Shane Duffy continued in defence alongside John Heitinga whilst Tim Cahill kept his place in the team after his goal last weekend against Blackburn. The game started brightly and both sides looked up for it. I think night games always improve the atmosphere at any ground and Goodison is no different. The opening stages were pretty even as both sides sized eachother up and Fulham looked to hit Everton on the break using Andy Johnson’s pace up front. Marouane Fellaini looked lively in the middle and Landon Donovan showed some decent attacking intent early on. After 13 minutes, Fulham were given the chance to take the lead. Continue Reading
Last weekend resulted in another grim day at the Toffeehouse after a poor performance against lowly Blackburn Rovers on Saturday. Following the game, one comment made to me has played on my mind this week and it has become the purpose of this post. The quote was: “I used to look forward to goin’ the match, being down by the ground, makin’ a day of it, meeting the lads an havin’ a bet, bit of banter an a few pints, staying out afterwards and gettin’ in just in time for Match of the Day with a chippy, now I just dread goin’ an can’t wait to get home back to me sofa, it’s painful”. As bad it may sound, I think this sentence echoes most Blues’ thoughts about going to Goodison this season. This quote got me thinking of how bad the match day experience has become this campaign and it has to be up there with the worst in recent years. It is obvious that when Everton are losing, its freezing cold, fans are protesting and falling out left right and centre, we have no money, we want new investors, our strikers can’t hit Sammy Lee’s arse with banjo and Goodison appears to be falling down around you, the mood isn’t going to be a happy one! Talk about an uplifting first paragraph ey?! We all know there is problems at the club and I am not going to go into it that much as I would be repeating myself, instead I am going to try to take a lighthearted look at the ‘Everton match day experience’ for the 2011-12 season. You can probably relate to most of it if you have been to Goodison of late. Continue Reading
Here are a few images from last Saturday’s game against Blackburn courtesy of Eddie Reynolds. He will adding images to the site from each home game for the rest of the season. Check out the one of Tim Cahill’s goal celebration, it seems that his team mates are queuing up in line for a kiss and a cuddle with him! Hope you enjoy…
Cahill jumps with a Rovers defender as Donovan waits to pounce
Next up for the Toffees is a home clash against Blackburn Rovers at Goodison Park. Everton are big favourites for the game and the bookies have priced Everton at 8/15 for the win, the draw is 14/5 and you can get 11/2 for a Blackburn victory. Even though we go into the game as favourites, Evertonians know that it won’t be easy and to think it will be a certain three points would be stupid. Our home form has been awful this season and Blackburn are fighting for there lives at the bottom end of the table so the Blues will be in for a game against Steve Kean’s side. We are off the back of a positive performance at Villa Park last time out and also have a new signing in the ranks in Darron Gibson who looks set to make his home debut in the Everton midfield. David Moyes still has a variation of injury problems to contend with ahead of the game but hopes to welcome back one or two for the visit of Rovers. Continue Reading
It is not often that you can say ‘Everton have signed two players in the first two weeks of a transfer window’ is it?! Well it is January 2012 and this is true. Admittedly, we knew about the Donovan deal before Christmas and he is only on a short-term loan but he is still an addition to the squad. Our latest capture, and one that came to fruition very quickly, is the permanent signing of Manchester United midfielder Darron Gibson. Everton confirmed the deal last Friday and although the club kept the fee disclosed, it is believed to be in the region of £1 million pounds. Not bad for a 24-year-old International midfielder that has played 60 games for Manchester United is it? When the news first broke about Gibson’s arrival I read many sarcastic comments about ‘cracking open the champagne’ and there appeared to be lots of pessimistic Blues talking about how he ‘Isn’t good enough’. Isn’t it funny how everyone becomes an expert when we sign a player?! Now I am not for one minute going to sit here and say, ‘your wrong’ or ‘your right’ when it comes to the arrival and opinion of Gibson, but what I would like to do is pick the positives from the signing and look to the future in terms of it. Continue Reading
Forgive me if you are a Nirvana fan for my paraphrasing of one of their classic song titles. After listening to last nights Premiership defeat at the hands of Spurs i was forced to do it.
With our lack of goal scoring this season glaringly obvious and with 3 players sharing top goal scorer spot in the Premier League with only 3 goals each it certainly makes for miserable viewing in our stats tables as we head towards the last few months of the season. Continue Reading
I got a text late last night asking me my thoughts on the game in regard to Everton’s performance and my reply was ‘toothless, effortless, negative and injury hit’ which I think best sums up last night. The trip to Spurs was always going to be a tough one, especially this season as they are much improved and were looking to go joint second in the league with Man United. They have now won 14 games from 20 and are looking to finish the season strongly and possibly mount a title challenge. But it was the manner in which Everton went down to defeat in North London last night that was the real concern for me and the body language of some of our players was and has been a big worry too. Continue Reading
See what I have done with the headline there, clever aren’t I. Incase you haven’t noticed, Everton are playing tonight. The issues off the pitch have again been the main talking point this week as board room matters, the video of Kenwright, Moyes’ Arteta-money admission and our ever increasing injury list have taken centre stage. In the middle of all this, our injury-hit Toffees travel to North Laandan tonight to face a high-flying Spurs side in our game in hand. In reality, although this is our ‘game in hand’, it couldn’t be any tougher for Everton. The game was initially scheduled as our first game of this season but was postponed after rioting caused the fixture to be cancelled back in August due to safety fears. The Blues are on the back of an unconvincing FA Cup win over Tamworth on Saturday and a pathetic defeat to Bolton the Wednesday previous. There is a real Continue Reading
Well well well, we are into a new year and not much has changed in regard to Everton has it. Happy New Year to you all by the way, I hope you are well and enjoyed a good Christmas. I must apologise for the lack of match reports after our last few fixtures and this has mainly been down to a busy festive period and then being struck down with a bout of ‘man flu’ in my first week of 2012. But now I am back to writing, and in a damning mood when it comes to the Boys in Blue. The rollercoaster that is the life of an Evertonian has taken yet more ups and downs in the last month and after the unbeaten spell of mid-december, we came crashing back down to Earth with a dire defeat to Bolton on Wednesday night. Another piss poor display on our own patch resulted in a loss against the leagues bottom side who before they had visited Everton, had been beaten left right and centre by the rest of the Premiership (including ourselves back in Nov). We blew our chance to build on the New Years Day win at the Hawthorns and we also blew a good chance to cement our place in the top half of the table.
It is always sad to hear the news of the death of a former Everton player and waking up this morning to hear that Gary Ablett had succumbed to his 16 month battle against non- Hodgkin lymphoma was sad news indeed. It was shocking to see the image of Gary on the front of the Liverpool Echo a few month’s back. It was well documented his fight against a form of blood cancer but it is a bit of a shock to hear that he had passed away. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Gary’s Family. Continue Reading
Today Landon Donovan arrived at Finch Farm to rejoin Everton on loan, nearly two years after his first spell with the Blues. The American International will be available to play in our first home game of 2012 against Bolton on Wednesday 4th January and will be at Goodison for two months. Everton agreed a deal with LA Galaxy two weeks ago to re-sign the forward in the New Year and the news came as a welcome boost to Evertonians.
It hasn’t been a very exciting year for Evertonians but to end 2011 we have devised our own Feelin Blue End of Year Awards for those things that have stood out over the last 12 months. We put questions to Blues fans through Twitter and I have listed the most popular answers in their individual categories along with some other nominations, hope you enjoy!
FeelinBlue would like to wish all our followers and new visitors alike a very Merry Christmas.
We are happy to bring you the long-awaited Secret Santa image quiz have fun and enjoy racking your brains trying to guess the three former Everton players. Feel free to post your answers on the site or contact us via twitter. We will announce the answers in a few days time. Remember it is just for fun so good luck and enjoy your festive celebrations.
FeelinBlue
It was almost like Christmas had come a few days early last night at Goodison Park when the Blues not only came away with a clean sheet but managed a rare 3 points to cheer up the Goodison faithful.
The result against visiting Swansea means we have moved up to 11th place in the league. Its not wonderful but the way our season has been going things could have been a lot worse as the year comes nearly to an end. Continue Reading
We had to get in on the act….
Rumour has it Luis Suarez’s autobiography is flying off the shelves this Christmas, its titled ‘Mein Kampf’.
The headline I have used is a spin on Shane Meadows’ ‘This Is England’ series because his latest offering ‘This Is England ’88′ aired last week and is one of the best things I’ve ever watched. I am a big fan of Meadows and the three part series was a dark, gritty and emotional drama and it leads me into my latest post on all things Everton. You could say supporting the Toffees is a lifelong drama in all honesty! I am sure many Blues will agree with me when I say this, but I will be glad to see the back of the last six months of this year. It is my choice to write down my views on here and sometimes I wonder why do I bother. What can I change? What difference will it make? In truth, I can’t change anything at all. I do it as a hobby and I am not moaning about it because like I’ve just said its my choice, nobody forces me to do it, but Everton don’t half make it hard! Sometimes I feel that I am repeating myself and must sound like a depressive and I apologise if I do at times but let’s be honest, it is hard to write positives about our club on a regular basis, if at all ! There are times when 3 people will read something I’ve written and there will be other times when 300 people will read it, a lot can depend on the mood around the club at the time. Some of us like to shout our heads off at the match, discuss things in the pub or on a forum, debate Everton matters with friends, family and taxi drivers (some Evertonians do all of these!) but I myself primarily concentrate on writing my thoughts down. Like thousands of other Blues, whose blogs, sites and articles I read, or conversations I listen to, we all want whats best for Everton. Continue Reading
Saturday turned out to be yet another frustrating 90 minutes for Everton fans as the Toffees could only manage a 1-1 draw with newly promoted Norwich City. The statistics paint the picture of the game as Everton’s 15 attempts on target, 13 attempts off target, 13 corners and greater possession count still wasn’t enough to gain all three points at a cold Goodison Park.
FeelinBlue’s review of what has caught our eye in the weekend newspapers. Continue Reading
For a bit of fun I have devised an Everton Christmas List for your entertainment. I hope it amuses you and feel free to comment on any of them or send me any that could be added! It is a humourous list of presents and requests for our club and us Evertonians at this festive time of year…
The latest football fan to take part in Feelin Blue’s ‘The View From’ interviews is Brad Smith, an Arsenal fan who writes on http://www.arsenalview.com/. We got his thoughts ahead of the weekend’s fixture at the Emirates and put some questions to him about his club. The Gunners are flying in the league and this will no doubt be a tough test for Everton who are on the back of disappointing defeat at the hands of Stoke last Sunday. Here is what Brad had to say:
