Goodbye to Goodison

It seems assured that Everton will definitely be leaving Goodison Park within the next few years, most probably to Kirkby. The club have been in talks with Tesco and Knowsley Council for some time and having received a positive mandate from supporters to go ahead with the move, the ‘deal of the century’ as described by chief executive Keith Wyness can now go ahead. That the club even contemplated consulting supporters is positive and proves that the ‘People’s Club’ moniker wasn’t just some glib statement thrown out by David Moyes to antagonise Liverpool and endear himself to Evertonians. But it also suggests that the club must have known that despite the vocal demonstations by the ‘anti’ camp there was a considerable (60%) element of the fanbase that was in favour of the move. They must have had doubts though judging by the Joseph Goebbels level of propaganda that the official website pushed out, roping in the likes of Mikel Arteta and Tim Cahill to push the club’s agenda.

It’s hard to exist competitively in a money-driven game when the most succesful team in England is just down the road, but Everton have done well in recent years to establish themselves as the ‘anti-Liverpool’ to new fans. Everton has come to stand for history and tradition, where these qualities have been slightly eroded by the amount of corporate suits, day-tripping fans and foreign investors at Anfield and the much derided new breed of ‘Sky fans’ who chant ‘EASY’ and wear jester hats are not commonly seen moseying up County Road on a Saturday afternoon. Central to this ‘marketing’ (reluctant as I am to use such a phrase as I don’t believe Everton did it conciously) is the rickety old stadium designed by Archibald Leitch. It may be crumbling and the views from the Gwladys and Bullens Stand have been unfavourably likened to that from a letterbox, but it is much loved by Evertonians. Every supporter says the same about their own fans, but there is a unique atmosphere at Goodison. If you can time your walk into the ground just right, and get into your seat just as the opening drumbeats of Z-Cars begin and the team’s arrival on to the pitch is met with a roar, you will know exactly what I mean. And now it’s all over as Everton get ready to pack up and move to Knowsley.

Talking to fans in the aftermath of the decision, the most common reason for their dismay at the vote was that it ‘just wouldn’t be the same’. People will still go to the match but will the strange pull that Goodison holds that manages to bring in 40,000 people every other week to watch mediocre players translate to Knowsley? If the atmosphere has gone and the ‘matchday experience’ is little more than a retail park with more corporate hospitality, then what is the point? Rather than a bright new dawn for the club, more and more it looks like the beginning of the end.

Sadly, there is a feeling that Kirkby was really the last choice for everyone. After the botched job on the Kings Dock and the shameful decision by the City Council to stop a move to Stanley Park only to give planning permission to Liverpool a few years later, moving outside the city boundaries was way down the list of chosen sites, just behind Beiruit, Basra and Birkenhead. The posturings of the City Council leader Warren ’season ticket’ Bradley were too little too late, pushing the unsuitable and but entirely romantic Scotland Road site when the fat lady had already cleared her throat. The council have evidently shit themselves as they realise that after years of indifference towards the club they are now going to lose a major employer and a massive cultural attraction to the city. The Cherryfield Drive site may only be four miles away from L4, but it may as well be across the Red Sea for what that matters, because it comes down to the colour of the bins. The sterile plans for the ground are of no significance at all, because Everton fans don’t want to see the club move out of the precious boundary that seperates ‘wools’ and ’scousers’. Again, it comes back to the rivals across the park and not wanting to leave the city with only one club especially considering Everton were there first and Liverpool are the ‘bastard offspring’. That a site in Speke was viewed as prefereable to Kirkby despite being even further away from the traditional north Liverpool home highlights how important the boundary is. As I’m not qualified to enter the debate of ‘what makes a Scouser?’ I’ll not even try, but for many Kirkby just isn’t Liverpool no matter how close it may be.

The debates will rage on and on and it must not be forgotten that for many citizens in Kirkby the feeling of antipathy towards a football stadium is mutual. However, the wheels are now in motion and barring a monumental breakdown (which isn’t past the club) it seems like the move is on. Evertonians have been divided enough in recent months and it’s now time to get behind the team.

Fernandes theories

There’s a scene in the Oliver Stone film JFK where the team assembled by the district attorney Jim Garrison sit around a table discussing the various players in the possible assassination of Kennedy which finishes with the quote “we’re through the looking glass here people”. Evertonians have their own visions of conspiracies at the minute as the signing of Manuel Fernandes, long promised to be in the bag as the F.A. go over the deal, fell through at the last minute as the player made the switch to La Liga side Valencia. After some clandestine meetings in dark car-parks with men named after sexual practices, there’s reports coming in that the Fernandes signing was to deflect from the Kirkby vote and the lack of investment. According to some, Bill Kenwright and Keith Wyness knew all along that the deal wouldn’t go through and it was all ’smoke and mirrors’. Even Yakubu is meant to be going somewhere else now.

Every conspiracy theorist knows that central to any good story is the motive. Why exactly would Everton say they have agreed a fee and the player has agreed terms and passed a medical if the deal would be scuppered anyway? Why would he be visibly presented as a guest of the club on Saturday if he was going to be off in 24 hours anyway? Everton have simply been gazumped at the last minute by a club who have taken advantage of the dithering by the F.A. keen to avoid another Tevez scandal. Fernandes, who is owned by a third party, was shifted on by a cash-hungry Benfica and the agents who advise him. Perhaps this is a better move for the player, but his eagerness to sign for Everton and the club’s insistence that a deal was imminent suggest no wrong-doing on the club’s front.

The outrage towards the club is nothing new in recent times but Everton have really got themselves off the hook here. While showing glimpses of his ability in his loan spell last year, Fernandes isn’t the player needed to make Everton and especially not at the inflated price that was mentioned. Even in his celebrated performance against Arsenal his tendency to drift in and out of the game was noticeable. Even the clip on YouTube that shows him making a mug out of the Arsenal midfield only came about after he lost the ball stupidly in possession, which is the first rule in how to not play against a talented attacking team. Questions also have to be asked about his commitment after he allowed his head to be turned after giving the club his word that he would be signing.

The botched signing does not look good for a club who are already struggling with public relations, but if it results in money for Everton to invest in players who will not be so troublesome it may still work out well. Hopefully David Moyes will use the remaining days of the transfer window to re-enforce the midfield that looks increasingly reliant on the artistry of Mikel Arteta and bring in some genuine class.

Mr. North West

Anthony H Wilson was often described as Mr. Manchester and the city will be much poorer after his recent death. Across the M62 in Liverpool, where Manchester’s achievements are usually taken in the worst possible grace, there is an ever strong appreciation society that acknowledges what Wilson did for music in the city. From Derek Hatton to Pete Wylie, the man who wore a Bruges rosette on Granada Reports the day Liverpool were to play them in a European Cup Final has had no shortage of admirers on Merseyside to queue up and pay tribute. Manchester’s regeneration from a grey urban wasteland to a progressive, dynamic European city was the result of several different factors including the IRA bombing of the city centre in 1996 but most significant was Antony H Wilson.

Without the Hacienda, the Factory scene or ‘Madchester’, the city would have died after the bombs. There would have been no Harvey Nics, no city loft apartments, no trams and no Canal Street. The city’s most vocal cheerleader encouraged Mancunians to appreciate what they had and what they were capable of. Manchester, the city of industrialisation and railways, has always been progressive but never more so than when Wilson was at the forefront, albeit unofficially. If the city had to elect a mayor you get the impression that he would have been perfect for it.

Peter Hooton of the Farm perhaps said it best: “If Liverpool had Tony Wilson, the bar wouldn’t be falling off the Capital of Culture like it is at the moment.”Wilson loved Liverpool and saw it as instrinsic to the success of the north west as a region (Wilson was a fervent regionalist and lobbied for a devolved government for the north west). He put forward plans for an ill-fated Museum of Pop on the Waterfront because as he saw it, the city was the birth of pop culture and Manchester just held the torch for the late eighties and early nineties. Liverpool does not have a figure that dares it’s citizens to dream and to put it back on the map. It’s bungling city council and Culture Company lurch from one disaster to the next and there is a genuine feeling of apprehension as the city approaches the landmark 2008 celebrations and the growth of Manchester must be observed as a role model for the city. If only Liverpool had someone like Wilson, the self-appointed ‘biggest twat in Manchester’ to preside over. Liverpool too is poorer off for the death of Antony H Wilson.

All Apologies

We’re three games into the new Premiership season and I’m already sick of hearing about it. Such is the media-driven environment that the game finds itself in, there is nothing that will not be discussed on the 24 hour television channels or analysed in the colour supplements. Martin Jol to be sacked already. Manchester United in crisis. Manchester City to challenge for the league. The latest crisis to fill the column inches has been the fall-out from the ‘league decider’ at Anfield between Liverpool and Chelsea where the referee, amongst other failings, ‘cracked’, ‘lost it’ and ‘robbed’ Liverpool of victory against their London opponents. Since Rob Styles awarded the dodgiest penalty you’ve ever seen to Chelsea he has been hung out to dry by the media, forcing Keith Hackett of the Professional Game Match Officials Board to demote him and force an apology to Liverpool Football Club.

The hypocrisy of Steven Gerrard talking about ‘robbing’ when he was quite happy to benefit last Saturday for the winner against Aston Villa notwithstanding, this sets an interesting precedent. Perhaps Mr Hackett is taking inspiration from Michael Howard, sending the beleaguered Boris Johnson up north to apologise to the baying Scousers. Whatever his intentions, can we now expect referees now to publicly humiliate themselves because they missed a throw in or didn’t book a player when maybe the foul warranted it? When will this stop?

Where every game is supposedly a relegation six-pointer, a championship decider or a match that could decide European places, the pressure on referees has never been bigger and just as international footballer Carlos Tevez somehow managed to miss an own goal against City in the last minute on Sunday, referees are subject to human failings as well. The clamour for video technology is welcome but will take years for everyone to agree and implement it. In the mean-time perhaps referees should be allowed to do their job without the intense media scrutiny that follows.

It should be noted that the linesman who failed to see David Healy’s equaliser in the last minute had actually crossed the line has also been ‘demoted’ from high profile games but as of yet has not been court marshaled by the press. Perhaps it’s only ‘big’ clubs who are worthy of apologies.

Goodbye Lawrie Sanchez

The people of Northern Ireland might have felt like they were living in a parallel universe recently; with eternal foes sitting down together in Government and the national football team sitting on top of their group of Euro 2008 qualification, things have seemed a little bit too good to be true. However, just as Peter Hain and Tony Blair left Belfast yesterday so too did Lawrie Sanchez, the saviour of Northern Ireland football and architect of famous Windsor Park victories against England, Spain and Sweden.

Sanchez was not a popular choice when he was given the job three years ago. Former players such as Iain Dowie and Jim Magilton had developed into promising young managers and usual suspects like Jimmy Nicholl and Nigel Worthington were mooted as well. Sanchez, who played just three times for Northern Ireland without any great fanfare, had managed just Sligo Rovers and Wycombe Wanderers. Despite considerable pressure not to do so and in a rare example of foresight from the IFA, he was given the job. Sanchez’s mediocre career as a player was at contrast to the one game that he was remembered for: Wimbledon’s 1-0 win over Liverpool in the 1989 FA Cup Final, where Sanchez scored the goal. This giant-killing instinct stuck with him into his managerial career, where he led Second Division into the FA Cup semi-final in 2001 where they modestly lost 2-1 to Liverpool. If anything has come to typify Northern Ireland under Sanchez it is this big-game mentality and under the harsh lights and with the backing of the boisterous supporters of Windsor Park in a midweek qualifier, anything was possible.

The objectives on appointment were twofold: end the 1,298 minute goal drought and restore some pride back into the Northern Ireland football team. Number one was achieved in the opening 4-1 defeat to Norway when David Healy’s goal meant that the four at the other end were ignored, and the second part has been fulfilled over the Sanchez’ three year tenure as boss. As well as the famous scalps mentioned, the team’s position at 33rd in the FIFA World rankings shows the miraculous rise in recent years. Flawed as the system is, it wasn’t that long ago that Northern Ireland was seen to be on a par with tiny African countries and various Caribbean islands.

When it comes to giant-killing, Lawrie’s David has certainly been Healy, who has emerged to become one of the finest marksmen at international level, but there are other players who shone under him. Keith Gillespie, Maik Taylor and Damien Johnson all showed a new lease of life while the exciting prospects of Steve Davis, Jonny Evans and Kyle Lafferty were unearthed by Sanchez. Unlike the celebrated managers of the past such as Peter Doherty or Billy Bingham, Sanchez never had a Blanchflower, Peacock, Whiteside or a McIlroy to call on and instead had to rely on players from the second and third tiers of English football. This has made his term as manager all the more successful.

There’s been much talk of legacy when discussing the other great turnaround in Northern Ireland of recent times, but Sanchez’ legacy is a lot more clear cut than Mr Blair’s. As well as providing a solid base of promising young stars that he has unearthed for the next manager, he has dragged the IFA into a new era of professionalism that seemed beyond them when Sammy McIlroy and Lawrie McMenemy fronted the team. Gone were the journalist junkets with the team, drinking on the town before games and players behaving like they were above the team. Northern Ireland may have an even shorter list of people who can play them as a result of this policy, but there is now a hard-working team that is committed to playing for their country. All of this has contributed into forming a Northern Ireland team that sit on top of Group F with half of the games gone.

To use yet another political comparison, like the Labour Party Northern Ireland will have a tough time replacing their leader who led them from dark days into much more promising times but whoever gets the now vacant Northern Ireland job is much more of an open question. Whatever happens, whoever they pick will have a hard job following the predecessor.

Team of the year

The PFA Premiership Team of the Year was a remarkable example of how even the professionals themselves cannot see past the top sides. That team in full:

Edwin van der Sar (Man United);

Gary Neville (Man United), Nemanja Vidic (Man United), Rio Ferdinand (Man United), Patrice Evra (Man United);

Ryan Giggs (Man United), Paul Scholes (Man United), Cristiano Ronaldo (Man United), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool);

Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham)

Is it just me or have van der Sar, Ferdinand, Evra, Neville and Gerrard all had very average seasons? Manchester United were entertaining and deserved winners but their success was built on their attacking prowess – Liverpool and Chelsea both conceded less goals over all. Berbatov is a media darling, but his purple patch didn’t commence until after January and until then was fairly dispensable.

My suggestion for team of the season:

David James (Portsmouth); The fine art collector and occasional Guardian columnist knuckled down and produced the best football of his career this year. It’s hard not to think of the litany of errors he’s made down the years, but he’s clearly stayed off the Nintendo this year.

Nicky Shorey (Reading), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea), Joleon Lescott (Everton); Shorey and Lescott have impressed everyone except for Steve McClaren, as both despite decent seasons have yet to receive international recognition. Jamie Carragher and Ricardo Carvalho were both without their usual dependable partners this season at times, but both were excellent in teams that conceded minimal goals. A mention for Jonathan Woodgate as well, who came back from Real Madrid with a lot to prove and did well. 

Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Michael Essien (Chelsea), Paul Scholes (Manchester United), Ryan Giggs (Manchester United); Enough has been said about the three Manchester United players this year but Michael Essien has shown what a good player he is by playing just as well in defence in absence of John Terry as he has in his preferred central midfield position. Having him in the team meant that Chelsea could afford to carry Lampard and Ballack at times.

Benni McCarthy (Blackburn Rovers), Didier Drogba (Chelsea) A word for McCarthy, who proved a snip at £2.5m and scored 16 Premiership goals. Almost as impressive as Drogba’s 19, and who looked like everything he touched would go in.

Everton in Europe

It’s been a difficult few weeks for Everton fans, taking in the torturous fightback from Manchester United last week and qualification for yet another European final for their rivals across Stanley Park. Liverpool may be set for another stab at the trophy they’ve already won five times (just in case you haven’t heard them mention that before), but on Saturday evening Evertonians had their own adventure on the continent to plan now that they are practically assured of a place in next season’s Uefa Cup. The tournament may not boast the glamour, razzmatazz and certainly not the money of it’s bigger brother, but for club starved of success looking to re-establish itself on the big stage it is a welcome boost. The gulf financially between the top teams and the rest has never been greater and with the increased TV and European competition cash the big clubs will continue to pull the ladder up behind them. In a season where all of the competitions were monopolised by the ‘big four’, Everton’s finish at the top of the ‘best of the rest’ table on a realistic budget is to be commended.

Despite qualifying for the Champions League two seasons ago and more early cup exits this time around, this has been David Moyes’ best season as Everton manager. There is flair, determination and a balance about the side and unlike previous seasons it is easy to select the best eleven players which is always the mark of a good team. Unfortunately, due to injuries to key personnel like Tim Cahill and Andy Johnson at different periods of the season and the (supposed) unavailability of Tim Howard against his previous employers this has not always been possible, but Everton are a match for anyone with their first choice team on the pitch. The lack of players available to Moyes has led to promising cameos from James Vaughan and Victor Anichebe but when you’re called to bring on Andy Van der Meyde or James Beattie to find a goal, it suggests a squad as deep as a paddling pool. With more players to call on in cases of injury or in requirement of fresh ideas the gap between Everton and Arsenal and Liverpool, two sides that Everton took four points off this year, would not be as dramatic as the league table suggests.

Moyes’ prudent transfer policy has earned him the ‘dithering Dave’ moniker in the past, but his recruitment this season has been exemplary. Andy Johnson provided much needed pace and firepower in front of goal and established himself as a fans favourite for his contribution to the home wins over Liverpool and Arsenal amongst others and Tim Howard was the safe pair of hands in goal that the Toffees just weren’t going to get with Richard Wright. But it is the much less heralded signing of Joleon Lescott has proved to be Moyes’ masterstroke, playing anywhere across the defence and looking like he’s been doing it for years rather than spending his entire career in the second tier of English football. Talk of dodgy knees and inexperience meant little and while mention of a transfer window move to Real Madrid may have been premature but the defender would not look out of place in any team in the league.

Everton cannot realistically challenge for the Uefa Cup next season with the squad they currently possess. Getting rid of the dead wood such as Beattie, van der Meyde and Wright and keeping hold of Arteta, Yobo, Lescott, Cahill and Johnson is a priority but the squad overall must be improved in the summer. The disastrous Champions League campaign of two seasons ago will have taught Moyes some hard lessons and unlike that summer money will be thrown at the wrong players indiscriminately. Joey Barton, the enfant terrible of the Premiership and boyhood Evertonian is talked about seriously as an arrival but it must be considered if his considerable talent is worth the squad disruption that will inevitably follow. Everton must also ask themselves if they are prepared to sign a player who assaulted a teenage fan in Thailand. Another Huyton born Evertonian, David Nugent has been mentioned as a partner for Andy Johnson but even that poses a problem as a challenge to Moyes’ favoured 4-5-1 formation. Whatever happens, David Moyes has performed well this season and is deserving of every Evertonian’s trust again this summer.

Edit: published on ToffeeWeb.

Ulster says.. maybe?

Northern Ireland’s history has long been marked by petty squabbles but one of the final and most lasting taboos has been broken by the cataclysmic event pictured above.

To call Adams and Paisley political foes understates the feeling slightly; as far as the Doc is concerned, Adams is probably above even the Pope in the Anti Christ stakes.

Has Paisley finally mellowed at the ripe age of 81? Perhaps they have now both realised that the time for ignorant feuds and broken promises is over and with the weight of their considerable mandate, it’s time to do something.

The mood in Northern Ireland today is still one of cynicism, in a way that we can only do best. Too many times we’ve been ’sold down the river’ to use a popular Paisleyism, and the sight of both men together is viewed by many as a photo opportunity at best. Already people are trying to guess where the next obstacle will be.

It’s been ten years since the Good Friday Agreement was signed, and little by little we are now getting to where we should have been then. After years of suspension, spy rings and squabbles, they now must work together for a sustainable, working, devolved Government at Stormont and build for the future.

The strange case of David Healy

Northern Ireland’s David Healy has just scored his 27th goal in 55 games for his country after a hat-trick in a 4-1 win against Liechtenstein on Saturday, his second in the 2008 European Championship qualifiers. If the opposition look under-par, his first one came against the not-too-shabby Spain at Windsor Park last year.

Meanwhile, his namesake at Leeds United is currently toiling away to no great success as they face the drop to League 1. David Healy, the club striker has had something of a journeyman career, taking in the delights of Norwich City, Port Vale and Preston North End as well as the slightly more salubrious surroundings of Old Trafford, but once he pulls on a Northern Ireland shirt, a different player appears before disbelieving eyes. Lawrie Sanchez described him as a ‘world class player’ after the game on Saturday, and on his international form it’s almost hard to disagree.

Will the real Healy please stand up? Rumours have surfaced in the past about an imminent transfer to a Premiership side and there were suggestions that half of La Liga wanted to sign him after his three goals against the Spain and it will surely be a shame if he ends up playing in League 1 next season, as it looks likely at the moment.

Healy’s goal against England in 2005 is celebrated by a mural in Belfast, and his name is chanted with the most vigour at Northern Ireland games and he thrives off the adoration he is afforded in Northern Ireland. His big-game record cannot be doubted either as the memorable goals against England and Spain engrained in every Northern Ireland fan’s brain forever prove.

At the relatively ancient age of 29, whether or not he’ll get his chance in the Premiership remains to be seen, but as every Northern Ireland fan can tell you, he’s certainly capable of it.

Oh, go on then:

Good things come to those who wait

Paul Greengrass has won the Bafta for best director for United 93, but I still predict a different outcome at the Oscars in two weeks time.

Martin Scorsese is the overwhelming favourite to win the Best Director award at the Academy Awards for his gangster epic The Departed, and is priced by Ladbrokes at 1/4, ahead of Greengrass at 6/1.

This has much to do with the fact that Scorsese, despite being nominated six times, has never won an Oscar for direction. He joins an illustrious crowd including Fellini, Hitchcock, Bergman, Kubrick and Welles that have failed to win Oscars, but having been snubbed for the likes of Raging Bull and Goodfellas, there is a feeling amongst Hollywood commentators and bloggers that this will finally be Scorsese’s year.

The Departed is an excellent film and highly entertaining, but it is not Scorsese’s by a long shot and perhaps not even the best amongst the candidates (United 93 gets this one in my book). However, the Academy’s determination to give Marty the gong will probably count against Greengrass following up his success at the Baftas. Why else would he be nominated for The Aviator and Gangs of New York, both critical and commerical flops in recent years?

Perhaps it is unfair that Marty will probably win due to what is essentially a sympathy vote, but for his challenging, entertaining and pioneering films that have been snubbed, he deserves it this time.