EFC transfers May 2015

So there have been a lot of names spoken about already and we are only a week from our last game of the season! I am sure there will be even more to come but I thought I'd try and give a round-up of the ones I've heard about so far!

1. Moses Odubajo

So the first of the six names I have come across is Odubajo. This one is the name I have heard most spoken about so far. The 21 year old is currently playing for Brentford as a right winger/right back having racked up 48 appearances with three goals since signing back in June 2014. Prior to Brentford Moses played for now League Two side Leyton Orient and in the 2013/14 season netted 12 goals in 57 appearances. Whilst in the team he won the Leyton Orient player of the year in 2012/13. He also won Football League young player of the month in April 2014. So far Odubajo has made two appearances for the England U-20 squad and has been called up for the 2015 Toulon tournament. Could he be the competition Seamus needs? Definitely would fill the void left by Atsu.  

2. Moussa Dembele

Another name that's been filling the pages of the press linked to the blues is Dembele. The 18 year old forward is currently playing for Fulham, interestingly his first Premiership start came against Everton in a game that saw the Toffees win away 3-1. He had only one other appearance in the Premiership before Fulham were relegated and ten in the Championship. There have not been any goals to note in those league appearances but he has scored two goals in his one appearance in the league cup. Moussa has been playing in the French national team since his debut in the U-16 squad up to his present place in the U-19 side and has made 24 appearances and scored eight goals. As a young up and coming front man you do have to wonder what he could bring us that one of our current youth team would not bring, which leads me nicely to my next Everton hopeful.

3. David Henen 

Forward David Henen has been on loan this season with Everton's youth squad. The 19 year old had come across the waters from Greek side Olympiakos. Whilst with the Everton U-21 team he has scored nine goals in 17 matches. So some would say we have been able try before we buy which would not be the case with some of the names linked to us in the media this week. David Unsworth has done a lot of work with Henen and told the Echo only a couple of months ago, "his willingness to run in behind and work for the team is fantastic so I am delighted for David". Not only is he showing his talent here on our soil but also for his country in his 25 appearances for the youth teams spanning U-15 to U-19 he has netted 10 goals, not a bad return rate. Maybe just the thing we need up front with Rom next season. 

4. Scott Dann

So unless you have been living under a stone (or you have a life) you will have read the press about Dann being linked with EFC. As most will know the 28 year old centre back is currently playing for Crystal Palace following a promotion in each of his career moves. After joining Palace in January 2014 he made 34 league appearances with two goals in that time and three FA cup appearances with two goals scored. Before the move to Crystal Palace Scott was with Blackburn Rovers and in March 2013 he became Captain of the side. Whilst with Rovers he was not shy of 'breaking his balls' to score from his defensive position, as he proved when he netted his first goal for the side in December 2011 and ruptured his testicle leaving him out of action for six weeks. Ouch! My only issue with Mr Dann is his openness to being a fan of our neighbours on the other side of the park, maybe I need to get over it but we didn't see Jose Baxter pulling out the stops for the blues did we? His track record would say that he could be a good replacement for departing Distin and Alcaraz so let's wait and see.

5. Jonny Evans

The 27 year old defender has been linked in the last few days with Everton from Manchester United. He has made 127 league appearances for the Red Devils in a total of 192 appearances in all competitions for the side with seven goals in that period. Although he has been a member of the senior team since 2006 this time has included loan spells to Sunderland and Antwerp. Although his record has been a relatively consistent one my concern with Evans is his ability to behave himself. A potential liability? Maybe I'm being naive and a bit of fire is what we need in our well behaved side (well not quite as behaved as West Ham and er Liverpool) but three serious occasions of being sent off are not to be sniffed at. Especially when one was only this season, with his spitting incident the issue. The other two including a late tackle on last man Balotelli and a tackle that resulted in a Bolton Wanderers player being out for 22 months because of the injury he sustained. Another contender for the centre back role but for me the gain does not outweigh the risk.

6. Cheikh M'Bengue

Cheikh has some similarities with Evans in the sense that he has been suspended in both his Junior and Senior career for dangerous tackles. The 26 year old was French born but has qualified to play for the Senegal national team. His current role as a left back is with Rennes where he has been since 2013, in that time racking up 55 appearances. Prior to this move M'Bengue was with his birthplace side Toulouse from the age of seven, he totalled 141 appearances and scored one goal in this time. I am not sure why we would look to sign this player with the introduction of Galloway and hopefully the improvement of Baines' injury next season. Not to mention Oviedo being a key player in the squad. 

There are two players I've heard mentioned in our transfer news (or rumours). Claudio Beauvre a 27 year old striker who scored five goals in the Europa League this season, although the link seems much stronger with Hull and Tottenham Hotspurs. Also the forward Nolito from Celta but it looks as though Althletico Madrid have nipped in their with a £7.1 million offer. Although of the two I would be bidding for the latter as well. 

EFC vs THFC 24/05/2015

Ok, so my match preview didn't end up with the correct prediction but one thing I did say was that it would be a close call in terms of scoreline! I had said 1-0 or 2-1 to us so I was right in one way, or I'm telling myself that anyway. To be beaten at home on the last day of the season after 12 years going without defeat on this day really sums up the season that we have had. I didn't see anything of Spurs that told me they finished in 5th position in the league. Nothing other than having one of the best goal scorers in our league this season. Everton just seemed to lack the desire to want the glory of a win on the last day of this campaign in front of a packed stadium of fans who have been through the wars this season. With highs that saw us hammer a German side who only a few seasons ago thrashed us in a pre season friendly to lows of being sat so close to the relegation zone we could smell it. The season has not been the easiest on the dedicated fans of Goodison Park. 

I normally get the bragging rights after a visit to the Old Lady but in the few games I've been to this season I've seen us beaten twice, draw once and only win once! Although the win was a 3-0 victory against Man Utd and the draw against Liverpool so it isn't all gloom and doom for me. What has happened to our team had we donned our flip flops and shades and got our towels out too early? I'd like to say we let them win to stop our loveable neighbours taking 5th spot but I am not sure Roberto is quite as bitter as I am! Neither are the majority of our fan base, thankfully, as I found to my dismay at the end of the game yesterday. I was very publicly shamed at my cheering of the 6-1 Stoke win by a man who clearly had seen one too many defeats this season, and felt just because our team had been poor we should not cheer at anything at all whilst in the confines of the Lower Gwladys. I still stand by my cheers and my argument, I have my own reasons for cheering the Kopites' defeats and that's a life time of family members rubbing me up the wrong way. I get that people were annoyed at the defeat, but some of us just love being at Goodison in the sunshine on a bank holiday weekend, I was about to cheer my team as they paraded around the pitch of our home ground and I had something I could wind the red side of my family up about. Why not cheer? Or at least let me crack on in my own little world and carry on in your angry one. Sorry rant over. 

A positive I did take from the game was Mr Galloway. His work rate looked the highest of the entire team, maybe not the greatest feat when everyone else was slacking but I liked what I saw from him. We need an injection of something new, I've heard many Evertonians say they think teams have got on to us which I completely agree with and we need a Brendan Galloway to put them off their stride. We need to be realistic about our ability to make purchases on ready-made good players and I think continuing to bring stars like Galloway, Garbutt (if he stays) and Stones to name a few through to the first team is our USP and the only way we are going to take Everton forward. Elstone's piece in the match day programme is not screaming out that we are planning to spend millions of pounds on new players and my gut instinct is that he has had a spot in this weekend's release to try and put us all in the 'positive' mindset before we receive the news that little money will be spent in the summer. 

I actually had a really good day yesterday and one thing I thought is a step change in recent times for the mighty blues was the preview of the shirt. I always see our neighbours putting their new kit out there and think why are we not doing the same? Although I'm sure when we were with Nike we were at the bottom of the pile of teams for them to get the kit to, but I just thought it was a positive bit of business for us. The kit itself is reminiscent of the 2009/10 season's kit which I am not the absolute biggest fan of but I actually think it is a much improved version. I am more an away kit fan and I love the away kit in that season so I'm hoping we may get to see a bit of that again! I absolutely love the last game of the season and as I said earlier not even a defeat was going to spoil it. We had a rare chance to be able to enjoy a few beverages before the game at the Elm Tree with our fellow blues, taking in the banter and footy chat in the warm spring air. A chippy on the way up to the ground and then the game, ok so it was actually the one thing that kind of got in the way of what else was a good day but that was what I was actually there for. Then came the habitual lap of honour, maybe not as much honour going on this time but I love seeing the players with their children and seeing them up so close it is like for those few moments they let us into their world. A sneaky last drink and some match chat (moaning) on the way home and back on the train. A brief encounter with a drunk Man United fan who clearly was not as up on his footy as the girl he was trying to have off allowed for a few train go-ers a giggle on their journey home. All in all I had a good day, I will miss match day and football in general but in all honesty I think Everton need a break. 

EFC vs THFC 24/05/15 Match preview

So all of my previous blogs have been a little bit of me mixed with the odd bit of the match snuck in there for good measure. This one is my first attempt at writing like a football blog. You may have to bear with me! With the last game of the season coming up at the weekend I thought I would have a go at a match preview. My history with Spurs at home has so far been favourable, this being the case for quite a few younger Evertonians in recent seasons I imagine seeing as they have not managed a victory at Goodison Park since the 2006/07 season when they won 1-2 on the 21st of February 2007. A win that saw goals from Berbatov and Jenas for Spurs and a goal from Arteta for the home side. Since then there has been four draws and three wins for the blues. 

I always have a good feeling against Spurs, mainly because of that emphatic last minute win against them back in the 2012/13 season. A win that made it a 12th consecutive win for Everton at the Old Lady. And Steven Pienaar's header becoming Everton's 1000th goal in the Premier League. Can they match what the under-21 team have done tonight and beat them 3-1? I hope so. I am not sure we will beat them that comfortably, more likely a 1-0 or 2-1 win with the previous games in mind, they have always been a much closer encounter. 

Last season's 0-0 draw saw the two teams have nearly 50/50 possession, Everton edging it ever so slightly with 52%. Interestingly it was a game that could have seen either team take second spot at that point in the season (03/11/2013). Actually noting that date we haven't played the White Hart Lane club at our home at all in 2014. Everyone's mate, Kevin Friend (awful pun sorry) was the referee that day and failed to give a penalty for Everton after Seamus was tripped by Vertonghen. We had actually never won a game with that referee until our victory against West Ham at the weekend! 

Skip two seasons back to the 2011/12 campaign and again a home win over Spurs but another close one with a 1-0 score line, on the 10th of March 2012. Jelavic netted the only goal of the game on his full debut and ended up our top goal scorer that season despite only signing in the January transfer window. Possession that game was not in our favour with only 39% to their 61%, an indication of David Moyes' style of play. One of the things I remember about this game was how annoyed I was about Redknapp bringing Saha on despite a gentleman's agreement with Moyes. The corresponding fixture that season was delayed after the London riots and was moved from the first game of the season back to the 11th of January 2012. Unfortunately it was a defeat for the Blues with our current loan signing, Aaron Lennon, who can't play against his parent club on Sunday, scoring one of the goals in a 2-0 win for the home side. 

Going back to my favourite game against Spurs back in 2012, possession like last season was close with Everton having 49.7% to the away team's 50.3%. This coupled with our (normally) similar position in the table leaves me thinking even more that it is going to be a close game on Sunday. We haven't lost at home on the last day of the season since a 1-2 defeat against Manchester United on the 11th of May 2003 so recent history would suggest that Everton are likely to sign off with a positive result at the Old Lady, here is hoping! 

My prediction: 2-1 to the mighty blues

I'd love to hear your predictions! 

Love for grassroots

29th of April 2011 I am stood on the grass my arms leaning on wooden advertising board, my heart is beating out of my chest while the players on the pitch who were only moments ago kicking a ball around stand still. People around me are talking saying we have done it, we haven't done it, then all of a sudden the crowd raise a cheer, an almighty joint sigh of relief and they have done it. In their first season as Chester FC they had won the league! As with most teams that win any football league the fans joined the players on the pitch to celebrate. As Kate and Wills basked in the frivolity of their nuptials there I was basking in the glory of a team I had followed from their very first away match. 

That match came on the 10th of July 2010 at the North Wales based Colwyn Bay. Only five months before that had the team even received its name when City Fans United (CFU) had come together and reformed the club that had dissolved previously as Chester City FC. A team who had been established since 1885, albeit it had been known as Chester FC from that time up until 1983 when it reverted to Chester City. My last 'grass roots' football match came in the form of Wrexham FC vs Everton FC, in fact little did I know Wayne Rooney scored his first two goals as a senior blue in that game! This game was a little different to that one. We arrived early with a group of reporters from the local press and radio station. I don't normally have a drink at the game but it was a nice day and I wasn't driving so thought why not! The game didn't turn out to be the most exciting spectacle and in fact Chester got beat but the buzz of the fans and the feeling of being part of a football team's history was amazing. The end of the day was marred with some low level holliganism but all in a all it was a brilliant day out! Now I had set off on this journey I wanted it to continue. 

We started going to home games after that first away game. Whenever Everton weren't at home we were stood on the cold hard steps of the Harry McNally stand. This was one of things I loved about Chester games, standing up! Maybe near the latter stages of pregnancy it was not so good but when are you in finest singing voice I ask you? When stood up of course! The other thing was the blues bar, ok so I said I don't normally drink at games which I don't in the main and it wasn't the Strongbow on tap that pulled me in. My fellow Harry McNally supporters would tell you I was lying. But they are in fact the reason I loved it so much. We made so many friends! We did also have our wedding party in said Blues Bar but that is beside the point. Before and after the games there was such a sense of comradery in there, I think being around like minded people was refreshing. They would put Sky on so you could catch the late kick off game after you had enjoyed 90 minutes of the seals. Sometimes the players would come in for a drink, my absolute favourite George Horan, captain of the blues made a fair few appearances! Much to my delight. The man of the match would also be brought through after the game and given his bottle of champagne, like the excited kid I was I would always try and get an autograph. In fact on Chester's first home league game against Trafford I managed to get fan favourite and hat trick scorer that day's autograph, Michael Wilde. 

One of the best ways other than the Blues Bar to celebrate with my Blues friends was the annual end of season awards dinner. It was always a glitzy affair at Chester Racecourse, nice 3 course meal, everyone wearing their posh clobber and a celeb of course. For those who don't know the story, a certain Colin Murray got involved with Chester FC at the beginning of their story after he heard what was happening on his Radio 5 live show. He along with Pat Nevin and Perry Groves signed up for Chester FC at their first home league game against Trafford and on a few occasions could be seen hidden in the crowd with his baseball cap on! Although Chester didn't usually fare well when Colin was in town. At the first awards dinner I managed to scoop a pic with him! He is quite lovely, for a red anyway! 

It was also at the awards evening that I got talking to the late great Paul Walker who ran the club shop back then. As Chester FC was a fan owned club the staff were all volunteers and I really wanted to do something to be a part of it, so I spoke to Paul and organised to help out in the shop. It became a regular occurrence and I got to know even more wonderful blues (although not Harry McNally faithful but we can overlook that). The people who volunteer at the club in the main had full time jobs as I did on top of their work they did and Mr Walker being one of those very people, sadly Paul passed away in 2013. The passion and motivation the volunteers had for their club was something I'd never seen before and it was an honour to be part of it. I also met one of my closest friends whilst folding football shirts ready for the start of the new season. It was so nice to meet another female who had a passion for football. Lots of my girly friends especially when I first found football as a past time really didn't get it. They didn't feel like I did about the great game so I could never really talk to anyone about it and when you are feeling really passionate you just want to talk about it all the time. I would be sat with a group of girlies and I'd see a tweet about football or we would be out shopping and a score would come through and there was no one I could share that moment with. Until I met my Chester FC friend who also happens to have a love for Everton too! We would text at the match or meet at the away games she was much more devoted to the away game than me! And we could enjoy the awards parties, now I had an ally to get autographs off the players with (well a partner in crime). Now we have got little ones so we don't get to games together but we still get our footy chats every so often. 

So my taste of Everton had led to a love for grass roots and footy mad girl was born! Maybe I will tell you about some of my exciting Chester FC away days soon.......