Christmas Morning Waiting-To-Go-To-The-Pub Feelings.
Tomorrow will be my first home game for a couple of months and I think we’re going to win it. Somehow we’ve managed to hang on to tenth position but we could plunge as dramatically as Wolves have risen if results go against us. Of course we’ll have to do something about the back four as we can’t allow a repeat of the shenanigans we endured against City. Much as I like Nos, if he plays he’ll have to go in the centre as nippy wingers can run rings round him. He had a stinker last weekend, though he was in good company there, but I don’t agree that we should never play him again as the week before he was man of the match in many people’s eyes. I would play Da Silva and Mensah as they’ve had a lot of experience of keeping things cool in difficult times and Bardsley is usually solid enough. Richardson has been an effective sub at left back and has got to be better than McCartney. There were still some positives about the performance against City, three goals for a start, and Everton are having a torrid time too so I think we can win it if we plug those defensive holes. The likelihood of us having Cana and Cattermole together for the first time in weeks supports this feeling. It looks like Kenwyne is set to leave us soon and I’ve got mixed feelings about that. I find him a very likeable bloke and he’s brought a lot of joy to us but I agree with many that we should get good money for him while we can as his best days for us are clearly behind him. Since his serious injury he doesn’t seem the player who turned and wriggled through many a defence and if ever he jumps for a cross now, and quite often he doesn’t appear to try, there are two or three big defenders squeezing him out. I can’t say I’m thrilled by the prospect of Emile Heskey but I’ve always rated Carew and if Beattie is still available, I’d grab him as he’s a regular scorer and is going comparatively cheap. I’m sure Steve Bruce could handle him in any one-on-one changing room interface. Match prediction 2-1 to us.

The Match
I had a couple of jars in Fitzgerald’s and was in my seat just before the minute’s silence began. The Everton fans began to applaud as the silence was introduced and this spread around the whole ground. I was surprised not to see Cattermole in the starting eleven or on the bench and presumed he was being given the kid-gloves treatment. Nos was on the bench and when I’d mentioned in the pub earlier that he should only be in the centre my mate had replied, “He should be in the jobcentre.” There was no sign of Richardson either and I wondered if we’d ever see him play for us again.

We had the better of the first quarter of the game, though Everton looked dangerous on the break and we took the lead just before twenty minutes were on the clock with one of the best goals I’ve seen us score in ages, Come to think of it, I haven’t seen us score at all in ages. Anyway, we broke quickly and Jones burst down the right before putting in a great cross to Bent who raced onto it and headed it into the net. We went close a minute or so later when Henderson crossed well but Bent’s shot was blocked. Things were looking good at that point but to be honest I was happy to hear the half-time whistle as we’d started sitting back and allowing Everton to put on the pressure. Thankfully their finishing was poor and we went in still 1-0 up. There must’ve been a lot of melting snow on the roof as there were a lot of drops coming down on people near me though I largely avoided them.

There were no changes as we kicked off again. Henderson was playing well and Mensah was also putting in some very timely tackles at the back. It was end to end stuff and the atmosphere was great with the large Everton contingent playing their part. I don’t like his hair but I have to say that Fellaini was impressive for them, He’s a big strong player and he seemed to be all over the pitch. He won virtually every header when he and Jones went up for the ball. Just before the hour-mark Steed was replaced by Zenden and we had a good spell immediately after that, though Zenden’s finishing was again poor and he should’ve done better than to shoot straight at the goalie following a great break by Bent, who was playing very well and putting in loads of work all over the place. There were a few moans from our fans when Yakubu replaced Osman with twenty minutes left but there were cheers for Nos when he replaced Mensah shortly afterwards. Mensah got a standing ovation as he went off. As usual when we’re defending a one-goal lead I kept looking at my watch but the time was actually going fast. Everton were piling on the pressure and with five minutes to go they won three corners in a row When the ball came back again we failed to clear it, Fellaini blasted it into the net. The Everton fans went mad and the stewards were involved a good deal down the front. We fought back as best we could but to no avail and to be honest I had the awful feeling we might concede another. So, it was Portsmouth all over again and as the final whistle went there was a mixture of booing and applause where I was sitting. I haven’t seen the league table yet and am sitting in The Chesters undergoing some cider therapy. Bring on Barrow. We should beat them... shouldn’t we?

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