Oliver King attended King David Primary school and started at King David High School in September 2010. He was a keen sportsman who excelled in football, swimming, athletics and many other sports. Oliver passed away suddenly in March 2011, aged 12, from Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS).

This condition usually affects people between the ages of 12 and 35. The Government recognises that 12 young people each week die from SADS but it is believed that the true figure is around 16-19 people each week and could be higher as the condition is often misdiagnosed. The recent events involving Muamba have only served to highlight the importance of bringing this condition into the public eye.

Muamba’s situation has also highlighted the importance of defibrillators. Without a defibrillator on the pitch side, Muamba may not have been so lucky. The Foundation believes that all athletes, not just professionals, should have access to defibrillators when training and competing in their chosen sports.

With these issues in mind, we have set up an e-petition calling on the Government to help the Foundation achieve it’s 3 main aims:

 1.    To help raise awareness of the condition as it can be controlled and monitored if detected. Raising awareness is of vital importance as young people with the condition do not usually show symptoms.

2.    To places defibrillators in all public buildings, including schools and sports centres, and to provide staff with the relevant training.

3.    To set up a screening programme, which would allow all young people between 12 and 35 to have their hearts checked through a simple ECG.

In order for this issue to be carried forward to the House of Commons we are required to collect 100,000 signatures. Oliver loved Everton. We are asking you as fellow Evertonians to help us save lives so that something positive can come out of the loss of such a beautiful young man. Please sign the e-petition:

 http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29399

You can also find out more about the work we do through our website: www.theoliverkingfoundation.co.uk or follow us on twitter: @TheOKFoundation

Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard has revealed Steven Pienaar has been handcuffed to the Goodison Park showers by his team-mates desperate for him to make his loan from Tottenham Hotspur permanent this summer.

Pienaar notched his fourth goal for the Blues since returning on deadline day in January as Everton cruised past Newcastle United with a 3-1 win to close the curtain on a campaign which sees the Blues finish 7th and above rivals Liverpool for just the second time in 25 years.

Howard said: ‘They [the players] have handcuffed him [Pienaar] to the showers. He’s not going back down to London. We tease Steven all the time. He has to stay at Everton. This is his home. He knows it, we know it.’

When questioned on what the summer holds, Howard insisted manager David Moyes must stay whilst adding he will be on the phone to international pals Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey about a move to Merseyside.

‘We need to assess a lot of things. We need the gaffer in place, let him pick and choose the players who he wants to bring in. I’m going to be on the horn to Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan and I’m going to try my best.’

'No, no, I want to take a picture!!'

On Tuesday 24th April 2012, at the Everton supporters club end of season awards, CEO Robert Elstone was asked if there was any interested parties.

He answered ‘At the minute it’s very quiet. If you’d have asked me 4 or 5 months ago,  then there were 12 interested parties who all came to meet us in London.’

He was then asked if David Moyes will have funds available this summer?

“Funds are very tight at the minute. We’re 3000 tickets down each game, which is costing us around £1.5million. We have been down, around 7  T.V games this season, which cost us a lot of money. So I think we will be looking at trading players, which in the past we have done very well at. We have a great deal on at the moment, £95 for an Under 11′s season ticket. So I think if each supporters club could help by buying  5 under 11′s season tickets at a small cost of £500 and finding and bringing 5 under 11′s to bring to Goodison every other week.”

One of the last questions asked was if he thought David Moyes would stay?

 “I hope his relationship with the Chairman keeps him here,” Elstone replied.

12 interested parties, all disappear quicker than The Liverpool Echo printing a groveling apology. There could be several reasons why all 12 interested parties scarpered. For now, I’ll touch on just two.

There is a cancer eating away at the organs of our club, evident by the grim financial figures that forced Robert Elstone to make up the 85 pence in £1 spin.

A quick scan through the Everton finances will tell you that, wages apart, Finch Farm is costing £38,000 a day. Bellefield and Netherton were costing £8,000, which is the same amount it costs Liverpool to run their academy.

In the summer of 2011,The Peoples Group began raising media awareness on a national scale, letting people know that things are far from rosy in the Goodison garden.

I’m sure you know by now, that Derek Hatton arranged for myself, Mark Jones and Barry Jones to meet with Robert Elstone. Here are a  few things we discussed:

1. Is it true Jagielka needs must be sold to Arsenal to appease the banks? He was worth around £15mil at that time. His answer was “The banks need to see some money, but nowhere near on that scale” LIE! That summer we sold Yakubu, Vaughan, Beckford and Arteta. Yobo was loaned out and Dan Gosling jumped ship. Despite The Echo apologising for stating that the money went to the banks, David Moyes confirmed this to be the case. It’s also worth noting that in January of the same year, we sold Pienaar and Bellefield

2. When the Kirkby move was alive, Bill claimed that very soon, Goodison Park would not pass its safety certificate. We were worried that this could still be an issue. Robert laughed and said “I doubt very much that Bill said anything of the sort.” He was then informed the video of the interview was on YouTube then said “Well look, we all said things we didn’t necessarily mean because we were desperate to make the move happen.” In other words, WE LIED!

3. Derek Hatton was asked, does Phillip Green control the club? “No! I wouldn’t be surprised if he has lent Bill money though.” So it may be the case that these interested parties refuse to buy the club, because we are actually in a pretty poor state. Hence the constant lies and spin from the top. Another reason could be because the club insist on associating with useless idiots such as Keith Harris and Chris Potts, who works for corporate estate agent Savills. Incidentally, these two have been involved with the club since 2001.

The following event was relayed to me on the authority of a man representing a firm of developers, sent to meet with Everton officials including Robert Elstone, by a Liverpool City counsellor with regards to a development project at Stonebridge Cross. It was Potts that done all the talking then announced “£10million needs to be paid up-front to Everton to use their name for your development.” There wasn’t even a development in place, it was an initial meeting, a fact finding mission if you will, to see ‘if’ there was scope for a development. Needless to say, they headed for the exits quicker than John Thompson can edit an anti Kenwright article.

The men present did not care much for Potts’ tone either. Chris Potts has his finger prints are all over the Kings Dock, Destination Kirkby and Bellefield. He is a bad smell we can’t get rid of. The club will attempt to tell you his C.V speaks for itself. It is utter tosh. A lad by ours called 18 months (he has an ear and a half) can boast he was involved in the development of Wembley stadium. He was, he done the tiling in the toilets.

Bill Kenwright and his friends in the media are forever telling us, he has Everton’s best interests at heart. NO HE DOES NOT!! The Kings Dock arena was the biggest missed opportunity in the clubs history but it didn’t have to be. Paul Gregg offered to make the dream happen if Kenwright relinquished power. Kenwright refused the offer.

Fenway Sports have recently declared Liverpool Football Club’s stadium plans are on hold until the economic climate improves. Well, did you know, that if a similar statement from Everton had come all them years ago, The Echo arena would not exist? The funding would have been reserved for Everton to eventually build the Kings Dock arena.

What happened though was Bill Kenwright pulled the plug. I ask you this, is that the action of a man with Everton’s best interests at heart? I would argue it’s the action of a very spiteful man with his own interests at heart.

The Oldham Echo and the mainstream press quite rightly tore chunks out of Tom Hicks and George Gillett for their ownership of Liverpool Football Club. Compare this:

Hicks and Gillett

1. Lied about having money to build the club.

2. Lied about piling debts on the club.

3. Lied about threat of administration.

4. Described upset fans as noise they’re dealing with

Kenwright

1. Lied twice. The “ring fenced” money for Kings Dock and Tesco paying £52 million towards Kirkby.

2. Bill lied about debt. Vibrac loans are a disgrace and £1.1 million a year for 50 years, just to pay for Finch Farm is ridiculous.

3. Bill lied about administration and the leaked emails prove it.

4. Bill has said that The Blue Union have “betrayed the club.”

When The Blue Union first began with their “Support the team. Oppose stagnation” message, a large number of journo’s were quick to pour scorn over it. They insisted Everton had not stagnated and had become a victim of their own success.

However, ‘success’ is a word used very loosely, especially when it comes to plucky little Everton. League positions over recent years are 6th, 5th, 5th, 8th and 7th. This season you would imagine we will finish 7th/8th. So last year we finished 7th, didn’t win a trophy and had no money. This year we could finish 7th, have won no trophy and are still skint. When you consider that a lot of our players have their best days behind them, with no sale value, stagnation becomes quite appealing because sooner or later, the proverbial will well and truly hit the fan.

If we cast our minds back to the start of the season, we understand that Everton operates on a £5 million loss per year. The aforementioned Mr Elstone tells us that around £1.5million is being lost on ticket sales and T.V games are costing a lot of money. For arguments sake, lets say a reasonable figure of £3.5mil. That means we now must find £10million just to break even, so the eternal optimists in our ranks need to wake up. Steven Pienaar, the man who has transformed our season since January, is highly unlikely to sign.

This brand of lazy journalism which paints Kenwright as a man of truth and integrity, is just not good enough. It really is about time that some of you investigated what exactly is happening at our club.

Obviously there are some absolute head the balls, who can’t see the woods through the trees. Andy Dunn, Oliver Holt, Dominic King, Dave Maddock, Martin Samuel and of course, old big undies himself Mike Parry. To them Bill Kenwright is the white Martin Luther King.

Like anything in life, it takes just one to make a stand and get things moving. For me it has to be Dave Prentice. Dave, you have to start realising your own importance to The Echo. You wont be sacked, you’re the main man there and they know it. From one Evertonian to another. Please, do the right thing. Evertonians now need to make a stand and let the men in power at OUR club realise we are no longer willing to accept it.

A lot of people argue that the Blue Union and The People’s Group aren’t doing enough and I agree. However, Evertonians as a whole are not doing enough. There is no point sitting behind a keyboard on forums moaning. Every Evertonian who is worried must now, really stand together.

Scotty

For Bill Kenwright and David Moyes, it is all over.

David Moyes placed all his eggs in a basket labelled ‘FA Cup’ – sacrificing the Anfield Derby in the process – and has nothing to show for it. This season has been a failure. No one gets a medal for finishing seventh or fourth.

As far as Bill Kenwright is concerned, the FA Cup run has temporarily silenced the critics. The cup run is now over and those that held their tongues will now speak of his failings and that of the board that he chairs. It started as soon as the final whistle blew at Wembley.

It feels like a watershed moment and a time for change as another Wembley failure poses the question of what if…investment, another manager, a new board. These are valid questions as a Wembley appearance reveals one fundamental truth that we collectively fail to recognise; Everton is a massive club and one that has for 25 years failed to reach its potential.

I may not have gone to Wembley on Saturday, but the FA Cup run of 2009 brought home to me the sheer scale of Everton’s support as we brought more fans than United for the semi-final and many more than Chelsea, the biggest small club in the land. Holding a season ticket for many years, I took the Goodison crowd for granted. At Wembley, in unfamiliar surroundings, I saw it in a different light. I always knew that Everton were a big club, but Everton at Wembley made this truth apparent.

After Saturday’s unacceptable performance it is time to put some hard questions to the clubs hierarchy and most importantly ourselves. The big question is what do we want Everton to be?

The Chairman and board of directors have answered that question by their actions and their failure to act in the clubs best interests. Destination Kirkby – a decision to move the club to the periphery of the city and English football – for the material benefit of the directors and the 70% of shareholders that Bill Kenwright represents as Chairman.

That is where Bill Kenwright and the board see Everton Football Club’s future; on the periphery, and never again at the top. The only concern for Bill and friends is to make a profit on their shares after refusing to invest a single penny into the club for 12 years, allowing the stadium to crumble and providing the first team manager with no money to invest in the first team. This is parasitic capitalism of the worst kind; the board have directors at Goodison have placed their own interests above that of the club and the supporters that have sustained the club for over 125 years.

Bill Kenwright may well be a blue, but after 12 years of failure, disappointments and downright deception, I can only reach one conclusion…..this man is not an Evertonian and his tales of Uncle Cyril’s handlebars and the boys pen exist to provide a shield for his continued failure to resolve the clubs stadium problem and his disgraceful conduct.

Backing Bill Kenwright is an emotional spasm and nothing more. I can sympathise to a point as I used to back the man until Kirkby. The facts however are against him on so many counts, that I could no longer ignore them as I did previously.

Bill Kenwright and the board do not have the best interests of the club at heart, but of greater concern is the amount of influence his advisor Phillip Green has at Everton and how this impacts on the clubs long term future. Robert Earl is his man on the board, but Bill Kenwright borrowed money from the Greggs in order to acquire a 25% stake in the club, does Green now have that debt? Regardless of whether that is true or not Bill Kenwright confirmed at the final AGM that Phillip Green is “a friend of ours”. In truth he’s a friend that we could do without, but Phillip Green’s interference is the fault of Kenwright, a man that in retrospect should not have been allowed to gain control of the club.

Now what about the supporters, what do we want?

If you want Bill Kenwright to remain as Chairman, then quite simply you want the club to remain on the periphery of English football and for the stagnation that has been masked by David Moyes to continue. If you’re in love with the idea of plucky little Everton then I must ask you do you know your history?

Everton have been a big club in the past, a club that wins trophies, and we can still be a big club…2009 reminded me that there is still hope. The longer the current board remain in place, then that hope diminishes with each passing day.

There are two conceptions of Everton; one is that of a British football’s true bastions, a sleeping giant. Then, of course, there is the Kenwright conception; plucky Everton, no money to invest on the team, but the chairman is an Evertonian and that’s all that matters. One set of supporters are ambitious, the other are conservatives with precious little to conserve but are merely happy to see the club survive.

Now for the truth.

The Club will not survive under Bill Kenwright. Change is required and it has to be the right kind of change. The club needs new owners….with money, a plan and a new way of doing business.

The difference on Saturday was that a team that had spent £120 million on new recruits even if it was not spent wisely beat a team that has spent £5 million. Resources matter.

That is what the current board can’t provide for the manager. The identity and ability of the manager is irrelevant in this context. To compete, you need the financial resources.

As for the current situation, David Moyes is entering the final year of his contract; the squad is small, old and like the clubs finances…overly reliant on loans. The squad needs serious investment to maintain its current position and hopefully improve upon it, but it will not be provided by the current board.

It’s going to be an interesting summer at Goodison with no money to increase the size and quality of the squad, a manager that may leave and supporters staying away in their droves. A perfect storm is brewing and a turbulent few years are ahead of us – barring an unexpected turn of events for the better.

David O’Keefe

Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini has called on Bill Kenwright and the board to splash the cash this summer to bolster the squad.

The Belgian international believes the squad needs strengthening if Everton are to take the step to the next level and compete for honours on a regular basis.

“I would love for us to get in some reinforcements, it would make us more competitive. I hope that the chairman will be able to loosen the purse strings during the summer.”

It’s telling that Leon Osman is David Moyes’ most-used player. He is the manager writ large on the pitch – good to a point but can’t cut it in the big games.

Osman has never really turned up in the derby – Moyes, only occasionally.

We need change at Everton – everyone can see this – but what’s the point of getting some billionaire in to fight for the crumbs that fall of Manchester City’s table? That way lies ruin.

Everton need a complete overhaul. The way the club approaches everything must change.

Moyes is bulletproof at Everton but this conservatism is holding us back – the idea that if he leaves the whole thing collapses. That’s a risk but it’s one we need to take. Bill Kenwright, of course, will do nothing as he’s in thrall of the manager. As he was the previous one until it was nearly too late.

Here’s what won’t happen: Kenwright thanks Moyes for his time and gets in, as it was rather eloquently put after Saturday’s collapse, ‘some foreign bloke’. It’s glib but bear with me.

He then says, we’ve seen the future and it’s Athletic Bilbao – they way they press all over the pitch, the way they are all comfortable on the ball, the way they play without fear. This is what we want for Everton.

The club should say that this will take a while and we may be shit for a few years – but then we’re pretty shit anyway – but we have absolute faith in this vision. It is the only viable option for Everton.

Evertonians will accept Everton being shit – we’re used to it now. But I think we’d all like to see a new young, vibrant Everton. We had a young, vibrant manager but unfortunately he’s become stale.

Look at the teams who’ve wiped the floor with us in Europe over the last few years – the way they all play. Fast, quick passing. And then look at us.

This patchwork squad building model is never going to really cut it – but it’s largely the only option open to the manager at present. So we change so that every player at every level playing the right way. Comfortable on the ball and aggressive. The way Bilbao played against United – leaving them looking like a lumbering dinosaur – was exhilarating.

I don’t know how we go about this and I have no idea who the manager to do it is, but there should be people at the club constantly working on improving us. If not, why not?

Saturday’s routine loss doesn’t have to be for nothing if it kick-starts a complete revision at Everton. Of course it won’t though, and wouldn’t it be just like Everton to go to Old Trafford on Sunday and get shrugged aside ahead of more patronising words from Sir Alex Ferguson?

Nil Satis Nisi Optimum (unless we play Liverpool or in any kind of big game).

Biff Bifferson http://biffbifferson.blogspot.co.uk/

Everton Shareholders’ Association have launched a new website.

Founded in 1938 and believed to be the first of its kind in world football, the association encourages wider ownership and distribution of shares in the club and aims to work constructively with all members of the wider Everton community.

In January 2012, when confronted by a group of disgruntled fans prior to the FA Cup Third Round tie with Tamworth, Everton chairman Bill Kenwright insisted annual general meetings wouldn’t be reinstated while ‘The Blue Union are running the Shareholders Association’.

Everton last held an AGM in December 2007. The club opted to change the articles of association shortly afterwards.

Visit the Shareholders’ Association here: www.efcsa.org

As the Summer approaches, so does a perfect storm for Tottenham. Harry Redknapp will likely leave the club and stain his career with the England manager’s job – and that could trigger a series of events which derails all the progress at White Hart Lane.

If and when Redknapp leaves, the retention of the squad he has assembled is almost completely reliant on who Daniel Levy names as his successor.

This is why mention of David Moyes should be a concern.

Pretend, for a second, that you are Luka Modric or Gareth Bale; a manager who’s been so fundamental in developing your career leaves the club, and is replaced by a middle of the road agent specialist like Moyes. Are you staying? You must be joking. You’ve got your agent on speed-dial, and you’re getting yourself booked on the first flight to Spain.

I’ve got nothing against David Moyes, but I resent the reputation that has been bestowed on him. A miracle-worker, a ‘water-to-wine’ manager, a shoe-string operator, etc. No, what I see at Everton is a talented group of players performing at a reasonable yet inconsistent level. He’s done well over the last ten years, but he’s done nothing to suggest that he’s capable of taking a team from Tottenham’s current position to the place that they want to inhabit. He’s a top-8 manager, not top-4.

Sometimes we’re too quick to assume that just because someone has had decent success with scarce resources, that an optimisation of their working conditions will amplify that achievement. It doesn’t work like that – most managers are suited to a certain level, and for Moyes, that’s Everton, and that’s the chasing pack in the Premier League.

The Scot has never been at a club where there haven’t been mitigating circumstances that pad out his reputation. He built his CV at Preston, and developed it at Everton – both clubs who were, and are still, struggling financially. Win a game and he’s a magician, but lose one and there’s a bank of excuses waiting to be deployed.

Tottenham isn’t like that. Losing in North London isn’t excusable in the same way that it is on Merseyside – you can’t just shrug your shoulders and point to the lack of a bottom line when you get turned over at home by QPR, and the fans won’t just settle for the occasional high-effort performance against a big club live on Sky. It’s very much a pressure job, and one where the only criteria by which success or failure is judged, is the league table.

Moyes has no experience of that. In much the same way as he’s unproven in dealing with top-calibre players – with all due respect, extracting the full amount out of Emmanuel Adebayor’s talent, is a little different to revving-up Leon Osman for a solid 90 minutes.

What Tottenham need now, and what the squad and fans need to see, is a tangible statement of intent from Daniel Levy. An appointment that shows that his club is progressive, and not that he’s just going to settle and hope for the best. Having come this far under Harry Redknapp, half-arsing the decision over a new manager will more than likely lead to Spurs falling back into the pack. What a waste of four years that would be.

I’ve already made my case on this site for who I’d like to see at White Hart Lane next season – should Redknapp leave – so I’m not going to labour the point. But the commodity Tottenham need next is ‘star-power’, and the type of manager they require is the one, or the special one, that all players want to play for.

Show some balls Daniel Levy. Go and get it done.

Thanks to “The Premier League Owl” for allowing us to reproduce this article for SOS1878.

http://thepremierleagueowl.com/2012/03/26/why-tottenham-should-stay-well-away-from-david-moyes/

The Blues’ trip to one of the toughest venues in the league took place in the shadow of the impending Sunderland replay. And Swansea were in a great run of form too. A large travelling support and the need to build confidence ahead of Tuesday demanded a good performance.

Moyesy had spoken about eradicating our recent slow starts and seemed to relish the chance to tactically outwit Brendan Rodgers. This meant he resisted the wholesale changes from the derby but gave Johnny a rest by bringing in Jags; Darron Gibson for Fellaini; and Phil Neville in for Drenthe.

First of all there were loads of rumours doing the rounds that Drenthe had been sacked for drinking. Royston is the type of character rumours are made for. He denied it on Twitter and nothing seems to have cropped up to shed any more light on it. Let’s just hope the long trip to Swansea allowed this one to fester and grow.

With Pienaar missing on Tuesday then it could be just a straight swap and so giving him some time off makes sense. Jags back for Johnny meant the 34 year old Distin has played all through this intense run of fixtures. Moyesy must value the left/right footer balance in the centre of defence. To keep his level of performance so high shows fantastic powers of recovery. Maybe he does the Ledley King thing and just plays without training…Gibson and Fellaini was more straightforward.

The Blues started more purposefully than of late and pressed Swansea, not allowing them to settle into their normal game. The Swans are very good at keeping the ball and have outpassed better teams than Everton. They built momentum and had the better of the first half chances. Jags was back to his ‘getting a block in for England’ best on a couple of occasions – showing he had shaken that sluggish derby performance out of his system. The Blues started to pick it up before half time which gave hope going in level.

The second half was nearly all about the Blues, apart from a Swansea break which finished with a Danny Graham header over the bar. Luckily so for the Blues, as Tim Howard was way out of goal – half way to Cardiff. Pienaar was behind a lot of what we did well and was back to linking up superbly with Baines – the Pien will be sorely missed on Tuesday. (Here’s hoping Drenthe has taken Moyesy’s tip on board about not rolling round so much and getting on with it.)

Gibson slotted back in and continued his effective contribution which nearly turned spectacular when he banged a left-footed effort on target from about 30 yards. The type of strike we’ve been looking for since he arrived. He’s a bit of an enigma is Darron. Not just that slightly unusual ‘o’ – he seems to benefit the team – we’re still unbeaten with him in – without looking great. He’s showed more than Jack Rodwell since he’s been here, although that’s hardly pushing the boat out.

Bainesy was bombing forward and this led to the first goal. He was chopped down in a nice central position. Once upon a time it would have been him and Arteta standing over it, now it’s him and Jelavic. Means the keeper has to be on his toes as both are capable of getting them up and over…rather than Arteta’s into the wall numbers. Ooh, he hit that one well against Villa though – the second best free kick of the day. Baines pulled out his ‘Chelsea in the cup’ number and gave Vorm no chance as it went into the top corner.

Pienaar nearly curled one in soon after and then set up Jelavic who did well to get a clear sight of goal but side-footed it wide. Jelly looks like a team player – note his celebration of Bainesy’s goal. The Big Fella coming off the bench was a great tune up for Tuesday and he helped continue our domination. He showed great feet in the box to set up Jelavic – the type of play which sometimes gets stuck amongst his long legs – and pulled it back perfectly for Jelly to slot. Not just a team player the Croat, he also has the look of a cold-eyed striker and showed his passion when he brushed past Fellaini to celebrate. Think there’s more to come from Nikica too.

Big Den and Johnny came on as it became a chance to relax and keep players sharp. El Traca could have had a couple and looked dangerous running into the box.

All in all a thoroughly excellent day for Evertonians. The valleys were ringing out with ‘Never Felt More Like Singin’ The Blues’ all the way home. Let’s hope that other oldie is given a hearty airing on Tuesday…We Shall Not Be Moved….

Ian Marshall’s Matters

A little bit of everything from the Everton class of 2011/12, summing up their home campaign in one game.

So Sunderland never beat Everton and Moyes never beats O’Neill – and that run continues.

Sunderland will be well pleased with their draw (especially having Sessegnon and probably Cattermole back for the replay) and in the end whatever the views on Moyes’ derby selection policy, his calculated gamble has failed.  Having made six largely unnecessary changes on Tuesday, a win was an absolute minimum requirement and it just didn’t quite happen.  Close though.

Now we’re left to chew on a derby humiliation and a logistically tricky Tuesday trip to the Stadium of Light (and last time we went to one of them in a big cup game, we got gubbed 5-0).

The FA cup is ace though.

Big away support is a rare phenomenon these days, with reduced allocations and ticket prices acting against them.  It is great when there are more away fans and you couldn’t help but be impressed with the turn out from Sunderland (despite all that ‘your support is fcking sh1t’ sh1t) and they were bouncing when they took an early lead.

This was the Everton that laboured through the first half of the season at home, making a sluggish start and crucially conceding the first goal.  Sunderland started with a sense of urgency and energy and McCLean and Colback both figured significantly – McCLean in particular threatening to tear Phil a new one early on and forcing an early booking.

Despite this there was a big penalty shout for a foul on Drenthe.  A combination of Friday night hangovers, early St Patrick’s Day refreshments and the fact that it was at the other end of the ground, meant it was hard to discern whether Gardner fouled the man we don’t call Royston Ricky.

But there’s a bit of footy karma here.  If you ‘go to ground’ as much as Drenthe does, then you ain’t going to get much sympathy from referees.  Sort it Royston, this is not the Everton way (we’ll ignore Limpar v Wimbledon here).

A Park End sage did say recently that you know what you are going to get with him after the first half an hour and on a lot of occasions you can sub him then. Yesterday you may have hooked him after 15 mins.  Typically, as befits a man who fits the definition of the word ‘mercurial’, he went on to hit the bar with an excellent free-kick.

Anyway, initially we were looking off the pace and it wasn’t a massive shock when Sunderland took a short free-kick and Bardsley, who’s one of the few Mackem players to have looked decent against Everton in the past, drove it home from about 25 yards, cue pandemonium from the travelling hoards and more anti-Moyes anger from the expectant Evertonians.

After all, this was the easiest Everton line up to predict ever.  After Tuesday’s changes, it was only ever going to be this line up, even if star pupil Jags was once again available (back among the own goals at Klanfield too).  So the assumption was that we would actually start the game well, but alas no.

It’s weird but as we’ve seen so many times this season, when two relatively even teams play, if one goes ahead the next goal is most likely to be an equaliser.  Something psychological there.

The rest of the first half was pretty even really, with the Blues trying to force the pace but the industry and pace of Sunderland did cause one or two problems.  That said, Howard didn’t have a save to make for the rest of the game.

Somewhat fussy refereeing was causing extra frustration, but before Goodison got really nasty, what could be a priceless equaliser came.  Baines, who worked hard all day as per usual, sent over a cross which Jelavic got his head on to, before a Cahill header steered it home.  A proper nemesis for Sunderland is Tim and he played a key role yesterday.

The second half was really all Everton.  That’s not to say they were particularly outstanding or created loads of chances, but they did dominate possession and almost did enough to force a winner.

Three things seemed to change.  First, Fellaini ‘decided’ to assume control of the game.  His talent is such that he should be doing much more of this.  It was hard to discern if anything changed tactically but he did boss it for a while (before drifting further forward later in the match).

Cahill also took on a slightly different role, being the ‘free’ man in both boxes and as a result heading away just about every one of Larsson’s threatening set-pieces.

And eventually The Blues resorted to a lot of long balls from the back.  Heitinga and Distin played a more and more significant part in the game (at both ends) and the more direct approach nearly worked.

Again, that’s not to say that Everton created loads of chances or were totally dominant, but they maybe did enough to win.  Maybe.

As it was, the best moment came when Heitinga’s header brought a good save out of Mignolet and he recovered well to block Jelavic’s follow up.  Still liking the look of Nikica, he has the air of a proper centre-forward and seems to have the work-rate levels required to thrive for The Blues in a (kind of) one up front formation.

Having seen the save at relatively close quarters (Park End vantage point) it didn’t seem to have the Jim Montgomery-esque qualities being eulogised about.  Maybe TV pictures contradict that but as Ian Marshall’s’ Matters was observing a self-imposed Everton media blackout (common on non-winning matchdays), no contrary evidence has been seen.

So to Sunderland we go to see if our season will continue into April.  It will be very interesting to see the team selection for our game at Swansea three days before.  Oh and we now know it’s them in the semis if we get through.  Beating both Spurs (assuming) they win and Chelsea may have been unrealistic so maybe this hypothetical semi is the best thing.  Hmmmmm.

And then we were all made aware of the Muamba news and then it all seemed a bit less important.  Stating the obvious is what we do here but really hope he’s OK.  The fact that he’s survived thus far seems positive as the first reports seemed to suggest that another fatality was the most likely outcome.

One of Muamba’s former sides, Arsenal, visit Wednesday.