JRC

Especially as the 2nd 'Handball' was in the same piece of action as the first - All other things being equal, they could not have been awarded both!

He fell over precisely because of the surprise element, and the speed and accuracy of the shot. Xabi forced the error, it's not like he just fell over as a misplaced pass or cross came his way.

His last 3 Goals have been from inside his own half - against Birmingham, he was virtually on our Goal Line.....

There have been training ground and press stories that Agger is only too happy to mix it. He gave Ameobi as good as he was given last night, and never backed down, which was good to see - it was a good old-fashioned physical contest, with no moaning and no Yellows.

Couldn't disagree more. I can only recall 2-3 misplaced/misdirected passes all game from Xabi, and he was on the ball an awful lot. Although, as was noted earlier, he seemed much more prepared to take chances - less turning to space and taking a simple option, less phased by the close presence of a defender or tackler. The passes he did make all had that simple confidence about them - pace, direction, selection - that only Xabi on top form shows. He had a quiet 15-20 mins before he scored (and how good was the tackle to gain posession as well), but otherwise I thought he looked back to his very best.

From the Post Article - It is also likely that the NWDA will want to determine the attitude of a new owner towards sharing a stadium with Everton FC. They just won't let it lie (NWDA AND the Daily Post). Or is that, from what I'm reading, a nod in the direction of favouring Morgan?

Dear God, more uncredited 'sources' at NWDA being negative getting reported in the Post. It's like Groundhog Day. How accurate is this report? As accurate as the capacity (down 6,000) and cost (up £20M) compared with figures published/made up only a week ago.

He was brought over earlier than planned as Stevie was injured, that's true. Wasn't there also a suggestion of him being bought as a fellow Senegalese to allow Diuof to settle better - a pretty expensive minder, that's for sure.

I disagree, and it seems to me that DannyD's explanation as to why he is writing this now is that the Everton argument about how their plight was directly due to Heysel, whilst easily dismissed and ignored a bitter ranting for the most part, has recently been granted a spurious credence - especially following the 4th place vs CL Winners debate last year - to the extent that non-bitters now appear to accept the premise as axiomatic. The blog is generally a reasonable and reasoned debunking of that. Pointing out the ludicrous fallacies in the bitter's position doesn't deny the moral argument - People dying is more significant than a Football Club subsequently being crap - but he should take care - and I believe he does - not to lose that perspective.

Their argument is more that WE should have been banned, but not them - and all other things being equal, we wouldn't have been in the 85-6 European Cup anyway. Juventus were though, and had a significantly stronger claim to being potential winners - but they didn't even reach the final. There is little reason to suggest Everton would have won in 86.

Does he? I read it that he will act as the host to Jose when they are at Anfield, and 'offer him the best' - not wait for Jose to come to him.

A great, well-rersearched and presented read. I think the 'Murderers' chanters would never read/accept/understand this, but there is a whole apparently reasonable revisionist position ('No Fault Of Their Own') that HAS to be countered. I realised that there was more to come, and appreciated the detail and research DannyD had already done, so assumed some - probably all - of my points would get covered, so it was a mixture of getting my long-held opinions aired first AND perhaps adding some more that DannyD can use if I mentioned anything he wasn't going to - I particularly like the fact about subsequent prompt Relegation for the other English Winners. The detail on the FA/UEFA positions etc is excellent, and new to me, although I was well aware at the time of the fact that it was English Football in general that was on trial - if Heysel hadn't happened, then another incident would have been the one that broke the camel's back. What I would have avoided is the Urchins stuff - not that it isn't true, but it's a bit close to 'lovable cheeky scouser' territory, which we sometimes get accused of - just that we also had some nasty hard b*stards; I know because, attending games in London from a College location, I had to go unidentified, so just as often got chased by our own. I recall tales (by fellow Reds) of a vicious crew called the Anny Road Apaches (whilst acknowledging the mythological nature of much of these tales), and oppo fans stories of Stanley usage being not too far from the truth. I would agree though, that around town at the time, it was the Bluenoses who had - and enjoyed, and took pride in, and boasted about - the reputation for having 'soldiers' and well-organised Firms.

Absolutely. That was clearly one of the things Rafa picked up from his first season, and started to put right last year with Momo and re-deploying Xabi to an extent. (He doesn't get pushed around, but he doesn't really give it out). Even Crouch was bought for similar reasons, albeit more in a football/difficult to play aginst way than for being hard in a fight. If anything, Stevie is too hot-headed to do that kind of stuff - see the Everton game. The best hard men/enforcers have always been more calculating - Smith, Case, Souness, Whelan. Let's not get too sentimental or idealistic about this. Shankly and Paisley thought the same. Rafa will do what needs to be done, and 'winning the right to play' is as true today as ever.

Actually, he used to sit near me in the Main Stand, and was a moaning, miserable b@stard. * * The last bit isn't true, but the bit about him sitting in the Main Stand is. Blokes behingd me are serial moaners, and it gets on my t*ts. On Saturday, it was all about how 's****" Zonal Marking is, and was last year. I felt like asking whether that was specifically during the record clean sheet run , or generally in our 2nd best defensive record in the league season, but thought that there is never any point arguing with someone who is repeating an opinion they heard on the telly from someone who doesn;t know what they are talking about, but says it with conviction.

In the first leg, I said to my Lad that Pennant must have thought he'd died and gone to heaven, the way Xabi looked for, and found, him, glued to the touchline, at every opportunity. Let's nit jump to any conclusiond, or write the season off, just yet

Wasn't that Carson? Or was there another one? The Carson one was pretty well unstoppable, tbh. I really wanted Chris to succeed - he was a genuine Boyhood Red, but almost everty game he played in that extended run had him with that forlorn, hands outstretched, palms up look - "how did you expect me to stop that one?" as another moderate on target shot found it's way past him. Reina is our Future, and for that we must be eternally grateful.

US Marketing (of the kit) is entirely the manufacturer's responsibility, not the club's

So Groundshare is in your Top 10 then? Traitor!

He'll have an easy time at Bolton, apart from the crick in his neck as the ball passes over.

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Evans broke the transfer record with Collymore, and was given the support to get the likes of Wright - the England Centre Half - and Ince amongst others (e.g. Leonhardsson!). Evans may not have had the advantage of 4th place getting you into Europe, but that's because the placings are determined by Euro success for PL Teams - and in those days there was only ManU of any Euro staure, or genuine quality - no Chelsea, Arsenal were, for the most, pre-Wenger. So our slipping League positions in the mid-90's were more indicative of the malaise afflicting the club than can be guaged from direct comparisons with today's EPL - last years 3rd was better than anything under Evans, for example. Houllier's first signings were not expensive - Hyyppia, Henchoz, Westerveld etc - as the club was in a genuine pickle at the time - high wages to income ratio and slipping performance, irregular European cash, poor discipline and attitude; Houllier was only given the cash to splash (and waste, agreed) following the improved handling of the squad assets and the successes of 2001 which gave us some of our best financial results in years (and cemented us in G14, possibly crucial to our continued corporate status) - if anything, Evans blew the legacy of the earlier success, Geds at least blew the legacy of his own. No-one is asking for Ged to come back, nor for us to be blind to the failings of his regime - just hopeful, I feel, that the some respect for the positives in his regime, and pleasure in his continued good health and good luck, can be expressed.

All sounds a bit better-natured than the rather sniffy newspaper comments (Mail? Telegraph?) about one of the Hotels being renamed 'Little Liverpool'

FWIW, in Tom Bower's 'Broken Dreams', a scathing attack on the corruption at the heart of Professional Football, and the associated greed, mendacity and hypocrisy of various administrators, managers, agents and club officials, Parry is mentioned as one of the best respected (and honest) CEO/MD in the EPL, and a fine negotiator. Sack him anyway. Top, top post

Haven't we all missed the big question? "with a fairy or £10million (?14m) being mentioned." Who, exactly, was mentioned?

No Alonso either? I thought it was our Xabi that was, allegedly, the centre of attention on those occasions when the boys hit Garlands?