Everton FC

There's been a bit of a furore this week regarding footballers promoting their beliefs by removing their shirts only to reveal an amusing and/or socially aware message on their undergarments. First of all we had lil' Stevie P removing his top after scoring against Spurs on Sunday, to reveal a message reading 'God is Great.'

Nothing wrong with that you might imagine, but in the eyes of the FA this is seen as some kind of heretical propoganda and our boy in Blue was subsequently yellow-carded. Which is a bit absurd when you think about it, because while I don't ally myself to any particular religious school-of-thought I don't take any offence at someone else promoting theirs, particularly when they've just scored a winner at White Hart Lane. Maybe it was God that caused Peanuts' shot to careen wildly off Corluka's leg under the typically flailing body of Gomes. But then again, maybe it wasn't. Who cares?

This sort of behaviour has come under even more scrutiny since then with the Liverpool team wearing 'Free Michael Now,' t-shirts while warming up before the West Ham game on Monday. At first I thought this was a plea to Joe Kinnear and Mike Ashley to free Michael Owen from his Newcastle-based purgatory, but apparently not. And while I usually have little good to say about the Koppites, I think it was pretty ballsy of them to flex some socially-aware muscles and try and promote a cause which they believe in, be it right or not. But again our beloved FA have investigated the matter, and while no sanctions have been handed down, the mere fact they're sticking their nose in just rubs me the wrong way.

If it'd been some kind of riot-inciting political diatribe, then fair enough, but isn't it the job of a 'local,' team (I had to put that in inverted commas) to represent the beliefs and feelings of their supporters and local area? I'm just getting the impression that the FA are trying to neuter our beloved game on behalf of all 'upstanding citizens,' (Daily Mail readers) who physically vomit at the merest hint of a naked torso or naughty swear-word...

Oh dear. It is like some kind of sick cosmic joke when Louis Saha is your fittest available striker. I haven't seen today's game yet (praise be to whoever thought up the concept of Match Of The Day 2), but I am reliably informed that we played well and the win was deserved on balance. But putting a massive downer on an otherwise excellent result was the news that The Yak has ruptured his achilles tendon and will be sitting out the rest of the season.

While I haven't been the man's biggest advocate this season (the lazy so-and-so), this is a huge blow for us with James Vaughan probably out for a similar period with a knee op, leaving the accident-waiting-to-happen that is Louis Saha as our main striker for the rest of the season. While its clear the Yak has been underperforming thus far, I feel we are going to desperately miss his ability to create a goal from nowhere when we aren't playing well.

Time for Anichebe and this 'Lukas Jutkiewicz,' character to step up...

Well, its finally sorted. After what seems like (and actually has been) months of speculation, Moysie has finally signed a new contract, keeping him at Everton until 2013. Having read around some of the Everton forums of late, there hasn't been quite the unanimous outpouring of joy at Moyes staying on as manager that I was expecting, with some toffees saying that he's taken us as far as he can with the means at his disposal. To these people, I say this: Shut your ungrateful whining traps.

Admittedly, we've had a poor start to the season but I for one am proud that we have shown loyalty to the man who has almost literally singlehandedly dragged us from the mires of the relegation battle to the heady heights of (getting knocked out of) Europe, especially when managers are hired and fired at the drop of a hat in the current climate. I can think of no other manager since perhaps Brian Clough who has managed to do more with less, and his eye for spotting and nurturing talent on the cheap (Cahill, Arteta, Lescott, Jags, Peanuts etc.) is pretty much unrivalled. Just think of what he can do if we get some rich Arabs/Indians/Nigerians behind him...

Onwards and upwards my friends.

Whilst browsing the Everton section on the BBC site yesterday, I noticed an update regarding Moyes' seeming inability to sign a piece of paper which would grant him millions and millions and millions of pounds, and make the majority of toffees very happy:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/e/everton/7661542.stm

For the most part it's a pretty standard article regarding the ongoing contract shenanigans, but a quote from the chief executive Robert Elstone caught my attention, it reads thus:

"The reason it has taken time is because neither side saw any issues. It will, I'm sure, be announced very soon,"

Now it could be that this was a misquote or I'm misunderstanding the point completely, but if there were no issues then surely that would make the contract easier to sign? It's this kind of weird Orwellian logic that is making this the dullest contract saga since the last incredibly dull contract saga. Anyway, this is the last time I shall mention this until something actually happens, or until my face caves in with sheer apathy towards the whole affair.

Hello there, my name is John and I shall be guiding you through the murky waters of rumour and conjecture surrounding our beloved club of late. Lets face it, it's been a pretty shocking start to the season by anyone's standards (except maybe Derby) with our only points coming from the three promoted teams and <shudder> Newcastle, and still no win at Goodison. Not to mention an early exit from both the Carling and UEFA cups. And as if all that wasn't bad enough, we've only gone out and got one of those godawful luminous yellow 3rd strips, which confuse and confound me in equal measure. I can only assume a disproportionate number of Blues fans are being knocked off their bikes whilst cycling at night, necessetating this sweeping social gesture.

Added to all this, we have Davey Moyes acting like some French floozy, constantly wafting his eyelashes and whispering sweet nothings to us regarding his new (£17 mil, 5 year) contract, then stealing away in the dead of night before 'sealing the deal,' so to speak. Last I heard, this was all supposed to have been resolved before the Newcastle game last weekend, but still nothing's happened and trying to get a straight answer out of the club of late is as futile as putting a cat in a microwave.