SO there were a few twists and turns to savour after all.
Stubbsy off to fire-up the condemned Derby dressing room and Anthony Gardner coming in on loan from Spurs.
First on Stubbs. Initially I was surprised Moyes let him go, seemingly leaving us a bit short on centre-half cover until May.
But at 36 and slowing by the day, Kirkby’s finest was only ever going to be an ultra-reliable substitute this season.
I guess the manager just saw a chance to trim the wage bill and Stubbs saw a chance to play more football in maybe his last season. Good luck to him. It’s always nice to see a proper Bluenose play for us and sad to see them leave.
Don’t bet against him possibly returning in a coaching capacity in 18 months.
Equally Gardner raised a few eyebrows but it makes sense. He will be younger, quicker and more promising cover for Lescott, Yobo and Jags.
Don’t forget the Londoner even got an England call-up in 2004 so can’t be that bad. (Davie ‘Rhino’ Unsworth anyone??). Nah, he’ll be OK.
Then to the conundrum that had become Anderson da Silva. His mystique, generated by, well, hardly ever playing, even tricked a few Goodison punters into thinking he might be good.
The shouts for him to come off the bench on Wednesday were good comedy.
Less comic is whatever fee we paid the scout who convinced us to sign him, wait a season while he played in Spain, and then get him on the wage bill.
We’ve been crying out for a tall (tick), athletic (tick), defensive (tick) midfielder at times this season so the fact that da Silva still never got a game says it all.
Arteta will probably miss him though because they were good mates.
Speaking of big midfielders, the rumoured move for Yank midfielder Michael Bradley never materialised.
Heerenveen wanted 5m euros for the youngster and I believe the Goodison purse strings didn’t stretch that far.
He could be an option for the summer, after Lescott’s contract has been renewed, or maybe we will be able to fish in bigger ponds then?
Finally as our kit-makers Umbro were formally taken over by Nike, I got briefly excited that we’d get Nike strips next season.
It isn’t happening though because Umbro will stay as a kit maker, just under ownership of the American firm. Bah. Bring back Le Coq Sportif.
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Anonymous wrote...
That Londoner is infact from Stone, Staffordshire ;)
It is a shame about the Umbro deal, JJB own 10% of Umbro and as we know they are our 'merchandising partners', so basically it's in JJB's interest for Everton to remain with Umbro as it's more profitable for them.
It's a conflict of interest for Everton in a way.
We would undoubtedly sell more clothing items if it was Nike, kids would want the Nike Everton coats and jackets for school. Let's be honest, no one really wants to wear Umbro! I am tempted to go as far as to say that JJB deal would have never been needed had the club attracted a decent manufacturing brand in the first place.
Posted by: Anonymous | February 2, 2008 9:18 PM