I have written an article defending Bill Kenwright at ToffeeWeb.
This article is written by an Evertonian who saw Wembley 1995 as an interlude to mediocrity - where nil satis nisi optimum is an aspiration not a birthright. It is possible to be informed by the club's history rather than constrained by it, to enjoy an FA Cup semi-final penalty shoot out as glory, and not lament the fact that we have to treat that as a highpoint.
Expect more choice quotes as the build up to the FA Cup semi final mounts, and the first team in Liverpool become the first team from Merseyside to walk out at the new Wembley stadium...
Update: Aye we can!
Short documentary | The Hillsbrough Justic Campaign | previous Filter^ posts - 2004, 2005, 2006
Update: I watched the service live and was enthralled by Andy Burnham's address. Jim White gets it spot on:
A brooding discontent began to sound around the ground as Burnham's first words emerged from the public address system. "This," he said of Hillsborough, "was an entirely man-made disaster, a horror not diminished by the passage of time."
But almost before he could complete his first sentence, the heckles and jeers had formed themselves into a lengthy and prolonged mass chant of "Justice for the 96". The politician was drowned out. The protest had been voiced.
The distaste for the visitor was not because Burnham is a lifelong Everton fan, who, as a young supporter, was at Villa Park watching the other semi-final on April 15th 1989, as the horror unfolded 70 miles away at Hillsborough.
No, the rage was because Burnham, a decent footballing man, is a figure of authority, a representative of the centre of power. As far as many a Liverpool follower is concerned this made him someone who had systematically failed in their duty in the years following the disaster.
And, as he struggled to continue, he compounded his error by having nothing new to add, no announcement of fresh inquiry, no apology from the South Yorkshire Police to relay. His words were, in short, deemed wholly pointless, the emptiest of rhetoric.
Here's a nice case study of tabloid journalism at its worst. Have a look at this article: "Anichebe: My future is at Everton". This is an interview with Victor Anichebe by KickOffNigeria.com, then compare it to "Victor will stand his ground", which is based on selective quotes from the first article.
If you take compensating wage differentials seriously (as I do), how much must journalists at The S*n make?
Not sure if it will be a short lived gimmick, but I've been playing around with The Guardian's new "chalkboard". Everton's improved form and results this season have coincided with Mikel Arteta moving into a more central role. Here's a simple comparison of his passes in the Blackburn game on August 16th, and the Bolton match this weekend. It's an old lesson, but you want your best player on the ball as much as possible.
The Guardian suggest the 3 best reader's chalkboards here.
Most Everton fans seem outraged that ITV accidentally cut to adverts whilst Dan Gosling scored our late winner - I thought it was hilarious. Football is about moments, and there's never been a moment like that - the foreboding inevitability of a penalty shoot out, the loss of picture, and then the realisation that the piley on means that we've scored. (One split second for it to sink in, and delirium. Incredible stuff. Having said that, I do remember in 1994(?) when Dave Watson gave us the lead at Anfield, and they were still showing the replay when Ian Rush equalised. This was payback)
If you're not at the game, you can't really complain. The speed of light isn't infinity; whether the game is shown with a time delay of a second or of 4 hours, does it matter? All that matters is that for once, things didn't go against us.
Compare the managers, both enduring a crisis. For Moyes it's the absense of Victor Anichebe, unavailability of Jo, and thus shortage of attacking options. For Benitez, it's the fact that he's cracking up. Compare:
Liverpool can evidently afford to write off £5m-£10m for Robbie Keane, and show us what we all believed deep down - that without Gerrard and Torres they are ordinary. And not only that, tired or not tired Phil Jagielka has had the Spaniard in his pocket for the last fortnight. Benitez now uses the sale of Keane and injuries to Gerrard and Torres as evidence for why he does what he does. In other words, he's admitted that he's not making decisions that he thinks are right, but trying to prove a point. He'd rather lose and say "I told you so" than win. By wanting to prove points rather than win them, Benitez's power struggle has spilled so far out into the open their season has imploded. and they have no one else to blame.
Rest assured this was one occasion where you can't blame the ref. The most obvious second yellow you could hope to find saw Lucas off. His first yellow was harsh, but anyone who's watched more than a couple of these games know that to quibble bookings creates an infinite list of contention. It was old school tit-for-tat stuff that Wiley - remarkably - did remarkably well to manage. I know if was a horrific game of football, but it was captivating. I heard someone say Cahill should have gone for smacking into Carragher. Perhaps, but if you watch Cahill then every aerial challenge will involve either him giving or receiving. The ref's in an impossible position when we judge in isolation these incidents, but there was no clear error on his part. There were no Clattenberg decisions.
There were so many bizarre parts to this match. From the socks being thrown onto the pitch (and note that whilst the media might find this funny, they are silent about the coins being thrown into the Park End), to the cameo of Andy Van der Meyde - only given enough time to whip in a cross of sheer brilliance, but then unable to celebrate because he was being throttled by Pepe Reina (who, you might have missed, was booked for what is clearly a red card offense).
Last night was about vengence. Kirkby "sock robbers" we are not - we are the original football team in the city of Liverpool. I imagine the terraced streets around Walton haven't heard such noise for a long time. I assume those who were there can compare it to the Bayern semi. It was also about irony. After Benitez's classless gripes referring to us as a "small club" and his annoyance that we would dare try to tackle his players, and defend when playing away; he parked a big red bus and played for penalties. That's right - he played for penalties. But all the knocking payed off, the fact that we battered them, outfought them, outclassed them. A charge by Jags, a divine cross, and a moment of grace, calm and coolness (and a nice little dig into the away end) as the youngsters came up trumps. That's what's being an Evertonian is all about.
Addendum: I accused Liverpool fans of throwing coins, and there's a photo doing the rounds of a Head Steward after he was struck. After the Echo brushed aside the identified Liverpool fan who caused a split head to a 12 year old girl, and after the FA ignored a Liverpool fan punching Phil Neville during a match, I'm left wondering - are these actions ok? If not, how come I know about them but the FA do not?
What is it about the "Big 4" that generates such classless managers?
Fair play to Stoke for playing to their advantages, but there are a couple of points about yesterdays match that I want to put on record. According to the 'Laws of the Game'(.pdf):
Law 12. An indirect free kick is also awarded to the opposing team if a player, in the opinion of the referee:
impedes the progress of an opponent
Both of Stoke's goals came from a long throw into the penalty box, with the deliberate tactic of crowding Tim Howard and preventing him from commanding his area. Most people's instincts (mine included) are to say that a goalkeeper is big and strong enough to just clear out opponents, however the way that the rules are routinely enforced give extra protection to goalkeepers so that they do not need to physically move players out of the way to gather the ball. In other words, jostling in the box prior to a corner almost always results in a free kick to the goalkeeper, and yet for some reason ref Alan Wiley treated Stoker's throw ins as anything goes.
The match was a thrilling spectacle, but it's hard to imagine that every Stoke game will be similar. One of two things will happen - opponents alter their tactics to respond to the long throw, or referees implement Law 12 and treat throw ins similar to corner kicks. Regarding the first, it's difficult to see what opponents could do. Since there's no offside you have to crowd the box. With such a crowded box I don't think the keeper can be expected to do much more other than punch it (as Howard did for the first). Alternatively, someone might "have a word" and a couple of free kicks for impeding the goalkeeper will reduce Stoke's outlet. But why would their next opponents be given such protection? I'll be very keane to see if the referee treats this differently next Saturday.
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