GodZola

A few points to note........... - Thought AVB would of used the half time scoreline to give Alex some much needed game time & give Bosingwa a rest. - Maloulda's one greedy fecker! - Romeu looks another quality player from the never ending Spanish conveyor belt. - Meireles my motm. - So Much for the so called boycott........

You may well be right, but there were about 6 or 7 sections of the ground left when we played Leverkusen & with more than 2 days left for this fixture there were only 3 sections left, that were in the MH (no surprise there with the majority of season ticket holders in that stand) so I would be surprised if we dont get high 30's for this. Tickets given away free? Wish I'd of known especially against Leverkusen as i would of gone if I could of been privy to a free ticket. Is this true fella?

I'm not sure the Genk away ticket is irrelevant in this case WHS, as our home fans are quite rightly staying away for having to pay £40 for a CL group game but Genk are actually charging more? Yet we are making a stand against high prices but I've no doubt the away leg will be sold out by our fans having to pay more! I'm not saying they will but the club could use this example not to lower CL group tickets, I said before we are being fleeced & wanted to go to the Bayer game but there's no way I'm paying £40 when it should be reasonable at about £25. It goes against what we are boycotting against & doesn't make much sense, a protest would seem the more logical solution but I think some fans like me just won't pay the inflated prices & probably can't afford to either. I fully understand were you are coming from & can see why fans chose to just go to away games because of the dull atmosphere at the Bridge & I guess you experience so many different things to the away CL games - I just wish i was in a position to join you lads!

To administration & moderation, why is the homepage still showing the August MOTM & not September's - just saying! Congratulations to the twice former MOTM Zolayes & SeB for September, well done fella's.

Was on the website earlier to book my ticket for the Wolves game & had a look on the Genk allocation, there were only 3 stands left available & we still have another 2'ish days to go, so its going to be near a sell out, certainly more than the Bayer game anyway. I certainly wouldn't pay 40 quid for this game & there are many fans thinking the same as me but I did notice that the Genk away tickets are £42 so I wonder how much they have put their prices up for the return leg. If fans are boycotting the home legs for charging £40 are fans doing the same for the away leg?

Your posts regarding Mikel are spot on LDN, many points I have already raised in the past but got sent to Coventry for! I'm not going to harp on about Mikel as you have summed that up perfectly but I will add that the one thing that I think is pertinent (I stated before) was that we don't need a DM against teams that 'park the bus' & this is especially relevant at home. For the record, Mikel had a decent game (Saha exploiting his lack of pace apart - could be costly in another game) & can see why AVB selected him, but I think this game was only won because we got that vital second goal at the right time & we have unearthed a gem of a footballer in Mata. In recent seasons Everton have always had that ability to get back in the game when they were only 1 goal behind, the second goal took the wind out of their sails & that coupled with having a player with the artistry & vision in Mata, we have a player that gives us many different options to win games like this.

Fair comment BL, my point was that 3 of the four shouts were nailed on - easy decisions for a Sunday league ref let alone an official given a CL semi final. The fourth was questionable & that one is were I agree with you - sometimes given other times not.

There's no Mata about it has to be the Juan and only! Lampard's performance is also worth a mention. We knew this was going to be a tough & a tight game - that's how it panned out. The most pleasing thing for me to see was that we took our chances. We can play better but another step forward by beating our bogey team.

I had to endure about 10 minutes or so of 6,000 Everton fans 'giving it large' after we lost on penalties in the FA cup last season as I was sat in the highest row in the upper tier of the West Stand & couldn't get out - it didn't make for one of my better moments visiting the Bridge..........I damn well hope that we get some revenge for that defeat this time around. They are without question our bogey team, they always seem to put that extra bit of effort in against us, I also hope Saha is still throwing his toys out the pram & not selected as he has that uncanny knack of scoring against us, its similar to Drogba's against Arsenal. I'm reasonably confident that this fixture will start to put an end to their lucky streak against us, AVB would of studied there performances vigorously & will find a way to unlock their door, Sturridge & especially Mata will the be key to that. International breaks are a nuisance as is their ability to take something from us but I see still see us winning this, albeit a narrow victory.

If that's the case then I hope Barca put Iniesta on the transfer list & is very quickly snapped up by us, we can also throw in Mikel as bait!

Ok perhaps you cannot explain Iniesta's brilliance so I will do it for you. If there was one player I could chose to play for Chelsea then he would be at the top of my list. Messi/Xavi et al are brilliant also but Iniesta would be the player that would take us to the next level imho, he is the playmaker that we so badly need but unfortunately would never leave Barca & if he did at what price?

Sorry BL but I disagree, 3 of the 4 shouts were nailed on & would/should of been given everyday of the week. Only Maloulda's was questionable but then you listen to the pundits at the time (ala Souness amongst others) then it may well of been all 4. I dont think I need to explain Drogba's & Anelka's but what stunned me with disbelief was Ballack's, Ovrebo had already denied us 3 pens & an easy decision to send off Pique, yet Ballack's strike was on target, the Barca player raised his hand to stop it, Ovrebo had a clear view of all things & still ran off nonchalantly with a 'I couldn't give a fuck' attitude. Ovrebo's performance was beyond disbelief & it was easy to see why there were thoughts of a conspiracy - we were well & truly done but I still can't fathom out whether he was just completely inept or UEFA indeed had an unscrupulous agenda or both! One thing is for sure is that we should of won the game anyway but that's certainly no consolation. I am though really looking forward to the players biographys when they retire, just to hear their true feelings of what happened that night, they obviously can't say too much now but it makes for some juicy reading later on!

You raise a good point here SeB about our offensive deficiencies from dead ball situations, at present a poor return. Although I think its largely to do with our poor distribution from dead ball situations but mainly corners, how many times do we see of one our players take a corner & it hits the oppositions first defender! Mind you I have to say JT gets fouled almost every time he goes up for a corner but the refs never seem to notice?! Definitely room for improvement though, again I'm sure AVB will be aware of it & something he will also get the team working on when they return from international duty.

Thats ok Max but you can only put men on the post when you not trying to play offside. If you put men on the posts then this gives the opposition an advantage to get on top of the keeper causing problems for him & they can do this because they won't be flagged offside. Obviously there are occasions when you cannot play offside as you will have to defend the ball like a corner as the ball is high up the pitch but like the Smalling goal that should of been disallowed you can get it right but it is a fine line.

Nicely done Swoopz but I became coloured blind at the end of your post! Tomo has pointed out that we have had these problems before notably for me when we started the 09/10 season, we addressed those problems then & we still have the same players bar Luiz in our defence, so there is no reason why we cannot rectify them now. At that time it was a combination of Cech not commanding his area & our defence having a high line so it was a combination of the 2. It's a little different this time round but I always feel more comfortable defending dead ball situations when Alex is on the pitch. It's a strange one as we didn't concede against Stoke & their masters of getting goals this way. Yes we should improve defensively especially from free kicks, corners, however I have no doubts AVB will be on this during the international break but I think the way we are set up to attack & score more goals we are going to leave ourselves open at the back & would much rather we play this way as its far more attractive to watch, despite the odd blip. AVB stated as long as we score one more goal than the opposition then he is happy - couldn't agree more.

You sound like the hard done by deluded Utd fans who couldn't accept we deserved to win the league that season! Don't remember the Macheda hand ball then NO?! Since when has winning the league been termed as masking any teams deficiencies? Ask any Liverpool or Arsenal fan if they had the same problem but were going to win the league they would snap your hands off. I can't believe anybody can find a fault with winning the league ffs, that unequivocally was not the problem, the board deciding to get rid of 2 great players in Ballack & Carvalho & not strengthening the squad at that time was - without question. I think we need to invest in another winger that can operate on either flank & perhaps a RB & I do agree that MacEachran should be given more game time but we are on the right road. Sturridge & Mata are fantastic additions to the team with Meireles not far behind. If you can pick holes in out squad then you could make the same argument for Utd & City? Utd should of been beaten by Basle at home & by us, City got outplayed by Munich, were as we lost 1 game that we should of won against Utd, should of thumped Valencia so I'm reasonably happy with our start & squad/attack. Couple of additions yes, wholesale changes absolutely not.

I think both sides have to be open minded to eachother on what is the most significant change off the field to our club since Ken Bates fought off the vultures. It is a difficult one to side with imho, if we stay at the Bridge then we can probably say goodbye to the marquee signings that we have been getting over the past 10 or so years & we will fall further behind the Utd's, Arsenal's of this world not to mention the top European clubs in terms of revenue & therefore attracting the best talent. Moving will also absorb any losses as we can do this by building the new stadium which is permitted in the new financial rules, therefore continuity of buying the best talent is assured. With having a 60k stadium it will keep us in the mix. Having been a fan for 40 years albeit not seeing to much of the seventies, really getting into the club in the middle eighties as a young teen & can remember getting pissed on by a massive skinhead in the shed end wasn't a great feeling at the time but that was part of the history of the ground with seeing so many great games since, especially having the wonderful pleasure of watching the best player ever in Zola to grace it was a joy to behold - great memories & emotions from a fantastic history of our famous ground. That said I side on moving but only if the board are open & honest with exhausting all avenues with extending the Bridge because I think plan A for them is to move & plan B is to extend the Bridge - their not going to waste 1mil on drawing up future plans for nothing! I believe the board should agree to a binding agreement with the CPO that fans have a say in some of the fundamental things in moving, for example ticket prices. This season they have got it badly wrong with over charging for European group games when they could of kept prices the same ensuring a sell out, they are getting that revenue back anyway by charging extra on category AA game, the board are just being greedy. For me this is a time for the CPO to strike a blow for the fans to ensure we are not fleeced anymore. I actually see this as a win-win situation for the club & the fans if both parties use their common sense & agree to logical thinking - the Club will move together In the right direction if they can be sensible. One thing I would like to add is if we do move (I think Earls court is favourite) I hope they build it so we have the option to extend the stadium if needed, we are growing & will continue to grow. One of my local sides Reading have that option & I think that's great business sense & something that we should get in the deeds.

Well that hatrick will keep the rags away for a while! The detractors will be crawling back into their flea pits, well done Frankie. Now that Frank & Torres has shut them up I wonder whose next on their hit list? JT or Cole are most likely favourites..................

Argh well must put it down to a glitch in the system..............

I didn't think AVB needed to change the personnel at all, we were playing well, creating plenty of chances & generally bossing the game. Torres was being fouled all night, should of won a pen & their keeper made 2 great saves to deny him, has a 3 game domestic ban so would of made more sense to keep him on. Ramires prob logical reasons so fair enough but he was destroying Valencia with his pace down the right side. Lampard's substitution was baffling to me, he had his best game for a while but the most significant thing in this was that AVB had decided to stick for a 1 - 0 so was shutting up shop, to bring on Kalou ahead of Drogba when drogs is like another CB in our own box is a little strange when you are trying to defend a lead. That said we should have won the game without Kalou giving Valencia a helping hand (whoops!) I think AVB will be privately disappointed with those subs & putting the shutters up early when he assesses the game, in his defence you cannot legislate for some poor finishing, great goalkeeping & Kalouless! I think most of us would of been happy with a draw beforehand. Happy with the performance, a little disappointed with the result but we are playing so much better than last season.

Their keeper without question! Agree with BL, super Frank for me, no player was spectacular but the teams performance merited a win & it should of been a comfortable one.

Catch 22 for super Frank at the mo, he needs to find some consistency but to do that he has to play & unfortunately for Frank he is no longer untouchable. That said I thought he had a decent game last night & certainly didn't deserve to be substituted. One thing I will add is Frank is a consummate professional, instead of throwing his toys out of the pram ala Tevez, he done extra training, praised the club & fans, respected AVB's decision - just the sought of reaction you would expect from a great player, his self drive & determination to get back in the side is an example to all young players but especially Tevez. The media circus surrounding our club is a complete joke but like Torres, I hope Frank gets the opportunitys to prove them wrong.

Thanks for your reply. No, as I said I've never had a problem before, I post 99.9 from my Android & use Google Chrome when I do get time to use my computer although its knackered at the mo but never had a problem posting with either. Each time I tried to submit the post it took me into the motm Utd thread, I had tapped preview post & the text was blue which I've also never seen before - don't know if that helps at all?

Ok anybody else got any ideas why the above happened?

I tried to post in the AVB thread in the Matthew Harding section & instead of it being posted In there, I get taken into the Utd motm thread??? Not had any problems before so some help please Mods or Admin. Cheers.