ohmelads

Well they're already out of the Carling Cup.

Derby at home. Just about the one game they would have asked for in their current situation. But they've got a trip to Old Trafford after that.

Everton's one downfall might be their depth if they get an injury crisis. But the team is greater than the sum of its parts, they don't have any prima-donnas, just good organisation and work ethic and a few very good players like Yobo, Lescott and Arteta to make the difference in tight games. I still think Spurs have the better squad and that's why I wanted Everton to take the points today, I see Spurs as a bigger threat. But time will tell I guess.

To be fair the visiting Spurs fans have provoked a lot of the ridicule that has/will come their way, this began as a sensible thread discussing two potential rivals of ours. I think their pre-match comments have made a lot of people go for Everton, espescially when contrasted with the pre-match comments of our resident Everton poster who was a lot more modest and didn't enter the thread with a defensive attitude.

Looks like Spurs are gonna have to unleash all these worldbeating kids we keep hearing about.

3-1 Everton

And again. Can look slick and dreadful in the same minute. We put in a shocking performance down there and still scored 3 goals.

2-1 Everton

1-1 Gardner

1-0, Lescott.

Teams: Tottenham * 01 Robinson * 02 Chimbonda * 05 Kaboul * 30 Gardner * 07 Stalteri * 04 Zokora * 08 Jenas * 15 Malbranque * 10 Keane * 09 Berbatov * 23 Bent Substitutes * 12 Cerny, * 18 Defoe, * 21 Routledge, * 22 Huddlestone, * 33 Rocha Everton * 24 Howard * 02 Hibbert * 04 Yobo * 15 Stubbs * 05 Lescott * 21 Osman * 18 Neville * 26 Carsley * 06 Arteta * 08 Johnson * 28 Anichebe Substitutes * 30 Ruddy, * 11 McFadden, * 16 Jagielka, * 19 Nuno Valente, * 20 Pienaar

I won't get drawn into a 'my team is better than yours' debate, you're always going to see your players through the eyes of a Spurs fan and I'll see ours through the eyes of a Geordie. It's easy for you to point and say that youngsters with no Premiership experience will come in and do much better than Milner or Taylor over the next 10 years, but you have no yardstick by which you can say that at all. We've seen it before ourselves with Hugo Viana, he arrived as European Young Player of the Year and was wanted by Juventus. He too had "massive pedigree in his home country" yet he flopped massively. Now we've signed Enrique, Spain's under-21 left back, and we're hoping this turns out to be a success, but we're not shouting from the rooftops that he'll be better than Baines or whoever because we just don't know how good he is yet.

My head says Spurs' home advantage will see them through, but looking at the two midfields I think that battle could go either way and Everton have a better defence in my view. A defeat for Spurs wouldn't be the end of the world, but it would put them in a hole they'd really need to climb out of quickly. The pressure is on Spurs tonight, but I do think they'll shade it.

Or N'Zogbia, Taylor, Milner, Enrique? I see what you tried to do there, but people aren't going to fall for that on a Newcastle board. Dont forget the premiership's top scorer I wasn't going to include him, but seeing as he's happy to use Bent as an example, then yes Martins as well. His point doesn't stand up to scrutiny at all, I don't know why he thought noone would pick up on that on a Newcastle board.

Or N'Zogbia, Taylor, Milner, Enrique? I see what you tried to do there, but people aren't going to fall for that on a Newcastle board.

While there are many people jumping to conclusions after one weekend of matches, I reckon this game tonight could be a good yardstick by which to judge two teams who I feel could be close rivals of ours this season. Am I alone in hoping that Everton take all 3 points and leave Spurs asking questions of themselves? In terms of the resources at their disposal I think they're a bigger threat than Everton although I think Everton look a lot more organised and solid defensively. Should be an interesting game. Any thoughts?

Seen quite a few Spanish games from the Primera plus a couple from the Segunda and Segunda B. Needless to say the atmosphere was better in the lower leagues, but not the kind of attendances you'd find in the Championship for example, people just don't support their local teams anywhere near as much over there. In fact anywhere outside the big cities nearly everyone supports either Real or Barca, it's a real shame but that's the way it is.

Didn't Sam say there's nothing left in England and suggest we'll be looking abroad? Whether he really means that though is another matter.

I think Martins' away form might have something to do with the fact that when we're away, the home side is under pressure to push up and that leaves loads of space for quicker players to get onto long/through balls and get in behind them, espescially when we can break quickly. We were punished this way by Anelka after throwing bodies forward for a corner, despite being 3-0 up.

I think he'd improve the squad no end, but I don't think he'd significantly improve the first team and at 30, for £4m, it's a very short term signing. He's Everton's captain now isn't he? Can't see them selling. I think we can do better, but it wouldn't be the end of the world. He never gets injured, he's quite consistent, very versatile, English, a leader on and off the pitch.

Agree with this. If we get in one more central defender, I'd keep Ramage as 5th choice CB and loan the other two out until christmas. I haven't seen enough of Edgar to comment but Huntington really needs to go out on loan IMO if he's ever going to make it. He just doesn't look confident enough on the big stage, but that can be changed if he's playing every week in the Championship for example. I don't think he looks all that much to be honest, but a lot of that could have been down to confidence issues and playing out of position.

You don't need to be an expert on Thai politics to feel this guy deserves thorough investigation at the very least, considering the accusations made about him from various human rights groups. One way to look at it is that he killed some terrorists and drug dealers and then suppressed a military funded insurgency in the south. I dont know enough about it tbf. Same here, but what the human rights groups (who should be more impartial on Thai politics than Thaksin or his supporters) have been saying is enough for me to believe he's not the sort of guy I'd want in the Premiership. But then again, Abramovich hardly sounds squeaky clean yet everyone's bored of that now so I imagine Shinawatra will go the same way.

The Spanish rags seem confident something will be sorted out this week. Plenty of talk of a loan, though I don't see a lot of point in that. The hope would obviously be that he turns it on playing back in Spain and his price goes up again by which time we cut our losses, but we saw with Viana that it's just as likely his value will drop even further, and he'll be 30 when his loan expires.

You don't need to be an expert on Thai politics to feel this guy deserves thorough investigation at the very least, considering the accusations made about him from various human rights groups.

Can't say I've really noticed him either, though I rarely see Bolton play. He's versatile, but what's his best/preferred position?