AndyC
Player Valuation: £70m
Rhinos’ kids send fans home smiling and Tim Howard sheds a tearful farewell.
Another lovely sunny afternoon saw the dawning of the post-Martinez era for Everton with David “Rhino” Unsworth on the touch line for the final game of the 15/16 season.
Joe Royle joined him on the bench in a tracksuit and between them, they oversaw a comprehensive victory over the relegated Canaries by mixing the youth of Tom Davies, Kieran Dowell, Matthew Pennington and JonJoe Kenny with the far more experienced Jags, Baines, Player of the Season Gareth Barry and the departing veteran ‘keeper, Tim Howard.
Howard, despite much of the criticism levelled at him throughout the season, got a tremendous reception when he took to the field and the post-match farewell was also quite moving as the vast majority of the near sell-out crowd stayed behind to give him a send-off that his ten years with the club, whilst devoid of silverware, merited.
To the game itself and it was noticeable right from the outset that the mantra of slow, over-elaborate and tedious sideways and backwards passing of the Martinez era had been consigned to the dustbin as Unsworth and Royle re-introduced a more direct and quicker brand of ball and player movement. Gone were the roll-outs from goalie to centre-backs and dallying, the ball was moved quicker and seemingly with more confidence in all areas of the pitch. Gone too was the over-elaboration at the back as the Row Z page of the coaching manual had obviously been re-introduced during Friday training.
Dowell and Davies saw plenty of early touches and with Rhino cajoling them, they settled into their rhythm with Davies in particular impressing with a willingness to make a tackle and move the ball positively.
Former Everton ‘keeper John Ruddy made two stops in quick succession from Romelu Lukaku, one routine, the second more athletic as the Blues took the game to the visitors and with Kevin Mirallas seemingly re-invigorated and working hard both ends of the pitch in providing effective cover for Leighton Baines, it seemed only a matter of time before the deadlock would be broken.
And it was Davies who sparked the opening goal with a purposeful attacking run that saw the ball run nicely into the path of the onrushing James McCarthy who struck a sweet right-footer from 20-yards that beat Ruddy low to his right hand side on 18 minutes.
Matthew Pennington pulled up with what appeared a hamstring strain on 27 minutes and Unsy had no hesitation in bringing on another of his U21 charges in JonJoe Kenny. Shortly afterward a quick left flank raid saw Rom play in Mirallas and he was unlucky to see a fierce shot beat Ruddy but go just wide.
Norwich for their part, with a warmly welcomed back Steven Naismith buzzing around as per usual, tried to hit back, but such is their overall lack of quality, their only efforts were of no major concern to the Everton rearguard. And again, in the short time that Unsworth and Big Joe had had to work with the squad, the defending of corners looked much better than in recent weeks and months. Norwich ended up having eleven through the course of the game with no sign or sight of the panic that has previously dogged the home defence.
The second goal came as a punt from Gareth Barry towards Lukaku saw the Belgian forward go down and referee Lee Mason had no hesitation in pointing to the Park End penalty spot. With some of the crowd calling for Tim Howard to take the kick, he smiled gratefully at the notion but remained in his area as Leighton Baines took control and duly dispatched the ball for two-nil at the break after a first half that had seen more genuine goalscoring chances in 45 minutes than the previous two or three home games had produced.
The opening minutes of the second half saw the game finished as a contest, not that it had really ever been in doubt as another forward sortie by Davies saw him feed the overlapping Kenny and his cross was calmly slotted home at the back post by an unmarked Kevin Mirallas.
It was now a question of whether Everton would turn the screw on a hapless Norwich side, they didn’t, but it looked throughout as they had they gone up another gear, more goals would have been no surprise.
Ross Barkley was introduced after a standing-o for Kieran Dowell for the final twenty or so minutes and again, it looked as though Ross had been told not to mess about, but be more direct and purposeful especially when in possession. A couple of dribbles reminded Blues fans of how good Ross had looked earlier in the season and what we all hope will flourish again next season under whoever the new manager will be.
One rather lazy loss of possession and stroll from our Wavertree diamond brought the Rhino persona out in David Unsworth as he berated Ross demanding that he get back and work harder – Ross may have been a bit shocked given it was late in the last game of the season, but he (wisely) didn’t lose possession again.
At the final whistle, a well-beaten Norwich made their way over to thank their travelling fans for making the journey while Goodison prepared to laud Tim Howard, and David Unsworth lovingly congratulated and thanked every one of the Everton players for making his (first) game in charge a resounding success. Steven Naismith, a class act it must be said, stayed out on the pitch as part of the guard of honour for Tim Howard whose interview clearly demonstrated the emotion he was feeling and the esteem in which he holds the club.
Irrespective of individual feelings and opinion on his ability, Tim Howard has served Everton for ten years and will leave our shores with fond memories of his time here and the send-off he received. We wish him luck in his new career with the Colorado Rapids and hope he will play a large part in helping project Everton to the US ‘soccer’ community.
And so the season closed with the lap of appreciation, no demonstrations, wrangling or abuse from the terraces, the fans and players applauding each other and all with Mr.Moshiri smiling broadly from the directors’ box.
His work began in earnest last week and we all now await with baited breath to see who he will appoint to lead our club forward next season. He looks like a man who won’t take decisions lightly, let’s hope he’s brave and resolute in the appointment and backing he provides as we search to recover former glories and write new chapters in the history of our glorious club.
If the polls on this forum are a true indication of who the fan base would relish leading Everton, then a certain Portuguese who considers himself to be rather ‘special’ and wants to be loved could be rocking up at Goodison and wouldn’t that cause a stir throughout the summer.
Cheers,
Andy (Blockhead)
Another lovely sunny afternoon saw the dawning of the post-Martinez era for Everton with David “Rhino” Unsworth on the touch line for the final game of the 15/16 season.
Joe Royle joined him on the bench in a tracksuit and between them, they oversaw a comprehensive victory over the relegated Canaries by mixing the youth of Tom Davies, Kieran Dowell, Matthew Pennington and JonJoe Kenny with the far more experienced Jags, Baines, Player of the Season Gareth Barry and the departing veteran ‘keeper, Tim Howard.
Howard, despite much of the criticism levelled at him throughout the season, got a tremendous reception when he took to the field and the post-match farewell was also quite moving as the vast majority of the near sell-out crowd stayed behind to give him a send-off that his ten years with the club, whilst devoid of silverware, merited.
To the game itself and it was noticeable right from the outset that the mantra of slow, over-elaborate and tedious sideways and backwards passing of the Martinez era had been consigned to the dustbin as Unsworth and Royle re-introduced a more direct and quicker brand of ball and player movement. Gone were the roll-outs from goalie to centre-backs and dallying, the ball was moved quicker and seemingly with more confidence in all areas of the pitch. Gone too was the over-elaboration at the back as the Row Z page of the coaching manual had obviously been re-introduced during Friday training.
Dowell and Davies saw plenty of early touches and with Rhino cajoling them, they settled into their rhythm with Davies in particular impressing with a willingness to make a tackle and move the ball positively.
Former Everton ‘keeper John Ruddy made two stops in quick succession from Romelu Lukaku, one routine, the second more athletic as the Blues took the game to the visitors and with Kevin Mirallas seemingly re-invigorated and working hard both ends of the pitch in providing effective cover for Leighton Baines, it seemed only a matter of time before the deadlock would be broken.
And it was Davies who sparked the opening goal with a purposeful attacking run that saw the ball run nicely into the path of the onrushing James McCarthy who struck a sweet right-footer from 20-yards that beat Ruddy low to his right hand side on 18 minutes.
Matthew Pennington pulled up with what appeared a hamstring strain on 27 minutes and Unsy had no hesitation in bringing on another of his U21 charges in JonJoe Kenny. Shortly afterward a quick left flank raid saw Rom play in Mirallas and he was unlucky to see a fierce shot beat Ruddy but go just wide.
Norwich for their part, with a warmly welcomed back Steven Naismith buzzing around as per usual, tried to hit back, but such is their overall lack of quality, their only efforts were of no major concern to the Everton rearguard. And again, in the short time that Unsworth and Big Joe had had to work with the squad, the defending of corners looked much better than in recent weeks and months. Norwich ended up having eleven through the course of the game with no sign or sight of the panic that has previously dogged the home defence.
The second goal came as a punt from Gareth Barry towards Lukaku saw the Belgian forward go down and referee Lee Mason had no hesitation in pointing to the Park End penalty spot. With some of the crowd calling for Tim Howard to take the kick, he smiled gratefully at the notion but remained in his area as Leighton Baines took control and duly dispatched the ball for two-nil at the break after a first half that had seen more genuine goalscoring chances in 45 minutes than the previous two or three home games had produced.
The opening minutes of the second half saw the game finished as a contest, not that it had really ever been in doubt as another forward sortie by Davies saw him feed the overlapping Kenny and his cross was calmly slotted home at the back post by an unmarked Kevin Mirallas.
It was now a question of whether Everton would turn the screw on a hapless Norwich side, they didn’t, but it looked throughout as they had they gone up another gear, more goals would have been no surprise.
Ross Barkley was introduced after a standing-o for Kieran Dowell for the final twenty or so minutes and again, it looked as though Ross had been told not to mess about, but be more direct and purposeful especially when in possession. A couple of dribbles reminded Blues fans of how good Ross had looked earlier in the season and what we all hope will flourish again next season under whoever the new manager will be.
One rather lazy loss of possession and stroll from our Wavertree diamond brought the Rhino persona out in David Unsworth as he berated Ross demanding that he get back and work harder – Ross may have been a bit shocked given it was late in the last game of the season, but he (wisely) didn’t lose possession again.
At the final whistle, a well-beaten Norwich made their way over to thank their travelling fans for making the journey while Goodison prepared to laud Tim Howard, and David Unsworth lovingly congratulated and thanked every one of the Everton players for making his (first) game in charge a resounding success. Steven Naismith, a class act it must be said, stayed out on the pitch as part of the guard of honour for Tim Howard whose interview clearly demonstrated the emotion he was feeling and the esteem in which he holds the club.
Irrespective of individual feelings and opinion on his ability, Tim Howard has served Everton for ten years and will leave our shores with fond memories of his time here and the send-off he received. We wish him luck in his new career with the Colorado Rapids and hope he will play a large part in helping project Everton to the US ‘soccer’ community.
And so the season closed with the lap of appreciation, no demonstrations, wrangling or abuse from the terraces, the fans and players applauding each other and all with Mr.Moshiri smiling broadly from the directors’ box.
His work began in earnest last week and we all now await with baited breath to see who he will appoint to lead our club forward next season. He looks like a man who won’t take decisions lightly, let’s hope he’s brave and resolute in the appointment and backing he provides as we search to recover former glories and write new chapters in the history of our glorious club.
If the polls on this forum are a true indication of who the fan base would relish leading Everton, then a certain Portuguese who considers himself to be rather ‘special’ and wants to be loved could be rocking up at Goodison and wouldn’t that cause a stir throughout the summer.
Cheers,
Andy (Blockhead)
