Should I Stay, or Should I Go??

With the self imposed vow of silence taken by the ghosts of the board at Goodison, it seems the only way the gaffer is going to add to the squad is to deplete it.  A bit of an oxymoron I know, but I thought I would take a look at the boys in blue who I feel could, and in some cases should, make some room in the Finch Farm changies.

The list below is purely opinioniated, and I suggest the amount of nods with outweigh the shakes of the head.  I reckon should all of these leave, we could recoup around £42million.  Read on and then tell me in the comments below - what do you think?

First, the already departed James Vaughan.  Vaughany burst onto the scene in 2004 and he quickly became the Premier League’s youngest every goal scorer when he slid in a shot against Crystal Palace on 10^th April 2005 aged just 16, surpassing Wayne Rooney and James Milner.  Plagued by injury, Vaughan seemed to spend more time on the treatment table than on the pitch – unfortunate as his ability as a youngster could never be doubted.  He ran the 100 metres in 11.5 seconds as a 13 year old you know.  He had four loan spells, the first in 2009 at Derby County, then two in 2010; first at Leicester City when he played 8 games scoring once, and then at Crystal Palace, scoring 5 in 14.  Palace liked him and he liked Palace, so much so he returned in 2011 playing 16 games and scoring 4 goals.

Now, genetically, it’s been proven that people of African origin are stronger than others.  It’s just a shame that in James Vaughan we seemed to have unearthed the first footballer made out of glass…. Since Claus Thomsen.  Fortunately, Vaughany is miles better than paper ankles Thomsen and it’s also a shame that he has moved on.  Norwich have purchased a raw, hungry talent who is extremely quick and seems to know which direction the goal is and you can bet your house on him coming back and biting us on the arse in the not too distant future.  That said I would have liked to have seen James given a greater opportunity i.e. more starts in a blue shirt when his fitness allowed him to.  It seems to me that the only benefit of sending him out on loan was putting him in the shop window.  Vaughan leaves, Victor gets a new deal…. It just doesn’t make sense, and that leads me nicely on.

Victor Anichebe has done nothing of note since becoming a professional for Everton in 2006.  Although he has appeared on 91 occasions he has only scored 7 times, for a centre forward that’s hardly ground breaking considering Moyes thinks he has "all the attributes to be a top player."  To be fair to the kid he did give us a few bounces in the UEFA Cup scoring four times in the group stages.  This was put down to the inability of European defenders to deal with his fast pace and strength.

Victor has had his issues with the club.  In 2009 before the FA Cup derby with Liverpool, Anichebe expressed his disappointment, shall I say, at not being allowed to move to Hull on loan.  He was escorted out of Finch Farm by the physiotherapist (probably for his own good) and was fined.  However, I reckon Hull City is Victor’s level (see also Derby County, Middlesbrough, every other Championship club). 

I’d be quite happy to take anything for Victor Anichebe.  Anything at all.

Joseph Yobo has made his intentions clear – he will not return to Everton.  So, Bill, sell sell sell!!  Apparently, Fenerbahce have offered somewhere in the region of £2.5million.  Bill wants £5-6million.  My opinion? We paid a total of £5million for him in July 2002, David Moyes’ first Everton signing.  It’s now 2011.  We’ve had 220 games and 8 goals from Joseph.  To ask for £5-6mil is a little extreme, especially when "those crafty Turks" are unwilling to budge, so accept what they’re offering and let go, with a "thank you for your service card" as he leaves.

Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (or Динияр Билялетдинов) is a player I feel a little sorry for.  When we bought him I YouTubed him to see what we were getting.  He looked the business.  I’m convinced the Russians sent a different player.  You can tell he has something about him, some talent, and the eye for a spectacular goal.  He averaged a goal every 5 games for Lokomotiv and is averaging a goal every 6 for us.  So, why would I get rid of him?  Well, as my cousin so rightly said, no way is he a left winger.  And, if he is, why did we spend all that money on him when we didn’t need a left winger. (At the time we had Steven Pienaar.)  It’s obvious that David Moyes wants to use him as a left winger.  For me, he’s a player who is best used off the forwards.  Indeed, he has bagged all of his goals from central areas, most notably crackers against Portsmouth and Wolves.  So, if Moyes isn’t going to take note and use him there, or drop Tim Cahill, then cash in.

Yakubu spent the end of last season on loan at Leicester City and did really well.  However, a small number of their support began a "Get The Yak Out Of Our Club" campaign.  Yak is lazy, ball greedy and has a backside you could put your pint on.  But he knows how to score goals.  He became the first Everton player since Peter Beardsley to bag 20 in a season when in 2008/01 he got 21, falling one short of his shirt number and also goals target for that season.  However, he also carries the award for worst miss in World Cup history for his 3 yard sitter in South Africa in 2010.  One thing always sticks in my mind about the Yak, and it’s a statement from his old chairman Steve Gibson.  Gibson said that Yakubu starts great but then "switches off" towards the end of a season.  He also said something along the lines of Yakubu having a great first season and then dropping off.  The stats support Gibson.  Id cash in.

Jan Mucha came in as understudy to Tim Howard at the start of last season.  But, I don’t think anyone knew the Slovakian word for understudy.  Mucha has apparently become disillusioned with his lack of first team opportunity and, to be honest, I can’t blame him for it.  He’s a good keeper, but I wouldn’t be picking him ahead of the American.  It only seems right and fair that "Mad Jan the Goalie" moves on.  By the way, I wish this Andy Lonergan thing would sort itself out.  He’s a decent keeper and seems more than happy to be understudy to Howard.

Jack Rodwell and my opinion on him will probably be most controversial.  Jack was spotted pinging passes around the playing field of Birkdale High School for fun and was quickly snapped up.  Having spoken to many of the Academy staff about Jack, they all seemed to think he would be the next off the production line, the next big thing.  Not as big as Rooney, but not far off.  Now, however, they don’t seem too sure.  Jack is an athlete – there’s no denying that.  He looks the part as a footballer and that’s always a bonus.  But, for me, he’s failed to live up to the expectations.  Maybe we set them too high, maybe we judged him on past products.  I don’t know.  I just know that if he was as good as we thought he would be, then surely he would be first on the team sheet alongside Marouane Fellaini.  The fact that he isn’t, often Moyes going for a centre back or a right back there instead, speaks volumes.  Added to that the figures of anything from £15-£25million being quoted for his services makes me sway more and more to the "deal" button.  After all, have a look at the first paragraph of this article.

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