Comment: Cup dream over for Blues

Last updated : 06 January 2003 By Sean Graham

I was going to start this article saying this year promises much for Everton Football Club....and about the possible new loan deals that we are trying to bring to the club,but no I have just watched an Everton team,who are currently fifth in the table,being knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round at Gay Meadow by Kevin Ratcliffe's Shrewsbury Town 2-1! Don't get me wrong all credit must go to the third division side for the way the played against the "Premiership Giants! " and maybe they deserved to go through but that does not help the way that I am feeling at the moment ! The prospect of no more FA Cup matches to look forward to this season for me or my Everton mates is a hard one to take ! But the writing was on the wall. Kevin Ratcliffe an Everton captain who led the Blues to victory v Watford in 1984 and walked up those steps and lifted the Cup as Everton captain,has masterminded the Blues downfall ! It is always worse when one of your own come back to haunt you!

David Moyes said after the match, " There has been an awful lot of nice things said about us, obviously now the opposite is going to happen but you have to be big enough to take that and hopefully improve from it."-that we must hope that they do! Two goals from one time Notts Forest hit-man Nigel Jemson sealed the Blues fate and made sure that they have only the Premiership to concentrate on for the rest of the season and maybe try and get a place in Europe but on this showing I doubt it!

It would be easy to blame the pitch,the players,the Management,that would be the easy way out ! After I have cooled down I remembered just how far this Everton team had come. Are we not sitting 5th in the League at the moment

going into the new year? Have we not surpass our own believes so far this season? Let us put this set back behind and back the Manager and players to a man in their push for Europe and top ten,surely we will get some joy out of this season !!! Anyone who watched the Shrewsbury must have seen Richard Wright pull off a couple of great saves to keep the team in the Cup before Jemson scored.Richard has been criticised recently but I don't think you could fault him for any of the Jemson goals that knocked the Club out of the Cup.

This is something that the club must work on-get a man on the post at corners and free-kicks, it may help! We are going to hear enough about the Shrewsbury result so I will move on before I get too depressed ! Other Everton News Over 300 Million people watched in China as Everton grabbed a last gasp equaliser v Man City at Goodison last week ! Everton are becoming really big in China these days as people are taking notice since the signings of Li Tie and Li Wei Feng.I said at the time this was both a great move for the club bringing these two players here and it is also a great marketing idea by the club also as the more people who know about Everton throughout the world the better ! David Moyes is looking to bring in three new players,Ian Turner,Brian Mc Bride and Ibrahim Said all subject to medicals and work permits.He has also looked at Motherwell's bright prospect James McFadden v Partick Thistle but unfortunately young James got himself sent off so I don't know what Moysie will think of the young Scottish star!

Some of the press up here are treating him the same way as Wayne Rooney,build him up then as soon as things go wrong bring him crashing down to earth again with their scathing comments ! Do they want this lad to be a Scottish Internationalist or what ? Do they not remember Duncan Ferguson ??? Well after the day I have had I am now off to a Wedding reception with my mate Stevie and boy after the day we've we need a drink or two !!!!!! Good Luck Jill and Will hope the reception is better than the one Moysie gave the team when they got back to the dressing room !!