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Ruaraidh Callinan

Posts: 20

Hi I'm Ruaraidh, I follow Everton home and away with the Northants Supporters Club and this is my insight into life on the road with the Blues!

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Well, it soon comes around again doesn’t it? The past twelve weeks have flown by and the new football season is upon us. Obviously, due to the horrendous events of the past week, us Evertonians have to wait another week, but in all honesty, the correct decision has been made.

I had a nice break from Everton over the summer. I didn’t even think about the new season until July and I started getting phone calls about ordering tickets, but once these started, my excitement began.

I’ll be honest, it seemed to take an eternity for the Birmingham game to arrive. A beautiful summers day out at the match with your friends, when you don’t have a care in the world about the result, was exactly what we all needed.

I thought the game was an excellent fitness exercise, capped off with a couple of good goals, which is exactly what I would imagine the management would have wanted to take from the game. It also gave a lot of people their first opportunity to see Ross Barkley in action. There has been a lot of talk about him over the summer and it is nice just to see him involved following the horrific leg break he suffered last year.

I was impressed with what I saw of him at St Andrews, but seeing him against Villarreal left a big impression on me.  There were a few times against the Spaniards where he showed great composure and skill against very good opposition and it certainly bodes well for the future. He has the perfect manager in David Moyes to nurture his progression over the next couple of years and if he stays injury free, it will be interesting to see how he does.

Last season, the Premier League was as tight as it probably has ever been. A lot of clubs have spent big this summer and I would imagine that this season could be just as tight, if not even tighter than last season. Now, anyone who knows me will tell you that I am not exactly the most positive at times, but for some reason, I’ve got a funny feeling about this season.

Over the past few years, when their backs have been against the wall, the players at Everton always seem to produce the goods. Yes we are short on numbers, but what we do have is quality and quite a bit of it. When I look at a lot of the players that have moved this summer outside of the top two or three clubs, how many of them would actually get into our side? For me, very, very few of them. This squad certainly appear to be very close and although I’m sure they would like a couple of reinforcements, if it doesn’t happen, I don’t think they’ll be too worried.

As I type this, Gabriel Marcotti has just said on the radio “I think Everton might turn a few heads. They haven’t lost anybody and I believe in Moyes…” I like it when nobody talks about us. I prefer it when we are the underdog. Can we use it to our advantage? Only time will tell, but with this manager, I believe anything is possible.

I’ve said it before, that I believe this manager and the likes of Cahill, Arteta, Howard, Neville, Hibbert, Osman and the others deserve to win something for what they have given to the club over the past few years. Maybe, just maybe, they can deliver. If they do, it will make watching Everton for the last year of my twenties pretty much perfect.

Over to you, lads…

Up the Toffees!