What The Papers Say - Jan 10

A summary of Monday's news

The views below are taken from the local and national newspapers and do not necessarily reflect those of Everton. 

 

 

Police have launched an ­investigation into a racist attack aimed at Louis Saha on Twitter.

Everton officials alerted police after their star striker received a message on the social networking site saying: “Go back to France, ya f***ing n*****.”

Officers are now investigating on suspicion of a racially-aggravated offence.

Saha responded to the abuse, from an account named gardnerefc, by describing the attack as a “disgrace”.

The striker suggested an account may have been hacked to send the offensive message.

Tweeting  on Monday, he added: “Apparently the guy who actually did send me the disgraceful tweet has been suspended from his job. It was not @gardner_efc but his colleague.”

The Mirror can confirm a man has been suspended from a workplace in Knowsley, pending further investigation.

 

 

MAROUANE FELLAINI has been challenged to prove he deserves to be feted as one of the best midfielders in the Premier League.

Everton manager David Moyes believes Fellaini, who made his return from injury in the FA Cup win over Tamworth, could play for “any side”.

Moyes added: “We have to try to give him a bit of support and not always be looking for him to be a key man. We just hope we can get a full season from him. He has had serious injuries in the last two seasons which have ruined his campaign."

 

 

Harry Redknapp has reassured Steven Pienaar and the rest of his fringe players that they can break into the Tottenham first-team in the second half of the season.

Tottenham face Everton at White Hart Lane on Wednesday knowing a victory will put them level with second-placed Manchester United and three points behind Barclays Premier League leaders Manchester City.

Redknapp is likely to recall the likes of Rafael van der Vaart, Luka Modric and Gareth Bale after resting them for Saturday's 3-0 FA Cup win over Cheltenham.

That could mean a return to the bench for Pienaar, who has started just five league games for Spurs and been linked with a return to Everton on loan, but Redknapp has told the 29-year-old that he can still force his way into his first-team plans.

'Players like Pienaar and (Niko) Kranjcar are good players and they can get in the team,' Redknapp said. 'You saw on Saturday that they have quality and they have a big part to play between now and the end of the season.

'Pienaar is a good lad and he is in the running to play on Wednesday now that he has got a game under his belt.'

The South Africa midfielder suffered a concussion after clashing heads with team-mate Bongani Khumalo in February and picked up a niggling groin problem towards the end of last season.

He was confident the problem had gone away, but it flared up again in pre-season and he had to undergo surgery as a result, ruling him out until mid-September before another two setbacks kept him sidelined until November.

'With Pienaar the problem has been his injuries,' Redknapp said. 'He has never really got up and running. He seems to have injury after injury.

'He was one of their main players at Everton and it has been a difficult year for him.'

 

 

Louis Saha was subjected to foul-mouthed racial abuse on Twitter, it has emerged. The French striker, who plays for Everton, was told "go back to France ya f****** n*****" after the account of a fan was allegedly accessed without permission.

It emerged on the day politicians called for an inquiry into racism in football, claiming the Football Association and individual clubs were "dragging their feet" over the issue. Saha, 33, retweeted the offensive message, received on 4 January, and added his own comment in reply: "Don't attached urself with the club. U disgrace."

The account which sent the message has now been deleted and Saha later updated his 80,000 Twitter followers telling them an investigation was carried out and the offensive tweet was sent without the user's authorisation by a work colleague.

Saha, who has also played for Manchester United, Fulham and Newcastle United, also said the abuser had been suspended from his job.

A spokesman for Everton said officials and police were aware of the incident and a "thorough and proper" investigation was taking place.

Race rows have plagued the game in recent weeks with John Terry accused of racially abusing the QPR defender Anton Ferdinand – a claim he strenuously denies – and Liverpool's Luis Suárez receiving an eight-match ban for racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra. On Friday the Oldham Athletic defender Tom Adeyemi was allegedly racially abused by a supporter at Anfield. A 20-year-old man was arrested and bailed.

Mike Hancock, Liberal Democrat MP for Portsmouth South and a member of the All-Party Football Group, said on Monday: "An inquiry will be welcome but it has to have real teeth. The abuse is completely unacceptable."

 

 

DAVID MOYES is hoping Everton FC striker Louis Saha can come back refreshed and firing tomorrow night – after enjoying a much needed break from the firing line.

The Everton FC boss left Saha out of his squad for the FA Cup visit of Tamworth, after a run of 14 starts in Everton’s previous 16 games.

He will return for the trip to Tottenham tomorrow, when Moyes hopes the French forward can also rediscover his goal touch after failing to find the net since the Carling Cup tie against Chelsea in October.

“He definitely needed a breather,” explained Moyes. “I think he’s probably played as many in a row as he has for years so he needed a break.

“Obviously he’s not scoring at the moment either so we needed to look to see if we could find other solutions.”

Moyes admitted that Saha, who rattled nine goals in five starts this time last year, is low on confidence, but that only goals could change that round.

“If you’re a centre-forward and you’re not scoring I’m sure your confidence would be low,” he added.

Amongst those ‘solutions’ Moyes is seeking is a new face or two during the January transfer window.

“I would like to do something in the transfer window if I could,” he added. “But obviously people know that we’re probably in the loan market. You hear every manager in the country saying how difficult the January market is, so how much more difficult is the January loan market going to be?”

Moyes’ team selection will be hindered tomorrow with injuries to a series of key players.

Phil Jagielka, Tony Hibbert, Jack Rodwell, Leon Osman and Tim Cahill all missed the FA Cup tie at the weekend through injury, while Seamus Coleman joined the ranks of the walking wounded when he limped off with a recurrence of his old thigh strain.

The injuries may force Moyes to reshuffle his remaining resources, with the versatile Landon Donovan a key figure.

“Using Landon on the left is something I’ve thought about, and I said when he came in I might play him up front as well.

“I’ve already moved him into two or three different positions because we’re still seeing where we can get the maximum amount from him.”

 

 

THE last time Landon Donovan played at White Hart Lane, he felt compelled to apologise to his Everton FC team-mates after a contender for miss of the season.

“It’s hard to understand what went wrong,” he said after firing wide from barely a yard. “I felt like everything was right but then I looked up to see the ball had hit the side-netting.”

Everton FC lost the match 2-1 and Donovan added: “It’s so frustrating because if we had scored then it’s possible we might have gone on to win the game.”

Donovan did score in his next game – a 5-1 demolition of Hull – before returning to the USA after a highly successful loan period.

But tomorrow, against a vibrant Tottenham Hotspur side, the American international admits he expects more of his focus to be on defending rather than attacking.

Donovan could find himself in direct opposition to Gareth Bale and he explained: “They’ve got a number of very good players that are playing well. Gareth Bale may be the best left sided player in the world at the moment. If I play it’s going to be a challenge, but I like those challenges.

“Tottenham are playing really well. They are right up there in the table and it’s as difficult a game as I’ll play while I’m here so I’m excited for it.

“It will be nice to go back to White Hart Lane and hopefully we’ll get a good result.”

Donovan has hit the ground running since arriving on loan from Los Angeles Galaxy.

After less than a week’s training he has managed back to back 90 minute run-outs in the Premier League against Bolton and the FA Cup against Tamworth.

And on Saturday he came agonisingly close to opening his goals account second time around with a blistering long range drive which bounced off a Gwladys Street goal post.

“I feel great cardio wise,” said Donovan afterwards. “My legs are a little tired, but hopefully they’ll recover after a couple of days’ rest – because we’ve got a really big game Wednesday which I’m excited about.

“I think I’ve settled in pretty good. The team struggled a little bit last Wednesday against Bolton, but we played a little better against Tamworth and we really need a big effort against Tottenham. It’s nice to be back. I’ve enjoyed the couple of games so far and I just want to keep going.”

 

 

DAVID MOYES has challenged Everton FC player Marouane Fellaini to prove he is one of the best midfielders in the Premier League.

Fellaini returned to action after a spell out with an adductor injury by delivering a man-of-the-match performance in the FA Cup win over Tamworth at Goodison on Saturday.

The Belgian gave Everton FC a boost during the autumn by signing a new contract that extends his commitment to the club until 2016.

A number of clubs, including Premier League rivals Chelsea and Arsenal, were courting Fellaini with the player having been due to enter the final 18 months of his previous deal.

But with speculation over his future having abated, Moyes is now urging the 24-year-old to underline his growing status.

“For what he can do, and for the talents he has, he could play for any side in the Premier League,” said the Everton manager. “He is an excellent player, and he can only get better with age and experience too.

“He can do all sorts of jobs all over the pitch. He is defensively good, he has good control, he can pass, he helps out in both boxes because of his size.

“And, even though he doesn’t look it he is a great athlete, a great runner with fantastic endurance levels. He has an awful lot going through him.

“He is a tad naive in certain areas, but I think if you look at where he was when he arrived and where he is now, he hasn’t half improved.

“His discipline is much better, for example. The only thing I’d say is, in his first season he scored about 10 goals.

“The challenge for him in the second half of the season is to be one of the top midfield players in the country, which I am sure he can do.”

Fellaini will take on extra responsibility in the coming weeks with Everton’s squad decimated by an injury crisis that saw them missing five senior players at the weekend with another, Seamus Coleman, limping out of action.

Asked if the player could develop to the same level as Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, Moyes said: “He is not there yet, but he is a different type of player to Gerrard and Lampard. He is an asset to us, and he would be an asset to most teams.

“It is difficult to compare him to anyone really because of the way he plays. He does not have the silkiness of Vieira, for example, but I think in his own way he might be more aggressive in terms of breaking things up.

“We have seen at times that we can throw him up front if we have to, which we can do because he plays a more advanced role for Belgium.”

Moyes added: “We need to help him as well. We have relied on him quite a bit, and we still do. We have to try and give him a bit of support and not always be looking for him to be a key man.

“All we need from him (in the second half of the season) is to kick on and carry on.

“We just hope we can get a full season from him. He has had serious injuries in the last two seasons which have ruined his campaign.”

Meanwhile, Mark Clattenburg is scheduled to referee an Everton game for the first time since his controversial officiating of the Goodison derby in October 2007.

Clattenburg has been assigned to take charge of the visit of Moyes’s men to Aston Villa on Saturday.

The referee has not been seen at an Everton match since he infuriated the home crowd by sending off two Everton players, not red-carding Dirk Kuyt and turning down a late penalty claim for Moyes’s side as they slipped to 2-1 defeat.

Martin Atkinson, who erroneously dismissed Jack Rodwell in this season’s 2-0 Goodison derby defeat, will take charge of tomorrow’s Premier League trip to Tottenham Hotspur.

Everton midfielder James Wallace is to join npower League One outfit Stevenage on loan for a month.