What The Papers Say - 20 January

Round-up of the day's Everton-related paper talk.

The views on this page are taken from the local and national media and do not necessarily reflect the views of Everton. 

LEIGHTON Baines believes Darron Gibson will prove a shrewd signing for Everton but must be given time to adjust to life at Goodison.
 
The England defender has been impressed with what he has seen of the Republic of Ireland international so far, especially how he coped with making his debut 24 hours after he signed.
 
Baines, who was yesterday made the club’s player of the month for December, said: “He looks a really good player and he’s a good addition for us.
 
“He did really well in the Aston Villa game. He’d barely arrived and was put straight in but that’s the way things are for us at the moment – we need everyone who’s available. You’ve got to give people a little bit of time to settle in but he looks like he’s just ready to go.”
 
Baines, who is the Blues’ top scorer, has been particul-arly pleased at how former Manchester United midfielder Gibson has fitted into a close-knit dressing room.
 
“He’s getting on well with the lads. He’s got the Irish connection as well, there’s a few lads here,” he said. “He’s an easy going lad and seems a normal lad as well - no big egos or anything like that. He just seems like he’s going to fit in perfectly.”
 
Baines also had words of praise for 20-year-old defender Shane Duffy, who has coped impressively with helping plug the gaps in David Moyes’ injury-hit defence so far.
 
Tony Hibbert is the closest of Everton’s casualties to regaining match fitness, and Sylvain Distin will be given every chance to prove he has recovered before Saturday’s game with Blackburn, although Phil Jagielka still faces at least three weeks out.
 
Baines said it is important Duffy is given every encouragement as he continues on a steep learning curve. He said: “It’s just about making sure he’s ok. He came on against Spurs and did well and didn’t put a foot wrong in the Villa game as well.

“He’s a good defender and that’s what he’s all about. It’s just about making sure he’s a little bit looked after because he’s still learning his trade at this level.
 
“In his nature, he’s a bit of a leader. I’m sure as he starts to play more games he’ll probably turn into a bit of a moaner. We’ll probably have a new Stubbsy on our hands!”
 
The Blues will be looking to regain some consistency by taking three points against Steve Kean’s side tomorrow.
 
And Baines said: “It’s been a difficult season for us really. There hasn’t been that real continuity in terms of performances and results and that’s something that individually and collectively we’re looking to put right in this second half of the season.
 
“The results have just picked up for them recently and they’ve picked up a few more wins than they have done in the early part of the season. Every game’s tough now.
 
“The league is so tight and everyone’s within touching distance of each other so it’s important we win games like this not only to make the gap between us and teams in positions like Blackburn bigger but also keep us in reach of the teams above us as well. It probably helps us that (Yakubu can’t play) because he’s been in the goals and we know he’s capable of scoring goals.”

IT MIGHT sound twee coming from some, but ask Phil Neville what he wants for his birthday and he’d probably reply three points and 90 minutes – and he’d mean it.
 
The Everton skipper lives and breathes the sport he is paid to play, and will no doubt relish spending his 35th birthday tomorrow in the heat of Premier League battle against Blackburn Rovers at Goodison.
 
A frustrating spell out of the starting line-up earlier this term has done little to diminish his passion for the game, and Neville was back on top form at Villa Park last weekend, using all his experience and fitness to keep livewire forward Gabriel Agbonlahor under wraps.
 
One crunching tackle on Agbonlahor was of particular note. Although not as significant as his ‘season-adjusting’ reducer on Cristiano Ronaldo in 2008, it reminded everyone the captain is still up to the challenge of leading Everton’s defiance.
 
Coupled with his steady guidance, alongside John Heitinga, of Shane Duffy against Spurs, Neville’s experience is always an asset.
 
Even with Tony Hibbert approaching a return to fitness, David Moyes faces an unenviable task deciding between the pair based on the former Manchester United man’s recent contribution.
 
The man nick-named Fizzer by team-mates is usually first at the training ground, and last to leave, and that dedication to maintaining fitness is paying off on the pitch this season.
 
And statistics, provided by EA sports, prove those naysayers who claimed Neville was no longer an influential performer, despite making more than 250 appearances for the Blues, wrong.
 
The skipper has covered more miles on the pitch (70.92) in 19 appearances than younger team-mates like Jack Rodwell and Seamus Coleman, although both have struggled with injury, and is not far behind 24-year-old Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri who has managed 72.55 in 17 games.

And true to form for a veteran who loves a tackle, Neville has won 76% of challenges he has entered, and successfully completed 215 passes while making 23 interceptions.
 
And he even compares favourably to other older players, like Rovers’ 36-year-old right-back Michel Salgado.
 
Neville has made more clearances than the veteran former Spanish international, who won 53 caps for his country, been fouled more often, and won more free-kicks for his side.
 
He’s had more shots on target than 33-year-old Bolton Wanderers full-back Paul Robinson, and made more blocks in defence than 35-year-old Stoke City utility man Rory Delap.
 
Former Toffees hero Barry Horne insists Neville’s contribution to Everton cannot be underestimated, and believes he can carry on defying the ageing process.
 
“He fits the Everton template of a perfect player. He works hard, gets on with his job, doesn’t complain, takes knocks and picks himself up,” Horne says.
 
“In many ways Neville is already shaping up into a fantastic right hand man for David Moyes, and he says the right things at the right times.
 
“He understands what the club is all about, and to be such an ambassador while you're still playing is quite rare.
 
“His availability and appearance record is fantastic, and even when he was being kept out of the team earlier this season you didn’t hear him whingeing about it.
 
“He was either on the touchline willing the other players on, or on the training ground trying to win back his place.
 
“I think to leave Manchester United when he did – resisting the temptation to accept a bit-part role at Old Trafford – has always said a lot about what type of guy he is. He is a driven professional, and probably the ultimate pro in the eyes of many.”

HOWARD KENDALL: MAYBE the signing of Darron Gibson raised a few eyebrows around Goodison, because it’s widely known that a striker is the number one priority at Everton.
 
But sometimes as a manager you can’t ignore an opportunity, even if it means spending a little on an area which is not your main cause for concern.
 
The Ireland international is a different type of player from what David Moyes already has, and he has not had to blow his entire transfer budget on bringing him from Old Trafford.
 
I am sure the transfer would not have happened if Moyes had been leaving himself penniless as a result.
 
You get the impression Gibson just needs games at this level to really progress, and he was never going to get that under Alex Ferguson, especially when Paul Scholes came out of retirement.
 
As for the other name linked with the Blues, Edson Buddle, it just makes me remember how hard it can be to judge a player on a trial basis.
 
Do they play in a reserve game or a bounce game behind doors?
 
It’s very hard to assess what you’re buying, and I was never too keen on taking a player based just on a few days’ trial.
 
He could yet be a real goalscorer but he’ll have to prove it quickly.

HOWARD KENDALL: AS A former player and manager I like to think I’ve got a special insight into the past of Everton’s opponents this weekend, Blackburn Rovers.
 
But the visit of the Lancashire club should serve as a warning to many who want to get Bill Kenwright out of Goodison Park.
 
I was at Ewood Park before the age of Jack Walker, when austerity was very much the done thing.
 
I recall one cost-cutting meeting when a director suggested only using second hand stamps for club correspondence.

Then he complained that he’d seen bottles of milk which had been delivered the previous day still unopened, so therefore we should buy less milk!
 
Jack Walker changed all that, and was a man who loved the club and had big money – by the standards of his time – to spend.
 
OK, Bill has not got vast fortunes to give to Everton but I still insist there is something positive about having a fan who cares at the helm of your club.

What would Evertonians prefer? People like Venky’s?

The Indians have been disastrous for Blackburn and are the sort of owners the Blues could end up with if they jump at the first opportunity.
 
The possibility of making the wrong decision on new owners is quite high.
 
If Jack Walker was here today I doubt Venky’s would have gained ownership of his beloved club.
 
There is always a risk with some, not all, foreign owners that they are buying a club as a vanity project to raise their profile back home, but are not particularly bothered about getting involved with their new purchase.

I’d hate to see Everton end up with someone like that – it could yet signal the end of Blackburn’s top flight stay.

HOWARD KENDALL: WHATEVER your opinion on Yakubu and his Everton departure in the summer, I’m relieved he won't be coming up against his old club tomorrow afternoon.
 
His goal-scoring record stands up against some of the best in the Premier League right now, and there is nothing more dangerous than a former centre-forward coming back into town.
 
Would anyone have been surprised if he’d rattled one in?
 
I’m sure Blackburn boss Steve Kean will be more concerned about the likely absence of Chris Samba at Goodison Park, though.
 
The big defender has been their lynchpin, and David Moyes, along with most Premier League managers, will admire him. The Rovers players are fighting hard for Kean, but they’ll miss those two.

MANAGER Les Parry believes he will add some extra firepower to his Tranmere squad by signing attacking midfielder James Wallace on a month’s loan from Everton.
 
The 20-year-old prospect should complete the formalities in time to be in the selection frame for Rovers’ League One encounter with Bournemouth at the Seward Stadium tomorrow afternoon.
 
Wallace will hope to make the same kind of positive impact as his Everton clubmate Jose Baxter, who completed a three-month loan spell at Prenton Park earlier this month.
 
Parry said: “James has got great energy and gets from box to box. We have been looking for that sort of support for our front man, so he is ideal. He’s played up front in the past and scored a lot of goals.
 
“James comes with a great pedigree. I spoke to (Everton manager) David Moyes who has great things to say about him. Everton have high hopes for him.”
 
Wallace, who is from Fazakerley, joined Everton’s Academy at the age of 13 has made one senior appearance for the Blues as a substitute in a Europa League game against Sigma Olomouc in 2009. He missed much of 2010 because of a hernia operation and returned to play 14 games on loan with Stockport County.
 
He played a further three League Two games for Shrewsbury Town in November of this season and joined League One promotion chasers Stevenage earlier this month. However, within a few days of his arrival, manager Graham Westley left Stevenage to take up the job at Preston and the clubs agreed Wallace should return to Everton.
 
The youngster boasts England caps at under 19 and under 20 level.
 
Wallace and Baxter were visitors to the Tranmere dressing room on Tuesday for the draw with Rochdale.

Parry said: “James came over to have a look at us. There was a bit of interest in him and I think he had the choice of going to three or four clubs on loan. He was adamant about coming to Tranmere. That’s a good reflection on how much Jose enjoy his time here.
 
“I hope in the time James is here, he will get as much out of being with us as Jose did.”

NOT for the first time in his career, Evertonians have cause to be thankful for Aiyegbeni Yakubu’s impeccable timing.
 
The Blackburn striker’s raised studs last Saturday ensured that he will be banned for his side’s trip to Goodison Park tomorrow.
 
And as a result David Moyes will be spared the prospect of the Yak coming back to haunt him.
 
Of all Everton’s transfer dealings last summer, the £2m transfer of Yakubu was the most head scratching.
 
At a time when the Blues were, and still are, desperately short of firepower, Moyes allowed a striker to leave for a modest transfer fee – a forward who has already scored 12 league goals this season, in a poor side, and has the best chance to goal ratio of any Premier League striker.
 
As ever, though, stats don’t tell the whole story.
 
Yakubu has a history of starting spells at new clubs well, then fading. And while those 12 Blackburn goals came in just 16 Premier League starts, Yakubu’s last dozen goals for the Blues came in 54 appearances.
 
Then there’s his work rate – a pre-requisite of any David Moyes team. A harrowing 4-1 home hiding by West Bromwich Albion in November 2010, when Yakubu wandered around like a tourist on the Albert Dock, was the last straw for the Blues boss.
 
He barely featured again.
 
Blackburn became the sixth club of his career – and like at every other club he’s graced, he’s started like a house on fire.

But has anything changed with the Yak?
 
Is Steve Kean a more indulgent boss than Moyes?
 
Has Yakubu suddenly discovered that in the modern game strikers have to run as well as score?
 
Or is he a one-season wonder for whichever club he graces? I’d suggest the latter.
 
We asked our pals at the EA Sports Index how hard Yakubu is working these days.
 
In his last full game for Blackburn, against Stoke, he managed a mere 4.77 miles (Steven Nzonzi outran everyone with 6.08 miles while Tim Cahill covered 6.29 miles at Villa Park).
 
It should be pointed out, though, that Louis Saha only just topped the five mile mark for Everton at Villa Park last weekend – in 88 minutes.
 
Would you take a lazy, but prolific centre-forward who only comes alive when the ball’s in the 18 yard box – or a hard-working but goal shy striker?
 
If I told you my childhood hero was Bob Latchford, that would answer that. But that’s for another day.
 
For now, Everton should just breathe a sigh of relief that Yakubu will be in the stand tomorrow not on the pitch.

LEIGHTON BAINES admits Everton FC must address their chronic inconsistency if they are to enjoy another strong second half to a Premier League campaign.
 
Everton FC have won only two of their last nine top-flight games, drawing three and losing four.
 
An inability to string together a sequence of victories has left Everton languishing in mid-table.
 
And Baines, who was yesterday named the club’s player of the month for December, said: “There hasn’t been that real continuity in terms of performances and results and that’s something that individually and collectively we’re looking to put right in this second half of the season.”
 
Of his award, Baines added: “It’s always nice to pick up little things like this along the way so I’m pleased to get it. It’s been a difficult season for us though really.”
 
Everton entertain Blackburn Rovers tomorrow with Victor Anichebe relieved former Everton team-mate Yakubu will not be in opposition.
 
Yakubu moved to Ewood Park in the summer and has scored 13 goals in 19 appearances, but will miss a reunion through suspension following his red card against Fulham last week.
 
And Anichebe said: “It’s a blow for Blackburn, but it’s great for us. Yak’s been in great form this season.
 
“He was saying how he was looking forward to coming back and playing against us. He was saying he was going to bully Sylvain (Distin)!”
 
Anichebe, who has returned from four months out through injury to net at West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa, has taken advice from fellow Nigerian Yakubu since making his comeback.
 
“I’ve been talking to him when I was just coming back and saying how I wanted to try and emulate him and how he’s getting so many goals,” said Anichebe.
 
“He’s a great friend to me, so it’s sad that he’s missing the game but it’s great for us.”
 
Everton have completed a deal to sign Cheltenham Town teenager brothers Courtney Duffus and his younger brother Tyrone.
 
The pair, who are aged 16 and 15, had a trial at Finch Farm late last year, and now an agreement has been reached with the npower League Two outfit for their transfer.
 
Meanwhile, Everton midfielder James Wallace is set to join League One neighbours Tranmere Rovers for a month.
 
The 20-year-old follows team-mate Jose Baxter, who was a success during a temporary spell at Prenton Park earlier this season.
 
Wallace spent Shrewsbury Town but barely played because of suspension, while a switch to Stevenage Borough fell through last week.