What The Papers Say - Feb 6

Fallout from Wigan and more in today's tabloids and broadsheets.

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

VICTOR ANICHEBE credited Louis Saha for helping him develop as a striker – after he scored Everton FC’s equaliser against Wigan.

The 23-year-old Nigerian international rescued a point for EFC with a bullet-header in the 84th minute of the 1-1 draw at the DW stadium on Saturday.

Anichebe, who was on as a late substitute, became the club’s top scorer with four goals, and believes he has benefited hugely from watching Saha in training.

The French striker left Everton FC on a deadline day switch to Spurs last week, and could feature against Liverpool at Anfield tonight, but Anichebe says he was sad to see him depart.

“I have learned a lot from him,” he said. “I always say to people Louis is probably one of the best players I’ve seen. Him and Steven (Pienaar) have been up there for me at Everton.

“But Louis’ control, pace, the way he uses the ball and even the way he thinks, he just brushes things off, and he’s a great professional. It’s sad to see him go, he’s helped me a lot since I’ve been in and around the teams, even when I was injured.

“I’ll still stay in touch with him, and hopefully he’ll do well at Spurs. They’re a great team as well and they might suit him a bit. At least we’ve got Niki (Jelavic) now.”

Pienaar (right) went straight back into the team that secured a point against Roberto Martinez relegation battlers, and Anichebe was pleased to see the South African return.

He said: “I’m so happy to have him back, he’s really close to me. He makes the team play so much better.

“He’s always available for the ball, I don’t even think he gave it away at all. He’s a big player for us.”

The arrival of new striker Nikica Jelavic and the improvement of Denis Stracqualursi has increased the competition for attacking places at Everton, but Anichebe is relishing the task.

He said: “I’m not looking to fight anyone or whatever. Competition is great for the team. I think we needed another striker, especially with Louis going out and Nikica has a great record in Scotland.

“I’ve spoken to him a bit and he’s a great lad. Denis was unbelievable against City, and Tolis is fighting as well.

“If you go into every game knowing you’ll play it can be like going through the motions. But if you need to fight, you have to take a chance so it can only be good.”

Although he was super sub again on Saturday, after previously scoring to secure draws at Wigan and Villa and a win at West Brom, Anichebe would like to figure from the start more often.

“I tried to rubbish that super-sub tag from the Europa League a few years back but it seems to be following me round. I couldn’t tell if it was my first touch but it was a valuable touch,” he said.

“Hopefully I can start a few more games soon. The manager keeps putting me in and then taking me out and just trying to help me really. Obviously I have had the injuries and I hadn’t trained for a few days before Wigan so it is important to be careful.”

He added: “It was a tough game. It was a really bad pitch and I think it was always going to be tough after Tuesday night.

“The lads put a lot of effort into beating City and Wigan are fighting for their lives and play some good football. We would have liked to have won, but given that we didn’t it was important that we didn’t lose.

“Hopefully we can pick ourselves up and do well against Chelsea.”




DAVID MOYES wanted to ease Steven Pienaar back into action with Everton FC but circumstances at Wigan Athletic forced him to ask more of the loan signing than he would have liked.

The EFC manager intended to withdraw the South African during the second half at the DW Stadium on Saturday but when goalkeeper Tim Howard allowed a deflected cross to squirm through his grasp, Moyes needed Pienaar to help his side draw level.

Returning to Everton FC on loan for the rest of the season, Pienaar has come back to Merseyside in search of first team football as injuries and form have severely limited his chances at Tottenham Hotspur.

Having played only a bit part this year, it was expected Pienaar would not be selected from the beginning against Wigan over the weekend and would be introduced from the bench with fellow transfer deadline day recruit Nikica Jelavic.

However Moyes picked the former Ajax man from the start and Pienaar played until the final whistle, producing a man-of-the-match display, as Everton fought back to grab a late equaliser through substitute Victor Anichebe.

“I think I would have tried to protect him a bit if we were in front,” admitted Moyes.

“But I think he was the South African cross-country champion when he was a boy so I hoped he could delve into those resources and help us today.

“He was really tired at the end but we needed him. Our best bits of play were going to go through him and I thought at times it did.

“There was a spark there.

“I thought Steven Pienaar was the best player.

“He looked as if he hadn’t been away, he was involved in a lot of bits where we looked as if we were on the verge of making things happen.

“You could see signs right away of the things he has done in the past.

“He has come back and we have changed things a bit. We are altering the team around and trying to change it so it is going to take a while to get it completely right.

“It was disappointing we didn’t play well overall or make more chances.

“But in the Premier League it is hard to get those wins.

“But it keeps our run going. We want to take all three points if we can but it does keep the run going.

“We want to try and keep building on it.”

Jelavic was brought on after an hour for the tiring Denis Stracqualursi and Moyes knows it will take longer for the Croatian striker to find his feet at Everton than it has the returning Pienaar.

“Even my preparation on Friday I didn’t even have to tell Steven anything,” added the Everton manager.

“He knew how things worked.

“He knew what we do at set pieces and what his jobs were.

“It is different with Jelavic. He is coming from a different situation and it will take him time to get used to things down here.

“I will bring him in gradually.

“He is one for the long term and I will bring him in gradually rather than rush him too much.

“He probably doesn’t even know the names of all the players whereas Steven walks in and knows them all.”

Moyes was unsure as to the extent of the injury which forced the second half substitution of Tim Cahill, although suspected it was a calf strain.




EVERTON FC made a deadline day move to sign Republic of Ireland striker Kevin Doyle, according to his Wolves team-mate Stephen Ward.

EFC were heavily linked with a swoop for the 28-year-old forward last Tuesday, with reports suggesting they lodged two bids which were refused by Molineux boss Mick McCarthy.

David Moyes had hinted he wanted to sign at least one striker last month, and eventually got his man with the £5.5m capture of Croatian goal-scorer Nikica Jelavic, but Ward claims Everton FC were keen on his team-mate too.

Speaking after Doyle rose from the bench to create one goal and score the other as Wolves beat QPR 2-1 at Loftus Road on Saturday, Ward said: “I was delighted for him. It has been tough for Doyler but he is the ultimate professional.

“He is not the kind of person to mope around and he has worked really hard in training.

“When a club like Everton, who are safe in the division and a big club come in you would be surprised if it didn't affect him but the bid changed nothing.

“It is great to have players like him in the squad.”

Everton may yet return in the summer for Doyle, who had long been admired by Moyes before he joined the Black Country outfit in 2009 from Reading.

And he appeared to revive that interest last week, but McCarthy was determined not to lose his man, and said: “Whether there is interest or there isn't interest in Kevin, it doesn't matter because he is going nowhere.

“I would really be crackers to sell Doyle with two days to go. I'm not crackers.”

Doyle played a major part in Wolves surviving their first campaign back in the top flight two years ago but he has struggled to reproduce his best form since a knee injury meant he was sidelined for the final six weeks of last season.

Steven Fletcher has replaced him as McCarthy's first-choice striker, and it was as a substitute that he made his impact on Saturday.





DAVID MOYES will refuse to pitch Nikica Jelavic straight into action as he adapts to Premier League life.

Jelavic, a £5million deadline-day signing from Rangers, hit 36 goals in 55 games in Scotland and Everton fans believe they have found the solution to their strike drought.

Yet Moyes eased him in from the bench for the last half-hour of the 1-1 draw at Wigan and will keep taking the softly-softly route with the Croatian.

The Goodison chief revealed: "He is one for the long-term and I will bring him in gradually. He will score goals but adds other things to the team, like bringing other players into the game.

"He is a proven international centre-forward and raises the level."





The £5.5 million capture of Nikica Jelavic, who made his debut with a 30-minute run-out from the bench against Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium, has created excitement among Everton fans, while Darron Gibson has already endeared himself with the winner in last week’s 1-0 victory over Manchester City.

But it was the contribution here of Steven Pienaar, who has returned on loan for the rest of the season a year after joining Tottenham, that really had visiting supporters purring.

For the second time in his career, the South African, who endured a miserable stint at Dortmund before he joined Everton in 2008, looks set to be rescued by Moyes.

He will be 30 next month but many more energetic and creative performances like this, and a fee that even Everton might consider reasonable, will surely mean a permanent return in the summer.

For all the problems, left-back Leighton Baines has once again been outstanding for Everton this season but the return of his old friend Pienaar is likely to elevate his game to another level.

“We didn’t take any time to get back into that familiar pattern because he is just a good player,” Baines said. “I have been texting him since the day he left to see if he was coming back, not just deadline day. He makes a massive difference to us.

“When he trained for the first time on Friday, he changed training. That shows how good a player he is.

“It’s his ability to take the ball in any situation, he never loses the ball and the worst case is he wins you a foul if he is struggling. He is such an intelligent player. He is probably the best player I have ever played with because he is so selfless as well.”

Everton still might have been beaten after falling behind when Jean Beausejour’s cross flicked off Phil Neville and span horribly past goalkeeper Tim Howard, but Victor Anichebe headed in an equaliser from a fine Baines cross late on.

Wigan Athletic have just three wins all season and Roberto Martinez feels it might take as much as 40 points, another 24 points from their remaining 14 games, to stay in the Premier League.

“I think performances like that will keep us up, with the squad we have here,” he said.





He covered almost every blade of grass here in his time as a rampaging left-back for Wigan, but Leighton Baines was left cursing the turf luck which denied Everton three points.

It seemed the home team – and their dormant forwards – would never score, and it was a freakish event which gave them their goal. Jean Beausejour's low cross struck Phil Neville on the foot, before heading in the direction of Tim Howard, but the ball spun sharply, slipping through the American's grasp.

Everton full-back Baines said: "The pitch wasn't great as you could see from their goal. The ball is just coming across and Tim is going to pick it up and it has hit almost a bobble and changed direction. It was almost like someone's foot knocked it in."

After failing to earn a point in January, Wigan were just happy to finally get off the mark in 2012. A Victor Anichebe header from a set-piece – moments after coming on – ensured the visitors got a share of the points.

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez insisted: "I think performances like that will keep us up." He was also overjoyed at seeing key man Hugo Rodallega stay with the club: "It's a massive bonus having him still here. We have to be realistic, but he can play a big role over the rest of the season for us."

Nikica Jelavic made his first appearance for Everton from the bench while Steven Pienaar returned as though he'd never been away. Everton manager David Moyes said: "It is different with Jelavic. He probably doesn't even know the names of all the players whereas Steven walks in and knows them all."