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Radio City's Alan Irwin

Posts: 61

Alan Irwin is the Voice of Everton for Liverpool's Radio City 96.7. An experienced radio journalist, Alan commentates on all of the Blues' matches and is well placed to provide insightful blogs on the progress of the team.

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I’ve never been one to panic but I must admit I do worry from time to time and that’s something I’m beginning to do right now. I’m penning this ahead of the Brentford game so hopefully we’ll record a victory there and move on but it’s the Premier League that really concerns us and I’m not overly confident of away wins at Fulham and Birmingham and we all know who follows next at Goodison! I do think we need a little bit of luck (although some may say we had that against Manchester United!) but it also goes without saying we need to play better that we did against Newcastle to take points in this league. We were below par against the Magpies and sadly missed Tim Cahill for that aggression and spark. Having said that I’m looking at our current squad of players and there’s no doubt the capability is there but the longer we go without a win saps confidence and that victory becomes even more elusive. I don’t wish to be a doom and gloom merchant, after all in pre season I predicted Everton would finish in the top three! I don’t think I’ll see a return on that investment but I'm sure we'll do a lot better than our current league position. I’d certainly be prepared to lay out money once more that we finish in the top half of the table, way below our original expectation I know but a vast improvement on where we are now!! I think most fans are well aware of our problem areas, most notably the absence of a recognised goal scorer. Well we sure can’t buy anyone until at least January so we must make do with what we have. Jermaine Beckford needs a goal to help him get going and hopefully that will come sooner rather than later. Louis Saha is having difficulties staying fit and Yakubu is just about on the mend. I feel The Yak’s our best option at the moment. He’s a proven goal scorer at this level and hopefully over the course of the next month will have regained his match fitness and the sharpness required. Anyway, now to immediate matters and beating Brentford. Isn’t it about time we won this competition?? Without question the Carling Cup is the easiest to win of the three competitions we’re in this season. Four rounds to negotiate and then you’re in the semi finals. Add to that the fact that most of the so called “big” teams play anything but their first eleven and it’s an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed. Additionally it still carries a European qualification place. What more incentive do we need! I imagine we'll field a very strong eleven and put Brentford to bed comfortably. With no European football we’re not weighed down with fixtures this season, so now is the time to go for it. Winning the tie in style weould give us a much needed confidence booster and then we’re in the hat for round four and just 2 games away from a semi final place. Simple isn’t it !!!