The thoughts of a Top Balcony Blue.

The council and police spoke this morning regarding the game this weekend and so far it’s been confirmed only the game at White Hart Lane is postponed. The other 9 Premier League games look like they will go ahead.

The Police are said to have been worried they couldn’t keep full control of Tottenham high street after the riots which started there last Friday night.

Everton’s first home game will now be against QPR, who face a daunting trip to Manchester City before that.

Tim Cahill hasn't scored during pre season

It’s been yet another depressing pre season for the blues. We yet again ended the Premier League campaign well, but yet again we’ve been unable to build on a squad with a nucleus capable of challenging for a Champions League spot. With no new signings to parade and obvious problems off the pitch, Evertonians can perhaps be forgiven for feeling a little pessimistic about the upcoming campaign. 

We all know getting them in early is the best form of action, but it’s apparent the club haven’t even got enough to get the wall outside the Park End bricked up again, so any in-comings were always dependant on out-goings. Quite why the out-goings haven’t materialised is baffling. Other than James Vaughan, the blues haven’t flogged anyone else including both unwanted Nigerians Joseph Yobo and Yakubu. What’s more frustrating about it, we’re paying both players between the region of 30-40K a week when they don’t really want to be at the football club, nor do we want them.

We’ve been linked with hundreds of players all summer, some of them seemed likely in the case of Demba Ba & Miroslav Klose. Neither materialised, the former due to wages as he chose to head North East to Newcastle instead. Then there was the biggest transfer saga this summer for Everton, Charles N’Zogbia. Stevie Wonder can see we need some pace on the wing, so it felt like a natural fit for Everton to sign the talent Frenchman. We waited, and waited, and waited some more for us to offload some players to get the £10M necasary to secure N’Zogbia’s signature. It never happened. N’Zogbia & Wigan seemed to hold out a very long time for us to find the cash too but we weren’t forthcoming. Who knows what this team could achieve with N’Zogbia proving the much needed creativity and pace on the wing?

Our Pre-season preparations began in Austria where the non internationals went into the mountains and did some tough fitness work. One boost to the trip was the inclusion of Tim Cahill who usually doesn’t join up with the team until a later date. Maroaune Fellaini was also back in the fold and Louis Saha begun doing some real fitness work since his ankle injury vs Fulham towards the end of last season.

Fellaini had visited Louis Saha's hairdressers before the Austria tour

The blues didn’t play any matches in Austria, but what we could tell from the footage we were shown by the official website and the players on Twitter, it seemed like a good trip with the players undergoing a big test in a high altitude.

The blues then had their first friendly, a trip to Gigg Lane for what has become a repetitive fixture in the calendar. Everton ran out 4-1 winners after 4 goals in the first half. The standout performer Magaye Guaye gave Evertonians something to get excited about with a very good performance from the young Frenchman, netting twice.

The blues then travelled to America to undergo more fitness work and play two games, against Philadelphia Union and DC United. The senior players were back, but it wasn’t long before the Everton curse struck. In the first game of the USA tour against Philadelphia Union, Maroaune Fellaini was omitted from the squad with an injury and Mikel Arteta suffered an injury during the game. Everton lost the game 1-0 due to a late Hernandez goal, it was a good work out for the blues, but the performance was lacking.

Next Everton moved onto the US capital, Washington to face DC United. Without both Arteta and Fellaini the blues ran out 3-1 winners in what was a decent performance in difficult conditions. On that specific day, the residents had been warned to stay indoors with the humidity dangerously high. It was the first time i’d ever seen a football match stop mid way through the first half to have a water break. Bilyaletdinov, Anichebe and Gueye were on the score sheet for the blues as they ran out 3-1 winners.

Everton travelled back to the UK 2 weeks before the season started, next up was recently relegated Birmingham City at St Andrews. This was the first night ‘The Peoples Group’ or as they are now known collectively ‘The Blue Union’ brought banners and leaflets to try to gain support for their campaign against the Everton board. Everton ran out 2-1 winners thanks to a fantastic free kick from Leighton Baines and a typical 20 yard Louis Saha strike.

Another trip to Germany followed. After last seasons defeat at the hands of Wolfsburg, we returned to face a side who were in the Champions League last season, Werder Bremen. We were dominated from start to finish, which was particiulary worrying given that Werder had just lost to a non league side a few days earlier. We looked unfit, lacked creativity and even our defence was poor as Werder created chance after chance. This was definitely the worst performance of pre season. The only player who came out of the game with any credit was young Ross Barkley, who continually ran at the German defence and looked threatening throughout. The less said about the rest, the better.

The bright spot in our pre season, Ross Barkley

Our last game of pre season was back home at Goodison Park against Villarreal. Yet again ‘The Blue Union’ were out trying to gain support but the stewards and police soon took their banners down, confiscated their leaflets and forced the fans out of the ground. If they weren’t causing any trouble in the stands, I think it’s an absolute disgrace personally. Their mission was achieved though, they stirred up mass debate on the forums and Twitter and got themselves on Sky Sports News, speaking about the group and it’s aims. The game wasn’t the best. Everton played well in the first half, but it came at a cost with the injury to Seamus Coleman who looks like he has ligament damage to his left ankle which will keep him out for up to 6 weeks. The second half was an embarrassment. Villarreal absolutely dominated the game with some fantastic passing and moving, something our team most certainly lacks. Everton ended the night with Phil Neville on the wing and Hibbert behind him. Come August 13th, if that’s our right side partnership I think I’ll be watching most of the game through my hands. The game was lost thanks to a fantastic free kick from the world class forward Rossi after Distin dived in erratically.

Seamus Coleman in agony after a horrendous challenge

To conclude, it’s been a poor pre season, saved by the emergence of a real  talent, Ross Barkley. No new signings have for the fans morale at a real low, the protest groups aren’t going away anytime soon either. Should we get off to a bad start this year, the pressure is gonna be huge on Bill Kenwright after spending 2M in 3 seasons, it’s quite simply not good enough. Moyes will have to work wonders again to get us into the top 8, the best we can hope for is another good cup run. If there’s one thing being an Evertonian has taught me, it’s expect the worst. Least then you’ll never be disappointed.

COYB.