Not the ref's greatest day by the sounds of it. No penalty for us, Baines not sent off and now Everton's 2nd goal the he gets in the way.
Well, those penalty shouts were a bit silly to me, think of our one against Blackburn, same thing. Baines first yellow was a nothing foul, so it would of been silly for him to be sent off. But yes, the second Everton goal was a farce, and it may yet be another incorrect decisions that costs us points.
Don't need a degree to know what the tactics will be now. I'm sorry PL is now like Mancini, he has changed the line up so many times, he doesn't know what his best line up is.
I'm inclined to disagree - because we are losing to an established PL team narrowly (And only because of referee) that means Lambert has team wrong? People expected us to be losing this game 2 or 3 nil at the start of the season, so to be where we are now suggests Lambert has had it right more often than not!
BRILLIANT! Wilbraham, made that I can't emphasise the presence of mind to square the rebound for Holt to score! Deserved goal!
No too many dramatic/ important results at the bottom of the table making the relegation battle interesting! Might get a sniggered comment about holt for england. Good day overall i'd say a lot of results went out way and not only 18 points to play for!
Be nice to see some accuracy from BBC statistics and give the assist on Everton's second goal to Andrew Marriner!
The sniggers only come from 1p5wich fans, so who gives a flying fudge? Almost everybody else seems to think he deserves a chance and that's all that matters.
Well, that's the 40 points total up. Safety as good as certain then? Ruddy - 7 - Couldn't have stopped either of those goals; was a bit unlucky because these were the only things that really challenged him all game. Quick off his line throughout, how he is not in England squad is a travesty. R Martin - 6 - Pretty standard really. R Bennett - 6 - I thought someone should have been closer to Jelavic for that second, and I think R Bennett was the nearest. Other then that, not alot to say because Everton only created 2 serious chances, unlucky they both went in. Ward - 6.5 - Between him and R Bennett should have stopped second (Although it was our free kick anyway). Well timed tackle at the death prevented Everton a great chance. Drury - 7 - Sharp in defence, let down by crossing, although he wasn't the only one guilty of giving Tim Howard catching practice. Fox - 5.5 - Not his best game by any stretch of the imagination! To begin with he was the only one who dares try some more adventurous passes, but his set piece delivery today was poor. Bennett - 8.5 (MoM) A constant threat. Only thing I can fault is some decisions he took to shoot with better options available. Perhaps the only consistent crosser on the pitch. Howson - 7.5 - I know he scored, but up until then I SWEAR I don't remember him EVER touching the ball. Grew into the game later on and came close to scoring a few others. Surman - 5.5 - In a midfield with no steel, but a lot of creativity, Surman didn't really pull his weight today. When Fox went off he continued with the theme of poor set piece delivery with Wilbraham and Holt to aim at. That Holt was taking a late free kick highlighted the problem for me! Hoolahan - 6.5 - Seemed to be playing at LM today, puzzling since Surman is a LM anyway. Actually did a decent job backtracking in defence and a clever run and a cross for our first goal, but let down by a very poor first half. I wonder what he offers that Howson doesn't and if we should play Johnson or Crofts for some steel instead. Holt - 8 - A constant menace. For the little service he had he did well to win so many free kicks and was a shame they were wasted. Got the goal he deserved in the end. Subs: Wilbraham - 7.5 - I think he definatley has a future here, I can say without a hint of irony that it was he who changed the game that got us back in. Couldn't score himself, but thought on his feet to square the rebound for a goal for Holt that did still need finishing. Crofts - n/a Naughton - 7 - He is tied for Tottenham game which makes the decision not to start him very puzzling. I think his crossing could have made a difference today, as he was very lively for the time he was playing.
