Landon Donovan needs to leave the US to further the beautiful game in his country. This may sound counter intuitive but even as his country rides on a post-World Cup high, soccer still only attracts high numbers of fans through TV – and even then it is watching European Leagues – and especially the Premier League – rather than Major League Soccer.

Mike Teevee: Definitely American. Quite possibly a NASL fan.

Donovan then, could become more of a household name in the States by playing abroad rather than staying in Los Angeles. It’s obvious that we still pull at the little man’s heart strings – even his Twitter page still contains a profile picture of him in his #9 Everton shirt. Love child or not, he’s still left a little piece of him on Merseyside – and with Steven Pienaar procrastinating over his contract, and Dan Gosling running away from his – it is no wonder there are lots of longing glances across the pond towards Landon. With most sources dismissing yesterday’s transfer rumblings about Mancini being “interested” in Donovan, coupled with the Californian’s previous comments about not wanting to play for another English club aside from us – makes me think that we could see a Christmas arrival of Landon on Merseyside.

Landon Donovan's Twitter Profile: in our number 9 shirt.

 I’ve said it before: Landon Donovan is no Li Tie, a stooge brought in to simply sell shirts in a foreign land through his celebrity, but there is also no doubt that Donovan would raise awareness for Everton in America.

Preki - In his Everton days.

Aside from Donovan, there are a huge amount of US Links to Everton: – John Spencer, Mo Johnson (Colorado Rapids), Dixie Dean (reportedly turned down a hefty offer to play baseball for the New York Giants in 1928) , Steve Sergeant (Detroit Express in NASL) , Jimmy Gabriel (Seattle Sounders and others) , Terry Phelan (played for Charleston Battery) , Preki (and all star MLS player several times, now manager of Toronto FC), Robert Warzycha (played for and now managing Columbus Crew), Alan Ball (Vancouver Whitecaps and Philadelphia Fury) , Peter Beardsley (Vancouver Whitecaps). Also of note are Brian McBride and Joe-Max Moore - and I’m sure I’m forgetting others…

"Wazza" in salmon pink for Everton, before he became manager of Columbus Crew

With this kind of history we should be drawing American fans in droves, and with Landon Donovan still hinting that his flame still burns blue, we could be forging even more links…

Top Podcast! Followtonians

Followtonians - A damn fine podcast

Podcasts are a brilliant tool, especially for a club with a large, passionate fan base like us. There also very useful for the listener too, as you can fling a podcast onto your MP3 player with the same ease that previous generations put a kettle on.

This particular podcast – featuring an American, a Scouser, and an Australian (what other club could boast a wingspan of fans as wide as that?) covers a lot of information. My favourite podcasts are always the irreverent humourous kind, in general you want to steer clear of “official” podcasts; I stopped listening to the official Everton one after a particularly sycophantic interview with “Shandy” Andy van der Meyde (during a rare moment of lucidity from the Dutchman)…

The Followtonians crew, and especially Ped, seems to have his radar tuned on Goodison. From goalies getting kicked off planes, forensic analysis of transfers (and even examination of shirt numbers), to transfer gossip and occasional rants – this is a good one to listen to. I also love their motto – “Same club. Different accents.” – quality stuff.

Check out the podcast here: http://www.followtonians.com/

…or alternatively follow their tweets: twitter.com/followtonians

 He’s done well to come this far considering the state of his foot this time last year. Seamus Coleman’s blistered foot was such an infected mess that it was considered career threatening by Everton’s medical staff.

Having glistened in both his handful of appearances for Everton and his part in Blackpool’s promotion charge, he is now looking very lively in our pre-season tour of Australia.

After years of waiting for a good right back, it appears that we may have got even more than we asked for; this boy is  ruthlessly direct – like a mouthy child that spouts awkward home truths – and he has the fearless effervescence of youth. Coleman, an explosive and skillful player, is a full back itching to roam higher up the pitch.

 Attacking full-backs can be very effective when everything clicks. Baines was the perfect example of this as his relationship with Steven Pienaar ripened, but I’d love to see Coleman cutting even deeper into the opposition than Baines has on the other side.

 When Phil Scolari first came to Chelsea people were falling over themselves to praise his attacking full backs – and just before this summer’s World Cup one famous journo was openly declaring that only a team with truly accomplished full backs would win the tournament.

Although it may sound stupid – and premature – to compare Coleman with some of the best that international football can offer – that’s exactly what I want to do. 

Right backs can be very hard to find, especially at Goodison – where Hottiger, Burroughs, Jackson, Barrett, and even Hibbert have all auditioned and ultimately failed to get the right back position. After Inter Milan (stupidly) sold Roberto Carlos to Real Madrid they went through twenty-eight left backs while the Brazilian was starring at the Bernabeu.

Roberto Carlos was also used in a very attacking manner at Real Madrid, especially when Capello took charge there. The Brazilian was part of an ingenious routine which flummoxed the opposition continually. Hierro would pass the ball out of defence to a charging Roberto Carlos, who – through a number of clever movements and screens from his teammates - proved virtually unstoppable. The purists at Madrid looked down their noses at this tactic but it was hugely successful.

Interestingly, Capello also employed a very attacking full back when he won the title with Roma, using Cafu so high up the field that he was often level with Batistuta.  Another important factor to note, in both these examples, is that Capello used well drilled and stamina laden players like Redondo and Delvecchio to close down any open spaces. Everton, a team brimming with hard workers, and also a unit that closes down space, could be perfect for a really attacking full back.

Moyes is blessed with a squad that is enormously hard working and also very versatile. As Coleman attacks – players like Jagielka, Heitinga, and Neville could easily cover for him. This could be an excellent option for Everton, especially if Moyes really gives him license to attack – the last time we had a player who scared the opposition on the right it was Andrei Kanchelskis – if Coleman can get anywhere near that level of performance I’ll be ecstatic.

Now is the summer of our discontent.

Summer is an atrocious time to be an Evertonian. Nails are bitten to the quick, nights are sleepless, and the fevered clamour amongst the gutter press for a full-scale Everton exodus reaches unbearable levels. With Pienaar still flirting with our offer, Arteta a possibility to leave, and Johnny Heitinga sending a volley of mixed messages our way we could be forgiven for forgetting about Dan Gosling.

If you’d have asked me my opinion of Gosling last week I would have told you that he is a solid young player, and a promising prospect for the future. All that is now in tatters. As word first spread my initial ire was focused on Everton. Let’s face facts, we are noted in society for our cock ups – from Muller to Ravanelli, from Rooney to Lescott and from Kroldrup to Manny Fernandes - we know how to botch a deal and sell a player.

However, as more noises have emanated from Goodison it now looks like Gosling deliberately intimated that he would sign a contract extension whilst behind the scenes he was planning to leave Everton for nothing by using a loophole (the loophole being that the contract extension offer was verbal not written). He dragged Bill Kenwright and David Moyes through a tribunal (and they must have been spitting bullets) to secure his “freedom”.

Still more rumours claim that the £15,000 a week offered  by Everton wasn’t quite enough for young Gosling, and that he wanted guarantees about first team football (madness for someone as young as him) and to play in central midfield (even more idiotic considering the wealth of talent we have there).

The pain comes from a combination of factors. His move to Sunderland/West Ham/Newcastle is an illogical move down. His move has weakened us financially (we could have got at least £4 million for him) – and in terms of our squad. The betrayal also hurts – and it was a betrayal that showed barefaced cheek.

One word of warning to young Gosling: Players tend to sink without the Moyes buoyancy aid. Players far far better than you (Lescott, Pienaar, Andy Johnson, Saha) have proven what a man manager Moyes is; he squeezes players’ talents to the pips…I hope you sink like a stone you cheeky bastard. You reneged on gentleman’s agreement, you don’t deserve one iota of respect.

PS. I cannot wait until you return to Goodison, and long for your red face to be replaced by one of our blue shirts.

David Moyes has continued his strategy of scouting and buying young, promising, but undeveloped, footballers with the acquisition of France U-21 striker Magaye Gueye from RC Strasburg for a fee in the region of £1 mln. The 19-year old was born in the same Paris suburbs that produced the ‘golden crop’ of Louis Saha, Gallas, Henry and Anelka. Gueye stands 5’10″ tall and is capable of playing striker or on the wing. He netted 11 times in 30 appearances for Strasbourg and has represented France at youth and U-21 level, notably scoring against England. Harry Redknapp’s famous and vivid description of Theo Walcott’s pace - “he’s so quick when he runs through a puddle he doesn’t make a splash” – is said to apply to Gueye.

Everton have been persistent and determined in their pursuit of young and relatively cheap talent from across Europe. The last few seasons have seen them sign Jutkiewicz, Mustafi, Agard, Gosling, Garbutt, Coleman and Fellaini, who although a big money signing, was seen at the time as far from the finished article and a bit of a gamble. This summer this pool has been further strengthened with the arrival of striker Joao Silva from Portugal and now Magaye Gueye from France. With Jermaine Beckford clearly part of the first team squad it would seem to be only a matter of time before the much loved, but injury prone, James Vaughan is allowed to leave.

If the media reports are correct and Mikel Arteta and his wife Lorena want to return to be closer to their extended family in San Sebastian after discovering that their one year old son Gabriel is partially sighted, then the Everton hierarchy can do only one thing; allow him to leave with their best wishes. There are times when football comes a distant second, and this is one of those occasions. If it is the end of Mikel’s Everton career then he will be remembered as one of the greatest players to have worn the blue shirt, and he will leave us with many, many, glorious memories.

The return of Gareth Barry to the England midfield is being hailed by the media as though it were the second coming. It is to be hoped that he can indeed deliver a resurrection of English spirits and confidence. What is certain is that he will unshackle the imperious Steven Gerrard and change the balance of the team giving it a more solid base. Another positive is that it should mean that the worthy, but uninspiring James Milner, will be nowhere near the starting XI. One of the great mysteries of the USA game was the absence of Joe Cole, even as a substitute, and we find it perplexing that Milner should have been chosen ahead of him, though this was perhaps a defensive selection driven by Capello’s desire not to lose the first group game.

The other hot issue is whether to drop Robert Green. Much is being made of a session he will be spending with a sports psychologist and his state of mind as assessed by Fabio Capello. Even more fuss has been made by the media of a ‘fumble’ he made in training, photographs of the error litter the sports pages much as they would if he had been caught drowning kittens or shoplifting; this way lies madness. Tim Howard in an interview for The New Yorker magazine spoke eloquently of the pressures goalkeepers feel saying “to tell you the truth, I don’t enjoy the game, I’ve never had fun within the course of those 90 minutes” – he then went on to describe how a job that requires little running can reduce a player to a state of exhaustion, “when the final whistle blows I’m completely exhausted physically and mentally”. We have always viewed the West Ham player as being phlegmatic and level headed. One thing is certain, if Green is dropped he might as well catch the next flight home because his value to the squad will have evaporated. Joe Hart has been described as a simple, straightforward soul. Perfect, that is just what we want in a goalkeeper, rather than the over analysis bordering on the self-destructive which David James allegedly indulges in. We would have chosen Joe Hart for the USA game and would pick him for this one. We repeat, if you are good enough you are old enough.

Jermaine Defoe is rested, fit, and not just hungry but famished. His speed and deadly shooting should be utilized for this game alongside Wayne. Against the USA Jamie Carragher’s lack of pace was exposed for all – including the Algeria coach – to see. Dixies60, having witnessed first hand Dawson’s fine display for Spurs at Goodison last season in the thrilling 2-2 draw would, without hesitation, and in the inexplicable absence of the speedy Phil Jagielka, select him to partner John Terry. We suspect though that Capello will stick with Heskey in attack and Carragher at the back.

And what of Algeria. They stand 72nd in the FIFA World Rankings and have Nadir Belhadj of Portsmouth playing at left back, other than this, to paraphrase Neville Chamberlain, this is a far away country of which we know little.

ENGLAND (4-4-2) Dixies60 XI: Hart; Johnson, Dawson, Terry, Cole; Lennon, Lampard, Barry, Gerrard ©; Defoe, Rooney

At least that’s what the press would have us believe. I find it ridiculous that journos on TV and in newspapers are constantly linking Everton players with a move away from the club, it’s as if their shallow paddling pool minds can’t fathom good players playing for Everton. The rote line is similar for every player, and it goes something like this: “Everton are a good club, but for X to really get success he has to move on.”

This summer, the transfer tales have reached Pinocchio levels, with a huge slice of our squad as well as our manager being linked away. If all these players are good enough for a “Top 4″ team, then why don’t they just stay at Everton where their talents will surely see them get a top four slot next season?? It’s maddening. Here is a rundown of the Everton players linked with a move away.

Tim Howard:  Our goalie is getting a massive amount of press stateside, featuring on the cover of Sports Illustrated, in an article in Men’s Fitness Magazine, and even had a five minute slot at the end of NBC’s News. With his increased profile, comes links to other clubs;  ”Tim Howard needs to go to a big club” mused Jurgen Klinsmann recently on ESPN.

Phil Jagielka:  Arsenal are apparently sniffing around the man who was criminally overlooked by Fabio Capello for this World Cup. Surely only a large bid would tempt Moyes to cash in on Jags.

Steven Pienaar: Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Spurs, and even Liverpool have been linked with him. Frustratingly, his most recent comments praising Moyes didn’t get as much press as his chunterings about “God’s will” did. Arsene is a known fan, and recently quipped: “He was one of the best players in England this year. He would get into the Arsenal team. I always had an eye on him since he was at Ajax.”If I didn’t know for a fact that Arsene was a geniune football lover without an impure bone in his body I’d think he was tapping Pienaar up…

Mikel Arteta: Man City, Man Utd, Arsenal are all reportedly having a look at our little Spaniard. What really wound me up was an article in the Guardian earlier this summer which noted some of football’s top transfer targets. Our Mikky was in there, with a Guardian-estimated £8million pricetag. £8million wouldn’t buy one of his shoelaces.

Jack Rodwell – Apparently Man Utd were sniffing around Jack until he signed a contract extension. The press consensus is that it is just a matter of time before he leaves Everton; an opinion which depresses and enrages in equal measure.

Marouane Fellaini – Chelsea were having a long hard look at our afroed genius before he got crippled against Liverpool and you can bet that if he wasn’t currently an invalid, miles of column inches would be devoted to Fellaini transfer tattle.

Yakubu – To be fair, it looks like this one will be wrapped up soon. West Ham’s Avram Grant apparently shares the same agent as Yakubu, and a move to London is apparently on the cards for the Nigerian.

Add to these rumours the constant buzz about Moyes being Sir Alex Ferguson’s dauphin and you have an Everton exodus. If the press are to be believed that is…

I’ve got news for Leighton Baines; if he thinks his comments about feeling homesick have nothing to do with his omission from the World Cup squad he is mistaken. Fabio Capello is a disciplinarian, a strict disciplinarian, some would even describe him as a ‘control freak’. He is also a manager who leaves nothing to chance, every decision is weighed, examined, and considered.

Baines says “I know I didn’t play my best against Mexico”. Leighton, the sad truth is that you had a stinker. A quick survey of the national papers the morning after shows that you were given an average rating of 3 out of 10! But we don’t think that alone was the reason you were dropped from the squad.

Every morning at the England training camp in Bafokeng, indeed wherever he is, Capello receives an e-mail from the FA media department in London. It contains scanned-in copies of every inch of newspaper coverage from the previous 24 hours; Capello needs this in order to head-off trouble before it develops and so that he knows what ’issues’ the press are running with. It also tells him what his players are saying.

Though Baines claims he was “misquoted” Capello will certainly have read and noted his “homesick” remark. Now let’s transport ourselves forward in time to Green Point, Cape Town at 7:30 pm on Tuesday July 6th 2010. It is the World Cup semi-final and England are playing the old enemy Germany. For days the England camp has been carrying a secret, and that is that Ashley Cole took a bad knock in the wonderful 2-0 win over France in the quarter-final the previous Friday, and will not make it. It is 4 long weeks since the England squad arrived in South Africa and Capello needs his reserve left-back to be physically and mentally ready for the toughest game of his life.

Could he be sure, absolutely certain, that Leighton Baines would be up for it? I leave it to you to decide!

When Kurt Cobain was a kid he didn’t know what punk sounded like. Not knowing first hand, he made up his own sound, a rangy sloppy grunge quite different from punk. It was like comparing Johnny Giles to Aaron Lennon. I’m in that position with Everton, I don’t have memories of ’66 – I just stitch together other peoples’ recollections…The past, for Everton, is definitely a foreign country: back then we wore vicar’s collars, enrolled in the School of Science  and were called the Mersey Millionaires, now we shop in bargain basements and dusty flea markets…

I was born in the 80′s and found football in the 90′s. Conveniently nestled between these two milestones was Everton’s best team. As soon as I became conscious of football my blues wilted. During the 1990′s I turned to England for some slivers of success. Swept up in the afterglow of Italia 90 and the potential of Euro 96 where hundreds of thousands of fans sang our boys to shipwreck, I began to believe legend of England the plucky, unlucky, cursed, and brave.

1966 is different. It is such a mythical year, that watching the World Cup Final or Alex Young – our Golden Vision, or Garrincha curling in a free-kick at Goodison – seems ridiculous, almost like a dream – but ’66 also has tangible success too.  Rubbing shoulders with the teams I grew up with – Mike Walker’s disappointments, the short spurt of success under Joe Royle, and then Walter Smith’s bores – 1966 becomes even more fantastical.

14 May 1966 – Ali in Hyde Park – Everton at Wembley – Bob Dylan on Merseyside

A lucky Evertonian on this day could have bumped into Muhammad Ali in Hyde Park, watched their team go from 2-0 down to 3-2 up in the cup final, and then charged back to Merseyside to be serenaded by Bob Dylan.

Ali was in Hyde Park training for his fight with Henry Cooper. Eight days later on May 22 a 24-year old Ali, at the peak of his considerable powers defeated Cooper. The contest, at Arsenal’s Highbury Stadium “ended bloodily and predictably” according to Hugh McIlvanney. Cooper lives near Bromley now, my home town, and I used to see him lope around our High Street with a gaggle of fans running after him – like a cross between Frankenstein’s Monster and the Pied Piper.

 Up on Merseyside on Cup Final day, Bob Dylan was going electric. In the afternoon, asked to do a photoshoot, he opted to take it on the streets of Liverpool. Most adults were inside watching the Cup Final – so a po-faced Dylan with his frizzy web of hair posed with some kids.

In the living rooms across Merseyside and in the stands at Wembley, Sheffield Wednesday’s two goals sold the viewer on the story of an Owls cup win. It wasn’t until the seldom used Mike Trebilcock took his 15 minutes of fame by scoring a double that things changed. For a Blue, it’s a game packed tightly with images: Brian Harris with the Bobbie’s hat perched on his head, Derek Temple scoring the winner, and Jimmy Gabriel procrastinating by the corner flag, waiting for the clock to run down.

July 1966 – Stargazing – Goodison Park

In my mind, at the centre of 1966 is a misty nebula where Colin “The White Pele” Harvey, Alex “The Golden Vision” Young; and Brian Labone share space with Alan Ball; Bob Dylan; and Muhammad Ali. All these separate stars; together a swirling solar system of talents; are spun to my favourite Beatles’ album – Revolver. When needle hits vinyl and studs hit turf; 1966 is the story of some of Goodison’s geatest games, even now – 50 odd years distant from these matches we can sit and stargaze:
 
Pele was at Goodison, and so was Mane Garrincha – the Brazilian wide boy and pickled poet, performed tongue twisters with his feet on the same field that Tony Hibbert currently larrups his Land’s End to John ‘o Groats long balls to the ghost of Duncan Ferguson. When you see footage of Garrincha at Goodison Park, he is clearly a shadow of his former self, but his injuries don’t indelibly mask his talent. The Dictatorship at the helm in Brazil demanded that the stars of ’58 and ’62 travel to England to attempt a hat-trick of World Cup wins. Garrincha’s fitness was lacking but even so, his skill still bubbles to the surface. He runs at defenders slowing down his strides to stutter steps, and then bursts off in random directions. He slices across the pitch with the panache of Zorro slashing a “Z” into his victims. He even scores a free kick which corkscrews impossibly into the net. Goodison was also host to the plucky underdogs; North Korea; the great Eusebio’s Portugal; the disappointments Brazil, and the finalists West Germany. They all played in our stadium (and Pele never played at Wembley).

30 July 1966 – England 4-2 West Germany – Wembley Stadium:
 
It is toward the end of the World Cup final; Alan Ball – England’s youngest – turns on a flagging Nobby Stiles and screams, “run you bastard; run!” Ball is a 21 year old squeaky ginger drill-sergeant with the world at his feet.

Shortly after England lifted the Jules Rimet, Harry Catterick – Everton’s shadow-dwelling mastermind – made the ginger midfielder an Everton player. Ball; who chased his surname perpetually; like a Jack Russell chasing its tail – became an Everton legend. A pal of deceased Punk svengali Malcom Mclaren tossed out a lapidary tribute to him when he died “”He wanted to instigate something and be an imp. An itch in someone’s knickers.”

I never saw Alan Ball play but its almost as if all of the 90′s, all the effort of our “dogs of war” and the team spirit of Moyes’ Band of Brothers in the noughties, is in some way a tiny homage to this little ginger bundle of energy, a nasty itch in opponents’ knickers.

The nineties may be a warm and fuzzy myth, but ’66 is cold hard success. St George was Turkish, Robin Hood & Queen Boudicca may not have even existed, we don’t have much left, but we still have ’66…