Recently by Chris Beesley

EVERTON manager David Moyes is confident that his improving side will be able to turn Goodison Park into a fortress again for the remainder of this season.

Only the Champions League qualifying 'big four' triumphed against Moyes's side on their own turf last term but Everton started this season badly at Goodison Park, losing their first three Premier League matches and failing to record a win in all competitions until their seventh match at home.

However, with Everton now unbeaten in their last three home matches and having broken their duck at Goodison Park with a 1-0 victory over Fulham, Moyes believes that his side have now turned the corner.

HE might not have obtained the signatures he wanted in the transfer market this summer but when David Moyes put pen to paper at Finch Farm yesterday on a new five-year contract the Everton manager became the club's biggest signing of the season.

For months now the Scot has insisted that he had always wanted to extend his stay at Goodison Park but with a frustrating search to add new faces to the squad in the close season followed by a disappointing start to the campaign, which has included exits at the first time of asking from both the Carling and UEFA Cups, Evertonians had been left wondering just when a new deal for their manager would actually be sealed.

Over the past month everyone was told that only a few minor details needed to be ironed out but after the 2-0 home derby defeat to Liverpool Moyes himself admitted that the long delays over getting the formalities completed could have been distracting his players on the pitch.

by Chris Beesley

WORLD CUP winner Ray Wilson has hailed the way in which manager David Moyes has revived Everton's fortunes despite the Scot enduring a disappointing season so far.

Wilson, who was part of the England team that lifted the Jules Rimet Trophy at Wembley in July 1966, just weeks after he won the FA Cup with Harry Catterick's side at the same stadium, reckons that Moyes would have no problem leading the club into the Champions League if he had the same kind of relative funding his contemporaries enjoyed at Goodison Park under John Moores's ownership.

He said: "I think David Moyes has done an exceptional job with what he's added to the squad with the funds that have been available to him.

"When I joined Everton they were called 'The Mersey Millionaires' because money was everywhere at the club but things have tightened up a bit since then.

IT WASN'T pretty but it was certainly effective - Marouane Fellaini's first goal for his new club yesterday brought a smile to all Evertonians in what has been a particularly sombre time for them.

It was a strike very much like Liege, where Fellaini was signed from.

The industrial backbone of Wallonia, the city where Everton's European hopes were dashed just three days before Newcastle's arrival, took a battering during the Battle of the Bulge in the Second World War, has a gritty, blue collar edge and is a major centre for Belgian's steel industry.

Fellaini, was bought by David Moyes to add some much-needed steel to the Everton midfield but considering the record £15million purchase was an 11th hour deal on transfer deadline day, you have to wonder just how much each party knew what they were letting themselves in for.

Burdened by a hefty price tag and coming into a team that was, and still is, leaking goals, Fellaini, still seven weeks short of his 21st birthday and with just two seasons of Jupiler League football under his belt in his fledgling senior career, was unfairly expected by some to work instant miracles at Goodison Park.

DAVID MOYES insisted he sees his long-term future at Everton - despite last night's UEFA Cup exit adding to his early season problems.

The delay over signing his new contract has created an air of uncertainty at the club and Moyes admitted the situation may be affecting his players.

But after last night's 2-1 defeat in Liege, he said: "No one has a divine right to win football games. You have to earn the right to do so.

"Managers can get into situations where it can be hard, and I have had it before. That's your job.

"There's no manager in football who thinks they have an easy ride, that's for sure. That's part of it. But I want to stay."

Moyes was non-committal, however, when pressed on when he will sign his new deal, saying: "There might be a timescale, something might happen."

Then when asked to assure supporters he would stay at Everton, Moyes replied: "The supporters have known that for a long time."

EVERTON manager David Moyes has admitted an FA charge of improper conduct.

The Goodison Park chief was charged by the FA for his reaction to a decision by referee Alan Wiley in the 3-2 victory over Stoke at the Britannia Stadium earlier this month.

Moyes had until Thursday to reply to the charge and although he has admitted the charge of improper conduct he has requested a personal hearing with the FA disciplinary panel.

No date for the hearing has yet been set.

The decision which infuriated the manager involved a penalty claim when Leon Cort handled the ball inside the box.

Referee Wiley pointed to the penalty spot but then changed his decision after consultation with his assistant, instead awarding a free-kick on the edge of the area.

LEON OSMAN insists Everton will go into Thursday's make or break UEFA Cup tie in Liege in a positive frame of mind because they're more suited to playing away from home than they are at Goodison Park.

David Moyes's side must either defeat Standard on their own ground in two days time or record a score draw of 3-3 or more if they're to eliminate the Belgian champions and secure their place in the group stage of the UEFA Cup.

It's the second consecutive season that Everton have gone into the return leg of their European first round tie following a home draw but last term they got the 3-2 win to put them through away at Ukrainians Metalist Kharkiv and went on to finish the group stage with a 100% record from their four matches.

However, this week's encounter is expected to be a much sterner test and Osman and his team-mates know that they'll have to be on the top of their game to avoid their European adventure ending almost as soon as it has started.

HE may not be as tall, as muscular or as green. But Fernando Torres does share one trait with the Incredible Hulk - his adversaries won't like him when he's angry.

Everton discovered that to their cost as the Liverpool striker proved the match-winner for the second successive derby to kick-start his season and deepen the gloom surrounding David Moyes's side.

Having pointed the finger at Mark Clattenberg following last season's contentious Goodison showdown, Evertonians were again left berating the intervention of the referee.

Not, though, because of any major decisions against their team. Instead, the performance of Mike Riley riled Torres into life and ensured Liverpool's best-ever start at this stage of a Premier League season.

For the best part of an hour on Saturday, Torres did little to suggest he had shrugged off what Rafael Benitez admitted was a Euro 2008 hangover.

EVERTON are ready to ask derby referee Mike Riley to take a second look at the red card he handed out to midfielder Tim Cahill in Saturday's 2-0 defeat.

The Australian became the fifth Everton player sent off in the last four Goodison derbies following a challenge on Liverpool's Spanish international Xabi Alonso.

Although he was shown a straight red, it was suggested that referee Riley's decision to send him off could have been down to the player's reaction after the tackle, when he walked away from the scene rather than staying put for the official's assessment.

Everton manager David Moyes believes the decision to dismiss Cahill was a harsh one and is hoping that the referee will agree to look again at the circumstances.

PHIL JAGIELKA admits Everton's poor home form has made them "apprehensive" of playing at Goodison.

The 2-0 defeat in Saturday's 208th Merseyside derby means David Moyes's side have lost their opening three home games of the campaign.

It is in stark contrast to their away form, with Everton still unbeaten on their travels with two wins and one draw.

Moyes's men only lost four Premier League games at Goodison last season - all against the four teams that finished above them in the table - and took until December 29 to concede as many home league goals as they already have this campaign.

And Jagielka said: "There are no excuses. You could argue the grass was too green and the ball was too round, but the fact is we were beaten by a better team. That's been the case in a couple of games this season.