Results tagged “Yakubu” from Everton Banter - Join the debate with EFC fans, staff writers and club legends

STEVEN PIENAAR has summed up Everton's disappointment after Yakubu was ruled out for the rest of the season by admitting the team will sorely miss him.

South African midfielder Pienaar, who scored the winner at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday on his return from a knee problem, revealed how upset Yakubu was after suffering his Achilles injury.

Pienaar said: "It is a huge blow to lose Yak and we are all so sorry for him.

"We know the quality he has got and the type of person he is. I spoke to Yak at half-time and he was really down.

"Maybe the win and the goal will have given him a little bit of lift. We hope he is better again quickly.

STEVEN PIENAAR today dedicated his match-winning goal against Tottenham to Ayegbeni Yakubu as the striker begins the long road back to fitness.

Though the Blues bounced back from a poor performance at Wigan with an impressive 1-0 victory at White Hart Lane, the afternoon was ruined by Yakubu's serious injury.

He will miss the rest of the season after rupturing his Achilles tendon and, with Louis Saha and James Vaughan also injured, David Moyes may have to buy a striker in January.

Bayern Munich's Lukas Podolski was linked with a £10m move to Goodison Park in one tabloid yesterday but Everton officials described that as "fantasy".

Moyes, meanwhile, admitted over the weekend that any new arrivals will have to be on loan and he and his scouts will scour Europe over the next month to find cover.

DAVID MOYES hailed his players after they marked a landmark afternoon with a gutsy win - but admitted the gloss had been taken off by Ayegbeni Yakubu's season ending injury.

Everton's main striker hobbled off 10 minutes into Moyes' 300th game in charge following an innocuous collision with Tottenham's Didier Zokora but it subsequently emerged that he had ruptured his Achilles tendon.

With replacement Louis Saha also leaving the pitch on a stretcher after damaging his hamstring during the 1-0 win at White Hart Lane, Victor Anichebe is the only striker with first team experience that Moyes has fit for next week's clash against Aston Villa.

It means the manager will have to scour the transfer market to bring in a striker when the transfer window opens next month - though it won't be a £10m move for Bayern Munich's Lukas Podolski, as was reported in one tabloid yesterday.

WHAT a way to mark the occasion. While the prophets of doom predicted a day of pain at 'The Lane', David Moyes' 300th game as Everton manager was one of capital gain.

Six days after being showered by brickbats following a limp, abject display at Wigan Athletic, Moyes finds himself being deluged with bouquets after a galvanising performance at Tottenham that was his side's finest of this rollercoaster season to date.

Joining Goodison giants Harry Catterick and Howard Kendall in the '300 club' is something Moyes has reason to feel proud about, but it's safe to say that taking three points at White Hart Lane will mean that little bit more today.

Had The Blues followed up their woeful efforts against Wigan with another abomination here, the patience of some supporters, who have grown increasingly exasperated by events on the pitch so far, may have been stretched to breaking point.

DAVID MOYES admits the "massive blow" of losing Yakubu for the remainder of the season took the shine off victory at Tottenham Hotspur.

Steven Pienaar's 51st-minute strike earned Moyes's side a deserved 1-0 triumph at White Hart Lane yesterday. But the win was overshadowed with the news Yakubu's campaign is over after the striker ruptured the Achilles tendon in his right ankle.

The Nigeria international suffered the injury in an early collision with Didier Zokora before hobbling off in the 11th minute.

Everton's injury gloom deepened even further when substitute Louis Saha, who replaced Yakubu, later left the field on a stretcher after suffering a fresh hamstring problem that will be assessed this morning.

STRIKER Ayegbeni Yakubu has been ruled out for the rest of the season after rupturing his Achilles.

THANKS to the Yak's back, the Yak is back. Now the striker wants to underline the fact by helping move Everton to within two points of the Champions League places this evening.

After nine games without a goal, Yakubu ended his barren spell with an unconventional equaliser in the 1-1 draw with former club Middlesbrough eight days ago.

The Nigerian had netted four goals in his first five games of the campaign, but the subsequent lengthy drought led to criticism of last season's 21-goal top scorer.

Yakubu, though, insists he never lost faith in his own ability. And having celebrated his 26th birthday on Saturday, the forward is eager to mark the occasion with a goal and a win at Wigan Athletic tonight.

MIKEL ARTETA today predicted a Yakubu goal spree - but admitted Everton must buck up their ideas at Goodison Park.

The Nigerian striker hit the target for the first time since September 18 and his unconventional finish - he scored with his back - ensured the Blues drew 1-1 with Middlesbrough yesterday.

That, however, was the sixth time in seven fixtures at home that Everton have squandered points and it meant they missed a gilt-edged opportunity to move back into the top six.

HOW typical that on the day Yakubu rediscovered his goalscoring touch, his team-mates should lose theirs.

Not even an early birthday celebration from the Nigeria international could prevent Everton from marking David Moyes's 250th league game in charge in a manner that has become worryingly familiar this season.

Once again, the groans and grumbles reverberated around Goodison at the final whistle after an afternoon in which home comfort remained frustratingly out of reach for Evertonians.

IT'S one of the more banal entries in the footballing phrasebook - a striker going through a barren spell "just needs one to go in off his shin or his backside."

In other words, a bit of luck in front of goal is needed to get the tally ticking over again, to trigger the confidence boost of seeing your name on the scoresheet once again.

Why something scrappy is perceived to be good for a player's self-esteem is one of the game's imponderables. Up there with Phil Jagielka's route to the England squad being blocked by Michael Mancienne.

AYEGBENI YAKUBU hasn't scored a goal for nearly two months and has found himself this past week linked with a move away from Goodison Park.

Such a mixture could leave a manager fretting but David Moyes was noticeably relaxed as he faced the assembled media at Everton's Finch Farm training base yesterday afternoon, particularly so when discussing his shot-shy striker.

A school of thought that is swirling around suggests that it won't be long before Yakubu - who has had something of a nomadic career so far - decides he fancies another move and, not surprisingly, Tottenham have been mooted as a possible destination.

JOSEPH YOBO today backed the most expensive striker in Everton's history to rediscover his goal touch as he urged: "Don't forget about The Yak".

Having started the season with four goals in five matches, Ayegbeni Yakubu has not hit the target since the Blues drew 2-2 with Standard Liege on September 18.

A bruised heel meant he missed last week's 3-1 win at West Ham, but while he should be fit for Sunday's tussle with Middlesbrough, the Nigerian is not sure to be recalled.

Revitalised Everton are hoping to have their first-choice strike partnership available this weekend to boost their push for European football.

The Toffees, who have won their last three Barclays Premier League games to rise from the relegation zone to seventh place, could have Louis Saha and Ayegbeni Yakubu together up front against Middlesbrough on Sunday.

The duo have only played together from the start three times in the league this term.

Yakubu missed last weekend's win over West Ham with a heel injury as the Frenchman enjoyed his best game of the season for his new club.

NO position in a team causes a manager more headaches or guarantees more dilemmas than that of the centre-forward.

If a club's main supply of goals is struggling with injury but not totally unfit, the man in charge must decide whether to gamble the forward's long-term fitness in the hope that he scores when it matters.

Equally, when an attacker is going through a barren run, more often than not his boss will persevere with him, sensing that all it takes is for a shot to take a deflection to get the side's focal point up and running again.

OUT of Europe, OUT of the Carling Cup, David Moyes still not signed his contract.
These must have really been playing on the minds of every Everton fan not so long ago, myself included.

HOWEVER the gaffer has now signed his contract, so how has it seemingly affected everyone associated with the club?

EVERTON'S Louis Saha hopes that his fledgling strike partnership with Ayegbeni Yakubu can produce the goals to fire up the side's season - starting with tomorrow's derby match at Goodison Park.

Saha, 30, whose move to Merseyside was sealed on transfer deadline day, played his first full game for his new club in Wednesday's 1-0 Carling Cup exit at Blackburn.

The loss came on the back of the Frenchman's impressive second half debut at Hull on Sunday as he helped David Moyes's side recover from a 2-0 deficit to draw 2-2.

PHIL NEVILLE is desperate for Louis Saha to recapture full fitness - so he and Ayegbeni Yakubu can form one of the most potent partnerships in the Premier League.

Everton's former record signing Yakubu has made an encouraging start to the new campaign, scoring twice in the opening three matches.

The Nigerian will again be expected to provide the bulk of the Blues' goals this season, but the captain believes that burden on Yakubu will be eased considerably once Saha has fully recovered from a calf problem.

YAKUBU has revealed his renewed confidence after Everton's late bout of business in the transfer window - and is setting his sights on ending their 14-year wait for a trophy.

Manager David Moyes managed to strengthen his squad with five new players in the final week before the transfer deadline expired and three of them played 90 minutes in World Cup qualifiers for their countries at the weekend.

Joleon Lescott and Tim Howard were also in international action, while Yakubu captained his country for the first time.

TERRACE chants about players are often over embellished, but Ayegbeni Yakubu is quickly proving that the song for him hits the mark.

"Feed The Yak and he will score" has been the mantra for Evertonians ever since the Nigerian marked his £11.25m move with a debut goal against Bolton Wanderers last season, and the start he has made to the new campaign could not be more impressive.

Two chances in two games have yielded two goals and there is a real belief now that Yakubu will become the first Everton striker to score more than 20 goals in consecutive seasons since Graeme Sharp achieved the feat 22 years ago.

Looking at Yakubu's performances, however, it is clear to see he has added new qualities to his game since he arrived on Merseyside and that has struck a chord with a certain member of Everton's backroom staff.

LEON OSMAN and Ayegbeni Yakubu lifted the gloom hanging over Goodison Park as their goals secured Everton's first win of the new Premier League campaign today.