Recently by The Sav

The FA have accounted Jack Rodwell wrongfully dismissed in the Merseyside derby last weekend. He will not serve the 3-match ban that usually follows a dismissal.

New Conduct Rules for fans at Everton FC

In light of the banning from the ground and prosecution of an Everton fan who called an Everton player 'a lazy French bXsT:<>d, new conduct rules have been suggested. They follow:

An Eight Goal Football Festival

The rain didn't stop all day. The floodlights were lit by kick-off as Everton and Blackpool took the pitch. A quiet Goodison Park witnessed early domination by Everton, notable for the excellent interplay between Leighton Baines and Diniyar Bilyanetdinov. The Russian gave an excellent account of himself, twisting and turning the Blackpool defence. Indeed, it was his jinking run on the left that resulted in a sweet cross for Louis Saha to prod home from six yards after twenty minutes.

Mikel Arteta's agent has stated that the player intends to remain at Everton. 'He has a wife and child and is happy in the city.' Let us first assume that this statement is not a bid to raise his purchase price.

That being the case, then this latest position is illuminating and inspiring, irrespective of which club you support. Why? Because here is a man who views the wellbeing of his family as consisting of more than adding extra zeroes to his salary. Not only that, he is prepared to forgo the guaranteed increased exposure that would come through playing for a team in the Champion's League - exposure that might well hasten his ambition of inclusion in his national team. To really spell it out, because it is not something we see frequently, he is putting others above himself. He is displaying loyalty. This is nobility in action.

It has occurred to us that Howard Webb made quite a bad decision. It is not for us to malign Britain's most senior referee. Perhaps he can do a better job than the headset - wearing idiot who booked a player three times before remembering to send him off in the last world cup. It may not be as blatant as Sparky Clatterberg's Gerrard-instigated sending off of Tony Hibbert. It does count up there with Clive Thomas - aka Satan's watchdog - and his history-changing decision in 1977. It may be that it will cost Everton European qualification. But so did draws at Birmingham, Villa, and others. That said, there is more to Howard Webb than meets the eye, and I got to wondering about the mistakes that seem to be his way. It would appear that throughout history there has been a Webb making bad decisions.

This month The Sav was able - via paranormal sources - to interview Karl Marx. Did the father of Communism want to talk about socio-economic structures around the world? No. Did he want to rail against the folly and greed of the Credit Crunch? No. He wanted to talk about football.
TS: Karl Marx, how come you want to talk about the beautiful game?

It was cold on the morning of 6th February. Word had just got out that there was to be a major fracas near Stanley Park. As the morning ended, forty thousand spectators crammed themselves into a stadium waiting for their fighters to emerge.
They did. And for ninety minutes - plus a fifteen minute medical break - two teams of men - one team in red, the other in blue - kicked, punched and made rude faces at each other. Some were distracted by the appearance of a plastic spherical object and when they were unable to assail their opponents with sundry acts of violence, vented their frustration on the spherical object, kicking and headbutting it to and fro. This was a distraction, but only intermittently, as the main thrust of the encounter was a series of kicks, pushes, and elbows followed by rolling on the ground and pointing at anyone who was wearing a different shirt.
Oddly enough the spherical object - called a ball - was in fact part of the exposition, and much rapture ensued after a man in red pushed the ball into a net with his head. However, things returned to normal quite quickly, with mayhem and ultraviolence aplenty.

A newspaper has said that Chelsea have put in a bid of £14,000,000 for Jack Rodwell. It may be mischief. It may be indirect tapping up. It may be that he wants to go. We don't know. But what we do know is that our chairman and manager have bemoaned lack of funds.

One way to create funds is to sell on players and invest in others. But that can be a slippery slope. Once a club becomes a known as a selling club it is hard to break that pattern. Look at the great players produced by West Ham over the years that have gone on to 'bigger' clubs. Yet West Ham, although they profit in the short term, struggle to keep players.

As with most of life, money makes or breaks a club. Not quality. Not dedication. Not spirit. The spondoolik, the greenback. Cash is king. Bill Kenwright is apparently looking for a buyer, but there are difficulties with that.

Benfica this week. A chance to redeem ourselves. A chance to gain confidence. The atmosphere will be great. Let's make sure of that.
We may be without some of our artists, but there are also encouraging signs - Lucas Neil is looking very handy, with some excellent distribution; Johnny Heitinga is working well with Jack Rodwell; the Yak is back and King Louis plays to perfection.
So, a good welcome for Benfica, followed by misery. We hope.

With the international break forcing inactivity in some quarters, there has been time for certain issues that have been simmering to bubble over.

A recent contretemps between two senior Everton staff has recently been brought to our notice. An account follows.

The scene is in David Moyes' office. Bill Kenwright is also present.