Everton

Everton captain Phil Neville is of the opinion that former England manager Fabio Capello is one of the best managers around.

However, he refused to accept the fact that the departure of the Italian will seriously hurt the chances of England performing well in the Euro 2012 tournament, which will be held in Poland and Ukraine during the summer.

England have not performed well in the major tournaments since the Euro 96 and pressure will be on the replacement for Fabio Capello. Fabio Capello himself failed to deliver the goals for England during the previous 2010 FIFA World Cup, but agreed to stay until the Euro’s.

Even though his departure may come as a shock to many, FIFA would have been preparing replacements already given that Capello had earlier announced his retirement from management after this major tournament.

Everton captain Phil Neville used to play for England under various managers. Now retired internationally, the Everton captain is off the opinion that England can still perform at the Euro 2012 despite the absence of the Italian.

Phil Neville has been experiencing an up-and-down season with Everton this time around. Lack of significant transfer funds during the summer has certainly cost the team in the first half of the campaign, but significant arrivals in the January transfer window now mean that the club will be competitive during the second half of this season.

Speaking after the draw with Chelsea (which was the first time I’ve ever won an in-play Premier League bet!), Phil believes that England still have a great chance at Euro 2012.

“I still believe Capello is a great manager though his record backs that – just didn’t quite work out with England for many reasons not all his. In a funny way I’ve started to feel more positive about the Euros in the summer. Clean slate,” Phil Neville said after the announcement regarding the England manager came as a shock to many in the world football.

It doesn’t look as though Everton will be making any transfers in the January transfer window.

Even though Everton boss David Moyes has managed to get 10 million pounds for Mikel Arteta on transfer deadline day, he won’t be able to use any of the money, with very little of the cash being made available to the transfer fund.

Although the top club officials are still not admitting to the fact that the club wants to pay down their debt with the Arteta cash rather than bring in new players, it looks like they are doing just that.

Fans are eager to know why there are no transfers taking place for defenders, midfielders and strikers as Everton should be making the most of whatever cash they can get together, especially given that the squad was thread-bare to begin with.

There is particularly demand for a new defender (or two) as Phil Jagielka, one of the stalwart defenders, is injured with ligament damage that will sideline him for the next six weeks. This has a huge impact on the solidity of the team – as soon as it was found out that Jagielka was injured and had to come off against QPR, the in-play football bet market made Everton favourites to lose the match.

By the looks of it, the only way Everton will be getting a new defender is if they manage to find a good enough player to come in on loan.

Everton boss David Moyes has refused to criticise his Everton team despite critics pillorying them for a lack of attacking threat.

According to the manager people have been informing him that for a couple of matches his side did not manage a single shot on target, and although he admitted the side could do with more goals, he refused to buy into any suggest that the team is in crisis.

“The minute we don’t get a few shots on goal everybody jumps on it but we’ve actually been doing okay, playing okay, just not scoring the goals which obviously makes a difference,” he said.

After the weekend’s game against Norwich, only West Bromwich Albion and Queen’s Park Rangers had scored fewer home goals than the Blues, but Moyes is confident that things will change soon, especially with Landon Donavon set to rejoin the club on loan in the new year. People placing a Premier League bet will know he has the ability to boost the club’s fortunes.

“We are really looking forward to getting Landon back. He did great for us before. We have been watching him closely and we would have had him back last year but after the World Cup and all the football he has played it was just too much,” he added.

Moyes also explained that as the club had been keeping a close eye on Donovan in his absence, they had a good idea as to where he could slot in and would be looking to employ him in a number of different roles.

Everton chairman Bill Kenwright has confirmed that there are parties who are interested in buying the club, but has said that it will take some time to find the right buyer.

Kenwright has been looking to sell the club for the last few years, with the media naming several people as potential buyers during that time. Everton fans have critized Kenwright for failing to find a new owner, but the Everton chairman has stated there have constantly been three or four interested parties, the same figure which are currently pursuing their interest. According to the latest Everton betting odds, the club are still long shots to be taken over anytime soon.

Before the weekend’s fixture with Wolves, Everton supporters group Blue Union staged a protest, with the number of fans in attendance estimated to be around 250 according to Merseyside Police. Blue Union have become frustrated with the lack of investment in the club, and want Kenwright to find a new owner with more investment power than the current major shareholders.

Kenwright has supported Blue Union, stating that their demands match what he wants for the club, but he insists that it will take time to find the right buyer who can seriously invest in The Toffees. Blue Union, however, have criticised Kenwright, insisting that he’s not doing enough to bring about the change which is needed to take the club to the next level. Some fans are concerned that, unless money is invested sooner rather than later, the club will struggle to compete at the highest level, their Premier league odds will continue to drift, and rather than challenging for a place in Europe’s elite competitions, they will find themselves battling to stave off relegation.

In addition to the protests before Everton’s 2-1 victory over Wolves, many fans inside in the ground held up banners and chanted “Kenwright out”, making their feelings on the current chairman very clear.

Kenwright has claimed that he is doing everything he can to support the club financially.