Joey Pulls Out!

Joey says: “I’ve pulled out of a couple of Nigeria games due to injury. After the last game I felt tendonitis in my knee, but I’ve been having it for a couple of weeks and because there was no replacement for me I’ve been struggling with it playing until the end of the season.

At the moment it feels very sore. I need a bit of rest and hopefully I’m pulling out of the tournament so that I can be fit for the World Cup Qualifying game against Rwanda on June 5. This season has been a very long and hard season for us, mentally and physically. Hopefully the players will get a rest to recharge themselves for next season. We know the task for the club for next season. I don’t want to be coming back here with an injury because injuries have made me miss a lot of games. Hopefully I’m going to be fit for next season and I’m pulling out of this game just to make sure that I’m okay so when I come back for next season I’ll be very fit and ready to play again." (17/05/04)

Blue Kipper Star Man 2003/2004

Joseph was star turn at The Stonebridge Inn, where he was awarded his bluekipper trophy. Joey told the 300 fans: "Thanks for your support. It has been tremendous both home and away." (13/05/04)

Signings Please

Joey believes a few signings will make all the difference next season. We need a few signings of his calibre if Everton are to move up the league. You get what you pay for in this world.

Joey said:"We need to add one or two good quality players in the summer to what we’ve got. If we do, I am sure we will be back up there challenging again. Apart from the top three places, I think fourth to sixth place is open to everyone.
“It is hard to understand why we have had such a bad season. It is a good club, with good coaches, good fans and a good squad.
“If you look at all the players individually we haven’t got a bad squad here. We have a few top players as well and to see us struggling is very disappointing. There are other teams in the league who haven’t got as many good players as we have and yet they have done much better.” (10/05/04)

Super Eagles Call Up

Joseph has been called up to play for Nigeria in the Unity Cup. This is a triangular tournie, which takes place at Charlton Athletic's ground between 27th May and 2nd June. Joey will be playing against Jamaca & Republic of Ireland. (06/05/04)

Positive Talk

Joey admits this season has not been the best, but he is looking forward to next season being a better one.

Joey says: "We haven't got a bad squad here, but we didn't take opportunities that we should have, so I hope next season the team will do better. But we have to look forward to the future, because you can't keep on looking back.

"The manager has done the best that he can do, I think as players we've let him and the coaches down a bit, but I don't think any team has outplayed us.It's very disappointing when you don't get the results that we've deserved - but I hope that next season will be a lot better."

"Last season, we had a good run with six games unbeaten - and I think that run was the difference between this season and last season. We haven't had a good run this season, we've lost games, we've drawn games that we should have won easily - and that's cost us lots of points. But I couldn't tell you why we haven't been able to do that.(05/05/04)

Joey Top Dog For April

Everton defender Joey Yobo, has won the OPTA Player of The Month for April. Joey who is currently leading bluekipper.com's Starman for this season pipped The Duke to the monthly award. Joey who scored his debut goal for The Blues in the month, followed it up a week later with his second for the club. The classy defender came out top in the tackling category, aswell as clearances. Joey's monthly award is a weekend for two at any Travel Lodge in the North West, but breakfast is not included. He is also entered along with The Duke, Unsey, Nige Martyn and co., for the yearly award which comprises of two tickets to Euro Disney, for a long weekend in January of next year. (30/04/04)

Class Act Scores 2 in a Week

Since coming back from the African Nations Cup, Joey has been in top form. He is in the shake up with a number of players for the bluekipper.com starman award. Now he has added another string to his bow by scoring his 1st Everton goal. But no! The FA say it was his second in a week.

The FA says: “Middlesbrough’s goal against Everton on 27th March 2004 was in fact an own goal by Joseph Yobo and has therefore not been credited to Joseph Desire Job.” (05/04/04)

Moyesy Loves Joey

The boss of the people's club has rightly praised the bluekipper star man after his performance against Boro.
Moyesy says: “Yobo played well, especially in the second half when we needed him with Alan Stubbs coming off. His confidence is growing." (29/03/04)

Praise

The Boss has heaped praise on Joey's recent performances.

Moyesy says: "Yobo had an outstanding game, he has been in great form since he came back from the African Nations Cup." (28/03/04)

Club Before Country

Joey Yobo has put the Blues before his homeland this weekend. Joey had the chance to represent Nigeria in an Olympic qualifier tomorrow, but instead opted to stay at Goodison to face Boro, as Everton go in search of the vital points that will push them up the table. Also he would have missed a bit of a doo, one of the lads is throwing tonight, but he could not tell the Nigerian FA that.

Joey says: " For me I chose to be here rather than going to the Olympic team. I've just come back from the African Nations’ Cup and I don’t want to miss any games. The game is on Sunday and if I play on Saturday there’s no way I can play on Sunday. I want to concentrate on my club rather than the national team at the moment. I’ve said that to the Nigerian FA and because I’ve been away from my club for the past few weeks I’m back now for my club and I think they understand that." (27/03/04)

Confident

Joey has helped the Toffees on an unbeaten 4 game run since he came back from the African Nations Cup and he hoping the form of the team will carry on.

Joey says : "The team is not panicking, everybody is more confident, everybody wants to play, which is very good, and we’re all helping. This season we’ve done very well at home, better than away .Things have changed, in the last two away games we should have had six points. We know the situation that we’re in, if we take the same spirit from home and take it to away games then things will look very strong for us.”(26/03/04)

Joey To Stay

Joey Yobo has told Nigeria he will not be turning out for them at the end of the month, when the Super Eagles have an Olympic Qualifier against Tunisia. Moyesy will be delighted at the news, as if Davey Weir is unsuccessful with his sending off appeal, then Moyesy would only have the bare bones available in the centre of defence, for the Boro clash at the end of the month.

Joey says: " In the Olympic qualifying games my country is struggling at the moment. They need to win all the last games in order to qualify, so they want me to play. Last year they approached me and wanted me to play and I said no and I’m not going again because the club needs me. I want to stay, I don’t want to miss any games and hopefully I can do my best for Everton. I’m just back from the African Nations’ Cup and I’ve spoken to Nigeria about the situation. The club’s going to write to them as well because I cannot leave here at this moment." (12/03/04)

Moyesy says: "Joseph’s been called up for an Olympic qualifier which you’ve got to be 23 to play in. But he’s indicated that he won’t be going and he’s contacted the Nigerian FA to do that." (12/03/04)

Tournament Move

Joey Yobo is advocating that the African FA moved their Continents Tournament to a date that does not clash with the English domestic season. With Joey just having been away, but still on our pay roll for the last four weeks, Moyesy was alleged to have said that it should be played on the second Sunday in June, with games lasting 5 minutes each half, and the final finishing before five in the evening.

Joey says: "There’s not a lot that players can do. It’s for the African organisation to try and work with the clubs so they don't lose players for long periods as well as ensuring the competition is a success. If there is anything that could be done that would be fine and it could possibly work if the tournament was staged around the same time as the European Championships."(23/02/04)

Welcome Home Again Joey

Joey is definitely on the plane home now from Tunisia, after Nigeria finished third in the tournament, after beating the might of Mali 2-1 in last night's third place play off.

Moyesy says: "I’ve not really had a chance to watch many of Nigeria’s games with the way things have worked out, but I know they finished third which was a good achievement. We’ll just be glad to get Joseph back because we’ve been a little bit short of defenders recently. Hopefully, he’ll come back with no injuries and be able to come back and get back into the swing of things quickly with us." (14/02/04)

Welcome Home Joey

David Moyes will get the big welcome mat out for Joey's return to Goodison. Nigeria were beaten in the semi's by Tunisia. It was 1-1 after extra time but Nigeria went down 5-3 on pens. Joey slotted his pen. Welcome back Joey.(11/02/04)

Into the Semi's

The good news for Joey is that Nigeria came from behind to beat Cameroon 2-1 and reach the semi-final of the Africa Cup of Nations, the bad news for the Toffee's is that he is away for at least another 8 days so he misses Brum away on Wednesday night. Good luck Joey go on to win it, with no game on Saturday he'll be back to sure up our leaky defence against the Saints on the 21st. (09/02/04)

Joey Scores

Joey Yobo turned goalscorer for Nigeria, in their 4-0 thumping of South Africa in that tournament that everybody is interested in, at the weekend. Joey smashed a shot in the fourth minute past world renowned South African keeper Emile Baron. This now means that if Nigeria beat the mighty Benin in their last game, they will avoid Cameroon, and probably play,............ oh shit do I care who they play. We are still paying his wages, he should be playing here. I'm going for a Stella. (02/02/04)

Complaint And a Defeat To Boot

Everton are furious that Joey Yobo flew out to meet up with his Nigerian colleagues, whilst other Premiership players, including Jay Jay Okocha were given special dispensation to travel at a later date, as they are better mates with the manager than Joey. It was agreed that all the Nigerian players who are based in the Premiership, should travel to Tunisia after their respective games on January 10th. Three of the squad remained to carry on playing with their clubs, whilst Yobo had to leave, even though Moyesy was down to the bare bones with his defensive line up. Everton are to lodge a complaint with FIFA, and for the record Joey and his Nigeria team lost their opening game 1-0, to the might of Morocco, with Yobo earning himself a second half booking for cutting down one of their forwards, whose name does not interest me one jot.

Chief Exec Michael Dunford says : "We have registered the strongest possible protest to the Nigerian FA indicating that this is simply not fair to Everton. If they want the cooperation of the Premiership clubs, and don't forget we are still paying Joseph's wages while he is away with Nigeria, then we expect the same level of assistance in return. We don't want one of our players twiddling his thumbs whilst his employers are playing domestic fixtures. We are currently awaiting a reply from the Nigerian FA as to why Joseph travelled to join the national squad whilst the other three appear to have been given special dispensation to fly out later. This unfortunate incident may well lead to a hardening of our opinion over the general release of international players, although we will obviously always comply with FIFA regulations, because what appears to have happened in this instance is that some players have held private conversations with the Nigerian coach and he has allowed them to stay in the UK. This plainly isn't fair and if countries are going to issue national directives then it has to apply to every single player." (28/01/04)

Why Should We Foot The Bill

Everton are left footing Joey's wages, whilst he is off on his hols, and Moyesy for one is far from pleased. Despite being away for potentially six weeks and missing five or six matches, Everton as other Premier League clubs find themselves without the services of a top player, and yet still have to foot the bill. One for Captain Haddock me thinks.

Moyesy say : "We do pay the players' wages when they travel away with England, for example, but at least it is not why Everton has got a game. We have got games on and we are paying Joseph Yobo's wages why he is away with Nigeria, which I find is the difficult thing to accept here." (14/01/04)

One Day I'll Fly Away

Joey has finally left Blighty to team up with his Nigerian team mates ahead of their African Nations Cup Tournament. Yobo who would have definitely have started yesterday's defeat at Fulham, had it not been for a cold, has packed his bags, and his cold remedies and headed off to sunnier climes for the next month.

Moyesy says : "Joseph is going away with Nigeria now. He has a bit of a cold just now and that’s why he didn’t play and it meant that we had to put David Weir straight back in." (11/01/04)

Week To Go Before My Hol's

Moyesy has struck a deal to keep hold of Joey Yobo for another week, ahead of the defender's departure to represent Nigeria in the African Nations Cup in the middle of January.Yobo was meant to depart this week, but Moyesy has secured his services for the Fulham match next weekend, though with Unsey playing the way he is, The African might be trying to keep himself warm sat on the bench.

Moyesy says: "I do not want to lose him, but if you sign African players you know they will be playing in the African Nations Cup." (05/01/04)

Midfield Ace ?

With Dave Unsworth forming a solid partnership with Stubbsy in the middle of defence, Joey Yobo is being touted around as a possible midfield saviour for the Blues. He came on late for Alex Nyarko in Sundays win against Brum, and in the three minutes that he was on the pitch he just oozed class, style and panache, and I think he touched the ball once or twice aswell.

Alan Irvine says: "In actual fact, when we were first watching Joseph, we saw him playing as a centre half, as a right back and as a central-midfielder, all for Nigeria. So, it's something that we've been aware of, as it's a position that Joseph has played and played it at the highest possible level. On Sunday, we just happened to need someone to go in as a midfield player and Joseph was the cover that we had on the bench at that time. We are conscious of the fact that we can use him there, but Joseph would prefer to play as a centre half all the time, so we've got to be aware of that. We didn't have any doubt that he could do a good job once he went in there and it's certainly something that's in our minds as an option, but he's not our first choice. I'd be perfectly happy for Joseph to play as a centre half, a right-back or a holding midfield player, but Joseph would say that his best position is centre half and we've got to respect that and make sure we see him more as a centre half rather than a right-back or central midfielder." (01/01/04)

No Go Joe

Everton have put their foot down and have refused to release Blues defender Joey Yobo to a pre tournament training camp over the Christmas period with Nigeria. Yobo who is missing for six weeks from the middle of January onwards for the African Nations Cup, is said to be gutted, as news sneaked out that there was no training camp. Apparently he got one of his mates to ring Moyesy pretending there was one. It is believed he was off to one of his pals fancy dress party which coincided with Everton's Christmas program. Bluekipper.com has not yet determined what he was supposed to be going as, but we do believe it was going to be a 70's themed doo.

Everton Chief Executive Michael Dunford says: "The situation is that the Nigerian FA asked us to release Joseph this week to attend a pre-tournament training camp and we refused to do this. We simply informed them that whilst we were happy to sanction his participation in the actual tournament which is staged in January, we were not prepared to release him a month early. Joseph is a valued member of our first-team squad and, self evidently, we do not want to lose him for any longer than we have to."(15/12/03)

Hard Work Will Bring Results

Joey, who is currently leading the bluekipper.com Star Man for player of the season, is now settled at Goodison, and says that hard work will help him & the team bring about the winning results.

Joey says: "Every footballer wants to be involved in every game. I started pre-season in the team with no injuries and I have been in the team since then. I have been working very hard as well, even when things have not really been going down very well. I have just kept working, kept my focus and it is good that the manager has confidence in me. When I first came to Everton I had to get used to the players and the system because it was very different from what I was used to. I was more of a football player. I like defending but I was more of a footballer as well. Last season I tried to show that in many of the games I played, but now teams have got to know I like to put my foot on the ball, so I have to change the way I play. If I make any mistakes then I am the last man and it could be a goal. It is a case of finding the balance of when to use flair and when not to. English football is different, but I am used to it now and I am more comfortable.

We have worked very hard with the gaffer to be solid defensively. We stick together as a team and he has always been reminding us that we did that last season and it wasn't a coincidence that we kept a lot of clean sheets. We have been working towards that. We had three clean sheets before the Chelsea game and to concede a goal like that against them was very bad, because it was a very decisive goal and I thought it was a hand ball. We are getting close to where we want to be as defenders and in the coming games we are working towards that and we are ready. We want to keep clean sheets and if we do that hopefully we can win the games.

These next three games are very important for us because they are the kind of games which can lift us up. We are focused on the Blackburn game and we want to go and win away. We haven't done that yet this season, which is something we did well last season. I think if we can win this match the rest of the games will be a lot easier because we will have more control and confidence. We have played some tough games at home but we don't lose too many games at home. We know we are very strong at home. But last season when we had the run which took us up the table it was when we were starting to win games away. If we can beat Blackburn that could be the start for us again. We need to win this game and if we I think it will be a start for us and will get the ball rolling. My game is improving but we are not getting the results and think we are getting better as a team, fighting together and being together even when it is not working out. You could see that against Chelsea and I think that was the first time the fans could give us applause after losing a game. That was very good for us and we will keep fighting and keep going. Chelsea are one of the contenders for the title. That was one of our best performances of the season because they are a big team with a great squad. Hopefully if we can play the way we did against Chelsea in our other games then we will move forward and get good results. The big games tells a lot about a player. If you can withstand the big matches then you can play anybody. For me, you have to be more focused against the big teams because of the players they have. And if I can keep my concentration in those matches we should be stronger against the smaller teams as well. We need to build on that performance and do well in these games that are coming up, beginning at Blackburn." (11/11/03)

Absent Without Leave

Everton face the prospect of starting the New Year without the services of Joey Yobo.He has been named in the provisional 35 man squad for the forthcoming African Nations Cup Finals, which are being held in Tunisia In January and February of next year.If as expected he makes the final squad, he could be away for a total of six weeks. Nigeria are one of the favorites for the tournament, and are grouped with Morocco, South Africa and Benin. (27/10/03)

A Tower Of Strength

During the pre-season games not many players played out of their skins, but Joey did. He carried that form on at Arsenal, where he was a lot of people's choice as man of the match. 3 times Terry Henry tried to take him on, & 3 times he failed. Once for speed, once Joey ushered him off the ball, & once he hit him with a great sliding tackle. When you watch him close up, he seems to have a presence about him. Lets hope his great form continues over the season. (18/07/03)

So Do We

A club or country row is brewing. The Nigerian FA want Joey for their friendly game in Tokyo on Aug 20.

NFA spokesman Samual Kaalu said. "We wish to use our best team for the match in Japan and that would include having both Okocha and Yobo. Even though the match falls on a Fifa free day, we won't be confrontational but we will try to persuade the clubs to release them for the trip. The chairman will be in England this week and he plans to meet with both Bolton and Everton to discuss the players' international commitments. Hopefully we should all be able to reach a kind of understanding." (08/08/03)

We Want Him Here

Nigeria are playing a friendly against Japan in Tokyo on Aug 20. This means Joey will travelling to and from Tokyo in between the Arse and Fulham game. Everton have been in touch with the Nigerian FA.

Moyesy said:"We don't want Joseph to go and hopefully we can come to an agreement." (01/08/03)

Class Act

Joey had a stormer against Venezuela yesterday. His passing was top class, & his tackles were timed to perfection. Nigeria won 1-0. The only worrying thing is half way through the second half he appeared to be carrying an injury. He is due to meet up with Everton in Scotland, ready for the Dundee Utd game on Wednesday. (27/07/03)

Nigeria Calls

Joey Yobo is out of tomorrows game at Rangers as he will be playing for Nigeria. The Super Eagles play a friendly with Venezuela on Saturday. Joey will be back with the rest of the squad at St Andrews, Scotland early next week. (25/07/03)

Joey Raring To Go

Joey has admitted that the problems he was having with agents and contracts effected his game last season. But those troubles are all behind him, we can expect a great season from Joey. I can't wait.

Joey said: "It was a big problem last season, especially when I was told one thing and then other people denied it. It was a stressful time for me. I was very sad and upset and I even wanted to return to Marseille at one stage but I'm much happier now. I was very disappointed with my agent and a lot of things. I just wanted to be happy at Everton and with my football and now it's sorted I want to move on."

"I struggled to get back in the team , things weren't going the way I wanted and the manager thought I wasn't concentrating enough on my game. But when he gave me my chance back it was down to me to do my best and stay in the team.

If we do any better than last season it will be a massive achievement and it will mean we are in Europe. We want to finish a few places higher up, which would give us a good chance of the Champions League but definitely a place in the UEFA Cup."

"I think there is more to come from me this season. I expect a lot from myself and I'm working hard. I didn't do the pre-season last season because of injury and it's been a long time, maybe three seasons, since I have had a full pre-season. This is going to help me a lot."

"For me it's the best league and the club feels right again as well. If I wasn't happy here I wouldn't have decided to stay but I love the club, love the fans and love the town. I'm happy, I'm more settled here than if I'd gone anywhere else and I feel like I've found my second home. I hope that's the way it's going to." (15/07/03)

Joey Misses The Derby

Joey will be wearing the green shirt of Nigeria instead of the blue shirt of Everton during January 24 and February 14, 2004. This is due to Nigeria qualifying for the finals of The African Nations Cup. He will miss the derby at Analfield, plus Man Utd at home, Brum away, & a possible fourth round FA Cup tie. Not worth moaning about it. We knew this would happen when we signed him. (23/06/03)

Joey Yobo Last Season