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| Joey Yobo is enjoying his time with the Blues, but the only thing that is missing is the silverware. The Nigerian centre half has been with the Blues for four years now, and he would love a cup to put on the mantle piece in the Yobo household. Joey wash your mouth out with soap, you have the highest accolade any Blue could win, bluekipper starman from a few years ago, that wooden fish is priceless. Joey says: "I am disappointed that we are not going on to win something. Apart from that everything is great. The respect that I get here spurs me on and I realize that I have a responsibility to go on and push myself to help the team to achieve something. Everton's central defensive partnership is one of the most solid positions that we've got. There's always very stiff competition among us and everyone is always at his best. There's stiff competition here and when you are out of the team and the team starts winning, it takes you a while to get back in. The manager knows where I was coming from, and with or without injuries, he spoke to me and asked me to keep fit and wait for my time and that he was going to give me my chance soon. I was patient waiting for my chance and he gave me it to me when it came." (02/05/06) The will he sign, won't he sign saga took another twist, with Joey reassuring the Everton fans that he has no desire to leave when his contract expires. He looks on Merseyside as his second home, and he is more than settled at Goodison. Lets hope he signs soon then, and we can put all this to bed and get on building a trophy winning side. Joey says: "It doesn't get settled in a day. My representatives have got a good relationship with the chairman and the club. From all I know, talks are continuing. If it is okay for both parties, it is okay for me. I'm just happy playing for Everton. Everyone has been behind me here. I'm settled in the club and Merseyside is like a second home." (07/04/06) Should I Stay or Should I Go? A great Clash line. We doubt whether Joey will be humming that tune though. The speculation and reports in the media will go on until the Summer when Joey will sign a new contract or join another club. It's that simple. There all sorts of dark dealings in the way things are done behind closed doors with agents, players and officials from football clubs and as fans we will just have to grin and bare it until the final outcome. It's intriguing and at the same time foolish just to speculate on who may be right and who is talking out of their best mate's Dad's who lives next door to an Everton player's uncle's mate's arse. (There maybe too few or too many apostrophe's here.) This saga started when it was reported that the arse want Joey to replace Loopy Sol(allegedly). According to a source a deal has already been done between the agent and Arsenal, which will see Joey sign a 5 year contract for megabucks and Everton will pocket £8m. The source also says that Joey is not happy about it, but Everton will agree as they want the cash. To
interpret what the major players have been saying about this is great
fun for some. They pick out one phrase or sentence and tell you what
it means. For example. There are a load more. We could go on until the end of the season, but life's too short. Whatever happens, if he goes or stays, the fans will always be the last to know. The only one thing that is certain in this is that we will always be Evertonians. Joey says: "I was pleased to get back in the side against Sunderland. I was disappointed we didn't get the three points but I was happy to get back into the side because it had been a bit disappointing sitting on the bench watching the team play. I always want to be playing so it was good to get into the side last weekend. There has been speculation about my future in the last few days. But my focus is completely on the games we have got to play and nothing else. I am an Everton player and I just want to do my best for the team until the end of the season and then see what happens. We have still got a lot to play for. We are challenging in the top half of the table and with so few games left, back-to-back wins will do us a lot of good. It will be very difficult but we can achieve that and if we do there is still a chance for a European place. There is a lot to play for and I want to help us keep going right up to the final game. I just want to stay focused on my football. I am just happy I am back in the team after having to be patient when I came back from the African Nations. All I want to do is play football and that makes me happy." (05/04/06) Moyesy is not overly concerned that Joey and his advisors have not come back to the club on the contract offer that has been on the table for the last twelve months. The only ones worried at the club are the cleaning staff, as they have not been allowed to polish the said table for fear of disturbing the contract. By the way Arse, manure and the others have not been in touch over Joey, but no doubt in the Summer that could all change. Moyesy says: "It doesn't concern me at the moment that he has only a year left. I haven't had one phone call from any manager, chief executive or chairman about Joseph. We offered Joseph a contract a year ago. It's been on the table for him for a year, so it's not us that have been slow in dealing with it, it's Joseph and his advisors. I don't know why that is, maybe there are reasons, but that's the situation at the moment." (03/04/06) Moyesy has issued a hands off warning to Arsenal and any other team rumoured to be keen on Joey. Moyesy has kept faith with Alan Stubbs and Davie Weir since they started playing together when Joey was away at The African Nations Cup. But no doubt Joey will be back soon. Moyesy says: "We are looking to add to this squad, not lose our better players. Joseph is undoubtedly one of our better players, no question. He has been kept out of the team by players who have been playing well. If you do well then you expect a fair crack of the whip, that is what happens in football. But Joe's performances were really good for us and we know what he has got about him." (01/04/06) Moyesy has told Joey to be patient as Stubbsey can't be dropped as he's playing out of his skin. Nobody would argue. Nobody wants Stubbsey dropped. Everyone wants Davie Weir dropped. When Joey was our best player before he went to the African Nations, our grand old skipper stunk the yard out. Fine player he was a couple of seasons ago. It's a young mans game, as every young forward playing against the Scottish International has shown. As well Joey is the best header of the ball in the team. I'm sure if Dickie Wright has a few half decent games, Big Nige wouldn't be left on the bench. Play Joey. Moyesy says: "Joseph was perhaps my player of the season up until Christmas, along with Mikel Arteta but he then went away to the African Nations Cup, we decided to let Per Kroldrup go in the transfer window and we needed to bring in a player who knew the club, someone who could step into the team without too much disruption and someone who was within our price range. Stubbsy fitted the bill on all three counts, but when he came in I told him he was being brought as cover and he accepted that. But he got himself into the team because of an injury to Matteo Ferrari and has proved himself to be indispensable. His experience has been very important for us. But Joseph's opportunity will definitely come again, and he has to be ready to take it when it does." (29/03/06) We must bounce back after loosing our first league game in 2006. So says Joey. Joey says: "I played out of position but I thought we had a chance of getting something and a point would have been good for us. I'm so sad that we lost but that is football and we have got to raise our heads. We kept going when Newcastle scored the first goal and we kept believing in ourselves. We felt there was something there for us. Even when they got the second goal, we didn't lose our heads. They took their chances. That was the difference. When you are on a good run, you know you just can't keep carrying on like that and there will be times when you get a setback. The most important thing is to bounce back. The next game is very important for us. It is going to be very tough. But we have the belief in our squad that we can get back on track. We are disappointed, gutted, very sad but we know we have the players to bounce back strongly." (27/02/06) The ups and downs of footy have all been there for Joey Yobo in the last month or so. Joey had to put up with the disappointment of Nigeria going out of the African Nations Cup at the Semi Final stage. But that low was more than made up for with the Blues doing so well in his absence. When he left for Egypt, Everton were looking over their shoulders at the likes of Pompey, Sunderland and alike, but now the Blues are aiming for Spurs, The Arse and Wigan as they battle for European places. Joey should slot back in for this weekends visit to Newcastle, with the likes of Hibbo and Phil Neville suspended. Joey says: "I have been keeping a track of how things have been going and I am just glad the team has been doing so well. I am back now as well so I am happy. It has been frustrating (at the African Nations Cup), very disappointing for me. We did well until the semi-finals and we felt we were going to get to the final. For me, I have played in the semi-finals twice before without getting to the final and I was looking forward to changing that. I was very disappointed and so were all the other lads because we felt this was our best chance to get to the final. But that is football. We did not play our best football on that day against the Ivory Coast. It was a boring game and could have gone either way but they had luck on their side and won the game. I felt honoured to lead the side in the group stage as skipper but it is not the first time I have done that. I felt honoured to captain the team for four games in a row during the tournament and we won each of those games. Everybody in the national team looks up to me as the captain after Jay Jay. It is a responsibility and I was happy taking the lead and looking forward to the future." (22/02/06) Joey played every minute for his country in the African Nations Cup and thankfully has come back totally unscathed. Joey says:"I did get a lot of personal satisfaction that I did not suffer any major injury at this tournament and so I'm going back to my club as fit as a fiddle."(13/02/06) Joey showed us all what we are going to be missing when he flys out for the African Cup of Nations this week. He was man of the match against Pompey. Moyesy now has to decide which two defenders out of Ferrari, Kroldrop (providing he stays), Weir and Hughes will play together for the next few weeks. Moyesy says: "The defenders were outstanding. I thought Joseph Yobo was really, really top man today - I thought his performance was excellent. We have got other centre-halves we can use but it was worth singling out Joseph because his performance was so good." (16/01/06) Joey Yobo is excited at the prospect of turning out for Nigeria in the forthcoming African Nations Tournament in Egypt later this month, but gutted to be missing out as the Blues battle themselves up the table, and host key FA Cup games. Joey who has not missed a second of Premiership action this season is confident though that Matteo, PK and Davey can do a job in defence for us though. Jesus, I hope so. Joey says: "This time I had to compromise (between Everton and Nigeria) and people need to know that I love playing for my country as much as I love playing for my club, and I want to give my best for my club. It is going to be hard for me to leave because I have played in all the games, and I will be away for a few games. I would have preferred to stay, but at the same time I love playing for my country and I hope the team will do well when I am away so when I come back the team won’t be struggling for the relegation battle. I would have loved to play all the games for my club and then play in the African Nations (after the season), but because of its timing, it is a difficult situation. But me being away will create an opportunity for someone else. We have got good players here - Per, Matteo, David the captain. I will be away but I know they are really good players and I am hoping and praying for Everton to do well while I am away and that it will be a lot easier when I get back. My shoulder is getting better, I have been in intensive treatment all week. It has been sore and I have been struggling but I am happy now that it is responding to treatment, and hopefully it is not something that wll keep me out for a long time, but it is something that needs attention, and needs looking after and sometimes needs rest. I think it has been very busy for me this season but it has been a good opportunity for me to play in all the games. Unfortunately I had to miss the FA Cup game through injury but I am looking forward to the African Nations Cup as it is an honour to play for my country." (13/01/06) Joey was left out of the FA Cup game against Millwall with a reoccurrence of his shoulder injury. This may delay his departure to the African Nations cup. Moyesy says: "He had treatment on Saturday and is due more treatment. I can't see him being with the Nigerians by the beginning of the week, although you can never be sure what they will decide." (08/01/06) Joey plays his last game on Saturday against Millwall before he goes on his jollies. The fans will miss him, David Moyes will miss him, Bazza will miss him, Sharpy will miss him. I'd better stop I'm getting choked. Good Luck Joey, don't forget the postcard and don't forget your toothbrush. Moyesy says:"We don't want to lose Joe as he has been a real plus. To be fair to him - and to Nuno Valente - sometimes they have been playing with little injuries and could have quite easily dropped out. But they didn't. It's the type of attitude that we are looking for from the players. Joe has made one or two mistakes recently which he has to eradicate from his game, but we know we are going to lose him for the African Nations Cup. That will then give other people their opportunities and it is up to them to take it."(06/01/06) Joey To Delay Going To African Nations Cup Call Y'self An Evertonian? Well Joey does! He is ready to delay his departure as Everton are in the mire. With suspensions, injuries and bad form, Joey will wait until the club can let him go. The African Cup of Nations (what a mouthful) begins on 20th January 2006 and lasts until 10th February 2006. Joey
says: ''I'm struggling with injuries but I am committed to
Everton and I want to do my best. Each time we lose like this, it is
very depressing and makes it even harder for me to think about going
away. At the moment I am here and I do not know what is going to happen.
But the longer I can stay, the better. I am committed to my club and
obviously I don't want to leave until I feel better. Davie Weir thinks Yobo is frightening. Davie says: “You can’t dwell on your mistakes, you’ve got move on and Joe did that. He’s like that. He didn’t go back into his shell, he came back out and his level of performance has been good as it was in that game until he made the mistake. He’s showing it week-in, week-out, learning what he is capable of. He’s as good as there is; he is really top class. He seems to get better and better, which is quite frightening. He’s got everything to be a really top class central defender. It’s just getting a level of consistency. He’s still young especially in that position. It’s a steep learning curve, especially in the Premier League and usually every slight mistake is punished. It’s up to Joe to cut them out and he has done that. (11/12/05) Joey is ready and waiting for Rooney and United and has learned from his mistake that let them score earlier this season. He will say his prayers as usual and then get stuck into them. Joey says: "I will say, 'Hi, how are things going?' but, as a defender, if Wayne comes my way I won't want to let him score. If there's a tackle to be made, I'm going to go in. I know what he's all about. It's going to be difficult for us because they have something to prove to their fans. But we don't fear them, we're going there with confidence. I don't have anything to prove personally against United. Things like that mistake of mine happen. I'm stronger as a result of it because I have learned. I realised after that game I had to move on, I couldn't keep thinking about it. I had the opportunity to turn things around, and I have done, because I've been playing well. I always say my prayers, thank God for everything that has happened to me. But for the grace of God, I would not be here. I didn't study like my friends who went on to university, but I have been an ambassador for my country through football, which is a religion anyway, because you see it played on every street back home. We will show them respect, of course, but not too much. It's going to be very tough against Rooney because he is very special, he drifts anywhere he wants to, his work-rate is fantastic, and when he gets the ball he will always attack. It is hard to mark him out of a game, but it is important we do. The move to Manchester United has turned him from a boy into a man, and his football has changed. But I'm not bothered about him or Van Nistelrooy, I'm bothered about me and my team-mates, whether we are up for it." (10/12/05) Moyesy was chuffed with his defender's performance against Newcastle. Moyesy says: "Joseph Yobo is having an outstanding season this season. He has made one or two mistakes, that happens, but he will get better with age. He got the goal and his performance was excellent, all in all Joseph is getting much better and we are really pleased." (28/11/05) Joseph was made SKY TV'S man of the match after another solid performance against Newcastle as well as scoring the winner. Joey
says: "It
is a bonus that I scored a goal. I saw the ball coming and I thought
'this is it'. It is good for me to get on the scoresheet but I was more
happy with the defensive play. The result last week was poor and we
realised the only way to put it right was to show a lot of character
and win the game. I think all week we knew we didn't do very well at West Brom. We spent more time on the training pitch, we knew we were better than that. I think we went out there and showed a lot of character. We should have wrapped it up. One goal was enough but we should have wrapped it up." (27/11/05) Joey
fell awkwardly in the WBA game and woke up with a stiff back on Sunday.
He has missed training, but should be able to join in soon and be fit
for the Newcastle game on Sunday. Joey Yobo was frustrated as most every time he looked at the League Table, and saw the Blues rooted to the bottom, and he could not understand why, especially with the quality in the team. Joey still realises that even though we are off the bottom, we are still in deep doo doo, but he is confident that we are moving in the right direction. Joey says: "It's a big relief to be off the bottom of the table. Everton is a big football club and we have got good players. We shouldn't really be in the position that we are at the minute. We need to put it right. But we are off the bottom and we are moving in the right direction. When you I looked at the table and all my family and friends did, we all felt the same. Very frustrated. I'm happy now that we have improved. I saw the table a few times and matched it up with the players that we have got here and it just didn't seem right. But that's football and anything can happen. We all believed we wouldn't be there for a long time. We are still in the relegation zone and we need to get a few wins to get away. We have got lots of good players. Some are coming back from injury now and we are looking at the games coming up in a better frame of mind. We know that if we can squeeze out a few good results it will lift us straight from the bottom. Then we can hopefully start looking towards the middle of the table. We are just working very hard and taking each game as it comes." (04/11/05) Joey was back to his best and picked up a bottle of bubbly from Biffa for his performance. He was cockahoop. Joey says: "It feels great. But its not about us stopping them, its about us picking up points. We have not been doing so well and we needed these points so badly. We are just happy with getting a point out of the game and stopping them. Chelsea are top of the league and we are bottom and they are a great team so we are very delighted to stop them. I think we are very strong playing at home and the early goal gave us the advantage, thanks to James, it was a big opportunity for us to go in front and he took advantage. When Frank equalised we knew we had to hold on to the game and get something out of the game we knew Chelsea were going to make changes and get at us we had to be strong and congratulations to the team and all the lads fought really hard from James up front to the goalkeeper." (24/10/05) We Need To Get It Right In Europe Joseph has apologised to the fans for the poor performance against Portsmouth but thinks the strikers will come up with the goods in Bucharest. Joey
says: "The crowd were not very happy with our performance
and we must say sorry to them because we didn't do well enough. But
we have been playing well lately. We've been playing some good football.
That approach didn't work in the first half against Portsmouth so we
sent a lot more long balls up to Duncan Ferguson in the second. You can't win games without scoring. But we have quality strikers and when they click they will score many goals. We have to make sure it is the game at Bucharest because the UEFA Cup is very important. We know we have let our fans down with that effort, but we will give them a performance in Bucharest." (12/09/05) After making a school boy error last week against manure, Joey fully redeemed himself with a man of the match performance against Bolton. Moyesy says: “His performance today was Terry Butcher-like. What Joseph did today is all we’ve asked of him. We’re not asking him to be anything more than a good, dominant centre-half. He has great pace and athleticism and today he showed that. (21/08/05) Joey Yobo's team mates have rallied round the beleaguered defender, after his horror pass gifted Everton old boy Wayne Rooney with the simplest of goals on Saturday. Benty, Davey Weir and Pisto have voiced their support for the defender who is on International duty for Nigeria at present. Benty says: "JoJo made a mistake, which he rarely does. He is a world class defender. He held his hand up for it and is very sorry but nobody holds any grudges. These things happen. We would have hoped it didn't in that circumstance but he won't do it again. I believe things happen for a reason. It has taught him not to do it again. His head is down but he is confident, he is part of the squad and part of the team." Davey Weir says: "It happens to anybody, it could be anyone who makes a mistake like that. It is how you react to them - mistakes happen. Joe is an experienced lad and he'll learn from that. It's not persecution time, we take it as a team and learn as a team." Pisto says: "It is unusual for him. He is a great player and a great athlete. Things happen in football but everybody is behind Joseph in this moment. The good thing about football is we have another game and a chance to forget it. We play as a team. There is no bad player or good player, it is a bad team or a good team." (15/08/05) With just a few weeks rest Joey is back at Bellefield and is excited by the prospect of European football. Joey says: "This is the biggest season for Everton for a long time because of being in Europe and where we finished in the league. Everybody is going to be looking at us so we have got to make ourselves proud again. With the team we have got and the management we can make it through the qualifiers to play in the group stages. That is very important. Personally, I am very excited about playing in Europe. It has been a short summer but it is good to be back and it is good I am not injured and ready to go again. Because I have trained over the summer with my country I am not too far from my match-fitness." (12/07/05) Joe won't be wanting a summer job over the close season. He will be too busy playing footy. He has World Cup qualifiers games on 5th June against Rwanda and 18th June against Angola. Joey says: "I'm very busy with Nigeria over the close season so I'm going to try and see how I can fit it into my schedule. It's very difficult for me. It's going to be a very tough summer for me. I'm going to speak to the national team and the gaffer here. I'm just looking forward to next season. (30/05/05) It Did Cross My Mind About Leaving Having been injured at the start of last season, Joe was determined to get his place back when he was fit, but it didn't happen. He spent a few months on the bench and he did think about his future away from Goodison Park. Now he can't wait to get back into action playing for Everton in the Champions League. Joey says: “At this level you need consistency and when you haven’t got that it’s a bit difficult. The group of players that are here have a good team spirit so whoever plays you’ve got to support them. It’s been disappointing not to play more. When the season started I expected to give my very best and unfortunately for me, it happens in football, I got injured and someone came in and took my place. They did very well and made it difficult for me to get back into the team. I understood that but I was a bit frustrated as well. I was one the bench for about three months and I got frustrated because I wanted to play. I don’t want to sit on the bench. There were different things going on in my head at that moment but I have to support the team as well because I knew the direction we were going in. Now we’ve achieved that and I’m back in the team so I’m happy. I didn’t want to create any negative influence on the team when I wasn’t playing and people where suggesting that it was time for me to leave. It did cross my mind to be honest. I thought about it but because of the way I’ve been treated here I thought this was the best place for me. I’m just happy to be here and I’m looking forward to next season. That’s what I’ve always wanted. To play in the Champions League is my dream and being here and achieving that - I’m just looking forward to that next season. I want to establish myself as the first choice centre back. I just hope that I don’t get any injuries because there’s a lot of competition for places here. Credit to the guys who came in to take my place. I think it’s very good for Everton that we’ve achieved fourth place. It’s disappointing to lose our last two games but it can’t take the shine off Everton Football Club because of what we’ve done this season. We’ve achieved what we wanted with qualifying for the Champions League.” (18/05/05) |
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