Two Win For Euro Glory

Four games to go. Win two and we get into Europe. That's what Alan Irvine thinks. Have a look at the Run-In and have your say.

Alan says: "I think if we win two games out of the four we will qualify for Europe. It sounds easy but it will be very very difficult. It is a terrific goal difference and one that we are very pleased with and proud of. Of course, it could be worth an extra point at the end of the season." (21/04/07)

Six and Counting

Moyesy must be having a few days off from the media scrum, as Alan Irvine is at the mike this week, and talking up the Blues chances of making one of the UEFA Cup positions. The Everton coach reckons we are six wins away from making Europe, so lets hope we get win number one tomorrow at Sheff Utd.

Alan says: " When you look at it that way everybody is going to have games against the top teams and it is important that if we are going to get a push towards the top six to be safe of European qualification we are going to have to do our job and win half-a-dozen games between now and the end of the season." (02/03/07)

Injury Update

The Blues have been given a timely boost with news of three of their four injured midfielder's ahead of Sunday's clash against Champions Chelski. Phil Neville, Leon and Mikky will by the end of the week all be training, and Alan Irvine is confident at least some of that trio will make the Goodison clash. The Assistant Manager knows however that if needed, our wafer thin squad will play were it takes to get eleven players on the pitch.

Alan says: "We will know a bit more by the end of the week but they have got a chance. Phil has had a scan and the results were what we expected. There was nothing too serious thankfully. It is a minor injury and we hope that we will have him back on Sunday but we will see what happens. Leon Osman is improving and with some luck, he will be training again by the end of the week, likewise Mikel Arteta.

We do not like asking the players to play out of position but we have had to pick teams to suit and we just hope that we will have some of the players to face Chelsea. But if not, we know we have an honest group of lads who will give their best." (13/12/06)

Target Carling Cup

With some premiership teams not putting much importance to the Carling cup, Alan Irvine is targeting it as potential gateway to Europe, even though Everton made 7 changes for the win at Peterboro.

Alan says: “As far as I am concerned I can never understand why people don’t consider it to be an important competition. It’s an opportunity to progress and get a place in Europe and it’s a great opportunity for the fans to have a great day out in a cup final. Having played in a League Cup final I know it’s a fantastic occasion. The seven changes, with the exception of Mark Hughes, were all players who have played in the first-team already. Victor Anichebe has been doing really well and he’s been quite close to playing in the Premiership so we didn’t consider that to be a gamble and Mark Hughes got his chance because David Weir, Joseph Yobo and Alan Stubbs are all injured.” (21/09/06)

Nearly There

As far as Alan is concerned the team are nearly ready for the big start.

Alan explains: "We're still not exactly where we want to be, but we've got the best part of two weeks to get there. We're delighted with how the lads have been since day one of pre-season. They have gone about their work really, really well.

"We feel as if we're in very good condition. We just need to kind of nail things down on the team shape, a little match sharpness, things like that, but it's going very well at the moment.

"We feel that we have got a strong squad. We are very happy with the squad that we have got at the moment. Like everyone you would like to strengthen in one or two positions where we don't have the cover that we would like to have. But we have been delighted with what the lads have been doing so far and we are looking forward to the start of the season."(08/08/06)

Pre-Season Bonus

For the first time in a few seasons Everton's new signings will have a full pre-season together. For the past few seasons the likes of Nuno Valente have been signed a few days before the start of the season and it took a while to settle in. Alan thinks this is crucial for the players when the when the first game comes along.

Alan says: "The earlier the better because they get to know the lads a lot better. That's important so that when the first Premiership game comes around they are well integrated within the squad. They will know how we do things so it's a perfect time to start and we've been very pleased with what we've seen so far.

There is no rush because we've got a long pre-season ahead of us and it's a gradual build-up," I include the games in that because they are very much a part of our training programme. It's all about getting us ready for the first game of the season so that we are in the best possible condition physically, technically and tactically." (13/07/06)

Alan Irvine 2005/2006          Full Squad 2005/2006