Keep Smiling Yak

Match winner against Spurs Stephen Pienaar has sent his support to team mate The Yak after the forward limped out of Everton's season in the same match. The Yak ruptured his achilles early on in the game, and the players found out at half time how bad the injury was. Peanuts will no doubt be saying his prayers for The Yak after unveiling his T shirt after his winning goal 'God is Great', Alex Young unfortunately was unavailable for comment.

Peanuts says: "It is a really big blow for him and for me as well because we are really close. You have to keep your head up and stay really strong. He will get the support from the guys. I have been wearing it now for the last four seasons. I just thought today was the time. It was an important goal for me, coming back from injury.

It was a bit of a lucky one today but I hope I will get a few more. We will see how it goes. I had a tough start to he season but I have worked hard. The guys have been behind me and helped me to stay focused." (01/12/08)

Peanuts Staying in Blighty

Peanuts knee kept him out of the starting line up on Sunday and also out of South Africa's Squad this week for their friendly against Cameroon. The midfielder did however come on in the second half as the Blues fought back to grab a share of the spoils against Boro. Moyesy moved quick to dispel any conspiracy theories surrounding Peanuts availability by contacting the South African management team straight after Sundays draw, to say Peanuts was struggling with his knee and would not be making the trip South.

Moyesy says: "Steven didn't start our game against Middlesbrough on Sunday because he wasn't fit enough to do so. We brought him on in the second half but it was clear that he wasn't comfortable and after the game it was a straightforward decision not to send him to join up with South Africa.

We notified the South African FA immediately and we will monitor him this week. We couldn't have notified them any quicker and if the coach had been at our match on Sunday he would have seen for himself that Steven was struggling." (18/11/08)

Focal Point

Since coming back into the team from injury, Steven has been in great form. Moyesy is happy with that, but would like to see some of the others helping him out. Peanuts has also been looked at by Russian Champions Rubin Kazan.

Moyesy say: “Steven was an important player for us last year and he is proving that again for us this year but we have got to be careful not to put too much emphasis on him. There is no question that he is an exciting player. We brought him here to be a part of the squad but suddenly he became a real focal point of our team. We know he can make goals and we know he is a great player to have in the team. Steven always does a good job for us. But I would definitely like to see others start chipping in now.” (06/11/08)

Team Spirit

Having only drawn one and lost three of the Premier league home games this season, Everton must use their great team spirit to bring the right results.

Steven says: "After what we achieved last season, there was always going to be different expectations from the opposing teams. There is going to be a lot of pressure on the team to perform as we did last season and maybe do even better.

We need to work hard and stay together as a group. The spirit we have is going to be important. If you have a small squad, all the players are going to play and we need to stick together and help each other out."

"Every player wants to take themselves that step higher, and we all want to do better than last season. The kind of football we played last season really changed people's minds about how the team is and how close we are to the top four. But we need to forget about what we achieved last season, and start from the first game and work hard from there. It's going to be a long race." (13/10/08)

Don't Look Back In Anger

Back fit and straight back into top form against Newcastle, Peanuts believes Everton can look forward to a good season ahead.

Steven says: "It wasn’t easy being injured but I’ve worked hard these last few weeks and I was very eager to come back and play. The defeat in Europe is all behind us. We lost the game and we can’t keep on moaning about what happened. If you want to go forward, you have to leave the past behind you. It’s behind us now and we have to take each game as it comes and give our best.

“But I really don’t know what the problem has been for the team. I think the guys have given everything, I just think we’re missing lady luck at the moment – it will come and when it does I think it will stick.

“I think in the first half against Newcastle we did really well but unfortunately we gave a vital goal away just before half-time. When you go into the dressing room and you just gave a goal away you’re a bit nervous when you go out in the second half and we conceded again early on which was disappointing. It’s behind us and we’ve got 10 days off so hopefully we’ll figure it out what’s going wrong.” (08/10/08)

I Love Peanuts

Leighton Baines is glad Peanuts is fit and back in the side. The two linked up well for the two goals in the 2-2 draw with Newcastle.

Bainsey says: "Playing with Steven is brilliant. Not only has he got all the footballing capabilities to pass but he is a willing worker. He works hard and does his job as a winger as well and he's a pleasure to play with. He makes you feel very comfortable because you can give him the ball in any situation and he's capable of doing things with it." (06/10/08)

Pienaar Has A Chance

Steven has travelled to Belgium this morning as part of the squad to face Standard Liege in the 2nd leg of UEFA Cup tie. There is an outside chance that he could play some part in the game, but it will be a risk as he's not played since breaking his toe in the friendly game in August against PSV. (01/10/08)

No Charges

Police confirmed on Tuesday no charges would be brought against Steven. As far as Everton Football Club is concerned the matter is now closed and there will be no further comment. (30/09/08)

Arrested For An Alleged Assault

Steven Pienaar was arrested by police after an alleged assault on a woman at his Sefton Park flat at 6am on Sunday. He must report back to a Merseyside police station at a later date. (29/09/08)

Peanuts Back Training

Good news for Moyesy as Peanuts has been given the green light to start training again after he broke his foot back in pre season. The South African has been badly missed by the Blues after a disappointing start to our season.

Moyesy says: "Steven has been for a scan and he has been given the all clear to start doing some swimming in the pool and other bits of rehab work. It’s just over four and a half weeks since he suffered the injury and usually when you break a bone (in your foot), it’s six weeks before you get the go-ahead to training properly again." (12/09/08)

Out For 6 Weeks

Everton have been dealt a body blow with the news that Steven is out of action with a broken foot. It's expected the lad will be out for 6 weeks. Bloomin' marvelous, now what next!

Basil says: "We can confirm that Steven Pienaar has broken the big toe in his right foot." (11/08/08)

Happy AJ Is Staying

Steven is chuffed that AJ is staying at Goodison.

Peanuts says: "We all know AJ is a good player. He's a quality player and a team player. Us losing him would be a hole in our team so it is good news that he's staying.

The longer the players play together, the better the team gets and the bond between the players will be even bigger. So like I say, it's really good news for us." (27/06/08)