24. Tim Howard - 07/08

Your in Safe Hands

Neville Southall, Everton's greatest goalkeeper, and some would say Everton's greatest player (me that is), believes that the Blues are in safe hands with Tim Howard, safe hands, get it !! Anyway the ex Blues Keeper thinks that Tim can go on for many years to come, and create his and the Blues own bit of history.

Big Nev says: "It's great that you get all the clean sheets but at some stage you've got to go on and win something. That would be great. Everybody is sick of history, we want to make some new history, don't we?" Tim has been in really good form. I don’t think the goal keeping position is a problem for Everton. They have got a really, really good player who can go on for a long time at a really high level.

"I think him and Nigel Martyn are on a par. They don’t make many mistakes and they make match-winning saves. They are good communicators and they are the heart and soul of the team. I think Tim looks a passionate man. There’s no reason why he can’t play into his late thirties." (03/12/08)

Outstanding Saves At Wigan

Tim Howard was Everton's best player in the 1-0 defeat at Wigan last night. He made two wonder saves to keep the score down, but is at a loss to explain how the team ran out of ideas in the second half in front of 5000 travelling Evertonians.

Tim says: "It was a bad night all around. We expected big things and wanted to keep our run going but it didn't happen. We have got to do a lot better. We wanted to be hard to beat and we looked fairly comfortable. We had a great chance with Louis Saha early on, but in the second half we fell apart.

We didn't really look like ourselves. We weren't composed and it's difficult to put a finger on why it happened, as I thought we played pretty well in the first half. All of a sudden - bang! We were under pressure and ran out of ideas, which was very disappointing. Even during our little five-game run, we knew things needed to improve. When you lose a game, maybe it's easier to sit down and assess it. We've now got to lick our wounds and get back up- starting at Tottenham." (25/11/08)

I Want To Stay At Everton

After playing 100 games for Everton and being compared with Neville Southall, Tim hopes to play well consistently and to do that he wants to stay at Everton for a long time.

Tim says: “Neville is a legend, and the reason he is a legend is because he did it consistently at the top level over a long period of time. I have got a long way to go, I know that. But I hope that I can stay consistent, stay here for a long time and do it with this club.

A hundred games is a fantastic milestone at any club. The ability to play consistently over the last few years and get to 100 games is a marker for me. The record part? That’s icing on the cake. It just shows what I have always believed, if you can work hard and be consistent over a long period of time things like that will come.” (11/11/08)

Record Breaker

Tim Howard has broke a Blues record, even the likes of Big Nev, Westy and my hero from the 1970's Georgie Wood (honest he was) could not better. The Big American has made 100 appearances but conceded less at that stage of his Everton career than anyone of the named keepers. Only 99 goals have flew past Tim, whilst at the same stage 102 had flew past Big Nev and 113 past Westy. If your interested 108 had been fired past Georgie Wood. Drew Brands record is unavailable !!

Skipper Phil Neville says: "Everton have always been blessed with good keepers, none more so than Neville Southall. To be mentioned in the same breath as him isn't what you do, but it is deserved with Tim." (09/11/08)

USA Form Great Everton Form Bad

After a poor start to the season with Everton, Tim is in the US to play for his country against Cuba in a World Cup Qualifying game. A win will see USA qualify for South Africa with a game still to play. With 3 wins and 3 clean sheets in 3 games, it looks like a good bet.

Tim says: "It's true, we're having a rough start to the season. In the top leagues in the world, you have to get off to a good start, and we haven't. Now we need to fight our way out of it and we have the guys to do it. We all understand that we have no divine right to finish fourth or fifth, and we are going to have to sort out a way to get out of this. But we have the spirit, as we've shown in the last two seasons.

As a goalkeeper, you're only as good as the defenders in front of you. Carlos (Bocanegra) and Oguchi (Onyewu) have been amazing in the games so far, but so have our midfielders and forwards. We've been defending in packs and pushing the other teams into positions they don't want to be in. We've been clicking defensively and doing well to not let our opponents get comfortable.

We'll be playing Cuba for a second time now, and at home, so the onus is on us to take the game to them. We know what's at stake, but at the same time we can't get consumed with it. We just need to dictate the pace of the game and aim for the three points." (09/10/08) Full Interview on FIFA WEBSITE

Goodison Great

Everton skipper, Phil Neville has praised Tim after his goalkeeping display in Colorado saying he could become a Goodison Great.

Phil says: "The saves Tim made we think of as run of the mill now because he’s such a quality keeper and he’s definitely up there with the top the in the Premier League now. He’s a really important part of our team now. This club has had some great keepers over the past 30 years and he could be right up there with the best of them." (05/08/08)

We Need Another Keeper

A new goalie is needed to join Everton this season with Wessels leaving and Everton's number 1 will set his standards even higher to make sure the new keeper will stay number 2.

Tim says: “David Moyes is ambitious as a manager and he wants depth and quality. We have let Stefan Wessels leave so we need another keeper. I think my standards are very high and whoever comes in, I am always going to push my standards very high. It is a welcome challenge and motivates me even further.” (20/06/08)

May The Fourth Be With You

Tim Howard is convinced that the Blues can push on next season and secure fourth place and Champions League football in the process. Up to late March of this year the Blues were hot on the trail for fourth place but hit the buffers when tired legs kicked in. With a few quality additions to our Squad in the Summer, Tim is sure that Everton won't be far off the mix come next May.

Tim says: "We have quality so we were right there. We sputtered towards the end which kind of solidified fifth and knocked us out of the race for fourth. If we can do that next year, and we have more depth we could be alright we could challenge. If we finished fifth this year the only thing to do is go up - and fourth is the logical step. I imagine when we get together in July that is going to be our aim. Our manager is ambitious and he is hungry. He was desperately disappointed that we missed out last year on it, so I am sure he will be chomping on the bit to do it this year." (25/05/08)