By Chris Kirwan
December 2 2002

The disappointment that surrounds Everton’s failure to get anything out of a trip to St. James’ Park shows just how far the Blues have come under David Moyes.

In years gone by we would have been expecting a thumping even if we had 11 players on the pitch for the whole 90 minutes, but Sunday’s display goes to show how the attitude towards the Blues is changing. In the end it took an absolutely stunning strike and a deflected cross to breach the depleted Everton defence. Once again the concentration was superb, and nobody let himself down. Just as it took a red card to move David Weir out of the starting eleven, it may prove to be a red card that reinstates the Scot to the Everton line-up; Weir was immense.

Bobby Robson was in awe of the Everton back four, declaring “If we had Everton’s defence we would win the Premiership”, and the testimony to the strength of the defence was the fact that one of the Premiership’s most lauded attacks failed to create anything more than half-chances.

In a demoralizing last 5 minutes, one of the most pleasing sights was that of David Moyes looking every bit as devastated as every Evertonian. It’s a far cry from the Walter Smith “I’m very disappointed” speeches that we frequently had to sit through. Moyes was quite rightly proud of each and every one of his players, stating,

"We are extremely proud of the players, but disappointed that we didn't get more from the game. We didn't need to go chasing it and I thought we did that remarkably well. You all know what kind of goal it took to get Newcastle back into it.”

"We lost a wonder goal and sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say there's very little we could have done about that. But then to lose a deflection along the touchline which creeps in at the near post, it certainly wasn't our day.”

Moyes also came to the defence of Joseph Yobo, “I think by the rules it was a sending off," he said, "but I think they are harsh and we are all a bit sick of referees sending players off so easily.” He’s quite right, the ref was put in a position where he had to send Yobo off, but it wasn’t as if he cynically brought Bellamy down, they just became entangled. And now the Blues have to beat Chelsea in the Worthington Cup to ensure that Yobo and Unsworth can play in the Merseyside derby.

The pundits are now starting to realise that Everton have everything in place to be real challengers for Europe; a solid defence, a midfield that works tirelessly, and dangerous forwards. But as Big Ron said, the biggest test now will be whether the Blues cope with the expectation that comes with winning matches. The talents and strengths of the Blues’ squad are being recognised and admired, so the Blues now have to go onto the next level. Lets hope that the late defeat at St. James’ can have the same effect as the late defeat at Old Trafford that inspired the Blues to go on their winning streak.