The Divine Duo (Everton Preview)

You have to wonder what it`s like to be Sir Alex Ferguson at the moment. His normal managerial rivals have gone off the rails more than, well, a train.

Chelsea have sacked their manager, Rafa hasn`t recovered from his rant in January, and Arsene Wenger has spent so much time not seeing things, he hasn`t seen his teams slide out of contention.

Meanwhile a certain Mr Moyes and Mr O`Neill, are sneaking up on the “big four” whilst nobody notices.

It`s Villa, Everton, 3-2! Preview!

Vital Quotes:

Who said this?

“I didn’t see that particular incident.”

Villa boss Martin O`Neill has taken himself down memory lane, thinking back to that marvellous last gasp victory the last time his rapid-raiding side took all 3 points from Goodison. MON spoke to avfc.co.uk:

“‘It was an important game for both clubs.

“We matched results for a while after that so it spurred us on and had the same effect on Everton.

“If their late equaliser had been the final kick of the match, we would obviously have been very disappointed to drop the two points.

“It was a fantastic finish and it was part of our great run away from home this season.”

No fewer than 6 Villans were called up to Fabio Capello`s England squad that faced Spain in Seville on Wednesday night, and despite 1 pulling out and 2 benchwarmers, Jimmy Milner knew just who to thank for the call-up to the training camp.

“It’s great credit to the lads, Villa and the manager putting his faith in English players,” he told the BBC.

“He’s brought some young English players and what a great job he’s done. His track record speaks for itself.”

“Coming to Aston Villa has given me stability; it’s a very stable club at the moment. The owner knows what he wants and the manager and the owner work very well together.”

*****

I tried to contact David Moyes for a quote, the only problem was seemingly that when I sneezed, it sounded like I had said ‘Anichebe` and was met with a stony silence, before the phone cut out. Must have been a bad signal.

Moyes’ Merrymen Team News:

Everton are unable to play the Brazillian loan striker Jo, who is cup tied. Marouane Fellaini is set to return to the squad having recovered from yet another afro-related injury. In reality, it`s apparently a back injury he suffered. Louis Saha may well make it for comedy purposes.

Player to watch: Dan Gosling:

Gosling`s goal against Liverpool was fantastic, and the youngster was rewarded with a league start in Everton`s victory over Bolton Wanderers. He`ll be the focus I`d expect from the media angles alongside O`Neill`s merry men, more about that now!

MON’s Marauders Team News:

Martin O`Neill will have had to assess the fitness of his squad following the international break, with reports that Stiliyan Petrov picked up a knock playing for Bulgaria. Emile Heskey looked to be struggling towards the end of his 45 mintues in Seville, and obviously Luke Young could be a doubt with a sore toe.

Expect a couple of surprises, if we`re really in comedy mood…Salifou!

Player to watch: Gabby Agbonlahor:

Lets hope he’s a bit more useful than his international appearance suggested!

Match Facts & Stats

There is no logic behind this matches music, absolutely none whatsoever. No clever links, no witty current affairs relation, no swipe at someone, nothing. Just quality.