IT may have only been a brief, impulsive reaction. But the jeers that met the final whistle at Goodison Park at the weekend laid bare the frustration of the Everton FC faithful.
The natives are getting restless.
And with good reason. Another underwhelming afternoon saw lacklustre Everton FC allow a gift-wrapped, morale-boosting victory to slip through their fingers and prompt further lines to be etched in the increasingly furrowed brow of David Moyes.
The Goodison manager recently admitted Everton FC’s travelling support are being given far greater value for money of late than those who regularly pay their hard-earned attend home games, a fault that desperately needed addressing.
It hasn’t yet. And while Saturday wasn’t quite as depressing as the defeat to Bolton Wanderers earlier this month, the signs were all too familiar.
Not good enough. Nor is a run of league form that boasts just two wins in 10 and has precipitated Everton’s slide down to 14th place in the table.
There is still too great a gap to the drop zone for Moyes and his players to be peering nervously over their shoulders just yet. And the overall quality of the squad – and poor standard of those below them – means relegation shouldn’t be an issue for Everton.
But that it is even a consideration underlines how expectations have shifted at Goodison during the past 12 months along with growing supporter unrest at the club’s restrictive financial state.
The ongoing spate of injuries has exposed the limitations of the squad and Everton’s inability to bring in the necessary reinforcements, Moyes last week resorting to handing a trial to 30-year-old MLS forward Edson Buddle as he seeks to improve his team’s potency.
Everton FC’s board did open the purse strings enough for Darron Gibson to arrive from Manchester United to provide some much-needed midfield creativity.
But after a quietly impressive debut at Aston Villa, this was a more difficult afternoon for the Irishman to stamp his authority.
With Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin sidelined, a new centre-back has become a priority for Moyes, although the form of young Irish defender Shane Duffy has perhaps given the manager pause for thought.
Making his home Premier League debut, Duffy was Everton’s most impressive performer on Saturday, swiftly winning the favour of the crowd with some telling interceptions and later crashing a header against the Blackburn crossbar from a Leighton Baines free-kick.
There inevitably remain plenty of rough edges, but the 20-year-old has shown he can be trusted.
The same, sadly, cannot be said of every player.
Moyes shuffled his attacking resources once again, fielding a three-pronged attack of Victor Anichebe, Louis Saha and Landon Donovan against a Blackburn defence that had not kept a clean sheet since last April.
Only Donovan remained come the final whistle. While Anichebe strived with little reward, Saha drew the ire of a disgruntled home crowd with a disinterested, disheartening display that could easily have seen the Frenchman given the hook long before his 54th-minute substitution.
Even when Everton FC did find a way through on 25 minutes, it was with a goal that shouldn’t have been allowed.
After a Donovan shot had been partially blocked, Marouane Fellaini’s stooping header was saved at point-blank range by Blackburn goalkeeper Paul Robinson. But when possession rebounded back into the Belgian’s path, he scooped the ball with his hand to his left for Cahill to prod home from six yards.
It didn’t need the television replays to confirm a blatant handball, an outraged Robinson racing 40 yards from his goal to confront referee Mark Halsey.
Cahill, meanwhile, was sprinting to the corner flag with a mixture of delight and sheer relief having ended a 33-game barren streak since netting in the win at Manchester City on December 20 2010.
Everton, and Fellaini in particular, had enjoyed significant fortune when winning at Blackburn back in August. However, their luck was to finally run out on 72 minutes.
Saturday was a landmark occasion for Tim Howard, who surpassed Neville Southall as the Everton goalkeeper to make the most Premier League appearances with a 208th outing.
But having memorably scored on his last Goodison top-flight match, here Howard was partly to blame for Blackburn’s equaliser.
Under pressure from Steven Nzonzi, the goalkeeper allowed Morten Gamst Pedersen’s deep free-kick to slip through his hands and bounce off the unwitting Duffy’s head.
Cahill, guarding the goalline, was still on hand to deal with the danger, but succeeded only in blasting his clearance against David Goodwillie and into the goal.
Even with former Everton striker Yakubu sitting in the stands suspended, Blackburn – with a draw at Anfield and win at Old Trafford in their previous two Premier League away games – carried plenty of threat, David Dunn and Scott Dann both striking the woodwork while substitute Mauro Formica curled inches wide late on.
Everton’s clearest opportunities came during injury time when, after Robinson had turned behind Fellaini’s header, the resultant corner saw the Belgian’s effort cleared off the line by Formica with Robinson then blocking Denis Stracqualursi’s follow-up attempt.
A winner would have been harsh on Blackburn. The boos for Everton FC at the final whistle, however, were not.
MAN OF THE MATCH. Shane Duffy. An encouraging first home Premier League appearance for the Irishman
EVERTON (4-2-3-1): Howard; Neville, Heitinga, Duffy, Baines; Fellaini, Gibson (Stracqualursi 87); Donovan, Cahill, Anichebe (Vellios 80); Saha (Drenthe 54). Subs: Mucha, Hibbert, Bilyaletdinov, Gueye. BOOKINGS: Gibson and Drenthe (both fouls).
BLACKBURN ROVERS (4-2-3-1): Robinson; Lowe, Givet, Dann, Olsson; Petrovic, Nzonzi; Pedersen, Dunn (Formica 60), Hoilett; Goodwillie (Modeste 76). Subs: Bunn, Rochina, Vukcevic, Hanley, Henley. BOOKINGS: Petrovic and Hoilett (both fouls).
REFEREE: Mark Halsey.
ATT: 32,464.
NEXT GAME: Everton v Fulham, FA Cup fourth round, Friday 8pm.
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