View From The Stands: Still waiting for season to click

Oct 8 2007 by Mark McKenna, Liverpool Daily Post

WOULD our outlook for the season be realistically any different had two of the three late goals gone our way rather than Newcastle’s?

As disappointing as the final result was at the Barcodes, I wouldn’t look too far into the cruel blow suffered at St James’. The Geordies were probably worth their lead at half-time, but in the second half, until Emre lashed in his late effort, Everton looked the team in the ascendancy who were most likely to get the win.

There is no getting away from the several disjointed factors in our season so far. Our defence has gone from being our greatest strength to the most vulnerable part of our team, while the inability to trap a bag of cement by whatever combination is at centre midfield is still alarming.

It still doesn’t feel like we’ve stepped out of first gear this season, so it seems quite bizarre that we’re still possibly looking at our most exciting season for the past two decades. The opportunity to progress in European competition while going strong in a domestic, together with still looking like finishing in the top eight in the league, is un-chartered territory for a generation of Evertonians and yet there is so much more to come this season from the team.

So just when will we finally start looking like a team that will push on this season?

There’s a small matter of a game against the Liverpool Red Sox Franchise next up, so what better time for things to start clicking into gear?