Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One. Phil Neville Scored a Goal…

When Phil Neville blasted home his goal on Saturday, the first thing I thought was, “DAMN! I wish that had been Tony Hibbert!”

Nothing against Phil of course, having him score a goal is nearly as magical, but let’s face it…you were itching for a good, clean riot.

Admit that you expected Neville’s shot to end up in the street…it’s ok. How many times has the ball come to Neville is much the same spot and the Goodison crowd has comically yelled, “SHOOT!”?

Admit that after you celebrated and laughed that you were reminded of what a tremendous leader Neville is for this team when he celebrated with Tim Cahill’s “boxing the corner flag” move. What made Saturday great wasn’t the goals or the three points…it was the fun. Plain and simple fun, something we haven’t had enough of this season.

It’s been rare this season that Everton has left us having to ponder about three tremendous goals and the complete dismantling of an inferior opponent. To be honest, it’s unbelievably frustrating at a certain level because had Everton been doing that kind of work in numerous other matches, we’d be in the thick of a Champions League spot battle.

Instead we’re looking up at the near impossible task of getting in to the lone current Europa League spot, currently occupied by Spurs. Just how much Europe really means is of course debatable and I think there are many Blues that would more than happy with missing out on Europe if we could pass Liverpool and be able to spend the summer having a laugh.

Either way, it’s remarkable that after a season filled with so much inconsistency and frustration, that Everton sits in 7th (one point out of 6th, nine out of 5th) with six matches to play.

Despite all the injuries, the financial restraints, all the distractions, Everton is playing their best football right now and look like their heading towards a strong and respectable finish, which is more than most of us could have hoped for around the holidays.

I’m just trying to forget about the loss to Reading…I hate what-ifs.