View from the opposition – Everton
A bit about you:
Name: Mark Sadler
Current home town: Barrow upon Soar
Birthplace: Sutton-in-Ashfield
How long have you supported your team? 49 years
Overview of your club:
Favourite thing about your home ground: Soul and memories
Favourite match played by your team & why: Beating Man U on penalties in the FA cup semi-final 2009 because it was the first time at Wembley with my son and the nearest we have been to winning anything in his lifetime (or at least living memory as he was only 2 in 1995) and it was beating Man U, which always feels good.
Favourite player of all time who played for your club: Alan Ball (you never forget your childhood heroes), with big Dunc a close second.
About our forthcoming match against you:
Your favourite current player in your squad and why? Looking at what I wrote last year, saying Idrissa is a favourite but will pick up a lot of yellow cards and guess what, sent off last Sunday for two yellows! Favourite now has to be Tom Davies. Full of energy, will to win – every game, tackle, throw in! Koeman brought in a lot of midfielders, but for me the way Tom has played since coming into the first team last year, he has more than deserved to keep his place. Not perfect, but great to watch.
Player in your squad we should most fear and why? Possibly Oumar Niasse. Not the greatest striker, but if he comes off the bench his is likely to score of lay one on.
Player in our squad you most fear and why? Mahrez, anyone that runs at us seems to panic our defence.
Up and coming prospect in your squad? With David Unsworth in charge, they should get their chance. Lookman looks a great prospect, Dom Calvert-Lewin will be a good striker, Mason Holgate continues to do well, Beni Baningime had a great debut against Chelsea, but I would really like to see Jonjoe Kenney make it and then become a long term replacement from Seamus.
Where do you think you’ll finish this season? Mid table, hopefully with a decent FA cup run.
How do you think you’ll do against us? Win 2-1. Not sure if this is hope over expectation, but with both sides changing manager, this is probably to most difficult fixture to predict this weekend.
General Questions:
In hindsight, what do you think to your summer transfer activity? Started really well, but then lost a striker and kept buying midfielders. Seem to be left with an unbalanced squad. A lot of very good players, but weak in a few key positions.
Who do you think will win the league this year? Man City
Which three teams do you think will go down? Palace, Brighton and Huddersfield
Can you describe your season to date in less than 15 words? Anticipation of a great things, despair and now back to hope!
Any other comments?
Both Martinez and Koeman started well, teams sussed out our new way of playing and strolled through us to score at will. At least Martinez left us with a striker who scored goals. Now we have great faith in David Unsworth. If he doesn't get the job and the next manager is better, then that will be fine with me.