No hard luck stories from captain Phil Neville as Everton FC suffer Carling Cup humiliation at Brentford

Sep 22 2010 by Greg O'Keeffe, Liverpool Echo

PHIL NEVILLE today insisted Everton have run out of excuses for their abysmal start to the season, as they were knocked out of the Carling Cup by League One side Brentford.

The Toffees skipper was seething after the penalty heart-break which saw the Blues crash out at Griffin Park last night, echoing his manager’s belief that Everton again wasted enough chances to secure their passage in the first half.

He admitted his fear the dressing room was seduced by pre-season talk of targeting a Champions League spot, and demanded that winning games becomes the players’ sole ambition.

He said: “There are no excuses. No hiding places. We don’t deserve to win these football matches at the moment.

“We didn’t win at Blackburn – hard luck. We didn’t win at Wolves – hard luck. We couldn’t beat Villa – hard luck. Everyone says we’re playing well but not winning games. Forget all that rubbish now – it’s got to the point where it’s time to realise where we are.

“Forget Champions League football, forget Europa League football. Focus on Saturday and just winning. Maybe at the start of the season we looked at the end of the season rather than concentrating on the now.”

Neville scored his penalty in the shoot-out which followed a 1-1 draw after extra time, and played his first game in a month but was taking no comfort from his return to the side.

He said: “There’s no quick fix, it’s just hard work. The talent is in the dressing room we juts need to make sure we start producing. We’re second from bottom and out of a cup competition we believed we could win. Massively disappointing.

“You can see the game should have been wrapped up early.

“It wasn’t because we weren’t clinical enough. We need to get back to basics now. Forget scoring the perfect goal, let’s just start banging the ball in the back of the net and playing winning football. Sometimes winning football isn’t pretty and our league position suggests winning football is the only way to go.

“There’s no point blowing smoke up each other’s bums.

“We’re just not producing.

“The expectations are what we always wanted so we can’t get to the stage of getting it, and then be fearful of it. We’re not fearful but hard work will get us back.

“We had a great pre-season, everyone fully fit and it was just what we wanted. Now we need to give ourselves a kick up the backside, and big players stand up.

“It’s time to show our mettle.

“We’ve got the character and grit in that dressing room. I’d stake my life on it.”