Everton FC News: Fixture pile-up has Everton protesting to Carling Cup organisers with media blackout

Oct 28 2009 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

Everton FC News: DAVID MOYES last night led a media blackout by Everton in protest at Carling Cup organisers for forcing them into three crucial games inside six days.

The Goodison outfit slumped out of the competition as goals from Tom Huddlestone and Robbie Keane consigned them to a 2-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur in their fourth round tie.

And having been without 10 senior injured players, Moyes’s woe deepened when Louis Saha was forced off at half-time with a calf problem that will be assessed at Finch Farm today.

The visit to White Hart Lane concluded a punishing schedule for Everton, who lost 3-2 in the Premier League at Bolton Wanderers on Sunday just three days after being thrashed 5-0 at Benfica in the Europa League.

The decision of Moyes and his players to refuse to comment was taken before last night’s game, with the manager having also not held his usual pre-match media conference for the tie on Monday afternoon. Moyes had previously expressed his displeasure at the decision of Carling Cup organisers to schedule the game barely 48 hours after Everton’s trip to the Reebok Stadium.

With Arsenal’s tie against Liverpool being chosen for live broadcast on Sky Sports tonight, London Metropolitan Police would not allow both games to be played on the same evening while Merseyside Police didn’t want rival supporters to travel to the capital on trains on the same day.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp sympathised with his Goodison counterpart to an extent, but said: “We all face problems with fixture congestion at some time.

“Everton put their best team out tonight. They didn’t put a bunch of kids out. They had Fellaini, Saha, Distin, Cahill and Yakubu out there.”

Tottenham had a lengthy absentee list of their own with Aaron Lennon, Peter Crouch, Jonathan Woodgate, Ledley King, Luka Modric and Vedran Corluka all injured, Jermaine Defoe suspended and Niko Kranjcar cup-tied.

And Redknapp said: “Everton might say they only put out what they had, but I was the same. We only had what we had. Everybody who was fit was there tonight.

“We were in the same boat as David. He wanted to win and so did we. He could have played five kids but he chose not to.

“I haven’t got a squad as big as Everton. You go through their top players, there’s more at Everton that there are here. We haven’t got a big squad. I’ve got four strikers and four central defenders, but after that I’ve only got three central midfielders. Most have six. We’re not overloaded in other areas.

“I’m really pleased with the lads tonight. Those that came in didn’t do themselves any harm.”