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Victor Anichebe – the fan’s favourite?

What makes a fan’s favourite? They love a local lad making good, they like to have a connection with the player and see how the player works his socks of for the shirt maybe even to the point of injury.

At Everton, not only in my time but in our rich illustrious history we have had many fan favourites, many idols and a fair few legends. Dixie Dean was the first and greatest number 9. A barnstorming Centre Forward who lived in an age were footballers would fall out of the pub with the fans early hours of a Saturday morning but be able to achieve feats of which we could only dream of, goals we could scarcely believe and hat tricks we would enjoy. Dixie Dean was a mans man, he drank ,he smoked , he rode a motorbike with no helmet ( don’t try this at home kids), He petrified defenders by the mere mention of his name, Goalkeepers would dread the ball arriving at his head, so adept was he at firing it into the net with his coiffured bonce. There is a famous anecdote of Dean crossing the Liverpool goalkeeper at the time Elisha Scott (girlie names even then) on the street as the two men passed Dixie nodded his head an tipped his cap to greet him, the aforementioned Scott dived into the gutter, attempting to save an imaginary ball, no doubt Dixie scored then too. Even after a near fatal motorcycle accident when doctors told Dixie he would never play again the man dumbfounded us and the footballing world the following season scoring 60 league goals in 39 matches ending the season on 82 goals in all, a feat to this day Messi will not even achieve.

Since I was a kid and watched a dusty VHS video called The official history of Everton f.c I have been proud of our tradition and hero worshiped our players. On that video I remember two quotes from former players. The cannonball kid Dave Hickson holds the honour of playing for all three Merseyside teams, the fans of both Tranmere and the team whose name I shall not utter a second time. Admired , loved and worshiped him for his effort and commitment, he is a true fans favourite at our beloved club also, however for someone my age who did not have the privilege to see him play his statement alone that ” he would die for Everton but only brake every bone in his body for the other clubs he played for” connects with us and we love him for it ,Everton meant to him what it means to us. The last of the Corinthians Brian Labone , a man who my dad ( who is basically always right just so you know) described as “the best Centre half I’ve seen,better than Bobby Moore”, Labone remarked the famous line “1 Evertonian is worth 20 Liverpudlians”. Brian Labone is Everton, Dave Hickson is Everton, Dixie Dean is Everton. During the 60′s Everton fans chanted the names of our holy trinity , Harvey,Kendall and of course little curly Alan Ball. A player who loved this club more than any other, he cried the day he was sold, but whilst he was here he stole our hearts and we stole his. After scoring a second goal in the derby against the “rs” he once said “pure elation welled up inside of me , and I thought I love this place, I want this place for ever” . It resonates with us because we feel it to as fans and when a player comes along who “gets us” and puts the effort in that we would if ever fortunate enough to pull on the royal blue we love them for it.

Through my lifetime of following Everton, Sorry my lifetime of being Everton. Ive seen many players come and go, some have made me proud, some have made me angry and a small few have actually stole my heart. Growing up in the 90′s ,we didn’t have much to shout about. So as fans we clung on to any player who would fit the aforementioned criteria. But for me no-one done it. It may of been because I was to young and didn’t really “get it” myself, I know I loved Tony Cottee but even now I think its more to do with the 2 goals in the 4-4 derby game than any sort of effort or performance I seen him give. I thought Pat Nevin was like a Brazilian, even though my dad told me he was no where near as good as Duncan Macenzie. And Peter Beardsley came close to my affections just because he came to us from them. But not untill around 94 did I actually start developing my own fan favourite.

Joe Parkinson (what a quality surname) stands out for me because he was a normal lad he had my surname I told everyone in school he was my uncle and even had the the white danka away kit with grey panels emblazoned with 18 Parkinson on the back, but he got Everton. With sheer grit and determination sprinkled with an array of drag backs to get him out of tight positions he was a great player ,underestimated by all but us and highlighted in his best game in my opinion vs Tottenham in the F.A cup. I would Love it when Goodison chanted his name. All to briefly his career was over, and it was due to his love of Everton, he literally ran himself into the ground to prevent us being relegated. I remember the sadness of being at his testimonial , He should still of been playing but the crippling knee injury forced him to make the briefest of cameos at the end of the game before grabbing the microphone as Goodison rang out to “ooohhh Joey Joey, Joey Joey Joey Joey Parkinson” and he remarked “I’m proud to have played in front of the greatest fans in the world” , I left the ground with a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye. Joe Parkinson is Everton and the fans loved him.

The biggest fans favourite over the last 20 years for Blues is without doubt Duncan Ferguson, their will be football purists or stat men who claim he didn’t score enough for the club. But for me he was a dream come true, he bullied defences , no terrorised them, beating them into submission. When he was on his game he could of taken on anyone .The stories of him walking into Glasgow pubs and asking who was the hardest man in there before knocking them out made us laugh and admire this tough lad from Scotland, he was like us. The fact he apprehended two burglars breaking into his house and calmly waited for the police to do there job again enhances his status. But watching him like he was a man possessed chasing after defenders to win the ball back rising like some sort of god at the back post to bury a header into the net, The celebrations showing pure joy and unadulterated elation at scoring for his club, our club, shown what we meant to him. At a hall of fame dinner he told us what we already knew ” I never played for anyone else as far as I’m concerned, that’s what Everton does to you”. Duncan Ferguson is Everton.

Since then we have had our Timmy Cahill another who fought tooth and nail for the club his corner flag celebration, goals against the “rs” and passion for us makes him one of my favourite players who I have seen in my lifetime. Another, Mikel Arteta was such an elegant footballer seemingly brought up on the school of science and harked back to the days of . Now we have a new era, Mirallas, Baines, Fellaini, Jelavic and Anichebe.

Stop, wait , Anichebe?, I hear you ask.

Victor Anichebe throughout his young career has been an enigma. Those early days coming of the bench in Europe like a baby Drogba rampaging down channels and scoring and creating goals seem like a lifetime away.The intermittent seasons have been riddled with injuries. Vic had the demeanour of a sulky teenager at times, we wanted him to do well but even when he scored he shown little emotion or joy, more anger and non of us could understand why Moyes stuck with him. My mate Kev (everyone’s got one) has always maintained Anichebe will come good and that he is just short of confidence. Confidence is a word I think every coach and player at Everton when asked about Vic seem to use. The lad has lacked it , maybe due to injuries maybe due to idiotic fans getting on his back when he is still in footballing terms just a boy. But as this season has gone on something strange is happening. There is a change in the air.

In his interviews he seems happy, he always mentions the team and the spirit, in one he stated “were Everton aren’t we?” (yes Victor lad we are), has the penny dropped? does big Vic finally get it?

Anichebe has all the attributes to be a top drawer forward. He shows finesse in his finishes, he has strength in abundance, a good burst of pace and he seems to have found a desire to play every week. He is following the example set by Dunc in chasing defenders down, and when he has his back to goal in and around the box the way he has been playing he is making us tick. He can hold of defenders and if he chooses to roll them turn an get a shot away. He is a weapon (and not in a disrespectful way) , he is a machine, and he could be a monster. The fans are chanting his song, he smiles when he scores and yesterday part dislocated his shoulder arguing with a ref, and even laughed about it with fans when picking up his man of the match award. At the moment there is no one else within our club I would rather have leading our line, yes Victor Anichebe is becoming the fan favourite. He has finally made the step up. What he needs to do now is cement it. What better way than a winning goal and barnstorming Dixie/Duncan/cannonball-kid’esque performance on Tuesday against Arsenal. Victor is becoming less the enigma and more the fans favourite with every game.

Follow me on twitter @daveparky14

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