Rumor Mill Update

These are some updates to previous rumors heard:

- Daily Post has a great article that talks about Moyes' interest in Jermaine Beckford. It pretty much says that Moyes is still considering Beckford and that he is one of a couple of strikers that he is "mulling over". The Toffees are also facing competition from Parma as well as a bunch of other clubs.

- One of the other strikers that Moyes seems to be considering is Bobby Zamora of Fulham. The sun reports that Aston Villa and Birmingham City are also vying for Zamora's services. I don't think Zamora will be a good signing. The 8 million pound price tag seems high for someone who historically has had trouble finding the back of the net. I would rather have Bellamy or even take a shot with Beckford.

- Goal.com is reporting that Chelsea and Manchester United are "ready to go toe-to-toe" for Jack Rodwell. The article then precedes to explain that even though Everton would like to keep him, we may lose him just like we failed to keep Wayne Rooney. One thing they forget is that Everton had to sell Rooney in order to stay afloat as the club was going through some financial difficulties in 2004.

Tim Howard Taking Responsibility

If you have ever watched an Everton match, you know how fiery Tim Howard is. Any time an opposing team is even near the box and he makes a save (or even a shanked shot for that matter), Howard starts shouting like a madman to his teammates. If you haven't had the opportunity to see this scene, just picture Didier Drogba after he loses a match, or Wayne Rooney when his feet touch anything that resembles a pitch, or Bobby Knight after any referee's call against him, or Hal McRae after a stupid ass question, or Mike Gundy after he reads a newspaper, or Dennis Green after thinking someone was who he thought they were, or Jim Mora any day of his life. If you don't know at least one of these references and you call yourself a sports fan, then god have mercy on your soul. Here's the best montage I could find with a lot of these angry people clips - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF7aCF8WFbA

It always seems like Howard is berating his teammates for not trying hard enough or making too many mistakes. Even when Howard himself makes mistakes, it seems that he is shouting at the top of his lungs at someone else. I always thought he did this because he didn't take responsibility for goals against him.

Today I realized, he did this in order to provide leadership, and because he's just a plain crazy dude on the pitch.

"I feel disappointed for everyone," Howard said in reference to the Aston Villa match. "I feel from my standards I need to keep those balls out. I got tied up on the bounce and it's just taken a nick off our player. I'm disappointed but you have to hold your hands up."

He took responsibility for the own goal by Phil Jagielka! I've watched the goal a couple of times, and I know Howard couldn't have kept that ball out. It was just an unlucky deflection by Jagielka. But we now know that Howard doesnt hide behind anything for any ball that finds the net. The reason why he's barking orders at someone or other is because he is just plain crazy.

Either that or he really is an ass and just puts on a front to make it seem like he's nice in the media. I like to think he is crazy.