And there was me thinking Tim Howard was the only Everton player with Tourettes.
Clearly, Alan Stubbs has little control over what comes out of his mouth either, judging by his latest pre-Derby outburst.
The first I knew of it was when I got a text from my bitterest Bluenose mate at 7.30am yesterday.
"Why the f**k doesn't he just keep his mouth shut?" he blasted, before reverting to form and adding "he does Benitez's team talk for him every year and this year the fat Spanish waiter needs it more than ever."
Leaving the abuse of the Liverpool manager to one side, I have to admit that, possibly for the first time in his entire life, my Bluenose mate might actually have a point.
There are some things you just don't do and giving stick out before a derby is pretty high on that list.
All you have to do is keep your head down until the game has gone and then, should you win, you can dish out all the stick going and, should you lose, you carry on keeping your head down.
By all means enjoy the banter - that's what it's all about - but never, ever get all high and mighty, especially if you are a player.
One thing Stubbs didn't say was "If Liverpool are such a big club, why haven't they won the league for 17 years?", that was just the Mail on Sunday's headline which made it look like he'd said it.
But the 87-year-old Stubbs has been around the block enough times to know that if you have a pop at your local rivals in Derby week this is the way the national newspapers will present it.
Fernando Morientes had a similar habit when he was at Anfield. In the days leading up to a game he would be quoted as saying Liverpool were going to do this or that and he would inevitably fall flat on his face when they failed to do so.
Foot in mouth disease is a curse in modern day football and it needs to be eradicated.
Players should be banned from speaking about the opposition in the run up to the big game because all it does is fire them up.
The last time Stubbs did something similar was in the run up to the Anfield derby in the 2004/05 season.
Everton were on course to finish above Liverpool for the first time since 1987 and this gave Stubbs all the ammunition he needed to luanch into a tirade against all things Red which resulted in newspaper headlines like "You're Not Merseyside's Biggest Club Anymore".
One of his quotes was "I know that we haven't done the double over Liverpool for 20 years, but thats going to change this season......we can't wait for the game on Sunday and although it will be tense, we will hold our nerve."
Well, they never as Liverpool stuffed words back down his throat as they recorded a 2-1 victory.
No-one's saying the same thing will happen this weekend, especially not me, but should it then expect a few Evertonians to question Stubbs' latest outburst.
And no doubt the offending article he put his name to is destined to adorn the visitors dressing room at Goodison Park this Saturday.
"The fat Spanish waiter's" team talk is indeed done. Thanks Stubbsy.
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Matthew wrote...
You can't teach a parrot to be quiet.
Posted by: Matthew | October 15, 2007 5:05 PM