logo
Your verdict on Everton's hard men

Your verdict on Everton's hard men

BBC News14 hours ago
We asked for your thoughts on BBC Sport's Phil McNulty's ranked list of Everton's hardest players. Here are some of your comments:Michael: Your choice is very good but Jimmy Gabriel could hold his own among them.John: Can't really argue with the list as there is an element of subjectivity, but Roger Kenyon, Mike Bernard, Mike Pejic, Mike Lyons, Andy Gray and Graeme Sharp all have claims to be on the list. Johnny Morrissey is almost certainly top though, just above Duncan Ferguson.Richard: I first saw Johnny Morrissey play for England schoolboys at Goodison Park, talking about hard men , what about Tony Kay?Dave: Bruce Rioch was pretty tasty - I remember Graeme Souness, Boro's hard man, being stretchered off after a clash with Brucie!Michael: Absolutely brilliant series - I always loved Jimmy Gabriel. All fabulous legends, cheers Phil.Colin: Nobody took liberties with Johnny Morrissey. Rumour has it that he never lost a five-a-side match in training because the rest were too scared to go near him. I suspect he wouldn't still be on the pitch at half-time if he was playing now. Nevertheless, he was a wonderful player especially in the 1969-70 Championship winning team.Paul: 'Psycho' Pat van den Hauwe must be up there. If I remember rightly Kendall said "we've signed him because he plays a hard game within the rules". Then he got a red and three yellow cards in his first five games!David: What about Sandy Brown? He was the tastiest of them all. He would challenge anybody. I once saw him offer the ball to a Liverpool fan on the Kop to come and take it off him. Brilliant.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Diogo Jota and Andre Silva's tragic deaths show sport is nothing more than a joyful distraction from what truly matters
Diogo Jota and Andre Silva's tragic deaths show sport is nothing more than a joyful distraction from what truly matters

The Sun

time12 minutes ago

  • The Sun

Diogo Jota and Andre Silva's tragic deaths show sport is nothing more than a joyful distraction from what truly matters

AT THIS time of year, with the transfer market abuzz, there is a tendency to view elite footballers as commodities. Their price-tags, fees, resale values and contract lengths are discussed by us all with the casual air of stockbrokers observing the gilt markets. 9 9 And then on a sunny morning in early July, chilling news arrived from Spain which made all of that talk sound so trivial, so brutal, so cold. Diogo Jota — newly wed to Rute Cardoso, his childhood sweetheart and mother of his three children — was dead at 28. Jota was a freshly crowned champion of England with Liverpool and a mainstay of the Portugal team who had just won the Nations League again and are rated as dark horses for next summer's World Cup. But above all Jota was a human being, as fragile as the rest of us. A husband, a father, a son and a brother to Andre Silva — the 25-year-old fellow professional footballer who perished with him yesterday when a tyre blew and his Lamborghini burst into flames. Jota was at the peak of his powers and in the prime of his life — married for just 11 days, he had posted footage of his wedding on social media just hours before his death. The poignance was agonising; the grief of those left behind unimaginable. When the news of Jota's death broke, it was a warm, sun-drenched summer's morning in England. 9 9 The All England Club was opening up its gates for day four on Wimbledon's lawns, the cricketers of England and India were preparing for the second day of the Second Test at Edgbaston and transfer speculation was fizzing around online. Then, suddenly, the world of sport froze. For while sport is the most important of unimportant things, we all know at heart that it is nothing more than a joyful distraction from that which truly matters. At Anfield, masses of floral tributes were left and warm respects paid. Liverpool is a club which has sadly experienced tragedy too often before and which honours those lost with a fierce, protective pride. At Anfield, Jota will never be forgotten. Few football clubs cherish their heroes quite as warmly and Jota the Slotter, the clinical finisher with that extraordinary burst of pace, was one of the best of Arne Slot's champions. Sometimes, while watching the Reds, you could forget that Jota was on the pitch. Then, with a sudden acceleration and a thrust of the boot, he had won them the match. He so often proved the matchwinner when arriving from the bench, in the Anfield supersub traditions of David Fairclough and Divock Origi. But as a deep-lying centre-forward or from the left wing, he was an integral part of the squad built by Jurgen Klopp, and honed by Slot, which won the title by a country mile last season. 9 Jota scored the first goal of the Slot era in a 2-0 opening-day victory at Ipswich and the last time he netted was the winner in the Merseyside derby in April. A little over a month ago, he cavorted on the Anfield pitch when Liverpool lifted the Premier League trophy. Jota, capped 49 times by his country, was not the star of his club or international teams. Those were Mo Salah and Cristiano Ronaldo. Yet football's Galacticos do not win trophies without the versatility and selfless work-rate of players like Jota. Still, his record of 65 goals in 182 appearances for the Reds was extraordinary for a player who was not a regular starter. In five seasons, he won every major domestic honour and played in a Champions League final, against Real Madrid in 2022, which Liverpool were unfortunate to lose 1-0. After spells with Pacos de Ferreira and Porto in his home town, Jota arrived in England at Wolves, on loan from Atletico Madrid, and helped to propel Nuno Espirito Santo's team from the Championship to the Europa League in three seasons. At Molineux, his loss was also deeply felt by a club where he was 'adored and cherished'. Yet this year had represented his peak, as a footballer and as a man. In the space of a month Jota won major honours with Liverpool and Portugal, then married his girlfriend of 12 years — the couple posing before the altar of a church in Porto with their two sons and baby daughter less than a fortnight ago. 'I'm the lucky one,' Jota had posted on social media. How heartbreaking those words read now. How fragile we are. 9 9 9

Brit Wimbledon star Neal Skupski, 35, finds out his grandmother has died just minutes after leaving court
Brit Wimbledon star Neal Skupski, 35, finds out his grandmother has died just minutes after leaving court

The Sun

time12 minutes ago

  • The Sun

Brit Wimbledon star Neal Skupski, 35, finds out his grandmother has died just minutes after leaving court

NEAL SKUPSKI found out his beloved grandmother died minutes after his opening Wimbledon win. Britain's leading doubles star, 35, and partner Joe Salisbury fought hard to beat fellow Brits Joshua Paris and Charles Broom 6-3 5-7 6-4 in round one of the men's doubles competition. 3 Once he stepped off Court 8, the bad news was relayed to him by close family members that his 98-year-old granny Mary – who had been ill for a while and was in hospital – had passed away. It had already been a difficult day for Skupski, a big Liverpool fan, given the tragic death of Diogo Jota. Skupski, 2023 Wimbledon men's doubles champion, said: 'I have just found out that my nan passed today. So, it has been a very tough day. 'I found out once I came off court. About 30 minutes ago. She was 98. She was a fighter. Had been ill for a little bit of time. 'She didn't die out of the blue. I have been able to come to terms with it. She was coming to the end. It's part of life. It will be a tough few days for my family. 'We had known it was a matter of time for a few days now. It was tough to find out when I'd come off court. But I will be okay. 'She would want me to be here. She would be proud of what happened and how we fought. 'Maybe my mood has changed a bit coming up to these Championships. I'm probably quite bubbly on the practice courts, with good energy. 'Maybe the team had thought and seen I was not myself. People like my brother and coach, he spoke to some of the coaches, he maybe told them the situation. It's Wimbledon now, it's my job. 'She would have wanted me to have fought. We are here and want to win the whole thing. Being on the court will take my mind off it. 'My nan was a massive supporter of me. I spent the most time growing up with her. She was the closest grandparent I had.' On Thursday, the All England Club announced it would relax its strict all-white rules in light of the Jota tragedy so people could wear black armbands in tribute. Skupski – who had been to the Liverpool training HQ and even played padel there – is considering donning one for his next appearance. The three-time Wimbledon doubles champion said: 'It's been a tough day for Liverpool fans. I found out this morning that Jota had passed away. 'A bit strange this morning. You're on Twitter and see a headline about Jota in Spanish. But it's along the lines of 'accident' and it's in black-and-white. 'Has he actually died? You think your heroes or sportsmen or people you look up to, they're invincible. 3 Wimbledon 2025 LIVE - follow all the latest scores and updates from a thrilling fortnight at SW19 'It shows everyone's human. Things come at you. You don't know what is around the corner. 'It was really tough to take. Him and his brother. A tough one for his whole family. He got married a few weeks ago. He has three kids. 'My condolences go out to his family. It must be heartbreaking for them at the moment. The more privacy they get the better. 'When I was at Liverpool, I met the whole team. Diogo was there. I spoke to some people today who are connected to Liverpool and they say, not only was he an amazing footballer, but he was so down-to-earth. 'A great finisher. But also someone who kept the whole dressing room together, making it run so smoothly. 'It will be a big loss for Liverpool. I am sure they will do something in their memory.'

Why have record number of seeded players lost at Wimbledon?
Why have record number of seeded players lost at Wimbledon?

BBC News

time25 minutes ago

  • BBC News

Why have record number of seeded players lost at Wimbledon?

Seismic shocks have been a hot topic in the opening days at Wimbledon - and for good reason. With just one second-round match to conclude at the end of Thursday's play, a record 36 seeded players had been eliminated - surpassing the tally of 35 at this stage of the 2020 French unprecedented number of high-profile exits have opened up the men's and women's singles draws, with French Open champion Coco Gauff and men's third seed Alexander Zverev among the highest-ranked players to exit.A record total of eight top-10 seeded players dropped out in the first round - the most at any major tournament since the start of the Open era in one of the top-five seeded women's players - world number one Aryna Sabalenka - has progressed to the third round for just the second time in the Open of the top-10 ranked players exited in the first round at a Slam for only the third time in the past 25 years, before British fourth seed Jack Draper also fell in the second what could explain it? Unusual conditions Players had to contend with sweltering conditions as Wimbledon recorded its hottest opening day on record, with temperatures exceeding 30C on Monday and were given ice packs, cold towels and plenty of water to help cope with the conditions - but some still reported struggling and Briton Cameron Norrie admitted the weather "was a bit of a shock to the system".In addition to the heat, its effect on the grass courts and their interaction with the balls has been a source of frustration for some 27th seed Denis Shapovalov, knocked out in the first round, said: "The balls are the worst, the grass tour has turned into a joke. This isn't grass any more, the court is slower than a clay one."Slower courts allow players more time to play the ball, leading to longer rallies and physically-draining longer Wimbledon's head groundsman Neil Stubley agreed the heat has contributed to slower courts as the dry grass grips the ball more, he felt criticism of the bounce was unfair. 'Heavy and slow' balls What about the balls then? Is there anything different there?After her outstanding win over former champion Marketa Vondrousova, British number one Emma Raducanu spoke about the influence she felt they were having."You get a little bit extra with the new balls [but] I feel like once they're a few games or a few long rallies in, these Slazenger balls really fluff up quite quickly and get heavy and slow," she said. "I think it benefits the bigger hitters because they have time to load and give it some."Raducanu's coach Mark Petchey previously claimed heavier tennis balls are affecting her ability to compete with the game's big to Wimbledon, no changes have been made to the specification of the ball since 1995, but players should expect the ball to feel lighter and faster on a warm, dry day, compared to heavier and slower on a cold, damp day. Short grass season One factor that is unchanged but remains an issue for players is the quick turnaround before - and short nature of - the grass court lasts for less than 50 days, beginning for some before the conclusion of the French Open at the start of June and ending with Wimbledon on 13 managed to enter just one grass court tournament - losing in the Berlin Open first round - before Wimbledon, having won the French Open on 7 June."I think this Slam, out of all of them, is the most prone to having upsets because of how quick the turnaround is from clay," said the American second tournament director Jamie Baker told BBC Sport: "Definitely, the players spend less time on grass than they do on other surfaces. I think the big macro picture is just the calendar is too long and the players are playing too much." Player burnout Concerns have long been raised by high-profile players regarding the Casper Ruud criticised the ranking system earlier this year, describing it as "a rat race", while Australian world number nine Alex de Minaur put his early French Open exit down to "feeling burned out".After her second-round loss, women's fourth seed Jasmine Paolini said she needed to try to "reset" mentally, adding: "I feel a little bit tired right now. It was two intense months before here."On that topic, Raducanu said: "It's a mentally really challenging sport. What I've found [useful] is trying to surround yourself with good people, trying to win the day and focus on the process as much as possible. It's really difficult to take your joy from the results because it's so up and down. It's a rollercoaster."German Zverev, the highest-ranked casualty in the men's draw so far after a five-set loss to the 72nd-ranked Arthur Rinderknech, also spoke openly about finding himself "in a hole", saying he felt "very alone" out on the court and has struggled mentally since losing the Australian Open final to Jannik Sinner in January. The domino effect Could the sight of other top seeds going out cause others to fear the same fate, while giving lower-ranked players greater belief? Still in contention after coming back from a set down in her opener, American sixth seed Madison Keys said: "I think when you are sitting and watching everyone kind of fall, it adds a little bit of stress to the situation. I was pretty close in my first round, so I feel like I dodged a bullet a little bit."In addition to the short grass season and demanding schedule, American former player Tracy Austin also pointed to the increasing depth in both the men's and women's games, with lower-ranked players believing they can upset the top the stronger competition, Frances Tiafoe, the 12th seed beaten by Norrie in the second round, said: "You have [unseeded] floaters and some young guys playing well. The game is just really tough, it has incredible depth right now. If you're not ready to go, you're going to lose. It seems like [some of the seeded] guys weren't ready to go."Former British number one Jo Durie added: "I think everybody in the locker room is thinking, 'I have got a chance at this tournament'. I really do think more seeds are going to fall." Who might benefit? In a quarter of the women's draw which included the eliminated Paolini and Chinese fifth seed Zheng Qinwen, American Amanda Anisimova has perhaps benefited 13th seed would not face anyone ranked higher than 30th seed Linda Noskova until the semi-finals, where she could meet world number one Sabalenka - although the unseeded Naomi Osaka, a four-time major winner, remains in her the men's singles, Russian Karen Khachanov can reach the quarter-finals without facing a fellow seed, following defeats for Zverev, ninth seed Daniil Medvedev, 16th seed Francisco Cerundolo and former runner-up Matteo could also make it to the quarter-finals without encountering another seed, with Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca or qualifier Nicolas Jarry awaiting in the fourth round if the Briton can first overcome Mattia 2002 and 2019, men's singles seedings were determined by a surface-based formula reflecting recent grass court achievements, before it aligned with the world rankings used for the women's whether the amount of early shocks this year provides a case for bringing that back, former world number five Durie said: "I do think there should be a consideration because grass is really unlike all the other surfaces. I think it was a good thing at the time. It would be interesting if they brought that back."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store