Everton are in the quarter final of the FA Cup, running out as favourites against a relegation fighting Middlesbrough side, the date is March 10^th 2002, and Walter is leading us out for his final game as Everton manager. The campaign had started with some great form and great hope, with some even daring to dream of Europe coming into winter, but in a style which summed up the Smith era, our early form and occasional 6-0 hammering was outweighed by drab nil-nil draws and humiliating defeats. With pressure rising, Smith made a desperate final role of the dice and signed two world class midfielders, ten years too late, as Ginola and Gazza were wheeled out to join the Everton retirement club, their careers kept alive by the life machine that was Smith’s poor transfer record. The vultures were circling and a relegation dog fight looming as Smith headed into his final game. By half time his fate was sealed, 3 goals in 8 minutes saw Everton’s FA Cup hopes crash and burn and the curtain to finally fall on Walter’s reign.

Fast forward 7 years, and once again Everton march out as favourites against a struggling Boro side. This time the mood was not of hope but of expectation, as Everton, in a rich vein of form, set up against Southgate’s men. After an abysmal first half, with Boro taking a deserved first half lead, a mixture of superior tactics, belief, ability and attitude saw Moyes’ men doing what Walter never could, we took control of the game and saw off Middlesbrough. Bar the Royal blue jerseys, you’d probably struggle to find any similarities between those two Everton sides, the hunger, the workrate, the passion, the ability, even the age is all a world apart. This is a new Everton, and unlike when Smith walked out against Boro, this is not the end of an era, with 5 or 6 potentially world class players on our books under the age of 22, this is the start of a new, and I hope successful era for Everton Football Club.

And just to put it into context, here are the starting line ups from the two games.

Steve Simonsen                                                                         Tim Howard

Peter Clarke                                                                               Phil Jagielka

David Weir                                                                                  Joseph Yobo

Alan Stubbs                                                                               Joleon Lescott

David Unsworth                                                                          Leighton Baines

Alessandro Pistone                                                                    Phil Neville

Tobias Linderoth                                                                        Steven Pienaar

Paul Gascoigne                                                                          Leon Osman

Scot Gemmill                                                                             Jack Rodwell

Joe-Max Moore                                                                         Tim Cahill

Tomasz Radzinski                                                                     Marouane Fellaini

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