RIGHT MOVE? WRONG MOVE?

Happy Christmas Jose, you brought on your pantomime villain over the weekend at the Goodison "Theatre" and sure enough he brought the house down. Actually I feel quite sorry for Marouane who not only has a girly name but also has been beaten by David Luiz to the best Sideshow Bob lookalike hair style contest. Only the Belgian could lose the points for his new side at his old ground, having been on the pitch for less than 4 minutes. It was written in the stars.

Everton supporters were chuffed of course, to see an old club member fail, to salvage a vital point and to see their side only one point behind Manchester United. If Jose had thrown his tall centre midfielder on earlier who knows what chaos he could have caused! Right move? Wrong move?

Everton have much to be pleased about. Their owners have almost settled plans to move their stadium away from the iconic Goodison Park to a new location "somewhere" in the Liverpool City, now that the old ground is not fit for purpose. It may  prove controversial although they jealously look across Stanley Park at Anfield's new stand and the success that increased revenue may well bring.

Everton FC will not abandon L4, Walton completely, however,  because the club runs a "People's Hub" next door to the hugely successful Everton Free School, the first opened by a football club, where 200 youngsters are given the opportunity to complete an education. The school uniform is the club tracksuit-how cool is that?

The Big Lottery and Football Foundation have helped invest in the Hub, where there is a 4G pitch, a cafe, a fitness studio, a teen zone and a family area. It is open all year round.

Denise Barrett-Baxendale, the executive chair of "Everton in the Community" is determined that the club does not completely leave their spiritual home. Everton also owns "two properties" in the Goodison Road handed over as a community asset offering accommodation to those who need it, in a ward that falls in 5% of the most deprived areas in the country.

Painting, mending and tidying the area are part of the whole scheme, which includes helping the less fortunate to get food left over from the hospitality boxes on match day. It is distributed to locals in a "People's Picnic" initiative.

The derelict St Francis de Sales parochial centre is being renovated to provide a 24/7 community drop in centre. There are many other worthwhile events in place and planned.

This may seem like a PR stunt but the club is genuinely fulfilling its moral obligation to do the best they can for the Goodison public, even if the stadium is across the city.