The FA Cup Journey Commences as Everton host Peterborough!

Everton host League One side Peterborough United in the third round of the final FA Cup campaign at Goodison Park for the Toffees.

Both teams have been out of form recently, with no win in the last five games for either side. Posh's manager, Darren Ferguson, will be under pressure to ensure he keeps his squad out of the relegation zone come the end of the season, currently sitting in 19th place in the table, out of 24th. There is the unfortunate prospect it may occur, as it is the bottom four that will face the drop come the end of the season. This is Ferguson's fourth spell as Peterborough manager, joining initially in January 2007, leading the club to back-to-back promotions from League Two to the EFL Championship as a player-manager, before leaving the club by mutual agreement in November 2008 after sitting bottom of the league. 4 years later, in January 2011, the Scottish man joined solely as manager, securing a play-off final win in the 2010-11 season and winning the Football League Cup Trophy in 2014; however, poor performances led to him leaving the club in February 2015.

In his third tenure, Ferguson guided Peterborough to promotion into the Championship in the 2020-21 season before resigning in February 2022 as Posh were five points from safety. It seemed he couldn't get away from Peterborough, as in January 2023 he returned! An EFL Trophy victory in the 2023-24 season is the team's most recent piece of silverware won.

It's clear both Sean Dyche and Darren Ferguson have managed their clubs through extremely difficult times, and although it may be a tough task on paper, the spotlight is on Everton being the expected winners and also uncertainty on Dyche's future.

The talk of the town this week has involved a trio of Sean Dyche, Graham Potter, and Jose Mourinho. Potter, who has previously managed Brighton and Chelsea, was one of the top candidates for the Everton job if Dyche was to be sacked. Reports of holding talks emerged, but at the same time, West Ham had just sacked their manager, Lopetegui, and were looking for a new man to take over. Fortunately for the Hammers, they got the job done quickly, swiftly confirming that Potter has taken over the role. The second candidate that Everton are interested in is the special one, Jose Mourinho. One of the most elite names in football in the past few years and currently the manager of Fenerbahçe in Turkey, could he be the man to lead Everton out at Bramley Moore Dock? Mourinho has said before that he would like to return to England to manage, especially a team closer to the bottom of the table, ticking all the boxes for the current state of Everton Football Club.

A similar situation has occurred this week where a target for Everton has diverted to other prospects, this time being Jaden Philogene, Aston Villa winger. A reported £15m bid was negotiated to Villa, an expected amount for a player like Philogene. However, a £21m bid was sent by Ipswich Town, and it was not long before the deal was sealed. This transfer window for the Blues is an important one, as new owners, The Friedkin Group, are expected to put sufficient funds into the budget so Everton are not battling towards the lower end of the Premier League table. Positions needed especially are wingers, due to a lack of pace and creativity with current options, and fullbacks, as there is no backup left back in the club. In fact, the only fullbacks at the club right now are Coleman, Mykolenko, Patterson, and Ashley Young, who many feature as this game is especially important to him...

Ashley Young's 18-year-old son Tyler may feature for Peterborough in the fixture, an extremely rare occurrence in footballing history. Whilst only playing a slither of games for Peterborough, if there is one man you would want to impress, it would be your dad! In his press conference, Ferguson has said that "Tyler will be on the bench, and it's not just because his dad is Ashley. There are footballing reasons behind it. And I have to have nine subs." There is the possibility there, and I am sure they will both be wishing it comes true.

A main threat Everton would have needed to look for would have been Ghanian winger Kwame Poku. Racking up an impressive record so far this season, Poku has managed to achieve 10 goals and 5 assists in 17 League One games this season. His attacking threat may make it difficult to return the damage as three strikers are injured for the Blues, Sean Dyche confirming in his press conference. Calvert-Lewin, Chermiti, and Broja are all doubts, and Beto seems to be heading to Torino in Italy. However, Poku picked up a hamstring injury on 4th December 2024, expecting to return on 1st March 2025, making the job slightly easier for the Toffees to complete.

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