UCLA holds off San Jose State, 27-17

Hey, it was a win.

San Jose State, a week after getting thrashed by Stanford, didn't give UCLA much of a breather Saturday at the Rose Bowl. But in the end, the Bruins had too much Derrick Coleman for the Spartans.

Coleman ran for 135 yards and a touchdown in 14 carries as UCLA defeated San Jose State, 27-17.

Johnathan Franklin added 80 yards and a touchdown in 17 carries as the Bruins (1-1) rushed for 268 yards.

But San Jose State also moved the ball on the ground, accounting for 202 yards rushing.

However, the Spartans (0-2) committed two turnovers and were penalized nine times for 125 yards.

UCLA quarterback Richard Brehaut played the entire game, completing 10 of 20 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown.

Dasmen Stewart, an Oxnard High product, got the start at quarterback for San Jose State. He completed 15 of 31 passes for 112 yards and ran for 42 yards in 10 carries.

UCLA 27, San Jose State 17 (3:25 left in the fourth quarter)

Finally, a little breathing room for UCLA.

Derrick Coleman has given the Bruins a cushion with a 24-yard scoring run.

Bill Dwyre: Angels honor Derek Jeter the right way

This weekend, the Angels tiptoed nicely around a ticklish situation, where public relations met baseball tradition and fan blind spots.

A couple of weeks after Derek Jeter got his 3,000th hit, a baseball milestone achieved with a home run on a five-for-five night and one that means automatic Hall of Fame inclusion, a reporter asked the Angels whether there might be any ceremony at the Big A honoring Jeter. The Yankees were scheduled to come to town Sept. 9-11.

It seemed like a fairly harmless and appropriate thing to do. Baseball lives by its numbers, honors them and especially honors those who achieve them without any blemish of steroids or gambling. Jeter fit that description perfectly.

The reporter was told that the Angels respected Jeter greatly and that the team’s public relations staff had already been discussing how to honor him “as a player and a person.”

They even had a precedent. Years ago, the team had had a formal ceremony to pay homage to Cal Ripken’s record streak of longevity.

The reporter wrote of the potential ceremony, and the emails started pouring in to the Angels.

Many fans hated the idea. Jeter was a Yankee. Angels fans said they are to be hated. One woman called him, in an email, “Little Lord Fauntleroy.” Others were even less kind.

U.S. Open: Samantha Stosur into final

Samantha Stosur, who had previously played the longest tiebreaker in women’s major tournament history at the U.S. Open and won the longest women’s match time-wise in U.S. Open history, on Saturday advanced to her first major tournament final.

Ninth-seeded Stosur, a 27-year-old from Australia, beat 92nd-ranked Angelique Kerber of Germany, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.

Stosur will play the winner of the second semifinal between top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki and 28th-seeded and three-time Open champion Serena Williams.

Kerber, 23, was in her first Grand Slam tournament semifinal and only the fourth semifinal of any type. Until coming to New York, Kerber, from Germany, had lost in the first round of the last four majors she played and was trying to become the fifth-lowest ranked Grand Slam finalist in the open era of tennis. Four of them were Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin and Serena Williams, all of whom had major wins on their resumes and were low-ranked because of retirements, injuries or pregnancies.

Stosur, who played in the 2010 French Open final, rushed to a 4-0 lead after only 18 minutes of the third set, asserting herself with her willingness to come forward. Overall, Stosur won 27 of 29 points at the net as Kerber sprayed shots long and wide, perhaps evidence of nerves.

The match was played on the Grandstand Court, the third-largest of the show courts at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center. Because of lengthy rain delays during the week and water damage that shut down Louis Armstrong Stadium, schedules put Stosur and Kerber on the smaller court because the two men’s semifinals were put on Arthur Ashe Stadium along with the Williams-Wozniacki semifinal.

Stosur's only moment of uncertainty in the final set came when she was up 5-0 and had the chance to serve out the match. Stosur committed three unforced errors and was broken, and then lost two straight games. But finally, on her second match point, Stosur smashed a backhand volley emphatically past Kerber.

RELATED:

Roger Federer loses to Novak Djokovic in five sets

Andy Murray beats John Isner in quarterfinals

Rafael Nadal dominates Andy Roddick

Serena Williams moves into semifinals

-- Diane Pucin, reporting from New York

Photo: Samantha Stosur hits a return to Angelique Kerber during their semifinal match Saturday. Credit: John G. Mabanglo / EPA

USC barely edges Utah, 17-14, in Pac-12 opener

Well, that wasn't exactly artistic.

USC overcame two fumbles, an interception and several ill-timed penalties to outlast Utah, 17-14, in the Pacific 12 Conference opener before 73,821 at the Coliseum.

The game was not decided until USC's Matt Kalil blocked a 41-yard field-goal attempt by Coleman Peterson with 11 seconds left. Torin Harris returned the ball to the end zone for an apparent touchdown, but USC players had streamed onto the field during the return, incurring an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that nullified the return.

Senior tailback Marc Tyler returned from a suspension and rushed for 113 yards in 24 carries and scored a touchdown as USC imporoved to 2-0.

USC, which led 10-7 at halftime, scored on a nine-yard touchdown pass from Matt Barkley to Xavier Grimble in the third quarter for a 10-point lead and held on for the victory.

The Trojans defense stifled five Utah possessions in the fourth quarter.

USC appeared to clinch the victory when officials ruled that Utah came up inches short on a fourth-and-10 play with 20 seconds left. But a review of the spot showed the Utes had gained a first down, giving them one last play before trying to kick a field goal that could have tied the score.

Barkley completed 20 of 32 passes for 263 yards, with one touchdown and one interception.

Utah quarterback Jordan Wynn was 23 of 46 for 238 yards and a touchdown.

--Gary Klein

USC 17, Utah 14 (6:20 left in the third quarter)

If at first you don't succeed...

First, let's back up.

U.S. Open: Rafael Nadal joins Novak Djokovic in finals

Defending champion Rafael Nadal earned his way into the U.S. Open men's championship match on Monday with a 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 win over fourth-seeded Andy Murray on Saturday at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Nadal beat Murray for the fifth consecutive time and for the third straight time in a Grand Slam semifinal. Nadal will play top-seeded Novak Djokovic in the finals here for the second straight year. Djokovic eliminated third-seeded Roger Federer earlier Saturday in a five-set match.

Murray had 55 unforced errors to only 23 from Nadal in the 3 hour 24 minute match that ended Saturday's day session at the Open at 9:10 p.m. Eastern time.

RELATED:

Andy Murray beats John Isner in quarterfinals

Rafael Nadal dominates Andy Roddick

Samantha Stosur advances to women's finals

Serena Williams moves into semifinals

-- Diane Pucin, reporting from New York

Photo: Rafael Nadal. Credit: Charles Krupa / Associated Press

UCLA vs. San Jose State: Live updates from the Rose Bowl

As game time nears, the Rose Bowl stands are looking spartan.

And it has nothing to do with the mascot of UCLA's opponent in the Bruins' home opener.

The Rose Bowl is less than a quarter full as the Bruins prepare to face San Jose State. UCLA is getting no help from the Spartans, whose cheering "section" is so small it probably couldn't fill the visiting stands at a high school venue.

This could be the smallest opening crowd at the Rose Bowl in some time. Like, ever.

As expected, Richard Brehaut has been announced as the Bruins' starting quarterback. Kevin Prince, nursing a sprained right shoulder, is expected to be used only in an emergency situation.

About 2 1/2 hours before game time, the scoreboard read UCLA 33, San Jose State 6. A bored scoreboard operator's prediction? We'll see if it holds up.

On the bright side for UCLA, should the Bruins become the first team from a Bowl Championship Series conference to lose to San Jose State since Illinois in 2002, there won't be many to see it in person.

--Ben Bolch

Photo: Richard Brehaut, scrambling for a gain agianst Houston last week, will start at quarterback in place of injured Kevin Prince. Credit: Thomas Campbell / US Presswire

USC vs. Utah: Live updates from the Coliseum

USC 10, Utah 0 (1:58 left first quarter)

Norm Chow's return to the Coliseum isn't going to well. 

After USC's Andre Heidari kicked a 47-yard field goal that barely had enough air underneath it to go through the uprights, giving USC the game's first points, Utah fumbled it on its next possession.

The fumble occurred on an errant pitch to Utah running back John White and Trojans defensive back T.J. McDonald recovered at Utah's 20-yard line. 

Four plays later, USC was in the end zone when running back Marc Tyler, who returned from a one-game suspension, scored from six yards.

Utah has 0 yards of offense, which shouldn't make Chow, the team's offensive coordinator, too happy.

USC, meanwhile, has 123 yards of offense.

Pregame

On 9/10/11, we debut the Pac-12.

You'd think the league officials worked that out just to be cute.  

Or that they hitched USC and Utah together for the newly expanded conference's inaugural football game, considering the bounty of story lines such a matchup offers. 

To wit: 

-Call this the Norm Chow Bowl, or part one of his three-stop reunion tour.

The Utes' offensive coordinator led the offense at USC from 2001-04, and those were some decent seasons, to say the least. (He tutored Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart and USC won national two titles, though the second was stripped.)

He groomed a 24-year-old Trojans assistant named Lane Kiffin, and then Kiffin ultimately succeeded him. Kiffin wanted him back in 2010 when he became the head coach at USC, but Chow, then at UCLA, said no thanks.

Of course, Chow runs into former colleagues often -- "faceless names," he calls them -- and he'll do it next week, too, when the Utes host Brigham Young, where Chow coached for decades. 

And on Oct. 1, for Utah's homecoming, Chow will go against a quarterback he coached at BYU, Steve Sarkisian, who was a former USC coaching colleague and now runs the Washington Huskies. 

For the record, this is the fourth time Chow has faced USC since he left seven years ago. His UCLA teams have lost in the previous three games: 28-7, 28-7, 28-14. 

-Old hat vs. the new guy

USC is cardinal and gold, but beneath that pumps some of the bluest blood in college football, rich with Heisman Trophy winners, national championships, All-Americans, et al. 

U.S. Open: Roger Federer loses to Novak Djokovic in five sets

Roger Federer couldn't convert on two match points while serving in the fifth set and, for the second year in a row, the five-time U.S. Open champion was beaten by Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the U.S. Open. The top-ranked Djokovic, who is 63-2 on the year, beat Federer, 6-7 (7), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 in 3 hours 51 minutes.

Djokovic will play the winner of the second men's semifinal between defending champion Rafael Nadal and fourth-seeded Andy Murray on Monday at 1 p.m. Pacific time.

The fifth set was was even until Federer got a service break in the eighth game. Djokovic sent a forehand long to give Federer a 5-3 lead, and it was in the next game that Federer had two match points. On the first, Djokovic pounded a forehand return winner, raising his racket to his ear while begging the pro-Federer crowd to cheer for him. They did.

Djokovic ended up breaking Federer's serve and then winning the final three games.

The beginning of the match was delayed by about an hour because of rain, but once play started, the sun came out and the conditions quickly became draining with heat and humidity.

There wasn't even a break point in the first set and the crowd was on its feet as the tiebreaker began. Federer took an immediate advantage by winning the first two points and four of the first six. But Federer needed five set points before he won the 55-minute first set.

It was in the second set when Djokovic became out of sorts. He frequently gestured to his own box and when there was someone who became ill at the very top of the stadium, Federer didn't notice the hubbub but Djokovic stopped, looked and asked for play to be held up because the movement was bothering him.

Federer got the break in the second set in the third game when he whipped an elegant forehand up the line. Djokovic did get one break point on Federer's serve but he couldn't convert and soon Federer was up two sets to none. Federer was 182-1 when wins the first two sets. But that loss came at Wimbledon in the quarterfinals to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

In the third set, Djokovic began moving his feet better and hitting deeper. He held serve at love and, with the help of a Federer double fault, finally broke Federer for the first time for a 2-0 lead. In what must have felt like only minutes, Djokovic took the third set.

Federer wiped his face, Djokovic was pumping his fists and Djokovic immediately broke Federer to start the fourth set, keeping Federer pushed back and unable to hit deep enough to the Serb.

When Djokovic consolidated the break for a 2-0 lead and won the first point of the third game, he had taken 12 of 13 points and Federer seemed both baffled and exhausted. When Federer did finally hold to stay down 1-2 in the fourth, Federer yelled, "Come on," one of the few times in the first 2:34 of the match that Federer uttered a sound.

Federer didn't win a point off Djokovic's serve in the fourth set until the final game when Djokovic double faulted and Federer hit a winning forehand. Eventually Djokovic did hold tod win the set, 6-2. After 2:56, the fifth set began.

MORE:

Andy Murray beats John Isner in quarterfinals

Rafael Nadal dominates Andy Roddick

Serena Williams moves into semifinals

--Diane Pucin, reporting from New York

Photo: Roger Federer returns a forehand to Novak Djokovic during their U.S. Open quarterfinal match on Saturday in New York. Credit: Charles Krupa / Associated Press

US Open Diary 2011: Michelle Obama serves up a treat

Michelle Obama has a hit at Flushing Meadows

Friday in New York

The First Lady comes to town

Michelle Obama visited the US Open yesterday, and unsurprisingly, went down an absolute treat. The First Lady started off with some serves of her own during an on court clinic, part of her campaign against childhood obesity called 'Let's Move'. She made Serena giggle, she hit with Johnny Mac, she chatted to Billie Jean King, she even watched Andy Murray.

Check out Sports Illustrated's superb snaps of Mrs O in action.

Murray makes it four in a row

Andy Murray was at times sublime, at times surprising against John Isner, but most importantly, he got the job done to reach his fourth Grand Slam semi this year. The first two sets were superb, the third not so much, the fourth nail-chewing, but it was a telling performance from the world No 4. He's amped.

The key to the first two sets, as ever, was his first serve percentage – above the 70% mark. And his low unforced error count. Both these numbers were more negative for sets 3 and 4, so there is obviously work to be done.

Credit to Isner though. From looking almost like he was going to pass out (or maybe that's how he always looks) at the end of the second, he found some energy from somewhere, and showed once and for all that he is far from one dimensional. Some of his stretch volleys were a treat.

If you missed it, we live-blogged it, so have a little reverse re-cap if you feel so inclined.

Rafa's back

Foot injury, sickness, cramp, temper tantrums, revolt-planning…Rafael Nadal has had it all  this US Open, but last night he showed that underneath it all, he's still the same old Nadal. He absolutely blitzed Andy Roddick in their quarter-final, romping home in three sets, and looking much more like the man who won this title a year ago. Watch out Muzza.

Three out of four

Britain started the boys' singles competition with four boys in the draw. It's semi-final stage now, and guess what? Three of the four are Brits. George Morgan plays Oliver Golding, guaranteeing one British finalist for the first time since Andy Murray won the title in 2005. And Kyle Edmund takes on top seed Jiri Vesely. Coming after Liam Broady's appearance in the junior Wimbledon final, it's pretty heartening. Good luck to them all.

Melanie Oudin, Grand Slam champion

Yes, you did read that correctly. America's former golden girl, who 'believe-ed' her way to stardom here in New York two years ago, has since been unable to hit a ball in the court. But she and Jack Sock, fellow star of the future, won the mixed doubles title last night. Amazing.

Soundbite

If there was any doubt that Andy Roddick gives a good quote…

 Q. “Just talk about playing on a small court. Do you just feel your juices more intensely, feel more into the match …”

ANDY RODDICK: “I try not to feel my juices ever, Bill. But I appreciate your interest in them.”

Q. “That’s all I think about.”

ANDY RODDICK: “Thank you. Creepy and inappropriate.”

More court troubles

On Thursday it was Armstrong, yesterday it was Grandstand. The cracks keep appearing (literally) in the Flushing Meadows infrastructure. With Armstrong completely out of commission, there were reports of the same 'water seepage' occurring on the US Open's third stadium court. Not good at all.

Get well to…

Robin Soderling. The Swede has glandular fever. Horrible.

Coming up this evening

Roger Federer v Novak Djokovic (12 noon, 5pm UK)

Roger Federer was the man to break Novak Djokovic's winning streak with possibly one of the best clay court performances of his life in the semi-finals of Roland Garros, winning 7-6(5),  6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5), so if there is anyone that knows how to expose a chink in Djokovic's seemingly invincible aura, it's Federer. He's played his way superbly into form, and has dropped just the one set all tournament. Will it be enough though?

Andy Murray v Rafael Nadal (not before 2.30pm, 7.30pm UK)

Andy Murray became only the seventh player in the Open era to reach all four grand slam semi-finals in a calendar year, and in so doing, he's handed himself a third consecutive clash with Rafael Nadal. Don't forget, of course, that it was in exactly this position three years ago that the Scot showed what he was capable of, beating the Spaniard for the very first time. Murray and Nadal are different players now, but that knowledge will certainly mean something to Murray.

Angelique Kerber v Sam Stosur (6pm, 11pm UK)

Very much the odd one out, world No 93 Kerber takes on ninth seed Stosur in the semi-final no one would ever have dreamed could happen. It's Sam's to win. But then, so was the French Open in 2010.

Serena Williams v Caroline Wozniacki (8pm, 1am UK)

The match that everyone has been waiting to see. The best player in women's tennis against the world No 1. And no, they're not the same person. Wozniacki will have to play the match of her life to soak up Serena's power and versatility, but maybe this is her moment to do it. Maybe it's what she's been waiting for. Serena's consistency, or lack thereof, will be key.

Predictions?

If I say something will happen, invariably the opposite does, hence why I'm terrified of making predictions about anything. So I'm dividing my punts on the two finals into head and heart:

Head says: Federer v  Nadal, Serena v Stosur

Heart says: Djokovic v Murray, Serena v Stosur

Agree, disagree, on the fence? Comment below…

The daily click

Just how good was Rafa? Take a look… 

UFC: Alistair Overeem completes heavyweight mix, Carlos Condit to beat GSP for title

There was nothing on for him in Japan, so Alastair Overeem decided that all momentum for him to move forward lay with the UFC. A much needed move for the fighter. Why had it taken him so long to get there? We don’t know, but clearly it was either part of a cunning plan, or on his part, the insistence that he could create a mixed martial arts career for himself outside the bounds of the world’s leading fight organisation.

Outside the UFC, Overeem has beaten some of the best exponents in the ring, and that automatically put the spotlight on him. As with others, the spotlight has been lit disproportionately on fighters involved in Strikeforce cards, as opposed to being in the UFC. Overeem had far more exposure in Japan, in Dream, another MMA organisation.

Knocking out the likes of Todd Duffee as the main event in a Dream show, would likely only merit the bottom of the pay per view card in a UFC event. But what it certainly did was engender interest in Overeem, and fight fans will now get to see what he really can do against the best out there.

He was offered a title shot against the winner of incumbent champion Cain Velasquez and Julia Dos Santos but preferred to stay busy by taking a fight with Brock Lesnar instead. Now we will find out how good he is very quickly. If this was Overeem’s plans all along – it has worked very cleverly for him. He now comes into the UFC with a big bang – who knows had he come sooner whether he would have got passed the likes of Shane Carwin and Frank Mir?

All in all, the entrance of Overeem enhances the UFC heavyweight stack. And as a footnote, he was born in the UK, and if we decide to claim him as our own in the UK, he offers the only opportunity in the heavyweight division of a European fighter holding the belt any time soon.

Last month I spent time in San Francisco with Nick Diaz at his training camp. He revealed then as I sat in conversation with him for a cover story with the mixed martial arts magazine Fighters Only, that the man himself has a complex mind.

He showed then through the honesty of his words that he suffers from a degree of self loathing and battles with inner demons. Now, of course, having failed to show for two press conferences to publicise his welterweight title fight with George St Pierre at the end of October, he has been removed from the title fight. A real shame in my view, and for those heavily criticising Diaz, there should be more sensibility for the mind of this fighter. He definitely is different.

In Diaz’s place, comes Carlos Condit. Condit, whose father works in politics in Texas, is very polite and a great guy. When he came to London last year and knocked out Britain’s own Dan Hardy in the opening round of their bout, it mattered not that he was being jeered by the 20,000 stentorian crowd.

I’m going out on a limb – Condit is going to win against the GSP. We will have a new champion. Polite maybe, but when the bell goes Condit is a natural born killer. The switch turns. He has lost once in five years – a split decision to Martin Campmann – which I actually thought he won. He has bad intentions and the skill set to beat GSP. He’s aggressive, clever, sets up his attacks, has KO power, and although many may disagree this will be a tougher fight for GSP which I believe will create a new UFO Welterweight champion.

As for Diaz, he slides down the card to face B J Penn in what is probably a more exciting matchup than the original title fight.

England so lucky to escape Argentina battering

England were lucky, oh so lucky. The Otago stadium may well be hermetically sealed as an indoor venue but the collective sigh of relief from the thousands of England fans at the final whistle made a significant noise as it reverberated around the ground.

England had said all week that they knew what was headed their way, an Argentine tempest, the fury and elemental force that had taken the 2007 Rugby World Cup by storm.

Yet for long stretches of this match, England looked completely and utterly bewildered by what was happening. They were bullied off the ball, unable to get any sort of foothold, and if Argentina had had a reliable goal-kicker then England might never have been able to get back into the game.

Argentina missed 18 points with the boot (21 if you count a speculative drop goal attempt), and although Jonny Wilkinson himself fluffed five successive penalty shots, England would have been out of the reckoning by then.

Argentina also lost their key playmaker, Felipe Conteponi, as well as centre Gonzalo Tiesi.

All in all, this was an England display lacking in tempo, intensity, imagination and gumption. England managed to wriggle out of a desperately fraught situation only through the impact of their replacement bench.

Dylan Hartley and Matt Stevens injected some much needed urgency to the forward play while scrum-half Ben Young, scampering brightly on his return from injury, scored the decisive try in the 65th minute.

Wilkinson added a conversion and then a penalty, and England had somehow escaped.

The rest of the world will not be quaking at this performance.

Everton gripped by identity crisis as People take on Club

Just after 2pm on Saturday afternoon, just as Goodison Park’s grizzled veterans are settling their nerves in the Winslow Hotel, they will be presented with the sight of 400 Everton fans emerging on to Goodison Road, bearing banners and bellowing slogans, on a long, slow march to the ground’s Directors’ Entrance. Once there, the 400 will call for chairman Bill Kenwright, and his board, to go.

To those elder statesmen stiffening their sinews, shielded from the sunlight by the stained glass windows of the Winslow, it will be an alien sight. It is across Stanley Park that fans protest and agitate and call for change, fuelled by a sense of entitlement to success. Not here. This is the People’s Club.

That, though, is the extent of the crisis which has quietly gripped Goodison Park for almost a decade. It has spread beyond simply the financial – how much can they pay, how much can they spend – or the aspirational – where can they finish, what can they win – and into something more serious. This is now a place which has lost its identity, seen a rift driven between People and Club. The crisis is existential.

The Blue Union, the supporters’ group who have called and organised Saturday’s demonstration, insist they stand squarely behind the team and its manager, David Moyes. “Come 3pm, we want Goodison Park rocking,” says Joe Jennings, the group’s spokesman. “Our message is clear. We support the team. We oppose the club’s stagnation.”

That is the paradox. They support the team, but in their undiluted love must attack the club. “It is not a personal issue against the board,” explains Jennings. “We just want the club to be run by someone whose business plan is not simply to cross their fingers and hope for the best. The general consensus is that it is time for change. Some people are happy to tread water. That goes against the club’s motto, Nothing But The Best. We simply want proper Everton values restored.”

Here, another paradox. Everton’s image as the plucky underdogs has been polished and crafted in the Kenwright years; it has become the club’s selling point. They are the standard bearers for the little man, thanks to Moyes’s remarkable success at keeping pace with the Premier League’s princes on a pauper’s budget.

“We have done that using very little cash, wheeling and dealing, selling one biggie and trying to regenerate the cash, keeping it all going,” says the Scot. “In [my] 10 years [in charge], does anyone think Everton could have done better than we have done? I would say probably not.

“In the 10 years I have been here, we have finished in the top 10 seven times. Now if people actually think that Everton should be doing much better than that, then they need to be looking at things. Those positions at the minute for Everton are terrific. If you put it in to perspective, what we have had over the last 10 years has not been outrageously bad.”

Few would disagree. And yet it is worth pointing out at this juncture that Everton are England’s fourth most successful club. When the Premier League started, in 1992, they had won more league titles than Manchester United. Financially, Everton are brave underdogs. Judge them by history, and they are fallen titans. And that, to Jennings, is rather the point.

“I despise that perception,” he says. “Plucky little Everton. That is something that has been invented in the Kenwright era. It sounds odd now but we are one of the sleeping giants not just of this country but of Europe.”

No wonder there is a crisis of identity at Goodison Park. This is a club which has invented a new skin for itself, and found that it does not quite fit. This is a club where, as Moyes admitted yesterday, he is more than just a football manager: “Part of my job is to run a business as well. I have to be a businessman.”

It is a club where, when grilled by a public enquiry into the second proposed move away from Goodison Park two years ago, chief executive Robert Elstone denied Everton were for sale on public record. “Everton Football Club is for sale, despite accusations to the contrary,” Elstone wrote on the club’s official site this week. “This has been the case for three years and will remain the case.”

It is a club which has a chairman whose love for his team has never been in question, but knows it must sacrifice itself on the altar of imported wealth if it is to compete. “Someone summed it up by saying he is living his dream, but ruining ours,” according to Jennings. “There is a lot of romanticism about having a blue in charge, but if we had owners with a plan, who knows what we could achieve.”

Everton is the football club all of those sides – Portsmouth, Birmingham, Newcastle, even – wish they could be, punching above their financial weight, run by a man who used to stand on the terraces, rather than regretting their dances with wolves.

Today’s opponents will look at the protest outside Goodison Park with interest. Aston Villa used to want rid of an owner, too. It worked, eventually, and Doug Ellis was swept from power by Randy Lerner. He seemed the perfect fit. He lovingly restored the stained glass windows at Villa Park, rebuilt the Holte pub. He offered Martin O’Neill money to spend.

This summer, Aston Villa lost Ashley Young and Stewart Downing. “Young accepted he could not win anything with us,” says Jonathan Fear, editor of Vital Villa. “We thought the days of seeing our best players leave were over when Randy took over, but there is only so much he can do. I’d be frustrated if I was him, seeing his attempts to do things the right way rendered useless by silly money spending at Chelsea and Manchester City.”

Villa are one of those clubs held up by Everton as an example of what could be achieved should Kenwright step aside, finally find a buyer, stop suffocating his club with his love. “We do not want a Sheikh,” says Jennings. “We don’t want the club to spend money they do not have. We just know the garden is not always rosy.” The grass, Villa might comment, is not always greener, either.

ENDS