Garbutt facing big decision over his future

This is just as idiotic as the Gosling saga, but here Garbutt is the new Baines with a perfect crossing ability and pace.

He is a MUST to keep!!

If he wants to join a smaller club, then I genuinely wish him all the best. Definitely no hard feelings from myself.

I hope he stays but right now Baines is the better option. Garbutt remains potential, not the finished article. Too many players at his age have been on the verge of great things, only to fade away.

Sad reality but people here are talking as if heÂ’s Roberto Carlos II.

After all he was brought in by David Moyes who is a better defensive coach.

And if he has weaknesses, you can be sure they will be found in this league. Having said all that, IÂ’d like to see him stay, but if heÂ’s first choice or even first backup, itÂ’s a new weakness when we already have a fair few ...

If Roberto thinks as I do that Garbutt is going to be better than Baines or at least his worthy successor, then we have two options:

1) Cash in Baines and strengthen more pressing areas;

2) If the above is a definite no-no then we should convince him how much he is valued and offer him a contract worth £20,000 a week more than his value and on a par with Stones etc.

My belief is that if he is offered more than anywhere else and is allowed on loan for a year the cost to Everton would be about £1 million extra this year but getting him to sign will probably save us £15 million in 2 years time when Baines is on the decline and Oviedo isn't good enough while Galloway is a centre back and looks it.

We can't afford to let a player of this promise go for a nominal fee and this bullshit coming from Roberto and the club that we have done all we can is hollow. If we really want him to stay, we can make it happen by either of the two above suggestions.

It has been a long while since MartinezÂ’s words did not reek of BS and stupidity.

Or 2) sign on with someone else for 4(?) years for more cash and still have to move, but with a bigger chance of regular Premier League football.

IÂ’d start Garbutt at LB and move Baines to CDM, just in front of the back 4 (like Philip Lahm).

I think he will thrive at CDM, given his passing/creative ability and due to his age and injury troubles, we can prolong his career, doing a little less work, but a more effective job.

This also helps with our current lack of a quality passer in midfield and guarantees Garbutt a more regular position that he is looking for.

We should get 3-4m for him through tribunal hopefully but should think he’ll be worth twice as much by end of next season if he gets a run of games.

If we get 4m that will be some consolation and he plays in the position where weÂ’re strongest - hopefully Oviedo will be fit and be able to have run of games next season. So IÂ’m not that arsed if he goes now, as long as it isnÂ’t across the park.

1. Sensible rotation of players. Garbutt as acknowledged cover for and Oviedo Baines should have played more games as and when both have been injured.

2. Potential for Baines - Lahm style shift could have been followed through on occasion as discussed by Roberto but then not followed through except how well Baines performed against Newcastle... Obviously in keeping with RobertoÂ’s mantra, If it works well donÂ’t repeat it! This would have opened the door to give Garbutt more playing time.

3. More use of Garbutt as a winger / wing back from the subs bench for the last half hour or so in selected games. Opportunity for impact sub to break down stubborn defences with his crossing ability.

4. Would have been good to see a back four of Coleman / Browning, Stones, Galloway, Garbutt, during the run down of games with Jags and Baines as substitutes on rescue standby mode as required.

Lots of creative and forward thinking strategies to show the youngsters, the fans, and the media how progressive the club management is. Anyway, thatÂ’s all history now. Thanks again, Roberto. . . . . . .

But all thing being equal, Baines will rightly retain the LB position and Garbutt will have to continue to feed on scraps as far as appearances are concerned.

HeÂ’s not Everton born and bred and were I him, IÂ’d be looking for better opportunities elsewhere. And good luck to him, I say.

People have to stop thinking he deserves to play instead of Baines and stop with this nonsense of moving Baines in to the midfield. Why move the best English left back in to a position that he cannot play, isnÂ’t built for and we donÂ’t need him in?

The perfect scenario would be that he signs up and we loan him out to a decent Premier League team where heÂ’ll get playing time for us to evaluate whether heÂ’s a viable option for the future. I have my doubts as to whether Oviedo will ever fully recover from his current spate of injuries but come this time next year weÂ’ll be in a better position to decide on where his future may lay. Baines will also be a year older and then GarbuttÂ’s chances of first team action would improve.

With Pienaar in decline perhaps he could do a job for us there.

HeÂ’s 31 in December, for a fullback that relies on getting up and down the flanks once your energy goes it reduces your powers, thatÂ’s why Chelsea binned Cole when they did.

Let's face it Baines isnÂ’t a great defender, his free-kicks and corners have in the main been dreadful and his end product and final ball has hit the first man too many tines this season.

Garbutt should have stayed and been given more opportunities next season, if Baines does get injured, Galloway is okay but he doesnÂ’t look so comfortable at fullback naturally.

1) HeÂ’s been playing with a dodgy ankle all season; and

2) Since Pienaar has been out, heÂ’s had no cover down the LW. Martinez has tried Barkley, Ossie, Mirallas, McGeady etc... down the left side to no avail.

If Bainsey has been struggling with his ankle (is this why his delivery has been so poor this season?) then it doesnÂ’t surprise me. Echoes of Ashley Cole? I hope not.

Sheedy said Moyes never had any time for the younger teams so I donÂ’t think he would have had any impact on the kids development.

Since Martinez came he has spent a year on loan and a year getting intergrated into the first team.

If he goes it will be for the same reason he left Leeds, money. If he really wants to play for Everton, he will sign the contract and go out on loan.

I tend to side with Harold and am not sure this kid is anywhere near good enough defensively.

One thing I do know is that, here is a kid who hasnÂ’t yet made the grade, but once he signs his new contract for whoever, he will certainly have enough money to be made for life. ItÂ’s ridiculous.

If playing Baines more and more has caused long term damage then itÂ’s rank bad management.

I donÂ’t know whether Baines will get back to where he was under Moyes between in that spell of outstanding football he was playing between 2009-2013 but I know for sure a big attraction of having Baines in the team was that he was a dead-ball specialist, now heÂ’s been bullied off them and the fact he no longer has Pienaar (a young fit Pienaar) in front of him and even the physical power and athleticism of Sylvain Distin to cover him, you do question if you are ever going to see the "old" Leighton Baines again anyway.

RM and Everton are doing right here; they canÂ’t throw money at potential or itÂ’ll be the beginning of the of the club.

Hope he stays. If heÂ’s any sense he should sign on and take 6 months at a Premier League or strong Championship club and see where we are then.

Paul, ItÂ’s not necessarily people using this as a stick with which to beat Martinez, itÂ’s more a case that if we can see that Baines is either struggling with form or fitness and has had no cover in front of him all season why canÂ’t Martinez?

As Collin says at @25, Martinez has predictably tried to hammer the square pegs of Osman, Barkley, etc. into the round hole of LM when he could have tried Garbutt as PienaarÂ’s replacement which would have given him more game time and experience, and possibly solved the LM problem at the same time.It may also have brought the best out of Baines.

If you recall, Coleman was a revelation when he was given a run playing wide right ahead of Hibbert a few seasons back and that has worked out well hasnÂ’t it?

IÂ’m afraid that Martinez comes over as stubborn and intransigent and will stick to his "philosophy" regardless of the effect it has on our club.

One option that would interest me, once Baines is fit enough, is to try him in midfield and slot Garbutt at left back. I suspect Baines wasnÂ’t fit enough this season for this, though MartinezÂ’s inate caution makes me wonder!

The central point to this thread is, surely, would you drop/shuffle Baines and Oviedo to accommodate a promising young player? ThereÂ’s too many people dodging that question and taking an easy shot at the manager.

I donÂ’t blame anyone. Martinez has given him 10 games, and an offer is on the table. If the boy wants more football, then he should seek a new employer, why not?

Next season, with Baines fit, Oviedo fit and Galloway a handy stand-in, you can see the boyÂ’s problem.

The amount they would have needed to offer him around 18 months ago would have been a lot less than what they need to offer him now and he would have probably signed. The club let the situation drift far too long and obviously the player now has the power and will go somewhere he can play regularly.

Yes –, 18 months ago you couldn’t predict how he’d do at this level but he was already sitting on the bench regularly and had a decent loan spell and was a very good prospect. The club should have tied him down for at least another 1-2 years so there wouldn’t be a risk of him going on a free – which will now likely be the case.

Garbutt has the potential to be a solid top division LB and could be the England LB in years to come. If he leaves for a tribunal fee, it will a massive cock-up.

I agree 100% with Conor (#10) – IF the club are thinking long term they probably need to cash in on Baines now. Letting Garbutt go for fuck all and keeping Baines means we’ll need to invest (heavily) in a new LB in about 2 years’ time.

Baines will be 31 in December so has has 2 maybe 3 seasons left (and he will become worse with each passing year). He may be better than Garbutt now but at some point you have to change the guard and look to the future. Personally I think Garbutt could be just as good, if not better, than Baines in years to come.

We will be entitled to compo of about £3-4M and I think even if he had signed a new contract he would have left. We would have cashed in for a greater amount, and that perhaps is the loss.

That said, I think we will be fine. I believe Oviedo is the natural successor to Baines and Martinez playing Galloway at LB was a clear signal from him that we have depth in that department.

Garbutt may end up displacing Baines in the England line-up someday but given that he probably wants to be first choice next season, I canÂ’t see how we can accommodate him. Playing Baines in midfield still leaves Oviedo on the bench if Garbutt became a first teamer. I would rather we kept Oviedo happy.

Baines is coming towards the latter stages of his career and Oviedo, unfortunately, seems to be injured more often than not. This means Luke will get the opportunity to play, even if he is not first pick.

Will a season of struggling against relegation with Bournemouth do his career prospects any good? I doubt he would be automatic first choice at Swansea so moving there seems a bit pointless.

A bit of patience is what this lad needs. Sign a lucrative deal, work hard in training and grab your opportunities with both hands when they come along!

Sign a contract, Luke, and go out on loan to Swansea or Bournemouth, with the proviso that you can come back due to injuries.

Sure he looks assured. And he looks to have a decent left foot (but then every left footed player somehow looks like heÂ’s got a cultured left foot). But really, to jump from that to Â’letÂ’s sell BainesÂ’ is crazy.

Great point. Garbutt is potentially a decent full back, as you say, a good left foot delivery, but still a lot to learn defensively, as most young players do.

In my opinion, it is another stick to beat the manager with. Surely the chief exec and board do the negotiation over contracts and wages?

The Â’blindingly obviousÂ’ was for the club to offer him the new contract 18 months ago?

He only signed his current contract just under two years ago. The club should have extended his deal and offered him better terms a mere six months into a two-year deal, when he hadnÂ’t really shown anything at that stage to warrant them doing so?

I think that the difference in Garbutt playing wide left is that he is a left sided player and, in the absence of a FIT left-sided player, he should have been given a try in front of Baines, not instead of Baines.

As for Oviedo, this would be the same lad who has been injured for almost all of the season and who has played precisely 6 more league games than Garbutt and 11 in all competitions. Hardly a regular himself, is he?

I should say that I am a fan of Oviedo and saw him as a natural successor to Pienaar, but his injury record is, sadly, a cause for concern if we are thinking long term.

The REAL problem with Martinez is his failure to provide an adequate solution to the absence of Pienaar – something that has left Baines looking like a very average left back. Barkley was poor playing there and I personally think that that helped to shaft his confidence, Osman, probably our most cerebrally gifted player, has not got the pace to play out wide and in any case his guile is needed in the middle of the park.

Even Naismith was played there and Naismith is no more a winger than my cat. Although he’s pretty good at catching balls. (My cat – not Naismith.)

Ignoring the Baines / Garbutt / no cover in LM / Bainesy soldiering on stuff however, what I can't understand though is, when Baines was finally out injured... Galloway??? That has nowt to do with Baines, does it?

I reckon it boils down to money. We paid Leeds £600k in compensation when we got Garbutt. That could have gone up to £1.5M depending upon appearances (no idea how many). If he gets a full England call-up, it's another £200k. Oh, and Leeds get 20% if we sell him on.

I wouldn't really like to see him go as I think he's a talent and I'm not going to lose any sleep over it if he goes but I wouldn't blame him if he did.

Either way, they left it too late and Garbutt is doing exactly what any of us would do now – wait and see what offers he gets over the summer and take the best one.

If I were him, I would certainly prefer to play regularly than sit on our bench, even if it were for a struggling side. However, I think someone better than Bournemouth will pick him up.

Best scenario would be for him to sign and be loaned out but given heÂ’ll go for a relatively low fee, IÂ’m assuming heÂ’ll get a better offer somewhere else.

This situation should never have been allowed to arise in the first place.

Extending that logic, youÂ’d be okay with Hibbert being played right-mid in front of Coleman when McGeady and Mirallas are unfit?

Your point about replacing Pienaar is another good one. A combination of our budget and MartinezÂ’s trusting to luck regarding ageing, injury prone players is the problem here. He keeps trying players who canÂ’t cut it, which exposes Baines. We need someone there yesterday.

The board and the manager need to get with the times, sort the squad and the form out, and get a new stadium asap; then other young prospects wonÂ’t hesitate to sign for a club moving in the right direction!

No doubt GarbuttÂ’s agent will be advising him to go wherever the money is, though.

Leighton is a magnificent left-back but he is 31 and he will need replacing in the next few years. Oviedo Baby may never be the same player again after his awful injury but I hope I am wrong with that because he was sensational when he stepped in for Leighton in 2013-14.

You were the one who specified Â’around 18 months to goÂ’ as being an appropriate point in the timeline to put another new contract in front of him. I just ran with it.

As for McCarthy? YouÂ’re mistaken. He wasnÂ’t offered a new contract after one year at the club and still hasnÂ’t been offered one (to my knowledge). Anyway, even if we pretend he had and it was indeed offered one year into his current contract, that doesnÂ’t mean Garbutt would deserve to be treated the same way.

The comparison isnÂ’t exactly apt. You couldnÂ’t compare the situation of a guy who was (in a lot of peopleÂ’s eyes) our Player of the Season with a guy who hadnÂ’t made a single first team start at that point in time.

Re McCarthy, seems I was wrong. I remember reading last year the club was going to offer him a new deal but doing a bit of research it seems that it never happened. (In fact the papers say heÂ’s angry about it and Spurs will make an offer if they donÂ’t get Schneiderlin in the summer.)

Firstly, Cech is coming to the end of his career... so, while he will be a loss to Chelsea as they won't get a No 2 as good as him, it won't really affect them. Garbutt is only beginning his career and will get better with each game. If you compare him to Baines at the same age, Garbutt is much better.

Secondly, if the same situation happened to Chelsea, it would be of no real concern to them. However, we cannot afford to lose the best young left back in England. Shaw went for £30 million and I believe that this guy will be worth the same with a year or two of football under his belt.

We have a really weak squad and our manager will take about 3 years to fix the problems (no decent goalkeeper, one rightback, one decent winger who wants to be a No 10, no decent No 10, one decent centre-forward, two centrebacks only, no fit creative central midfielder...) due to our finances.

Also, Gallloway may do a job short term but he is never a left back and anyone who thinks Oviedo is better than Garbutt is clearly smoking the funny stuff. He has done really well and is a very solid option but is of not the same quality as Baines or Garbutt.

Paul Tran – I am a big defender of Roberto but I believe he and the club have done nothing to keep this guy... ie, "Here is a contract; sign it or fuck off." He didn't even play him the last two games, which is what the player craves.

The same people with the laissez-faire attitude now will be the same ones shouting their mouths off in a few years if this guy walks for a couple of million.

Martinez has two choices, tell Garbutt heÂ’s first choice, pick him accordingly and tell Baines/Oviedo theyÂ’re second/third choice, or tell him the score and suggest his time will come in the next two years. Would you drop sell Baines/Oviedo to accommodate Garbutt?

If you were running a business on a tight budget, would you spend significant money in an area where you were already strongly resourced?

"...anyone who thinks Oviedo is better than Luke is clearly smoking the funny stuff"

In that case I must be stripped to my pants, manhandling my own nipples and doing that mental martial arts dance Martin Sheen did in front of the mirror in Â’Apocalypse NowÂ’, because (fitness permitting) IÂ’d currently take Oviedo over Garbutt any day of the week. As Harold rightly pointed out earlier, GarbuttÂ’s actual defensive play is quite poor when put under any concerted pressure. Sure, that could certainly improve in time, he has a decent left foot and can take a sweet set-piece on occasion, but I donÂ’t see how that puts him streets ahead of a full international who has performed admirably every time heÂ’s taken to the pitch for us, scored a couple of important goals to boot, and showed tremendous heart to fight back from horrendous bad luck on the injury front.

Whatever the situation, I think it’s piss poor management by whoever should be dealing with these contracts that Garbutt wasn’t tied down when he was younger and showing potential. It didn’t have to be some ridiculous £50k a week deal, just a better offer than he was on, enough to keep him sweet till we’d made our minds up about him. The plaudits he’s received in the press and the under 21 squad show that other people are impressed even if EFC aren’t.

What are you talking about ? "The saddest thing about this issue is the way people are using it as a stick to beat Martinez with " . .EH ? . . Where ? The only person who seems to be pointing the finger at Martinez is Jimmy# 4.

You really do need to stop checking under the bed for Bogie men. . . . You must know by now they aint gonna be there . . theyÂ’re hiding in your wardrobe

Then he joined Distin and Eto at the exit door.

If this arrogant, obstinate Relegation Manager is allowed to continue at EFC it is an absolute disgrace.

Even putting personalities to one side why didnt we offer the kid an improved contract and a career plan a long time ago.

Also agree with other posters that given the problems we have had all season with left side of MF the best option would have been give Baines/Garbutt a try.

Garbutt shows potential but currently is defensively a weak link and doesnÂ’t do some of the basic positional techniques that a 15 year old, much less a 21 year old should know. He could be a much better mid if his foot skills can match his pace and his passing.

If he leaves a bigger club like us for Bournemouth or Swansea then he is a fool. My guess is he thought that he would have the top 5 clubs queuing up for him because he is an U21 player. Problem is they would watch his performances and conclude he is not good enough and not ready. Stay - Go - Stay... who cares.

I just want to stick to the real issue - young promising footballer third in line in his position looks at his options.
Do we accommodate him and ditch Baines and Oviedo to rebuild, or do we tell him to go and do one if he doesnÂ’t want to wait his turn behind EnglandÂ’s left back.

ThatÂ’s what I want to talk about, but whenever I go on this thread thereÂ’s new references towards MartinezÂ’s assumed Â’philosophyÂ’, his Â’intransigenceÂ’, Â’arroganceÂ’ and Â’stubbornnessÂ’.

No problem with anyone criticising Martinez, I enjoy it myself, but Garbutt ainÂ’t Roberto Carlos, heÂ’s been offered a contract, heÂ’s choosing not to sign it and good luck to the lad if he goes. IÂ’m not convinced that footballers with agents pay attention to any Â’career planÂ’ other than the one their agent gives them.

Would you drop Baines and Oviedo to accommodate him, or give Martinez special dispensation to play yet another player out of position?

I may be proved wrong about him and I do think he is decent but not someone to treat as a special case.

He knows he has the talent to be a regular left back in the Premier League. But he is young and impatient, knowing the current England left back is ahead of him with others like Galloway and Oviedo challenging.

His agent is probably filling his ear with money enticements to be had by moving and, like Sterling, will feel he is better than he really is.

If he is disgruntled then let him go.

"special dispensation to play yet another player out of position?" If by that you mean Garbutt slotting in wide left, Garbutt is already an "overlapping fullback" (as they used to be known!) so playing him slightly further forward and helping Baines to continue being the best LB in the Prem is, to my mind, sensible, good management. Shoving Barkley or Osman or Naismith out there is laughable.

As for ditching Oviedo, as I said earlier, Oviedo is not fit enough to be ditched just yet, and there is no guarantee that Baines will even be fit for the next season.

As for Martinez "philosophy", itÂ’s Martinez who likes that expression, not us.

I donÂ’t know whatÂ’s gone on behind the scenes between Martinez and Garbutt, so IÂ’m not getting into the convenient assumptions. What will be interesting is what he says if he goes. If heÂ’s got the bottle to tell us about the lack of preparation while heÂ’s with us, whatÂ’s he going to say once heÂ’s gone?

1) He is behind two (yes, 2) established international left backs;
2) He has been offered a contract probably for more per week than most of us earn in a year, so why the snipes at Martinez.... oh yeh, I know!
3) He is very suspect defensively.

Talk of moving Baines, a specialist left back, into the central defensive midfield position is ludicrous to me. Baines is still the most creative force from left back. Yes, Garbutt puts a decent ball in but has miles to go before getting anywhere near the assists of Baines.

Okay, I understand he needs games to get the experience and to improve defensively but everything points towards him getting a little ahead of himself thinking heÂ’s actually better than he is at this moment in his career. Nothing wrong with a bit of confidence agreed but IÂ’m sure he will get found out if he moves even to a "smaller" club and may even go backwards somewhat before progressing.

It will indeed be interesting to see if Garbutt and Distin spill the beans on what has been going on in the background. I wasnÂ’t particularly happy when the medical staff left and intimated that not all was well, nor was I when Osman pointed out how easy the training had become under Martinez.

And yes, both injured now but I have to admire Martinez on standing his ground and not playing him in the last two games with him seemingly not yet decided if he wants to sign, why play someone who doesnÂ’t want to play for the club and looks likely to be off as soon as the window opens.

The core of our team is his age so youÂ’d think heÂ’d be keen to stay and wait/fight for his place?

The only negative I can say about Garbutt was pre-season against Tranmere, he hit a freekick into the wall and then proceeded to have a right paddy with himself, jumping up and down on the spot like a toddler. It could be heÂ’s a bit of a dick and the club arenÂ’t bothered about keeping him.

Considering our season has been pretty much over for months now only makes RM decision all the more baffling.

If Garbutt played say 10 games and looked a better long term prospect than Baines/Oviedo at least we would know where we stand.

If it turned out that his defensive side of the game was weak we should stick with what we have.

At the moment nobody knows just how good or bad Garbutt will turn out to be.

IsnÂ’t Moyes rumoured to be after him?

Thank gawd, we got them and had a half decent finish to the season. I suspect GarbuttÂ’s mind was elsewhere and thus Galloway got his chance. Stop trying to re-write history, please !

The lad wants first team football, which with Baines on our books Roberto cant promise him, end of.

You cant force him to sign under the present circumstances can you?
Nobody's to blame, it's just the way it is.

Not sure how many games he would get there as first choice, but the current left-backs there are not all that great.

I like Oviedo, but after those injuries I’d have cashed in and put the £4-5m towards a replacement for Pienaar. We really need a proven top notch left sided player to add pace/goals/creativity.

IÂ’d like Garbutt to stay and we know Martinez is dying to try Baines in midfield. I worry we well have already seen the best of Oviedo. That was a bad bad injury.

The ball's in Garbutt's court. if somebody offers him more dosh or more games, heÂ’ll probably take them up on it.

Seeing the whole game in front of you and bombing on is completely different to receiving the ball with your back to goal and having to beat a man or cut inside to get a cross away.

I am struggling to think of one example where one such fullback has converted successfully to a wide midfielder. Cafu, Dani Alves, Roberto Carlos, Alba, Cole, Lizarazu etc. Not one of them. Why? Because you lose the threat they provide by pushing on from deep.

Garbutt looks OK but I donÂ’t think heÂ’ll be a big miss, and the club have offered him a contract. ItÂ’s up to him if he wants to sign it. End of story.

Garbutt is 21, so if he stays injury free and behaves himself you would think he might have 3 contracts in his career, but these young players want it all "right here right now"

Mourinho has spoken up about the problem with "kids" and their families wanting as much money as possible without having even proved they may be worth a decent contract.

To me that is where Everton are with Garbutt, and it looks like like the club are saying " take it or leave it".

Just because the player has potential, has played relatively well in matches, should he be allowed to call the tune... "No, absolutely not" is the answer.

I like Garbutt and I do hope he stays with us but not at the expense of blackmailing the club into offering him more money than he is worth at this time. He still has lot to prove,

I say this obviously in thinking that he has been offered a decent weekly wage by the club.

James Marshall, I donÂ’t think that Garbutt is asking him to play a different position since he doesnÂ’t have one on the team yet. Which makes more sense, trying out a young offensive minded player at that spot or a 31-year-old veteran, who owns the left back spot for club and country, and who is better defensively than Garbutt?

Also, I donÂ’t think it is so much the playing a player out of position as an experiment that fans complain about. I think it is RMÂ’s insistence on playing the wrong player out of position and then continuing to jam that player where he does not fit over and over and over and over and over and over that gets them.

If, for example, we needed a win last week to get Champions League football. Say Baines, Oviedo and Garbutt were fit. In my view Garbutt would be last choice. In two years time it might be different.

Right now, Garbutt should jump at the chance to start a Premier League career now instead of down the line.

Just look through the records and see (apart from Rooney) who has done anything after living Everton. Just a thought.

The best move for Garbutt, in my opinion, is to join a newly promoted club and show what he can do. A bigger team will come in for him again if he does well (eg, Gary Cahill).

Martinez also watched Alcaraz in training... just saying, like.

HeÂ’s a good young player and we would like to keep him.

HeÂ’s behind EnglandÂ’s left back in the pecking order.

He hasnÂ’t signed a contract as he needs to assess his options.

Does there always have to be a goodie and a baddie?

He has potential though and from a selfish point of view I hope he stays with us, pushes Baines and sees himself as our left back for the next ten years!

Everton (and Martinez) offered a two year contract back in the summer of 2013 laying out a clear career plan for his progress. First head out on loan, then settle into the first-team squad. Both successfully ticked off.

Now the big question Luke will have been asking during these contract talks is Â’what will the next two years look like?Â’ And you canÂ’t blame Martinez for telling him heÂ’ll spend them largely deputising for Baines: EnglandÂ’s first choice in his position, and our most consistent and creative performer over the last several years. ItÂ’s just bad timing.

GarbuttÂ’s an ambitious 22-year-old, and heÂ’ll no doubt be looking over at Ryan Bertrand. Similarly stuck behind one of the first names on the teamsheet at Chelsea, Bertrand spent years being shipped out on loan before finally realizing at 24 that he would have to establish himself elsewhere if he was going to kick on. HeÂ’s now in the PFA Team of The Year. Time will tell if Luke has the same potential.

Martinez said he wanted to try Baines in midfield because he has seen him play there in training. this isnÂ’t a question of playing people out of position in order to make sure they get a game. Its a necessary experiment.

WeÂ’ve all heard the noises coming from the club. The war chest is going to be as light as ever. With so many older players being eased out, Martinez will have to shuffle the pack next season whether we like it or not.

He should still sign with us though – I honestly think it would be better for him and his career. With the young players we’ve got and all at a similar age, it’s set up for a good team and not too far away I think.

I also think he will get more chances next season and it could be forced upon us with the age and recent injuries to Baines and Oviedo.

Also a good point is Jay #63, when Garbutt said we hadnÂ’t trained properly he was dropped like a stone.....coincidentally he now looks like he wants out.

I hope he stays but not overly concerned if he goes, as he has not shown us that he is the massive star some on here seem to believe he is. Usual story that his perception gets bigger and better the less he plays.

Very sensible comments there. IÂ’m not absolutely sure Baines is a better footballer than Alves or Cafu but I can see where youÂ’re going with that one. I too believe Baines has the ability to play in front of the back four, he has the vision and mobility to go with it too. We need someone who can set the play going forward quickly; Baines could be that man.

I believe it would be worth giving him a go but only in a 4-1-4-1 formation. In my opinion, we should move away from the 4-2-3-1 system. Mainly because there is no place for Barkley in the 4-2-3-1. This lad will, given a styled position, develop into a top class player.

Adaptable formations for next season, please. 4-3-3 would also allow Barkley to flourish.