Leighton Baines, the ego-free Evertonian, retires on his own unselfish terms

A nice piece, thoroughly deserved.

And yet it is true that Moyes, the man who bought him, thought he had made a mistake, telling people: “I think he's too small.”

Too small? How many times did he go to watch him before he bought him? But that was the case; and it took quite a while before Leighton became a regular.

One of the Liverpool Echo reporters told me that story.

Hi Dave [2] it was reported that Bolton Wanderers refused to sign Alan Ball because he too was considered to be too small. If stature was the deciding factor, we wouldn't have had the pleasure of watching Bobby Collins.

John (3), true... but Moyes, through Everton, paid £5M for Leighton after watching him numerous times... and then thought he was too small.

He struggled at first when he first signed. Lescott played well at left back, and Baines picked up injuries at first.

It took Moyes an age to play Jagielka and Lescott together in the middle. Yobo made way, and Baines got his chance.