Allan: Playing for Everton was a privilege

If those two, Allan and Rodriguez, had been fit and money worries hadn't existed, I wonder how our seasons would have panned out? Classy interview though.

James and Allan are head and shoulders above anything we have right now or have had since they left us.

Whatever the current squad's shortcomings, the one thing they have not lacked in the vast majority of games over the past year is tenacity.

Evertonians have taken a lot of stick in certain parts of the media over the last few years so it was nice to hear a player who lived through some of those times say how great the crowd was.

It was a strange time, that first half of the season after the Spurs game. Everything was going right. Then around Christmas it all fell apart for a variety of reasons.

It's been a frustrating feature of the last 29 years. Here and there we get the makings of a good team, eg, Speed, Kanchelskis, Barmby or Arteta, Yakubu and Co, then someone gets injured or sold to settle debt.

In this instance, as others, Allan was aging, James had real or imagined injury problems, Carlo couldn't quite see Doucouré's attacking attributes, and so on.

Allan's legs had gone by the time he arrived at Goodison and James'as injury problems had finally caught up with him.

Two excellent players but we never saw either of them in their prime.

Signs of quality were always there and I actually think Carlo didn't let him off the leash quite like the Allan I watched several times play for Napoli.

It is always nice to see our ex-players talk highly about our club, even if their own impact was below our hopes and expectations. Good man, Allan, wish you all the very best for your future.

I was lambasted by a few for labelling him as the Brazilian Peter Reid.

No two players are the same, but he reminded me of him.

I agree, a shame we didn't get him earlier as he was a quality player and leader on the pitch.

We just got him too late.

Yes mate, when things appear to be going in the right direction something happens to derail our progress. We've been a ‘nearly' club on and off for quite a while now.

Danny, you're not alone, I also likened him to Reid, even the way he ran was reminiscent of Reidy, imagine those two playing together at the peak of their powers!

Like Reid, he was a workhorse with a very good football brain, then his injuries took over. The Premier League was a much harder, not necessarily better, physical game and he couldn't cope with it.

Most probably, as some have said, we got him too late, he might have done better if he'd been younger.

Although we spent a lot of money under Moshiri, a lot of it was generated by selling off Lukaku and Stones.

It was an unbelievably thick move to shell out so much money on players who would be close to worthless after as little as 2 or 3 years.

Players like Allan are great if they're available on free transfers (or nominal fees) and reasonable wage demands – otherwise, they utterly destroy a club's ability to build a side.

I agree with Ray. Hjojberg had a poor debut for Spurs, but he was a much better signing than Allan. He was more skillfull. he was/is Bigger, faster, stronger, younger and cheaper.

Lovely words from Allan. He was an excellent player in Italy I just don't think his game was as suited to English football

Did he often leave a hole behind him by any chance?

The red he was assessed thanks to VAR (vs Wolves I think?) was one of their most ridiculous ever. One of us indeed.

We will always respect players who speak well of the club. Football is a cruel mistress and it's a shame we didn't get to see the best from Al.

All the best, fella!

We can go back decades.

The ‘70s in particular Mick Lyons, Duncan McKenzie. Nearly men. We had Bob Latchford scoring 30 goals in one season but never won a trophy.

The nearly team.

Often seen having a go at a team mate for not doing his job properly, a proper winning mentality and a leader on the pitch. It was like he took it personally if he didn't win the ball off you the first time and he would keep chopping at them till he won it back.

One player that does remind me a bit of him is Luongo of Ipswich, another little terrier in the middle.

I think the readdressed red was the night we came back from the dead and beat Newcastle with a very late goal from Iwobi to send the crowd wild.

I thought you nailed that there, saying he was like Reidy. I often thought that myself; I thought he was a cracking little player.

He didn't have to say the things he said about the club but, as the great god said: "Once Everton has touched you…"

Good Luck to him in the future.