As Richard Dunne was finally shown the door, Walter Smith went back to his roots in October 2000 and snatched up the 21-year-old Gary Naysmith, who was all set to make the switch from Tynecastle to Coventry City. After some sneaky intervention by Everton, he was redirected to Goodison Park. Coventry had made a bid but they couldn't reach agreement with Hearts and when Everton came in with a bigger bid, Hearts couldn't refuse, much to Coventry's annoyance. Naysmith is one of a number of talented players that Hearts have unearthed over the last few years but have been unable to retain because of money problems, the most noteworthy being McCann and Johnston (Rangers), David Weir (Everton) and Ritchie (Man City). Everton fans needed to be patient with the young Naysmith. He was talented but he had a lot to learn in a better-quality league. This was apparent in the first 20 minutes of Scotland's 2000 World Cup Qualifier against Croatia when he looked raw and exposed. But he recovered to play a very good game. Gary Naysmith graduated from Hearts reserves to make his senior debut in September 1996 – a superb win cup win over Celtic. Initially he was in and out of the team as he found it difficult to displace the vastly experienced Neil Pointon. After Pointon's departure, Gary made the left-back position his own and developed into one of the best young defenders in Scotland. His trademarks include cushioned headers / chest-backs to the goalkeeper, surging runs down the left flank. But the Hearts fans were far from happy with his departure:
"Naysmith is the best left-back in our game, which is why he is in Croatia with Scotland. "Hearts offered him an extension to his current contract but he turned it down because it did not reflect his status. No one can blame him for that. "The fact is that Hearts cannot afford to hold on to their top players. Gary is the latest in a long line of players - Neil McCann, David Weir and Paul Ritchie - who have left Hearts. Losing Gary will be a massive blow. "
The 2006-07 season wasn't much better, with long-term injury against reducing his appearances to a handful that only tended to confirm the widely-held view of Gary Naysmith: just not good enough. Despite becoming a regular member of the Scotland team (we know how good they are... *cough!*), there was some fairly widespread relief when he moved to Sheffield United in July 2007 for £1M, partly in response to Everton's acquisition of Phil Jagielka.
With the left-back position covered by Valente, Lescott, and hopefully the fit-again young prospect in Paddy Boyle, this brought to an end the somewhat unimpressive seven-season Everton career of Gary Naysmith.
By Michael Kenrick Last updated July 2007
If you're experiencing problems logging in, please check out this page
Get rid of these ads and support ToffeeWeb
Bet on Everton and get a deposit bonus with bet365 at TheFreeBetGuide.com
View full table
We use cookies to enhance your experience on ToffeeWeb and to enable certain features. By using the website you are consenting to our use of cookies in accordance with our cookie policy.