ToffeeWeb - Season 2009-10

The Mail Bag

Captain's role

What are people's true opinion of Neville as our captain? For me, he was one of the main culprits for bad defending on Saturday. He left Fabregas well alone for the 4th goal when any other decent defensive midfielder would have at least risked a booking by chopping him down to prevent him scoring. Our captain looked more jaded than anybody else out there.

I didn't notice him rallying the troops, in fact his head was the first to drop. He obviously isn't capable of galvanising the troops when it's needed most, especially when he's so limited in his own play. If you were Pienaar or Cahill (or anyone else on the team for that matter), would you take any shit from Neville? Would you take Neville telling you you weren't playing well enough when he's utter shite himself?

Neville's very good at coming out with sound-bites, especially after defeats, talking up the team spirit and togetherness within the camp. He seems a good spokesman for the club and he is supposedly the 'ultimate profesisonal'. Not many in the media have a bad word to say about him. He helps new players settle when they arrive at the club. So he has his good points but to me a captain's real worth is on the pitch.

Neville's so much at fault for the limitations of Everton's play I just don't think he's up to being the captain. Cahill obviously loves the club and, if played in his correct position, is our most effective player. Jagielka is an awesome defender who I feel we're blessed to have. There's no way we'd have conceded 6 with him on the pitch on Saturday.
Alan Clarke, Manchester Posted 17/08/2009 at 14:56:35

back Return to the Mail Bag

Comments

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer

Adam Bennett
1 Posted 17/08/2009 at 20:27:11

Nope in my eyes he is the best captain he gives 110% in every game and is a proven international. Since he has been captain we have become a top 6 team. End of.

Kunal Desai
2 Posted 17/08/2009 at 20:29:21

If Neville was such a great captain where was his organisation skills on saturday, he should have been launching rockets up others arses telling them to do their job properly?!...its because of Moyes we’ve had top 6 finishes not because Neville’s captaincy. All Neville does is spout out shit on the clubs website after matches, shame he doesn’t do the spouting on the pitch!

Keith Glazzard
3 Posted 17/08/2009 at 20:42:26

Sorry lads - wrong tree. Captaincy had nothing to with Saturday. Pip has been as good as they come to this point. Ratty was the superb as the best of his kind ever, but less than than that doesn’t mean bad.

Team Spirit goes from one game to the next. This is where it starts.

Dan McKie
4 Posted 17/08/2009 at 20:46:17

Moaning about Neville because he was at fault for the 4TH goal?!?!? The good defending ship had long sailed by then and we were way past the point of sticking tight to the opposition! We were chasing a 3-0 defecit and got caught on the break for the 4th and 5th goals because of that! I don't think it was Neville supposed to be marking Gallas or Vermanlen (or whoever), and the first goal, Neville closed down Fabregas, but nobody bothered with Denilson, or should that have been Neville too?

Peter Griffin
5 Posted 17/08/2009 at 20:56:05

Allan, When the first goal went in and we were about to kick off Neville was at the center circle shouting to the players to get them going.

After a defeat like that people are going to look for a scapegoat. It’s not Neville. He’s a pro and a good captain.

Cahill almost had the armband but after the negotiations over his contract almost went pear shaped a couple of years ago he never got it.

James Stewart
6 Posted 17/08/2009 at 20:56:44

Well personally I don’t think he should be captain for many reasons that have nothing to do with Saturday by the way...

1. It makes him undroppable, he is simply not good enough to command an automatic starting place.

2. I am sick of hearing his lame excuses after every defeat. Hindsight is a wonderful thing Phil it's just a shame you never practice what you preach!

3. What message does this send out to our best players? Jagielka, Cahill, Arteta would all be better ambassadors for the club. None have any hope of being made captain while Neville is at the club however.

It has never sat well with me him being captain of Everton though, I think the role requires qualities he simply doesn't have.

Ian McDowell
7 Posted 17/08/2009 at 20:59:46

Phil Neville is an Excellent captain and a great leader, every match day he is rallying the troops and giving out instructions.

Jay Harris
8 Posted 17/08/2009 at 21:23:52

I think picking Neville out for that defeat is totally wrong. The club, management and players all need to look at themselves over this.

The club is an awful place to be right now, full of the same old shit about having money to spend, backing the manager etc while doing the opposite and then Moyes loses confidence in having to "sell" another player when he hasn't even been allowed to get some in spits his dummy out and the players end up at each other’s throats.

Apparently Hibbo threatened to land one on Lescott just before the game on Saturday so that was a good start to our much lauded "team spirit".

Neville may not be a great player but as sure as he is not that great he would have made a better showing than Yobo on Saturday.

Tony Rice
9 Posted 17/08/2009 at 21:30:50

The capain’s job at Everton is to "toe the party line" and support the manager and club. They are supposed to regularly provide inane rallying criess on the club website and in the press after embarrassingly poor performances on the field and in the transfer market. Therefore.... Pip is a perfect captain.

Coming soon.... Neville says, "Yak is like a new signing!" article.

Colin Smith
10 Posted 17/08/2009 at 21:38:21

Not too sure how much influence a captain has in football, its nowhere near the level in rugby or cricket. Neville had a mare on Saturday as did everybody apart from Pienaar. As a central midfielder Neville will run and tackle all day but he will never be a creative midfield player or even somebody who can cover both roles, like Reid. For better or for worse he is the best right back at the club and that is where he should play. Captain-wise I cannot think of anybody in the current line up who could do the job any better.

Ciarán McGlone
11 Posted 17/08/2009 at 22:48:08

"Nothing to do with Saturday - But a captain should be able to command a starting place in the team on merit... Neville doesn’t do that regularly enough to warrant the captaincy - especially in midfield."

Surely he could do all that yelling from the sideline.

Trevor Williams
12 Posted 17/08/2009 at 23:08:52

If Neville was a good a player as he is at delivering war cries and soundbites then he would be world class. I am amazed nothing has come out from him yet about the Arsenal game, about the team being disappointed and how they want to turn it around ASAP on Thursday.

He may not have been the worst player, however, he is not the best by far. Why does he always end up at right back? Play him there in the first place. He is better than Hibbert, only just.

Danny Broderick
13 Posted 17/08/2009 at 23:16:45

If you were Pienaar or Cahill (or anyone else on the team for that matter), would you take any shit from Neville?

In a word, yes.
He has won more than anyone else in our team.
He has played for England 60 odd times.
He is the best professional at the club.
Behind Jagielka, he was our best player last year.

Looking for scapegoats isn’t going to do us any good — we simply need a few new players (and fast!) to increase competition in certain areas and give certain players a kick up the arse (if Saturday’s game hasn’t already done so).

Matt Kay
14 Posted 17/08/2009 at 23:31:07

IMO shite post, find a scapegoat, then slag him off to the fucking max. Pip might not be Fabregas or whoever but fair do’s he’s an honest down to earth player, never shirks responsibilty and is ALWAYS rallying the rest of the lads.

Be honest, who else would you have as capt? Ok Jags would be a good call but Mikky, Tim??? Erm no. Seasoned International player who I do believe has come out after Saturday and said that there's no excuses for Saturday and we need to radically improve on Thursday. I think its on the OS and also on newsnow.co.uk. If I’m wrong then put my head on a stake next to BK, Hibbo, Osman etc etc and whoever you want to direct your bile and BS at this week.

Tony Marsh is right, yeah the club's seemingly fucked, but to single out a player won't help anyone. I left early on Saturday, that's my right as a season ticket holder, but I’ll be back to watch the lads. Win lose or draw they’re in my heart and in my soul.

Chris Jones
15 Posted 18/08/2009 at 00:08:05

To echo Danny, if the players all got their medals out on the table, I believe Pip’s haul would exceed everyone else’s combined. He’s been there, done it, got the tea shirt.

Neville’s also, IIRC, done coaching badges and has managed Rawtenstall (I seem to recalll from his days as a MANU player). I also saw him before the match on Saturday exhorting the players to give Bobby Robson his dues during the minute’s applause.

Bill Goodall
16 Posted 18/08/2009 at 00:06:05

Phil Neville has given everything to Everton since his arrival. Last season he was great on the field and probably more so off it in keeping the spirit up. When Jo arrived he said he felt welcome, the captain came up to him and made him feel he was wanted. I would suggest that if any player besides Lescott is feeling the drain from the transfer saga it would be Neville. He would be still trying to keep the spirit up in an even more difficult summer than last and is probably feeling the strain. The one player who is not to blame is Phil Neville (a few years ago I would have slapped myself for saying that).

Pete Gunby
17 Posted 18/08/2009 at 03:55:08

Neville is not a good midfielder! Play him at right back or not at all. I don’t doubt his commitment, his attitude, Knowledge, desire, character, or medal cache. All of these things are impressive resume fillers that have nothing to do with playing in the midfield. These aforementioned qualities are worthless if the most important ingredient -ability-is lacking. He is out his depth and is exposed further because the players immediately around him are also drowning. Having Neville, Osman and Hibbert on the field at the same time should lead to some sort of malpractise charge against DM. If we keep putting out the same tired line-up, the one that has been savagely exposed, then we are in for some miserable results. I would like to be proven wrong. COYB.

Alan Clarke
18 Posted 18/08/2009 at 08:30:58

I seem to be in the minority here then but Matt Kay, I find your reply shitter than my post. The point of the post was not to single out Neville for his play on Saturday but question his role as captain.

I have all those things that Pete Gunby lists but I’m shit at football. Neville is a very very limited player. For some to call him the second best player behind Jagielka last season is utterly deluded. I do wonder sometimes whether a lot of you actually bother watching Everton sometimes. I’m with those who think Neville is not good enough to be an automatic choice in the team and therefore is not good enough to be captain. He cannot inspire those around him with his play and he doesn’t "ALWAYS" rally the troops - see Saturday. To compare him with Ratcliffe is unbvelievable. Ratcliffe was one of the classiest centre-halves to have played in top flight football in this country. He was the first name on the team sheet each week.

To mention Neville’s trophy haul is a crap argument too. Do you not think he was carried a little bit by the players around him at Man U? He was a bit part player at best and why did Fergurson let him go? Ask yourself this, would Neville get into any of the following teams: Man U, the RS, Chelsea, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Spurs, Fulham or Man City? Before Saturday you’d have said these were our main rivals so if he’s not good enough for them why’s he good enough for us?

Ciarán McGlone
19 Posted 18/08/2009 at 08:55:57

"Having Neville, Osman and Hibbert on the field at the same time should lead to some sort of malpractise charge against DM. If we keep putting out the same tired line-up, the one that has been savagely exposed, then we are in for some miserable results. I would like to be proven wrong. COYB."
-------------------------------

Spot on... If we are appointing captain’s on the basis of a medal cache, then that’s criminal.

Appoint them on merit.... and that includes their footballing ability.

Dave Wilson
20 Posted 18/08/2009 at 08:53:19

I kinda agree with you Alan, Neville does have leadership qualities, but manys the time they are’nt enough to compensate for his lack of ability, a good captain, but never a great one.

I would be interested to hear where you think Cahill's best position is. Personally I believe he’s top class in dead-ball situations but is otherwise inaffective wherever you play him.

ps: I haven't forgotten the fiver I pledged, if the rumour about Barton came to nothing. Do you have a favoured charity?

Alan Clarke
21 Posted 18/08/2009 at 09:06:01

I thought Cahill’s best game for us was the Villa cup game. He was everywhere. He should play just behind Saha up front. We missed him massively when he was injured last year and playing him deep doesn’t work. I think he’s the victim of his own sound-bite when he said he’d play left back if he was asked. Moyes seems to stick him anywhere he wants now rather than realising his best position and picking his team around that. The 4-5-1 formation has always been most effective with Cahill just off the front man.

Take your pick with a charity, I’m just delighted Barton is a Newcastle player still.

John Smith
22 Posted 18/08/2009 at 10:51:48

He shouldn’t be the club captain, end of. All Neville is any good at doing is coming out with the usual and constant shite in the paper and on the clubs website before & after games. It’s patronising for the fans to hear Neville, who is a rubbish footballer anyway telling us how we must win or must improve, when he’s mostly at fault for our defeats, with stupid mistakes on the pitch.

The only players who should come out in the media before & after games, are players that you know will make a difference, e.g. Cahill.

I’m sick of hearing the same thing from Neville.

And like someone else said, if he isn’t good enough for any of the teams around us, then why is he in our team? Neville should be fucked off, along with the other bargain basement shit like Osman, Howard and Hibbert. NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

Add Your Comments

In order to post a comment to the MailBag, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.

Log in now

Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and MailBag submissions across the site.