The Mail Bag
The case for signing Micheal Ball
Comments (46)
The harsh reality of life in the Premier League at the moment is that any club wishing to be competitive needs to have a squad of players, rather than just a good team. To do this you need money — something which, it has been well-documented — Everton simply do not have.
The solution according to Moyes has been to buy players that have versatility alongside the right quality and the right attitude. By my count there are now 12 first team players that can operate in more than one position on the pitch, with all bar one being Moyes purchases. There is also Jagielka (not one of my 12) who was bought as a versatile right sided defender who could play in central midfield, but has since proved so invaluable as a centre back that he is highly unlikely to be relocated from there when he is fit.
The result of this versatility is a squad with options all over the pitch. We have 5 players who can play right back (Hibbert, Heitinga, Neill, Gosling, Neville), 6 potential centre halves (Yobo, Jagielka, Neill, Heitinga, Distin, Rodwell), 6 defensive or central midfield players (Neville, Heitinga, Rodwell, Arteta, Fellaini, Cahill), 5 right midfielders (Pienaar, Osman, Arteta, Gosling, Anichebe), 3 left midfielders (Bilyaletdinov, Pienaar, Osman), 3 attacking midfielders (Osman, Bilyaletdinov, Pienaar), 4 players who can play as a support striker (Cahill, Fellaini, Jo, Osman) and 5 players who can play as an out and out centre forward (Yakubu, Saha, Vaughan, Anichebe, Jo).
The glaring omission from this squad of versatility is at left back. For me Leighton Baines is one of the 3 best left backs in the Premier League along with Ashley Cole and Patrice Evra. We do not have sufficient cover there, however, as displayed by the decision to move Tony Hibbert there when Baines came off against Hull. At some point he is going to need a rest. What happens if he gets an injury? I can’t see Distin or Hibbert playing 20 straight games at left back effectively. Neville possibly when he is fit, but I don’t think he is any better than Hibbo or Distin.
The solution is out there and is a boyhood blue, with England caps, Premier League and European experience. He is without a club and we could, therefore, sign him straight away. So someone please tell me why we haven’t signed Michael Ball?
Alasdair Mackay, Posted 30/09/2009 at 08:31:24
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1. He’s injury prone.
2. It increases the wage bill.
3. He showed Everton no loyalty first time around.
4. Bad attitude. He couldn’t get on with Smith so how’s he gonna react to control freak Moyes.
5. Its taking a step backwards to sign old players. We must have a youngster in that position.
6. Moyes clearly doesn’t rate.
7. He’s rubbish. Made no impact at either Rangers or Man City.
8. None of the other clubs are interested in him. Speaks volumes to me.
This website must be the only place in the world where Michael Ball is wanted. People seem to go on about him like he’s the reincarnation of Roberto Carlos or something.
Since he left PSV he has done nothing. NOTHING!
He is not good enough to play for us, and there’s a reason nobody wants to sign him.
In fairness to him though, I’m pretty sure we screwed him when he left by nearly ending his career when the Smith regime injected his knee to reduce swelling in order that Rangers would think it was fine and hence pay us. Whilst we owe him a debt, we still should not sign him though, as he is NOT GOOD ENOUGH!
Please lay this ridiculous idea to rest.
If I remember correctly I’m sure Rangers still owed us money for him and eventually we let it slide.
Is that right?
I seem to remember Rangers wouldn’t play him because after x amount of games it would trigger another payment to Everton. So, if I remember right, I think Ball actually paid the money owed to us out of his own pocket. So he could get a game.
Ball was then considered a bright prospect wanted by several EPL clubs. But he chose Rangers because he publicly stated he couldn’t imagine playing against his favourite club — Everton.
That's right. I knew there was some problem. Although I don’t think we got the amount originally agreed. In the end, I think we just settled on a token amount so the player could play again.
He was a fantastic young prospect and a true blue Everton fan.
In an ideal world this season would be his 12th at Everton and he’d be makiing his 800th appearance.
Unfortunately he chose to leave us. By all accounts it was Smith and Knox who pushed him but still Ball himself agreed to the move away from his beloved Everton.
There are romantic reasons to sign him back. We all love a former favourite returning but it hardly ever works out. Remember when Liverpool brought back Fowler.
Everyone wanted him - Google News
Can anyone honestly say he chose to leave?
- Sign a free agent like Ball
- Play Hibbert at left back
- Play Neill at left back
- Play Bilyaledtinov at left back
- Play Moses Barnet, Luke Garbutt or Jake Bidwell at left back
Which option do you fancy. Obviously Garbutt and Bidwell are only 16 years old so they might be a bit to young. Barnet is 18.
http://www.toffeeweb.com/players/past/Ball.asp
Its all very well remembering how highly regarded Ball was as a youngster.
But as time has now proven Ball did not develop into a good player. In fact his career has been very disappointing.
I’m no fan of Smith’s but in hindsight maybe he knew something we didn’t and that's why he ended the contract negoiations.
He would have retired 6 years ago and looking forward to a life of attending "Arthritis Care" meetings. Smith and Knox would have played him through injections more and more until his knee was finished and he retired at 23.
This is from the biography on this site:
"I’d had trouble with the patella tendon at Everton for about 18 months, on and off, but wasn’t the type to make a big thing about injuries and the physio just told me to do stretches. When I mentioned it again, Walter Smith let me off training during the week and the knee felt better.
"But, looking back, I think this was just hiding the problem. So were the injections in the middle of the season and at the end. They helped me get a move to Rangers — but they knackered me.
"When I flew to Colorado to visit Mr Steadman [Richard Steadman, a surgeon so intimate with the knees of the world’s athletes that he is enrolled in the US National Ski Hall Of Fame], he ordered an operation. He told me I was one game away from losing my career because there was just one thin tendon left and, if that had gone, it would have taken years to rebuild the knee.
"The rehab was said to be five to 12 months but I’d been warned that, in about 30 per cent of cases, a second operation was needed. In all I lost 18 months, during which Rangers completed a double, then won a treble.
"Then Alex McLeish came in and I started playing. Last season we won the League, on top of the League Cup, and I felt there were rewards for all the hard work and frustration."
I think for his sake it was good that he left. Strange how we do this to some players and the myth is stronger than the truth.
To write that "He showed Everton no loyalty first time around." and "Bad attitude. He couldn’t get on with Smith so how’s he gonna react to control freak Moyes." is just plain disrespect to someone who acted honourably. He was not Lescott.
To those of you saying he is not up to standard anymore etc etc — he was Man City’s regular left back for the first half of last season, so he has recent Premier League experience. I am not for a second suggesting that he would be first choice for us, merely that his signing give us a full squad with quality and cover in every position on the field.
I accept that I am a little biased towards Bally because he was one of my favourite players as the time and I was gutted when he got sold. To those of you who said he made the decision to go, so did Big Dunc when he went to GeordieLand, but I don’t recall people saying he lacked loyalty to the club.
"Ball focused on Fitness.
Defender waits to find new club."
Says here that he was operated in the summer and is about 1 month away from fitness. His agent, Trevor Steven, says that they will consider offers from clubs after Ball has regained his fitness.
I have a strange feeling that your wish may come true, Alisdair Mackay.
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_5595673,00.html
Also we should note that he came out of our academy, so when we register him for Europe he will count as a player we can register like Hibbert and Osman, players who had 2 years at our academy, along with Vaughany. Do the deal Moyesiah!
As for Ferguson leaving wasn’t he sold without being informed that a transfer was going on. Indeed I believe the person who was calling all the shots was Peter Johnson. So nope I don’t think Big Dunc instigated his depature. As for Ball... well it depends who you speak to.
He didn’t "Rooney" Everton, he was pushed out.
That being said, it was a good decision — as he isn’t good enough for Everton. He had flashes at City, but he’s probably a good risk for a Championship side at best.
I think right midfield/winger and powerful central midfielder more pressing than left back.
At this point in time (given that Neville is injured) that would mean playing a youngster with barely any playing time in the reserves or a right back out of position......not a great set of options given the sterner tests that lie in wait come November!
If Ball was fit & available on a free, he would be a good option especially as he provides cover at centre-half as well!
If he’s fit enough & Moyes feels we need the cover & that Ball could do a job for us then it would be a reasonable signing, probably just for the season. But it does seem rather unlikely to me.
I’m rather surprised at some of the scathing criticisms in this thread — they seem somewhat unwarranted, imo.
Smith was very good at making departing players look bad. Remember Don Hutchison? I believe it is something Everton have done quite frequently to hide the fact that every player has his price while not wishing to be tagged a ’selling club’
As for Ball, of course he’s a risk, but then again so is having only Bainesy and some schoolboys for cover. If the price (wages) was right and he proveshis fitness, then as cover he’d be a reasonable bet.
I’d love to see him get a couple of run-outs in games we’ve got won to see how we copes with the pressure. I’d certainly see youth as an option before I brought in Ball. Also, what about Duffy, is he a full back?
That said I do think that some left back cover (possibly a loaner in the Jacobsen mould) would be welcome in January, alongside the essential right winger with pace (I would love Adam Johnson - shame Vaughan-y went to Derby in the end, could see some sort of swap deal on the cards there) and ideally a midfield enforcer who can pass (Viera, M’Bia style).
Sorry I slipped into a bit of a daydream there.
You are probably mixing up another guy with the name of Ball on the bench for City this year - it’s not our michael though
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1 Posted 30/09/2009 at 14:37:26
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