ToffeeWeb - Season 2009-10

The Mail Bag

Mick Rathbone - Has left Everton.

As most of you will now know, our head of physio Mick Rathbone has left Everton.

The Official Website gives nothing away as to why he has left? Does anybody know why?
Josh Holmes, Chester Posted 17/05/2010 at 19:43:41

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

Tony Parsons
1 Posted 17/05/2010 at 22:34:57

Report abuse

It has to be one of two reasons. One, he is not good enough (I know nothing about his standing within the game) or two, he fancies a change of job. I can't see it being an important or shocking reason.

Brendan O'Doherty
2 Posted 17/05/2010 at 22:40:14

Report abuse

Overworked, probably.

Iain Love
3 Posted 17/05/2010 at 22:44:17

Report abuse

With our injuries last season, I suppose someone had to pay.

Dick Anderson
4 Posted 17/05/2010 at 23:08:48

Report abuse

Yakubu out for a year. Arteta out for a year. Jagielka out for 9 months. Anichebe out for 9 months. Phil Neville out for 6 months. Gosling out for a year. Vaughan never fit.

All that in the last year.

Could be just bad luck but it seems strange the medical staff is changed now after all that.

Steve Pugh
5 Posted 17/05/2010 at 23:10:59

Report abuse

All I want to say is that he has been a good servant to the club, has had to work incredibly hard for his money, and I wish him luck in the future.

Kjetil Moen
6 Posted 18/05/2010 at 00:45:13

Report abuse

I will miss Baz! It's been some time since Evertontv posted an interview with him, and that's a shame, as I really enjoyed those videos with smirky Baz telling it like it is.

I hope it's just a case of him wanting to rest for a bit, or change jobs.

Am I the only one who feels Baz is special to the fans? He has been a substantial part of the Everton that I love.

I feel the official website should have said a few more words on this.

Alex Kociuba
7 Posted 18/05/2010 at 01:02:07

Report abuse

I agree Kjetil. I think the lack of words suggests he left in a hurry / was sacked. The story on the official site couldn't have had less words really. You'd also expect Bill Kenwright to make a comment.

Ashley Plozza
8 Posted 18/05/2010 at 02:00:09

Report abuse

He looks like he's about 85 years old. Maybe he retired.

Also he's a physio who cares? I've never seen any club make a big deal about a physio leaving.

David Denby
9 Posted 18/05/2010 at 06:31:28

Report abuse

Maybe he won the Euromillions on Friday and didn't want to listen to Bill begging?!

Mike Oates
10 Posted 18/05/2010 at 10:27:34

Report abuse

Just guessing, as we all are, but I suspect he's just had his yearly review and the extended recovery times for Arteta, Jags, Anichebe, Neville, Pinnear, Yakubu didn't feature too highly for Mick.

In reverse, I dont think Mick would have been too happy with Moyes leaving Gosling on the pitch at Wolves and also including a clearly still injured Heitiga as sub against Portsmouth.

All-in-all, time to split — pity, as Mick clearly liked by fans and players alike.

Eugene Ruane
11 Posted 18/05/2010 at 11:30:29

Report abuse

You chaps!

Talk about 'missing a sitter'.

Ok look if nobody's going to take it, you FORCE me to.

Ready?

AHEM!!

"He obviously rubbed someone up the wrong way".

Now hang your heads all of you.

('overworked' - TUT!)

Craig Taylor
12 Posted 18/05/2010 at 11:54:18

Report abuse

Can't believe that it is due to the injuries. No-one could have prevented the injuries by Arteta, Yakubu, Jags or Felliani.

However, one school of thought I have is that he is a bit old school and the club wants to use new types of medical techniques.

Gary Creaney
13 Posted 18/05/2010 at 12:04:02

Report abuse

Eugene, perhaps he rubbed someone up the right way and is now being held captive at a player's house to continue rubbing up the right way.

Matt Bone
14 Posted 18/05/2010 at 13:04:14

Report abuse

I heard it was because he didn't agree with the propaganda messages that EFC were about to release in the coming days. We've now seen that two of our young long term injured are suprisingly for EFC doing well and might be returning ahead of schedule. This has to be bollocks and Baz didn't agree with duping the fans in this way.

Norman Merrill
15 Posted 18/05/2010 at 13:09:07

Report abuse

I wonder who is going to bring Tim Howard's 2 bottles of drink out after the half time break?

For some reason, Mick used to run up and place them by the net, must have been too heavy for Howard... so preventing him straining his back.

James Marshall
16 Posted 18/05/2010 at 14:20:12

Report abuse

It really is amazing that the club doesn't tell us absolutely everything. I for one am outraged.

I want to know their salaries, home addresses, shoe size, what side of the bed they sleep on, what cars they drive, their wives favourrite perfumes — I WANT ANSWERS!!!

Des Farren
17 Posted 18/05/2010 at 15:19:28

Report abuse

Alex; Agree entirely. The statement was curt, almost dismissive and would indicate a disagreeable parting of the ways.

James Stewart
18 Posted 18/05/2010 at 17:11:16

Report abuse

I think Craig is on the right train of thought with this one... It would be plain daft for Everton to keep him on if there are better alternatives out there.

Peter Laing
19 Posted 18/05/2010 at 21:34:17

Report abuse

Word has it that Baz developed a serious habit with fiery Jack, deep heat and ralgex. When Marouane complained about the odour coming from the treatment room and the effect it was having on his barnet David Moyes had to take action. Kenwright is also contemplating bringing Les Parry of Tranmere in for next season as Physio, caretaker manager, sponge-man and first mate to Phil Neville.

Dick Fearon
20 Posted 18/05/2010 at 22:16:17

Report abuse

We are groping in the dark about what caused Baz to leave but lets not forget that only a few months ago he was subject of much debate here on TW. Half said he was OK the rest thought our injured players were taking far longer to recover than those with similar injuries at other clubs.
Then again, we just might have a more highly credentialled replacement lined up.

James Reed
21 Posted 19/05/2010 at 02:40:59

Report abuse

Peter Laing ... spot on that mate. Laughed my head off.

Chris Jenkinson
22 Posted 19/05/2010 at 05:55:30

Report abuse

I think Craig has it right There are new technques emerging continuously and if a physio can't keep up then there's really no alternative to parting company.

As for the club making the reasons public, let's not forget that there exists an employer/employee relationship here and there are many privacy issues. We as fans do not have the right to be told the details of an employee's relationship with the club.

Baz was a good servant, but like all of us he's not irreplaceable. We'll get a replacement and time will judge whether or not the change is beneficial.

Alan Clarke
23 Posted 19/05/2010 at 08:52:37

Report abuse

I've shared some strong opinions about Rathbone in the past on here. I'm not surprised he's left. Some people seem a bit pissed off just because he's a bit of a character. In today's modern game where you are dealing with millions of pounds worth of talent and millions of pounds in revenue based on European qualification and final league placings, rehabilitation of players is very important.

It's difficult to say whether injuries or length of time out were directly linked to Rathbone but imagine if we'd had Arteta back 6 weeks earlier? That just may have seen us finishing a few places higher.

Sports science and rehab from injuries have progressed massively over the past 10 years. Rathbone was appointed at Everton because he was Moyes's mate — not because he was the best physio. He's an ex-player and his age should not be confused with his actual experience as a physio; he's still relatively immature in that respect. Blackburn, Chelsea and Arsenal all have world renowned medical set ups but Everton, even with their top facilities now, are never mentioned.

By employing the best physios and medical team, you give yourself a better chance of getting players over their injuries more safely and quicker. It also counts when selling the club to potential players i.e. if you're out injured, we have the very best medical team and facilities to get you back to full health.

Mike Allison
24 Posted 19/05/2010 at 11:47:38

Report abuse

I was about to write what Alan Clarke has written so I'll just go with a hear hear.

There's no way James Vaughan should get that many injuries, somebody at the club should take charge of his conditioning, and Rathbone doesn't seem to have done any good at all.

Our medical staff seem to be a long way behind that of other clubs.

Jason Lam
25 Posted 26/05/2010 at 08:00:19

Report abuse

The good old sponge and water not good enough for ya heh?

With all this medical advance bollocks there's nothing better than slapping shitloads of vaseline on an open head wound. Fucking pussies.

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.