Season 2011-12
The Mail Bag
Tim Cahill - Still a Legend?
I have noticed an increasing number of critical comments on ToffeeWeb about Tim Cahill this season. They seem to focus on two things: his weaknesses as an out-and-out frontman (and the lack of goals this season), and/or his weaknesses as a traditional central midfielder (slow, lack of creativity).
For the record he is in my opinion an Everton legend ? the goals he has scored, his attitude on and off the pitch, he embodies the Everton Way.
His record for Everton is: Appearances 254 (21); Goals 68
We got him in July 2004 for £1.5m from Millwall.
What do people think? Is this the start of his decline in influence or can he produce another good few seasons. Does he deserve to see out his career here as he is increasingly used as a sub only?
Take a look at this YouTube documentary; I am proud that he has been a Blue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ5QTpFtg4Y
Ben Dyke, Posted 30/04/2012 at 18:04:21
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Can he really be thought as highly as Dean,Young,Ball or Southall?
At his best possibly on a par with Kanchelskis in terms of impact, though not in terms of skill.
Way past his best now.
He has been magnificent for the club and I am sure he has a great influence on the youngsters at the club who will look up to him. He is Everton through and through and has never had his head turned unlike certain others.
I agree that his career with us is on the wane though and wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't with us in a couple of years. What a terrific player he has been for us though ? I am so glad we had him.
The RS hate and fear him, he stuck with us when others turned their back, he became the face of EFC, he's a legend in my book.
Moyes has been loyal for far too long and he should finish his career in his native Australia starting next season.
His continued appearances are at the expense of our youngsters gaining valuable experience.
It is not always about ability, sometimes it goes well beyond that. He has, in my book, booked a place in the Goodison folklore and will no matter what happens from here on in, be a true Everton legend.
In years to come our younger fans will know just what a true credit he has been for us.
Tiny Tim. Goodison great. Everton legend.
The thing is, we've needed to replace him with some genuine creative quality behind the striker for about two or three years now, but that for me isn't the point. Cahill has always put in every effort for Everton Football Club, he's travelled from most of the way around the world to truly become an Evertonian, and its 100% clear from everything he does and says that Everton is part of him and always will be, and all this in the era of the mercenary footballer rich enough to retire after a couple of seasons if they wish.
For me, Tim Cahill is a 'legend' in the modern sense of the word, and I will try to contribute to him becoming one in the true sense of the word, and its never really been his skill and technical ability that has made him thus, its his heart.
Also, I would absolutely keep him at the club even as he fades and becomes more and more a bit part player, partly as a reward to him, thus showing the type of club we are, but also mostly as a fine example of professionalism and commitment that I hope every single one of our youngsters will learn from. If he can rub off even slightly on them as they come through, we'll be at a major advantage over most of the other teams in the league as we develop young players.
Moyes once said "it's like taking a knife to a gun-fight!".. in a defeatist, 'see what I can do with what I have got' sort of tone...
Well, if Tim Cahill was holding the knife... I would fancy Tim's chances!
To me he's just another employee, and not a particularly useful one at that.
In his Everton career Tim's achievements have towered above all others in a Blue shirt. When we had a fight on our hands we could rely on Tim to be in the thick of it with courage and a fair degree of skill. He never shirks a tackle and I wish some of his team mates had shown half of his bottle and willingness.
In media interviews, Tim comes across as a genuine kind of bloke and a credit to Everton of whom he is always full of praise. I doubt it has ever crossed his mind to do a Rooney, Lescott, Arteta, Gosling or Pienaar or dare I say Ball. I place him on the same pedstal as my earlier favourites, Young, Labone and Dunc. Each of whom had Everton in their blood.
Unfortunately due to the parlous state of the Club we can no longer support his wages and he should go while we still have fond memories of him.
But welcome him back with open arms any time.
Cahill is a legend in my book and I'll call this, the majority of out there.
He maybe on his way down in terms of age and impact however definitely someone I'd like around the club to influence the attitudes of our young ones coming up in the ranks.
I believe he can still make an impact, perhaps off the bench however now that we have a decent striker, pressure will be shared between the two, therefore seeing more opportunities present itself in a game. Again my thoughts / belief!
From the way he conducts himself in front of the media to little things like how to approach, prepare, address a massive game let alone week-in week-out fixtures he will have a massive impact therefore leaving somewhat of a legacy; no question.
It's no coincidence that he is still picked out as one of our main threats by the pundits before each match.
I'd like to see the man get a well deserved testimonial for his services, I doubt there would be an empy seat.
Giving fans hope in times when we need something to cling onto actually, in my opinion, makes him more of Legend than many trophy winning players.
Has done more for the club than big dunc did and hes regarded as a legend.
Tim defo is.
Southall bridged the gap of great players from the 80s to the 90s and Ferguson from the 90s to the 00s and Cahill has been our best player in the 00s to the present. Wonder who will be the next legend?
However, Moyes shuld now either use him as an impact sub and rotate him in and out of the side bearing in mind his age, or else sell him.
Terrific player that helped us achieve numerous top 10 finishes in the Premier Lge era.
Those that say he's not a legend: well I ask you this: of the Premiership era (unfortunately that is our reality today), can you name 5 Everton players that have done MORE than Tiny Tim?
No point comparing him to Dixie Dean because 90% of visitors to this site wouldn't have seen him play
About 60% (or more) wouldn't have seen Young play.
And I'd wager between 30-50% of visitors to this site wouldn't have seen the team of the 80s
So you can decry our modern day legends all you want but for a significant proprtion of us, Tiny Tim, Big Dunc and Arteta are the only 'legends' we have (that we've seen)
For me legend would put a player on par with the likes of Dean and Southall and I would not put Cahill in that company. These were players who were not only Everton legends but were also the top of their class on the world football stage because they were untouchable in terms of skill for their chosen position. Cahill has/had great fighting spirit and popped up with important goals but lets be honest, he was always an average footballer.
Will have good memories left behind from Cahill's goals and fighting spirit, much like your Artetas, Fergusons and Kanchelskis' in recent memory - but legend, for me no. I hold that accolade for the very few who in my eyes deserve it, players who are looked upon with awe, not just by Everton fans or fans in the UK, but also fans across the world - only the very very few thouch that level.
I've got to take issue with this though:
"Dean, Young, Ball, Southall etc....those blokes had it made in terms of looking good because your general 'average' Division 1 player in their era was far, far comparably worse than your 'average' Premier League player".
Absolute load of shite. So Alan Ball was a World Cup Winner because everyone else was wank and wouldn't even get in the Wolves team these days? Neville Southall never really pulled off gravity defying save, after gravity defying save? It was just mass hysteria brought on by him having a boss moustache because, in reality, 90% of the forwards he faced posessed the non-lethal shooting ability of George Peppard ponceing about in the fucking A-Team?
PremierLeague players may have much greater fitness, stamina and athleticism, but that's about it. They're not automatically 'better footballers' than players from another era purely because of their greater physical conditioning.
Lets say you are correct and the standard of player was weaker in the past that only makes the likes of Dean,Young,Ball and Southall accomplishments even greater because they were so much better than the standard of the day.
I agree with John 837,if people want to consider Cahill a cult figure or fans favourite then fine but never a legend.
He has been a good signing but is nothing more than a average player except for his heading and attitude.
One reason a lot of people seem to consider part of the reason he is a legend is the loyalty he has shown in a time of mercenaries but no other club has ever shown an interest in him so his loyalty was never put the test.He was never good enough to play for the teams above us so Everton was the best he could achieve.If anything its Everton (Moyes really) who has been loyal to him by sticking with him even though he is past his usefullness.
I think perhaps he has overdone it playing too much football for his national side which has contributed to his injuries and drop in form.
He's not played well for a long time, but neither has the team. I'd be interested to see him given a run alongside Jelavic in the current side to see if he still has any gas in the tank. He was always a great foil for a good striker, rather than being the main man and I think he probably could still do a good job.
That said, I think we now have better options, but he's certainly a useful player to bring off the bench.
"..no other club has ever shown an interest in him so his loyalty was never put the test."
And you know this how? Because it wasn't an ongoing saga in a daily rag?
TC had many opportunities to engineer a move away from Goodison and with it, pick up a sizeable payday. He didn't, he chose to stay.
Lets say Cahill could have engineered a move away,where would he have gone?He simply wasnt good enough to go to a better team and he didnt need to move to get a sizable payday,he is already getting that now at Everton.
Plus you cant ask me for evidence to prove there was no interest in him then say Cahill had opportunities to move but didnt.How do you know that he didnt try to move but Moyes wouldn't let him.
We don't know that and probably won't until his autobiography comes out, but what we do know for sure is, that as soon as a player becomes bored at a football club, stories of interest immediately begin to manifest themselves in the daily papers, usually sourced from the players agent.
This never happened with Cahill and I would be willing to wager because he was happy at Goodison.
I also do not think he is finished: I would not be suprised if next season, he scored 8-10 Premier League goals, after getting the rest he badly needs.
However, £50,000 a week is a lot for us... I would be a lot more comfortable with him staying if he were on £25,000, but £50,000 would be more than enough to fund Hoillet's wages, or the return of Pienaar.
If we get an acceptable bid, I'd sell him. If not, he is worth one more season. There is no doubt he is a positive player for morale, a talented squad player, and a good role model.
No, this is the end of Cahill's decline ? the start began a couple of seasons ago.
Were not a charity ffs; if your not good enough, you should not start and if you don't make much difference coming on as a sub then you're slowing down the development of the reserves and youth.
You just knew after that goal at the weekend people would question whether Cahill still has something to offer, unbelievable! I thought I had a short term memory. Our fans are truly brainwashed.
For the record, our players are probably the benchmark in how top flight footballers should conduct themselves outside the game(one person aside) and I think a lot of that has come from him.
He'll still be singing our praises in 50 years time.
He's always said he wants to go back to Aus to finish his career and now may be the right time.
I suppose it depends on perceptions; I'm too young to remember last time we won the league... I was one, and the only trophy I can vividly recall is the FA Cup in 95. None of them are deemed legends, apart from Duncan. But again, is he an Everton legend or just somebody who loved the club so much we loved him back and respected to the hilt?
For me, and the majority of fans my age, I'd imagine, they both are probably legends due to the service they have given the club... yet both have played less times than Osman and Hibbert for us. I don't see their names being branded legendary!?!
Moyes was wrong.
Cahill has been poor this season, I think it is because he has played when injured during the Asian cup and he has also played too often for us.
The guy is 32 years old, he should have been out of the team in January, but Moyes has stuck him back in the team and it has done him no good at all.
To me Cahill deserved a rest after January since we got Jelavic,Gibson, Pienaar and Barkley was back from injury..
Moyes has overplayed Cahill for the last couple of seasons and Cahill is struggling with the effects of it.
If I were Moyes I would give Cahill an early vacation.
He needs a long rest to heal fully from his injury, also he seems jaded and he has lost his energy that he had so much of before.
I remember the first half of last season, Cahill had to deliver as Saha did not, and come January he went to Austrailia when he should have stayed home healing his injury.
I certainly hope this is not the end of the Tim Cahill we once had.
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739 Posted 30/04/2012 at 21:00:34
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