The Rumour Mill

Everton hand trial to Manninger

10/10/2012 |

Comments (18)

The Mail report that Everton will take ex-Arsenal goalkeeper Alex Manninger on trial.

The 35-year-old is currently without a club after being released by Italian giants, Juventus, last season.

The Austrian had a spell with Espanyol after leaving the Gunners in 2002.

Original Source: Daily Mail Rumour source ranking:
1 = Poor; 2 = Fair; 3 = Good; 4 = Very Good; Empty (grey) = Unranked

Reader 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

Phil Sammon
040 Posted 10/10/2012 at 22:45:31

Really?!

Peter Thistle
062 Posted 11/10/2012 at 02:44:54

Why bother?

Blake Watt
064 Posted 11/10/2012 at 03:05:31

Juventus fans seem to rate him highly and they have one of the best goalkeeping duos in the world with Buffon and Storari. Better than Hahnemann and Mucha, so he might be useful as backup to Howard and to pressure him for a starting place with Mucha wanting to leave.

Vijay Nair
066 Posted 11/10/2012 at 04:59:30

Admire your positivity Blake, but I doubt Manninger will offer any more than Hahnemann or Mucha..

Would much prefer us going for someone younger with potential, like Jack Butland.

Blake Watt
067 Posted 11/10/2012 at 06:27:52

i agree Vijay, it would be be nice to have a young back-up keeper for once. But I read somewhere that Butland would not move to a club unless he was first choice which is fair enough so he can develop!

I know we won't but Moyes should look at young australian talent from the A-League. I'm not being biased, me being Australian; I know the league is low standard but there are plenty of talented players, particularly goalkeepers.

Young Borussia Dortmund keeper Mitchell Langerak was signed from Central Coast Mariners. He has impressed when played including a clean sheet against Bayern Munich! His young replacement at Mariners, Matthew Ryan, is only 20 or so and he is already one of the best in the league. I think he officially got Goalie of the Season last year or before.

Sign him, Moyes, and he could be a future Mark Schwarzer and first team!

Matt Traynor
068 Posted 11/10/2012 at 07:04:03

It's standard practice to have an older keeper on the bench, rather than a prospect, who you'd want either on loan or playing in the reserves/U21s, gaining experience.

If we did have serious interest in Butland in August, it would either have been with a view to him offering a serious challenge to Howard (i.e. getting a chance) or putting him right back out on loan.

In other words, you'd want your bench keeper to be the number 3, not the 2.

Sam Hoare
069 Posted 11/10/2012 at 08:05:48

Always strange to have a 3rd choice keeper who will probably only play in the most bizarre of circumstances. Still, it happened to Doni at Liverpool last season...

Terry Smith
076 Posted 11/10/2012 at 09:16:34

Howard needs competition. At the moment he can make a howler and still be guaranteed a start the week after. What happened to Boruc?

Steavey Buckley
086 Posted 11/10/2012 at 10:21:20

Mucha is not a serious challenger for the no 1 spot. And that is not a good situation for EFC.

Keith Glazzard
092 Posted 11/10/2012 at 11:31:46

Just to note - The Guardian (not too seriously) are linking us with Belgian striker Jelle Vosen of Genk today. What is it? Toffees become Belgian chocolates or the Jellytots?

Brian Bates
157 Posted 11/10/2012 at 20:30:15

In reply to Terry, Boruc signed for Southampton.

Edward Simpson
167 Posted 11/10/2012 at 22:01:45

We never raised a bid for Butland, just media jargon trying to make up another story on deadline day. Would be easy to be pessimistic and say he's not better than our previous back ups but the player obviously did something right to be at Juventus.

If we did go for Butland and signed him I would be over the moon but keeper is probably the last place we need to worry at the moment. Getting a partner for Gibson in midfield is more important.

It's good that we finally got a proper RW and a backup for Baines and Coleman coming into the starting XI, things are moving in the right direction in regards to transfers.

Mark Stone
204 Posted 12/10/2012 at 11:20:44

Vijay, I think any potential deal for the free agent manninger would be very much a cheap third choice, if the worst comes to the worst we've at least got someone experienced, type of deal. By Jack Butland, I'm assuming you mean as a replacement for Howard? (As why would he want to sit on the bench) - That is a very different proposition.

Trevor Lynes
231 Posted 12/10/2012 at 15:09:28

We need OUTFIELD players and we just cannot afford to let 'Yozzer Hughes' types to just come and pick up salaries for nothing. We wasted money on McFadden and Hahnemann whilst allowing Gosling to go for free and Pienaar to leave for peanuts. We still have no real cover for Baines and others who may get injured or suspended.

Goalkeepers do not usually get injured as often as outfield players so my opinion is that it is much more important to have more outfield players to be able to provide cover for every position BEFORE going for a third(-rate) goalkeeper.

Jimmy Sørheim
348 Posted 13/10/2012 at 11:46:51

It is all about pushing Howard to perform every game, knowing he has someone breathing down his neck if he fails.

Jim Knightley
689 Posted 15/10/2012 at 20:36:37

Trevor...we cocked up with Gosling...it was hardly a case of 'allowing' Gosling to go for free.

And everyone says, with retrospect, that getting Hahnemann in was a waste...but of course it is with retrospect. But, if Howard gets injured, and we are down to only one senior goalie, Moyes will be attacked for a failure to bring in a third choice.... What do these have in common? Krul, Lingergaard, Cech, Reina, Hart, Scezney, Schwarzer, Given...? They have all, along with many others I've failed to mention, suffered from injuries in the past. Most Premiership teams will employ three senior goalies, if they lack a good young prospect who could perform in the league. We do lack a good young prospect, have one goalie who plays international football, and one backup who looks poor when he gets a chance.

Liverpool, as has been noted played their third choice goalie last season...Chelsea have also done so in recent times, and United, and Arsenal.

Tom Dodds
724 Posted 16/10/2012 at 05:40:19

Ruddy ?
Sigh.

Tom Dodds
734 Posted 16/10/2012 at 05:40:19

Ruddy?

Sigh.

Add Your Comments

In order to post a comment, 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 Talking Points submissions across the site.