Veteran trio released by Everton

I suspect Osman will get another deal elsewhere in the lower premier league but the only way we'll be seeing Hibbo coming back to Goodison is in the stands as a spectator.

They'll point at Gibson and wonder but at least he's a bit younger.

Brothers in arms almost, Ossie and Hibbo have been the local link that dragged us from obscurity in the dying embers of the millenium to respectiblity through the 'noughties. True Evertonians, both limited footballers who often made up for things with sheer will power, Vert Everton that!

Remember Ossies' header against City? One of the best headed goals I've seen at Goodsion

Good luck to all the lads, NSNO

........That said, good as they were at their best I hope to soon see better players than them in team, even at their best.

Now who's going to take the "It's _____________ Fault!" mantel?

I'm very very excited about what is happening at Everton!

Things seems to be heading in the right direction, and a very positive direction at that!

Can we release Kenwright as well?

A sad day for all three I would imagine. Especially Hibbo and Ossie.

To me it's just another sign that this club is moving forward. No doubt if Bill Was still in charge, he'd have found some way of keeping them at the club.

All decent players though.

Thanks lads.

Seriously though, three great servants, and two of my favourite Goodison goals were scored by two of these players. Osman v larissa, and tony hibbert's free kick against Athens. Cheers boys, good effort and good luck.

Thanks lads - enjoy life!

I imagine we'll see them back at Everton in one way or another in the future.

As for Pienaar, he was my favourite player for most of his first spell here, so also wish him the best.

As others have mentioned, I'm staggered that Gibbo isn't joining them.

For what its worth I reckon that Koeman is calling the shots, there is no way Gibson would have got a deal unless he approved it.

I wonder if these three will be replaced by players from the Under-21s?

I wouldn't be surprised to see Hibbo and Ossie back with us at some point as coaches for the youngsters... they'd be great examples. As for Pienaar, can't see him hanging up his boots yet... he won't want to end his career after three years of chronic injury. Maybe home to the South African league?

Thanks.

I wouldnt mind Hibbo and Ossie helping out with coaching the kids and I am sure Peanuts will want to see out his time back home.

Thanks and good luck lads.

Although they played through trophyless years at the club, each contributed to many happy memories in their own way.

A few holes for the new manager to fill in the squad.

Chelsea have a few they probably don't need ... an astonishing EIGHTY-TWO players retained by the pensioners. Absurd.

Osman always got a bad rap on this site. God only knows why.

Hibbert was a great tackler. Not such a good crosser.

Pienaar was a lovely intricate passer of the ball and overall link player but lacked pace which especially hindered him when tracking back.

Although it's the end of their PL career I am sad to see them go.

End of an Era.

Hibbo was a great right back in his day. He could really defend one-on-one as good as anyone and could also cross the ball, which is more than I can say for Coleman.

As for the other two. Pienaar, Ossie & Arteta could actually play a bit. I think it was with these players that we switched from being dogs of war/shite to something a little more sophisticated.

Sad that Ossie is not moving to the coaching side. He could teach kids how to read a game, and how to pass to your own side, which was woefully lacking last season.

Great blues, all three.

Two of them were one club men, true Evertonians, and I wish all three of them well for the future.

I always wanted to see Pienaar in behind the striker pulling the strings as he did for Bafana bafana and I think we missed that opportunity.

Will miss all 3! Great servants!

All three can hold their heads up as they have always given 100%.

Maybe he wants to carry on playing for a season or two in a lower League, or even for a club like Burnley, he'd still be an asset for them.

All the best to all three of them.

My comment was a reference to some players who are still with us, yet have contributed nothing and are paid silly money!

Colin #56. Jagielka?!! Really? Our (still) best defender by a country mile!!

Thanks guys and best of luck in whatever you choose to do next.

I will always remember that goal of Ossie's at Macclesfield, FA Cup 3rd Round, 2009. We won 1-0... We are in white:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-Q6b2l92oo

They should be kept at the club to develop as coaches within our youth system.

Osman with pace would have been brill yet he still managed to carve out a decent career – an England Cap and I'll always remember that Euro League Goal. Great servant who hopefully will get another season somewhere else.

Pienaar – great player for us and South Africa. He and Baines had one of the great understandings of Everton. Badly advised when he went to Spurs. Redknapp just wanted to fuck up the link up with Baines as EFC were a threat to Spurs at the time – how many times did he play for them ? If memory serves me he tried for Baines too. Pienaar always reliable in a derby – never shirked a tackle – ask Carragher. Good luck Steven a privilege to see you in blue shirt.

I always thought, but never said it too loudly, that Osman was our most gifted technical player and was completely wasted out wide by Moyes. I also thought, again none too loudly, Pienaar should have always played in the middle and not out wide.

I honestly think Pienaar, Osman, and Arteta should have been our triangle of death midfield, with Arteta in the holding role.

Yes, it would have been light weight, but Jesus the technical skill would have been sublime to watch.

Good luck to them, decent player for the Blues, but not in the same class as Pienaar who was top notch in my opinion, think he might get a deal at his former club Ajax.

I so desperately wanted someone fouled in the box, and Hibbo to step up, take the pen, and just hammer it home.

I would have literally lost my shit.

Some things were just not meant to happen.

Not having a go at the players but we really are a club that wastes money left, right and centre on aged players that hardly play. Why can't we do what clubs like Arsenal and Chelsea do and only offer 1 year rolling contracts to players over 32 or 33. At least it would keep them hungry to earn another contract.

Gibson is another example - still in disbelief we gave him a two year contract!

Apart from Pienaar's move they gave many good year's loyal service. They shame the likes of mercenary Lukaku.

Now what about Kone, McGeady and Robles?

Sadly, I think we are stuck with Niasse for some time because no other club in world football will pay even half of what we did and we can't write of £13 million.

Truth is... 2 of them have stayed 2 seasons to long and the other should never have been re- signed.

They don't need our wishes, just a good accountant and a few decent investments, rich enough to retire at 35ish.

What a dream.

Agree with the majority that it is the right decision to let them go. Ossie will get a game at a lower Premier League team or a decent Championship side. Hibbo probably retiring from playing and Pienaar also unless he can prove his fitness.

That's not a slur on any of the three lads, it's more a comment of the standards that have to be set if we are to achieve more in the near future than we have in the recent past. Good luck to all three but remember each of them will have pretty healthy bank-balances to ease their pain.

I wish all three the best of luck in anything they pursue next. Having supported the Blues for 45 years, I can honestly say I keep thinking I'm dreaming because the future looks so brilliant.

Gibson should never have had a contract extension, he has shown himself as unprofessional and has hardly played a full game in all the time he has been with us. He and McGeady should be emptied out along with a few other nonentities.

Osman, Hibbert and Pienaar were different class compared to those wasters.

You saw Old Indestructible, Gordie Howe, passed away?

I could understand why he opted to leave the first time around, when Arteta was given a club record contract a year later and he wasn't offered a similar deal or terms. Some good flashes the 2nd time round (particularly when on loan), but sadly he never reached the peak or consistency of his first spell. I hope he gets a last payday in China or MLS where he may still have something to offer in a less demanding league.

Osman was undervalued as a player and if we had signed him rather than developed him, I'm sure he would have been appreciated. Delighted he got his England cap. Can't really see him or Hibbo playing anywhere else, but you never know they may end up with Stubbs at Rotherham. Hopefully they will be given a chance in the future to coach our youngsters in the academy. Both players gave their all for Everton over 20 years as kids and men. A quality in the modern game lacking so much.

Best of luck to the three of them.

This really does feel like a change. Unlike the start of the Martinez era.

Hibbo could defend and is a proper Blue.

Ossie, definately squeezed out just about all he could from his gifts and physique. EVERYONE who has met this guy will attest that he's immensely likeable.

'Nuts, utterly sublime and his partnership with Baines was a sheer joy in a fairly workmanlike side.

Thanks lads, whatever you do next, I sincerely hope that you enjoy every minute of it.

Obviously the local lads get a lot of deserved praise for their service, but I loved Pienaar as a player.

In a team that didn't always play great passing football he was the one prepared to be brave and hold onto the ball. I always remember us getting battered by Arsenal at Goodison after the Lescott debacle - eventually the heads went down and the effort slowed... except for Pienaar who chased and harried right across midfield. The partnership he formed with Baines was incredible and even in his later years he looked one of our better players when he came into the side. Such a smart, hard working player.

Stevie P in his prime was a joy to behold and has never been replaced in my mind on that left wing.

I'm enjoying the moment. I am not remotely concerned about the delayed unveiling of RK and I am finding it really refreshing that the press are really struggling to make stories up. Man Utd have not properly unveiled Mourinho to the worlds press and won't do until after the Euros have finished. Whats wrong with us doing that?

Make a statement next week and then simply crack on with a summer of stripping out the dead wood and bringing in the new players that we can now easily afford. I am very at peace with the whole situation. Moyes, ancient history, Martinez, best forgotten. Moving forward. Happy days...

I'd have done Gibson too myself, and look to sell Oviedo, McGeady and Kone.

They certainly wouldn't gain us a big amount of money, but saving there wages alone would put us in a stronger position.

We've had a bit of a shake up, but a big shake up would be better.

Best of luck & many thanks for the memories to the 3 of them. It really is an end of an era, I think I am right in saying that Hibbo was the last remaining player in the squad to have played first team football under Walter Smith, incredible! Maybe he can get the early morning talksport spot at the weekends hosting fisherman's blues now.

All three good Everton players in their own way, hopefully see them back in the future in some capacity.

Koeman could just give his opinion on certain things down the phone line and a column gets written under his name.

Sports people also have something similar when writing autobiographies. If however I'm wrong I will eat humble pie and apologise.

Genuine professionals.

Ossie, much maligned. Guess he was an easy target for the boo boys but put everything into his performances. Sometimes not good enough, other times excellent. Goals against Man City and Larissa were a treat.

Hibby, well what can you say. Really good full back. Not many got the better of him but unfortunately the final at Wembley 2009 completely highlighted his deficiencies, namely his pace or lack thereof. But he was a great servant as they all were. Good luck boys

As for the young players being released, I have always wondered about spending years as a teenager at an academy only to be released and not being able to leave by choice. I hope it is not as devastating an experience as I imagine it to be. I do not know enough about them but hope they go on to success either at another club or in some other occupation.

Osman never grumbled about being out of position, scored the odd goal and offered more in half a season being fit than that useless wage thief James McCarthy has in three seasons.

Exciting times ahead, a new team, a new era, nsno, coyb!

The column will be written by some hack who may, or may not, email the final version for a cursory peer review from the man himself.

Koeman is not in this country, he needs to be in this country to sign the papers but more importantly, be announced to the world at a big press conference at GP. This is the biggest managerial appointment our club has ever made in a global football context. The appointment needs to be launched at a presser that will get seen around the world, bit different to appointing Martinez. We are now a big club again in terms of money and ambition. As fans we need to reset our minds to think big and ditch the parochial tendencies we have all shown in the past.

Pretty sure there would have been some referral to the new man prior to these announcements, after all he may have opted for Hibbo if Lukaku goes.

Haven't a bad word to say about that generation. I just hope that Hibbert enjoys his fishing, osman decides he wants to coach and that Pienaar finds his pay day.

There are some proper shameful comments on this thread. Show some humility and class and stop moaning for once.

All three were part of a team that actually played like a one, and always put in a shift despite their often-magnified limitations. I'll miss them.

At the same time, it feels part of the sea change of freshening up the squad and, I hope, elevating us to a level where we are competing for top four, rather than top-half.

Him and Leon Osman are just ordinary lads who fulfilled lifelong ambitions to play professional football for their childhood team.

The fact that they happened to be born at a time when obscene amounts of money have flooded into the game is immaterial. To suggest either of them is 'dog average' when both managed to sustain top flight status throughout their entire careers is ludicrous.

And they weren't lucky either, they were talented, and clearly managed to get the best out of themselves through plenty of hard work and dedication. The phrase that comes to my mind is 'model professionals'.

Why you, and thankfully only a handful of others, would choose to slate two players who have clocked up more than 700 games between them on the day they leave the club is beyond me.

Sam #122 you sum it all up very nicely for me- great servants and decent players whilst never being superstars but no doubt the pillars of the club. We must move forward and clearing the decks of the over 30s like these three plus Tim is necessary. Kone and McGeady will hopefully go too ( not at the end of their contracts so to release them would mean paying up the full term) and I doubt that there will be many tears shed.

The most important question is where the hell is Ronald?????

Tom, that first sentence sums it up perfectly. Let's look to the future, and hopefully rejoice!

Hibbert was a traditional right back operating in an era that demandedattacking full backs. Not his fault, maybe the manager who picked him and tactics.

Osman. Well I'm going to put myself out to be hung but I've said it before. Possibly one of the most technically gifted but least appreciated English players of his generation. But he lived in an English football culture that demands all players must run fast, be powerful, get stuck in, track back and be Messi; all at the same time for 90 minutes every game of the season (primacy focus being on the physical attributes). Ross suffers from it now

Having spent a lot of time abroad I have often wondered how successful a player like Osman would have been had he grown up in somewhere like Germany where his talent would probably have been better appreciated and developed.

English football; that's why it's so successful on the international stage right?

Great players when at their best, thanks to all three, and thank you for your goals, even Hibbo's one!

We have a new regime, new manager and owner. It looks like the level of professionalism has been raised to level not seen since Littlewoods. It's going to be an interesting summer of coming and goings.

Yes I saw Gordie, at 88, passed on. The Iron Man of hockey... That dude was so gifted and so tough.

I think a hell of a lot of footballers would do really well to watch clips of that man playing his respective sport. Tough as nails. It's the one thing I can never wrap my head around - the rolling around in agony due to the slightest of touches in soccer.

Gordie Howe, even if he couldn't drop the gloves were he a footballer, would just shame the shit out of anyone pulling those shenanigans.

Had Howe played soccer, he'd have made Roy Keane look a flower. Soccer needs more of that in my opinion.

That said, both clearly deserved an on pitch farewell.

Hibbo: one of the greatest slide tacklers of all time but sadly let down by his lack of pace, stature, attacking instincts, dribbling, crossing and shooting ability. Put in some solid performances and a true servant to Everton. Loved him playing at CB for Moyes in Europe. Great days.

Osman: would have been truly worldclass if he had the body of Christiano Ronaldo. Sadly he didn't and as a result battled away in a very physical league trying to prove his quality at the team he loved. Often crucified by fans, begging for him to be dropped, he really should have gone and played in Spain, Italy or Holland, where he could have made a name for himself. Great lad and should take a lot of credit alongside Hibbo for some of the displays of real team spirit and determination under Moyes.

Good luck fellas. I know we've shouted you all down many times but we love you really.

The problem is that, whether this is true or not, we look messy and uncontrolled. If it is true, of course, then that would be worrying.

The sooner Mr Koeman arrives the better.

I cant imagine Unsy, Dunc or big Joe would allow that situation but maybe it was dealt with by Elstone.

Anyway I hope its not the last we have seen of Ossie and Hibbo who could be a big help with the kids.

If true, not a nice way to go...

Koeman hasn't even signed as manager yet, nor met the players nor taken a training session, and probably not talked to Barkley or any other Everton player or been to Goodison Park.

Odds on the Echo have not talked to Koeman either so how can they justify the headline 'Koeman to revamp Everton's attack'?

And Ernie is absolutely right... they both deserved a proper Goodison tribute. And a proper notification and handshake.

I would guess that the players knew full well that they were not to be retained but that there has been no ceremonial goodbye ( yet) from the club which is hardly surprising as everyone will be on holiday as is our manager elect.

That said the club has been very quiet in it's communication with us fans for pretty much 12 months now and hopefully they will address this as it must not be allowed to continue. Good communication with fans encourages the right atmosphere at the games- a look at Wales tonight shows how we should be.

The club is changing and it's what most wanted. Good business sense. Players not playing for months on 25-70000 a week are seeing out contracts. Good luck and good bye. It's not personal but business. Everton fc are entering new heights on and off the pitch.

It's not down to the CEO but higher than him. If these players agent's or themselves haven't asked the question of another contract back in January. I would be amazed if such talks didn't take place. Would anyone on here leave it to the last month to find out about employment?

Assuming it was merely an oversight resulting from the current organizational changes, they are both owed apologies IMO.

Thanks Ossie, Stephen and Hibbo. Good luck.

Howard's comments when he left as well about Hibbert & Ossie, the three old cowboys as he put it, or words to that effect I think it was on the cards then.

That said I am surprised there wasn't some form of announcement at the final game of the season, unless they've taken the time since to consider whether to offer the three of them extensions similar to Gibbo and decided not to.

Best of luck to the three of them, I'd like to see Ossie & Hibbert offered a role at the club if they don't move on to play elsewhere, Pieenar I have no doubt will be off to South Africa.

Both play in positions where we desperately need cover and both were released by that great spotter of young talent – David Moyes.

Hadn't thought of him as a soccer player.

Yes, I could see him shaming them. Always a gent, though.

He'd have helped them back to their feet by sticking two fingers up their nostrils and lifting.

But why let the facts get in the way of a Moyes dig?

And Mustafi was a defender. I don't mind defenders scoring but far prefer to hear about their defending. Why is when Lawrenson is on the BBC to they tell us he scored x goals rather than made y tackles, kept z clean sheets, cleared so many off the line? So why get all excited about Mustafi scoring? Did they concede? No. That is what he is supposed to do.

Phil explains the Dier situation above and Mustafi wouldn't be the first player to make significant improvements only after failing somewhere first.