Season › 2016-17 › News
Garbutt: I'll go anywhere to play football
The fullback is in the midst of a temporary spell at Wigan Athletic, his second loan move since it looked like he had broken into the senior side under Roberto Martinez in 2014-15 with some impressive performances, particularly in the Europa League.
The return from injury of Leighton Baines and then Bryan Oviedo, coupled with Martinez's tendency to play Brendan Galloway as an auxiliary full-back when Baines was struck down with ankle problems a year ago, pushed Garbutt down the pecking order and prompted him to accept loan moves to Fulham and now Wigan to get regular playing time.
Just as was the case at Craven Cottage last term, however, the 23-year-old former England Under-21 defender has been unable to consistently hold down a starting role, making just three appearances for the Latics so far.
That is somewhat perplexing for Evertonians who watched him play so well against the likes of Wolfsburg two years ago as a raw deputy for Baines, to whom he looked like a natural successor, given his attacking prowess and accuracy with crosses and dead-ball deliveries.
"This [loan] is only until January with a view to me playing more," Garbutt says in a lengthy interview with his friend Alex Mearns for the Football Hour podcast. "If I'm not playing then obviously I'd love to move on in January."
"It is weird. you have to adapt to different changing rooms and personalities. Sometimes I do feel as though I'd love a bit of continuity but in football you're always looking to be playing regularly.
"In that respect, I've got a long-term contract at Everton so I can try and play regularly at my loan club and hopefully go to Everton and play in their team.
"But if that doesn't work out and I've played well at my loan team, then I can get a transfer somewhere else. You're always thinking to yourself 'I need to play football and I'll go anywhere to play."
"It's the only line of work whereby you put a graft in Monday to Friday and don't get really get rewarded on Saturday.
"In this industry, a lot of the time, the manager might have a view and he drops you from the team and you find it very hard to get back in the team.
"Communication is a massive thing at a football club I feel; between the players and the manager there needs to be that communication no matter if you're in the Conference or the Premier League.
"The manager should tell you what you need to improve, what you're doing well. Player management is a big thing."
→ Read the rest of the wide-ranging interview at Liverpool Echo
Reader Comments (27)
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2 Posted 10/10/2016 at 20:14:36
Who is next for the treatment Holgate?
3 Posted 10/10/2016 at 20:17:59
I'm only thinking aloud really and have no factual basis for it, but has Luke Garbutt applied himself recently in the same way as seamus did at Blackpool?
4 Posted 10/10/2016 at 20:34:59
5 Posted 10/10/2016 at 20:46:42
6 Posted 10/10/2016 at 21:01:30
Yeah, Luke, I don't know how you cope mate. 㾻,000 a week to play footy Monday to Friday. You must cry yourself to sleep every night.
7 Posted 10/10/2016 at 21:02:16
Garbutt who knows what's happened to the kid, perplexing to say the least.
8 Posted 10/10/2016 at 22:01:16
But football at the top flight is a hard tough business, and there are very few who come through the ranks and make it to be regular first team players. I don't know if Koeman sees a future at Everton for either Garbutt or Galloway. At present we have Coleman, Holgate, Jagielka, Williams, Baines, Oviedo and Funes Mori fighting for 4 spots. So giving Garbutt and Galloway playing time on loan makes sense for both of the players as well as the club. I am sure by this summer they will know if their future is at Everton or elsewhere.
9 Posted 10/10/2016 at 22:24:43
It's not just about ability. It's about attitude and application too. Only our management team are in a position to judge.
Let's hope Garbutt is good enough but, if not, no big deal. We all had high hopes for Jose Baxter, George Green, John-Paul Kissock and others too. Haven't heard a lot about them since!
10 Posted 10/10/2016 at 22:44:47
11 Posted 10/10/2016 at 22:55:46
"At present we have Coleman, Holgate, Jagielka, Williams, Baines, Oviedo and Funes Mori fighting for 4 spots. So giving Garbutt and Galloway playing time on loan makes sense."
I agree, Brian; Jagielka, Williams, & Baines are all in their thirties and Oviedo has gone backward since his terrible injury. Galloway will be a top Premier League player in my opinion. He moves so smoothly, he makes Stones look clumsy. I rate that lad.
12 Posted 10/10/2016 at 22:56:07
Similarly neither had Oviedo. (I think his goal at Old Trafford blinded a fair few people.)
Galloway is the real deal.
13 Posted 10/10/2016 at 22:57:35
14 Posted 10/10/2016 at 23:53:14
Keep going, lad!!!
15 Posted 11/10/2016 at 01:08:34
He has gone on loan to Fulham and Wigan enabling Everton to at least recoup the money they laid out on him and also at the same time giving the lad the time to learn at these clubs. He has had a few injuries, to be honest to the lad, so he is coming to the time when his potential has been assessed and his future is up to him.
It doesn't look like to me he has progressed really from when he made Everton's first team, so this season will be make or break for him even if he has another couple more years on Everton's payroll. I hope he does enough from now on to get another contract from the Blues but it looks doubtful to me.
16 Posted 11/10/2016 at 05:40:28
He was extremely poor, lacked concentration and awareness. He has good recovery though which is just as well but IMO he is a million miles off a first team spot for a club with top 4 ambition.
17 Posted 11/10/2016 at 06:22:06
18 Posted 11/10/2016 at 08:24:35
19 Posted 11/10/2016 at 08:27:09
Tyias injured his knee ligaments during an U21 match with Blackburn Rovers. It was back in December I think and he has also undergone a surgery. It takes usually 6 - 9 months to full recovery. But now he is already in training. With that kind of injury there is nowhere to rush.
20 Posted 11/10/2016 at 08:42:20
21 Posted 11/10/2016 at 09:17:13
He says the right things about going anywhere to play but, until he realises that defenders have got to be brave and sometimes have to put their bodies on the line, then I think he will continue to struggle.
Harsh but true; however, with a big fat contract before he had really proved himself, maybe the kid really doesn't have to change?
22 Posted 11/10/2016 at 11:41:57
I suppose much will depend on the manager and whether he sees the full backs as defenders or wingers. It would appear that at present Koeman is favouring defenders who defend first and foremost, so his chances of getting in our team must be rated as slim .
On a general note, I would like to see more of our young lads getting a start.
23 Posted 11/10/2016 at 16:07:27
It was, after all, Moyes, who signed Garbutt from Leeds although he spent most of his time on loan at the likes of Chelmsford and Colchester just like virtually every other kid we 'snap up 'from the lower leagues.
Stones and Coleman are the only exceptions.
26 Posted 12/10/2016 at 00:37:27
After the few games I have seen Garbutt play in my opinion is he's a decent player with a wand of a left foot.
He's got to be worth a chance under Koeman, his set pieces are outstanding, and he looked the part for England U21s.
27 Posted 12/10/2016 at 13:39:46
28 Posted 12/10/2016 at 18:28:35
29 Posted 12/10/2016 at 19:36:11
As one correspondent put it, we don't know what goes on behind the closed doors at Goodison Park or Finch Farm, but now we're telling the same young lad, he's no future and is at best fourth-choice left back. Doesn't sound like the best HR around.
Footballers may earn obscene amounts of money, but they are still people and need handling with some sensitivity.
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1 Posted 10/10/2016 at 19:31:32
Hopefully he gets a good run in the Pie-eaters first team and turns promise to performance. After all, that's what Seamus did at Blackpool and he's never looked back.