Oviedo disappointed by understudy role

Let him move on, get ١m on him and be happy with the profit.

Bring Brendan Galloway back as Baines's back up, or give Garbutt a last chance.

Not at the same level he was, or close to it. Seems he understands his predicament. I hope it works out.

Either way we will need Baines's replacement ready very soon.

Worth another shot before moving on.

You are set up for life playing footy. Bye, Bryan you are a nice guy but obviously too good for our Club. Take Gibson, Elstone et al with you in the taxi.

Over the 3 seasons before Oviedo joined us, Baines has played over 40 games per season. I like Oviedo, plus his wife is stunning, but after his injury I just don't think he can cut it in our league, plus if you look at his playing record he's only ever once played over 20 games in a season.

In the Premier League you simply have to have more than that.

Anthony #7, Coleman joined us for 㿨,000 and no doubt "honestly expected to be first choice"... but he was luckier than Oviedo in that major injury issues with the players ahead of him (Hibbo/Nev) gave him a chance.

Like Bryan, when he got the chance he grew into the position, but unlike Bryan, he stayed healthy. Had Oviedo not broken that leg...

I like Oviedo, but he's not the same player who scored the winner at Old Trafford. Thanks for the memory.

I don't think Oviedo would, but wish him well.

I say give him half a season in front of that Pride Park crowd to get his fitness and confidence back, and then let Oviedo go in the summer. No reason to rush it.

At least he's frustrated. Shows he wants to play and earn his place.

Before the injury he was very quick and very sharp. Could play mid as well. I remember him playing right mid at West Brom, I think, think he scored as well. He was looking so good that we had to find a way to get him in the side and was a possible fix for the problematic right mid berth.

If he'd not been so unfortunate as to get that terrible injury, I would happily have taken the 㾾 million for Baines. We'd had the best of him at 29.

But, the fact is that since the big injury, with a few other injuries on top of it, he is nowhere near what he was. He's lost at least 2 yards and isn't up to standard. He must know himself and sense he's gone from being so quick & sharp to having no zip. It's a shame, he was a very, very good player. I imagine he will be dealt out at the end of the season.

He needs lots of games and is Baines really been playing that well and Garbutt was fucking left on the Fulham bench and if he was that good would be in the team.

I see your point. But I am biased because I really rate Galloway. I think Baines's injury record means that it's likely he'd get some game time before the seasons end. He could also slot in as a left sided centre-back.

IMO Oviedo is a player we need to offload asap, along with Gibson and Kone, especially if he wants to move.

That said, in the long term I think you could be right, that's is if Galloway plays week-in, week-out until May. I had high hopes for Garbutt until he was loaned to a Championship club and couldn't get a regular starting place.

We seem to have a whole host of left backs anyway with Garbutt and Galloway on loan (Galloway probably gonna be a centre-half in future though). Sorry, Bryan, but you knew you had a task on your hands when you got here.

Robles , Oviedo, Garbutt, Jags, Mori, McCarthy, McGeady, Lennon, Cleverley, Gibson, Kone, Niasse.

I agree wholeheartedly with your post. Oviedo had just started to shine before his injury, and I thought he was developing into what we needed. Like most EFC fans I so much wanted him to get back on track after his injury!

But by 2017 he is not what we need, so I hope he can find a new employer who will let him play regularly! He may need to lower his pre-injury expectations, though...

You seem to either miss my point, or IMO explain yours really badly. You compare the Coleman deal with Oviedo's deal, to me there miles apart. Coleman joined us at the age of 21 from Ireland, he knew he had to bide his time, but he went down a division and got promoted.

Although the loan deal is a bit neither here nor there, the fact is he was looking to oust Tony Hibbert who was always at best an average premier league player. That's no offence to Hibbert as I loved him, he had a fantastic attitude, but the fact remains he was bang average.

Baines is a total different kettle of fish, he was widely regarded as one of Europe's finest full backs, with assists coming out of his ears.

Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the fee, but imo Baines is as close to being a world class footballer that Everton have seen in a decade, surely Bryan didn't expect to be anything other than his understudy.

Also if we're honest, Oviedo hasn't really ever done anything other than have a run of half decent games for us near on 4 years ago, yet for some reason you seem to think that he deserves comparing to Seamus Coleman who has since proven to be one of the Premier League's best right backs.

I don't think we will agree on this anyways Mike, and I admire your support of Oviedo, but imo he's never going to take us to the next level, and he doesn't want to be an understudy. I respect him for wanting to play, but his future lies elsewhere imo.

I agree with this point while heartedly.

"I like Oviedo, plus his wife is stunning."

Yep, we here on ToffeeWeb know what we require in a left back.

Every time I've seen him play he's left zero on the pitch and I applaud that.

Whatever his innate qualities as a footballer I will always hold him in respect as a man. Others in the dressing room are way deficient on that score.

Gutted for Oviedo as, agreeing with Bobby, he was killing it before his leg break (doubly gutted he missed Costa Rica's dream run 6 months later in Brazil).

The Galloway chat confuses me. Why do people think he is the next senior left back at the club? Usually when clubs are interested in hanging onto a player and developing them, they loan them to lower-league clubs, not clubs in the same league.

I may be proved wrong in the future, but I can't think of many intra-league loans in recent years when the player has returned to his parent club and excelled.

And you forget how badly Baines struggled for the rest of that season coming back from his own injury issues. He hasn't been world class since, thanks largely to more injuries. He certainly isn't now.

Had Oviedo not made that fateful tackle, history might have been very different.

At the time, he was establishing himself as a manager's dream. A great personality and attitude, great all round skill and obviously well respected and liked by his team mates. Best of luck, Bryan, and I hope you have a continuing career in footy as you deserve it.

His situation highlights the problems associated with squad rotation and keeping everyone content. Thanks to Roberto, the balance of the squad has become distorted. It should consist of the first 11 plus a couple of high quality utility layers (the unsung heroes), and a group of youngsters on the cusp.

Everyone knows the situation and maintaining big squads with multiple stand-in layers doesn't seem right to me.

Garbutt was literally banging on the door & took his chance two years ago when Oviedo & Baines were both out. In that European campaign, he was up there with our more established players & didn't look out of place in Premier League fixtures until Baines inexplicably walked back into the side.

Now we're right to be cautious and ask why isn't he getting games at these clubs but I have heard rumours surrounding his attitude over the the last two years? However, this lad two years ago was for me on par with the second coming that is Luke Shaw.

If we're looking away from the club for our next left back, then I'd look at Shaw himself who's out of favour or the lad Robertson at Hull.

Strange how two clearly genius minds can disagree like that. All the best up there Harold.

Joel Jones (#32):

I really hope you're right, although I'm not sure Ronny rates him, as he didn't give him a squad number.

I think Garbutt is talented and has a left foot like a wand; I really hope he comes through at the Blues.

Feel sorry for Bryan, looks like he wants to leave.

Sweet left foot.
Can't defend.

Garbutt was touted and did well in his few appearances but is further away from the first team than ever. Not sure whether he peaked early or is lacking in determination or some other quality, but for the second season he's failed to establish himself at a Championship club. Iirc he's now 23 and still getting farmed out on loan.

Garbutt failed at Fulham and is doing the same now at Wigan simply because he's not a very good player.

But that is his one downfall, being a utility player. He's good at a number of positions but not outstanding at one. He was up against one of the best left-backs in Europe for most of his career and just didn't have the attacking skills to play effectively on the wing. He is an effective backup player but after the injury he's not the player he was and isn't a long term replacement for Baines.

I wouldn't be surprised if we see a few more articles like this over the next couple of weeks from players who have been told their time is up as well.

In any event, if we continue with 3 at the back, we will need 3 centre-backs so I see Galloway more as cover for Funes Mori than Baines.

With 3 at the back and two wing-backs, we need a more attacking type player than Oviedo or Galloway to cover for Leighton. I think Connolly played at right back against Norwich at the end of last season and did really well... but is he talented enough to be wing-back?

Sadly he was signed as a squad player and, whilst he was a very able competent performer prior to injury he has only ever remained a stop-gap squad player.

I think we have to now class Oviedo in the same bracket as the likes of Gibson, Kone, Jagielka etc in terms of those who we need to shift in summer.