McCarthy's hamstring setback vexes Koeman

I really believe in this lad's talent and this is the time for the club to give him time to recover as we have plenty of options in the middle at present.

I remember that Europa League game, when after being out with a hamstring problem, he pulled up lame around the 15-minute mark; hand on his hammy. And OFM replaced a chunk of the medical staff. Not HIS training methods, by God.

McCarthy's played a lot of games for a player his age. I'm accepting he is not going to be the player he wanted and we hoped he might.

Get him healthy and sell to a lower league club.

We need to beat someone above us!

He needs to see a new specialist and have extended rest time.

We've got a mix of very winnable matches and tough tests coming.

"get him healthy and sell to a lower league club" .

And why would Everton do that, James – to get less money?

As has been noted he's played a lot and from a young age. With his all-action style his body appears to be breaking down. A shame as he's a good player. With continual injuries he'll fall down the pecking order. Koeman may rate him but must be thinking he can't rely on him. I doubt McCarthy will accept battling for our 4th CM slot with Besic next season.

You think different? More money to be gotten with his sale? Hey, I'm open and guided by you.

Man Utd
Man City
Chelsea
Arsenal
Tottenham
RS

Clubs that can, and do routinely, pay "more money". Whichever you pick. Count me in.

If his fitness cannot be improved, perhaps a visit to a hamstring specialist, then I don't see him being picked regularly.

A little sad as he's not a player I rate but he looked to have improved under Koeman. Shame.

I am sorry for the boy, but he appears to have an Everton future, from Ronald's comments.

You accept he's not going to be the player he wanted – what does that mean exactly?

This transformation, along with that of Robles and the rejuvenated Ross Barkley, tells me that we won't find a better coach at the minute to bring us forward.

If Everton deem him not fit, it will be interesting to hear what O'Neill and Keane have to say!

I hope we can get some specialists who can get to the root of this – it often lies somewhere in the back – and he can continue to play for Everton. He may not be our first choice at the moment with a few ahead of him in midfield, but he adds options when fit, even if off the bench and as cover for injuries. I wouldn't sell yet.

James, like Oliver, I thought you were suggesting selling him to Championship club or Scottish Premier even... lines crossed.

O'Neil and Keane are Visigoths.

McCarthy has to learn from Darren Gibson, whose career was wrecked at Everton by playing for the Republic.

McCarthy should pack in the international football and concentrate on playing for Everton, because that's where his footballing career lies, which is short compared to most other careers.

Ridiculous.

Funes Mori's wanderings at left back yesterday say otherwise.

McCarthy seems to be the best exponent of Koeman's pressing game at the club, and he will be a big miss at Anfield. As others have alluded to, for a 26-year-old, he's played a lot of high tempo football, and I hope this is not the beginning of another Gibson saga as I really like him as a player, and for his attitude.

I meant "lower" league club, the Burnleys, WHUs, etc.

Our medical team would know what is best for our players when they are working with and seeing them day in and day out and they would obviously be advising Koeman and the player.

Any club manager will try to protect their playing staff and that is what Koeman was doing.
Yes he had a dig at Keane and O'Neill by publicly saying McCarthy should not have played in the two games , and he was right to do so in my opinion.

Keane and O'Neill set McCarthy back in playing him in the two games in three days or whatever it was.

I don't agree with those who reckon McCarthy will end up like D.Gibson.

Steavey @ 26.

Gibson was very injury prone whilst at Utd which is why we got him .
It's no surprise to see he only lasted three and a bit games with his new club .

Totally ridiculous. Let's hope it's not serious.

On the left back situation, I like the look of Antonee Robinson in the U23 side, Callum Connolly is two footed and we have Brendan Galloway as well. None of these will have the expert delivery that Baines has provided for Everton, as such talent only visits us infrequently. Ben Chilwell from Leicester looked decent as well, but an unlikely option unless they were relegated.

This smacks of sheer irresponsibility on the ROI behalf, because most players need time to recover full match fitness not pushed straight away the way Gibson was.

That was the season when Everton could have qualified for champions league football, because Everton lacked another quality midfield player.

It's the same situation with McCarthy and the ROI, who are pushing him straight away to play full matches, even when coming back from another hamstring injury. Koeman has already expressed his annoyance with ROI over McCarthy's treatment last time.

It's hard to blame Ireland for playing him in those games as they wouldn't have had the strength of squad to be able to rotate. They are better off this time as they have Jeff Hendrick, Harry Arter and Glenn Whelan for the central midfield positions. Gibson is also injured, Meyler of Hull also available, so it would be likely that James would be on the bench v Wales if he was fit.

Injuries are just an unfortunate part of football. I think you are being a bit harsh on the International scene. Players want to play for their country and strive to get the opportunity to play in the World Cup. Maybe this desperation clouds their judgement and they play when they shouldn't play.

This raises another question of players playing for Everton when injured. Two in particular – Tim Cahill and Leon Osman, according to their autobiographies, often played with injuries and with injections. This also smacks of irresponsibility on the player's and the club's part, risking the player's future.

It was easy enough to see in the case of Leon Osman, when he was struggling with injury and unable to compete and often with a competent alternative on the bench. I would rather a fully fit reserve played rather that an injured player with an injection to see him through the pain. Pain is visited upon us for a reason.

Steavey, what has match fitness got to do with a cruciate injury?

Clearly, when Darren Gibson was stupidly brought in against Georgia and Germany for the RoI to play full matches when Gibson was not match-fit did make a contribution to his cruciate liagament damage. Something, Premier League managers will not do with players coming back from long-term injuries.

Maybe Ronald needs another quiet word in James's ear, like he did once before.

And tell those two gobshites what the score is.

Pretty sure it wasn't Georgia but that's not really relevant.

In the case of Gibson, he started and played for 69 minutes against Fulham on 24th September 2013, was rested and not listed as injured for Newcastle on 30th September, appeared as sub for Osman v Man City on 5th October. He then played a full 90 minutes v Germany on 11th October and started v Kazakhstan (well done Shane) on 15th October, both World Cup qualifiers.

I would suggest that if he got through 90 minutes away to Germany in the World cup and was fit to start four days later, he could be considered match fit. We are not privy to the stresses and strains of players, but as I said before, the player is as responsible as the management, for club as well as country.

Re Bolasie, I expect he was referring to a different fitness, strength and conditioning strategy at Palace, which he feels helped keep him free of knee injuries. Who can say if he's right or wrong? Our fitness record has been okay in recent times. I see from the PhysioRoom site that we have only 4 on injury list at the moment, Baines, McCarthy, Bolasie and Besic. Palace have 7, but maybe strategy has changed there this season with a new manager.

Perhaps the most telling point is that Gibson is listed with a knee injury at Sunderland. He was ok when he played against us a few weeks back. Sometimes a player's body just can't cope with the demands.

Is that a genuine point? The player decides?

Ironically, then shouldn't McCarthy be let do what he wants?

You may remember Tony Dunne, a predecessor of Seamus Coleman as an Irish full back and a key player for Man Utd in the '60s. He had just finished a game at Highbury and was heading out the door with teammates Pat Dunne and Shay Brennan to travel to Ireland for an International game, when he was stopped by Matt Busby who told him he was injured, when he wasn't. He played 414 games for Man Utd and only 33 for Ireland over 13 years.

This attitude was commonplace amongst Club managers and that is why the new regulations, where the player must travel to be assessed by the International team's doctors, were put in place by FIFA. This is a FIFA regulation, not an Irish 'thing'. They also put in place a scheme whereby a player's wages are paid by an Insurance fund if injured playing for his country.

International games are part of Football, just. If McCarthy is unfit for the Hull game, he won't travel. As far as I am aware, that's the FIFA rule.

To me, this is an outrage, because no international player is under contractual obligation to play for an international team, except when a player has to fulfill certain visa demands, that a player has to play so many games for a country in order to play for a club in a certain country.

On your other point about contractual obligations and the Club determining if the player is fit or not. The Clubs did have this privilege and abused it to such an extent that FIFA had to bring in the ruling plus the FIFA Club Protection Programme. Existing injuries are not covered. This could be renamed the Giggs ruling, Bale has more caps than Giggs.

Do clubs want to stop players playing for their countries? I don't think so. Imagine if the likes of Tim Cahill or Seamus Coleman or Ashley Williams or Lukaku were told they couldn't play for their country. Exit stage left and skidmarks.

The point about Seamus Coleman reporting unfit for Ireland. If I remember correctly, he hadn't played for a few weeks for Everton, but played two matches for Ireland, gained match fitness and confidence and was able to slot back in at Everton on his return. Win-win situation.