McCarthy in provisional Ireland squad

It'll be very disappointing if he does play, but I guess in some way we've got used to not having him as an option given the last 18/24 months.

I'd like to see him play instead of Morgan Schneiderlin sometimes given the energy he has, but equally Davies's emergence has given us that.

He didn't play the last time and he'd be foolish to play this time and hopefully he'll see common sense.

Even at his best, he offers very little going forward.

IMO a mediocre Championship player – needs to move if another club would make a reasonable bid for him.

I would label him a good premier league player of upper mid table standard. We are looking for very good/excellent players to move us forward though.

Three cheers for McCarthy, the Evertonian! Bah!!!

To call him a mediocre Championship player, is an insult. A fully fit McCarthy, if he can sort out his recurring hamstring problem, is well capable of playing in the first team. Apart from Gueye, he's the only aggressive, defensive and combative midfielder we have.

I hope you get to train with Eire and get a few minutes on the pitch with them.

All I can seem to recall him doing is running towards our own centre-halves who, then pass the ball to him but, despite being in about 20 yards of space he passes it immediately back to them with such haste that anyone would think it was a live hand-grenade. His passing stats are probably amazing.

I do however blame entirely the buffoon who was our previous manager for this. I'm sure there is a decent player in there somewhere.

He just needs to prove his fitness. It was Martinez who played him when he wasn't fully recovered from a hamstring injury. His problem goes that far back.

Why are we again looking to unload a player who could maybe be a key piece in the jigsaw puzzle? For me, he is another problem that has been created by the Coach.

You are absolutely correct except for one word. He is a problem that has been created by the former coach.

McCarthy's problems can be traced back to Señor Martinez playing him (on more than one occasion) when injured. The result: terminal hamstrings.

The notion that he doesn't want to play for Everton is ridiculous. His attitude on the pitch is brilliant, I doubt he becomes a Drenthe or Van Der Meyde off it. He has simply been unlucky or poorly managed through injury.

Give him time to fully recover from his hamstring woes and he will be back to being one of our best. I would really like to see what a team with McCarthy, Davies and Klaassen in it could do.

Martin O' Neill, for whom I have the utmost admiration, rates him highly. He can make a huge difference.

A fully fit McCarthy, would be like a new signing, and hopefully Koeman gives him his chance, but the less said about Martin O'Neil, the better.

If he ain't and plays and gets injured... well.

Besic is crap, so McCarthy has much to offer as an alternative to Gueye / Schneiderlin, or to not overplay Davies.

I fail to see how a player who is hardly ever fully fit can be of any benefit to the club.

Our best midfield option?! Even in our patchy performances this season, Davies and Gueye at least have shown themselves to offer much more than Macca at his best.

He's can do everything Gueye can, but he can actually pass the ball and shoot. He's far more mobile than Schneiderlin. Neither of those two can play as a single pivot, but McCarthy can.

He'd be our best central midfielder if he can only get fit and stay fit.

For me he's just as good as Gana and certainly better than Besic. With Barry having gone, we need strength in depth in that part of the pitch, especially given our manager's preference to play two DCM's regularly. If Gana gets injured, we will be struggling unless Morgan rapidly improves.

I've said this before but imo McCarthy's problem is he plays 100% all-out and played a lot of 90-min games (for Wigan and us) at a young age. I rated him at Wigan and he was great for us – until the injuries started. He's gradually become more limited by them and tbh I don't see this trend reversing.

We should have sold him the previous 2 summer windows. Koeman clearly rates him, and he is one for a defensive midfielder, as we know but the ship has sailed and we really should be looking to offload him in January.

A good player on his day, no doubt... but, come January, I'd be looking to move him on.

Priorities... never rated him even if Bobby Bullshit did... says it all really!

Sell... Next!

I think he impressed Koeman in those two games, then of course he got injured with Eire and hasn't been able to get going again, of he can get and stay fit he is a very good player. Well worth keeping if that becomes the case.

Maybe now we have a couple of dozen No 10s, it matters less, but I can't help feeling the top teams have a McCarthy with a shot or a killer pass in them.

We would kindly request that you please fuck off and stop playing injured players and/or causing injury to our fit ones.

Yours sincerely,
Everton

ps: Any plans for holidays next summer?

On the other hand, If Eire, or their insurers, are paying his wages as he was injured while on international duty, I suppose they are entitled to confirm it for themselves without further exasperating the problem. However, could they not have done this at Finch Farm?

Totally crazy. If he isn't fit then why the hell is it even a question that he might go? Enough have said it before: an independent medical body should have the final say, and no risks taken.

Unfortunately, James McCarthy does not want to know this, even from Koeman, his manager.

Spot on, Jim, I have felt for some time he would not fully recover. In the past, he would spend so much time out injured; then, when he was declared fit, he was a shadow of himself; then out injured again.

Idrissa does, but he's the only one.