No imminent return for Baines

I don't remember him hitting the ground and being carried off. I wonder what happened?

At least he's not in a plaster cast laid up somewhere.

Rarity these days. Get well Bainsey.

;-)

I miss him.

WE miss him.

Maybe Kipput but definitely finished.

Bollocks!!!

Baines is a very intelligent player. What he lacks in phisicality he always made up for with persistance and terrific link up play.

So good was Baines at finding the byline that he earned a reputation as one of the best attacking fullbacks in the country. He was in the same bracket as Patrice Evra and Ashley Cole and ultimately I think that worked against him.

Every England call up, he was asked to play like one of these other marauding wingbacks. The trouble was, he wasn't that player at all. Anyone who has watched him regularly must surely have noticed that he rarely beats a player with the ball at his feet. He needs to give it to someone, run off them and look for a return ball. Without a willing partner, he's essentially an average player. With someone like Pienaar ahead of him, you had two clever players, both lacking physique, but so wonderfully complimentary to each other.

Then on England duty you see Baines paired with someone like Stuart fucking Downing. Not a bad player, but both looking to exploit the same space. Or Lallana, who I'm pretty sure was under explicit instruction to pass to anyone but Leighton Baines.

With Sigurdsson in the team, I really think there may be a chance for Baines to have a final hoorah. He holds the ball well. He looks for runners. He works incredibly hard, just like Pienaar used to. He also loves to come inside which may give Baines the same sort of space he used to find with the South African.

The one thing I do find inexplicable is Baines' dead ball ability. He went from world class to fucking shite in the space of a season. I don't understand how that could possibly happen. I also don't understand how someone with such a formidable penalty record can be removed from that position by two Belgians who were not a patch on him. And the manager just let it happen. Disgraceful.

Give me Leighton Baines back!

Give me my Everton back!

No wonder we never progress.

Leighton needs to go out to pasture now.

I hope Luke Garbutt now gets a chance and if he plays, gets the support of the fans. It's definitely now or never for him. He probably needs a few games to get going so we may need to be patient. Whilst Martina has done an ok job, for me, he's not a left back...and I have no confidence in him at right back.

Will be surprised to see Luke play at Arsenal but he should. You have to start somewhere.

Part of the reason why the team has played poorly this year is attributable to that fact, not the other way round ("the support of decent players around him would help" nonsense).

And an "Everton great", is he?

By which metric?

Sharing a joke with the Kopites during another lie-down against them?

Having never won a sausage while playing for us?

Give me strength.

From about 2008/09 to Martinez first season he was absolutely outstanding.

Hurry up back Leighton. I think you may still have 1 season left in you.

Hopefully ?

Still would have him back. Was shafted by Capello in 2010 when Baines was arguably superior to Cashley Cole but ended up being dropped for Warnock...and that campaign went well didn't it?

An Everton great, just played in the wrong era hence no medals.

Great to see your level-headed comments above.

My only disagreement is re that penalty incident with Mirallas - I think it showed Leighton's lack of forcefulness - he should have asserted himself - for all his faults, Martinez wasn't on the pitch.

For me both he, Tim H & Jags should have been eased out in Martinez' last season - & he had the chance with both LB & Tim H.

I would give Garbett a run to the end of the season to see whether he's up to it, & seek a 1st choice left-back in the summer if he isn't. For me, Bainsey's no longer good enough to be 1st choice for an ambitious club, but could make a valuable contribution as back-up and in other ways behind the scenes.

Leighton has been a great servant to our club & has been well-treated by the club - it's sick to see some of the trashy, foul-mouthed criticism of him on here; it gives a very bad impression of our fans.

I remember the game against Arsenal at the Emirates which I believe was in Martinez final season. Their link up play was out of this world, you could have been watching Barcelona at their best. Had Pienaar been English they would have played together in the national side, they were that impressive.

He might have another season left in him after which we could use him as a squad player or he moves into the backroom as a coach. In the meantime we need to get Garbutt up and running and see what he can offer, he must be better than Martina.