Season › 2018-19 › News Everton allow Rodwell to train at Finch Farm Wednesday, 1 August, 2018 32comments | Jump to most recent Jack Rodwell is training with Everton U23s at Finch Farm while he finds another club after his contract at Sunderland was cancelled in June when the Black Cats were relegated to League One. Rodwell is reported to have asked to leave the club back in January and ended up playing for their U23s as Sunderland failed to avoid relegation from the Championship. Rodwell intends to maintain his fitness but he won't be rejoining Everton after an unsuccessful trial with Watford last month. The Black Cats lurched from crisis to crisis in the Championship, and were ignominiously relegated to the third-tier after just one season, for the first time since 1988. The Birkdale man had become a symbol of their decline, and the poster boy of poor decision-making. Rodwell was said to be earning £70k a week but his wages would have been cut next season after Sunderland's relegation to League One was confirmed. The 27-year-old had one year left on his Sunderland contract but manager Chris Coleman did not know the state of Rodwell's fitness following a foot injury that kept him out for much of the season. In a newspaper interview last season, the Blues' Academy product said it was “unfair” to expect him to walk away from his contract without a new club to go to. “I'm quite sure we've gone down the legal route of that situation, and we're stuck with a player that doesn't want to play for Sunderland Football Club and wants to leave,” Coleman added. “But then where's he going to leave and go to? There's the conundrum. He's here and he's got one more year on his contract. He doesn't want to play for us, so fine, go and play for somebody else. But the stumbling block is the contract. “But we'll see, it's the end of this season now. I know Jack did that big article (and said) he wanted to play for England again, so to do that, he's going to have to go and play football somewhere. The proof is always in the pudding.” Reader Comments (32) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer Chris Corn 1 Posted 01/08/2018 at 11:13:51 Rodwell training with the U-23's. It's all go 😉 Jay Harris 2 Posted 01/08/2018 at 11:55:12 Rodwell training at Finch Farm smacks of Kenwright's influence yet again.Watch for him being lined up for the centre-back cover or as part of the training team. Andrew Ellams 3 Posted 01/08/2018 at 12:00:16 Jay, as far as I know Rodwell is in talks with AEK Athens and just training with us. It's not unusual for players without a club. Lenny Kingman 4 Posted 01/08/2018 at 15:49:20 I think you will find that Coleman is long gone from the sad Wearsiders. Or should that be Wearysiders. Dennis Stevens 5 Posted 01/08/2018 at 16:36:10 Aye, the manager's now Jack Ross.It's hard to believe Rodwell is only 27 & should be at his peak. Alan J Thompson 6 Posted 01/08/2018 at 16:53:19 There should be no complaint or problem with Everton helping out one of their former players at no expense to themselves. May the lad find himself a position. Jack Convery 7 Posted 01/08/2018 at 18:53:18 Surely Southport could use him? Jim Bennings 8 Posted 01/08/2018 at 19:07:54 Tragic waste of a once Rolls-Royce talent.Rodwell once had the game at his feet but it appears endless injuries and a bit of a poor attitude (so I've heard) and lack of eagerness to put in the hard yards has curtailed his career to a virtual non-existent premature ending.Hard to see him ever making it at a decent club again now. Mark Tanton 9 Posted 01/08/2018 at 19:09:49 Barkley be warned. Michael Kenrick 10 Posted 01/08/2018 at 21:19:07 Mentioning Barkley... I see both have really really suffered from hamstring problems. I believe Rodwell suffered six tears in one season... and who can forget that pic of the operation scar running the length of Barkley's thigh? I'm guessing there's always a chance of creating such damage in the rigours of footy, but wouldn't trainers and physios be extra-vigilant to do everything possible to guard against this? Is it all about stretching, and warm-down? Seems not, as the hamstring seems prone to go at any time during a game or during training. Ian Smitham 11 Posted 01/08/2018 at 22:00:34 Michael, interesting to read in a couple of papers over the past few days, interviews by Ross that he reckons he is feeling fitter than ever. Maybe I am a softee, maybe I bought the hype, maybe I just wanted to live some sort of dream, but players like Ross and Jack, Wayne too are the epitome of what I wanted from my Everton. Some say once they have left EFC sort of who are they? I find it hard to have a go at these characters, unless they have a go at the club. What might have been. Hope Jack stuns in training. Brendan Woods 12 Posted 02/08/2018 at 00:45:40 I like this, same with the Jose Baxter situation, good cautionary tale for the U23s to see with their own eyes. Dan Parker 13 Posted 02/08/2018 at 00:53:33 Well said, Alan, we're helping one of our alumni find a new job. Nothing wrong with that. Don Alexander 14 Posted 02/08/2018 at 01:13:08 Michael (#10), I'm sure you know the season/s you talk about re Barkley but I wouldn't mind betting his hammy problems began when Martinez took over and penny-pinching Bill then allowed him to invest all of his faith in his own alleged physio talent and got rid of the physio team he inherited, en masse. Graham Hammond 15 Posted 02/08/2018 at 01:45:07 I always think it is a real pity when someone has their career cut down because of injury or injuries, he has my sympathy. Thankfully, we got a decent fee for him. I wish him well for the remainder of his football career and have no problem with him training back at Everton in order to find a new club. Paul Mackay 16 Posted 02/08/2018 at 07:39:19 I remember him playing really well for England and Everton fans were all left bemused by how he can be better for England than he was for Everton. I never thought he was that great, never reached his potential and I couldn’t believe Man City were prepared to offer so much money for him. Pleased we are giving him the support though to try and get another contract at another club. Victor Yu 17 Posted 02/08/2018 at 09:12:33 We should focus and use the resource on the youngsters who will have a future with us instead.Last year Jose Baxter got lots of minutes in expense of some other youngsters. This makes no sense at all. Valuable minutes should be given to those who are growing with us, not the ones who will never play another minute for us.This is not charity. This is a business! George Stuart 18 Posted 02/08/2018 at 09:44:27 Cautionary tales.I have two tales of Francis Jeffers.One has him going into a motorway cafe, demanding the earth and coming up with the "do you know who I am" ? Err, actually,no ! Early days.Also he was playing here in Ozz, may have not even been in the A league(roughly equivalent to English 3rd level IMHO).An acquaintance says he was the best player on the park by a country mile but he only played 15 minutes. He was on the park for 90, but only played for 15.Still, if he had my annual salary for 35 weeks then he's had the equivalent of my career, so hard to feel too sorry for these nearly men. Denis Richardson 19 Posted 02/08/2018 at 09:47:15 BBC saying Williams, Vlasic, Mirallas and Martina have been told to train away from the first team.If true, that’s a hard but probability needed stance to take. 4 players we don’t need and they have a week to find new clubs.Cull continues. Alex Mullan 20 Posted 02/08/2018 at 09:54:06 Think that's really hard on Vlasic. The other 3 though...good news. Ian Hams 21 Posted 02/08/2018 at 09:55:57 Dennis #19 Do you have a link for that I was just looking for it and can't find it anywhere. Good news indeed if true, Lookmam should in particular take heart over it. Ian Hams 22 Posted 02/08/2018 at 09:57:42 I agree Alex thought Vlasic would get a loan out for a year at least. Nick Lacey 23 Posted 02/08/2018 at 10:51:46 Crazy idea. Why not play Rodwell in defence for a few U23 games and see how he does? If I remember rightly he was meant to be one in his early career but was moved to midfield. He can't be much worse than Williams, and as much as I love him Jagiekla now? If he is rubbish then just let him find another club. Danny Baily 24 Posted 02/08/2018 at 11:11:41 I'd be tempted to run the rule over him with a look to signing him on a cheap one year deal. Stranger things have happened, remember resigning McFadden? He even got a runout in the prem. Steve Ferns 25 Posted 02/08/2018 at 11:13:48 Forget about him. We’ve been generous and allowed him to use the facilities. If Unsworth is impressed then he might contact brands and play him. Unsworth’s not soft. John Pendleton 26 Posted 02/08/2018 at 13:16:48 Consider Rodwell? No ta, forward's this way ----------> Denis Richardson 27 Posted 02/08/2018 at 14:28:49 Alex / Ian, was in the BBC gossip column earlier (now no longer there for some reason). However, the initial article was in the paper that shall remain nameless.If you google everton, Williams, training' you'll see it. Justin Doone 28 Posted 02/08/2018 at 15:18:56 We could probably do worse than resign Roders. In fact we have and he's called Schnides. No issue with players training and he along with the fee City paid for him probably helped keep us do a deal and keep us financially afloat. People soon forget but it really was that bad.I don't agree with making our own players train away unless discipline or secret tactics are being worked on. I'd keep Vlasic a top talent for the future. Mirrallis and Martina can do a job but I understand wanting to trim the squad and sell them. Williams should never have been bought or played but he fooled many managers and happy he goes. His hair is his only real asset. Not only looks good but gets in forwards eyes. Neil Carter 29 Posted 02/08/2018 at 15:33:28 Don’t mind helping him to find a new club but don’t do a Rooney!! Peter Fearon 30 Posted 03/08/2018 at 17:53:12 I liked Rodwell and I was sorry when he left. He was supposed to be the NEXT BIG ENGLAND STAR when he left for Man City. As often happens the move to a cash giant didn’t pay off for him and he did not develop as he should have. Yes, injuries played a role but so did City’s total indifference to developing young players. This is a lesson for not only Ross Barkley but other young players whose agents whisper in their ears that a “Top Five” club is interested in them before their talent is fully developed. A potentially world class player has been derailed by the poor judgement and worse advice. Dave Abrahams 31 Posted 03/08/2018 at 17:58:58 Peter. (30), lot of truth there Peter, then again although his football career has been derailed by joining City and moving on to Sunderland I bet his financial future has been well sorted out. Barry Jones 32 Posted 08/08/2018 at 01:53:53 Another stupid player who will only realise what he had after it has long gone. Add Your Comments In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site. » Log in now Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site. About these ads