Galloway signs for Luton

Well good luck to him. At one stage looked like he would come through with Browning to form our future centre back partnership. I'm sure there's a player in there and he will have a great career, whatever level he's at. (Better than mine!)

Really don't know where it went wrong for this chap. Looked a really good player for us at left back: good pace, confidence, assured in possession and decent going forwards. Never let us down

Shows how hard you have to work to maintain your position.

Good luck, chap.

Looked decent on a few occasions but his loans didn't work out and he doesn't seem to have progressed as planned. Best of luck to the lad.

So why does it happen that these talented youngsters don't progress with Everton?

Browning is one I particularly liked but when Seamus got injured he never got a chance, maybe he was injured for a while.

They don't seem to have a lot of cover for the back four now unless Holgate is going show a lot more than he did if selected.

Baines has been a great buy but is past his best.

The Zouma situation is still unclear but Chelsea have released Cahill and will need cover. However, I don't think Zouma is keen to be on the bench at the Bridge.

Never saw this lad as a future in the side myself, but wish him well.

Wish him the best. Enormously talented kid who went from budding future star to utterly lost in a very short period of time. Luton's new manager is former Everton assistant (under Martinez) Graeme Jones, who has seen Galloway at his best, so this couldn't be a better situation for the kid.

Both are joining a great story at Luton -- Premier League club for ten years, collapsed all the way down to non-league footy, eventually climbing back into the League and finally the League One title last year to gain promotion to the Championship. What a story it would be if Luton, Jones and Galloway could make it all the way back to the Premier League.

A total mystery as to what went wrong with this boy. Baines suffered an injury a couple of seasons back when playing well and Galloway came in. For a considerable number of games, he was outstanding and looked certain to have a brilliant future with us. The same could be said of Browning, who looked destined for a great career with Everton, when initially appearing in the first team.

It is always sad when a young player has to concede that he is unlikely to make the grade. Browning has taken the pragmatic approach by furthering his career in China. Financially that is a fantastic opportunity for him.

Galloway is still young and talented enough to prove his doubters wrong. The Brendan Galloway I first witnessed looked a classy, composed player. You don't lose that ability for no reason. Loss of form? Injuries? Or perhaps our managerial reshuffles of recent years hindered their progress.

Whatever the answer, I wish both lads every success in their respective careers.

Phil #8, actually he had a huge flaw in his game that turned up late in that impressive stretch of games he had at left-back in late 2015. He couldn't tackle with his right peg, just his left. He would force opponents to the outside and just shut them down, but then opposing wings started attacking him by cutting inside and just blowing by him. I remember wondering if he was slightly injured.

Then Baines came back, and Galloway signed that new contract, and then there was one more game around Christmas 2015, I'm pretty sure against Stoke, and they just ran riot on him, always the same way, cutting in. He couldn't stop them.

That was it. He never played again for us, except for maybe two games the following season, and then the loans started, and they were disasters... they'd play him 3-4 games at the start of the season and then banish him. He wouldn't even make the bench most games.

Maybe the title win with our U23s helped him gain a bit of confidence but, even there, he wasn't one of the better players on the pitch.

Assuming his family are still in Milton Keynes, then he will be close to home and that should help.

Talented, athletic, quick and strong, seems like a million years ago when he played in a young exuberant Everton team under Roberto.

His first season saw him in a side containing Barkley, Rom, Stones, McCarthy, and Del boy, 6 would be world beaters who almost all went onto make huge amounts of money, yet for one reason or another, he didn't quite match their potential.

I'm surprised that this lad has been let go on a free and wonder just how big the problem of reducing the wage bill is? We seem to be getting the easy targets out of the way, those out of contract and youngsters, but not making any impression into those on the really big wages.

I also wonder if we have the right sort of coaching staff that we don't seem able to improve players like Galloway, Dowell, Williams or Robinson etc without sending them out to lower-level clubs.

Just shows how youngsters who step in and have a great run in the team may still not be the real deal. We must not let ourselves get too excited! Consistency is the key. Galloway played a fair bit for the U23s last season and rarely stood out.

Best of luck to him. Shame we couldn't use him in an exchange for the Luton right-back who's just gone to Leicester and looks a good young prospect.

So Fran Mitchell, the first off your list.

12 more to go?

Shame to watch him slip down the pecking order but the constant change in management over the last few year couldn't of helped the likes of him, Browning, Holgate, Pennington etc. Or maybe they're just not good enough and we're looking to move up a notch in the standard of player we turn out on a Saturday.

Glad we've let him go on a free. Shows the class of our club to want him to succeed elsewhere and give him the best opportunity to do so. Luton's a good club who'll surprise a few next season. Good luck to him.

He lost his way, as so many young players do. All sorts of reasons for loss of form – money, girls, alcohol, growing up, bad friends though I have not heard of any issues with Brendan.

It all went wrong on loan at Sunderland who were clearly the wrong club to go to at that time when they were in crisis (hindsight is wonderful) and he has never recovered though I am very intrigued by Mike Gaynes very insightful analysis – never noticed that Mike so full marks to you mate!

Hope he gets his form back at Luton as he always gave his all for us.

I thought he did okay defensively but lacked much impact on the offensive side. Barring that cross for Naismith.

Overall, I never really rated him all that highly but good luck to the lad.

This is a good new chance for Brendan, back close to his own environment.

I sat close to his relations for the Everton U23's game versus Spurs last season, four of them two elderly and his sister (I think) and her partner, they had travelled down from Milton Keyes to watch him, so he obviously comes from a caring family.

Brendan seemed to lose a lot of confidence after his initial opening spell in the first team. His experience at West Brom didn't do him any favours and his spell at Sunderland wasn't much fun for the lad.

I said to one of his family he would get a decent contract and opportunity after he finished at Everton. Maybe this is his chance; hopefully he will take it. Best of luck, Brendan.

Good luck to him.

Surprised we got absolutely nowt for him.

Even 20 quid would have gone a long way for oil for the lawn mowers.

The loan fees would have more than covered the initial transfer fee so a free is good for the player and good for the club as it gets another wage off the books.

Mike (#9), of course the reverse was true for Cuco Martina who, as a right-back, was asked to play left-back but could only tackle with his right foot. Okay when they cut inside him but he was in trouble when they went on the outside and he had to try to poke the ball away with his right peg. I still say that he tried his best, though, for all his limitations.

Luton Town, newly promoted to the Championship, have just sold a full-back to Leicester City for somewhere between £5 and £10 million but both clubs don't want to disclose the exact amount to save Everton the embarrassment of receiving nothing for Galloway, who has far more Premier League experience than the full-back joining Leicester City, while Turkish clubs circle Everton for loan deals that won't cover Garbutt's salary for a season.

I know Everton do a lot of charity work in the community but I didn't realise it extends to other professional football clubs. There will be other clubs from the Championship sniffing around at Everton offering nothing or a million for players who have proved themselves at Everton Under-23s when it does cost Everton at least £20 million to buy someone for the Everton first-team squad.

Spot on Steavey, our charity is endless, especially when it comes to giving goals, games and points away.
Like the last of the amateurs in a professional era only that happened well over 100 years ago and we still haven't learned.

Terry, true enough, although Cuco almost never tried to tackle. Preferred to stay on his feet. I liked that about him.

I said when I first saw him play that he looked certain to be a regular Premier League player. Trouble is at a club such as ours, managers can't afford to take too many risks and pick inexperienced players.

I haven't seen him play recently so I can't comment on his ability now, but I am surprised. Given a new start, I fancy there's a very good player somewhere in the lad.

Alan #12,

Truth is he isn't an asset with any real value anymore. I live in the Northeast and have a good, knowledgeable friend who attends Sunderland matches, so I asked him how Galloway was getting on. He thought he was a terrible defender and far inferior to Oviedo. Zero interest in signing him permanently. And Sunderland stunk that season.

I think he was on about £10k p/w. Needed moving on. Not every player we want shot of needs to raise a fee. I wish him luck in getting his career back up and running but he will probably never attain Championship calibre.

Steavey #23, you need to get real: all teams release players that have no value, or let them go on a free.

Do you want to get blood from a stone? Look at the lad's past 3 seasons. Failed loan to West Brom – played a handful of games then dropped for the rest of the season. Next year loan to Sunderland in the Championship. Player really poorly and dropped.

Last season marooned in the U23s, presumably no interest from teams to take him on loan. You think we should be trying to get a fee based on what criteria? He has a few good games 4 years ago? Baffling stuff.

Mike Gaynes at (#9) makes a point that, if true (and I'm not denigrating Mr Gaynes at all by the way) is appalling (and I admittedly have severe doubts about the work of "Unsy" in developing first-team players).

How in the name of God can the scouting/coaching/managerial staff at Everton not work together to suss-out, improve or eradicate such an obvious flaw in a tyro defender who is evidently usually unable to tackle on 50% of his own body position?

By way of comparison, are there any professional tennis players unable to play both forehand and backhand strokes, any professional golfers unable to both drive and putt, any batsmen unable to score on both on and off side in cricket?

The answer is "No". But we are Everton, the club of charity legend despite a quarter of a century of total non-achievement in what matters.

Somebody at the top needs to be held accountable, now and especially tomorrow, or else the same spiral of malaise will endure, slowly killing us as one of the few (if you're quite elderly and sentimental) clubs who actually created the successful, attractive football model that for the past 25 years has completely evaded us.

Wow, Don.

You do realise that we signed Galloway from MK Dons don't you? You do realise he has spent the majority of his career with us out on loan?

But why let those facts stop you from getting a bizarre boot into Unsworth.

Wow.

Sorry, Don, but your cross-sporting analogies don't work.

In cricket and tennis, it is about shifting the grip on the handle and there will be plenty of professionals who are better one side or the other, and putting and driving are very different. One hand remains dominant, however, except for the truly ambidextrous, and some tennis players will play their backhand two-=handed when they can to compensate.

Of course, the coaches will work on the flaws but ultimately it is down to the player to learn or eventually, like with Galloway, they will be exposed more and more as they try to make it as successively more challenging levels. Plenty of them fail to iron out their flaws and fall by the wayside.

The 3 young centre-backs mentioned above all suffered injuries at the crucial stage of development between school and boy and grown man (18-21).

I'd players are not playing weekly football during those crucial years or appears they never catch up.

Browning I saw least of but others rated him as the best tackler and very athletic.

Galloway for me was the best 1 on 1 defender but too small to play centre-back and not an attacking full back.

Holgate appears to set to remain who has the better ball skills but, like Galloway, is a young centre-back that needs to beef up and learn how to handle the tough stuff.

Yep Holgate has a big season coming up. I can't see him as a centre-back of two. Only as a backup right-back or on the right side of a 3.

Make or break for me or he should move on. I'm not sure he will even get the opportunity. He is a good young player who could go either way. And what about Tom Davies?

The BBC site is stating that a couple of unnamed German clubs and several Championship teams are interested in Joe Williams.

I will remember him for his part in Naismith's first, wonderful goal against Chelsea in the 3-1 win. A perfect exchange, perfect cross and perfect header. What a fine player Naismith was, sometimes, too.

Good luck, Brendan.

His contract ran down and nobody bid for him so he left out of contract. Neither he nor the club did anything wrong. Why do we as fans have to find something bad in whatever the club does? Allowing a player to leave on a free is what good clubs do for their players because it gives them the most choice.

And Everton are a great club.