Mirallas leaves Everton for Antwerp

Penalty incident with Baines probably the turning point!

It'll be interesting what his views on Everton are ?!

Regardless, I wish him good luck for the future.

But yes, when he first arrived I thought he looked absolutely brilliant.

We all thought he'd be our Ronaldo. And to this day I believe that if Suarez hadn't crocked him, we would have won that derby, and even won silverware that year.

So all in all, that injury really screwed him and us. But he scored some great goals, was one of the most exciting players for the best league performing Everton teams in his first couple of seasons.

Then he lost it.

I always remember when we had to play Leicester after they'd clinched the title and we were in disarray. Mirallis scored a class solo goal which to me illustrated the talent we had in the squad which was squandered through lack of organisation.

I wish him the best of luck.

Was still contributing goals and assists fairly regularly until Koeman arrived and has been out of favour since. A very decent attacker in his day and strange/unfortunate that when he should have been at his peak he seemed less consistent though maybe that's due to change in management and approach.

More wages off the books. Think our overall wages this year will be a good chunk less than last year if we can shift Bolasie too.

2. Giving it back to Suarez first chance he got.

3. The 3-0 "Arteta goal" win over Arsenal.

Given his quickness, pace, and skill fits an old baseball saying about unfulfilled promise, "He shoulda been good, but he aint."

And kudos to Brand for getting him off the books.

Trying to kick racism out of football, was the joke at the time.

Good luck Kevin but more importantly, good luck Antwerp.

The fact he consistently flunked at ALL the other clubs he was loaned out to, says a lot about him. Absolutely stupid of the club to extend his contract recently (I presume on better terms).

I will probably still be working when he is working out how he will spend the millions he must have stashed away.

Another in a longish list of players who had talent, but preferred the trappings that the wages provided, to massage his ever growing ego.

Bye Kevin.

This lad could play if he really wanted to, e.g. that derby and West Ham away in the FA Cup when the shootout went on for a fortnight before Robles missed. He just didn't want to any more and it showed. There must have been a time when he did because he was instrumental in talking Lukaku into joining on loan, I seem to recall.

Fairplay to him in getting Suarez back, but even that was rashly done. He would've got a straight red except for the rs physio coming on and actually telling the Reff...red card Reff gotta be a red card that. You could see the thoughts go through the Reffs mind...shit I can't send him off now this dickhead is on record telling me to.

Strangley enough, the BBC cut that bit out of later transmissions of the incident. Obviously because it showed the rs in a bad light...you don't think so...try and find it, you might get luck. Look from 31mins and watch the official sky clock jump 12 secs.

Anyway, super kev; coming on and getting sent straight off, the penalty thing, the training ground thing, the whole gold bentley thing.

Koeman giving him a new deal, there must've been a move in the pipeline and we did it to up the fee. Everton that.

Takes a pay cut on a 1 year deal but no doubt gets somebody to organise and pay for his move back to Belgium

Coulda been a contender, shoulda gone 3 yrs ago. Won't be missed.

Keep kicking 'em out Brands, not many left now?

The tosser who extended his contract needs the bullet too. I wish.

Chris #36, I thought Segundo Castillo was pretty damn good.

That's a genuine question from a despairing 64 year-old fan.

A genuine answer from Mr Moshiri would be most welcome on Kenwright's perceived virtues.

To me they're provenly non-existent.

Liverpool had their version of Mirallas decades ago. He was called Fairclough, wham-bam-thankyouMam once or twice (and boy do their fans still revere him) whilst in the real world he was fucking useless and they soon got rid, at a hefty profit to them. He died as a player thereafter.

That's what professional clubs do, but Kenwright's never realised that basic concept. He gives duffers contract extensions. Sigh.

Unless you want to read 4-5 more versions of the same post.

I certainly wish him well.

Ronald's stinct was the beginning of the end and his transfershould have happened three years.

One day he may realise what he's missed. Scored some great goals and offensively on his day better than Theo.

Another saga of what if, is closed at Goodison Park, and Marcel, is being ruthless and bringing reality into the club.

Now for Bolasie to be offloaded. Well done Marcel Brands and now for victory v Wolves whom I expect to be fired up after beating Torino.

Our Kev was a real diamond at times, but not often enough, and as others mention, the penalty fiasco was the final nail in the coffin.

He should be chained to the door of a food bank for 6 days a week for the next 3 years.

Of course it was the Greatest Blue on the planet for the rest of time (and beyond)that put him there.

Aidan McGeady
Theo Walcott
Davvy Klaassen
Sandro Rameirez
John O'Kane
Darron Gibson
Cucco Martina
James Beattie
Alex Nyarko
Lars Jacobsen
Bakayoko
Simonsen

Nyarko and Beattie were not bad players at all, and would have done better in more attacking formations. Martina was a free transfer mainly played out of position.

GK: Steve Simonsen (just rubbish)

RB: Mitch Ward (more of a wing-back but useless going forward and toothless in the tackle)

CB: Per Krøldrup (played next to Agger – did our scouts not notice the adjacent Mercedes and opted instead for the Lada Riva?)

CB: Antolin Alcaraz (of neither use nor ornament)

LB: Cocu Martina (not his natural position but seriously, has anybody ever witnessed a more hapless and error-prone individual?)

CM: Morgan Schneiderlin (I will never forgive the abysmal performances, the treachery he displayed under Unsworth and the heroic levels of apathy. He could score a hat trick at the kop end and find a cure for cancer and I would still consider him a twat. Gobshite)

CM: Davy Klaassen (utterly, almost comically inept)

RW: Andy van der Meyde (pisshead)

LW: Kevin Mirallas (never mind the gold Bentley and the Baines penalty, this lad had massive ability but an inflated ego and a poor attitude: like Ferguson, capable of making the incredible seem mundane but losing himself in his own legend and other distractions)

CF: Brett Angel (Surely there has never been a more incompetent forward since Bernie the Bolt)

CF: Stuart Barlow (cruelly but accurately labelled jigsaw as he goes to bits in the box, eventually found his level at Tranmere)

Subs:

CF: Ibrahima Bakayoko
LW: Aiden McGeady
CM: Danny Williamson
CB: Eliaquim Mangala (big girls blouse)
GK: Jason Kearton (couldn't catch a cold)

Managed, of course, by Sam Allardyce and accompanied by the grotesque Sammy Lee.

Chairman: Boys Pen Bill.

Commentary by Carragher and Ferdinand with in-depth analysis from Owen.

Good luck to him at his new club.

I truly believe he was never the same after that cowardly challenge from that horrible racist ratbag shithouse. Obviously none of this excuses the shitty attitude he developed at the club & in the end he alienated himself from a lot of fans.

I will remember the good times & say all the best!

Let's put it this way mate, he will never have to sign on!

This is only one that has been highlighted recently, how many others have their been stealing a living and still are in many cases?

People living normal lives and saving etc, spending a good portion to support the team home and away, and you get the likes of Mirallas, it does make you wonder!

Walcott is the 53rd highest all-time scorer in the PL era. Sigurdsson is 73rd.

Leighton Baines is the 17th highest all-time assist maker in the PL era. Context - he's assisted more than Hazard.

We also have 7 out of the top 20 youngest goal scorers in the PL era...

Not sure what I'm getting at, just found it interesting...

One of the most skillful, technical and exciting players to grace our club in the last 10 years and probably should have been given another chance.

Only played when he wanted to though, sadly.

What the colour or make of his car has to do with any evaluation of the man is meaningless to me.

In his early years with us he was excellent, technically, creatively and with his finishing. Often he was the only one who could threaten the opposition with his pace. He scored and created some excellent goals for us.

The penalty debacle v WBA was as much a failure of management and senior players as the player himself: Martinez on the sideline and Jags and Baines onfield. I don't excuse Mirallas for that incident, but there were mitigating circumstances at the time: a close playing mate of both Mirallas and Lukaku died way too young that week and it was Mirallas' attempt to score in tribute to him.

Again, no excuse, but who - hand on heart - can say they have never commited to an act or said words swayed by emotion that were better not done or said?

Where the club (NOT the player) got it seriously wrong was to offer Kevin a lengthy extended contract in the summer before Martinez's final season with us...and then be TOTALLY ignored and underused by the manager, even when results and performances were abysmal.

Given how marginalized he subsequent became under successive managers who preferred to loan him out rather than utilize him, he is a player that clearly, in retrospect, needed to be moved on three years ago rather than be given the lengthy contract extension he was. I'm glad he is finally off our books.

But placing him in a list of the club's top 10 wasters and bad signings as some in this thread have chosen to do is hyperbole of the highest order.

He was never the same after that injury, he had lost a yard of pace, his fitness seemed to suffer, he collected niggling injury after niggling injury. He also seemed frustrated, and who wouldn't be, imagine being a pro, and having to go to work every day knowing that you wouldn't be able to reach your potential.

Now before I get called for being some bleeding heart, I am well aware that a gold Bentley, a massive house, a fit missus and the 㿲-odd grand a week probably softened the blow.

He made the fatal mistake of taking the penalty away from Baines, and then missing. Although, he'd lost a pal recently and I'm pretty sure both he and his Belgian compatriot would have been showing off a tribute T-shirt dedicated to him had either of them scored. That mistake, coupled with his public declaration of his need to play champions league basically sealed his fate.

I wish him well, but I won't shed any tears, I do think it's a shame however that one diabolical moment put paid to a good deal of potential.

Mirallas was indeed running the game, and that could not be allowed to continue.

Barklay would be a great player if he didn't give the ball away every two minutes,

Yes mate, we know.

Not only did everyones fave manager Moyes buy him, he even took him to Sunderland, along with other Everton great Victor Anichebe. And then we wonder why Sunderland were relegated, when Advocaat and Big Sam kept them up. Comedy Gold.

He's off to Antwerp, a club with a story.
My local club, AZ Alkmaar played them in the Europa League preliminaries. The home match was 1-1, played in Enschede (a part of AZ's stadium roof collapsed.., luckily not during a match)
The return match was played in Brussels.
Antwerp took the lead, and looked the better team, but then Dieumerci Mbokani (ex- Norwich & Hull) lost his cool, and got sent off with a second yellow, as did another Antwerp player minutes later.
Against 9 men AZ equalized in the 90th minute.
In extra-time they scored 3 more, to win 1-4.

I did learn some things about the club though.
As a city, Antwerp is the richest in Belgium, due to the docks and the diamonds. (& going out there is fun too!)
Some rich bloke has invested heavily in the club (4th in the league), they are very ambitious, so getting knocked out will come as a blow.
To be continued, I guess.

https://twitter.com/s04_en

On his debut I looked up some Schalke fan forums. No criticism. Only praise. Even likened to a young Lahm by one supporter.

I'll try and find highlights of today's game to see his strike. His first in senior club football, if I'm not mistaken.

Link

Some laughable Hertha Berlin defender, but watch out for Kenny's part in the first goal - good positioning, control, awareness and pass in behind the Hertha defence to create the opening - as well as his excellent strike.

Note his technique. He deliberately halts his follow through on his shot. This ensures power behind the shot AND ensures the ball stays down and is a grass cutter as Ray describes. Anything else and he doesn't score as precisely as he does through a crowd of players.

Excellent effort by JJK.

Ademola Lookman, however, was an unused sub.

Dunno why they add adverts to those clips; cause no-one watches them. Anyway, I'm off to get some Coca Coffee.

Good luck.

Strangely dropped by Martinez then talked into resigning, then not played. Koeman then bizarrely extends his contract and refuses to give him a league start 2nd season, despite us being shocking. Last chance under Unsworth at Leicester he's our most dangerous player but DU bottles it and hauls him off at half-time. Think he got messed around somewhat tbh and lost focus.

Should have been sold in Martinez's 3rd season and certainly in the summer of 2016. I remember when we offered him a new contract the following year talk on here of "protecting his value". Didn't make a lot of sense to me at the time, I have to say.

Hope he finishes his career with a flourish back home. Zero hard feelings from me. Nobody made the club offer him big wages and he always gave it a go and tried to make something happen. The penalty thing with Baines was kind of stupid but he was always hot-headed. Hardly makes me despise the fella. Besides, Baines was weak letting him take the ball off him.

He wasn't as good as he thought he was but playing or competing with Pienaar, Osman, Barkley and some dreadful players I won't mention I can understand why he took the opportunity to shoot rather than pass to a 'lessor striker'.

He'd have been good in the Championship, maybe a loan their would have sorted out him out but instead club or agent decided the Turkish league would be better.

Thanks for the memories, a much needed attacking threat when we were simply a defensive unit.

He's no worse than Bernard other than lacked a bit defensively but was more a threat going forward.

In today's team he may have flourished so I'll simply wish him luck.

I wonder if we'll ever find out why he was given a new contract in 2017. Speculation is that Everton didn't want him to leave on a free and were expecting to sell him for a fee once he'd signed – if true, that backfired spectacularly!

I wish him well – end of the day the club offered him the new contract when they should have let him go (and save a few million in wages!).

I was always a fan of his as he was one of the very few players who dared to shoot when more than 5 yards from goal!

Too much money, but nowhere near enough application, who knows if he will have any real regrets about how good he could have been?

Like you I suppose seeing both didn't move in the window then they are both still on the payroll. The problem is that outside the top 6 Everton pay top money to players, so when they are considered not good enough its difficult to move them on. I assume both players have been told if they needed telling that they don't figure in Marcos plans but unlike Mirallas and Bolasie who were both told the same they haven't managed to find a club willing to take them.