Hitzlsperger gets contract extension

, 11 January, 37comments  |  Jump to most recent
Everton have announced that midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger will remain at the club until the end of the season.

The 30 year-old joined the Blues on a three-month contract in October last year, after being released by Wolfsburg last summer.

His contract was due to expire at the end of this month and there was talk of the ex-Aston Villa midfieler returning to Germany with Eintracht Frankfurt but Darron Gibson's latest injury set-back means that the player would not have "to sit on the bench all season long,” as he feared might be the case.

Quotes or other material sourced from ESPN



Reader Comments (37)

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Steve Sweeney
2 Posted 11/01/2013 at 14:42:56
Well, there's our WOW signing for this window.

Thomas Hitzlsperger signed till the end of the season.

Seems like a new signing.

Don't ya just love Everton?

David Barks
3 Posted 11/01/2013 at 14:55:05
Nobody saying it's a "WOW" signing, but is it not good to keep him for the rest of the season? Lets Barkley go out on loan and get more valuable playing time. Gives us a decent player in the middle of the park while Gibson is recovering from injury. Not really sure why it has to be met with derision.
Tony J Williams
4 Posted 11/01/2013 at 15:35:20
Sensible signing. allows Barkley to enjoy lots of playing time at Leeds and we have enough cover on the bench.
Ray Roche
5 Posted 11/01/2013 at 15:48:08
Spot on, Tony. Hitz is a pretty decent player and worthy of a contract. I would imagine this signals the fact that we aren't signing any more mid fielders, though.
Mike Powell
6 Posted 11/01/2013 at 15:46:33
Good; he will be needed with Gibbo out injured all the time. He hasn't been great but he has been steady and will do for now.
Phil Walling
7 Posted 11/01/2013 at 16:09:39
Good player who could prove invaluable in the run in to ensure sixth spot!
Sean Roe
8 Posted 11/01/2013 at 16:14:46
He may not be the best but he is an experienced Premier League midfielder, and good to have on the bench... I think we need all we can get at the minute.
Steve Sweeney
9 Posted 11/01/2013 at 16:20:49
David,
I was being a bit sarcastic with my comments,
As I'm still waiting for Blue Bill to produce
That WOW signing he keeps promising
Kieran Fitzgerald
10 Posted 11/01/2013 at 16:45:22
His comment about sitting on the bench struck me as interesting. I think that as a free agent signing, he is a very decent player. The pity with signing this type of player is that if they don't get games then they will look to go else where. I know that there is a reason why he is a free agent, and why he was signed in the way he was, but I do think that we can get some really good players through this system. If we can offer them proper game time, I think that we will get the better ones on offer.

Sam Hoare
11 Posted 11/01/2013 at 17:05:52
Seems like a decent if unspectacular player (untill he unleashes der hammer!). Good squad coverage though behind Neville and Gibson in the holding midfield role I should think.
John Audsley
12 Posted 11/01/2013 at 17:06:51
The WOW signing will arrive once the FSF cheque arrives and a "Top Level" source at the club says that it will be in the bank tomorrow...

Also according to Noel Gallagher he lives on the same street as Blue Bill, Weller and Lulu in London........

Kevin Day
13 Posted 11/01/2013 at 17:13:38
I think he's been quite steady for us, seems quite calm under pressure and can slow play down when needed and very rarely gives the ball away, I personally think Everton should tie him up for 2 years.
Robin Cannon
14 Posted 11/01/2013 at 17:33:57
@Steve (991) - Where does he keep promising a "wow" signing? Nowhere that I've seen. In fact, if anything his stance is more along the lines of "oh, poor us, we just can't compete and I need a billionaire..."
Michael Kenrick
15 Posted 11/01/2013 at 17:42:44
Kieran (#996) — "I do think that we can get some really good players through this system", that being free agents?

I struggle with that claim. Any half-decent player is already going to be signed up by someone; I would go so far as to state that anyone available as a free agent is no longer a "really good player".

Yes, they might have been once (this is the Cahill arguement all over again) but it has to be all about what they can do for us now — not their past careers. No doubt there will be some examples put forward of players for other clubs that might have come good, but, as far as Everton are concerned (and that's all I care about), our experience with bringing free agents has been at best poor, and at worst shockingly poor, as far as I can recall.

There's a good reason why these players are free agents: they're not good enough!

Terry Maher
16 Posted 11/01/2013 at 18:13:38
I am happy to see him stay. He's good backup for the team and I can see him hitting the back of the net soon.
Robin Cannon
17 Posted 11/01/2013 at 18:20:52
I'd tend to agree with Michael. There is potentially some value in the free agent market - but it's only potential. Hitzlsperger *could* be a good signing - experienced German international, only 30 years old. But we're also talking about someone who's played less than 30 games since the start of the 2010 season. Oddly, I can't really see any major reason for that decline. Regular German international through 2010 WC qualifying, then he joined Lazo and since then he's barely played any football. Doesn't seem to be any major injury issue so...not sure what happened.

A free agent is not necessarily "not good enough" as Michael suggests, but at the very least any talent is usually outweighed by some other issue. At best they're a low-risk punt.

Nick Entwistle
18 Posted 11/01/2013 at 18:26:34
Good signing. Would like to see him start, and he should get his chance.
Drew O'Neall
19 Posted 11/01/2013 at 18:38:36
What about Lewis Holtby, he's a free agent signing affectively.

Players become free agents for a variety of reasons and not just because they are past it.

Kieran Fitzgerald
20 Posted 11/01/2013 at 18:29:42
I see what you mean Michael and really good was a poor choice of phrase. What I should have said was that there is really good value to be had and that offering an extension to a player like Hitzlsperger will benefit us with both him and any potential signings, with this in mind.

I would agree with you about some of our recent free agents. But, for every McFadden Mk II, there is a Hitzlsperger or Lucas Neill. While not exactly world class, I think that Hitzlsperger could play twenty to thirty games and be more than just competent. I also thought that Neill did alright for us.

I also agree with you about standards for Everton. If I had my way, we would be signing Messi and Van Persie every other week. When we have the cash to sign a Mirallas or a Baines then please let us do that first and foremost. I am happy to sign one quality player of that ilk for cash when we can and then use a decent free agent to bring up the overall level of the squad.

Robin Cannon
21 Posted 11/01/2013 at 18:49:50
@Drew (033) - I think there's a big difference between someone who's a free agent (i.e. not affiliated to any club, having been released) and someone who's available on a Bosman free transfer.
Michael Kenrick
22 Posted 11/01/2013 at 18:51:22
Agreed, Kieran... how did you know I was thinking first and foremost of McRooney!? I think Neill might well be the only exception where we actually made money on the deal...

Thanks for clarifying that, Robin. Spot on.

Kieran Fitzgerald
23 Posted 11/01/2013 at 19:19:16
I posted on the Distin piece last night. Clubs tying down some of their players who are about to become available on Bosnan transfers can be an important piece of business. Even with someone like Distin, who is pushing on in years, you don't want to let him go for nothing, even if you aren't prepared to offer him more than say an extra year or eighteen months. He is a player who clubs would look at, especially during the January window.

This idea, when you look at it in terms of Hitzleberger, is also a sound one. Why not extend his contract to the end of the season. If we don't have an automatic replacement at present through injury or lack of numbers, then it could well mean us spending money to replace him anyway.

Steve Edwards
24 Posted 11/01/2013 at 19:02:43
Disappointed, I think this signals that Vadis won't be coming. As for Hitzlsprger, I'm a bit surprised that people on here rate him so highly. We need a defensive midfield player and I've not seen anything from that says he can play that role. Yes he's neat and tidy, likes passing sideways, no pace, can't tackle and once had a good shot. We need somebody who can screen a leaky back four and for me he dose not come close. I suppose he's better than nothing but only just.
Joe McMahon
25 Posted 11/01/2013 at 20:08:55
lets be positive, when Gibson comes back in late March it will be just like a new signing.
Being realistic how on earth are we going to finish 4th. How many games have we played with our first choice 11, can anyone clarify is it 2?
Si Cooper
26 Posted 11/01/2013 at 20:57:42
"I think he's been quite steady for us, seems quite calm under pressure and can slow play down when needed and very rarely gives the ball away" – a good summation of the player but he is hardly the energetic box to box marauder we could really do with is he, and he is not really going to give us everything that Gibson has in terms of vision and passing.

Cheap and reasonable enough for a back-up player, but if Hitzlsperger and Neville end up being in for the majority of our remaining games then Ossie, Pienaar and Mirallas are going to have to really put some shifts in to keep our attacking threat at its peak.

Can I please ask that people drop the "3 points from third" reference until next Wednesday at least. Chelsea are above us with a game in hand (at home against Southampton) and a much better goal difference.

Trevor Lynes
27 Posted 11/01/2013 at 22:01:23
I just feel that signing Hitz up may mean that we will not be doing any business.
I don't rate him good enough for anything other than a cover.
He is not a player that is noticed and I have never seen him play a major role when he was playing for Villa.
If he is all we can expect then I am disappointed.
He is a journeyman who does a job.
Certainly not an acquisition to excite the fans.
Harold Matthews
28 Posted 11/01/2013 at 22:12:50
Gibson is useful but, like Hitz, he is also quite static. Rarely does anything on the move and never accelerates forward at pace.

Barkley will return a changed man. He will learn to kick the stuffing out of people before wrestling them to the ground whilst picking up the words to a few dodgy chants.

Steve Edwards
29 Posted 11/01/2013 at 23:16:07
Trevor, looks like we agree on something for once.
Kev Johnson
30 Posted 11/01/2013 at 23:21:13
The best case scenario is that he could be our Didier Deschamps. Cantona dismissed him as a "water carrier" and he never seemed to do very much - but he captained France to triumphs at the World Cup and Euro Cup and had a lot of success with Juventus. He fetched, he carried, he kept the team ticking over - just doing the housework in midfield, if you like.
Si Cooper
31 Posted 11/01/2013 at 23:42:22
Kev (#097) - isn't Pip our 'water carrier'?

Not sure how many we need on the pitch at any one time. More than one may not be a big problem, but I wouldn't think it would be the optimum either.

I am hoping this is just another cheap option to bolster the squad and an younger midfield with real dynamism and bite will be coming in as well.

Harvey Miller
32 Posted 11/01/2013 at 23:37:14
I cant understand some o the messages here. About Hitz: He's about 30 now. He was the captain of a winning team of the German league Stuttgart some five or six years ago. He has won about 50 caps for Germany.

Hitz' was injured for most of the last two years. When he has been on he's been moderate at least. He already hit the upright with der hammer so there might be something more to come...

Kev Johnson
33 Posted 11/01/2013 at 23:49:05
Si - I suppose you could say that, yes, although Neville seems to me more of a troop rallyer, ankle biter and finger pointer than anything else. Does he knit together the play? Not sure about that - his short passing would have to be better for that to be the case! Neville is Chief Bottle Washer! A vacancy still exists for Water Carrier.

Having said that, just for the sake of it, I agree that we don't really want them both in the team at the same time.

Steve Edwards
34 Posted 12/01/2013 at 00:35:44
Harvey, dream on, as you so ellequently put it its all in the past. Serious injury has done for him and that's why he is a free agent. There again you may win the lottery one day.
Andy Meighan
37 Posted 12/01/2013 at 11:07:16
Harold (#087) — go and have a good lie down in a darkened room, pal!
Eric Myles
38 Posted 12/01/2013 at 13:01:39
Robin #10, when he told us to 'watch this space' I'm still watching it, it's here > <
Steve Sweeney
39 Posted 12/01/2013 at 13:24:28
Eric LOL

The Everton Fans should put a Musical together based
on that wonderful Diana Ross record

"I'm Still Waiting"

WOW

Harold Matthews
40 Posted 13/01/2013 at 08:37:50
Andy (#163),

Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Normally I am quite peaceful. It must be a ToffeeWeb virus. Only five minutes ago I gave Mr Moyes a real good pasting on another thread.


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