Malanda tribute was behind Mirallas's penalty decision

Sort of puts a different spin on the demonizing that was occurring. Such a selfish man, how dare he want to score and be able to pay tribute afterward to his deceased good friend.....

I thought he had every right to take the penalty anyway. God forbid one of our players show some confidence in wanting to step up in a pressure situation.

I'm all for freedom of speech David, but you're well in the minority on that one.

Mirallas was thinking of nobody but himself in that scenario. He could've done his tribute by wearing a tee shirt over his jersey during the warm up, amongst other ways.

I didn't notice a black armband on him either. The biggest disappointment for me however was the lack of leadership in the scenario. Baines should've told him where to go with his experience. But typical of all things Everton of late, he was soft and weak and meek.

Rant over.

I posted this on Tuesday on here, so itÂ’s hardly breaking news !

So that's how it works is it. A mate dies and you get to become the club's penalty taker the following week.

All he had to do was let the fellows know ahead of time, especially Baines, that he'd like to take the next penalty. Simple. The players all seemed surprised by what he did. Could've been avoided.

Given he walked thru teammates who were pointing at Baines and Baines' approach and talk to him, he might have thrown himself off.

Ugh! Please, something go right soon.

Both he and Rom scored at West Ham and paid tribute.

Up to them how they want to pay tribute. But quite what any personal wish has got to do with Everton's tactics isn't immediately obvious to me.

"Hey Boss. It's my birthday, can I play up front today? "

"Sure thing Tony. Have a phenomenal fun moment. "

He's our leading goal threat. And yeah, he did score the previous week but as a sub, so he might not have thought he was going to be in that match and not been prepared to pay tribute to his friend that match. The fact is he's just about the only player in a blue shirt right now who I would actually trust with a set piece. It's hardly the same as Hibbert asking to play up front, nor is comparing a players birthday to that of a dear friend's unexpected death. And just remember, Baines missed his penalty at United and was extremely lucky to not have it saved against Sunderland when it somehow squeaked through the keeper's body. Bainesy aint exactly lighting it up when it comes to set pieces lately.

The point is, people were taking him to task for being selfish and just wanting to show off in order to get a move to a new club. That doesn't appear to be the case. If you want to say he used poor judgement in choosing that way to pay tribute to a friend, fine. That's a reasonable discussion. But the talk about him wanting the goal for himself in order to achieve some personal goal of attracting a big money deal at a new club seems to have been completely out of order and just wrong. That's my point. Nobody sees a T-shirt in warm ups. But they do so it when a player runs off in celebration after scoring a goal and lifts his shirt to reveal a message to a loved one or a loved one's family.

IF this was the case then the reactions of Lukaku, Naismith and Baines appear at odds with Mirallas actions. Also, in Roberto's post match defence he doesn't mention KM motive, not even a passing reference.

Surely RM must have seen the message upon KM's T-Shirt by then ? Also, would that not have been the PERFECT way to defuse the whole issue ?

Personally, I defend Baines entirely, and here's why.....

Once a penalty is awarded, the common reaction by the penalised side is to create diversions and allow the taker to "sweat on it", whilst at the same time allowing the keeper to check out the takers body language for giveaways (Note: Everton never bother with these tactics) and that's exactly what WBA did

Lukaku quickly challenges Mirallas first of all, he does not show any sign of approval or support such as a slap on the shoulder, no nod of the head and most importantly he does not walk along with KM as a clear gesture of consent.
Naismith clearly challenges KM and forcefully so, others close by also appear to question KM's action.

Baines does clearly intervene and reasonably so as our first choice approved penalty taker

Now here's the vital part. Baines knows that to disrupt the focus of a penalty taker (espacially when the penalty is crucial) only assists the penalised side, it does NOT benefit the taker. Consequently Baines adopts discretion as the better part of valour and withdraws in order to afford Mirallas the best possible opportunity to score for the team.
Baines also realised that a squabble for the ball (even if he grabbed it forcefully) would likely pump the winne so full of nerves that a miss would be more likely. Baines conceded, for the good of the team and accepts KM's error.....in hope.

Mirallas was wrong.
Lukaku was correct.
Naismith was correct.
Baines was correct.
Martinez was unaware of the "Tribute".

Though as Martinez stated, there would be no story about the taker IF Mirallas had scored.

Mirallas missed.
Consequently, any Mirallas "Tribute" to Junior Malanda was also missed.

I wonder what Junior Malanda would have done if he had been on the pitch near Lukaku and Mirallas ?

#"winne".....no idea what happenned there.....I meant "taker".

As Capt Mainwaring would've said, "stupid boy"...

Football is quickly becoming like some gushy, sentimental tribute band. Any excuse for a minute's silence, applauding, messages on tee-shirts, pointing to the heavens etc....

If you want to honour someone, just do your best on the pitch and stop all this posing crap...

The incident has gone. I didn't agree with Mirallas taking the penalty but it's gone.

Mirallas is one of few options to be a match winner. Alienate him now and it's cutting your nose off to spite your face.

I hope our fans get behind the lad; if he's got anything about him, he will respond.

Smacks of an attempt by the Club to put positive spin on the incident. Surely they'd already done the honouring Malanda bit at West Ham?

So only he was Malanda's friend? Should Lukaku not have snatched the ball from him since Malanda was apparently closer to Lukaku? Sorry but that behaviour was inexcusable, and certainly nothing Malanda would have approved of, tribute or not tribute.

Personally I think it's a load of bollocks. If that was the case, then why wasn't it said at the time? Surely questions would've been asked at half time and, first and foremost, the other players would've seen him put his under shirt on with a Malanda tribute on it before the game and maybe put 2 & 2 together at the time?!

Surely Mirallas would've been distraught at missing if indeed he did have a tribute planned and would've explained himself at half-time as to why he did what he did but neither Naismith or Martinez came out saying such a thing!

A penalty dedicated to a dead hero? I've heard it all now. The bullshit emanating from this once-proud club and its manager and players is becoming stifling.

Mirallas should stop behaving like a twat and Bainesy should just man up.

Hardly anybody plays for the badge anymore, they think only of how to look good to future employers and their hangers on.

I'd bet actual money that these rumours of an injury or a tribute are a load of bollocks.

However, I think the club and Mirallas have been correct to handle the issue as they have. He's still a paid member of our team. We're gonna need him to play for the rest of the season to get out of the mess.

If we sell him, we don't want to get £2.50 because everyone knows for certain that he's a disruptive influence and of no value to us... even if that is true.

I always remember back to when Moyes was in charge. If there was someone he didn't rate, everyone knew about it. His treatment of Yakubu being a prime example. Relegated to the reserves, then chucked out on loan to Leicester.

So, quite why it's surprising to people that the club and maybe the player are lying in order to play down any negatives from the penalty miss is baffling.

And? He still shouldn't have taken it regardless of personal reasons. He was one of Lukaku's pals too but you didn't see him wanting to take it. Selfish boy!

David, you mention Baines has not been too hot on set pieces of late, aside from the shite corners which has been an issue for years. (I remember Arteta with the same problems.) But, with regards to free kicks, he's getting bullied off them now too by Lukaku and Co, how many has he had a go at this season? And a free kick to Baines in the right place can be as close to a penalty as possible to us.

It was the same in the World Cup, even Carragher mentioned his need to grow a pair. When we were all moaning about Rooney not tracking back to help him; he should have been bollocking Rooney, but it seems the lad is intimidated by the big name players.

As for Mirallas, would he be so keen to take one in the last game of the season, when it could mean shit or bust?

Very sad that he has to drag the death of a friend into this affair.
I'm sure Malanda being a professional footballer would have preferred a professional result and a team performance not a petulant stand by an ego bigger than the skill that person possesses.

Whatever!
He's come out in the press and stated his father and his agent have told him he needs to score more goals, I'm guessing it's not to help the help the team to a trophy or Champions League spot but to boost his profile in order to get his last big day contract off a Champions League team!
Arshole!

He could have sent flowers.

If it's worth anything at all... in the Lower Bullens, after about 30 mins into the game, our kid observed KM gesturing that his hamstring was tight.

He's still a prick for taking the pen... a bit too 'Big Time Charlie' for my liking. I mean, have you seen the blinded up seats in his Bentley? Bellwipe!

I'm sure a Sympathy or Condolence Card would have gone down much better with us Evertonians, than a penalty miss!

Why, oh why don't they just tell the truth? Why is it so hard to tell the truth? They don't kid any one with the nonsense they come out with... just make it harder to believe them the next time they try to explain something else.

Time to move on from this story now. Mirallas will leave in the summer if we don't qualify for the CL through the EL, which we can't really complain about in a 27-year-old.

Meantime, Roberto needs to get the best out of him. With him at his best and McCarthy and Besic snapping at the opposition, we could still finish the season well.

Quite right, Phil. Self-justificatory, prevaracatory and obfuscatory nonsense. Anything but call the lad what he was: a prat.

Just another line from El Pied Piper of Gwladys Street. There is no justification or excuse. 3-points flushed for disobeying team orders – instant two-week fine, transfer list, out. He's going anyway, so might as well make something useful out of it for discipline's sake.

So sick of overpaid "stars" honouring dead relatives and friends with their stupid pointing up to the heavens. It's so pathetic, all this public posturing, just let them stick with their narcissistic tweets instead.

It's called spin. We sadly accept it as normal now; the correct word is 'lies' or 'bullshit'.

It is spin, Martin. Bizarrely, a very, very small minority on here actually believe it though!

It shouldn't matter a fuck what Mirallas was thinking at the time. He knows that Baines is the Number 1 penalty taker at Everton & he knew that it should have been Baines who should have taken it.

Because of his self-importance, he cost Everton the 3 points that they were in need of so for that he should be punished & fined a weeks wages for disobeying orders.

NO EXCUSE!

Bullshit. His friend who unfortunately died is not one of ours. IÂ’m not going over all that had been said before but Baines is our penalty taker.

IÂ’m pissed off with these big heads thanking all and sundry in their imaginary heaven. Mirallas just wanted the photo opportunity, the big big shite.

Some really sickening comments on here. I mean really sickening. "His friend who unfortunately died is not one of ours." So that's all that matters is it? When Lukaku scored against West Ham he was breaking down into tears. The person obviously meant a lot to them both, as they spoke about it before both matches. But, he missed the penalty so fuck off, right?

I disagree, David. I think Evertonians have every right to be really angered by this bullshit. It was a totally selfish 'gesture'. His job is to play football for Everton and the arrogance he showed in usurping Baines is inexcusable. To have it 'justified' by this tribute nonsense just makes it a thousand times more ridiculous.

So he wanted to do a 'tribute'? — What he ended up doing was an insult: to his dead friend in an arrogant gesture that misfired; to his team and manager when he took things into his own hands; and to the Everton fans, who have to put up with his 'Champions League' bollocks, his blinged-out lifestyle, and his at best mixed performances on the field.

Quite right that we should express our disapproval.

...Mirallas in "NOT selfish, ignorant, horse's arse" Shocker!!

As I said Michael, "If you want to say he used poor judgement in choosing that way to pay tribute to a friend, fine. That's a reasonable discussion."

But people spouting off stuff like this "Bullshit. His friend who unfortunately died is not one of ours." As if a tribute is acceptable only if the person happens to be a supporter of Everton. I just find talk like that to be very sad and inhumane to be honest. Again, Mirallas and Lukaku had been talking about how emotional they were at the passing of their friend.

I happened to believe that it wasn't that big of a deal that he took the penalty. Given Baines' recent performance and the fact that Mirallas had just scored with an excellent free kick in the previous match as well as being the first penalty taker at the end of the FA Cup match, I personally would have more confidence in Mirallas at that moment than Baines. But that's just me.

Yes, his job is to play football for Everton. And he stepped up in an attempt to get a goal in a team that is sorely lacking goals and confidence. In the previous match he stepped up and single handedly kept Everton in that match with his goal and set up play. I personally completely believe that he wanted to take that penalty in order to lift his shirt and reveal a message to his dead friend's family. I don't see that as the crime that others see it as and I definitely don't see it as arrogant. We disagree on that completely. And I really don't see why you would mention "his blinged-out lifestyle".

Bottom line is that it should have been discussed in advance so Mirallas is at fault for putting Baines and the ball on the spot like that.

It wouldnÂ’t have been blown out of proportion by G Neville if there had been anything else worth talking about in that match. Time to move on and get some results. COYB