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Loyalty and love keeps Cahill at Everton

Tim Cahill has revealed the deep-seated loyalty he has for Everton Football Club — the manager, the chairman, the players and the fans — as the reason why he has stuck by the Blues when it might have been easier to leave.

In an interview with The Mirror newspaper, the Australian forward talks of his sense of duty to the Club that showed so much faith in him when they picked him up from Millwall for just £1.8m seven years ago and insists that he'll only leave Goodison "when this club is done with me."

The 31 year-old says that Everton still feels right, despite the fact that he has been struggling for form and has yet to score a goal in 2011.

"If you stay at a club, it's harder," he says. "It's easier to leave, really — it's easier to have a fresh challenge, because you join a new team, you have a clean slate, you nick a few goals and you have a fresh impetus.

"But I've found it's harder to stay because every year gets harder, expectations get higher, fans may get complacent about players and what they want them to achieve. They want a difference, they want a change."

Perhaps because of his strong ties to Goodison, media speculation linking Cahill away from Everton has been rare but he hinted that there have been opportunities to try his luck elsewhere.

"I've always said I will leave only when this football club is done with me. I think loyalty goes a long way, and I've always wanted to repay the faith this club had in me, when I came from nothing.

"As for major decisions in life there have been plenty of opportunities, but I have never conducted it in the media. I respect this club too much that create things that might be there, might not be there."

And his commitment to the Blues shows no signs of wavering.

"I've learnt at Everton that yes, you can be up against it — and we're definitely up against it now — in situations with a small squad, injuries, trying to break the next barrier, even 'Where are we going to get our next win from?' But we can only do it together, and by sticking together.

"I believe attitude is the most important thing a footballer can have. It goes a long way, it's what I always say to children. It goes such a long way — the attitude, making sure you are respectful. Have the right attitude, then the football looks after itself."

Cahill's loyalty also extends to under-fire chairman, Bill Kenwright, who remains insistent that the Board are looking for the right buyer to take the Club over.

"It's a Catch-22 with the ownership here," Cahill says. "Look at other situations, where they have sold the club to millionaires and it hasn't worked out. The chairman has said he wants to sell, but he wants to sell to the right people."

"These things take time, and probably a bit like all of us here, we probably love the club too much and it's so hard to let go.

"Whether that's my failing, the chairman's failing, the gaffer's failing... but when you have invested so much time and effort into something you love, it can work against you.

"At the moment, it's working against the chairman. But the main thing is, when he does sell it, the fans can be happy enough, because it will be with the right due diligence and in the knowledge he will be selling it to someone who truly cares about it.

"That is the thing about this club. For me, the decisions I've made have been part of my life because of my family, but also because of the chairman, the manager, the players at the football club, the fans, and because of loyalty, and a love of the club."

Quotes or other material sourced from The Mirror

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