Phil Jagielka gives his backing for under-fire Everton defender John Heitinga

, Liverpool Echo , 4 February, 13comments  |  Jump to most recent
Phil Jagielka said he sympathised with John Heitinga’s frustration, after the Dutch defender produced his worst display for the club since signing from Atletico Madrid in summer 2009.

» Read the full article at Liverpool Echo



Reader Comments (13)

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer


Christine Foster
1 Posted 04/02/2013 at 21:12:43
Clearly Jagielka's comments virtually state that the player's loss of confidence and form is in part to the manager letting him know he wasn't part of his plans at the start of the season and, as Lyndon suggests on another thread, the club tried to offload him in Jan, then it's clear he is not wanted at Goodison.

So why does the Player of the Season not figure in the manager's plans for the new campaign? It couldn't have been form, he wasn't selected as the manager fell back on his favorite pairing when the campaign started. One can therefore only assume he has gotten on the wrong side of Moyes.

Moyes has continued to play him even though he obviously doesn't want too, and frankly the lack of faith in him has killed his confidence completely. You don't go from Player of the Season, to being dropped before a game is played and obviously being told he isn't wanted without it affecting how you play.

The problem now is we have a quality player who is struggling, as is our main striker btw, we can't afford to play him but we shouldn't be letting him go either, JH will bounce back but not at Goodison and that's a shame. Remember all those calling for Distin to be dropped and let go?

Moyes has his favorites: Neville, Osman, Jagielka, Howard or should I say, those who cannot do no wrong, JH has never been one of them because he can be seen as arrogant and opinionated, a mistake often made about Dutch players, so he is where he is and he is not playing well.

The reasons for the loss of form is in his head and David Moyes's hands. Both of them must be praying for the end of season to come.

Trevor Lynes
3 Posted 04/02/2013 at 22:10:10
Christine, I usually agree with you but not on this occasion. Heitinga was never my player of last season and Distin is yards faster than him, better in the tackle and also in the air.

I reckon JH is the worst Dutch international player I have ever seen!! He is picked when we literally have no other options as it's probably felt that Duffy is not of Premier League standard. If Duffy is not better than Heitinga then he should consider a career change.

With all due respect, Christine, the man is being paid good money and if he is not doing his job then he should not have his contract renewed. There are no more arrogant and opinionated footballers than already exist within these shores so it's nothing to do with his being Dutch. Please tell me of any other club who was interested in having him when we bought him. Who has come in for him since??

I'm afraid that although we do unearth some bargains we also take on our fair share of duffers.< For example Bily, Drenthe, Naismith and I'm afraid Johnny. We have also managed to shift the likes of Vaughan, Beckford, Yakubu and others.

We need young, pacy, strong players to supplement our squad in the way that Newcastle have done.

Brendan McLaughlin
4 Posted 04/02/2013 at 22:21:58
Trevor #880
Very true but then lets not allow reality to get in the way of having a pop at Moyes
Ray Robinson
5 Posted 04/02/2013 at 22:38:06
Lots of assumptions in your piece Christine!
Tony J Williams
6 Posted 04/02/2013 at 22:39:01
Ahhhhhhh diddums, the nasty manager is not picking me so I'll start shitting out of tackles and leaving my man and start to lose what little pace I had....it's all his fault..waaaaaaaahhh
Christine Foster
8 Posted 05/02/2013 at 06:51:06
Trevor, I guess it's opinion as to how much quality the guy has / had. No getting away from the fact he was Player of the Season so he must have been doing something right to get that and keep Jags out of the team for such a stretch.

My point is, what inspired Moyes to change what was a successful pairing at the start of the season? Maybe JH looked really bad in training, who knows, but clearly he has already left the building. Players lose form and lose places, but that doesn't mean they are discarded; JH will find his form again... but with whom?

As I said, he doesn't deserve his place in the team currently, but I cannot understand why he is written off so easily by the manager and fans alike.

Christine Foster
9 Posted 05/02/2013 at 06:58:37
BTW, who the hell is having a pop at Moyes???? If you're dropped without understanding why after a great season personally, if your manager tries to offload you, then where would your confidence be?

Trevor, so does Jelly fit the same criteria? Last season great, this season crap? Do we sell him too? Or not renew his contract?

I cannot see a way back for JH at Goodison, even if he had a stormer of a close season, I think Moyes would let him go. All about fit....

Harold Matthews
10 Posted 05/02/2013 at 10:11:07
Yes, I'm afraid he'll be leaving in the summer. His lack of pace and slowness on the turn have been duly noted by other managers. A fact perfectly demonstrated on Saturday when his own manager fed him to the wolves. As I mentioned on the "Mirallas" thread, DM should have switched him with Distin after 60 seconds. Lambert's plan to isolate him was there for all to see. Right from the off.
Charlie Dixon
11 Posted 05/02/2013 at 10:47:22
He's been shitting out of tackles since Day 1.

The hard man bravado doesn't wash with me. I would rather give Duffy a chance.

Harold Matthews
12 Posted 05/02/2013 at 12:34:59
Yes Charlie. This Duffy business is a mystery.
John Crook
13 Posted 05/02/2013 at 12:44:30
The 'Player of the Year' tag is kept on being used. The actual awards for last season were Heitinga as "Fans' Player of the Year" and it was Distin who received "Player's Player of the Year".

JH has been shite all season and its time to move on this summer. I suspect Lescott will be back in the summer as he will be available for a nominal fee with only 1 year left on his Man City deal. (We will probably also receive a similar fee for Heitinga so the Lescott cost will be covered in terms of transfer fee.)

Richard Tarleton
14 Posted 05/02/2013 at 15:34:36
Duffy and Heitinga were the only players in the game that was last season's nadir, the abysmal performance against Blackburn. A lot of Moyes's selections, quite obviously are of the players he prefers, but his treatment of certain players — and Duffy is one — is simply a mystery.
Phil Walling
16 Posted 05/02/2013 at 15:41:23
Bollox to what he did or didn`t do last season,we`re in the here and now and he stinks the place out.Perhaps Jags would rather have seen Heitinga in the team over himself which would have been an irony indeed!
Moyes was dead right to leave out the Dutchman early on but dead wrong to re-instate him now and move Jags to right-back.
As for Duffy,now he must really be pissed off.

Add Your Comments

In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.

» Log in now

Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site.


About these ads