Season › 2013-14 › News Naismith 'blown away' by Martínez Lyndon Lloyd , 4 April, 0comments | Jump to most recent Steven Naismith says he was "blown away" by Roberto Martinez — as far back as the tumultuous last days at Glasgow Rangers back in 2012 when the Spaniard tried to tempt him to Wigan. The Scottish international was waiting for the final details to be completed on his free transfer to Goodison Park when he got a phone call from Martinez. "Contract-wise everything was sorted out [with Everton], the facilities were tremendous," Naismith says. "I liked what I had heard about the manager. The team was great. "A day or two before I was meant to be coming to Everton I got that phonecall," he continues. "In all honesty, Roberto Martínez blew me away in the conversation. "It was unbelievable, the way he knew everything about my past, where I was most comfortable playing, so much about my career. He said he thought I had given too much defensively in the past, that if he was my manager he would rather I kept my energy for when we were attacking. The way he spoke about the game was amazing." Despite the Spaniard's interest, Naismith decided to join Everton but he contacted Martinez to inform him personally of his decision. "I texted him to say that I appreciated the call, how he had blown me away and I was very grateful but I felt the best move for my career at that point was Everton," Naismith says. "I did that with every manager I have spoken to. It's something I have learned over the years. Just be straight-up and honest. There's no point losing relationships with people." Of course, Naismith would end up working under the man who had impressed him so much when he left the DW Stadium to take up the reins at Goodison following the departure of David Moyes last summer. "One year later, I am taking a call at roughly the same time from the new manager at Everton," Naismith adds. "He said: 'If the mountain won't come to Muhammad then Muhammad must go to the mountain.' "He has such good charisma and is such a good man-manager that you want to work for him. This season is the most I have learned football-wise in my whole career. David Moyes is a British-mentality manager, which I have seen a lot of. He was only tweaking and giving you a more advanced lesson on what you already knew. "With the manager now, it is a totally new way of playing football. It opens your eyes to the fact football can be played in such a different way." Quotes sourced from The Guardian About these ads © ToffeeWeb