Everton not looking to offload Mirallas

He's also approaching the point where his value will start to diminish. If someone bids handsomely for him, let's say £8m or upwards then I'd be tempted to part ways and find someone younger and hungrier. Perhaps someone more in the mold of Kone, a powerful winger able to hold the ball up and link up well with Lukaku.

I wouldn't bet against him starting vs West Ham.

Martinez is trying to change our reputation of being a selling club; witness the Stones saga. I don't think he has to sell any player to raise funds to buy another player. The TV money has given him control that Moyes could only dream of.

He is an expensive benchwarmer – one of the young lads could do that role just as easily.

I would be happy to see him stay and fight his way back in. However, he can't be too pleased with his lot at the moment. I am sure he feels that at this stage of his career he should be one of the first names on a teamsheet... somewhere. So it wouldn't surprise me if he asked to go.

It really annoys me when I see Aaron Lennon on the teamsheet instead of him, but that's Martinez for you.

With Deulofeu and Kone finding form, he is faced with more competition than in years. Even Lennon is more consistent.

That said, I love watching him at his best and would be very sorry to see him go.

Naismith has dropped off a bit, Kone hit form. His time will come, but he needs to seize that moment and make himself undroppable if he wants to be in the team all the time.

I wouldn't even have Kone in competition with him, Kone is a striker and it would be nice to see him play as such. Let's have Mirallas and Deulofeu both for a bit and hopefully see some more 6 goal hauls.

If he's as good as we think he is, then he'll show it and I'll blame Roberto if he still doesn't pick him.

Decent signs against Sunderland. He had an unbelievable game against West Ham (was it last year?). Maybe he'll get a go from the start to make his case.

Love the idea that we might have 4 or 5 attacking wide players... each offering something a bit different and all suitably fresh at different times. Will give us some good options to change up games.

1 - started, subbed, draw, Lennon not available
2 - benched, unused, we battered Southampton, Lennon not available
3 - benched, unused, loss, Lennon not available.
4 - benched, used for second half, draw, Lennon not available
5 - benched, unused, batter chelsea, Lennon plays 30 mins.
6 - benched, draw, sent off on 92 mins, Lennon unused
7 - unavailable, win, Lennon used for 10 mins
8 - unavailable, draw, Lennon used for 30 mins
9 - benched, unused, loss, Lennon used for 75 mins
10 - benched, 20 mins sub, loss, Lennon used for 70 mins
11 - benched, big win, 25 mins sub, Lennon benched and unused

It's true he has been benched a lot. I don't see a bias towards Lennon, who hasn't been used much either really. I also don't see where Mirallas has had a big impact on the teams results - note that our 3 best results didn't involve him much.

I remember him being useless for that first Watford game - perhaps Martinez felt the same.

Martinez also seems to have returned the baton to him after a run of trying Lennon.

I guess we'll see next game.

Our Best XI now is about as clear now as it has been for 2 years:

Robles
Coleman Stones Funes Mori Galloway (Baines, once fit)
Barry McCarthy
Deulofeu Barkley Kone
Lukaku

Subs: Howard, Naismith, Mirallas, Besic, Osman, Lennon. Browning

He appears to see himself as better than Everton, he was convinced to stay after we kept hold of players such as John Stones.

The reality is he'll never have a club calling of a greater calibre of Everton; he's simply not good/consistent enough. Quit moaning Kevin, earn your place on the field, keep it going for dare I say more than 5 games and then talk...

No player is bigger than Everton. They'll come and go; Everton remains.

Where is there even one quote from Kev in this article? How do you conclude that he is moaning about anything? There is nothing that I could find in any Belgian newspaper or in articles surrounding the Belgian national team. Even the Echo has no quotes.

If he is unsettled or upset about not playing, isn't that a good thing? Doesn't that mean that he is not happy just collecting a paycheck? Honestly, some TW posters either cannot read and understand the articles or just want to spout their own nonsense, unsupported by any factual underpinning, just to have a go at a player they apparently don't like.

He's been involved in the squad for every single game, obviously with the exception of his 3-game ban.

It's difficult to see where he fits in - is he a better second-striker than Kone? A better winger than Deulofeu?

Or are we back to this issue where we don't really have anyone suitable for the left wing?

For your quotes, here you go:
http://www.espnfc.us/Everton/story/2284321/Evertons-kevin-Mirallas-says-hes-ready-for-a-new-challenge

Admittedly the Telegraph 'translation' could be far too loose.

Ultimately we just want to see the performance on the pitch, not talk about it.

vs Man City: Kone, Cleverley start. City go 1-0 up at 60 mins - Martinez brings on Naismith. 2-0 up, brings on Deulofeu. Unused, loss

vs Man Utd: Lennon, Naismith start. Utd 2-0 up - brings on Kone, 3-0 up, brings on Deulofeu. Unused, loss

Ok, we might have got a win or draw in games where he was unavailable or unused but in these two instances, chasing the game, it seemed pretty clear that Mirallas should consider himself 5th choice winger. In fact, maybe even 6th choice as Besic started against Chelsea with Kone, both replaced later by Lennon and hatrick-hero Naismith.

Given that Deulofeu is a rough diamond and Lennon is just rough (in the nicest possible way), Mirallas should surely be considered our best player on the wing, yet he can barely get a kick. Oviedo could also do a job on the left but he is also notable for his absence so the question is, why shouldn't his attitude be less than rosy.

Naismith is not good on the wing, neither are Barkley or Besic, all of whom have played there to accommodate the latest genius from the manager. Cleverley does an acceptable job there but is better in the middle. Kone is ok there but is way better as a striker.

When it comes to Mirallas, sometimes it really looks like Martinez is taking the piss.

Also very odd to hand him a new contract and then not play him – unless the club did this to keep his value high with the intention of selling him all along.

Whatever's happened between him and the manager, if he's not going to be play regularly then we should cash in and save the wages/use the funds for a new player - new GK might be an idea, Valdes?

Sam 1, if Norwich were willing to offer £8M(!) for Naismith, I'd hope to get a lot more than that for Mirallas.

One we did offload, George Green, has now been offloaded by Oldham. What a waste of talent, for whatever reason.

Maybe Martinez is big on the right attitude, and it has to be said Kev's can be poor. Time will tell... come January, it'll be clearer, I think.

I'm sure that Roberto Martinez would much rather have a fully functioning Kevin Mirallas at his disposal but not at the expense of the team. I hope that Kevin puts on his professional head for the remainder of the season as that would be best for him and the team.

If I'm wrong and it is a personal thing with Roberto and Kevin, then it will be Martinez who will suffer in the end, but the truth is, we never know exactly what players do or don't do on the training ground.

Mirallas is good enough to hold one of them positions once any of the above players are either injured or out of form. If Mirallas is given a chance in either position or in Barkley's position, he needs 90 minutes to earn his spot and if possible a decent run.

What he’s getting though is half games at best and often he’s overlooked for Naismith or Lennon. If that’s to continue we might as well sell him as we won’t get nothing from him like that.

If we’re to sell a player from that position, I’d sell Naismith, especially if we were to get another ٦M bid. I’d also sell McGeady for a packet of Walkers Cheese an Onion.

And what is your thinking behind "it will be Martinez that will suffer in the end" when you have just said the above regards Kendall!

As none of us know the reasons behind Mirallas's omissions, Martinez would suffer if it was purely on a personal basis, rather than for the overall good of the team. Kendall's decisions were made to help the team or at least history shows that to be the case, it is too early to judge whether Roberto's motives prove to be similar, but I would guess looking in from the outside that they are.

I hope that Martinez management of the squad is going to plan. Dealing with ego's to get the best performance has to be the hardest part of the job.

I trust Martinez in his handling of the squad, it's his tactics I don't trust.

Too much "noise" in the press around him for my liking ... He drives a gold Bentley. There you go I said it.

The downside? The head does not always seem right (some of the sending off incidents, and some incidents when he should have been sent off); quite greedy (though talented and egotistical players often are); too much noise around him on and off the field (that penalty incident; his lippy agent; some of the 'mistranslated' press stories emerging from the Belgian press).

I would keep him, although why, given our other priorities, we bought Lennon as well continues to puzzle me. On those days when we play with a single winger there are now four of them vying for the same creative role. But that, as they say in trashy novels, is another story.

Not long after Kendall took Keeley,on loan from Blackburn, he had hardly played for a few months, but Howard put him straight into a derby game against Liverpool with disasterous results, we lost heavily and Keeley never played for Everton again.

You are right he sold McMahon to buy Trevor Steven, but McMahon wanted to go after a bust up with Kendall over wages. Heath and Johnson were on £900 per week, Stevie was on less than half of that and was offered a very small wage increase, and I mean very, very small, McMahon refused and was sold to Aston Villa, knocking back Liverpool in the process.

You can see why Kev is annoyed if he's signed that and then realised the manager has done it just to spite him in effect... especially when lesser players walk into the team in his position at times.

Every manager has difficult characters but it's their job to manage them when they are valuable to the team. I still think we should line up with Deulofeu on the right and Mirallas on the left for games.

If you refer to application going forward, his record surpasses Kone, Deulofeu and Naismith let alone Besic, Barkley, Cleverley and Lennon (our other 'wingers').

Not a personal dig Tony but a lot of fans' arguments seem to be based on the pseudo-science of body-language.

I have to say I like Mirallas and cant for the life of me understand why RM signed Lennon. We had plenty of cover for wide positions so why add neither a provider or scorer of goals is beyond me.

I think at present he must start with Kone and Deulofeu alongside Lukaku, so there is no place for Mirallas, but if we are to replace a wide player then he should be our first choice. I would hope that when Cleverley and Besic are fit they compete for a central midfield position and not shoehorned into a wide position.

With others probably coming back soon like Besic and Baines it doesn't make sense to keep players who are not going to contribute. Better to bring in one or two players in the window to compliment the squad and free up some wage space by offloading some of the others.

Mirallas will get more playing time if or when Baines gets back into the team. Kone will be kept in the team if he continues with his improvement, and Barkley will be kept in.

The manager will assess his options depending on the opposition: if he thinks their left sided defenders are weaker, he will use Deulofeu and Coleman; if he thinks it is their right side is weaker, he will go with Mirallas and Baines. I do not think he will play them both at the same time.

Perhaps I am missing your point re manager vs player.
I still don't get your train of thought that Martinez would be the one to suffer if it was a personal thing between him and Mirallas (which I agree with you by the way, I don't think it is).

Are you saying it would harm Martinez's reputation as a man-manager?

For me, and I have said it many times,Mirallas is a big time Charlie who reckons he can cut it with the best (nothing wrong with that if you can do the business, but unfortunately he seems to pick and choose when he wants to put the required effort into his game). I wouldn't be bothered if he left us providing we had a replacement lined up.

Mirallas has been second only to Lukaku in goal threat and he had a near miss against Sunderland in the few minutes he played. Mirallas is a Belgian international and when he is playing more often he will make their squad again. Lennon is not up to that standard and was not wanted by Spurs. Players like our two defensive midfielders, Lennon and Barkley do not score often enough.Mirallas will always score goals and that is what our game is all about !!

Also, the types of goals he scores give us another dimension.

This season just hasn't got going for him but I would definitely say he is as good as any of our other forwards on form.

Which one player do we have that is consistently good, week-in & week-out? Can't really think of any this season, or last for that matter (unless we're talking consistently poor).

The guy has talent and to get the best out of him he needs to play regularly. Also, I get the feeling that he's a player you need to put an arm round to get the best out of rather than one you need to kick up the backside.

His stats are there for all to see and stack up much better than any other midfielder we have.

Situation is just odd.

I was under the impression that, when McMahon wanted to go, Everton refused to to sell him to Liverpool but sold him to Villa, hence his arrival at Anfield, his desired destination, after one season.

As for Thomas, I was playing Welsh League at that time and Thomas was supposed to be playing for Everton that day at, I think, West Ham, but he was on the sidelines watching our match at Conwy! Not the brightest of individuals, wasting what talent he had.

I think the inconsistency thing is the key factor at play here. Genuinely top players can produce for, let's say, 90% of the time for 90% of the season (no-one I know is absolutely perfect). Due to Kevin being way below that level of consistency, is there a danger that he is actually a better impact player than a starter, which may explain the above expected bench time ratio for such a good player?

Without the benefit of doing some detailed research, my instinctive memory recalls him coming on to change games in equal measure to him making way because he hadn't had the desired impact from the start. Just a thought; genuinely like him, the type of player we craved for years but wish he was more consistently brilliant with the talent he possesses.

Mark my words, at the end of the season we will all be looking back and wondering what the fuss was about as he will have ousted Kone from that side.

Let's not forget, Mirallas and Lukaku also seem to have a chemistry when they play together.

I saw Mirallas play an absolute blinder at Upton Park, in the cup last season, where he reached a level I have not seen many Everton players reach in the last twenty years. Not saying you can play like that every week, it would be impossible. But I haven't seen him anywhere near that level, since that night. If that's not down to how you apply yourself, then what is it?

He plays when he wants to (doesn't everyone?) but when you're such a gifted individual, it should always be about pushing yourself to reach new heights. I don't think Kevin Mirallas does this nowhere near enough to himself.

RM makes the decisions, he sees KM train all week as well as when he plays at the weekend and he has the right to discipline him as he sees fit for acting like an infant on the field even if that means the ignominy of sitting it out on the bench.

When he is good enough to start, he will do so; at the moment he isn't. For me, he is a poor one-man show and not fit to wear the badge.

RM always emphasises the value of a strong together group, and perhaps Kevin rocks the boat occasionally. I have a suspicion that Besic also fitted that description for a period.

Re Mickey Thomas I was pointing out the hypocrisy of Howard Kendall in not playing him after not playing for two games and playing Glen Keeley who hadn't plated for a few months, but do agree Mickey was a bit behind with his mental rent.

As for McMahon, it's just the way I remembered things, you're possibly right, I'll wait for the book to come out!

Yes, I know everyone should be a professional and do your best, whatever... but it's easier said than done when you might hate the person in charge. Funny how Moyes had no real problems keeping him happy & playing, isn't it?

This situation with Kevin has been going on for the past 12 months. He is not a regular, why I don't know? He is a great player who excites me and many other fans.

Who knows what goes on behind the scenes? The more I think about this situation, the more I am confused!

His problem, like Rom's, is the poor quality of service he receives. With good quality service, he and Rom would easily get 30 goals between them in a full season.