Silva plays down McCarthy speculation

He's our third choice central midfielder when fully fit, he should be kept and if we can't get rid of Schneiderlin we should loan Davie for experience. This would leave us with 4 senior options plus Beni.

And also Robert, glad to see you mention Beni too! A really good prospect. The way Gomes played last day out I would have happily seen Beni get some time on the field against Leicester.

In other words, Silva needs a box to box midfielder. McCarthy, and the other coaching and selection changes as his new plan. All the teams that Everton play will be concentrating on these weak areas – as have previous opponents in the unfestive season.

Loaning McCarthy would show that Silva hasn't a clue, but more importantly that Brands doesn't know the value of a player, which I doubt, unless Brands wants rid of Silva!

Not fit enough to make our bench but fit enough to play for West Brom in a far more physical league

Schneiderlin is crap and Gomes is shot. Not the right time to send Mac out

We know what he can do he's not a raw 18 year old is he?

If he's fit he should be starting ahead of giving Gomes two or three games break and McCarthy is miles more energetic than Davies and Schneiderlin yet they are being considered for a loan or other?

Makes no sense.

On the other hand, a couple of sub appearances for us might do the trick and then we have a very useful option for when the going gets tough in our battle for 13th place.

There's substance to the story, otherwise this would be in the Rumour Mill.

There's not enough grit in the team once Gana is out and McCarthy is no shrinking violet; would be madness to let him go.

Let them have Davies for 6 months and see how he fares.

Is Coleman still the answer to our right back issues after his injury, most would probably say no now. So why, in the absence of our most absentee player are people expecting McCarthy to be the answer to our midfield problem.

Sure after a horrendous injury he's going to be completely fine throwing himself into tackles like before. Some of the comments astound me.

McCarthy is basically Gueye but more on the tackles than the interceptions. In what way does adding him, without removing Gueye improve us as an attacking unit? We have all wanted McCarthy shipped out for years and its only the dearth of options at the club that confuses the issue.

Why do people continue to question decisions such as this without being aware of any of McCarthy's medical data, or performances in training?

I agree, Kris, but who else have we got and Silva definitely needs to change his plan. McCarthy, if fit, is a quick fix, giving Gomes a rest and tactical options.

Completely underwhelming signing who's ridiculously injury prone to boot. Madness giving him a 5 year contract extension back in 2015 but then again we are Everton and we don't do logic. So we have him on the books for another couple of seasons whilst adding nothing, same for the likes of Besic.

Had a half decent season 5 years ago and has done next to nothing since, other than picking up is 㿞k odd a week. Make it a loan to buy as he's not going to play next season for us so just get shut.

If we're looking to McCarthy to turn things around then things are pretty desperate.

His tenacity, work rate and leadership is much missed from our midfield would love to see him in a three with Gueye and Gomes further forward.

A big part of his game is tenacity, something he could have lost after a double leg break (caused by his playing style).

Maybe the lad can get back to his best (which was 5 years ago), he'd certainly complement Gomes' style. But he will need a long run of games, and I doubt us fans will support a few months of below par performances and a player who thinks twice before jumping into the tackle.

A move to the Championship seems a good move. West Brom.are pushing for promotion, so there will be pressure to perform, yet McCarthey at 70% is still better than most at that level.

We can then evaluate. If he performs well, and West Brom get promoted, we may sell him and get a decent fee (atm we wouldnt get much more than 5 million, which in today's market is buttons) or we may decide he still has a role with our first team.

But at this moment, he ain't gonna get games ahead of Gueye, and what the lad needs is games.

To me, Everton is becoming rancid at an ever-increasing pace but for all that, I will still treasure the memories of the very few successes we have had in my lifetime !

He hasn't played any footy for 3 years and some people think he's the answer (no idea what the question is).

For me it was madness giving him a 5 year contract in 2015 and I said when we had the opportunity a couple of years ago to offload him to Celtic, we should have jumped at it.

Still the club has done more foolish things in that time - not really sure why I get bothered by it tbh.

Of course loan him out, don't sell him now. Give him a chance to play competitive footy and get back to full Macca. He's only 28 and his injury wasn't as bad as Coleman's. If he can't cut it, time enough to sell in the summer.

He will get fit and strong with his game time an come back ready to show his true value in pre season or be fit enough to sell.

We have a lot of centre mids at the club atm, most of whom we don't know were there future lies, Gomes is only on loan, Besic is loaned out, Schniederlin isn't playing, Davies has fell out of favour, Baningeme is on the missing list, Jimmy Mc as above, so basically only Gana seems like he's expected to start as first choice in our midfield next season.

If he is not match fit and we don't have the time or inclination to play him in the prem loaning him to a championship side pushing for promotion gives him the best chance to either prove he still has it while gaining match fitness or gain himself a decent transfer.

Either way it is win win for both parties.

Same for Besic at Boro, Martina at Stoke, Mirallas at Fiorentina, Bolasie at Villa, Tarashaj and Ramirez.

And whatever bit of magic Brands can conjure to get Garbutt off the books.

And as we found out to our dismay when he was out of the lineup, Gueye can certainly influence a game significantly. He is my player of the season so far.

I'm probably well off the mark but I'd want to move on. He has a career to save and some self worth to regain. I suspect he'll move on and fair dos. I hope he knocks Ireland on the head for his own sake, and gets back on track.

As for Silva playing him. Why? There's no reason he won't breakdown, so a start would be reckless, and I'd want more attacking options on the bench.

It all points to an outgoing. Both parties hopefully will cut their losses.

Yes James has had plenty of injuries, not helped by being rushed back to soon by Martinez and his his own choice
with his loyalty to Eire, misplaced in my opinion.

He played against the African team a couple of months ago for a cameo role, made a goal, although the opposition were not the strongest and I don't think he has played since, maybe Silva is making absolutely sure
James is ready before he takes a chance with him.

I think James deserves a bit of goodwill from Everton
fans, he doesn't get injured on purpose, always gives 100% and might surprise some fans if he comes back in
the team.

Hope we weren't. Don't think he's as good as DCL (could be proved wrong!) and for £19mil - is that a joke?!?

Hardly proven himself in the Prem at all, quite frankly I'm flabbergasted.

I hope not. Solanke is about at the level of Kieran Agard. Good enough to make a splash at u23 level but not good enough for the Prem. Didn't Bournemouth already get duped into blowing a fortune on Jordan Ibe? another RS "wonder kid". All it does is make me thankful we didn't hire Eddie Howe.

Kieran #51, although he has only one Premier League goal to his name, he did get an England call-up and so far Calvert-Lewin, with lots more appearances and goals, has not.

Kieran Agard! Blimey!

Call my cynical but I have this belief that "young wonder kids" from Utd, Liverpool and Spurs seem to get fast tracked into the England team. Cleverly for example, Ryan Mason, Harry Winks, etc whereas old pros at Everton and other clubs have long careers and never get a look in

For me it is a no brainier, keep the guy.

Sadly, his level of performance and more critically, his ability to be fit to be selected, has tailed off dramatically since then.

Now the double leg break against the Albion last season could happen to anyone, at any time. But that's not the injury I refer to.

James' hamstring injuries are well-documented and they were becoming more frequent.

My own unscientific theory is this: James' professional career started at 16-years-old with Hamilton in Scotland. By the time he joined us from Wigan - still aged only 22 - he had already played a helluva lot of football in the engine room of his teams and came to Everton with a lot of miles on the clock for one so young.

I genuinely wonder if he is now (and in the last 3-4 seasons) paying the price for that and may be the reason why he started being almost permanently injured.

I respect the Irish lads staying loyal and trumpeting their boy - Chrissy and Gerry Ring can't post on TW without referencing him! - but I fancy he is someone Brands wants off the books. To get some transfer funds and to save on his salary.

It is wildly optimistic to believe he can come back from the long lay-off he has had (in addition to the previous two years before that when he barely played) and think he could be the James McCarthy of old.

With Gueye playing as he is, he would not be first choice and it would be too limiting to play both Gueye and Gana together to the detriment of the team's creativity.

As others have mentioned, I'd prefer a fee now for him, rather than a loan. Because with each passing month, any fee we could get for him is rapidly diminishing with his contract running down next year.

It recent times, McCarthy has been rushed back, with Gomes showing fatigue, I think it makes sense to use McCarthy as a rotation for Gomes, bring the guy in sparingly at first until he is up to speed.

I would prefer Davies to go out on loan for the time being as he looks like one we can give regular game time out on loan at another club.

I hope McCarthy is in the squad for the cup game and gets a run out.

I think it will be a big mistake allowing McCarthy to go out on loan.

Picking James for tomorrow's game seems a no-brainer to me also to measure his fitness levels, speed and abilities.

However - as with Niasse - if Brands and Silva are looking to get them off the books in this transfer window, we could potentially be jeopardizing a loan or permanent transfer by playing them, thus making them cup-tied and unable to play in later rounds for their new club.

Bit of a dilemma, if so.

We would be very imprudent to discard McCarthy without seeing how he fits into the current setup. There are times that I've watched him and seen an absolutely top class player; I've also seen him struggle badly, mainly with terrible injuries and being played with them.

Klopp has tried and discarded many players in many positions to get the balance he has now in the team. I really hope that we can try McCarthy again in hard games not send him on loan; you just never know without doing so.

I love Gomes but you can often see why Barcelona fans turned on him, especially players sometimes just gliding past him, many goals that have come from him. We must have alternatives other than Davies, much as I love him.

What about the other lad who broke his leg, Oviedo? He's never been the same either. These three aren't young. They're all suffering as a result. He won't be the same player any time soon.

4 months to get fit, out of the spotlight, it makes perfect sense.

I wonder if Benfica tapped him up some time in November? Can we sue them after we sack him? Seriously though, whilst Benfica is a "big" club in terms of pedigree and fan base, there is no way they would be able to afford the compensation to break Silva's contract -- assuming Everton want to keep him.

My main reason for backing Macca is because I know he gives 100% every time and puts steel into our team. His injury woes were compounded as outlined by Dave #49 where he was asked to play when not fully fit. I also believe that it might be a good idea for him to contemplate retirement from International football.

The Rings have been genuine supporters of Everton ever since our 1st cousin Tommy Ring donned the shirt back in 1960. Unfortunately, his Everton career was short-lived due to a broken leg vs Chelsea.

Macca deserves his chance. I don't want to see him go elsewhere and then start producing displays like we saw in his early days with Everton.

I doubt we would sack him, or allow him to leave. I doubt silva will have changed his mind on either job and I bet he's more determined than ever to keep the Everton job.

File it under 2+2 = 5

Surely, it's better for everyone that he takes his time to come back properly by easing back in the championship, playing with decent players (superior to the opposition) and rebuilds his confidence?

No better than Gana at running and tackling. Can't play box to box as well as Gomes or Davies and certainly the worst passer of all our midfielders.

Plus he's an injury prone crock that can't be relied upon.

Playing him in the FA cup only devalues him.

And get Schnides gone too.

The problem is his fitness as he does seem to get hurt a lot just like Gibson did and when they recover they always seem to be getting back in the groove and then another injury comes along.

Silva and the backroom boys should know if the guy is ready to return and as the current crop have had their chances why not get Macca back in. The season has gone anyway and perhaps with no new signings on the horizon Silva may want to use all available staff old and young before shipping them out.

This side needs a fit J McCarthy, as he'd bring genuine fight and guts to the midfield and may inspire other players to learn about true grit and guts and what it takes, to play in midfield.

If we loan him, then to me it's a huge mistake and EFC won't benefit. Hopefully this is media bull.

West Brom are chasing promotion, and I'm sure it'll be a very intense few months for their squad. Again, not ideal for Macca's recovery.

I would hope and expect that our facilities and medical team are superior to West Brom's. He should still be receiving the very best care we can get for him.

Keep him at Everton. Get him on the subs bench and give him game time when we can. Meanwhile, let our physios and doctors work with him behind the scenes. That's the way to get the best of our Macca again - all while giving us an extra midfield option we're in desperate need of!

Definitely would like to see him play for us rather than be loaned out. He's better in possession than Gueye.

Every thread that comes I will Say it and keep saying it SILVA OUT!!

Get your stuff together and all the Cretins you brought with you and get the fuck out of my football club!

This is EVERTON the most famous football club in the world!!
MY EVERTON you are making a mockery of this club!!

Please don't.

Does that answer your question? If it takes changing the manager every 6 months to get who we need, then yes, I am suggesting we do that!

What are your Sentiments then Sean?

You just gonna let this guy carry on and say things like while I am not too happy with our showing so far

What is the Plan Sean??

What I am sick of is the comments from people that don't agree with my sentiment but offer no TANGIBLE reasoning or constructive comment to change the situation.

Marco Silva should never have been employed and my anger an frustration blows my comments up and highlights the negativity in myself and many Evertonians that are perhaps not as vocal or keyboard happy!!

The guy has to go!! please someone give me a tangible reason to keep him??

Only happens to Everton!

New manager new style all that crap — he should have been sacked straight after the Spurs game, after totally humiliating the entire Everton fanbase...

Steve 65, Oviedo is, in fact, back to his original performance level, both for club and country. It took him three years, but he made it.

Jay 57, if you were determined to sell McCarthy, it seems to me that a proven healthy player with 12 months left on his contract will bring in more money then a mystery with 18 months remaining. No potential buyer at this point would have any idea whether James can actually still play. So while we would be running down his contract, the loan would at least provide the opportunity for him to show he's still got it. And that would increase his value in the summer. At this point, however, it would appear that the manager has made this question moot.

Nor do I believe changing managers every 6 months is the ideal way to build a top team. You question everyone else's right to express their opinion and challenge them to give any good reason for keeping Silva in charge. But I don't see a reasonable alternative being offered by yourself?

There are no sure-fire certainties that will guarantee returning us to the top of the pile.

After yesterdays debacle of merely holding on against very meager opposition, Mike, what I have been indulging in is very large doses of reality!

This manager proved beyond any reasonable doubt yesterday that he is useless and if anybody thinks differently then they are the ones who need to indulge.

I have said nothing to offend anyone or said anything that is out of order.

I think it time for me to leave ToffeeWeb or stop commenting as It is glaringly obvious that there are certain things that you are not allowed to say such as Marco Silva is the worst Everton Manager for a considerable time.

Lets give the Idiot the rest of the Season eh??? What a fucking Shambles.

I would say it's 50-50 at the moment, but we're not in a death spiral yet, we're just crap and inconsistent. You have to give the guy some sort of chance to turn it around.

Unlike Henry, it is too late to do anything about Silva, he is here and here he will stay at least until the end of the season and probably at least the first half of next season. The argument from the club will be that this is still transition and Silva is on an X-year programme of building a new team where X is probably 3 years but more likely as many as he can get.

The reality for me is that there is a real problem at a basic level at EFC. The inability to pass, poor decision-making, and the other basics of football that the players just don't seem to be able to do with any real confidence. My view is work with Silva to bring in some better coaches maybe that way players would not go backwards in performance and some of them may well improve.

Two key areas from my perspective are: a) improve the speed of our counter-attacking and general attacking play (giving the opposition time for a cup of tea and half-time orange before we get near their box will not deliver victories); and b) improve their passing ability including the key one of putting in a cross (aiming for the far post when everyone is stood by the front post is not good).

Every signing made has been an improvement on last season and I still believe that we are moving in the right direction. This was always going to be a tricky season and that has been down to the constant changes in managers leaving us with a mish-mash of players bought by different people who don't fit together.

On a side note, I like McCarthy when he is fully fit he adds energy to our often lethargic midfield. The issue is he's never fit so it's his last chance if he is staying surely.

We just need someone who can instill confidence in the players and get them playing to the best of their ability with appropriate tactics and team selection.

They have all shown much better ability than they are currently showing and they currently look bereft of the will to live.

What happened to the sports psychologist or did he go with Sam?

I think it's only right to give Silva to the end of the season but he has done little to suggest he is the manager we need so far.

The real question however, is why or how the owner is allowed to make bad appointments, his lack of judgement is a real concern when it comes to picking manager's, hopefully he will seek out some advice next time or we will remain an average outfit indefinitely.

So we have become so fickle that its now a case of you get 1 transfer window, and if it isn't working your gone. So these fans think you can come into a club and try and change the style and the personnel in 6 months and get them competing with the top 6.

So if we follow the views of the ones who want Silva sacked then tell us who we replace him with. Before he was appointed some were clamouring for Howe or Dyce, don't think either of their teams are doing that great and they have had a few seasons to work with the players they have got. Others are saying get a proven winner, well I will be interested in seeing who is on that list.

Prior to the derby, we were playing well and for the first time in decades we went into the game full of confidence. That confidence was well founded as only a stupid mistake in the last seconds of the game, stopped us coming away with a well-earned draw. I am sure that would have spurred us on, and since then we haven't looked the same team. But this is a new manager with new players bedding in.

I would also think maybe Moshiri might think, "Silva was my choice and now after a few short months some want me to sack him. So maybe what I was told about Everton fans being great fans and loyal is a load of bollocks and maybe rather than spending 𧶲 million on players and committing to a brand new stadium, I would be better cutting my losses and move on."

So just remember when you suggest Moshiri sack Silva you are actually critisizing his choice of manager.

The problem with changing managers so frequently is not the cost of the pay-off, which is buttons compared to the amount we waste on under-performers like Bolasie and Tosun every season, but the cost of re-building the team in the image of the new manager every few months.

Hopefully, Brands's input may be the answer to advising Moshiri if Silva can't bring success and stability. Silva will be given enough time, mainly because the bottom three this season are so bad, so nobody should be moaning he's being given a hard time. Some of the games at home have been abysmal.

Which Christmas?

Not on this website which I'd say has become even more knee-jerkery over the last 5 years. Dunno whether that's because there's been little to cheer about in our club or in the world in general but the bile that gets dropped on the live forum in particular never fails to amaze me.

Every time we lose, we need a new manager and 11 new players!

Fact is that, at the moment, there are 3 or 4 good teams in the league who expect to win every game and 15 or so other teams where the results could go either way every week.

I have faith in Brands and I still hope Silva will come good. We're playing better football and, up until the festive period, we were getting better results. Moshiri does not have endless money; if he shows as little resilience as a fair few of the fans on here then we'll really be in trouble!

As has been said, I hope this time when we pick a new manager (which we will very shortly), Brands has a serious input before Moshiri makes another pig's ear of it all... again.

However, half a season is not long enough to give someone a fair crack at the job unless we go into free fall (all be it 1 day was far too long for Allardyce...). If, however, Silva & Brands don't sign a decent striker in the summer, they should both be shown the door as even a blind fan can see we desperately need one and have done since Lukaku left.

Btw – I think Koeman gets a lot of unfair stick on this site. People are quick to forget we finished 7th in his first season and he never stood a chance in the second after Lukaku was sold without being replaced as well as having Rooney forced on him (not a player Koeman wanted), so we started the season with three No 10s and no striker. Starting the season with no recognised striker was a recipe for disaster and led to the inevitable – hardly Koeman's fault.

Last point – this is not a transitional season. There is no such thing given the average life expectancy of a manager and there is no excuse for not taking the cups seriously when we've won nothing for over 20 years and have zero chance of winning the league. Premier League positions get more money (only reason managers take the league more seriously) but fans crave trophies.

Silva needs to treat the Millwall game just as he would a Premier League game – put his best team out and worry about the next game when it comes.

Have to agree with that. We are not in that realm of teams that can target/focus/manage their resources whilst hunting several honours, and should operate accordingly.

You appear to be confident of your abilities as a football manager; I would suggest that you submit your CV to clubs and await a lucrative future. I shall be monitoring the newspapers closely.