Howard named as Everton ambassador in the USA

About time... wish he was in goal now.

I thought it was Jamie Crowley. Good luck Tim.

Dale (2), I wish it was Jamie Crowley.

No, no, no, not Jamie. You want an ambassador who could actually do media interviews. They'd have to bleep Jamie every fifth word or so.

So hey, any TW Yanks in Texas? Anybody who can attend the event for us and report back? I know the Frances and Gerry Quinn are former Texas residents but I'm not sure we have any Lone Star Blues on TW now.

Ditto Dale (3)

Great pro, but let's be honest a not so great keeper.

The flying starfish is back, woot.

James @6 that's slightly harsh. IMO In his day better the keeper we have now.

I thought Tim was very good, but not quite great. He was very reliable and never let us down very often until she started to catch up with him.

I think his last hurrah was the 2014 World Cup were he was back to his best, but it was all downhill after that.

I think it's a smart move and I hope he can service our american fan base. Hard to do that though without an american player. Now Robinson is gone, well have to hope that the young keeper is able to come though. But not at the expense of TW's own Harry Tyrer. We can claim him as his relative is a poster!

Tim Howard was a fantastic keeper. Only bettered by Southall and Martyn.

Say what you like about him as a keeper, he is an Evertonian and also a US footballing legend – he'll ding dang do for me.

Don't drop the mic, Tim.

Dave E., Dave A., and Mike -

Funny you mention, I had a conference call last week with Denise, Bill, and Marcel. They wanted to conduct a phone interview with me regarding the position of US Ambassador.

I told them, "Look, before we go any further, I can't represent a team or product that I don't believe in. Presently, we can't discuss the opportunity unless I know there's a managerial change in the works."

Denise spoke and politely said they can't discuss that with me. I informed them I'd not be interested. I thought I heard Bill get a bit emotional over the speaker phone at the rejection?

I also thought I heard Marcel say, "Fuckin' right Bubba!" But he said it in a very low, hushed tone, so I can't confirm the accuracy of that.

But quite seriously, I'm happy for Tim. Always loved him. I took a lot of pride in our American keeper, and the way he conducted himself. The one shining moment being when he refused to celebrate his wind-aided goal, refusing to show up the other keeper.

Class. I hope he represents our Club and brand well, and I'm sure he will. He bleeds Blue methinks.

Howard was great; they just let him stay too long, like Seaman at Arsenal (Nayim goal) and Shilton for England (Parker og) which means some folks focus on their final days, not their best years.

He's been our ambassador here already for more than a decade

I live in San Antonio and travel to Haymakers each season for the derby. Austin Evertonians have a lot of passion for (and opinions about) all things Toffees. I can't wait to see Tim in person!

American here. Smart move. Still lots of goodwill for Tim in the United States. He's on television a lot so hopefully it will make a little difference.

Interesting note about Premier League team efforts in the US. I saw a Chelsea - Napoli game in DC a few years back. Chelsea had tents with free small flags for the fans. My girls each got one. Whenever I tell them what game I am watching on tv, if Chelsea is playing, that is who they support. They can't name another team.

Everton has no presence at all in the States. None whatsoever. I hope Tim Howard helps because I have seen nothing from the club at all. The only boost Everton gets in the US is from one of the Men In Blazers presenters on their weekly show.

By the way, Tim Howard was just about as good as any player Everton had during his time at the club. How many truly awesome players today have? Yes, he was played too long.

We will all be played too long at some point.

Very good keeper but got beat at his near post a few to many times for my liking.

Regarding the article, good for him but why do we need an ambassador? We will pay him for doing what?

Talking truthfully how we have wasted hundreds of millions without anything to show for it or ignore the failings and talk about a little more time and effort we'll be title challengers.

Habib #16, be sure to report back to us here... and post a photo or two?

Michael #17, I've been bitching about the same thing for 30 years. Nothing has ever changed... I have never, and doubt I ever will, walk into a US sporting goods store and see an Everton shirt on the wall next to all those effing red ones. Where are you located?

Joe-Max Moore, Landon Donovan, Brian McBride and Tim Howard. Big names in the USA but, typically, Everton didn't use them to increase our profile.

Same with Li Tie who was the Chinese Beckham in terms of popularity and fame. We're amateurs when it comes to marketing.

Incidentally, all you critics of Tim, apart from Nev, West, and Martyn, who was a better keeper than Howard?

(Don't embarrass yourself by saying Wood)

Over 400 appearances for the blues says it all. He was great for us and making him our US ambassador makes great sense.

The retirement tribute was very moving. The man is a class act.

It only took 6 comments before someone criticised him which is quite good for ToffeeWeb posters!.

Mike #20. I am located in the Washington DC metro area.

Michael,

You should reach out to James Flynn and organize a TW DC get-together.

Nice for Tim. But it's all far too late. Everton blew their chance to try and win some market share over here in the States some time ago.

John,

Similar story down under. It was only when Cahill was nearing the end of his time that we went to Oz. Even then, it was a few friendlies and off we went without any real effort to establish a legacy. I would say that was a bigger miss than the USA given Tim's profile, world cup performances, scoring records etc and huge ex-pat population of football fans.

Kieran, #14 post is spot on. Well said mate.

As a US based fan, it's a nice gesture but it's a little too late. After his heroics during the 2014 World Cup, he was probably the most famous person in the US at that moment. Unfortunately our marketing department or club as whole couldn't be bothered to take up on his fame. I guarantee if we had quickly organized a couple of friendlies during that summer, we would have had sell-outs just because of him.

When they were last over here, we had a decent turnout for the Miami game. I think Jamie was there, plus a few other of the US ToffeeWeb contingent, but again the club didn't really promote him in any way.

Not a very good keeper! Tim had the luxury of some very well-drilled Moyes defences in front of him in his time with us. He really got exposed for what he was (average at best) once Martinez had made a shambles of our back four.

Howard, under Martinez, had to deal with considerably more pressure from the opposition, and the deficiencies in his game – not commanding his 6-yard box, punching pathetically, instead of catching and generally making mistakes which resulted in goals – were on display.

Many people at the time were saying, "he's past it"... "Father time has caught up with him". Tim was 37 years old at the time, which isn't even that old for a goalie. Nigel Martyn was in his late thirties when here and was top-notch between the sticks.

Mark

Goalies don't last as long as they used to. It was the norm in the 80s to have a 40-year-old bearded fat bloke in goal. The role demands much greater athleticism now so they tend to burn out quicker, eg, Petr Cech, long since past his best, retired at 36, Joe Hart peaked in his 20s etc.

Maybe so, Kieran, but there's plenty of recent examples, such as Buffon, where keepers have played at the top level when approaching 40.

I remember Howard's constant blunders coinciding with our back four turning to shit. I never put it down to old age.

Mark,

Maybe it was age, maybe it was loss of confidence, maybe it was cohesion in the team. I am not sure. But in Howard's defence he gave some of the best goalkeeping performances I have ever seen for the USA at the World Cup. At his peak, I really think he was top notch.

Howard was a good goalkeeper for Everton.

But he should have been moved on instead of getting an extended contract, in his last years, Everton's Achilles heel. I personally did not like his attitude near the end when he was shipping goals. He was seeing out his contract, until it got a move to the US.

I have never liked the unprofessional parental attitude to our aged players and retirement home attitude to past players. I would be lying if I said I was impressed with this appointment and what it tells me about how Everton is still run.

Kieran #14, off the Howard topic, Seaman went on to have a further 8 stella seasons for Arsenal after that Nayim goal, making one of the finest saves I've seen in the FA Cup semi final in 2003. Perhaps you meant the Ronaldinho goal in his latter England career?

‘Howard's constant bloopers'. I'm struggling to remember more than a couple. On the other hand, I can recall several by our current keeper this season.

Mark a bit left of field with that remark. for most of his time he was as most agree an excellent keeper and only a notch down from the very top level. His 'plus' column would far exceed his 'negative' column for sure - more than can be said of most of our current players and a good number of the management/coaching team.

John & Ken

I saw enough suspect areas in Howard's game to form an opinion that he wasn't very good. His mistakes and bad form did lead to Robles having a spell in the team. I suppose this is quite a subjective topic and if you thought he was good then that's your opinion.

Man Utd did get rid of Tim when all his peak year's were ahead of him. Maybe they formed the same opinion as me - and blunders like the one against Porto and other mistakes were the final straw for them.

For those in the USA, Tim will be representing in Austin next week.

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