Delph announces his retirement from football

35 league apperances in 3 years. Proof that injury-prone players remain injury-prone after you sign them.

Why buy a player who was rarely making the Man City squad and had poor fitness?

But on the positive, those mistakes in recruitment will be a thing of the past hopefully.

Sadly another expensive mistake.

Thelwell's approach seems to be to only sign and retain players who have a track record of staying healthy.

I know some people will say that he helped us survive with his performances at the end of last season and in all fairness he did. However, you can't get away from the fact that he got paid for laying on the treatment table for 60% of the 3 seasons he spent at Goodison.

I don't doubt the talent and ability of Delph. Actually a very calm player with the ball at his feet. I question whether he was just seriously unfortunate with injury or he just lost the desire to play football after too long at City (for example) warming the bench, becoming comfortable and not fancying it anymore as he was living on Easy Street. That's something I'll never know.

Whatever the reason, I'll thank him for those last few games of last season when he showed his experience and ability to contribute in carrying us over the line. It might have only been a few games in the context of his time at Everton but, at the time, those few games mattered.

Shame. A talented footballer. Retired at 32 in the modern footballing era. Whatever the reason, a crying shame.

And for the record, I'm someone who once said I'd be glad to never see him in an Everton shirt again.

Delph could definitely play, but football in the Premier League is mainly about physicality, and it was horrible to see Fabian looking so pedestrian during any given period of any game, against players who probably wouldn't have lived with him in his younger days.

Retiring is a wise choice, although he probably didn't really have an option, with the way his body has constantly let him down for years.

Whilst not ending a career on a high note, he can be proud of his career. There was a very good player in there lost in a failing body. Time to give it away.

As a club, we didn't get the best out of him, but we got glimpses that he could do the business if and when fit. Alas too little, too late.

Shame... some players are blessed with a strong body, others aren't so lucky.

The thing that we (and the majority of clubs) got wrong is the high minimum salary with a long contract for an ageing injury-prone player.

There should be a break clause, a large % incentive to play and a sensible 2-year contract with an additional year based on a minimum number of appearances etc.

I can see him coaching and staying involved. Probably at Leeds.