Perfection.
“You’re Jonny Evans.” “Yes.” “You play centre back.” “Yes.” “I play centre back too.” “So?” “Well, are you better than me?” “Well, I never met you, but... yes.”
(I know they were at Leicester at the same time, but)
Jonny Evans is a red...
- Thread starter Gaz.
- Start date
I'd imagine a player coach role like Paul McShane had with the u23s or something like that. It might lead onto a further role at the club, like what McShane has done.
Funny how we are getting worked up about a pre season return for a 3 times PL winner.
we should treat this as his testimonial
we should treat this as his testimonial
I never thought he should have been sold....it wasnt as if LVG was awash with top class CBs!Funny how we are getting worked up about a pre season return for a 3 times PL winner.
we should treat this as his testimonial
A good move, I always felt Evans was underrated. If I remember correctly Sir Alex trusted him in key games even vs Real Madrid in the CL Quarters (?). He can be an asset for a season or even more. 35 isn't exactly young but he's a ball playing CB and can add depth, leadership and experience in the dressing room. For no fee + probably small wages, it's great.
He was very good under SAF and was rocky under Moyes. He was very very good for Leicester, even when Maguire had his pomp, Leicester fans saw Evans as their best defender. This is a good move.
He was having a mare with some of his performances before he was sold.
Every new signing gets hype. Fans over exaggerate every good thing they do. Maguire had a big fee so fans wanted to force him into the discussion... But in reality he was a starter for a team that was a top 4 competitor, Evans was a starter for a side that got around 90 points 2 years in a row. They were different levels of expectation.
If its just for pre season to help him out yes.
Anything else I doubt it, he hardly managed to get into the Leicester team for the past 2 seasons and is 35 and also injury prone
He will probably stick around if the manager feels his dressing room qualities are good enough and he can jump on in dying minutes or in cup games. I'm sure his wages are relatively nominal, which is why I'm a fan of the move.
Evans> maguire
I’ve read the club statement and it says the coaching staff have been impressed with his coaching as part of academy training programme. Just saying like..
On the point of Evans potentially signing for a year, I'm in the camp who wouldn't really mind it provided that it's judged that he'll be able to stay reasonably fit for the season.
When he was fit last season, I still thought Evans was the best of the Leicester centre backs (Which is a very low bar in fairness). I think as a fourth or fifth choice option, to provide experience and mentorship as well as filling a home-grown spot, we could do worse.
When he was fit last season, I still thought Evans was the best of the Leicester centre backs (Which is a very low bar in fairness). I think as a fourth or fifth choice option, to provide experience and mentorship as well as filling a home-grown spot, we could do worse.
He’s gone on to have a really solid career, was getting linked with the likes of City and Arsenal at one point. Not opposed at all to having him as a 5th choice centre back if we decide to extend.
Evans being above Lindelof shouldn't even be a question. Outside of Smalling none of the CBs mentioned have matched the level of performance of Evans between 11-13 where he was a main feature due to Vidic and Rio injuries. There is a sold gap between the best or average level of Smalling, Evans and Jones compared to what followed them.
And copped a 7 game ban for spitting on a Newcastle player.
When injured most of the season? As long as we sign another CB if we sell Maguire then I'm on board. Evans is not the answer
This option could extend our budget. It also shows a little bit how tight things are with FFP (as documented in the Athletic recently) things are. We could potentially keep him as a 5th choice behind Shaw with his reported 30-40k wages, sell Maguire and get 200k off the wage bill, then add 30-50m to our summer transfer budget. Which would indirectly benefit the Rasmus Hojlund deal as we could up our bid a little and try to get that deal over the line.
If we don't sell Maguire we won't be able to keep Evans on, this is probably why it is a short term deal as a backup solution. It's a clever bit of business with an experienced player.
Also with Wifey working at MUTV, at least she won't have to move on if he stays
If we don't sell Maguire we won't be able to keep Evans on, this is probably why it is a short term deal as a backup solution. It's a clever bit of business with an experienced player.
Also with Wifey working at MUTV, at least she won't have to move on if he stays
He started 13 premier league games for Leicester last season (or something like 12 starts 1 sub). I wouldn't consider him an absolute crock, I think that's reasonable because we wouldn't want him to start 13 games in the first place.
I don't think Ten Hag see's him as a Maguire replacement, but even if he does it's a 4th choice cb. Shaw, Lindelof are ahead of him as back-ups. I think Disasi or someone else will come in too.
Smalling in the first half of 15/16 was comfortably the best any of our defenders have been since Rio/Vidic up until last season with Martinez/Varane. His average level was also easily the best with him consistently being our best defender most years.
Maguire in the second half of 20/21 the only one who had a peak that came close. In the 18 months before that period he was quite inconsistent though, and since then he's been mostly terrible.
Blind in the second half of 15/16 was probably the third best, although that has a bit more competition. Bailly never really put more than 2 or 3 months of good form together and has always been incredibly up and down. Jones quite similar, although his swings haven't been as extreme. Rojo had one very good 4-5 month period of form in 16/17, but otherwise was normally poor. Lindelof (ignoring his first season where he was dreadful) has been relatively consistent compared to most of them, but also hasn't really reached the highs that the others have (albeit only for short periods for most). Evans looked quite decent up until his final season where he struggled badly.
Evans was a very reliable backup to Rio and Vidic. For me, he was better than Smalling in that era.
Also, he won't start 13 Premier League games. He'll be lucky to get a handful of cup games and some league sub appearances if we sign him. He may not even accept being 4th choice since he could still do a regular job for a lower league team, assuming his fitness isn't an issue.
Also, he won't start 13 Premier League games. He'll be lucky to get a handful of cup games and some league sub appearances if we sign him. He may not even accept being 4th choice since he could still do a regular job for a lower league team, assuming his fitness isn't an issue.
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The problem with being 35 and suffering multiple injuries over the past 2 years, is that when we actually need to rest a player or for him to be available, there is a good chance he won't be available.
Most of Evans better times with us were when he played next to Vidic or to a lesser extent Rio. You originally said during the period between Rio-Vidic and Martinez-Varane, so I took that to mean starting around 2013 when those two were really starting to decline (or leave) rather than the couple of years before that. In the earlier years Evans was certainly better than any of the others reached other than Smalling, but he also had a fairly big advantage with who he was partnering.
Jones is a tough one to judge as I feel he was always potential, rather than actually showing it consistently. The injuries didn't so much stop him while he was playing brilliantly, it was more that they stopped him developing into the player that he showed signs he could be.
Selling Maguire for 30/40m and getting Evans on a free for 12 months is an absolute no brainier for me. Would generate a decent chunk of cash that can be used elsewhere in the squad and would free up a massive amount of wages.
I always liked evans so I’m not entirely against him being here, his experience alone will be good for the younger lads.
Perfectly put.Funny how we are getting worked up about a pre season return for a 3 times PL winner.
we should treat this as his testimonial
And that's true, Evans was better for Leicester during Maguire's best season. And playing at a top level with top players around you isn't a point against Evans, it's a point in his favor. That's where most players fail, they fail to step into a better team and match the level required.
Evans was certainly better than Smalling while we still had Rio and Vidic here. Smalling had a good debut season but then dropped off for a while (he was also a couple of years younger). When it came time to be the main man though Evans didn't seem to be able to handle it while Smalling stepped up after a couple of years and tended to be our rock back there while all the others bounced in and out of form and fitness.
The part that Evans couldn't handle was LVG's tactical change and in particular his back three.
It's gonna happen
Evans > Kim
Where as to me that sounds brainless.
Yup. Spot on. He completely fell to pieces as part of a back three. And always looked comfortable as a two. He probably would have worked it out given time but LVG was not a patient man.
Get King Eric in for a couple games as well while we are doing these funtime contracts
Eh, no…
We could do worse. And in fact, we have done.
I had to check if my memory failed me but from what I can see Evans return from his early injury matches with LVGs move to a back three which if I'm not mistaken was a system that he used during the preseason and Evans was very uncomfortable. He later missed a lot of games and then was sold during the next summer.
Why? Maguire isn’t part of ten hags plans, whatever tiny role he would play this season if he were to stay Evans will be able to fill that role. We would get 30/40m for Maguire and we would save a couple of hundred thousand in weekly wages. All that makes more sense to me than for Maguire to stay and sit on the bench all season
Giggsy is free to work again now too…..