I'm Sorry, I Just Don't Fancy You

"I'm sorry, I just don't fancy you"... words many of you have been crushed with at some point in your life, no doubt. 

I meant to write this ahead of Valentine's Day but never got around to it. Though on the eve of our clash with Manchester United at Hill Dickinson Stadium, probably the biggest area of curiosity from Evertonians is that of, in the absence of Jake O'Brien, just who will play right back? For my money, despite doing all was asked of him when called upon in recent months, it won't be our unfancied number 2, Nathan Patterson.

To be fair to David Moyes, he isn't the first Everton manager to not quite rate Nathan; Sean Dyche was similar, even infamously clipping him round the ear at a mid-season Portuguese jolly, and subsequently fielding Ben Godfrey at right-back instead of him. For my money, Moyes will field James Garner at right-back instead on Monday evening.

Which got me thinking — which other Everton players have simply been unfancied by their manager? Here's a few which stick in my mind. 

Youssef Chermiti
With Premier League safety swiftly assured upon David Moyes return to Goodison Park, it was hoped by some that we would get a good look at Youssef before the end of the 2024/25 Premier League season. This wasn't to be the case and the writing was perhaps on the wall when Youssef made just the one substitute appearance under David before the season ended. There were rumous of David Moyes being less than impressed with Youssef's commitment in training. Regardless, when Kevin Thelwell then of Rangers came calling, Moyes and Everton felt the opportunity to cash in too good to turn down, and without much of a look at Youssef during his time at Everton, just like that, he was gone.

James Rodriguez
Certainly the most high-profile of the lot, our mercurial Columbian, one of the most recognised sports stars in the world, was a joy to watch, albeit from our armchairs in his one season at Goodison Park as games were played behind closed doors due to the Covid pandemic. Things unravelled horrifically following that season. If losing Carlo Ancelotti for Real Madrid wasn't bad enough, his replacement of Rafael Benitez sent shockwaves around Evertonians — very angry ones at that. It almost felt as though Benitez had great pleasure with ostracising James from the squad before his move to Qatari-based Al-Rayyan. In fairness to Benitez, such was our financial plight it's reasonable to assume he was under orders not to use James as he was to be sold and Everton could not risk injury jeopardising a transfer. Nevertheless, Benitez seemingly excelled at this responsibility and Evertonians never got to enjoy seeing Rodriguez take to the field at Goodison Park.

Josh King
With injuries biting when Carlo Ancelotti requested reinforcements to his squad to aid our push for European qualification, Josh King arriving for a nominal fee from Bournemouth on the last day of the January transfer window probably wasn't quite what he had in mind. And 11 cameos from the bench and no starts later, it became clear before the end of the season that Josh was not to be retained. 

John Heitinga
Our phony hard man made 30 appearances in the 2012-13 season under David Moyes, and seeing as he saw himself as a ball-playing defender he probably will have fancied his chances of playing a big role under incoming Roberto Martinez. Roberto saw it differently, however, only starting the Dutchman twice, preferring him in midfield, before jettisoning him to Fulham in the January transfer window.

Niclas Alexandersson
WIth 35 appearances under his belt in the previous 2001/02 season, Niclas would have expected, and certainly hoped for, more of the same in the following season. This wasn't to be with David Moyes preferring the industry and workmanship of Mark Pembridge and Lee Carsley on the flanks in our 'Magnificent Seventh' 2002/03 season. After only eight appearances across all competitions, Niclas was loaned out to West Ham United before returning to Sweden at IFK Goteborg.

Gareth Farrelly
Having played a huge part in our history, with his wonderful half-volley against Coventry City ensuring our Premier League survival by the skin of our teeth, as a fairly young player at 22 he will no doubt have been looking at the 1998/99 season as a breakthrough one. To be fair, with new signings Olivier Dacourt and John Collins, plus Don Hutchinson ahead of him , that would have been challenging, though he would have expected more than just the one game before Walter Smith moved him on to Bolton Wanderers.

Andy Hinchcliffe
When the same manager sells you twice you probably know your number is up. Yet this is what happened to Sky Sports colour commentator and Everton basher, Andy Hinchcliffe, who was first sold by Howard Kendall to the Blues in the Summer of 1990 when in charge of Manchester City. Fast forward to January 1998 and Howard again sold Hinchcliffe, by then with England caps in his armoury, to Sheffield Wednesday, instead preferring the emergence of young Michael Ball in our quest for survival in the 1997/98 season.

Vinny Samways
Seen as a classy technical midfielder, Vinny Samways' arrival from Tottenham Hotspur for £2.2m under Mike Walker was met with excitement, not least by teenage me, even getting his number 7 and name printed onto my Everton shirt. However, things quickly unravelled for Mike Walker at the beginning of the 1994/95 season and he was shown the door in October. Such was Everton's perilous league position, Joe Royle could ill-afford to accommodate a luxury player such as Vinny, instead plumping for the Dogs of War of Barry Horne, John Ebbrell and Joe Parkinson. Though Vinny didn't leave Everton for Tenerife until December 1996, he became increasingly peripheral and unfancied by Joe during that time.

Which other Everton players can you think of when a manger seemed to quickly decide they didn't want said player?