“The gaffer has taken James to another level”

Two thirds of the world is covered by water and the other third is covered by James McCarthy and it seems assistant manager Graeme Jones agrees…

“I haven’t got a Facebook or Twitter account but I received a copy of the tweet the other day that said two thirds of the world is covered by water and the other third is covered by McCarthy. I didn’t think it was a bad comment!”

Whilst the fans may have been surprised by the Scot in his first season, Graeme Jones has not be surprised by the impression the midfielder has made in his first season at Goodison Park.

McCarthy enjoyed a sterling debut campaign and narrowly missed out on winning the club’s Player and Young Player of the Season awards.

The midfielder’s industry both on and off the ball has caught the imagination of Evertonians – making him a fans favourite.

Jones, 44, says he has been accustomed to this level of output from McCarthy since he first began to coach him north of the border almost a decade ago.

Jones told evertontv: “He has been like that since I met him at 15. I’m not kidding you – anybody who knows him knows he is so consistent as a human being. He loves his football. When you go to a football club as a management team there’s always one player who always gets identified with the management team. We had it at Wigan initially with Jordi Gomez and then here with James McCarthy.”

“The pressure is on that player more than any other signing because they have come from your former club. He’s had to get through those hurdles first and then he’s gone from strength to strength after that. So it’s not been easy for James. Out of all the signings he’s had the most difficult challenge and he has come through that no problem.”

Jones believes McCarthy has always possessed natural talent but says that Roberto Martinez deserves particular praise for the way he has educated him about the disciplines of playing in central midfield saying: “If you check his (McCarthy’s) record, he is closing in on 300 games already ad he is only 23 years old. This is not a guy who at 23 is not experienced. Physically and technically he always had that ability. The gaffer has taken James to another level.”

Reports in newspapers today suggest that James McCarthy will be rewarded with a new contract which would see his wages double to £50k-a-week for his outstanding first season at the club.

Everton want to tie the Republic of Ireland midfielder to Goodison Park with rumours flying around that Louis Van Gaal wants to make him an addition to his Manchester United squad.

The new contract would tie the Glasgow-born midfielder to the club until 2019 and he’s expected to sign the deal before Everton report back for pre-season training in July.