2025/26 Merlin Röhl

[Marcus Kendall]

Are there any obvious ones at Everton that were written off that turned out to be great?

Coleman

 

[Gilbert..]

Coleman

I dont really remember coleman being written off. And it would have been weird at 60k as its not like we'd have lost out.
I cant think of that many tbh. Fact you've gone back 15 years says there are no glaring names. Ive probably missed some mind.

 

[Marcus Kendall]

I dont really remember coleman being written off. And it would have been weird at 60k as its not like we'd have lost out.
I cant think of that many tbh. Fact you've gone back 15 years says there are no glaring names. Ive probably missed some mind.

When we got rinsed 5 nil by Benfica he was signalled out as never going to be good enough defensively for us. Its easy to judge players early on but it's always a mistake to do so in my opinion and you can bet your last dollar that Aznou hasn't been deemed not good enough by our coaching staff as they will see he can be moulded into a first teamer in future hence why patience is required

 

[COYBL25]

I love that football fans think they know more than professionals that spend their entire working life studying players because they googled something

Listen, just because @Joey66 knows more about physiology, sports science, fitness and conditioning and rehab, than anyone in the world, all care of his postal degree in sports science and applied bio mechanics, from the University of Jersey, there’s no need to get all sarky.

End of.

 

[Gilbert..]

When we got rinsed 5 nil by Benfica he was signalled out as never going to be good enough defensively for us. Its easy to judge players early on but it's always a mistake to do so in my opinion and you can bet your last dollar that Aznou hasn't been deemed not good enough by our coaching staff as they will see he can be moulded into a first teamer in future hence why patience is required

Individual games like a 5-0 drubbing everyones gona get it. I cant recall the coleman thing but i'll take your word for it.
The Aznou thing im not gona go into to much as its pointless. He's clearly miles off it and theres lots of work to be done there. Im not expecting to even see him until way into 2026. If at all.

 

[Kevsleftpeg]

Without that reality, however, football forums would have literally no function. Neither would TalkSport, 606, 90% of SkySports Football coverage etc...

You say that like it would be a bad thing.

 

[Lanolin]

When we got rinsed 5 nil by Benfica he was signalled out as never going to be good enough defensively for us. Its easy to judge players early on but it's always a mistake to do so in my opinion and you can bet your last dollar that Aznou hasn't been deemed not good enough by our coaching staff as they will see he can be moulded into a first teamer in future hence why patience is required

Singling out a £60k signing playing out of position on his debut away at one of the most famous grounds in Europe against an excellent side and predicting his future career is a bit mad, things must have been wild 15 years ago because I’ve genuinely never seen any reaction even close to that (to the point it’s worth commenting on I mean, not individual idiots moaning).

 

[Charlie Sweet]

Individual games like a 5-0 drubbing everyones gona get it. I cant recall the coleman thing but i'll take your word for it.
The Aznou thing im not gona go into to much as its pointless. He's clearly miles off it and theres lots of work to be done there. Im not expecting to even see him until way into 2026. If at all.

With the modern game as it is with agents hovering I doubt either the player or the club will have that much patience. We're not a Chelsea stockpiling youngsters

 

[Moomin]

When we got rinsed 5 nil by Benfica he was signalled out as never going to be good enough defensively for us. Its easy to judge players early on but it's always a mistake to do so in my opinion and you can bet your last dollar that Aznou hasn't been deemed not good enough by our coaching staff as they will see he can be moulded into a first teamer in future hence why patience is required

I remember that game, was meant to go but couldn't due to work commitments.

It was his debut and he came in last min to replace Baines at Leftback. We had massive injuries at the time

 

[Gilbert..]

With the modern game as it is with agents hovering I doubt either the player or the club will have that much patience. We're not a Chelsea stockpiling youngsters

I agree. The feeling among some is he's gona be brought through for a year or two and bang. We've a left back for years.
I mean i hope so.
I wouldnt hold my breath though that happening.

 

[Marcus Kendall]

I remember that game, was meant to go but couldn't due to work commitments.

It was his debut and he came in last min to replace Baines at Leftback. We had massive injuries at the time

Yes thats true. I remember some naysayers were saying Coleman wouldn't make it at the time and it might not of been on this site but somewhere else. The point is we as a club can't pick from the top shelf so we either buy peak age footballers with little shelf life like in the days of Moshiri or we buy younger more raw players who if they develop can take you much further down the line. For this strategy patience is required and not instant judgement especially in a Mickey mouse lower league cup where motivation for higher profile players won't be high

 

[Carlito]

Are there any obvious ones at Everton that were written off that turned out to be great?

Fellaini is the only one that truly fits the bill, and it still requires a bit of pretending that he wasn't bought to play centre mid (until he was and then wasn't again).

If anything, Coleman was a stick we used to beat Moyes with after he had a barnstorming performance vs Tottenham and then never got another proper chance in what seemed like forever (and even then, it was in a midfield role that didn't suit him).

There were plenty that we didn't fancy at first because they seemed underwhelming (Carsley, Stubbs II, Distin, Kilbane, Bent) and others that made slow starts (Baines, Jagielka) before turning it around, but that's not really the same as saying a player isn't good enough to contribute.

 

[Gilbert..]

Fellaini is the only one that truly fits the bill, and it still requires a bit of pretending that he wasn't bought to play centre mid (until he was and then wasn't again).

If anything, Coleman was a stick we used to beat Moyes with after he had a barnstorming performance vs Tottenham and then never got another proper chance in what seemed like forever (and even then, it was in a midfield role that didn't suit him).

There were plenty that we didn't fancy at first because they seemed underwhelming (Carsley, Stubbs II, Distin, Kilbane, Bent) and others that made slow starts (Baines, Jagielka) before turning it around, but that's not really the same as saying a player isn't good enough to contribute.

Fellaini is a great shout. I forgot that one. He got pelters in his first few games.

 

[Joey66]

Listen, just because @Joey66 knows more about physiology, sports science, fitness and conditioning and rehab, than anyone in the world, all care of his postal degree in sports science and applied bio mechanics, from the University of Jersey, there’s no need to get all sarky.

End of.

Traitor

 

[Stoffee]

When we got rinsed 5 nil by Benfica he was signalled out as never going to be good enough defensively for us. Its easy to judge players early on but it's always a mistake to do so in my opinion and you can bet your last dollar that Aznou hasn't been deemed not good enough by our coaching staff as they will see he can be moulded into a first teamer in future hence why patience is required

Pretty sure he got flung out to lb that game...against prime di Maria, aimar and saviour
They were an awesome team