Understated heroes who have made huge contributions to EFC.

[Papa Shango]

How did we stand still under Moyes if he took us from relegation battlers to among the top 6 regularly, even getting us 4th one season with Marcus Bent up front and players like Kilbane?

That's like saying that Spurs are standing still at the moment...Pochettino came in in 2014, and they'd finished in the top 4 in 2010 and 2012. They still don't win things and they still bottle big games like Semi Finals at Wembley. But everyone knows that although they have only slightly improved on their league positions that they achieved prior to him coming in, they have vastly improved as a side and a club since he arrived.

But no trophies and continued 'failure' to win trophies/big games could be labelled as standing still under him.

I think the bolded part proves the point. This is now the accepted thing, top 6 and 4th (without getting the benefits of finishing 4th as we didnt even qualify for the Champions League and then fell in the Europa at the first stage).

Mediocrity is now accepted. We dare not to dream. That's not even his fault really, it is what it is.

Spurs are very much standing still if they don't win something soon.

 

[Papa Shango]

Thomas Gravesen.

Immense workhorse in midfield who put in the odd crunching tackle.

This one always makes me laugh. Gravesen was not a tough tackling midfielder like the press always used to make out (mainly coz he was a baldy psycho). He was a flair player more than anything.

Generally thought he was alright though.

 

[Lanolin]

I think the bolded part proves the point. This is now the accepted thing, top 6 and 4th (without getting the benefits of finishing 4th as we didnt even qualify for the Champions League and then fell in the Europa at the first stage).

Mediocrity is now accepted. We dare not to dream. That's not even his fault really, it is what it is.

Spurs are very much standing still if they don't win something soon.

I posted about this a while ago but I think anyone who thinks we've stopped believing because of Moyes is missing the point. He just happened to be the man in charge when the gap between the haves and have nots really became insurmountable. It wasn't anything to do with him, he just gets the blame because in the time he was here we went from not quite being able to compete with the top teams for players to being completely blown out of the water. In my opinion, he's possibly the only reason why we can even continue to pretend we're a big club, because there weren't many managers about who'd have kept us up for those first few years, or got us top half in the later ones. I'd had more than enough of him by the end, but five years down the line we've not exactly improved since he left.

In answer to the OP, it all depends on what you class as a 'huge' contribution I suppose. I'm always surprised by how little recognition Yobo gets from a lot of fans, he was a real stalwart at a time when we turned ourselves back into a team at the right end of the table.

 

[Khalekan]

Roberto Martinez.

A man whom gave us a glimpse of what Everton used to be all about and showed what we can be all about in the future.

Roberto raised the bar during that first season to an height that neither he nor the two berks who followed him were able to replicate.

But thanks to Roberto we know it is possible for us to get back challenging again with a swagger in our step.

I was not an advocate for Marco at all but I sense he is much more likely to build on the good things Roberto instilled in the club....like stylish football and no inferiority complex....than either Koeman or Allardyce were.

 

[when i score we riot]

Naismith got less respect than he warranted, methinks. All around a good human being, like. Not a hero per se, but understated/appreciated for sure

 

[davids]

Arteta,for the part he played in looking back was a very decent side Moyes put together for little money.His leaving could have been handled better,but then you could say that of quite a few ex-players.

 

[summerisle]

I wouldn't exactly regard him as a hero, but I always had a liking for Landon Donovan.

 

[Khalekan]

Has anyone mentioned big Mick yet?

Mick Lyons....legend

 

[Dario Terracotta]

Has anyone mentioned big Mick yet?

Mick Lyons....legend

No way a bit part player though Khalekan mate, he was our rock for over a decade

 

[Khalekan]

No way a bit part player though Khalekan mate, he was our rock for over a decade

Very true, Dario

 

[daza_1973]

Mikel Madar - In '98 we stayed up on goal difference so his six goals basically kept us up...

 

[Rudolf Hucker]

While I share your admiration for Tim Cahill, I don't think he's under-rated by Everton fans. I'd say he's one of the most popular players to have played for us this century.

He was, but he also (bizarrely) had many detractors.

And I still read some saying we should have let him go earlier. I’d say the opposite. He could still have done a job for us 2-3 years after he left.

 

[Rudolf Hucker]

I can’t believe some of the stick Tony Hibbert gets! OK, maybe most from younger fans who maybe saw him as being a sick note for the last year or so, but what a servant he was! The “White Maldini” might be a bit tongue in cheek, but not many wingers got the better of Hibbo. Great tackling technique. Very few bookings considering the number of tackles he’d get through. If he could have crossed, he’d have been much more highly rated, but he never hid from the ball. Always available, comfortable on the ball, decent passer, just the crosses missing.

Great servant & very underrated.

 

[Rudolf Hucker]

Roberto Martinez.

A man whom gave us a glimpse of what Everton used to be all about and showed what we can be all about in the future.

Roberto raised the bar during that first season to an height that neither he nor the two berks who followed him were able to replicate.

But thanks to Roberto we know it is possible for us to get back challenging again with a swagger in our step.

I was not an advocate for Marco at all but I sense he is much more likely to build on the good things Roberto instilled in the club....like stylish football and no inferiority complex....than either Koeman or Allardyce were.

This X 1000

If only the Mosh had backed him instead of bringing in the Dutch Pol Pot.

 

[Rook]

I wouldn't exactly regard him as a hero, but I always had a liking for Landon Donovan.

Started watching us in 2004, he was the best RW we ever had in that period. Remembers we sent him packing back to LA because MLS wanted about 16M less than what we paid for Bolasie. *throws up in mouth*