His Wiki page makes painful reading, I know its not the Bible, but I think most of it is fairly accurate.
On 25 March, 2006, in his first Merseyside derby against Liverpool, he received a straight red card for his challenge on Liverpool's Xabi Alonso. Everton eventually lost the match 3-1.
In the summer of 2006, van der Meyde proved once again to be the centre of much speculation regarding his future, having failed to properly settle at Everton, making only 11 appearances in his first season thanks to a combination of injuries and rumours of alcoholism. He staunchly denied any such allegations and reaffirmed his commitment to Everton in June 2006, stating
"I want to stay, I am desperate to stay. I love it here. Everything suits my game. I'm happy in England and I want to show everyone that I can really play football. If I get the chance next season, I will do it."
[3]
Van der Meyde was admitted to hospital in the early hours of August 7, with breathing problems. It was claimed that his drink had been spiked whilst in a bar in Liverpool. He was fined by Everton for breach of discipline. To further add to a miserable week, his house was burgled during Everton's friendly with Athletic de Bilbao five days later. His Ferrari, Mini Cooper, and dog were amongst the items stolen. The cars and pet dog were since found, although the Ferrari had its windscreen smashed.[4] In March 2007, van der Meyde accused manager David Moyes of telling 'downright lies' in regard to his fitness. He apologised afterwards.
In July 2007, van der Meyde played a full 90 minutes in Coleraine, Northern Ireland. In arguably his most successful pre-season at the club, he went on to complete several friendly matches in an attempt to gain fitness ahead of the new Premier League campaign. However, van der Meyde further cast a doubt over his Everton future by failing to turn up for a scheduled training session. After a string of disciplinary problems, rumours (which proved to be inaccurate) grew that Moyes would opt to sell the player before the end of the transfer window.
On 18 August, 2007, van der Meyde was suspended following a 'breach of club discipline', because he had failed to appear at training, being fined two weeks' wages, a total of £50,000.[5][6] Following this, he did not make a first team appearance for over a year and was limited to just reserve team football.
