So, after months of silence and speculation, last week we finally heard from forgotten man Sylvain Distin. It started with a cryptic tweet to the Echo’s David Prentice, who was promoting his own piece on the Frenchman.
“The truth always comes out. Now isn’t the time to talk… See you at the end of the season.”
Mysterious indeed, but it confirmed what we’ve all been thinking, that all is not well behind the scenes with regards to the former Portsmouth man. He has barely featured in the first team since the New Year, despite a couple of appearances for the u21’s. There were rumours of a departure on deadline day in January, but Distin remained an Everton player.
Quotes then emerged from an interview with French publication L’Equipe, where Distin appeared to confirm there was an opportunity to leave for West Ham, but nothing came of it.
“I went to see the coach about the proposal for West Ham who were offering me a transfer until the end of the season. The next day, he said that he counted on me and that I was part of the team. Since that day I haven’t been called up once. I have no idea why. We have not spoken since.”
This seems like an odd state of affairs to say the least. Martinez was asked about the situation surrounding Distin following the defeat to Sunderland.
“I can understand that completely, Sylvain has been a phenomenal professional and a phenomenal servant to Everton.
“It has been a tough season, but in football it happens – you get a young man like John Stones at the age of 20 that has performed in an incredible manner and developed a strong partnership with Phil Jagielka.
“In January, Sylvain wanted to leave the club [but] it never materialised, from that point on we need to look to the future. We wish Sylvain the best but it’s natural in football and a natural moment in his career.”
Prior to his apparent exile, Distin, like many others, was having a poor campaign by his own standards, and had really shown signs that his time at the top level was coming to an end. Sone Aluko turning him inside out for Hull’s equaliser at Goodison stands out, as does his performance against Swansea in the League Cup, where he inexplicably headed onto his own crossbar in an attempt to clear the danger, leading to a Swansea goal. Indeed, it was after the debacle at the Liberty Stadium that rumours of a falling out between Distin and Martinez first arose.
We know Distin has never been short of opinion from his exploits in Twitter, so did he perhaps not take too kindly to criticism from the manager following that game? We can only speculate, but it appears that may have been the beginning of the end for Distin. Whenever it happened, some sort of disagreement has clearly taken place between the Frenchman and Martinez.
But this begs the question as to why Distin wasn’t allowed to leave. Perhaps, whilst not first choice anymore, Martinez still wanted him as cover. But in the absence of Stones or Jagielka, it has been Antolin Alcaraz who has stepped in. There have even been situations where we have not even had a recognised centre-back on the bench, with Distin subsequently appearing for the U21’s in a game. This doesn’t add up.
Parallels can perhaps be drawn with what happened with Samuel Eto’o. The Cameroonian was “a gift from the footballing god’s” when he arrived, but was subsequently sold at the first opportunity. Something clearly wasn’t right between player and manager. However, whilst Eto’o was allowed to leave, Distin remained on the books.
As supporters, should we be concerned? Without knowing all of the facts, what has been said etc., it’s impossible to determine who is in the right, if anyone. We probably haven’t heard the last of it, and more may well come out once the season has finished, as Distin suggested.
What is clear though, is that his time at the club is at an end, with his contract up in the summer. He’s never been the silkiest on the ball, but he’s been a great servant since arriving in 2009 from Portsmouth, having amassed 209 appearances in all competitions. I don’t think anyone thought we’d get near enough 6 seasons out of him, and he deserves credit for that.
