Andy van der Meyde has yet again been a disappointment to Everton fans. His lack of first-team playing time and subsequent disappearance into the quicksand of the reserves has eclipsed Tommy Gravesen's muted second coming and the disappointing injuries sustained by James Vaughan, Mikel Arteta and Tim Cahill; injuries that went a long way to our “nearly there” top-of-the-rest finish.

David Moyes is again in the market for a wide boy - signalling his belief that Everton need a tricky winger. A bid for Valencia’s Joaquin has been a press whisper for a while, and it’s sad that Moyes doesn’t look on Van der Meyde as an option.

Whether you think Andy’s chickens came home to roost, or that he’s traipsed under a cavalcade of footballing ladders and smashed a wilderness of mirrors, poor Van der Meyde had been waiting for a footballing bus - five came in a row, and all of them ran him over. 

He’s been unlucky and silly in equal measure during his Toffee career, from the red card in his Merseyside derby for a flailed elbow, to his endless and ruinous string of injuries, and his drunken episode in Liverpool. The incident in Liverpool city centre was definitely embarrassing, as was his claim that his drink had been spiked.

Liverpool has been the focal drinking point of another footballer, "£60,000 a week" (that has become the prefix to his name) Joey Barton who engaged in a spot of fast-food inspired ultra-violence.

Newcastle are standing by their man – but many say that this is just because they wouldn’t be able to sell him. The same, I feel, applies to Van der Meyde – I don’t think we could sell him. He has been with us since 2005 and anyone looking at a Sven-style 'Best of' DVD will see clips from his Inter and Ajax, but nothing from Everton. Since joining, the Dutchman has barely made it into double figures for appearances, a downward spiral from his 70-plus appearances for Ajax and over 20 for Inter Milan.