Coleman’s comeback is a sight to savour
SEAMUS Coleman acknowledged ‘a night I won’t forget’ as he landed running in every sense, on his Everton comeback on Wednesday night.
Ten months of punishing rehab paid a rich dividend as the Republic of Ireland captain reminded club, and country, what they’d been missing for almost a year.
It was if Coleman had never been away as he launched a series of lung-bursting sorties down the right flank, and linked up skilfully with two-goal hero Theo Walcott in the 2-1 win over Leicester City.
When Coleman, 29, set off on a turbo-charged dash in stoppage time from one end of the pitch to the other, Everton boss Sam Allardyce almost choked on his gum.
‘There was no intention to leave him on for 90 minutes, in our minds, but when you saw him do that at the end, you went “wow!”’ said Big Sam.
‘Out for 10 months, first game back, and then in the last two minutes of the game he runs 80 yards with the ball… I think his legs were so tired at the end of it he could hardly kick it.’
They love Coleman on Merseyside, regarding him as one of their own, as was evident when a huge banner was unfurled in the Gwladys Street End before kick-off.
The words ‘Welcome Back Seamus’ were marked out in green, white and orange – a reminder of the links between Everton and Ireland. The blue half of Merseyside was home to many Irish internationals long before Steve Heighway was capped at Liverpool in 1970.
In the 1950s, no fewer than five internationals were on the Goodison Park books, one of whom, Peter Farrell, is forever remembered by Farrell Close, a quiet corner of an estate near Aintree. He was revered as both Everton and Irish captain and Everton fans are calling for Coleman to follow him as their leader some 60 years on.
The armband is currently the preserve of 34-year-old central defender Phil Jagielka, who is no longer a regular. On a Blue Moon, all the stars were aligned for Coleman as he made a winning return, on home turf, and helped his team to their first Premier League win of the year.
‘It’s great to get the kit on and be out there,’ he said after his first senior game back since that horrific double leg break on World Cup duty for Ireland over 10 months ago.
‘I had to blank out a little bit of the reception I got because I needed to focus fully on the job at hand. Now that the game is done I can appreciate the response I got from the fans. It’s a night I won’t forget.’
Nor will Allardyce, whose decision to throw Coleman in from the start after less than an hour playing for the Under-23s paid off. ‘Bearing in mind Seamus has been out for 10 months, to be as fit as that is really impressive. It was a very important win for us, and him coming back is a great boost. He’ll be dead on his feet.
‘I spoke to him at half-time and told him to play with his head. If you feel yourself fatiguing, give us a wave and we can bring Jonjoe (Kenny) on. But when you see him still running forward at the end, he showed that he was right and I was wrong! The instant combination and work he did with Theo Walcott was a pleasure for them to see and for me to see.’
A midweek game leaves little time for recovery and Everton have 24 hours less time than Saturday’s opponents, Arsenal, to prepare for their Premier League game at the Emirates.
And Allardyce hinted yesterday that he may hold Coleman back rather than ask him to play twice in 72 hours, especially as he could be up against Arsenal’s new signing, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, tomorrow.
‘With Arsenal coming up so quick, he’ll want to play but I’m not so sure that will be right for us. We’ll have a look and see how he recovers,’ said Allardyce.