JAGI HELL KA Phil after some silver service
There are a few runners-up mentions on the Everton and England defender’s CV for f i nishing second i n t he Championship with Sheffield United and an FA Cup Final loser’s medal with the Toffees. But as yet he has been unable to get his hands on any silverware. At 34, and now in his 10th year at Goodison, Jags is desperate to put the record straight. He feels that under manager and serial winner Ronald Koeman, the time is right for Everton to stand up and be counted as a team who have a major say in where the trophies end up at the end of each season. Jagielka said: “Am I passionate to win a first trophy? Definitely. “Last year was a real roller-coaster. We couldn’t pick up anything in the league but we had some fantastic days and nights in the cup. “We got really close to getting into a final and potentially bringing a trophy home. But the season was looked upon as a STEVE MILLAR disaster. A bit of a strange one because I’ve had other seasons where we didn’t really challenge for anything.
“I am going to end up looking back at my career and as it stands at the moment there is a zero in the trophy column.
“It’s not nice but I am realistic enough to know that I have had a pretty decent career – other than the trophy cabinet.”
The key to success will be keeping hold of Everton’s best players with the £47.5million sale of his defensive sidekick John Stones (right) to Manchester City a thing of the past.
Now, with the financial backing of new majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri, Everton are playing in a hugely different ball park.
Jagielka added: “We need to get to the situation where we are regularly in semi-finals and finals. We are regularly in the top four and competing at the highest level to keep people of John’s sort of magnitude or potential at the club.
“The finances can get you the players to get potentially better but as a club we need two, three, four years of competing at the top of the table.
“And also in the cup competitions to keep hold of players like John, one of the most expensive defenders ever. It was a big transfer for us but I don’t think it was a financial thing. “I just think it was an offer John couldn’t turn down and we had to do what was right for the club. “Now the manager has spoken about needing time to get his ways, his players and to get his style into Everton. “Just because we had a really good start everyone thought it was easy-peasy. But Manchester City took a while with their multi-billionaire to get things right so I think it’s just a time for us to buy the right players at the right time. “And eventually if the manager has enough time to progress forward to competing for the cups, at least for European if not Champions League places, then once that’s done there’s no reason for us to ever need to sell anyone again. “For us, it’s about time we started being the regulars competing for the top six again. We have the platform to go on and be successful when you look at how the league is now. “The manager has not come in and tried to reinvent the wheel. He’s not battered us with science and information – just outlined what he expects us to follow.”