David Moyes has hailed Seamus Coleman as ‘the glue’ that held Everton together for 17 years – and says the club might well have got relegated if not for the long-serving captain.
The Irish full back, who signed for a famed fee of just £60,000 in 2009 from Sligo Rovers, announced on Friday that he will leave the club at the end of this season.
He has not officially retired from playing yet and is weighing up his options, with the offer of a job in Moyes’s coaching team on the table already.
The Toffees boss, who was at the club when Coleman was signed, was asked if Everton would have gone down without his character and influence.
And he said: ‘If everything what I’m hearing is true – I wasn’t here at the time but I was still getting some bits and pieces from behind the scenes – then it wouldn’t have been to do with Seamus directly.
‘But to hold together the players when they were probably getting beaten up by losing points, not winning and when I think there was a real split between the supporters and the players, I think the only person that supporters would have really listened to was Seamus Coleman.
David Moyes has hailed Seamus Coleman as ‘the glue’ that held Everton together for 17 years
‘He was the one who fronted it up, who went out when it was required and who tried to do everything he could to keep it going. He was the glue who just about kept it together at that time.’
Coleman has seen his playing time limited across the last two seasons due to injuries but the 37-year-old has been crucial in the dressing room and when asked to name one attribute that stood out, Moyes instead listed five.
He said: ‘It would be his character, humility… that’s two… his honest endeavour, his honest opinion, his commitment. That’s more than one answer! He has missed most games through injury since I returned but he is incredible around the dressing room.
‘I was not here during the darker days, points deductions etc, but I think Seamus was the one who tried to keep things going.’
He added: ‘We’ve offered Seamus every job there is from groundsman to assistant! You name it, he’s had every opportunity. But the thing I admire about Seamus is that he wants to keep playing and he wants to keep playing for his country.’
Everton face one of Moyes’s former clubs Sunderland on Sunday. Midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye remains on the sidelines.
