EVERTON CHAIRMAN BILL Kenwright has rejected the suggestion by Roy Keane that the club puts pressure on James McCarthy and Seamus Coleman to pull out of international squads.
The Ireland assistant manager made the comments after midfielder McCarthy missed Friday’s defeat to Scotland in Glasgow.
“I worry that he is under lots of pressure, particularly from Everton’s point of view,” Keane said in the Telegraph. “Every time an international match comes around, it always seems to be Seamus and James who are under pressure. They’re turning up or they mightn’t turn up, or they’re struggling.
“But I think Martin has been more than fair when it comes to friendlies. These are big qualifying matches now. Ask most international managers and it’s a difficult role when a player turns up and he isn’t quite fit or he is struggling, we’ve had that a number of times with lots of players.
“You always get the impression from Everton that Seamus and James are both barely able to walk, that type of thing,” he added. “So when they turn up and they’re walking through reception, it’s praise the Lord.
“If it carries on next year, it’s going to put a lot of pressure on James. Roberto has never played at senior international level and maybe he doesn’t realise how big the games are for us. We could argue all day, I just think we need to get the balance right for the qualifiers. I think Martin has been more than good.”
Today, Everton chief Kenwright has appeared on Sky Sports News to respond to the remarks, which he believes are “unfair”.
I’m a big fan of Roy Keane but he does say some stupid things. That is just totally unfair,” Kenwright said.
“We absolutely love our players going on international duty and we’d never, ever get in the way of that. Roberto Martinez would be as shocked as anyone to hear that.”
