2021/22 Lucas Digne

[Brett Angell Delight]

Had everything been rosy in Digne's garden and he carried on or resumed his level of form from a couple of years ago, and then we got a bid (let's say £30m as that seems to be the valuation now) at this stage from Chelsea/City, and we turned it down, do you think he'd be happy? Or push for a move? My money's on the latter. That's not me casting aspersions on the boy's character, it's just what footy is these days and he surely has ambitions beyond mid-table struggles with us.

However, because his form has diminished (and started to do so well before Benitez) we got in there first and told him he needs to improve/change his game accordingly and the two have fallen out over that.

My point is this: Why is it acceptable for a player to show ambition above and beyond the level of our club, but our club isn't permitted to ask a player to raise their game because it has the ambition to better itself as a whole?

For the record - and I feel like you have to state your case these days, lest you be accused of being an extremist one way or the other - I was a "give Benitez a chance" guy, who is rapidly heading for the "Benitez out" camp because of our form, not because of some weird obsession with the fact he used to manage our rivals. I like Digne as a player but objectively I don't think he's been at it for a couple of years and so I think cashing in now is the smart move.

 

[Toffe3m4n]

How do you know this - aside from him being hung out to dry by Benitez

Well the impression I get from a section of GOT is that he's this 'massive odious, egotistical bellend who throws players under the bus all the time' yet they're using this Digne situation in isolation as an example of this?

 

[toffee-L]

What an absolute mess. On the surface it looks extremely petulant of the manager to air his dirty laundry in public like this but we do not know what has gone down between the pair. I've always thought that there was way more to it than the two falling out over tactics, my personal opinion was that one had told the other that they were done at the club (either Benitez telling Digne he was going to be sold or Digne telling Benitez that he wanted to leave). I assumed it was the former because of how quickly we moved on Mykolenko and Patterson as the club knew that Digne was going to leave in advance of the transfer market and looked to move fast but perhaps the bust up did come from Digne telling Benitez he wanted out?

Of course, that will still be partly the manager's fault because Digne was happy to commit his future here only a short while ago and now he wants to leave alludes to the fact he no longer enjoys it here under the new regime.

I take no sides here. I am happy we have a disruptor in the dug out who is getting wasters like Brands and Donachie out the door and setting fire underneath the backsides of players utterly coasting and playing crap like Digne, but I am not happy that that disruptor is a Kopite who is miserably failing to deliver in his own role.

The whole club is just a complete shambles. I would snatch anyone's hand off for premier league survival right now (17th) because if the negativity continues to fester then our predicament could get very, very ugly.

 

[LocalNative]

He's being a bell too, make no mistake about that.

 

[ToffeeTim]

Fair play to him. Gave a simple response and hasn't got drawn into anything.

 

[MarkHollis]

If I was Digne I would definitely want a move, this club is going nowhere anytime soon. Fully expect players like Richarlison and DCL to be seeking moves soon enough the way things are going.

I'm happy we got a few decent years out of him, hope he's happier wherever he goes

 

[NorthernBlue]

What an absolute mess. On the surface it looks extremely petulant of the manager to air his dirty laundry in public like this but we do not know what has gone down between the pair. I've always thought that there was way more to it than the two falling out over tactics, my personal opinion was that one had told the other that they were done at the club (either Benitez telling Digne he was going to be sold or Digne telling Benitez that he wanted to leave). I assumed it was the former because of how quickly we moved on Mykolenko and Patterson as the club knew that Digne was going to leave in advance of the transfer market and looked to move fast but perhaps the bust up did come from Digne telling Benitez he wanted out?

Of course, that will still be partly the manager's fault because Digne was happy to commit his future here only a short while ago and now he wants to leave alludes to the fact he no longer enjoys it here under the new regime.

I take no sides here. I am happy we have a disruptor in the dug out who is getting wasters like Brands and Donachie out the door and setting fire underneath the backsides of players utterly coasting and playing crap like Digne, but I am not happy that that disruptor is a Kopite who is miserably failing to deliver in his own role.

The whole club is just a complete shambles. I would snatch anyone's hand off for premier league survival right now (17th) because if the negativity continues to fester then our predicament could get very, very ugly.

Spot on. He’s the biggest failure of them all at the moment and deserves everything he gets.

 

[Kev The Rat]

The mbappe and haaland comments were bizarre - is he suggesting Digne is on the level of Mbappe now in an attempt to justify 30m?

His tantrum today suggests to me he knows the best we can do is loan him out. Otherwise this volley is just madness.

 

[Gwladysstreetlad]

So why is it only Digne who seems to have a problem?

Its Only Digne that we know about. We don't know what's been said by who behind closed doors. We only have the word of Benitez that Digne has a problem with the club and everyone else is hunky-dory. And given the track record of Benitez for telling scandalous lies about players he falls out with I'd take anything he says with a truck load of salt.

 

[windymiller]

I like Digne as a player but objectively I don't think he's been at it for a couple of years and so I think cashing in now is the smart move.

This is what all reasonable fans think but the problem is that Benitez has made the whole thing public so we are in a terrible negotiating position. Every club in the world now knows that Digne wants out and that Benitez wants him out, so they can lowball us and sit back and wait for us to buckle. Like we always do. If Benitez could have parked his ego for a few days and kept his big trap shut Digne would've been sold by now for a decent price, instead he'll likely be loaned out at the end of the window because we've shot ourselves in the foot.

 

[Dykovski200]

Just goes to show the lies of Benitez.

 

[dublinbluenose]

Well the impression I get from a section of GOT is that he's this 'massive odious, egotistical bellend who throws players under the bus all the time' yet they're using this Digne situation in isolation as an example of this?

So in actuality you dont know that Digne is the only player to have a problem with Benitez tactics.

All we know is they had a bust up on the training ground in Spanish. Immediately after that Benitez dripped him and then Benitez aaid he doesnt want to play for Everton.

There's only been one side of the story.

 

[Saint Domingo]

Managers tactics aren’t working, player questions manager.

Manager is an odious, stubborn oaf and takes it out on players

Fans stand by player because the player is right

Is he? Digne has been extremely average for us for a long time. He might have himself down as some sort of supreme attacking outlet but I’ve not seen that under numerous managers. Most of the time his crossing has been poor to say the least. He really should focus on the primary job of a fullback which is to defend. When it comes down to it though, he’s not very good at that.

 

[Kev The Rat]

This is what all reasonable fans think but the problem is that Benitez has made the whole thing public so we are in a terrible negotiating position. Every club in the world now knows that Digne wants out and that Benitez wants him out, so they can lowball us and sit back and wait for us to buckle. Like we always do. If Benitez could have parked his ego for a few days and kept his big trap shut Digne would've been sold by now for a decent price, instead he'll likely be loaned out at the end of the window because we've shot ourselves in the foot.

We will loan him out for nothing - whether that’s all on the FSW I don’t know.

At a minimum his abuse today expresses frustration at no one being prepared to pay money for him

Ordinarily you would blame the manager here but we have such a shocking record of selling players that I can’t be 100% certain ….

 

[BlueStevie35]

Congratulations Rafael you’ve probably screwed us out of a decent fee for Lucas now by calling him out in public, brilliant management