Everton Drop Jack Grealish Over Discipline Breach After Moyes Role Model Words

• Everton left Jack Grealish out of the Carabao Cup tie with Newcastle for a breach of club discipline, per the Guardian.
• It is understood the 31 year old England player missed training on Monday without permission and is expected to be fined.
• David Moyes had said earlier this season that he wanted Grealish to become a senior professional and a role model.

A Public Announcement, a Missed Session and a Lot of Questions at Everton

Everton did not leave this one to rumour. When the club listed David Moyes’s team for the Carabao Cup fourth round tie with Newcastle at Hill Dickinson Stadium, it posted on social media that Jarrad Branthwaite was missing a second successive game with concussion protocols and that Grealish was unavailable for selection after a breach of club discipline. Clubs rarely put that in writing next to the team news. Everton did.

What Is Known About the Breach

The club has not spelled out what Grealish did. It confirmed he was not missing through injury. It is understood the winger missed training on Monday without permission. He returned to the Finch Farm training ground after that absence, and he is expected to be fined for it.

The timing adds an awkward layer. Grealish had already missed Everton’s 2-0 defeat at Arsenal on Saturday, with illness given as the reason. He had started four successive games for Moyes before that. Now the player who sat out Arsenal ill has been left out of a cup tie for a different reason, and Everton have given no further explanation.

Tyler Dibling and Tyrique George were named out wide against Newcastle instead.

The Role Model Words Moyes Used Earlier This Season

Moyes had been clear about what he expected from Grealish this season. “I think Jack knows what I expect now,” the Everton manager said. He added that he wanted Grealish to be “a senior professional and a role model”, pointing to Dibling and George as the wide players who could learn from him, and describing Grealish as “somebody who teaches them”.

Moyes also spoke about how Grealish worked. “He gets himself fit through the games more so than the training,” the manager said, adding that the player had spent six and a half months out and had no real football behind him. That reads differently now that training is the issue.

A Very Different Headline the Day Before

Grealish was in the news for another reason on Wednesday. Fans praised him for donating £10,000 to a fundraising campaign for Leon, a 35 year old Everton supporter with aggressive kidney cancer. DJ Anton Powers, an Evertonian, shared the family’s appeal, and wrote: “What an absolute gent Jack Grealish is.” Fans replied that he has made similar gestures before.

Where Grealish Stands Now

Grealish is back at Everton on loan from Manchester City after joining Everton on loan last season, when a foot injury in January ended his campaign. Everton paid about £12m in total for that spell and are paying a similar sum this time. His City contract expires at the end of the season, so he will become a free agent. He has yet to contribute to a goal this season.

Moyes told reporters in August that the cups matter to him, and he defended Everton’s Carabao Cup ambitions bluntly, so leaving out a player of Grealish’s profile for this tie was always going to draw attention.

What Happens Next

The details of the breach, the size of any fine and Moyes’s own view are all still to come. Grealish has returned to training. His next squad selection will show how Moyes wants to handle the matter, and the club’s own words on the breach, when they come, will say more than the team sheet has.

WRITTEN BY

George Howson

George Howson is a Futbol Chronicle contributor and accredited journalist with over 20 years of experience following international football. A member of the AIPS International Sports Press Association, George has covered matches at stadiums around the world, bringing deep knowledge and first-hand insight to every match report and analysis he writes.

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