James McCarthy, who enjoyed a stellar debut season at Everton in 2013-14 after joining from Wigan, turns 34 years old today
As a general rule, Evertonians are to-the-point with their terrace chants. Perhaps no more so than in the case of James McCarthy.
‘Running, running, running, running, running all over the pitch.’ Needless to say, upon joining the Blues from Wigan Athletic in the summer of 2013 for £13million, the Glasgow-born Republic of Ireland international made an instant impression on the Goodison Park crowd. His irrepressible energy was a big part of it.
While his midfield partner Gareth Barry impressed with subtle manipulation of the ball and cerebral positioning, McCarthy was a bulldozer. So frequently he would appear like a blue bullet in your peripheral vision to shut down opposition attacks. He would run and run and run for the cause. All over the pitch.
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The then Everton manager Roberto Martinez knew McCarthy well from their time together at Wigan and midway through that memorable first season the Catalan was practically bragging about the signing.
“The investment we made in James was a big investment but it was a safe investment because I knew his character inside out,” said Martinez. “Everyone can find out about the player by watching the games but when you get to work with a character like him, you know it is a safe investment.
“The figure is what you are prepared to pay and how much other teams rate him and how much you can increase that value in the market. The value of James McCarthy in the market is probably double that figure now if not more.”
McCarthy’s partnership with Barry clicked instantly and they were the bedrock for a 72-point season, still the most Everton have achieved in the Premier League era, and a fifth-place finish.
The midfielder’s importance was perhaps best illustrated in one of the rare lowpoints of that campaign, when Martinez made the strange decision to leave McCarthy on the bench for the visit of Crystal Palace. The Eagles rocked up and won 3-2, ending the Blues’ seven-match winning streak and delivering a huge dent to their Champions League hopes.
After playing 34 top-flight games in 2013-14, McCarthy’s Everton career looked set to blossom. However, like so many of that squad, that year would prove to be the high point.
In the following two campaigns he played 28 and 29 times in the Premier League respectively, although Martinez struggled to replicate the heroics of his first season in charge and was eventually sacked at the end of the 2015-16 season.
From that point on, McCarthy’s battles became more about fitness than form. Sometimes dramatically so. The Republic of Ireland’s insistence on calling the midfielder up for international duty despite his injury woes led to a public war of words between Everton manager Ronald Koeman and Irish head coach Martin O’Neill.
“Clearly James was not fit to play,” said Koeman in a prepared press conference statement after he suffered a recurrence of an injury on Ireland duty. “We advised extreme caution. He was not fit to play. In my opinion, the Ireland manager in this instance was not protecting the player. I am not surprised but I am disappointed.”
O’Neill responded with his own remarks in which he called Koeman the “master tactician of the blame game”. Roy Keane had earlier got involved in the row too, calling for Everton players to “toughen up”.
Ultimately, while the coaches traded barbs back and forth in the media it was McCarthy who suffered, as a succession of issues meant he was never able to recover the consistency and dynamism that was so vibrant in his first season. Then he suffered a devastating blow.
In January 2018, an innocuous collision between the midfielder and West Bromwich Albion striker Salomon Rondon – who would later sign for the Blues – led to McCarthy suffering a double leg break.
The incident occurred in close proximity to the Lower Gwladys Street and the vulgar sound of McCarthy’s leg breaking could be heard by many spectators. Rondon, blameless for the incident, was left in tears and compassionately withdrawn from the action.
Rondon was still emotional when discussing the incident eight months later. “Life played me a bad turn because I was the one who experienced it,” said the Venezuelan. “I’m crying because apart from the fact that he’s a fellow professional, it was an injury that I actually felt when it happened… I’ll never forget it… it was tough.”
It would prove to effectively be the end of McCarthy’s Everton career, as he made just one more appearance for the Blues in the 4-0 win over Manchester United in 2019 as a late substitute.
After leaving Everton on a free transfer that summer he rediscovered some form and fitness at Crystal Palace, where he made 49 Premier League appearances across two seasons. In 2021 he joined Celtic and is now, aged 34, is a free agent after his contract was terminated in August 2024.
