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Right out of the blue, Sam Allardyce dropped two Everton-related bombshells this morning.
First - the under-fire manager is making plans for next season already. To be fair, every single Toffee is too, as this disastrous season meanders to a disappointing end like a bumbling drunk crashing into every fire hydrant, lamp post and street sign while staggering on home from a night out. More on that in the coming days.
But secondly, and in the best news we’ve had in a while, he said that James McCarthy’s recovery appears to be proceeding well and the player could return.. for the Blues’ pre-season training!
Wow, now that’s a might fine report right there! McCarthy went down just over a month ago, suffering a horrific double leg-break on January 20th, and here’s Big Sam telling us if all goes well he could return for the Toffees’ pre-season regimen which is expected to begin pretty much once the World Cup ends in mid-July.
Seamus Coleman was a victim of a similar injury and took about five months before he was just starting to actively train again, so assuming his fellow Irishman McCarthy’s recovery goes according to plan (or even better), he could be on the pitch for at least a good part of Everton’s pre-season regimen.
| James McCarthy could take part in pre-season training this summer.
— Everton (@Everton) March 1, 2018
Update https://t.co/rzcKL74Lml pic.twitter.com/2CAtcLf6zK
This is what Allardyce said to evertonfc.com -
“It is down to the specialist and them saying if and when James can start moving forward. The specialist will guide us on how far we can go and with a bit of luck we can look forward to James starting the next pre-season with us.
“He has had some time back at home. He will probably rejoin us in the next few days on a regular basis to start getting some mobility into his ankle, particularly because it has been in a set position for such a long time.”
Here’s wishing McCarthy the very best as he continues on his long road to recovery.