A number of Everton fans have taken to Twitter to give their thoughts on Phil Jagielka’s pre-match comments ahead of his new club Sheffield United coming to Goodison Park for Saturday’s Premier League fixture on Merseyside (official Everton website).
The 37-year-old defender left the Toffees in the summer after a 12-year stint, which featured close to 400 club appearances and donning the captain’s armband, to join the Blades, the club where he came through the ranks and began his professional career.
As well as being Everton captain for six years, Jagielka helped the Blues secure three top-five Premier League finishes – they finished outside the top eight only twice in Jagielka’s 12 years – and struck the decisive penalty in a 2009 FA Cup semi-final shootout against Manchester United.
Jagielka expects to encounter a “mixture of emotions” when he returns to Goodison Park, telling the official Everton website: “It will be a really strange feeling for me to go to Goodison. I wasn’t able to go back to Bramall Lane in an Everton shirt and that would have generated similar emotions.
“To be at a club so long and go back will be quite strange and, I imagine, generate a mixture of emotions. The first game I looked at when I signed was when we would be playing Everton. I can’t really tell you exactly what I expect or how I will feel emotionally but it is a match I am looking forward to.”
With Jagielka having been a fan favourite amongst the Everton fanbase and still very much cherished now he’s no longer in the blue shirt, some Toffees fans took to the social media platform to wish him well and some even longed for him not to have left:
Only the trio of Tim Howard, Leon Osman and Leighton Baines have featured more times in the Premier League for Everton than Jagielka, who made 322 top-flight appearances – and 385 in all competitions – for the Toffees.
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