Last week I hit out at the reaction to the news that Bastian Schweinsteiger was asked to train with the U21s at Manchester United, because I thought the use of "humiliation" and similar words in headlines was making a big deal out of nothing.
I argued that as Schweinsteiger had done so little in his first season with the club, a new manager telling him that he was surplus to requirements was something that was perfectly acceptable, and the norm. I also added that if it had been someone like Michael Carrick, who had given years of service to the club, that it would have been different, but that very situation has arisen at another Premier League club this week.
Everton released Tony Hibbert after 25 years, yes 25 years, of loyal service last week, and while the decision was absolutely justifiable considering the fitness of the 35-year-old, the manner in which he found out about that news was nothing short of shameful.
When Newcastle notified Jonas Gutierrez that he was released via a phone call, and then asked him to pass the phone to Ryan Taylor, who was also released, they were blasted for doing so, and the same criticism should now be aimed at Everton for not even giving Tony Hibbert a phone call, as he revealed he found out through friends who saw it on the club website.
I was in Formby with my dad and brother when my wife Samantha rang to say she’d been getting text messages from friends that I wasn’t being retained. It was on the website.
I couldn’t believe it so I rang a friend at the club to check. They said, “Tony, I honestly don’t know why nobody has spoken to you”. I contacted Leon and he was in exactly the same boat.
I won’t tell a lie, I was really hurt. Surely someone at the club should’ve realised it wasn’t right. I’d rather have been told at any point during the season there wouldn’t be a contract so I’d have a chance to plan my future and say a proper farewell. No player deserves that whether they’ve been at a club for five minutes or 25 years.
In what other job would someone be let go or fired without a senior manager talking and explaining what was happening? I never got that and I honestly don’t know why. I didn’t get the chance to properly say goodbye to the fans.
That is a joke, and is utterly shameful for someone who was at the club as long as Hibbert. Actually, it would have been shameful for someone who had been at the club for a year or two, but for a man of Hibbert's loyalty it is a complete joke.
Thankfully, Hibbert took a swipe at the club as he left as he explained that since David Moyes left it hasn't been the same.
The People’s Club, it’s no longer that. It’s a ruthless, horrible business and a lot of good people have gone.
It puts the "humiliation" of Schweinsteiger into perspective. Hibbert was cast aside, despite the fact that the club's fans still hold the defender in extremely high regard.
Bad form, Everton. Bad form.
