David Moyes left Grealish out of his squad for the Premier League trip to Newcastle on Monday, the third straight match the 31-year-old has watched from outside. The winger’s exclusion from Everton’s 3-1 Carabao Cup win over the same opponents at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on 29 October was explained by the club as a response to a breach of discipline, with reports pointing to a training session he skipped without permission the previous week.
Grealish has not played since 17 October. He had already missed Everton’s 2-0 defeat at Arsenal on 24 October through illness before the training breach ruled him out of the Carabao Cup squad five days later.
Brown questions Grealish’s standing in the squad
Mick Brown, a former Manchester United chief scout, told Football Insider the winger’s unauthorised absence had put the Everton squad in a difficult position.
“Not showing up for training is unacceptable, whatever his excuse might have been, because it puts everybody in a difficult position and obviously he was dropped as a result,” Brown said.
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Brown went further on the fallout inside the dressing room.
“I expect a number of his teammates are unhappy with him, because they’re there every single day, working hard and fighting for a place in the team.”
Moyes keeps the detail private
Moyes himself has refused to go into the specifics of the breach. Asked about the exclusion after the Carabao Cup win, the Everton manager batted the question away.
“You probably know I’m not going to give any details, it is a club decision and I support that decision. It is something I don’t want to speak too much about.”
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“The one thing about Everton is that we have got really good values behind it. All the players stand up to the values and accept the values, on the pitch and off the pitch.”
Grealish, who joined on loan from Manchester City after sliding out of Pep Guardiola’s plans, had strung four consecutive starts together before his last appearance on 17 October. Yahoo Sports reports that the club’s current line is one of match fitness rather than continued discipline.
Moyes keeps return date open
Everton’s reward for seeing off Newcastle in midweek is a Carabao Cup quarter-final against Fleetwood Town, with Moyes yet to indicate when Grealish might be back in contention.
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