Former Everton forward Jermaine Beckford has claimed that he was left frustrated at the club due to a lack of game time.
The 35-year signed for the Toffees as a free agent ahead of the 2010/11 Premier League season after leaving League One outfit Leeds United by mutual consent.
The Jamaica international scored eight goals in 32 Premier League appearances in his first season, and he managed just two league appearances the following season before being sold to Leicester City for £2.5million.
Beckford didn’t start that many games in his only full season as an Everton player, but he did finish the season as joint top goalscorer across all competitions, tied with Louis Saha on 10 goals for the season.
Speaking in a talkSPORT exclusive, the forward revealed that the lack of starts for the Toffees was frustrating for him having come from a club where he had been playing much more frequently. The recently retired striker said:
[At Everton] I was frustrated. I knew the first season I was there was going to be a difficult one in terms of the games and minutes played. But if you look at my minutes to goals ratio, I’m second behind Didier Drogba in the whole of the Premier League.
I went from Leeds playing close to 50-odd games to playing sub-20 for Everton and it made me think I wasn’t happy just collecting a paycheck and training. I wasn’t happy being that guy as I want to play.
I could have stayed and tried to fight for a place but it was very difficult at the time.
Read Everton Verdict
I haven’t got much to weigh in with here other than I can imagine how that would be frustrating, but at the same time Beckford did move up two divisions.
The striker probably wasn’t appreciated how he should have been during his time at Goodison Park, but he was no superstar. Ultimately he’ll be chalked up as a gamble who worked, with the player providing a tidy profit and decent goal return.
