Game For Rezzie's

Although pleased with his run out for the reserves against Bolton, in which he scored, Nace has still got a bit to go to be match fit.

Nace says: "I'll probably need five or six full reserve games before I am anywhere near full match fitness. You can train as much as you like but there's nothing like 90 minutes on the park. This game was great for me but it also showed that I am a good way off being fully ready to play in the Premiership. I mis-timed my first two tackles and had to apologise to their boy. I've been back training with the first team for three or four weeks, but you never really have a proper tackle. I needed that game to answer a couple of questions I had in mind. The biggest thing for me was having absolutely no problems with my ankle." (13/01/06)

Take A Break Son

Gary Naysmith is being ordered by the Everton medical team to take a holiday after his latest complication following the infection he caught after his ankle operation in the Summer. Nace's morale is low, according to Basil, but hopefully with a few weeks sun on his back, he may come back refreshed and raring to go again.

Basil Rathbone says: "Gary will be going back to hospital on Thursday to have his wound checked. The doctors opened up the wound last week, cleaned it out and left it open for six days last week. They were concerned it would not close too easily but thankfully it did and that was probably the first example of Gary getting the rub of the green with this latest injury. Fingers crossed it will be okay when it is checked on Thursday and then he can begin with the next phase of his rehab.

Gary will now stay on the antibiotics for several weeks and we certainly can't be rushing him back. Once we are sure the wound is clean and closed up properly I think the lad deserves a holiday to be honest. His morale is not high, understandably. But he is a good guy who is digging deep and everybody is helping him as much as they can. He has been through a tough time and it has obviously affected him but he is a good guy who is strong and I am sure he will bounce back." (13/09/05)

No Hurry

Moyesy is putting no pressure on unlucky Gary Naysmith as he battles to regain his fitness. The Scottish left back faces a long spell on the sidelines after Baz Rathbone discovered an infection, following his ankle surgery last month. With the loss for the season of Sandro Pistone, Moyesy has signed Nuno Valente from Porto to fill the void.

Moyesy says: "It has been horrible for Gary, really. He was so desperate to be back for pre-season training and he had done quite a lot of running work but his ankle just didn't feel quite right. We checked it out again and saw that the wound had become infected. He said after the second operation that he felt the wound was still seeping a little bit but we managed to get to it quickly. Hopefully now this will be the end of it. Losing Sandro meant there would have been opportunities for Gary to get himself into the team but we have lost both of them now.

Football being the way it is means an opportunity as opened up for someone else and we have now brought in Nuno Valente and Matteo Ferrari for a little extra cover." (08/09/05)

Serious Setback

Nace has had a serious setback and is back in hospital. A deep infection, which was picked up during surgery to remove a piece of bone from his ankle three weeks ago. Nace has now not played for 6 months. Just as well he signed that 3 year contract.

Head physio Mick 'Baz' Rathbone says: "Gary has had an incredible stroke of bad luck. He developed a deep infection after his previous operation. It didn't settle with antibiotics so it had to be opened up again, explored and cleaned out. Obviously, something like that is potentially quite serious. It looks like he is going to be okay and he will recover but it is another stroke of bad luck for him. It is a real shame for the guy. He has had so many problems over the last six months and everybody feels bad.He is in hospital for a few days to make sure the ankle remains clean. We are hoping he will have a full recovery.

Any kind of deep infection can be serious, especially with a professional footballer. They opened up the wound last week, cleaned it all out and left it open. They are monitoring it everyday and hopefully on Wednesday it will be closed again and he will be completely okay. But it was a terrible scare for everybody and it was a terrible blow for him bearing in mind the infection percentages. But he is a tough lad and a fighter. Everybody is very upset for him because he is such a popular guy, probably the most popular at the club. But this is it and he should be okay now." (06/09/05)

Nace Blow

Nace is going back under the surgeons knife in a bid to to remove a piece of bone from a previous operation earlier in the Summer. Moyesy will have to do without cover in the left side of defence till mid September at the earliest.

Basil says: "Gary is having a minor operation on the other side of his joint - not the side that has been a problem. I think there is a tiny bit of bone just aggravating him, so we might as well get that fished out. We don’t envisage that being a major hiccup.

He has done all the pre-season with the lads he just has this persistent discomfort and now is the time to get it sorted. I would hope that after the next international break in September he won't be a million miles away." (17/08/05)

Dammit

Bazza Rathbone hopes to have Worzel Gummidge available for the start of the season.

Bazza says:"I am anticipating Gary will probably spend the first four week of the pre-season with the medical staff and hopefully ease into training towards the end of July. We expect him to be available as near as dammit to the start of the season." (30/06/05)

August Target

Nace is hoping to be fit for the start of the season, after having an operation to clean out his ankle.

Nace says: “I’ve been quite unfortunate at Everton because seemingly every year I’ve had to have an operation at the end of the season. Hopefully, I’ll be back training with the boys in the middle of July and then that will give me a month or so to get fit for the first game of the new season.” (14/06/05)

I Thought I Would Have To Leave

Gary Naysmith has signed a new 3 year contract. It will mean his new contract runs out in 2008. For someone who only started 5 premiership games last season, he's delighted. We'd be fuckin ecstatic.

Nace says: “I’m delighted to be finally signing because it’s been a long time coming. The negotiations began last summer but for one reason or another things never got done. It all got left until the end of the season and if I’m being completely truthful, 50% of me thought that I would have to leave. But the negotiations went well and thankfully everything has now been sorted.

I’ve said all along that I wanted to stay at the club. I’ve really enjoyed my four and a half years here and this is my club. It’s the longest spell I’ve ever had at a club as a first team player. I’m settled in the area, so are my wife and children, so I didn’t want to move away. I’m delighted that it’s come to the conclusion that I always wanted.” (13/06/05)

Op For Nace

Although he has still to sign a new contract, Gary has been under the knife.

Baz, the physio says: “Gary had an operation on Wednesday. He’s been struggling with an ankle problem for four or five weeks. They cleaned a bit of ankle bone out of the way. He had a bit of thickened tissue in there as well and they took that away. They’re very happy with the results, he’ll get a full recovery and we’ll get him back for pre-season training there or thereabouts.” (18/05/05)

Nace Last Season