Premier League: Everton would be idiots to bin Mirallas

Kevin Mirallas is too good for Everton to risk ostracising him

Michael Lintorn doesn't understand all the fuss as everyone queues up to criticise Kevin Mirallas...

Whereas the ever-entertaining Monday Night Football crew usually get a lively contest to dissect, they were forced to deal with their first goalless draw of the campaign in the latest edition thanks to Everton and West Brom.

The reaction was to try to transform the molehill of a missed penalty into a mountain of controversy and conspiracy.

Despite there being countless failures to convert from 12 yards a year, Gary Neville felt so enraged by Kevin Mirallas taking a spot kick that usual set-piece bagsy-er Leighton Baines had designs on that he labelled it "one of the most despicable breaches of team orders you can possibly have".

When the Belgian didn't return for the second half, it appeared as though Roberto Martinez supported the popular pundit's interpretation, but the Everton manager has since claimed that his removal was because he "felt his hamstring was getting sensitive" rather than a punishment.

However, even if it was the case that Martinez, Baines and Romelu Lukaku were a little bit miffed by Mirallas' insistence on seizing the Toffees' best chance of breaking through resilient West Brom, they need to let it go rather than risk antagonising and unsettling their best player.

It was only six days earlier that his importance to the Merseysiders was made obvious when he came on in the 67th minute of their FA Cup third-round replay at West Ham.

They were trailing with ten men, but he transformed the tie, scoring a free-kick to take it to extra time, supplying a wonderful assist to put them in front and then netting in the shootout. He took the first penalty incidentally, and it didn't seem to be too big an issue on that occasion.

It was that performance which provoked concern about the 27-year-old's contract expiring next year and caused Martinez to acknowledge that Everton would have to prove that they are progressing to compel the wide forward to sign an extension in the summer.

The fact that they had to replace Mirallas with Bryan Oviedo - nine Premier League starts in two-and-a-half years - and the limited threat that they posed without him in the second half against West Brom should emphasise how much they need him to any doubters.

Everton are winless in eight games and a mere four points clear of the relegation, the result being that they are now almost as short a price for the drop at 26.025/1 as for a top-six finish at 22.021/1.

Fans scrambling for positives can at least point to four draws in a row as an improvement on four successive draws before that.