Does Holgate have a future in heart of Everton defence

After a traumatic campaign which very nearly ended in relegation for Everton, one of the many players who came in for strong criticism was Mason Holgate.

The centre of defence was a source of constant worry and concern for Everton fans last season (and indeed for a long time now) and the number of lapses and failures were almost terminally costly for the team.

Michael Keane was particularly guilty of making a succession of mistakes that cost goals and probably also points in several matches.

Holgate also had some serious lapses too and he appeared to have gone backwards since he first broke into the Toffees’ team a few years ago.

I always felt that Holgate could become a solid, modern Premier League defender, even when his future was uncertain and he had been out on loan. He had the natural tools anyway with plenty of pace and a decent ability on the ball.

However, too often he seemed to take one step forward and then two steps back with improved performances then followed by terrible efforts. He seemed to lack the mental maturity to develop and realise his potential.

Holgate was stuck in a cycle of limited progress and then slipping back to imature, petulant and mistake-prone performances.

This season was a perfect example of this. The Tottenham match earlier in the campaign was the nadir of his Everton career.

Holgate got sent off for a petulane tackle right at the end of the game and for many Blues’ supporters that was perhaps the moment when they would have been happy for it to be his last match in a royal blue shirt.

It did look as though the centre-back would be on his way out of the club when this summer’s transfer window opened.

Well in the short-term injury meant that whether or not supporters wanted it, he had to come back into the side with huge games coming up, particularly when Yerry Mina went down with injury again.

And despite not grabbing the headlines with his performances, Holgate did play reasonably well in the crucial run-in as Everton struggled desperately to pick up enough points to survive. In the end of course the Toffees’ did stay up, although in truth only by the skin of their teeth.

Now, Holgate has been talking about the impact that Lampard has had on him and the renewed self-confidence he has gained.

Could this help to restore what has seemed the player’s often fragile confidence and see him start to deliver consistently mature performances next season?

It does seem likely that Everton will be in the market for new central-backs this summer and it remains to be seen if any of the current crop of defenders will leave.

But given the tight finances that Lampard and Kevin Thelwell have to deal with, it may be that player such as Holgate may have to continue to contribute to the team in the coming campaign.