John Giles' faith in Seamus Coleman remains unshaken despite his performances coming under scrutiny more and more for both club and country.
Now 33, the veteran defender's shelf life as a top level player has been called into question most notably by Jamie Carragher who said he 'felt sorry' for him after he endured a particularly rough 45 minutes earlier this month that saw Tottenham storm into a 3-0 lead.
But Giles strongly rebuffed the growing narrative that Coleman is becoming a liability.
Appearing on Eamon Dunphy's podcast The Stand, he said: "I wouldn't take into consideration too much what Jamie Carragher would say to be quite honest.
"What's happened with Seamus Coleman is Everton are having a bad time.
"People in the newspapers will say, 'Right, we have to get a reason for that', and they usually pick out the eldest player who's been around for a long time. That happens to be Seamus Coleman.
"He's 33 and it's an easy target. 'He's the eldest man, he's past it, and is making mistakes'. But I haven't seen that.
"Of course he's made a few mistakes as Everton are in a terrible state. And Seamus Coleman will always come to the fore to do what he can about that situation. He's always going to be a target.
"I thought he played really, really well at the weekend [versus Belgium].
"Anytime I've seen him for Everton - and Everton sometimes have been rubbish - he's still one of the better players.
"Seamus Coleman is a great character. He's always out there, always giving his best. He loves the game, loves playing for his country, loves playing for Everton.
"Usually those type of players are the ones that will receive the criticism because all the other guys at Everton, who aren't doing their stuff, are not getting out there to make mistakes.
"I've seen it before when players get a little bit older, they don't play as well as they have done, and people say he's the one at fault.
"When a team is having a bad time, the players who don't do it, hide - they get out of the way.
"The really good lads stand out there and get all the criticism. I think that's what's happened with Seamus.
"It hasn't happened with the Irish team. There's been no criticism that I've heard of really with the Irish team.
"It's with Everton. Everton are having a bad time. People would want to look around at 10 or 11 other players in the Everton team.
"I could name a few of them but I won't name them now. But one of them wouldn't be Seamus Coleman."
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