EVERTON assistant manager Alan Irvine hopes that controversial winger Andy van der Meyde will wipe his slate clean at the club after rejoining the first-team squad at Bellefield yesterday for the first time since he was fined for a breach of club discipline last month when he failed to turn up for training.
Irvine said: “Andy was disciplined for badly stepping out of line and there has to come a point when the punishment is over and Andy has trained with us today for the first time.
“He’s in the squad for the Sheffield Wednesday game,” he added.
Although the Dutchman has endured a troubled spell both on and off the pitch since his move to Goodison in 2005, Irvine is hopeful that he can recapture the form that prompted Italian giants Internazionale to take him to Serie A.
He said: “We all want to see the player who played for Ajax and went to Inter.
“Sadly for a number of reasons we haven’t seen that.
“I hoping that this is a major lesson for Andy and sets him back on the right path.”
He added: “I’m sure it’s been very difficult for him but he brought it on himself and I’m sure he accepts that.”
