Royston Drenthe has admitted feeling like a 'God' upon signing for Everton resulted in a fractured relationship with David Moyes.
The Dutchman got off to a promising start, scoring two games into his loan spell during a 3-1 home win over Wigan Athletic, but saw his temporary stay take a turn for the worse in April 2012 after being omitted for an FA Cup semi-final defeat by Liverpool due to a discipline issue.
Drenthe was limited to one 25-minute appearance during the Blues' final eight Premier League fixtures of the season and was not signed on a permanent basis, instead joining Russian side Spartak Vladikavkaz.
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Key to the 36-year-old not sticking around on Merseyside was his fall out with Moyes, which he has now recognised was a mistake on his part. "A lot has been made in the past of my time at the club, and the kind of character I was when I joined, and people know all about my relationship with David Moyes - especially while I was a player at Goodison Park. I think back now with a completely different mindset, though. As a 36-year-old, I can understand and appreciate the job he was doing and how I thought back when I was 25 perhaps wasn't always right," he said.
"Back then, I was firmly of the belief that Moyes was simply out to prove to the other players that he could get under my skin. We'd argue and I'd just think 'what the f***?' 'Is he taking the p***?'. And while there are certain occasions where I can say I still feel I was in the right, on the whole I'd say he was. Ultimately, he wanted to get the best out of me as a player, he wanted to help me, I just couldn't see that at the time. But people change, and I can look back now a lot older and wiser, and I can understand why he did what he did with me."
Commenting on the conduct of the Rotterdam-born star last October, former Blues goalkeeper Tim Howard described how the then Real Madrid loanee once brought his friends to use the training ground's hot tub in the middle of the night. Explaining his version of events, Drenthe exclusively told Ladbrokes Fanzone: "First of all, I'll say - this is something which often happens - the real story ended up being blown up massively and turned into something which wasn't true. Yes, I went to Finch Farm in the early hours, but only ever with friends and family who were coming over to see me. I didn't see anything wrong with it at all!
"I came to Everton as a 24-year-old, in a new environment, and honestly I felt like a God at the time of my move. So whenever my friends or family came to visit me in England, of course I was going to take them with me! It wasn't as crazy as it's been made out in the past, you know, sometimes I would take a couple of family members, sometimes it would be a group of friends, but nothing too crazy. It wasn't affecting any of my teammates as no one was there at the time, I just wanted to bring people over.
"Does it bother me when my former teammates tell these stories? No. I don't have a problem with any of my Everton teammates, or with what Tim said last year. He's right, it happened, and I've explained why I did it. I'd happily go for a drink with him today if he asked - or any of my other team-mates. I only have good things to say about them."
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