SpartyBlue

Yea, number of games doesn’t matter, just per 90m. All told looks like he scored 12 in about 16 games worth of time across all their competitions. Very good. Previous season it was 14 in about 24 games worth. Which begs the question, at 26 and with a good goal record, why has he not played more?

We won’t know until we know. Given the price we paid and his quick rise I expect more than I would if he cost 2m but you’re right that he needs to be given time

Because he did what Ellis has not, impressed in training.

Who knows. Not one that I feel like is vital for us so I guess it’s done when it’s done.

Yeah but with a better mentality. He seems to “get it”. Notable that he mentioned work 2-3 times. It’ll take a little time but I think we’ve got one.

He comes off as incredibly mature at 20. Can see why he captained Belgium’s U-21. High hopes.

The thing that made the most sense to me in terms of the delay was a work visa issue that was mentioned a couple days ago. Who really knows though.

Coincidentally, I was reading some Zlatan quotes the other day. One of the most arrogant players to ever live. Mostly backed it up though.

One thing I hope our supporters realize is that he’s likely to need time. New country, new team, still 20. He’s gonna be a bit raw most likely. We are paying for him at 22-23 and beyond. Let’s give him the room to make a few mistakes and not lose the fans. Look what it’s done for Iwobi, by his own reckoning.

Not unreasonable that he may have second thoughts with the Onana signing. I’d like him here but I wouldn’t be too bothered if this falls through. We have Allan still who is similar and even Gbamin as cover if he stays. Bit more of a “would be nice” signing than a necessity.

It’s obvious you are arrogant to the point of absurdity on this topic. You know better than Carlo, Rafa, Frank and all our other coaches. They’ve all spoken with him, seen him train, evaluated and analyzed his play. But you know so much better what’s best for him and his future. Of course managers make mistakes and are not infallible. But this is their job. They and their team evaluate players. It isn’t your job or mine. I tend to trust people who are highly qualified in their fields over my own opinion until I’m given reason not to. The DCL thing proves my point. He was evaluated by our manager and coaches in training and thought to be ready for an opportunity at the Premier League level. Simms was similarly evaluated and now he’s been let go on loan at a time where we could have used a good striker for the first team. That should tell you what you want to know about his current level. You must prove yourself in training and in your play. It is on the player to force his way into the team. If you don’t want to accept the judgement of those running the team, fine, but at least acknowledge that your insistence is based on wishful thinking and not evidence.

I think it’s one of those things where if you are performing well it looks like confidence and if you are performing poorly it looks like arrogance and a detriment. It only bothers me if it is effecting performance. Would be nice if he got back to his best.

This comment is quite open to interpretation.

I don’t mind the arrogance so much. He had it 3 years ago when he was looking like future England material. I did think he played better down the stretch last season and in his appearance over the weekend so perhaps he’s already getting some of that maturity you’re alluding to. He will certainly have some good examples now.

Who is to say that we would have been able to secure him a Championship loan that late? The Scottish league isn’t the Premier League, it’s not even the Championship. Yes, good players can come up through any league. What does that have to do with the overall quality being far worse? It’s pretty standard for a youth striker to need to have a good, high level loan to prove he’s ready for the top level. You act as if this is some unbelievable decision by the club. If your opinion isn’t based on the managers and coaches who see him all the time and know the game better than you or I then I’m not sure what to say to you. When you go to the doctor do you tell them that you don’t care about their experience and expertise? If you don’t trust those at the club to evaluate the talent we have and make good decisions *shrug*.

I believe I read we were allowed a pretty small fee this first year. All about pushing these commitments as much as we can until funds free up.

Obviously we get a striker in this window but in general you would think we won’t have too much to do at the back or in midfield the next couple windows. Should let us focus on the attack and maybe some promising youth prospects.

Your point is not shrouded in mystery. I get you think Simms should have stayed and is better than Rondon. Frank seems to disagree. Rafa certainly did as well. They see him far more than you or I. Great that he is off to a nice start at Sunderland but no football manager or logical person is going to make determinations based off 1 game, if that were even an option right now. I agree we need 3 forwards. DCL, Rondon (for the moment), and whoever we bring in. A well run football club evaluates things in the long term. Clearly we think that a high level loan is better for Simms and for us and was worth the risk of an out nowhere injury to DCL before the season begins. Yes, it would have been great to have a quality striker in beforehand but that’s not an easy task. How many quality options are there who would come to Everton to backup DCL that we can afford? I don’t know the answer and neither do you. We’ve missed on Kone, Sandro, Niasse, Tosun, King, Kean, and seemingly Rondon in recent years. It is unsurprising to me that the club would take its time and try to find someone who might actually contribute. If that costs us depth at a position where our starter was perfectly healthy when Simms left then fine. Do you honestly think that if Simms was ready for this level he would have been allowed to go while we spend money on a backup? Frank just sees him levels above Rondon in training and says “Nah”? He’s got about 30 appearances above the youth levels in his career across a couple of different loans. His one appearance for our senior team he was anonymous. Maybe he gets there, We all hope he does but I’m going to defer to all our managers over the last couple years who seem to agree that he’s not at that point yet.

My issue isn’t comprehension. Your point is clear. I just disagree we should have kept Simms because maybe DCL slips getting out of the shower or something before we bring another striker in. A decent little loan is Scotland doesn’t make Simms ready for our first team. I expect if Frank thought he was ready for a legitimate role he would not have left, particularly given our financial situation. Best for Simms and best for us long term to see if he sinks or swims in the Championship.

Coady seemed pretty adamant about getting his deal done as soon as possible. Also, it’s a loan to start so maybe that makes it a little more straight forward to begin with. Also Gana seems delayed because of work Visa issues so maybe the same is true with Onana. Or they want to announce two midfielders from the French league together. Or a dozen other things.

It was reported by a credible source two days ago that he was officially an Everton player. A club announcement can be delayed for a number of reasons but this one is done.

We’ve missed on like 5 strikers in a row. I imagine that getting the right guy is more important then expediency. Again though, we would have assumed that DCL could stay healthy until we brought in some help. Not unreasonable as it’s only likely to be a couple games before that happens. And for what it’s worth we do have Rondon. Just a worse case scenario thing. I agree with others that longterm Simms needs to have a high level loan and being on our bench isn’t the best thing for him or us. A good loan and he will be in the mix for us next year

Great.

Also seems like his insistence on just doing whatever the manager wants to help the club would mean that if he ends up on our bench sometimes he won’t be too bothered as he knows his role is to be a leader and mentor as much as anything.

Is it option to buy or obligation to buy?