Recent Reader Responses

Below are the most recent comments posted by readers to threads across the website. For context and to add your own reply, you can access the article in question by clicking the link appended to the item in question.

• James Hughes # 120 - thanks for that link. Living outside the UK for so many years I had never heard of Rab C Nesbit. He had me in pleats as I listened to his rant which unlike Mike G, I understood completely due to the fact that my mam (God rest her soul) was a Glaswegian and I had four Glaswegian uncles. It brought back many happy memories from youth - one in particular of a visit to Parkhead with my uncle Arthur (God rest his soul) to watch Celtic play. I remember when they came down for a the wedding of one of my aunties no one could understand them but everyone got on like a house on fire. They like scousers - probably because we have a lot in common....
  Laurie Hartley in Tough encounter in tough conditions negotiated
• Steve - if I owned a football club and my manager played Michael Owen out wide I would start looking for a new manager immediately.Andy # 229 - I have seen some great strikers play for Everton and other clubs down the years and I have seen a few born predators. Here is a link to the daddy of them all.Jimmy GreavesIt is a gift. George Best as you know had a gift of a different kind but you get my drift I am sure.Interestingly Greaves was partnered, if I am not mistaken, by two “big men” during his time at Spurs - Bobby Smith and Alan Gilzean.Perhaps Calvert-Lewin can be the partner for the lad who I am hoping is our born predator, Moise Kean. Of course, that would require Silva to change his tactics.One way or another, someone will have to start banging them in or we will keep on hearing the cry “We have never replaced Lukaku”....
  Laurie Hartley in Tough encounter in tough conditions negotiated
• Usually you can go onto Stubhub a few weeks before a home game and pick from about 200 tickets for a game at Goodison. When I looked for the Wolves game on Monday there were just THREE tickets available - family enclosure ones, so two were kids tickets, priced optimistically at £151 each!Demand is already sky high. I have said it before and I’ll say it again, no way will 52,000 be enough for the vast majority of matches. It clearly needs to be 60,000 or very close to it. There are loads of Evertonians who don’t go now because of the poor views. There are plenty like me who don’t live close or have busy lives who only go occasionally, but would if the stadium offered better tickets and matchday family experience.Demand will skyrocket. If the plans are to substantially raise prices, to dampen demand and get more £ per visitor, this will change the demographic of supporter and I think it’s safe to predict will change the atmosphere. After going on about replicating Good...
  Karl Masters in Thoughts on Bramley-Moore and the current financial conditions at Everton
• Any new stadium smaller than 60,000 in that venue is wasting everybody’s time. We can keep finishing 8th at Goodison rather than a 52k Ricoh arena.The article highlights the sad reality that the people building this stadium don’t truly have the football club’s best interests at heart. It’s a real estate deal for them....
  Andrew Presly in Thoughts on Bramley-Moore and the current financial conditions at Everton
• Mike @236, I totally agree with everything you just wrote, but that singlemindedness they all possess meant it was always the biggest part of their game.It remains to be seen if Calvert-Lewin is just a stopgap; it also remains to be seen if he can add goals to his game. Doing one thing is easy, but doing more is a lot harder, especially when you are being asked to do something which has never been natural in the first place, so watch this space, and let's see if he can start finding it (space) because, although Kean might become a great, what Steve Ferns wrote earlier about his work-rate is a very poignant point....
  Tony Abrahams in Tough encounter in tough conditions negotiated
• I'm back on the tequila, and all's I've got to say is, Andrew @176, "I think you'd better leave right now!"...
  Tony Abrahams in Tough encounter in tough conditions negotiated
• Digne pictured in training today.Really hoping he's 100% for Friday. Wouldn't be quite so concerned if Baines was raring to go, but he clearly isn't yet....
  Jamie Sweet in Silva hopeful regarding Digne's injury
• A new stadium will also have a sponsorship deal that will no doubt also be bringing in a fair whack. As for seating, 52,000 is not necessarily a final figure, it's a starting point and that could very well change in the coming months once the planning permission is submitted....
  Lee Paige in Thoughts on Bramley-Moore and the current financial conditions at Everton
• Mike Gaynes, I agree with you on Der Bomber and I'm old enough to remember Jimmy Greaves and Denis Law in their pomp, and (just) Roy Vernon. More recently, Lineker had it too but, in the year we had him, we won zilch. So, is a predator striker a pre-requisite to trophy winning? I hope not! ...
  Don Alexander in Tough encounter in tough conditions negotiated
• Lovely essay, and such people should be commemorated in such times. Their fate has real significance to us in the 21st century.I just wonder as the UK (that's "united" for now at least) is being dragged out of Europe by closed-mind muppets in the Tory/Brexit parties who display no awareness whatsoever of the wars between European nations that for many hundreds of years damaged the world in which those very warring nations all suffered, "victorious" or not....
  Don Alexander in The Nursery
• They're all world class players too, Mike. That's not something you can teach or coach into someone.The thing with Kane, though, is he has a very high number of shots per game. When he goes through droughts, the shots per game goes down significantly more than the accuracy.Calvert-Lewin's accuracy is fine. He simply does not have enough shots. He needs to start shooting on sight. I think he takes too many touches because he lacks confidence. And once he scores a few, the confidence will come and he will get better and better. ...
  Steve Ferns in Tough encounter in tough conditions negotiated
• Andy #229, there is definitely such a thing as a predatory instinct. Of course you can see it in Harry Kane, a guy who always gets to the opportunity first with complete composure. But even more you can see it in players without Kane's physical talent and quickness. Watch Giroud and Costa off the ball for example. They anticipate the play, almost telepathically. They move to where the ball is going before anybody else. And once they get there, they are absolutely single-minded -- nothing matters but putting the ball in the back of the net by any means necessary. The greatest in the history of the game IMO was Gerd Muller. The guy was only 5'-8", but had preternatural anticipation and lightning quickness, and he'd prowl around and then just explode to the ball when it came in range. And when he got a chance, he couldn't miss. It's a real thing, it exists....
  Mike Gaynes in Tough encounter in tough conditions negotiated
• Ray, Aguero has completely changed his game, he is unrecognisable from the player at Atletico. He is far more involved in the game and does not stroll around the pitch waiting to put the ball in the back of the net.If Fowler did not adapt to the modern game, in the way Aguero has, then no, he'd fail to make it at the top of the game. Clubs cannot carry passengers now.Owen would play for a top side for sure, but he would get into the side as a wide forward rather than a central forward. The role he played is absent from all the top sides and they would utilise his pace from a wider position and allow him to cut inside and get through on goal.Team after team after team has central forwards who do not score the bulk of the sides goals. Very few sides, especially at the top of the Premier League, have a central striker who scores all of their goals. Most get goals from the wider positions.And as I keep saying, it is a trait of all of Marco Silva's past sides that the central fo...
  Steve Ferns in Tough encounter in tough conditions negotiated
• Alex @ 230I agree with the vast majority of what you have said. I think Calvert-Lewin is a good player, the issue is the formation Everton adopt which has for a number of seasons resulted in the central striker being isolated. A switch to a 4-4-2 (with wide players) or a true 4-3-3 would I believe help Everton win more games, score more goals and would also help Calvert-Lewin's goals tally. It is also my view that we have the players to do adopt either formation successfully. I would love to seen Kean play alongside Calvert-Lewin or in a three with Richarlison added to the forward line. I think we would be more entertaining to watch and we would also have a much better chance of breaking into (and beating) the top 6.That does not mean being 'gung ho' at all times – it means adopting a truly attacking mindset and formation from the outset and modifying the approach if needed within the 90 minutes. Pursuing such a strategy has not done the RS any harm, has it? We also no...
  Ed Fitzgerald in Tough encounter in tough conditions negotiated
• Jerome, we had this discussion a few weeks back.There is the American definition of someone who makes big plays.But the English definition of a playmaker has always been the midfielder who runs the game. The man who sees most of the ball. The man the others look to pass to when they have it, and the man who demands the ball when he does not.The only playmaker we have in this side is André Gomes. He is very much the man the others look to, and the one who tries to get the ball the most.So whilst the Americans would say it is Messi who makes the big plays, it was Xavi who was the playmaker, the one who had his foot on the ball the most.And this is my problem with Sigurdsson. He does not demand the ball enough, he does not get on the ball enough. He's got all the skills he needs, but he just doesn't impose himself enough. So whilst he might make the big plays, he does not run the game, and he does not dictate the play....
  Steve Ferns in Not pretty but the points were paramount
• Goal hangers and instinctive strikers are two different beasts, Andy. Sorry to disagree but that's why lazy forwards who expect everything on a plate have disappeared but truly great strikers fetch upwards of £50 million. The latter have an instinct which the rest of we mortals do not have (plus the work rate and confidence which you refer to). If you believe that's bullshit, that's fine by me....
  Ray Robinson in Tough encounter in tough conditions negotiated
• An astounding article, Pete. Superb stuff....
  Steve Ferns in The Nursery
• We don’t care what the redshite say ...
  Alex Carew in Tough encounter in tough conditions negotiated
• I think we're struggling across the park but it's only to be expected.At the back, Keane and Mina will take time to form an effective partnership. They've done okay so far, no doubt, but it'll be a while before they're a completely cohesive unit.In front of them, we have a massive change in personnel where Gueye used to be. Any one of Gbamin, Schneiderlin, Delph or Davies could sit in there and the back-line will, again, take time to adapt. Whoever makes Gueye's position their own will play a different game to him for sure.In attack, Sigurdsson has simply been poor during the opening two games. Richarlison the same, though he's never looked quite as good on the right as he did on the left. One can understand him being out there, since Bernard is fast becoming a player that needs to be on the team sheet. I don't think Silva has gotten the front four working quite right just yet but the imminent additions of Iwobi and Kean provide options – both of which will take time...
  Joe Corgan in Watford Win – What Does It Mean?
• Geoff, I tend not to pay any attention to what the RS fans say, be they friends or family or others. They just like to run us down. We do the same, Salah is diver, Firmino has too many teeth etc. Calvert-Lewin will do well this season. ...
  James Hughes in Tough encounter in tough conditions negotiated
• I have no doubt that Calvert-Lewin has the potential to be a top quality striker. But, if you play him on his own up front and don't supply him anything, with him having to make endless runs out wide to even get the ball, then we will never see his potential. Can you imagine the likes of Sharpy getting this sort of service? He too would be considered rubbish. We need to play 2 up front or at least play to his potential. Putting in a decent cross would be a start. In answer to an earlier comment, we know the players are professional and far better than most in the world; however, being able to cross a ball from wing to box should really be a gimme. My blood boils seeing an endless amount of bad long or short crosses. If we had Sheeds and Steven, we would be amazing!!Sadly, going back to Calvert-Lewin, I think we will see his full potential one day soon – just not with us. ...
  Alex Carew in Tough encounter in tough conditions negotiated
• You know this born predator stuff, this instinct that some have, this utter myth that some guys have this born talent to tap the ball in from two yards. I could do it, I did it. It is utter nonsense. Calvert-Lewin does what Silva wants him to do and he does it well.The top strikers do it because they are confident, because they know if they miss a sitter, the crowd will not be on their back. It is totally about confidence – not this truly cretinous predator shite. Goal hangers are gone. Calvert-Lewin brings a lot, when he gets some goals and confidence, he will be exceptional. No Premier League footballers are shite. I have friends who played Irish League football. They were incredibly talented but could not have made it in League Two. To call any Premier League footballer, someone who has endeavoured to get that far, shite is f***wittery of the highest order....
  Andy Crooks in Tough encounter in tough conditions negotiated
• Steve 171,You're not seriously trying to suggest that a young Fowler or Owen would struggle in today's game, are you?A young Fowler would still have every club In the country wanting him and a young Owen would have every club in the world wanting him....
  David Thomas in Tough encounter in tough conditions negotiated
• Eddie, If Zaha is the chosen one, it would be sweet to get him at a knock down price after the extortionate price Palace put on his head. There may be better options in Europe though. I'm not that well up as others on TW as to who's available....
  Trevor Peers in Tough encounter in tough conditions negotiated
• What struck me most about Kean from his little cameo is his movement off the ball, the intelligent runs he made, and of course he possesses no little skill. Already that makes him a very different prospect to Calvert-Lewin who will probably never develop that side of his game but I hope will develop into a great target man. They'll be chalk and cheese but I want to see both develop with us.Sidibe could well be a nice little signing; I wouldn't be surprised if he cements himself into a first-choice by the end of the season, perhaps not even at right-back but as a centre-half, he is certainly big enough.As with everything you've said, Matthew – this is a good base for the start of the season; real competition for places....
  Peter Gorman in Watford Win – What Does It Mean?