Naismith growing in confidence

To complete an amazing turn-around in Naismith's fortunes, the once lauded Jelavic has departed, Steven has rediscovered his form in a position that he is evidently suited to, and his work rate and never say die attitude has endeared him to most Evertonians.

From what I have read regarding his charity work and evident humanity, such a turn of events could not have happened to a nicer fella, long may it continue. Fast becoming a Lee Carsley type of player for me: every team needs such a character and Naismith is ours.

Naismith gets stick for his lack of pace but I'm not sure it's a real issue in the way he plays and with his anticipation and speed of thought. He is on to balls in the box before some defenders see them coming, that alone is worth a couple of yards. I would take him over Fellaini any day.

Well done, Steven, and keep it going, son.

Would you not rather see Naisy in behind Eto'o? Sammy has the pace to stretch defences and get in behind. Naisy has energy to get up and down the pitch. He is also a lot harder to pick up in the hole, which allows him to exploit spaces, score goals and cause confusion.

Totally agree, Naysmith himself says in the article that he has started to play well and feel comfortable at this level because Martinez has allowed him to play in his favourite position 'in the hole'.

If Lukaku is injured and doesn't play vs West Brom it should be a straight swop in my opinion Eto'o for Lukaku and don't mess about with Naismith's position at all! At the moment he should be the first name on the team sheet and played in his favourite position.

I hope Lukaku is fit though, I think its his movement and presence that has allowed Naismith the space to run into and score as regularly as he does, Eto'o is absloute class but a totally different player to Lukaku.

Who’d have thought it a year ago? An example to all who play the game!

Anyway, last season aside, I really hope he keeps up the performances he's put in so far this season. With Rom, Kone and possibly Eto all injured, we're very very light up top.

He's not going to be a lot of fans' favourite but he's certainly on a better footing now than a year ago or even 6 months ago. Hopefully his new found confidence will help him to keep doing the simple stuff and banging them in......all we can ask.

Someone on here mentioned about backing Naisy for 20 goals this season, before Leicester game, though I can't recall who it was.

Needless to say, a few people derided him for this. Hopefully he placed the bet, and hopefully he's quids in before Easter! If he gets two or three chances a game, you fancy him to take one at least, in current form.

Always liked him from his days in Scotland, glad to see him reaping the rewards from his hard work, surely it can rub off on the other lads.

He gives his all, nobody can doubt that but when he was used wide by Moyes, his all just wasn't good enough. But Martinez knows how to get the best out of this player in a way that it benefits the team and his performances from Jan 14 onwards have been fantastic.

The thing he appears to be blessed with most is his ability to stay calm in front of goal and slot away his chances.

Naismith's goal against Chelsea summed him up. He was alert to the space ahead of McGeady as the defenders followed Lukaku, and his one touch to control and then a one touch finish was tremendous. Let's hope for some more on Saturday.

And a great lad to boot!

Wrong team Ajay.

Neither Naismith nor Jelavic ever played for Celtic.

Just sayin, like.....

I hate watching on TV, unless it's the highlights, but I thought Naismith, had as good as game as anyone else that day. Martinez, made a sub and Naismith, ended up playing on the wing, and then his game, went to pot. (If my memory is correct) Steven Naismith has never been a winger, and I believe Moyes, was absolutely destroying him.

It's a different game on the telly though because James McCarthy impressed me most times I watched him last season, but that day at Spurs, I thought he was woeful.

Well done, Naismith, everyone loves a trier!! He could be next for a pay rise!

He's had a great start this season and long may it continue but I also remember enough 'average' (being kind here) performances last year... as I said above, all we can ask is that he keeps it up.

If he bangs in 10-15+ league goals this season (assuming he gets the chance) I'll be jumping for joy. But like a lot of people on this site have already said numerous times, we've only played 3 games so far so I'll keep my praise muted for now (especially as we haven't even won a game yet).

I obviously prefer this version of Naisy to that of the past.....

What a lot of people overlooked was that he was just getting over a bad injury he picked up at Rangers, also coming to a much higher standard of football than he was previously playing in. These things take time.

I remember the game against Man City, the season before last, when David Moyes made one of his more inspiring substitutions, we were winning 1-0 but were down to 10 men due to Pienaar being sent off. He took Mirallas off for Naismith, much to the bemusement of the crowd and the comment of "What’s he bringing him on for?" He was the type of player that was needed that day for his contribution when we never had the ball, and for long periods of that 2nd half, we didn’t have the ball. His positional sense was priceless.

Then, with 5 minutes to go, he robbed a City player of the ball just inside his own half and released Jelavic with a nice throughball that he dispatched into the net via a fortunate deflection. I believe that was the day he shook off the shackles; never ever once has he gone missing, never once has his head dropped. A credit to himself.

Just goes to show you, we sometimes need to be a bit patient, and as Evertonians we should be well versed in that.

Naisy seemed to be an add-on... An extra body. Fresh off a major injury, he was forced to learn a new position, on a new team, in a new league. He became the Evertonian number one target for abuse.

Two years on... quite a change. Jelly’s a Tiger and Naisy’s our leading scorer. Who’da thunk it!

If Moyes was still manager, then Naismith would never have got a chance in his real position, which is really puzzling to me when you consider who signed him.

In the first half, we had Barkley in behind Lukaku, and he kept making the wrong choice of pass. At the start of the second half, Naismith replaced him and his decision-making made him really stand out. He scored at least one goal if I recall and made another that day.

I think he Is a massively underrated footballer, who is far more than a workhorse. You could also argue he is the best finisher at the club.

Let's hope he goes from strength to strength now as his confidence is sky high, in complete contrast to his days under David Moyes where he was played out of position. He's a thoroughly decent guy as well and deserves all the praise he's been getting.