Ambitious Lukaku says it's time to win trophies

Two things are apparent.

1). ItÂ’s obvious there was a reason for the half-arsed displays in too many games last season, the players are either not happy with the Martinez philosophy or we have two many "big time Charlies" in the dressing room..The truth is probably a bit of both.

2). Lukaku or Mirallas, maybe even both wonÂ’t be here this time next years, maybe not even st the start of the season.

Troubled times ahead.

Not from what I’ve seen. Lazy, unmotivated, poor touch, no fight to beat his man, and looks fairly clueless in and around the box – oh and he can’t head the ball.

He has no loyalty. Either for the club or for his manager and fellow players. Simply put, heÂ’s a gobshite.

Once again, this highlights the inadequacies of those running the club, a bunch of novices running a Premier League club.

Rom can score goals, when heÂ’s not isolated up top with 3 defensive midfielders who pass it amongst the back 4 and themselves. He was feeding on scraps all season and managed 20 goals.

But he probably will leave, and heÂ’ll score goals there. HeÂ’ll be playing in Europe, and weÂ’ll be stuck with Kone and Naismith, with old man Barry passing it back and forth to Jagielka and Howard most of the game.

CanÂ’t wait for next season.

Considering we only took 1 point off Hull last season, had we not picked up those 16 points in six games after Kiev, it could have been us and not them looking forward to a trip to Barnsley and the like next season.....

I actually find his ambition refreshing; itÂ’s the kind of winning attitude and drive that we, as a club, appear to have lost over the last two or three decades.

Unfortunately, his comments are essentially the writing on the wall and suggest that we probably have one season to win something or Lukaku will be off for big money.

Regardless of whether they should be opening their big moths or not it still shows that we are not a very happy ship at present and the proof is very much in the pudding with God knows how many disinterested team performances last season.

We had no motivation, no desire, no will to win, and we are finding out why.

These players will still not perform for Martinez next season you see this becoming obvious.

There was always many spells when fans said of David Moyes "losing the dressing room".

IÂ’m not sure Moyes would be so soft as Martinez is being, but Martinez himself is partly blame for this diabolical mess.

The players, and fans donÂ’t trust his philosophy and his stubbornness will ever work in the Premier League and frankly most fans I speak to simply want an Everton team they can be proud of and show fight and passion once more.

Do we trust this bunch and Martinez to ever regain this simple hope for us suffering fans??

You do wonder really what kind of team Martinez is trying build?

He never utilises his players and plays to their strengths.

IÂ’d say ditch Lukaku for a guy like Charlie Austin buy heÂ’s not a Martinez player really is he? No more than Lukaku is.

Martinez seems to want a team that will walk the ball into the net with the perfect goal but with a side that includes so many defensive minded crabs itÂ’s not ever going to happen.

Lukaku has been played on the wing, our only centre forward, itÂ’s madness from a manager that has shown all year that he doesnÂ’t have or know what his best team is and that his only way of playing is those stupid ten yard passes between defence and goalkeeper, with nothing in the way of movement beyond the halfway line.

Lukaku or whoever, I feel we will be having the same discussion in six months time with Martinez and his tactics the forefront of them.

Complete and utter madness.

As somebody wrote elsewhere, even if he stays beyond the summer window it is more than likely he will leave next summer just in time for the 2016 European Championships. If I was Martinez IÂ’d be actively seeking a replacement for Lukaku and actively seeking a buyer for the bloke - heÂ’s not the right type of person for a club who donÂ’t have much money and who rely mostly on dressing room spirit to be more than the sum of their parts. Obviously we would miss his goals but would we miss having a forward who struggles to play the game, mostly due to his work-shy attitude?

Spot on, nail on head. Throw in a Championship manager managing a Premiership club and we see the problem getting worse.

Why are we surprised that players with ambition see their future away from a club that has no ambition?

I will keep saying it GET THIS LOT OUT or keep accepting what we have

YouÂ’d think they would have all sat down and said shut up we were all pathetic as was the manager and knuckle down and repay the fans, but I learnt many years ago the average Premier League footballer is a tosser.

The worrying thing is if these players spouting off donÂ’t leave then as soon as they hit a bad spell next season they will get it from the terraces, I am really worried for us next season, from the manager to the players how many can we trust?

"At one point I went to the coach and I said to him: Â’With all due respect, when IÂ’m on the wing IÂ’m hopeless. I will only score goals if you put me right up front.Â’

That quote stuck out to me. You sometimes have to wonder if Martinez even wants his team to score!

Martinez is like a mad scientist.

He has become so obsessed by this experiment perfect passing football that heÂ’s lost sight of the end result.

To Martinez know itÂ’s almost as though having more possession means more to him than having more goals than the opposition.

The guys wants to win, every player should feel the same but they donÂ’t. The problem is we have a Board, a manager, and a lot of players who are fine with just seeing how it goes.

Lukaku will score goals in ANY team that gives him a decent platform to perform on. Sure he doesnÂ’t help himself at times and may appear lazy, but playing him on the right wing hardly helps his cause. We should point the finger of blame at our master tactician, who BORED me to death at Goodison for the greater part of last season.

Â’CanÂ’t change/wonÂ’t changeÂ’ is his mantra and I continue to be embarrassed by his pre and post match comments.

I donÂ’t want Moyes back, but at least I thought we were watching the same game when I listened to his post match summing up.

It would take an enormous turnaround next season(one which I donÂ’t think he is capable of), for me to believe in Martinez again.

The players were clearly unhappy playing at Goodison for the greater part of the season, with a few notable exceptions, ie the Man United game.

I think the Lukaku comments are simply part and parcel of the modern game in the Premiership, everyone wants Champions League and nothing else will do.

If you were a player with ambition, would you really want to spend most of your short career with Everton?

Particularly under the current manager.

Things are bad at Everton with the incumbent as manager.

Hope we pay attention to the key phrase in the OP, " I hear what the others are saying too."

DidnÂ’t he score when he was on the right flank against Arsenal?

He ought to keep his opinions on the managerÂ’s decisions to himself before his arrogance puts off which suitors his talent, or lack thereof, does not.

We currently have a broken, old, slow side - even the likes of Baines are getting old.

My thoughts are moving him to CDM, and give Garbutt the left back position, he is more pacey & can get up and down the pitch, also Baines in midfield gives that quality pass we lack at times aswell as an experienced defender in front of the back four, who can organise them well and communicate.

In all honestly, you canÂ’t blame these guys for wanting more! It seems Everton are happy with a dud, passionless team.

The likes of Barry, Pienaar, Kone, Gibson, Hibbert and even Osman and McGeady, are broken, old and seem to have no desire to dig in and fight for wins.
In my opinion, they should serve the purpose of filling in where we need, providing experience & being squad players - the fact that they are good enough to be first choice is very worrying!

If we want quality to stay, we have to get quality in, young, flairy, exciting players! and We need competition, to make the players work to be the best!

IÂ’d be looking for a goalkeeper, two centre backs, two centre mids, two wingers and a striker!

Kevin Trapp (German keeper 25 years old) - (٦ mil)

Caulker (23 years old) - (٥.5 mil)

NÂ’Koulou/Van Dijk (25 & 23 years old) - (٧ mil)

Sergi Roberto (23 years old) - (٦ mil)

Cleverly (25 years old & free)

Deulofeu (22 years old) - (㾸 mil)

Nathan Redmond (20 years old) - (٣)

Andre Ayew (25 years old, lefty & on a FREE - from Marseille like NÂ’Koulou & plays wing or CM)

Chicharito (㾶 mil)/ Berahino (㾸 mil) / Michy Batshuayi (another Belgian - ٥.5 mil) / Austin (٧ mil) / Anthony Martial (٣ mil)
We something different to Lukaku & also make him work hard to start, can only make him better)

Trapp (Howard)

Coleman (Stones)
Stones (NÂ’Koulou)
Jagielka (Caulker)
Garbutt (Oviedo)

Baines (Cleverly/Sergi Roberto)
McCarthy (Besic)

Deulofeu/Redmond (McGeady)
Barkley (Ayew/Sergi Roberto)
Mirallas (Ayew/Redmond)

Lukaku (Chicharito/Michy Batshuayi)

Send the youngsters on loan!

Yes, say that IÂ’m playing FM, but the reality is, with a team like this, players wonÂ’t want to leave, they will want to stay, unless the canÂ’t handle the competition, & therefore not good enough!

Spend some money, thatÂ’s less than 㿼 mil! (㿨 mil according to TransferMarkt - which is about 㿙 mil! NOT A LOT AT ALL!) - Hardly a huge amount in comparison to other clubs!

Our best players will constantly be linked elsewhere, because it seems as if Everton donÂ’t have a direction or goal they are aiming towards

HOWEVER, it seems mediocrity is our destiny unless something is done!

Proud Blue South African
COYB

What makes me laugh is this soft lad was at a Championship winning team and they loaned him out twice then sold him even when they were having striker problems. The sooner these two bad apples are out of the club the better, cash in and get rid.

I await, with breath unabated, for Baines, Jags, Distin, Coleman, Pienaar etal to leap into the media denying "others" was not them or anyone else in the locker room.

Oh btw, When Lukaku played on the wing v the Arse, that was a one-off tactical switch, or at least shouldÂ’ve been a one-off.

The players are too soft, quiet and nice too. Unless something changes, next season will be a write off.

This never happened under Moyes as far as I can remember. Distin, Mirallas and Lukaku today, Garbutt said something and so did Baines.

Something is going on behind the scenes. 1 player speaking out isnÂ’t an issue, it happens, but this is 5 players.

His man management has to be questioned. Clearly the players are getting fed up of his stubbornness and are letting him no.

As well as the catalogue of items that Al cites above, I am still awaiting one of the players any player to say "we let the manager down - and we will give maximum effort to put it right next season." Giving this guy the money and time to inflict more damage is a recipe for disaster and no matter what his abilities and aims for the club he cannot achieve much if he doesnÂ’t have the whole squad on his side.

If it was only Lukaku who was giving the club grief, we could perhaps understand it, but it is more than one player and the other players such as Baines, Barkley and Coleman probably have their issues as well, but because they are good professionals who have shown some Â’loveÂ’ for the club they are keeping quiet.

As much as Moyes was not my cup of tea, this level of dissent would not have been allowed under his watch and none of the players no matter how maverick in nature would have shown him the disrespect that is being shown to Roberto. Whether Roberto deserves respect is open to question and that isnÂ’t a good place for the Everton FC manager to be in any circumstances.

I would imagine that a lot of the players that have come to our club in recent years had an opinion of a club that couldnÂ’t spend what others could, but fought hard and was often in that 5th-6th spot, trying to break through.

This past season they saw a manager who was totally out of his depth, but would spout ridiculous positivity after every defeat. All of us on here would talk about the ridiculous style of play, and later it came out that the players had that same conversation with him. Do you honestly think the players enjoy passing it sideways and backward as opposed to bombing forward and attacking?

Think about it. If your manager at work keeps making you work in the same manner, even though it keeps failing, and afterward just spouts positivity, what would you think. I want a manger who was pissed off and let everyone know. Christ, just look at how Mourinho is after many wins. HeÂ’s not smiling, heÂ’s pointing out where they could have been better.

Of course Lukaku can improve, IÂ’m sure heÂ’d say the same. But he and and any other player would not get that opportunity playing in MartinezÂ’ team. Basic even said recently how Martinez told him to not go forward so much. And we wonder why we struggle for goals or even shots on goal.

Martinez will get sacked, of that I have no doubt, the problem is the longer he stays the worse the position will be, the more quality players will leave and the harder it will be to recover.

We should be thanking players making these sort of statements as itÂ’s yet another warning of whatÂ’s going on in the dressing room and in training. ItÂ’s helping to highlight that itÂ’s in the long term interests of our club to take action and take it soon.

OK, guys, start moaning !

1. Why Belgium will never win anything despite having the most talented players in the world.

2. Why Martinez is not fit to be EFC manager.

The team spirit and camaraderie that was built under Moyes has been totally undone by the characters this man has brought in and by his obstinacy in doing things his way.

I can honestly see the whole club falling apart next season.

These statements will also damage our chances of landing good players. A fractured dressing room is not one that good players will want to join.

Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Rom.

Was he played out wide for 3/4 of the season then, because (overlooking a few penalties in the latter stages) his scoring ratio in the league has been pretty pathetic.

Bar a couple of on fire performances in the Europa, his season has basically amounted to seven league goals from open play, interspersed with long, unending, stretches of shocking ball control that has seen him stumbling about like a blubbery piss can with his keks around his ankles, desperately trying to beat the clock by reaching the bathroom before he squirts out that bad Shish he decided to Â’soak the booze up withÂ’.

ThereÂ’s nothing wrong with declarations of ambition and unshakable faith in your own ability, but when you havenÂ’t shown anything thus far to suggest you can back up such lofty words, it just leaves you looking like an equally deluded, but less funny, Kenny Powers minus the mullet and jet ski.

ItÂ’s like a guy with a droopy eye and a dick thatÂ’s lain fucking dormant every day of his life, fresh from getting his hole for the first time with hairy tits, bits and top lip Tina (or Â’Tina WolfÂ’ as sheÂ’s affectionately known), suddenly declaring that heÂ’s thought it over and for the sequel to his 42 second shagathon behind the hotdog stand, heÂ’s decided heÂ’s defo going to be having half an hour hanging out of Halle BerryÂ’s bumhole next.

Have a barnstorming season, then feel free to big yourself up. Barely pass muster after a brassic club obliterates itÂ’s record transfer fee bringing you in? Keep it fucking shut, work your arse off over the summer and concentrate on showing you were worth even half of what they spunked on you when next season gets under way.

You should do a post of the year awards and I nominate John Daley #58

John Daley you legend.

I think we all knew when we signed him we wouldnÂ’t have him forever and I doubt heÂ’d leave so soon anyway but he did say a couple of weeks ago at the end of season awards bash that he would definitely be with us next season!

But beyond that, who knows?!

But we all want to win titles, but him and the rest of the team have to do more to give us such a chance!

Instead of shooting his mouth off, if he even as, then why doesnÂ’t he let his football do the talking instead and knuckle down and do more!

He mumbled a bit in his Scottish accent but I donÂ’t think I lost anything in translation.

You can’t win them without players who want to win. It seems like the team has too many who do not care if they win or lose. Players sometimes Â’say the clubs ambitions do not match my ownÂ’. In this case, I believe it’s true.

I had enough of him picking players out of position (Lukaku, Barkley and Naismith on the wing); no shape, no desire and no aggression and to hear his crap after every game was nearly worse than Buck Rodgers. Time for BK to grow a pair.

Correct.

IÂ’m a striker.

Correct.

I approached the manager and told him so.

OK... and the manager listened to the input and made a change.

There was a whole separate thread on Roberto changing his approach earlier in the year. Bad management of players / unrest? Or good management he listened and made a change?

I still maintain thereÂ’s nothing wrong with a manager listening to his players and changing his tactics and approach to fit the playerÂ’s preferences. IÂ’d classify that as good management.

Let’s just hope – and I think we’d all agree on this – that:

Roberto doesnÂ’t need the Come to Jesus meeting with the players this year and heÂ’s figured it out proactively, and

We live up to RomÂ’s ambitions and win something.

IsnÂ’t it a good thing that he is ambitious and wants to win silverware?

And why all the criticism anyway? IsnÂ’t 20 goals a good return in an underperforming team? Bob Latchford was no Maradona but he never got this type of stick.

Lukaku is not naïve; he played this card at Chelsea and now he’s playing it at Everton. It’s one thing to say "I’m ambitious", it’s quite another to make out you are the instigator of change because you had a word with the boss. In any country, that smacks of arrogance and shows a lack of respect for your boss.

Had the lad run himself into the ground, trying to create and score chances in the last nine months, he would have earned the right to have a say. As it was, he decided which games he would try in and which games he wouldn’t – it’s got nothing to do with the position he had to play, it’s in his make-up to be the big I am without working hard. Belgium in the World Cup realised that he wasn’t going to pull out all the stops and promptly dropped him from their first-team.

At least it won us the points available and for once it got me out of my seat.

Our two Belgians may well be in line for bigger pay packets and greater chances of trophies but it is refreshing that these stories are not coming out of Stones, McCarthy, Coleman or Barkley. All players who are more likely to make the big move and who are just as vital to our future.

Lukaku does get in the box occasionally and is soft. Not sure about the sexy though.

I believe we need an inside-of-the-box striker. I think he could be a great number 10 and sit around the 8- to 10-yard area.

If he was half as good as he makes out, Jose Mourinho would have never sold him...

Jesus, I honestly despair with modern footballers and shit they come out with.

But of course the board could careless we stayed up the gravy train rolls on and we the fans suffer while they hide the profits or continue to borrow against them.

According to his Wiki, he played just 10 games for Chelsea. His biggest opportunity to win a trophy was torpedoed by his missed penalty in shoot-out v Bayern in SuperCup final. The following day, he asked for a move.

Perhaps his new agent can advise him to improve his touch, his heading and start learning the offside rule to help in his quest for a trophy.

Google Â’Football freestyle with Romelu LukakuÂ’ for a ball skills exhibition!

Again, I donÂ’t understand why people turn against him the whole season. Imagine Kone or Naismith leading the attack for the full season. We could have been relegated!

When he stops talking and starts performing then IÂ’ll start listening to what he has to say, but only then.

Everton are a shite team, not properly fit, disorganised and under the impression that Â’passes completedÂ’ is what wins games and not the ball in the net.

When you have a group of determined talented and ambitious players, like the above mentioned group, that act like the aforementioned team, who is to blame?

None other than the manager....

ItÂ’s that simple.

Likewise, isnÂ’t it curious how the Belgian national coach rotated Lukaku with Origi (who in fairness actually looked better on the greatest stage of all). Even more puzzling is how a team with so much top-level attacking talent that wants to compete and win things scored comparatively few goals (6 in 5 games; Lukaku 1) and capitulated meekly to Argentina in the quarter-finals. It almost seems on some level as if some of these players talk a good game but donÂ’t have quite the talent or bottle to back it up when it really counts.

Overall, I do like Lukaku and Mirallas and IÂ’d prefer to have them in the squad than not but I donÂ’t think either are quite as good as their agents and interview chat suggests they are. Trophies arenÂ’t won in newspapers, theyÂ’re won football pitches... ThatÂ’s where these boys should concentrate their energies for both club and country in the year ahead.

I would actually like us to get rid of him.

Oh, did I just hear someone saying he wants to play in big matches?

Players know that if they come straight out and demand a move, and donÂ’t get one, that they will be vilified by the fans. So they make vague comments through the media. It is their way of pressuring the boss, the board etc.

As for Rom, he isnÂ’t as good as he would like to think, but he is better than we have seen. He just doesnÂ’t fit this slow style of play, and also in his defence, his build doesnÂ’t make for buzzing about and tracking back.

He is a great big lump and needs to preserve his strength for short bursts. (This doesnÂ’t mean that he canÂ’t work on his touch, his heading and movement off the ball though!)

A lot has been said about the mediocre players being linked so far but I bet the likes of Cleverley, Lennon and Evans will give their all for the club even if theyÂ’re very understated signings. You donÂ’t see Stones, Coleman, McCarthy or Barkley coming out and saying those sorts of things even though theyÂ’ve all been linked with moves away.

Take 㿙M for them both and bring in some real talent that actually wants to play for the blue shirt.

Also, worth mentioning you have to perform well to get into a top 4 team in England, Spain, Germany and Rom is not there yet. I reckon we will keep Rom for another year after the Euros and get a fairly hefty price for him should he perform well in the 12 months.

In terms of Mirallas, get rid; it's not worth getting your knickers in a twist over him. Martinez is the boss he knows more than all of us and is in control.

I think itÂ’s highly unlikely we will sell him this Summer as surely no-one would bid the 㿔M it would take for Martinez to give him up and I really hope that he can push on next season after a Summer break. He has some fantastic tools to work with and by all accounts is a keen student of the game. HeÂ’s still very young but he does need to start doing better.

For me, itÂ’s easy. The lad is just 22 years old and has hit the double digits in goals in the Premier League for three seasons in a row now. He hasnÂ’t had the best of seasons just gone but he still has bags of potential.

LetÂ’s see how he does next season. Selling him now for face value would be a very stupid decision.

Another interesting statistic I found: apparently Lukaku was our number two in assists last year, only beaten by Baines – both in the league and in total. I didn’t expect that to be honest. I think we obviously should expect more from Rom than he showed last season but it puts a bit of perspective on his performances.

Hardly sounds like someone looking to leave.

Apart from Chelsea, I canÂ’t see another top team needing him; possibly Arsenal as a backup striker.

Chelsea bought Matic in 2009, Mourinho had left before then so, although Chelsea bought him back, it wasn't Mourinho who bought him originally or sold him. Mourinho doesnÂ’t make many mistakes with players, so I won't hold my breath thinking he will change his mind on Lukaku.

That's why I couldn't understand the other lot buying Balotelli, Mourinho said he couldnÂ’t manage him; well, if he couldnÂ’t, nobody can.

I strongly urge everyone to take a peak at those skills if you havenÂ’t already. Literally nothing he attempts comes off. I once got taken to task for Â’boastingÂ’ that I had a better touch than Rom (and IÂ’m a veritable donkey) so that video pretty much vindicates me.

You can damn Rom or you can damn the manager, I think we can all agree that there is not a lot to look forward to next season.

HeÂ’s got potential but IÂ’ll stick my neck out and say heÂ’s gonna frustrate rather than find that consistency needed to be a top striker.

As you say 8 goals from open play having played nearly all season as our starting lone striker is not great.

We need to stop castigating players who want to win and embrace them by being equally aspirational. Fewer and fewer supporters have ever seen us win a trophy; it used to be a regular occurrence.

He could take a first step in getting to where he feels he belongs by learning the offside rule. The lad has some ability but we donÂ’t see it often enough. He needs 4 or 5 chances in order to convert one of them.

I think both Belgians will be off this summer (as long as someone wants them). I also have an awful feeling that Roberto will take us even closer to relegation this season if given enough time....

The good news is that IÂ’m wrong most of the time.

On the other hand, my head looks at the correlation between finance and silverware: Liverpool, Spurs and even Arsenal have spent mega-bucks and generally speaking havenÂ’t seen much in return bar a couple of FA Cups and League Cups in recent years.

Bearing in mind we are a club with very limited resources, at least comparatively speaking, it would seem to be foolish to expect anything but a top 10 finish and a good run perhaps to the quarter-finals of either cup.

ItÂ’s very depressing but for the most part we all allow our hearts to rule our heads which is why we spend so much time and effort in following the team. It is even more galling when the club is about to receive circa 㿼M in prize money but that wonÂ’t help to make us much better than we have been as we will remain amongst the outsiders in the race for silverware.

The bottom line of all this is that when a player – any player at Everton – begins to mention ambition and Champions League, it can be read as "I am looking to move away from Goodison Park as there are other richer clubs around Europe who have a far better chance of matching my ambitions and wage demands."

This is the place we find ourselves in and it is the place we will occupy for some considerable time unless the manager is able to harness what talent is available to him and somehow get them to over perform in every match they play, IÂ’m not holding my breath as I donÂ’t believe the manager has the ability to harness the talent and I donÂ’t believe that the players themselves believe they are capable of anything beyond top six.

100+ posts follow, largely slaughtering him.

He repeated again something that was already in the public domain – his approach to the manager to make some tactical changes to better benefit from his best qualities – scoring goals.

As somebody alluded to above, there was a long thread on the very subject at the time, many ridiculing the manager for being weak | stubborn | tactically naive [delete where necessary].

I expressed my contention that both the players were concerned enough and had the bottle to broach the subject with the manager, and that the manager in his turn listened to them.And his scoring ratio DID improve, albeit primarily in the EL.

It was not just Lukaku who had a shite season, in case nobody noticed. And the manager, not just the players, is included in that.

And Frank @100 and Peter @ 124, rather than flag up a one-minute video of Rom playing keepy-uppy in a bar, wearing jeans and sweat shirt, for the sake of balance, take a look at these two compilations of an entire collection of his goals before he joined Everton in the Belgian League, the PL, European and International games and drool at the full range of goals of scored.

Link

Link

I did a quick count of the type of goals, only a couple scored outside the area, the rest inside the box. The breakdown is as follows:

30 left foot
17 right foot
18 headers
4 pens
17 running from deep (13 left, 4 right)

45 goals came from crosses into the box, from both left and right side of the pitch, and around 15 of them took brute strength to hold off bulky defenders.

And ... no time for keepy-uppy in the box at this level: mostly, one or two touches, GOAL!!!

Heaven forbid that we have a young talented footballer with ambitions to play in the big games, score goals and win trophies, eh...?

Play to his strengths and thatÂ’s what Romelu Lukaku will give you: GOALS. The most telling stat in a football match. Goals win matches and win enough matches, and ... you win trophies.

"He is not good enough for Everton."

When did we become so spoiled and deluded? I take the piss out of Liverpool and Newcastle fans for their delusions of grandeur but I think we are worse!

At Everton, only Andrei Kanchelskis, Yakubu and Lukaku have scored 15+ League goals in a season for the last 20 years. As Evertonians, we have a very over-inflated idea of ourselves as a club that deserves and demands the highest quality players. But in reality the last World Class striker to play for us was Gary Lineker.

Yes, his loping playing style means he looks lazy sometimes and he and his agent talk far too much in the press. But LukakuÂ’s goalscoring record speaks for itself. If he goes, we will not be able to replace him with another 15+ goal striker.

I can think of severalFfrench teams he could play for as well as at least two or three Italian teams (Roma, Inter, Napoli, and Juve) and probably Atletico Madrid. I would prefer Everton with its 80 million pounds revenue this season, if the papers are correct, to go buy Tevez for the left wing and pay his wages so Lukaku has someone to play with up top since Mirallas wonÂ’t be seeing the pitch under RM.

At Swansea we scored one of the best goals of the season after a great passing movement with Kone playing a vital part.

Like him or hate him HeÂ’s a 20-goal-a-season striker and thatÂ’s something every team needs.

Of course, he is too old and too injury prone to be the answer to our prayers and I find it hard to believe Martinez when he says we are not looking for another striker.

"IÂ’ve got four more years left on my contract at Everton and I will do everything in my powers to try and bring success to the club who broke their transfer record to sign me and pay and treat me so well!"

"IÂ’ve got too much respect for my club to come out and say I mite leave if I get a better offer off a club in the champions league!"

Got a cheek these players, especially when theyÂ’re not even that good!!

I am afraid that his brain may know what to do but his body has let him down, and watching him warm-up at Swansea was sad really – he couldn’t even hit the goal with three shots from about 20 yards.

I know he is a decent target man and gives his all, but he has lost any pace he once had, and his confidence is gone.

Nothing against the lad, I would be pleased as Punch if he popped a few in and found his mojo.

I donÂ’t think our manager knows how to get the best out of our statuesque Belgian, but Rom is a goal threat, whereas Kone might link things up, but he doesnÂ’t fill the onion bag.

I happen to believe he will be a top top player and thereÂ’s nothing wrong stating intent to win trophies. Yes, he has a high price tag but thatÂ’s not his fault and when he does get the service he can be a lethal finisher. He also is not the only one to voice dissatisfaction at how the team is playing but because of how much he cost he is getting most of the stick.

He may have had a very average season but it has still been better than a lot of other players at our club. Martinez needs to start actually thinking about how best to play his players and not just try and fit them into his so-called philosophy as it clearly doesnÂ’t work.

There werenÂ’t many people at the start of the season that werenÂ’t delighted that Lukaku signed for us albeit that Kenwright/Martinez got screwed over the price. He played for the first part of the season semi-injured. He has the ability to be the full package and El Messiah needs to work hard to bring his full ability out, same as with Barkley, Mirallas, Baines, Coleman et al.

All of them have had a pretty average to horrible season and apart from Barkley, who is probably still shell-shocked, all have spoke out against the style of football we are playing because they are all aware that we should be so much better. Give Lukaku faster service and the team license to play at speed and we may see a team that realises their potential.

But to get pissed off and tell Lukaku to do one from the club because he had the gall to speak out about not playing to his strengths, winning trophies and because he cost 㿈M is utter nonsense. We should be cherishing our better players – not trying to force them out of the door.

The transfer rumours are just awful.

My FM head says be brave and sign 5 top players, and if it goes pear shaped we sell Barkley and Lukaku.

In - Nolito, 2 Ukraine wingers free, Ogbonna loan, striker loan
Out - Kone, Mirallas, Pienaar, McGeady,

With all due respect not as bad as the decision someone made to pay 㿈m for this lad. Bad for him, bad for EFC, and therefore bad for us.

I wanted him as badly as anyone else during the last close season, but when I heard we had paid that much for him, for me it just took the shine off it all.

All we can hope for is that he starts banging in goals on a regular basis and realises his potential. Then he may be worth $28m to us or someone else.

One thing is for sure he has the confidence needed to succeed.

In his defence, last season, the service to him was absolutely woeful. Coleman and Mirallas must be the two most selfish players in the league. I lost count of the times those two had a pass available, but looked for glory themselves instead.

I don’t think any of our players (Gibson excluded) understand the concept of the "early ball" – every pass is telegraphed. I don’t know how many times Lukaku looked to make his run, only for one of our players to hang on too long, and the result is Lukaku off side. It was infuriating.

Another thing: if we had spent the 㿈M on other players, you really just donÂ’t know who we would have got. 4 players from the category Alcaraz & Kone? In that case, IÂ’m glad we did buy Rom. Or would it have been 4 players like Tadic and Cambiasso?

Oh well, I guess only time will tell.

Seriously, stop talking and start playing better!

He's already scored plenty in Europe.

Like others on here, I donÂ’t blame players for having ambition but they have to have the talent to go with it. I canÂ’t see it myself. There are loads of better strikers out there.

Then we will all love him until he goes!

Lukaku did score 10 times in the Premier league this year and scored 20 for Everton overall. HeÂ’s young and should get better. If he got better service heÂ’d score more. If he didnÂ’t play out of position heÂ’d score more.

I quickly checked Premier League scoring stats for the last 3 seasons. I might have missed someone, but hereÂ’s the list I came up with for players that have scored 10 or more goals all of the last 3 seasons.

Sergio Aguero 12 -17 - 26 total for 3 years 55
Van Persie - 26 - 12 - 19 total for 3 years 48
Lukaku 17 - 15 - 10 total for 3 years 42
Benteke 19 - 10 -13 total for 3 years 42
Giroud 11 - 16 - 14 total for 3 years 41
Rooney 12 - 17 - 12 total for 3 years 41

ThatÂ’s the entire list! I for one am not going to badmouth a Premier League player that scores 10 or more goals 3 years in a row. HeÂ’s not making anything close to the 𧶀k-plus a week some players make that are on the list.

IÂ’d like Sergio Aguero to play striker for Everton, but thatÂ’s not going to happen.

Heck, Lukaku has outscored Rooney (and Giroud) over the course of the last 3 seasons, but I guess thatÂ’s not good enough for a whole bunch of ToffeeWeb posters.

But seriously, itÂ’s a good post. He is the best we are likely to afford. He will outscore most Everton strikers before he moves on.

To me, heÂ’s a bargain. He was 21 when we bought him and now is 22. He counts as a homegrown player which increases his value if a club like Chelsea or Man City come calling (both of those teams are really short on senior homegrown players).

If Lukaku doesnÂ’t get a lot better (and staying at Everton is his best option) he could play until heÂ’s well past 30. This could be 12-14 seasons with Everton and according to my math thatÂ’s around ٠ million a year (for this transfer fee). ٠ million a year for a striker who will average 10+ goals a season is a bargain in the Premier League with all the TV money these days (and his wages are ⅓ of some of the six players that score 10+ goals in the last 3 seasons, as I listed in my earlier post).

If Lukaku does leave the club, itÂ’s only because he gets better and some Champions League team pays a fee at least what Everton paid. Right now his best option is to stay where he play regularly. Everton need to score more goals next season than they did this season. Lukaku is part of the solution not part of the problem.

Everton need to bring in goalscorers. Aaron Lennon is OK, he did score 4 goals and assisted on 7 in 2012-13. Everton do need a 2nd striker who might score more than Naismith and another winger besides Lennon.

IÂ’m OK on going low budget for a centre-back if it means adding scoring punch to the lineup. IÂ’d like another goalie but IÂ’ll live with what we have if it means adding more scoring option.

Everton wonÂ’t get anywhere near the Champions League places if there arenÂ’t impact scoring options coming off the bench.