Lukaku in Belgium to see specialist

Gives him a chance to catch up with his family as a bonus. Comes back fit and ready to score goals – everyone's a winner!

Easy to replace, all his goals are flukes, he's useless. Only scores against weak opposition, his goals against Man City and Chelsea and the others never happened. #AlternativeFacts

Don't say I didn't warn you! :)

Anyway, some insider I know from Burma has told me his wife knows the partner of his agent's dog and he has been paid by Sky to leak the FACT that Lukaku has already agreed terms with Wrexham.

Conspiracy theory over! :)

I was going to post last night when people were slagging off the players for getting to go on holiday, because it's not something I think the players will be that happy about. Unless of-course we are talking about the younger lads on the trip, who I'm sure will be made-up to go and spend a week away with the first-team.

So best to keep Romelu, happy, and who knows, he might even be needed closer to home, to finalise negotiations with his agent, before he signs his new contract?

Back to Lukaku, why is he going to Belgium? Are our physios not good enough to treat him? Or is the Belgium fella that good that our physios don't get involved when someone has a strain, why don't we employ him?

No conspiracy, just wondering.

Your first paragraph! Are you sure?

Don't think you meant it how it comes across!!

I also have a terrible cold at the moment.

Relax, brethren, for Romelu is in good hands.

I think the club know they have to do things that other clubs maybe wouldn't do so I'd say letting him go home and see his family for a few days will keep the player sweet and make him think, "Everton really look after me and my family. Maybe if I moved to another big club I would not get these little extra benefits."

I really don't know, of course I'm totally guessing. It just seems too much of a coincidence that he's gone to Belgium when the others have gone on a team break.

I think this is fair enough tbh as we will have our work cut out for us to keep the player once the big boys come calling.

I want Rom fit, but I am not dreading the worst if he has to take a small time-out, we have the players that can step up; we are a team – not an individual, so if we have to kick on for a game or so without the messiah, I have faith players will step up to the mark.

Time will tell.

Perhaps I'm not surprised that for all Lukaku's 16 league goals, we have netted only 7 more points than without them and that difference was in only 3 games out of 25. Of course this is simplistic and doesn't measure the effects of the rest of his play - which many argue is suspect anyway, but it could also be argued that another player could have scored some goals and consequently contributed some points.

These aren't Alternative Facts - just Facts.

My conclusion is that, whilst I wouldn't want to lose him (unless someone offered silly money) he just isn't anywhere near as effective as some suggest.

There is nothing to say that, if Lukaku did not play in those two games, his replacement would not have scored.

I will go one step further and say Naismith has scored more important goals, and against top teams as well, for Everton.

There's no doubting we have a quality striker but in the same breath, I agree with you.

The more appropriate comparison would be with Tim Cahill, who had a much higher strike rate and scored far more big goals than Naisy. And Cahill became a dramatically better player past the 80-minute mark in a close game, which is not something I've seen in Rom.

If he's not referring to periods when the opponent has the ball, then so be it. I'll be delighted when his goal-scoring prowess becomes even more prolific than it is now, especially in tight games against those at the top of the league.

Sad!

It's the whippersnappers that should be sad.

The only two things that went against Naismith was his horrific injury and being wasted out wide on the wing.

But if you asked me for one-on-one with the keeper or a chance in the box, then yes, I would have Naismith there every time. Very rare Naismith blazed a shot over or wasted a great opportunity, he did not stand with his hands on his hips, he knew where to be.

That's the type of player I want Lukaku to turn into: anticipate where to be. He's nearly there but still work to do, but he's still young and time is on his side.