Silva plans to use Niasse this season

There's a massive lesson here somewhere, not sure what it is but a Big Big show of faith – let's hope it all works out for the benefit of all.

God and Goodison love a trier. (?)

He is loyal beyond belief, and doesn't know when to quit and that's is why we should stick with him.

Who else would have put up with the treatment he received (especially from Koeman).

We are not in a position to attract a world class striker, regardless of the price, because they wouldn't come anyway.

So, Michael (#1),

I reluctantly disagree with you, we do have the money in the kitty, but who is going to come, other than top 6 cast offs, or strikers looking for a swan song.

This is not the way forward and I believe/hope M&M are starting from the bottom up and we need to be patient with them, otherwise we will never go forward.

I also think West Ham are currently repeating what we did 12 months ago, and it will all end in tears, just as it happened to us!

I have no problem having Niasse on the bench as an option. No problem at all.

Jesus people, get behind this guy! He's been treated terribly – and please don't go on with drivel like, "he's paid a King's ransom, am I supposed to feel sorry for him?'

All this man does is put his head down, no matter what situation he finds himself in, and play as hard as he can.

And he scores goals!

He has a great attitude and I for one hope he plays often and shuts a hell of a lot of people up.

Cheer for this guy. Get behind him. He's worthy of your support.

I still never – not a single time he's played – understood the negativity surrounding this guy. Koeman was an ass to him plain and simple and scraped the dude to the U23s. I remember his first 10-15 minutes being a bit "rough" but after that I can't remember a single time I thought he was shite. He's not world class FFS, but he certainly can do a job in the right system. Silva's coached him before and knows what to expect from him, and when to use him.

C'mon you smilin' Senegales! Score, hit posts, stick 'em in the back of the net brother! Fuck it, trip over your own feet and still smile! Smile until your face hurts and keep going man! Some of us are behind you!

Nice to read your comments.

He isn't world class, but he would run through a brick wall if you asked him too!

Why can't the doubters understand the position we are in.

7th is realistic, then build from there. Then and only then we may attract top quality players on the way up, not on the way down.

Stick him on, he doesn’t know what he is doing, his teammates don’t know what he is doing, opposition defences haven’t got a clue where he is or what he is doing, and he scores goals, end of, job done.

He might just do it while he plays for us this season!!!

No, I’m not holding my breath.

What would you do with Tosun then? I like the look of Cenk; if we play a team when we need to score on the counter, we can play Walcott through the middle.

(Pete, sorry but I'm specifically referencing Calvert-Lewin... and what don't you like about Tosun?)

Plus there's no one currently in the side who inspires quite the enthusiasm from the fans that Oumar does. Did you hear the traveling supporters at Bury? I loved it.

Glad he's staying.

One is the old fashioned one of the big target man ably supported by a quick partner and a winger or maybe two. Okay the winger situation is now filled with wing-backs or something similar usually speedy full backs. Everton had probably the most successful combination a few seasons back with Bainsey and Coleman feeding Lukaku and Mirallas. Sadly, that didn't last that long as the whole team became less effective under Martinez.

The other attacking alternative is having quick little guys such as what Man City and Liverpool have and has proven successful. Niasse is no Lukaku but he is a big target and could improve under a new manager and alongside Walcott. Coleman and Baines are still there but I am not sure they can regain what they achieved under Martinez. Tosun and Calvert-Lewin may also come into the equation as may Bolasie.

I know these scenarios are not what we want based on the performances last season and it all depends on what Silva can change in the team as a whole. Certainly we all want to see something new but it has to be a whole lot better than what we have if they are to spend big money.

I'm pleased he is staying; let's give Marco time to get the best out of the forwards we have.

Of the 4 signings you mention. Given the choice (transfer fee not a factor), which one of them would have signed for us?

Answer, none of them!

We are currently years behind the R's and Spurs; they have built steadily without knee-jerk reactions. So regrettably we are going to have to do the same, as much as it hurts me to admit it.

Aside from that, they are indistinguishable.

Be serious.

3 weeks till kick off at Wolves and our best centre-half is 35, we've still got no creativity in centre-midfield at all. And the slowest Numbers 9 and 10 in the history of footy in Cenk and Sigurdsson.

We have Pickford. Are you saying he is not good enough? Because we will be lucky to keep him in 12 months time.

We do need to build, and I assume you are referring to Oumar when you say he’s not good enough to start for any team in this league!

Oumar is not world class, and not a top 6 player. But we are not a top 6 side either.

I share your frustration, but do not recognise your rationale!

Once the stadium is built, Moshiri will sell. End of. No more £200m pissed against the wall.

We may not have much cash but we do have Silva.

Under Silva, the forward line will improve, simply because the ball will be played to them and they won't be living off scraps, as they had been under Big Sam. But the defence is an entirely different thing, We do need big changes there. That is the area that has let us done the most for years.

Take a trip to Colorado and chill out, man...

As for their signings across the park, they look good on paper but didn't we say the same last season? Time will tell.

Creativity in midfield and a starting centre-back I will be happy to see sign.

In the words of Victor Meldrew "I don't believe it!"

BTW, is it just me or do the words attributed to our new manager: “It is a matter of my decision, in the right moments of the game” remind anyone else of a certain Bobby Brown Shoes???

To those saying he not a Premier League player, sure you not confusing him with Berahino? Oumar will score goals, he can do a job for us and for plenty of others in this league.

Firstly, Jesus loves you more than you could know.

Secondly, name me a player you cited who played for Everton since 1970?

Almost fifty years ago - half a century!

Get behind Niasse. Citing Dean, Ball, Lawton, et al does nothing for our current predicament.

The past and the great players of decades ago? It means nothing in 2018 I'm afraid to say. With all due respect to the 'istory and whatnot.

Get behind the boy, get behind the manager, be positive.

It's that type of fan base our team needs currently in my opinion - not one looking back longing for the days and players of yore, but one willing to get behind a sub-standard team (for our lofty standards) now in the present.

C'mon Oumar!!

https://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/first-team/307801-liverpool-confirm-alisson-deal

We must be deluded to think we were ever going to sign a top-class striker to sit on our bench when we had Rom. Now Rom has gone we have Tosun, yet Niasse hasn't once complained about it, he's never sulked or done anything but literally run through brick walls for us.

Imo Niasse is a keeper, at least until we see exactly how Tosun fits into Silva's system. Buying a striker would limit game time for Tosun and to me Tosun looks decent.

I'd prefer we took on another wide man like a Danny Walbeck who can operate in any of the forward rolls, has pace, can score goals, can travel with the ball and is used to the prem.

Don't get me wrong, if we're sitting on a huge stack of Man City style cash and we can buy from the top shelf then great, bin 99% of them, but let's face it we are not.

Plenty need moving out before Niasse, Mirallas and Sandro are two for starters in the advanced rolls, possibly Bolasie too.

1. We are not able to offload him
2. We are not able to buy a new striker

Niasse is a good pro and the crowd seem to like his gung-ho attitude... he brings a bit of entertainment and a smile to our faces; that's a good thing.

I am a realist and, if Everton play good attractive football this season, it's a positive move; they're capable of staying around 7th. It will be a bonus if we beat some of the top 6.

As for that lot spending big and improving each season, it won't be long before they are Champions of the World. In the meantime, they won nothing last season and may well win nothing this season.

BUT, Oumar Niasse is a natural predator when it comes to doing what strikers do best. HE SCORES GOALS. His goals per minutes played last season puts him in the top twenty strikers in the country, and, I believe, in Europe's top 50. Does it matter how the hell he does it? I couldn't care less if the ball goes in off his knee, his arse or his nose, the fact is HE SCORES GOALS.

After Rooney, he was our second top scorer last season and if you took away the three penalties Rooney scored, Oumar becomes our leading scorer from open play. Don't knock the lad for his deficiencies, back him for his positive attitude and attributes.

Come on Oumar!

...not.

FFS -
don't need that shite on here

My rational is based on the current playing squad being way short of competing with any of he top 6 sides home or away for a variety of reasons. Yeah we might sneak a draw here and there and possibly a win but there's 36 points to play for against these teams. We've either got aging experienced pros or kids with very little in between. This may change before the deadline closes but if it doesn't we could be in trouble.

As for Niasse bundling the ball over the line from 2 inches doesn't make you a Premier League centre-forward.

Niasse is probably being retained as a reserve striker, which would put him on par with Sturridge or Ings... Which would you prefer?

And Calvert-Lewin is our version of their Solanke... again, which would you prefer?

Admittedly our starting XI is well behind them but, if we're going to compare, then at least do it like for like.

He usually delivered too.

Not many EFC players in recent years have had that effect on me.

He may not be the most elegant, or gifted exponent of the game, but every time I hear his name, I think "goals".

Can't say that about too many EFC players in recent years.

Surely a legend already in his own right. Love the guy. Read his history – much about parenting.

I, too, would like to see Walcott's pace used more by playing him “off the shoulder” of defenders, he can be a handful on the break. His finishing is a bit hit and miss though.

As others have said previously, there is a touch of the young Graeme Sharp about Calvert-Lewin. Sharp was capable of scoring the occasional great goal, and had a good touch, but it was only when Andy Gray taught him the dark arts of the centre-forward world that he became a real player.

I think Calvert-Lewin could develop similarly with the right guidance which was why I was encouraged when Giroud was mentioned this time last year. I thought he had an excellent World Cup, despite his lack of goals, and could have been a good mentor. Mrs Giroud apparently was not drawn to the delights of our city, but a similar player would be a great help to us.

The second of the two signings I referred to would be a young player who has scored regularly in the Championship or similar level of football. No, I don't have names or know of players' prices or availability Terry, but if they were to pay me what they are paying Mr Brands I'd be prepared to carry out the research!

I share your frustration.

Your opening comment was about the r's buying a keeper, hence my opening comment about Pickford.

That aside, if the rest of the squad take a leaf out of Oumar's book, 7th is probable.

You have to be realistic, we are not a top 4 side and never will be, until something is done to level the playing field on transfers and wages, and that's not going to happen!

Top 6 possible, but not this year.

Sorry, Kenny, whether you like Oumar or not, he's staying and we will need to make the most of his enigmatic skills.

COYB

I'm sure we'll see two or three signings, but probably not a striker. We have Tosun who looks like a clinical finisher who can lead the line and I can see him getting 15-20 next season. We have the pacey and versatile Calvert-Lewin who has great potential and did a decent job for us last year. We have Niasse who has pace, strength and can finish. Even from the bench, we can expect double figures from him.

We spent a lot of money last season and I think part of the reason Silva has been selected is to get the best out of these players. With a few key signings (CB, CM, W) I think we can tune this team up into a working machine. I just don't see us splashing out silly money on a world class striker this window. We don't have the draw at the moment.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how Silva can get the best out of what we have. You never know, he might even figure out how to get Sandro firing. The lad proved at Malaga that he could find the net from range. His confidence seems very fragile. If Silva can encourage him and get him playing in a specific system he might end up being like a new signing. The same goes for Mirallas and Klaassen.

I like your rationale.

I too am looking forward to a better season than the last one!!!

He caused more problems in the second half on his own for the Bury backline than Cenk and the whole front three did in the first half!

We cannot expect to just spend our way out of trouble, it isn't working. What we need is someone who can actually coach the squad we have, work with them, build their confidence and make them gel. Silva can do this.

Let's see what Silva can make of what we have have before despairing. We have spent a fortune and it's actually been regressive. Why would you sanction another £200M? It doesn't make sense. Time to work with, largely, what we have.

As a player, I like Welbeck. However, he is a permanent crock and should be swerved.

I also agree with the Welbeck comments above, I've always liked him as a player, he always seems to get a goal, but is another injury-prone player we can ill-afford.

Yes the law laws of physics are against us insofar as the red shite across the park appear superhuman, more akin to elite super soldiers than to Kurt Russell's but original lone Soldier. The red shite are more Dolph Lungren (aryian super race, genetically engineered) to Rocky, 'if I can change, we all can change!' Balboa.

The red shite are athletic super machines compared to Everton. The presumption is said team will win so we have the burden of discharging that presumption. How? Thinking laterally. Using Silva's box of trickery. But like Rocky's Nemesis who thought he could destroy Rocky, Niasse has heart; 'it's not how hard you can hit, it's how hard you can be hit.' The crap that young man has taken ('how hard you can be hit,' metaphorically speaking) but still gets up after that, is quite super human in itself.

No fragile ego (what Freud said was a reality only existent in the person's mind only...ie subjective perception) but who was also degraded: no locker; told he would never adorn an Everton Premier League shirt or play in EFC's Premier League team; no Everton suite; just his bag lay abandoned like an analogous homeless person in a multi-million pound club's property. Niasse was herein homeless both in his treatment and in his occupation (what lawyers call a legal connection to a property, ie not necessarily physical). How does anyone come back from this. How did he react? He got his head down and worked harder, determined to prove everyone wrong.

Look, maybe it's the realist Communist in me in this Capitalist modern world which feels like society is racing into modernity, like the earth and the sun race through space together, but you gotta love an underdog, as Kasabian (the Leicester rock band) would likely say. Niasse is our very underdog – he should be celebrated. No team in the land can boast of a Niasse – he is a rare breed, no more than that he is the original mould of goodness, determination, passion, drive, which actually yields results on the field where it matters most.

Silva is a rare breed as is Niasse. If it weren't for Niasse last season who lest we forget did not only score his goals but also through those goals impassioned Everton to dig deep and start scoring, that without which we could have been relegated. Niasse is like a talisman – his football may not be pretty but when he has this inherent Forest Gump-esque about him, 'stupid is as stupid does,' like Gump there is no stopping Niasse. Stop looking at Silva choosing Niasse as though it is a school match and the teacher is left with one that no one wants and so he is put on the side which has less players. Niasse is chosen for his, admittedly unique skill-set but most of all the lad's heart.

There is not a soul on planet earth who can control him or stop him from scoring his goals or remove his biggest smile that I have ever seen on a human being. This is our Niasse – He is ours!!! His aura is what kept Everton in the Premier League last season when let's face it we were far from balanced and more like Christina and the Queens, 'tilted' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RBzsjga73s

Support Niasse! He, I believe saved us last season from an embarrassing relegation. The other 'smoke and mirrors' is that Allardyce fortunately had us finish where we did, above top 10 owing to the way the bottom half, including the relegation zone teams where crowded together. Niasse was that magic. Look at our performances last season immediately prior to Niasse setting foot on that pitch. Liston to the Goodison faithful amplify his name all last season just as they did in the Bury game recently.

There is only one Niasse - he has the power to change games because he is all heart than he is the conventional Premier League player in the striker position. He has athleticism; he has pace. 'If you build it, they will come.' If you believe in Niasse, he will believe in you (us, Everton, the fans). Niasse can score out of nothing it's like everyone has been put on pause whilst Niasse puts himself into position to score and does, with Everton not knowing how, the opponent team not knowing how, the Everton fans not knowing how. Niasse knows how, his heart and his determination to score. He may not know how actually scores, he just has the heart, passion, sheer determination to score.

The Bible says, 'believe you have received it and shall be yours'... Niasse believes it, so ultimately it becomes his.

I'm hardly going to say "No he's not in my plans and I'll be looking to offload him ASAP" and in doing so lower his value by a million or two.

I believe there's very, very few players in that squad that Silva thinks he HAS to keep and I don't feel Niasse is one of those.

Should a semi-decent offer come in, I think it'd be accepted no problem.

Victor, are you related to Phil Walling???

He can bring Niasse on, if in Silva's genius tactitioner moment, he needs to change the game immediately.

Vardy did not show up in the World Cup when it mattered.

Niasse now commands the atmosphere in Goodison.

Stop thinking Sell. We are not good enough to sell Niasse.

We need players like Niasse to lift the Goodison faithful; we need players like Niasse to lift the Everton team. Niasse is like a catalyst. We need him now. We won't always need him in the future but we do need him now. Right now he is worth that £13.5 million and more to us.

Niasse, under Silva's man management at Hull, scored against Liverpool and Manchester United. However, Liverpool are better defensively now. As Silva says, he offers something different than other Premier League players (who we could get, but not who we couldn't get) or to those who are in our team: Cenk Tosun; Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

A lot of logic in your comments, not necessarily cynical.

I hope you are wrong, but that's the crazy world of football transfers that we live in.

I would keep him regardless, coming off the bench to score, because he's worth more than any fee he would attract, IMO.

A dominant CB a LB and a midfielder in the NZonzi mould and IMHO that would be a successful window.

We should be selling him ASAP and buying a proper striker like the one we used to have who now plays in World Cup semi finals and scores goals in Manchester.

What's all this talk of a talismanic figure to inspire the fans? Why don't people just want quality footballers instead of the glassy-eyed try-hard who makes people think he's a nice fella? He might try hard but he won't win us shit over a season aside from a few cheers and the odd smile when he scores a tap-in against Cardiff on 90 minutes.

So..just to feed my desire to post exciting news on TW.

It's raining here!

By all means highlight the fact that his all-round game is limited but to dismiss him as simply a trier is to ignore the more important and oft-stated fact that one way or another he does seem to score goals in the Premier League. I'm not saying he's a top player or should be starting but you undermine your own argument by leaving out the part where he does the main job a striker should do pretty well.

Yes, we've signed Tosun but with all due respect he's a league below Romalu, who is a world class striker. Of course, you have to go quite a long way back to find our last world-class striker before Lukaku, so there's no reason to suspect we'll have another one for another generation. Unless Everton have serious designs on lifting itself out of top half mediocrity and making a genuine tilt at the likes of Spurs, Arsenal, the Shite, the Mancs and Chelsea of course.

Without a Lukaku quality striker, even a Vardy quality striker, we're going nowhere.

What does he bring to the table? Energy, enthusiasm, commitment, goals, massive nuisance value and he gets the fans behind him, thus behind the team. As I wrote on another post, it is not how you arrive at a place, but what you do when you get there. He is a striker, he scores and his unpredictability is a strength, not a weakness imo.

I see a really good player in there, I really do. He changes games whenever he comes on, for the better! What is there not to like? We have attracted top top strikers in the past, like Lukaku. But, the current position and standing of Everton in the football world means that we will only ever be seen as a stepping stone for them. Niasse has shown fight and commitment and actually makes watching Everton enjoyable when all else seems not so.

I think with him, Tosun and Calvert-Lewin and the supply lines of Walcott, Lookman, Sigurdsson etc, we have other areas that need looking at. In Niasse, we know we have a player that will cause defenses problems and he has a positively infectious attitude!

Still raining here!

He's got 12 goals in 44 games. I don't dislike the guy, it's hard not to like him, but my point is that we need a quality goalscorer, not someone that's going to possibly get us 10 a season in the league.

He's a plucky trier, but he is not a quality footballer, or a quality goalscorer.

Evertonians are as we all know, love a player who 'gives his all for the shirt' etc, I just wish we had less of that attitude and more attitude geared towards signing top class winning footballers. Too many Everton supporters have a Sunday League attitude toward the game which is reflected in the state of the club in my view.

Lukaku is world class talent who doesn't try as hard as Niasse.

Yet most people here prefer Niasse over Lukaku and continue to bring up the 'goal / minute' fact to try to back it up.

Being 'loyal' sometimes translates to the fact that a player has limited talent and limited option.

Lots of us feel that Hibbert was so loyal so he should be considered as an Everton legend. To me, he was 'loyal' because he had no other better options. Imagine if he had Javier Zanetti talent. Do you think he would have stayed with us for the whole career then?

His minutes to goal ratio is excellent, one of the best in the league, so the games and goals stats don't tell the whole story. We also look a lot more dangerous when he comes on.

Just checked, a goal every 134 minutes, 6th best in the division. Given that we were pretty uncreative last season and he was the architect is his own goals a lot of the time ... not bad, no matter how you look at it!

Niasse got 8 goals in 1083 minutes in the PL last season. One per 135 minutes. Over his whole career he has a goal every 167 minutes.

Lukaku got 16 goals in 2869 minutes last season. One per 175 minutes.

Perhaps if Niasse got more game time he'd have as many or more goals than Lukaku?

I don't think Niasse is a well rounded footballer but he has always managed to score a decent amount of goals.

The fact of the matter is we are not going to be splashing cash around for a while. With that landscape in mind, it's not disheartening to read how, seemingly, posters are equating loyalty with retention of a player.

It's something we simply have to do this season, ergo get behind the guy.

I think you're convoluting where you'd like to see Everton, and where they currently, realistically find themselves.

Niasse is the type of player we need the next year or two. If he happens to be loyal and has fought hard for success at a Club that's treated him like dog shit, why not get behind the guy? We're not buying a new striker for £100 million.

It's not disheartening to see a lot of posters get behind a guy they know can be one hell of an awkward player. it's actually uplifting to see posters get behind an awkward player who's likable, knowing their club isn't going to go out and sign a replacement.

It shows a level of recognition and intelligence only Blues have.

Be as frustrated as you want. Don't be disheartened. We're in a short-term correction phase. It won't last forever.

David Ellis back @55 – I cited Dean, Lawton, and Ball. Shows you how close I read! Sorry about the timeline on the unreferenced Gray and Latchford. Point, as you mention, still stands.

It's my opinion that, if you play for the lowliest team in the Football League, you can play football, obviously not to the standard of Ronaldo or Messi, but certainly above the standard of the majority of their detractors on various threads,

I also find the terms some express in describing their ability (or lack of) disappointing. I have often been accused of being a bit of a prude but I can live with that. I am quite capable of uttering obscenities but in the right place at the right time. Hoping I haven't offended anyone.

How many times have we been in transition? How many times have we had the need to tide ourselves over with half-baked players that try hard before we get to a higher level? This has gone on forever, which I guess is my annoyance.

Niasse can certainly do a job, and his wonderful attitude deserves praise. Our support base is good natured and fair and hence the general warmth towards him.

But to what I think is the heart of your point: even with the best coach in the world will Niasse fire us to a trophy, even a top 6 finish: I doubt it very much although I would love to be proved wrong.

The bloke capable of doing that was sold by us last summer and the management team put us in a position where they replaced Rom’s goals with Niasse, a raw youngster in DCL and a good finisher with no pace from a 2nd tier league. Collectively they mustered fewer goals than Big Rom.

Shows the value of having 1 silk purse in your hand versus 3 sows ears in the bush, to mix metaphors.

It also shows what happens when you entrust a monumental transfer kitty to imbeciles.

You can produce whatever stats you like, Niasse is the fat kid in the playground. To accept him as the level we should be expecting at Everton is not showing "a level of recognition and intelligence", it's giving up on expecting anything better than the shite we've been watching over the past few seasons.

Edit: Sorry Amit, I think you said pretty much this in the post above, but I didn't see it in time!

All while our Premier League neighbours sell a midfield player for £145 million, which allows them to sign the Premier League's most expensive centre-back and the Premier League's most expensive goalkeeper from the profits of the sale of the midfield player!!! Just to put things into perspective, how much would Kane go for now? £200 million? It just makes the Lukaku deal laughable.

So now we have 3 centre-forwards and none are particularly that good in Tosun, Niasse and Calvert-Lewin. I guess you would be lucky if any of this 3 could score 15 to 18 Premier League goals this coming season. And I am hopeful that Silva will make us a much more attacking team than we have been in the Premier League for the last few years, but I just don't see our forwards scoring enough goals. And our goal return from all our midfield players is woeful.

I go back 54 yrs through thick and thin. Whilst reading your post I thought of the good times and there have been several. However, then a dark cloud appeared on the horizon... which still remains in the shape of Bill Kenwright, from which we have gone from one disappointing transition to another.

Perhaps he is what is causing your annoyance?

Hopefully the new regime are in the process of rectifying the situation!

I've said it a thousand times on here - I want to support a ruthless Everton that wins football matches, and wins titles. I'm in my mid-40s and I'll likely be long dead by the time we win anything the way this club is going.

Niasse is a nice bloke, he tries hard and has a nice smile, so what? How on earth does that benefit Everton? Okay, so he might score 10 goals in the Premier League, and I get that he's all we've got right now, but the constant acceptance and placation of Evertonians is wearing thinner year on year for me, and while I'll cheer as loud as the rest of you when Niasse scores, it still galls me that I have to support a player that is really not up to the job as a footballer.

Honestly, watch him, he's a dreadful footballer who has a knack of being in the right place now and then for the odd toe-poke. Tosun is a very good finisher, and in my view, likely to score more over a season given the right service.

Is it any coincidence that Silva has felt the need to come out and publicly voice his backing for Niasse? Surely there's an agenda at work here.

We're not an attractive proposition, and footballers must talk amongst themselves, but I can't imagine favourable conversations in bigging this club up.

It will take time, hopefully the players that we are left with after the window, and any brought in can be encouraged to play to their true potential. What I want to see more than anything is fight, spirit, camaraderie and a never-say-die attitude.

All the club can offer at the moment is potential; very few if any world beaters will sign up for that.

Over to you, Marco.

He reminds me, going back a very long time, of Derek Dooley who played for Sheffield Wednesday in the early fifties; he was just as Niasse is now, and Wednesday fans argued back and forth as to his merits. He eventually settled into the team, scored 46 league goals in one season (still a record at Wednesday) then 16 goals in 24r games the following season, after a slow start, before breaking his leg at Preston NE and had to have his leg amputated, finishing his career.

My point is, Derek was as clumsy as they come but could score goals; never mind the style as long as they are scoring goals, I don't expect Niasse to break any records scoring goals but he could surprise many people if he is played consistently; he will do me until they get someone better.

This could also be down to who the top players want to play for and therein could be Everton's difficulty.

However the money quoted to obtain a goalkeeper like Allison is just plain ludicrous. Can they recoup that in a season or two with a Euro or Prem. success?
The mind boggles.

Everton may just remain a battling club with 100% workers but no real class to frighten other teams offensively unless they change their roster but somehow they seem to have difficulty offloading a few who have not been measuring up.

I like Niasse and Tosun but like Sandro and a few others they will not get you many wins in the Prem.

"Being good natured, fair and warm towards players isn't going to win us anything, though, is it?"

True, no quibbles there. But nobody is talking about being fair and warm to our management and owners, who are the drivers of success. This affection has been displayed to 1 player who deserves it for his attitude and some important goals. It does not somehow translate into tolerance of the general mess we find ourselves in.

I understand I'm akin to a little girl's cartoon character of a flying unicorn zipping around shitting rainbows with this positive attitude bullshit.

But - remember I'm a born and bred Red Sox fan. Forget the link to the rs for a second, it's in my blood with no apologies.

I've said this before, the Red Sox (my team mind) went from 1918 to 2004 without a title. In short, I understand your frustration.

Your a smart man. Would it be responsible, after blowing through a shed-load of money the last two years, to go out and spend zillions on a big name striker? No.

We find ourselves in a pretty shitty place right now. We need to trim, consolidate, and try let the manager get his feet on the ground and assess his "cast" before we jump back into the big-boy transfer market.

Being a fan - not an American bullshit one who jumps from team to team based upon success, but a real fan - entails pain.

We have a new coach, we hopefully will be in a new stadium in the next few years, we have a completely revamped corporate structure, a director of football who by all accounts will be damn good, some decent young talent coming up through the ranks, and we need to be patient.

It's not ideal. Your pain is probably going to last a few years longer. During that time just ask for progress. If that entails a few toe-pokers who run through brick walls, so be it.

Now I'm off to work and off to shit more rainbows.

Keep the faith. Leicester won the league. The Cubs won the World Series. The Americans beat the Russians for the gold medal in 1980 in hockey. Life is cyclical. Hang in there and don't die. It'll happen eventually.

Link

He broke his leg in a collision with George Thompson, the Preston North End goalkeeper, and had his leg amputated, because soil from the Deepdale pitch had caused gangrene.

Are you going to the Valencia game? if so we may be able to have a drink, Josh is missing that game, as he will be on holiday.

All teams have a back-up striker when things are not going well. Liverpool have Ings and Solanke. At the moment, we can't let Niasse go because he certainly can score goals even if he is left alone upfront and we are defending a slender lead, always putting pressure on the defenders.

Also for his unpredictability – we know he can trouble organised defences. We saw at the World Cup so many teams were defensively organised... because of which, most of the games were close. It might be the pattern of this Premier League season as well.

One thing I have noticed from his play is he doesn't give the keeper any chance of saving his shots, it either ends up in orbit, hits the post, or is in back of the net.

Are Everton into money laundering? Is Silva a Watford sleeper, trying to damage Everton?

Talk sport and the rumour mill on TW.

We’re stuck with him so may as well make him 4th choice striker, if desperate in the latter stages of a game.

Those four teams have combined for zero championships. It'll happen eventually? Which one do you see getting their first lol?

The Raptors for the East, and then Golden State all get caught doing coke at three quarter time of game 4 of the finals up 30 is my best guess. And Leonard STILL goes to LA. Who'd be a sports fan?
Anyway...COYB.

I literally pulled the LOL laughing out loud at your post.

Jeez man, you are, without question, a glutton for punishment sir.

My money is you'll never see a championship. Best bet would be an influx of amazing talent in Tampa making a run before the Red Sox and the Yankees gobble up all the talent.

You are, in every single sense of the word, a true fan. #respect.

Edit - Everton will win silverware before any of your other teams sniff a championship.

Niasse is fast, works hard and I like my forwards to shoot when in good position to do so. After all he's been through, I'm guessing he's mentally tough too.

Barkley used to frustrate because he didn't shoot enough; Mirallas the opposite in that he'd shoot too often from too far. Niasse may not play the pass but he can cross. He's the game-changing sub we need to bring energy and attacking threat.

Tosun is a finisher, makes good runs and again isn't afraid to shoot. Lacks pace but is the better player to link play, a proper striker.

Calvert-Lewin can hopefully blend the best of both as well as being good in the air. I wish him a speedy recovery – but as long as he does fully recover. I hope it's not the beginning of the end on another injury-prone young player.

Calvert-Lewin – sends shivers down my spine... hopefully he progresses this season and becomes the Sharpy of this generation.

A World Cup winner and a winners mentality... getting those miles on the clock last season will pay dividends... I hope... I hope... I hope...

The fact that Silva mentioned him means loads to me – League Cup, FA Cup and coming on here and there and then starting a few would be great

BTW – his finishing will get better.

Fake news correction: It was not Koeman that banished him - it was Martinez as Oumar went through the wife-beating and wearing headphones in team-talks phase.

Koeman actually brought him back into the fold.

Niasse, while limited on natural ball skills, has a great work ethic, is a team player and can occupy a back 4 just on his own. While he himself may not score 25 goals per season, his sheer presence on the pitch, work rate, willingness to chase lost causes, all create chances for other players to put the ball in the net. This is not something we 'hope' he will do. We know he will do it, as he showed us all last season.

No player gave more on the pitch than he did, but not only that he did dig us out of a few games with some timely goals which went against the run of play. IMHO, every team needs a Niasse. Give the lad a chance, like he has given our club. This is not about sentimentality, this is about a team player who is effective in his own way.

God loves a trier, and so does Goodson Park; he turned round a few games for us last season, because his efforts help to engage the crowd. I'm not sure he's good enough for a place in the starting eleven, which doesn't mean he can't be a very good sub.

I know being a Blues fan can be very trying at times, and really hard to see the positives, but sometimes being positive makes your life happier. Some of you should give it a try. :-)

I'm happy because I'm 'realistic' — neither overly 'positive' nor overly 'negative'... just realistic. If a player does something good, I can appreciate that and it adds to my happiness.

If a player does something bad, that makes me sad. Yes, they are only human, but somehow I expect more. I soon become happy again because my hope and expectation leads me to think that that player will do something good next time.

But, when he does something really poor, it tends to make me less happy again, at least with that player. I'm still happy about a lot of things in life, but not so happy about that player.

Now, compound that with game after game where you see that player very rarely do anything good, but quite often do a lot that is not so good, and some that is downright bad. It is going to make you a bit unhappy... about that player. You even might be tempted, based on the reality of his performance, to say something harsh about that player, especially on an online forum.

The reality of this complex process is that it doesn't mean you are negative, or that negativity makes you unhappy. It means that watching poor players makes you unhappy, and overly positive people then think you are negative. But you're not!

Hope this helps! ;)

What he does have, however, is pace and a general ability to get into goalscoring positions which, in games where we need a Plan B or even Plan C, when we resort to long ball and the opposition defence is tired, then Niasse has value and could win us some points.

Simple really.

He got branded as shite by some 'experts' on here and others climbed on board as often happens! He might not be a Messi but he's certainly not shite.