Everton willing to listen to offers for Tosun

Needs to be moved on with Niasse, Schneiderlin and the onloan contingent.

Yep, the best for all concerned but I can only see a Turkish team taking him and no doubt they'll try and pay peanuts for him.

Another failed transfer and net loss. Farhad Moshiri will be getting shrewder with the wallet.

Ian - Do you really think that we should send Gomes and Zouma back to their clubs?

Gary 3. Think he means the players we have loaned out to other clubs.

Need to stop paying big money on players from weaker leagues overseas and no past Premier League experience.

Only really think of Fellaini and Pienaar that proved a roaring success from weaker European leagues.

We have been burned too often.

No chance anyone is daft to pay around £20 million for him. Would have to take a big hit on him. £12m and maybe a few million with add ons.

I wouldn't believe a word the Red Echo prints, to be honest, not even fit for bog roll... but, if we get £20M for Tosun, they're bigger mugs than we were buying him in the first place!

Jim @5,

And Arteta?

(Maybe not “overseas” but a weaker European league.)

Not sure Pienaar or Arteta came from weaker leagues.

Jim, because players ready for the Premier League have all been successes? Like Walcott, Bolasie, Williams.... We just need better scouting.

Eriksen came from Holland and proved to be one of the best midfielders in Europe.

Van Dijk came from Scotland and is the best defender in the league.

Tosun would suit a team that plays to his style. I think he'd do well for a team like Palace, Cardiff, Newcastle, Burnley and the likes. He'd get goals to help keep them up.

He just doesn't fit our style, nor our ambitions.

No surprise. I still think he's a decent finisher but our style doesn't seem to gel with his this season under Silva. He's not getting in the right positions and his confidence looks shot. I'd be amazed if anyone would pay £20M. That's unless it's a club in Turkey and it's a fiver on the drip each week.

Arteta came from the Spanish La Liga from Sociedad and already had British League experience playing for Rangers.

Tosun is too slow for the Premier League, despite the five goals last season it was clear that he was no presence nor mobile focal point and this season we have seen the limitations even more.

We’ve been burned too many times with these types of buys.

Brands did some decent work this Summer but the cull has only just started. Schneiderlin, Bolasie, Tosun, Niasse etc. We’ll take big financial hits on all of them. What a lot of money we’ve wasted in the last few years.

Have to say I was impressed with some of Marco's comments during his presser:

I'm not the type to say "We need this and this and this" and pass the responsibility.

“It's not my way, I am here to work for Everton Football Club, not to work for myself. I'm here to work with the players we have. If you ask me tomorrow which positions we need to improve, they are always in my mind. "

Cenk can finish! Yes, he lacks a bit of pace but how many chances are we actually creating for anyone who plays upfront?

Mr Brands has got his work cut out to recoup money on Tosun, Niasse, Bolaise and Schneiderlin. But it must be done somehow. If he gets 50% on all that outlay, he will deserve a lot of credit. Theresa May's got an easier job.

I know £20M does sound a bit steep, but as some have mentioned I don't think he is as poor as we perceive, but more that he doesn't fit in to the system being played under Silva. Although the big thing for me is his poor control of that ball coming at pace.

I know prices are ridiculous but there may be a team somewhere who are willing to gamble on him or even involve a player in exchange for a slightly lesser fee. I am a great believer in 'horses for courses' and believe that both managers and players alike can either flourish or fail at certain Clubs, yet turn out to be a success at others.

It will probably as usual all happen in the dying minutes of the window, but hopefully we can not only ship the usual suspects out, but get some quality too.

I can only see us getting a Klaassen type of fee now for Tosun. £12-14M should have been what we paid for him but we were desperate at a difficult time and it was the January window of over-inflated prices.

Another huge loss. We might get 2 players in from the money off 6 or 7 fringe players in all fairness, but they have to be quality.

Everybody says he doesn't suit our style of play...

Do we actually have a style of play???

Tosun would suit a 4-4-2 or having a striker partner. He can't do it as the lone striker... not in the Premier League at least.

Difficult balancing act. We can't afford to buy unless we sell. But would we really miss Tosun or Niasse if they weren't replaced?

They add nothing anyway. We could get by for the rest of the season without them and buy in the summer. This season is over bar staying up.

Pat (20), I think we have to keep one of them and my choice would be Niasse: to come on as sub for Calvert-Lewin... or the other way round.

It would be ideal to sell both of them and bring a new striker in; I doubt if we can be that lucky.

The problem we have is Turkish clubs will be interested in Tosun, but they do not like stumping up money and always go the loan way.

I cannot see us getting anywhere near £20 Million for Tosun so, unless we take a much-reduced price, he will be here for the rest of the season.

If we can scrape together £40m for Tosun, Niasse, Schneiderlin and Bolasie, then we should blow it all on a decent player who will improve us, eg, Doucoure or Higuain. I'd even sell Walcott for £5m to seal the deal.

“It's not my way, I am here to work for Everton Football Club, not to work for myself. I'm here to work with the players we have."

Find a fucking system that gets him goals then so we can flog him off to someone, it ain't gonna happen if he's sitting on the bench every week.

Either that or fucking coach him. All of these players mentioned are assets to the company, neglecting them reduces their worth to the business and potential to re-sell. Schneiderlin, Tosun et al should have been getting some game time to get them in the shop window at the very least.

Why would you want to play shit players when we're already struggling with "better" ones?

Play Schneiderlin? 😂😂😂

Players like Tosun only go for an inflated fee once. We paid twice what he's actually worth because nobody had seen him play in a decent league yet, so nobody realised how unsuited he was for the top level. Now every club in the world knows he's not very good, so we'll be lucky to get £10m for him. Very lucky. That's the way it goes sometimes.

Should be a warning to us really – don't panic buy in the January transfer window.

Is £20M too steep? Solanke went for £19M... and he's done nothing.

Martin. You can't put players in a shop window when you're running a football club.

I don't turn up week-in and week-out to watch second class players strolling around the pitch contributing nothing. I want to see the best players we have in the squad trying to win games.

It's not about the bottom line when you're at the game. It's about beating the opposition with a modicum of flair. I know that's not happening but I don't want to see lesser players taking us further away from where we want to be.

Martin 24,

It's hardly about finding a system to get Tosun scoring goals.

He's missed a shit load of chances this season; we've created so many chances across the campaign and Tosun has been one of the main culprits when he's been on the pitch of missing good chances. The one against Newcastle in December and the half-arsed attempt in injury time against Leicester two weeks ago spring to mind, as well as a catalogue of chances in August and September.

We aren't a charity to allow players runs of shit performances being tolerated. I want players that at least offer a nuisance factor and a presence in the team even when they aren't scoring but Tosun offers zero in that form either.

It's really depressing to take stock of where the club has gone since Mr Moshiri took over. God knows it was hugely depressing for the decades prior to him.

Talking of Tosun, Niasse, Schneiderlin, Bolasie, Walcott and so on and so on is a solid way to get really depressed without taking into consideration the responsibility of the guy at the top of the tree, our esteemed (to fantasists) Chairman.

The club has been riven with disease for decades but this disease is human, not biological. That means it can be removed fairly easily. It should have been removed three years ago when Moshiri bought in, but it wasn't.

And some of us still talk about peripheral matters such as this or that player but Kenwright's continuing association with our club is going to blight us until Moshiri finds a way to get rid of the bugger entirely, reducing him to a mere season-ticket holder.

In a way, Kenwright would impress me by actually buying one and making a contribution but, given his record of screwing us for his personal gain, I think I've more chance of looking Japanese when I wake up tomorrow. Hah so!

(And apologies to Mike Gaynes, who takes umbrage at me constantly pointing out the abject depths to which we've plunged under Kenwright's tenure.)

Martin (24) - what planet are you on? Yes, let's bench Gomes and play Schneiderlin instead, for the sole purpose of putting him "in the shop window"?

Never mind the fact that the only way he'd positively impact his value is if he plays extremely well and if he was playing extremely well, we wouldn't be looking to sell him in the first place.

As for Tosun, he gets a bit of a bad rap. As others have pointed out, the main issue is that he's a poor fit for Silva's system. There are plenty of Premier League sides he'd do well for.

I can't understand all the posters defending Tosun. Top players can play in any system. Form the first few games he had, most of us could see he is totally unsuited to the Premier League.

He can't hold the ball up, link up play, nor beat defenders.

His running off the ball is suspect.

He never wins a 50-50... and don't mention his heading ability.

In short, he is more suited to Tranmere than Everton and although I have nothing against the lad (just the numbskull that decided to buy him), I would be glad if he never appeared for us again.

I don't think to players just slot into systems. Phil Neville's do.

Tosun needs to play in a front two from what I've seen, but suspect he could do well at Palace or he needs to try Scotland or The Championship. There's a good player in there, and one that could become talismanic but it's just not worked out with small cameos... and he was awful against Newcastle.

Niasse is suited to a lone striker... because he's so erratic, he doesn't seem to be able to play with anyone around him. He scores goals though. Cardiff.

Schneiderlin is best playing in Fifa/PES or some other computer game. Maybe we could sell him as glue?

Kunai #6, I agree with your valuation. The truth is that Everton were a soft touch and Moshiri has been completely ripped off by managers, from Koeman on. Nassie has really disappointed this season.

Unfortunately, Silva looks to be about to join the list of Moshiri's mistakes.

When Fat Sam said Tosun was the best available at the time, was he scouting in Sunday League? Tosun is worse than my nan at the following: running the channels, heading the ball, holding-up the ball, chesting the ball, flick-ons and recently I'd even add shooting too.

Other than that, he's the best Turkish striker at Everton.

Not a great fan of Tosun, but some of the nonsense regularly put up in an attempt to make players look even worse is an insult to Evertonian intelligence. We know if a player has played poorly; we don't need wild and foolish exaggeration.

"Missed a catalogue of chances in August and September"? He may have been poor, but if we created a catalogue of chances for him to miss, we must have been doing when the rest of us were not looking

For every chance missed by Tosun, I could show you 2-3 missed by Aguero, Kane or Salah. You have to laugh at the quaint little notion that mediocre strikers should be converting every chance.

"He's missed a shitload of chances this season" ... fuck me. He couldn't have started more than 2-3 games in the past 4 months, he hasn't been on the pitch long enough to miss a "shitload of chances".

I was going to say you couldn't make it up, but quite clearly you can!

Darren, You might have some backing on this. To have missed a shit-load of chances there must have been a shit-load of chances created for him to miss – Yeah??

If we would create such a shit-load of chances, I expect we would not be in the bottom half of the league!!

"A mediocre striker" – agreed.

Don, yeeehawww... t'iz all Bill's fault – every last bit of it. Haaa haaaa, oh my sides.

Silva has had plenty of time to suss this squad and he seems to be very confused. Are we playing 4 or 3 at the back today? Will we play Calvert-Lewin again within a 4-2-3-1 system... I don't know. Does he yet? Pochetino he ain't.

I am certain that all of the players singled out above can do a job and more for most Premier League teams. All of them!! The problem is too many players, too many managers and too many changes.

Spurs and Liverpool (and QPR) all tried throwing money around thinking that was all that was needed. It isn't. Spurs eventually got it right but that was as much down to luck with Alli and Kane, and other kids coming through.

Yes, we have to trim the squad and build around... build around who? Build around Barkley, Lukaku, Deulofeu, Stones. What we had to do before was buy quality to add to a successful team. After finishing 5th, we ripped that team up instead of adding quality to it.

So here we are trying to find a core group of players while desperately trying to offload players and managers costing us around £100M.

I'm sorry but I think this season's manager is a dud. He will hopefully prove me wrong. 17 players on loan. Are we Chelsea now?

Agreed, Darren, none of our strikers have missed a shitload of chances. We don't create many chances for any of our strikers. Bernard and Walcott have missed a few between them, but Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin, and Tosun have probably only missed 3 or 4 decent chances each. A top 4 team will create 3 or 4 chances for their striker every match.

Interestingly, Richarlison has scored the same amount of league goals as Callum Wilson from a similar amount of shots. We already have a player who will score if we can improve our play in the final third. Richarlison has had his customary Christmas dip in form; hopefully now he can get scoring again.

Darren, I know you're not a fan of stats but I think Tosun hits the target 43% of the time. Salah and Kane around 46%. So pretty comparable. But I think Kane and Salah far outstrip him when it comes to creating chances both for themselves and for others.

Tosun is a decent finisher but his all-round game appears lacking currently. Of course, confidence has a lot to do with it and his (like many Everton players) is low at the moment.

Sam 41. There is more to being a good striker than hitting the target. Walcott has a far superior percentage of shots on target than any of those 3 players yet he is crap. Most of his shots are weak and straight at the keeper.

Sorry, Sam. Tosun. Percentage is where the comparison stops. His shots, like Tom Davies and Calvert-Lewin are like back passes to our goalie. His heading ability is shite for a centre-forward. Bearing in mind we have one of the best No 9s on the coaching staff, who was excellent with his head. So what the hell is going on at Finch Farm?

Grant, you seem to be following me across the threads! I agree with you on this point. Though hitting the target is a good start. I couldn’t find the stats on what % of shots are goals which is a better indicator of how clinical strikers are.

And Walcott’s shooting accuracy is 43% so worse than all 3, according to the Premier League statistics.

Sam 44. Haha. It's just a coincidence. Honest. I was going off of the BBC site but that's just league games.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/teams/everton/top-scorers

It says 65% of Walcott's shots are on target there.

As for how clinical a striker is. I think it's the percentage that end up in the back of the net. ;)

Sam,

I have no time for these stats whatsoever. This is a classic case. One site has Walcott with 43% accuracy and another has him on 65%... That's some fucking swing there, mate.

Salah and Kane are better players than Tosun, but they also get better chances and more of them.

On another note; Just watched Jamie Vardy throw himself on the deck looking for a penalty and play was just waved on. Happens every week. What happened to this "diving panel" who so readily banned Niasse... has that been scrapped?

Seems a decent bloke but a long way from being a decent signing. Moans about his lack of opportunity aplenty on here but every time he starts, his limitations become more obvious. I have long been convinced he is no better than Championship quality, ie, not good enough for Everton. Get rid.

For me, he is our best striker. His finishing last season showed he is our best finisher, he works hard, is maybe not big enough for a target man or fast enough to consider speed a top asset but he is a decent sized unit with decent pace. I think he is suffering a crisis of confidence at the moment. I would be starting him every week to get him beyond this; I would certainly be getting rid of Niasse first.

Our issues at the moment are widespread as the team as a whole is not playing well. The right side has been an issue even when we were playing well and is more of a crisis for me. Also, we seem to have 3 left wingers (it seems to be Lookman, Richarlison and Bernard's best position) and only Walcott for the right. Bernard while he looks a good signing was maybe not the best use of resources for a position we have options for.

The Diving Panel only comes into play when the “diver” has “successfully” conned the referee. If he tries and fails, his dive does not get viewed.

So, cheat all you like, lads – just don't get caught. Yeah, that'll clean football up.

Niasse only got banned because he plays for Everton.

Andy Gray & keys were talking about it the other week, saying how come he is the only one to be banned? That was on the topic of Mo Salha not getting banned. And taking advantage of our non-interfering board who like to let everyone walk over us.

Arsenal away in the FA Cup. Took off us a couple of thousand tickets (because of safety); however, their fans were seated in the same seats we were supposed to have.
Millwall FA Cup, have now adopted the Everton lie down method and reduced our allocation of tickets. Has anyone heard about our board getting involved?

All our managers start off with good intentions but all end up reverting back to the old system. I can only put it down to our board's reluctance to interfere with anything. I think our board would like our motto to be Plucky Little Everton.

mention Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd, Arsenal = Cup

Mention Everton = EitC – which is good but I prefer the above.

Miles off topic but interesting to hear Sky Sports "experts" call Bielsa's spying on Frank Lampard's Derby (formerly Derby County) disgusting, immoral, unethical.

Perfectly okay for one of their pundits to gob at a young girl and just get a slap on the wrist. Didn't know English football still had ethics to boot.

Darren 46, I quite like certain, relevant statistics. Our eyes and hearts fool us too often. However, when the results vary that wildly, it obviously undermines trust. Like with all things, I guess some sources are more reliable than others.

The fact that Niasse was one of only two people banned so far is ridiculous. I don't go in for the ‘world against us' conspiracies but this one is pretty compelling.

I remember when England last played Turkey and Alan Shearer, who was a pundit that day, singled Tosun out and said he reminded him of himself (another player with no pace). It was high praise.

Clearly Tosun isn't as good as Shearer, but Shearer played in an era when every team except ourselves and Bolton played with 2 strikers. It would be interesting to see how Shearer would fair as a lone striker today?

At another club and in another formation, Tosun will be fine. He just doesn't suit Everton.

Gavin 54. Shearer had pace.

Conor – Shearer's been retired a long time now. Pace wasn't something I ever attributed to him. He wasn't slow but he was no speed merchant by any means. Very similar to Tosun in pace IMO.

What Shearer had over Tosun is that he was stronger and had much better positional sense, could win more headers and had a fierce shot. Just a much better version of Tosun.

Shearer made the comparison with Tosun himself. I ain't going to argue with him.

I think talking about Shearer and Tosun is like comparing peak of powers Henry and Marcus Bent, both quick, both work the defenders hard and both score some world class goals.

But

I think Shearer was being "kind" when he likened Tosun to himself.
Shearer was one of the best centre-forwards I've seen play and, while he wasn't a speed machine, he was fast enough. Scored some amazing goals, especially against us.

Tosun, I have to say, is not fit to lace Shearer's boots.

Yeah, Tosun's a poor facsimile of Shearer. Shearer's in a different league. But I don't think Shearer was being charitable in recognising facets of his own style of play in Tosun. You don't get top players saying they see themselves in other players if they think the other player is utter shite.

There was the Chelsea scout who came out and said he'd been scouted and they'd considered signing Tosun and he thought he was an excellent finisher. There's a myriad of reasons why it ain't worked out for him this season, but loss of confidence, playing under Silva in a different system haven't helped.

IMO, he needs a strike partner. He's definitely not a lone striker and he's got more chance of scoring at home when we aren't relying as much on counter-attack football. He's not been really getting the service or getting in the right positions but he can finish. I don't change my stance on that.

When we are playing at home against lesser sides why not try Tosun in a two up front, potentially in a 3-5-2 with Sigurdsson and Bernard either side of Gomes.

Switching to 3 in the middle was what was required in the first half against Bournemouth today however would have required removing the ineffective Gomes, or Gana, the latter of which options I'm sure the manager is loathed to choose based on our performances without him so far.

It is evident that we are not creating enough chances and are conceding midfield to lesser teams, so a Plan B (or new Plan A) is required.

Shearer was deceptively quick. I remember seeing him at Goodison in his Blackburn days and being surprised at how fast he was. One incident comes to mind where he smoked our left-back and centre-back in a race to the ball down the right wing in a one-nil win for us around 96-97.

I watched the game on YouTube recently and it was that eye-catching turn of pace that reminded me I was actually at the game. The surprise at what I just witnessed was exactly the same as all those years ago, watching from the Lower Bullens.

Anyway, back to Cenk. Decent player but not exactly putting the Fear of God into the opposition. We need much better but I'd fully expect him to do well in weaker leagues.

It's clear we need a centre-forward but what type of striker do we need to best fit this system – I have no idea?!

Jim #5: I think you've not thought about your comments regarding players from weaker leagues! Pienaar was purchased from Dortmund.

I believe one Timothy Cahill was purchased from Millwall, Seamus was bought for a couple of quid from Ireland. I also remember Landon Donovan having an excellent spell with us on loan having come from the MLS.

Premier League experience doesn't guarantee a player will perform better than someone with no experience in the league. This season has proved if you do it properly your recruitment can be a success. Compare us to the last couple of seasons.

I have a lot more faith in the current set-up to bring the right players in while you've also got to acknowledge you won't get it right all the time.

He could still surprise a few with a forward role for Crystal Palace or similar, as one poster mentioned as part of a front two. He may thrive playing upfront with Zaha.

All strikers need confidence, backing, and a run in the team. It hasn't worked out for us but I think he could still be productive for a smaller club.

Mike @44,

Calvert-Lewin's little back pass didn't do too bad yesterday though, ey!

Championship player.

In common with most, I don't think either Tosun or Niasse will ever be a first choice striker at Everton. If they are sold in this transfer window, and I'd not be against that, it does leave us short of options. One way of rectifying this would be to look at a low-cost short-term solution.

Would it be worth taking such a chance on the Tranmere striker, Norwood? He has no real pace, he's too small to worry a big centre-back in the air, but wherever he's played he's scored goals.

Some lads don't seem to have any of the attributes normally associated with a striker bar one important one: a knack of being in the right place at the right time. As back-up, he'd fit the bill and there's one or two centre-forwards who've graced both Prenton and Goodison Parks!

Honestly, the exaggeration on here is ridiculous.

Darren Hind rightly points out that Tosun has not missed that many chances and I would point out that nearly every shot he has had has been saved. That means he has been getting his shots on target. He has only popped one or two over the bar or wide.

He needs a strike partner, a big ball winner. Alongside a Giroud he would bag plenty. He is clinical in the box and is a finisher.

He ain't great but he's not shit.

Tosun's style is close to a traditional 'English No 9', something that went out of fashion when teams moved away from a 4-4-2 line-up. If he got in a time machine and went back a few years, he'd be a shoo-in for many teams, and probably do very well. I'm not suprised that Allardyce signed him as he's a type of player that he loves.

The 4-3-3 system, which is the choice of most at the moment, doesn't suit his style of play, and probably never will. Look at the strikers who are doing well in this system: Aguero, Aubameyang... even Salah. They are very agile and quick, nothing like Tosun. Even Richarlison, who is better from the left, is similar to the mentioned player's style.

Nice one, Pete @44.

I don't mind those type of back passes... just hope I can jinx a few more of them!

Tosun is not good enough. He lacks pace. He lacks height. He lacks strength. He lacks craft. He lacks vision. He lacks trickery. He can't race onto a ball over the top. He can't outjump a defence to head home a cross. He can't bully a defender. He can't drop into the hole and play others in. He can't see those passes and create for others. He can't beat a man.

So, how on earth do we expect him to score? He can only be in the right place, at the right time so often. He was a poor signing and needs to be offloaded as quickly as possible, along with the even worse Niasse.

Not a lot you can add to that, Steve.

The fact that Tosun when we signed him was equal as a goalscorer in Turkey with our recently departed Arune Kone spoke volumes, but unfortunately nobody in the club was listening.

£20 mill? Dream on.

It makes me laugh to read that Touson would be a good fit for a smaller club like Palace or Newcastle...

We are a small club like them – the proof is in the results, the bad performances, the managers appointed, the board still having Bungalow Bill here... We still don't have a striker of any real quality; we still have not beaten our local rivals in how many seasons?

We are a small club in every way except we have enough older fans who can remember us once being a big club... but tick, tock – there's a whole lotta generations that only know failure and mediocrity.

Time waits for no-one... And we're slipping further behind with each season. Over to you, Mr Money Bags with no clue on how to invest wisely into this once proud institution.

No decent striker will sign for Everton in this window or the summer window. This is why Silva is trying to mould a winger into a stricker...

£20 million isn't the king's ransom it once was. It buys squad level players if you are buying from an English club.

Instead of a transfer window, why can't we have an auction for players deemed surplus at their clubs? Have a reserve price and let them parade their skills prior to the auction.

I can see Sky now putting in a bid to televise it over 3 days with their minions and RS expert pundits giving their opinions on the 'lots' as they go under the hammer.

Sky will obviously insist on the players WAG parading around with a board informing the bidders how much her fella will require as a wage. Beats Celebrity Up The Jungle any time.

Now Harry Kane is out for a couple of months, any chance Spurs would sign Niasse or Tosun as a replacement or do you think it would be a loan deal?

I was only joking — but we need a laugh today!

Shearer had plenty of pace but the cruciate injury curtailed it. Even so, he changed his game and continued to be a fearsome Number 9, an almost complete centre-forward,

Phil, 76,

Your joke is well placed just shows how far behind Spurs we have fallen, 6 -7 years ago we were slightly better than Spurs now light-years behind as the recent league game proved. They don't spend anywhere near what we spend but what they do spend is spent very wisely.

Come the summer, we will have 7 or 8 players that will need moving on but, short of practically giving them away, I can't see clubs being interested – especially the money they are on here.

Agree with Eddie #67. Somehow, for all his lack of physical ability, Tosun gets more shots than Calvert-Lewin and is much more accurate with the ones he gets, and they score at about the same rate. Yeah, the guy's a plugger who doesn't fit Silva's style, and he certainly hasn't proven to be a good signing, but he's far from the worst we've seen.

Some highly uncharitable comments regarding Tosun, who is actually a decent striker but is currently struggling with a crisis of confidence and not getting a run of games to get out of it. That said, he doesn't always give the impression he tries to make the most of scant opportunities, but that goes for most.

I think it was possibly his first goal for us (or one of) where he drilled the ball into the top corner from a Baines cut-back. No pace, no hold-up play, no strength required. Just good finishing which he clearly has.

His conversion rate was so high in fact that I for one brashly suggested he could be close to 20 goals this season with better service. Well, that's not quite come to pass and looks highly unlikely now he is not near Silva's starting eleven.

But to dismiss him as shite is just silly. I think those who point out the lack of confidence (which tbh, is a sin in my book as it doesn't exactly cry a winning mentality and God knows we need one) and the fact he doesn't fit the current system have about the truth of it.

Tosun, just does fit the style of the manager. He won't be the last to be a casualty of managerial change. His mobility is highly questionable. His efforts to press are frenetic, and kamikaze, often diving in.

Compare that with Calvert-Lewin who gets more outside the box especially leaves Tosun outside looking in.

Sadly he looks like he can finish, but it feels like he's others a passenger.

The Brighton goal was his high-water mark

Steve #70,

Spot on really Shame it hasn't worked out. In the same window, Liverpool bought Van Dijk look how that turned out

To think we were allegedly considering Funes Mori or Van Dijk and we went for the former and the latter went to Southampton.

But back to our striker situation, if Tosun or Niasse leave this window, I'm sure we'd get a replacement in. I've already mooted Batshuyai on other threads but if not him then hopefully we have a canny deal up our sleeves.

Either way, we need someone on the pitch and scoring goals and exciting us!!

I didn't call him shite. He's not good enough. There is a difference. Bear in mind that I'm also talking about his position, the lone striker.

So my hero as a kid, the original TC, he'd also be not good enough. Cottee would obviously thrive in a two striker system and it seems Tosun might too. Ironically I think Calvert-Lewin and Tosun would be a good partnership.

The problem is football has moved on. You can't carry a poacher like Cottee anymore. These kind of players need to adapt into something else, see Aguero's transformation at City under Guardiola (and how he regained his spot from Jesus who was clearly brought in to replace Aguero).

Tosun likes the pace to play as a wide forward, he can't drop in as a No 10 as he lacks playmaking ability and he lacks the game to be a target man, lacking height, strength, or hold-up play. He could do great elsewhere because, if you get the ball to his feet, he will find the back of the net. The problem is getting the ball to his feet.