Gbamin could return to full training next week

Looked happy to be back on the grass, he will literally be like a new signing if he can perform.

He will need some breathing space to get there, I am hoping fans are not too quick to get on his back. It would be a major boost for us if he could give that extra bit of steel and stability to our midfield and I am looking forward to seeing him play.

I agree, when he played, he understandably looked a little off the pace of the Premier League, and was definitely trying to pick up the pace of it – and then he got injured. So, if he gets anywhere near playing time, we need to give him at least 6 months (and maybe longer) before we judge him – we need to lay off with the "Championship level at best", and the "crocked – get shut" bullshit after his first 25-minute cameo.

The damage these 2 injuries will have done to him psychologically, let alone physically, is going to be really hard to overcome. If he thinks that getting back to any sort of shape, and playing football again was hard – overcoming some of the knee-jerk bile on the Live Forum is gonna be where the work really starts.

Long road for him. 10- or 15-minute cameos from the bench to start with, I would think. Follow that up with a full pre-season and see how it goes. One thing is for sure: he will need all the help and support he can get plus a huge slice of luck.

It would be nice to know what sort of injury James has been out with, has it been stated what ailment has kept him from playing, it started as being a little niggle, forget where the niggle was but it's costing upwards of £60,000 per week!!

The lads had very bad luck, hopefully there's hope on the horizon for his career at Everton.

It would be a boost but one step at a time.

You wont need anybody to tell you how supremely talented James is, but there is a reason Bayern Munich and Real Madrid did not want to retain his services. Just as there was a reason we didnt have to fight off relentless opposition for his signature.

The guy is not suddenly going to give you thirty plus games a season.

Lets hope he can win us the cup. He's capable, but I don't see him playing enough in the league to alter perception that we are a pug ugly foofball team

Dave (11) - re: James, it sounded like he's had a variety of minor complaints and has been playing consistently at 75-80% fitness, so the decision was finally made to just shelve him until he's 100% again - hopefully after the international break. We'll see.

It does appear that some players are not suited to the premier league because of the full-blooded challenges that go on all the time. So if the body can't take it, they will always be injured and much harder to adjust to the physical side of the game when they do return from injury.

The player is a physical specimen and was very highly touted in the Bundesliga. He is still only 25 and will be a top player for us, we just need a bit more patience.

Wishing him all the luck in the future and a great Everton career.

"Character" seems to be regularly ignored as a vital quality.

That said, I know diddly squat about m'sieur Gbamin's character, but I just hope he's more Reidy than Linderoth, soon.

Tobias Lin deroth's Wikipedia page refers to his Everton career in one word as “unremarkable”. Funnily enough, even though he wasn't very good, I remember him as being a bit of a lucky mascot as we had a pretty good unbeaten run when he was in the team.

But, to your point I agree. Brands described Gomes as a player he sought at PSV. More recently he talked about Klaassen as a player he admired at PSV who he now realizes wasn't Premier League material.

I think his first window (Gomes, Bernard et al) he still had his PSV notebook and was yet to grasp the Premier League. I'm hoping he's since figured it out – although his much-vaunted “new contract” was never confirmed so maybe he hasn't

Now, all he has to do is sign other players of that mind-set, but with appreciably more talent. Simples?

Now, to get him mentally and physically match fit, I would hazard that a few U-23 games would not be amiss. Then, play him on the bench for the last few games of the season, so that Carlo will know if he has a long-term future at the club or if Brands needs to cut his losses and look for a replacement.

I certainly wish him well and great success with Everton.

He's a very good player. I've said before that I think Silva might not have been sacked had he stayed fit.

If he does get back, I wonder if he might get moved back to centre-half to reduce his running. He started there and former coaches at Mainz were reported as saying it's probably his best position anyway.

Linderoth was a very accomplished Premier League player. He was unfortunate to enter the English game very much at the peak of the 4-4-2 formation.

Linderoth was a best sitting in a midfield 3. Whilst he was at Everton, he was deployed often in a very weak central midfield pairing with the likes of Gravesen (who himself was very much not suited to 4-4-2. Pembridge, Watson, Naysmith, Kilbane, McFadden etc making up the 4-man midfield.

I think we sold him too early but he was an asset with re-sale value.

As for Jean-Philippe Gbamin. I've got no idea what to expect.

No one including himself really knows how good or how well he will do if he does manage to stay injury free and come back to playing professional football.

Good luck but I would be planning for next season without him and then anything else a bonus.

As to what he "owes the club"... give me a break. What he owed was his best effort and total dedication in overcoming two potentially career-ending injuries at the same time. Apparently that's exactly what he has given. Good for him.

And good luck to him.

Dan #39, best and most concise comment yet!

So I think Gbamin, may (and just may) be ready for next season, and won't be up to speed until october/November.