He really needs to play. Obvious move for him in a competitive league.

Unless we sell either Holgate or Keane this window then Branthwaite probably needs to go too.

I don't rate Simms. He doesn't appear to be particularly quick or mobile. Just a bog standard big striker.

Do teams even need big strikers anymore? City and Liverpool don't play with out and out strikers at all. Maybe that's a style we should be aiming for.

Dobbin seems a more likely prospect to me.

Dobbin is a better footballer and more versatile too. But Simms is a very good finisher and his all round play developed well at Blackpool. The injury set him back a lot.

He needs another loan. I was expecting it to be Blackpool again but so be it if it's Hearts. I expect him to score goals after possibly a slow start.

I'm not quite sure how high he'll go in his career because apart from finishing nothing seems to come naturally. I think he must be working very hard with each step up he makes. For that reason I could see him making a solid career in the Championship and getting promoted aged about 25 / 26 and doing ok in the Premier League.

By that stage, Dobbin, Okoronkwo and maybe others with more natural ability will have overtaken him.

There's even a chance that he comes good with us but more as a second choice I would think.

A Tweet from "Bobble" reports that:

A huge breakthrough in talks between Everton and Lewis Dobbin. Both parties now appear to have reached an agreement, with Dobbin’s future now set to be at Goodison Park

That is a bit of good news at least, if true.

I don't see what young players gain from loans to small clubs. After all, how many youngsters that we have loaned out came back as better players?

I would think the poorer ability of the players and coaches they are working with is more likely to be detrimental to their progress than improve it.

If they must be loaned send them to clubs that will genuinely improve them rather than just keep them fit and "toughen" them up.

Barry (4), great news if that is true.

Simms to Hearts seems like a good move - Hearts have a good manager now who has got them to 3rd playing good football after they got promoted last year? (I may be wrong with that, though).

Our own Beni - who I rate very highly - was their player of the season until he got badly injured in a bad tackle.

Sounds like a good place for Simms to sharpen his skills and be ready for us next season - hopefully NOT in the Championship!

Frank #5,

May I suggest Seamus Coleman, Blackpool
Ross Barkley, (Leeds, I think)

Shane Duffy, Scunthorpe (I saw him play there and he was very impressive)

Pickford played on loan at Bradford before establishing himself at Sunderland. Harry Kane, David Beckham also got loan experience before becoming starters for their clubs and country.

The list is endless.

Yes, there are others that don't train on. That's a pretty long list too. But until a lad is playing, nobody knows how they will work out.

Martin @7

Shane Duffy was loaned to Burnley (1 app), Scunthorpe (18 apps) and Yeovil (37 apps). Then we sold him. Those loans didn't improve him at all.

Ross Barkley was loaned to Sheff Utd (13 apps), and Leeds Utd (4 apps). Sheff Utd and Leeds Utd are much bigger clubs than Scunthorpe and Yeovil and no doubt Barkley benefitted.

This is what I said: If a yoing player is to be loaned, make it to a bigger club. Small clubs like Scunthorpe or Yeovil won't help their development at all. They may get more games but the level is too low.

Frank #11, how do you know Duffy's loans didn't improve him?

All we know for sure is that he didn't improve enough to get into our first team at the time. But he has certainly carved out a long and solid career subsequently. All that League One playing time may have helped him a lot. You can't know unless you ask him.

Frank (11),

I think Barkley was loaned to Sheffield Wednesday, not United, and did okay there. He was loaned to Leeds for one month and they never asked for the loan to be extended at the end of that month… or maybe he was injured while playing for them.

The loan is confirmed for Simms to Hearts. I think this is a good move for all parties. Good luck to the young fellow and hope he comes back a better player for Everton.

Frank, the reason many of our loan players didn't kick on is because they weren't very good.

A loan doesn't turn a very ordinary young player into a good one.

The point of the loan is to bridge the huge gap between U23s and the first team – and help prevent very talented players stagnating once they met the challenge of youth football.

There is a very good track record of loaned players developing extremely well in the Championship. It's a structure used very commonly abroad too, to good effect.

Not all of them work out. Barkley's heady mix of skill and stupidity meant he didn't fit in at Leeds (under Warnock?) and similarly Gordon found himself out of favour at Preston when they went all agricultural. It doesn't mean the loan system is broken - it means we should be looking for better partners in the loan system. Personally I would like to see some of our kids in Holland or Denmark or the MLS playing nice football as part of their education.

I'm glad Simms has gone to Hearts, playing at the top end of the league in a top flight team. Hope he does well.

I watched him for the first time in the U23s. He's got a lot of good attributes but has that Lukaku, languid look at times.

When you see Dobbin looking sharp, harrying players and then alive in the box fans are always going to prefer the latter. Hope the Hearts loan goes well and he gets a good career in the game.

Good move for him and us.

The experience will be invaluable for us going into the Championship next season as we will be relying on him and some of the other youngsters in what will be an incredibly tough division.

I would like to know who is making the decision on transfers at the moment? Is it Duncan? Bill Kenwright? Moshiri? Sharpy?

As there is currently no manager, director of football and I believe the recruitment structure was mainly shown the door with Brands. Who actually made this particular decision? It would be good to know.

On the bench with Beni tonight.

A player named Banginime scored for Wigan Athletic last night, is he any relation to Beni? It's an unusual name.

Dave, Transfer Market says it's brother Divin.

Simms is playing tonight for Hearts. I don't know if he started or came on as a sub, and Banginime has just come on from the substitutes bench. Hearts are losing 2-0.

Simms came on as sub at start of 2nd half, Dave.

Thought he'd be better off going back to Blackpool but I guess the Scottish Premiership is a similar level. Hope he does well there. Beni there to help him settle as well. Could be a good loan move for him.

Fulsome praise for Ellis Simms from Hearts manager Robbie Neilson on his debut as a second half substitute:

"We started the first 10 minutes really well. Celtic are very good, but we allowed them to be after that period.

"It was a game of two halves. Bringing [Ellis] Simms on gave us a bit of a link up top. Giving him 45 minutes, the players can see what he brings. I think he will be a top player for us."

Don't forget he played the full game for the Under-23s v Spurs just on Monday night.

Wouldn't have had any time to train with his new teammates, so well done Ellis.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin was on loan at Stalybridge Celtic and Northampton Town, before coming to Everton. Hasn't done too badly since!

Simms did well at Blackpool, scoring regularly. If he doesn't make it into our first team, then surely extra experience and playing at Hearts not only benefits him, but puts him in the shop window.

Our problem in the past has been hanging on to players that won't quite make it in the Premier League, but could have a great career at Championship or League One level.

He's raw. He needs to continue to improve and develop.

He needs game time and whilst this is a great opportunity, I'm not sure he's yet at the standard to be a regular Hearts.

Another league 1 loan would be better for him to guarantee regular starts, but finger's crossed for the lad.

Dobbin is a very different player.

See he got 45 minutes against Celtic the other night and did pretty well by all accounts. He came on, quickly followed by ex blue Beni Baningime, who is killing it up there for them. Those subs totally changed the game. We seem to have a pretty good relationship with Hearts.

I see Simms & Beni start for Hearts today – can't help thinking we could have done with Beni coming back the other way on loan!

And Simms has scored too!

And fuck me, Ellis Simms just scored for Hearts!

Ellis Simms scores and is MotM and Mr Baningime started as well and had a good game.

Don @34,

Baningime is one of my biggest recent disappointments. He's a natural, elegant talent who looked as though he was a proper Evertonian, but he's another one who doesn't quite believe in himself.

Anyway, he's doing very well at Hearts and I'm looking forward to watching him and Simms in the Edinburgh derby on Tuesday.

My mate Russ, a Hearts season-ticket holder, said Ellis done very well and Beni was his MotM.

“Toffee Rock,” were his words last night.