Naismith could leave Everton this month

I could never fault his commitment to the cause, what he lacked in pure skill, was substituted by that never-say-die attitude, and pure graft at 110%.

I understand him wanting regular first team football, but having been tried several times with our current set-up, appeared to be a bit of a square peg in a round hole.

I wish him all the best, whether it be Swansea or Norwich, as his final destination. I am sure many Evertonians will share my sentiments, for his contribution, both on and off the field.

Together, they could give any opposing manager the worries.

Well, if Naismith goes and Roberto doesn’t replace him with real quality, then I will have lost all faith in him as a manager.

Not only is he one of the few players that appear to give 100% and get stuck in but what do we do if, God forbid, Lukaku gets injured.

Had we another proven goal scorer apart from Lukaku I might understand but we don’t.

In the bigger picture neither player may not have the attributes needed by our manager, but if we had to pick a team today it would place Naismith well ahead of Kone.

Roberts is foolish placing all his eggs in Kone's basket should Rom get injured, it leaves a great big hole......

Yes, he’s often been used out of position, but still not at the standard we need. Kone is also not good enough, but I very much doubt we have anyone offering £8 million, or even £8k for him.

Hopefully the £8 million will be used towards signing some decent back-up for Lukaku.

A real shame because he's 80% to being the best manager Barcelona ever had. His visionary attacking strategy though isn't quite backed up by the answer to teams that can counter attack us and his blind faith in players like Tim Howard, Arouna Kone and even Gareth Barry will forever prevent him from making it to the top with any team.

I'll never forget the Liverpool regime under Shankly and Paisley or United under Ferguson which brutally ditched players at any sign of weakness. That is how it has to be.

That being said I am concerned that if we sell Naisy and Rom is injured we end up with impotent Kone up front.

I’d be gutted to see Stevie go. For me, he is not a starter unless Rom was injured but – as an impact sub to get in the faces of the opposition with a good goal poaching instinct – we have no other player who offers those attributes in that position.

He is a blend of Timmy Cahill and Sharpie played in the right position. Get rid of deadwood like Kone & McGeady long before Stevie!

It’s not like we’re doing a Leicester city, I think Martinez sees Kone as an all-round better player.

Good luck to Naismith if he goes, I just hope the money is well spent.

Lukaku misses a hell of a lot of chances considering he’s the main target our midfielders search out in the box. If you look at the Chelsea home game, Naismith got 3 chances all game and nailed them all. If he were allowed to develop some kind of form like Rom is, who knows how good he would be?

Michael (#24),

Naismith has had so many chances in the first team. He was fabulous against Chelsea but has very often failed to make an impact. He’s a second striker who we can’t fit in the team. I like Naismith but come on... we need better if we’re looking to progress as a team.

At first I thought £8 million was a really good price for a sub. But what would it take to replace him. Some of the names I have seen like Austin would not go for ¥8 million and would not like to just be a backup. I could name many players I would rather see go than Naismith. Some would not bring a fee but they would get of the payroll.

I know the words "straw" and "clutch" may come to mind and Roberto is always coy about signings until the ink is dry, but that appears to be what he is implying.

No?

Besides, he isn't what we need. We need a left sided attacker and a keeper and another centre-mid with a range of passing to slowly take over from Barry.

Shelvey at 12 million would have been a great signing imo.

Of current premier league players, think we could go for Tadic and Forster from Southampton (recently back from injury).

I really feel for that one!!

Got the absolute most out of his talent. His mental strength is something you wish you could bottle and give to our other players - we would be top 4 if they all were like Nais.

Good luck with whatever you do Nais - you will always get a good welcome at Eevrton. Top lad and very underrated player.

Sorry, but I find this absurdly over-the-top praise.

Decent, hard working, run around a lot players are actually ten a penny. I am I only one who beleives he is being absurdly over-praised.

When he played on a regular basis, he wasn't good, nor consistent enough. Poor touch, too slow, lack of technique. He has a knack of getting the occasional tap-in, but goals from nothing, goals from further than 15 yards from goal, goal making crosses or defense splitting passes were nowhere to be seen.

He was a regular object of criticism, a player judged to be not at the level we want to be. Then all of a sudden he stops playing and we decide to shift him and he's turned into the Scottish Messi.

Yes, the fact the lad does some charity work is pretty decent. But a number of footballers do, even those foreign mercenary ones. Football projects in their home countries, raising money for palestine, ngo's fighting peadofilia and child trafficking at the world cup etc etc. Good on him for helping out, but let's not overdo it. He's a millionaire footballer with limited talent at the end of the day.

You are not the only one who thinks he absurdley over praised but then again we have fans who believe that John Stones is perfect and can do no wrong, that Leon Osman should never have been a professional footballer and that Lukaku was only poor when the team didn't play to his strengths.

Some players can never win, they carry the burden of fans who have an unrealistic expectation of them vs other players. You see, Naismith playing well never suited many fans agenda. They decided very early on that he wasn't good enough and that judgement had to stick, despite him being a player who showed himself to be a big game player on more than one occassion.

No one is making him out to be a messi , its just ignorant fans who couldn't see a player who gave much more than he was credited with. Lets hope your marquee players have the same "ten a penny" traits that this lad showed for us. Sometimes a Ford is a better car than a mercedes - the problem is the name.... it doesn't matter to some that the merc is flawed, its not a ford and that is enough for them...

I know, I was there and I saw how those very same fans gradually grew fond of Steven, if not for his skills, but certainly for his graft, effort, determination, and no holds barred approach.

We all agree that graft and effort is not everything, but when others were showing no apparent interest in proceedings Steven always looked up for it and usually took the game by the scruff of the neck which was often enough of a catalyst to jump start one or two other 'more talented' players
who gave the appearance of not giving a fuck.

His off the field cameos are legend but the price and timing of his departure is probably right

Steven led by example - he is a fighter and will do well wherever he goes, whatever the fan's expectations of him.

Yes, an amazing pro in my view - in an all-round sense, "pro" meaning more than just football ability.

Yes, a massive example to money-grabbing mercenaries - his contributions to the homeless etc.

Yes, got the most out of his talent - not great talent but he got the most out of it.

Yes, mental strength - wish we had that in spades in all our players (Delboy, have a look).

And therefore, yes, top lad - in an all-round sense.

And what is this mental strengh of his everyone is talking about? When exactly has he shown 'tremendous mental strengh'? He's never ´played in high pressure games, never took decicive last minute penalties.

It's adjectives like the above that prove his level. A decent player. A good signing for Norwich, would do a job at Bournmouth and a struggling Swansea.

A team with 11 Naismiths? We had that under Walter Smith.

'Makes the most of his talent' - again, no one says that about top players. Its faint praise at its worst.

Nothing against the lad. A decent back-up striker.

I'm just astounded at the unbelievable praise he's receiving. Chelsea hat-trick apart, he never received such praise during his entire career.

Everton won't win anything with players like Naimsmith, Gibson, Kone etc

But we won an 95 FA Cup final with Ablett, Jackson, Paul Rideout... we won the leagues and a Ecwc with players like Van Den Hauwe, Harper, Mountfield, paul power, Kevin Richardson.

Maybe we need to construct a merseyside galacticos with our net spend of £125.75 each year.....

Anyone who doubts Naismith big game appetite... he scored his first goal in front of the gwladys against Liverpool.

Of his 18 premier league goals for Everton 11 have come against Man City, Man United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal....

i'd call that a big game player wouldn't you?

First of all, 18 Premier League goals. In over 100 games. Less than a goal every 5 games. How many assists? I don't kow, but doubt it is many.

But yes, good on him. He got the goals against the bigger clubs. But then ask yourself, why is that?

Maybe, due to the style of play against these clubs, when we score it is usually a tap in from a set piece having been under the cosh.

If we are a team that is to dominate other teams, control the game and score exciting goals then Naismith simply isn't gonna do it, and selling him is absolutely the correct decision.

No one said about buying galacticos. But you seem to equate British and 'hard-working' to great under-rated player, while foreign and skillful = expensive, lazy and mercenary. Which is totally absurd.

Good squad player who would have provided good service if he had been managed right by this clown who seems to be able to do what personally suits him, not what is best for the club.

You don’t employ people because they are your mates, eg, ex-Wigan; my opinion is that he is makes decisions for the wrong reasons and it is worrying for the future of our club.

Why does it bother you so much that people have taken to giving his deserved praise? Not excessive praise, more like admiration and respect for becoming a valued squad member who overcame so much "opposition" for want of a better word.

I see you are adept in the art of spin – unsurprising being an Everton fan under the Elstone regime... you mention Naismith's 100-odd games, why would you do that instead of minutes played (after all we all know he rarely got full 90s – especially as a striker).

More to the point, why not analyse Naismith's chance conversion and goals per minutes after stripping out his right-midfield games??? Is that because the statistics are pretty damning against your case of "Nais bashing"... have a little nose go on, pretty easy to find a good article about this... you will be disappointed.

I will summarise it as this – he has the best chance conversion, the best goals per minutes played and highest shooting accuracy at the club.... but it's not about that. I'ts about giving the player the recognition he deserves.

He has been a decent player for us, not great, not unique, nothing that we haven’t had before or will never find again, but decent. A decent squad player.

Yes, unfairly used at right wing – but would you really have him as No 9 in a team that plays one central striker?

He was decent. But is not the type nor calibre of player we need, and the sale is good business for club and player alike.

Let’s not exaggerate a player's influence – he’s a football player, just cause he didn’t demand a move or spit at the fans doesn’t mean we have to give him eulogies like we’re the best man at his wedding.

You say he’s not a great player – I don’t know that anybody on here has called him a great player (I haven’t read every single post, so correct me if I’m wrong).