Lukaku signs off with thanks to Everton

Time to move on and watch the team improve without him.

A poor attempt at PR no doubt; because it's clear he always thought himself far bigger than Everton Football Club.

Crazy money for this guy, let's move on and spend it wisely.

So take advice with care! There are too many greedy bastards out there who care about nothing but money.

.. As a side-note, I See Tony Bellew also proving he's got all the footballing knowledge of a.. well, a heavyweight boxer, with his 'irreplaceable Lukaku.. scores goals from inside and outside the box etc..' quotes.

Whilst scoring ONE of his goals last season from outside the box makes this statement technically true, it doesn't quite make that particular aspect of Lukaku's goal threat a shining beacon of light, does it?

Nor does a 61% pass completion rate make him exactly someone to even be relied upon to manage to get the ball to a team-mate at any given time, either! Irreplaceable? I'd hope not!!...

Throughout his Everton career he didn't know how or when to communicate and this is no surprise to me that his parting words come before the official announcement. Sums the man up.

The latest statement smacks of an afterthought. He has already said Man Utd fans are the best etc, someone has probably reminded him that he will have to pop over to Goodison next season!

"Oh err yeah, I'd like to thank the little guy who cleaned my headphones."

Scored goals for fun, the best striker we've had in nearly 30 years. I'm gutted he's gone. Nice of him to say goodbye and thanks. He could have said nothing.

I sincerely hope he's not booed when he comes back in a Man Utd shirt.

Thank your old fans and club first after the transfer is complete and then give your thoughts on new club. He is a classless act and seeing Pogba's latest twitter release on the news of him in a rollercoaster just makes me shake my head more at the narcissistic ways of some and it seems Lukaku wants to follow down this path.

Thanks for the goals but glad gone and EFC rolls on into a brighter future.

He, for all his faults, is an uncommonly good goalscorer. Two of the league's title favourites would not bid 75mil plus add-ons for the type of player described by many of his detractors. He has faults but there are few players as clinical in world football and he always wants to improve, as he has shown with us.

Lukaku was not born in Liverpool – or in England. He was brought by us and his loyalty goes that far – as far as ours would have gone, if he had been a 10-goal-a-season striker.

He has spoken about leaving too often but ultimately he has been fantastic for this club. He has scored a lot of goals for us and we've turned over a figure approaching £50mil in profit. That may not be beaten in a very, very long time.

I won't boo him – I'll just hope we can find the right players to improve the squad to make up for his lost. I'm hoping for a striker, a creative presence if Barkley is to leave, and a left back.

Maybe Giroud or Dembele; Sigurdsson, Lanzini or Younes; Bertrand, Cresswell or Robertson.

Thanks for the memories, Rom, good luck to you in future (except against us of course).

I just hope we show our true blue class and give him a warm reception when he returns, when we stuff United.

I had no time for him once he started the "I'm better than Everton" quotes. Not bad as a striker but not a good footballer.

I wonder if he will still wear his Chelsea P-Jays or are they Lukaku P-Jays or even Pogba P-Jays?

Now let's move on and hopefully this is the last ever thread on TW regarding Rom.

COYB

As far as parting shots go you can't ask for much more than that. I'm just going to take it as it is and treat it as the full stop to his time with us. No matter what he says now he is damaged goods after his faux pas in the Belgian media etc.

I believe we are in a infinitely better position than we were when he came, I think team morale and performances will improve now he's gone and the £50m profit we've made on him will help takes us to the next level. He served an important purpose but our future, and his, lay elsewhere now.

I will remember him for his performance against Bournemouth as the highlight, say goodbye and leave it at that.

He is now officially part of our history.

Let's remember that our last title winning 'team' had five players who scored over 10 goals each, without the best British striker of his generation. This looks like the aim given the recent signings. Onwards and upwards!

In the four years he was with us, he did what he was bought to do, which was score goals. If we can add another striker to the squad, and spread the goals around a bit more, we will probably need at least 4 or 5 players hitting double figures, then I will admit it was a good piece of business selling him.

Oh, and by the way Rom, I think you've joined the wrong club. You will get your wish of playing in the Champions League, but I can't see Man Utd winning the premier league any time in the next few years.

He got quite a bit wrong in his time but signing Rom was the best thing he did £50+ mill profit ain't to be sniffed at.

Whether Everton will miss Lukaku or not, only time will tell. Even if nobody at the club hits 25 this year, the acid test is how many we score as a team. That is the way Koeman seems to be heading, a group of players hitting 10-15 rather than one man hitting 40% of all our goals.

We really are bigger than that these days. Good bit of business all round; to break the bank to buy him, 4 years good service and selling him for a huge profit.

Job's a gud'un. Onwards and upwards

All-in-all; yeahm goals but too many "couldn't be arsed" games, totally dodgy penno taker too.

I don't think that Pogba is the best influence on him either.

I can't wait for the new season to start. COYB!!!!

Exciting times are head so let's move on!

In the context of football, 'wishing him the best' is wishing Man Utd the best. Not for me thanks. I wish him and them the worst as I do any other club above us.

I'd really like it if Everton and also Rom both go onto bigger and better things respectively.

That way we won't miss his goals so much and everyone is happy.

Good luck Rom. Thanks for memories.

I'm trying to imagine the past few seasons without his goals. He came in at a time when we really needed a goalscorer, delivered consistently and left us in a way that will stand the club in good stead.

I'm a little bit frustrated that he's chosen to leave at a time when it looks like we're finally serious in our intent to reach the top but that's life. I think we'll end up with a much better team (and squad) as a result of his departure so no bitterness from my part.

If he hadn't constantly been talking about a move to a bigger club for most of his time with us, I'm sure he would have been a huge fan favorite instead of the shrugs he's getting at the moment.

I hope we're berating Sandro or Onyekuru in 4 years time for their demands and dreams of greater wealth, as that would mean they have been a great success for us.

I genuinely think we are in direct competition with Man Utd this season, so I won't be wishing him good luck.

And when you deliver enough of them, 'bigger' teams will inevitably come calling (remember, Utd couldn't fend off Madrid when Ronaldo expressed a desire to go).

His "I want Champions League football" pronouncements after each goal he scored were tiresome, but no doubt his sweaty, fat, trackie-wearing meff agent had a hand in some of that.

Anyway, I wish him no ill will and my only real interest is in those who will be playing for Everton.

It's really starting to look like Koeman has decided on some kind of shit-or-bust policy re signings.

Maybe a case of "No holff-measures, I want a load of new fayshes who'll be MY men."

I just hope there's some kind of..um..plan to all this, because if we don't hit the ground running, we know that many have the patience of ADHD 5 year olds and will become very restless, very quickly.

"THEY'RE ALL SHHHIIITE LAD!! MOSHIRI'S A NOB 'EAD. KOEMAN'S FUCKED THIS CLUB" (Aug 12th, Everton-Stoke, half-time 0-0)

Everyone is understandably very excited by the new signings (and our speed off the mark at getting them in) but without a proper plan, it will be a case of just hoping things 'go well' (which has been our 'plan', seemingly for...ever)

All will be revealed shortly I suppose.

Up the Toffees!!

However – The following stats (just pointed out to me) lifted from a Sky feature may offer a yardstick as to his overall contribution.

I was surprised by this...

Lukaku's running stats

Premier League season Distance covered per 90 mins Rank - outfield players Rank - forwards

2016-17 8.8km 476 (out of 482) Last
2015-16 8.6km 503 (503) Last

But thanks anyway, and bon voyage, and good luck for when you leave Man Utd for Europe.

Spot on. No personal ill will for Rom, he was great for us in my opinion and we have great profit.

But I hope his footballing career goes down the toilet more spectacularly than Juan Veron at Man Utd. Or David Moyes.

Gobshite.

It's actually quite funny, as we became a better "team" when Rooney left, I think we will become a better "team" because the arrogant prick has gone and it coincides with Rooney coming back.

Can't fault his goal return, but as already pointed out on older threads, how many goals were game changers.

The most interesting stat this season was that we would have ended up in the same league position without his goals.

The lad can score for fun at the end of games where we are already winning.

It will be interesting to see how he does, but I will not be wishing him well, as that goes against supporting only Everton.

I hope he fails miserable, just like I hope the other 18 teams forwards fail miserably every season.

It doesn't work like that. If he hadn't played, the course of games would have been different and we don't know what the results would have been.

Subtracting goals as you've done is a purely abstract numerical exercise, and has nothing to do with the real world. It's a common mistake that's been made in a number of past threads, and corrected as above.

We just sold our best player. There's no arguing against that. But unlike when Rooney left, Gravesen left, Barmby left, Furgeson left or any of the others who left for bigger and better things (Stones, Lescott, Arteta ...), this feels a lot less painless.

We've spent the Lukaku money already and we've spent it well. If Moshiri is truly investing in the club, let's see if we can spend £100m more. Then, we can truly forget Romelu and concentrate on our own glory.

We need to start acting like a big club again from the stands, not just inside Finch Farm and the Goodison offices. A big club would be saying, "Sorry Romelu, we got a good offer for you, and we've decided to accept it, we wish you well with your new club and hope you're not too disappointed. Thanks for your service."

So Rom, it makes great business sense for us to sell you. You were not perfect, but we hope you can continue to improve and if you do, maybe we can re-sign you to give you Champions League football next season (when Man Utd miss out). All the best.

The first cut is the deepest, baby.

Pps. If you are reading this Michelle, I miss you.

Absolute tosh. Pure guesswork.,"The most interesting stat this season was that we would have ended up in the same league position without his goals".
Absolute tosh. Pure guesswork.,,,1,13:06:17,,90.201.210.226,ok,10701,07/10/2017 13:06:17,Brent,reader,, 829534,35160,toffeeweb,10/07/2017,Brian Murray,Br.murray5466@yahoo.com,Don't mind in the least Sygi and or giroud or dembele but we really need that top
Marquis number nine with pace and goals whether it be someone we know or a Walsh gem . That will be the difference between 7th and top 3 . Plus a class centre half and not rely on Mori jags or the Taffy . ,Don't mind in the least Sygi and or giroud or dembele but we really need that top
Marquis number nine with pace and goals whether it be someone we know or a Walsh gem . That will be the difference between 7th and top 3 . Plus a class centre half and not rely on Mori jags or the Taffy . ,,,0,13:07:28,,77.102.203.138,probation,17916,07/10/2017 13:07:28,Waltonsfinest,probation,, 829535,35158,toffeeweb,10/07/2017,Brian Murray,Br.murray5466@yahoo.com,Is that why the DNA in sniderlin is he wasn't available for both derbies when we needed him ,Is that why the DNA in sniderlin is he wasn't available for both derbies when we needed him ,,,0,13:10:32,,77.102.203.138,probation,17916,07/10/2017 13:10:32,Waltonsfinest,probation,, 829536,35168,toffeeweb,10/07/2017,Colin Grierson,col_gr@yahoo.com,"Who cares what he says!? Allowing his words to upset you now is like getting upset at someone not thanking you for letting them out of a side street in traffic, or opening a door for you. Who cares?

I am willing to acknowledge his sizable impact on the pitch, but like many others, always wondered if he was giving it his very best effort. When he was in the mood he was fantastic.

His attiude to our fans though has been distanced. The times he failed to go over to the marvellous away contingent says it all to me. I always got the impression that he thought himself better than us, and now he has his wish.

He is no longer our player and he has joined our rivals. Just as I hoped that Moyes, Fellaini, Rodwell, Lescott would fare badly, I also hope that the grass does not prove to be greener in Manchester.

He will score goals, but I hope he doesn't make double figures and I hope they get dumped out of the Champions League. Perhaps we will meet them in the Europa League.

It would be nice to see him at Goodison in the Mickey Mouse Cup.

We had Barkley second top score in the league with 5.

Only the relegated clubs had a worse performing second top goalscorer. And one of them was on loan from us and did it in only a few games.

I struggle to believe that's just because we have terrible attackers, on a par with the 'talent' at Hull, Boro and Sunderland.

I firmly believe that we're better off without Lukaku. With £90M burning a hole in Moshiri's arse pocket too.

Nevertheless, we had a great goalscorer and no doubt he will continue to do so at Man Utd. I do feel most defenders will have his measure... It should be interesting to say the least.

And a big thanks to Jose for insisting on not inserting a buy-out clause when they sold Lukaku to us!

He scored 68 goals in the Premier League over 4 years.

23 of them (1/3rd) were against West Ham, Sunderland, Villa and Bournemouth.

Against the big clubs 4 against Man City, 2 against Arsenal and 1 against Spurs. He did not score against Chelsea or Man Utd. Interesting!

He scored 12 goals over the 4 years against the sides which finished in the top 6 and 13 against sides which we relegated. That means in 12 matches against the top sides, he averaged 1 in 4. Against the bottom teams, it was 1 in 1. Against the rest it was 1 in 2 games. Flat-track bully?

He was on the pitch for 11,884 minutes so averaged a goal every 175 minutes, roughly a goal every 2 games. Over the last 30 years the only player with a better record of goals per minutes on the pitch was Gary "I only played for Leicester and Spurs in England" Lineker who scored every 122 mins (30 goals).

Closest after Lukaku are the Yak 192 mins (26 goals) and Stephen Naismith 190 minutes (18 goals). Surprised at the latter one! There are 4 others with a better record of scoring for minutes on the pitch but they scored only 22 between them (Vellios, McBride, Vaughan and Beckford).

The one statistic I have not got is miles travelled over those 68 games but it is believed to be under 1 km which is slightly more per game than the distance to his stereo system so could explain the upcoming court appearance.

Jimmy Vaughan: 161 for 7 goals

I don't think it would be unreasonable to predict the following kind of levels: Ramirez, Dembele or Giroud 15+, Rooney, Barkley & Sigurdsson 10+, Mirallas, Bolasie & Klaassen 5+, plus a few additional ones from the defenders and other squad players.

Last season, Chelsea scored 85 and Spurs 86. We got 62. If you took my rough calculations above - 2x Strikers = 30, 3x AM = 45, rest of team = 10 and you have similar figures. Combine that with an improved defense and better keeper and things are looking hopeful to pick up the extra points needed.

Of course, this is all hypothetical, but I think it illustrates the importance of having goals from all over, rather than relying primarily on one guy who can have dips in form.

It looks like Sigurdsson and Giroud are looking likely and I would expect one more at centre-back to partner Keane. Chuck in some cover at fullback (left and right) and we have a team that can really challenge.

On Twitter tons of people are saying we're wasting our money like Spurs did after Bale left. I disagree. Spurs bought seven foreigners unproven in the Premier League. We potentially have 5-6 Premier League proven players plus the Ajax captain and a wildcard in Sandro. We've improved in every area of the pitch and I can seeing this group gelling well, especially with a full pre-season to prepare!

My view on Rom is he undoubtedly knows where the net is but doesn't seem to pop up and grab them when you really need them – its the occasion, or the situation rather than the opponent where he doesn't cut it for me. Great players step up whereas he seems to disappear.

Now, if each of them got 1 more next season?

The Club has made a big profit; if we spend it wisely, Rom will soon be forgotten, like former players are.

Why not make it a target to finish above Man Utd? The belief is coming back – it's up to the new players to show it... let's make it happen!

Hilarious.

I've often thought the same thing.

What will the TW masses make of a 1-3-1 start if something like that happens? Pitchforks and torches?

This season might be the most imperative one to exercise patience.

Bye Rom. I think you're mint. But I also think we'll do just fine without you. I wish you luck, and I wish for you the most important human characteristic / "gift" on the planet:

Humility.

You'll need it when we finish above your new Club this season.

You're probably right Dave.

"I don't think it would be unreasonable to predict the following kind of levels: Ramirez, Dembele or Giroud 15+, Rooney, Barkley & Sigurdsson 10+, Mirallas, Bolasie & Klaassen 5+, plus a few additional ones from the defenders and other squad players."

Two of your 15+ fellahs and one of your 10+ fellahs aren't even at the club and of your 5+ pick, one is a long term injury, another new to the league.

Besides that, I suggest you check out the excellent Everton Results site and the historic Appearance and Goals data. You can scroll between the seasons via a left-right link at the top of the data table.

Link

You might be shocked to discover just how extremely rare it is for Everton to have one, let alone two or more players, hitting double figures for league goals.

So for me, your claims, if not 'unreasonable', are unlikely and more akin to extremely wishful thinking.

Maybe there's something out there that shows other strikers of teams in the 7th / 8th positions consistently score better overall and better against the top teams. I honestly don't know.

We all know that he is capable of making a goal out of nothing with brute force and power, but a good percentage of his goals were teed up quite nicely for him. With the improvement in all round quality of players in the current squad, I don't see why we won't continue to create more chances, and quite feasibly, tuck away more goals.

Still, great piece of business.

"Many people talk about missing Lukaku's goals as if he made them all by himself with no support from the rest of the team. This is untrue..."

Hmmm. What is 'untrue' Barry is the claim you make in your statement. In my entire time on TW I have never seen a single poster making the claim you do.

You and others may continue to deny it, but Lukaku's goals will have to be compensated for by other players.

IMO, whilst we have recruited well this summer, the same players who were at the club last season are not going to suddenly step up and become double digit goal scorers. The recruits new to the Premier League are unknowns and nobody can predict with any certainty how they will adapt to the Premier League, let alone boldly state their likely goal return.

For me, now the Lukaku transfer is absolutely confirmed and we have the money in the bank, on the caveat Lukaku's sale has not funded our spending thus far, we now need to get a proven, oven-ready striker in who we can pretty much guarantee a 15-25 goal return each season.

If we recruit such a player, and if 3-4 other players can chip in with considerably better goal returns than has long been the case at Everton, then we can start believing the club can challenge for trophies.

Losing a striker who in his 5 full PL seasons since the age of 19 has returned Premier League goal tallies of 17, 15, 10, 18 and 25 makes that challenge more difficult, not easier.

Man Utd's all-time Premier League top scorer: Rooney (183) 🔴⚪️ Everton's all-time Premier League top scorer: Lukaku (68) 🔵⚪️ Swapsies. 🤝

For the niggly, yeah age blah blah blah

Possibly assault if done "before any move has actually been made" but no evidence of that so an expression of love or maybe just high jinks when the music was loud.

I think 'disrespectful","gobshite" is the more damning assessment.

In the end it boils down to the intention of the poster and how could you interpret this as...

Sorry, I have given myself a headache now.

But not sure they have used my system but I credit Lukaku with bringing in 12 points this year and we were 15 points clear of 8th.

(system is 2 points for scoring winner, 1 for the equaliser so score the 3rd in a 3-1 win and you get nothing. Score the 1st in a 2-1 win and you get 1 point - lousy system but better than nothing).

Lukaku was not a "vital goals" goal scorer. On my system, he had to score 1.6 goals to earn a point. I thought Cottee was the same (which is why I started doing the stats many years ago) but he was 1.09, Graham Sharp 1.12, Timmy Cahill 1.10, Dunc 1.25, Seamus is 0.95 and Rooney was 0.75!! So I am not sure we will miss his goals.

Oh wait, we still have Mirallas.

Wish you all the best at your new club, go and prove to everyone that your one of the best in the world, and continue to score lots of goals against everyone except Everton.

COYB

Wait and see....

If you try to consider the effect on Everton's points, or goals, or indeed anything else, of Lukaku not playing, it's impossible to make any conclusion that's valid for the real world. Any conclusion you do make applies only to an imagined world of abstract number manipulation.

Let's all move on.

Too bad none of us knew anything about how the world actually worked until after 25...

Am I evil if I hope for EFC to get 4th+ next year, and Man Utd to qualify for the Europa League??? ;D

I asked "its not bloody Benteke is it?" and was told "behave yourself" so thankfully not him.

Whoo not half!

I expect we will miss his 'Fight, Determination and Spirit'????

Benteke kind of makes sense as I can't think of anyone else but he will end up at £50m which is ridiculous.

I'm not going to wish him all the best, he has gone to the Mancs after all, but he did the business for us on the pitch and it's probably best he departs EFC on decent terms.

In spite of some of the pathetic comments on here which are a disgrace to Everton FC (eg, Gareth @ 135 above) you did a lot for us in your 4 seasons with us and achieved more for this club than a certain returning Wayne Rooney ever has done or will do.

He had his chance to leave dignified but instead he spoke shit in the press as often as he got the chance.

It was simple for him really, he could simply have said nothing, but when quizzed just said he wouldn't comment to them and his agent would decide his future.

Doing the above he would have left with everyone's approval.

"Early whispers of a BIG incoming transfer!"

Why the heck do we want Crouch? Or did you mean we are signing Fat Ronaldo to go with our other new (old) signing?

I'm prepared to wait and see how pretty much anyone actually performs for us before I make a firm judgement. Can't say I've seen a huge amount of them but from what I have seen I am a little surprised by the apparent excitement the likes of Giroud, Redmond, Bertrand and Smalling have generated during the current transfer window.

I'm not entirely sold on Sigurdsson yet either, as I can't help shake off the feeling that if he was as clinical as some say then he would already be somewhere other than Swansea.

Then again, I can remember how pleasantly surprised I was by the likes of Paul Power and Richard Gough so I am prepared to be open-minded.

Just been trawling through NewsNow for anything new only to get annoyed by talk of us breaking into the top six.

It has to be top four I reckon. I think with the signings we've made and the reported three to come Champions League qualification should be our minimum aim!

We only have an okay standard of wingers in Lennon, Mirallas and Lookman and okay standard of fullbacks with Holgate and Baines with Coleman injured plus we have the added burden of the Europa League.

People are getting carried away and expecting too much when in reality our team was quite average without Lukaku and Barkley last season and these signings are needed just to maintain our top 7 position whilst we rebuild and have the extra European games but it will take time.

Rather unscientifically compared to you, Phil, but I have done my own exercise re the points impact of Rom's goals simply by removing those from all of the results last season and looked to see what the adjusted scores would have been.

He scored in 17 games. In 12 of those it made no difference because we either lost or won by more than his contribution (goals-wise). In two games he earned us a draw from a potential loss so 2 points there. In two games he earned us a win from a draw so 2 points each of those games (total 6 so far), and in just one (Bournemouth) we would have lost but for his contribution (4 goals) adding another 3 points. So I get a total of just 9 extra points off the back of his goals.

I fully understand that this is pure conjecture and a flawed argument because we do not know what the run of the games would have been without those goals, and no allowance for assists or any other impact on the games, but simply based on those results/stats we would have comfortably still been 7th without the points earned from Lukaku's goals.

I hope that going forward into the new season we are going to see more 'crucial' scoring off the back of a renewed urgency that I believe is being introduced to our set up with the mental attitude of our signings. We seem to be bringing in some real fight and competitiveness to our make up this window, and long may it continue with a suitably combative striker. Of those being mentioned I lean towards Dzeko and Giroud, Dembele, Benteke in that order.

But thanks for the impact on your valuation, Rom. We owe you for that at least.

Kim has fleshed out his point (am I allowed to say that or will I risk being called homophobic again? FFS)

As I stated, it was an interesting stat, didn't say I believed it, just that it was interesting. Impossible to prove either way

Of course, all goals are important, but I guess the point I am making is that in 70% of the games in which he scored, because his goals made no difference to the result, the importance or 'significance' of those goals was negligible in my view. In the whole season, in only 5 matches (just 13% of the season total) did his goals affect the result to the benefit of Everton. Those were his more significant goals.

It is in the light of those statistics that I do not believe Rom is so much the indispensable asset that many worry about. That is all I am saying.

I do believe he has the potential to go on and achieve some level of greatness, and tbh I would have liked that to have been with us, but, boy, does he need to improve certain aspects of his game.

The permutations are infinite. For example: Lukaku, due to reputation, pace, field positioning, recent scoring history, other players in the team on the day, tactics and more... occupies the attention of central defenders to a variable extent that limits the attacking involvement of those defenders, such that – they are less likely to score from a corner or set piece. A goal that may affect the points outcome of the game.

From the first step of interpretation after the factual values, it all becomes vague. That's why people have a "Feeling" about which horse will win a race. Some are actually strangely successful at this, but try defining how or why.

If you model it the same by player, I suspect you'll get a similar overall result. There may be blips but over several seasons or a player's career, all roads will lead to Rome.

But you don't need to try and demonstrate what you're saying with an analysis that is flawed. He's not indispensable, yes, but trying go to make conclusions on his significance last season, no.

I did consider a similar exercise for the previous couple of seasons out of interest but haven't been arsed tbh but it was the regular reference to 'where are 25 goals going to come from' when Rom's gone.

And I agree Stan – we will definitely be okay. I think your trying to read more in to my analysis than I intend.

There are phenomena which involve interactions of variables in ways that we can call 'non-linear', such that a very small change in one parameter can effect very large changes in our conclusions relating to these phenomena. Such 'non-linear' systems are inherently unpredictable, not because of the large number of interactions between the variables, but because of the non-linearity itself. In this sense, systems with a small number of variables can be unpredictable and intractable if they are non-linear.

Computing power enables us to do calculations for such systems, even with large numbers of variables, but those calculations may not reflect reality accurately. The most successful applications of modelling of any systems in the real world are where the phenomena are linear, such that small changes in variables do not have the large effect, and unpredictability, mentioned above.

The non-linear nature of some phenomena is why the weather is difficult to predict, and impossible beyond small time scales, even with the Met Office's massive computing power. And why the stock market is largely unpredictable, etc.

So even with infinite computing power, I'd still say it's not feasible to make conclusions on the significance of Lukaku's goals.

The roots of chaos theory being discussed on ToffeeWeb!

You're right there can be no absolute conclusions re. players, but we'll get a whole measure closer in time.

Incidentally and right off topic:

"The non-linear nature of some phenomena is why the weather is difficult to predict, and impossible beyond small time scales, even with the Met Office's massive computing power."

My thoughts come under some people's interpretation of conspiracy theory so I'm not expanding, but have you noticed how weather forecasting is often less accurate as time passes? Goes worse with every system upgrade.

Comparing the many different types of aviation forecasts and the much higher accuracy (noticed for years), somethin' ain't right...

Even with infinite computer power, weather forecasting is inherently unpredictable, uncertain over short time scales, impossible over long time scales. Given this, although the Met Office continually upgrade their computers, the level of 'predictability' of the weather may still not have any improvement commensurate with those upgrades, indeed any improvement at all. Potentially embarrassing if part of their case for upgrade is improved predictability. They appear to handle the problem of predictability by assigning chances to different weather possibilities, thereby hedging their bets.

When it comes to attempting to predict the climate, the same issues apply, only perhaps worse still, because the time scales are longer. This is why I'm sceptical of climate modelling, because of it's inherent unpredictability, and possibly chaotic behaviour.

Regarding the aviation forecasts, don't know much about them, but aren't they on fairly short timescales?

Think of it like throwing a dice. If you want to predict what number will come up on the next roll, you have a 1-in-6 chance of guessing correctly. But if you roll the dice 600 times, you know that numbers 1-6 will come up around 100 times each.

Long-term climate predictions make use of very complex mathematical models and powerful computers, not a simple approach, and subject to large uncertainties due to the type of phenomena mentioned before. If they could rely on simpler methods, maybe they would?

Stan, I have to disagree. It WILL rain on the 25th of June next year.

Weather is more interesting than Romelu Lukaku now.

Stan, yes, short term for flying, and less difficult than long term. Basically daily. Some are local and smaller area forecasts, too. The difference in accuracy though is marked. The system is obviously there to do it, but the quality doesn't always seem to make it through into general forecasts.

I agree about the climate. I'm beyond cool rational discussion about that by now so will just repeat your word, sceptical.

I wonder if Rooney will mediate? Still very quiet on the Barkley front.,"I'm sad that we might not see Ross Barkley play with movement up front with Sandro and Rooney instead of the statue named Lukaku. "

I wonder if Rooney will mediate? Still very quiet on the Barkley front.,,,1,21:46:43,,81.108.253.187,ok,19747,07/11/2017 21:46:43,Overdrive,reader,, 830256,35176,toffeeweb,11/07/2017,Adam Scott,markpierpoint@googlemail.com,"Please don't pay £50m for him. An average player who won't take us to the next level.

For that money you look to bring in a statement signing. A De Bruyne or Sane when city bought them. Young, versatile, going to the top. Not a 28-year-old who is a good Premier Legue player, but really not much more than that.

The long-term implications don't bear thinking about. Being tough sellers is pointless if you haemorrhage money the other end.

Ross did so well playing with movement up front for England didn't he? Ooops! Looks like even Southgate recognizes that it isn't the players around Ross, it is Ross that is the problem.

Koeman has improved Ross Barkley's stamina and positional play tenfold. He has great vision and guile for players running off the ball, eg, Tom Davies, and I have no doubt whatsoever that we could see better things from Ross without a out-and-out lazy, greedy centre-forward.

I don't wish Rom ill, just continuous minor misfortune, but it amazes me that so many on here don't acknowledge how good he is. In 10 years, he'll have proved to have been better than Drogba. He's bang on course to do that already.

I don't wish him I'll but I don't hope for his success. I personally can't see the emperor's suit that everyone else sees. I will applaud him when he comes back but hope he has one of his many days off.

I like to be excited and that was rare with Rom. I got bored of it being the team's fault too. I won't mourn his leaving, I'll celebrate the dawn of a new era instead.

Mourinho sets his teams up to be defensive first, attack second. Lukaku has the touch of a rapist. How on God's Earth is he going to hold the ball up long enough to actually join in with any attacking play?

The simple answer is that after about 5 games it will be apparent that they've bought a dud and then Adios, Mourinho, you miserable git. 😁

What is with ex-reds trying to have a pop at us the way we have went about our business to date (so far positive to me so far)

Just been reading 'Football 365' apparently it's in the Star as well, a column from that former World Class goalkeeper! David James.

Stating that the Koeman and the club have basically lied to our new signings, stating that they only basically come on the promise if Lukaku was staying.

Why don't they just butt out and keep an eye on their own former clubs busy transfer business, NOT!

Sandro will prove a better all-round addition, not sure he will score as many but think his presence will create the space for others to shine, including one Mr Rooney.