We've not seen the best of Naismith!

Steven Naismith has been in and out of the Everton team as he strove to regain his fitness and sharpness having missed much of the previous campaign with a serious knee injury.

“I have played more games and started more games than I thought,” said Naismith.

“The quality in the squad is really high. Coming back from injury and moving to a new club are big things for a footballer and I am happy with the amount I have played.

“I have not played anywhere near my best but hopefully I can keep in good shape over the summer, come back and have a good pre-season and push on.”

Quotes or other material sourced from Liverpool Daily Post



Reader Comments (54)

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer


Jackie Barry
1 Posted 21/05/2013 at 14:53:57
I sincerely hope not and also hope that it is based purely on your ability with the new manager that gets you back into the first team.
James Stewart
2 Posted 21/05/2013 at 15:04:33
Composed finish at Chelsea. He's terrible on the ball though so he should be up front only if used.
Patrick Murphy
3 Posted 21/05/2013 at 15:08:12
I'd much rather he has a good close season and push off. I can't think of any prospective manager who would be able to realign this guy's skills he just ain't got it.

Jim Harrison
4 Posted 21/05/2013 at 15:08:55
Mixed bag of a player. Good goal this weekend, terrible miss just before. Scored against Liverpool (Usually makes a player a hero), good interception against City to start the move for the second goal, that asside offers little more than James Vaughn. Hopefully he can push on, would rather he turned out good and saved us from signing another reserve striker.
Craig Walker
5 Posted 21/05/2013 at 15:18:10
Would like to see him "push on" to another club. One of the worst players I've ever had the misfortune to witness in a blue shirt.
James Martin
6 Posted 21/05/2013 at 15:39:42
He definitely has something, it's clouded in layers of rubbish at the moment but he has that same thing that Jelavic had last year that knack for knowing where to be to score goals. You couldn't teach that to Anichebe if you spent the rest of his career trying. If the new manager would give him a run behind the striker I really think he could turn out to be a decent player for us. We're so short of goals anyway and how many finishes like the one v Chelsea have we seen of late?

Some Rangers fans I know used to rate him higher than Jelavic. Bad touches and bad passing are the signs of a player shorn of confidence and of form. you only have to see the difference in Jelavic over 12 months. I believe there's a player in there and we'd be a lot more fluid a team if we could put a real Number 10 behind the striker rather than a target-man midfielder.

Kevin Day
7 Posted 21/05/2013 at 15:53:56
I hope he does push on and become a good player for us, it's not his fault he was offered a good contract to play here, if he doesn't show improvement come next January then get rid then.
Robin Cannon
8 Posted 21/05/2013 at 16:07:16
He's been almost cringeworthy at times in his inability to master the basic tasks.

Yet he looked decent in pre-season, and in the first few games (especially away at Villa). And, I suppose, he's been played out of position pretty much every time he's had the opportunity to get on the pitch since then.

I thought he might be a decent squad player, but, whatever the excuse, he's been largely awful.

Darren Alexander
9 Posted 21/05/2013 at 16:22:45
Having seen a fair bit of Naismith over the years, I was pleased when we signed him - I considered him to be the pick of the pre-collapse crop of players that Rangers had, perhaps barring McGregor, who I still think we should have gone for to replace/compete with Howard.

While it hasn't worked out as I'd hoped, I still think he can do a job for us - remember, on Sunday that was the first time he'd really been allowed to play as he'd like, and he was nowhere near as bad in that game as many have made out. Jelavic could still be playing right now and not tuck away the one Naismith scored. Anichebe stank the place out, and perhaps if had the attitude and work-rate of Naismith (qualities I though we always admired at Goodison?) then he might actually begin to resemble a footballer.

At this level, players tend to do more or less OK if you give them the right job to do, so I hope any incoming manager that's aware of Naismith's pre-Everton days will know how to use him in that way, and more importantly, be willing to. While not an automatic choice, I think he can still be an important part of the squad.

James Martin
10 Posted 21/05/2013 at 16:36:13
Naismith 13 starts 4 goals. Mirallas 23 starts 6 goals. Anichebe 19 starts 6 goals. Jelavic 26 starts 7 goals

Considering he's been played out of position all season Naismith doesn't have a bad ratio. Almost one in 3 whereas crowd favourite Mirallas is almost one in four as is Jelavic. COnsidering 2 of these goals were against Liverpool and Chelsea I can't understand why he gets the stick he does. Half the time he's not even playing. I hope the new manager gives him a go, we need more goals from somewhere and osmeone who can play behind the striker. Even if we went and bought a 20 goal a season striker (which Moyes did) if his service consists of trying to read Fellaini's flick ons then he's not going to score many. I hope our attacking structure and formaiton is the fist thing the manager fixes when he arrives. Would love to see either Mirallas or Naismith threading balls in for Jelvaic to tap in - functioning like a proper strike force should.

Gavin Ramejkis
11 Posted 21/05/2013 at 17:09:56
Seeing the best of Naegood would be watching his back as he leaves and heads back to the Scottish Pub League
Thomas Jackson
12 Posted 21/05/2013 at 17:06:23
They problem is Naismith is just an old fashioned poacher. That's how he got most of his goals up north. Is the old "greavsie" position still relevant in modern top flight football not with coaches with the same thinking as the new United manager. I believe Naismith is an excellent finisher, he wasn't going to do much finishing charging about like a headless chicken under orders from that double jobber Moyes.
David Greenwood
13 Posted 21/05/2013 at 17:27:48
He has hardly been played in his right position. He has been stuck out in wide midfield. There is something there with him, but he will have to do better and I think he can (and will).

If you stuck Baines at right midfield, or Jags at centre forward, you wouldn't get the best out of them either and they would look pretty hopeless.

Fingers crossed the new manager will be able to get the best out him.

Paul David
14 Posted 21/05/2013 at 17:35:30
Naismith takes up good positions meaning he will score the odd goal but everything else about him is simply awful.
David Greenwood
15 Posted 21/05/2013 at 17:38:04
Meant to add to that last post, Naismith's suffered like all strikers DM had, he doesn't know what to do with them.

Cant wait to see how RVP goes next season...

Steven Telford
16 Posted 21/05/2013 at 17:55:59
We have seen enough of Naismith - more than enough
Harold Matthews
17 Posted 21/05/2013 at 18:05:04
Nothing against the lad. He always puts in a shift but he's a long way from being a top 6 player.

Terry Conroy(Sky) reckons Stoke is too big a job for Neville.

Wayne Smyth
18 Posted 21/05/2013 at 18:04:34
James Martin, yes, 40,000 evertonians are wrong to think highly of Mirallas and less of Naismith, and you are perfectly correct.

However, perhaps if your analysis didn't just include the very limited stats which happen to reinforce your viewpoint, you might understand a bit more why "the crowd" hold the view they do.

As for Anichebe, he works hard and has very good physical attributes such as pace and strength which give us options. Importantly Anichebe has shown massive improvement over the player we were used to witnessing a few seasons ago.

You can still say Anichebe is not good enough, which I'd be inclined to agree with, but you can also see the guy getting a bit of confidence, sorting his head out and really start to bully defenders. He's shown some terrific individual goals in the past, such as one away in europe(Metalist?) and he has upped his work-rate and you can see his game has developed this season. He certainly has the ability if he is in the right frame of mind.

Naismith on the other hand has very few positive characteristics. One of the big problems is that he has absolutely no pace.....and that is a major weakness at the top level, especially for a forward. He's had a decent number of chances this season, counting substitute appearances, and his play has genuinely been poor. He's a hardworking decent professional, but he's not going to improve much and I'd rather see McAleny or someone from the youth setup given a go.

If we're looking for a creative attack minded player to thread through balls for Jelavic or Anichebe, I think we can afford to flog the usless Naismith and actually give some pitch-time to Barkley.

Christopher Kelly
19 Posted 21/05/2013 at 19:17:41
"We've not seen the best of Naismith"...

No, we've seen the worst!

Glad he wants to improve. Everyone should.

Hope he can get his scoring touch back. We need it.

Colin Glassar
20 Posted 21/05/2013 at 19:20:53
I doubt he has a best to show. He's awful.
Mark Frere
21 Posted 21/05/2013 at 19:08:35
Like Wayne points out, Naismith has no redeeming qualities what so ever, he is slow, a shite passer of the ball, can't dribble and he traps the ball further then Osman can shoot, so not that far really.

Its really annoyed me how many chances he's been given this season considering how dire he's been. Then we have players like Oviedo who has shown plenty of promise in his brief cameos and hasn't been given a fair crack at all

Andy Crooks
22 Posted 21/05/2013 at 19:47:34
James Martin # 826, you are absolutely right. Naismith has been played out of position in the usual Moyes way. He has ,like Osman given 100%. In his proper position ,like Osman, he is a decent enough player. When the coach picks a player and he gives his all, giving him abuse is just wrong.

Naismith, behind the Jelavic of last season(he's still there some where and a new coach will find him), will do okay.

Sam Morrison
23 Posted 21/05/2013 at 19:51:50
Think Naismith gets a lot of stick considering he's been played out of position. Remember Jags in centre-mid, Ossie on the wing? Terrible. I actually thought he was ok in the derby.
James Martin
24 Posted 21/05/2013 at 20:06:50
Wayne I didn't suggest he was better than Mirallas, of course he isn't. All I was saying is that his goal ratio given the limited itm ehe has had and the amoutn of it he has psent out of position is not as bad as it oculd be. I believe he has osme redeeming qualities like finishing and the instinct to make the right runs. given a run of game sin his correct position he oculd be a decent option for us. As for your issue about pace Fellaini and Jelavic have played a lot of this seaosn up front and neither of them have any pace, the same as Osman and Gibson. Naismith is probably faster than all these players. In the middle pace doesn't matter as much, out wide it is everything which is why he's failed there.
Mark Frere
25 Posted 21/05/2013 at 20:00:23
Andy Crooks 946

The difference between Osman and Naismith are: Osman can actually do the basics of what a PL footballer should be able to do, such as control the ball and pass it etc. Naismith can't even seem to do the basics and he deserves all the abuse he gets here on TW, because don't forget he's got a good contract here at Everton. Yes we should get behind him when we're in the crowd and he's on the pitch, but we've got every right to slate his dire performances after the match

John Otway
26 Posted 21/05/2013 at 20:13:00
Brilliant Gavin. Naegood. Up there with Gollum and Kenshite.
James Martin
27 Posted 21/05/2013 at 20:17:49
But Mark he sticks it in the net. How many players do we have in our team who can do that with any sort of regularity. Along with Jelavic's v Sunderland and Tottenham his goal against Chelsea is probably the most natural finsih we've seen this season. He obviously has his limitations but surely its better to give him a chance in his proper position and see what his best form looks like rather than just casting him out on the scrap heap after one season playing out of position.
Paul David
28 Posted 21/05/2013 at 20:13:06
I understand that being played out of position hasn't done Naismith any favours but being played out wide isn't responsible for a shit touch, poor passing, crossing, not being able to dribble or only able to pass backwards/sideways. Being played in the middle isn't going to improve his ability.
Ian Allaker
29 Posted 21/05/2013 at 20:22:07
Its unfair to judge him after playing out of position and as a bit part player, he deserves a second season to estabilsh himself and prove himself in his favoured position. Many of our other top players were crap in their first season.
Ian Allaker
30 Posted 21/05/2013 at 20:25:17
Paul, he showed what he is capable of against Chelsea playing in his favoured position. His strength is late runs into the box and finshing, he doesnt have to worry too much about crossing and his touch and passing if he is allowed to react in and around the box.
Ryan Sloan
31 Posted 21/05/2013 at 20:25:09
Give him another shot next season; if he doesn't improve, let him go. He did have a bad injury to be fair, and has a knack of scoring goals. He wasn't a great all round player, but knew where the goal was. I think this fella might be the same, and the goals against Norwich and Chelsea where smart finishes.
Ian Bennett
32 Posted 21/05/2013 at 20:29:06
No he doesn't Ian, he deserves the door. I hope he's a Beckford, signs for nothing and is sold for a couple of million.
Mark Frere
33 Posted 21/05/2013 at 20:23:14
Look James, I can't ever see him been that prolific for us whatever position he plays in. Do you honestly think he will score 20-30 goals a season for us? if he could I would just about tolerate him, but lets be honest he's not going to be our Gary Lineker of 1985-1986 is he?
Andy Crooks
34 Posted 21/05/2013 at 20:31:01
Good point, Mark Frere. Slagging players at the game is totally unproductive. Although I disagree with you this is the place to say what you think
Karl Koo
35 Posted 21/05/2013 at 20:40:47
Naismith and Jelavic netted 56 goals between them the season Rangers won the Scottish Premier League. Both players have said that they're the best strike partners either of them has had. Am I the only one who thinks it's common sense to play them both upfront in a 4-4-2 formation?

I know the Scottish League is like the Championship with less games, but what harm would it do to try? Jelavic and Naismith up front; Pienaar, Barkley, Gibson and Mirallas in midfield and Baines, Distin, Jags and Coleman in the back. I really don't understand why Moyes never tried this?

Kunal Desai
36 Posted 21/05/2013 at 20:50:08
Better of playing with 10 men, or alternatively pick someone from the Goodison crowd - you'd get far better productivity than him.
Wayne Smyth
37 Posted 21/05/2013 at 20:50:04
James, if you can't see that Jelavic and Fellaini have qualities other than pace to provide a threat up front, then I give up. Osman can pass, has quick feet and works his bollocks off. Gibson can pass, tackle, shoot and head the ball. He's not quick, but doesn't need to be given he's a defensive midfielder.

You're also correct that if you ignore all the stats that don't fit with your opinion, then Naismith doesn't actually look a bad player. How about looking at assists or sub appearances when considering what impact a player has had? Or you might also consider how important the goals have been. Mirallas certainly has scored some important goals for us where we were struggling to break down a side and he's scored a goal of individual brilliance, the like of which we've not seen since Kanchelskis.

I've criticised Moyes in the past so many times about playing players in the wrong position, so I know what you're getting at. However in Naismiths case, I really haven't seen enough of a reason to be keeping other players who've not been given a chance out of the squad.

If I'm being honest I'll say that Moyes favouritism and double standards hasn't done Naismith any favours. Had Moyes been rotating Naismith with Oviedo and Barkley, I suspect the fans(including me) would probably be on his back a bit less. Its not his fault, I know, but thats the reality of the situation. Fans know who they want to see on the pitch and seeing the same old shite given chance after chance, while other players are ignored is very frustrating.

Andrew Yates
38 Posted 21/05/2013 at 21:09:08
No Mr Naismith but we have seen your worst and lets face it, you're not up to it.
Tom Bowers
39 Posted 21/05/2013 at 23:34:22
Naismith can do exactly what Osman does. Score once in a blue moon, pass all day 5 yards sideways and get easily moved off the ball.

Did I mention that neither of them can tackle?

Andrew Cutler
40 Posted 21/05/2013 at 23:40:02
Still chuckling at the reference to Naegood...this forum is a delight
Tim Jones
41 Posted 22/05/2013 at 06:19:40
Ian Allaker # 977 Yep you are right Ian he showed what he was like he tapped in a goal set up for him by Big Vic that my nine year old would have scored then ran around a lot accomplishing nothing as usual. How easily pleased you are.
Aiden Jones
43 Posted 22/05/2013 at 10:58:59
Karl - I am guessing Moyes never tried the team you suggest as it would struggle to win a game.
Cory Wright
44 Posted 22/05/2013 at 12:04:03
I am willing to give him until the end of next season. The lad was coming back from a pretty bad ACL injury and you would be hard pressed to name a player that has come back straight away in fantastic form.
Ross Edwards
45 Posted 22/05/2013 at 19:53:44
"The best of Naismith" He is one of the worst players I have ever seen in a Blue shirt. Send him back to Rangers.
Bjørn-Ivar Pedersen
46 Posted 22/05/2013 at 19:54:29
I don't think I have ever said anything bad about Naismith, because as little as we have seen him on pitch, I do also think we have yet so see more coming from that edge....we shall not be to quick to rule him out, we have other players witch need to be swapped before Naismith, and I am thinking the 30 + guys.
And I honestly think when Jelavic recommended him, he have seen a far better player than we have been able to. And folks, remember we didn't pay for him. Nah let the guy try one more season with us.
Mark Frere
47 Posted 22/05/2013 at 20:22:19
Bjorn-Ivar Pedersen 645

We do pay for Naismith though! How much a a year do you think his wages cost us? Don't really give a shit what Jelavic thought about him playing in the Mickey Mouse League, Jelavic is also living on borrowed time in my opinion. Ordinary players can look like world beaters in the SPL, just look at players like Kris Boyd who scored over 30 goals every season for Rangers, then ends up in the championship playing for Midlesbough and can't hit a barn door

Ross Edwards
48 Posted 23/05/2013 at 21:48:55
It's quite ironic isn't it Mark? Jelavic, who can't hit a barn door, recommends us to sign Naismith, who can't even hit a football...
Dave Lynch
49 Posted 23/05/2013 at 22:29:29
The only position I would give him on match day is selling pies. Totally fucking useless.
Steve Ferns
50 Posted 23/05/2013 at 22:33:09
I said it when we signed him, you cannot get a player like him in until you know he has fully recovered from the injury.

The ACL was a career ender. It is not now but look at who has had such an injury for us in recent years:

Jags - was hardly a ballerina so cannot be assessed on his balls skills.
Carsley - ditto - but he did take a long time to get back to his best and could be argued to have lost something.

Arteta - I think I am in the minority here, but the lad was a shadow of the player he was before. All the pace over 10 yards had gone. The trickery and movement he had before was gone. I have not seen him once take on a player and beat him for pace and trickery since. This was the player I used to love as a matador in the dark days who would have the ball in the fullback spot and fend off 4 opposition players with speed and trickery in a tight spot and outrageous slight of foot. He has never shown that since, though to be fair, he lost this part of the game once we got better and he actually had someone to pass to who would not lose the ball.

Yakubu - in my opinion never recovered and should have retired and counted the insurance money.

I'm certain I missed someone out. but in short, the ACL may not be the killer it once was but the best you can hope for is to be able to run and kick the ball but your range of movement is severely impacted.

Mark Frere
51 Posted 23/05/2013 at 22:40:04
Steve, you use 3 very bad examples there, Jags is as good as he's always been, Arteta has gone onto better things and is a regular starter with Arsenal. Now lets remember how many goals Yakubu scored for relegated Blackburn
Steve Ferns
52 Posted 23/05/2013 at 22:47:27
Mark Arteta might be a regular starter and an excellent player still, but do you really think he has been capable of what he had been able to do before?

Yakubu might have scored goals, but most of these were him sniffing out strikers goals, rather than examples of his pace, power and movement like before.

My point is not that these guys were awful post recovery but that they lost their full range of movement and so were incapable of being what they were before. Arteta being a great player was able to adapt and reinvent himself. However, as good as he is now, he is not the Matador that I loved.

Mark Frere
53 Posted 23/05/2013 at 22:51:16
Steve, I liked Arteta in the early days when he was playing out wide, thats when he was most effective I thought, never quite looked as good CM.

Never thought Yakubu was much of a footballer, used to frustrate the hell out of me but he certainly knew where the onion sack was

Ray Roche
54 Posted 23/05/2013 at 22:59:26
Well, seeing as everyone states that Moyes ruins every striker we sign it'll be interesting to see our next manager make a silk purse out of a sows ear.(Naismith) Unless, of course, it wasn't down to Moyes that our strikers were ...are... crap.
Bjørn-Ivar Pedersen
55 Posted 24/05/2013 at 02:01:45
Mark... I know the salary and sign on fee will always be there, that goes for all players no matter what... so this is tile whittling.

And when it comes to Jelavic, he has already proved to us he can do it....just you wait and see what the new manager can make out of him.

I think you will be in for a surprise, as long as we get a sane manager thou, who let him play how he is supposed to play and not abuse him like the 'ol fella.


Add Your Comments

In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.

» Log in now

Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site.


About these ads