Lukaku nominated for PFA player of the year awards

Do I think that Romelu Lukaku will win either of these awards? Absolutely not.

These are the same people who continually indeed relentlessly, attempt to sell him and Barkley along. The same people who pay more attention to their perceived faults and draw attention to them at every turn. Frequently these are ex-players, who themselves had glaring shortcomings in their own play, though conveniently they featured for the closed society of favoured clubs.

Their logic, if it even is logic, is that playing amongst better players makes you a better player. Yet day after day they seek to persuade that these talents need to move. How then is our fine club expected to accumulate sufficient talent to break through this perceived cycle of mediocrity?

It is simply because telling the same old lies for the money gets easier and easier. They keep persuading us to admire the emperor's new robes because it pays well.

I still firmly believe that he will end the season as the top scorer in the Premier League. Had he been playing for any of the media playthings, then he could conceivably have won both these awards.

“No [I don't know where Lukaku wants to go]. Maybe I wait for the call from Drogba to tell me where he wants to go.”

Rip the Chelski bastards off – nothing less than £80 million!

Now he's even got Drogba gobbing off. Please go; thanks for the memories.

Kante will get the Player of the Season, Rom's best chance is Young Player of the Season.

Would that be because he is keen on Champions League football?

According to Ronald Koeman today, Ross Barkley has mentioned to him that he wants Champions League football too – and Koeman replied "So do I!"

The available MotD2 features a picture of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and two Sunderland defenders. Zlatan appears to be being fouled.
The blurb says, "Jason Mohammed presents highlights of Sunderland v Manchester United and Everton v Leicester City, as well as goals from Saturday's games".

This, despite the fact that the main game was the six goalfest at Goodison Park and not the three-nil rollover at an emptying Stadium of Light.

Now, just consider this alternative:
Picture of 18 year old Tom Davies wheeling away having just scored the joint fastest goal this season.

An alternative image could have been EPL top scorer arms outstretched having buried his second of the match.

Blurb instead reads "Jason Mohammed presents highlights of resurgent Champions Leicester City as they visit Everton plus Sunderland v Manchester United as well as the goals from Saturday's games".

This perfectly illustrates how the truth is both manipulated and eroded.

No Liverpool players included. How does that fit in with the usual Liverpool bias argument? Aren't these awards voted for by the players?

Pickford and Lukaku are nominated from outside what's perceived to be the favoured clubs. Of course Spurs weren't a favoured club a few years ago but now, somehow, are.

Alexander, you should take a look at what's happening in Syria if you want to see media manipulation.

But this is an Evertonians' website, so that's why I was talking about Everton.

Alexander was interested in media manipulation, I suggested he look at the situation in Syria, party tongue in cheek.

Steady Brian.

http://metro.co.uk/2017/04/13/ronald-koeman-gives-chelsea-major-hope-in-romelu-lukaku-transfer-6573338/#ixzz4e97kFQDS

An occasional wakeup does us good.
No problem Shane.

And, via a very good mate. Big Rom is off. Won't say why, but I completely believe him.

Rom will win the golden boot though.

And then he's off. After what Koeman said in his press conference, it's obvious he's not going to sign/stay, so let his price inflate even further when he reaches the 30 goal mark for the season, coupled with these nominations – with the stupid prices of players these days we can get £80 mil for this lad.

I don't want him to go, and not sure we could replace him adequately, but that's todays football.

And despite the cry-arsing by Alexander above that Rom won't win either award, he doesn't deserve too as there's been better players in the Premier League this season, it's as simple as that.

It's nothing to do with the usual football fan paranoia about a so-called 'media bias'.

Should the board/management decide to keep him for another season then he'll be going nowhere. It's NOT just up to him!

Gana must have a strong shout...

I personally think that might be a chance worth taking. In fact Mr Moshiri might well decide to fully keep him to his contract on the premise that he's not gonna intentionally play bad as his stock would drop. Moshiri might see having the leagues top scorer for another two seasons worth the 㿲-80m being bandied about.

I know it's not likely but I'd love to see the club make a stand and say "You signed a contract; we'd like you to honour it."

PS-Tony there are some that think he's played with the mobility of Buster Bloodvessel (I think he's called) a few times already this season. :-)

Now I thought he was not supposed to be young any longer?

It's all become tantamount to a fuckin pregnancy now.

I'd say becoming season top scorer was one of his career goals and now he's so close to achieving that I'd say he thinks he's ready to play for his first love, Chelsea.

I'd imagine he sees himself being top scorer in the Champions League for next few seasons

And given what Ronald has already said about Ross being sold unless he signs, I suspect Lukaku will be gone.

He might have stayed had we made Champions League, but we won't. It sounds like, from comments he made a while back, that he felt we would have had a chance for Champions League had we signed certain players in January. You probably recall him saying that he knew certain parties could have been signed.

Three things.

It's very often impossible to convey lightheartedness through text alone so it was less than obvious that you were joking.
Secondly, the Syria situation isn't exactly a well of subject matter for jokes so you can surely understand anyone not realising you were "joking".

Thirdly. Bearing in mind my first two points, which I think have merit, I merely suggested we shouldn't politicise ToffeeWeb, so no need for "steady" thanks. ;-)

Should Everton play hardball? In a way, yes, until we get a crazy offer, then sell and rebuild.

If there is something as a thing called Karma, we would nail a top 4 spot next season, we nailed top 4 without Rooney, we won the league without Lineker, we will do so again with or without Lukaku.

Maybe one day, Lukaku will understand what Everton is all about and what it means to the fans.

If you want to stay, sign the contract, if not follow your dream and watch your head going through the double gates at Goodison, but you will never ever be bigger than Everton Football Club.

He took his bat and ball home completely on the field in Mad Martinez's last few weeks so no reason to say it won't happen again.

Kante and Alli will win but Rom has had an excellent season.

I personally don't think penalties should count, and Kane has at least 4 while, to my knowledge, Rom hasn't scored a single one. Latch never took pens up until the '30 goal' game as he didn't believe they were a striker's job.

I also believe Lukaku will be allowed to leave this summer, and hope he lives to regret it: he didn't fit in at Champions League Chelsea, but has shone for WBA and Everton, sides who play a different way to the elite rich clubs of Europe.

I just hope that, when we're sitting in a packed 60,000 capacity state of the art stadium on the banks of the world famous Mersey watching Athletico Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern etc being put to the sword by our young new mobile attack, and he's on the bench at the Bridge because they don't play to his style, he will be wishing he'd stayed with the future Champions of Europe... (Well, you never know!)

If he researched football history he would find out Everton have always been a bigger club than fucking Chelsea until that Russian crook took over them and we had a clown in charge for the last 20 plus years, sod him.

"Yeh, come on lads let's not politicize ToffeeWeb. It's an Everton fansite."

Said the man who recently in a thread about a (rumoured) summer trip to Tanzania by Everton (Link) got very sniffy and political.

I know it's not likely but I'd love to see the club make a stand and say "You signed a contract, we'd like you to honour it."

The last person we had that honoured his contract got a right slagging for it.

I was gutted when Lineker left, he never asked for a move, the club sold Lineker. The difference with Lukaku is we gave him the chance and took the gamble, we gave him first team football, in return we have had goals a plenty and his monthly rant about wanting a move.

If he signs great, if not take the money this Summer, then onwards and upwards for Everton.

The former isn't any better than Gana (objectively; and I'm not talking about the numbers only) but just plays for league leaders' team stacked with players 2.5x better than Everton's. He's more exposed to the public then and because of that gets more plaudits. It's also worth noting he's on the same level as two seasons ago, while playing for Caen in Ligue 1.

Alli meanwhile has played most of the season as a second striker and not a midfielder, hence the relatively high number of goals he's scored.

That said, it's been a strikers award previously so Rom will be a decent chance.

We as Everton fans quite often think that the media is biased against us. I don't believe this to be true. Yes sky favour past Liverpool and Man Utd players as pundits, but let's be honest, there aren't that many ex-Everton players from the premier league era that could be classed as major footballing personalities.

Love him or hate him, Lukaku has raised the profile of Everton since he has been with us. We are a re-emerging force and we should embrace this. Our time will come!

I grew up in a time where Everton consistently battled relegation, Moyes took us up a notch, but we are in the best position as a club that I can ever really remember.

Us fans are as guilty as anyone in keeping the underdog mentality as we always feel that we are given a rough deal! Let's just be grateful that we are the team on the biggest uphill curve right now! Let's get rid of the negative thoughts against our amazing club.

That he is the only Everton player on either list speaks volumes for how well he has done despite the limitations of the rest of the players and the management. That some are still slagging him off speaks volumes of the limitations of some fans.

I honestly believe this is the peak of his career, if he leaves this summer. His game isn't good enough (yet) to progress; his first touch is terrible and he's in and out of games like a cuckoo is in a clock.

If we had a backup striker that we had any confidence in, we should have dropped Rom on more than one occasion this season, the Leicester game being one of them, in my opinion.

Great player but he's not a player that's going to take us to silverware; best to move him on and take the money.

No sorry, I have been reading ToffeeWeb to much.

Maybe I should look at what the other professionals are saying about the lad. You know the ones that face him week in and week out. But what do they know????

He's not perfect but guess what? No footballer/person is. He's been excellent this season for the most part and will be very, very hard to replace when he leaves this Summer. He guarantees goals and assists and that is gold dust. And his best years are ahead of him.

Lukaku is in his prime and definitely capable of being the next Drogba. I would hate him going to a Premier League competitor, wouldn't mind so much if it were PSG, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, or Juventus. But I don't see any of them coming in for Lukak– it will most likely be either Chelsea or Man Utd.

If spent wisely, the money from this sale could definitely take us up to the next level.

"Not a penny less than £80 million for Lukaku – they are talking £85 million for Griezman who is both older than Lukaku and never played in the Premier League before."

I'm sorry, but what a crappy argument that is. You could as well say then that "Lukaku never played in the Champions League before" (which is as important for your Chelsea or Man City).

Besides, Griezmann plays in a defensive team and still manages to clock up amazing numbers, his first touch and link-up play is brilliant and his positioning / understanding of attacking play right there among the best in the world's game.

The bidding will start at 㿨m, and the dirty tricks will begin. I expect him to leave for 㿲m, or no more than 㿷m. And then it's likely to be a staggered deal on the never never: 㾶m if he scores a hat-trick in the Champions League Final, etc.

Secondly, he constantly talks about being ready to step up to Champions League but rarely delivers on the big stage, well not for us anyway. It's all very well scoring for fun against the lesser teams but if you can't do it in big games against the likes of the so called top 6 then what makes you think he can do it against the likes of Madrid or Barca etc?

He is a decent player who has scored a lot of goals but his supporters continually neglect to address his failings in big games. He is rarely a big game player.

When the chips are down teams need to look to their supposed better players to inspire and show what makes them special players. Lukaku for most part just doesn't look interested when things aren't going well. He gesticulates lots and blames others for his inability to show initiative and try and drag defenders away and give them a hard time.

No-one is irreplaceable. If he goes then goals will be spread around more. He will never be a hero to some, myself included due to his Billy Big Bollocks attitude, wanting away all the time and failing to walk the walk after talking himself up constantly. I'm sick and tired of it all. If he wants to go then go and we shall find players who actually want to play for Everton, who are not just using us as a stepping stone.

It would be great if Lukaku pledged his undivided loyalty to us for five years, but I wouldn't believe him. I'd rather he did his job, which is to score goals. He does it regularly. I look on ToffeeWeb at the army of statisticians bending over backwards to find ways of proving he's rubbish, then I pick up the paper for the last few weeks and see the words 'top scorer'. I see the BBC table showing he scores more against the 'big teams' than Kane, Aguero, Sanchez & Ibhrahimovic.

Lukaku has plenty to learn about the game; he needs to apply himself more, needs to develop more nous on the pitch. I think he needs to sort his head out so he stays on his game regardless of what's going on. So please don't tell me I'm blind to his faults.

In the last god knows how many years, I've seen lots of nice earnest young men play up front for us, working hard, running the channels, telling us it's a privilege to play for Everton, etc. I've seen two proper strikers; Yakubu and Lukaku. Both with big egos, both slagged off for being 'lazy', both score goals for fun.

I know who I'd rather have up front.

Sorry to say, but I think Lukaku will leave and that will not aid our ambitions for next season. Barkley will stay; I can't see him wanting to go elsewhere.

I'd say he's 80% stay, 20% go.

The summer will tell us whether we are going all-out for a top 4 spot re Mr Moshiri, or are happy still to chug along in 7th.

I look at this purely as a fan, I guess we have that luxury or curse depending on your viewpoint that we demand loyalty and maximum effort whenever you put on that blue shirt. Not exactly rational but there you go.

I don't think he's rubbish and I don't think I've portrayed him as rubbish. He's obviously a gifted goalscorer but as you say, has a lot to learn. He doesn't have to be a workhorse but in these big games he does have to actually do something other than complain and remain static.

If you look at say Costa and Drogba before him, players pretty similar to Lukaku's playing style, both of those were/are horrible to play against. Defences never got a minutes peace. Even when not scoring they hassled the defence, dragging players out of position, closing down and just generally getting involved.

We may not like them but supporters of the Chavs will say they love them. Bit like Suarez really, horrible player but adored by all four of the clubs hes played for.

Now that can't be said of Lukaku. He is a good player but has a lot of work to do before he can put himself in the bracket on those players. It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't continually big himself up all the time and fail to deliver when it really matters.

You're right in that Lukaku and the yak were probably the best strikers we've had for 20 years but, for all their natural goalscoring exploits, give me Sharpie any day of the week. He was a handful and never gave defenders an easy ride, unlike Lukaku. For the amount of goals he's scored, he should be a legend; the fact that he's not tells its own story.

You're spot on about Sharp. I remember early on wondering what the heck we'd bought, but he blossomed into a fabulous, under-rated striker.

If Rom was as good as Sharp, what would he be worth?

In today's world of vastly inflated prices, where defenders are being touted at 㿣m, then 𧴜m seems reasonable for the Premier League's top scorer.

But increasingly I think he cannot do it. The positivity of his strength and size may mean he cannot work like others, harassing defenders all game. I have spotted him huffing and puffing when he tries.

However the other voice in my head says he is too idle to do that and knows it is goals and not team play that makes headlines.

So, to sum up. I have no idea!