Walcott seals Southampton return

I wish him well. Particularly after his gracious comments on Sky Sports News just now.

As for always giving 100%, not sure about that, like Iwobi, he could have put more into a lot of fifty/ fifty tackles, he's gone now and I for one won't look at his time here as one to remember.

£20M fee and another £20M in wages, was there anything outstanding to look back at?

As for pulling out of 50/50s, he always did that. He wasn't signed for his tackling ability!

No heart and generally terrible descision making and passing the final killer ball.

Hopefully lessons learned and EFC move on.

Its always iritating to me when any senior player goes out on loan... we have way too many of them and reminds me of Steve Walsh. Arrggggghhhh

I mentioned on another thread how it was strange to see him on Saturday just kind of standing there on the pitch, because, prior, however good or bad what he offered was, he gave what he had. Unlike Saturday.

Onward and upward. Oh there is no "upward". Sorry, not used to this.

That being said, he was the player I most wanted to see shifted before the deadline. Most of the other so-called deadwood (Sigurdsson, Delph, Iwobi) have shown over the past couple weeks that they still have a role to play in this squad. Walcott, not so much.

Not only did his new club view his transfer value as zero, but they wouldn't even pay the wages he has become accustomed to despite no upfront outlay, so we have to pay a big share. In essence, that makes him a parasite. Good work if you can get it!

Also, he had a decent career at Arsenal winning trophies, plus at the time he was 28 years old, I believe. I can understand why we signed him (and Tosun) in that window.

I don't think he was helped by the manager merry-go-round at Everton during the 2-3 years he was here. Different philosophies, different expectations. I believe he gave his best (except that last game where he stood like a statue to allow the Brighton player a free strike), and he had a few decent goals and assists last season.

I put him the Aaron Lennon category – they were brought in for a job during a tough time, and they did that to the best of their abilities. EFC moves on, he moves on. Thanks, Theo for your contributions.

I don't recall a single game, even during the Allardyce tenure, that he played there. His best seasons at the gunners and saints as well for England were when he played more centrally.

Burst out laughing at that comment.

‘Parasite' is way too harsh. He's entitled to his wages, as obscene as they are. That's the club's fault and they have to live with it.

I'm glad he's left but I don't think we need to be quite so insulting. He's a decent lad by all accounts.

He always seemed a good guy and I hope this move works out for him. If he helps Southampton take some points off those we now see as our rivals then it will be worth is still paying some of his wage!

The interesting thing would be if the loan doesn't work out for him at Southampton and he ends up back at Goodison in January...

If he's signed a contract (which he will have done) for a season-long loan, he can't just return in January if he wants to.

He's pretty articulate guy so prepare to see him making a future as a pundit.

For that I am at least grateful, despite the lack of return since. Neither are bad players but look on the positive side of now having far better options in the squad.

All the best to them both when Tosun is also moved on.

I thought it was a good transfer window: Allan, Doucouré and James to start with, who collectively have transformed Everton, with the promising pro Nkounkou. In the second wave, we have Godfrey and Olsen, positions that needed depth.

The wages bill has been reduced with the exit of Sandro and Walcott and the overall value of the squad is more realistic performance ways. The domestic window has another 12 days to run, so Besic will be probably loaned out.

Bolaise will be an interesting one with Walcott gone and so will a Tosun recovery update since the depth of attacking players is shallow. Both of these players are enthusiastic and at least smile. Bolaise will be as good as Walcott and Everton's present style of play in the final third may suit Tosun better. Gbamin's recovery progress will also be interesting.

I would have liked to see a forward, but Simms may be useful. . .

£27M and over £100k/week for very very little.

I think you've raised a very good point regarding Walcott's preferred position. He impressed me for Arsenal and England when played in a central role for both. When we initially signed him I thought he looked a class above everyone on our books. He looked sharp, with an eye for opening up defences. The players around him at that time did not play to his strengths. Perhaps that was a managerial fault regarding tactics.

Mainly played in wide positions, he had little opportunity to show his prowess as a central striker. I think he was unfortunate in this respect as it may well have contributed to his loss of form. Continual substitutions and crowd whispers will no doubt have affected his confidence further. That said, I admit that his level of consistency diminished and we saw only flashes of his quality as time went by.

A talented intelligent player. An articulate man who has had the decency to praise EFC and its fans on his departure. I wish you well on the south coast Theo. Thank you for your contribution, it's a shame your time at Goodison wasn't as successful as perhaps it could have been.

We were never going to get our money back and his form for us was generally the same as it had been for Arsenal and England, ie, good athlete but ordinary footballer – I can't understand why he played for England so much. However at the time he was a lot better or at least more effective than the players and team Koeman had to put together because all of Koeman's signings were very slow (or injured in the case of Bolasie).

Talking about future pundits, I think Calvert Lewin will make a great pundit if we carves out a bit of an England career – says all the right things, brings ethnic and accent diversity to the TV, good looking bloke, likes to smile

Early days at saints set the template for the rest of his career a blisteringly fast but not technically adept winger he flattered to deceive much to the chagrin of Arsene Wenger.

He is like Raheem Sterling in wrestling with rather than controlling the ball hence the bewildering misplaced crosses and sitters missed

Speed over technique is why we have hardly any British players of any standard anymore.

Whoever played full-back, with Aaron in front of him, he knew he would be well covered when he went forward, with Lennon dropping back to cover for him, a real team player. That's without mentioning the vast difference in transfer fees and wages they cost and were on: A very huge difference.

Walcott was a panic buy and Arsenal saw us coming a mile off. They raked in a massive fee and dumped an overpaid player on us they were glad to get off the books. (I hope Iwobi doesn't go the same way.)

I don't blame Walcott – we were the stupid ones to offer that sort of money in the first place. Well, actually, we were the stupid ones who appointed Allardyce in the first place.

Still cannot believe it was only 2018 that Allardyce was in our dugout. Seems like a distant nightmare that you're not quite sure was real or not.

It would have been better to have kept Aaron Lennon than sign Walcott.

If that's the case, good for him.

But anyone who watched or followed the Premier League knew he was another pretender. He was inconsistent and didn't seem to improve as a player since being a promising teenager.

Sadly another potentially top player that didn't want to or couldn't adapt or develop his game.

I'm sure in the future he'll score against us though!

When we signed Walcott, he was a good performer for us; he energised the team between January and May 2018 when we were in a very dark period under Allardyce following the Koeman aftermath.

Theo did start the 2018-19 season on fire too if I remember well, two goals in the first three matches but midway through the season the fella just seemed to lose his way and I think he was struggling with a death in the family at some point, perhaps that just made him revaluate the important things in life.

What I will say is basically it's a good move for Walcott now at this stage of his career, 31 and he's been on the scene 14 years. His best days are behind him so I really hope he does enough down there to earn the permanent move now.

Walcott scored two goals on his debut for us and along with Tosun ensured we stayed out of trouble for the rest of that season. Indeed we finished 8th after at one stage looking destined for a relegation battle.

We as supporters need to be more classy when players leave or we will end up like the RS always complaining when it doesn't go our way.

Thanks, Theo, and the best of luck on your home coming.

I think 'parasite' is a fair description. Something that lives off another entity in order to survive. That is what is happening here.

That is not to say Walcott is somehow evil, he is entitled to see out his contract if he so wishes, or indeed leave on the sort of funded deal he has done. After all, it was our stupidity and we still see it as better than the alternative.

It just stuck in the craw saying how wonderful it would be back at Southhampton when the latter self evidently do not value Walcott at anything close to the worth he has assumed.

That fizzled out. Koeman, Silva, Ferguson and Ancelotti since. Conveyor belt of players. England place gone.

Playing regularly for over 15 years, you can see he's going through the motions now. I blame the club as much as him. He did his bit within his footballing limitations.

The Best of Theo Walcott

Well, somebody at least has the balls to write an accurate piece calling a spade a spade (or are we not allowed to say that any more???): Step forward, James Daniels.