Tosun bids Everton farewell

I'm welling up here.

Oh- it's only hay fever.

A signing that seemed to come a little left field at the time, which, being brutal, has never worked out for us. Good luck for the future Cenk

“had a great four years as a member of your family with ups and downs and now unfortunately it is time to say goodbye”

What exactly were The Ups? The only one I can think of would be last Thursday………….so that's “An Up!

Too many “Downs” to list though!

Kenwright will know the good moments for Cenk Tosun, no doubt about it. Farewell Cenk, live long and prosper.

Paul, my hay-fever was playing havoc with my eyes yesterday and then on the way back to my seat after half time I walked straight into the output of a freshly lit blue flare. I honestly missed the first 10 minutes.

Well, I didn't realise he was still at the club. I never like to be too harsh on a player who has suffered a serious injury and the club has obviously touched him. Shame it didn't work out.

He unfortunately wasn't good enough, or not suited to the Premier League – especially at a club that has been so poor and without stability.

He's an old-fashioned goalscorer and I'm sure, if he stays fit, he will continue to enjoy scoring.

Cenk Tosun and Theo Walcott… thanks, Allardyce – the epitome of why we are where we are.

#WageThief

Must be only industry in the world where you can not bother turning up and delivering, and still be paid your full wedge.

Best of luck, squire.

Tosun is in a long list of players who have contributed little or nothing to Everton even when fully fit.

Sad to say he, like the rest, are just not good enough for the demands of the Premier League and there are still a few on the books who should be sent packing.

I think of all the ''better '' Premier League clubs, Everton, over the last 15 years have signed more ''useless articles'' than any other and that culminated in the near disaster we have had this past season.

It is time for a real big shake-up and it's anybody's guess how that will evolve but – if it doesn't happen – then next season will be just as poor.

Good bye and good luck, Cenk. Thanks for the good times — like the days your loans to Crystal Palace and Besiktas were announced. And today!

Just a shame we didn't organise a guard of honour for him a la Origi.

His stats are a lot more impressive than I remember — I would have guessed at 15 or 20 appearances total — and 11 goals for this rabble of ours is not to be sneezed at.

But I have no compunction about calling him out as being one of the most ill-suited acquisitions over this dreadful recruitment period. Yet our beloved club custodians forked out more than £20M for someone who really was "Championship at best".

Just one of so many names in an embarrassment of dross.

Not his fault but high up there on the list of idiotic signings over the last 5 years or so.

£21m and £60k/week salary so has cost the club around £34m in all.

Just amazing the amount of money wasted in this game, not just by Everton.

Thanks Big Sam, your gifts of Tosun and Walcott cost the club around £75m for pretty much sweet FA.

Poor man's Gareth Bale at Madrid. Happy to be a bench warmer and collects the wages!

Thank you, Fat Sam!!

Another scouting masterclass. He was prolific in the Turkish league, just like Oumar Niasse won top scorer and was Russian player of the season. Our scouts thought that would easily translate to the Premier League, and worth the £40M combined fees and £40M wage contracts. I just hope the scouts who sourced and studied them are long gone.

I think he has tried, been unlucky with injury, but ultimately not really been good enough. Best of luck to Cenk for the future.

Another average player we have financially set up for life.

Walcott and Tosun were rumoured to be Moshiri signings. Walcott as he was a favourite at Arsenal and Tosun after TV showed two goals he scored in a Champions League game.

Michael (13),

We spent £20M to get him here, then a signing-on fee plus £10M in wages based on £50,000 per week – wages all paid for by Mr Moshiri on the advice of Allardyce and Walsh.

Then there was the Walcott signing which maybe cost more but we squeezed a bit more playing time out of Theo, again all paid for by Mr Moshiri who got rinsed and turned over while the Chairman watched all this and let his ‘friend' be taken to the cleaners.

Meanwhile, he was bringing his own friends onto the board to be paid for backing their chairman up – while Mr Moshiri is again putting his hands into his pockets and paying them!!

He can retire happily now and enjoy his millions, yet more cash down the drain.

Better use of the money would have included dropping it down a drain, investing in bitcoin or putting it as an all-in bet on the RS winning the quad. Good riddance.

To bẹ frank, our scouting system is rather poor. We wasted millions on Cenk Tosun and his like. Such mistakes should never happen. Tosun, Niasse, Rondon, Foru Niamee (Argentine) etc are wasted effort.
If we can't attract better players, let's look inward to our U-23 players, better for us.

Gordon is a better example, he's in the mould of Phil Foden.

I think I have spoken.

Good day, your fellow Blue from Nigeria.

Odd to think he's been with us nearly 5 years. I can't remember him playing and yet Alan Ball was only with us 5 years too and I can still see him playing if I close my eyes. What a total waste of money Tosun has been, whereas.

We criticise the scouting system but the fact is most of our duds were bought by newly employed managers within days of getting the job. Even Lampard did it with the Van de Beek loan and Dele Alli signing. No scouting required, apparently.

Every time we took on a new manager, they had a list of players they wanted. There was almost no consideration for how they would fit into the current squad at the time. So most of them ended up as expensive misfits.

We currently have five centre-backs yet we are reportedly looking at Tarkowski. Do we need another centre-back, even on a free?

Frank and his staff need to make a proper assessment of the squad we have. Get those players such as Tosun, Delph, Sigurdsson, Gomes, etc out of the club. Then get the players on loan back and see if any of them are ready for the first team.

Sell any player who isn't committed to the cause. Then decide where we need strengthening. No more unscouted buys.

Sorry to say but this just sums how bad our buys have been. Here for the duration of his contract and we get nothing back for him and got very little from him during the time he was here.

Just another example of why we are in the shitty position we are. If things don't change, then expect more of the same. I'm not convinced they will change under the same leadership in the boardroom.

What a waste of 4½ years. His and ours. Mind you, he got the better end of the deal to the tune of £60,000 a week.

Just think… buying Seamus cost us a mere seven days of Tosun.

Mark (11) cruel but funny.

Without being horrible to him, as it wasn't his fault and he can't be blamed for sitting there and collecting the money, but I would be happy if we never signed a player from the Turkish league ever again. Why we didn't go to the Championship, Scotland even, for a striker over the Turkish league is beyond me.

He has been unlucky with injuries; however, let's have it right, he's become a set-for-life multi-millionaire through sitting on our bench, sad really. His best days are now past him and, wherever he ends up, he will probably be unfit and not interested.

Thanks for your service, Cenk, lasted a few too many years longer than it should have, though.

Terrible signing. One of far too many. Must do much better this summer.

OK - the full Tosun PL stats

2017-18 - 12 starts and 2 from the Subs bench. 991 minutes on the pitch. 5 goals (1 every 198 minutes).
2018-19 - 10 starts and 15 from the Subs bench. 1050 minutes on the pitch. 3 goals (1 every 350 minutes).
2019-20 - 2 starts and 3 from the Subs bench. 290 minutes on the pitch. 1 goals (1 every 290 minutes).
2020-21 - 0 starts and 4 from the Subs bench. 43 minutes on the pitch. 0 goals
2021-22 - 0 starts and 1 from the Subs bench. 6 minutes on the pitch. 0 goals

Add it all together 24 starts, 25 sub appearances, 2380 minutes on the pitch and 9 goals (= 1 every 264 minutes). That rate of goals per minutes puts him on par with Ferguson, Rideout, Radzinzki and Richarlison.

But he was put out to grass after Allardyce left and Marco Silva brought in Richarlison. He was never a Calvert-Lewin type target man and needed to be played off such a player and Richarlison was better at doing that job.

Usual stuff on here – but how many of you, if given a 5-year fixed-term contract job on a huge salary and the contract is stopped, would then say, "Yeah, okay, rip up the contract. You, Mr Employer, keep your money and I will find a job elsewhere"? Please form an orderly queue.

Frustration… but really it is probably mixed with a bit of envy.

A good and informative post from P(K)R above.

Cenk did okay for us and broadly speaking was playing in some relatively poor sides in his time at Everton, never easy for a striker.

The lad could finish but clearly was not best suited to the Premier League or playing as a lone striker which he often was. Boils down to another example of poor and ill-judged recruitment on the part of the club.

Unless things improve in this regard over the Summer, next season will be another very difficult and unpleasant one.

Best wishes to Cenk for the remainder of his career, he never bad-mouthed the club at any point despite his lack of game time at Everton.

Got fed up of him rejecting moves and claiming he would fight for a place at Everton. My 83 year old mum would have offered more competition for a place up front.

Seemed a nice bloke but symptomatic of the wastefulness at Everton down the years.

That's the first time Tosun has made me smile in years! English football was just too quick for him, especially because most strikers now have to play up front by themselves.

Tosun couldn't manage this, but he's managed to stay at Everton until his contract finally finished, and one of the worst players I've ever seen in a blue shirt, has made an absolute fortune because of our absolutely disgraceful recruitment policy.

The bigger the blagger, the more they go on about "the Everton family"...

His bank manager is now a life long blue.

He wasn't a very good player and was clearly not suited to the Premier League but it's not his fault he was signed for the money that was paid for him and not his fault he was given a 5 year contract.

Why on earth shouldn't he see it out and get the money that he was contractually entitled to? The contract was mutual and he turned up to work every day, fulfilled his side of the bargain but he wasn't picked.

However, he could often be seen on the bench when not picked giving encouragement and support to his colleagues. No hard feelings from me, just good luck to the guy.

If I were a player in a situation where I was getting little to absolutely no game time, shockingly, I'd want to actually play.

Unlike so many who sit and collect.

For me, it's like some tangetial form of sloth. Get off your ass and go somewhere where you'll actually play.

I had really high hopes for Cenk when he signed. History will view him as a really well paid carthorse.

And he's the poster boy for why we are where we are now - poor recruitment, way too much money spent with zero ROI, crippling our future on long contracts and wages that were too high.

One down and – by my estimation – 25 to go!

Agree# 38. Delph, Davies, Holgate, Townsend, Rondon are at best Championship players.

Gomes, Allan and Coleman can go.

Doucoure, Gray and Alli. That's up to Lampard.

I would Keep, Pickford, Richarlison, Mykolenko, Patterson, Michael Keane, Patterson, Gordon, Iwobi, Mina and Calvert-Lewin.

Rebuild.

Allardyce - Cenk Tosun = Brown Paper Envelope

Yeah, Tosun was an awful buy -- but certainly not as awful a player as is being portrayed here.

Tosun scored a goal every 247 minutes for us. That's not terrible by any means. Roughly comparable to Richarlison (234). Way, WAY better than Rondon (323 in his Prem career)... and better than more fondly remembered Everton strikers like Andy Johnson, Steven Naismith and Victor Anichebe.

Definitely too slow, but nice technique in front of goal and a quick shot.

I'm just saying the guy doesn't completely suck, okay?

Mal #39, I never thought I'd ever say this, but Holgate may have shown in the last five games that he's capable of being a Prem player. Could be another Lampard miracle like he performed on Iwobi. And I think you're flat wrong about Townsend -- he scored our three most spectacular goals of the year. That's talent we need.

He's got great memories to keep him warm... and £8M in cash.

I've just remembered an Up's for Cenk. 17 March 2018, Stoke City away. We won 2-1 and he scored both, with the winning goal being a diving header. I think they were the first goals he scored for us.

At the time, I thought he looked the real thing, but sadly it was not to be.

It was about time... so much deadwood in this team!

Just another example of our 6 year transfer policy.

Mike Gaynes.

Great comment agree with every word.

Mike# 39. Holgate did show some spirit in the last six or seven games. I am prepared to give those a chance who improve and will fight for our cause. So, if we keep Holgate and he plays well, so be it. I agree with your sentiments re Iwobi who went from woeful to wonderful with his efforts.

Like all other fans, I just want to see a clear out, start afresh and trust Lampard and his staff to get it right……at last. Where other managers and Brands have failed us.

I also don't want the last fixture in our list to be Arsenal away, because that keeps repeating itself in the fixture list and we always get stuffed.

Such a poor use of stats, Mike @41. Very disapointing.

He could score the odd goal and he did that well enough... but nowhere near often enough when played, and he was slow and lumbering, which is why he wasn't played in the fast-paced Premier League – a contributing factor which massively skewed the very stats you are citing in his favour.

Regardless, there's always this shocking admission from the man himself:

He hardly touched the ball before being withdrawn after the hour mark, as Everton crumbled. "After 60 or 70 minutes, I was nearly dead," Tosun recalled some time later. "I was not fit enough. The tempo and speed of the Premier League is really tough and the game never stops but I wanted to give everything."

All the best?? Seriously! Just his Everton contract made him a multi millionaire. Why does he need the best wishes of supporters who have been ritually taken to the cleaners by agents and under performing bums such as the likes of him?

I would think better of him if he'd made a large donation to a local hospital.

He was a symptom not the disease.

Sometimes circumstances conspire against you in your career and a footballer's career is very short: one wrong decision or one bad injury and a promising career can be derailed. I am not saying Tosun was ever a world beater but, with different circumstances at the club, or with better luck, he might have been a decent Premier League striker.

I remember that, during the initial days of his loan at Crystal Palace, there was talk that the loan could be made permanent due to some eye-catching displays. But to his and Everton's bad luck, he suffered that terrible injury which meant that his career stalled and we couldn't cash in and generate some desperately needed funds.

He always struck me as a team man. The one jarring note was when he took a political stand in support of the Turkish president, who is not my favourite person.

Good luck to Cenk for the rest of his career.

I don't believe we can attach much blame to the player here... there's nothing to indicate he didn't train well or was a disruptive influence on the group.

He wasn't good enough for the Premier League and it's completely the fault of the combination of scouts, manager and owner who decided he was worth £20-odd million plus 4½ years of high wages.

Other teams buy poorly from time to time as well, but they manage to recognise their mistakes, offload the poorer players, recoup some money, and move on to a better purchase.

Not Everton... we allow poor players to see out their contracts in full while sitting on a bench, make maximum losses, and repeat the whole scenario on the next poorly scouted panic buy.

All the best, Cenk. I believe you tried your best, which happened to be not good enough. I have no envy because of your salary and offer no spite towards you because of it. When offered the salary, who wouldn't have taken it?

I'll reserve my criticism for whoever decided to sign him, not for the man himself.

All the best.

Mike 42.

Holgate and most of the defence are not good enough. We conceded 10 goals in the last three games, 66 goals conceded this season in the Premier League. A couple of good performance does not make him any better than he is, a Championship defender.

If we have to rely on the majority of this squad next season, then God help us.

I think we are all getting a lesson in evaluating players apart from the system they are in and the other players around them. It's not so much that the players evolve as much as it is the system opportunities or surrounding support changes to create the chance for them.

Tosun never had the benefit of possession in the box from midfielders who could find him if he made a flashing run. His game requires pieces that were never in place and his lack of game time meant he was always training grounded.

We simply don't know how good or bad he really was because we didn't have the set-up to even allow him to get into form to see if he could keep up with the league. I suspect not but, without a clever box partner or midfield supply, we really don't know.

Paul @54.

It's going to be a worse situation than even that! We'll be relying on the majority of this squad minus the good ones — Richarlison, Calvert Lewin & Pickford having been sold to balance the massive losses.

Okay, so he earned over £12M gross, but the guy spent a fortune on brown spray paint and Shredded Wheat.

Had we stuck with Allardyce, I'm sure we'd have got more out of this guy and Walcott.

I have no gripe against the player.

Good luck to him. Tosun always seemed to be a head down professional who just wasn't the right player for us.

Now with his salary (I can't bring myself to refer to multi-million pound contracts as 'wages') off the books along with, one assumes, those of Delph, Unnamed player, Gomes, Kenny, and others, we can scour the bargain basements and free transfer lists for some talent.

Lingard? Tarkowski? Available for nowt. There will be others. Maybe a sensible loan signing to replace El Ghazi.

I would imagine it is time also for Seamus to hang up his Everton boots. Up there with Peter Reid as the best value signing we ever made. And a total club legend.

I will watch the comings and goings with interest. But now for a few weeks of cricket and golf to take my mind off this season.

Martin,

Gomes ain't going anywhere.

I bet he loved being an Evertonian being paid obscene wages to do nothing. He loved the wages so much he refused to leave in January when he had the chance.

No 1 parasite gone! Now take Sigurdsson, Delph, Kenny, Gomes, Rondon and Holgate with you.

Do one

Will 57, hate to ask but where did he stick the shredded wheat?

Paul, I guess there could be two answers: where he did, and where he should have.

Michael #48...

"Shocking admission"? Not hardly. He was talking about his FIRST EFFING GAME since signing from the weak Turkish league. Lots of players from lesser leagues think they're fit and fast until they get a taste of the Prem.

He realized he was in over his head. Got fit. Pulled his shit together. And scored five goals in 12 games under Fat Sam.

He wasn't worth anything close to £27 million. But he wasn't horrible. Better than Big Vic or Naisse, whom I loved.

Lumbering? Compared to Rondon, Tosun was Jamie Vardy.

Tosun was better than Rondon – tell me how we are going to get rid of him? Bolasie was dreadful too, far worse than Tosun as well.

I agree with those who want to keep Holgate, there's been a vast improvement in him, he's a real fighter and damn good too this weather.

Townsend was a revelation until he got sour over his pal Rafa being chucked out. Hopefully Frank can get through to him about that.

Goodbye, Tosun, I wish you a happy life – no offense but you represent everything that is wrong at our football club. You should never have been allowed to join the Blues.

Each iteration of last gasp manager has brought along their own succession of talentless journeymen soccer players – the list is endless, culminating in Benitez losing Digne and James and bringing in Rondon – What the Fuck?

Who holds these people accountable for this utter crap? I only hope Frank will take a moment to reflect on our little-used gem of a motto: Nil satis nisi optimum. Talk about a branding opportunity going begging – and perhaps, for once, just start living it.

And, just as important, possess the ability to build a cohesive scoring team.

Michael #66, that's a bridge too far for me, way too far.

I said Holgate "may" have shown that he could be a Premier League player. That's a long way from advocating we keep him. For the first time in years, his name on the team sheet yesterday didn't trigger instant nausea. Baby steps.

Paul #54, no argument. We were a defensive nightmare this season. But only some of that was bad players. Some of it was bad coaching, bad organization (Keane & Holgate) and bad luck with injuries (Mina & Godfrey). We certainly need personnel changes, but system changes may be even more important.

I thought it was a honest admission, but shocking recruitment, and when Brands came in and said money can make you lazy, I finally thought we were going to start getting our act together, but since then, things have only got a lot worse.

Well put, Brent.

Objection, Gavin Jones. 'Parasite' is a harsh term to label Jonjoe who will fight and give everything for Everton. He may take a wage, but he earns it and without complaint, wherever he is asked to play. He may not be the best, but he's no parasite.

And Holgate has vastly improved in stature and attitude under Lampard. Earlier in the season, many of us were doubting him, but he has been a rock in the run-in that kept us up.

Remove them from your list, sir.

My heart just jumped into my mouth. I googled Everton and under top news The Mirror claims:

Everton transfer news: Summer shortlist takes shape as £27m striker sends message - With a picture of Noel Gallagher next to it.

What would have been good if he'd have come out and said 'Everton have been great to me for 4½ years and I've earned a fortune by practically doing nothing so I'm going to donate £500,000 to Everton in the Community (or other worthwhile charity) as a Thank You'.

Never going to happen with the majority of today's footballers.

I agree, Jonjoe Kenny is no parasite; every time I've seen him play, he is full-on busting his guts for us. Sheer endeavour is not enough though, he hasn't the necessary quality at the top level.

Holgate is still quite young for a centre-back, a tough guy and Frank has tapped into some improvement. I think this is centred around him doing the basics right, cutting out mistakes, and keeping his game simple. He needs to continue on that path.

I have to say, I would rather have seen him coming off the bench and being given a chance over Rondon.

Get rid of: Rondon, Gomes, Delph, Mina (injury-prone), probably one of Holgate or Keane (together, they are a disaster waiting to happen), the one we can't name.

What'll happen with Moise Kean and Nkounkou? Moise Kean won't want to come back but we can't set free from all our Number 9s, given Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison will have offers for sure... It´ll be an interesting summer.

Bye bye, Tosun. Not suited for Premier League football.

Who are our players that are leaving?

Good read on the official website and interesting interview with Nathan Broadhead.

He speaks about playing in front of 30-40,000 supporters, playing under pressure and playing around experienced players.

And his desire to continue that.

Will that be with Everton, Sunderland or elsewhere? I know it's League One, but 13 goals in 27 appearances isn't a bad return.

Bobby,

Delph, Sigurdsson, Tosun, Kenny – all out of contract in June. Kean won't be returning.

I can't see any of them being retained.

Cenk tried hard, was too slow, and when he got his chance at Palace, he started well, only to suffer a bad injury.

He has sat tight seeing out his contract, rather than hawk his trade round the Championship or Europe. His choice, as we gave him a contract.

I wish him well.

No coaching role then?

Can't really blame him for taking a job he was probably never going to be good enough for. Big pay rise, blag it for as long as possible, each pay packet is a win. Everton have made him a rich man for little contribution, but that's not his fault.

Good luck, fella, there are a lot bigger charlatans at this club than you.

So if this website is to be believed, and the numbers they quote aren't crazy: Everton Salaries at Sportrac

Then Tosun leaving frees up £60k a week in wages, and over £3M a year. With him, Sigurdsson, Delph and add in Mina & Gomes – if we can shift all of them, then we will save ourselves nearly £25M a year!!!!!!

Just think about how much that lot have played and the impact they have all had and it horrifies you to see how much money has been wasted

Bobby -

I looked it up.

Van de Beek: loan up
El Ghazi: loan up
Kenny: out of contract
Delph: out of contract
Tosun: out of contract
Begevic: signed for 1 year more
Lonergan: out of contract
Sigurrdsson: out of contract

I think they all could be gone, sans Begovic obviously.

I was wrong about Van de Beek. I thought for sure he'd stay with us, but his injury has resulted in him failing to impress, and with Ten Hag coming in at Man Utd, he's sure as gone.

While I'm pointing out my prediction inaccuracies, my most recent and now almost a month old "Leeds will be the team to go down" came awfully damn close but landed short.

This is probably why I never, ever bet sports.

Andrew -

I just threw up in the back of my mouth a little bit.

I know. Scary, right, Jamie?

That's why we are such a shit show, players on nuts wages, well above what they are worth, and we couldn't get them on the pitch to play.

Only Sigurdsson was really always available, clearly until this season; the rest have struggled to play probably 20-30% of games – and I'm being generous!

If Gomes is one of our top earners, then that's even more reason to get rid.

Gomes on £5,835,000 per year – we need to move him on, it will free up more money for the midfield rebuilding.

Forgot about Gbamin, his contract runs to 2024. Will Frank give him a chance? Did he maintain his decent form for CSKA Moscow?

Whoever scouted Cenk is stealing a living. Not quick enough to be a 'modern' forward in this league, and not imposing enough to be a target man. What were they thinking?

Still, out of all the poor value transfers we've made, he probably falls in the middle somewhere. Sigh.

I think we should all forget about Gbamin, Tony @85.

There is no way he is going to solve our problems after all the injuries he's had and I doubt he'll be able to cope with the rigours of the Premier League and not get injured again. Like the others I mention above, we are better having players who can actually play each week for us!

Just was looking at the 2023 contract expiry players. Of those, I'd do the following:

Doucouré – aging, get value while you can
Mina – hurt too often, sorry to see him go
Allan – aging, get value while you can
Rondon – keep for back-up striker
Davies – I'd keep. At 23, give him the season to see if Frank wants him, capable back-up
Townsend – keep. Let him be one of the wise heads next to Seamus
Seamus – keep. Let him be the veteran leader, Club captain, and for all that's holy, let the man retire at the end of his contract a Blue.

The only 2024 player that really needs to go is Gomes. Good luck with that, I'd get him off the books to another club by buying out his contract.

Then I'd sign a young midfielder – Thelwell and Lampard need to find the next Mason Mount for pennies and bring him into Everton.

If we do that and stay healthy, we'll be nowhere near the R-word again, and the finances would be much better.

Just thinking out loud, continuing on.

If you did the above, and sold Calvert-Lewin, you could play Richarlison up top, Rondon as back up, and bring in 2-3 young midfielders with those sale funds to start to rebuild the most important part of the squad, and the one that is lacking the most at Everton.

I've never played Football Manager. Might buy it and give it a whirl.

Bad order the Kenny comments. A lad who always gives of his best and loves the club. I hope he finds a rhythm as a player and continues onwards.

Jamie Crowley to star in the “Ted Lasso” spin-off series, where the gun-toting, tobacco-chewing, God-fearing American takes Everton all the way to winning the quadruple 12 seasons in a row. Love you, JC!

I only like about 7 of our players and 2 or 3 might be sold this summer. Much as I think the remainder are upsettingly average to poor, we can't (and won't) turn over a whole squad in one summer. Many of our pet hates will be playing for us next season.

What we need is about 3 quality players to help bring a mish-mash together as a team.

But it will take up to 3 years of good work to recover from the damage done in recent seasons and genuinely compete for 6th place rather than pretend to until October half-term.

Duncan HAHAHA!

Sign me up, it's on!

I agree with Robert this will take 2-3 years in my opinion.

Many pet hates will play out. One I see as short-term necessary is to continue with the Mason Holgate experiment. He's played fairly well under Frank (could have slaughtered him for that Burnley goal though), and I'd prefer to see Everton address the midfield. And for me that's saying a lot – I'm not a Mason Holgate fan at all.

At center-back, even if we offloaded the much-injured Mina, we'd still have Keane, Holgate, Godfrey, and Branthwaite. I'd be selling a gem (Calvert-Lewin) and some of the salable assets that have value, to buy midfielders – young ones with upside. I'd unreservedly and aggressively do so.

If you look at Thelwell's recent history at New York Red Bulls, he was tasked with turning an aging squad into a young, competitive squad. Read my favorite new (actually kind of old but hey-ho) word: Moneyball. I'm convinced this is why Thelwell was brought on, and jeez, this guy needs to get to work.

This off-season / summer will get very interesting as Everton change gears.

Jamie @89 - I just threw up a bit too when I saw your comments about keeping Rondon!!

He needs to go. No team seriously wanting to avoid relegation next season should have him in their squad!

Jamie, you make some good comments and then say in 2 of them to keep Rondon. Stop it! He is too slow can't win headers and rarely scores goals, is too old etc... we need pace skill youth and more pace.

The game has sped up in recent years to an even quicker speed and Rondon, Gomes et al can't cope in any way. You will note how we can't get the ball off even the lowest teams when down to 10 men so imagine the same scenario against the better teams with 11 that include a snail – or worse: two of them!

Terry and Andrew -

It's about priorities. We can't afford to buy any striker of worth. Rondon is cheap, and capable as a back up.

I'd focus on midfield midfield midfield!

If you want Rondon out of the squad, you'd need to replace him with a young striker who's cheap and has upside. You want to do that? I'm all for it! But prior to looking at the back up striker position, I'd focus on?

MIDFIELD!

And what's more important? — keeping a veteran striker as back up, or freeing more funds by offloading Allan, Mina, Doucouré and Gomes to rebuild — wait for it — the midfield!!

;0)

Jamie, get rid — I'd rather be a man short in the squad. Ellis Simms is ours and way better. Nathan Broadhead may be better… Moise Kean — frankly, anyone with a pulse.

I'd like us to bring in Kent and Bassey from Rangers, then go for Gallagher at Chelsea. If that means sacrificing Calvert-Lewin, so be it. Chelsea might even take him, maybe get Barkley as part of the deal.

From that we have 3 new midfielders and a centre-half through the door. Wishful thinking, I know, but all are at the right age, with experience.

Terry,

That's valid and totally fine! If you can find someone to take Rondon and make Simms the back-up striker, I'm totally fine with that!

I'm really terrible at keeping up with the youth players, so I'd need to lean on those with more knowledge, but your suggestion to ditch Rondon and use Simms as a back-up is a great idea – I just didn't consider it. Thing is, we're stuck with Rondon. Who in the hell is going to buy him?

Phillip – the Barkley thing, just no. We need to be buying players with sell-on value. Barkley's ship has sailed. He would not improve the squad, he's aged, he would cost too much – you can get similar value players all over the football landscape who are 20-22 years old. Never to Ross.

Just get as much money as you can for Calvert-Lewin. I have the same reaction to Barkley as Terry and Andrew do to keeping a Rondon. I don't think we'll be able to sell Rondon to a pub team! We're stuck with him. But to freely buy Ross Barkley would be madness.

I do think Calvert-Lewin will be the sacrificial lamb of priority as well.

The best description of Rondon I have seen on here is one that called him “the man with his own bus stop” (I am assuming this refers to a bus stop with a seat). Most poor players have at least 2 or 3 decent games in season, I am struggling to think of 2-3 good minutes for Rondon. He comes across as a decent bloke and tries but he is nowhere near good enough, not even close.

If Richarlison goes, which looks likely, he and Moise Kean will bring in upwards of £80 million between them. Add to that, the various savings we make on losing some of the high earners means we may be able to bring in 2/3 midfield players and a back-up striker.

Calvert-Lewin has posted a very emotional heart felt piece on Instagram (see separate thread) which suggests to me that he may be staying. If so, Calvert-Lewin, Ellis Simms and/or Nathan Broadhead and a seasoned back-up and we would be okay up-front, I think.

Hopefully Frank and Thelwell can bring in a couple or three hungry young talented mids.

Personally, I think we need a strong centre-half in the Mina mould too.

There is no doubt that many of this squad will be staying put because the manager simply has no choice – had he a choice, I would like to think there would be big changes all over the park.

The only way we might have a transfer budget is if we sell players or land the likes of Tarkowski on free transfers. I suspect it will be loans and frees with centre-backs and midfield being a priority.

I'm still not convinced by Lampard, I think it's very disappointing and does not bode well for the future that the manager just brushed a 5-1 defeat aside by saying we did our work on Thursday – where is the fucking pride in that statement???

Of course, I hope he does the business, because another change of manager would not be good. If Lampard can get us into the Top 10 next season, he will be doing well.

Tosun is a hero in Turkey. He left Turkey, came to England, sat on his contract, and will go back to Turkey a multi-millionaire. He loves Everton.

Jamie, with you on Ross, and spot-on on Neil.

Strange business when you have so many describing Calvert-Lewin as crap yet expecting Simms and Broadhead to be Premier League quality players.

Simms is well behind where Calvert-Lewin was at the same age – albeit, I still hope he is good enough to be a squad player as striker for us. It is in the balance though.

Broadhead at 24 is 34th on the top scorers list in the third tier. He'll have a good career but not sure what people have seen that leads them to think he's Premier League material.

Whilst you might say he can't be worse than Tosun or Rondon, the reality is that, like lots of other third-tier strikers, he might well be a good bit worse.

Robert,

I don't think Calvert-Lewin is crap at all – the opposite in fact. Saying Simms as back-up but he has potential. He did okay Chelsea away and now his confidence is high after a good spell at Hearts. I expect Frank to have a good look at him close-up in pre-season.

It's a positive at the end of this season, that the likes of Cenk and others out of contract will be gone.

Somehow over that last 6 years, Everton built a squad with more mediocre players than most of the teams around them, and paid well over the odds for them.

I remember a good strike he got away at Huddersfield from range, and also a header in a derby at the Gwladys Street End where, from point-blank range, he headed the ball across the goal line.

Still taking the positive that at least the squad will have a bit less dead wood, and hopefully some cash can be freed up for some shrewd transfers this summer.

UTFT!

Everton never played the game that suited Tosun. Under most of the managers that Tosun played, Everton had one of the worst pass-completion rates in the Premier League in the final third.

Jerome, the type of game that best suits Tosun is in Turkey. He's not terrible in the right set up but he's not well suited to the Premier League (and was never likely to be given his physical attributes).

Terry, fair enough re Calvert-Lewin. Lots of bashers on this site at the moment though.

Robert -

I'm going to echo Terry. I don't think DCL is crap at all!

I'm just looking at it from the standpoint of who can we sell to rebuild, and which player out wold create the least collateral damage.

Three players will command high fees: DCL, Richie, and Picks. I'd start with DCL. I think losing him would have the least negative affect of those three players.

Andrew, thanks for the salary link. Unbelievable! Calvert-Lewin on relatively little compared to some crazy earnings for others. No wonder we are on the financial naughty step with that wage bill!

For Duncan back @ 91 -

If I were DOF, turning Everton into a Ted Lasso nightmare, I'd approach it the way these fine people do coffee - see link.

p.s. - Offensive AF. If you're gentile or easily offended, I'd not click on this link

Link

I'd like to say he'll be sadly missed!

But considering his contribution over the last 4½ years (wow… that long!) – in all fairness, not his fault, as with many of our very well paid misfits.

So he'll be sadly missed!

Derek, or to interpret that another way; he is pretty shite!

This guy was obviously born under a lucky star!! A really average player, Championship material at best. Still, we cannot blame him for the incompetence of the board in purchasing him for a sum of money that was way more than he was worth.

Also, a salary that was way out of line with his standard. While he did always give his all, it was just not good enough and he was just too slow. Let's hope moving forward we don't fall into the same pitfalls again.

Phil (K) Roberts (#30) cites the goal scoring prowess of some of our most prolific "stars" in the Kenwright era;

Tosun made 24 starts, 25 sub appearances, spent 2380 minutes on the pitch and scored 9 goals (= 1 every 264 minutes). That rate of goals per minutes puts him on par with Ferguson, Rideout, Radzinzki and Richarlison.

So, with Kenwright still 95% in charge of the running of the club, according to the inept owner, and with the most dysfunctional but expensive squad we've ever had, just what grounds are there for even a glimmer of optimism next season and then some?

A postage stamp (cos that's all it'll take for a full answer) will be provided to anyone clever enough.

Ellis Simms is a much better striker than Rondon, and Nathan Broadhead might also be one after a 1-year loan in the Championship.

No doubt at all we have had some dreadful buys but, in the main, several managers purchased said players whilst putting a team together. The managers never got to 2nd base and many of those players bought to do particular jobs for those managers suddenly find they are round pegs in square holes.

They are the unwanted legacy of managerial failure and a recruitment policy that never consulted the manager! So, blaming players is easy, but the fact is we overpaid for each of them – that's the fault of the chairman or negotiator.

Rebuilding takes time, commitment to a new manager and good use of money. We failed on all three... the result is a badly suited group of players cobbled together, a new manager dropped in it to sort it out and no money to do it. That's some legacy, Bill.

Players are offered contracts and paid well, but are not fit for purpose. Not their fault but bad choices by the club.

Cenk will be forever remembered for that hair. a sight to behold.

Every one of the strikers we've signed/produced for thirty years (with the exception of Rooney) has had at best to tread water as a result of the shite service they've been provided with courtesy of he who is in charge of recruiting/development. None of them prospered in a top league when they left us. Ferguson just took the piss, as ever, and the mega-money of course.

Everton is a graveyard for aspiring strikers. Maybe, to our future cost, Richarlison and DCL will prosper elsewhere but, Rooney aside, they'll be the only ones in decades.

Radzinski, Amokachi, Jo, Beattie, Johnson, Rideout, JM Moore, Yakubu, Mirallas, Traore, McFadden, Anichebe and Saha exemplify scraping the barrell by any team posturing as a trophy winner.

Just why have we all accepted it for decades?

Andrew #87, Gbamin wasn't injured by the "rigours of the Premier League" -- he had three freak, catastrophic, noncontact injuries in training. And he is now fully healthy, having played 11 straight games in Moscow without a miss.

The question is not whether he'll get injured again. Anybody can get injured. The question is whether the previous injuries cost him enough of his speed to make him non-competitive in the Prem. By the few available accounts, he played very well in Russia, a much lesser league.

But there will be no "forgetting" about him. He's 26, under contract and a part of the squad, and he has zero transfer value given his salary of around £65K per week and his injury history. Nobody will buy him, so we need to find out if he can play. There's no other choice.

Did we really give an unknown from the German league a 4½-year contract on £65k a week? My god, every day brings a new tale of Moshiri's folly.

Robert I took a look at the league 1 scoring list and you are right about Broadhead but factor in the games played and he is top with goals scored in least minutes. He also didn't take pens. I've watched a few of their games and he's got something. Maybe not enough? Their fans luv him. Google his goal against arsenal. Needs to stay injury free to have any chance

Finally!

Another player that you had forgotten even played for us, lingered in the background like Besic did for about three years too long.

Tosun at £27 million was an absolute disaster of a signing, I think I'd rather have spent half of that money on Troy bloody Deeney!!

Tosun made Naismith & Mcfadden look world class.

Robert#110

Yes I agree, but at Everton they are poor techically in the final third, which hampers ball playing Centre Forwards and they have struggled to find a Centre Forward with both technical ability or/and pace. Before Ancelotti their attacks where predominately wing based, rarely through the centre. Even under Ancelotti the wing play waned as Digne form faded.

Tosun never had the pace to beat a defender or play a one two. Silva did try to get him to run into channels in antcipation of a pass to compensate for lack of pace. On the rare occasions he did get that pass, his finishing was weak. Often when he got the ball in the six yard box he seemed unprepared and his reaction weak.

Maybe tactics are based on having scorers from many positions, meaning in the final third once the ball is got the first thought is to shoot. If this is the tactic it is unsuccessful, when one looks at the positions that are scoring goals. As for set pieces you are right without saying.

Tosun needed to be involved in a passing movement attack and needed the momentum of a volley to put the finish on his shooting. . He wasn't good running onto a through pass , needing the pass to be cross in front of him.

So, we should keep Rondon because the likes of Broadhead, Simms and Dobbin aren't up to being competent reserves, having played in lower leagues?

But we should scour those same lower leagues for young, inexpensive midfielders who will rip the Premier League to bits, having sold Calvert-Lewin and possibly Richarlison and Pickford while we have only been able to get rid of some of the "deadwood" by letting their contracts run down... Fantasyland!

If we want to get on loan some of Chelsea's wanted but likely unused promising midfielders, then we should be asking for the seemingly unwanted Barkley to be thrown in for a token fee of a couple of million, if he'll come back north with a pay cut.

As for the defence, I suppose Mykolenko is a first-choice and maybe Patterson with Coleman, Kenny and Nkounkou as back up for full-backs. Central defence, who knows as there have been rumours that Everton have been looking at some youngsters on loan but Tarkowski at £95k per week seems like the same old problem.

But who out of Mina, Keane, Holgate and Godfrey would have to leave? Or if one or two might be used as a part exchange and maybe Rangers might take one plus cash for the lad mentioned above, Bassey is it? Perhaps we name, as we have to, a squad of 25 but actually have a lot less being seriously considered.

Whatever, we still have to get the losses off the books so that at least the last two and next year's losses come in under £105M. I know it is said that the League's Handbook doesn't mention any penalty involving points deduction and a fine does nothing to help the financial situation, so will it be a transfer ban (incoming I assume) at some future date if some improvement is not seen.

Jerome,

I think we basically agree with each other. Tosun failed in Germany and went to Turkey to kick-start his career. Through hard work, he forced himself into the reckoning at BeÅŸiktaÅŸ and did well.

He scored good but not brilliant numbers of goals for a top side in a weak league. He had no particular physical attributes and he was no longer a promising youngster with room to improve when we bought him.

In a better attacking side (3-5-2 or 4-4-2) he would probably have scored more. He was completely ill-suited to the lone striker role in the 4-5-1 & 4-3-3 formations we were generally using.

It is unfortunately extremely difficult to get hold of strikers who score more than 10 Premier League goals each season – and who also put a shift in for the team.

Robert #128,

I didn't know he had failed in Germany. Even Big Sam got caught up in the spending spree. Tosun has done really well financially. No wonder he has a permanent smile on his face.

I agree it is hard to get a clinical striker who can also contribute to attacking tactics and an attacking move. Certainly Everton would have difficulty attracting them.

My crystal ball tells me to enjoy the summer. I won't repeat what it told me about next season, so just enjoy the summer whilst we can.

There are a lot of harsh personal comments here directed at Cenk personally.

It is not his fault that we signed him. And how many of those of you who citicise him for not leaving would leave a job requiring the same skill, application, terms other than salary, for less pay??

Justin #130

I am going to sign off for the Summer. I don't think much will be taken seriously at Everton and the media will fill the gaps with nonsense. Moshiri won't release any money till August.

Enjoy the Summer everybody without interruption. Everton are unlikely to sign Rooney again.

Good bye everyone till mid August.

Mike @121,

I didn't say he got injured due to the rigours of the Premier League. You are right he has had a number of freak injuries, my point was that to come back from those and play twice a week in the premier league is a stretch too far (or even 5 games in 15 days as we had at the end of the season).

I can't think of any players who have come over from the Russian league and ripped up the Premier League so, just because he is getting game time out there, it doesn't mean he's going to be what we need next season.

More than happy for Gbamin (& you) to prove me wrong but let's see, shall we.

Jerome #129,

Tosun is German by birth, like Ozil and Gundogan and others. He left Germany and went to Turkey to get games for a pretty middling club out there after failing to make the breakthrough in the Bundesliga.

Those saying 'stealing a living' etc are being a little harsh. Had he not suffered that serious injury at Palace, I think he would have gone there full-time. They wanted him and I suspect, he wanted to be there.

To the question: 'Will he make it in the Premier League?' the only answer is often: Try it and see.

Tosun had a good record for Besiktas; he had scored some decent Champions League goals and he was scoring regularly for Turkey in internationals. So, on the evidence available at the time, it wasn't the worst potential buy. It hasn't worked out and we overpaid on any view... but it didn't look the worst deal at the time.

ps: Slightly unusual post, but: Rob Halligan, are you in touch with your brother, Mike? If so, can you ask him to give me a ring – he wants to speak to me. He has a phone number for me, but I don't have one for him.

Thanks.

Don't let the door hit you on the arse on the way out.

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