Calvert-Lewin won't be ready for season-opener

I wonder if the new lad Chermiti will be thrown in at the deep end… why not? Hat-trick awaits.

I'm sure that Dyche is right, in making sure that Dominic is available for more games next season than he was last, but putting all our eggs in the Calvert-Lewin basket nearly cost us last season and it might cost us even more in this new one.

Now Dyche says he won't start. Has Dom picked up another injury?

Only a week to go and we are still struggling to get a recognised, quality striker to join us. What is it about Everton that puts players off (if ever we make an offer) joining us? There must be something. I wonder what rumours go round football circles to tell players to stay away. There must be something.

We as fans have been calling out for a true striker since Richarlison was sold and nothing happens except more promises that Calvert-Lewin will be the answer when he is fit.

The point remains he is hardly every fit and we need a Plan B for when he isn't. So frustrating to see the lack of quality in the current team and what there is someone continually being touted as the next one to be sold (Onana, Branthwaite etc?).

I don't think we will get relegated next season but it won't be pretty to watch is my prediction.

I can't see us playing him enough to pay £10 million to Spurs when he can leave on a free a few months later.

Maupay up front with Iwobi the only creative player behind him; Garner, Gana, Onana, Doucoure, Patterson, Tarkowski (if fit; otherwise Keane), Godfrey or Branthwaite, Young, Pickford.

KITAP1.

I'm sure, if required, that he could manage a 15- or 20-minute cameo late on in the game.

His importance in the light of zero alternatives is the living embodiment of hapless Everton when we stop "needing" him we will begin to breathe again.

His frailties may not be his fault but I'm heartily fed up with his name being the only answer.

It might be a “tough window” but we're still utterly incompetent.

To throw my two cents in, the reason Dom is slagged off so much is the club's fault. A replacement should've been bought in 2 years ago to relieve the pressure and let him recover properly.

Still no new striker to step right in to play. Still no statement from whatever is left of the board.

Ask your self 'What would Everton do?' Answer: exactly what we expected... fuck about until the window closes.

They should close the window the day before the new season to save the embarrassment of living on false hope that we have turned a corner.

I hope has a better season but I think he'll end up an irrelevance who never got anywhere near his potential.

Coming off a season of injuries and the goal-scoring potency of a castrated monk, we're back in the same predicament.

I do think Dyche is doing the right thing. Get Dom fit – 100% fit – then let him go as long as he can last. But with Dom, Danjuma, Gray, and McNeil out (as Michael Lynch points out @ 7) we're starting the season off right back where we were in May – injured and impotent.

In a season where we simply must stay healthy, this is not good news.

But hope springs eternal. We play solid football under Dyche. Keep it tight and maybe Dobbin or this new kid from Sporting can jump in and snag a winner.

UTFT. Ride out the storm and, in the words of Jesse Jackson, "Keep Hope Alive!"

Alex #12, spot on.

This club is an embarrassment and an exercise in experimentation of how to be as poorly run as possible.

Joke outfit that isn't very funny.

It's never been any different, so one of the most important things to consider in August is that it is a very long season. I still expect quite a few changes to the overall squad, with this close season reminding me of those soul-destroying years when the narrative began to change and suddenly we became plucky little Everton.

What did Roy Keane once say? Fail to prepare then prepare to fail? No wonder we haven't won a trophy for nearly 29 fucking years.

Hurry up, Bill, fuck off… although you're probably in your element getting ready to use all your experience with your fantastic negotiating skills. 🤮

“As long as he can go” has proven to be about 90 minutes. It seems Sean is hoping that, by building up slowly, Dom might last 15-20 games at least once he's right.

If that time never comes, then it's on the club – not Dyche or Calvert-Lewin.

We were conned in the last January window when Calvert-Lewin was wheeled out for extended games in January; then, just after the window shut, he was ruled out through an injury until a couple of games towards the end of the season, before missing the last few games again.

It's now 6 days before we start the new season and still no striker, with all our hopes of a 19-year-old coming in, with no pre-season games for his new team under his belt, or knowing the players and set-up.

This has all the makings of another Moise Kean, a young kid with all the weight on his shoulders.

Absolute disgrace that, 2 years on, we have not done anything about it.

Thelwell and Dyche on the phone, offering a bag of stale beans to other clubs for their players. Meanwhile, we are up to our eyes in debt and, worst of all, Blue Bill is still the Chairman and apparently in charge of transfers, due to his expertise in such matters!!!

Calvert-Lewin has played 18 games in each of the past two seasons. This is a dereliction of duty. How can any club justify not getting in a centre-forward??? Don't mention Rondon.

There have been 5 transfer windows to get this sorted out. Now I know we are skint but surely a centre-forward could have been brought in on loan. I don't count Danjuma as he's only played centre-forward 34 times in his whole career.

And the Good News is…???

The club is a disgrace and sucks the life out of you.

Mightily disappointing news but an immense failure of the club not to be ready with a stand-in replacement. This will be the third season and the key failure in the past two has been the inability to score; this alone (the number one reason) accounts for two successive battles for survival.

That we have and still are, hoping, nay praying, for his fitness is at the club's door, not the player's. In many aspects, if Calvert-Lewin breaks down again this season, his career in the top flight, or even his whole career, may well be over.

Everton's plight is clear: the goals will have to come from somewhere in addition to Calvert-Lewin as a minimum. Where is Mick Lyons when you need him? We cannot play wingers without a target man... you can only play raiders.

Hamstrings... The tortoise and the hare. Recovery and repair takes time we can ill afford, recurring hamstring injuries never fully recover, scar tissue leaves a weakness in the muscle that's always prone to go with the likelihood of between 22-34% recurring rate – especially if performance preparation is poor or complacency sets in.

The sad fact is that reinjury means a player can be up to six times more likely to suffer reoccurrence. Michael Owen attributed the end of his career to continual hamstring issues as the injury requires significant rest, recovery and strengthening of supporting muscles to take the stress off the muscle.

All of this is well known, which highlights the failure to have a stand-in replacement that the team is set up for, even worse. Dyche is doing exactly the right thing in strengthening and resting; that's really encouraging… but we are running out of time.

His body must be made of glass and, with the new rules this season with games being 110 minutes long, he's zero chance of lasting.

We need replacements and pronto.

Is it a bit weird. I mean when you're 5 years old on the playground, the first thing you do is figure out who's going to be the striker.

Here, we have a multi-million pound enterprise where, for 2 years, no-one seems concerned about the same issue.

We need to move on from him completely and sign a new first-choice striker.

Same for Calvert-Lewin, he'll wait until the time is right.

In the meantime, we're hanging onto Pemier League survival, the club gives us bullshit excuses that targets are getting missed. Then, every now and again, they will buy a striker like Rondon or Maupay, hoping that will appease the fans…

Well, it doesn't!!!

We pick him up for sub-£5M and give him a 2-year deal. Why is this so difficult? We have one of our most winnable games of the season on Saturday, and after 2 years... still no forward.

Their profile as a player couldn't be more different. If it's about age, then let's never sign a young player again, eh?

This is the type of signing we have to make. Because anyone scoring over 10 goals in the Premier League wouldn't look at us… so we have to roll the dice and cross our fingers.

And there are green shoots of recovery. Branthwaite, Onana and Garner look like they could be money makers for us. This kid could be the same.

That's our lot. We're not getting proven quality. That's that. Financial fair play at its fairest.

Let's hope it's short-term pain for long-term gain.

The fact he hasn't been a fit regular since Carlo Ancelotti was here says it all.

More negligence from the club once again, a whole summer wasted yet they'll expect more miracles from Dyche again.

Whilst we all want success, we all must ensure we survive.

Facts of life: until we are resold or the impending threat of retribution for alleged financial irregularities are removed, we need to build and that will take years before we are a force to be reckoned with once more.

Building blocks, teams evolve over time; we are not suddenly going to be world beaters in a couple of years... we had the chance and blew it.

Cannon has a year of experience on this guy, but Cannon is being sent out on loan again with the view of gaining experience. We need a goalscorer now, not in a year or so.

I'm not saying we should not sign the new kid, but to expect a 19-year-old to come in and hit the ground running is a huge ask.

The striker problem should have been the Number 1 priority, during the previous two transfer windows, yet 6 days before our first game, we still do not have an experienced incoming striker.

We need a replacement, not an understudy, and we need him now. 5 days left before we start a run of winnable games — but no games are getting won without goals.

I think Brian Wilkinson makes a fair point. A young guy who's been sparingly used in a European league. Hopefully he bucks the Everton trend but it's a legitimate point

I've just been talking and have my views on Dominic.

Did we overuse him as a youngster?

He looks ripped, probably from spending too much time in the gym? His body is possibly finely tuned to the degree he is going to be susceptible to hamstring and quad injuries (quad is horrible by the way).

I fear that we won't see much beyond 30 out of Dominic, which is only 4 years away.

All gut instinct. No science in my thought process.

Using the list that I nicked off another site, it looks as if the contract dates are correct at first glance. Apologies if they're not.

Eighteen players, if they don't get offered and sign new contracts will be gone, eleven of them next season. Of course some will be sold this summer such as Gray, and some of them will be too old even for Everton come next summer, also some are not worthy of being at Goodison at all. Let's hope and pray that some of our youngsters can quickly step up to the plate.

Build a stadium and demolish the team seems to be Moshiri's mantra.

2024 (11)
Iwobi
Gray
Gomes
Doucoure
Dele
Gana
Gbamin
Coleman
Young
Lonergan
Danjuma (loan)

2025 (8)
Godfrey
Keane
Maupay
Calvert-Lewin
Cannon
Virginia
Holgate
Branthwaite

It's incredibly difficult to stop being a crises club, when you have to sign 6 to 10 players a season. The huge list of 30 somethings with little or no resale value highlights the huge problem we have.

Next summer suggests a bigger crises than the shit show we have now. I just hope we keep Kenwrights experience to get us through it all. I mean other clubs will look at and go, what will Everton do when we've 6 keepers on the bench, a back 4 with a combined age of 300, and still no strikers 7 years on from Lukuku.

With Ross Barkley as captain, a come back of Jeffers, Straqulurci and Stuey Barlow will save us. I just hope Mike Milligan and Claus Thomsen are still up to it in midfield.

The team is screaming out for a replacement with the ability to challenge DCL for the top spot. Chermiti is coming in to be that man but it is a massive ask to expect him immediately to fulfill that role.

It will be almost like the second coming if Youssef hits the ground running and delivers the goods. However, we need to believe in such miracles, because surely if he is fit enough he has to start ahead of Maupay, who cannot successfully be used in that lone striker role.

I feel like a season is starting and yet again we are rolling the dice with our striker situation. Are we due a double six?

Dele, I'll be shocked if we ever see him in an Everton shirt again.

Whilst I agree with the anger directed at the board for not concluding deals and transfers (especially of forward players) a little quicker it is worth remembering a few things:

1. A fair few other clubs have struggled to make additions in the market. Luton, Sheffield United and Forest have all made little progress and even cash rich West Ham have struggled.

2. Calvert-Lewin is finally being managed properly. Dyche showed he is capable of grinding out results without him last season and by not over playing him we have our best chance of seeing him back to 20/21 form when he got 16 goals for us. He may not be starting but I'm sure he'll play some part next weekend.

3. We have bought Danjuma who can play CF if needed and are close to getting Chermiti who, whilst very raw, will at least make the ball stick up front a bit more than Maupay.

4. This may be our last summer of working under such handcuffs. Next summer we will finally be rid of some very inflated wage packets (Alli, Gomes, Gbamin, Iwobi etc) which will make huge savings for us. Also crucially we will have (hopefully) secured investment on the stadium and be relatively close to finishing that.

5. The season has not started yet! Most of us would be happy with 12th-14th and I think by the time the window is shut Dyche will hopefully have the players to achieve that. Frustrating that (as usual) we have not secured our first picks but the business we have done looks smart and it would seem that Thelwell is being given a bit more say over the players coming in than previous DOFs. This is a good thing!

I digress. I'm assuming that Gray will play up front on Saturday.

But what do I know? The manager will decide.

And yes, DCL will play a part next weekend.

Through absolutely no fault of Dominic's this isn't the first nor the last time we'll have to plan without his services.

Unbelievable that we're happy to sleepwalk towards the season's opening game without a Plan B in place. So much for forewarned being forearmed.

That means of course grinding out results based on strong defense until he or someone else breaks through and gives them fresh options for scoring goals.

I fully expect the Fulham game to be a tight affair.

That means of course grinding out results based on strong defense until he or someone else breaks through and gives them fresh options for scoring goals.

I fully expect the Fulham game to be a tight affair.

As far as criticism of our recruitment goes, we just don't know how many strikers they have tried to sign. They are not going to buy just anybody for the sake of it.

Dyche will know better than anybody that we need a back up for C-L, its potentially his neck on the block if we don't find one.

Some of you are implying or saying that he wanted to sabotage his whole career by being a 'sick note.'

With quotes like, I'm fed up of this with DCL. He's had all season to get fit.' Really ???

It's pretty clear that some of you have never played sport or had a sporting injury, yet quote some of this verbal nonsense.

I had no idea we had so many qualified physios on ToffeeWeb!

As for the post 'there's no point to him.'

WTF ? Have you not seen the difference in the way that the team play with him on the pitch versus Maupay up front? DCL is a real asset to us. He brings so much more than just scoring goals. Given of course that he relies on the service to provide those goals.

I guess you are allowed your opinion like everyone else, but if you can't see what he bring to the team, in my opinion, you have a very narrow view of the game of football.

Everyone knows how frustrating it was all round and for me personally, and it was just important that I made the right steps to ensure I am fit to start the season against Fulham, which I am."

The article is dated today at around 3pm, and it implies or infers, never sure which is correct, that this was said since the Sporting Lisbon game. Maybe Dyche is/was playing mind-games?

You miss the point.

People are heartily sick of a situation that has the club's fortunes dependent on a player who hardly ever plays and again appears not fit enough to contribute.

The player might get caught in the cross hairs occasionally but this has been going on for 2 years it's got to the point of trying the patience of a saint.

These points are conveniently overlooked IMO!

We will beat Fulham and then go to Villa the week after.

I am past caring about what players take to the pitch. I just want them to care like we do. All we want is the same commitment from them.

I do care about what goes on off the pitch, but I care about what goes on on the pitch too.

By way of an example:

Carragher implied he knew what was going on in the Liverpool changing room.

When he spat at that young boy, we inferred he had a personality lower than whale shit.

And when he doesn't play we are utterly bereft and left fighting relegation.

Surely after 2 years the penny has dropped that this ain't good and with a 3rd season looming and Calvert-Lewin still not at the races it's time to take him out of the equation. Then if he ever does get fit, we're ahead of the game but we shouldn't be relying on him.

All focus must be on getting a robust centre-forward; he doesn't have to be Haaland – just a big lump to act as a focal point.

"His frailties may not be his fault".

Change the "may not be" to an "are not" and you'd be spot on.

Alex #12,

"The reason Dom is slagged off so much is the club's fault."

I would suggest it's the fault of those who slag him off without knowing enough about his difficulties.

I would change it if I knew for sure but, just like you, I have no idea. Being dogmatic without the full facts is mindless.

Are you posting with the same confidence with which you utterly and relentlessly predicted our relegation last season? From about November, if I recall. I'd be too embarrassed to post again if I'd done that.

I hope Calvert-Lewin comes back and stays fit, but I've pretty much lost faith at this point.

Anyway, let's hope we're not in a relegation battle.

The suggestion that Calvert-Lewin may in some way, no matter how slight, be responsible for his "frailties" is disrespectful to the player.

As for my believing he's not to blame at all is hardly being dogmatic.

Either way, I'd be very surprised if Calvert-Lewin plays no part at all. Plus we are signing another striker this week. Plus I think there will be attacking additions before the window shuts. I'm actually feeling more positive than I have in a couple of years!!

Get yourself over and meet you at one of the watering holes.

To my mind, if he has played 45 minutes twice, barring any setbacks, he should be okay for 60 minutes on Saturday. And even if they only wanna give him 45, let's at least play him in the first 45 and try to win the game!!

Sorry, but you're quite simply wrong.

For example, do you know for a fact his training regime, diet and lifestyle are not contributory factors to his injuries?

No, how could you?

I don't claim these things definitely apply but the possibility exists; therefore, it's fair to raise the possibility – disrespectful or not.

All in all, Sean Dyche, has done a great job keeping Everton up last season, great fighting spirit.

The same spirit will be needed this time.

Regardless who plays, let's get behind, the Team.

A good start is needed, and beat Fulham.

UTFTs!

While you think "it's fair to raise the possibility" that Calvert-Lewin may be at fault for his difficulties, I don't.

He's already discussed his mental health issues so I certainly won't be suggesting he may be partly to blame when he isn't able to play.

Dyche has looked at those factors you mention, and others, so hopefully Calvert-Lewinis on the road to a fully fit season.