Sometimes a player just suits a club and a club just suits a player.
It’s happened before in Everton’s history. Andy Gray and Duncan Ferguson are just two players who found their careers stalling before they transferred to the club. From the moment that pair set foot on the Goodison Park turf there seemed to be a special bond between them and the Everton fans.
It’s a similar story for Romelu Lukaku. Bizarrely unappreciated by Jose Mourinho, Lukaku was desperate to find somewhere that he would be loved. Luckily for Lukaku, Evertonians were equally desperate for a striker to fall in love with.
Everton supporters appreciate many different types of players but there is a special place in their hearts for a centre forward. The need for this focal point of the attack has gone unsatisfied pretty much since the days of Gary Lineker in the mid 80’s. Colin Harvey smashed the English transfer record to sign Tony Cottee but he could never find true consistency. Peter Beardsley was all too briefly brilliant. Duncan Ferguson and Kevin Campbell became cult heroes but injuries stopped them reaching their peak. More recently, significant money was spent on James Beattie, Andy Johnson and Yakubu with low to mid-range success.
Then there were the comedic, well you’d have to laugh or you would cry, efforts from the likes of Stuart Barlow, Brett Angell, John Spencer and Ibrahima Bakayoko. Having attacking midfielder Tim Cahill as a makeshift striker during David Moyes’ tenure was one thing but that was nowhere near as bad as the handful of games that Walter Smith chose Steve Watson to lead the line.
That all changed when Romelu Lukaku arrived on loan from Chelsea on the final day of last summer’s transfer window. For the first time since Lineker, Everton had a striker with genuine claims to be mentioned in the same breath as the best in the world.
Not only has the young Belgian got talent, he’s also got heart. Once Lukaku was willing to get himself knocked out as he scored the winning goal against West Ham you just knew that he was a “proper” Everton player.
There’s were plenty of signs as the season developed that Lukaku had fallen under the spell that Alan Ball best summed up when he said “Once Everton has touched you nothing will be the same.”
Bryan Oviedo’s winning goal at Old Trafford last November will go down in Everton folklore but what was equally as memorable as the goal itself was Lukaku’s celebration in front of travelling supporters after supplying the pass to Ovideo. The iconic image of him of him slamming his fist into the Old Trafford pitch in absolute joy was just as enjoyable as Oviedo hitting the net.
Later in the season, there was the touching moment when he raced to embrace Roberto Martinez on the Goodison Park sideline after scoring against Arsenal. It was reward for the manager after his genius move of deploying Lukaku cutting in from the right wing. Nacho Monreal must still be having nightmares about trying to deal with the rampaging Belgian that day.
But for me the moment that showed Lukaku was a “proper” Everton player was his second goal against Liverpool in the Goodison derby. Nowhere better to earn a place in the affections of Evertonians than in a derby and didn’t Lukaku take his chance with both hands. Having already rattled the back of Gwladys Street net, Lukaku grabbed his second with the sort of thumping header that especially appeals to Everton supporters. The type of goal that Dixie Dean, Tommy Lawton, Dave Hickson, and even modern day heading heroes Latchford, Sharp, Gray, Ferguson and Cahill would have loved to score. Indeed, it was hard to watch the goal without thinking of Dean, Lawton and Hickson looking down upon Goodison, smiling and nodding their approval.
Of course the man who has made the Lukaku transfer possible is our glorious manager, the same man responsible for tying down one of Europe’s most talented youngsters to a long term contract the day before.
The message is now very clear, Everton are back among the big buys. Roberto Martinez made his ambitions clear last year when he stood up to a Manchester Utd manager and saw off their interest in Leighton Baines, whilst happily allowing them to overspend on Marouane Fellaini.
A new contract followed for Baines and then our player of the year Seamus Coleman. Still the British media saw us as selling club with the bright young talents Barkley and John Stones constantly linked with moves elsewhere.
But Barkley’s new contract and now the £28m deal to bring in Lukaku means that the outside perception of Everton has to change. The previous management team chose to believe that top 10 was something worth celebrating but Martinez won’t be happy until he has returned to English football’s top table. Assembling a squad around young talent like Barkley, Lukaku, Stones, Besic, McCarthy not to mention the experience of Jagielka, Baines, Howard and Coleman means that there is a realistic chance of the dream of seeing trophies back at Goodison Park finally come to fruition.
Roberto Martinez has raised expectation levels to where he will be judged on trophies won. It’s a challenge that he, Lukaku, Barkley and the rest of this talented squad will embrace.
Ger McNally
It’s happened before in Everton’s history. Andy Gray and Duncan Ferguson are just two players who found their careers stalling before they transferred to the club. From the moment that pair set foot on the Goodison Park turf there seemed to be a special bond between them and the Everton fans.
It’s a similar story for Romelu Lukaku. Bizarrely unappreciated by Jose Mourinho, Lukaku was desperate to find somewhere that he would be loved. Luckily for Lukaku, Evertonians were equally desperate for a striker to fall in love with.
Everton supporters appreciate many different types of players but there is a special place in their hearts for a centre forward. The need for this focal point of the attack has gone unsatisfied pretty much since the days of Gary Lineker in the mid 80’s. Colin Harvey smashed the English transfer record to sign Tony Cottee but he could never find true consistency. Peter Beardsley was all too briefly brilliant. Duncan Ferguson and Kevin Campbell became cult heroes but injuries stopped them reaching their peak. More recently, significant money was spent on James Beattie, Andy Johnson and Yakubu with low to mid-range success.
Then there were the comedic, well you’d have to laugh or you would cry, efforts from the likes of Stuart Barlow, Brett Angell, John Spencer and Ibrahima Bakayoko. Having attacking midfielder Tim Cahill as a makeshift striker during David Moyes’ tenure was one thing but that was nowhere near as bad as the handful of games that Walter Smith chose Steve Watson to lead the line.
That all changed when Romelu Lukaku arrived on loan from Chelsea on the final day of last summer’s transfer window. For the first time since Lineker, Everton had a striker with genuine claims to be mentioned in the same breath as the best in the world.
Not only has the young Belgian got talent, he’s also got heart. Once Lukaku was willing to get himself knocked out as he scored the winning goal against West Ham you just knew that he was a “proper” Everton player.
There’s were plenty of signs as the season developed that Lukaku had fallen under the spell that Alan Ball best summed up when he said “Once Everton has touched you nothing will be the same.”
Bryan Oviedo’s winning goal at Old Trafford last November will go down in Everton folklore but what was equally as memorable as the goal itself was Lukaku’s celebration in front of travelling supporters after supplying the pass to Ovideo. The iconic image of him of him slamming his fist into the Old Trafford pitch in absolute joy was just as enjoyable as Oviedo hitting the net.
Later in the season, there was the touching moment when he raced to embrace Roberto Martinez on the Goodison Park sideline after scoring against Arsenal. It was reward for the manager after his genius move of deploying Lukaku cutting in from the right wing. Nacho Monreal must still be having nightmares about trying to deal with the rampaging Belgian that day.
But for me the moment that showed Lukaku was a “proper” Everton player was his second goal against Liverpool in the Goodison derby. Nowhere better to earn a place in the affections of Evertonians than in a derby and didn’t Lukaku take his chance with both hands. Having already rattled the back of Gwladys Street net, Lukaku grabbed his second with the sort of thumping header that especially appeals to Everton supporters. The type of goal that Dixie Dean, Tommy Lawton, Dave Hickson, and even modern day heading heroes Latchford, Sharp, Gray, Ferguson and Cahill would have loved to score. Indeed, it was hard to watch the goal without thinking of Dean, Lawton and Hickson looking down upon Goodison, smiling and nodding their approval.
Of course the man who has made the Lukaku transfer possible is our glorious manager, the same man responsible for tying down one of Europe’s most talented youngsters to a long term contract the day before.
The message is now very clear, Everton are back among the big buys. Roberto Martinez made his ambitions clear last year when he stood up to a Manchester Utd manager and saw off their interest in Leighton Baines, whilst happily allowing them to overspend on Marouane Fellaini.
A new contract followed for Baines and then our player of the year Seamus Coleman. Still the British media saw us as selling club with the bright young talents Barkley and John Stones constantly linked with moves elsewhere.
But Barkley’s new contract and now the £28m deal to bring in Lukaku means that the outside perception of Everton has to change. The previous management team chose to believe that top 10 was something worth celebrating but Martinez won’t be happy until he has returned to English football’s top table. Assembling a squad around young talent like Barkley, Lukaku, Stones, Besic, McCarthy not to mention the experience of Jagielka, Baines, Howard and Coleman means that there is a realistic chance of the dream of seeing trophies back at Goodison Park finally come to fruition.
Roberto Martinez has raised expectation levels to where he will be judged on trophies won. It’s a challenge that he, Lukaku, Barkley and the rest of this talented squad will embrace.
Ger McNally
