Steven Naismith though.

[royalblue66]

happy to say hes won me over

And he loves it at Everton cos he told me so.

 

[The Hibbert Agenda]

Love his attitude here:
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/spor...6895850?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Everton FC's super-subs can fire them into the Champions League, insists Steven Naismith.

A trio of personnel changes in the second half against Fulham eventually saw Roberto Martinez’s men run out 3-1 winners, and reduce the gap between them and fourth-placed Arsenal to four points.

Scotland international Naismith scored after coming from the bench following a below-par first-half display from the Blues at Craven Cottage, and fellow substitute Kevin Mirallas also found the net after latching onto a pass from another replacement, Aiden McGeady.

And the 27-year-old forward believes Everton’s strength in depth has given them momentum at a crucial point in their campaign.

He said: “The manager makes those sorts of winning changes. From the moment he walked in, he said it’s not just going to be about a core 11 who play every game, he said he’d need everybody and that’s been the case. Subs have had big impacts in a lot of the games.

“The confidence is high. We go into each game believing we can win.

“We’re right in the mix now and that’s where you want to be at the business end of the season. Arsenal is going to be a big game now, they all are until the campaign is over.

“I’m sure there’ll be a few twists and turns before the end of the season. We’ve just got to make sure it’s not us who falls behind and continue to win.”

Everton had made little progress during a laboured opening period, sparking the changes which swung the contest in their favour.

And Naismith said he was pleased to get the chance to show what he can do again.

“I enjoyed it,” said the former Rangers man. “I’ve been a bit disappointed I haven’t had more game time over the last few months, but you’ve just got to be ready when the manager calls on you.

“Watching the first half, we were very lethargic and I think the two previous games this week took their toll on us a bit and it showed.

“The manager just wanted me to go on and find the wee pockets of space and get in behind. Thankfully I managed to contribute. For the first (a strike deflected in off Fulham keeper David Stockdale), the corner came in and when it came off the defender’s head, I watched it the full way and just thought get it on target, and it’s gone in.

“That gave us a spark. Fulham did well and deserve credit for how they came into it and made a good few chances but didn’t take them as well as they should have. Tim made some great saves and we could capitalise on that. Myself, Aiden and Kevin have all come on and showed it’s all about the squad, not just the starting 11.”

Naismith took his tally for the season so far to seven with his side’s third goal, and he said he is currently high on self-belief despite not being a regular starter.

“I feel a lot of belief now. I’ve grown since I arrived here,” he said. “I’m probably that type of character who does take a while to settle into new surroundings but this season, hopefully, I’ve shown I can be an Everton player for years to come and contribute to a team that’s definitely progressing and pushing for European football.

“The season is developing into a great finale. The Spurs and Chelsea games were real blows for us and everybody at the club was angry that we’d played so well and got nothing. But after that, we’ve had five straight wins and performed well.”

Asked whether the Toffees are well placed to deal with the pressure of needing to keep winning to maintain their hopes for fourth, he added: “Everybody just wants to play and enjoy the way we play. The boys all think like that. We’re all doing what we love so it’s not really pressure. We’re a confident group so it’s not really a case of pressure, it’s a case of enjoying it.”

 

[Ashtonian]

you can vault me or whatever but always championed Naismith as a player we need. He isnt the best but he score important goals and thats what is key. If he brings 10 goals a season but they are match winning goals then he deserves his place.

Sometimes you need to sack off the fancy nancy type players and go for a hardworking scotsman/irishman in your team. It worked for Fergie for years so no surprise it wis working for roberto as well.

Oh and the other thing, is everyone now shocked that we are playing our striker up front and he is scoring for us?!

 

[Neiler]

I think its good management lad, as much as its not popular to say Moyes did a great job for us - ill always be grateful for that.

One distinct change this year i have noticed is that all the players seem valued and part of the core the team how often have we seen players coming on and making a difference the past few weeks alone we have seen Naismith, McGeady, Pienaar (albeit injury) Deulofeu, Sotnes all come in and make significant and motivated contributions. Usually at this stage of the season we would have the starting 11 flagged and stretched after playing a huge number of games and an injury was a cataclismic event. Martinez has developed a squad and kept that squad motivated, full of confidence and feeling valued - to enable them to make a contribution.

Fair play - lets see how far it can take us.

 

[The Hibbert Agenda]

In recent years Straq sticks out like a sore thumb- those tears at Fulham made me a soppy mess.
Currently though Hibbo to me is the definition cult player. Absolutely love him.
I like the Oviedo shouts also- everyone everyone everyone just loves him for no good reason. and that's great.
And I really feel that after the holocaust of a season Naismith endured last year that he could become one of the happy stories of 2013/2014 if he manages to up his performances to a basic competent level when he's needed to be drafted in (similar to how Hibbo got to his current state of love-in)

Naismith is gonna have a good season.
just good.
but to me that's wonderful.

<3

 

[Garrick]

He doesn't have a song, does he?
How about this, to the tune of the Flintstones theme song:

Naismith, Steven Naismith
He's a player that we got for free
Naismith, Steven Naismith
He is Everton's albino Messi

Make it happen, lads.

 

[Hellerad]

Clearly a song would have to have to be set to Ghostbusters, right?

 

[Dexter]

His performance yesterday and that inch perfect defence splitting pass he made coupled with the fact he can improve under Martinez makes me think he could play in Barkley's position also, much better option than Osman if needed

 

[Jake Wignall]

Fantastic performance yesterday. However overall, his lack of game time prevents him from showing what ability he may have.

 

[Royal Blue Jersey]

He doesn't have a song, does he?
How about this, to the tune of the Flintstones theme song:

Naismith, Steven Naismith
He's a player that we got for free
Naismith, Steven Naismith
He is Everton's albino Messi

Not often you see a hastily put together chant on the forums that should actually take off. I hope it does, it's bloody brilliant.

 

[steven]

Got a sneaky feeling he starts v arsenal

 

[when i score we riot]

Not often you see a hastily put together chant on the forums that should actually take off. I hope it does, it's bloody brilliant.

Cheers!
Someone that can go to the games should make it happen then, i can't do that personally.

 

[Royal Blue Jersey]

I was considering today just how different Naismith and Deulofeu are as players. The thing I like about Naismith is he is acutely aware of his shortcomings and always tries to minimise their impact, so when he gets the ball he's all about looking for the first time pass into feet. It seems and looks so simple, but it's so effective. The amount of times Lukaku will try and turn or takes a bad touch and the attack breaks down, versus the amount of chances Naismith sets up just by being quick and unselfish, is huge. So, Deulofeu is clearly talented but never once tries to compensate for his mistakes. He'll slow down to do his ridiculous stepovers and get tackled easily, made to look a fool, and yet he'll show up there next time, ignore the easy pass, and try it again.

I know there's a difference in age and experience but quite clearly there's a difference in mentality, possibly even intelligence. Naismith has to be an intelligent footballer to make up for his shortcomings; and it shows just how far excellent positioning, decision-making, awareness and vision can get you. The difference is Naismith is interested only in being productive. Every decision he makes is made quickly and for the good of the team.

For all their supposed talent, Naismith has scored more than Deolofeu, Mirallas and Barkley, sitting joint 2nd in our goalscoring charts. He was criminally wasted on the wing, and it was almost ruinous for his career. You could always see how much he was hurting everytime he miscontrolled or misplaced a pass out on the touchline and the crowd got on his back. This isn't a Mirallas or Deulofeu type who will just shrug when they run the ball out of play trying to beat an invisible man, Naismith's confidence and self-belief clearly took a knock every time he made a mistake. After the first goal yesterday the confidence it gave him was huge, he played and pulled off a few audacious balls and was running head up, not afraid to call for it. Not too long ago he'd have skulked away without so much as half-hearted appeal for the pass because he was so concerned with making a mistake. I always felt bad for him. I'm just delighted he was given the chance to show what he can do, and the transformation was almost inconceivable 12 months ago, but he's done it. You can see he believes it himself now, he is an important part of this squad. And he is.

 

[aloadofold......]

I was considering today just how different Naismith and Deulofeu are as players. The thing I like about Naismith is he is acutely aware of his shortcomings and always tries to minimise their impact, so when he gets the ball he's all about looking for the first time pass into feet. It seems and looks so simple, but it's so effective. The amount of times Lukaku will try and turn or takes a bad touch and the attack breaks down, versus the amount of chances Naismith sets up just by being quick and unselfish, is huge. So, Deulofeu is clearly talented but never once tries to compensate for his mistakes. He'll slow down to do his ridiculous stepovers and get tackled easily, made to look a fool, and yet he'll show up there next time, ignore the easy pass, and try it again.

I know there's a difference in age and experience but quite clearly there's a difference in mentality, possibly even intelligence. Naismith has to be an intelligent footballer to make up for his shortcomings; and it shows just how far excellent positioning, decision-making, awareness and vision can get you. The difference is Naismith is interested only in being productive. Every decision he makes is made quickly and for the good of the team.

For all their supposed talent, Naismith has scored more than Deolofeu, Mirallas and Barkley, sitting joint 2nd in our goalscoring charts. He was criminally wasted on the wing, and it was almost ruinous for his career. You could always see how much he was hurting everytime he miscontrolled or misplaced a pass out on the touchline and the crowd got on his back. This isn't a Mirallas or Deulofeu type who will just shrug when they run the ball out of play trying to beat an invisible man, Naismith's confidence and self-belief clearly took a knock every time he made a mistake. After the first goal yesterday the confidence it gave him was huge, he played and pulled off a few audacious balls and was running head up, not afraid to call for it. Not too long ago he'd have skulked away without so much as half-hearted appeal for the pass because he was so concerned with making a mistake. I always felt bad for him. I'm just delighted he was given the chance to show what he can do, and the transformation was almost inconceivable 12 months ago, but he's done it. You can see he believes it himself now, he is an important part of this squad. And he is.

 

[GraemeS1980]