The curse of second season syndrome for Everton’s strikers

Everton have always been seen as a team with a lot of potential but never enough funds to go to the next level. They have always had to make do and credit to David Moyes he has always done that finding bargain players to improve his squad. However one problem that Everton have had in recent years is scoring goals, this season is no different … the problem they always seem to have are their strikers consistently bagging goals.

In the January transfer window of last year Everton signed Nikica Jelavic from Rangers for a fee of £5 million pounds, the Croatian was an instant hit with the Goodison faithful as he made finishing look easy, often only taking one touch to put the ball in the net. By the end of the season Jelavic had netted 9 times in the league and twice in the FA cup firing him to the top of Everton’s goal scorer chart and all in only the final four months of the season.

With such a good start to his Everton career fans were drooling at the thought of the amount of goals he could score in a full season. However as we move in to March Everton are wondering what has happened to the formerly clinical Croat. Jelavic has only managed a disappointing seven goals this season and has suffered a major crisis of confidence as he has continuously fluffed chances and squandered opportunities which many would of expected him to put away if they were given to him in the form he was in last year.

This is not unusual at Everton though it is not the first time the club has watched a striker who was prolific seemingly lose all of their goal scoring prowess in the space of a summer break.  Nigerian striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni arrived at Everton in 2007 and he like Jelavic was an instant hit at the club with 15 league goals in his first season. He became Everton’s talisman and hopes were pinned on his goal scoring to fire the side towards European football in the following season however the Nigerian failed to deliver and only managed 4 league goals for the team in the 08/09 season before being loaned out to Leicester City.

Yakubu is not the only other frustrating case the Goodison crowds have seen there was Andy Johnson before him scoring 11 goals in his first season but then only managing 6 in the next, and even further back James Beattie who fired 10 goals in his first season but then only followed up with 2 in the next season.

So it would seem it’s not just Jelavic who has suffered to fulfil his goal scoring potential in a second season in the blue colours of Everton. There has been an air of uncertainty surrounding the club lately as fans wonder if Moyes will still be in charge next season, whether Fellaini will still be playing for them and even wondering whether the club is for sale, which was confirmed yesterday.

The one thing that Everton fans must be wishing for is that between now and the end of the season David Moyes can find a way to inspire confidence back in Nikica Jelavic and hope that he can find his scoring boots. Everton have stuttered in the league as of late and also suffered an emphatic defeat as Wigan knocked them out of the FA cup and this is in no mainly due to them failing to find goals.  

If Jelavic can turn his season around, find some confidence and break the second season curse Everton fans must be hoping that they can steal in ahead of their rivals to secure European football.





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