Everton sold Ellis Simms to Coventry City for around £8m in 2023.
After graduating through the ranks at Everton, Sean Dyche decided to sanction Ellis Simms’ sale following a successful loan spell at Sunderland.
Ellis Simms initially struggled at Coventry but then found his feet in the second tier and ended his first season with a commendable 19 goals in all competitions.
But, the 24-year-old hasn’t been able to replicate that form this year, and Frank Lampard didn’t even give him a minute across the two-legged play-off tie against Sunderland, which they ultimately lost 3-2 on aggregate.
Coventry fans have had a lot to say about Simms following last night’s heartbreaking defeat.
Coventry City fans want former Everton striker Ellis Simms to be sold this summer
Coventry City fans took to X, formerly known as Twitter, last night and urged Frank Lampard to sell Ellis Simms this summer.
“Simms not getting a minute of football over both semi final legs tells you exactly where Lampard’s head is at with that one, he’s tried him, realised being marked by a defender from set pieces and scoring 0 in 13 isn’t what we need and will bin him off in the summer,” @PaulHowkins92 said.
“Please, please, please sell Wright and Simms, in June. On a free if necessary,” @harvey1664 added.
@Dale_Mc22 explained: “4 big games, Luton, Boro, and play-offs. Simms and Wright didn’t turn up for any of them when we needed warriors! Every other player performed at some point except those 2.”
@ske22 said: “The 2 so – called strikers Wright and Simms, need to go. Lazy, no commitment, don’t seem bothered about the team when sat on bench!”
“The sooner DK and Frank realise we need to get rid of Wright and Simms the better chance we’ll have of going up next season,” @ethancov2 commented.
“OUT: Wright Simms Collins. Don’t want to see them play for us again. Absolutely no passion for the shirt,” @AdamGL94 posted.
Lampard says he sometimes needs to ‘jab’ Simms to get the best out of him
By all accounts, Simms is a good character and clearly has the attributes to be a prolific number nine, but speaking last month, Lampard admitted he does need an extra push at times.
“He’s a good lad,” the Coventry boss said.
“He’s very laid back, very easy going – a very low maintenance player but I also want to jab him sometimes to get the extra bits out because those attributes you talk about are his real strengths and they need to be maximised. So that’s Ellis.”
Perhaps Simms’ brutal omission from the play-off campaign may give that added bit of motivation to come back fit and firing in pre-season.
There’s clearly a player in Simms.
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