Thierno Barry made a point of referencing the passion of Evertonians when he first joined the club on July 9 last year, declaring: “I think the fans here are, like, crazy people... I like this!”
Some would say that actions speak louder than words, but appearances can sometimes be deceptive with the 23-year-old, who is still finding his way in English football.
Barry’s languid style of play and body language can lead to certain observers to get the wrong idea about his attitude and while it’s something that he probably needs to learn from if he’s to become a success with the Blues, it doesn’t mean that he’s not trying.
Firstly, let’s get things straight about the Liverpool game on Sunday. Barry’s display off the bench was rightly one of the many great disappointments for Evertonians from the historic first Merseyside derby at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Forced into the action after Beto had suffered a bang on the head and was sporting a golf ball-like swelling on his cheek, it’s fair to say that his replacement didn’t enjoy the same kind of impact.
Of course, Everton’s number nine didn’t have it all his own way and in the first half he somehow hit a shot from an inviting one-on-one chance closer to the corner flag than the goal – an action that ECHO columnist Michael Ball claimed left him on his knees in the stands – but he’d kept the Reds’ centre-backs occupied all afternoon through his physical presence and grabbed the all-important equaliser.
The Guinea-Bissau international’s efforts earned him a score of 7 in the ECHO’s player ratings compiled by this correspondent but some have told me that I was generous in giving Barry a 5.
Understandably, Blues are hurting right now, over both the last-gasp defeat and their French striker’s display, but that doesn’t mean that he’s a lost cause.
Other than utility man and frontrunner to be the club’s player of the season, new England international and World Cup hopeful James Garner, Barry and Beto are the only other two members of the squad to have featured in every game this term.
Mostly it’s been a job share scheme with the pair of them taking it in turns to spearhead the attack and only fleeting moments when they’ve both been on the pitch at the same time. Their respective fortunes have waxed and waned as the campaign has progressed, with one or the other getting the nod at different times, and not always because that individual has necessarily been in the ascendancy but on some occasions just because he’s not been quite as poor as his colleague.
A rarity in the Premier League as a player who did not develop through a top club’s academy, Barry has come a long way in a relatively short space of time during his career in what has been something of a meteoric rise, moving for four consecutive summers as he’s moved up football’s food chain from Sochaux’s B team to Beveren, Basel, Villarreal and now Everton.
There needn’t be a fifth move this year, though, as David Moyes remarked when he signed him: “We are delighted to have brought Thierno to the club. We see lots of potential and we are hoping for good things from him. We will give him plenty of time to settle in.”
Indeed, after incredibly getting sent off in both of his first two games for Basel, it took Barry until after the turn of the calendar year to finally break his scoring duck in the Swiss League. In contrast, his ‘mere’ 17-game wait to get off the mark for the Blues seemed relatively rapid in comparison.
As team-mate Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who also found the net that day in a 3-0 home win over Nottingham Forest on December 6, remarked: “I’m so happy for him. I think it’s probably one of the loudest [cheers] you’ve heard the stadium all season, and he deserves that.
“The last five or so games, he’s absolutely worked his nuts off for us, he works all the time, and you deserve good rewards when you work hard.”
That was the first of five goals in nine games for Barry, but his match-winner against Newcastle United that went in off his backside in the 3-2 success at St James’ Park when home defender Lewis Hall shoved him towards the ball, is his only one in his last 10 outings.
Not only has he lost his place, but the incident involving some of his friends at Everton supporters in the 2-0 defeat at Arsenal seems to have lost him some affection among what had been a very supportive fanbase, willing him to get better.
Like many people these days, Barry has documented his trials and tribulations throughout the season on social media in what have often been humorous and sometimes self-deprecating posts.
His response to whatever went on at the Emirates Stadium would appear naive though – he was subsequently booed by some home supporters when coming on as a substitute against Chelsea at Hill Dickinson Stadium, and there some jeers from the North Stand on Sunday – but neither that nor his derby display should sound the death knell to his time with the Blues.
Turning 63 on Saturday when he returns to previous employers West Ham United, Moyes, who has gone from being the Premier League’s youngest manager to the division’s elder statesman, is understandably someone in a hurry when it comes to trying to get Everton back into Europe.
Rookies, including £35million Tyler Dibling, the only signing that cost the club more than £27million Barry last summer, have not been given preferential treatment this term.
So, while the likes of Dwight McNeil, brought back into the fold after his proposed transfer to Crystal Palace collapsed on deadline day of the winter window, and Beto, keeping Barry out of the starting line-up right now, are currently getting the nod, they might not be part of the Blues’ long-term future.
Beto has scored seven goals since the turn of the calendar year, including four in his last three games, but at 28 he seems unlikely to get any better at this stage of his career. With 12 months to run on his contract, Hill Dickinson Stadium chiefs have got a big decision to make over his future this summer.
One of the other things that Barry said when he signed was: “On the pitch I always give 100%, I always want to score, I always want to help the team to win. This is my character.
“For me, this is my meal, my food. When I score, I’m very happy.”
That’s all Evertonians want from him too.
If he can start showing that again – his match-winner at Aston Villa showed there is a special talent in there, waiting to be unlocked – then there’s still plenty to look forward to.