Ellis Simms was ‘outstanding’ on his Hearts debut after arriving on loan from Premier League strugglers Everton in the January transfer window, manager Robbie Neilson tells the Daily Record.
It was less ‘dunked in at the deep end’, more ‘chucked into the middle of the Pacific ocean with only a tatty old dinghy for company’.
Simms joined Heart of Midlothian on a short-term loan deal on Wednesday.
Just a few hours later, he was rising from the bench as the Edinburgh giants chased a hard-fought point against Ange Postecoglou’s title-chasing Celtic.
He very nearly succeeded too.
Simms made his name as a prolific goalscorer in Everton’s academy. But he showcased a different side to his game at Tynecastle.
The 21-year-old debutant gave Hearts a much-needed physical presence in the final third, dominating Celtic’s Tottenham-owned centre-back Cameron Carter-Vickers throughout his 45 cameo.
It is no coincidence that the balance of proceedings swung dramatically in Hearts’ favour following Simms’ introduction.
Does Ellis Simms have a future at Everton?
“Very impressed with him. I thought he was outstanding,” says Neilson.
In the end, his Hearts side missed only lost a tight encounter thanks to a late penalty smashed against the post by Liam Boyce.
“He turned up in the dressing room around half an hour before the boys met. He’s going to give us a different dimension; physique, pace, power. I thought he was very, very good.”
The word ‘outstanding’ has followed Simms around, from Merseyside to the Scottish capital.
That is the same adjective Everton U23 coach David Unsworth used to describe a natural-born goalscorer who fired Blackpool to promotion during a previous loan spell away from Goodison Park.
In fact, there are plenty of Everton supporters who would have been thrilled to see Simms handed a run of games at senior level in recent months.
Especially with Dominic Calvert-Lewin short of match fitness and Solomon Rondon, well, short of pretty much everything.
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