Horne: Everton won't go down but they do remind me of Wigan

, 14 March, 12comments  |  Jump to most recent
Ex-Blue turned expert summariser and Echo columnist, Barry Horne, draws some disconcerting parallels between Everton and Wigan Athletic under Roberto Martinez.
I watched a lot of Wigan Athletic during their time in the Premier League, and they would certainly have fallen into that category.

Their games would almost always follow a similar pattern. They'd start off looking to keep the ball in their own half, playing quite defensively and sitting back. Then they'd go a goal behind, usually through a defensive error or a set piece, and only then would they come out and start attacking.

Sound familiar? I bet it does to a lot of Evertonians.

» Read the full article at Liverpool Echo



Reader Comments (12)

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Darren Hind
2 Posted 14/03/2015 at 06:17:05
Anyone ever seen Barry Horne and Phil W in the same room, at the same time ?
Ian Brandes
3 Posted 14/03/2015 at 08:27:54
It is our unwanted aptitude for going a goal down, and then waking up which worries me, so I agree I with BH.

Very much hope that we do not do this against Newcastle or we will have a mountain to climb.

Trevor Peers
4 Posted 14/03/2015 at 08:45:21
At last... an ex-player with the balls to tell it how it really is; well done, Barry. I doubt it will make any difference to Roberto's mindset – in fact, he’s already said as much.
Clive Mitchell
5 Posted 14/03/2015 at 10:39:12
Chillingly familiar, Mr Horne. And that means RM has to go.
Oliver Molloy
6 Posted 15/03/2015 at 13:11:19
Agree totally with BH, but players also must accept responsibility for their performances on the pitch this season.
Massive match today and after yesterday's results,3 points is a must!
We will all know in the first 10-15 mins which Everton had turned up.
Dave Abrahams
7 Posted 15/03/2015 at 13:24:18
It must be as bad as we know it is if Barry Horne is having a bit of a go at the way Everton are performing, Barry always wears the bluest of Everton glasses, very rarely sees anything wrong with the way Everton play.

I remember having a debate with Barry on the stairs of the Upper Bullens when Walker was in charge, he tried to convince me Walker would turn it round, don't know if he believed it himself but he couldn't sway me

Colin Glassar
8 Posted 15/03/2015 at 13:58:56
Sharpey and Derek Mountfield basically said the same on sky yesterday.
Phil Walling
9 Posted 15/03/2015 at 18:57:09
Bugger me I/we've been rumbled. But we didn't lie or exaggerate did I ? Just said the same thing over and over and that's how it turned out. He's an empty vessel.

Now, I couldn't give a stuff about the manager -all I'm interested in is our getting 41 points which I've backed them to do as a desperate saver against the bet I've lost on finishing seventh.

Brian Denton
10 Posted 15/03/2015 at 19:08:54
Phil, spare a thought for the bloke by me whose bet on 2-0 went down in the last minute......
Hugh Jenkins
11 Posted 16/03/2015 at 05:54:20
It was a bit worrying to hear Tim Sherwood's comments on MotD following Villa's 0-4 win. He said that the team and the fans had been frustrated by the negative "keep possession and pass back / square" policy used earlier in the season whilst the obvious thing to do with the pace that was in the squad was to get the ball forward early and get behind the opposition defence.

I wonder if RM watched this before choosing his team and tactics for Sunday?

Sid Logan
12 Posted 16/03/2015 at 19:16:23
Barry Horne is a committed Evertonian. Of course that doesn’t make him right but he’s pretty much talking facts here as against just a personal view.

My wish is, of course, overwhelmingly that we stay up. I think we will but I also hope that Martinez is dumped. I know he won’t be.

My reason for wishing this is fairly fundamental. Martinez will not change and nor will he acknowledge that improvements we are experiencing just now result from a system change. He is so stubborn and egotistical that he will say it’s the same system now being played exactly as it should be. Most of us know that is bullshit.

But regardless of whether we achieve Premier League survival, many of us believe that at the earliest opportunity be that he will revert to a possession based game which, whoever it does suit, doesn’t suit this team!

I personally I don’t want to watch a team managed by Martinez next season. I know there are some who will live with that in the hope that his normal mode was what we witnessed last season. But there are more of us who know that, based on history, that is not the way it is!

I’ve also had enough of listening to the most bizarre post match comments you’ll hear anywhere if football with a detachment from reality that’s for most of the time is both frightening and depressing. I don’t want to hear about the need for players to be themselves or be in a good place. Do such comments square with a manager who, whatever else he does, puts out a super fit team? Probably not and it shows.

If we do get a new manager – and I don’t expect for a second that we will – I don’t want BK to appoint someone who manages within a 30 mile radius of Merseyside. I want someone with a viable track record in a decent league and take a chance even if he’s foreign-based. I know this last paragraph is pie in the sky but saying it makes me feel better simply just to say it.

David Chait
13 Posted 17/03/2015 at 17:16:12
Occurred to me after reading this article that last season were not the finished article for RM. This mean that the team still was being influenced by Moyes playing style and it meant we had a hybrid of Moyes and Martinez and maybe that is a very good system.

Once RM had killed what was left of Moyes style it all slowed down and began to be played in our half side to side waiting for the gift of the opposition being lulled into sleeping, which they don't do in the EPL.

I did read that our performance v Newcastle felt like a blend. Just a thought.


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