Martinez “could not be prouder”

I can’t see where the next win is coming from as yet again we had the lead, less than ten minutes to go, and failed to close the game out. I’m still very worried as this defeat, after laying better than we have for weeks, (months), could have a detrimental psychological effect on the players.

Oh, and McGeady was an idiot, who left his teammates short handed due to his stupidly rash challenge when he’d already had his card marked, undoing all the hard work the others had contributed.

Can’t help but feel we might not have conceded the equalizer if Besic was still on the field, as he might have been if Kev had been used as a sub for McGeady. Instead, because we were a man short, Besic was pulled to bring Kev on, weakening the central midfield.

McGeady gets a one game ban for 2 yellows; is it possible to get that extended to 3?

Naismith is very limited and I can't believe he was given that stupid 3 year extension, McGeady was rash but his confidence is shot, Barkley had his worst game of the season, the ref was a blatant homer, we never get any luck when it influences a big result and I'm worried sick that after 3 decent efforts we've still not won and we're a couple of defeats away from a major crisis.

Then another of his mantras: "I thought we were the better side". You can think what you want but the facts most definitely prove otherwise.

Robles has surprised me. Done well in the games he has played.

Can't work out Mirallas. On his day. Brilliant.

Like many of us I just wish we didn't give the ball away as often as we do. Most if not all the players are guilty of it sometimes. I am sure those on this site who play or have played will have made similar errors or be guilty of poor decision making. Alot of it is simply down to lack of confidence rather than ability.

It will be a pity if we lose Eto'o who it appears may be on his way. We don't know the circumstances but shame that he wasn't included in the squad last night. Potential move or not. He is an Everton player so would have been available for selection.

I imagine he would rather be playing regularly at this stage of his career which is fair enough. In some of the matches I have seen him play in, his thought process has been 2 to 3 steps ahead of the rest of the players. Played some tremendous balls in to 'feet' expecting a run from someone who hasn't been on same wavelength. Imagine he is frustrated at the way his and our season has gone.

All IÂ’m saying is, yes, we played well, but still lost, and just how many defeats will it take for us to realise we are in trouble? We desperately need to start winning games, not playing well and coming away with a defeat or Â’A creditable drawÂ’.

I was there as a teenager in 66 when we came back from 2-0 down to Sheff Weds, to win the FA Cup. That was the kind of fighting spirit we need in every game now. Is Roberto the man to inspire such performances? I just donÂ’t think he is.

We never get ourselves over the line by WINNING..
Its ok patting ourselves on the back after last night's performance despite conceding our usual favourite goals at corners (we will never learn?)

All I can see is we are having our worst season in recent memory here..

No wins hardly
Out of both cups already (forget the Europa, not a cat in hells chance)

And a tram that can't keep clean sheets for toffee..

The fact remains...

Were we not shite last week at home to West Ham and for the first hour last night again in all honesty?

Slight improvement since Hull, but we are out of the Cup and 1 Pt. nearer the bottom than we were after Hull.

One game at a time Roberto... we have to start averaging better than the 1pt. per game we are now.

WBA, Palace away, RS, Chelsea away, (Young Boys H) Leicester, (Young Boys away) Arsenal away... 6 games, how many points do YOU think we will get... I'm going with 8.

Unless we can build on the team effort it will go down to the wire

Oh and start practicing defending set pieces and general organisation.

Can't be pleasing Kenwright the way it's gone this season.

For me a draw is no use whatsoever under the circumstances because we have been on such a woeful run of form, if we fail to win, especially given the fixtures we have on the horizon, can anyone see our defence holding out in games at Palace (they really put you under at Selhurst Park) the derby, where we all know that the Everton mental block prevails over the day, and then away at Chelsea?

The West Brom game is a huge game for Martinez.

As I said yesterday, how long can you get away without winning matches?
Its results orientated business and if our current form continues for another three or four games...what then?

Again we conceded first even with 11 men. Again we only looked like scoring after we'd conceded. Again we missed three of the easiest chances you will ever see to take the game away from them. Again we are undone by a set piece because we couldn't hold on. Rollercoaster game yes, passion and energy yes, but game management, winning mentality and quality under pressure? Very very little. Again Everton football club explore every possible way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

The motto should read 'Nothing but glorious failure is good enough'.

20 years and I'm still waiting for one day in the sun. One trophy win, one away derby win (id even take a home one now), one away win at a top side (Moyes united didnt count). One win in a big game we're not expected to win, one good run in the league cup. After watching for a quarter of a cenrury is it really that much to ask?! Clearly it is for the specialists in failure.

You just knew we'd lose the penalties as well.

Forget your 4-4-2, or your 4-3-3 – based on last night we should start every game with 10 men!!!

On a serious note, very proud of the performance last night, we certainly didn’t deserve to lose and were a million times better that some recent displays.

Well done to the players for approaching Martinez to mix up the style of play. His remark that West Ham never looked like scoring from open play only set pieces I found quite strange and a sad indictment that we don't practise set bloody pieces!!

Bryan Oviedo HAS to start next game when he came on I thought he got about the pitch "phenomenally". Young Ross should join Sterling in Jamaica for a bit of a holiday.

West Brom on Monday is a massive game and one we have to win.

Until the last kick last night I really enjoyed it. It was a cracking FA Cup tie. I thought for a moment that the footballing gods were smiling on our two Belgian lads but obviously not. We must have upset those fuckers big time somehow.

Every player put in a shift last night including McGeady who was probably our most dangerous player in the first half. Pity he only has half a brain. I was also pleasantly surprised with Robles. His commanding of his box, his punching, catching, kicking and saves were all first class.

My only gripe was Barkley who needs a huge kick up his arse and Stones who although played well against a beast of a player was at fault for both goals.

Anyway, 3 points on Monday please.

What I liked was the fightback from 10 men, without actually parking the bus. That was the big difference between a character filled fighting come back v/s a smart tactical team that likes to play football and kills games. We could have easily scored 4 goals with slightly better finishing. During the extra time, quite often we looked like the home team and we had them on the mat, with just 10 players, and at their home ground.

Make no mistakes, this team is evolving. Sure the results aren't there on the scoreboard in the last couple of months, but on the pitch I see the change and I like the direction we are headed.

My biggest gripe over the past few months has been the lack of fight or spirit in the team as we surrendered in games all to easily.
The two West Ham games and the City game haven't produced a win, but they have produced gritty and determined comebacks that will have eased a lot of peoples concerns, including mine.
If (and I admit it is a big if) we can show that sort of fight against WBA and Palace then surely we will start to pick up more points.

Returning to reality, Sky are now including Everton in all tables and stats relating to 'the relegation battle'- so those who continue to say it couldn't happen should be aware that we are plum bottom of many of the key indicators of doom.

Scuffled draws will probably be enough to save us, so lets hope current
'form'continues. Says much for our aspirations, doesn't it ?

McGready is far too lightweight and offers little threat in this level of football. He should have been substituted well before his dismissal.

My greatest concern is with Ross who again last night showed how alarmingly his contribution in key matches has dwindled. Where is the energy, determination and hunger? If ever a player seems lost, itÂ’s him and his impact in recent games has been negligible. Somehow the coaching staff need to examine how to help him to recover his confidence. At present, he does not merit selection!

Just one other point: when will our front men learn the offside rules and look along the line of the defenders? Massive must-win game on Monday with no excuses!

BK will be drooling over a CL spot this morning!

All that said - my concerns remain about the management of Ross; Eto probably going to get a game with a team who might just try him out as a striker and a manager who praises his players for adapting to a change in tactics when we all know it was player driven.

However that might just be the turning point which may turn this apprentice manager into a craftsman and if so and EFC are the beneficiaries then bring it on and let's see the results of this mini turnaround into 6 pets over the coming two games!

Very happy to see you post and absolutely spot on!

Look beyond this result and take the good out of a few things for a change, it will do half of you good.

We can only trust the manager who watches and speaks to the players day-in and day-out, unlike us readers. Give him a break on this one!

Yesterday was improved yes but still careless. We still canÂ’t defend set plays and this should be worked on although we all know it wonÂ’t be. If I hear Martinez cite Â’Open playÂ’ one more time I think I will break my TV. Set pieces are a big part of football especially when games are decided on such small margins. If I neglected such a big part of my work I would be hauled up and dismissed. Guess what Roberto we concede from a set piece pretty much every game so pull your bloody finger out!

I firmly wanted him dismissed after the Hull game. Nothing has changed as I donÂ’t have faith in his ideology. Some players and managers are born winners and IÂ’m afraid RM just isnÂ’t. After Fat SamÂ’s comments pre match I thought Martinez might go for the big convincing win to silence the doubts but ultimately we failed to beat West Ham home or away. He has also been tactically outdone by the likes of Pardew, Hughes and Bruce. Unacceptable in my book for a manager of our great club.

That is why I can't really enthuse about last evening's "gutsy performance". We need a break, certainly, but we also need to stop missing easy goals and conceding them from set pieces.

And all we needed now was to play a team managed by Tony Pulis...

Aren't you going to have a go at David Isreal too?

We've showed some fight in the last 3 games and played decent in all of them against two good sides.

I don't care if West Brom have got Pulis in charge and they're on a high or not, we're playing on Monday with plenty of time to rest after yesterday, we have to win the game. Anything less than a win and were back to square one again.

It appears that someone somewhere has given the nod for us to get shafted every game by the twats in the middle... and No – it doesn’t even itself out over a season, like they say on telly.

As for the football, it hardly matters when we are not getting any assistance from the officials and are continually up against it with dodgy pens and other important decisions.

I am sick to death of it... If it went on in Italy, there would be corruption investigations by the week. English refs are the most bent in the world. They are shit scared to give anything against teams they are told to protect. It’s a disgrace and we are always the fall guys.

We performed relatively well against better sides than West Brom, so Im just hoping we don't bottle it at home against them on Monday.

That's a shocking stat that is.

So the team played hard, isn't that what they're supposed to do? We still lost because we can't defend set pieces. We got a lead and were unable to hold it. We're still 3 points off of relegation, 3 points.

" I was there in the ground, behind the goal when Andy King burried an absolute cracker, never ever has a team been in a more miserable situation than the EFC team that day

That Everton team that day had not lost a game home or away all season before that game, I believe it was something like 19 unbeaten, we didnt lose a game until the Saturday before Christmas

I find it sad people still slag off Martinez, in my eyes he got it all right yesterday. I would have preferred Mirallas to have started but he is nursing an injury and it was probably the right thing to do not to start with him. I actually thought McGeady played quite well up to his sending off.

Lets just hope all the effort and ultimate disappointment doesn't effect the lads for the next game.

No EL for over a month and we have massive 4 league games until then with no excuses of tiredness from cup games.

West Brom, Palace, RS and Chelsea coming up and we need to be looking to get at least 5 points from these games to put daylight befween us and the drop zone. We'll then still have the likes of Leceister and Burnley at home still to come so assuming we can get points from West Brom and Palace (at least) then we won't have issues re relegation. Our last win was on the 15th December, so an entire month ago!

No pressure Roberto but you really need to get 3 points under the lights on Monday.

Really wish he would play Ovideo AML in the next game instead of again playing Naismith or Barkley out wide. McGeady suspended for the West Brom game I think.

Does a gutsy performance gloss over the fact that we canÂ’t win? Genuinely canÂ’t. We have been on this downward spiral since the fiasco of pre-season.

And before you complain that people on here told you so, remember that they told you so.

I understand your positivity but for me out of the last three matches which have ended up all square, only in the Man City any positives appeared for me.

We were poor in the vast majority of the home match against West Ham and only really woke up in the last four minutes.

Last night we conceded the first goal yet again when it was 11 v 11 and the match was littered with the usual mistakes defensively that have torn apart our season.

Individual errors such as Stones in the first half, poor defending from setpieces and yet again just like in the home match against West Ham, we conceded two from corners, this is a massive ongoing problem that looks no closer to being sorted.

Yes we fought well but as some other post have pointed out, should we have not done that week in week out?
Maybe then we may not have totally wasted this season that back in August promised so so much rather than a battle near the bottom of the table and elimination in the first stage of BOTH domestic cups for the first time since the 1960's.

I'm sorry but the only thing that will get me thinking we have turned the corner is WINS..clean sheets, better defending and less self destruct schoolboy mistakes in virtually every match I have seen us play this season.

Until then, I'm sorry but immensely proud??

No.

I made the mistake of mentioning the 1 win in 12 stat not long after the last penalty and I got cyber-lynched.

The facts and statistics are frightening at the moment and I guess its too much for some people.

Yes, West ham are in 7th place and 3 points off the top four; but based on previous form and talent who should be there, Everton or West Ham?

That is essentially why many fans are not getting overly excited about a 'glorious' defeat. Had enough of them, thanks. If that makes me a whiner then fine, but if others are satisfied with things as they are what does that make them I wonder.

Your right mate!

You can't disguise the clear lack of wins this season.

People don't like seeing the facts because sometimes the truth hurts and can be frightening.

We haven't won matches ALL season.
We have had three successive draws, played relatively well from the 70 minute mark last night, were poor before it.
Played well against City fair enough but at home to West Ham we were pretty poor again for the vast majority of it.

Do we look any closer to keeping clean sheets or winning a match?
It seems when we take the lead (which isn't exactly too often) we haven't got a clue how to see it out.
Our defence cracks under the slightest pressure I'm most games.

I posted earlier on, how much longer will we be able to tolerate this kind of form of no wins, no clean sheets??

It has got to improve from next Monday, it simply has to.

It's crunch time now. West Brom at home. Palace away. Liverpool at home.

Fail to win any of these and I think I may have to start looking for tickets for the Martinez out bandwagon.

Kenwright will be unwilling to shift the new manager and rightly so but if we sink any further down the league then his hand may become forced.

I suspect we will turn the corner soon enough and rally to 9th/10th in the league and the quarter finals of the Europa. Is that good enough to merit giving Senor Bob another crack next season? Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps it will depend on the nature of the performances.

.Everyone put a shift in with the exception of McGeady who was a twat.
Pleasantly surprised at Robles. Seems to be gaining confidence

Ok we're out of the cup - a penalty shoot out is always going to be a lottery, but our league position has to be a priority.

Hopefully we have turned the corner and can start adding some wins to our season. With the spirit show last night we will be ok.

We played with pride, and I saw glimpses of 'The Dogs of War' mentality.
Yes our defence is leaking goals, but get behind this team. They are our team, and I was a proud Evertonian last night despite the nail biting disappointment.We showed character,and determination. The fans at the ground certainly showed their loyalty. COYB

However when we had 11, we made so many little mistakes, passes overhit, passes hit behind the object player, delays in passing(a Barkley speciallity) and going to sleep when there is a break in play.
Lukaku in general played well, but missed an easy chance, and nearly missed the goal he did score. He was on his backside and scuffed the ball. Also whenever he lost possession or overran the ball he stopped and shrugged, whilst
the game continued around him.
As for McGeady, he was making poor decisions all game, and his ridiculous attempts at slide-tackling cost us the game.

Also West Ham caused us more problems than we did them, and over the 2 games, they deserved the win, let's not kid ourselves.

The positives are that we are playing like a team again, with fighting spirit, and we are varying our play, mixing it up more.
Robles may turn out to be a good keeper and Besic and Stones will improve. As for Barkley, I'm at a loss. I don't know what we can do with him, perhaps behind Lukaku instead of Naismith?
Baggies game is the acid test.

However earlier in this thread I felt that having used EFC as his apprenticeship and because the players have forced the issue on a change of tactics he might just finally come of age.

Of course because this benefits EFC I pray it is true and 6 points is the return from the next two games because these are teams we SHOULD be beating.

However if somebody else scores against us from a set piece I will be back on my hobby horse for this man to go. that said I prefer he succeeds because then EFC succeeds.

Tony Pullis will be watching all of this and he and Pardue are no mugs. If we don't beat West Brom then Kenwright has to do something about all of this. The time for all the rhetoric is past. We are in a relegation battle. We cannot keep a clean sheet, end of, that is the problem.

There were positives from the West Ham game but the the bottom line is we lost. Although we had ten men and were playing a physical side, we had ten minutes to hold out. To be honest, all the heroic talk is well and good from the Spanish one. It is a results business unfortunately.

My frustration is that when I have coached kids teams the message is always to defenders don't play it around in and around the penalty box as you may make a mistake, get organised and man mark their players touch tight at corners. I know that this approach may be simple and I am not a Premier League coach but surely one of the back room staff can tell Martinez this? These are the basics of defending.

Please at 10pm Monday night when Martinez gets interviewed after the West Brom game he is talking about a win preferably with a clean sheet for EFC. I don't want to hear the rhetoric I want to see results like all Evertonians....COYB

He was my choice to be our new manager, and I was delighted when he signed for us. He brightened up every aspect of the team, and club last season, although I didnÂ’t think we played consistently well.

I agreed with what he said initially about the team at the end of the season, that we needed 7or 8 new players, so I was optimistic about this season. He changed his mind about this for some reason.

I still kept the faith, but the football has been dull, slow, boring and ineffective, whilst our Nero manager goes on praising every fart and blink that the players perform.

Roberto is a charming man, and seems very likeable, but a football manager, I donÂ’t know. I hope he proves me wrong. If he comes good he could be very, very good. I would be surprised, but delighted.

Come On You Blues!

I

But I think it was down to the players rather than our phenomenal manager who looked forlorn on the touch-line. I am sure that the majority of players thought Â’Fuck thisÂ’, we will play it our way, and it nearly worked.

Last season for the first time in many years, I was proud to be blue, but I was taken in by the Martinez hype. After all, we were only good at defending because of Moyes.

So here we are in he middle of January out of two cup competitions, which, as an Evertonian, I wanted us to win.

Worse still, we are languishing just above the drop-zone, and frankly , on this form, no chance of winning the Europa.

My best pal, who is from Wigan, but roots for Everton as his 2nd choice, predicted all this when RM was appointed.

Unless we bite the bullet, and sack him if we do not beat West Brom, then I fear for the future.

When they got the corner which led to the equaliser, Oviedo was looking around, waiting for instructions ,where {should I stand}? who {should I mark}?.There did not appear to be any forthcoming. You know the result of that corner.

I am pig-sick at the lack of direction in that defence. Spent a whole season of Chuckle Brother defending, to you, to me, to you. We need a dominant character in that defence, someone who shouts, someone who takes responsibility. Someone who isn't afraid to speak his mind and get the troops organised. We need that guy now. He's out there somewhere, anyone got any ideas? Let me kick it off by throwing Ashley Williams name in the hat.

Oh, by the way, chaps, a couple of weeks back I did mention that Sammy could be the disruptive force in the dressing room. Looks like I was on the money. Drat, if only I was a gambler. lol

We seem to have lots of very similar standard midfielders but few wide men. Without Osman at his best we lack guile. We desperately need the six or seven squad players that we were told were needed before this season began.

I am slightly relieved that we are out of the cup as now we can focus on the Premier League. So long as our tiny squad stays relatively fit we should stave off relegation and possibly make the top ten.

It has been patently obvious that we cannot adequately fulfil our extra fixtures with the squad we have.

But the question was, do I think we will beat LFC, yes always at goodison...the glass is half full, too many negative people on here for my way of thinking.

And then the long haul back from darn sarf. I applaud you boys, you are the backbone of our team. Please don't lose the faith, we need you boys and the rest of the faithful Blues.

I just hope the backroom people realise what fantastic support we have and reward us with a team worthy of the following we have. We need to be as one in these awkward times, and IMO we can come through but we need the management to dig deep and inject life into the current squad. Clearly its needed.

Interesting comment. I did feel Martinez was very lucky to get the job... after all, how many managers off the back of a relegation inherit a top 6 side?

It was all based on the cup game against us. BK saw that and wet himself. The Wigan fans I know don't hold him with any regard either, which I was surprised by.

Get a grip people seriously. McGeady for starters was best player on the pitch till he got walked - he took a yellow for an awful Barry pass and his second was stupid but he was putting in a shift.

The team look a lot better, playing with an improved tempo.

It appears anything positive is a false storm unless its Lukaku having a good game.