Martinez remains cautious over transfer activity

Cahill plays within his abilities and through sheer determination makes up for his obvious short comings. At 35 leading the attack puts our current crop to shame.

Personally, I sure would like to see Geri back.

The squad needs refreshing and the sooner that process begins the better even if loans are used in this window. ItÂ’s all a bit stale!

Straight out of MoyesÂ’s January playbook.
That’s not a dig at Moyes either – it’s just how we usually do business in January. If we can’t bolster a squad when 4th is on (last season under RM, probably 2-3 times under Moyes) then why expect it to be different.

If BK is thinking of a change, he wouldn’t do it now as a replacement would want money to make changes – there isn’t any. If RM is a dead man walking, he’s as likely to go in February as at the seasons end.

Is he working as hard as Bill is in trying to sell the club? When we needed 6/7 players to help cope with the demands of Europe...

And when youÂ’re struggling, Robbie, to score and win games, then not finding solutions in January for your season is a MASSIVE gamble.

Either we have a clueless manager or some worrying spin on the state of affairs behind the scene. Frightening for us is that it is probably both!!

If we donÂ’t buy a striker this January we may get relegated

Yes, buying in Jan is a gamble – sometimes one worth taking Señor Martinez.

"Hi, my name is Ian and I am an Evertonian who thinks we could be relegated."

LetÂ’s hope Roberto comes to the next meeting as change only happens once you admit / accept you have a problem...

Have we missed an on from Pienaar and Osman? Yes.

Have we lacked creativity in midfield? Yes.

Have we missed McCarthy? Yes.

Have we sold EtoÂ’o and gained a fit Kone? Yes.

Have I missed anything?

Although Martinez is lucky to still be in a job. He must love working for an idiot like Bill. 1 win in 13 would be a sackable offence anywhere else. In some countries even 1 defeat in 6 is meriting of the sack.

I remember when Inter sacked Gianpiero Gasperini after just 6 games a few years ago. Martinez is lucky that he has Kenwright as his chairman and not someone like Abramovich or Daniel Levy. HeÂ’d have been sacked by now if they were in charge.

Are supernatural forces at work here, or is it,like the rest of us, just weary of reading the nonsense that spews out of the managerÂ’s mouth?

Okay – a little harsh on old Aiden there...

What do you want Martinez to say, "The BoardÂ’s told me thereÂ’s no or bugger all money available"?! You could of course blame Roberto for spending 㿈m or whatever on Lukaku, but thatÂ’s hindsight.

Anyone who thinks we are going down, thereÂ’s still 25/1 available! It doesnÂ’t look like the serious punters fancy us to be relegated as the 25/1 been around for a few weeks now.

The only other player we currently have who has the intelligence to pick up good positions and create space with movement is Naismith, unfortunately for us he doesnÂ’t have the same technical attributes of the other two. His second touch is usually a header or an over-hit or under-hit pass into touch. Good finisher though.

Pienaar has been a huge loss, pretty much everything that has been good about our football over the last few years has generally been through his combo with Baines, Ossie and Fellaini.

As many have mentioned, we have huge and expensive holes to fill with the demise of our elder statesmen. Namely, Ossie, Pienaar, Distin and Howard, with his own individual loss of form. Big big job coming up in the summer for whoever may be in charge.

Would you give him money? I wouldnÂ’t. IÂ’d tell him he got three games to save his bacon and count himself lucky heÂ’s still employed. Oh and by the way Roberto if the answers to our shitty form are within the club why havenÂ’t you used those resources properly. What about Garbutt?

He signed Aiden McGeady on a free this time last year. What a rip off!

Naismith a good finisher? He has scored 2 league goals in the last 5 months and has not a single assist all season in all competitions. He never gets a shot on goal and we are out of the cup because he canÂ’t even score from the spot.

I believe things would improve markedly if we tried the following:

1) Mix it up occasionally, and certainly play to our centre forwardÂ’s strengths by letting him run onto the ball periodically, rather than expecting him always to perform with his back to goal (it isnÂ’t his strength).

2) Practise defending set pieces, especially corners.

3) Practise some tactics when we get corners. The current "spray and pray" approach isnÂ’t working.

YouÂ’re right, he has shown no inclination to use youngsters, even when they have done well. If we donÂ’t use Garbutt, rumour has it he could be playing for the RS next season.

Also we need to figure out a way to move the ball faster in the opposition half and be more unpredictable (like we were with Deulofeu in the squad last year).

Our closest imitation is Mirallas, who can makes things happen and he will be missed for that reason. Baines may be another but can have only so much influence from left back.

Sadly Barkley is just not there yet and may never be. He can beat a man and shoot but his passing is only decent and his vision and decision making are below the required standard. Naismith offers application, instinct and movement but again not precise passing or vision, or even touch at times. McGeady can actually make things happen but is mercurial at best. Pienaar is capable but mostly MIA this season and lacking a crucial yard of pace from two seasons ago. Osman as well is missed at times.

This is the reason we have failed spectacularly to turn our dominant possession and territory this season into chances and goals.

What scares me is that Martinez does not see this all.

Now I feel sorry for Martinez his dream is becoming his and our nightmare. As a TW addict, I love all this drama. Roll on Saturday, no matter the result, I still donÂ’t think Martinez will be sacked.

I can only assume that the board are really big gambling freaks or, like Martinez, they live in a parallel world where weÂ’re top 4 and all is well.

The two little shits are the only proponents of Â’pass and moveÂ’ in the entire squad. Yeah, theyÂ’re both on their last legs and need replacing but, the fact of the matter is, they havenÂ’t been as yet. Obviously there are bodies you can play in their place but none who perform the same sort of role.

Pienaar may not have been the same player since his switch from Spurs was made permanent, but still the most balanced the team has looked under Martinez was when he was out on the left with Mirallas on the right.

As for Osman not being important to the way Martinez wants to play? How many games did he feature in last season? The little Lilliputian has many limitations but he at least shows some imagination with the ball at his feet, finds little pockets of space and looks for a forward pass that might lead to an opening, rather than lazily laying it off to whoever might be nearest and then staying marooned to the spot.

Neither player is among my favourites and IÂ’ve criticised them both in the past, but I donÂ’t know how anyone can claim weÂ’ve not missed their contribution to a midfield containing less cool heads than Idi Amin had chilling next to his fucking packed lunch.

"I have had a meeting with the board, and after an in depth look at my dealings in the transfer market, the board decided I was not fit and proper to sign players, therefore I have to mend and make do".

Bottom line for me, he will be sacked after the LFC or Chelsea game (or maybe before for a lift). We will lose both of them in our current state, and I have no confidence on turning Palace over.

BK playing a good financial game here, you have to applaud him on that, the transfer money will pay the compensation.

Slowly, far too slowly, are you actually starting to get with the programme?

Man City offer 㿊 million + add ons etc for Barkley on deadline day. BK accepts and upsets/ undermines Martinez. He sulks and resigns with a reasonable agreed payoff. Joe Royle plus Sheedy come in short term to sort the mess out. We should survive then with the current players we have. Of course would anybody offer anything the way BarkleyÂ’s been playing?

After a decent start to the season, he has been useless at everything for months.

If true then what is MartinezÂ’s obsession with ex Wigan players. ItÂ’s like he doesnÂ’t trust the scouting unless he has worked with them...

I pretty much agree with all that Sam 41 and John 44 say in their posts. In regard to Barkley disappointing, he seems to me to have the physical capabilities but my impression of him when interviewed is thereÂ’s not much happening up top.

Hopefully though he will lose his stubbornness and change things around; the first thing he should do is stop trying to shoehorn Barkley and Naismith into the starting 11 and all my doubts will go out the window.

Well Roberto, we have currently played 31 games this season and I cannot remember any "phenomenal" performances. Maybe these "solutions" include NEVER including Naismith and Barkley together and playing wide players, errrm... Wide?

31 games and still not finding a solution in our existing squad is professional negligence.

That is very harsh on Naismith, the lad is a workhorse and has consistently shown energy and enthusiasm for the cause all season – you might say minimum requirement and I agree. If you want to look at stats compare him to the rest of them and then see where he sits. He started off the season very well and faded a little after his injury but for me if we vote now he is my player of the season!! That might sum us up at the moment but don’t blame him for us being out of the cup, blame the whole team for not turning up in the first game till the 85th minute..

I expect a depressing loanee and nothing more. 20th richest club – fucking soul destroying

Show me the money!

Smacks as desperation from Martinez and blind hope really that this current crop which has failed dismally since August will be able to turn this wreck around. I think we are two injuries to key areaÂ’s short of being one of the clear favourites for relegation.

Just say we donÂ’t win any of our next three league games? It may not happen but just say it does? The next three are Palace, Liverpool and Chelsea, then on February 22 is a game at home to Leicester... These next four matches could have a massive say in our future and surely the future of Roberto Martinez.

Who knows, we could be ground sharing with the likes of Wigan (not like itÂ’s that far away) in the lower leagues. Everything sold off to cover debts and going into administration where they take a whole heap of points off you just to make sure you go down (Pompey anyone) while the likes of Garbutt and Browning strut their stuff in the big time.

My wish is for a manager that will play to the strengths of the team, maybe someone with that top 4/5 experience to take charge. Who?
The other Spanish waiter maybe, but we are a small team so maybe not. Anyway, a manager whose surname does not start with an M.

Either way, heÂ’s only 21; if he scores 15/20 goals in the next couple of seasons, we should get our money back at least... so itÂ’s no that bad?

Precisely the reason why you avoid putting yourself in that position by properly planning and reinforcing the squad in the summer. Jaysus!

If he honestly believed that Osman and Pienaar were to be the creative lynchpin in midfield for this season, then I despair. Both have been great servants to the club, no doubt, but both have been on the decline for a couple of years.

I think we all knew there would be no replacement for EtoÂ’o. Clearly a "luxury" this team couldnÂ’t afford.

As for the hope that BBS will return this weekend with a new plan/ strategy/tactics for the match against Palace, donÂ’t hold your breath. Having Macca back in the squad is a massive boost but he is not going to solve our goal-scoring drought. Also, the benefit of his inclusion in the starting XI will be offset by playing Barry along side him instead of Besic (you know this will happen). He will be spending the majority of his time covering for Barry when Palace press with pace (and you know this will happen too).

I would love to see the gaffer prove me wrong here.

Stresses? The awful tactics, the players out of their best positions, the missing skilled colleagues, the poor results. They will be back and the fans want to see Fortress Goodison and inside, a pack of hungry blue wolves. If they donÂ’t get what they hope for there will be a huge loss of faith. Toffees fans canÂ’t take much more disappointment.

IF we can’t find a win in our next six Premier League games we will have equalled our worst run of games – 12 when Mike Walker was in charge!

God forbid.

We sign players and they quickly become liabilities, more often than not.

IÂ’m also with Anto here #74 signing old players to long contracts and not developing our own youngsters was always going to have the effect we are seeing now. We were always going to IMPLODE and that time is now.

We have 4 days to bring in someone. Not just for quality sake but to show the existing players we care and want to win. Remember, if we go down, the players donÂ’t necessarily come with, they move on and we sink, alone, as fans, with the club and hope somehow we come back before we do a Leeds

No changes made then and no changes made now. Really inspires everybody with confidence. Lets just plod on regardless and cross our fingers and hope for the best. Heres a thought, how about forcing the issue and start making things happen. Bloody pronto.

Ps. The match above was the defeat to Southampton. Which all us Evertonians want to forget. Last comment, the upcoming derby will, in my opinion, seal MartinezÂ’s fate , one way or the other.

When you see the so called talent in our squad its obvious Martinez hasnÂ’t done that and in my oppinion hasnÂ’t been doing his job properly.

He can stuff his beliefs its his job to extract the maximum from the players not to alienate and confuse them and strip them of their confidence.

HeÂ’s an arrogant man of questionable ability. His face says it all heÂ’s looking down the barrel of a gun only Kenwright has no bullets.

Maybe, time will tell regarding Lukaku of course but just 2 league goals since the end of October is not suffice for a striker that cost so much money, football is not a game where patience is not displayed.

McManaman signs for West Brom for under 5 million?

At such a low fee that might have done us, we need a wide player because Mirallas wonÂ’t be here in 6 months, Pienaar is closer to retiring rather than inspiring, McGeady is well, McGeady, and the fact Martinez is even suggesting Atsu can inspire a team in a relegation battle concerns me no end.

McManaman is 23 and has potential.
He was Man of the Match when Wigan won the F.A Cup Final.

For me itÂ’s the type of signing youÂ’d have seen Moyes make, a player that has something to prove after dropping down or being at a lower level, ala Cahill, Lescott.

The usual suspects will finish in the top 6 positions this season, Southampton have been getting great results but IÂ’m willing to bet they will drop away.

Regardless of your opinion of Martinez, any manager of ours each season starts with one arm tied behind their back. This season shows what a outstanding job Moyes did in the league over the last 9 or 10 years.

If either of these teams play with the same level of intensity against Everton as they did last night, then one can only hide under the settee. The thought of Everton’s pedestrian, woefully aimless leaden football trying to cope with performances such as this – let alone cause them any concern – is quite chastening. Perhaps the only hope is that, such is the stupor that characterises Everton’s current approach to the game, it may well send opponents into the same boredom that Goodison’s faithful have been experiencing so far this season... and completely throw them!

If there is not a sudden re-emergence of energy, purpose and commitment from the Blues in these matches, then the goal difference that currently separates us from the other poor sides against whom we are having to fight to avoid a threatening relegation will not be looking too healthy. And this is not even taking into account the little matter of another visit this weekend to the capital, where we always perform wonderfully well... donÂ’t we?

No, I am afraid that the next two weeks will be the ultimate wake-up call for all who have responsibility for addressing and solving the sorry mess that Everton have become this season. Let us hope that the "warm weather" training (is this for real?) has something of the miraculous about it!

Oh no, not that boring argument again? Can we never just move on? MOYES IS GONE! (But donÂ’t tell David Prentice!)

It beggarÂ’s belief that BK has left matters on the RM front knowing we are going to get so little out of the upcoming 6 games.

Either he is a super optimist; has his head buried in the sand or finances dictate his hands are tied.

Whatever the reason it doesnÂ’t change anything and we are heading into the abyss without so much as a fecking parachute in my opinion

Yes, Roberto beat Moyes in so much that we earned a record number of points last season, but thatÂ’s one season only, maybe we were lucky as well as playing good football!

This season, I would argue that we have had little or no luck come our way which has certainly not helped our position. ThereÂ’s still going to be comparisons between what Moyes achieved and what will be MartinezÂ’s legacy, thatÂ’s inevitable.

The Premier League is a money race basically, and credit where itÂ’s due Moyes did keep us consistently competitive for the time he was here, and on peanuts relative to the money clubs.

It should have been careful planning not a case of panic buying.

HeÂ’s got one decent wide player at the club, Mirallas, he can big up Atsu and McGeady all he wants but we as fans are not thick, we can see a player that has made an impact or could make some kind of difference.

Martinez has had a very poor 6/8 months really.

That should send us all to sleep watching him run into defenders but there again he can play cards with all the other ex Wigan players as they make their way to the Championship.

This Â’luckÂ’ thing is a load of rubbish. You were referring to our lack of Â’luckyÂ’ goals (deflections etc) on another thread the other day as though we should be due our share but have missed out.

We are where we are because we are crap. And, in my opinion, we are crap because of RM who has us less than the sum of our parts.

And the same goes for this lack of resources argument.

Any club / business works within its resources to get the best out of them. RMÂ’s dereliction of duty started pre-season and his head has been stuck firmly up his own backside ever since.

The buck stops with the highly paid manager (the one who I get the impression believes Dave "Did I mention I broke my leg?" WhelanÂ’s assertion that he is destined for great things on the European stage and is using EFC as a stepping stone. Unless that stage is the Eurovision Song Contest, I think heÂ’s way off the mark.)

But this obsession with luck smacks of delusion.

He has zero assists all season so he is bottom of the pile. That is not acceptable for an attacking mid. Another stat is that he hasnÂ’t had a shot on target for three months. I have been watching him closely for the last few games and he has been absolutely dreadful. The energy thing was true at the start of the season but recently he is plodding about and never gets a tackle in.

IÂ’m sitting here with a cold bottle of Flag reading some of the posts and IÂ’m now getting really concerned regarding the long term future of our great club.

Is the Palace game another so called "Watershed" moment and how many do we need to determine the competence of this fool of a manager. If Watershed Moments were the equivalent of "Cats Lives" weÂ’ve surely ran out of ours weeks ago?

Nice bit of name-dropping there.
Did I mention IÂ’m off to Tenerife on Saturday? :)

By the way, the CatÂ’s Lives analogy is spot-on.
I canÂ’t believe RM is still here.
If he had any decency heÂ’d have walked.

IÂ’m just waiting for the next excuse: "The warm weather training was incredible. But we didnÂ’t get the result we deserved because it was so phenomenally cold at Selhurst Park / GP. If it was warmer, it would have been amazing."

On resources, if they donÂ’t count, why are the rich clubs consistently occupying the top league spots? They donÂ’t spend 𧴜Â’s of millions for the fun of it, do they?

We all thought he was the messiah last season but this season has showed him as stubborn, indecisive, narrow-minded and scariest of all oblivious to what is unfolding before him on the field and in training. The man is sleepwalking us into the Championship with his brand of ineffective football and I fear for our club if left till the end of the season.

BK was only a board member when Walter Smith was let go. The Chairman at that time was Sir Phillip Carter who was the one that hired Walter Smith, and if you read SmithÂ’s story on Wilkipedia you may understand why he hired some old has-been players. BK may have been the major shareholder in the club at that time and he may have had some influence on other board members but it is the chairman that fired Smith.

BK took over the ChairmanÂ’s position in 2004; Smith was let go in 2002.

You say: if youÂ’re saying that luck/chance doesnÂ’t play a part in every happening on this planet, youÂ’re the one thatÂ’s deluded, what about someone killed by a falling tree or a lottery winner, it plays a part alright.

Er, where did I say that in my post? I didn’t – I made the point that you repeatedly refer to our lack of luck in defence of Martinez. By it’s nature, luck isn’t evenly distributed. But you seem to want to pre-plan for it. In any case, have you not heard that you make your own luck (by playing to your strengths, ie, getting the ball into Lukaku quicker might do for a start)?

You say: On resources, if they donÂ’t count, why are the rich clubs consistently occupying the top league spots.
They donÂ’t spend 𧴜Â’s of millions for the fun of it, do they?

Er, where did I say that in my post? I didn’t. My point about finances was that to refer to a lack of resources for where we are is garbage. The manager’s job is to get the best out of our resources – RM patently isn’t. If it was simply down to finances (thankfully it isn’t), should we even bother to turn up? For reference – see where the relatively rich NUFC have finished compared to ourselves the past 10 years.

Be my guest and have the last word, Raymond.
No offence but I’m not having a debate when your basis for discussion is blind faith, clutching at straws, wishful thinking and delusion – all in defence of RM.
No logic, no evidence to underpin the argument.

Anyway, have a nice evening.

Pienaar has hardly featured since Martinez got the job, and has scored something like one goal in 18 months, if it was the Pienaar of old IÂ’d say ok yes fair enough, but heÂ’s clutching at straws.
Even Osman, heÂ’s injured, itÂ’s highly possible he wonÂ’t come back and heÂ’s 34 in May anyway.

Does Martinez really think we can put our faith in these two fellas?

He goes on about players returning will make a difference...But who??
There is only James McCarthy who is a regular starter.
Gibson? DonÂ’t make me laugh.
Atsu?. Oh please Roberto.

ItÂ’s right, he just contradicts stories and basically if everything he spoke in his first 6 months at the club made perfect sense then the last 8 months or more heÂ’s been full of bullshit.

The board are clearly not happy with him and are not going to give him anything. We need 2 or 3 players but he has been given no money so tries to spin some bullshit about Pienaar being important despite hardly even getting on the bench and the likes of Gibson and Atsu having phenomenal impacts or whatever rubbish he said.

I think weÂ’re seeing the end folks perhaps. And I think Bobby Bullshit knows it too.

It all started with that naivety in the Anfield Derby playing Stones right back and displaying a total disrespect for the defensive side of that match against the Shite, we could have lost 8-0 that night but got lucky.

Then there was the whole Lacina Traore business..

Going to a F.A Cup quarter final away at Arsenal with a keeper so short of match practice at that time (Robles) and dropping your usual number 1.

The pissfarting around in Brazil over the summer and getting into a spot of bother whilst there.

The cracks have just widened since then.

And yes, I admit he has a few hits to his credit, but IMO a lot more misses. I realise that even the best managers can sometimes get things wrong, but Everton cannot afford too many mistakes. I donÂ’t trust Martinez with his so-called football philosophy (look where it has taken us). And I donÂ’t trust him in the transfer market (even with a limited budget).Far too many let downs supporting Everton, and in this modern game nothing will change unless Everton can ever attract proper money. IÂ’m resigned to that fact.

Your giving your opinion as if it indisputable fact, which of course its not, there many reasons why teams lose matches which are not under the control of the manager thatÂ’s all I have said, IÂ’ve given you a couple, if you disagree tough.

As far as your parting shot goes, thank you I will.

My concern about this man being out of his depth serving his apprenticeship at our great club has grown ever since. I am no longer surprised at his team selections; substitutions (or lack of them in the Southampton game); his embarrassing diatribe in front of the media - but I am surprised he still has the best job in football.

I am so upset he is still manager of EFC I would give up drinking my Bombay Sapphire if he would reciprocate and piss off tomorrow

On the other hand, maybe that is precisely the type of game we need to pull everyone together? They certainly need to find some edge to their game if they want to pull away from the scrap heap at the bottom.

WeÂ’re like a band of zombies and you can feel it when you go to Goodison.

Somebody has to take it all by the scruff of the neck and shake us into life. DonÂ’t know who.

However, just read my post again and didnÂ’t think it was offensive at all. Surely IÂ’d have been Â’moderatedÂ’ if it was?

For the record, I didnÂ’t like my own post (104) being taken massively out of context (110) - it clearly was.

And since when has, "Anyway, have a nice evening" been Â’a parting shotÂ’?

I didnÂ’t realise we were such a sensitive bunch on here.
But no offence intended.

This has to be his most idiotic statement yet (Despite some fierce competition)

Does this Moron believe we wont get any more injuries?

Lose badly in the derby and he is out.

What a free-kick that is from Christien Eriksson, what a player heÂ’s turning into for Spurs this season, and thatÂ’s what you call a proper dead ball specialist, whenÂ’s the last time Baines did something like that for us?

How IÂ’d love a midfielder at Everton like Eriksson.

Bill is a full-time theatre producer based in London, and is the only board member who has any real say. Elstone is just a messenger for Bill, so heÂ’s not going to get involved on the footballing side.

That leaves the manager to his own devices, and we all know how thatÂ’s working out.

We are desperate for some leadership - but itÂ’ll never happen with this board, the have never wanted any interference in the club, good or bad.

Raymond, is it possible that we are in this position because we are playing absolute shite? We had no pre-season and got off to a shite start. Our tactics have been abysmal and our team selections have sometimes defied logic. Substitutions – or lack of them – have been mystifying. Our manager sometimes speaks in foreign tongues.

No, maybe the above has got nothing to do with our present position. ItÂ’s just us being the 12th unluckiest team in the League. No doubt weÂ’ll get the "WeÂ’ve suffered bad injuries to players" posters on now too.

Everton and Villa are far and away currently the two worst teams in the league on form. WeÂ’ve only managed one win in 13 odd games, just sold Eto, have numerous players long term injured and weÂ’re just 4 points above the drop zone with Chelsea, Arsenal and RS coming up shortly.

Taking all that into account, you can get a massive 33/1 for us to go down! All the promoted teams are quoted odds on for the drop so I can only assume that the bookies donÂ’t think weÂ’ll come close, despite how shite we are, simply because other teams are considered even worse.

Betting against your team is obviously off side but if I were a betting man and not an Everton fan I would jump on MASSIVE and lay us against Palace. We may not lose the game but I just cannot see how weÂ’re going to beat a rejuvenated palace, at their ground, with a new manager, whoÂ’ve btw won their last 4 games in a row!

Just canÂ’t see it, even with McCarthy back. Unless Bobby found some magic beans in the desert!

I agree, and I think we are starting to see quite why Spurs always want so many midfielders, they are coping far better now as the season has progressed mainly because they have quality like for like replacements when they get injuries.

Whereas with us, injuries to the likes of Mirallas or Coleman and your quickly playing square pegs in round holes and players of a lesser quality.

What we couldnÂ’t match was there intensity. Look at Kane, then look at Barkley. Ross has a lot more ability but Kane has much more desire in his game.

Confidence is massive, and I just hope this break has given us a chance to take stock and get back on track. LetÂ’s fucking hope so anyway!

However, knowing the arrogance of Â’smell-my-fartsÂ’ Pardew, heÂ’ll likely fancy having a run at us which may be to our advantage. If they park it to nail us on the counter, weÂ’re screwed.

Anyone who belittles the League Cup clearly has no experience of the sheer adrenaline and atmosphere once you reach the Quarter Final stage.

Like I say, imagine a semi final 2nd leg at Goodison?..40,000 under the floodlights??

Make a change from the usual September exit and the "oh canÂ’t be arsed, letÂ’s concentrate on the league " attitude...

Some memories can be very convenient as regards players - McManaman did play well in the cup final but has not been a regular since for Wigan so would surely be another gamble and guess what - if he didnÂ’t impress Roberto would be slated on this site yet again for buying another ex-Wigan player!

On paper our squad looks good but we still have 10 players aged 30 or older plus Gibson who is too prone to injury. Take that lot out and we clearly need to strengthen and hopefully a few youngsters will be given a proper chance when things improve.

The two big misses have been Ross and James - Ross has had a poor season and looks unable to cope with playing in a struggling team.

As others have posted the derby is the watershed - lose at CP and then lose playing badly against RS and action may then be taken. I really would love to see him turn this around but we need to see positive signs against CP to inject some confidence in time for the derby.

Come on you blues - show some fight!

https://vine.co/v/MrKHt2IEMPP

Can – or, better still, – do the players have it in them to go and perform well in the coming games? Are they deliberately playing shite to get shut of the deluded one?

I cannot see this team changing. The false dawn of the West Ham and Man City games was soon put back into perspective against West Brom.

I have been educated the last 12 Months by reading every post on here. The overall picture does seem all rather desperate and the signs are itÂ’s not going to get better anytime soon... What ever happened to the boastful Martinez quote of top European teams wanting to loan us their up-and-coming stars?

Was the loan of Astu part of ChelseaÂ’s demands when we bought Rom? He has certainly not made the impact that the Barcelona kid made last season.

If I was as deluded as our manager, I would be quite confident that we would get good results in our next three games. But the realist that I am says we will lose all. Those odds are bloody good; I think the bookies will lose out on that one.

And yes, despite what a couple of people on here would have you believe, West Ham and Man City were false dawns. Personally, I see these games as evidence of the players playing for pride (Man City) and trying to salvage the season (West Ham). Why? Both games were replete with player quotes talking about challenging the manager to change the system, and also evidence of players playing their natural game and dumping MartinezÂ’s phenomenal foolosophy.

His time is up. Virtually all of us can see it. It was up after the Christmas disaster. All weÂ’re doing now is wasting valuable time. My worry is if he scrapes a win at Palace, it starts the BS machine off again and we waste more time.

I think weÂ’ll only get shot after Arsenal in four-games time, a point that I predict weÂ’ll be on less points than games played... worrying.

"I know you love to throw names out but IÂ’ll never comment on other players. He is registered with another club so I wonÂ’t comment," said the boss.

The interviewer didnÂ’t give up, adding Â’does the same go for Cardiff goalkeeper David Marshall (another rumoured target)?"

Martinez replied: "Is he registered to another club? Then yes, no comment."

I would much rather stick with what we have and change our tactics, than sign players that will be just as wasted, playing this awful style of football.

With Roberto’s job very much on the line, he may be allowed only to bring in a goalkeeper – let’s all hope it’s a good ’un!

As for the derby, we will have played one game in the previous two weeks, the RS four games including extra time in one of them, surely that will help us or am I being deluded?

The fans would have his head on a stick after 25 minutes.

Can you tell IÂ’m not confident?

Robles has looked a better keeper since heÂ’s had a bit of a run of games. Might save us some money if he keeps it up.

So to sum up, Berbatov would be a good signing, but only if played in his proper position and also the rest of the team would need to get fast service to him. And no stupid long contract.

ps: I thought that Samuel EtoÂ’o would have also been good for Everton, but for whatever reason that didnÂ’t work. Its a bit hit and miss with that type of player. But a few goals from Mr Berbatov might just calm a few nerves. Especially mine. COYBS

We need a pacy winger and/or an incisive playmaker midfielder to put Ross out of his misery.

Seems like we will be getting no-one much but if we lose against Palace there may just be one or two Â’panicÂ’ moves at the last minute.

As someone noted earlier, we donÂ’t really need another poacher, we need someone to get the ball to the poacher we already have.

Though the thought of Berbatov blowing cigarette smoke into BobbyÂ’s face during one of his incoherent ramblings would be priceless!

Since then he's had the gall to criticise supporters who have continued to pay good money and travel hundreds of miles to watch his turgid dirge offerings, and to come out with shit like Kone is an ideal replacement for Eto'o and that the clearly finished Pienaar and Osman are the players to reignite our season. We have less points on the table than Wigan had when they were relegated and not even a glimpse of where our next points are going to come from.

We have problems on the pitch and they are being ignored, ageing and underperforming players that need replacing, formation changes and a big rethink. Over to you, Roberto and Black Bill.

No striker is going to score in our team at the moment unless they pick up the ball on the half way line and dribble all the way to goal. Our main problem is related to creating chances and this stems mainly from the slow build up play and lack of proper midfielders playing in the AM places.

We desperately need a creative attacking midfielder (either wide or central) not another striker. Even if we needed another striker, a 34 year old Berbatov - really? We're not that desperate surely. I'd rather play one of our kids.

Blue Bill... save us: save us, Blue B ill!

With McCarthy coming back we can batter our way back up the table I'm sure.

I started to think how long it has been like this and being disappointed every year when it comes to transfer windows. The clubs above are supposed to be the small clubs and we are supposed to be one of the big clubs – or have us Evertonians been dreaming this for the last two decades and are we in need of a reality check?

I think it was only a matter of time before Everton get found out and we will be trying to survive staying with the likes of the teams above.

Does anyone else feel quite depressed with Martinez' press conference yesterday about we have a squad that he needs to work with to turn the season around? HavenÂ’t we heard the same stuff from Moyes? Is this a BK way of saying we have no money so to pull wool over our eyes tell Martinez to say this when asked about transfers?

I for one get excited about transfer windows but with Everton it seems to get depressing.

McGeady not good enough;
Atsu not worth the bother;
Distin past his best;
Alcaraz was never good enough;
Naismith a squad player;
Barkley a good prospect yet to come good...

And Roberto thinks we don’t need new recruits in January??? Get Reid and Inches in – at least they know what it means to be a blue... And get Big Nev in as keeper coach — we won’t be lacking fight then.

We all live a blue and would give are all for OUR club.