Martinez comes to the defence of his young guns

Only Naismith plays without fear and he is the only other midfielder apart from Mirallas who is chipping in.

I still think we should play just one holding midfielder especially at home as playing two makes us less of a threat up front.

He appears terrified of passing the ball to a blue shirt in the last third of the pitch.

On skill he should at best be a squad player on the bench rather than a regular starter.

As for Martinez's comments, I've stopped taking notice of anything the guy says as it's either bollocks, delusional or utterly irrelevant.

Lukaku will get between 15-20 and that is great, especially considering his age. But, come on, we all know he should have scored a bit more than the 13 goals he's got at the moment.

Perhaps if they win some games the second part will happen?

Off topic, but yesterday, his was the only voice welcoming the winter World Cup. Sang the praises of Quatar- even describing the event as likely to be 'a phenomenal success.'

No doubt the prospect of 'another little earner' influences his judgement.

Someone in the PR dept at Goodison needs to have a word with him, its gone beyond embarrassment at this stage

Martinez has been way over the top with his praise for the clubs younger first teamers, especially in such an abysmal league season with a pitiful shots/ on target/attempts/goal return:

Barkley "will be best player to ever wear an England shirt" and Lukaku "I would pay £100 million for him" the crowd just wants to see some, anything, just one moment of this hyperbole justified. How exactly can Barkley relax when he is burdened with a tonne of weight on his shoulders by a manager who constantly changes his position? I hope Stones "one of the best ball playing centrebacks in Europe" is not equally affected soon.

Barkley seems a little lacking in intelligence and I have lost count of how many times he stands in a straight line behind Naismith/ Mirallas or whoever else is in the front 3, completely negating himself as an option when Baines or Coleman are in possession, is he hiding?

Barkley is far too eager as soon as he gets the ball, very similar in fact to Lukaku this season. It looks like their brain is a couple of steps ahead of their legs, hopefully this is a nervousness which will settle down but is certainly exacerbated by burden from manager and crowd.

'He substituted compatriot Olivier Giroud on the hour mark after he missed the target with six efforts: "It looked like it was not one of his best days".'

Now compare that to Martinez and his staunch defence of Lukaku, who scored 3 in the last 2 games but had at least 9 guild edged chances. Yes the lad is 21, but hardly a raw recruit having played 3 seasons in the Premier league and is a full international.

Wonder which player has the better game on Sunday, the one mollycoddled and guaranteed 90 mins every game or the lad hauled off and under no illusion he needs to lift his game?

Lukaku has made some ill-advised 'cheap talk' of his own and therefore needs to put his money where his mouth is or accept the grief which inevitably comes with strikers missing sitters.
I wouldn't mind his all-round play being poor if he keeps getting the winner. We all want him them both to achieve and maybe our reactions and hopes are at cross purposes. Its hard not to moan and groan at the moment though.

The lad is doing what all of us here wish we could do, we would even pay for the opportunity.

But, No! let's cut him slack as he is having a bad time of it of late.

The lad is a "professional" footballer who is seemingly not "doing" his job properly at the moment.

Blames also lays with Martinez too because he is trying to shoehorn him into any position just to get him on the pitch.

So no, I can't cut him some slack, as he needs to grow a set and perform as we all know he can.

Contrast that with someone like Osman, or Coleman. These players broke into the first team when they were 22ish, off the back of zero top flight / international football. They were - to use a horse racing term - unexposed. You could completely understand why they would suffer dips in form, possibly even until they were 23 / 24 as they were still learning their trade. They were "young" in terms of experience. Lukaku isnÂ’t. When Rooney was 21 were people talking in this way? No - he was not far shy of the finished article. Michael Owen? He was in his peak having spent three years in the Red Shite first team.

Sick to death of this excuse being made for Lukaku. I can understand it more for Barkley (only just over a year in the first team, 50 Premier League appearances, a lot from the bench, only two starts for his country). But Lukaku? Not for me. Too many excuses being made for him.

And by the way, IÂ’m a Lukaku fan! HeÂ’s got the raw materials, but I just canÂ’t be having the "heÂ’s only 21" excuse for his poor form. Play a different record Roberto!

When interviewed, Ross comes across as quietly spoken and relatively shy. He doesn't try to hog the limelight like some others and his comments never show him to be arrogant. The lad is a Blue through and through but as Teddy #13 says his confidence is shot.

My point is that Ross's form may benefit from the crowd getting behind him rather than moaning at him. If he turns out to be as good as his potential indicates then what is the point in slagging him off to the point of him looking to move elsewhere and realising his potential there. I don't feel sorry for him, I'm just trying to protect an asset.

Lukaku has talked of playing for a top club so when he shows top form then someone can come and pay top money and take him off to the top of wherever it is he wants to be top of!

When players like Mirallas come out in the press and state their intentions of moving then they deserve what comes their way. Likewise, the manager has hinted at his displeasure at the home crowds mood after making substitutions etc but when it goes wrong he deserves to get flack as that is part of his role.

You can slate Ross all you like. Maybe it makes you feel better. The evidence suggests, however, that it will only hamper any resurgence of good form for young Ross and regardless of the crowds reaction to him, his bank account and our bank accounts wont be any different.

Are you honestly saying that if Naismith played up top regularly he would score over 20?

Have you seen him try to lead the line? He has no pace. So he's no threat in behind. He has no physicality. He couldn't play up front on his own as he has none of the tools required. There's no, I mean zero, burst or penetration to his game.

He's clever with his positional play, and picks up space well. He is also good at ghosting into areas and makes crafty late runs. He is also a more than decent finisher. And he is a grafter. However his link, combination play and passing can be shoddy. Ironically all the graft may not help that. If you're fucked, your touch can be off.

The thought of Naismith playing Lukaku's role and bagging over 20 is absurd. It's up there with the fella on here who reckoned a totally, blatantly finished Saha was going to bag 20 league for Spurs when he left here.