Blues extend sorry run with defeat at Stoke

Yet another unbalanced RM side. Barry McCarthy and Gibson should never be in the same side.

McCarthy and Gibson for me with Mirallas/Baines or Oviedo on the left when fit.

I sincerely hope I'm eating humble pie and marvelling at the amazing way the team played later on, but I can't see it.

Very very worried, hoping for a miracle.

I laughed out loud! Living in Cornwall now, I miss the Scouse humour, but the beaches are nicer!!

Will BK please put him and importantly us out of this misery.

What we need is Stoke to hump us about 5 nil to get this shithouse board to run this clown of a manager out of town.

I've been secretly hoping that this dire football is just down to a lack of confidence amongst the players, but any worthy manager would have picked up a talented (on paper) team such as ours by now, and got us playing our way out of trouble.

As of now, I really don't see where our next Premier League win is coming from... BIG TROUBLE!!!

I have a question that I need help answering, how many games this season has RM put out the same team compared to last season? It seems to me that every week he changes the midfield with two or three players? Last season I was pretty sure of our line up (barring injury) and how we would play, but this season it all seems rather confused. Not sure if this uncertainty translates to player confidence, but has this Â’tinkermanÂ’ approach contributed to our relegation fight?

Thanks.

For god's sake, what is wrong with Kenwright? Can't he see what's happening? This is a nightmare and I feel like I'm never ever going to wake up from it...

I am so sick and tired of Roberto Martinez that I could pay Money out of my own pocket to get rid of this guy. He is definitely brilliant of getting abosolutely nothing out of a decent Squad.

This is the most stinky football I have ever watched I think. Worse than Norway under Drillo.

Get out off our club, you clown!

What an embarrassing season, given the talent we have.

God, I wish we had DM back to at least give us some fight!

Stop and think about what youÂ’re asking for.

3 strikers on the pitch and we couldn't score? (Naismith and Mirallas can play striker, before you ask.)

We just look so deflated. Something needs to change and a change of manager is easier than the 21 players who can't seem to perform!

DonÂ’t be blinded by the Europa League, he has to go and I mean tonight, we need 3 wins and he wonÂ’t deliver them. Please, I beg you.

Can anyone tell me why Lennon is playing ahead of Mirallas?

I want to wake up tomorrow with Bobby looking for a new job, funny how he's not linked with Barca or Milan anymore, can't think why?!!!!

Where do we go from here? The only good thing is the teams below us are loosing as well.

BK – stop it now... Or we will not be in the Premier League next season.

How can ANYONE think the unforgivable dross weÂ’ve had ALL season is remotely acceptable?

It may be too late already.

At least we can look forward to eight extra league matches next season and maybe a "dream cup draw" away to a big club.

The Board must be looking at a plan B after this and hopefully there's a maximum one year payout when he's sacked. If there's not the clown in charge of contracts is not fit for purpose.

Utter nightmare of a season that I'm sure is affecting lots of ours health.

We are going down.

How can this have happened?

Martinez's build-up of Garbutt as he did Barkley, Stones, Mirallas, and Lukaku has once again put the curse on the young lad, and what a stinker he had.

Individually they are all trying but there's just no pattern, whenever we have the chance to break quickly, it gets to the halfway line and then Naismith, McCarthy, Lukaku, Lennon, Coleman, Garbutt, or whoever gets it, passes it back 40 yds – it's absolutely criminal.

His book on how to turn a good team into crap in less than one season will be on sale soon.

I can't bear to listen to RM's excuses. Jimmy Case on Radio Merseyside is preferable

We can't be wishing for the RS, ManUre and Shitteh to win just to keep us alive – absolute embarrassment
Going to bed... Good night.

Awful... just awful! That's the straw that broke the camel's back! I've been a supporter of RM but remember thinking after the 5-year contract and that monstrosity of a mural on GP that we are setting ourselves up to look silly! God it has happened!

No leaders on the pitch either – is Cahill available for a short term loan? Please play 4-4-2 for the next few games as it can't be worse than our non-formation!

I can't believe this awful mess! He surely must come out and slate that performance!!

Martinez out!

Why don't we take a note of the Old Trafford crowd at the weekend. They started passing backwards whilst winning and the crowd let them know what they wanted: Attack, Attack, Attack.

He has no Plan A never mind a Plan B. The only good thing that has come from this game is fucking Barry getting a two match suspension; he should be sent on permanent loan to Tranmere until his contract runs out.

"Sorry Prime Minister, we have to interrupt for a moment. We have some breaking news. Roberto Martinez has resigned with immediate effect from the Mighty Everton FC. We go live now to Goodison Park where a taxi is waiting. And there's Mr Martinez now in his bullshit brown shoes. The fans have brown trousers. More on this later. Now back to Mr Cameron ......"

When we play Newcastle a week on Sunday, he needs to start with two upfront from the outset. Four across the middle which needs to be Kevin and Lennon.

Barry's PL season is in my eyes over. No point in bringing him back after the ban. Decide between Gibbo, James and Mo who your two central men are and run with it. Luke has done really well but bring back Bainsey with the message that you are a senior pro so now show.

Finally, the goalkeeper. Could someone tell me with less than 10 mins to go why is Howard is taking goal kicks short that hardly reach the defender and also continuing to build slowly from the back? Sorry but we are back to a steady stream of goals conceded under his stewardship.

The Newcastle game should also mark the end of season. No amount of sound bytes alter the fact that these changes have to come. The current setup is broken.

I just can’t see how it’s a bigger risk to sack him....I really can’t. We will be finished for years if relegated and may not recover.....

Surely the gamble is worth it ? How can we be worse ? We can’t win a game in the league, if that continues were down anyway so how can it not be worth taking the risk to put someone else in charge and I don’t mean Martinez’s no2 either.

Here’s the thing.....I know I may get howled at but seriously.....we need passion, we need urgency, we need a clear idea of shape and we have to pick a team that has a fighting chance of creating enough chances to score a goal or two and yes I know that could mean conceding but that’s happening anyway so wtf ? Could Ferguson, with zero experience but Royle to call on deliver us 12 points ? Will Martinez do that ?

We’ve been desperately close to going down before but somehow this feels worse, simply because it’s so shocking a decline and frankly has been coming from day 1 of the campaign when the mgr allowed his World Cup holiday to distract from organising an effective pre season and we started knackered and got worse. He should have been sacked after Christmas and I see that now, no other club would accept this rubbish or the threat to their survival. Europa League ? Not interested, all that matters is staying in this league. Feel sick just thinking about how we’ve been allowed to collapse like this......

Please MR BK, make the decision now. Ten games left to save us!

Who do we get? Well lets wait till we are down then decide.

The players are better than this. Wait for the crap the manager comes out with? Anyone here think we can win a game? The team is set up to go behind. Play two strikers and have a bloody go at scoring a goal! Not one shot on goal in the first 30 minutes. It will not be us that saves us but other teams. How lucky we are at present? Any other season we would be down?

The needs needs to go as soon as our interest in Europe expires.

This is no longer a knee-jerk reaction, it is not some bad 10 game spell, it is the ENTIRE season.

Where are the next points coming from?

This will probably be the best team on paper to ever get relegated from the premier league.

Martinez has been found out and anyone who wants to make a case as to why he shouldn't get sacked need their bumps feeling. We might not get relegated this season but we will limp painfully to safety. But it took Martinez three good attempts to get Wigan relegated.

Our last 16 games show an almost unbelievable record of

W2 D5 L9. F11 A22 Pts 11

That's not a blip its a trend of major fucking proportions.

In the name of God go now.

Sorry Roberto, I thought you were the man after last season - but do the honourable thing mate and resign. It's over and I'm sure you know it is.

I am also fairly sure our chairman will know how the senior players feel, it's no use prolonging this agony any more. Do what needs to be done, while there is time to ensure this club's Premier League status is safe.

Sheedy & Alan Irvine for the rest of the season.

Survival is much more important.

In terms of a replacement i'd look at Slaven Bilic who is doing great things at Besiktas ...i know Big Dunc's name is mentioned a lot but it would be sheer folly to put a totally inexperienced individual in that position, fire and brimstone he may have but tactical nous and a broader vision of the game is something different entirely.

As for Martinez, TIME TO GO BOBBY LAD.

I hoped that we would pull something out of the hat tonight but it is the same old story. The script isnÂ’t going to change...hard luck stories are not good enough anymore.

People on here have been saying for ages that something is rotten at EFC. He has lost the players, he has lost most of the fans. Now it is time for the Chairman to act.

Otherwise, we will go down, or be saved by the skin of our teeth, because there are 3 even worse teams out there.

IÂ’d love to hear someone come on here and defend him.
(But their medicine has probably sent them to sleep by now.)

The alarm bells were loud after the Southampton game and deafening after the "asymetrical" team set up game. Surely, theyÂ’re irresistible now.

Penny for his thoughts now!

Six home games would in any normal season be seen as a gift for a team in our position but without changing the manager the required atmosphere will not be generated to help the team and will in all probability create a nervous energy that will be counter-productive.

We really shouldnÂ’t be worrying about other teams results especially when those teams are in relegation territory but the truth is we are - we canÂ’t seem to put the ball in the net with any great regularity and canÂ’t keep a clean sheet often enough to sneak a point even when it may be unmerited.

That poisonous combination is the hall-mark of a team embroiled in the relegation zone and it needs to be addressed now, not next week not in a month or so it has to be done now, Roberto has had since early December to address these issues in the Premier League and he has failed to do it and IÂ’m afraid that I canÂ’t see him doing it.

I just think he is far too, 1 dimensional, without a plan B and other clubs figured him out quite easily and this has been exploited by just about every team we have played this season.

If Kenwright doesnÂ’t get rid before the Newcastle match he will stay and that means relegation for sure, just sick that this has been allowed to happen. The club seems finished as well as the team.

Any Martinez supporters want to defend him tonight after watching that sack of shite?

What will it take the club to act.Sadly not fans reaction.

Surely itÂ’s purely a business decision now, sack him, give him his golden farewell and get Dunc in there.

The cost of sacking vs relegation and maybe one more round in the Europa Tin cup.....no brainer.

Bring in Big Joe and Dunc until the end of the season, then get a proper manager who preferably has not taken his team down the season before....job done.

This clown was banging on this morning on how he saved Swansea from going out of the league....I have heard it all now.....sack the halfwit......

The only way IÂ’d want him out this season is if weÂ’re out of Europe and relegation is imminent in which another manager can get some "honeymoon" results and get us clear. IÂ’m 100% we wonÂ’t go down.

Can you believe that were cheering on our rivals to help us avoid relegation - as a poster has stated earlier think it was James Martin its our own fault we never let our feelings known - sit in the morgue that is Goodison Park and accept mediocrity because thatÂ’s the Everton way.

RM out NOW.

Who says we canÂ’t afford to sack the useless idiot? These will be the numbers going through EarlÂ’s and GreenÂ’s head when they want their stakes paying back

Remind you of anyone?

Clearly part Moyes last season, letÂ’s be face it when Martinez did take over he took over a side that finished 6th, sadly this season we are now seeing Martinez stamp on Everton Football Club, he has had his ideaÂ’s, his pre-season, his set formation and his own philosophy.

This is what you have got and this is what your stuck with, unless Bill has actually seen what is going on???

Bill?? Ohhh Bill?? ... No didnÂ’t think so.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/31712353

RM: Â’Every game is a final nowÂ’

Final nail in your career.

RM will never get another PL job.

There is little evidence to support your one season dip theory as this malaise set in following the Palace game last season and has gotten steadily worse and if this had been RobertoÂ’s first season in charge would we have stuck with him?

His philosophy may work in the long-term, but a club like ours has to get results in the here and now and try to ensure it remains in the top-flight any form of gambling with that, is lunacy and could see us in the wilderness for a decade or more.

A new manager appointed in the next week could re-ignite the fans and that could be enough to re-ignite the team, keeping the current incumbent will more than likely see the very opposite.

The problem at the club is Kenwright. HeÂ’s a phoney who has never kicked a ball in his life and simply doesnÂ’t understand football, I didnÂ’t want Martinez when he joined and just want him gone now. It was a poor lazy unimaginative choice by a man who clearly doesnÂ’t know the game. That is why we are up shit creek. He had picked a second rate manager from a second rate club. Tappy tappy may work in the lower leagues but it wonÂ’t work against well organised teams who can play as well.

As someone said earlier, Martinez has been protecting the players all season and it could be his downfall.

Also to those saying play 4 4 2 can any tell me,of another team that plays this way in the Premiership, teams donÂ’t use it anymore.

Guess thereÂ’s just 2 of us on here that want to stick with Martinez.

I can see Charlie Austin scoring against us, I can see us losing against the likes of Qpr,Burnley,Sunderland thatÂ’s where IÂ’m at - trying hard to keep the faith but despairing at the same time.

Yes, sound thought. I always thought the worst managers are those who could only step in and avoid a team getting relegated, but not take them far up the table. The worst is now a manger who takes two sides down in the space of a couple of seasons. FA Cup tin pot, my sweet arse.

Why does everyone believe that sacking a manager and bringing someone else in will make the players play any better.

Well, sticking with the manager has made the players worse so on that basis ......

It would take an absolute fuckwit to do any worse than RM has done since December.

RM Out NOW.

On our day, as weÂ’ve shown in Europe this season, weÂ’re as good as anyone. WeÂ’re a match for any of the teams left in the comp.

6 points ìs a lot for these teams below to catch up. I can see us being comfortably clear by the end of the season.

I love the Barcelona etc style of play, Martinez has same philosophy. Whether heÂ’s good enough to deliver success with this philosophy is another matter but I want to give him every chance because thatÂ’s the way I believe football should be played.

Â’I believe thatÂ’s the way football should be played.Â’

Jesus wept ......

So do I - and I love he players theyÂ’ve got to be able to play that way.

Martinez is certainly going all out to break records at Everton.

ThatÂ’s exactly what we need right now - a short term survivalist. I donÂ’t know who but just anyone -

We battered them most of the second half but they were Stoke at the back and our front men were not good enough and the one who might have been, Mirallas, was on the bench. Its true that teams can read us and the full backs are well policed, this should leave space in the middle but Barkley and Barry have had poor seasons. As for the second goal tonight Lukaku canÂ’t hold the ball up consistently. Worrying, but there are easily three worse teams than us.

Do they know something we donÂ’t ?

We now have a small window of time/opportunity of 10 days before our next league game to sack Martinez and get someone else in. The Europa just doesnÂ’t matter at this stage IÂ’m afraid. We have to let the club know how the vast majority of us feel. Bombard them with emails. Here is one way: Link

Could a new man realistically do any worse? I donÂ’t think they could. Martinez is a dead man walking and needs putting out of his misery. Its just embarrassing now how low we have sunk.

If we donÂ’t get shut of him now then defenitely in the summer. He shouldnÂ’t be given the chance to do this to us again.

I, as an Everton Supporter, have had an enough of this disappointment. I hope it is very soon rather than off a later stage?

I know about Europe. However the league is more of an importance rather than anything else.

The players

I have wanted him gone for some time and expressed reservations after the first 3 matches af LAST season. Wonder what heÂ’ll say on MOTD.

Jeez, Gregory! This isnÂ’t about one poor game! Have you not noticed the run of results over the last few months? Take a big handful of LÂ’s, and a few DÂ’s, and maybe a W. Throw them up in the air and thatÂ’s us!

Can anyone tell me the hotline to BK - we really need to get something done here or we have all seen the last of Everton as a top-flight club in our lifetimes.

Stoke would be third in the league if it had started in January, so getting beat there of itself should not be a big surprise.

No disrespect but what a load of rubbish
If the league had started in January, where would we be?

Do you seriously see a Martinez side playing like Barcelona?

I see only slow, backwards, turgid, boring shite that got even worse than that because where we scraped the odd win before we now get beat every single game and the GD is solidly in negative territory. He tried the same "magic" formula with Wigan, it didnÂ’t work there. He tried it with much better players here, it hasnÂ’t worked here either. We are now on a worse points total per game than Wigan were in their relegation season; this is the worst points total at any time since 1926-27, adjusting for three points for a win.

Because Martinez says it, it doesnÂ’t mean it actually happens you know? This Emperor truly has no clothes whatsoever.

Just please tell me the connection between Barcelona and Everton? IÂ’m not seeing it.

You need to enhance the technology on here.
I need Â’ScreamÂ’ mode.

The RS for all their faults would NEVER allow this to happen

We have a small club mentality and are happy to let Billy Bullshit walk all over us

Come the Newcastle game there will be no protest, IÂ’ve tried before and been vilified for trying such

Only ourselves to blame

Anyone else looking forward to a strike force of Marlon Harewood and Carlton Cole to get us back into the Preimer League?

In addition, the world and his wife know that if your conceding, go 4-4-2, keep it tight with 2 up top, or even 4-5-1 a la OFM, but he stuck to his Â’philosophyÂ’ and its been downhill all the way.

HeÂ’s taken the best defence in the league and with the same personnel turned it into a sieve. Like you I hate clubs that change managers at the drop of a hat and thatÂ’s the reason I didnÂ’t want him sacked. But enough is enough, he must go.

His post match comments are scaring the shit out of me more with every passing game.

My arse.

I expected us to struggle this season. I thought maybe a 10 or 12th position. So not that far off the mark. But relegation no chance. CanÂ’t see it, even if the football is dire.

Martinez, will be here next season. I have no doubt of that.

Martinez is from Catalonia, he has the same philosophy that the Barcelona system tries to employ to its players/teams.
As I said earlier, whether heÂ’s good enough to execute that philosophy is another matter. IÂ’d give him another year to do so.

"We havenÂ’t got the results that our performances deserve."
Bollocks.

"We need bit of luck and momentum but itÂ’s not been that type of season."
A bit of luck? How about some decent tactics? Bollocks

I think part of the problem is that Martinez hasnÂ’t continued what he originally said heÂ’d do - Building on what we were already good at - grit, determination, hard work. All of which, seem to have gone out of the window this season. It makes me wonder if heÂ’s forgotten the winning formula, merging 2 philosophies that are like fire and ice, but he had managed to do last season where we had the best of both worlds.

I agree with Simon that the players should take more responsibility, but shouldnÂ’t have Martinez been a bit stronger and banished some of the big characters to the bench (IÂ’m specifically thinking Howard) but thereÂ’s other players to a lesser extent?

This seasons been tragic. I still think that we have to stick with him, and do our bit and get right behind the team. Who would you even get at this stage of the season? Duncan Ferguson (in house appointment) or the likes of Neil Warnock/Paul Lambert...No thanks!

I can see it now.
Barcelona football executed perfectly by EFC next year in a wonderful 2-0 win against Rotherham.

Milos 252 - I agree. ThatÂ’s what I said earlier. HeÂ’s got it all wrong with this formation. Especially after saying changing style would confuse players. It certainly did that.
I think heÂ’s just trying to shore up the defense but he should get back to putting players in their natural positions.

To be fair, I think the general reaction to his appointment (at least on TW) could be summarised as Â’underwhelmed but open-minded.Â’

That was how I felt.
But his time is well up (and was after WBA at home).

FACT!

The performance last season was good but it came with 3 players on loan, 2 we signed this season who are not performing at the same standard and a manager whoÂ’s philosophy is great if it works , but this season it is not . We will never be at the standard that Barcelona set but even they have changed their style this season after being exposed by Bayern Munich in the cup

We now have a manager who doeÂ’s not believe that there is any other way than he believes is right, and is to stubborn to change .So even if, and it is most likely we will not get relegated we will still have him next season. Stubborn Chairman stubborn Manager and neither is going to admit they made a mistake. .

I lov the education in the game my fellow TWÂ’ers have given me plus the passion. Unfortunately the passion hurts.

Today on the nbc sports extra feed I used had Ian Crocker as lead and Barry Horne as the color. Barry Horne sounded like a fellow TWÂ’er the way he ripped them. The last time Barry was doing one of games I thought he hates us loves Arsenal. After 10 minute tonight I realized he was
One of us calling it like it it is. Praise was limited except for Stoke making the basics look easy and pointing out the pints that we have discuss ad nausea. Sure enough after the game looked hm up and he layedfor us.

ItÂ’s quite simple, he is a terrible manager.

No team should be in our current league postition with the players we have at the club.

Having a philosophy and executing it in the way you want are not the same thing. IÂ’ve heard Martinez spouting his shite plenty of times this season and last and IÂ’ve seen him fail 28 times and counting this season, and more last when he got lucky and sussed at the end. First European team that gets a video of us getting beat time after time will knock us out, guaranteed.

His philosophy doesnÂ’t work, Breaking News, we donÂ’t play like Barcelona, philosophy or not.

Given that, why do people say that we simply canÂ’t go down? Where does that confidence come from? I am genuinely interested to know because I need some reassurance.

What a sad indictment of expectations that is though. Can you imagine that as a defence from a school in the league tables - "there are three worse schools than us"? How can some people here accept what the Catalan Clown has reduced us to, and how he has dismantled everything good about a stable, regular Top 6 club within 18 months?

Get rid and get rid soon. Grow a pair of balls BK and do the decent thing

....WeÂ’re worse than Wigan...

Shit!

In the case of Moyes, had he stayed on last season. I think weÂ’d have finished a little lower in the league and weÂ’d have had the knives to gunfight excuses. So Martinez did everything correctly last season and it wasnÂ’t Moyes work by Osmoses. ThereÂ’s a myriad of reasons why itÂ’s not worked this season, but the bottom line is that results havenÂ’t been good enough and the club will have some decisions to make in the summer.

Going back to KendallÂ’s swansong season, there wasnÂ’t this kind of vitriol and some of his signings and decision making were questionable to put it politely. We were in a relegation battle but I remember everyone got behind the team. I just think we need to try and get that kind of backing and hope it helps the players try that little bit harder. And to coin KendallÂ’s words "the Gwladys street noise will suck the goals in."

It is becoming more obvious by the week that the players are not well enough motivated to perform to their abilities in the Premier League, but seem capable enough to win in Europe.

As regards Kendall he had played for the club and managed the club previously and just about had enough of his legendary status to allow him some leeway - Martinez has the albatross of relegation on his CV and he cannot escape that fact which means he does not have the goodwill of too many Evertonians, many of whom made their feelings known from the outset and some like myself who thought he might achieve good things at Goodison despite not being totally convinced.

The pass, pass, pass philosophy comes undone when a teamÂ’s doing this poorly IMO, because a player low on confidence will give a 4 yard pass just to offload, rather than to pull the opposition out of position.

FFS Roberto go out for 0-0 draws til the end of the season, thatÂ’ll see us home.

Long version; See above.

Other than that, Joe Royle, imagine what he would have done with 㿈 million to spend.

Everton couldnÂ’t beat Stoke tonight but in the form they were in before the game, I didnÂ’t think they would win.

No excuses for the shit we have endured this season. Non whatsoever.

Us fans are miserable as fuck. What do you think these players are doing now?

Certainly not going through the agony and misery we are all going through, thats for sure.

Now, if I can see whatÂ’s blatantly obvious, why oh why is BK so blind to it. Martinez had to go post-Christmas. He didnÂ’t. We threw away a Cup and a transfer window along with nine-games to get where we are now.

So, having called the 28-point total right, here is the next prediction. If one of the bottom three start winning a few games, weÂ’re relegated. Why? Because as long as Martinez is here, we are not in charge of our destiny. The table does not lie. We are on course for 38-points, yet any review of our remaining games in the light of the appalling Leicester result will show all to be challenging. I think 35-points is probable.

Just to put that in context - the average points needed to survive since the turn of the century is 38.5.

Again, the apologists will scoff. I note their current line is Â’we wonÂ’t get relegated, too many poor teams below usÂ’. ThatÂ’s what Leeds and Newcastle said.

I promise you, our current run is what relegation looks like. Any notion that a team designed to push for Europe will somehow conquer relegation six-pointers is laughable, and our results show that. And believe you me, every team in the Prem will be hoping we go down, making every game a huge, unfamiliar challenge to our team. Ask yourself, who will roll their sleeves up and fight rather than call the agent and seek out. I see few lads prepared to lead, especially in attack.

All in all, IÂ’m afraid we fiddled while Rome burned. Any in coming manager will have a big challenge and no chance to bring anyone in. Plus IÂ’m not sure we could attract anyone of calibre now, leaving us with a Royle-type option...hardly a solution to the type of hard to motivate Â’get me outta hereÂ’ player that I described in the last paragraph.

So, looks to me like our future is out of our hands. Too late to change now. IÂ’ll scream and support with my heart, but my head cannot see us staying up IF one of the teams in the bottom three start winning. Maybe we get lucky and stay up because they donÂ’t start winning. But the fact that weÂ’re now relying on luck is the shameful result of certain elements, fans and Club, allowing Martinez the free ride to stink the place out with his BS when the end result of his antics was as obvious as 28-points at 28 games.

IÂ’m afraid we fiddled while Rome burnt. The apologists won their ego-led Â’IÂ’m rightÂ’, post-Moyes-tinted defence of Martinez. The time for change was mid-January. ItÂ’s now too late to replace Martinez as we simply wonÂ’t get a manager of the calibre to interest the players I just listed.

All we can do now is hope the bottom three keep losing, pray we pick up a few points ourselves (though after Leicester, where they come from, I donÂ’t know), get rid of Martinez as soon as weÂ’re safe and then replace with an inspirational manager - de Boer etc. That way we might just avoid the great exodus. That said though, if one of the bottom three start winning...weÂ’re screwed.

"Anything less than a win on Wednesday at Stoke City would mean a record low points total after 28 games in the Premier League."

"Using three points for a win, only in the 1926-27 would Everton have ever had a lower points total at the same stage of the season."

In the Premier League era alone, Walker, Kendall #3 and Smith didnÂ’t survive with such a poor return.

We have no fighters in the team to get us out of this relegation fight like the 1990s.

Then again, I wonder whether heÂ’ll be influenced more by Moyes second season, keeping faith and being rewarded in the long-term.

If it is the latter, he should pause. MoyesÂ’ second season does not compare with Martinez. Moyes team was the cumulative result of years of poor squad building. Today, our squad is far, far better than then. There is, in my view, zero comparison.

That said, IÂ’m not sure BK has much choice in what he can do.

Would canning Martinez resolve the nuanced questions of motivation within a squad, especially in attack, where so many are probably looking to move on (Rom, Kev, McCarthy, Seamus, Atsu, Luke, Ross etc)? Sure, Martinez is the problem, but the time to sensibly recruit went in January. No inspirational manager, eg de Boer, would come at this time to manage a team in this position. Instead, weÂ’d be looking at a Â’Big JoeÂ’ type option - would that really win round the demotivated attack? Granted, I think someone (anyone!) could tighten defence, but itÂ’s attack thatÂ’s going to be key.

IÂ’m afraid that wilful-blindness to our perilous situation by some has combined with procrastination. Rome burned while some fiddled the Martinez BS. January was the time to act. It came and went. Despite screaming for Martinez to be sacked for months, I now see no option but to retain him, hope for a few points ( though after Leicester, God knows where they come from!), pray no one in the bottom three start winning, cross fingers and toes that he wins the Europa and gets us in Europe (long shot, I know!), then sack him as soon as weÂ’re safe, then get a top replacement before the players go for their holiday/get on the phone to their agents! Honestly, I think thatÂ’s the best we can do/hope for.

Unsatisfactory? Yes. But I see no other viable alternative. We simply have no choice but to carry on the Martinez chaos, hoping for the best. ItÂ’s HobsonÂ’s choice, but unless BK has a great manager waiting in the wings that will fire the imagination of those players that want out, I just donÂ’t see a Royle type option (because I think that is now the only option open to us) having the time or carrots to effect a motivated attack. How the hell we got in this situation...well, the pro-Martinez lobby have a lot to answer for!

That said, at the end of the season there must be a reckoning for why we got into this position. Some need to take a long, hard look at where blind-support and overly positive sentiment have brought us. I predicted weÂ’d be on 28-points at 28games as far back as game 19. Why couldnÂ’t others see the same stark staringly obvious outcome?

Our expectations and optimism for this season, based on last seasonÂ’s promise of a long overdue reinstatement of the Â’School of ScienceÂ’ kind of football weÂ’ve been weaned on, have been shattered by MartinezÂ’s rank and bizarre decision making this term.

I fucking hate cronyism: Howard, Barry, to a lesser extent Baines. Really rankles when individual form and fitness matters fuck-all to team line-up and shape. A "bad moment" to be an Evertonian...

I see it this way: The manager enthuses about EvertonÂ’s performance after losing 1-0 at home to Rotherham.

Mike Hughes #280 PMSL, thanks for the only bright spot in this depressing yet predicable night.

I also agree with the post about the crowd playing there part, but again how can we collectively muster good vibes while watching shite football wrong tactics and half arsed players.

Give us something to cheer about, the biggest cheer would be to see a new manager . That would give us some belief that we can turn it around, because at this moment in time most of us have lost heart.

For all the will in the world I just cant see Martinez being sacked and can see us going down. I hope im wrong about at least one of them.

CanÂ’t sleep after watching our latest Â’performanceÂ’ just had a look at the fixtures before we play the Barcodes a week on Sunday.
Going to have nightmares now, if the results go against us we could be 16th, level on points with QPR in 17th and just three points off Aston Villa and QPR in 18th and 19th...
Lose heavily against the barcodes and again to QPR a week later could then see us in 19th...

RobertoÂ’s dream is turning into a fucking nightmare!

I never wanted Martinez at Everton. And I have voiced that many times. And I donÂ’t hold with all this talk about how wonderful last season was. I watched some rubbish from Everton last season, Believe me. And I watched a few lucky wins. Games that could have gone either way. And we went tamely out of the domestic cups. As usual. Last season was ok. And Martinez got lucky in a few games. But he slipped up badly in every game that really counted. The games that would have really put Everton in poll position. Martinez always fell short. No plan B.

Roll on to what is happening now. Martinez is always falling short. He is not even getting the odd lucky win. Every team has caught on how to play against us. And still no plan B. There never will be a plan B.

We just might under Martinez manage to avoid relegation. But only because there are a few worse teams than us in this league. Lucky we have that 6 point lead on them. That is the sad indictment of our season.

And Martinez still at our club next season. That is an ever sadder indictment.

How anybody can defend Martinez this season is beyond me. And how anyone thinks that he will turn us into Barcelona. Jeez-U-S-Christ. Taxi please, For Martinez and Tommy. They can discuss their philosophies. Or nonsense.

WonÂ’t mention the Europa League. Because we are a long way from actually winning this competition.( to listen to some people, you would think we were in the final). The league comes first. Always will.

My team is Everton. Always was, and always will be. We just canÂ’t walk away. That is not an option. But youngsters watching this present Everton team under Martinez, will be having other ideas. They like good football. Not clueless dross. Martinez needs to go, before he destroys this club, before he decimates the future fan base , before he destroys us financially, Before he kills this club. I am serious. We go down. We will struggle to get back up.

People worrying about his pay off. That would be nothing compared to losing the soul of Everton Football Club. Rant over. FOREVER EVERTON.

To everyone talking about 40 points and being safe - thereÂ’s a very good chance about 36 points will be plenty, even 34/35 could do it this season.

Nothing has changed really since last night - weÂ’re still 6 points, 7 if you count our goal difference above the bottom 3.

Leicester, Burnley and QPR are the 3 teams that will keep us up. The manager is banking on it.

Is he the most arrogant, stubborn manager of all time?

The relegation issue, whilst also VERY important, is secondary to the main issue.

Whether we liked or disliked or were nonplussed by RMÂ’s appointment surely we are all ready for a new appointment.

Our points tally is pitiful and entirely inexcusable given the amount of talent in our squad. Our style of play is entirely predictable. By "style of play" I mean what we actually do during matches and not what we are theoretically aiming to do eventually at some undisclosed point in the future.

Enough.

Plus there’s a pay-off and we all know how Uncle Bill feels about rummaging around under the sofa cushions.

Oh, and the not insignificant question of who takes over? Serious, available targets seem few & far between if you ask me. And when I say serious, I don’t mean Koeman or De Boer as so often quoted by people on here - never gonna happen when you run a tin-pot organisation like Everton, with a shitty old stadium, and nothing but history to make us great.

We’re kinda fucked with the small-town, small-minded, short-sighted mentality that everyone has become so familiar with and (in many cases) accepting of. Passive little Everton, the sleeping giant.

My arse.

Martinez is not the only fool backing Everton.

The Europa League is now irrelevant. Premiership status is the priority.Martinez needs to go - I,ve supported our wee team for 35 + years, and I never felt so down, and depressed as I do now. This idiot must not be allowed to destroy our great club. If he had any decency he would step aside.

I will cheer on the team on Thursday evening, but I’m dreading our next leaque game. We need inspiration from somewhere !!!!

We have no friendly local press to apply pressure as they used to, as theyÂ’re only interested in the RS nowadays and so the fans are ignored and taken for granted. Kenwright is like an absentee landlord, living in London, while Everton FC rots and squanders their Premier League riches. This has gone on for two decades and itÂ’s going to take a massive demonstration before, during and after the next home game to finally start the beginning of the end for the phony cartel who have taken our club from us and almost ruined it beyond repair.

How sad.

I suspect in Roberto's world that will only convince him he's doing the right thing and it's just bad luck.

He seems to ignore the really important stat, 28 points from 28 games.

He's a dud who got lucky last year with someone else's team. Look at his record but more importantly look at his signings to get the measure of the man.

Does it really matter what team Martinez now puts out. They are shackled from the start. We need the old dogs of war approach. At least long enough to see us to safety. But play the proper "dogs of war" style. Pump high balls into the opposition half. Especially their penalty area. Chase every ball. Tackle every ball. Play two forwards. Make opposition defenders earn their money. Fight. Scrap. Die for the club. FFS. Time is running out. We need results now.

And remember that Joe Royle's dogs of war did not piss about with pissy passy nonsense in their own third. Not pretty , I know. But what exactly is the rubbish we ate now getting. This is now all about getting a few results. By whatever means. I don't think that I will live long enough, to see us turn into Barcelona. So for now it has to be the "Dogs of war" approach.

Emotions running high last night. And as I have said at times, it is not about losing the odd football match. We cannot win all the time. It is about the complete capitulation of this team, this season. And the complete lack of ideas on how to turn this around. The lack of fitness. The lack of fight. The lack of any tactical nous. The lack of how important set pieces can be, whether taking or defending . The lack of clean sheets. The lack of goals. The lack of actually making a meaningful substitution at the right time in a match. The list is endless.

People saying that this group of players need to step up. Well yes I agree with that. All misfiring players need to look at themselves. But ultimately everything is down to the manager. His philosophy. His style. His decisions. His team. No more excuses. As already said on here, how long would Martinez get at Man U , or Across the park.

And yes , the silence is deafening from our chairman. When is he going to act? What's that old first world war saying, Lions led by Donkeys. Well in Everton's case, its Rabbits led by Donkeys. Some bloody combination. Lets hope that a few of the rabbits grow a pair. And quick.

This is all just a bit flat at present. But once more into the breach we all trod. Another must win game in Sunday week. The law of averages say we have to win sometime. So will somebody please tell Bobby Brown Shoes that. COME ON YOU BLUES. Some time this season. Thank you.

The next obvious step would be to win the Champions league with Real Madrid and get them relegated from La Liga, with the ultimate aim being; winning the world cup with Brazil and having them immediately denounced as a recognised country.

We may go through against Kiev into the quarters but I think that's as far as it'll go. Unfortunately, if its true that Martinez' sacking pay off is somehow linked to the EL then we may have to wait until April before he's shown the door - god only knows where we'll be in the league by then. Then again if we can somehow just scrape/fluke 3 points at home to Newcastle, then we'll be within touching distance of safety - so close and yet so far.

On another note I am amazed how little there is in the press about Marinez' job. I cannot find one article after the Stoke game asking whether he's going to be sacked soon. After 1 win in 12, that is really really odd.

I do not, however, think that Martinez will be sacked before the end of the season, and he will definitely be with us next season if we survive; and so I must hope that you and the author of the article are right and that I am wrong.

No player looks too bothered to me; no-one is hurting, our football is fucking painful to watch, nowt seems to change from game to game... and that useless twat Barry always gets a game! Mirallas sums up our squad – all fur coat and no knickers and it seems he’s also made of fucking glass!

Howard is in the States already, it seems; McCarthy is average at best (㾹 mill)... jeez, even our best player going foward has been a fucking defender (Garbutt).

Bring in anyone who can instill a bit of pride and can start to address our piss-poor footballing records... Fuck it, I just want the Blues to win a cup, starting with one we have never won (the League Cup) and build from there, then the Europa League... then the Super Cup. Call it the new Holy Trinity to aim for!

Thursday, 12 March 2015
Everton vs Dynamo Kiev

Sunday, 15 March 2015
Everton vs Newcastle

Thursday, 19 March 2015
Dynamo Kiev vs Everton

Sunday, 22 March 2015
QPR vs Everton

Saturday, 04 April 2015
Everton vs So'ton

Saturday, 11 April 2015
Swansea vs Everton

Saturday, 18 April 2015
Everton vs Burnley

Sunday, 26 April 2015
Everton vs Man Utd

Saturday, 02 May 2015
A Villa vs Everton

Saturday, 09 May 2015
Everton vs S'land

Saturday, 16 May 2015
West Ham vs Everton

Sunday, 24 May 2015
Everton vs Tottenham

First the team. If Lukaku is not going to score for us because he is facing 3 defenders and has no service then who is going to get the goals?

Mirallas? No, his head has been turned, Barkley? He canÂ’t even beat the first man at the moment? Coleman? Only if he can get forward more often. Stones looks really classy at the back but him and Jags are too weak when it comes to dominating forwards

3 defensive midfielders most games means our entire game is played in our third. We donÂ’t have a playmaker, donÂ’t tell me that Osman is going to save us, Barkley is struggling and Gibson is not the answer
Will Kenwright sack RM after painting a mural about him, giving him a 5 year contract and drooling live on TV about him? No! because he will look a twat!!

Is Howard the worst keeper in the perm? probably

all in all we need to get a fucking grip asap...

These facts are the reason that Martinez has to be sacked now. Any new regime will be free to prioritise the league; Martinez cannot. So staying in the EL puts our PL status at risk. You only have to look at RM's body language to see that he's gone. He has to be replaced before he's taken us with him.

And imagine playing away at a top team then getting beat 4-0 only to cme back and play a few days later away to Rotherham...

I actually like the guy and he is probably polite to everyone he meets. The chairman should ask Joe Royal to act as a mentor to Roberto and give a honest account of how we are playing and what is needed to improve results. The manager has no one to turn to at the club in a senior footballing capacity. He appears to be in a rut with formation and style and can't see beyond this.

If the manager cannot take up this opportunity then he has to go. The club is bigger than any manager and board. Any manager that is not willing to change things when results are so bad, then your finished. Wigan never finished above fifteenth in the league, under our manager. He must change or he might never get a job in football again.

Can you imagine what Joe Royle would have achieved, had he had the 㿈 million to spend.

I suppose once he had been listening to David Moyes for over 10 years RM's ideas must have sounded fresh and new at the time, it all looked great on the pitch too, but now he seems bereft of ideas. The buzz about the place and the feeling of, wow this fella is going to take us to new heights, that feeling has well and truly ebbed away, something drastic has to happen and very soon, the only problem I have is who do we want to replace him? I did mention big Joe two days ago on a short term thing, as for long term no one at all springs to my mind, I've got nish idea.

Who here can throw a few names in the hat experienced enough, and more importantly would be a good fit for our great club?

Play 2 wingers and Barkley behind Lukaku too!!

I just wanted to comment on the players in those days. Almost all of our teams recruited lads from Orrel Pleasure. Forty pitches of cinders from the power station for the kids to play on – no lawnmowers, just steam rollers to make flat unmarked pitches each week. Every single kid would have given his life to play for Everton (or Liverpool) and I remember well those Derby days of local kids getting 㿅 a week to thrill us at Goodison and Anfield. They would never have let this chaos happen to their team and we as fans loved it... and loved them.

I feel that the money in todayÂ’s game has killed off motivation and I am so sorry for all you unhappy guys like me who spend their lives in support. All Scousers are moaners... part of our culture.

If only we could get a strong manager to make our teams from kids from Bootle and Old Swan, instead of greedy players with unpronouncable names from the jungles of Africa. There is no better Â’heartÂ’ than a Scousers Heart, why look further.

Good Luck My Everton, I wish I was able to see you just once more. COYB...