Howard: relegation was never realistic

Looks like when things were getting embarrassing they finally decided it was time to pull their fingers out and put in a bit of effort?

Stamp out the complacency, give others on the fringe a chance to show they are hungrier...

As it is, we have won a meagre 9 matches all season; teams have been relegated in the past with 9 wins, so you can see just how close really we have come to a potential disaster. We basically got off the hook because there are three sides just slightly worse than us.

This season can never be repeated again and we MUST hit the ground running in August with no more complaints. It's imperative that we learn how to win more football matches again and you would think that Everton Football Club desperately needs to do well in at least one, if not both the domestic Cup competitions next term.

We need to win back the fans and to generate some interest in this club once more, a trip to Wembley is a much needed boost for long suffering fans.

The Cups are something we simply have to take serious next season especially the League Cup which represents our best chance of silverware. For a club like ourselves who canÂ’t win the biggest competitions, the League Cup should be a priority.

DoesnÂ’t alter the fact that he needs replacing in the summer.

So what youÂ’re saying Tim is that there were players that thought relegation looked a possibility.

How many? Your wording suggests all? Otherwise Â’some of the other playersÂ’ would have been more appropriate.

As has been said by many on other threads, it will be interesting to see how we get on without the Europa League next season.

Personally I would prefer to be in Europe every year as it means the team have been Â’successfulÂ’ either through league position or winning a cup etc.

The scary thought is that Martinez could quite easily still go with same same dire static midfield combinations he has stuck with all season; would it surprise anyone if we start the new season at home to West Brom or Bournemouth with two defensive holding midfielders? It will be the same tried and tested failures and the same failed formation that never looks likely to produce a team fluent in attack.

If somebody offered me a top 8 or 9 finish with finally winning a trophy, then IÂ’d snap their hand off right now. ThereÂ’s no way we can challenge the top four again without spending considerable money on proven match-winning talents, we donÂ’t need another season where all we hear is "it will take time for him to bed in or acclimatize to the league". We heard that all season with Atsu.
The reality is we donÂ’t have time and Martinez certainly doesnÂ’t have it, we need to be MUCH BETTER next season.

I think it proved that too many of the senior players where sulking, because of the guy in charge. So nothing has changed – Martinez is still calling the shots but the players have reminded him they play for themselves.

I have no respect for this bunch as itÂ’s clear they donÂ’t have any respect for us, the fans. Without us there is no Everton FC.

ItÂ’s so hard to dream of improvement when people at the club seemingly have no problem with the status quo.

The only way it will improve is now in Roberto's hands: the summer signings will determine next seasonÂ’s fortunes. WeÂ’ll see if heÂ’s up to the job.

The whole season has been a complete and utter mess – apart from a couple of performances in the Europa League, this shower have give us nothing to shout about. The only Premier League game that’s thrilled me was the derby at Anfield. The performance was shit but obviously the injury time equaliser made it feel like it was a win. That apart, I’ve been totally underwhelmed by every single league performance.

And someone needs to tell this arrogant git Howard we still haven’t got 40 points and it's the middle of April. In every single interview these players give not one of them have the decency to apologise for the shambles this season. It’s all about themselves – never a mention of us mugs who pay for the privilege of watching it every week.

Why would he and why should he? What is this weird obsession with Everton supporters on here needing to hear BK speak all the time? What difference would it make to anything? On any subject?

Pointless waffle from Uncle Bill wonÂ’t make you feel any different about this season, the manager, the players or the club.

I donÂ’t get it. ItÂ’s pretty rare for board members to say anything at any club, and when they do itÂ’s usually to either promote or sack a manager, and thatÂ’s about the only time you hear from them. I wish people would drop it.

I think the threat of being sucked-in to a scrap at the bottom refocussed the team into trying harder. He may well have thought we would never go down, but he wouldnÂ’t be the first player in that situation to learn the hard way.

ItÂ’s very easy to say it was never going to happen; it was perhaps unlikely but it wasnÂ’t a foregone conclusion that we would get the necessary points from the last 10 matches. The three wins on the trot were very welcome but before those games many fans couldnÂ’t see where our next point was coming from.

BTW, we still havenÂ’t reached the magic 40 points mark despite taking over a quarter of our seasonÂ’s points tally in those previous four matches. Technically we are still not assured of our PL status although even I will admit that we are safe.

To say that those who worried about relegation were foolish is to view the position with complacent hindsight. I accept entirely that people here said we could never be relegated but that could only ever have been mere opinion when we were playing so dreadfully and looked capable of losing to anyone.

Things have – just – turned out okay because the players, despite Howard’s words, realised they were heading over the cliff. It may very well have turned out differently and the risk was obvious.

A club that has become ingrained in heroic failure and deems near misses and "oh we nearly did itÂ’s" as success. Until Everton Football Club changes the mentality and learns how to "win at all costs" then it will continue to hit the buffers.

Same next season, I donÂ’t want to hear of distractions or excuses preventing our league form being good, we can quite easily go all out to win the League Cup (you only play two rounds before the end of October) and still perform to a high standard in the Premier League.

No more excuses for shite Everton and no more excuses for sitting through months and months of no entertainment. The lack of entertainment and atmosphere at this club over the last 8 months has been "phenomenal".

It’s about time some people on TW started backing the players, and stopped constantly giving them a hard time when they speak – or giving people at the club a hard time when they don’t speak.

You canÂ’t have it both ways. Damned if they do, damned if they donÂ’t.

ItÂ’s not childish, itÂ’s about points, and weÂ’re not going to get relegated as I said all along (with a small band of others).

We didnÂ’t come Â’closeÂ’ to it, the season isnÂ’t over and 40 points wonÂ’t be needed IMO anyway. It was always a non-issue to my mind.

Some people are incurable optimists, most of us prefer to live in the real world, James. ItÂ’s a forum; your entitled to your view.

Maybe Tim spilled some of his blue blood he was going on about and foresaw the future and decided to under-perform in the knowledge that everything was going to work out.

Heartbreaking!

For Howard to say they were never concerned at all I find a bit strange. ThereÂ’s having belief in yourself but when youÂ’re just 4 points off the drop zone well into the second half of the season and one of the worst form teams then I would hope players were VERY concerned, inwardly if not publicly. Luckily we had a gimme game at home to Newcastle in March to take the pressure off.

People now saying it was never in doubt have very short memories. Between end of Nov and until before the Newcastle game in mid March (3.5 months later) our league record read:

P16 W2 D5 L9(!)

11 points from a possible 48, that is about as bad as it gets and if that happened to be the first 16 games of the season IÂ’m pretty sure Martinez would have been long gone by now. Averaging much less than a point a game for almost half the season!

’We feel like we can do it’ – whoopdey-fucking-do, a possible 10th place to aim for IF we win most of our remaining games. Had he come out and said "Relegation was not an issue BUT we’re very disappointed with how the season has gone," then I might have some sympathy but just to grumpily dismiss the notion as though the fans were overreacting, whilst not recognising how utterly fucking shite this season has been, is really annoying.

If he thinks that possibly scraping 10th is somehow an okay result then he really is deluded. The guy is so full of himself and has nothing but contempt for the fans. I canÂ’t wait until heÂ’s gone, along with the manager.

The attitude of Tim I-was-never-worried Howard is shameful when compared to Big NevÂ’s coming out at half-time to sit in his goal because his personal high standards were not being met.

How’s this for you Tim? We are a top 6 team. If we are NOT in the top 6 – be worried!! Not about relegation, but about not being in the bloody top 6!! Do you not have high standards? Or is plucky little Everton lucky to have you? Lucky to make the top half of the league?

Pathetic attitude! If he does not deserve to lose his place for a pathetic performance this season, he does for his attitude!

Seems to me the sensitive Mr Howard is sulking – how dare we criticise the National Hero of the USA??? He believes the hype; we mugs need to shut it... what do we know?

Make Everything OK.

Beating Newcastle was easy because they didnÂ’t turn up but West Ham ran all over us and should have scored four or five. Not a happy few weeks but we stumbled through with defensive heroics against the Saints and a decent performance at Swansea where we even managed to pass the ball around in the final third. Okay, Lukaku and Naismith werenÂ’t playing which helped us keep possession but their ability to score goals is always missed.

Some people thought we might drop into the bottom three. Some didnÂ’t. It doesnÂ’t really matter. We seem to be back on the right track and the future could be very interesting. Roll on.

YouÂ’ve put a huge grin on my face for the rest of the day!

I was one who put a brave face on it in work saying, "We wonÂ’t go down, donÂ’t worry," but inside I was thinking, "Shit! We actually could because we are absolutely gash!"

Suggesting that it was a knee-jerk reaction with stats shown above is "rubbish". We were dire for months, the Newcastle game was the first win at Goodison in three months... how is that now considered relegation form?

Luckily we have picked up seemingly enough points, as the ones below us in the relegation zone are starting to get results now too.

Given the way this season has gone, I will be okay if we finish with a positive GD. Very disappointing overall, but there is always the promise of a new season!

I honestly think a poor season is forgiveable. It has happened to some of the best managers and some of the best players the world has ever seen. At the end of it all, it looks like we might just scrape by without any serious long-term damage to the club.

The thing that grates on me... the thing that keeps dragging me to my keyboard in anger, is that STILL the manager, the players have not come out and held their hands up and said ’sorry’. Worse, they seem completely satisfied with performances and, indeed, Tim here seems bewildered that any fan might raise concern about the shit show we’ve endured – and paid to endure – this season.

I think these comments would be bad enough coming from a player who had performed well this season, but Howard has been one of the worst offenders up until late.

IÂ’m sorry, Tim, but the fans make this club and the moment you show contempt for them, I think itÂ’s time you leave.

A top half finish! How lucky are we to have such optimism in the team?

Disaster of a season if you ask me...

However, it confirms the body language of the side this season that screamed Â’complacentÂ’.

Perhaps they took offence with the minority who booed them during the latter stages of the QPR home game and lost their desire to play for the supporters. But they need to be reminded that they always play for the fans whether that be 400 or 40,000 in the ground, in whatever game they play, at whatever level.

Supporters are a constant, even in modern football; players and coaches are temporary and they should give everything to retain their privileged positions.

On most recent Everton squads, you had at least one player who knew exactly what it meant to play for Everton. That even if weÂ’re not at the top, weÂ’ll never just settle for mediocrity. Sadly the likes of Ferguson, Carsley, even Cahill are now gone and weÂ’re left with a dressing room who are shocked that the fans arenÂ’t slapping them on the back for merely avoiding relegation.

I feel mentality-wise we are as far away from winning anything as ever.

Bloody Hell, Tim, why didnÂ’t you tell us sooner? Half of us have been bricking ourselves... it would have saved all that angst.

We were never amongst the favourites to drop. If it wasn't for "Spoonfeet" himself, we would probably have never been amongst the candidates.

Cheeky bastard!

Brave words... if they were made a couple of months ago.

Maybe he didnÂ’t say anything because he doesnÂ’t read the comments on this site or because the players who have had experience in the league didnÂ’t feel relegation was an issue and had more faith in the team than we as fans did and still do. A manager addressing the issue is different due to being the face of the team and having to deal with what fans think.

.

7 or 8 weeks ago, we had a real chance of relegation. Howard has been a liability this season and has come across as very arrogant in interviews ever since the World Cup.

The players, management and the board are clearly viewing this season as some kind of blip. These stupid, rash and complacent comments prove that.

What youÂ’re saying is that, because the manager and players are paid professionals, they know far more than the average supporter. If that was the case, they would have reverted to stopping our opponents from creating and taking chances a lot earlier in the season and regrouped from there.

However, it took them 28 games to realise that what they were producing was failing to add to the points tally quickly enough and they were winning very few games in the process.

Part of that Â’complacencyÂ’ is a direct result of the manager imbuing them with false ideas about how they were performing when he should have been urging them to work harder. He was (publicly at least) praising them; he is still praising them for their performances from the last four league games. I will admit they dug out results in the last four matches but the football on show for most of those games wasnÂ’t in the least pretty, but I accept that needs must on occasion.

But it is not how I want Everton to play in the remainder of this season and, unless absolutely necessary, not how I want to see Everton play next season. The only game where I wish we had adopted a similar mentality, but didnÂ’t, was away to Kiev and if we had, we could have been enjoying an exciting European night at Goodison later on this evening.

I dislike his arrogance.

Anyone for Klopp?

Mate, the meeja wont allow it!!!

Since Christmas I believe we have been the worst team in the Premier League. We have had a few very lucky wins and still look really poor. If I supported Burnley, QPR, Leicester, maybe not Hull, I would be thinking that we are as good as Everton.

I donÂ’t care what anyone says, we were the worst team in the league for over a month and that is way too long for a team such as ours.

As others have noted, sadly I donÂ’t remember us having as dislikeable a team as we do now. Besides Baines and maybe Jags (probably Naisy) I canÂ’t think of another player whoÂ’d actually "run through a wall" for our crest. We desperately need a new Cahill to come through those doors.

The growing intolerance of fans toward footballers was summed-up on TalkSportÂ’s Colin Murray show the other day, when a Sunderland fan phoned in to say that he was fed-up with his club. He explained that to go to a game there with his son, would cost him 𧴜, with a programme and a drink etc. He said that he could therefore only afford to go to the odd match, but when he went he was much more likely to feel let down by his team, as it was such a lot of money to waste if they played badly.

We all know the ridiculous earnings of these stars, and we are less tolerant of them if they fail, but ever more so if they donÂ’t try hard enough. With the incredible money coming from the TV deal, clubs should bring down ticket prices, and reduce the amount of season tickets to give those less well-off a chance to attend games. Everyone in the ground would be happier, and more tolerant towards the team.

I did once win an argument with the wife but it came at great cost, no sex for weeks. Still, scoring a goal in a Sunday league game can be orgasmic.

The thought of going into yet another season with him as first choice keeper is very depressing. Must be a nightmare for our defenders to know Howard is probably going to be there for some time yet!