This pulsating Premier League season shows how far Everton still have to go

A wise old head from my past said keep that space clear until the last second. His reasoning being that for every attacker in that area there would be a defender plus a cover man and a keeper thus making it hard to see the corner flags let alone goal post.

Think back to our 34 shots against West Brom then think how few had clear sight of the target.

Given that Bobby Brown Shoes is our/their manager it may be best that I tell them what that target is; lads, it's the bit contained by the area with the "string" all around it.

A professional, rather than the current delusional training regime would identify that as a priority, along with defence and positive ball-usage.

Ultimately for me though the players have to take responsibility for very fundamental errors.

My question to you is who has qualified that ours players are 'all that'... The best squad since the last time we won something!

Sure certain players are repeatedly rumoured to be chased by the big clubs but they're still with us. Which club I'm their right mind would pay £40 million for Stones and play him from day 1 in their first 11. Rodwell went to city and warmed the bench for months if not the first season.

The media go in about this all he time. Who says we've got the best team. I'm not seeing it on the pitch. If they were that good, the starring 11 against Stoke should have killed the game off in the first 45. No management tactics required.

Don't get me wrong I'm not absolved the Manager and his coaching and staff, we're void of the pressing game or nouse to hold on to winning positions, and subs against West Brom were baffling.

The players need to deliver. They need to show desire and work rate and stop making daft mistakes.

Who didn't enjoy the last 25, minutes of the first half on Saturday? It was GOOD, FAST ATTACKING FOOTBALL, and if we played like that all the time we wouldn't have a problem. Olsen said it was very hard for West Brom, at that time, and yet the tempo, dropped for the whole of the second half.

If you have got the players, just get them fit enough, to play at least 70 minutes, of high intensity football. It's the one big difference between Everton and Spurs, this season, along with a back four that look like they are organized as one big unit, of course.

Matt, that's a very good assessment of Everton mate, especially when you say we have no substance, I couldn't agree with you more.

I honestly think if we had a pragmatic manager, he would get loads more out of this squad, but then I think about the lack of substance and I wonder, if the players are happier playing for a manager, were it seems they don't have to really hurt themselves from a physical point of view, where it matters most.

Before anyone goes on about Dowie or the Championship, think about it, we already have enough quality players at the club don't we?

If it hadn't been for Courtois they would have had a net full of goals; as it is they got a slim lead which will be invaluable in the return game. I find it hard to understand why the Blues are not fully fit – if that is indeed the case.

I am self-aware about how negative I must seem in my posts on TW, but there are so many good things happening at the club which do bode well for the future, that my hope is that this manager will leave a legacy, eg, much improved youth set up. I just hope for better next season.

David (#4), yes, that needs to be said, so many of our mess-ups this season have been down to really basic individual errors in bad positions around the pitch; at this level, those errors have been ruthlessly punished, most painfully at Goodison Park of course.

Moyes had Everton really fit and well drilled but lack adventure to take 3 points when on offer, Martinez goes for the 3 points but can't keep them. Watching the Spurs game, they were all over us until the last 70 minutes when we slowly came back into it as they tired.

Energy will always be a leveller of ability that is why minnows do well in the FA Cup, its a one off maximum effect situation. Personally I will be surprised if Leicester or Spurs can keep up their levels, but if they do then they deserve everything that comes their way.

Everton have to be fully fit. We need to work on crosses as a defensive unit, having Stones and Funes Mori playing together was a problem: Stones still learning, Funes Mori new to the Prem is a big ask. Since Jags has returned we hopefully will see us defend better as a unit.

There is no doubt Martinez has assembled an excellent squad, and players have been attracted by his style of football, but this needs to be blended with fitness and steel – then we may have the right alloy to be something special.

Also there is a large chunk of the squad who never or rarely play. This now seems to include Mirallas.

The only tactic is 4-2-3-1. Against WBA, Lukaku was hopelessly outnumbered and needed help, but, when we brought a second striker, on he was pushed out to the left. All 3 subs were like-for-like.

But I like what Pochettino as done at Spurs, he's took 2 years to bring some of his players in and get his methods into force and Tottenham are looking the real deal. Their organised, work tirelessly hard, close down in packs and are crisp on the ball and more importantly, their consistent. We lack a lot of those traits right now!

We're not always organised and look disjointed, I don't think enough of our players are hard-working enough, we don't close down enough and although we can be good on the ball, it's not always crisp and slick. And we're definitely not consistent!

A lot is down to our manager at the end of the day. For me, man for man (apart from the GK) were just as good as Spurs imo and should be up there challenging for the European spots but were way off to be fair.

Tbh, I wouldn't be arsed if Martinez was sacked next week but he'll get to see the season out and I honestly think we'll just finish within the top 10 but if next season we start inconsistently again and are languishing in mid table come Christmas time, then he definitely has to go cos it simply isn't good enough for us. We've got a very good squad these days and we should be doing much better!

Why if we only finish 9th or 10th do you think Martinez deserves to start next season? He should have been replaced last year at about this time and I remember reading a similar article saying " give him to the end of the season and 10/12 games into the new season and if nothing has changed then peddle him".

We are 3pts better off than last year and continue to make the same defensive mistakes, we do not have a plan B to unlock teams who sit back and defend, this is the third year in succession that Pulis has brought a team to Goodison, set them up in the same way and gone away without losing, winning two and drawing the other.

How many part-seasons are we going to give Martinez before the penny drops that he is incapable of doing what Pochettino is doing at Spurs. The sooner he goes and is replaced the sooner a new man will be able to mould the talent we do possess into a coherent team.

I want Martinez out but football is not played by robots, it's played by 11 humans who should bloody know when to close a game out but don't. They should also know how to break another side down.

WHEN ARE WE BEING TAKING OVER???

And that may only start to happen if and when this takeover happens.

Can we have some action on the latter? Please!!!

And I said that I (myself) think we'll just about finish top 10. I haven't said anything about that kind of finish being deserving of another season for Martinez.

I was actually one of those that felt that Martinez needed to prove himself this season and prove that last season was just an out of sorts season for us, but, I also said give him till Christmas to see how we were doing after a tough start and imo, he's just not doing enough. Even with good runs of fixtures we seem to take one step forward, 2 steps back and our defending hasn't improved at all and were conceding an alarming amount of goals.

I do agree with a lot of what you're saying and for me, in the long run he's not the man for us, he's not the one to take us forward. The man has a great eye for talent/players but he can't seem to fit them into his system of choice and get the best out of them. We're too nice, not tough enough, not fit enough, we don't work hard enough has a team or individually, we're not organised/disciplined defensively and tbh, are football can be quite slow and boring, especially at home! Away from home the game seems to pan out better for us and we seem to play better and that shows in our results but at home, when we're expected to be the team to go on and make in roads, we struggle and the play goes from side to side and back and there's not enough progressive play from us.

And like you say, we don't have no Plan B, nor a Plan C. We play one way and that's that, regardless of if it works or not. Martinez doesn't know how to adapt and change in a game. Love him or hate him, but Moyes knew how to change things and mix it up to get us back into a game or win it. The amount of last minute goals we used to score under Moyes was ridiculous, but under Moyes we were fit and carried on working till the death of a game; under Martinez, we start blowing after an hour, 70 plus mins and our play gets lethargic.

Personally, if things don't improve and we keep on losing games and conceding silly goals here and there and don't move up the table, then Martinez has to go, if not between now and the end of the season, then at the end of the season definitely!

In fact, when Roberto first started it seemed like he wasn't a manager who constantly picked favourites, or stuck rigidly to the same setup every week. That impression didn't last long!

Sometimes our lads seem to think they are the bees knees but they've still got it all to prove as they are yet to achieve anything.

There are plenty of positives but the light at the end of the tunnel doesn't seem to be drawing any closer – I would rather see Martinez be a rip roaring success than a failure but the lightbulb needs illuminating and I am not sure if his Eureka moment will ever come at the moment.

"You're the architect of your own fucking disasters."

If ever a person needed to hear this, it's Roberto Martinez. Yes he's talented and there's potential there but it's wasted if he can't or even worse, refuses to see. It's pointless talking about the players. If I try to justify failings in my business on employees, I'd get laughed at and rightly so. There's a chain of command, which ultimately rests with the board by the way. No-one denies players at times can make mistakes but when patterns emerge and are repeated. The responsibility lies with the manager for either picking them or failing to correct the problem.

It's been a fantastic season from the neutrals point of view. But I'm not a neutral. If I saw competitors racing away from me, it would be game on. It wouldn't be phenomenal and it certainly wouldn't be a special moment. I'd be damn angry. Look how Manchester City and United are already preparing for the summer. Should we wait until 12 games into next season before we have a good look at the situation? Or are we really serious about winning?

I heard a rumour Martinez will get one more season. That could mean relegation. God help us!!!

The guy will never change his ideas or game plan (with no Plan B) so he needs to go before our great club is shafted.

Dark days ahead!!!

Don't you think that it's time someone told him, that the fruits of his labour are not down to bad luck, poor refereeing, players not being in their moment, astrological alignments or whatever mumbo jumbo, pitiful excuse he comes up with? But down to one simple fact. You're wrong. Rectify it... or you're sacked?

Unavoidable bad luck hits every human being at some point in their journey.

I don't contest your premise and see it as a very valid criticism of Roberto's tenure – even if I'm not on board with you.

But as a sweeping statement it's pretty harsh.

I'd argue it's how folks respond to said bad luck that separates the wheat from the chaff.

And in fact there are, albeit a very, very small minority I include myself in, some that would like to see Roberto have just a bit more time to do just that – rise above bad luck and admittedly his own mistakes and failures.

When is enough, enough? That's subjective.

This was an absolutely fantastic article / submission.

However, our manager is being defined by his failures and that is a big difference. The same failures that plagued him at Wigan are surfacing at our club. I'm sorry I can't sit silent and let that go. It's time for the riot act and we need someone with the balls to read it to him.

Confidence is a key component to winning. Take last season, Leicester's miracle in surviving in the Premier League has carried on. Adding a little quality and Ranieri has continued the run. Last season, we ended poorly and it continued due to the same approach taken by the manager.

At present, we are in the bottom half but have had two good cup runs. If we were to reach Wembley then have we achieved our aim? Champions League places are a pipe dream due to our inconsistency. Both Leicester and Tottenham are worthy of this due to their consistency.

I don't put this season down to bad luck but my expectations being too high. My mindset for next season is more realistic. What will be, will be!!!