Lennon screamer against his old club!

Should read: Besic, Mirallas and Deulofeu – the stubborn fool has all but surrendered the game already.

Same team, formation and tactics as the last debacle... I fucking despair!

I still think we will beat Spurs.

No Deulofeu and what on earth has Mirallas got to do?

I think Martinez would put Robles up front before selecting him. The way he took his goal against Stoke epitomised what he has to offer us in attack. You can bet that if either of Lennon or Kone are subbed, it'll be either Osman or Besic who come on too!

Baffled here and despair at our prospects under this favourite-ridden, blind-to-the-facts manager we are saddled with.

Last time I said that, Naismith scored a hat-trick, but I seriously now fear that Martinez's stubbornness will doom us to mid-table mediocrity.

The 2013-14 season was the blip. Last season was the real Martinez. Depressed here even before we kick off.

As another poster observed a few days ago, only Lukaku's goals are keeping us away from a relegation scrap.

If he doesn't score today, who the hell does?

As for Kone and Howard, it seems to be in most managers' make-up to stubbornly continue to pick players and tactics that fly in the face of all common sense. It's what did for Mourinho this season.

Of course, when they get the boot, it's everyone's fault but theirs.

So will it be Martinez the genius or Martinez the idiot today?

We need a win – that's all!

I'm not a fan of Howard.

But what is the point in having Gibson and Besic if they don't even play when we are in the middle of a congested fixture list AND Cleverley has just returned from injury???

I can see us throwing all the squad players into the fray for our FA Cup match and possibly being caught out.

Anyway, this should be a very entertaining game. Let's hope we come out on top.

Martinez needs a change of tactics for the 2nd half or their pressure will inevitably bring more goals. Maybe Mirallas on for Kone; we need more in attack and give Spurs something to think about.

A few thoughts:

1) Besic was brilliant. Not just in what he did, but he gave us some much-needed fire and leadership in midfield – it was noticeable he was often cajoling and encouraging his teammates, and he got the crowd going. Tackled everything in a white shirt that moved and also made some telling passes. Now that he's fit, he needs to start games more often.

2) Defensively we were better, but still a bit suspect. Great pass by Spurs for Alli's equaliser, was Stones's positioning to blame?

3) Stones and Coleman guilty of over-playing and dawdling on the ball far too often. Sometimes, just hoof the bloody thing into Row Z.

4) Has RM learnt the lesson about bringing on subs at around the 60-minute mark finally? Deulofeu and Besic made a helluvan impact on our improved second half performance.

Overall, a draw a fair result. Onwards and upwards.

Overall, this Spurs side showed the level we should be at in the first half and we proved we are capable of achieving it in the second half, but it has to be done over 90 minutes.

The game-changer was Deulofeu, so why oh why wasn't he on at the start? Besic was fantastic, he helped put us on the front foot. The only downside is Rom, in Vertonghen's pocket all game!

Because of Bobby's crap set-up, we should have been 1-3 down at the break. He makes it harder for us!

Yes, the home form has been poor... but take heart: today was better against a very good side who have lost only twice in the league all season.

Besic is the sort of nasty streak we need alongside Barry and Barkley, who needs to get forward.

To be fair to Kone, he was one of the few players holding up the ball in the first half.

Funes Mori grew in the second half and I'm glad Stones was starting to get pissed off.

The second half was the first time in a while I've seen us provide a bit of bite.

The first half was very much last season though... What the hell?

No matter how well you may think the performances have been, the pressure starts to build, tightness and caution in your game becomes the order of the day, making your task all the harder.

The team looked shot of confidence, sat too deep, put no pressure on the ball, and Spurs were completely dominant. But for Lennon's thunderbolt and the woodwork, they could and probably should have been out of sight by half-time.

Everton couldn't be poorer in the second half and the (early!) subs contributed to a vast improvement. As said already, Besic brought some real bite to the midfield, but more than that, his combative and cajoling manner also lifts his teammates.

If Naismith goes (as his absence from the matchday squad suggests he will), Besic is the only other 'nark' we have... and how we need one!

A draw was a fair result in the end.

He was strolling round like he owned the place whilst Barry, who is 10 years his senior, was running his plums off. When are people going to realise he's a fucking liability?

Take the blinkers off. Barkley was outstanding today and could have got the winner with a fantastic bit of skill in the dying minutes.

I don't really know how to feel about this game but I wish we would play for 90 minutes instead of 45 every week.

I am still concerned that we rely too much on Lukaku and there is no other natural goalscorer in the team.

Looks like Naismith is on his way and Mirallas can't get a look-in... so no goal threat from the squad either.

I thought Baines made those calling for Galloway look stupid and Besic was just what we need in midfield; to those booing Stones and others, please lay off – it affects the team and those players do not pick themselves.

If I was Mirallas, I wouldn't turn up for work tomorrow. To watch Kone playing as badly and ineffectually as he does and sit on the bench for 90 minutes would make me insane.

If I was John Stones, I would place a firm left fist on Tim Howard's jaw. When he was dribbling around his own box, the 'keeper should have been screaming for the pass to clear it, but you can see in the replay that our resident flapper just stands there watching. Shithouse.

If I was Aaron Lennon, I'd be stoked with that. He appears to be better as a starter than as an impact sub. Good on him.

If I was Mo Besic, I'd be extremely confused if I didn't get a run in the side now for a while.

If we had a manager with some balls, we'd be enjoying the luxury of having Barry, McCarthy (when he's back), Cleverley, Besic and even Gibson all at the same time. That gives you the option of squad rotation. I doubt we'll see that though.

Anyhow, that's another point closer to the magic 40... And that is all I really look for, under Martinez. I bet Wigan supporters wished Martinez had that approach.

The most disappointing thing for me today was the atmosphere inside Goodison; getting on our players' backs and groaning at stupid things can't fill our team with confidence. No wonder we play better in away games...

Where's our famous support gone? Hopefully it will reappear and in full voice on Wednesday in the Semi-Final against Man City.

On the positive side, I thought Besic had a nice little cameo, and Ross was better than of late. I would have settled for that result before the game, and wouldn't have believed that result possible at half-time!

I had to chuckle at the team selection, and said to my mate at the ground that the Live Forum must have had a shit-storm when the stubborn Spaniard did it again....

I've been quite impressed with Cleverley this season... but today he had a real stinker, misplacing passes regularly and giving the ball away. Kone had another poor game – he's been in poor form for a while now and needs dropping. His good early-season form has sharply deteriorated.

Some very suspect goalkeeping from Howard again! He made right mess of some of the balls coming into the box by opting to punch the ball (unconvincingly) and putting us under unnecessary pressure.

Stones really needs to stop all this unconstructive pissing about with the ball and just concentrate on defending well. Everyone knows he's very good on the ball, but he just needs to keep it simple sometimes.

The league campaign is over as far as I'm concerned because simply, we are too weak at the back and too inconsistent. I don't see that altering dramatically throughout the course of the season... that is unless they is a change of manager. Our whole season is about the cup competitions now.

Dave @49, he's a good player but I totally agree.

Roman @53, John Stones is a big boy, he doesn't need Tim Howard to tell him what to do. It's the way he plays. He is cool as fuck. Ridiculous the shit he got off the crowd for telling them to calm down.

Spurs are the best team I've seen us play this season. I wish we would play like them. Young, energetic and in your face but they can play a bit too. A decent result but really we need to start picking up 3 points.

Gareth Barry was MotM for me, doing the work of two men (defensively) as he has done most games this season. Top, top professional.

Besic must start henceforth!!!!

Every game we have played against decent opposition this season, they have shown us up. We are flat track bullies against awful teams and when it comes to better teams, we are not up to it.

Granted, we put up a better effort in the 2nd half, but that was more to do with Besic kicking us into gear rather than the so called pretty football we are supposedly famed for in the media. The team is constantly unbalanced, that was obvious all game.

Even when Kone was finally hauled off, did Martinez change anything? No, he persisted with the tried and ultimately not very successful formula of just the one winger and somebody out on the left playing out of position.

Barkley outstanding today? Really? Do me a favour. How many times did he get the ball, race upfield with his head down and run down a blind alley? Most of the game to be honest. It was just a good job Spurs ran out of ideas in the second half really.

Let's get one thing straight, I am really glad we showed some gusto and passion for once when Besic came on and we managed to get a point, but we are so far off where we were when Martinez arrived.

We are happy with a point against an okay Spurs team, we laud the players when we hammer extremely poor teams like Villa and Sunderland, make pitiful excuses when we fail to show up in 2nd halves like Bournemouth and Norwich (games are 90 minutes, not 45 as Spurs found out today) and conveniently forget about games gone by this season when we were awful (Man City, Man Utd, Spurs twice, Arsenal, Watford, Barnsley, Reading, Liverpool).

Yes we have had isolated moments against very poor teams but if that is progress then all I can say is that my bar must be extremely high or many must be very low.

I've asked this question before and never received an answer (and before anybody accuses me of wanting Moyes back, I don't in the slightest): How many of the current team would get into the Moyes team when Pienaar, Baines, Cahill, Arteta, Mirallas, Lescott, Jagielka, Coleman et al were gracing Goodison Park? Lukaku definitely, a fit McCarthy? Maybe.

We have not progressed, we have gone backwards and all the media hype of how good we are, which apparently a lot of our fans are starting to believe, isn't going to change that.

The days of our 'School of Science' are sadly long gone as the game has become a rat race of big money and self-serving conglomerates where loyal fans of the game are constantly ignored in the pursuit of 'success' at any price and many players following suit. Loyalty to your club and players is more important than ever. Players don't perform badly by choice so give them a break and save your bile for those that deserve it.

Stones over-plays regularly, and sooner or later he will get caught on the ball in one of those situations. His positional play is often poor, and his communication with his fellow defenders needs to improve. Just because Ross Barkley needs too many touches, doesn't mean he has to do it too.

The petulance shown by Howard and Stones towards the crowd is indicative of the egos involved here. It isn't like this is the first time for silly play in our box, so the fans have seen it before and don't like it.

Howard doesn't care as he will be gone to the Jersey shore in the summer, and I get the impression that money will eventually buy Stones, and he knows he will be off to Old Trafford at the end of the season.

There are some loyal players like Baines and Jags who haven't jumped ship, but the paying supporters can say what they want. We will all still be watching in 2, 5 or 10 years time, but certain prima-donas won't!

We are talking of the classiest centre backs we have had in a long time and a future England captain and some people are wishing him away to another club.

Likewise with Barkley, the lad has talent to burn and yet people are on his back.

Words fail me.

Today we stood toe to toe with Spurs and in a cracking game of football we matched them but sadly never overcame them.

We are a team in the making...

Today's performance laid down the template for future home games. It was not perfect but we looked more compact in defence and broke quickly when we had the opportunity. We will inevitably miss McCarthy in the coming weeks but the indications today were that Besic might give us the necessary steel in midfield.

Why Mirallas can't get a game is beyond me. I've stated that RM should be given a third season to see where we go but fuck me, he makes it very difficult to maintain support with his constant support for ineffective 'senior' players.

If I go out for a meal and pay let's say 㿏 per head (an average priced match ticket), if there is something wrong with the service, and I let the waiter know, then I don't expect him to tell me to calm down.

If the said waiter was earning £30-£50,000 per week, then I would expect to be treated to perfection. Beautiful restaurant, lovely decor, wonderful food, served-up with finesse. I don't want the waiter doing three spins on his left foot before plonking my dinner down on the wrong table, and then tell me to calm down.

One day soon, he is going to trip over and put a tray of food on someone's head!

Would you expect the same performance from your waiter if he had to try to reproduce his plate carrying skills with the water sprinklers on, or opposition waiters running the sweet trolley into the back of his leg as he hands you a very hot plate.

I used to think that all football supporters understood that being a supporter was different than just being a spectator, but now I realise that only really applies when things are going well.

Get excited, angry, tearful, whatever, just don't do anything that may have negative effect on your own players. What is the point of that? The money is irrelevant to the psyche of the players because it is simply the going rate, and to expect some direct correlation when comparing now to whenever is not logical.

I have no problem with the crowd getting twitchy and telling Stones to boot the fucking thing out, it's the abuse he got after telling them to calm down that bothers me. I don't think the players enjoy playing at home at the moment but it's not helping how on top certain supporters are being. Sarcastically clapping and cheering Howard when he catches a ball, what the fuck is that all about?

John Stones was just trying to get a point across. Just telling them to calm down. I have no problem with that. Flicking him the vees and calling him all sorts (I wasn't there but I can't imagine them just silently raising their fingers) after is out of order, in my opinion. They do need to calm down or Mr Stones will most definitely be on his way.

As for people berating the crowd, if there was anything resembling a leader on the pitch, the crowd wouldn't have to do that particular job for them. Our team are just too nice – to the opposition and each other – and we need a right cunt in the team to keep certain players on their toes.

Just as against Dynamo Kiev, the crowd let the players know that they would not settle for the slow pace and three-touch football that our leggy midfield would have preferred to play, and if it worked. I'm happy for the crowd to play the villain until we can unearth a captain worthy of the armband.

May I suggest you throw it in the direction of our manager instead?

Saying that, a lot of what Martinez, does or doesn't do, does make you wonder most of the time. I want him to succeed, as much as the next man, but he's losing most of the support with his refusal to change the obvious.

If a container ship is not balanced correctly, it would probably sink, and although he's not an outside left, how much better did the system look when Cleverley went and played there? It stopped giving Spurs an out-ball.

However, we see this sort of thing from him far too often. He is playing professional football in one of the biggest Leagues in the world. He isn't having a kickabout with his mates in the park. I would get pissed off if one of my mates did it in a five-a-side match.

In all my decades of watching football, all over this country, home. away, and as a neutral, I have heard bile, advice, vitriol, and plain old abuse for players at every single game I have been too.

Fans aren't on the pitch, and our frustrations boil over, and many people carry all of their problems in everyday life to the game, and laugh, hysterically, grab total strangers and jump around holding on to them, and also they shout encouragement, and also the other stuff.

Stones must have heard it at Barnsley, and if he goes to Madrid, he might see masses of white hankies flapping about. It is part and parcel of the game.

I'd like to see Cleverley, Barry and Besic providing a more solid centre. Allowing a front three to break quickly and concentrate on scoring.

Something like:

Howard
Coleman Stones Funes Mori Baines
Besic Barry Cleverley
Deulofeu Lukaku Mirallas

I backed Lukaku to prove the doubters wrong last season and I have no doubt Ross will prove his critics wrong.

ps: Alli, like Ross in his first season, is not getting marked as tightly as he will in the near future. That's when we will see how good he really is. Ross has three players all over him once he gets the ball.

I would rather see Barkley pushed up behind Rom, where his pace and skill can hurt teams. Besic and Barry can do the grunt work.