Last-minute travesty denies Everton win

Negative – He has dropped our best player in recent weeks in Funes Mori, perhaps giving his head a chance to heal. He will have to head a ball today, he didn't have to both against Aguero.

COYB

Stones should have been on form anyway.

Give Funes Mori a break with his head gash, even though he was very good against Man City!

Lennon's defensive ability will allow Mirallas to focus on attack!

Deulofeu needs a break, and off the bench for Barkley would be my choice!

Hopefully Oviedo is switched on & Howard is as good as he was against Man City!

Well done, Roberto!

Lennon and Oviedo overlapping each other!

COYB!

On a positive note: two wingers shows attacking intent and I'm happy Oviedo gets another chance to show what he can do.

Then Stones gives the ball away again and, a short time after, a fluke deflection allows them to equalise, in a game they haven't had a shot on target in. If we don't get 3 points this will be an embarrassment. (And not Martinez's fault – but the players!)

8 minutes ET and it was blatantly offside!

But when are Everton going to learn to close a game out? Up 2-0 and cruising... one error and, before we know where we are, it's level because the panic sets in.

Then, you think we've nicked it... only to capitulate yet again. It's great for people who aren't bothered who wins but, for the Blues, it's yet another giant kick in the teeth.

It was a spirited performance that deserved a win. I don't think there should be any criticism about how we played this evening.

What a farce.

Blaming the referee or deflections is a delusion.

We have no courage or cunning and we repeatedly pay the price. There will be those tonight who will say that the manager is not to blame but he left out our best defender in Funes Mori and he is responsible for the fact that the team is hopelessly soft.

I have had enough for this season and indeed until this ridiculous Board and manager are gone.

I'm still raging from the refereeing.

All that said, the Everton players just needed to see out the final few minutes to secure the three points and they failed. In the build up to that final goal, they had several chances to win challenges and clear the ball but failed.

A point at Stamford Bridge is usually a good result but this one leaves a sour taste. For once there should be no criticism of RM for a lost three points. There are far bigger culprits.

Martinez should be in there now bollocking every bloody player for creating extra time, Barkley at Bournemouth, Funes Mori today, refs just add on 1-2 mins when players go off into crowds, so instead of 7 it becomes 9 mins.

Funes Mori booked for his celebration. Terry wasn't.

I should have been born in Wigan and been a rugby supporter... I've had just about all I can take lately; pissed right off with that.

Firstly, where did SEVEN minutes come from?

Secondly, where did EIGHT minutes come from?!

Subs, goals, time wasted...all allegedly added on at the end. I'm sorry, but when was the last time we needed a goal to win and were given EIGHT additional minutes. Absolute bollocks! I'm sick over this!

Phil (#56), whatever about seven minutes, Funes Mori's celebration surely warranted the 56 seconds added on.

Same old same old, I turned off at 2 2 . Went downstairs to watch final score to be elated to see we were 3 2 up. Said to the missus 'they will score' sure enough we oblige.

At 2 0 away from home the game should be seen out . That's where the problem is, the last minute should then be irrelevant. Instead we give away a circus act of a goal where Jagielka lets the ball go over his head and Howard, well does his usual and a panic sets in.

You know what's going to happen and it's frustrating and horrible.

RM went for it with attack-minded substitutions, and it very nearly paid off. Moyes used to get stick for being cowardly and defensive. So what do you want?

We should be launching a protest and demand an explanation for that ending. They were allowed to equalise with an offside goal 1 minute and 20 seconds over the already massive allowance of 7 minutes.

I am furious right now, but not with our team.

Offside goal but still poor defending, 30 secs before the goal, Deulofeu had chance to lump it upfield and just dinked it a few yards.

Bottom line is 6 wins all season is not good enough

The defending wasn't great, certainly compared to the Man City game, but the footballing gods must really hate Everton this season.

Overall, I am so disappointed because this was one of the poorest Chelsea sides I have ever seem. They were shocking! We should have been 3-0 up and never allowed them back in. Barkley caused the defence all kinds of problems, but he and Stones I think have let the hype around them make them think they are bigger than who they are now. Time and again they gave away the ball in dangerous positions, putting pressure on our defence, when really Everton should have been strolling.

What was incorrect was the Terry goal – clearly offside.

I need a drink to calm myself. One of the worst experiences I've had to endure...

I don't think it is laziness; I think it is confidence in dealing with a lead. We do not know how to dominate and kill off a team. More than that, we are uncomfortable with it.

Martinez calling it an incredible injustice... unfair... feeling of anger.

Is there a chance the linesman didn't think the last header actually made contact? If so, shouldn't there be communication between officials?

I think the linesman's job is difficult beyond belief but in this case it shouldn't have been difficult.

It is also the reason why top quality players won't join us. I mean, we are plodding along in mid table with no prospects of challenging for Champions League places so many will be put off (Yarmolenko for example). We seriously need to sort this out or we will drift on for another 20 years without a trophy!

Some will disagree but I believe we are massively under achieving with the players we have. We have 3 of the "supposed" best defenders in England. Plus Jagielka. Yet we concede goals like a Sunday league team. It's just not good enough.

We need a manager to tell Barkley to stop giving the ball away in dangerous positions and to work hard at getting it back. Tell Stones to stop posing on the edge of his box. Drop Howard. Organise the defence and instruct clearly how to see out a game.

Has anybody noticed the Middlesbrough managers recent record – no goals conceded in 9 games..... Dream on!!

I thought Jagielka was excellent apart from the catastrophic five minutes where they got their two goals. That sort of sums our captain's career up.

Lennon and Mirallas were good also I thought.

As someone already said, on seven minutes Deulofeu had the ball and it was played back and whacked up to nobody instead of working it towards the corner.

I mean, god almighty, it should never have stood – that is the be-all and end-all.

How many times have we thrown away a winning position this season?

Gutted with the result; Chelsea are a very poor team at the moment, we'll all season and we can't beat them even with a two-goal lead. Everton, Everton... where the fuck are you?

So frustrating and I can't see them improving under this manager. Roll on the next match, how I and thousands of us haven't got ulcers... it would drive you to drink... or poison.

Gut wrenching as it was to replicate the scoring pattern of the Bournemouth game, this was a MASSIVE improvement on that debacle and poor game management by Everton.

Step back a little bit everybody. Don't all leap to your default blame positions, or target your personal Everton hate figure.

Today's performance, added to the recent performances home and away to City, gives me huge encouragement as to how the team is developing.

The commentators had called it a dull first half. No, it wasn't. It was a half largely dominated and controlled by Everton who were the better of Chelsea all over the pitch. The quality of our football and game management was top notch.

It continued at the start of the 2nd half when our play got two goals it had deserved. We were on easy street. A long lump forward from Chelsea causes the first confusion in the Everton defence all afternoon and (apologies to Jim Hardin...), but Howard makes the wrong call coming out to where he did. Easy tap in for Costa.

Two minutes later, and Chelsea are level with a deflected goal their play had not deserved. Naturally buoyed by that and the home crowd baying for me, Everton wobbled for the 1st time and were further disrupted with the injury to Oviedo.

Still, we regrouped, could have added a 3rd with Mirallas, did add a 3rd with Ramiro. We were running the clock down nicely until Gerry gave it away on the half way line with now 98 minutes approaching. The ball that gave Terry his goal scoring chance is clearly headed on by a Chelsea player, putting him offside.

Yes, again, we threw away a winning position, but I for one am not overly despondent, even though it would have been nice to record a 1st league win at Chelsea in 20 years. I thought, in the main, the defence was very solid today with Jags back at the heart of it and Baines in top form. There was a solidity, a 'joined-upness' throughout the whole team which has largely been absent this season.

We just had no luck today. The quality of our football, for the most part, deserved far more than the final result gave us.

The goal was scored before the 90 was up, the board went up for 7 minutes and by the time the game restarted the clock was at 91 mins and 30 secs, so we can't really complain on that point.

Of course it was a fucking mile offside

3. The whole team defending in the last third! Push out, as every single cross was dangerous, as the offside line was just in front of Howard.

My wife texted me:

I kept thinking why are they still playing when time is up?!? Home cookin !

Def off sides too!!!˜ 

She's not exactly an expert when it comes to sports but she sure as hell nailed this one!!!

ROBBED!

I think Lukaku, Barkley and Stones have played poorly since picking up knocks recently. Contrast that with Baines who is carrying knocks but was MotM for me.

I thought it was interesting that Mirallas was to be subbed till the fans started booing and he changed it to Barkley. Don't know if it was in response to the fans but a good call anyway.

Question: How do you make an international back 5 look like a bunch of amateurs?
Answer: Appoint Martinez as their Manager.

The whistle should have blown right there and then. The ref was determined to play on until they scored.

ROBBED AGAIN!

Opposition teams can score too and Chelsea have good players even though they are not playing too well. I still think the tide will turn like it did for Howard Kendall when his talented young team couldn't score a goal. This team has huge promise but is not ready yet. We still need a couple of players and a few of our young players are not yet quite where they need to be.

Our failure to close a game out does show a lack of maturity and quite why Jags, Baines and Barry can't exert some control over how we play when leading is beyond me.

My main concern at the moment is Oviedo- was it his broken leg which was injured today – surely not another break?

Bobby promised us the Champions League. Leicester, West Ham, Palace, Stoke and Southampton are above us.

I, for one, stick to my principles and still believe in our motto. Evidently others do not. WAKE THE FUCK UP.

Which game were you watching!!!

The FA Cup win diverted attention from him getting Wigan relegated.

Poor manager, poor record!!!!

Howard, with a better view, had no option other than to come for it. In a similar position most CBs would have run in front of the striker and kept an arm out to keep tabs on him, ignoring the ball and telling the keeper what to do, stay or come. Apportion the blame according to your prejudices.

1-2

Momentum with them (You are most vulnerable when you've scored .... stats say otherwise, and we didn't do enough to help ourselves. We needed to see out 10 minutes with greater possession.) We had better players on the pitch than Chelsea and could have done that but, again, lack of on-pitch direction was crucial. I'll get stick for it but if we had the Phil Neville of five years ago on the pitch we'd have walked the game.

All that said, we give the ball away, see above, and Fabregas hits a nowhere shot that takes a wicked deflection. We didn't choose to get a grip of the game at that stage and we wasted time in chasing speculative through balls when we did have possession rather than build up pressure on them and take it off ourselves. We do this eventually and with 5 minutes to go I was praying for five minutes of added time, sure that we could win the game. Got my wish, exposed their midfield and defence for what they are and then, again, didn't show the experience and confidence to retain possession once we had got our reward.

When we are in an equivalent possession old heads for the opposition take the ball and turn away, inviting free-kicks - and we oblige. We are still a young team, we are still learning.

The equaliser was, perhaps, avoidable in turns of the retention of the ball. If we were better at that Terry wouldn't have had the chance to score a ridiculously offside goal.

Many on here complain that we never learn but that performance had miles more going for it than the Bournemouth game, in some respects a direct comparison. The full-back who scored the worldwide will never do it again.

We do need to learn not to go bananas if we score a late goal though, after all we do it fairly regularly these days.

I have been described for years as a glass half-full sort of person. That said I see some parallels between our young side of 1976-79 (sound of miserable bastards scurrying to the record books) which went on to become the Holy Trinity inspired Champions of 1979-80.

Big difference? The force of nature that was Alan Ball. For me we can still make top 6, even top 4. We can certainly win at least one cup. Is there anyone can see who our equivalent leader on the pitch might be?

Unacceptable.

Martinez has to go. His philosophy is built for entertaining football but we will never get results in the league with him. Great for the neutral watching us but brutal if you're an Everton fan.

I've decided I'm not going to watch another game that Howard starts so I'll enjoy the cup runs while they last... Can't wait to get to 40 pts because the defending is relegation material.

I honestly miss Clive Thomas and the likes of Uriah Rennie.

Sky influence the refs with all these dodgy billionaires. We all know the outcome of every season... same as the last 20 years, same teams, same corruption. Yet we all turn a blind eye to it.

This lot could do the same yet but we must give them time.

I have to say I am sick and tired of the merciless slagging off and complaints. Let's just enjoy the football and be patient. Like a previous commentator noted, this team is potentially on the cusp of great things... it just need a couple of players. I for one am enjoying this season and it's not over yet.

Do you think it is us the fans putting loads of pressure on the team because we used to be such a Great team and our expectation levels are so high especially with that lot being our arch rivals

I am just watching Leicester and they don't look like they are going to concede at any given moment now that they are one up, is this because their fans have no expectation and therefore no pressure is being put on the team?

As I said, this has ALWAYS been Everton – does anyone have any ideas of why this happens as I feel like crying.

It's remarkable that we haven't managed to win back-to-back Premier League games this season when clubs like Southampton, Bournemouth and Watford have had no problems doing recently despite being below us. It's not bad luck – it's bad defending... and preparation to keep letting the same thing happen, week-in & week-out.

Can you imagine if Cleverley's header at Newcastle had not gone in (a man on the post would have cleared it), we wouldn't have won a game since November.

You can see how the remainder is going to pan out anyway: get knocked out of both cups by mid-March, then start winning some Premier League games which are largely nothing games because the pressure is off and we will scrape 8th or 9th place and hail it a magnificent end to the season. Yawn.

I too watched the great second Catterick team develop and this feels the same.

Steven Naismith, £7-8 million? Unbelievable!

I'll criticise our own boys quietly later, but the officials in our game are either incompetent or bent. Either way, not what we need or deserve.

Also fed up to keep hearing post match comments from managers focusing on the poor refereeing. Get onto the training pitch and set an example to the players and take responsibility for the team not having the mental strength or savvy to see the game out.

Besic was superb again today and Mirallas with an excellent strike was good to watch. The commentary here in Dubai was loaded to support Chelsea from the kick off, and Costa is a footballing disgrace. Otherwise situation normal! COYB!

The sheer incompetence of manager and players is unbelievable.

As regards the linesmans decision, I could understand if it were marginal but that twat Terry was well offside.

It is about time that these pricks officiating at games are held accountable and made to explain, if they can, their decisions.

Last season was a disgrace and this is turning out no better.

Supporters who are happy with the way and manner in which we play are, in my opinion , delusional.

I would rather we ground out a bloody 1-0 win than play this, sometimes shit open adventurous crap.

The whole country think we are great to watch but I for one am not in that group.

I mentioned before the game after watching Spurs that I was impressed how they could press and play at a high tempo for 90 plus minutes while we can barely manage 45.

We are unfit both mentally and physically and the clown and his staff that manage the Club are just unfit to be part of us

Why some on here always dwell on negatives beats me. What about the 3 goals we've scored, no credit! The end results lately, points-wise, have been a disappointment, granted... but as Jay says we have a young squad put together by Martinez that have proved in recent games that they are a match for anyone. If we can retain our best players we have a future, there's no doubt.

Now if you want to make a negative out of a game that even Chelsea's manager admits their equaliser at 2-3 was offside, carry on.

Some of these guys don't even seem to understand the basics of the game never mind being able to keep time.

Honestly, Martinez is the problem at this club, it is so blatantly obvious, it is actually hurting to think others cannot see or feel it.

Also, I don't see how we can compare this to Howard Kendall's era. I've not seen the era myself but the statistics that I'm reading tell me that progress could be seen in his methods. We are DIGRESSING!

Had he not celebrated then the same amount of time would have been played. It's just a question of whether the time ran from 91:30 to 98:00 or 90:30 to 97:00... I think.

That's two games where we've been mugged off by the referee. The Stoke game was bad but this comedy of errors was even worse.

If the linesman had done his job properly (rather than the one Abramovich paid him for) then everything is marvellous – great character and last ditch defending, terrific win. Linesman gets it wrong and the players are naïve, Martinez is a clown, blah blah blah.

He brings in Mirallas ,who was possibly our best player(along with Baines). Which makes me wonder why Kevin has been ignored in almost all of the games recently/

To top this, he drops Funes Mori to the bench to accommodate our great white hope, the Elegant Mr Stones. Why? I would have put Stones at right back to keep our best header of a ball in either box in the team.

On the one hand, Martinez is getting the team to play some great stuff, but on the other hand he has warped ideas, and can't see obvious things that 90% of us can. Perplexing!

incidentally, Stones is a liability – he doesn't know when to stick or twist. He only looks good striding out of the box, his play gives every other fucker the heebee jeebies!

Apologies if my memory is hazzy but that's how I remember it going down and I don't even know what happened after their goal today as I was in that bit a temper. Toys were well and truly out of the pram.... I hate football!!!

ps: Credit to Martinez for his bold selection. Unfortunately, like many, I disagreed with the subs.

Since 28 November, Everton have dropped a league-high 11 points from leading positions in nine Premier League games.

Today, Aston Villa v Leicester, five minutes extra time was signalled. Villa made a sub in the 95th minute, which took around 30-40 seconds. Even so, the ref blew the game up at 95:14.

It's the complete lack of consistency that makes me fume.

Everybody scores against Chelsea these days, it is no big deal. What the big deal is : is that everybody knows they will score against us. Their second goal makes me so angry the less said about it the better, two of our most experienced players should know better how to deal with a long ball !

We, undoubtedly have the makings of a very good team, the best bunch of players in a long time with age on our side in most areas , but it just seems that the incredible one is incapable of doing what it takes to win us a game when we are on top, it is about doing the basics is it not Or maybe you're just a Kopite or should be. we can not keep moaning about bad luck all the time, you make your own luck 9 time a out of 10.

We can be brilliant going forward but if we are crap at defending then how can we all be surprised. Apparently approximately 25% of our goals conceded are in the 90 minute or more – when is the manager going to tell the players to do what it takes to win. Somebody on the pitch has to take control, where are the leaders?

I desperately want the incredible one to succeed at Everton but my patience is wearing very thin. On a positive note we should be making a right few more £'s in TV money, Sky and the likes will be showing our games every week the way we play.

In the referee's mind, there must only have been a couple of seconds left on the clock when Terry scored. So he allowed those couple of seconds for us to kick-off. That's the theory anyway.

Craig (#167), you're right about the inconsistency. If you wanted to stretch it you could say that the ref only intended on playing 94:35 (95 minutes rounded to the nearest minute) but that would be giving him too much benefit of the doubt.

The Forum is the equivalent of Extreme 'everything' and BBC live the equivalent of 'Death by a Thousand Cuts' – what a combination.

Today's experience left me shattered and in no small way absolutely pissed off with the whole thing Everton. I've never had faith in the 'system' but now am more than convinced that the bastards have it in for us. There is no way we will ever be allowed to win anything under the present EPL/Sky hierarchy.

Talk about FIFA – there is more intrigue in the EPL than we will ever know and it sickens me.

Everton as a team sickens me at times – it is enough to make a grown man weep. The players, and management are to blame for their total incompetence in holding on to a lead, having shown that they are more than capable of murdering their opponents and letting the whole thing slip and letting down themselves and their fans. What a fucking shambles!!

I cancelled my Season Ticket a couple of seasons ago but still manage the occasional games. I understand now why I stopped going on a regular basis and as my visits to Goodison get fewer and fewer I wonder whether I will miss the craich. I certainly don't miss the disappointment that is heaped upon heap on us long suffering fans.

That's all I will say – I nearly said 'fuck Everton', but I can't quite bring myself around to that yet , especially as I think we are on the verge of something special.

We let a 2-0 lead slip then another last gasp win turn into what feels like defeat. We knew we were only a matter of minutes away from breaking a 20 year hoodoo. But still, we could not hold on.

If this was a one-off, we could pick excuses out of the air (the ref, the offside etc). But there have been precedents to this situation in the very recent past. We're not learning lessons after Bournemouth and Stoke.

Even when we're winning in injury time, this will give future opposition the motivation to kick on. Evertonians can't relax until the ref blows the final whistle – unless we're 3 goals clear.

The rs are renowned for getting spawny last minute goals / decisions.
With us, it's becoming the opposite – unless we happen to be playing NUFC.

Even today, I'm sorry to say that I wasn't anything like confident we'd hold on when we went 3-2 up so late.

(That 14 unit / week alcohol limit better be for non Evertonians only.)

Seems some people have forgotten those lessons already???

And comparing today to our defending in the Stoke and Bournemouth games (now that WAS diabolical defending) is unfair – today our defending was far better, bar a panicky last few minutes.

Signs are increasingly more positive over the past two weeks.

1. The ref had the clock management correct.
2. The linesman choked.
3. We are exciting.
4. Our defending is weak.

I would add:

1. Stones is soft and possibly dumb.
2. Barkley isn't soft, but might be dumb, too.
3. If Mirallas hasn't shown enough to be selected over Kone, he never will.
4. As a squad, we flat do not have 90 minutes of leg under us.

This last most. If we can keep this group together one more season (the key players, I mean), a "Moyes-type" boot camp is in order. We can't keep having these endings to games without acknowledging that team conditioning is poor.

Jagielka was very poor for first goal, allowed the ball to bounce and then let Costa bully him, not the first time this has happened. Then to top it off Howard if he's going to come charging out has to get the ball. We are lacking leadership at the back, starting with the goalkeeper.

To use a TV cookery analogy, what would people think if Paul Hollywood every week showed us the ingredients at his disposal were right but he still baked a loaf, virtually every week, that was either totally flat or at best half-baked? We'd ask why the fuck is this guy still in a job, on telly.

I'm asking how many times we have to watch Martinez fanny about with our club before the board grow a pair in our, and their, best interests?

Lukaku was poor; Barry was below par; Howard was a liability. We need a commanding presence in the box – not a keeper that makes good reflex saves mixed with howlers.

First goal for me was Tim's fault, you come out as a keeper, take control and take the lot out if required, not a flimsy feet first and hope for the best.

Attacking wise, superb today, defence, well I think Bobby is seeing what is the better centre back pairing is but still would have gone with same set up at Man City.

These last few games though, the side deserves praise for performing against League champions for the last two years and going toe to toe. Which is why everyone is so frustrated that we are not beating the lesser teams out of sight.

Not for the first time his season, another must-win game next Sunday, especially given our opponents. Lose that game and we will be well and truly in the thick and sticky.

We're good on the eye but are going backwards, another full season, with RM at the helm, might end in a record number of least wins in one season and possible relegation. That's even if we win the League Cup.

We only need another 11 points from the remaining 54 available and it's mission accomplished for this season I'm sad to say. Plus the League Cup.

I'm really (not) looking forward to the post-match / midweek no-shit-Sherlock soundbites: 'we must stay focused to the end' etc etc.

I was foolishly hoping that Martinez had now got it about the importance of defending and playing for the whole 90 minutes and winning football matches after the first leg of the semi. I was completely mistaken. I was hoping from that game onwards we would now be completely switched on and super confident going into the 2nd leg of the semi. I was completely mistaken.

However, the biggest mistake our forever loyal but increasingly exasperated fans are making is that whilst they have successful ambitions for EFC the board of EFC have only mediocre ambitions. What a dreadful dilemma for such great fans and a grand old club. It is now 20 years without a trophy, a disgrace to our great history! Martinez has to go but the board are patting him on the back. Fans on mass must now say enough is enough to turn around the ambitions of this club. Mid table and trophy less is a pointless and miserable existence for a club that should always be competing to win and be the best.

There is so much bias amongst English officials officiating certain games in our country it's becoming a real joke. We need officials in the Premier League who are 100% objective in the decisions they give, and I only think we'll get that if we recruit from abroad.

The Premier League is a global brand filled with footballers from many different nationalities, I see no reason why officials can't be brought in from abroad just like the players.

That might make things even worse as most of what the FA and the Premier League want is for the rich clubs to colonise huge swathes of overseas supporters.

I'm still at a loss as to how the linesmen can spot the merest hint of an offside when the less rich clubs attack but are seemingly blind when a player of a rich club can stand yards offside and get away with it.

Everton didn't help themselves today but a proper decision at the end of the game and we would all be celebrating 3 points and a much needed league victory.

Totally dominated Palace at home and conceded two daft goals – but hit the post more than once. One of those goes in and we win.

Norwich – we should have been out of sight at half-time. Was the profligate finishing in that game Roberto’s fault? Sure, we shouldn’t have conceded, but that would have been a meaningless consolation at that stage.

Stoke – referee error loses us a point.

Chelsea – referee error loses us two points.

Add that up and we have 7 more points and are 5th on the table. I know this is a ’what if’ but none of these results would have been unrealistic or undeserved and Martinez did enough in all of these games for us to win the points we lost. Just shows how the margins can work in sport and how they are doing us down this season.

Martinez and Everton could be better but there’s very little perfection on show in the Premier League this season.

Until the FA and Sky get it into their heads that there are 20 teams in the Premier League and not their favoured 6, unfortunately we won't see the end of these bullshit refereeing "decisions".

He missed the call. He sure did. But that's it.

And Hiddink himself (all credit to him for admitting it, by the way) said the goal was off-side.

Let's book Martinez a taxi NOW.

I'd quite like to see Rafa in situ at Goodison. I'm not even arsed he used to manage them.

He's available, still lives on Merseyside, has won major trophies and would surely have this team much better organised, hence less late collapses.

Let's get him in.

Yes, Terry's goal was offside, but the reason we didn't come away with a victory wasn't down to that; it wasn't down to the Linesman – it wasn't down to the FA or Sky.

It was down to that clown in goal again...

Funes Mori gets booked for jumping in the crowd... disgrace of a human, Terry, doesn't? Ref pocketed a bung for sure. Costa should have got sent off... Obi at least a yellow... yet they got fuck all.

Thought Lennon did a good job today and I thought Besic was marking the hell out of the best of the Chelsea players and did so effectively. Overall a good offensive performance. Unlucky on their first goal. Possibly, Howard came because he saw Jags getting beaten and was afraid Jags would have to pull down Costa and give away a pk and a red card. Still, if you go get there.

As for the extra time, thank goodness Chelsea scored or we still might be playing until they do. Are English seconds based upon the metric system or on a EEC scale so they are longer than our USA seconds?

I don't know why scoring plays cannot be subject to review by TV replay like our football games over here. This would eliminate blown offside goals and wouldn't delay the game any more than the celebrating players do.

The linesman fucked up. That's why the goal allowed.

The important thing here is that we had 11 guys bunched up around the goal. No direction, no nothing.

We're set up to look good. For sure there.

We're not set up to win, though. Which is our problem.

Martinez has built a very good squad (GK aside) and is still building. We play good football and score plenty. BUT we concede plenty, don't win enough and clearly have a major problem in securing games when ahead. When we went 2-0 up, I even predicted 3-3 as the final result (seriously).

If I were Chairman Bill I wouldn't be sacking Martinez just yet. But I would be telling him:

"We are doing great, but there's a huge glaring defensive weakness that's preventing us reaching our full potential. I'm calling David Moyes, Jose Mourinho, someone who knows how to defend and I'm giving them a one month consultancy contract to review all aspects of our defending, including: staff, training, set-ups, set pieces and especially why we consistently concede so late. He will deliver a report to me and you with recommendations.

"It's up to you what you do with the recommendations, you are the manager. But if there is no improvement in our goals conceded and points gained then I will be reviewing your position at end season".

Speaking generally, Football needs to follow Rugby, and have the ref call "Time off" and a whacking big clock on the wall that everyone sees. When the time goes red, it's over. Most sports now carry technology, Cricket, Rugby, Tennis, all have useful aids.

Football should use a fourth official watching replays, for things like today – a match deciding offside that was missed. Considering the money involved and the embarrassment to the "Game" and the officials, it is high time for its introduction.

The positives are that we continue to play good football, continue to score, and keep on playing to end in search of goals.

Negative that we have no idea about managing a game. Absolutely no idea. 2-0 up and the stuffing was knocked out of the home team. Our approach to game management? Everyone forward!

We left Jags alone on the halfway line with Costa. From that point I don't care about individual errors – if you keep putting players in one on one situations with half a pitch of space behind them then eventually your man will lose a battle. We've done this all season with no signs of learning.

Ossie, just after this clown was appointed; "Training is different, easier, under Mr Martinez". Result?.....we run out of legs well before 90 mins are up.

Rom/Seamus/Bainesy when we won 10 out of 12 points in April; "WE decided to play the old Everton way." Result?......we avoided a relegation scrap.

Any player at any club saying anything like that just knows they're likely to be identified by other managers as "traitors", to the cost of their careers in the future.

Our players, last season and again this season, have openly talked about having "sought a sit down with the manager" to try to put things right. When on earth do you ever hear of another club's players doing the same to their "manager"? It's called "losing the dressing room " Bill!

But our players are too nice to REALLY kick off about his shite management (that's the job of their agents after all) so our board sticks its stupid head in the sand, hoping/praying that some dumb bastard from abroad makes them and their families loaded for centuries to come by buying the decrepit club they've created on the back of the blind loyalty always shown by us lot.

I'm trying to get my head around some of the blame being given to Funes Mori.
Had he not celebrated then the same amount of time would have been played. It's just a question of whether the time ran from 91:30 to 98:00 or 90:30 to 97:00............I think.

So it's just a terrible, terrible decision and our own inability to manage a game. I'd like to say I feel better.

He needs to help out and get back more and stop chasing shadows and learn how to get stuck in.

I still cannot believe how we capitulated today.

I am certain we will get our share as the season progresses and then today will be forgotten, by us, but hopefully not by the Manager or players, everything will just add character and resilience to what is becoming an excellent Everton side.

Our defence has come in for some criticism but its a young and new partnership, also Jags is just coming back and Stones is not in his favoured role.

Calm down... have a Chang... we have a superb team in the making and everything is going to be beyond your wildest expectations, we just need to have patience, brothers...

That's correct, I must admit in the immediate aftermath of the game I too was 'fooled' into believing we had been hard done to with the amount of time played, but Everton scored exactly on 90 minutes and the ref had already indicated that an extra seven minutes should have been played. Whether Everton took a minute or a hundred minutes to celebrate the third goal makes no difference as, from the restart, there were seven minutes still to be played and that is what the referee played.

So he was right about that element. Roberto, as an experienced manager, should have known that and passed it onto to his players. The TV companies could perhaps help the viewers if they showed the time left to play rather than letting the clock run on the screen.

It's all academic now, of course; we dropped two points or gained one depending upon how you view a game of that nature.

I still think David Moyes will return to Goodison, only a hunch on my part, but a strong one.

I'm all for celebrating goals but what happened to the good old British handshake?

And Colin at #239; nowt would please me more than seeing Martinez getting that proverbial handshake from Bill "How-Much" Kenwright.

Leaving aside the issue that then arises as to the amount of additional time to be added on, an equally important issue is surely the impact it has in distracting players' focus from the job in hand which is to ensure that they actually win the match?

They are paid obscene amounts of money to focus totally on every aspect of the game that will contribute to them winning a game and to eradicate those that will prevent that. The over-the-top nonsense of diving into a crowd should merit some serious disciplinary action as it is blatantly obvious that focus and concentration are seriously undermined.

Among the many demands of a professional approach to one's job is discipline and responsibility not the self indulgence on show all too often these days and clearly evident in today's events at Stamford Bridge.

As for Kenwright and Co, the takeover bid has died a death, but then again, that was the story, before the shareholders meeting?????

I'm hoping that no news is good news. The agreement that is in place between the potential buyers and the club prevents either side from commenting on the situation one way or the other. I think that agreement lasts until January 28th or perhaps even to January 31st.

In a couple of weeks time we should be aware of what is going to happen, good or bad. We've waited for years for something to happen, another fortnight isn't that long to wait, is it.....?

And Everton can't keep saying they are unlucky. Bad luck is something that's not recurring, keeps on happening so something is wrong. Martinez is just way too soft with these lads and he needs to stop playing his "favorites".

Also it's a horrible decision to try to play John Terry offside, I doubt they knew he was coming anyway. More like they were ball watching.

I really hope you are wrong and that we don't get Moyes back. With Moyes we'll never get relegated but will never win anything and will always finish around 5-8 position.

We are playing great football at the moment, conceding stupid goals, but going forward playing very well. If Moyes was in charge of this team, he would kill their flare without a doubt.

RM isn't the man for us but I hope we never go back to OFM.

Poor Reffs. and inconsistent linesmen are a fact of life in the Prem. Better get used to it. Mirallas was just as (or not) far Offside as Terry; eg not much. One gets picked up the other doesn't. Bet...nah enough.

Jagielka has ALWAYS been shakey with it over the top; He and Distin at Villa, when Areteta was still here, how long ago was that...nothing new then; better get used to it. (sorry, last time)

Roberto is the Baldrick of tactics, Hiddunk is a canny old fox. He took off a DM and put a class act there in Fabregas...It was a good job Costa went off when he did.

The same old could, woulda, shoulda. I though I saw signs last week and today we had worked on our defence. More work needed...but I don't think it will happen...Bet. ( bit of predictive txt there honest)

Martinez; With this team we should be doing better, But aren't.

Moyes; With his teams we could have been better, but weren't.

I want one gone and don't want the other back.

We're crying out here for my 'Goldilocks Option' Enjoy the good bits and write off the bad as the cost of doing business. Nothings going to change.

Everton that, all day long...always was... you should be used to it.

And yes , the third Chelsea goal was offside. But what can you do. These things happen. I still have nightmares about Bryan Hamiltons dis-allowed goal. But there again , Stones and Everton got lucky last week. Forty years of dodgy decisions. And as most sports have moved on. Football still leaves supporters pissed off. Football still has that grey area of doubt and just plain old poor refereeing. Other sports can redress and alter poor decisions. Not football. A cup or a league will be won, or lost, someday, on a referees decision. The very least that should happen now (after that debacle) today, is that the referee and linesmen should be made explain their decisions and then be made referee down the leagues for the rest of the season. Those officials should be no where near the Premier League. At least send out a message that poor refereeing is not acceptable. And I pity the lower leagues getting those clowns.

Last points. The most alarming aspect for me is that we managed to throw away a two goal lead. And most supporters also expected that to happen.We are getting used to this nonsense.. WTF is wrong with this team. Squandering leads. Controlling games one minute. Headless chickens the next minute. Is there nobody that can just bloody calm everything down. Take the sting out of a game. I guess not. That game today should have just ended in a routine 2-0 Everton win. We should have closed up shop. To hell with entertainment. I just want the boring old Three points. For now.

Roll on next week. The players should be up for the Swansea game, especially after that game today. No resting players. We need to start picking up points. We need to be beating teams Like Swansea at Goodison Park. Nothing more than league win number seven will do. The League Cup semi final will take care of its self. Whatever happens....happens. I want Everton to start climbing the league. Remember teams like Birmingham and Wigan have won cups. Bet they wished they also concentrated on the league. Rant over. COYBs.

The cold truth is this team is completely inept of securing 3 points. The manager and the players must take full responsibility of losing 2 points irrespective of poor refereeing.

But in this case it really doesn't matter. The linesman will be demoted without a shadow of a doubt because it was such a bad decision. It's not like Terry was on the move, he was offside the whole time. The only excuse would be if the linesman thought it came off an Everton head and not Oscar... but the obvious answer would be to ask the ref. He was close enough.

Awful decision that obviously cost us a win that we had previously been desperate to throw away.

Worst home defence in the league. (Chelsea are second with 19 for those who are proud that we scored 3 yesterday.)

11 points lost from winning positions which would have us in 4th place. Teams with worse home records than us have already sacked their managers.

We have 5 points more than Bournemouth. They have spent £40-50 million less than us on salaries.

But please continue to talk about the beautiful football and Martinez's 'pure' philosophy. We have an excellent team that I'm afraid are playing 'bad' football. We can't defend set pieces. We have a team that can only play for 70 mins. Our goalie wouldn't get into a Championship side on current form but I don't blame the players.

The buck stops with Martinez and the team of 'coaches'. It's his system, training and selection. Every week, once the opposing manager makes a sub to change the game, he stands there like a deer in the headlights...

I can see him thinking: "It worked my first season here so it should work again." No more Moyes trained defence and fitness now for Mr Martinez. No more Europa League to hide behind this year and he's been exposed... Either adapt his 'philosophy' or get out....

Nothing is changing and sadly it will not as some hope just click into place.

This is entertainment at its best. By the end of the season every neutral fan will have a soft spot for us. Some will become long term Evertonians how phenomenal is that.

Lukaku did fuck-all all afternoon. I swear he does not want to score against his beloved Chelsea. He just strolled around... really annoyed me, it did.

I also have to admit that Pienaar should not have come on and should never play again. People say Martinez plays the youngsters... well, he does... but only when we have injuries. Let's be honest, Galloway would not have had a sniff if Baines had been fit.

Shane, by my calculations, the time added on should have been a full 11 minutes (Oviedo injury, subs and goal). If it had have been, then there would have been about 3 more minutes after Terry equalised.

Colin (#243), an Argentinian is unlikely to take part in long-gone British customs.

Anyway, game management begins when the game restarts. They could have done a lap of honour and still been ready to manage the game.

Ha! Yes, we could have come away with null points! Maybe I'll settle for the draw!

The ball comes too high for Jags to head it and not only that, the ball is drifting away from him. If Howard had delayed his mad dash out he could have either diverted that ball or caught it.

Their second goal took an awful deflection off Besic as Howard had it covered and as for the third, well I don't have words for that.

Howard spreads panic through the side, Robles seems more authoritative and calm.

A lonely night was had.

Had Everton been 3-2 down, would any official play time over and above a 7-minute added time? No. Would Martinez ask them to? No.

Which brings me to the point that Everton and Martinez are just too nice. To be successful in any professional sport, you need a ruthless streak, which they just haven't got, whether that involves seeing games out, dropping players or insisting on success.

Could you imagine Ferguson saying he wouldn't speak to the referee because there's no point? Of course not, he would have gone in ranting, which I admit doesn't alter what has happened, but it will make them think twice in the future.

Also, could you imagine any of the top sides putting up with Martinez's win ratio? Could you imagine anyone putting up with their goalkeeper making so many mistakes and having the decision-making of Sepp Blatter? No. Even Pardew came out yesterday and said his keeper is in the last chance saloon having made mistakes in two games.

I enjoy the football we play under Martinez, but at some point during games you have to aim to take the win. Principles don't win you anything, particularly when Martinez's philosophy is to outscore the opposition – and we don't! Plus, my heart can't take may more days like Bournemouth, Stoke and Chelsea.....

Having kicked all the furniture within range, and a lot more, I eventually realised, it's still the same old story, a fight for love or glory, a case of do or die, the fundamental rules apply, as time goes by.

Gary Player, the old pro golfer, once said, "The more I practise, the luckier I get!"

You make your own luck in all things... especially football. We got away with two penalties against Man City... Mirallas and Stones. We were robbed by the match officials against Chelsea.

It's swings and roundabouts! We led the Chelsea game 2-0 and 3-2. and only drew it... That means we blew it!

David Moyes , you, me, all Match of the Day viewers know it. You have to defend as well as attack to win a football match.

Have I left anyone important off the above list?

If all you can do is attack, then the best you can hope for is to score as many as your opponents... ie, draw all your games. I hate all the praise we are getting for playing exciting football; it is only exciting to the non-committed.

Welcome to the mid-table, shattered nerves! And shattered hopes!

The reality is we cannot compete with the money clubs for the holy grail that is the top 4. Lots of clubs have massively improved squads this season, and there isn’t a week goes by without a couple of shock results.

The negativity around Everton – who are playing the most entertaining football I’ve seen in years – is nothing short of disgraceful. I’m sure there are plenty of Villa and Newcastle fans who would trade places with us.

What if that is the point that keeps Chelsea up???

Who is to blame? The manager for not shutting up shop with over 30 minutes to go? Or the players for their unwillingness to kick the ball into Row Z? I wonder if Martinez told Stones to be in the Chelsea half with minutes to go, or if he told Deulofeu to try and knock the ball casually past the Chelsea player with seconds to go rather than try and get a foul?

This is a very young team which will make mistakes but where are our veteran players? Yesterday we finished the game with Howard, Jagielka, Baines, Barry, Mirallas and Pienaar on the pitch. Do these guys have no responsibility to get the younger players to just fucking boot the ball out of play rather than try and be clever?

Blame the manager by all means but these are experienced players and it seems the youngsters are calling the shots and not them.

As many have said, the temptation may be for some of these younger players to leave for 'bigger' clubs.

How refreshing would it be for them to stay, grow and learn together, and realise their potential with us?

Roberto's intransigence to temper the best of the game with some functionality and self-interest is costing the team points. Plain and simple, he refuses to adapt, develop or alter a style of play that is not relevant on the current stage. Like Don Quixote still tilting at windmills.

We are everybody's favourite second team, like West Ham and Spurs of old – good to watch, easy to beat. Now every team in the land knows that, even at two-down against Everton, you are still in with a good chance of a result.

What concerns me is that Lukaku and Mirallas and other top players won't want to stay in a team that is such a defensive shambles that their chance of winning anything is zero. And without Lukaku's goals where would we be?

Also, history shows that all Martinez teams get worse year on year in terms of league position, presumably because his "system" is easy for other coaches to work out. Let's hope he goes before we get relegated. Most relegated teams go down because they leak too many goals; coaches who win relegation battles do so by sorting out the defence.

Grow up, Roberto, this is the Premier League – not fucking Narnia!!

I have said this on another thread, but anyway, I agree with you; Howard should not have come out so early, as it was still nip and tuck between Jags and Costa as to who would get the ball, and even if Costa had gained the upper hand, Jags may have been able to put him off his shot.

The early dash out from Tim put Jags off, and was mis-timed anyway, as when Tim realised he had gone out of the box, he pulled out of his dive for the ball. If Howard had waited, a second, he may have been able to gather in the box, or make a save from Costa.

At the end of the day Howard was at fault. It is true that he could do little about the deflection for goal No 2, but perhaps he was a little slow to react when he saw Terry looming large. The first goal was the one that was going to give them the way back, as we all knew that, if they got one, we would be under the cosh.

How many times have we been undone by a simple punt over the top?

God knows what kind of bullshit he invents when his missus wants to get intimate and he's too tired - "Oh darling you know I don't like to have sex after 10pm, it's bad for my complexion. Well yes you're right we did do it last night but it was in a good moment and it was a phenomenal team performance, incredible stamina and a very exciting and uniquezzzzzzzz....."

Ferguson was given time at Man Utd and Kendall was given time at Everton. But in their time, players stayed at clubs for longer and didn't move within the division just to automatically double their wages.

Martinez may be given next season but he will have to do so with the strong chance that Stones, Coleman, Lukaku, Barkley and Deulofeu will be gone in the summer.

Players nowadays leaving in a quicker fashion would limit the time a manager is given to build success.

https://www.totalsportek.com/money/english-premier-league-wage-bills-club-by-club/

I apologise it's actually 49.7 million chestnuts.

While I feel bad for Villa and Newcastle, my frustration and those of many on here is that this team, if managed properly, should be competing for a top 4 spot. If our current form continues, we will be the ones wishing we were in Newcastle's position but I try to avoid statements that tempt fate...

Your confidence in this manager is greater than mine...

I get to few home games now, never mind away games, but the Evertonians who travel away are the very best, just doing our club proud.

Another thing: why wasn't that nasty piece of work, Costa, sent off? And how come when Mirallas got flattened just outside their area, that we never got a free kick?

That ref was a disgrace in fact I'll go as far and say he was a cheat. I thought Everton were excellent and deserved to win.

We are 8th in that speculative wage league, and my guess is there are a couple of teams who will go above us when real accounts come out.

There are plenty of good squads whose fans should expect top 4 more than us.

Do players tend to keep a lower profile against former clubs? Does Rom still yearn for a return to The Bridge? He has spoken of "unfinished business". I'm not trying to read too much into this but after watching the game, and highlights, I thought we were playing with a man down.

He certainly wasn't as involved as much as he has been, but he wasn't really up to much at Man City either; perhaps he isn't 100% fit. Despite that, he was involved in the first two goals and would have scored had Funes Mori not decided to nick in first.

I wouldn't make too much of it at the moment, but we'll find out at the end of the season where everything stands. Following so many years of relative stability, everything is a bit up in the air at the moment on and off the park.

These types of players aren't the greatest technically but grab the game by the scruff of the neck and motivate players around them. They probably wouldn't break the bank... mind you, I think we have moved on a little when we are disappointed to get only a draw at Chelsea.

I don't think we are too far off some silverware. I do wonder sometimes how Moyes would have done with a squad like we have now.

He would ruin it!

Stones & Lukaku will definitely leave providing the Champions League clubs come in for them and we get the money we want.

The other names you mention will stay unless the club want to let them go, I would think.

Barkley is an Evertonian and is desperate to win something with the club. If that happens, who knows but he loves Everton and the fans.

I'd be very surprised if Deulofeu has done enough to date for his former club to come looking for him although the season has a bit to go.