Blues stumped by resolute Baggies

That is not to say that I don't have confidence in the players we have in the lineup, but how is it that every club who signed somebody on deadline day has had them in and around the squad and we haven't? Is this still down to a hold-up with his visa?

However, how come we play a crossball strategy against West Brom? Yes we are under 0-1 and the have 11 men in defense (total crap football). But obviously.. when our advantage against West Brom are not in the air... why do we keep on playing the ball sideways left and right and crossballs instead of trying to pass in it the middle?

I think Mirallas should have been on the pitch instead of Kone.

Hopeless.

Everton 14 corners, WBA one, and they score from their only one. If Martinez wants a reason as to why it's crucial to practise attacking and defending set pieces, that is it. Regardless of how many corners /free kicks we had, we just never seemed to pose a threat (Funes Mori aside).

WBA's game plan is horrible viewing but it's effective in its simplicity. Burgle a goal, then defend for your lives.

Newsflash: We don't have any.

The league table does not lie.

But that happens – too few and far between with Everton; disappointing.

I understand you don't change a winning team, but there was no need at all today to be playing with one winger, one striker and two defensive midfielders against a team that would have been happy with a 0-0.

Barry, McCarthy and Cleverley; choose two – not all three.

Mirallas should leave to save his own career because when Kone is permanently picked before you something isn't right.

Lastly Coleman has been awful lately, his shooting has been poor, and crossing is just woeful.

To take the best man on the pitch off was stupid enough but to bring Kone and Osman on when we are crying out for someone like Mirallas to run at their defense and who can score goals is absolutely demented. This one-trick pony hasn't got a clue and is determined to get rid of anyone who thinks differently.

A nailed-on 3 points to close the gap and take us back into contention... instead of which, we will find ourselves below Liverpool, Stoke and Watford. Ruined my weekend again, Roberto.

People getting carried away after wins against the mighty Carlisle and Newcastle and a Stoke team in a slump – how on earth do you take off our most attacking threat for that joke, Kone???

Once again, phenomenal, Roberto.

Mirallas is a goal threat, not Kone. Not enough effort from Lukaku. Where was Niasse? Also I thought we had dumped inept defending at corners?!

I'm tearing what's left of my hair out after that...

We played very well were were extremely unlucky. However the poor home form this season and a banker against an out of form side makes it a bitterly disappointing defeat for the supporters.

I would go further and say everytime we pull away from mid table we fall over and get sucked right back down.

Unlucky or not, Martinez record is beggining to set a pattern. Mid table mediocrity. He cannot seem to consistently push us on.

And you know what, Oviedo's corners were excellent all night. Every last one of them went in the mixer.

I recall some wise TWer quoting Martinez regarding set pieces and the likelihood of them resulting in goals. He added, 'Yes, but these stats are all based on teams who actively practise defending set-pieces'.

Wise words, I thought. Martinez is skewing the stats to suit his bewildering 'philosophy'.

Terrible substitutions, terrible tactics, but Pulis always parks the bus and can't attack. Get rid of both Martinez and Kone asap before we end up as Championship fodder.

Martinez never, ever, has a trick up his sleeve where he moves the chess players around a bit to try something different. Leaving Barry and McCarthy on and taking Lennon off was really going to help in the chasing of a goal, wasn't it!! Seeing as Lennon has scored more in the last 3 games than our "defensive axis" has in 2 years.

Yes, Martinez definitely is dumb!

It's not that we played badly, but it was all very one-dimensional and reasonably easy for a Pulis-managed side to defend against.

2 defensive midfielders when West Brom were to shy to play outside their own half.

Taking off Lennon who was playing a blinder and the most threatening attacker on the pitch.

No defender on the back post for the corner.

Geri with the guile to make a difference to break through the West Brom defense should have been brought on at half time and he together with Lennon would have caused real trouble.

Kone before Mirallas ridiculous

Ossie before Mirallas ridiculous.

We have now lost 6 times at Goodison, often to substandard opposition and I include Manure in that bracket.

The poorest game management I have ever seen. This when a victory would have seen us close down on the top 5. Roberto has done wonders in improving the playing staff on paper but on the pitch it is a different story. I wonder what the pressure on Roberto will be like when the Yanks come in. I doubt if they will put up with much more of that bloody nonsense.

Mirallas must suffer from the same problem that Distan had. terrible way to treat a player after saying he is not for sale, and was an important player for the team.

He says he witnessed the dugout, including Big Dunc, shake their heads in disbelief... particularly today's bad subs.

So make of that what you will, considering they (Martinez and Jones) were both at Swansea, Wigan and now Everton.

Our home record is just an embarrassment at this stage.

Why take off our best player - Lennon

Bit unlucky today, but too easy for a determined defensive Pulis team.

Martinez again falls short

Their goalkeeper was hardly troubled throughout the game. I also thought Olsen was brilliant for them.

What is it about Everton running out of ideas around the penalty area? That's where you need the skillful creative player who can set-up the 1 - 2's and the stand offs, the cheeky chips and the back heel stuff to create the space for others to move into.

Fair respect to West Brom who came with a game plan, probably the only one they could with the players at their disposal. And there is the difference. Roberto has built up a great squad, but he does not have the ability to formulate a "a game plan" at any time. He has a philosophy, which he sticks to, which sometimes works and sometimes does not. The fact is it does not work most of the time. Hence the appalling games to wins ratio.

His failings are becoming really visible now and it is going to be a depressing run in to the end of the season where we will be lucky to break into the top ten.

I didn't think Lukaku was great today, but again, he is fed on scraps. I can't remember us creating a proper chance for him, despite our 35 shots or whatever.

The players did their best today, but yet again we have started slowly, and given away a poor goal. That gave them something to hang on to. I am also baffled why Martinez will not use 2 wingers on the pitch at the same time. Faced with compact opposition who are parking the bus, you need to make the pitch as big as possible to carve them open. Why he brought on Kone and not Mirallas is beyond me...

Read somewhere that Inter Milan want him. GOOD. Fuck off, Martinez. You are totally out of your depth and nowhere good enough to manage our beloved Blues.

Great December & January, Lukaku. Done jack shit since. Lazy. Any chance now the transfer window has closed that you might get your arse back in gear?

It's all well and good knocking the ball about and scoring good goals in front of 5,000 travelling fans – we want to see them do it in front of 37,000 home fans. He needs to shake off his negativity at home or the fans will hound him out.

And at this moment in time, I wouldn't give a flying fuck if he got the sack tomorrow. He is far too negative not only with his slow play tactics but also with his mind-numbing substitution decisions. The man needs to wise up or fuck off....

He said this team is on the verge of something special. What the fuck is that all about? Midtable mediocrity.... The man lives in cuckoo land... Fuckin' beam me up, Scotty!

This is a manager who cannot react accurately or imaginatively during games. I have listened to his explanation for Lennon's substitution and it made no sense at all beyond some waffle about tiredness, of which I saw no evidence. He also said that you can control performance but not the result. That sort of garbage is why he has to go.

It ruins the weekend for me.... not many good weekends this year.

Strange subs, I must say. I could see Cleverley coming off, but why put in Osman? Is Mirallas banged up or something? Lennon should have stayed on.

The sight of Ossie going up for a header in the box, and being bounced around like a pinball was comical. Sad but funny all the same. Rom was invisible.

.

We had maybe 30-40 corners and crossballs together and we were not even close to scoring. NOT EVEN CLOSE! It is pretty clear to me then that the tactics did not work.

Think about this. Lukaku is on top by himself against 4 West Brom players all the time biting his ass. How would you expect him to score a header?

Come on for fuck's sake! Today we could have finished the game 3-4-3 or whatever, a much more offensive strategy than the same old shit. We should have tried to play the ball in the middle with more manpower there.

Mr Martinez, you need to change a defensive player to an offensive player to really boost things on the field. It does not help taking Lennon off for Deulofeu. They could have been on the pitch both of them together with Mirallas and Lukaku up front together. In central midfield we could have Barkley and Osman, Barry, Cleverley. or two of them, playing either 4-4-2 or 3-5-2.

He was beyond poor today. What top striker would come from a game like this without a single meaningful attempt on goal?

We had Deulofeu and Mirallas on the bench – although Cleverley is more likely to create or score than McCarthy in my book – if someone had to be exchanged. And Coleman had nothing else to do all afternoon than attack. Lennon to left-back, Deulofeu on up the right. But oh no, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

We lost... against shite opposition.

Baffling substitutions, the game was crying out for Mirallas. What has he done that is so wrong?

Lennon was superb, always thought we might score when he was on the pitch.

Why is McCarthy such a poor goal threat and why doesn't a coach get him to work to improve on that part of his game?

And why do I always end up sitting near to the bloke who keeps yelling 'Handball!' every time the ball bobbles free in the box?

That was the worst performace by a coach I have witnessed at any level in my life. He is useless beyond redemption and,in my view it is shocking that he earns a living in football. Another night of missing MOTD because I cannot bear listening to one more cretinous word that comes out of his mouth.

7 wins from 19 last season

4 wins at home so far this season, arguably won't even win 7 this time.

But to be honest, I couldn't care less now because the league campaign is now a dead rubber.
Every time we have a chance to push on and pressure those above us we fuck up.

The Bournemouth game next Saturday takes on extra significance now, lose that then you really have to question how long the manager has left.
Yes we had two good wins last week but it's been a season of dismal letdown culminating in endless failures to beat bad teams at home.

You have to be honest, once these Americans take over, you can't see these putting up with a season, or even half season of mediocrity anyway.

We expect too much, it seems.

Maybe, possibly, by some small chance it might just be that the manager is not fit for the job ?
Maybe the manager hasn't got the tactical nous to beat teams like West Brom, to make telling substitutions, to change tactics midway through a game.
Maybe we can be unlucky once or twice but this is getting monotonous.
We really are a shit team and getting booed off was well earned

I would settle for just beating the Red Shite – nothing else is going to happen this season!!!

Now that is either down to the manager for not getting the best out of them, or maybe the players aren't quite as good as we think they are!

If it is the manager then he must leave sooner rather than later.

There's no getting away from the fact we can't go on a substantial winning run, we are incapable at Goodison, our home form rancid.

This manager must take responsibility.

Except of course for shit subs and not having the nous to change the shape of our attacks.

You cant really defend the fact that we have lost 6 home games this season. I like RM, he has built a good squad but we play much better away from home. We have the talent and exciting possibilities but game management is not just about holding on when we go ahead... its also about being able to view the game and make changes on the fly. Disappointing to say the very least... more so that we could of been just 3 points off Utd in 5th with a win... Plus I would of gone on holiday!!

It reminds us that the head coach (I wont say manager as that implies wider responsibilities) is far and away the most important person at the club. He orchestrates the moves, the mentality, the motivation, the team spirit, the strategies, the team selection, and so on. He is the numero uno power broker for the teams success or failure.

We seem to have a manager who has an almost sinister, two faced aspect to his nature. He is a real creature of extremes. First Distin, then Mirallas have been banished. At the same time Howard and Kone have been cossetted. Why do you behave like this Roberto? It is inconsistent, it undermines the team's performance and pulls the Club downwards.

The most annoying thing about Martinez (for me, at least) is that the guy is clearly nobodies fool and there is the makings of a very good manager in there somewhere, but he (for whatever reason) flat out refuses to adapt his methods in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

(Whatever happened to his early stated aim of the team being able to play multiple formations and switch at a moments notice when a game demands, by the way?)

It seems almost as though so much has been made of his purist 'philosophy' of how a game should be contested, that he's talked himself into a corner he can't creep out of without losing face.

We all know there is a good team...a winning more-often-than-not team...wrapped up in this squad. All it should really take is some sensible adjustments and fine tuning to get a mini-revival underway because there is higher quality personnel there than the performances of the last two seasons suggest.

However, it's the seeming refusal to recognise and accept that not only is everything not fucking rosy, it went past that a while ago to the point where it's now smelling rancid, that is the main stumbling block.

If he hasn't seen it by now, he isn't going to. He drove past his Damascus moment months ago and left it stood on the side of the road, mouth wide open, screaming 'Roberto! Come back!!'.

Today the changes should have been Mirallas for Cleverley (not because Tom was poor, he wasn't but Mirallas a threat).

Then I'd have brought Deulofeu on and played him in the MIDDLE in place of Barry or McCarthy.

I'd have left Lennon on because he was giving that lad nightmares.

By taking Lennon off for Deulofeu all Martinez did was go like for like, he can't change a game by mixing things up by bamboozling the opposition.

Just one win for the Blues all season against a current top-twelve side (unless Chelsea win tonight) and no Europa League excuses paints a sorry picture. We have a manager who prefers style over substance and a team with a soft centre. Enough said.

Poor display, and our home form is shocking, I'm glad we're not in the bottom three already as we'd never pull out of it.

Bournemouth could finish our season infront of the bright lights of the Beeb. How sad is that?

Why doesn't he sit on the bench with his hench-men and discuss the way forward instead of standing there on the touchline like a limp prick giving the whole world the impression that he is in full control of the situation when in fact he hasn't got a fucking clue what to do for the best.

I give up, I'm absolutely pissed off and vow never to get too excited - after all what is there to be excited about, watching some twat like Pulis giving us one up the back end. What next?

We may say we don't need to rush him but on today's evidence and Rom's lack of form maybe we do need.

I admit it I was absurdly naive to think that we could turn this season around. We have become a club that thinks it's ok to lose if you play pretty, have more shots than the opposition and are "hard done by".

Seriously, it's become a mantra, a way of managing the team. Results ? Ha, we laugh in the face of defeat, it's not the losing that counts it's how much passion you had.....

After the game you'd have honestly thought we had won listening to the usual drivel from a manager who is a lovely guy in everything other than his ability to manage a game. "The result was hard to explain" he said....not half as difficult to explain as your substitutions Roberto. Here's the thing....2nd half, ten mins in, nothing's changed. You take Tom C off and bring on Geri, he and Lennon swop wings and you also take Barry off and bring on Mirallas to sit just behind Lukaku.....you force West Brom to adapt to a different tactic but you run at them from both wings and have a strong presence in the box. Nope you don't. You bring on Kone in the worst form of his life then later Osman and the team continues to try, yes, but everyone can see that West Brom's tireless defenders don't have to alter anything from their plan, and it works. Game Management, we just don't do it.

That stat re 34 shots is as misleading as Tim Howard's "famous" World Cup effort where the opposition simply kept blasting shots directly at him. Today we hardly tested their keeper. We were unlucky with the two shots that hit the woodwork but honestly, it was a lot of half chances and promising runs fizzling out into, well, nothing.

Yes I'm gutted. This was a crucial game. I've heard mention that we have as a kind a run-in as we have had in this league....but then today was meant to be part of that wasn't it ?

I'm angry with myself for getting exited after two wins. How bloody stupid was I. This manager may be the nicest guy we've had in the hot seat but he's also the weakest for a long time, he's stubborn because I genuinely believe he has no real plan b.....it's a form of arrogance I fear that belies his gentle and decent nature but then I find myself thinking he brought on Osman today just to put two fingers up to the crowd and that makes me feel a bit lost as to where the club is going under his Mgt.

This amounts to gross misconduct. Gross misconduct earns you the sack.

We need someone who will rip up that pattern and overthrow the sense of inevitability. What is tiring for most of us is that we can have no trust in the team/manager and their determination to fight against the averages.

This flaw in his make-up was at the core of my reluctance to support his appointment two and a half years ago, knowing that he has always been like this in that any team he manages is forever 'a work in progress'. Just ask the fans of Swansea and Wigan.

I think maybe I'm a jinx. The last 13 home games I've been to W1 D4 L8.

Fuck me it gets no easier.

Newcastle - utter shite (currently 5-0 down against 15th placed Chelsea (before the start of this game). Luckily for us their finishing was out of our book or we would have had a few red faces, and helped to the win with 2 penalties and a bit if a chancer from Lennon albeit a good goal.

Barnsley some 50 places and 2 leagues below us - 3 -0 nil is really the very least we should expect.

Stoke - Great goal from Coleman, another penalty and a defensive fuck up well capitalised upon by Lennon.

So not a lot of sensational winners there.

Now I do believe we are on the cusp of much better things although days like today really do knock my confidence back, and much though I wanted to see the green shoots from those last three games, and as delighted I was at the respective results, I have had a continuing nag that we really did not WIN those games so much as the opposition losing them - if you get my drift.

Today was the opposite - West Brom did not win that match - we lost it. I was watching on the eplsite stream while at work annd commented once on the forum to say it looked like the stream was running in slow motion such was the pace and urgency of our play.

We should have battered them on the score sheet. Sure they defended well and they must have been creased having played a 2 hour cup tie on Weds night.

There has been plenty of (justifiable) criticism of our defence but what is happening up front? We just do not seem to be able, or want, to drive that killer thrust into the penalty area, and decide to pass around the edge of the box giving our opposition time to get behind the ball, if not organised but, like,weight of numbers and all that! To use a bullfight analogy we seem to be like the matador playing around with his cloak, entertaining his crowd and toying with his bull but never actually proving the coup de grace (or whatever the Spaniards call it). And I think our estoque (that's the sword by the way) which in toffeespeak is called Lukaku, is being seriously blunted partly by defenders and partly by his own mind when it does come to the final cut. Hopefully Niasse can provide a much needed additional threat alongside Rom and dilute the attention that Rom is getting from defenders right now. Stick two men on him and we seem to be screwed.

I thoroughly hope we can repeat the previous 3 results over the next couple of games, progress in the FA cup and for goodness sake find our scoring boots and get back on track and WIN games.

The substitution we weird today ( who would expect anything else) but it was the players who failed to win this match - not RM who (leaving subs aside, and by then iy should have been irrelevant rather than desperate). Somehow by playing some good football they managed to let us all down.

Rant and subjective impressions over...I am just left a bit confused by it all really. Might look different in the morning in the cold light of day but for now I just can't get the gutted feeling out of my stomach.

(5-1 now - FT - and Chelsea up to 12th I think. )

As an observation, Lennon very rarely crosses the ball in the air. Five times he beat his fullback inside the box, but all his crosses were along the ground and cut out easily.

Tell you what, Bobby, we are losing the match – let's leave Mirallas on the bench and bring Osman on... Hey, get that Kone bloke on and leave Kev on he bench – that's a good one.... That Lennon looks good... let's get him off before he does any damage.

It's bonkers!!! I really don't think anyone would have agreed with him today apart from his staff who sit on the bench simply to agree with him. I would love to invite him to my house tonight to share a bottle of vino and ask him man to man what on earth was going on in his head when he made those calls today. Bobby it's an open invitation....

Don't blame yourself Graham. Somehow, somewhere and...err...somewhen, Evertonians must have surely pissed some higher power off en masse.

Our crosses today were awful. Most were just lofted aimlessly or along the deck (Lennon) and easily cut out.

Is Martinez the best coach we could get for the good money we pay?

Was today a good tactical show from the coach?

That's twice recently where Martinez has made changes during the game and made it worse. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot – he blew the damn thing off – he one remaining from the Man City game.

Why can't he play Mirallas on one side and Deulofeu on the other? Or keep Lennon on with one of these two for the other side. Kone struggles as a centre-forward but we all know it's his best position, he's no winger.

I sometimes think Martinez tries to look like someone who knows better than the average fan by bringing on players in positions that most of us wouldn't think about so that, if it worked, the pundits would be raving on about how difficult it is to read him and how much of a tactical genius he is to do what no-one thinks about doing... but, for me, he looks like having a mental block and is stubborn as fuck. A real shame because he has got some good ideas particularly in building a team for the future and at times we play some great stuff.

As I've mentioned before, he'll be known as the idealist who set up the building blocks for the next manager. I hope I'm wrong and he does succeed in challenging for a top four spot but I can't see it; there will always be a reason and if we qualified for the Europa League it will probably be that next season, but realistically there's little to no chance of that happening.

No the manager has a set of blinkers on and can only see one way and if it does not work he is unable to change. He may have a philosophy that may work eventually but I do not believe he should be paid the amount he is supposed to be earning by learning at our expense. His game management still leaves an awful lot to improve and he still can not see it.

I would have thought anyway that we have more pressing problems than Lennon's final ball. You're right though that if he can add top delivery to his performances then he will be worth at least twice what we paid for him.

It doesn't make much difference to me who the players are right now, because there's a lot more wrong than mere selection.

Basically, if there is a plan, a proper long-term 'how to play winning football' plan, it absolutely isn't working and until the manager/coaches,/players/club accept that (and endeavour to change it) questions like 'Lennon or Deulofeu?' are (for me) pointless.

If there's no acceptance of our real problems (and consequently no attempt to fix them) I guarantee that the side will continue be regularly out-muscled*, will continue to switch off, will continue to exhibit the type of smarts/guile needed to break down two banks of big grocky defenders (ie: fucking none) and will continue to be second to second balls**

* when 4 stone 2Ib, 3' 9" Osman was brought on today, to help us smash the grocks, I laughed.

** there is something particularly depressing about seeing an opposition centre-half head-butt the ball from his box, to the middle of the field and for it to be constantly picked up by a member of his fucking team.

I was a pro Martinez until those substitutions today. UN-FUCKING-BELIEVABLE!!!!

Ross Barkley is no Peter Beardsley, he is no Paul Merson. The lad is getting the ball and looking for the Hollywood pass, which he is capable of. But as a Number 10, your target is that union bag.

Ross, have a word with Peter Beardsley. Rom, get your head out of your arse.

People say they have worked us out, well that maybe true... so everyone has had the majority of the season to work out Leicester City and they keep on winning.

Read today's Independent article on Mahrez and see how effective management is described. None of this beautiful football, possession based philosophy that clearly does not generate results in the English game.

There is not a winning mentality in this team and that for me is enough for this manager to go. I desperately want RM to succeed, but the continued lack of momentum and consistent results with a "top 4 or 5" team as Pullis admitted as much is a damning indictment on the management.

In the good old days, it was pretty clear that the left back was guarding the left post when defending a corner. Against an organized team willing to defend, we never ever have a chance under Roberto Martinez because he does not know and does not want to know.

I think it is worrying that, even when Lennon is in his top form, there is still little end product.

We got beat by West Brom at home – not many other teams can say that. Martinez will get a few more league wins this season and a half-decent cup run which will keep him in a job. But the team next season will be a bit weaker, but not much weaker, so it will be the same shite.

Americans are big on game stats and any new owner looking at RM's record last season and now this season will surely hand him his P45.

We do better away from home because it suits our style, with a quick counter attack, but when teams come to defend, we don't get enough bodies into the oppositions box.

Lennon has either scored or created in his last three games, possibly both, but if players don't attack the front post, or sometimes don't even get into the box, it makes defending so much easier for your opponents.

I said before and after Martinez was appointed that he was not the manager for Everton FC and the evidence was there for anyone to see if they just bothered to do the research. The outcome we are currently seeing was foreseeable when he joined the club.

I hate saying "I told you so" but, right now, I just want our Chairman and Board to be honest with the fans, accept they have made a mistake, and take steps to fix it. Maybe the Americans will see sense and do just that.

As someone pointed out, there's only Barkley and Lukaku who ever get in the box and neither are really great at attacking high crosses anyway.

Shock Horror 2; Martinez drills team to play like dopes.

Shock Horror 3; Blues players totally buy in to managers game plan, to the extent of improving on it by aimlessly putting in crosses to no one, not attacking the crosses that somehow are OK, trying to walk the ball into the net, deciding not to make their 'keeper MotM with poor shooting.

Shhhh. Many on here will still be blaming Howard for the goal. You are correct though, Robles was caught out. He didn't cover himself in glory with his awkwardly turning and then falling forwards into his own goal. However, just as I would have said that Howard wouldn't have gotten to the scorer, nor do I think Robles would have either.

Once again, as I have indicated last season and this season, it was a defensive error which left an unmarked man on the back post. I do not agree with a man on each post on a corner as this likely leads to a man advantage for the opposing team. If my GK wishes to use only one marker, it is always on the back post as this is the harder area to cover.

Even at 0-1 them, until the subs, Everton was doing everything but scoring a goal. I think the starting field players were fine. As for the GK, well it was a streak, as weak as it was, so fine. Guess the competition will be open again.

As for the subs, I still do not understand the Osman substitution. Not with Pienaar and Mirallas on the bench. As for Deulofeu, I will excuse his ineffectiveness as he really got clattered by one of the players, probably Yakob, and didn't seem to be able to move freely after that.

One thing, our defense, even with the current players who started, while looking more organized, cannot hold a candle to West Brom in that aspect. They literally looked and moved like foosball players, staying linked and organized. Their mids, when the outside backs ran up, slipped into the defense seamlessly. I am sorry but their defending for the most part was a thing of beauty and something for which they might be envied by us. They seem to expect 20+ shots a game and today, they dealt with it very well.

Still I think points should be deducted for the damned "Boing! Boing!" what the heck does that even mean?

As an ex-defender, there are a few simple rules I learned to properly deal with corners:

1) Position a defender on both posts;

2) As a defender, you only have to do enough to put off the man you're marking winning the ball, ie, block, jump in front, challenge etc;

3) Anything in the six-yard box belongs to a competent goalkeeper.

Corners are easy to defend. Everton are the exception to the rule and the only reason I can think of as to why they are so bad is that they don't practice them in training – whose fault is that?

Stupidity big time today.

In Walker's 16 Premier League games at Goodison, his team managed to win 5, draw 7 and lost just 4, not magnificent admittedly but any worse than our current manager's recent record?

Walter Smith was in charge for 72 league games at Goodison Park and he managed just 25 wins, 28 draws and 19 losses. The fact that Walter's and Mike's home records are even being touted as a comparison says quite a lot about the current situation.

Louis Van Gaal has come under immense pressure because the Old Trafford faithful feel that they have under-performed at home, funnily enough they have won two more games than Everton have at Goodison Park, and they have only been beaten twice at home compared to Everton's six defeats and this despite having played two less home games than the Toffees. It's totally understandable that Roberto's position as manager is being questioned by some fans given our failure to win too often at Goodison.

In the case of Tim Howard, a few descenting voices could well be wrong but not when it runs into the thousands which was the result when this forum recently posed the question on whether Tim Howard should be Everton Goalkeeper.

It's not about taking sides. I shouldn't think there's any Everton fan who wants Howard to make his ubiquitous cock-up during a game. This was demonstrated by the praise he received in the 0-0 draw at Man City recently when he played very well.

Joel didn't play amazingly today and could have probably done more for the goal, as could the defence. It would have helped if Oviedo was near the far-post too but he went missing in action. Joel deserves his run in the side. Today was on the back of 3 clean sheets. When was the last time Tim Howard managed to do that?!

I would hope we buy a keeper in the summer who's better than either of them.

Always amused to see this sorry attempt at logic.

As I am no good at plumbing and I hire a professional, do I have to remain silent when I watch the pipes start pissing and leaking?

Precious Timmy is not a decent keeper; Robles, unlike Howard, has not been given the chance to prove he's a decent keeper. The sooner he's back across the pond, the better.

As for telling him to his face, a couple of thousand fans in the Gwladys Street do so nearly every game.

Fumes Mori should have done better but we should have had a man in front of Olson.

The real fault lies with our manager who does not believe in practicing defending corners.

I could understand the Kone substitution, if he went as a double centre forward with Lukaku to put pressure on their mid defence, but he came out wide left - and surely Mirallas would have been a better choice or even Deulofue wide right and Lennon wide left , or even a double left sided substitution with Pienaar and Baines coming on instead of Cleverley and Oviedo.

We have no serious plan B when they come and park the bus , our best games have tended to be away when they come at us and we counter attack, but Goodison wouldn't allow that set up and Martinez needs to change from his beloved 4:2:3:1 set up for teams we all know will come and set up the brick wall.

But why would they come at us when they are 1-0 up?

But for me the big problem was, was that we kept on trying to play the same way the whole game to no prevail. Not once did we try to mix things up in our play, we didn't look to go long or diagonally, not once did we try anything different to try and unsettle that West Brom rear guard, we kept on doing the same things and in the end it was comfortable for West Brom. Martinez as no plan B or C and isn't open minded about changing tact during games when plan A isn't coming off and in the end it's going to be his down fall!

And the subs, well, I think everyone has covered that one!

We finished 11th last season and bang on track for something similar this season.
6 home defeats in 14 games
Chasing a game at home, we send on The Ivorian Stuart Barlow, and a 35 year old central midfielder who has zero pace nor strength, against a team full of behemoths.

I've seen some other things on the net today, quoting things like 'We have conceded more goals at home than any side in the Top 5 leagues in Europe'. A flimsy statistic, but you can't deny that we've conceded a shitload of goals.

So if we do have the 'Best Squad Since The 80s', then the problem clearly lies elsewhere..... any ideas?

On another note.... The Russian winter break happens every year, and this year is no different. Their season resumes on 5th or 6th March - in other words less than three weeks from now. Do all players in that league just completely let themselves go, and end up so grossly unfit that they are unable to play for months? Or do they (or at least, the majority of them) behave like professional athletes, and maintain a level of fitness where they can pick it up within a couple of weeks, and hit the ground running when the season resumes?

Just wondering what the story is with Niasse

Every time we're struggling against a massed defense instead of putting on a second wide player he goes for poor old Kone. He inevitably fails to make any impact and has more scorn aimed at him.

RM needs to be gone and take Kone with him.

I might be mistaken but that annoying "boing boing" song originates from them being a yo-yo club they were forever getting relegated but would "bounce" back the following season.

But when you have a manager who brings on Osman and Kone, leaving Mirallas on the bench, then the outcome was predictable. I have given up on Everton, the manager and the boardroom.

I really hope if we do get bought out that Martinez and his lot are let go, because with his footballing ideas, we are going nowhere.

It's not a new phenomenon. But there was real ire when Arouna Kone was the first called from the bench and later Leon Osman was introduced as Kevin Mirallas remained unused.

With the club edging ever nearer a takeover, there's no guarantee any future owner will have the faith Bill Kenwright has in the Catalan.

Everton have won only four of 14 home Premier League games this season, and only 11 of the last 34 in the top flight since beating Manchester United 2-0 in April 2014.

I have no love affair with Roberto. I can see the things he's done and does wrong and said so many a times on here. Pisses me off how you get lumped with a stupid fuckin tag because you disagree with some of the bollocks that gets put on here.

And it was just a case of the players not carrying out his instructions properly. That you would, after three seasons, still need to change the man in charge just to see if it made any fucking difference.

Look at Chelsea, Reborn after struggling under the wrong man, and Jose really is a genius compared to our birdbrain. Roberto is the problem, home games will continue to be torture.

No Guts

No Glory

At home against WBA who hadn't won in five or scored in four, 4-2-3-1, two defensive midfielders and one striker against that shite? Come on, surely you can't defend that.

Only truly great teams can just play one way and win consistently that way. That's not Everton. We need to be clever and have a variety of ways to win.

Our pass, pass, pass football is predictable and slow and doesn't work against a team that can defend and counter attack reasonably well. That's why we are losing so many games at home.

That's why we should have used a different game plan against WBA. Attack their weakness not encourage their strength. Sit back a bit, give them more possession and counter attack into the space behind their higher up the field and less organised defence. We have the players in abundance to play that way. The WBA game plan was to defend throughout, restrict Everton to 20 yards out and grab a goal when they can from a set piece or break away. They did exactly that and stupid Everton allowed them to play that way.