Everton Banter Archive February 17 2016

17 Feb 2016 19:21:30
anyone no when Joel contract is up.

{Ed007's Note - Roble's contract runs until June 2018.}

17 Feb 2016 19:29:38
okay thanks ed.

{Ed007's Note - No worries, you're welcome.}

17 Feb 2016 18:50:20
Rm time to go I for 1 ave had enough we are not wigan we are everton we need to playin 4 4 2 with 2 strikers not rom on his own no wounder 4 of our players either want to leave or are being eyed by other clubs I've been watching the blues for 45 years spent a of cash traveling to see the blues not been a top club since sharp n gray in the 80s I say time for new boss to bring back the glory days plese please roberto hand over the raines.

18 Feb 2016 10:34:28
Well said Tbone someone with exact feeling as me, I been going since 59 and this is the most unachieving side I have ever seen and there is only one person to blame.
I cannot believe some supporters are happy to give him till Xmas, no doubt many have not known us as the Millionaires, a great club, brill tradition and now we are becomming an also ran.
if someone does not act soon it may be to late .

17 Feb 2016 10:51:32
I would lay off RM.

We are 6 points from 5th place.
We've fired in an unbelievable amount of goals this season.
We've amassed player assets of unprecedented proportions, which of course comes with the threat of poachers.
We are being eyed up by realistic investors.
We've reached a cup semi final, and are still in the FA cup.

We are leaky at the back and this needs addressing, we don't need a head on a plate in order to fix this.

Injuries to McCarthy and Jags have meant we are 4 places lower than we should be otherwise. If Leicester had been without Kante and Huth for as long they would not be top of the league.

Give him time, if its leakier next year I'd ask questions, agreed that this summer is the biggest EFC has faced in 20 years.

Cheltonian Blue
Jack.

17 Feb 2016 12:03:46
Great to see a positive post compared to the usual negativity on this site!

I find it hard to argue on any of the points raised, but regardless of whether someone agrees or disagrees with this, the positivity makes a great change!

17 Feb 2016 12:42:56
Not Martinez biggest fan but don't slate him either. Agree with the vast majority of above comments especially southern_toffee. That post was like a breath of fresh air.

17 Feb 2016 13:23:21
It is easy to be reactionary when results frustrate, imagine if we'd put away 4 of the 34 chances we had on Saturady, Everton would be above Liverpool and 8th in League 3 points behind MUFC who have spent 100s of millions on players.

Losing to Man City I thought was fair and they deserved it based on the 180 minutes. Kone is a worry and I think Kevin has more to give, but his signings a majority have been excellent. McCarthy, Barry, Robles, Deulofeu, Lukaku. Just a shame Kone was injured for so long. I'll concede that McGeady wasn't great but he was free and salary wasn't as bad as Falcao at Chelsea, and, incidentally, they're below us in the league.

17 Feb 2016 14:17:35
I totally get what your saying jakalakawaka. That name makes me dizzy when I look at it!

Some people can only see the bad. I had concerns when Martinez came here, mainly his last team being relegated. Them days of fighting against that I certainly don't want to be repeated.

I said I'd make better judgment on Martinez at the end of this season. Mainly because I wasn't convinced in his first season as anyone could see it wasn't his defence. Second season is hard to judge too.

To be honest I'm not convinced at all by Martinez and imo he won't last. Thing about that is I could be 100% wrong. Some people can't except that they could be wrong also. Mostly people calling for his head.

The only problem I have with him is conceding goals. If that was sorted we would be flying. Unfortunately there are some people who wouldn't like that and just want to see Martinez gone.

I don't care who brings success to this club and Everton have a history of sticking by their managers. We have to have the record for least amount of managers in premier league era. O wait, Arsenal prob have but I bet we are well up there.

I'm not backing or standing up for Martinez just trying to give a balanced and fair view of what he done at Everton.

You left out Alcaraz in his bad signings but overall he has done brilliant in recruiting players. There are plenty of people disagreeing with these posts but not many making a post.

Bet these are the same people who want Martinez gone even he does sort out the defence and win FA cup. I disagree with the theory we'll score more than you. Never seen it work yet.

I rather a tight defence and try and keep a clean sheet. Still I'd rather give Martinez a proper chance before he is let go. To be sure he's not the one to take us further.

17 Feb 2016 15:18:22
No doubt about it Martinez has quite a few good points and it is nice to be positive, however maybe you could explain the blind spots he has when it comes to sticking with Howard, Kone and Osman and ignoring Joel and Mirallas? It is great to be only six points behind sixth place but just look at the stupid points we have thrown away and for that I blame the lack of managerial skills, it's just happening too often.
I am being positive in that I have to believe that Martinez will learn from his mistakes and that Niasse will make a big difference and we will win most of the remaining games and get fifth place and also win the cup, just don't play Howard or Kone please!

17 Feb 2016 15:30:51
That's one way of looking at it I suppose mate. My main concern is the amount of goals we concede meaning we usually have to score 3 per game just to be in with a shout of points. His reluctance to practice set pieces, as he doesn't count them as goals, either defensively or attacking. His unbelievable substitutions when we are chasing a game. The rubbish he spouts in his interviews. The fact that, despite having the best squad we have assembled in the last decade or so, we have dropped from challenging the top four spots to mid table.
This maybe deemed negative but it is just my opinion. I said back in the summer that he should be given until xmas to show he can change but here we are a couple of months on from that and there is no real upsurge in our fortunes. We have stagnated in the last two seasons, how much time do you propose he should get? Winning the fa cup is not how he should be judged, we all know what happened the last time he won it. Our league position needs to be addressed and analysed before a decision is made. Personally, I think he is punching above his weight and change is needed but I know not everybody will agree.

17 Feb 2016 20:33:36
Totally agree with pretty much everything both of you say BlueMike75 and spudv. If you read my posts you'll see I share similar concerns to both of yours.

The only thing is who knows what the future will bring? I'm hoping more than anything that we somehow click and start competing better.

I've lost count of the amount of times I've said that I'm not saying it will happen. Basically just that it is possible. People were wrong about managers before.

Maybe, just maybe, we are all currently wrong about Martinez. Myself included, as I said above I think he won't last.

But I'm not naive enough to think its impossible for Everton to improve under our current manager. He wouldn't be the first manager to prove doubters wrong. Kendall and Ferguson are prime example of managers that weren't taken seriously at the beginning of their careers. Look how it turned out for them.

Hindsight, is wonderful. We are all very clever in hindsight. I'm not being smart, that's the way I see it.

17 Feb 2016 21:48:21
You lot have heard of the little Dutch Boy with his finger in the Dyke (no not that one) . NewsNow have the very very accurate summing up of Mr Martinez, I urge you to read it and deny it's accuracy.

17 Feb 2016 22:01:18
Maybe so NBTB, and I think we have had a similar discussion before now. I'm judging him as a premier league manager and not just his time with us. He didn't do too well with Wigan in the end, maybe a season or two when they overachieved. But, on the whole, he didn't really move that club forward. He has had one good season with us and a couple which have been not so good. I like his positivity but talk is cheap, putting it into practice is another thing. Attacking wise we look good but defensively we have regressed. Last season was poor with regards to our final position but we all thought europe took its toll. This year we have underachieved without having to travel to Russia on a Thursday night.
I'd rather we be more consistent in our final standings and stop this yo-yoing up and down the league. I think it will be time for a change come the summer but a lot will depend on getting the deal done for new owners. We will then have an idea of which direction the club is heading, with or without RM at the helm.

17 Feb 2016 22:56:04
DM NewsNow have about 50 different articles about Martinez. You'll have to be a bit more specific. Heading or something maybe?

17 Feb 2016 23:50:09
Hoping that RM will get it right is just blind faith. He has shown absolutely nothing to suggest that he will fix the defence. His comment on clean sheets recently backed that up. It was mentioned that we are loyal to our managers but is that a good thing? We have a large chunk of supporters who weren't even alive the last time we won something. Loyalty this time will cost us our better players and that, ultimately, takes you down rather than up.

18 Feb 2016 07:07:52
I cannot defend a manager who has one hell of a defensive lineup, yet we are all over the shop, who cannot make tactical subs, his like for like subs are baffling, take off a winger and put a winger on, take off a striker and replace with another striker. there's times when we have thrown wins away by not taking an attacking plater off and putting on a midfielder, same when losing and playing a team sat back, take a midfielder off and play an attacker, I will eat my hat if he doesn't bring Howard back for the cup game, all those who think he will get it right fair play, negative or not, I've given up on the guy.

17 Feb 2016 07:01:55
I have now wrote this season off and hoping we get de boer. RM needs to go and should not be given any more time let a lone another season. He has taken us backwards.

Eds any news on takeover as it's very quiet. Starting to worry me.

{Ed025's Note - i feel it will happen pb, but this is major investment we are talking about not buying a roll of wallpaper, it takes time and there are lots of things to be sorted regarding personnel, contracts and real estate etc, we all want to see it come to fruition but the legal side of things can become very drawn out mate. on the managerial front i think bobby will see out the season and then the situation will be assessed, which means he has a dozen or so games to save his bacon, lifting the FA cup would do it but im not holding my breath..

17 Feb 2016 10:29:38
I would be quite surprised if RM is given the boot. Unless we struggle to the end of the season and dot stay in the top ten then maybe but I just can't see that happening. If we go on a good cup run and make the semi's and finish in the top half of the table he will probably be given the reigns until the 1st half of next season then be reassessed. If you look at how he is slowly changing the squad with his transfers we are IMO going in a positive direction. We will need several new players next season either promoted from the U21/ 18's or bought so if it was me buying the club I would not look to be changing the manager as a priority. Also judging by what we hear in the media it seems RM is well liked by the playing staff so I can't see them kicking up a stink to get him removed either.

I am interested to see how much investment the new owners (if we get them) put into the playing side. Everyone goes on about how we will be selling our best players and how they will be wanting to leave for other clubs but i'm just not sure it will necessarily happen. If you look at Chelsea and MC how many players jumped ship when they where taken over? I just hope the current top 4 stay the way it is at the moment as it would mean that we would realistically only have MC to worry about within the PL. Apart from the wages the other PL clubs being linked to our players would only be able to offer Europa League at best which we may well be able to get ourselves if we go on a good run. This I hope would make it more of a level playing field for once. We could get bids from non PL clubs for our players but I would not be to bothered if we sold to a consistent CL club outside the PL as at least then the players would be showing a real ambition to play at a higher level. If the investment is what I hope for then I can see the club really pushing on, with or without RM.

17 Feb 2016 01:19:10
Cowpat Sid. No way would I give Martinez another year. last year everyone said give him till Christmas. and now they say give him until the end of the season. Now is the time for a new manager to come in and assess the squad. and then go mental in the matket pre season. WE deserve much more than this.