Everton Banter Archive December 30 2014

30 Dec 2014 13:18:17
Having calmed down - it must have the stress of Christmas (!) - I'm now thinking that, without being complacent, that perhaps fans like me needed the reality-check of this season to date in order to appreciate that we're very much a work-in-progress under RM. Following the annoyance of how DM left us - i.e. running down his contract and having allegedly been tapped up - and then having the concerns about the appointment of RM re defensive frailties, most of us were pleasantly surprised by last season's performances and results. Several of the transfer dealings were also proving to be good and all was very promising for this season. Maybe that raised expectations higher than were justified.
However, we are not able to compete financially with several other clubs - be it on transfer fees or on wages - and our players and staff are getting used to the effects of European football. So, perhaps we were doing better than could be expected.
Everything isn't excusable - RM does need to be better with his tactics, be more flexible in mixing up our play, and be better with his use of substitutes. We also could do with more luck with injuries and refereeing decisions. More self-belief and leadership out on the pitch wouldn't go amiss either.
RM has to prove that he's "the right one, the bright one", but for all those who are hyper-critical I now say this: show me your coaching badges, show me the medals you've won as professional players and/or coaches, show me how you've handled managing a Premier League club with the 24/7 pressure, and show me how you could handle responsibilities that go far beyond posting on this website or criticising with your mates down the pub.
Hey, I'm no better and I know it - I've had knee-jerk reactions and hopped around from opinion to opinion - but I also believe that very few people have it in them to handle the job that RM is entrusted with.
If he fails to deliver, then so be it - and I expect the club to ruthlessly address that in good time should the need arise - but, until then, I've calmed down and will be taking one match at a time.
The new year starts the second half of the season, so let's see how we perform at Hull City and what result we get.
Once a blue, always a blue!
:-)

Now I like you as a poster Sid, so don't take offence. But what you have just wasted your time posting is a load of nonsense mate.

We can't spend money yet we waste £28 million on a donkey.

As for the you can't be critical because you have never been a manager, then may as well shut the site down mate. Isn't that the whole point of forums, to discuss matters.

It is like saying you can't dislike a film as you have never been a director. You can't dislike a song as you have never been a singer.

We are Everton
#Wedontwinanything
That's what we do
Martinez Out

Good to see a positive and constructive post. Maybe we have missed leadership in the pitch. I thought the same at times under DM when phil Neville was missing.

The Real Mike: no offence taken - everyone is entitled to their opinion and in my humble opinion is entitled to express it on this website. In that spirit, you won't mind me saying that while I disagree with most of what you usually post, I do enjoy your cantankerous and contrarian viewpoint. Keep posting those acerbic comments about our club's situation - they keep me (and many others I expect) entertained and let me appreciate a range of other opinions. I expect you'll be going to DefCon 1 if we lose at Hull.
:-)

30 Dec 2014 18:03:01
All season every poster has voiced the sentiments expressed by football pundits Souness and Neville following the game at Newcastle, but it's totally pointless unless RM takes note of extremely relevant and accurate feedback and incorporates the advice into team selection, tactics and variable game plans.
I've previously posted that it's the height of naivety to continue doing the same thing and expect a different outcome.
Otherwise, fellow bloggers, we're wasting our time and risk becoming more and more frustrated.

''cantankerous and contrarian viewpoint. Keep posting those acerbic comments''.

Bloody hell Sid, have you swallowed a dictionary.

I don't mind people disagreeing with me. It just means that they are wrong if they do.

We are Everton
#Wedontwinanything
That's what we do
Martinez Out

{Ed025's Note - your not right all the time mike...i would love us to win a cup just so i can delete "we dont win anything" from your sign off mate.. :)

The Real Mike: based on your "people who disagree with me" philosophy, I guess that means there are lots of wrong posters on this website! Just kidding, mate ;-)
By the way, my point wasn't that a non-singer can't have an opinion about a song, or a non-director can't have an opinion about a film, or even that a non-coach can't have an opinion about how we play, BUT rather that those opinion-holders (and I definitely include myself amongst them!) are almost always not actually "walking the walk" as professional singers or Hollywood film directors or Premier League managers, but instead are mostly just "talking the talk" on this website and elsewhere. As I said previously, all opinions are equally worthy of consideration in my humble opinion and I believe that it's up to each of us to draw his or her own conclusion as to which we agree with. Just because I don't agree with someone, it doesn't mean that he's wrong and my view must be right.
Oh, and please excuse my use of the full range of words in the dictionary - my use of vocabulary does lead me into verbosity, but surely that's better than lapsing into vapidity or vacuousness?
Take it easy, mate :-)

{Ed025's Note - love it sid..

Cowpat how can finishing 10 points better off than ever last season be work in progress he took over a good side not a newly promoted team, it takes two eyes not a coaching badge to see we're all over the place not matter if you got a thesaurus for Christmas or not

30 Dec 2014 11:47:56
Apparently (according to a comment in a piece about Everton in The Times), the Everton Head of Medical Services, Danny Donachie, left the club last week. Supposedly he had been well regarded, so something isn't right. Anyone got any genuine inside info on this?
What's interesting is how there was no mention of this on the official club website as far as I could tell. In fact, there have been a few news items whose absence from the club website has become tellingly noticeable. For instance, nothing being reported about Junior being on trial at Celtic or about players that are out injured but not being reported as such. Either the people's club wants to be open and transparent via the official website or they want to treat us like mushrooms: i.e. keep us in the dark and feed us BS (the latter being regularly served up these days by RM and the players off-field pre-match, on the field during matches, and again off-field post-match!).

30 Dec 2014 22:13:41
I heard a rumour that Martinez (who is a qualified Physio) keeps undermining Donachie by rushing the players back from injury and back into the first team, against Donachie's wishes.

{Ed025's Note - i doubt it dags...our players have not got a rush in them at the moment mate..

30 Dec 2014 22:28:32
Ed,
I have noticed lol.

I think, or at least what I have been led to believe by my Toffee mate, there has been an issue with RM and Donachie over the fitness/availability of James McCarthy.

RM keeps rushing him back from injury but Donachie believes he is not ready.

Ps, please look after McCarthy, we might pinch him off you in the Summer :-)

{Ed025's Note - no chance dags...if he goes it will be to a big club mate.. :)

30 Dec 2014 22:41:39
Ouch Ed ouch :-)

{Ed025's Note - sorry dags...but it was an open goal mate.. :)

He shoots, he scores!
A quality note from a quality Ed.

31 Dec 2014 00:03:59
I did leave you an open goal there Ed, lol.

30 Dec 2014 10:22:56
I think a lot of people on here have over reacted due to disappointment of recent results and performances. Yes we have been poor but instead of knee jerk reactions asking to sack our manager, just like we have been laughing at the reds over Brenda, let's show loyalty and support our team through this bad patch and show other clubs that we are different from other fickle fans. I agree with previous post from Shropshire blue. Let's look at WHY we have been in poor form, a number of things, Europa is one reason yes we have not played since early December but I think early on it stretched us and older players like jags, distin and Barry can't play that many games and expect to be 100% in every game this added to us getting injuries like stones and mirrallas and Coleman. Really we have not had a settled team all season and more important a settled defence or the protection for them with either McCarthy being injured or Barry playing to many games. It think it all stems from this conceding goals dents confidence and makes it hard to win games, if we can keep a clean sheet I believe we have the quality going fwd to get the goals when the confidence returns. Prior to the spurs game I thought we where getting back to ourselves and we where probably favourite going into the game since then bad luck, poor refereeing and low confidence have all been a factor. Spurs and Liverpool are no better teams than us and have both struggled this season and had supporters on their backs but spurs have had the breaks at the right times and Liverpool are now getting through there bad patch (unfortunately) and confidence returned, so I don't see why we can't turn it around and get back to being ourselves. I have played football and been the attacking skillfull player and know when things are going well and getting encouraged you can do great things and want the ball, when things are wrong and people shout and under pressure you don't want the ball and mistakes happen and this is the case in our style of possession football. And this is why our passing has been slow and not free flowing like last season.
So hopefully we can start getting our players fit and settled, also I am sure Roberto has made mistakes and learned from them like anfield last season playing players not fit, this season maybe he should not have played the likes of Barry in last game of Europe against Krasnodar to keep him fresh, Gerrard & lampard can't play to many games and it's a case of managing their playing time. COYB let's see the real everton. In Roberto WE trust.

Do you go the game?
Do you have an obstructed view seat?

As you mention it please see my reply to Shropshire Blue's post.

That problem you mention of conceding those pesky goals? And if only we could keep cleans sheets and score more than the opposition. Who would have thought it was that easy.

Knee jerk? It's been going on all season and before then. How far back does it have to be before it is not knee jerk?

I'd also say that looking on this and other forums the fans just want the possibility of a change of tactics. BUT he continues to say he is not going to change his style. The same style that every other team can combat and nullify. Even Hull, Stoke, Crystal Palace etc, hardly teams you would class as top prem teams
We didn't deserve wins against QPR or Villa. In both games it could so easily have been losses.

We want change. Either tactics or the manager will do.

“The basics are important. Sometimes there is nothing wrong with making decisions that make it difficult for the opposition to score goals.

To me I think Roberto is saying plan b or plan c. Get back to basics and there is a time to clear the danger and play a long ball down the channels. And not hoof it as I think some supporters want if that's what you want then maybe get Sam allardyce as our manager. We probably could finish in top half playing this football but you would never beat the top sides or do anything in Europe because basically you are giving the opposition the ball and get punished. I think tony pulis would be the ideal person for most. Yes he would get us organised but does he have the class of Roberto what we all said last year to take us to the next level. I'm convinced a lot of supporters have forgotten the school if science and prefer the dogs of war style the days of having a target man are long gone. Maybe it's just some supporters like to moan every club has them I suppose. I have faith in robertos modern day beliefs of how to play and look fwd to us returning to form. We need to stick together as a club manager, players and supporters not every tactical decision or team selection he makes will be correct and the players are going to make individual mistakes it's easier to jump on someone's back and criticise than it is to encourage and support when in need. IRWT

30 Dec 2014 00:08:21
A lot of people are posting suggested names for next manager. How's about an ex toffee Slavan Bilic. What do you think ed. It's good to be back.

{Ed025's Note - nice to hear from you emerald, bilic has been linked a number of times in the past and has a very decent CV, i just hope bobby gets his act together and we dont need slaven mate, but if the slump continues then i suspect he would get a mention at board level..

I was thinking the same as you I like what billic did with the croatia

Pure speculation on my part, so apologies to all concerned if I'm mistaken, but didn't Bilic play hardball with the club over a payoff when he had to quit playing for us because of injury? That was at a time when money was very tight for the club. I'm not sure if BK was on the board at that time and I certainly wouldn't know if there's any ill-feeling after all this time, but I would be curious.

{Ed025's Note - i recall something about that at the time sid, but it should be water under the bridge now i suspect mate..

30 Dec 2014 05:15:47
Where do people honestly think we will finish? i'm going for 15th, and that's IF martinez changes his way of thinking and that's also IF we get very lucky. If neither if those 2 happen, I wouldn't be shocked to see us go down, but i'm going to stick with 15th for now, and I can only see that position getting worse, not better.

Lets see if Bobby can bring some gems in with the January funds to turn things around. I think we can still qualify for the Euro places and are still in 2 cup competitions, all to play for Swan.

At this point, if I had to hazard a guess - which is usually a mug's game - I'd imagine that we'll finish somewhere in the seventh to tenth region this season. I can't see us recovering well enough - or the currently higher teams faltering enough - for us to finish in the top six. However, I do see us hopefully improving enough to finish in the top half of the table.
I'm not sure about the FA Cup or the UEFA Europa League, as it's very much down to the luck of the draw and and matters like refereeing decisions, injuries, mistakes, etc., in those knock-out games.

29 Dec 2014 21:24:47
I've been supporting Everton for more years than I care to remember from Harry Catterick onwards and every single manager, both successful and unsuccessful has one thing in common, they all went through a sticky patch, usually several.
So why the clamour for Martinez's head? He led us to a record points tally last season, with what was a very settled side. I think that is one of the reasons for our recent poor run - we have not had a settled fully fit first eleven since this current campaign kicked off. Individual errors costing us goals is another factor. How can a manager plan for individual errors? especially so many unforced errors. The players have to take responsibility for this and have a good look at themselves.

I can remember many dips in form over the years, but in all my time supporting the club I cannot remember such a run where poor refereeing decisions have cost us so dearly. The basic laws of the game have been ignored in so many games that sub-standard officiating has come back to bite us and has cost us dearly, not just in points lost, but also in the resulting loss of confidence. I do not feel that there are enough games left for this to even itself out over the season.

In response to calls for Bill Kenwright to make a statement, why should he? Roberto is the manager, he will remain the manager and should be allowed to manage. Or do we sack our manager simply because he managed Wigan? He also laid the foundations at Swansea, who have become an established premiership side.

Finally, as supporters we have our part to play. We all have our opinions on certain players ( I am in agreement with Ed 025 on one particular player ), but once they pull on that famous jersey we should give them our full vocal support and save any negative opinions for the pub afterwards. I know I said finally, but one more point! There is absolutely no danger of us going down, not because we are too good to, but because we have the best manager/chairman partnership in the league, plus there are definitely 3 worse sides than us in the division!
No more doom and gloom. Onwards and upwards blues.

So you have blind faith?

I want Martinez to change his style ie plan B, C etc when the need arises and not expect all players to be able to handle his pretend Barca type football.

The individual errors have come mostly from coming under pressure in our own half, playing the ball sideways and backwards and STILL expecting players to pass the ball out instead of hoofing it into the stands.

The fact that we have conceded 8-9 goals from these errors (according to the stats), bears no relation to the amount of times the ball has been lost in these areas. We could easily have that number doubled or trebled and unfortunately that is not shown on the stats ('thank god' says Martinez).

The rot started last season and has, looking on other forums, been nailed down to Southampton. I have looked at the results from then and it makes very very sad reading. Thinking this is a 'blip' or a 'phase' or the ref or gods are against us is hiding your head in the sand. The only 'blip' was Martinez getting that points tally last season, which I expect was a combination of the Moyes discipline and organisation and the first season feel good factor. Until that is, when he started 'tinkering' at Southampton. I am sure we all remember when Baines and Coleman made less and less forward runs but I put it down to a long hard and decent season and thought little of it really. We were safe, not going to worry the top four places so roll on summer.

Then pre season - shambles. Well it's only pre season. That's got that out of their system. ha

And yes we are not Wigan but look at their stats. Martinez is on course to match their stats. Conceding 60-70 goals, get around the 35-45 points total and cross your fingers.
Yes we are well on course.

And yes I also remember the Catterick era and we had a half decent chairman also looking out for our great club. When things went wrong it was sorted.

Having faith that there are three worse teams than us is utter dog tripe. Did you see us against Hull? The first half hour they were awful. For the rest of the game we were. Apart from one or two games (I may be ott saying two) we have been mediocre to poor to very poor. This is the truth. If you rely on snippets on TV or on Martinez's stats then I'm sorry but that's cloud cuckoo land. Go the game and watch what is really happening.

We are in trouble and that is the truth.

I will keep this brief. I'm perfectly rational. I do not live in cloud cuckoo land, nor do I bury my head in the sand. I like all supporters have concerns with our poor form. The point I was trying to make is - get off the managers back and let him get on with it. All teams have poor runs of form. My comment about there being 3 worse sides in the division was satirical, which was obviously lost on some people.

If the manager continues to use the same losing tactics then I most certainly won't 'get off his back'. That's the whole idea of pointing out what he is doing to our team. We don't want him to 'get on with it'.
I love this club and will do long after he is gone and almost forgotten. It is my duty to point out what I think is wrong.

If, as many pundits expected, he'd had another good season then the chances are we would have lost him to another club. My loyalty is to Everton and not to the manager even if he is a nice bloke and the media love him.

'Hoofing' the ball into the stands or giving a goal away? Mmnn? I think the stands would be my option. Please let me know where I used or even hinted at the 'dogs of war' style?

Also if you want to use satirical comments please make it clear for us persons as there are no defining speech marks etc to make it clear it was a joke in any of your paragraph/s :-0

And do you go the game? I only ask as I caught the highlights of a game a few weeks ago on motd. Can't remember what game it was but we looked good. I remember thinking how different it was looking at these 5-10 mins as opposed to sitting through 90 odd mins of another poor performance.

Statistics and highlights can give a very clouded view of what actually happened in any event. Martinez is very good at using both to hide his deficiencies.