Cracking result, let's build on it.

Hope is back.

The nerves were not there and while we did ride our luck at times we did not play back against the wall stuff. Can you imagine more than one player being in their half after we scored had the managers been managing the other's team?!

Wow, wow, wow... I can't say I expected anything quite as good as this when we got RM. I know there's still a long way to go in the season and we'll undoubtedly have some hiccups... but it's great, truly great not to be screaming about delayed substitutions, draws snatched from wins, stubborn selections or rabbit in headlight inevitable defeats.

Yes, maybe Pienaar could have come off a bit earlier... but there's no screaming (at the stuttering laptop in last night's instance).

Thing's are really great where RM's involved!

Also talking of celebrations, it was great to see Oviedo on Distin's massive shoulders at the end with the Everton players derservedly celebrating in front of the away supporters! Fantastic stuff!

Re the celebrations, it was amazing how quickly the players get on twitter after - including our two loan stars Deulofeu and Lukaku (I consider Barry one of us, if we don't do the deal in Jan, it'll be done at the season end). They must be on their smart phones before getting in the showers!

Lukaku posted a picture of his celebration, linked to his instagram account. The comments from followers were "Stay with us laaaa" from the Blues and "Oi remember you belong to Chelsea" from their fans.

Nothing has changed that view, but now even Utd fans are in agreement.

Martinez said the mentality at the club needed changing, what a fraud Moyes was.

I've just read through the Red Cafe match day forum, it begins with arrogance and ends with despair.

Priceless, just priceless.

@daveywallbank: Moyes 'after 11 years it's a disgrace how the fans treated me tonight. From how I found them to how I left them.....a f#####g disgrace'

Kenwright gave YOU a chance based on Walters say so. Found, 'kin Found !

The only ' Found ' you are is Found Out and Found Wanting.

I'll rise to your bait- a little.

Set aside all the bad feelings and deal with the facts, namely that Moyes achieved an average position of a around 7.5 on a net spend that from recollection, was around 16th or 17th in the PL. In other words, he over achieved based on a reasonable yardstick of how much money the club has got to spend on players. The key point here is that this was not for half a season or a few seasons but for over a decade. If you took his last 7 seasons, the average finishing position was even higher, roughly 6th.

Obviously those of us who recall the great teams of the 80's and late 60's might regard an average finish of 6th or 7th to be a little disappointing but I think in the context of the money flooding into the likes of Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs, that was a very creditable performance. To dismiss it out of hand is absurd. Even now, unless Kenwright finally finds a buyer and/or the magic money tree, I think RM will do well to match that record is he stays for the next 7 seasons.

I think once you accept that, then it is reasonable to consider the negatives about Moyes; that apart from a few brief periods, he tended to play turgid football; that he never won a cup and sometimes never tried to, playing second string sides; that although skilled at beating the lesser sides, he never beat the top sides; that part of the reason for that was that he was too defeatist and never 'had a go' at the top sides; that the conclusion from the preceding is that he had by definition, taken us as far as we could possibly go under his management.

I can also see that his behaviour since leaving has not been endearing. In particular, I thought his comments about Everton being so well organised (because of him) that we don't really need a manager was crass, even if meant in humour. Let's face it, that should apply to Man U, unless Moyes thinks he is a better manager than SAF, and look at the mess they are now in. But however badly he behaves, the record described above doesn't change and at the very least, it was a good one given his resources.

For all that, I'm not in his 'fan base'. He once managed Everton, now he doesn't, so I'm not bothered how he does now- in fact I'm as amused as any to see him struggle at Man U. RM is the manager now, we need to get behind him and like everyone else, I've been impressed with what I've seen so far. I'm also excited by what looks to be our best squad for several decades, even if three of them our loans who might not be with us beyond this year.

But also, let's not get ahead of ourselves. We are barely a third through RM's first season. It's gone better than many expected. Maybe, just maybe, we could break through the glass ceiling at last. Hopefully he will do better than Moyes over the next 5 or 10 years. But let's reserve final judgement till then.

Maybe its sour grapes.

Moyes- played 44 won 0- drew 16- lost 27

Roberto- played 1- won 1- drew 0- lost 0

Ally Ally oh we're Everton FC, Roberto's Blue Army!

David Who?

Serious question rather than a provocative one....For me Big Joe was the best.

We have a "manager" now - the difference is chalk and cheese.

'This time it was different' and as Lyndon and other posters have rightly said a key difference is mentality. Whatever other merits Moyes had there seems little doubt that his safety first approach in big games transmitted itself to the players. We are now seeing that change as Jags said in his post-match interview on Match of the Day. I was looking at a Utd website after the game and they were saying that they couldn't believe they were being attacked with such verve at 80 mins.

But it's not just mentality, it's players. A midfield with Barkley, Barry and McCarthy in it is a different proposition in terms of skill and energy. With Deuofelou, Mirallas and Lukaku up front we can counter attack with pace. This all makes the difference and helps raise everyone's game. May not be too connected, but Tim Howard has been outstanding recently.

Clearly, there are limits. Three of the key players are not ours. The most exciting of them - Deuofelou, Barkley and Lukaku - have a lot to learn, particularly in their decision-making skills. But it's a great time to be a Blue and a lot of that is down to Martinez. Let's stop obsessing about Moyes.

The so called glass ceiling was truely above Moyes head and not EFC. Believing in positivity seems to be Bobby's mantra. Lets hope we keep this going.

That is aimed at me I presume but if you think transfer spend isn't a pretty big factor in how well your team does, you are not watching the same PL as me. If you think the results we achieved under Moyes were poor, believe me you are in a tiny minority in the football world generally.

John 739 has got this about right as have a few others. He did a decent job for us, for a sustained period, has left and is now making a bit of a fool of himself. But who cares? This is the Martinez reign and hopefully it will take us a step further.

Moyes achieved an average League finish a couple of places above our wage bill. He got £4m a season for it, and was lauded as a miracle worker.

Hopefully, every blue will see the light after last night - he was a fraud.

The result at OT I am certain is only the start, as RM says we can get a lot better.

Our manager oozes class, and what I like about him is that every time he opens his mouth, you can hear what a really capable and intelligent man he is.

Good post Mark, time will tell as it usually does but for the time being (until Sunday) I'm prepared to just sit and revel in the present.

Have a meeting now with a Utd fan. I think I'll say nothing, just catch his eye and smile a little.

He did a good job and brought us some respect back.

We were a laughing stock before he took over.

Fair enough, some of his comments could have been better since he left us.

I don't really care what he says now. I'm just enjoying having a manager who is positive. On and off the pitch.

It makes such a difference.

Bobby has been brilliant so far...........I just hope he keeps it going for a long time to come.

Punching above our weight.

Finishing 7th for us is the equalivant of winning the Champions League.

I'm sure I could find more 'gems' off Moyes if I could be arsed looking.

David Moyes spent years trying to make our club look like plucky minnows...be we returned to our true 'giant' status last night.

Apparently he learned the expression last season in the Everton dressing room. OFM used to suggest that our players should use the towel to wipe something else prior to big away games. Any suggestions? The prize is a pair-growing kit and the opportunity to share a season ticket with a prawn sandwich.

After every decent performance of recent years MotD or Sky's post-match chat would be filled with how well Moyes had done with "little old Everton". Any positive comments were reserved almost solely for Moyes or for stand-out players that were clearly using us a stepping-stone before moving on to a "big club". To a degree I think many of us Blues had begun to buy into that mindset.

What utter unadulterated joy it is to see that, on the whole, they were talking complete bollocks!

All of a sudden we're now seeing the media incorporate criticisms of Moyes that sound familiar to most Blues as part of Utd's post-match reviews. More importantly, everyone is taking note that - far from being "little old Everton" - the mighty Blue sleeping giant is waking up and doing so at a time when their appears to be a reshuffling of power in the Premier League.

Many more nights like last night please Roberto and the boys!

I'm asking Santa for a win at the weekend and then a steamrolling attack at a top 3 position. (Secretly though I'm hoping that he'll be more generous than that!)

In simple terms, RM is giving the real EFC back to its supporters; living by his own mantra of sin miedo and incorporating it into our own mantra of the School of Science.

Long may it continue - what a terrific night and what a terrific performance.

Arsenal? - I will think about them on Sunday morning!

I read a thing on Twitter earlier that said Moyes was like a bloke who had left his wife for a hot chick only to find out that she was a bloke.

Being serious though. I think RM understood Everton early on in a way that Moyes never did. Moyes was all about being difficult to beat and giving 100 percent. I thought Moyes would get Everton back and his People's Club tag was great at the time. To a certain extent he put pride back in us Blues but when it came down to the crunch he believed in his head that Everton were a plucky little club, punching above its weight. The semi-final capitulation was the final straw for me.

RM's first week had him reading everything he could about Everton and our history. His PR skills are second-to-none. He invited Kendall to Finch Farm. Astonishingly, something OFM never did. Was this because it might have reminded him what a big club Everton actually is?

I keep saying it but do you honestly think RM would have played Phil Neville in midfield so many times? That tells you all you need to know about their differing playing styles and how we have progressed.

Moyes set us out to get 40 points each season.
RM has set a target of 70 � That says it all!

RM talks about ways of breaking the top 4 by changing the way you play etc. Moyes believed we could play one way and one way only because of our lack of financial strength. Surely if you try to retain possession, you can be harder to beat. It's common sense.

I've read some comments from Moyes today inferring that Lukaku is the difference. That is a slightly simplistic argument, Davey. We bought some good strikers in Moyes's time and he systematically ruined each and every one of them. My abiding memory of AJ was holding his thumb up to Neville after chasing one of his punts into the corner. It happened countless times, every game. It's all conjecture but I think Yakubu and AJ would have thrived under RM.

Another point I'd like to make. To all those doubters who said "he got Wigan relegated". How are Wigan doing without him? I think he did miracles making them as competitive as he did and always thought he would do well with better players. So far, he is proving that to be the case.

Under Moyes we spent about 8th or 9th highest and finished 7th-ish. About 75% of our considerable turnover was given to Moyes each season....and we turnover more than most.

Given the stability, control and lack of pressure he was given to work under, I think that's a reasonable return, but nothing amazing. 4th during the 04/05 season was amazing given where we were having lost rooney, but if you take his reign as a whole he did a decent job, nothing more.

Firstly, two are still likely to be here next season. Barry on a free and Deulofeu on his second season option. Lukaku will probably be gone, but Martinez will have had a good chance to run the rule over Kone, Jelavic, Mirallas and anyone from our youth team as replacements, or identify suitable replacements.

Secondly, the players that are under contract are not a lot more stable. Fellaini, Baines, both under contract, one gone, the other maybe out the door soon.

I think the loans have worked well for us. We needed quick signings on deadline day, we got players of a quality we could never have bought outright who've all made an immediate impact and given us a real chance of CL qualification. Martinez has bought time to identify long term targets too.

Maybe Dave Whelan has had it all thought through.

'So you're telling me, no matter where we go, everywhere is showing Swansea Newcastle?'

Missed the Utd game, missed the Stoke game. But when I heard it was 0-0 at half time I a lot more positive than my Utd mate.

Howard's goal looked to lead a charmed life with the 'shots at goal' highlights online, with De Gueuaueua kept busy. So can't say much else.

Arsenal at the weekend, will be good to see this form taken there to see what we can do...

PS, how did Fellaini do?

What was most striking about Fellaini was the obvious affection shown him by his former mates both before and after the game. He and Jags and Distin had a warm moment together at the end.

Watching Fellaini reminded me of what we haven't missed one bit. Slow, cumbersome and constantly out of position he was a chore to watch and he wasn't even on our team. Barkley had the freedom of the pitch to run at the United defense. Where was the 'world class' defensive mid then? About 30 yards behind with his hair flapping in the wind. It would be interesting to see United's record this season with or without Fellaini. He was and is Moyes' biggest mistake and I am thankful every game he was stupid enough to buy him off us. Barry is twice the player that clown is.

And I should know... I can read!

That he did, Mike, but I can only go on Moyes's record when he was Everton manager and in games like this the mentality was one of safety and experience first. I'm fairly sure he would have played Distin or Barry at left back and Heitinga in central defence alongside Jagielka.

Signing a player is one thing; having the confidence in that player to do a job without spending months bedding him is another. Remember, though he signed Baines, he played Lescott out of position for a long time while his new �6m fullback sat on the bench. That was Moyes's modus operandi as EFC manager, Martinez clearly has another, more cavalier approach.

But didn't the media bang on about Kev's tackle for days.... Fellaini's scrape wasn't even shown on MOTD. Do you think that if he'd been wearing a blue shirt and he'd done that to a Man U player it wouldn't have been jumped on by the media?

As for Fellaini's performance - he didn't look interested to me.

Been out working so couldn't reply earlier.

Wenger is the oft cited exception to the rule and I've cited him myself elsewhere in recent days as an example of how judicious trading and in our case, some smart loans, can go a long way. But he is the exception, and in the end, they are in London and have a 60,000 seat stadium and have you actually checked out what their gate receipts are? From memory they are about quadruple ours.

Much as I respect Wenger, the circumstances are a little different.

Moyes is gone, time to move on, and we can all have a laugh at his current predicament but I simply don't buy the idea of denigrating his results here, certainly not till I see what RM can do over the next 7 years to compare rather than 13 weeks. If he does better, I will be very, very impressed and based on what we've seen so far, I don't rule it out.

I'm taklking about net transfer spend and I think it was over 10 years. The shorter you make that (e.g 5 years) the worse it actually gets.

Granted net transfer spend is not everything but in 2011/12, we were for example 10th highest wage payers.

Moyes basically over performed. Even if you hate him, that is the fact. If RM can beat him, then fanstastic, but let's judge that after a few years.

I don't think we should devalue his contribution just because he has moved on. Yes, perhaps he was dour and inclined to the negative but he did bring in to the club most of the current squad that RM has built on. Long may this continue.

How refreshing to have 2 full backs in the six yard box (Oviedo almost, so let's just say he was ;)) and a centre half on the edge of the 18 yard box when we scored in the 86th. I've not seen an Everton team do that for nearly 30 years.

Absolutely sumptuous report too Lyndon, best one yet, to go with the best result for yonks.

Though as an Evertonian for 60 years I still always have predominantly negative thought when we play the big lads and I just feel that on Sunday Arsenal may well be the team to take advantage of our recent form, where for every chance we create, we also give a chance to the opposition. We could have score 3 more against Liverpool but also they could have scored 3 more against us, and UTD also missed a number of excellent chances. Some day ... it wont come off for us - hope to God its not on Sunday.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/25226263