As for the game, well money helps but it is not the only factor. RM made more strange subs again. I am begining to remember why I had reservations before he arrived having seen many a Swansea game when he was there.

Maybe next season when he has had a real chance to make the squad his he will show us that he is the real deal. I certainly hope so.

If for example McCarthy turned out to milk tackles from Wigan players and kissed the Everton badge after scoring against them would we as Everton fans care? No. We wouldn't turn around and say he should have shown his former employers a bit more respect.

People need to realise Everton, as it currently stands, is nothing more than a stepping stone for players managers: Arteta, Rooney, Fellaini, Moyes.... If we are looking to point the finger at people then look no closer to home and bullshit Bill and the mugs on the board.

Don't waste time in looking at the antics of Arteta and instead look into the root of Everton's problem now and the foreseeable future.

McCarthy MOM is a joke. What does he do apart from run around a lot and play short passes to Distin and Jags or Stones? He has the ability to get forward with and without the ball but always goes safety first. Need him to take charge of a game but just don't see it.

We stupidly put the ball out for him and, although it was a foul, he was well fit to throw a strop about not getting a free when he was supposed to be injured.

We got beaten in the 1/4 final by Arsenal on their turf when the Bookies made us 4/1 underdogs (they don't have any prejudices, they call it as they see it).

We are not exactly doing badly are we?
Not fantastic, we are where we usual are, no better, no worse.

Every time we get beat, many on here with unrealistic expectations throw their toys out of the pram!

As far as Martinez buying the players that he wants, what's he going to buy them with.
You don't think he wants to be buying £6m players do you, he would much rather be shopping for £20m+ players but he's the manager of Everton, so its the bargain basement for him.
If he's lucky!

So much money to spend to go through the turnstiles. For so much predictability once your inside. It's a wonder people bother.

Can we focus now on those who actually wear the Royal Blue instead ?

Martinez must have known what McCarthy's strengths and weaknesses were, I would expect him to improve his creative play as he matures, but he was no doubt bought for his graft and tackling.

We can argue whether McCarthy is worth £13m or not, I would say yes, but with reservations.

The main point I was attempting to make was that £6m players are that price for a reason.
I don't think the trophy winning clubs are doing much or any shopping in that price band!

His football is a better brand in general, but his transfer policy has been woeful up to now. This has to improve during the close season as our managers must fund the improvement themselves by being clever in the market.

We overpass the ball with no pace or penetration in the final third. We can't expect to win games when we don't try to win games, Arsenal worked harder than us and went down at the slightest of touches to get a free kick. We need to wise up; we are too nice.

As for Arteta, he's theirs now, I couldn't care less what he does after he scores. Even when a player does mute celebrations, you know they are still feeling it.

Dan #944, with you on McCarthy, said it for as long as he has been here. There has been a couple of decent performances from him, but to hear some blues, he only has to tie his boot laces correctly and he is man of the match. He can lose the ball but then get praised massively for winning it straight back, before playing the easiest pass imaginable.

I'm beginning to wonder if Martinez is just very naive, or tactically void. We all slated Moyes for concentrating more on the opposition at times, rather than ourselves, but I wonder if we have gone completely the other way with Martinez? He says it's all about what we do, and that's all very well and good, but how much time does he focus on what they might/can do? Very little it seems. He thinks we just need to turn up, have the ball for a bit longer than they do and hey presto, we win, but if we don't win, then the game and the world is very harsh on us.

I like Martinez, even though his explanations are sometimes not what happened, but what he actually wanted to occur.

I apologize for repeating myself (too many threads on basically the same subject) but over the years I think without doubt the PL proves that money can and does buy success!

Without those extra multi millions, we're goosed, history proves it. Hope is all very well, but hoping for the impossible only leads to frustration.

The fact is, that our squad is not as good as your Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool. Spurs, Man Utd and over a season we're likely to finish in our usual 7th-10th spot.

Do Wigan, Hull or Sheff Utd have the extra multi millions?

Robles, his positioning for first goal was terrible, Tim would've saved it. Marks for Stones and Distin very harsh. Midfield left gaping holes making it more difficult against a good Arsenal team.

Arteta? No problem with him celebrating his goal but I just don't like the feigning injury.

Under Martinez we are doing a bit better than I thought we would but are playing much more attractive football. He is making mistakes but different ones to those that Moyes made. Great thing this football mullarky, full of different opinions and we all think we are right.

Fair enough if you disagree with McCarthy as MotM, but 'Out of his depth playing for Everton'...you say it is all about opinions but on that one you are just plain wrong.

Being so far from the real deal, I very much appreciate your reports and those from Ken, Michael and Lyndon. Please keep them coming.

I am entitled to my opinion as much as anyone. I just don't think McCarthy is good enough to play for us, you might think he is, that's fine.

I would be absolutely delighted if he develops into a player that top teams want to buy from us – and we say no.

In the system that we play, the two holding mids are the key to the tempo of the game, and earlier in the season they were controlling midfield. And as they've stuttered, so have we, but to quote the old cliché, form is temporary etc.

All-in-all, I thought that we were evenly matched sides until the penalty, and then we didn't look like we would get back into it – and that's a worrying sign.

Distin ball watching, Mirallas a headless chook, Osman over the hill, Pienaar past it. Should have sold Baines. Howard 35 well past his best.

We will now see if RM has the mettle to do the job. Barry looked tired (lazy penalty), McCarthy all huff with no end product. McGeady... WTF?

Top 5? Let's see if they can give it a go.

Arteta went down in my estimation. He went to Arsenal to win things and they haven't beaten Wigan yet. He didn't show half the commitment or ability at Anfield did he?

I was completely depressed on Saturday afternoon even questioning why we put ourselves through it. We've got a good team who on our day can give anybody a game but we're as far off winning anything as we've been in 19 years. A draw and get them back to Goodison and I would have fancied us. We'd have then faced Wigan in a semi-final. We've blown two great chances in the last two years.

I really don't know what the answer is. We need massive investment and a new ground for starters.

In the long term I believe he will become a big player for us. The type we like to see at Goodison. Two footed, quick feet, creativity and pop in with a few goals. Isn't that the type of player we've all been calling for on the right midfield slot?

.

I went to bed last night, still sick and sore about our cup exit, but woke this morning feeling on top of the world...

Why? Because of the dream I had. In it, I was reading the back page of a Sunday tabloid. It read Roberto Martinez named Manager of the Season after Everton's amazing 11-game winning streak which saw them pip Arsenal for 3rd place. With Liverpool 5th and Spurs 6th, which leaves the Ginger One free to go and play his friendlies in Asia.

Is this reality or did I just have too many pints of Carlsberg???

Everything that we post on here is opinion and if people can remember that there would be a lot less disharmony.

Can I ask why your drinking that stuff anyway, it is synonamous with all things RED being emblazoned across thier shirts for as long as I can remember. It also resemebles in taste a very poor mans Chang (which is saying something)

Going off on a tangent a bit there, so I'll get back to ya point. You were dreaming and it wont happen but wishful thinking I think it may be rather than a dream that will become a reality. If it does come off though I will join ya in raising a few cans of that stuff as horrendous as it may be.

Equally it's a bit early to be writing off McCarthy and surely very early to be giving McGeady such short shrift. The problem McCarthy has is he and Barry are sharing the same job. Unless Barkley finds his form again we have a creative void between those two and attack - through the middle at least. Out on the flanks we have more product but still a frustrating tendency to pause when an early cross might give the opposition something different to think about.

Could you please include for me the following players for the summer transfer pane of glass. Honestly you'll love it you being a secret Blue an all.

Rodriguez and Lallana, along with Ross, and the most exciting and powerful midfielder at this time, as Stephen said, Jonjo Sh.

What a brilliant powerful, driven footballer this guy is. You can just see the attitude he sweats. Weren't we talking about shooting in another thread? Well this guy puts guys like Ozzy and Peanuts to shame.

Get him and the two Southampton lads in I say and make that the core of the team to build around.

Football isn't a sport anymore and as Micheal C said "it's just business Sonny" so it has to be recognized that if you're there for the pose then you should be shipped out. I for one am sick to death of yesterdays passengers.

Do we have a board room and a manager strong enough in character to achieve this goal?

He does a hell of a lot more than run around and play the ball backwards. He shows for the ball from the centre halves and maintains possession very intelligently in our own half.

He works unbelievably hard off the ball to win back possession and gets forward quickly to support the forward runners.

In the opposition half his job is not to get into the box but support the play just outside the box and maintain possession as the ball is recycled.

My only criticism of him is that he doesn't demand the ball enough, he's a little too passive.