Barry targeting unbeaten run-in

We can only aim to win the remaining games but I wish someone had a fast forward button so we can get to the serious business of sorting out the squad. With the geriatric nature itÂ’s now taking, the club does not have a choice. BK canÂ’t hide, we have to sign some players who arenÂ’t approaching pension age.

At it is, it looks like weÂ’ll have to settle for a phenomenal 9th place finish.

Injuries to key players which leave them unavailable for long periods.
Loss of form by key players leading to a lack of confidence in those around them resulting in a general malaise.
A lack of effort or commitment from certain players for their own reasons.
An inability to field a settled side.
The lack of a midfield player of quality who could unlock defences like West Brom/Stoke who park the bus.
The lack of a squad which would enable us to compete in Europe as well as at home.
We all know these things but they are the collective failures of Everton FC and not just those of one individual.

The lack of a midfield player of sufficient quality to unlock defences like

Stoke/WBA who park the bus. (Top 4 clubs have this type of player, we donÂ’t.)

A stretching of resources, Europa League, which our squad was not equipped to deal with.

Is this not a collective?

That just sums up the sheer complacency and arrogance of the players this season. They still havenÂ’t apologised for the poor performances and dire football weÂ’ve been subjected to this season and Gareth BarryÂ’s interview there stinks of Â’LetÂ’s end unbeaten and write this off as a fluke.Â’

They havenÂ’t learnt anything.

But as Ross said itÂ’s taken the Lennon signing to totally turn it around. What a revelation heÂ’s been. I personally thought when he was a Spurs player he was just a pace merchant, a headless chicken if you like. But no thereÂ’s more to him than that. HeÂ’s quite a clever little player the way he drifts off to the middle, the way he hugs the flank and he also links play up quite well. HeÂ’s one player whoÂ’s totally made me think twice about signing him permanently.

As for Barry, I was his biggest critic all season but the last few games heÂ’s been back to the player of last season. At the moment itÂ’s looking good, but. hey, this is Everton weÂ’re talking about.

The players, and the manager, seem to be addressing some of the issues which were affecting us prior to this recent run so long may it continue.

If that was Besic rather than GB for the first one it doesnÂ’t happen.

But weÂ’ve picked up since then!

As a player and a man I’d take Unsworth 100% of the time. JT is overrated. Frequently gets caught under an aerial ball and has played with some of the best defenders and keepers around. If he wasn’t feeding stories to the media (à la redknapp) he’d be in the same bracket as Shawcross. Also, decorum prevents me from calling JT a cunt on a public forum so I’ll not mention that fact and just think it.

Roberto Martinez had the building blocks in place to kick on and really establish both the teamÂ’s and his own credibility, but contrived to completely cock-up the entire season for reasons which have already been well documented here on TW over the last few months. I remember my own first feelings that things were not going to go our way at the start of the season when he waffled on about having a big enough squad to cope with the necessary rotation needed to compete in the Europa League. Rotation? IÂ’ve seen, over the years that experienced European campaigners tend to change two, perhaps three players to cope with European games, but what does Martinez do? Changed almost the whole bloody team each time, and destroyed any continuity we might have built up in our league form.

At the beginning of the season, Naismith, love him or hate him, was in a rich scoring vein, so what did our phenomenal manager do? Left him out of the European games. In the ridiculous Â’dead rubberÂ’ against Krasnodar, he fielded a team of kids who he quite obviously had no intention of promoting to the first team, whereas I would have taken the game as an opportunity to try out what I thought to be my strongest side and send a message to the other teams in the competition of just how seriously we treated the EL.

By all means, Gareth Barry et al, letÂ’s go all out for the highest league position we can; after all, every place we climb will bring in extra revenue that will hopefully help with future team building... but please donÂ’t expect us, the long-suffering fans who have turned up in their thousands even through the crap weÂ’ve witnessed at times this season, to class a good finish as being anything like a successful or acceptable season.

We are finally starting to play like we should have from the beginning of the season. A bit of joy and a universal sigh of relief. We are having a good run of matches. Granted itÂ’s too late to gain us anything but mid-table, but better late than never. To give them shit because they used to be shit, makes no sense to me.

This season is a write off. At least enjoy the good bits, and wait and see what happens over the summer.

Ross, you comment about Harold but you have spent the last few weeks responding to every thread with the same reponse about waiting 9 months. We shouldnÂ’t have but we did but now something seems to be going right. ItÂ’s better to go into next season with some momentum rather than just let this season die out and start from scratch in the summer.

IÂ’m certainly enjoying this resurgence and if we can go unbeaten till the end of the season, it will have many positive effects such as convincing our better players that there may still be hope and also hiking up their prices for any would-be bidders. More than anything it brings a smile back to our faces and gives us some cause for optimism where there had seemed very little 2 months ago.

Yes, this season has had its ups and downs, but I think a lot of you are getting clouded expectations of what our club can achieve, which I agree could easily happen after last season's success. When RM took over, he was the first to say heÂ’s going to change our way of playing, and due to this new philosophy he doesnÂ’t expect to get results right away, but in the long term it will see us moving in the right direction.

Now saying he doesnÂ’t expect results right away is down to two things: firstly the players getting used to the style, and secondly the manager getting used to how the players perform, and tweaking as he goes to compliment each player.

I actually think, although sometimes negative and boring, we are creating a solid platform of play that will see us rise to challenge for CL again soon, hopefully next season. I actually think our play has warranted better results that weÂ’ve got, mainly down to silly defensive mistakes, and I will be the first to say we need a young CB to join our ranks in the summer, hopefully a youngster thatÂ’s had plenty of 1st team football so he can partner John Stones.

I think, if we keep some key players, and strengthen (even with just a few players), I can look towards next season with confidence.

And players being taken to task for things they say in media briefings or interviews has become a tediously predictable meme now. Players are obliged to do them. Is there really any point getting het up about it when they utter the same letÂ’s-be-positive stuff weÂ’ve heard before? What do you want them to do, trot out a hilarious routine about the offside trap?

There is a temptation for us to say that talk is cheap but the players know that too. They have to say something – or alternatively they can shun the media altogether, and get it in the neck for that instead.

You mirror my thoughts, well said.

Is it a silver lining or an annual "get out of the shit" last few games, like Wigan?

WeÂ’ll have to wait until next season to find out...

If we start next season well, IÂ’ll be fully confident about RM learning his lessons because the expectations will obviously be much higher next season after SundayÂ’s performance and no Europe. Fingers crossed itÂ’s not simply a case of bailing ourselves out in the last 10 games.

We were 3-0 down at half time and me and a couple of mates were in with Spurs supporters (keeping our gobs shut).

We got one back then we got it back to 3-2 (canÂ’t remember who scored, maybe Beardsley).

We looked at each other but didnÂ’t jump up or anything - no point getting a beating for a 3-2 defeat.

Anyway I have a feeling Unsworth came on as a sub (or..maybe he started, see bad memory) and towards the end, he caught hold of an incredible volley that almost bust the net. 3-3.

What I can remember is we went fucking nuts and our behaviour caused a bit of panic (it was a terrace not seats).

"ThereÂ’s faaaaaaackin scaaaaassers in Â’ere!!!"

I remember us kind of shuffling-crouching-pushing through the crowd and incredibly, getting out of there without so much as a dig (confusion and fear - great combination).

Next minute we were out on the street hugging each other and shouting "fucking GET IN!"

Then realising the natives might not be happy, we swiftly headed towards Seven Sisters.

That may (or maybe not, see bad memory) have been LinekerÂ’s last game.

Regardless of manager, this group of players has shown ability, inconsistency and a tendency to improve their performance when the pressure is off.

Looks to me like whoever comes in needs plenty of spine and character. Am I looking for a type of player that no longer exists?

Personally, I support him. Obviously he had a fantastic first season and did well in Europe this year. However, what I admire is that he has come through a really rough patch and emerged on the other side. Remember he and the team were under real pressure from fans and the R-word was being bandied about. He did vary his tactics where necessary and I am sure has learnt some lessons. RM is still a young manager learning his trade and I think that he has great potential. I hope he can realise it with us.

BTW, back to the original point, how will we go against Villa on Sat? They are really desperate for points. It could be a very tough game.

In my view, based on what IÂ’ve seen for the majority of this season, not last season or 6 games in an irrelevant run in, do I think Martinez Â’deservesÂ’ another season? No.

Do I Â’wantÂ’ him in charge? IÂ’ve got to say, whether I want him or not is irrelevant, because heÂ’s here regardless.

Do I want him to succeed? Yes. Of course I do.

Next season? Based on SundayÂ’s performance and the last 5 games, top 6 is a must in my opinion. ThereÂ’s no reason or excuse why we canÂ’t. Based on the other 28 games, I have no idea.

Signings? RMÂ’s transfer record is patchy, IÂ’m even his loyal supporters can admit that. For every McCarthy thereÂ’s an Alcaraz.

Do I trust him to get the right players? I like who weÂ’re being linked with so far, so IÂ’m optimistic at the moment. But itÂ’s all about the board. I sincerely hope the board give him full backing in the summer so weÂ’re not sat here this time next season saying the same things.

The early season pass it slowly across the back certainly seems to have been put to bed for now. My concern is that this is still how Martinez ideally wants to play so weÂ’ll see if this change is just temporary soon enough.

Whether we think Martinez deserves another season is irrelevant as he will be here come August; BK is not going to bring someone else in and after this season no Â’bigÂ’ club is going to come after him. All we can do is hope he and the board sort the squad out over the summer and he Â’learnsÂ’ so we donÂ’t have a repeat of this season again. IÂ’d still love to know what happened with Distin and Eto'o, DistinÂ’s case is quite sad as he was a really decent player for the club, he deserved at least a good send off at GP.

Martinez may only be 41 but this is his 8th season as a manager and his 6th in the Premier League so itÂ’s not like heÂ’s a novice.

Bring on the summer.

The last patch of games was more like last season and, as I said on another thread, it was no coinkidink that when McCarthy was fully fit then Barry started playing better.

However, I can guess that now someone has mentioned going unbeaten until the end of the season, the Villa game will be our SaintÂ’s away game from last season: two own goals and a shocking performance.

Too many feckin moaners on here. DonÂ’t we average the 10th highest wage bill in the Premier League? DoesnÂ’t that mean that 10th is were we should be?

Queens Park Ranger have a higher wage bill than us! So does Sunderland!

Our wage bill isnÂ’t that far away from West Broms! Who are 15th highest. Liverpools wage bill is double that of ours, and they are 5th in that.

Everton have been on a slow decline ever since the Premier League began off the field. On it, it was saved by David Moyes.

If you have a problem with it, then start up a Â’Kenwright OutÂ’ campaign and not have a go at Martinez.

Same, thatÂ’s where we were, only just got in as I remember, gateÂ’s closed just after us.

Portsmouth got their rewards for their outlay but it was unsustainable, just like with Leeds.

Cheers gents IÂ’m glad some people on here agree! IÂ’m a regular visitor of TW, and have been for ~10 years. IÂ’ve started to enjoy coming on here less and less and itÂ’s mainly because it seems to have turned into people's dumping ground, I rarely post but today I just felt compelled to, ha!

I have learnt a lot at school and to this day I can still recall my PE coaches words: "Jake, youÂ’re great to watch on the pitch, not so good to listen to. If you havenÂ’t at least got something constructive to say, donÂ’t say anything at all." I think some people on here should take a leaf out of the book that was thrusted upon me!

WeÂ’re Everton. Not Stoke.

ItÂ’s easier to call someone a bellend and skit them than talk about what merits they may have.

I moan a lot but try and see good in things too; however it ends up with the moaners getting moaned at by the anti-moaning moaners who in turn cause the moaners to moan at the anti-moaners because they are in fact moaning.....or something like that.

ps: I would bet we donÂ’t go unbeaten until the end of the season... then I can moan about that too!

WeÂ’re like the tortoise and the hare and IÂ’m the one who doesnÂ’t move like Aaron Lennon. You keep yelling "ItÂ’s too late, itÂ’s too late. Too late for this, too late for that. He should have done this. He couldÂ’ve done that. If heÂ’d have done this, we could have".....it goes on and on.

I donÂ’t see things that way. This doesnÂ’t mean IÂ’m right and youÂ’re wrong. Good grief, far from it. We all have different opinions and want different things. Truth be told, I turned against Martinez when things got really bad and, after the Stoke performance, I would have paid for his taxi to Lime Street Station.

No, all along, IÂ’ve only ever had my mind set on one thing. That one day he would assemble a squad of talented, willing players within our budget who would work as a team and compete with the money boys.

Okay, after over-achieving last season the wheels fell off. Injuries played a big part and there were a million and one things behind the scenes weÂ’ll never know about. On the field, the sideways and backwards tippy tappy stuff had been sussed out and we struggled. The crowd didnÂ’t like it, the players didnÂ’t like it. It had to go. Nothing wrong with possession football but only if itÂ’s directed forward at the right tempo.

Martinez recently said he learnt from all this and adjusted his methods. Whether or not it was all too late is of no interest to me. We were back on track.

The game which put me firmly back on his side was the 5-2 defeat in Kiev. He bravely did what I hoped heÂ’d do and we came closer to going through than many realise. From that day I decided he was the right man to take us forward. All he needed was one or two extra players of the right type.

Bringing in Lennon was a master-stroke. McGeady couldnÂ’t manage it but this fella could. He set standards others were forced to follow whilst carrying out his instructions to the letter. Mirallas and Naismith were left on the bench, McCarthy was allowed to join the attack and Coleman started hitting first-time crosses. Possession football with pace. The defence seemed more organised, people were closing down in packs and Big Dunc was getting excited.

Despite all that, for me it is still early days with much to improve upon. Faces will come and go during the summer, the Board will give Martinez the money to strengthen and hopefully he will continue to build the squad he has in mind. As mentioned earlier, thatÂ’s all IÂ’m interested in and I donÂ’t care how long he takes to do it.

It hasnÂ’t been easy but IÂ’ve given you an answer and IÂ’m now finished with this thread.

This season, the team and manager have been poor for most of it so, imo, itÂ’s quite right that the fans can Â’moanÂ’ as you call it, about the performances and especially the missed opportunities. Posting things like Â’if you have nothing constructive to say then donÂ’t say anythingÂ’ is a very childish thing to do and ironically not in itself constructive given this is a forum for opinions! Likewise it can be answered by a childish Â’if you donÂ’t like what youÂ’re reading then donÂ’t bother reading itÂ’.

Everyone on here is entitled to their own opinions and the fact that people have opposing view is EXACTLY what makes the site much loved by its regulars. Please donÂ’t belittle it (and yourself) by suggesting someone else's opinion is somehow less worthy than yours. If you donÂ’t agree then explain why or ignore it.

If you have the power to ignore the period November to February and believe that the last 4-5 games is the norm, then thatÂ’s great for you. Some of us more pessimistic types need a little more convincing than that, ie, let's see these winning runs when they actually matter... and let's see the tactics and balance of the side maintained over a longer term and not over half-a-dozen dead-rubber games.

The end.

We are not Stoke in the sense of history. But we are in a league that is all about financial clout and our wage bill two seasons ago was exactly the same as Stoke's as well as our spending. Which means that our level is Stoke City.

Our potential on the other hand is NOT. But everyone knows that what is holding us back is Blue Bill. Until then we need realism.

Whether he lasts to the end of it will depend on whether he has learned anything from this season. I hope he has and next season will be more like his first.

IÂ’m interested why you name the Â’KievÂ’ game as the reason you were back onside with Martinez. This was the only game where my belief in Martinez wavered. If heÂ’d have gone after that game, IÂ’d have had mixed feelings but IÂ’d have accepted a new manager coming in.

Does this game refer to the cryptic remark you alluded that you had seen positives you didnÂ’t wish to discuss on TW?

Overseen the worst football seen at any premiership ground this season.
Repeatedly sent injured players into battle - and probably caused some of the injuries by not preparing them physically,
Repeatedly dropped players after playing well in favour of players who were clearly out of form.
Ruined the best pair of attacking full backs in the league,
Brightened every other fans Saturday nights, by reducing our top defenders into a comedy routine.
Frustrated one of the most Loyal fan bases in the country into outright Mutiny.

But its positive to want to keep him ? and tell him how wonderful he is ?

Jake and David.

Did it occur to you that most fans support the club, not the manager and if a manager has been really poor and looked completely out of his depth the most positive thing they can to do is call for him to be removed and replaced by somebody better

Moyes had Everton in 6th spot at the end of his last season here and this would have been a Europa League spot but for the oddities of the FA and Capital One Cup outcomes. Roberto improved the position one spot with more points. The disappointment is not being in the running this season when we have become used to at least that hope. This is where RM and the squad have failed and may account for the negativity on here.

Yes, the upcoming game results wonÂ’t get us into Europe. The games can be used by current players to play for their spots next season and point out where help is needed for the three or four players brought in over the summer.

Given the uncertainties of next season, why not enjoy the wins and draws? Even a meaningless win is still better viewing than a meaningless loss since we are all going to watch the games anyway.

The Echo did a little feature the other day which shows that good endings to one particular season do not always or often herald a good start to the following one. So, on 8 August – regardless of how many points we win in the remaining fixtures – Everton like every other club will start with a clean slate and the pursuit of points begins all over again. Hopefully Everton will have many more points on the board in the early part of the campaign and next year’s last four fixtures will be crucial matches as Everton chase some much needed success.

At that time we were 6 points off the relegation places, so I think we had everything to play for.

Fact is Everton, despite playing style or manager, have generally finished in or around the top 6 in recent history. Of course weÂ’re not the same level as the top 5 but weÂ’re certainly not at the level of the teams youÂ’ve mentioned either. Going on recent history, a decent season for us in the league is staying within touching distance of 4th and qualifying for Europe and a shit season is anything below 7th.

Not sure if youÂ’re trying to cut the manager some slack or dumb down expectations but saying weÂ’re at the same level as a yo-yo side like palace is actually an insult. The fact that weÂ’re below the likes of Swansea and Stoke in the league is exactly why so many people are unhappy but hey, a few decent results strung together at the end of the season and many are happy again and saying we should have Â’realistic expectationsÂ’.

I expect us to be finishing above the likes of Swansea, Stoke, Palace, West Brom etc, EVERY season. We may have a shit season now and than (like now) and if so it would be nice for those in charge to call a spade a spade and take responsibility rather than trying to sugar-coat everything. However, given the players at our disposal we should be a long way away from the bottom half of the table.

Also is it too much to ask for a decent domestic cup run? Anyone would think weÂ’ve an allergy to Wembley or something.

Just my humle thoughts...

are in the same league as us. When was the last time any of these teams finished higher than us in the league?

We really arenÂ’t that far away. First and foremost we need a real creative midfield, Lennon or a player of his ability and a backup CB. I am willing to forgive and forget RM but he must learn just like me. One thing he has to do for me is give our younger players more chances especially when our established players are carrying niggle injuries.

Andrew if in that comment you put me in that bracket you are totally wrong. I am a supporter of Everton FC, not RobertoÂ’s Phenomenal Flying Circus. I was as happy as anyone about our victories, but IÂ’m not going to sit here and pretend that RM is wonderful because of 6 results.

Some seem to be basing their judgement of Roberto on the last 6 games only, whereas IÂ’m looking at the entire season, concluding that RM has failed on every level this season and when the pressure has been on, these players havenÂ’t performed or been motivated sufficiently and that is down to the manager.

We have a great defense and a 30 mill striker upfront yet weÂ’re 14 points behind one of the worst Liverpool sides in Prem history who have no recognised fit goal scorer. This season has been an utter abomination and no winning run (of which only 2 performances werenÂ’t kitap1) will do anything about it. The mitigating factors from Moyes early days arenÂ’t there either now. WeÂ’re no longer selling top players, we can pay decent wage, itÂ’s a top squad, with top players in most positions, and a very poor league. Our league performance relatively has got to be one of the worst across Europe.

IÂ’m sure that game at Spurs was Unsworth's debut... not 100% certain, so could be wrong. But IÂ’m certain it wasnÂ’t Lineker's last game. If memory serves me right, his last league game was against Southampton at home in a 6-0 win and he got a hat-trick the same day the shite beat Chelsea to win the league.

Incidentally, that was one of the last times they won the league. £770 million thrown at it since the prem began and no nearer to it than what we are... Happy days!

We are not a top squad any longer. Everton is in the next five after the top five. We donÂ’t pay top wages, and several of our best players are long in the tooth or getting there. We are a Tottenham, Stoke, and West Ham level club and team and perhaps Moyes did a much better job than many give him credit for in making us believe and dream that Everton was a top four challenger.

I am not a Martinez supporter as I could not believe how very little he was blamed for WiganÂ’s four-year demise and abject failure in staying in the league. I did not want him at Everton and do not wish him to return for next season even though I generally think a manager should get three years to prove his worth. He is a media darling so his faults (ability to sign quality players and to manage) were glossed over because he won something and "anyway Wigan is a rugby town."