A Shanklyesque Revolution, Anyone?

So no. not a Shankleyesque revolution, more a Catterickesque revolution, or more appropriately a Matinezque revolution.

There is something intangible about the way the team just suddenly believe. The mirror image of what is happening down the M62. I keep expecting us to have a stinker, concede 3 or 4 against the more technical teams but - well we saw what happened. It is so simple it seems too simple - but that is what Shankly (and Clough) used to do too.

I remember not long after he retired listening to him on radio Merseyside.

One thing I remember distinctly is him saying you need to be able to communicate with the people of the city, you have to have the supporters 100% WITH you.

He said many people had difficulty with Scousers because they're not big on being told what to do and they can be "Ayyyyy FORTHRIGHT and ayyyyyy ABRASIVE and ayyyy they don't ayyyy MINCE THEIR WORDS!"

He added but if the RIGHT person talks to the supporters, the RIGHT way, there is nothing that can't be achieved...NOTHING

He then added "You name a task that needs 20 people to complete...let's say building a wall. And you're going to compete against me. You can pick your team of 20 from anywhere, I'll pick mine from this city... and I'm telling you, we'll win, you won't beat us"

It's about making good players great, and I only had to see Jagielka galloping down the wing at the Emirates to realise how different Martinez is. If we were playing decent football and sitting in 8th/9th I don't think many would complain, but to hear Everton and the title being mentioned in the same sentence has me giddy with excitement. I am literally like a kid on Christmas morning.

When some argued that £50k a week International footballers couldn't learn to pass a ball, I just laughed to myself. We have just passed Arsenal off the park on their own ground, after 15 games in charge! - I shudder to think what this man can achieve after a couple of seasons.

Forget the loans, he will take average players, give them a huge confidence boost, and make them shine in a blue shirt.

You won't be able to get a ticket for Goodison in a few weeks, that's for sure.

As discussed on one of the other links yesterday, the Martinez philosophy and approach seems closer to Dave Brailsford's British Cycling revolution than anything I've seen in British football.

I'm so excited to see who Martinez brings in over the next few years. He's convinced me that we will win trophies again!

I have always said that Brian Clough was possibly the best manager we've seen from this country, he took a team of players that in the main had decent ability and moulded them into a team, a single unit that you couldn't stop and I see something similar happening to us.

Yes, it's more refined and certainly more cultured, the ability levels of theplayers is higher also but the manager is the lynchpin of it all, you can see that Roberto simply believes that we will win every game we play, that we have nothing to fear anymore, he's like the footballing version of Obi Wan Kenobi.

What is happening down the road illustrates that the mentality of the man in carge affects all, Roberto is positive and thoughtful, he has a plan a through to a plan z and he most importantly has one goal, success and glory above safety and mediocrity.

He has asked that we play without fear and that we are doing, typified by Ross Barkley who is looking more and more like the real deal under Martinez, an arm around the shoulders and a bit of belief can work wonders can't it.....

COYB..!!!!!!

It's a nice idea to think Roberto is building something at Everton (incredibly quickly by all accounts) that could transform us for years to come... but that makes me think Tony's post is way too premature: can't we actually watch it develop without this perennial need to project into the future? Or to parallel it to someone from the ancient past?

Carpe Diem! Enjoy what we have now... look no further ahead than the next game.

It's called 'living in the present'.

Very wise words, we have had a very good fortnight but I think some are getting ahead of themselves. Let's start talking about a revolution when there is silverware in the trophy room, that will take time and probably some patience. In the meantime we can all enjoy the football.

Can I be the only person left on earth who remembers one of Shankley's glossed over quotes?

I think the question at the time was where St John might be best emloyed and many Koppites were letting their views be known.

Shankley's reply was that he wasn't going to let his team be selected by "A bunch of dockers and railway clerks".

So much for a man of this city. But nevertheless I have to admit that with that Ayreshire accent, charisma and his ability to have the press drooling over his every word he did a magnificent PR job for the darkside.

Do I take it form your post that you are adopting a new editorial style and that ToffeeWeb will be looking forward rather than back or will we still be looking back to the more recent past?

I think the stronger comparison is Wenger. Arsenal were a decent side before he came along but he has created a legacy with some very good football being played (Viera-Bergkamp-Henry anyone?).

That's what we need here, to create a new legacy, and to consign the 80's to history as one of the times we were dominant, not just the last time we were dominant.

NSNO SM

I am worried about the next game all right, players beginning to get suspensions, resurgent under a new manager applies to them too. We have all been here many times. Lets see where we are in the New Year.

I just wish Catterick had been as media savvy as Shankly was, maybe then we'd have more TV recordings to drool over.

However, the past fortnight has allowed us to get out of jail and breathe the fresh air and it is intoxicating!

The next 6 or 7 games are going to tell us a great deal but in the meantime, I will continue to have my sweet dreams because they are made of this!

On shaking hands, Shanks said who do you support son? I proudly said "EVERTON", he quickly replied, "Don't worry son we've all got our problems".

He was very proud of being involved on Merseyside; he told some great stories, of players from years gone by, and some I could not repeat on here.

I think he's right, if anyone can in our present financial state its this guy.

As to a "revolution", who knows? Silverware first; talk of revolutions later.

With due respect to previous legends we've never had a Shanks and it's festered, a few years ago I realised such a character would not just be nice but absolutely essential.

There is a generation of our own who really don't know Everton their ideas are based upon failure and only a leader of courage and charisma doing what Martinez is doing right now can change it.

I have no doubt he can be our shanks it's just whether we can fend off the monied elite during the annual managerial merry go round.

(bites finger nails)

When was that?

Sounds like he learned the error of his ways and it was lucky (for him) that it was (apparently) not taken to heart and forgotten.

Today he'd be goosed.

Now he'd have to spend two weeks apologising to 'The Spirit Of..er..Me' and he would never get the supporters back 'on side'.

Still, as much as I loathed him at the time, he was (philosophically) a socialist and was a big fan of James Cagney so I couldn't keep the hate going after he'd retired.

Plus after he retired and they fucked him off out of Melwood, he was welcomed by the staff at Bellefield.

Something I've used for 30 years as a stick to beat red mates whenever his name is mentioned.

ie: "Yeah yeah Shanks was God, well remember, youze fucked God off sharpish when you didn't need him no more. The man who built your wonderful club spent his last days having tea and biscuits with the training staff at Everton. You'll never walk alone!? You must be FUCKING joking. The man died heartbroken....HEARTbroken!!"

Etc (I can go on in this vein for hours)

Dynasty's these days are built with mega rich forgien owners, the rest of us don't stand a chance, the odd piece of silverware wouldn't go amiss but I fear that's all we can expect until BB jumps ship.

And Uncle Bob Paisley said something similar a few years later, something along the lines of, "they're all on the dole anyway".

Martinez has adopted a very Catalan mentality of attacking football. Keep the ball on the ground and keep possession at all costs. I don't think it is about comparing with past teams, they were great in their own right, in a different climate of football. Moyes stabilised our club, and now, Martinez is modernising our football standards.

A new generation is born, the key to all of this, is to finish as high up as we can, gain as much money for it, and try to hold onto our loan players. Barry, I think, will be an easy one with his contract. But what about Lukaku and Deulofeu?

Lukaku will possibly go for a very large fee, and Deulofeu could maybe come on a second season loan. But what an amazing future, it is a pleasure watching our team now. Well done Blues, and long may it continue. New Everton, enjoy!

Talk of Liverpool being physical is a joke, every side was physical including us. Goal keepers were not protected like they are today, tackling was much harder and there was no pundits watching every move in slow motion.
I am not a blind bigot and evertonians who just hate Liverpool are just as bad as Liverpool fans who hate everton. I just want our two city teams to be back at the top above the real media darlings who are Manchester Utd and the London clubs.

Liverpool won five European championships with British players and no other club has done that. I want us to aspire to that and get back ahead of the Manchester and London teams.
When Liverpool and Everton ruled, the London clubs apart from Arsenal always lost away matches at Goodison and Anfield.

So 4/1 then.

It's just recent history that makes everyone wary of shouting it from the rooftops - but make no mistake we are fucking brilliant at the moment.

I can see a Shanklyesque belief which has transcended through the whole club and although it's still early days, the Martinez positivity is producing displays from players who previously seemed incapable of reaching the present level. Liam Young sums it up as a 'Revolution' and its been a very thorough one; it's involved the whole club and, most importantly, has infected us supporters like no other managerial change in our history.

Maybe I'm a bucket half full realist but I'd settle for Moyes' PL results, but achieved with more panache and maybe a cup win or two. That seems realistic under the current board and owners. Anthing better than that will have RM down as ultimate EFC legend.

Ultimately Derby and Forest ended up back at square one after a few good years (and trophies) with Clough. Shankly was different in that he put Liverpool on a different level to where they were before and they have stayed there. It also helped that Paisley his successor was even more successful, but no coincidence as he was groomed by Shankly.

Although Everton are a much bigger club than Ipswich we have to somehow match our competitors off the field for long enough for us to make it sustainable, eventually continual success will lead to continual revenue, but its keeping it together long enough that is even harder than being successful in the first place.

In Shankly's day the gap between Liverpool and the top teams was much narrower (in terms of revenue). Man Utd has what - 5 or 6 times as much revenue as we have? A Clough or Robson like comparison would be unbelievable; but to repeat what Shankly did would be miraculous,

" ........era as successful as even Moyes"
What success would that be Mark?

If RM beats that, assuming we have the same ownership and financial position, he will have done well.

I don't think Roberto will consider 7th position as successful.

What are your targets for him then, if you were to judge him a success (and/or what do you think he would judge a success for PL finishes)?

You can say with 100% certainty he will have us playing with more panache.

OK, we are playing great at the moment and getting results at the top clubs, but it is still early days yet and when teams play a more defensive game against us it will be more difficult to knock the ball around in the final third.

My only problem with Shanks (apart from him being a Red) and for that matter Cloughie was they would sometimes make soundbites for the sake of having to say something - not our RM - media savvy is this boy! Let the revolution begin - er or has it already begun?

I think Martinez has done a great job in serving us free flowing, attacking football, light years away from Moyes trademark fare, but I still think, regardless of what Martinez or anyone else says, that the ability to just go out and buy the best players in the world makes a difference and makes it more difficult to compete with. How did City win the league....? Er...that's right, they bought it.

I desperately want Martinez to do great things here and he's started by making us exciting to watch and to garner points at places we've never managed for years. Now comes the hard part, changing us into winners.

No question about panache, but I think we need some realism here otherwise we risk consigning RM to a near impossible task. I was talking about the last seven seasons, when Moyes could be said to have truly established his team and saved us from the debacle that was the latter 90's, early 2000's. That average finish was just a little over 6th, during 7 whole seasons. RM is inheriting a far better team and record than Moyes did so I think it reasonable to compare him to these last 7 seasons.

Why do I think that will be hard to beat? Pure and simply, money. Take a look at the PL turnover figures. Forget about positions in the turnover league, just look at the absolutely massive gap between 6th highest turnover (Spurs) and the 7th (Newcastle). The former is over 50% higher. That is a massive gap, when money correlates so closely to success.It creates a virtual closed shop.

From 7th down, the bunching is much closer. We are very similar to Newcastle and Villa. They are our benchmarks. Over the same 7 year period, Villa's average position was 10th, Newcastle's was 12th. If nothing else, that should make for sobering reading.

I think we need to be careful that, while welcoming RM's optimism and belief, we do not fool ourselves into setting unreasonable expecations. My concern is that in the somewhat breathless attempts being made by some to rubbish Moyes' record, we are setting RM up to fail.I think 6th or 7th with a cup win and good football is an outcome I'd take right now. I'd like more, but what is holding this club back is less the manager, more the ownership.

I have been a blue because of my dad my whole life, but have only been following closely for the last 4 or so. All I have ever known is Moyes. Like many I was worried when he left, and worried when Martinez succeeded him. I have had to eat my hat several times over with regards to the latter, and what a delicious hat it has been! For me, Martinez has effected a revolution compared to what i'm used to. I'm not old enough to remember Shankly, so I cannot comment on the comparison, but it certainly seems like a massive shift to me.

Of course we have to give the man time, but if Martinez believes we can get CL, then we can. One thing is for sure, he has put us in a decent spot to achieve it so far. I don't think we can win the league, and I think this comes down to pure squad size. Those around us can rotate and we cannot. The upcoming game is a prime example, with McCarthy suspended, our midfield is not what it was. (Having said that, we will still win that game.) We only need a few more suspensions or injuries and I think we will drop down the table.

What was the financial difference when we finished 4th?

So to use your logic... we can fluke a 4th-place finish with a negative goal difference when being managed by a defensive-minded manager, but are unlikely to better a 6th or 7th finish when managed by a tactically aware attack-minded innovative manager?

We have a team full of Internationals, and a progressive young manager full of new ideas. We can bridge the financial gap, especially if the likes of Barkley proves to be the £50m player Rooney was. People need to realise we are still capable of great things - look at our away support, every game sold out.

Fuck all this "if we manage 7th," that thinking should be consigned to our ginger past. We are going places with Roberto. No excuses, he's publicly set a target of 72 points. Sin miedo!!

One freak season that took place before City and Chelsea became what they are today and as Ray said, frankly a bit of a fluke.

Even today, I think it is possible to do CL as a one-off – this season being a possibility – but, over time, money talks and we are c £60m a year poorer than the team in front of us. That is a massive gap making it harder to do this sustainably – or near impossible in my view.

Our best hope to break this glass ceiling is for our board and owners to get enthused about the possibilities RM has brought and invest some serious money in the club. It is not the craziest investment idea. If you really do have one of the world's best managers, he can optimise use of the money and if you can break into the top echelon, there are real profits to be had – right now, all we do is deliver a pretty consistent, albeit fairly small loss, despite having to sell our best players and trade.

Amid all the dreaming, I am thinking about the (possible) reality, that our spineless board will end up in January selling our best players (Baines or, god forbid, Barkley), buying a replacement for half the money, then banking the rest. Why do I think this? Because it is what they do every effing transfer window!

As it happens, I think you are right and there is a possible chink in the top 6 armour for this season. For sure I can say this- we have had by far the most successful transition to a new manager. Provide the board don't choke in January, CL for this season is at least a possibility.

But as I said earlier, I'm not talking about one offs, I'm talking about a sustained period, 5-10 years because that is what the article is about. I fear that will be harder to deliver over that period without more significant structural changes than a new manager, however talented.

At least under the stewardship of RM we have seen the type of performances that the players are capable of and the type of football they can produce, but as always we have to perform in that way against the 'lesser' sides on a regular basis.

Let's see how many points we have accumulated come the start of the New Year and then hopefully we can really start to get excited.

A lot of our fans have been brainwashed into thinking 6/7th position is successful; not in my eyes. We are currently playing some of the best football in the league, and that after only 15 games for the team to adapt to the new style. Our football will become quicker and better the more games we play. The manager will play positive attacking football regardless of opposition or ground. Given a decent run with injuries who knows where we can finish.

One thing I know for certain: Roberto won't have your cautious approach to our possible league finish, I think he is not a man to respect the so-called pecking order, the display at Arsenal shows just that.

Paul, I really admire Martinez and his optimism and hope he's right about us finishing in a top 4 spot, maybe we will, but without investment, finishing in the top 4 for more than a season or even two, is unrealistic. Why? Because to do that would showcase our best players and Kenwright and his mates would sell them to balance his books which would put us back to square one.

The question is gent's, can we get to 30 games and keep our losses to say 3 games?

I believe we can, and that my friends is title winning form, never mind CL!!

Can Roberto extract an superhuman effort for those last 8 games - yes he can.

Everton are 7/2 in places for a top 4 finish, in from 22/1 at the start of the season!

The last time we finished top 4 BTW, we did it with a total of 61 points - just enough for an 8th place finish in 2009-10. A massive anomaly.

You are twisting it there to suit your argument. I didn't say money means nothing. One thing is certain: if you don't believe you can achieve 4th, you won't achieve 4th.

I agree with you on the need to qualify for season after season as being a must, but one step at a time this season would be a start. Bearing in mind the money gained by qualifying — and IF the board gave it to the manager — is it beyond the realms of possibility we could do that?

71, 71, 74, 63, 68, 63, 67, 67, 68, 71, 67, 60 (Lowest ever - L,pool) 61 (Us) 67, 68, 76 (Highest) 72, 70, 68, 69, 73.

We have a manager in my eyes that has the ability to take us to the very top. But I agree that lack of money is a restriction, its the equivalent of a boxer fighting with one arm tied behind their back.

I do think it's possible to attain a CL spot this season because of the collection of players that RM has put together, plus our older players are still in good form, but if we get injuries to 1 or 2 of our best players we can forget I'd say.

I'd say if Roberto could go out and spend say £25m-£35m in January our chances would be considerably improved though.

You are absolutely right that if you believe you will only finish 6th or 7th, then that is where you will finish. But that applies to RM and the players- not to us! We can take a more dispassionate look at things.

On that basis, I think the caveats I'm putting before you have some substance.

Kevin, I love your optimism. Actually I think we can afford to lose more than 3 provided we don't draw so many, especially against teams we should in theory beat.

What is certain is that I haven't felt this good about watching us since the mid-80s.

We will have to agree to disagree.
I don't really go in for dispassion were the Blues are concerned.
Much to my disappointment over the years!

I'm delighted with the optimism that pervades the atmosphere both on ToffeeWeb and at Goodison and hope we can finish top 4 at least once, and if we did and the rewards were made available for team building we could even cement our place in the CL spots for years to come.

You also say "One thing is certain if you don't believe you can achieve 4th you won't achieve 4th." which is something I'd like to agree with, however, Moyes set out for 40pts, not to finish 4th yet we still bumbled over the finishing line in 4th.

Now, mate, I'm trying to take my old kitchen out and then put a new one in so I don't have time to argue on ToffeeWeb all day, so accept your wrong and let's move on. ;-)

It's all well and good not getting beat, but 38 draws won't get us to where we want to be. I've seen enough of a change since the Palace game though to believe that we've got a manager who can adapt and we'll start breaking down the "bus parkers" of the PL soon enough. Spurs/Man U are both shite this season (with managers that are rapidly cracking up) so if we don't finish at least 5th I'll view this season as a missed opportunity.

This reminds me of that memorable quote from Clockwise as John Cleese manfully tries to (unsuccessfully) cope with the barriers put in his way to get to a conference on time.

'It's not the despair. I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand'

It's not arguing mate,it's two people with a different opinion that's all.
No need for us to fall out.

1. Team spirit and togetherness (I include supporters in this).

2. Team tactics and style of play.

That is where the difference can be made up.

Shankly to be fair made that difference by telling dogs they were top class players and the opposition were weak and by banning any press who gave Liverpool a bad writeup.

He was a canny lad and I do see similarities in Martinez who is intelligent and articulate but most of all he seems to be convincing the players they are better than they believed.

I have to confess that I was very anti RM at the time of his appointment and like MK I think it is still too early to get carried away but tell me any Evertonian that doesn't feel we are unbeatable right now.

That belief from the terraces will infect the players and hopefully make up the gap to the monied clubs.

It takes a lot of courage to suggest that Roberto Martinez can lead Everton on a Shanklyesque revolution, be cause that would be a monumental achievement.

Let me say when it comes to LFC, sad to say, I am a complete bigot. However in recent years I have come to realise what Bill Shankly did for that club. My dad took me to my first Everton game just after John Carey was sacked. I have a vague recollection (lot of booze drunk in the ensuing 20 years) of Bobby Collins running out on to the pitch from what was too become my usual spec under the clock on the Goodison Road terraces.

We won the league title the following season - what a great time in my life. But you know what, many of us new deep down even then that Shankly had already started laying the foundations for success - we just wouldn't admit it - I for one was in denial. Anyway what followed was probably the greatest success story in the history of the English game. I don't know how much sliverware they won in the next 30 years - but I do know that Shankly laid the foundation.

The thing with Shankly was that he was a LEADER and he was fearless. He made the players believe in themselves, that they were invincible, that there was no such thing as a lost cause and so they followed him.

That was really something, But his greatest achievement was that he made their fans believe also and they spurred the team on from the terraces. That is why, in my opinion he remains the greatest manager in the history of the game in England - unlike Ferguson he started from nothing.

So this season w'eve beaten, Chelsea, Man Utd, passed Arsenal of the park at the Emirates, and come from behind to draw with "them". Yes City beat us on their patch but does anyone believe we can't beat them at Goodison?

As you all know I have held on to the hope that "we will be great again" (like in the 60's and 80's). Thanks to Roberto Martinez I am beginning to believe that I will see a great Everton side again.

Don't tell me to settle down - I can't. To see the youngsters in this team playing without fear and the commitment of the older heads has filled me with a happiness in recent weeks that I haven't experienced in 40 years - and our young Evertonians never.

I don't want it to end - and it's not going to.

I'm with you Tony.

UP THE BLUES!

(as I say, I have used it many times as a stick to beat them).

"A year after retiring, Shankly sat down and wrote his autobiography with Roberts. Perhaps the most candid passages dealt with Shankly's retirement. On his treatment by Liverpool, he wrote it was scandalous and outrageous that he should have to issue complaints about a club he had helped to build. But while Shankly's fury burned from the page, there was no sadness about him, says Roberts. Indeed Shankly remained an ebullient man. "But he did feel that he had been let down by Liverpool; by the directors, mainly. Shankly also revealed his shock that he had found solace at once-hated rivals Everton. "I have been received more warmly by Everton than I have been by Liverpool," he wrote. Indeed, on being exiled from Melwood, he began turning up at Everton's training ground, Bellefield, where he trained and sometimes helped Everton's club captain, Mick Lyons, coach the junior teams"

Actually, it just occurred to me, would any t-shirt annoy them more than..?

"I have been received more warmly by Everton than I have been by Liverpool," - Bill Shankly.

The cup winning side of 1966 included Colin Harvey and Tommy Wright from our much admired youth policy.... Other such products, plus the addition of Ball and Kendall, formed the basis of the the best footballing side I have ever seen in the top English division, with particular reference to 1968-69

All this positivity stuff is all well and good but where did it get Wigan? Yes he could motivate them to win ‘one off games' to win a cup, but in the league they suffered because they just didn't have the quality or the money to improve.

Its like when a lower league team plays one of the big guns, they will raise their game and run that extra yard through the pain barrier, put their body on the line to make sure they win that 50-50 tackle and stretch that extra inch to win that last ditch tackle. It is their chance to have their names written in history and to be a hero and every now and then they will cause a shock result as a consequence. The thing is, the players are not machines.

It is very difficult to maintain that level of performance week in week out over the course of a season.

I think its far too early to compare Martinez to anyone, until at least the end of the season, preferably the end of next season when he has had to make do without the likes of Lukaku.

I am just pondering whom I can compare you to.

Several similar minded people as yourself appear on the list.

Those who are having a tough time of things.

Those for whom everything appears to have gone horribly wrong.

So I'd like to ask Evertonians, who are enjoying life at the moment, to think of blues like Ian Tunstead (150) who, after pinning all their hopes on being able to say 'I told you so', have been kicked in the teeth by Martinez and the players.

Maybe some sort of live aid-type single is in order?

Sings: 'It's christmas time and there's no need to be a cun.."

(well you know how it goes)

They are both Scottish, I'll give you that Ian.

All his quotes being published 50 years on - 'let's get to 40 points and see where we go from there.'

Or 'top 10 is where we should be aiming.'

The trophies, the charisma, a legacy that lasts for 50 years or more, the KITAP1 revolution...why didn't I get it before today??

I think.

So they're both Scottish and their PR skills are second to none. No wonder Utd went for him.

I agree that what is happening with our team, is a revolution and I think that many fans who didn't want Martinez at Everton, are now believing that he can an Everton team playing exciting football and also strong in the tackle and chasing back as a natural part of their game.

They certainly appear to be enjoying their football and it's sometimes difficult to pick a man of the match because of so many good individual performances. I think the football being played is not only exciting us fans, it's got the country looking at us.

Where I think the revolution that Roberto has started, might flounder, is when Billy Bullshit disappears back down to London when he asks "what's in the transfer kitty Bill?"

I don't say we can't finish 4th, because we can. But I feel it is more likely that we will finish outside the top 4. What I wouldn't like to see, is people saying that he's failed, if he doesn't make Europe. I love the way we're playing football and it's great to see Jagielka playing with more confidence on the ball. I've previously posted that he couldn't pass wind, let alone give a decent pass but he's improved a lot in a short time.

Like you Tony; and Ray and Trevor, I saw what I consider to be some of the best football by an Everton side that I've ever seen in the early 60's and I believe that Johnny Carey would have had us as the greatest side in the division, had he stayed. He almost gave us a revolution; with fantastic football and I don't consider Catterick as good a football manager. nor as a communicator with the fans.

Whereas Liverpool welcomed the telly, Catterick shunned it. I think we missed out big time in the late sixties, while lfc surged to world wide fame.

Well, a vastly different time now and different circumstances. All I can say, is that Roberto Martinez has made me pleased as punch that I got my season ticket back this year. The football is exciting and I think he's given already, a lot of Evertonians something else...Pride.

Comparing Moyes to Shankley? Bloody Nora!

Possibly he had nothing to do with it but shortly after Roberto's arrival I attended a very positive EGM at the Philharmonic Hall at which is has to be said our Chief Executive was to me outstanding. Maybe at all levels Mr Martinez is a unifier who has got everyone singing from the same hymn sheet.

We have history, we are a big club and Roberto seems to instinctively know that we should be at least trying to challenge for the top four rather than basically being satisfied with avoiding relegation every year and looking at anything above that as being plucky knife carrying minnows punching above their weight against the Johnny Seven (remember them) wielding big boys.

I couldn't believe that OFM had never invited Howard Kendall to Finch Farm but again the facts that Roberto did soon after arriving says much about him. Please wake me up because I do think I'm dreaming at the moment!

Most people can see that Liverpool went on from there and although we competed for a time, we broke up our winning sides prematurely.

And by the way, we were nicknamed the 'Mersey Millionaires' because John Moores was bankrolling us, we could ask did we waste that opportunity?

Shankly instilled a winning mentality in his teams, which it seems to me is what Roberto is doing with us. Surely this is the reason why Blues of my generation are so optimistic.

As I have said time and time again whether its been Moyes in charge or Martinez, I will reserve judgement until the end of the season. Sorry to other fellow Evertonians for not wanting to get carried away and for trying not to get caught up it the Martinez Love in just yet but I have heard all the hype so many times before and then watched us fall at the pivotal moment too many times. I don't want to criticise Martinez or kiss Moyes arse I just want to see a balanced discussion.

If you think you're outcasted, you are;
You've got to think high to rise.
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.

-Walter D. Wintle.

Winning is a state of mind.

Roberto Martinez is teaching us (and perhaps the hierarchy at Goodison) how to think again.

Si, se puede!

UP THE BLUES.

If you think you're outcastes you are;
You've got to think high to rise,
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But sooner or later the man who wins,
Is the man who thinks he can.

- Walter D. Wintle

Winning is a state of mind.

Roberto Martinez is teaching us (and perhaps even the hierarchy at Goodison) how to think again.

Si, se puede!

UP THE BLUES!!!!!