Dismal performance angers Goodison faithful

Wonder why Pienaar isnÂ’t starting given heÂ’s been on the bench for the last couple of games but not go onto the pitch

We arenÂ’t turning over an 8 point deficit to Man Utd if we donÂ’t start taking maximum points from the smaller clubs.

Intensity and imagination is needed in the style of play we adopt or we just resemble a 5-a-side kickabout.

We know he has a bag of fancy tricks including his latest heel of the boot party piece, but the time has arrived where he must grow up and become a serious player.

If we had played till midnight we wouldnÂ’t have scored

Martinez had no idea tonight and has no plan b

Play chess all you want Roberto but tonight was horrible

Osman should never play 90 minutes, heÂ’s an impact sub now, at best. CanÂ’t believe how much we miss McCarthy, itÂ’s actually disturbing.

Last season is a memory, the problems started with a lackadaisical pre-season and now we are picking up the pieces. Scandalous result.

I have stated before that the manager does not seem to have a Plan B but, after this showing, I do not think he has a Plan A. He is getting out-thought by all the managers he comes up against in the Premier League.

Oh dear... if we get a crap FA Cup draw and Europa League draw, the season could be a effectively finished in January! As I said, itÂ’s the hope that kills you!

IÂ’m normally quite upbeat honest!

Ossie, Distin, Howie: Time to hang up your boots.

God damned! What a fucking disgraceful performance and result.

As soon as a side presses us, we get to see how technically inept this squad is. As for the subs made by Martinez tonight, they should be docking his wages. Why bring Pienaar on when we need a goal, the guy hasnÂ’t scored for six years. We had a total of one player in the team capable of getting a goal for the last half-an-hour with EtoÂ’o sat on the bench.

We canÂ’t play the system Martinez wants. The players are not skillfull enough. This reeks, and Everton just cost me 8 ton... nice one lads..

Tonight was, make no doubt, a disgrace. RobertoÂ’s Â’jam tomorrowÂ’ words are failing to deliver. On this form, forget Champions League, and expect maximum quarter final finishes in the Europa/FA Cup.

Time for changes. Time for a manager with a bit of steel to go with the guile.

With the players we have we should be getting three points, no question, against this type of opposition. Stop being so arrogant, Martinez, and start playing to our strengths.

Too slow to get on the end of a pass, no movement off the ball, no purpose and no pressure on opposing teams.

It hasnÂ’t taken long for us to become Wigan Mk 2.

Same old problems, set up with 2 defensive midfielders, slow ponderous build up, too much passing around at the back. No surprise to Hull who were clearly planning for Martinez to ask his team to play in exactly the same way he has done for ever match. So they pushed on to our defence, closed us down and Martinez had no answer to it.

Truly appalling, poor management not deserving of a man put in charge of our team. Worst showing in more than 10 years.

Really sorry to say that but I had my fears when he was appointed, last season gave me hope that he had learnt from his Wigan experience but that does not seem to be the case.

The football has been turgid and predictable and the intensity has been replaced with a sterile, ineffective, boring passing game with no end product.

Cup competitions are all well and good but they are what they are in the knockout stages, a lottery.

So fucking disappointed it has come to this, I really am.

WeÂ’re destined for mid-table IÂ’m afraid. The crowd at Goodison now seem to be getting restless and the boos were very noticeable. What will RM do? God knows we have serious problems with under performing players,inept tactics,and just general shiteness!!!

Maybe IÂ’ll eat my words on Saturday evening, but I doubt it.

The defence is abysmal. What is going on?

This is how Wigan got relegated.

WeÂ’ll turn this round I have no doubt. We generally always come good in the 2nd half of the season. Macca and Naisy are big losses for us and it shows. Regardless of the bile spouted above, we have one of the best managers in English football. Finish well at the seasonÂ’s end and his name will be sung from the rooftops.

My only concern with us right now is the status given to Barkley, heÂ’s not shown much of the superb talent heÂ’s supposed to have, IÂ’d have a fit Naismith over him at the moment. Onwards Blues.

WhereÂ’s the urgency, pass, pass, pass, pass after pass that gets nowhere!!

Stones and Mcarthy we need back because this is hopeless!!!

This is the worst possible time to be missing McCarthy and Stones.

Turgid. Dire. Shite.

We have only won 3 of the last 9 games at Goodison.

That is disgraceful.

I used to say this about OFM... I donÂ’t think he knows his best 11, nor how to play them to the greatest advantage. ThereÂ’s no Intensity, no drive, nobody seems too arsed about it either.

But who will be replaced and by whom...how many kids would you throw in Vs City.

Going to be a long season and the early bid flight and hotel I booked to Warsaw is looking a very rash decision.

As always with Everton, more questions than answers.

Possibly the most ludicrous statement ever made on this site. Are you MartinezÂ’s agent?

Some of our possession play in our own area was spell binding and if we could reproduce it on ice we could be a wow during the festive season in Blackpool.

It wonÂ’t always be as good as this though. ItÂ’s odds on that Barca are looking closely to our genius Catalan coach, it can only be a matter of time. Likewise there will be a host of clubs with 㿨 million burning a hole in their pockets waiting the go ahead to sign Branch sorry, er Cadamateri... no not him... er Rodwell no no hang on ... yes Barkley the great hope of English football.

So get used to being without Roberto and Ross guys... but you know what, I think right now IÂ’d be made up with Rodgers and Gerrard.

Onwards Evertonians ... soon be 30 years since we had a decent side. We are going nowhere fast!

The basic fact is that 2 points at home from games against Palace, Swansea and Hull is wholly unacceptable. Whilst we have no god-given right to win, we should be winning these games but we show a complete lack of ideas, creativity, urgency or, most unforgivably, passion.

Leading at half-time, the team should have come out and gone for the jugular but, as has been the case far too often this season, they retreated and allowed Hull a foot-hold in the game. Too casual in their passing, too lightweight in the tackle and showing little or no desire to make runs anywhere on the pitch and especially in the last third.

I hope NaismithÂ’s back and fit soon and that tells you a lot about the teamÂ’s work ethic when he is missed so much, he should be a bonus to decent side, but because of the lack of effort and form he has become a necessity.

We played poorly and scraped a draw against Hull who were soundly whipped by a pretty average Man Utd side a few days ago. Why Atsu is taking up bench room I do not know. If he is not good enough to give us half an hour then why is he here? We had a similar issue with Traore who vanished without trace.

I do not wholly blame Martinez for the team playing badly but he needs to get them passing much quicker and crisper. Barkley has virtually disappeared from the player who showed so much potential last season. When is this so called boy wonder going to score a goal?

The worst thing for me is whoever we play just seem to want it more than us, just no fight in us of late.

Barrry obviously not fit, Barkley quickly becoming another Jack Rodwell, Howard still in the team?

I'm glad Rom is working with Dunc to improve his holdup play, but I sure as hell don't want that to be our first option. We didn't pay 28 mil to get a new Anichebe.

Sometimes it seems people on here wish we could play with 4 Shawcrosses in the back, 4 Lee Cattermoles in the midfield and 2 Andy Carrolls up top.

As for tonight, cannot for the life of me understand Eto'o sitting on the bench all night. Can't be a fitness issue or he wouldn't have been there in the first place. Baffling.

ItÂ’s all a bit stale for me, all teams need a shake up occasionally. Desperate for Stones to return. Also need a couple of gems in January. The talk of Delboy on a different thread was interesting!

Depressing stuff!

Martinez relegated Wigan by sticking to his "principles".

Teams have figured us out. Even when we change our line-up, the roles remain the same.

Something is badly wrong at Everton at the moment. I can’t put my finger on it but something is wrong.

It’s almost as if the players just donÂ’t believe in Martinez. They all look flat, bored, confused and disinterested.

Howard and Distin have had their day and both were poor for the goal. Ironically this followed on from one of the only times in the game Jags didn't play a safe sideways pass and attempted a forward pass on the deck all game. We only started to look better playing the Bobby way last season with Stones in the defence, who had the composure to carry the ball, take it past people and pick a forward pass.

Without McCarthy, Barry doesn't have the legs or get the time on the ball to get us ticking forward like he was in his good performances last season and he's looking to have slowed further even more, especially after his recent knock.

Lukaku's touch looked better at times tonight and he timed some flick-ons better than I've seen before but he wasn't involved as much as he should be. Coleman and Baines are completely off the boil at the moment, keep them quiet and that's 70% of our threat sussed.

Pienaar was woeful when he came on and obviously rusty; time is catching up with him. Ossie faded big time as the game wore on, as ever when he is on from the start in the Premier League.

Barkley dithers at times when he gets the ball and doesn't seem to spot a quick pass. He only looks good when he has bought a yard and drives but his final pass / decision-making is letting him down, I reckon this will get better though with a bit of confidence and hopefully a good injury-free run in the side.

We were far too pedestrian again on and off the ball... the quicker McCarthy, Naismith and Stones come back to inject a bit of urgency in the play, the better as they (and maybe help from Oviedo and Eto'o). These are the only players who can come in and improve us.

Besic did pretty well again for most of it I thought but I'm getting really alarmed again at this dicking about at the back which is tedious, infuriating and terrifying to watch in equal measure. When teams sit back, we lose the the incisive counter attacks with Lukaku running onto it on the break and it's so slow and predictable.

A lot of our wins have been flattering this season and our goals seem to come from the one or two rare moments a game where we do string it together and we've got that bit of quality to be clinical but without many other chances and without being well on top (Burnley for example) which is worrying.

We'll have to pin everything on our good form in the Europa (albeit we've rode our luck a bit) and hope we don't bottle it at the first sign of pressure in a big knock-out match. The effect of the new manager and the arrogance we displayed during our good run before and after Christmas last season has well and truly gone. Let's hope when a few more are back and match fit we'll get back there.

Possession simply for the sake of it is slow, boring and frustrating and far too often pointless.

As with many other sides, Hull showed that strikes on goal do not require a dozen or more intricately contrived passing movements.

Under Moyes, we expected a slow start to the season. Let's hope the manager has a Plan B or we can write this season off by Boxing Day. This squad for quality is the best we have had for 20 years, fans should be expecting more!

If the manager comes out and says we were unlucky and we played well, call him a taxi!

Did the manager get an improved contract this summer?

I just don't understand the mentality of his subs. Besic did a great job tonight, Mirallas worked hard... so he takes them off!

Pienaar is finished, Distin looked done in from the off, and Howard again let us down.

I was upset with Sunday's result but tonight I'm so fecking angry at that joke of a performance.

We did well last season but teams have strengthened while we have regressed. All rivals know our system and Steve Bruce put Baines and Coleman out of normal business by keeping them occupied in their own half.

Something is clearly not working properly and I don't how we go about fixing it. Hopefully Martinez does.

The commentors summed up the game perfectly when they said that they did not know what Bruce was complaining about with the time the referee was adding on – that Everton could have played till midnight and not scored.

I am starting to wonder if the players are disgruntled with the manager and are not trying properly for him. The two full backs are woeful at the moment and Baines has been weak now for a long time. I thought Lukaku and Besic were reasonably good, the rest awful.

Distin cannot be allowed to play against Aguero on Saturday, the mind shudders at the thought. Howard must be dropped.

Lukaku is looking better. Mirallas looked lively while he was on and Besic played with positive energy.

We keep playing Ross Barkley now that he's healthy enough to play and so far this season he has ZERO goals and ZERO assists.

I'm a Yank and I've always been a Tim Howard fan, but I have to admit he's not playing at a high level right now. He didn't move on the header that almost went in and even worse was easily beaten to the near post on a shot where he should be protecting the near post.

This is two games running where Everton scored first on a well taken goal and the lads have one point from the 2 games.

In today's game, Hull had ONE shot on goal and it was from a tight angle and of course, the way this season is going, it's worth a point for Hull and keeps Everton from claiming 3 points in a game they should have won.

Should have never put up that mural. It's a hex. I have been fooled. At this point I think I'd rather have Alan Irvine pulling the strings. At least he tries to mix it up and his players play 100% for him.

What I saw tonight did not fill me with much confidence as it took a wee while for the team to get going and, even when we took the lead, I was never really confident that we could go on and score a couple more goals. Whilst there is only one goal between the teams there is always a chance you might concede a daft one — which we duly did.

That isn't what concerned me the most, though; it was the reaction to conceding the goal... there wasn't one. It was carry on regardless and Hull might count themselves slightly unfortunate not to have gone on and grabbed all three points.

I'm not sure that the players have fully bought into the Martinez Wazy and I'm pretty sure the vast majority of Evertonians are at best unsure of his style of play and at worst downright hostile to the whole approach.

The fact that the crowd aren't fully behind the team, in the way that was usual even during last season says a great deal, and to be honest for the most part, Evertonians have shown great patience so far this season, but more performances at Goodison like tonight's will see that patience disappear pretty quickly and Roberto could find himself in a very difficult position. He will learn that sometimes you have to play to your players strengths and that the Goodison gallery are no mugs – they understand the game and demand to be entertained – yes of course they want to win every game but fail to entertain and you are on a very sticky wicket, particularly if the fans aren't really sure about your methods.

The very worst thing any Everton manager can do is to explain away a poor performance with sugar-coated soundbites; we are all grown up, we expect the manager to set the standards and if he is happy with the current standard then he isn't on the same wavelength as the supporters and that is very dangerous territory for him and the team.

I know there were times under the previous manager when entertainment wasn't on view, but he got away with it because he didn't have that many talented players available to him for most of his tenure but his teams did show urgency and a desire to work hard. Roberto has plenty of talent available to him but so far this season that talent hasn't shown itself too many times and getting out-muscled by Spurs and Hull is not what we expect from our team.

I'm hoping the last couple of games are just a blip, but deep-down there is a nagging feeling that we may be on the wrong road; we'll find out more as the season progresses.

It makes me laugh when I hear people saying Roberto's "attacking style" or "slick passing styling". It's a joke. There is nothing slick nor attacking about how we play. It's boring, no passion, no skill, no attacking intent. You don't even see Baines and Coleman getting into the opponent's box anymore. They hover halfway into the opponents area, get played the ball right up next to the touch line, and have nowhere to go.

And that's not even getting to the fact that we don't close down our opponents anymore. When not in possession we just let opponents send in crosses.

And Roberto wasn't joking when he joined us and said he doesn't like set piece goals. He's made that clear. Baines has gone from being a master from corners and set pieces to just atrocious. I'll say it: I want this manager gone. The football is so boring it's just not enjoyable.

Martinez's philosophy on how he thinks the game should be played is ideal if you have a squad that has the skill and mindset to perform at the premier level; unfortunately we do not seem to have that at this time.

One of the other qualities that a manager must have is the ability to recognize that your game plan is not working and use your substitutes to change the game plan; again, unfortunately, Mr Martinez does not seem to achieve this with his substitutes.

Please in future do not offer these miserable excuses in your after-game interviews as you are demeaning the proud club that you are representing.

Well, it's December and my view is even more adamant that this 'rot' set in in the summer. Martinez showed unbelievable complacency in the job ahead and chickens are coming home to roost. I urge people to give Martinez time – last season's efforts deserve that – but please let's take the blinkers off and say it as it is: he loused up big time. I for one will be keeping an eye on next summer.

Thanks Roberto, I take zero comfort from that.

Was it the players or manager? Well again a goal comes (indirectly) from a mistake (Jags giving it away) but Distin was skinned and Howard left wanting at the near post. That's the players – except that Jags trying to play football where he did is down to what the manager wants. So... the manager plus players.

A nicely crafted goal and one of a few nice movements. But they were rare. We have shown in other games that we can play pass / possession football AND with pace / passion – but, again tonight, the latter were lacking. Why, I JUST DON'T KNOW. I'll suggest the manager again. I cannot understand why we rarely try the quick ball over the top to keep them guessing and stop them keeping a high line.

One gem was Besic again (great signing for ٢M, Mr Manager). And thank goodness in all the misery on the Live Forum and the threads so far that many recognise that. I felt sorry for him being subbed – subbed not for being poor but being sacrificed to allow 3 at the back and FBs to push forward. But that didn't work.

And why Mirallas taken off? Roberto has some questions to answer, I think, but not in the post-match interview style, please.

Barkley was an embarrassment. Late on he lost possession for us and stood and watched as a Hull man moved past him on the left threatening our penalty area. Unforgivable.

And why Eto'o not used at all? We've seen what a footballing brain he still has, which in the absence of pace might have been our saviour. Mr Manager again?

The tactic was simple: Have a good defense with two holding mids, keep hold of the ball and at some point you'll score or wear down the opposition and then win the game with the subs. With Stones imperious at the back and Mirallas Pienaar and Barkley all fit and in form it worked enough times last season.

If your bedrock is the Jags - Distin partnership, then you're going nowhere. It's a disgrace Distin is getting one game a week, let alone three, he should have retired after the Suarez backpass and him keeping Browning or Galloway out the team is far worse than anything Moyes did. He is 37 and is playing 3 games a week – ridiculous.

Howard is a clown and has cost us more points than any other player except perhaps Distin. There's not many keepers in the league I wouldn't swap him for. He doesn't make saves simple as. The first Tottenham goal is a keeping error, the second one actually crosses the line in the middle of the goal, and the one against Hull is on the near post. If we have Nigel Martyn in goal we've got 6 points; as it is we've got 1.

Scandalous that both are still first team fixtures after all this time. The rest of the squad are either too old or mentally weak to recover the damage of playing with 9 men every game after these two clowns have set you a few goals back.

(Apologies to Larkin)

Build up is too slow, with a slow build up you need people to run into space but that wasn't happening, so it was pass, pass, pass, pass back to where we started the pass, pass, pass, pass, back to where we started again. No momentum means you have to go back or three yards sideways all the time.

It should be easy to find space, especially as every time Barkley received the ball, he had two or three Hull defenders onto him straight away.

I couldn't understand why with 10 minutes to go and still 1-1 Martinez didn't throw Eto'o on to try and liven things up.

The players and the Manager need a kick up the arse. If we play like that against Man City on Saturday we'll get battered.

The tactic never worked but the belief in it never waned. Everton corners are worse and believe me I never thought that could be possible.

We have a second tier of players in our squad that needs to be replaced. The third classers (four of them) should never play again for us.

What surprises me is that, if Martinez is an avid student of the game, how come we make the same mistakes time and again and how come he plays favoured players? (Bringing on McGeady was the last straw for me tonight, and I nearly walked out of the stadium.)

If Pienaar is fit, he should take precedence over Osman for the left-midfield/wing spot... always. Osman is shite enough without being played out of position.

It is worrying that we haven't passed a single stern test this season so far (except in the Europa League). And we could lose by three or four at Man City.

It's so us to flatter to deceive... Feeling sad at the moment.

COYB!

ps: I really cannot bear to see McGeady in an Everton shirt. I'm even beginning to dislike his name intensely. :-)

Martinez has some questions to answer.

But now, there's no effort out there. And because this is how every player defends, standing off their man and allowing crosses to be sent in, you can't blame the players. It's clearly a tactic the manager has implemented and for the life of me I can't understand why this is.

The funny thing is that in the last 10 minutes of today's match you could see a few of the players had had enough. Lukaku took the ball and did what he has apparently been told to do, look for someone to play the ball backwards toward. But then he just said to hell with it and starting dribbling at his man, and he went through about 3 or 4 Hull players. He almost got a cross into the box but it went for a corner.

Besic tried to do the same thing a few times as well and every time he looked for a player ahead of him to try to make a run, everyone was just standing still or running backwards toward him. All this does is bring more defenders toward the player with the ball, making space tighter, and taking pressure away from the defense. Of course it also means that when the defender is successful at dispossessing our player, they already have midfielders or defenders running toward our goal.

Guardiola came out a couple months ago and said his style of football isn't just passing to hold possession. Every pass should be made with a purpose of getting into the box and attacking the opponents goal. Our passing is so heavily weighted toward passing the ball backward that the opponents can just sit in their defensive formation, waiting for a ball played toward the middle of the park, close that player down, ball goes back to Jagielka or the keeper, and repeat. Eventually Howard just has to boot it up field and we lose possession.

It's just pathetic football and it's not going to change. This is his style. Wingers sending crosses in? No. Hell, he doesn't even want to play wingers. He plays two defensive midfielders who never come close to scoring a goal, every match. Even Moyes only played one defensive midfielder.

We provide absolutely no service to our forwards and the ageing part of our team needs replacing quick.

I genuinely fear about the result on Saturday if we turn up and put that shower of useless, pathetic, mind numbing, pitty-patty crap football on display.

I suggested above that the players may not be trying for the manager, or perhaps some aren't, but Mirallas's reaction to his goal at Spurs and the general camaraderie look fine – so do our Europa League efforts. There needs to be some frankness behind closed doors at the club before it's too late – serial underperformers have to be dropped.

What we continue to lack is leadership on the pitch and it is clear that Jagielka can never provide that. We are becoming a soft touch in the Premier League.

Martinez was forced to manage bargain buys and has-beens at Wigan and his mentality has not changed. Hibbert, Osman and Pienaar should have gone last season and Howard should have gone 2 years ago at least.

The truth is, of course, that last night had little or nothing to do with BK and everything about the manager's failure to send his men out fit and fighting for the cause.

More than one or two of those players should be looking at their professionalism too!

Someone said something about the more the team reflects Roberto, the worse we play – and certainly we are lacking passion and tempo. The slow build-up play is not helped by the absence of McCarthy and Naismith (don't we miss Naismith!!) but we seem to lack any passion and of course slow play allows teams to organize themselves so that we then have trouble finding a way through.

Last season, the spine of the Moyes team was still strong and Roberto added Lukaku, Barry and Deulofeu. This season, we certainly miss Gerard (and hopefully he will return if Colin Glassar is right) but what has gone wrong this season?

Howard has lost his consistency from last season and Distin now looks too shaky. Baines has gone backwards and Seamus doesn't seem fit, added to which, he needs a decent wide player in front of him to allow him to attack the flank. Jags is okay again now but will only go backwards at his age and we badly miss Stones.

In midfield, Barry has dropped a level – how we need a big performance from him at Man City. Mirallas and McCarthy are great when fit but the big disappointment is Ross who has not kicked on and is not contributing to the team. A few flashy moments do not make up for a lack of real involvement in the team play and the lad doesn't tackle which may not matter if he is playing well but he isn't!!

Pienaar sadly looks a shell of the dashing little player of a couple of years ago and his workrate and passing have dropped alarmingly.

McGeady is a bit like Ross – some flashy moments of skill but they both lose the ball too often and cannot be carried by the team in it's current state.

We need Stones at the back, Oviedo wide left midfield, and move Kev to wide right and Naismith fit again in place of Ross. Possibly Mo in place of Barry and McCarthy fit again to go alongside. Tim, Sylvain and Pienaar to be replaced asap; send back Atsu who is hopeless and bring back Gerard.

Simple!!

It's boring watching Everton these days. Far from what we expected when Roberto joined us. No pace and no passion at all.

Sin miedo, my arse!!!!

To say that so called professional athletes are Â’tiredÂ’ after less than half the season has been played, by a manager who has seemingly lost the plot as far as tactics go, is an insult to the intelligence.

The reaction of the faithful at the end was not pleasant to hear, in fact the most ugly I have ever heard in at Goodison; unfortunately, on this occasion, it was merited from fans who are amongst the most knowledgeable, and the best in the game.

As for the game itself, no further comment is needed.

Everton are still well behind the big clubs when it comes to closing out games and pushing for goals if they are needed past the 70 minute mark. Injuries are an issue, but right now clubs are figuring out how to play against Everton (press a bit when Everton are slowly working the ball from the back and wait for a mistake that comes far to often). Jags and Distin hardly ever pass or move the ball quickly forward. In this regard, the player Everton are really missing is John Stones. Stones is much more comfortable driving forward with the ball and also is willing to play forward balls to runners. I hope when he's fit he's put right back in the starting 11.

The most disappointing part of yesterday's game was the final 20 minutes. Everton created nothing quality-wise in the final 20 minutes. I kept waiting for the home side to really go for the win and drive forward, but Hull were the team that played with more effort and energy in the 2nd half.

But IMHO the difference has been the goalie because he has stepped up to the plate and won games single-handed; whereas Howard has LOST 3-4 games and its been impossible to put a consistent run together when youÂ’ve got a keeper who is consistently making mistake after mistake.

I will agree that when we take the lead we need players with mental strength to build on it, but the players seem to be low on confidence at present, now if I was one of the players and had battled to gain the upperhand, and then the opposition have one shot and beats the goalie at the near post (Hull) or he spills a routine shot and they score from it(Spurs), or he flaps at a food-and-drink of a cross (Palace) etc etc, my confidence would be shot.

January window Martinez must break the bank for a first class keeper-and Howard, Miami awaits.

Lukaku has been getting a bit of stick lately and rightly so. Last night, on numerous occasions, he was asking for the ball to be put into a space were he could run onto. Where did the ball go? Square.

This is why Ross should be central, the lad has class. Someone compared him to Rodwell. Rodwell could not lace Barkley's boots. Why did we replace Mirallas and Besic? Especially for the frustrating Pienaar and river dance McGeady?

Let's hope it was a bad day at the office. COYBB

It's about the most disorganized and disinterested pre-season I have ever know in 55 years of watching Everton.

The team selection and motivation has been an issue since day one of the season. Our midfield (the heartbeat of any side) is woefully light in almost every team selection.

Apart from Barkley there were no injury concerns in the early part of the campaign so that should not be an excuse.

In short I think RM is totally out of his depth. He has a small club mentality and is too laissez-faire for a club the size of Everton.

No?

Well neither can Bill Kenwright as has been well documented.

This is not the board's fault – it is the players or the management or the coaching but on paper it is the best squad for many years and should be playing far better than they are.

On the basis of my intel from his previous club, I warned that he was a philosopher who talked a good game but, in terms of planning, tactics and team selection was entirely one dimensional and as big a ditherer as his predecessor had been. I also questioned the mass importation of staff and players from his previous, relegated club.

Last season he proved me very wrong with a splendid 5th-place finish and a brand of football hailed as of the best quality we had seen in the Premier League era.

So what has gone wrong?

In my view, Bobby got totally carried away with the success he achieved and all the plaudits coming his way. The summer jaunt to Brasil, wrongly prioritised over planning for pre-season, only prefaced what was to come. No friendlies of any quality and a laisez- faire attitude to players returning to duty and putting in much of a shift when they did. Then an uninspiring use of the transfer window when the only game-changers signed were a striker who blew his entire budget and a talented but fading star.

No recognition that he had not one but two dodgy keepers, insufficient quality cover in central defence and......and..... (see posts above)

In short then, good old-fashioned complacency had set in – a disease which any company gaffer will tell you will spread like wildfire through the ranks as soon as it is recognised as present at the top.

So, in brief (laugh if you dare !), Martinez is not a duff manager – far from it – but one who like many before him has come to believe his own and his worshippers' bullshit. Let's just hope that he has the capacity to see where he has erred and the ability to put things right.

Everton FC are trying to build a Ferrari, Chelsea and Man City went out and bought one, I could say the same for the Redshite and Spurs but the wheels have come off theirs. I know it's frustrating but give Roberto Martinez time.

I was always totally against recruiting a manager who had a side relegated but was heartened by the way he gave the whole club and fans a real feeling of togetherness following the divisive reign of Uncle Bill.

However, as we both know, being a nice guy with good intentions does not qualify you to manage one of the largest clubs in top division history. His complacency about fitness, results and football basics leaves me with real concern.

I think the frustration is the amateur way the club is being run with a farcical close season, highly dubious signings, and no purpose about the players or the team.

Despite a huge warchest (ask Bill about his new larger sofa), the players signed have been average to poor apart from McCarthy.

The GK (Robles), CB (Alcatraz), and CF (Kone) have all been a total waste of signing costs and salary. If Atsu is not capable of replacing Mirallas for the last 30 minutes, he shouldn't be at the club.

These positions are the backbone of any club and the manager had them at Wigan so should have known their unsuitability for a top Premier League club.

This is a good team and we need to get behind them. Roberto is no fool and I fully expect him to turn things around.

I don't expect us to get anything at Man City on Saturday evening, but I'll still be there cheering us on.

The basis of your intel?

The mother in law gossiping over the fence?

If it were only the Spurs and Hull games which were shite then fair enough but truthfully, has there been one game in any competition this season, where we have dominated, played well and won?

Either have Howard boot it long or have another player back besides Jags or Distin to help them out.

It's also so predictable that it makes it easy for teams to play against us.

Any decent team would have put the game away 3- or 4-0 but we messed around when we had our foot on their throat and then allowed them to score with their only 2 real chances of the match – just like we did with the 3-3 with Liverpool at home. When the big moments come in games or seasons you can bank on Everton becoming crippled with fear and shying away from it, far safer to lose or draw and go again another day rather than actually have the stones to win anything. These players are comfortable in this space, the small club, underdog "look how well we did to come 7th" mentality.

There's only one winner at this club and he is on the treatment table with a hamstring injury. McCarthy turns up home and away against the worst and against the best. The rest are all just fair weather players hoping someone else will make something happen for them and they'll just turn up when its sunny and we're at home against Fulham swanning around.

This mentality is what sets players like McCarthy apart from Barkley. There's not much difference in age and arguably Barkley is more talented but which player has the mentality to get up and impose their will on the game? To actually trust enough in their own ability to alter the outcome of the match?

Last night, at the end, Barkley was so nervous he couldn't even trap a ball. There's precocious talent all over this team but Martinez has done nothing to shake off the mindset that dogged us throughout the Moyes years.

That is the difference between us and what we would consider competitors like Liverpool and Arsenal. Home and away they expect to win, that's why the inquest is so deep when they don't. We just 'hope to win', 'try to win', with a point being good on the road.

We're always 'building a season', 'going on a little run' 'waiting for the tide to turn'. It's always the same culprits Neville, Distin, Jags, Howard wheeling out this dross to the media after every bad result: 'top 4 is still within reach' – they are never going to grasp it, they don't want to grasp it, they'll lose enough games to be out of it, then win loads when the pressure is off, then choke when its back on. That is the Everton pattern.

Maybe when we finally get rid of the choking generation of the likes of Distin, Baines and Howard we'll see a different attitude and different results. It is absolutely no coincidence to my mind that our best runs of form last season came when either Stones or Oviedo were in the side. Two players who trust in their own ability and aren't afraid to show that they're better than the opposition. Sadly just not enough of them at Everton. Too many cowards happy with another season of Best of the Rest.

You do start to think what is the point? Chelsea and Man City with ridiculous backers have made clubs like Everton pretty pointless. God it’s depressing – I wish I didn’t care so much!!

Rather than look at managers, look at chairmen. How about having a John Moores back... now he was Nil Satis... Magnificent 7 to him was a Yul Brynner western.

The club is stale from top to bottom... and sadly I sense that Martinez has donned the slippers and is settling in nicely.

This is exact opposite of the Martinez philosophy, which is to let players express themselves, be themselves, and play creative football. He thinks if you do that then games will be won. And I'm no manager but last season I was beginning to believe it worked.

But only time will tell, and I can't help but think the trophy winning managers – Fergie, Mourinho, encourage a different kind of "arrogance" – a total ruthlessness aimed at winning at all costs. Do we really think when Osman goes out there he's thinking "Ok this is my one chance – I must not fuck this up. One bad pass could mean the end of my career", or is he going over the manager told him about being himself and creative football. I'd love for us to win trophies while taking the "nice guy" approach but maybe it just isn't possible.

Here we are, though, back to Square One (being kind). That tells me that teams have sussed it... and there's no Plan B... that's the worry.

It does look more Wigan than Everton at the moment. I just hope he gets his mojo back and fires the team up with ideas and imagination. Being fair, that's exactly what he did last season.

We, on the other hand, seem to accept a draw as a decent result and a win as a bonus. That small-minded mentality is something Roberto might be trying to change but that might well involve moving out a couple of the old guard who looked on a draw at OT or the Emirates as a victory.

Besic, McCarthy, Lukaku etc don't come with that baggage but for the likes of Howard, Baines, Jags, Ossie etc... running the big boys close might be an achievement in itself.

The moment that summed up the whole match for me was 20 minutes before the final whistle: Howard gets the ball and wanders around with it wasting time as though we were 6-0 up, either that or not knowing where to kick it. Meanwhile everybody around me is screaming abuse at him.

Badly done, Mr Martinez, badly done.

Martinez has been manager for 17 months and 3 transfer windows during which time he could have changed things and moved on those who are 'losers'.

He is currently using the same back 5 as the previous manager. During these 3 windows, he has signed one defender and one goalkeeper. The defender he signed is a crock and, despite Howard's persistent errors, the keeper he signed is not good enough to replace him.

Our current problems don't stem from out former manager's gang of losers but our current manager's tactics. His one-paced possession football at all-costs mentality clearly isn't working but he does not seem willing or able to try a different approach. Unless and until he does, be prepared for more frustrating home draws where the into thing we win is the possession stats.

The US National team doesn't play this way and as soon as Howard gets the ball for the US team he looks forward and tries to pick out a US player on the run moving forward. Howard at least for the US National team is pretty good at throwing overhead passes 30 yards on a diagonal to start a break.

Tim Howard isn't great at spraying the ball around like a Neuer at Bayern Munich (using his feet). Howard is pretty good at throwing long balls and I haven't seen him throw many this season. Martinez needs to figure out what the strengths of his players are and play to them rather than having players like Distin and Howard do things they aren't very good at.

It really does annoy me that Everton try to play out of the back in the same slow manner virtually every time they win the ball back in their own end. This means nobody from Everton are running when the ball is won back. They just jog into the same starting spot which has become predictable and totally inefective (in fact with the turnovers we're actually helping our opponents score goals on us).

Everton should scrap this slow out of the back play until they get Stones back and have a goalkeeper that can do something other than pass the ball 15-20 yards sideways.

Every manager goes through a bad spell, and his judgement is called into question, but the very best come out of these mini-crises stronger and better. I believe Roberto will be one of these and will learn from his mistakes.

He has built the level of expectancy to such a height with our performances last season that panic sets in very quickly amongst our fans.

Very poor show on Wednesday, I trust him to improve us in the long run.

Another fact is we never strengthened our squad compared to last season (retaining Lukaku doesn't count). A terrible half-cooked start to the season coupled with exertions in the Europa League has killed us off. 10th this year on current form. Too average teams teams with no distractions in good form (West Ham, Southampton, Swansea).