Garbutt keeping the faith

Bobby could do with reading http://theexecutionersbong.wordpress.com

Time to put the thinking cap on, Bob.

After the absolute shambles that was meant to be pre-season, does it actually surprise anyone with the way this season has gone?

Maybe a lot of us brushed the pre-season results under the carpet; I did for one, but I was at the Porto match and also the Celta Vigo game at Prenton Park and what I didnÂ’t brush under the carpet was the woeful performances and the blatant lack of organization.

The season started in horrendous fashion squandering the lead with late goals against Arsenal and then the Chelsea debacle, itÂ’s steadily got worse as we have gone on, the team looks like itÂ’s just met eachother in a playing field and been thrown together at the last minute.

It shouldnÂ’t shock anyone though because those of us who have watched football for long enough saw it coming in the latter stages of last season when we collapsed against sides such as Palace, and Southampton, and the Arsenal game in the FA Cup.

We didnÂ’t do enough or sign the right type of players in the summer; we knew we need a creative midfielder to take the burden off Barkley and we knew we needed a man-mountain of a defender.

ItÂ’s all hindsight but we are in a horrible mess.

I thought it was completely negligent by Martinez to not bring in a top defender last summer, knowing that Distin was a year older, Stones still relatively inexperienced, and Jags always prone to being done over.

Martinez needs a monumental transfer window now. There is no way we can do anything with this team that we havenÂ’t already seen this season. If ever a group of players needed a injection of fresh blood, itÂ’s this lot.

a) He is naive about talking to the press and has unwittingly broken ranks (with his last quote adding some weight to that);

b) He is the only one wanting to take responsibility with the senior players abrogating their responsibility again – or just wisely not spilling the beans.

The last quote kind of confirms suspicions about a total lack of any Plan B though doesnÂ’t it? Lazy lack of preparation in all aspects of fitness and organisation from the management team in my opinion which is all too apparent on the pitch. Get fit and work out some deadball routines at least FFS.

ItÂ’s always been true that you have to earn the right to play, Roberto seems to think you just turn up having knocked the ball about a bit in training.

IÂ’m not looking to pin all of EvertonÂ’s problems solely on EtoÂ’o but it seems that, as he has been given more game time, the form of those around him including Barkley and Lukaku has dipped alarmingly.

I said a thread yesterday that if we had a bigger squad with more quality in midfield, for example the dayÂ’s of Arteta, Cahill, Fernandes and Gravesen, then IÂ’d have been loaning Barkley to a Championship club to get him more in tune with the hard work side of the game.

He needs to get more fire in his belly, Wayne Rooney had it when he was 17 and Gerrard certainly had it at a younger age than Barkley.

Barkley to me doesnÂ’t strike me as a great motivator, much like Rodwell really, a bit of a Rolls Royce player but lacking the aggression.

I have said many times, not just regarding Barkley but others too, that you can have bundles of talent but in this game the one thing that gets you through games is your desire and passion to work hard, in the Premier League you have to work hard to be able to display your talents.

Look at all the best players...

From Aguero to Rooney, to Suarez last season to the likes of Costa and Hazard at Chelsea the one thing they all do first and foremost is put in a real shift, never giving the opponents a second of peace.

I get the feeling with too many of our playerÂ’s, we are all too nice, too lovely dovey, look at the penalty incident on Boxing Day, why was Jagielka not in the refÂ’s face like Shawcross was for Stoke on the Walters red card potential incident?

This is football itÂ’s not a gentlemanÂ’s sport anymore, we might not like it but itÂ’s a plain fact.

To be successful you need bastards, someone who is going to be a leader, a John Terry, a Dave Watson, a Jamie Carragher, a bloodied Terry Butcher, thatÂ’s why as much as we donÂ’t like him IÂ’d have Shawcross in our defence in a heartbeat.

Imagine a back line that included Shawcross in central defence and Peter Cech in goal (even on loan until May?

I bet weÂ’d see more organization straight away.

Unlike Rooney or even to a lesser extent James Vaughan was.

Everton are in need of a hard player.

Deal been done?

Price been agreed?

Nothing would surprise me with BK at the helm, he needs to find some cash to start the new build off and Barks is his cash cow.

Left side one week, right side the next... behind a forward... in front of the back four... He is a kid learning the game.

You could be right, of course, that Barkley may know already heÂ’s not here this time next year. Personally, I donÂ’t see him instantly flourishing in a top four side, and then of course a few seasons on the bench wonÂ’t be making him enjoy his football, will it?

I just hope for the lad he doesnÂ’t go down the Rodwell road; this was a guy with heaps of talent at one stage and we all hyped him up again (probably too much) and he ends up with his tail between his legs a few years later on the Sunderland subs bench.

There is a lot to be said for how far a willingness to work hard will get you. The 2004-05 squad were, as we know, very limited technically but players that worked their arses off for us, like Marcus Bent, Tim Cahill, Lee Carsley, Weir, Stubbs, Hibbert and of course we had a truly quality keeper in Nigel Martyn – the work they produced that season carried us through.

I was encouraged by MartinezÂ’s confidence from the off. He made a statement of intent upon his arrival and quickly put his stamp on the way we tried to play.

I think the loss of some of the backroom staff may have played a role in the poor preparation for this season. Poor selection decisions and a run of injuries have certainly contributed to the slump.

As pointed out elsewhere, Gareth Barry has been so far off the pace that it must surely be evident in the battery of performance indicators the coaches have at their disposal. Martinez has been married to the idea of two sitting midfielders even when it is clear that we do not have players fit or in any way capable of doing an adequate job in that role.

Playing players out of position, or players clearly out of form, just to fit a rigid tactical structure, demonstrates a lack of awareness and has hurt us badly so far this season. The instinctiveness of our natural attacking players has also been badly affected.

The comments from Luke Garbutt on the confusion there appears to have been, in terms of the roles players were tasked with, for recent games, are worrying. If Martinez is attempting to inject some pace and fluidity into play but failing to communicate the plan, it explains a lot of what we witnessed against Stoke and especially at Newcastle.

Manager and senior players donÂ’t seem to have any balls to face he media... or maybe the senior players have had enough of spouting crap about all being fine and just needing to try harder...

As for the comments, well they were a bit naive and unfortunate in that they confirm the impression of an entire Everton back-room team running round like Lance Corporal Jones from DadÂ’s Army shouting, "DonÂ’t panic!"

As a fan, IÂ’m willing to give Martinez more time, but only if heÂ’s willing to pull his head out of the sand and make a few decisions, like how weÂ’re going to play the next few games. If Martinez needs more support then itÂ’s his job to ask for it and BKÂ’s job to make sure he gets it. Whether that is changes to backroom staff, playing staff etc.. it needs dealing with asap.

When people were talking about a relegation scrap earlier in the season it was a bit of an over reaction. ItÂ’s not now. Even if we beat Hull, we will still be in potential trouble. We need to start planning for February as well, thinking about how we can add a bit of steel. If we donÂ’t then we really could be in trouble come April/May.

As long as possible hopefully, at least them Martinez may wake up to the fact we need a fucking nnew NUMBER 1.

Robles is shite but Howard hasnÂ’t been any better this season has he?

Robles didnÂ’t play at home to Palace or at Southampton or when we lost 6-3 to Chelsea.

I want a goalkeeper who doesnÂ’t look like heÂ’s part of a travelling circus.

I so wanted to be proven wrong as EFC is far more important to me than my concerns being proven right.

That last comment by LG whether through media inexperience or not sums up this season since last July and it is truly time for RM to take his stubborn unworkable ideals elsewhere and BK needs to stand up to his responsibility and bring a winner with attitude.

Distin has gone right off form of any kind and he is more of a worry for me. Looks like he really doesnÂ’t ever want the ball or indeed to be there. Good fella who has served us well....

Alcatastrophic scares me - really not convinced by him at all

Barry, again, good lad but has been caught in possession way too many times for anyoneÂ’s comfort recently.

Surely to goodness RM will field a better balanced side (who know what system they are playing before the actual game starts) against Hull.....

I know exactly what you mean Jim @25. The problem is that The Incredible Bearded Man (Howard) does fit right into the circus act that has become Everton this season. To mix metaphors his or indeed The Incredible Punching ManÂ’s (AKA Joel Robles) performances blend very well with the Keystone Cops defending in front of them.

I do of course use the term defending very loosely.

Pick a formation (any recognised one will do)

Look at your squad including u21Â’s and assign them their best position. Tell/agree with players what you want job you want them to do.

Put who you feel is the best player into the team - if they play badly or are injured (or just plain shot), put your next best player from that position in even if that is a young player. DonÂ’t be tempted to experiment e.g this week we are short in the middle so left back as centre mid/centre forward as winger or this week weÂ’ll have a go at 4-1-3-1.

Why anyone should be surprised at GarbuttÂ’s last comment amazes me. It was all so bloody obvious from the start that the team had just been thrown together with just an instruction to Â’keep passingÂ’. At one time quite early on Baines was in a central attacking spot. Total football, maybe, but Baines up front, I bloody ask you !

Anyway,I suspect weÂ’ve seen the last of young Luke for a while, too many other options to play around with !

WeÂ’re not in the shit just yet but approaching fast.

Hull away has really taken on a new meaning. Not a peep out of BK or the board yet and the media has been surprisingly held back re criticizing Roberto but IF we loose to Hull and make it 4 losses in a row (none of which against a Â’topÂ’ side). Then surely something has to give.

There simply wonÂ’t be any excuses or anywhere to hide.

IÂ’m not sure he can. I need to see more motivation coming from the manager.

ItÂ’s a hard question to really answer whether Martinez can sort it or not.

The fact is throughout the entire calender year of 2014 Everton have lost 17 matches counting domestic cups and the Europa League.

ThatÂ’s alarming really when you think about it.

The first half of last season under Martinez was fine until the beginning of this year, our form with the exception of the 7 match winning run, had been that of a bottom half club.

We have been annihilated in the quarter final at Arsenal in March, smashed 3-0 at Swansea and could have lost the Anfield Derby 7-0 in January on a totally horrendous night.

We have lost TWICE at home to Crystal Palace conceding six goals in the two matches.

We have been beaten 6-3 at home..!

Its been going on nearly 12 months.

Kid clearly doesnÂ’t give a fuck.... canÂ’t be arsed in the least quite obviously. [smothered in sarcasm]

ItÂ’s astounding what I read on here at times.

Back to Garbutt the kid is class and I for one would like to see him starting a lot more often.

A 7-match winning run surrounded by sod all either side of it apart from clueless self destruct type football.

If we get beat at Hull, BK needs to sack RM without any feelings, appoint Duncan Ferguson, and tell him to rattle some EGOs in that dressing room, Swansea appointed Monk, We should follow suit. Otherwise it will become a desperate situation by the end of January.

Pick your heads up blues. Without Howard and Jags though, I can see this being a long, long season. Keep the faith though blues but bill please grow some balls and sack him if it gets worse. COYB. And play Besic!

Big Dunc hasn't had much "scare factor" since he's been coach.

It also didn't work out that way at any club Roy Keane had been a manager/coach of.

There are different ways of motivating a team, I guess most players don't mind a good rollicking now and again as long as there is some knowledge there too.

Joe Royle was a perfect example of being a good motivator, I'd love to know what Big Joe used to say in the dressing room because it worked more often than not.

I was a major fan of Martinez 12 months ago and convinced myself we had got the right man but as they always say, it's when the initial honeymoon period is over that you truly find out about a managers credentials.

Martinez got nearly everything right in his first 6 months of management but from January this year he began making bizarre decisions, all starting with that beanpole Traore.

Ever since then he has gradually made more bizarre decisions followed by some truly ridiculous statements.

He is clearly not the great motivator I thought he was, and worryingly he doesn't look to have men around him as coaches capable of bringing anything to the table.

If we lose to Hull and get knocked out to West Ham I wonder if he will even get the chance to make any signings during the transfer window?

We are currently devoid of confidence and no game seems winnable but we must realize that although Roberto has clearly made mistakes we have also been beset by bad luck, bad decisions,terrible injuries and a player in Distin who unfortunately has gone.

Against Newcastle we were doing well until Sylvan plays the whole frontline onside as he is 5 yards behind quite a good line held and then he didn't even attempt a challenge and just stood there looking lost as the goal went in. He didn't even attempt to recover from his mistake

Roberto unfortunately has had to rely on him even though he is our 4th choice centre half and is costing us practically a goal a game. I take no delight in slating this great servant but he is hurting us.

We will see a dramatic difference just from swapping Stones for Distin in the 2nd half of the season and I really hope the board backs Roberto so we can get 2 wingers and a centre half.

Even if there is no money available I would offer Baines to City and use the money to get Reid, Ayew and Dellboy in now.

You are absolutely spot on when you say Barkley has been shoved from pillar to post. How can that help his confidence or developement ?

A few have complained on here that he players are getting off scot free, but as you quite rightly point out Martinez is destroying the confidence of the best player he has ever managed.

The kid doesnt know whether he 's coming or going, yet HE is the one being criticised.

Still at least some penny 's are begining to drop

I used the phrase " the penny’s dropped" several weeks ago so good for you that you took notes and stored it for further use.

Barkley should be given a settled position and a run of games in that position.
I have mentioned a 4-3-3 formation for several months now with him McCarthy and Besic.

Defensively, this is the worst Everton team I have ever seen. watching from the stands it feels as soon as the opposition put us under any sort of pressure they will score. I now believe the players share the same anxiety as the fans. There isn't one player playing with any degree of confidence. I think we will be in the bottom three by mid February.

Look at the facts: last season has gone. This season is going from bad to worse with each game. There has been no sign of light at the end of the tunnel.

The manager has lost the crowd and lost the plot – now he needs to lose his job.

So 35 points from 19 games, compared to 21 points from the same number of games this season. We would be top 4 with that total right now. So the problems began this season for all the reasons people posted about above.

RM's biggest fault this season has been persevering with players whose performances (and attitude?) have been dismal - Howard, McGeady, Barry, Distin, Coleman,Barkely and Lukaku. Now the first four should be sent packing at the end of the season, while the last three are a luxury we cannot afford right now so the subs bench is the only place they should be.

As for the broader point of whose to blame for this season, I would say partly the manager and staff but mainly the players. The defensive coach who helped us to the third best record in the league has not asked experienced players to screw up the basics, nor can he mitigate for 10 players making errors that led to goals. I am pretty sure RM did not tell to the team to stop pressuring the ball or making tackles, nor to drop the tempo of the passing game we showed last season.

Where he has been found lacking is under-cooking pre-season, being too idealistic in his passing game when the team's form means it is not up to it, but mainly being too loyal to certain players who have let him down badly. You cant sack a squad so it is RM's coat that is on a shaky peg - but I have totally lost respect for some of these players and want them out at the end of the season.

Darren describes Barkley as the best player in our squad.

I rate him very highly myself

100% effort in EVERY game should be a given.
Our crowd will forgive a lot if they see that

He actually said the other day that he doesn't believe in defending to get a result.