Jagielka: Not 'make or break' yet

This man should not be Captain. Good servant? Yes.

Captain? No.

We've not reached panic stations yet... That's not the point Phil! As Captain you should be demanding excellence each and every game.

This man's bar is too low to lead.

Oh for a local lad with loyalty, talent and fire. Kenny or Ledson one day perhaps.

Right now I would go with McCarthy. He leads by example and can blow his top.

Of the other candidates, Eto'o is too old, Gibson too sick, Stones too nice and too young and Besic too new.

My God this is nuts.
We have been on a quite appalling run since, well since the end of October and let's be honest, the Villa and Burnley games aside in that said month, we were horrendous before then too.

How can it not be make or brake?

If we lost to City today and go at West Ham then the match at home to West Brom is a 9 pointer.

If you head into the Spring with the mere 6/7 wins then ththat's a relegation battle.

One quick glance at the fixture list and there aren't too many games that look favourable between now and March, even games against West Brom and Palace will take on a new level now due to their new stewardship.

Not make or brake??

Really?

In some respects I feel sorry for players in this situation, they are footballers (well most of them) not spokesman.. .

Need to pull it out of the bag today, no stupid selection... I.e no Distin, or Alcaraz, ideally Besic and Barkley in the middle. 4 at the back..Lukaku on fire.

Barkley, Mirralles, Lukaku and Naismith (due a good game) can scare Citeh if played properly...

Complacency has set in here, and I now genuinely think we are fucked.

Commendably he prefers to lead by example and encouragement – much better than bawling individuals out on the pitch which is just playing to the gallery and affects team morale.

However, all the strengths (and there are many) of this squad need to be harnessed this afternoon to send out an unequivocal message that the lean period is over and that we once again mean business.

What is our current record, regardless of our 4 consecutive defeats, 1 win in about 9 or 10 games? For me, if we hadn’t won in 3-4 before the consecutive defeats then that would of been a worry to me and things would be said.

We’re a team that from last season, was used to doing well, winning games and not going many without a win and have aspirations to be at the top end and challenging the top 4 and yet we’ve been struggling for months now and our captain doesn’t think we’ve reached panic stations yet, get a grip lad!

Course there’s concern for panic, there was weeks a go, we’re now in the bottom half, conceding a lot of goals and closer to the bottom 4 than top 4 and for a team that expects better and aspires to better it isn’t good enough and he should see that and say so! Like some have said, would likes of Gerrard come out and accept this and paper over cracks, no he wouldn’t, he’d be a straight shooter and say it how it is and demand more, like all good captains do!

For me, the best captains are the ones like Ratcliffe, Adams, Keane, Gerrard etc, all top players, loud, aggressive when they need to be and demand the very best and 100% effort and commitment like they’d all give and they was very sore losers that wanted to win badly and Jags is nowhere near like any of those.

For me, Jags is just one of lads that likes his banter and wants to fuck about. A proper captain can do that, but knows when to separate himself from that and be serious about his duties and I’m not sure Jags as or can grasp that?!

http://viewfromtheroyalbluemersey.wordpress.com/famous-Everton-quotes/

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/30735905

Personally I think he should be sold if we can find a suitable replacement that we can afford, him along with at least 6 or 7 of our squad, we need a clear out.

Moyes left more over the hill players than quality ones when he left, there's going to big upheaval needed.

Naismith has scored 1 goal in the PL since August. What sort of example is that?

5 March 1994 we played home to Oldham. Before that game we were 15th in a top league of 22. Management team member, I'm fairly sure Gabriel: 'we're not going to qualify for Europe and we're not going to be relegated, so opportunity to [etc]...' Sick feeling in pit of stomach. We beat Oldham 2-1. Only 11 games to go. We won 1 of the next 10. You all know the rest.

"Yes we are all panicing, we have to win this next match or it is a disaster".

Never going to happen.

What's for us to worry about, then ? The skipper implies that we have a great '60 minutes' team and that the lads are working hard on seeing games out.

No need for a rallying cry, he says, and the players can't stop laughing at how we mere mortals see the situation.

Me, I'm just glad we are in such good shape and have such an inspiring captain at the helm.

Captains of sports teams are looked up to by the rest of the players because of either there deeds on the pitch or the fact that they help, cajole, encourage and organise them so they play better as a team. It’s called being unselfish as the Captain and respectful by the players, Jagielka!!!

I’m glad you find it funny, though, Mr Captain, because I found your attempt at defending v West Ham a fucking joke too!! As ever, people’s true colours come out when the pressure is on and this bloke can’t handle the pressure.

Whether your manager has to be as assertive is a moot point, Fergy was and LVG & Mourinho clearly are but the City fella and Wenger aren’t. That said, I can never see Arsenal winning the league or the champions for the simple reason the manager in keeping with Martinez is not assertive and as a result picks a team lacking in character, so much so that I cannot recall who the Arsenal captain is?

Right now Jags is our captain and that tells me we are going to tread water at best and at worst we will flirt with relegation. If and when Macca’s fit I would make him captain but what I really want is a new manager and right now Slaven Bilic would be first choice with Alan Irvine as his number two and my wild card choice would be Eddie Howe with Irvine as his number two.

I don't know the context of the interview but focussing on our defeats seems counter-productive. We had just lost 4 in a row but that last minute goal in the Cup should transform the squad into a mood of positivity and hunger for the next game. We broke the cycle and finished a game for the 1st time in ages. He should be talking how the team are bursting to get at City.

Don't know what you mean. He's played in the hole all season apart from one disaster on the wing. He's not scored since Utd away on August 5th and people wonder why we can't win a game. He's a championship player.

If we do survive this season, a massive root and branch overhaul is required.

Green shoots? Nah, too much dead wood.

The motto is "Nil Satis Nisi Optimum".
Did they run out of ink after "Nil"?

But if you're looking for a local boy who cares about the club, has a go at people on the pitch, is a consistent performer then look no further than Baines.

Then RM was interviewed and he used the word "phenomenal" describing the squad and the situation had nothing to do with him, it was all about the players enjoying themselves again.

McCarthy should take over the captain's role and if he goes, then give it to Besic.

I despair right now and as much as I want 3 points today I might as well ask for Sandra Bullock to knock on my door and ask herself in for dinner!

If the players genuinely aren't motivated look towards the management team.

If you want to hear Centurian battlecries read some history.