Slim creative pickings, claims Martinez

Aaaaargh... I could scream!

Brilliant isn't it? The likes of West Brom and Palace have been able to find players. Yet we can't. Nastasic, Sinclair. They would have been options at least in the short term. Unbelievable.

This quote is a cracker. Besic, who despite being excellent in recent weeks is soon to be dropped in favour of his beloved Barry when McCarthy returns, Eto'o who apart from Burnley and Krasnodar did sweet FA apart from sitting on his arse all the time, and Atsu who can't even get on the bench and has barely impressed when he has come on.

Only 3 'new' signings came in from last season. And one of them has already legged it to Italy. West Ham for example signed 6 or 7, all quality signings. Especially Sakho, Cresswell and Valencia. Song is another one. All bargains.

He is sounding increasingly desperate and even more deluded by the day. If he really thinks that our paper thin squad is strong enough, he is seriously mistaken.

The top brass are sitting there rubbing their hands with glee as we speculate over Pato and Konoplyanka rumours, 'Ha ha, they are a gullible lot aren't they?'

Sat there twiddling their thumbs while players who would have been decent options are either going cheaply to our rivals or out of the league altogether.

We are increasingly becoming more and more of a laughing stock every passing week. No ambition from the top, total delusion and spouting off ineffective, contradictory propaganda from BK's mouthpiece.

I don't know how Martinez sits there every day in his office and thinks that things are going well and that nothing is wrong.

It's a joke. I'm rapidly losing my faith in Roberto with every single passing day. I'm giving him Palace and the Derby as a last chance to prove me wrong or that's me done with him.

He really is taking the piss now.

You do, though, you see. Prudent managers absolutely do. It helps prevent everything from going to shite.

As I've just said on Twitter... Heaven forbid, but if Lukaku gets injured, we're relying on Arouna Kone to fire us all the way to Warsaw. No one can convince me that's sound management.

And neither Naismith nor Mirallas, as effective as they can be in their respective supporting attack roles, have shown they can lead the line effectively.

Simply hoping that the injury curse that's dogged us all season will simply end is a risk. So, either he's skint or stubborn; either way, it all comes off very small-time.

At one stage when there was talk of 6-7 new players we were linked with Perisic, Brahimi, Martins-Indi and Besic. We got the latter but could have bagged the lot for the extravagant Lukaku fee. That would have strengthened all areas bar the striker and let's face it, there are plenty who could have done a good job there for far less money.

Oh dear, the tide is turning.

Moyes was quite rightly pilloried for his apparent frugality in the transfer market although it is quite widely accepted that the transfer policy for the vast majority of his 11-year tenure was dictated by the dark forces that operate at Everton under the modus operandi of the Kenwright years.

Martinez appears to have taken less than 2 seasons to begin to talk the talk and walk the walk and, if he is fired, we will get a different manager who will probably adopt a different brand of football but who will invariably operate under the same straight-jacket restrictions of his predecessors. For every Rooney, there will be a Barkley.

Of course you should be thinking worse case scenario when you assemble a squad. What's he on?

Just stop talking and start winning matches!!!!!

Now, I'll be crossing my fingers every time Lukaku is on my TV screen Saturday.

It's certainly entertaining, Bill, but could you stop picking out these extreme archetypes as if you were picking the cast for a melodramatic play?

The asessments he is making is totally wrong, and he has even forgotten his famous "loan strategy" he spoke so fondly of last season.

RM has shown he can not cope this season, his statement to not prepare for the worst is shocking, he needs to be gone if we are to survive this season.

His statements seem to create even more concern, is this his way of building confidence?

I think last season was a one off based on his inept handling of this whole season.

Be afraid, be very afraid! The sad thing is they both obviously take us all to be fools... I want them both out!!

A paper thin squad that RM said needed 6-7 additions in the summer is now a further man down.

I will also go on record as saying that Kone is a waste of space (that should see him bag a hat trick on Saturday).

Martinez is gone, his face, his words, his eyes, his body language are all of a defeated man who knows he's lost the dressing room and the players.

Moyes almost fell apart under the pressure at Man Utd towards the end, it was uncomfortable to watch and I'm now getting the same feeling with Martinez. Its just uncomfortable listening to the man at the moment.

Deep down he knows he underestimated the size and expectations of the club and the pressures and history that go with it.

Martinez simply isn't good enough, a nice football idealist well and truly found out in the rough and tumble cut throat of the Premier League.

It took the Wigan cup game to get me to turn on Moyes, Martinez has lost me far more quickly. Does not mean I am any less an Evertonian or will not be backing the lads 100%

We have a big history for deadline day and whilst he talks about The golden oldies, a winger is an absolute must alongside A Big Prayer Book!

Well let's hope he has as we have two competitions left and I know one we will not win and hope we do not come in the last three.

It's just political nonsense, basically we aren't signing anyone because we cannot afford to.

'Slim pickings' is obvioulsy bollocks given the amount of players available on loan – half os Spurs' midfield for starters!

Martinez has has a very poor season up to now, no-one can deny that, but to blame him for not spending money when he has no control of the money is completely wrong.

I once heard Bill Kenwright talk at a function, and he was talking about being tuned in to how and what the Everton fans were talking about, and how they thought things were going. Somebody asked where he got his feedback from, and he replied, well from ToffeeWeb of course.

So, from this we can deduce that Bill Kenwright is well aware of our concerns regarding Martinez, so I am just awaiting Martinez to get the traditional vote of confidence from the board, then he will be booted out.

I am not giving BK my entrance fee upfront by buying a season ticket... I will pick my games, and pay at the gate. I feel this is the only way to show my displeasure. I cannot bring myself to boo the players,so this is my protest.

A drop in season ticket sales next season might just focus the Chairman's mind...

Or another way of looking at it, any money BK had for transfers in this window, is being kept to payoff RM if we sack him.

Depressing what ever way you look at it.

"We are not looking in this window to try to find solutions. It would be fair to say that all the work we did in the summer was to try to find a squad which was strong enough to compete in all the competitions. I still feel that the work is to try to get the players back in a confident mood. Remember we haven't lost any of the talent we had last season. I do feel that we have a very good and strong squad looking into the second half of the season. Saying that, as a football club we will always try and use the windows in our favour. We'll never stop trying to help the players we have at the club. The work is in more trying to recover the confident mood we always showed in our play and getting players back from injury and create a real competitive edge."

As someone who is inclined to take people at their word, I'm prepared to wait a little longer and see whether Martinez lives up to the commitment he makes in that final sentence. But as Martinez will be aware, unless performance levels and results show some improvement very soon, his time could be running out.

I think BK has told him he doesn't trust him with what's left of the TV money and that's why there are no new players.

As such, you cannot condemn the manager if he cannot request the board to replace ageing and injured players. The board, lets face it we mean BK and Elstone, sit on their hands and hope we survive, will only take action when its too late, then all the blame will fall on RM. Fall guy for the ineffective, abusive leadership of our club.

The calls to rid us of RM from supporters are crass because he has few options, his hands are tied, his naivety of trust in BK is laid bare for what it is. Mug is written across his forehead.

RM is not a bad manager, but he is not good enough to handle BK. I cannot see him laying down the law in Elstone's office or demanding a showdown with BK. Its not who he is. He is out of his depth at Everton in part because of his ability but mostly because of his inability to handle BK. Who appointed him? BK.. who bears that responsibility? BK. Who is nowhere to be seen? BK

Roberto is copping flack from every point, rightly so in my opinion, but the lack of alternative solutions he has available is due to the board and the lack of desire to spend.

Its a dangerous game BK is playing, few will or should believe that RM is solely the author of our downfall. A new manager will not change the leopard's spots... perhaps when David Moyes left and slagged us off at Man Utd, he was giving it back in spades to BK for the way he believes he was treated and the flack he took... I look forward to his book at some time in the future..

Everything you say about Bill is correct regarding supporting his manager in the transfer market, however, the position we find ourselves in is down to the manager. Martinez was responsible for preseason, tactics, player selection and substitutions.

We do have ageing players but they are exactly the same ones we had last season and every other team have them.

We have had injuries but so does every other team. Today in fact Martinez spoke the only true words out of his mouth to date when he said injuries had nothing to do with the teams performances this season.

Bill should have gone years ago and we will never compete for the top 4 regularly with him there but to somehow blame him for the shite we have witnessed this season is not on in my opinion.

Perhaps Chairman Bill could turn it into some macabre Spanish musical.....100 things to say at Goodison when you're already dead.

I'm sure it would be .......PHENOMINAL!

Apart from the names, I was also pretty clear about the fact that I needed to like the individual appointed, and I did; and I still do.

That doesn't mean that I have accepted or approve of our performances this season, because I really don't.

More than anything I am utterly bewildered how a squad and their manager can go from "Outside Chance for PL Champions" (yes, we really did have a quick chuckle over that, but nevertheless our performances, position and style did allow us to daydream, albeit very briefly and cheekily) to "Potential Relegation Candidates" within 12 months.

As a generality, has the relative success of last season simply gone to the players heads ?
Has RM's sunny outlook and positive philosophy encouraged them to think that they are FAR better than they really are ?
Did RM get "flattered" by the flirtatious attentions for his expertise during the World Cup.
Did RM, as a consequence of the attention AND the appointment at a far bigger club simply lose focus during close season ?
Were they ALL still basking in the Autumn Sunshine before the penny dropped ?
Was the mindset of the entire group far too cohesive, full of belief and lacking in hard edged, clear eyed, analytical, self searching to adjust quickly enough ?

I think that the answer to ALL of the above is a simple Yes. There is no "single issue" at fault when a well functioning unit malfunctions repeatedly and continually.

The warm weather training, however, finally and completely removes all the oversights, misjudgements, false assumptions and excuses.

Noses to the grindstone, hard fucking graft from here until May, no ifs, buts or maybes.
Solid hard graft, every player, every minute, every game, every week.

I haven't booed nor jeered (nor will I)

Looks like he's here for the foreseeable future, obviously without funds until we have sold exactly £28 million worth of talent to break even...

After that, I hope the board do the decent thing and axe him because it's obvious there's only one direction we're heading and it's certainly not up! I can't see us getting nothing at Palace so can you imagine the atmosphere at a booze-ridden Goodison Park at 5:30pm at the derby? It won't be for the faint-hearted – that's for sure. These are dark days indeed...

BK is to blame as he is the one who hired Martinez in the first place. After David Moyes left, we were looking for a manager for our club that has been in the Premier League since its conception.

Any person who is hired for an advertised position must be judged on his previous experience for that position. Look at Martinez's record with Wigan, then ask yourself was BK at fault for hiring him in the first place?

Marc Williams @ 40 your post above made me LOL, amidst the darkness and dread surrounding our club, it's spot on.

Steve Cotton @ 42 BK can't afford NOT to get rid. If we finish (say) 15th this season that is already a loss of £15 million worth of place money. Finish in the relegation places and go down and the club (as in a club in the top flight) will possibly finished for a generation.

I would say at this moment in our history we need someone with a large dose of common sense. What we have is a person with anything but that. He is someone who clearly is unable see the wood for the trees.

Personally I'm no longer in the state of fear that overwhelmed me as I left the ground after the West Brom game. I now accept the simple reality that Roberto is a nutcase. If the next 2 games go the way I expect them to, a smiling Roberto will be clearing his desk shortly after 7:15pm on 7 February 2015.

I expect a caretaker management to be set up under Joe Royle to ensure our survival. I have no doubt Joe, who has more common sense in his little finger than Martinez has in the whole of his phenomenal being, will ensure we survive.

Only then will we be able to write this season off and indulge ourselves in discussing who we want to manage us next season. Remember, as Bill once said, the most important people he listens to when appointing a new manager are Evertonians. I'm sure when the time comes Lyndon and Michael will play their parts in communicating our views (once we reach a sort of consensus) to the Club.

However, that's some way off . We now have 2 game which are crucial to our future. Let's look to it and turn our minds to see the broad sunlit uplands that lie before us!

And the Everton FC boss is backing the on-loan Christian Atsu to give his Blues career lift-off when he returns to the side.

Atsu has helped Ghana reach the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals and produced a man-of-the-match display in their deciding group game against South Africa.

The 22-year-old has struggled to make an impact at Goodison Park after sealing a season-long loan from Chelsea in the summer and a miserable first five months at the club were compounded when he picked up a hamstring injury in December.

Everton have been linked with a number of players who could bolster their options in wide areas but Martinez is happy with his lot and believes a fully fit and firing Atsu can have still make his loan move a success.

"It has always been the plan that Christian Atsu will be an important player for us in the second-half of the season and so it was great to see him doing so well and his man-of-the-match award against South Africa," said Martinez.

"He is a player who will come back strong and ready to have a big role."

I don't know how much he'd cost but I really don't understand this 'slim pickings' talk either. I haven't seen much evidence that Martinez looks very far outside of Spain and the UK.

I mean, he had to go to the World Cup personally to 'scout' one of the most outstanding defensive midfielders there.

Out of the running in the league early on.

Out of the FA Cup early on.

Out of the League Cup early on.

Still in the Europa Cup for now.

Looks like the "work" didn't actually deal with all competitions at all... Now it's a question of somehow maintaining our Premier League status till the end of the season. Hopefully we can then give this dimwit the heave ho.

Then you've got the Socceroos, how good would Leckie be on the wing for Everton? Pick him up from the Bundesliga Roberto. Spain and Wigan are not the only sources of good players.

As for goalkeepers, Socceroos keeper Matt Ryan is the best distributor by foot of a keeper I've ever seen, and plays as a sweeper. EXACTLY the Martinez style. He won keeper of the year in Belgium for Club Brugge and I must say after a shaky world cup he's been ultra impressive. We could do a lot worse at Everton than signing him up. He's young too!!

Please, lads, get real!

Bringing in 2 or 3 players will not alter the situation and to looking around for who blame other than the manager does not make sense.

The players we have can keep the team away from relegation and then in the summer get fresh blood in.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/30/Roberto-Martinez-Everton-battle-relegation

He has been found out and is totally out of his depth.

I think we all underestimated the amount of work OFM put in at the club and I think Roberto thought he was going to sit back and relax this season after his hols in Brazil.

For all we were unhappy with DM especially the latter couple of years when the board did nothing to help him break the glass ceiling Roberto has inherited a quality squad with some quality youngsters maturing at the same time he arrived and has had good backing in the transfer market last summer no doubt overpaying for a player he already knew rather than putting some graft in and coming out with the likes of Sakho (£4 million) and giving long term contracts to Gareth Barry, Tim Howard and Hibbo to name but three.

That combined with his shambolic preseason preparations should have been enough but his tactics and team selections together with the nonsense he has been spouting was enough to convince even the most supportive fans that he is incapable of managing EFC.

He is still talking stupidly about Barkley and Naismith being able to play wide when necessary.

I just hope we do well despite him tomorrow as I do not think we are relegation fodder just yet but with the upcoming fixtures we need a confidence booster.

Mitigation for such has been hard to find, yes players injured means other players may play out of position but tactics?? You play to your strengths and we haven't all year. That's down to RM. No one else.

But we are sleep-walking to relegation with a silent board and a delusional manager. We have unhappy players, unhappy fans but, listening to the mantra, you would never know it...

January not the time to strengthen the squad? Of course, no-one above us is buying, are they????? Errrrrr...

More like Bill has tightened the purse strings yet again. Can't blame him really, what with the money Martinez has wasted already. Probably told him "you got us into this mess, you get us out of it".

Then again, we never buy in January anyway. But I hope this doesn't come back to bite us in the bum. Seems like the others around us are buying though.

I was not disagreeing with your point but merely stating that there can be no defense (pardon the pun) for this manager whose shortcomings have been laid bare for all to see.

Rabbit caught in the headlights, Bill should put him (and the fans) out of their misery asap. Appoint a manager with a track record of relegating his former team and it should be no surprise he then threatens to deliver the same for us. An appalling managerial appointment of one dreamer made by another.

Black Bill wont let his golden goose fail and drop to a lower league and lose him even more chance of ever cashing in, if the results don't keep going our way Martinez will be out on his ear and we'll get some hack to steady the ship until the end of the season, nothing fancy but also nothing to write home about

I reckon the win yesterday will somehow convince him he can go with what we've got, will be a huge mistake if he thinks that though.