The Fine Balance

My view is, if we don't finish above the likes of Stoke, Leicester and Southampton, then we should take a serious look at ourselves.

Palace are an exception because, although it hurts to say it, I do think they have better quality players.

Liverpool are an enigma. You would think with the money they spent on players and bringing in Klopp they would be tearing up the league but thee is obviously something wrong in the camp.

Man Utd are awful IMO but LVG keeps grinding out results.

Spurs are the dark horses as they seem to be gathering momentum now.

We must aim for 4th and it is within our grasp, especially if we sort out the defensive issues, but I honestly can't see us doing better than 6th or 7th with this manager in charge.

Realistically, I expect us to finish mid table based on the football we play. I don't particularly buy into the theory that we have had the hard games and now the next 12 games should be a doddle. The Premier League isn't a good league, its a very inconsistent league, which also makes it a dangerous league. What I mean by that is that for example, West Ham can go to Liverpool, Arsenal and Man City and win, then lose to Watford, Bournemouth and Leicester. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense but does highlight inconsistent form, not only for West Ham but also the so-called bigger clubs.

So when it's stated that we have got over the "hard fixtures" then we have to ask ourselves, which of the top teams turned up to play us? Probably only the two Manc clubs really. So, with that in mind, you have to turn to the type of football we are playing. Very occasionally we play at a high level – see Southampton, Chelski; occasionally awful – see United, Spurs/Watford (yeah I know we got points in those games but still not sure how) but mostly middle-of-the-road ordinary; not great but not bad.

I am sure we are not the only club saying will the real ...... (insert club name) please stand up. I will be ecstatic if we finish 4th or even higher but somehow I doubt it. I'm not a big fan of Bobby but I have no problem with him being ambitious, just wish he'd show that on the field of play too.

We finished 6th, 5th, 5th, 8th, 7th, 7th, 6th in the years before Martinez rocked up with his promises of Champions League football. We are 9th now and finished 11th last season playing a zombie football which had the faithful howling their derision week after week.

Martinez needs to start putting up or shutting up. He's spent an awful lot more than the previous manager ever did, yet we have gone backwards.

It really hurts to see teams like Leicester serving up fast attacking football while we continue to put glass eyes to sleep.

West Ham was the start of our "easier" period, yet we couldn't beat them, we couldn't get close to beating them. So now we are talking about NEXT week being the start of our easier period.

The trouble with setting cunning 12 match plans against "easier" teams, is that you will inevitably start running into teams you met when you were having the hardest start in the history of the game.

Shut up, Bobby Lad, FFS, shut up.

Same as Roberto to date.

Too many draws against these type of teams last season, especially at home. Turn those to wins, we've got a good chance of at least top 6.

Villa will be tough because of their new manager and their encouraging draw against Man City. But we're still a lot better than them and should still win.

It's an important game. Draw/lose that, doubts start creeping in.

If I was going to cherry pick years I would have included the season Moyes finished 4th. I didnt because we played really ugly football to get there. I avoided the first 3 years because I didnt want Moyes apologist claiming he inherited relegation favourites.

6,5,5,8,7,7, 6 divided by 7 comes out at 6.2. So Moyes average sixth over his last 7 years. Martinez on the other hand finished 5,11 and is currently standing in 9th. His average position is 8.3 - eighth.

So despite spending over £70m quid, Martinez has managed to take us significantly backwards

Yesterday you where triumphantly proclaiming that Martinez has improved us "no end" as a team, but having been confronted by the facts, you are NOW desperately trying to massage them in an attempt to claim parity with TGT.

What a difference a day makes

I would like him and majority of our current players to remain at Everton, strengthen and improve the team with new additions, and assemble a team capable of playing well consistently and indeed competing. Then we can judge.

I wasnt triumphantly proclaiming anything. I was expressing my opinion.

If we really aim to finish in the top 4, we need to show more balls when it matters. Look at the West Ham game: we're 1-1 at there place and their best player is off injured. A top team would go for the throat, Alex Ferguson would have replaced a defender or a defensive mid and put on Mirallas looking for the 3 points. Not Roberto, he goes like for like with Mirallas for Kone.

If we want to compete for the top spots we have to be willing to lose a point in order to gain 3. A change in philosophy is needed; at home, we need more goalscorers and creative players on the pitch meaning players like Barry, McCarthy and Besic need to be played in defensive midfield alone, not in a two.

Kone is a must, right up with Rom because clearly Rom is happier and more potent when played with Kone. If Kone's form drops, we need to have a Plan B: Mirallas or Naismith right up top or a youngster blooded even if only for a quick fix, maybe Brewster (banging them in for the Under-18s) or McAleny.

Going back to away fixtures, maybe stick with Martinez's setup of two defensive mids but again find a place for Kone and Deulofeu so as we can quickly turn defensive positions into attacking ones.

If, after 60 minutes, we don't look like winning and we're on for a draw, throw caution to the wind and make a decision early into the second have so any subs have time to influence the game.

Either way, if we want to turn our current mid-table position into a top 4 spot we have to change as the league table has proved over the last 12 months that what we are doing will not push us to where we want to be.

Many teams will get better next season, notably Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea, this is the season to steal the march on them all.

I think we may have had a light bulb moment.

We have some excellent players and I believe we are still going to get better! The reason? Pace, we have more than any other team in the Premier League and in reserve too, plus players who can get on the end of it and score.

It's also a matter of balance and getting the combinations right all over the pitch, and it's starting to gel. If fate is good to us injuries to key players then the imaginary glass ceiling could be broken, much to the annoyance of those Sky luvvies I hope.

Yes, we are going nowhere. Yes we have picked up 4 points more than we did in the same fixtures last year but it is not good enough for anything approaching Europe.