Martinez defends transfer record amid Niasse doubts

Never mind the average age.
Look at our average points, you moron. And by the time Niasse is ready, he'll be close to 40.

We cant judge him on his previous 19 minutes – let's see what he actually does moving forward.

Martinez always bangs on we will be stronger after each transfer window, where and how? Six windows now and no cover at right-back, no natural left footed player and no cover or options for Lukaku.

His two better signings were Barry and Lukaku but he had them on loan for a season, Lukaku had just scored 17 goals for West Brom so not rocket science.

My big concern is, if Martinez is here next season, he will waste substantial transfer funds and we will continue on this clear downward spiral.

We've needed another RB for three years. We've needed a decent back up striker for 3 years. We still do for both.

No mention of Kone, Alcaraz, Atsu, Traore, McGeedy....never mind that Niasse is our third highest transfer fee - ever. 13m still also looks wasted for
McCarthy (4th largest transfer fee).

Given footballers talk to each other, I'm beginning to wonder if we got Niasse in Jan because our other targets didnt want to play for Roberto. After all, we knew Naismith was going well before the window and all we got was Niasse, almost at the last minute. He's hardly one for the future either, he's 26.

I am more worried by the Carra interview in Daily Mail. RM is not going to change his philosophy and the interview showed that he has learned nothing. Trotting out the fact he likes scoring from open play etc.

The guy in front of me in Lower Gwladys summed it up on Saturday when he called him a bell end for putting the new lad on with a few minutes left. He should have given him 20 minutes at least.

I still think the media think the protest was a minority view. We need to ramp it up for the Norwich game.

Martinez out.

Martinez added: “We all work together really, really well. This isn’t a moment to do anything different other than carry on, going step by step with the games in front of us."

Can nobody offer a firm but unsubstantiated rumour that he's going? Please!

I near fell off my chair after the Fellaini & Anichebe quote.

There has to be real concerns regarding the mental state of this manager. Why he's even allowed to make statements to the media sums up the whole club. It's run by a shower of fucking morons.

He was our best center-half at that time; ever since he left, our record of defending set-pieces and corners is really terrible. It seems his attitude is to sell them off if they are any good.

Get him out of the door NOW! Kenwright also...

The Russians vote Niasse their player of the year!

Roberto says he is not the finished article!

Is that not a contradiction in terms?

Or is it another delusional statement from Roberto?

Roberto won't be replaced until the end of the season, because Pellegrini is not available until then.

When he joined the club the average age was 30, so he sold Fellaini and Victor who were both around 25, and brought in Barry at 33 and two others, who were young but the 3 as a whole did not do much to lower the age of the group.

Martinez played Barkley and Stones, two players he inherited, and that was the biggest age drop (along with Rom who cost £28m, a sum Moyes never got close to spending).

Martinez also forgets to add Alkaraz and Kone to his list, both of whom are 30+.

As for Niasse, the lad deserves a chance, he didn't play anywhere near as poorly as some pundits made out at the weekend.

Yes he looked a little rusty, but for me he grew into the game, only to be taken off in what I can only describe as more poor man management by Martinez.

Niasse has been getting shit from ever angle, all down to Martinez putting the lad on in games that simply didn't call for him. Two minutes here, three minutes there, and of course the game v west ham. Looking back to the West Ham game, imagine how far away from match fit Niasse must have been, if he's only just now getting up to speed, 8 weeks later. Lamb to the slaughter comes to mind.

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/32414/10265637/sunday-supplement-Roberto-Martinez-overly-positive-on-Evertons-disastrous-season

I'm convinced he's sold his "phenomenal" football strategy to Moshiri and he's bought into it. It's a terrifying thought that Martinez might be handed a shed pile of money in the summer.

He just looks at best like another loose cannon Bakayoko-esq, no real control over what he's doing and for a big guy not much strength.

I really would jack in signing these unknowns for big money, we never get a Mane like Southampton do we??

We very rarely have a big money success from abroad.

After taking over the Moyes squad then to adding a 25- 30-goal striker, one would expect to be up there with the big boys – NOT saving us from going down.

I take it you're taking the piss, fella?

I started reading the headline "Martinez defends..." as if!

Niasse is a strange one, how he could he buy such shite? The man who also bought McCarthy, McGeady, Alcaraz, Kone - overall a very poor transfer record, Moyes shits on him in this area.

"The record is there." What does this mean?? There are records there, yes - 'worst home record in Everton history.'

As for wherher he'll go, let's think about it. If the board had agreed he was definitely staying, you'd have thought they'd say, unless they're delaying it so more people buy ST as with him incharge they may not buy. But let's stay with, they haven't decided he is staying. So then it's prob. either a) they've agreed he's going and will announce it at the end of the season b) they haven't decided, but in all probability will decide he'll go.

What's annoying the fans is the 'uncertainty' - no announcement. For me though the lack of announcement points to him not staying. He'll be gone at the end of the season.

As for his transfers, I give you Traore, McGeady, Alcaraz and Kone. Need I say more?

Will he lose a moment's sleep if EFC is relegated?
Remember how he did the dirty on Wigan after taking them down.

I can't believe as many as 6% of voters in our poll want him to stay on.

It's been obvious for well over a year that he's incompetent by any standard we care to measure a PL football manager.

The fact that Niasse was signed when unfit, and still isn't fit, must surely have been clear to a doctor..........but Martinez, with his own physio expertise, knows better (he did after all get rid of most if not all of the medical team he inherited).

Consistent failure to most sane people demands a change but then read that quote at #21...........meaning Martinez knows better.

.........And then it hit me!

He probably thinks goal-machines Victor and Fellaini will now be worth far less than what we got for them! Scoring problem sorted for when Lukaku leaves! Brilliant!!!

I just pray that Moshiri knows better.

I applaud all those that made the effort to protest on Saturday, however it was underwhelming. The only good thing that came from it was the twat of a chairman showing his true colours and they aint blue. Trying to drown out the supports will just make us madder.

Hopefully there will be more protesters and we have to keep it going and not be bullied into submission my this fraud Kenwright.

In 3 years, only Stones and Barkley are regulars and they were already being integrated by Moyes. Where are the rest of them?

Alan Biley, Peter Eastoe, Joe Harper, Mick Walsh, Paul Wilkinson... etc. Yes our Russian Player of the Year is up there with the worst of them. What an awful signing.

Maybe we'll all be on here in October praising Martinez as we sit at the top of the EPL.
Oh look another flying pig goes past.

Now we just need a manager who can get them to win.

Even when he tries to put his inadequacies into context, he gets it wrong.

All he's got to do is say that he inherited a good solid team that hadn't won anything, with some ageing players that needed replacing with a relatively small budget, with an urgent need to get a decent striker and two midfielders. He could rightly mention he'd brought in Barry, McCarthy and Lukaku and then Funes Mori and Galloway, then quietly mention that like with all managers, some signings just don't work out.

I'd have taken that, but he just can't help himself. Describing Anichebe as a goal threat tickled me. If he had any brains he'd mention that he/the club got good money for him and Fellaini (who'd spent 18 months telling us he belonged in a better side) and for a net cost of around £10m got three better players. Just for the record I think Lukaku is the best striker we've had for years, Barry has been a great signing who should be kept at the club once he's retired and McCarthy would be a good centre mid in a team that knew what it was doing.

I'd love a journalist to ask him why he brings in experienced players (Atsu, Traore, Niasse) and immediately tells us it'll take months to get them up to speed.

I suspect that Martinez has been holding a grudge since he stated we needed seven players and we got two. I'm guessing that's where the 'lack of investment' quote came from. I reckon Bill told him he'd back him all the way and didn't at the time when reinforcements were needed.

That's history now and no matter what he says, he's taken a good,solid top six team of chokers to a midtable mess.

If I was Moshiri, I'd be sitting in my office collecting all these fabulous quotes from Roberto, I'd stroke my white cat and look forward to the meeting where I ask the question, 'How does all this nonsense equate to a team that finished 5th, 11th and 11th?' Then I'd give him his settlement and usher in the new guy I've been desperate to introduce.

You can't discount McGeady for being 'dirt cheap' because his wages certainly won't be. Here is what the Celtic manager had to say about it when there was talk of him joining them on loan....
" We would not be able to pay the salary that the likes of McGeady are on. The difference is so unbelievably big that there is no chance. The wage structure would be broken 10 times if we did that!"

Other than joining with the other 50-odd million people in this country fervently supporting Leicester, I am trying to detach myself emotionally from football because of this floundering nit-wit idiot and his straw clutching. Every day I have to read or hear this garbage. Why can't he just leave us, or shut his fkg mouth. Does he not have a PR advisor?
It is actually spoiling my days now. I'm glued to this site, bbc sports/football news, sky, talk sport hoping to hear he's finally gone.

I do not care in the short term who steps in. It can only cause optimism - certainly in my life. If he's here next year and this just continues ....I'm fucked. I don't know what I'll do. I know if I was a player I'd want away.

His signings have generally been poor: Alcaraz, McGeady, Kone, Niasse... I'm sorry but he looks shit; Robles is not good enough; Atsu and Traore, even though loan signings were also shit. That's far too many shit signings – he man has not got a fucking clue.

The bit about Fellaini & Anichebe winds me up about this idiot, talking like he had no choice in those 2 going when he talks about losing their goalscoring threat, blah, blah, blah....

He wanted rid of the pair at the end of the day! He chose to sell them so he could sign the likes of McCarthy and Barry & Lukaku on loan! Don't go moaning when it was your own choice to let those players go ya moron!

I just can't wait till the bloke has been sacked, I can't! I don't think I've ever hated a manager has much has I hate him, not just Everton managers, any manager! He really does make my piss boil.

17 names there. Out of those only 3, Barry, McCarthy and Lukaku are regular 1st team picks. Robles only gets picked because of fan pressure to drop Howard. The rest of them either never feature or get the odd sub appearance or have left the club altogether.

The fact is that three years on the bulk of the 1st team is still made up from the players Roberto inherited from OFM. All three years older BTW.

Only Lukaku has made any real impact and if it hadn't been for Kone's injury I doubt we would have had him.

Roberto's buys are mostly has beens or never weres.

I have always wondered what makes a good manager. Clearly, some managers work well at lower levels (Dario Gradi) but would never hack it with so-called super stars, some satisfy the egos of galacticos but could never hack it at Accrington. Some are good at maintaining a team at a certain level but generally don't go any further (Moyes, Wenger at Arsenal recently), others are adept at preserving Premier League status (Pulis). The Mourinho's achieve success with large budgets and then piss everybody off.

What sort of manager do we want? Personally, I'd like to see a younger, ambitious manager who has had some success in a decent standard foreign league or someone who has been shown to consistently improve a Premier League team. Above all, he must have access to the foreign market. Martinez, for me, has never really exploited his Spanish connections - Deolufeu aside.

Anyway, if the current incumbent is still in charge at the start of next season, I'll be demanding my money back. What's the betting that Martinez will be sacked tomorrow and the renewal deadlines are extended?

Poor management.

Let's go through the players you mention:

- McGeady, no we can't discount him becauae he wasn't 'dirt cheap' - four odd million I believe. Plus massive wages as pointed out. He deserves sacking for this purchase alone, a League 1 player.

- Funes Mori, done fairly well so far, though certainly not brilliantly. Expensive though.

- Barry, good signing

- Besic, overall - poor. Plays the occasional brilliant game, but is then crap for a ton of games; not consustent enough (though prob. ruined him)

- McCarthy, absolute garbage. Offers nothing.

- Cleverley, 'average', not needed

, poor signing

- Lennon, quite good...at best

- Deulofeu, quite good

- Lukaku. Great goal scorer, but poor attitude. Will make a decent profit from him and he scored a decent amount of games, so a great signing.

- Niasse, worst signing in our entire history

- Atsu, terrible

- Alcaraz, terrible

- Etto, didn't work out fue to Martinez prob. Good player.

- Kone, League 1 player, terrible signing

- Robles, 'average'

Doesn't look good, eh Mike?

"Uses young players rather than getting the chequebook out."

You mean like buying Niasse rather than play the promising Dowell, who got two minutes in a dead runber. Joke.

Well, Roberto you treat us as idiots and have talked shite all season. That is the problem. That is why most of us are starting to dislike you intensely. Also there has been a lack of wins.

If you think that by beating Bournemouth and then Norwich is enough to keep you and Jones in your very well paid jobs, I hope you are mistaken. He will say after these wins that he has turned the corner and we are on the up. No we are not Roberto, we held onto the lead for two minutes against Bournemouth. Nothing has really changed.

You cannot suddenly obtain tactical acumen and start organising your defense when you have stated just recently your intentions to Mr Carragher. You honestly believe that your approach will prevail.

It goes to show you can make a career on winning one FA Cup.

His next club will be like Leeds who will buy his bullshit and not look at his record. No disrespect to Leeds but their chairman is in la la land like Uncle Bill.

As far as RM goes, he should be a scout as he can bring in some talent but, manager for Everton, no way!

McGeady cost half a million I believe, and whatever wage he is on we now know it's too much!

Traore,managed half a game that stuck around for 6 months. I think he was enjoying the sights and sounds of Liverpool with Royston Drenthe and Andy van der MERDE (yes I know merde is French)

Alcaraz , in most games treated the ball like an IED and stayed as far away from it as possible either that or he was worried about getting concussion from heading the ball, so he didn't bother

Traffic - his nickname is very apt as he is stationary for most parts of a game and is only slightly more mobile.

McGeady - well he was cheap so we only paid him £30k per week, Mike can you be my next employer please.

McCarthy, I would like to say he is the model of inconsistency but his performances fluctuate too much to qualify.

Just my opinion and to be even handed I didn't bother with any facts in my post either.
Also mike pleas don't think I am picking on you, but I have such a downer on Roberto that he would need to find a cure for cancer or solve the Middle East conundrum for me to even say he should be allowed to breathe.

As far as his acumen in the transfer market is concerned, of the £25M + paid for transfer of his Wigan players and staff, only McCarthy looks above average and apart from Lukaku, of his other signings, only the veteran Barry stands out.

True, the likes of Lennon and Cleverley can 'do a job' but no way are they better than dozens of midfielders we've seen here in the Premiere era.

No, just as expected when he came here, Martinez is a phoney in the transfer market, in the training and fitness of his teams and in areas of tactics and game management.

Off with his head !

9m for Deulofeu (still needs to actually deliver regularly), 9m for Mori (looks a decent signing to be fair but not first choice due to more political reasons).

Only Lukaku would def get more now than was paid. Admittedly this 'more' may cover the losses on all the others.

Still don't know where this 'he's good in the transfer market' myth comes from. Only a 3-4 of his 18 signings are regular starters. Also everyone knew about Lukaku after his time with west Brom so he was hardly a great discovery.

The likes of Lennon and Cleverley, whilst not shit, are bog average for the league. When we signed them the other clubs rumored to be interested were the likes of Villa and Sunderland.

Pretty underwhelming imo.

I too think RM should go; we're simply not getting the results we should be getting and he keeps spewing phenomenal BS, but attacking players who're clearly not to blame, is just childish shit behaviour. If you wanna blame players, at least blame the ones actually playing and under-performing, not a guy who's played one match for us.

Everything I read about Niasse before us buying him said he was the kind of player who needs to play every week to get the best out of him, that hasn't been the case so far, and he's not the one to blame for any of it, not his price tag, his lack of playing, or our poor form. FFS, get a grip blues!

If anything, Niasse did okay on his full debut in our last game. He had a terrible missed pass, but so did everyone in a blue shirt. On the positive side, he created a few chances for us, and worked a hell of a lot harder than Lukaku ever does, but for some reason I never see that mentioned by any of you biased grouches. Given a little time and proper coaching, I would not be surprised if Niasse could be a lot more than just a decent squad player for us, but at least give him more time on the actual pitch before judging him so harshly.

Now, let's get rid of RM, hire Pellegrini or DeBoer, and become a nice friendly bunch again. This constant moaning and horrid behaviour towards our players is getting old, and is only digging our blue grave deeper. Aim your aggression at the man deciding who we buy and how we play; if who we buy and how we play is your problem, stop lashing out at everyone else. I feel so fucking bad for Niasse, and I really do hope he's too smart to check out Everton forums around the web. Some of the comments made about him are just a disgrace, and the people writing them should stop calling themselves blues. Attacking your own is not our way, it never has been, and I really, REALLY hope it never will be.

"The kind of player who needs to play every week..." Someone should have told the manager before now. His lack of games in three months with us is totally unacceptable.

You think our supporters are overly critical and this is the grand reasoning behind us not being able to attract top players!!??? More demanding the the reds, United, Real Madrid!!! Me thinks it might be down to a much more logical reason, money and ambition.

Give me a break, we're some of the least demanding supporters in the damn league. We put up with the appointment of a manager who had literally just relegated his previous team. And we've put up with him for three season, while we decline year over year.

We put up with BK's 24/7 search for investment for over a decade! We've put up with failed stadium builds/projects, false investment stories, and missing out on supposedly interested parties that ended up turning around and buying City. Yeah, we're far too demanding, that's it.

Elvind, the hate is for Martinez not Niasse (maybe you're getting confused?), all we've said about Niasse is that he's shit, which seems correct on evidence so far (albeit small amounts of evidence). Not sure where your hissy fit has come from.

Bobby Blogger has undoubtedly and unashamedly plagiarised the review of the film "The Man Who Talked Too Much" (1940) written by Bosley Crowther of The New York Times

And us being demanding isn't the problem. A large contigent of our (vocal online)supporters are just plain nasty in their approach to describing our players and staff, thats my issue. Its fully possible to demant greatness in a critical, yet civil way.

Damian, I don't think my hissy fit is that unwarranted. Calling a player you've barley seen play shit, is in itself a little shitty, don't you think? I do. He should be given the same chance to prove himself on the pitch every other player is given, and not be judged on basicly nothing other than Martinez paying a lot for him, and him basicly not playing since getting here.

Add to this Leandro Rodriguez, Lacinda Traore, Aiden Mcgeady, Samuel Eto'o.

Okay Roberto, I've had a look at your signings over three years. Close the door quietly after you, there's a good lad.

The Guardian commented today that if/when he leaves, we'll be in a better state than when he arrived. In a lot of ways I think that's true...if he leaves.

Because his issue hasn't been recruitment, it's been utilization of the talent in the squad; in tactical, fitness and motivational terms.

On Niasse; I thought he showed one or two nice touches. It was a pretty underwhelming team performance all round. It's the first time he's played more than 5 minutes. I honestly have no idea how good a player he is.

ish don't think so....

You'd think they'd have had the decency to actually exist

I stand corrected

Personally, I can see the guy back on his way to Russia during the summer.

Apart from Stones and Barkley who he didn't sign, only Lukaku would fetch more than £10M tops. In my view, lots and lots of very average players.

I watch a bit of Irish league football and , honest to God, I would take any of those hard working coaches ahead of the fool we have disgracing our club. He is a laughing stock. He may be a nice man but,by fuck,he is an apology of a coach.

Niasse was supposedly on 35k/wk in Moscow and just 3 seasons ago (aged 23) was playing pro football in Senegal, (probably on about 500/week.)

That's some meteoric wage wise, add in also the 1.35m signing on bonus to join us and he's already taken care of the grand kids!

Transfer wise he joined a none big Turkish club in 2013 for 200k. A year later went to Moscow for 4m, 18 months later we sign him for 13.5m!

Some career trajectory in 2.5 years!

I can't believe he will still be with us next season......if only he would leave hand in hand with Bill (Blue) Kenwright.....we would all live happily ever after.

Sorry but I think he's shite (Niasse I mean) - on the evidence seen on Saturday - but there again I thought Roberto was the answer to our dreams for the first season - and then it all went pear shaped.

WTFK.

Rarely get a comment from you guys.

However, I will persevere, have been banned once, but once a blue, always a blue.

Would be nice to be involved a bit more!

Hibbo's got at least another 5 years in him based on Saturday's performance!

McGeady - pathetic. Barry was good but wasn't risky nor expensive. Niasse, Traore and Atsu - it's not great. Besic...still got a lot to prove. Funes Mori likewise and we pay over the odds for him. Cleverley...meh.

But he really should not draw attention to losing two attacking options in Anichebe and Fellaini when there is a strong argument to say he retained both Naismith and Mirallas but couldn't get either going so that the former has left and the latter has gone AWOL. Both are attackers capable of getting double figures. Add to that the pudding that Kone has been and he's on very dodgy ground.

Bring in some Coleman's and Cahill's Roberto and you will be justified saying stuff like this but shut up otherwise.

What next? "I feel our defence has been in an incredible moment all season and our injury time game management has been phenomenal..." ???

We, on the other hand, are so slow in our assaults on the opposition that we get noticed immediately. Hence all the red cards.

People are saying Spurs will win next year. Not a chance. The bigger clubs will invest now and people will work out Spurs who have a lot of second season syndrome cases.

We're not that far off top 6 player wise but we need a new manager who will get them fit and focused.

Leicester have done something amazing and good luck to them!

I'm trying to be optimistic but he looks a bad buy along with Kone, McGeady and Alcaraz. The other players for me have all been good signings - Rom, Barry, McCarthy, Deulofeu, Besic, Lennon, Funes Mori, Cleverley. All of which were relatively cheap apart from Rom and McCarthy.

So I'll knock Martinez for not being defensively savvy, talking waffle and not seeming to focus enough on player fitness, but I think he's done very well in the transfer market bearing in mind he was always going to be compared to Moyes who did very well in his selected highlights in the transfer market over 10 years. That said, there were plenty of duds that easily get forgotten when Arteta, Cahill, Baines, Lescot, Coleman and Jags get brought up over Moyes's decade of transfer dealings.

"A game that is often overcomplicated and increasingly obsessed with statistics, the percentages show that Ranieri's team are in the bottom three for possession and that only West Bromwich Albion have a lower pass completion rate, yet the only table that matters – in the absence of one that quantifies teamwork – shows Leicester City with an unassailable lead at the top of the Premier League. We should all enjoy that sight."

I said on another thread, Roberto is going nowhere. Bill is delaying the announcement so people will think he is on his way out and buy their STs and then, at the end of the season, when you can't protest, he will back him.

Like I said before, very very crafty, our Bill. They say you can judge a man by his friends – isn't Philip Green a great mate of his?

I agree that we need much more 'drive' going forward.

We don't need two defensive midfielders and certainly not as we leak goals with two in the team anyway, so nothing to lose.

It will probably be the most organised we have been all season!

The question is to my mind why have these players for the most part played below par in so many games especially since Christmas? Martinez has shown very little evidence of turning things around so why should the fans or Kenwright believe he can do it in his fourth season if he is miraculously kept on.

With nothing to play for I believe Everton should parade the youngsters on Saturday in a nothing game that Leicester will be relaxed in also. It is a perfect opportunity for the young Everton boys and then with the relegation games they can play the first-teamers but quite honestly I think they won't do any better than the youngsters.

I think that the board are being silent means he's going; if he was saying they'd say so. End of the season, he'll be gone.

Coleman and Baines were the best full backs in the country until Martinez went for wingers instead and they have been bang average / rubbish ever since. The rest of our defenders cant be blamed for their performances in the last 2 years as they have come through youth academy and professional football playing a certain way, only for Martinez to try and instil a completely new way, so there is no wonder they are struggling.

When a decent Manager comes in and allows Jagielka and Stones to play like defenders should do, and for McCarthy to play as a holding midfielder should do, and for full backs to perform the roles we know they are capable of, we will all stand up and applaud what great players we have.

You can bet your life that if Kenwright was 100% behind Martinez he would have come out and said so by now. I believe that half the board wanted Moyes gone after finishing in the bottom half of the table in his 2nd or or 3rd year but Kenwright came out and said the club fully backs him, and that hasn't happened with Martinez.

Quite frankly the IQ of the average player, star or not, demands simplicity.

.............So cue our Catalan Clown with his "moments", "game-management", "phenomenals", "incredibles" etc etc to hopelessly disguise the bog standard fact that even so simple a game as football is far beyond his comprehension or management.

How dare this charlatan try and undermine Leicesters achievement in his interview with Carragher is beyond me. Raneiri put aside his own football philosophy and played a style that suited the players he has.

Leicester have an ambitious board and a top manager both of which we are sadly lacking. Those two reasons are why they are Champions and why we are languishing in the bottom half.

Please don't let anyone question the style as Leicester have been superb with fast direct football whereas our style is slow and boring.

Kenwright and Martinez OUT please.

Should that be enough to save him, given it will possibly mean we finish NINTH ? And on budget.

I know he is a turkey, you know he is a turkey and so do all Evertonians. Martinez knows it but can't afford to admit it !

Niasse has played most of his games in Senegal 1st and 2nd divisions.
In 2012 Niasse was loaned to Branne, Norway with a view to a deal, but they sent him back after 3 games. He spent a year in Turkey, then 2 in Moscow, playing 28 games for 12 goals. He has missed a lot of games due to injury. His record in not brilliant even at a lower standard and he has been injury prone.

I think you're right, I'm not disagreeing. I just thought that Niasse looked unfit. He was standing around with his hands on his hips like he'd played 90 mins in the 1st half.. Why?! I don't know?! He's had long enough to get up to speed.

I don't think he should be wrote off, he might be the next Paulo Wanchope (who I always quite liked) but should a Wanchope type player be our 3rd biggest signing.. Absolutely No!! Even if he makes some kind of impact it seems hard to imagine that it will go anywhere near to justifying the fee we paid. So yeah, we've been done.

Disagree. With the huge amount of fan unhappiness if he was staying they would have come out with the "We realise it's not been an ideal season and that fans are very frustrated, but the board believe in Roberto's vision blah blah and he will of course be in-charge at the start of next season, etc."

Silence speaks volumes as they say. Often when clubs announce a manager's departure before the end of the season it doesn't go down well. So they stay quiet and announce it when the season ends, causing less of a fuss and he slopes off quietly.

You ask what James McCarthy offers.

Well, his entire PL career (7 years and counting) has been played under one manager since he signed for Wigan from Hamilton, aged just 19.

It is reasonable to say then, more than any other player, he epitomizes the Martinez philosophy.

Reassured any...?

No, me neither.