Finishing 7th

[MerseyBlue89]

7th would be good. We're Everton, we can't expect much more than that tbh.

 

[Minimeister]

I think we'll finish 5th with the run of games we've got coming up but if we do finish 7th I've seen enough this season to know Roberto will turn the mentality of the club around. He'll only do that though when he's had time to bring in his own players. The future's bright lads.

 

[njligernj]

I've been in a bit of a negative mood Everton-wise since the RS game and watching us slip out of the race for fourth. I don't know how I *should* be feeling (I get all the points one can make about first year and so forth) but I am feeling disappointed. May well be illogical ... that's just how I feel.

Fairly negative on the FA Cup too since the draw -- going through Arsenal and City (or hoping a team significantly worse than us somehow beats City ... yes I know someone did it last year) is a big ask. Do-able I suppose. Be nice if we had a striker for those games.

My disappointment isn't solely Everton related either. It seemed like this season was going to be a big shake-up but as we approach the final stretch it's mostly top 7 business as usual (aside from Man U being at the wrong end of the top 7) and of course (of course!) the RS will be the ones to benefit. Typical. We all knew the money would win in the end but I hoped maybe it would stay interesting for a bit longer.

I know it's not technically over but realistically speaking does anyone see us or Spurs catching the RS? I just can't see it. Aside from the title race it feels all sewn up in late Feb which is not what many of us expected with how the season began.

I love Martinez but I'm less confident than most seem to be that he can overcome the money. Truly hope I'm wrong ... it just seems like such an insurmountable hurdle in the Prem.

Anyway ... on the bright side ... um ... I don't know. It was fun while it lasted? It was fun being in the mix ... hope to hell we can get back again. Not going to spam posts with negativity ... this seemed like a logical enough place for a bit of a rant.

Hopefully we (I) can get some optimism back soon.

 

[Brennan]

I've been in a bit of a negative mood Everton-wise since the RS game and watching us slip out of the race for fourth. I don't know how I *should* be feeling (I get all the points one can make about first year and so forth) but I am feeling disappointed. May well be illogical ... that's just how I feel.

Fairly negative on the FA Cup too since the draw -- going through Arsenal and City (or hoping a team significantly worse than us somehow beats City ... yes I know someone did it last year) is a big ask. Do-able I suppose. Be nice if we had a striker for those games.

My disappointment isn't solely Everton related either. It seemed like this season was going to be a big shake-up but as we approach the final stretch it's mostly top 7 business as usual (aside from Man U being at the wrong end of the top 7) and of course (of course!) the RS will be the ones to benefit. Typical. We all knew the money would win in the end but I hoped maybe it would stay interesting for a bit longer.

I know it's not technically over but realistically speaking does anyone see us or Spurs catching the RS? I just can't see it. Aside from the title race it feels all sewn up in late Feb which is not what many of us expected with how the season began.

I love Martinez but I'm less confident than most seem to be that he can overcome the money. Truly hope I'm wrong ... it just seems like such an insurmountable hurdle in the Prem.

Anyway ... on the bright side ... um ... I don't know. It was fun while it lasted? It was fun being in the mix ... hope to hell we can get back again. Not going to spam posts with negativity ... this seemed like a logical enough place for a bit of a rant.

Hopefully we (I) can get some optimism back soon.

Wigan beat City at Wembley.

 

[Allezfan]

I've been in a bit of a negative mood Everton-wise since the RS game and watching us slip out of the race for fourth. I don't know how I *should* be feeling (I get all the points one can make about first year and so forth) but I am feeling disappointed. May well be illogical ... that's just how I feel.

Fairly negative on the FA Cup too since the draw -- going through Arsenal and City (or hoping a team significantly worse than us somehow beats City ... yes I know someone did it last year) is a big ask. Do-able I suppose. Be nice if we had a striker for those games.

My disappointment isn't solely Everton related either. It seemed like this season was going to be a big shake-up but as we approach the final stretch it's mostly top 7 business as usual (aside from Man U being at the wrong end of the top 7) and of course (of course!) the RS will be the ones to benefit. Typical. We all knew the money would win in the end but I hoped maybe it would stay interesting for a bit longer.

I know it's not technically over but realistically speaking does anyone see us or Spurs catching the RS? I just can't see it. Aside from the title race it feels all sewn up in late Feb which is not what many of us expected with how the season began.

I love Martinez but I'm less confident than most seem to be that he can overcome the money. Truly hope I'm wrong ... it just seems like such an insurmountable hurdle in the Prem.

Anyway ... on the bright side ... um ... I don't know. It was fun while it lasted? It was fun being in the mix ... hope to hell we can get back again. Not going to spam posts with negativity ... this seemed like a logical enough place for a bit of a rant.

Hopefully we (I) can get some optimism back soon.

Yeah, I think the same. I mean if money didn't matter in the face of Bobby's brilliance, Wigan would still be in the prem.

This idea that he would win eventually the league with us, finances be damned, that was quite common in november was just fantasy stuff.

But europe, cup wins, derby wins, there are still prizes to be won for a poorer club.

 

[davek]

The thing about posession is we've dominated it in pretty much every game we've played in the last 4 years.

We're actually doing far better at using the ball when we have it this year than previous.

This weird myth that we were some crushingly effective counter attacking liverpool like team is just odd. We spend a lot of time passing the ball around in little circles in midfield and not going anywhere in the later moyes seasons, tbh.

Martinez likes to get a lot of numbers in attack and to isolate the opposition in two on ones. You can see us getting up the pitch on occasion and Baines/Coleman will check back in order for a couple more bodies to get into advanced positions and try and achieve that.

Under Moyes we tended to use a lot of diagonal chips to the edge of the box and try and get a knockdown for late arrivals. It's a lot more methodical now and cutting out chance I suppose.

 

[deipnosophist]

Looking at some of the likely transfer targets being rumoured, the 'sky 4/5' are only going to get stronger. 7th this year is average (to my mind...and vote) but looking ahead, it is hard to see us doing much better. Money rules and we don't have it.

 

[deipnosophist]

The penny pinching decision to loan an injured striker who hadn't played for 5 months instead of spending some actual money on a striker who would have come in and hit the ground running on Jan 1st is the main reason why the season looks like petering out.

The club isn't ambitious at the end of the day.

...yes. The Traore deal is looking more and more like a debacle. Our physio room is busy enough without borrowing another addition.

 

[Elong]

7th is average like. That's not a bad thing (it's average, innit!).

Be nice to finish higher.

 

[bluestevon]

Looking at some of the likely transfer targets being rumoured, the 'sky 4/5' are only going to get stronger. 7th this year is average (to my mind...and vote) but looking ahead, it is hard to see us doing much better. Money rules and we don't have it.

90% or more of those transfers are pure nonsense mate and won't happen, its the same names that got threw around last summer and this January, draxler, falcao, bezema, kroos, higuain etc, just need to add a few more stupid names like fabregas to the list to get the complete set

 

[bluestevon]

Anything less than 6th at this point will be a massive failure, honestly anything less than 5th would be dissapointing

even on points with united with us having a game in hand vs palace as our gaff, utd having to come the old lady still, and the most difficult period behind us and spurs with that muppet sherwood in charge

 

[toffeejack]

with our squad, 7th was the least i expeced tbh.

so i put dissapointing because i have high hopes.

 

[dead_soft]

A new manager has come in with a different philosophy to the previous manager. His philosophy isn't about building a winning team straight off, because he can't, and it would be a spectacular failure instead he's got to instill a culture throughout the club. Surprisingly, he has done well, on the whole and the players have adapted (which, on a side point, has made me think Moyes was intending for his 'fourth' Everton side to be a more attacking, more adaptable side).

Because he's done well to start with, it's dissapointing that we've dropped off. However, it's not that surprising, it's a small squad with players adjusting to a new way of playing. So, 7th is okay. Enough has been shown to suggest that the team and the philosophy has potential. But I do want to go and watch the sun going down over a sleepy Eastern European town, after Everton have won 3-0 away, sitting outside a nice cafe next year, my brown brogues drenched in cheap lager from exuberant scallies. So, if we don't get Europe, I hope he quits and gives Owen Coyle a chance.

 

[catcherintherye]

7th is average. I think we should also say, in almost any other season we would be bang in the race for 4th. We may well break our points tally Premier league record and finish 7th.

I think you can see a lot of improvements in our play, and we are bringing through younger players. We just got hit with a terrible injury crisis, and stalled at a time Liverpool hit top form.

 

[catcherintherye]

I understand what people are saying about our squad. However, at times this season, we have been going into games with Naismith as our striker. Look at the strikers at other clubs, Giroud, Suarez, Sturridge, Rooney, van Persie, mata, Hazard, Torres, Soldado, Adabayeur, Aguero, Negredo Dzeko etc.
I know he's not first choice, but he's had to play a lot of games now due to injuries, and in the most important area of the pitch, you will struggle without those top players.