Martinez OUT. There i said it. (end of the season of course).

[Allezfan]

I don't know when West Ham last played Napoli. But we've put in good performances recently against Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea - and they may be as good as Napoli. Napoli have a mixed record against English teams - and I would look forward to Martinez v Benitez.

Our performance in the replay against West Ham was one of our better performances this season. If we play like that - and with eleven men - in every game, we should finish the season strongly.

But Robles - and Howard - should stay behind after training for extra penalty practice.

We didn't actually beat any of those like.

And we lost 3-1 on agg to Hull City who aren't as good as young boys under 5 team.

Don't mind me, I'm just nervous. It's a big game coming up, much bigger than any non derby game we play in the league and I was really hoping we'd enter it with a bit of form and we haven't.

This year seemed such a good chance to really lay down a marker in europe and get that trophyless monkey off our backs and we played so well in the groups but we're entering the business stage looking so nervous and creatively derift that I can't have too much hope of lfitign that trophy in warsaw.

Good performance in bern and I'll be with you on the optimism treck but right now, eh, this season seems a write off.

 

[Stanley Parker]

Thu 19 Feb 18:00 BSC Young Boys away
Sun 22 Feb 14.05 Leicester home
Thu 26 Feb 20:05 BSC Young Boys home
Sun 1 Mar 14:05 Arsenal away
Wed 4 Mar 19:45 Stoke away

That's 5 matches in 14 days. It's a challenging programme; in the PL only Arsenal are also playing in Europe. They play at home to Monaco on Wed 25 Feb.

Which games should Martinez give priority?

He'll have to rotate the players - how should he spread his resources?

 

[Allezfan]

Thu 19 Feb 18:00 BSC Young Boys away
Sun 22 Feb 14.05 Leicester home
Thu 26 Feb 20:05 BSC Young Boys home
Sun 1 Mar 14:05 Arsenal away
Wed 4 Mar 19:45 Stoke away
Sat 14 Mar 15:00 Newcastle home

That's 6 matches in 24 days. It's a challenging programme; in the PL only Arsenal are also playing in Europe.

Which games should Martinez give priority?

He'll have to rotate the players - how should he spread his resources?

Young boys is priority, obviously. Not really any other possibility.

 

[Stanley Parker]

My priorities would be;

Leicester home
Young Boys home
Stoke away

So I'd like strong sides in these games. The squad players would come in for the other games.

 

[ijjysmith]

My priorities would be;

Leicester home
Young Boys home
Stoke away

So I'd like strong sides in these games. The squad players would come in for the other games.

Have to say we are in no position to have priorities at the moment.

Every game is important.

 

[GwladysBlue]

I'd prioritise the Europa League, as bad as it is in the league I think we have too much quality to go down. Going out of Europe would be a disaster, it is the only thing that the fans can place hope in. All this being said, I don't see how Martinez can keep his job after this absolute shambles of a season.

If we want to be recognised as a big club then we need to act as such, Everton (one of the richest clubs in the world) should not be worrying about relegation at such a late stage in the season. If any of the other leading club in our league were in this position, the manager would be shown the door.

I think we all went into this season thinking that at worse we would be finishing 7th, we don't even look like making the top 10 this year! We can all point fingers at what went wrong, I blame gross mismanagement of the squad from Martinez; overplaying some players has lead to recurrent injuries, I don't even know if our preparation for the season can be called a 'pre-season', playing players continually out of position and then there is the overriding issue of keeping players who are clearly out of form in the squad whilst inform players get dropped/subbed at the drop of the hat.

It has been in the media that some members of the squad are not happy with Martinez and I am of the opinion that there is no smoke without fire, something has to give.

 

[Deleted member 24970]

Thu 19 Feb 18:00 BSC Young Boys away
Sun 22 Feb 14.05 Leicester home
Thu 26 Feb 20:05 BSC Young Boys home
Sun 1 Mar 14:05 Arsenal away
Wed 4 Mar 19:45 Stoke away

That's 5 matches in 14 days. It's a challenging programme; in the PL only Arsenal are also playing in Europe. They play at home to Monaco on Wed 25 Feb.

Which games should Martinez give priority?

He'll have to rotate the players - how should he spread his resources?

For me it was martinez should stick with a solid balanced team from now until the end, only injuries should dictate changes, i thought between december and january we would of been picking up points, with no Europa League football in that month or so.

 

[Deleted member 24970]

I'd prioritise the Europa League, as bad as it is in the league I think we have too much quality to go down. Going out of Europe would be a disaster, it is the only thing that the fans can place hope in. All this being said, I don't see how Martinez can keep his job after this absolute shambles of a season.

If we want to be recognised as a big club then we need to act as such, Everton (one of the richest clubs in the world) should not be worrying about relegation at such a late stage in the season. If any of the other leading club in our league were in this position, the manager would be shown the door.

I think we all went into this season thinking that at worse we would be finishing 7th, we don't even look like making the top 10 this year! We can all point fingers at what went wrong, I blame gross mismanagement of the squad from Martinez; overplaying some players has lead to recurrent injuries, I don't even know if our preparation for the season can be called a 'pre-season', playing players continually out of position and then there is the overriding issue of keeping players who are clearly out of form in the squad whilst inform players get dropped/subbed at the drop of the hat.

It has been in the media that some members of the squad are not happy with Martinez and I am of the opinion that there is no smoke without fire, something has to give.

This is part of my thread/worry, newcastle said the same thing as did leeds, even shearer couldnt save the toon. I think up until the last few games the players probably thought the same, now we are stuck in the bottom half - not safe mathematically either, we really need to adapt, the defence has tightened but the attack is blunt at the minute, we need the right balance.

 

[Stanley Parker]

For me it was martinez should stick with a solid balanced team from now until the end, only injuries should dictate changes, i thought between december and january we would of been picking up points, with no Europa League football in that month or so.

What will happen if Martinez picks the same team for the next five games?

Everton will travel home from Bern to face Leicester - without a midweek match - on Sunday.

Arsenal are at home to Monaco on Wed 25 February. They have a squad large enough to play two games a week, but will still have an extra day to recover before they play Everton on Sunday 1 March.

Stoke have three PL matches over the same period. They play Hull at home on Sat 28 February, and also have an extra day's rest before the game on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Everton will turn up at Stoke on Wed 4 May with an exhausted team.

The Europa League with its Thursday matches is a very disruptive competition. You can't expect the same eleven Everton players to be as fresh as their PL opponents.

 

[kenada_blue]

This is part of my thread/worry, newcastle said the same thing as did leeds, even shearer couldnt save the toon. I think up until the last few games the players probably thought the same, now we are stuck in the bottom half - not safe mathematically either, we really need to adapt, the defence has tightened but the attack is blunt at the minute, we need the right balance.

Newcastle and Leeds were in a mess on and off the field. That's why they went down.

We're not and theres about 5 or 6 worse teams than us. Burnley, OPR, Villa, Leicester, Palace, Hull...

 

[Allezfan]

This is part of my thread/worry, newcastle said the same thing as did leeds, even shearer couldnt save the toon. I think up until the last few games the players probably thought the same, now we are stuck in the bottom half - not safe mathematically either, we really need to adapt, the defence has tightened but the attack is blunt at the minute, we need the right balance.

Even Shearer? He's only had one managerial spell in his entire life and they won 1 in 10. It's not like they bought in Mourinho.

 

[Deleted member 24970]

What will happen if Martinez picks the same team for the next five games?

Everton will travel home from Bern to face Leicester - without a midweek match - on Sunday.

Arsenal are at home to Monaco on Wed 25 February. They have a squad large enough to play two games a week, but will still have an extra day to recover before they play Everton on Sunday 1 March.

Stoke have three PL matches over the same period. They play Hull at home on Sat 28 February, and also have an extra day's rest before the game on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Everton will turn up at Stoke on Wed 4 May with an exhausted team.

The Europa League with its Thursday matches is a very disruptive competition. You can't expect the same eleven Everton players to be as fresh as their PL opponents.

Im thinking consistency, a settled 11 and also is it worth dropping mirallas for mcgeady for example just because mcgeady hasnt played as much ? Maybe drop stones for alcaraz ? Its all good saying keep players fresh but not at the expense of quality.

 

[Deleted member 24970]

Even Shearer? He's only had one managerial spell in his entire life and they won 1 in 10. It's not like they bought in Mourinho.

I know that but they thought they were too good to go down, they thought bringing shearer in would give them a more positive feel around the club and save them from the drop, they needed a pulis type to really drag them out of the dogfight.

 

[Stanley Parker]

Im thinking consistency, a settled 11 and also is it worth dropping mirallas for mcgeady for example just because mcgeady hasnt played as much ? Maybe drop stones for alcaraz ? Its all good saying keep players fresh but not at the expense of quality.

Whatever happens, Everton will be going into their next three PL matches at a disadvantage to their opponents.

Rotation is not a choice - it's a necessity in a European campaign. The great master was SAF - it was something that DM had to come to grips with last season. It is something new for Roberto - and Brendan Rogers - to learn this season.

It's very difficult to play in Europe - especially on a Thursday - without an enormous squad. Both Sam Allardyce and Alan Pardew have recently attributed Everton's difficulties to their participation in the Europa League. And Pardew should know from experience.

 

[Stanley Parker]

I know that but they thought they were too good to go down, they thought bringing shearer in would give them a more positive feel around the club and save them from the drop, they needed a pulis type to really drag them out of the dogfight.

Pulis demonstrated his philosophy when West Brom came to Goodison.

And it's the same dour, defensive philosophy that Martinez has employed to restore confidence to the Everton team.