Why Roberto Martinez deserves the chance to rebuild at Everton
Given Everton’s frightening inconsistency throughout this tortuous season has seen them drop alarmingly close to the relegation zone, their first back-to-back league wins since October have been gleefully welcomed by the supporters.
However, the fact those two wins – against Newcastle and QPR – came either side of Thursday’s embarrassing Europa League capitulation in Kiev neatly sums Everton’s campaign up.
For every tentative step forward, there has been two lurching strides back, explaining why a number of supporters have grown increasingly exasperated at the team and manager Roberto Martinez.
After beginning the season with genuine hopes of competing for a top four place, the team’s aspirations have been slowly eroded to the extent that Premier League survival is all they have to play for by mid-March.
Some Everton supporters (if indeed it was Everton fans) even took it upon themselves to daub Goodison Park with graffiti over the weekend calling for Martinez to be sacked.
The calls for the Spaniard to go still thankfully stem from a vocal minority, with most supporters of the opinion he deserves time to re-build and – crucially – learn from the mistakes made this season.
Martinez has always spoken about building for the long-term, a project the supporters completely bought into during his fabulous first season in charge. This year has been a huge test of the fans’ faith and patience, but the general consensus is we need to let things play out before making any reactionary short-term decisions.
That is certainly the case after Sunday’s scrappy 2-1 at Loftus Road, which lifts Everton nine points clear of the relegation zone and all but safe from the drop. With the pressure off now is the time to start looking ahead, using the remaining eight games to learn more about the team.
This season has proven a step too far for a number of players who need to be moved on in the summer. Tim Howard, Antolin Alcaraz, Sylvain Distin and Gareth Barry to name a few have all shown their age and look past their prime.
While others, such as Ross Barkley, have suffered from ‘second season syndrome’ not helped, especially in Barkley’s case, by having minimal rest last summer due to the World Cup.
Whether Martinez implements those changes remains to be seen. He has shown a reluctance to adapt this season even things were not going well, a stubbornness that has frustrated and worried the supporters in equal measure.
But Sunday’s win has given him vital breathing space in which to operate without the lurking presence of relegation on his shoulder.
If we head into the autumn still talking about the same problems and suffering the same results then his job may come under threat. But for now Martinez deserves the chance to put things right and show this season as but a blip on the pathway to long-term success.
Whether he takes that chance is another matter, which is why most Evertonians remain edgy despite remaining supportive of the manager.
