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Time is up for Roberto Martinez

26th January, 2016
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Belgium manager Roberto Martinez. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)
Roar Guru
26th January, 2016
19
1084 Reads

The 2015-16 Premier League season can only be described as a dismal failure for Everton. The time has come for Roberto Martinez to be relieved of his duties as manager at the earliest opportunity.

Martinez talked about returning Everton to their glory days, making the statement ‘I will get you in the Champions League’ when he joined the club. Unfortunately for Everton fans it appears he was referring to taking the club down to the Championship, as he did with Wigan.

The loss against Swansea should be the final straw of Martinez’s failed Everton tenure.

Martinez is certainly very engaging in public and generally speaks well. He is respected within the industry. He however shares many of the traits of a used car salesman.

With the gift of the gab, has become a master of deflecting blame. This continued again after the loss to Swansea when once he declared how unlucky Everton were. He even blamed the environment at Goodison created by the fans.

Martinez has some people fooled into thinking he has Everton on the right track.

The best measure of performance is results and this confirms Everton are certainly not on the right track. They are far from it. Everton currently find themselves in 12th position with six wins from twenty-three games.

Only three wins since September, all of which came against the current bottom three teams in the league. These are the kind of results that can see a team entering a relegation battle very quickly. The results follow a poor campaign from Everton last season; this is not simply a minor form slump for Everton.

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The results and stats certainly tell the tale and it is difficult to defend as Martinez has gone about transforming Everton into Wigan MK2. Everton are currently conceding on average 1.45 goals per game, their worst figures in the last fifteen years.

Everton also have the third worst home record in the league and have also managed to concede two or more goals in seven of their 12 league home games at Goodison Park. A ground which was once feared has become a charity with Everton offering points to whatever opposition turn up.

Could it get any worse? Everton has also dropped the most points (11) in the Premier League from leading positions in their last nine games, six more than any other club. Everton are a mentally soft team whose inability to defend is now their trademark.

Tactically Martinez has come under fire for his team selection as well as tactics. Tim Howard, who has been a great servant at Everton, is finished at Premier League level and is currently one of the worst keepers in the league. Everton fans have become frustrated with the poor treatment of Kevin Mirallas who has made very few starts this campaign and fans have been frustrated up until recently with the amount of game time given to Arouna Kone.

Everton certainly have no problems finding the back of the net. Martinez can take some credit for this. Everton are ranked second in the league for goals scored. But if they continue to concede goals, then it is meaningless.

Everton’s defenders are all current International players and have plenty of Premier League experience including Leighton Baines, John Stones, Phil Jagielka and Seamus Coleman. Add in Argentinian international Funes Mori who arrived this season and is unacceptable for the quality of players in the squad to be in conceding the goals they are.

A season in which Everton should have been knocking on the door of the Champions League has them closer to knocking on the door of relegation. Everton have the best squad at their disposal for twenty years and Martinez has not got anywhere near the results that the squad merits.

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Everton face Manchester City in the second leg of the Carling Cup this week and they have a chance to progress to the final and win their first silverware since the 1995 FA Cup.

But the statistics and the form in the Premier League cannot be ignored and a change needs to happen regardless of the result against City. Chairman Bill Kenwright is an extremely loyal person, but he must put that aside and make the best decision for Everton.

That decision is moving on Roberto Martinez.

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