When Roberto Martinez’s reign at Everton comes to an end, a quote from June 5th 2013, his first day as the Toffees boss, will likely define his time at Goodison Park.

Chairman Bill Kenwright, clearly awestruck by a man who had led Wigan Athletic to their first FA Cup three weeks earlier, told of how almost Martinez’s first words to him were, “I’ll get you in the Champions League.”

It was the sort of enthusiasm and ambition that was desperately sparse during his predecessor, David Moyes’ 11-year spell, and though many would’ve disregarded Martinez’s aspirations as unrealistic at the time, a fifth-place finish in 2013-14 left many eating their words.

Though Everton narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification that season, such was the positive energy reverberating around the club at the time that many expected Everton to go one better next time around, not least myself and thousands of other Evertonians. The football had been a vast improvement, and the potential in the squad going into the following campaign was at an unprecedented high.

Martinez's Everton tenure going downhill 

However, ever since a late Leicester City equaliser cost Everton a winning start, the club has embarked on an increasingly rapid nosedive, with little in-between to alleviate the decline. A bottom-half finish for the first time since 2005-06, coupled with the infamous surrender in Kiev last March, left Martinez with a lot to prove to a lot of Everton fans.

Many called 2015-16 his defining season; the one where Martinez would show his true colours and prove if he could replicate the success of his first term. Sadly, though, we are midway through this season, and nothing has changed a year on, leaving many fans firmly of the opinion that he is no longer the man to take Everton forward.

A fair assumption, in many ways, given the countless evidence and statistics going against Martinez; the most obvious being their inexplicably porous defence.

Everton's Capital One Cup collapse at City is the latest disappointment of Martinez's reign. (Picture: Getty)
Everton's Capital One Cup collapse at City is the latest disappointment of Martinez's reign. (Picture: Getty)

It is highly likely that all of Everton’s arguably strongest back-line will go to the European Championships this summer, and yet some of the defending this past season-and-a-half has made them look more like Championship standard. John Stones has perhaps come in for the most criticism in recent weeks, and despite clearly being one of Everton’s most talented prospects in years, it is plain to see that something isn’t right there at the moment.

People can bemoan Stones overplaying at the back all they want. It’s undoubtedly cost the Blues at times, last week’s 2-1 defeat to Swansea the most glaring example, but who can blame him for being such a confident footballer? He is a 21-year-old with over 50 Premier League appearances and seven England caps to his name, as well as being a much-coveted footballer valued north of the £40 million mark. If that doesn’t give him a right to be confident, nothing will.

Instead, point the finger at the manager for Stones’ poor spell. Improving his defensive abilities on the training field would help Martinez that is he is not the stubborn manager who seems to knowingly disregard the art of defending.

Martinez doesn’t help his cause, either, by persisting with Tim Howard who, frankly, has been appalling all season, making mistake after mistake in the knowledge that the manager will doubtless stand by him for the next league game. When Joel Robles has deputised in cup competitions, he has impressed; more so certainly than Howard, who is in the twilight of his career anyway now. Yet, despite Everton conceding 84 goals in their last 61 Premier League games, there would seem to be no hope of Robles earning the number one spot he deserves.

It is as if the American is one of several ‘favourites’ Martinez continually picks for reasons only he knows. Arouna Koné is the other prime example; another 30-something who has had an admirable career, but has not done enough to justify the amount of game time he has been getting this year. Not only is Koné repeatedly played, but he is a second-rate striker being played on the wing, just like Samuel Eto’o bizarrely was at times before he jumped ship after a couple of months.

Even Gareth Barry and Romelu Lukaku, though excellent throughout this campaign, have barely been given a break. Not even on December 28th at home to Stoke, less than 48 hours after the away win at Newcastle, was 34-year-old Barry given a rest, despite fellow Newcastle starters Kevin Mirallas and Aaron Lennon, both in their 20s, being afforded that luxury. Yet no-one gets to now why Martinez makes these decisions, not even when they cost you points, league positions, and ultimately your job.

Martinez at Everton's training ground. (Picture: Getty)
Martinez at Everton's training ground. (Picture: Getty)

You need only watch a single interview or press conference with Martinez of late to see he comes across as a man feeling the strain. His constant bemoaning of refereeing decisions is tiresome and smacks of someone clutching at straws to excuse their team’s performance.

Yes, at Chelsea, John Terry was offside, and time had gone over, but would it have been beyond Martinez to instruct his players to sensibly run the clock down, as David Moyes surely would have done? Raheem Sterling didn’t keep the ball in play at the Etihad, but there were five Everton players in the box who could have dealt with the attack. In the manager’s two-and-a-half years at the helm, you would be hard-pressed to find a game where he admitted Everton were second best.

Everton's persistence with Martinez damaging the club's reputation

Martinez’s claim on Friday morning that Everton are not underachieving will surely have confused and angered many Blues. Everton have managed 18 wins from 61 matches, with only three Premier League wins, all against sides in the relegation zone, since the start of November.

This is a squad that boasts the likes of Stones, Leighton Baines, Mirallas, Ross Barkley and Lukaku, and are languishing in 12th. Even worse, this comes from a man who believes he break the top four with this team. Either Martinez has re-assessed his ambitions, or simply feels pressure only from the fans, and none whatsoever from the board. The latter seems most likely.

Martinez is losing favour with the club's supporters. (Picture: Getty)
Martinez is losing favour with the club's supporters. (Picture: Getty)

The life cycle of a manager has fallen massively; that’s common knowledge. But Kenwright, frustratingly at times like this, is the antithesis of trigger-happy owners like Roman Abramovich. Maybe that’s why Martinez feels, even in this climate, that he can afford to make such ludicrous claims.

This is a club that is gradually falling further and further on its knees, though, and not a single word has been uttered from the board. Happy to be mediocre. Happy to be known as plucky little Everton, a well-run club who play pretty football. Happy to stick by a manager who has been given long enough to find the answer to this crisis, when clearly he hasn’t got it.

For this is Everton, and sadly, it is far more likely that our talented individuals will be out of the door long before our hapless manager will be.

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