veedublin

I guess all we need to do is get to within one goal. We were caught in concrete on those long balls, but there was a bit of luck involved. I gotta believe the second half will be much better.

nobody is tall enough

I still predict advancing on a 3-2 loss! :shaking fist:

we're glued to the ground on these headers

I don't know that I blame him for that one. It had eyes.

no goal, but nice prediction

predicting an advance on a 3-2 loss

Does that mean we can't start Alcaraz?

So, is it an empty stadium for this, or partly filled, or who gets in? How does this work? Is it an eerie silence? (Might be in another thread, but here we are.)

He is now gone.

Not just what's going wrong this year, but what do you think is the biggest difference between this season and last? (I'm sure it's a combination of a bunch of things, but what stands out?) 2013-14 was simply good luck. The ball went our way, and we got goals when we needed them. 2014-15 is simply bad luck. We're not getting the breaks. A save here or a goal there, and it would be a different season. Whatever was fresh in 2013-14 has been sussed out by the other EPL teams. Martinez had a good system, but it needs to evolve. He's not creative enough (or he's too stubborn) to grow. A middling start eroded player confidence, so really, it's all mental. Martinez didn't work the team hard enough in the off-season. (Players are not fit enough, so we've conceded late goals.) Injuries. Martinez is but a figurehead and a cheerleader. Things went well last year, but he doesn't know how to inspire his players to do their best in the face of adversity. (He's panicking.) There is mutiny among the ranks, the players want Martinez gone, and a win would affirm his ability to coach. Our players don't like each other, so it's subconscious sabotage. It's [NAME A PLAYER]. He was effective last year, but he's dreck this year. Goalkeeping, plain and simple. Last year, Howard was serviceable enough. but this year, glaring mistakes have resulted in opposing goals and have put us on the defensive. A save here might result in a goal there.

35 I would guess would be enough. My half-baked prediction (15 points from the final 10 games) leaves us with 42 points all said and done, disappointingly (but safely) in 12th place.

If this doesn't look like a fallen leader so completely out of his element, I don't know what does. That picture, to me, says "I have absolutely no idea what the hell I'm doing, and people have found me out." I think the blame is not all his, but there you go.

Ah that's right. The tincture of time.

Would love a win, but predicting a draw. (Based on my "15 points in 10 games" scenario, here.) Is Baines good to go? If not, then Garbutt, most likely?

I enjoy Followtonians, but I always seem to stumble upon the current episode only after it feels like old news, or when there's already been a game after the one they're discussing. It's not Everton-focused, but Football Weekly from The Guardian is pretty entertaining.

Agree with you, but these are men, not high-school or college boys. I would think they're mature enough to find motivation amongst themselves. But, if they don't have belief in the game plan, I can see how they can lose confidence individually. So, maybe it's more confidence than motivation. I play music, and I know that if I'm not completely confident in a situation, I'm gonna have a bad time. Regardless of how "motivated" I am.

What if? This is the thread, so what if it happens? I'm guessing it's never happened in your lifetimes. (You'd need to be 62 years old, or probably more like 65 to actually remember it, and how many on here are that, um, old? I'm 50, so I can ask that.) So, what would happen? We play Championship League. Do we lose a bunch of players? Can't pay their salaries? Martinez fired undoubtedly? New manager search? (I know we'd lose all the new Television revenue.) And how could you live among Liverpool fans? If it happens, you gotta believe they're good enough to return the following year, but the whole prospect is just a fate too evil to comprehend. (Disclaimer: I do think the current bottom three in week 28 -- Burnley, Leicester, QPR -- will probably be the bottom three in week 38... I think Everton will win a few from here on out to squeak through.)

Can't sack Martinez. The players had tired legs. All of them. Even the subs. Shoot me now.

Yes, the mention of Brendan Rodgers again... He figured out how to turn it around. LP had a sub-par start to the season, fans were calling for BR's head, and he somehow changed the system and got them into a top-4 hunt. What did he do that RM cannot? (Was it as simple as going 3-4-3?) We have 10 games left. Best-case scenario, we come away with 15 points. Newcastle (Should be a win, but who knows, given the past. But for the sake of argument, a Draw.) QPR (Win.) Southampton (Loss.) Swansea City (Draw.) Burnley FC (Win.) Man United (Loss.) Aston Villa (Win.) Sunderland (Win.) West Ham (Draw.) Tottenham (Loss.) 43 points for the season. Crap finish, but no relegation. That's my theory, ahem.

Glad this is happening before the 85th minute.

Lennon off?

Hopefully this. Osman coming in.

There was television show called "Seinfeld." And in one episode, George realizes that because his life is crap, he comes to realize that all his instincts have been wrong all along. So Jerry tells him, "If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right." So he starts doing the opposite of whatever he thinks he should do, and things start going his way. Someone just needs to tell Martinez to do the opposite of what his instinct tells him to do.

if you watch the replay of the goal, howard looks like he's caught completely flat-footed. He jumps for the ball way too late, it appears. Seemed stoppable, that header.