Blue 250

Bill's an old softy and Moyes isn't perfect, but between them they turned around my football club when it was heading down the 'pan'.
 
If Martinez can better Moyse then good times are ahead.

Barkleys skill comes from raw talent, pretty much like Rooney.Ross hasn't practiced free kicks, he doesn't need to.Other players will spend years trying to score a goal like the Swansea free kick, they'll never do it.
 
Ross isn't thick, he's young and nervous, there's many million hanging on his every word, I can't see many young lads looking forward to the interview, he'd much rather do his talking with his feet.He'll be ok in a couple of months when he's being interviewed for the 10th time.
 
It will not be long before he surges from his own half and plants the ball in the back of the net, It nearly happened the other night, it will happen soon.
 
We were lucky enough to find Rooney, who said lightning doesn't strike in the same place twice!

We know you do!
 
It's ok, you'll probably hate Martinez when he leaves.

Any team in the top 7 at present can win the league.......depending on how many points we collect and how many the other 6 drop, isn't that how it always works.

Pienaar for me, whilst Coleman is fast becoming a top prem player.

Probably the best attacking LB Everton have had (including free kicks), but there have been others more solid whilst defending.
 
I'd like him to be part of this 'Everton under Martinez' era, pretty sure he and Pienaar can cause problems for a couple of seasons yet.If he WANTS to leave, then I'd say grab the max for him and see what we can do with the money.We've survived the last fw games without him.

Saurez, the beautiful butterfly !! I also can't afford the flowers that attract these wonderfull insects......but I do own an airgun, so watch out Saurez the butterfly, skirtel the slug, Rodgers the rat and Gerrard the nasty gnome.

Saurez, the beautiful butterfly !! I also can't afford the flowers that attract these wonderfull insects......but I do own an airgun, so watch out Saurez the butterfly, skirtel the slug, Rodgers the rat and Gerrard the nasty gnome.

Saurez, the beautiful butterfly !! I also can't afford the flowers that attract these wonderfull insects......but I do own an airgun, so watch out Saurez the butterfly, skirtel the slug, Rodgers the rat and Gerrard the nasty gnome.

what if the butterflies started diving around your garden and biting you?

Ossie did a great job when he came on, Howard kept us in the game, Tim shades it.

The one thing I've taken from this game is that under Martinez things aren't likely to be dull! It's going to take me a while to recover from all the emotions I've been through today - fear, elation, frustration, anger... you name it this game made me feel it.
 
The first half was so topsy turvy it was unreal. Chances galore for both sides, with Villa probably looking the more dangerous of the two sides and we were fortunate to still be in the running I thought. Defensively we were awful but Howard made some world class and vital stops. There was nothing wrong with Benteke's penalty but Howard made a brilliant save. And then made at least another two crucial saves in quick succession to stop them making up for the penalty miss. Honestly, they looked like scoring every time they attacked. It wasn't all doom and gloom though because we created chances of our own. Mirallas had a great opportunity early on, and had another one later in the half that was brilliantly blocked. Barkley hit the bar (probably his only positive contribution), Lukaku had a header saved, he had another chance through on goal that he really should have done better with. How the game was still 0-0 at half-time is a mystery and at this point I was thinking that if we could cut down the space they were getting in midfield to run at us we could settle down in the second half and get some control.
 
It wasn't to be. We came out and played some absolute dirge. We couldn't keep hold of the ball to save our lives and I was getting more and more frustrated watching us. Villa were dominating the play but at the same time they weren't threatening us anywhere near as much as they did in the first half, which was some relief as I may have put my fist through my PC screen if we'd have really been under the cosh. Then Martinez makes a substitution that changed things completely and against the run of play we took the lead through Lukaku. Osman was brought on to replace Barkley, and where things were continually breaking down with Barkley things came together with Osman due to him just doing the simple things, rather than trying to be too clever. Lukaku's goal was this down to a tee - Osman received the ball and just simply played it to Lukaku for him to slot it home. Although Villa did create a couple of chances after we took the lead I thought from that point on that we controlled things, came into our own and really showed the difference between the Moyes era and how Martinez wants us to go about things. We kept hold of the ball excellently, which is exactly what you need in that situation; the opposition can't hurt you if you've got the ball. What I liked is that while we mostly played it around quite slowly we could go up a gear, and that's what we did to get the second goal and kill the game off. After the second goal it was complete comfort for our players.
 
Not a great performance by any means, but it's three points and somehow a clean sheet.
 
 
Howard - It's amazing what having real competition will do for a keeper. He's in top form this season and today he was immense and is the biggest factor behind us coming away with three points. He saved Benteke's penalty, which wasn't a badly taken penalty by any means, made a quality save when their player was through in on goal, raced off his line and stopped another chance when they were through again, and made other saves throughout the game. Without him being on top of his game we don't get anything out of this game. My MOTM.
 
 
Coleman - I know he didn't exactly make a challenge to give the penalty away but his positioning was awful and that's what was punished. It wasn't the only time throughout the game either; he continually got himself into sticky situations. An horrible defensive performance from him. He was slightly better attacking but his final ball was crap.
 
Jagielka and Distin - They didn't make any howlers where you could point to them and say "you fucked up there" but they just did not look a comfortable unit.
 
Baines - Didn't really click with Pienaar today (not his fault though tbh). Did OK defensively.
 
 
Mirallas - I thought it was more of a frustrating performance from him rather than a bad one as some have said. He was continually involved in the game (something he's not done an awful lot of for us this season) and got himself into some excellent positions. For example, but for a brilliant block he'd have at least tested Guzan with his shot in the first half, and maybe even have scored. Where he let himself down was with his final ball. Nevertheless, I was very encouraged with his showing.
 
Barry and McCarthy - In the first half I thought the pair of them did a terrible job of getting a grip on things in midfield and that's why we were so susceptible to them breaking on us. Neither of them really got in Villa's faces and allowed them free reign to come at us. That's not something you should allow a team like Villa to do because they're full of pace and power. In the second half they were much better in this regard and we did get control of things in the middle of the park.
 
Pienaar - He had one of those games where you just want to slap him silly. When he wasn't being a fancy dan and giving the ball away with stupid flicks in stupid areas he was coming too central and leaving Baines exposed defensively and not having any one to work with going forward.
 
 
Barkley - Another poor performance by him. Once again it's his decision making that was all wrong. I understand it's just part of his learning curve but it doesn't make it any less anger inducing. Shooting when he should be passing, passing when he should be shooting, dwelling on the ball when he needs to shift it quickly, taking unnecessary extra touches but then other times playing the pass too quickly.
 
 
Lukaku - As in the Hull game he was well defended against but this time he gave as good as he got and didn't just accept being marked. His movement was great, he showed a lot of strength when under extreme pressure. Probably could have done better with his two chances in the first half, certainly for one of them. But when that one chance fell to him in the second half when we were barely in the game he showed his class and slotted it home. You want your strikers to put them away when it matters most. That's why he's a Chelsea player and why he'll cost an arm and a leg if they decide to sell.
 
 
Osman - I have to mention him because he played a very significant role in us winning today. I have to say that I was pleased he didn't start (and I still don't think he should be starting; coming on when the games older and more stretched is the right role for him I reckon) and I wasn't convinced he was the right player to come on for us, but Martinez got it spot on. He came on and shored things up for us just by keeping things simple. That's why we got our opener, an assist for him, and then he topped things off by finishing the game by scoring himself. If not for Howard he'd have been my MOTM despite not being on the field for a massive amount of time.

Barkley has just got to get these poor games out of his system, it's the only way he's going to get better, that and coaching will make the lad unstopable.It's almost like he's trying to rush the process, sometimes he just needs to do the simple thing.
 
Really wasn't impressed with the Villa game, exception being Howard.Though a clean sheet and a win away whilst not at your best is surely pretty dam good.
It's another 90 minutes for Matinez to play with, you can lean a lot from any game.

Just a word on Lukaku v Newcastle... The reason why he became non existent in the second half was because every player decided not to get him involved...check it out again and you will see.

I don't give a shit how many 'A' levels Jags has got, if he can keep a striker in his pocket, that's all that really matters.
 
The players get to the top of their profession for their ability on the football pitch, when interviewd after the match, what comes out is of second importance to me.
 
I don't want a midfielder who knows how to split an atom, I want a player who can split a defence with a pass.

apathy is the worst thing... people who support - muted, nothing to say, just being there is the best thing they can offer. Fuck that, how can you get better if you can't pick out the things that aren't as good as the competition... when you stop critiquing you stop improving or aspiring to achieve more than you have.
 
problem is Everton were far more than we are now... it's apathy that's allowed lesser clubs to see us as average. some fans need to refresh their club history.

No. He is pure class!

well the key trait "speed" seems to lack.

Treasure every moment we have him, if the team plays well behind him we can have a great season.
 
He wants to show the world he's a great striker, well he's got to do it in an Everton shirt, it can only be good for us.Martinez must eventually plan for life without him, it's what he's paid lots of money for.

Stick around Tony, this season at least, get yourself fit and match ready......just to make sure Coleman doesn't ease off.

The decision that infuriated me the most wasn't the penalty or Milner, it was Hart pushing a City defender into Barkley on one of our corners and winning a free kick for it. I knew it was going to happen somehow but these decisions are still completely baffling. It's happened in almost every recent game to almost every one of our players but most often to Jags, Distin, Fellaini, Anichebe and now Barkley. I'm sure Lukaku will get penalised for it soon. The unspoken (and completely made up) rule that you can't stand your ground attacking a corner has completely disadvantaged us when we have tall and strong players who can outjump and outmuscle the teams with shorter players. The refs simply won't let us use our physical advantage and Fellaini used to get penalised all the time for simply being bigger than his opponents.

Equal treatment from refs would help.

I think Pienaar could be the perfect foil for Lukaku, plus I'm sure there's still life in the Baines/Pienaar affair!
 
I dare Martinez to attack Newcastle under the Goodison floodlights.Wave after wave of Baines/Penaar and Coleman/Mirallas down the wings with Lukaku in the middle....oh and Barkley whacking in shots from outide the area.
 
Win this and win it well, will have people taking a good look at Everton.

I think Pienaar could be the perfect foil for Lukaku, plus I'm sure there's still life in the Baines/Pienaar affair!
 
I dare Martinez to attack Newcastle under the Goodison floodlights.Wave after wave of Baines/Penaar and Coleman/Mirallas down the wings with Lukaku in the middle....oh and Barkley whacking in shots from outide the area.
 
Win this and win it well, will have people taking a good look at Everton.

It should be properly dark by that time, so good enough. But expected to finish around 10 pm with the advent of extra time and subsequent penalties that I envisage. Could be a late journey back for those on return to Liverpool but well worth the effort should we get the win and entrance to the later rounds. I do want to see this club win this trophy after no success since it's inception in 1960, but feel sometimes may never get to see that day. Hopefully Martinez can carry on where he left off at Wigan Athletic and put this club back on the trophy list, but expecting nothing less than a tough game tomorrow. The venue still remains a cause of concern, despite recent efforts.