Roberto Martinez has been sacked by Everton. Why it has taken this
long is for the powerbrokers at Goodison Park to know, but the hope is
the Toffees will be able to rebuild after a thoroughly disappointing
campaign. Unfortunately for supporters, however, the damage done during
Martinez’s reign is likely to be felt throughout the summer and for some
time to come on the blue side of Merseyside.Finishing fifth with an inexperienced squad in his first season in charge suggested Everton had stumbled on something special in hiring the man who had just taken Wigan Athletic down to the Championship. The Spaniard had vowed to take the club into the Champions League, and though poor results towards the end of the season meant they missed out on a top-four spot, there was real belief that the team had the potential to break into Europe’s premier club competition.
Fast-forward 24 months, and that same squad and manager have succeeded only in securing a second successive bottom-half finish in the Premier League while their wait for silverware ticks past a quarter of a century. The Goodison faithful almost to a man turned on Martinez following a run of embarrassing performances and the club’s hierarchy are coming under fire for seemingly doing nothing to stop the rot at one of England’s largest football institutions despite there being nothing to play for.
A public dressing down of fan favourite Leighton Baines after a string of uninspiring showings proved to be the beginning of the end for Martinez, with divisions between the manager and his players clear despite the former Swansea City coach’s personable nature. A disastrous showing at Anfield weeks later led to a 4-0 defeat at the hands of local rivals Liverpool, and though they rallied for 45 minutes in their FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester United, the writing has been on the wall in the wake of two losses that ended the club’s season prematurely in mid-April.
Out of both cups and with nothing to play for in the league, Martinez
was a man staring the exit door in the face. Quite why he was allowed
to oversee a limp 2-1 win over Bournemouth and insipid performances in
defeat to both Leicester City and Sunderland is a question most Everton
fans want asking, with the lacklustre performances of his players
suggesting they would rather be doing anything else than continuing to
fight for a manager they seemingly no longer believed in.And while his eventual sacking has been met with widespread joy from the Everton supporting public, there is no suggestion that turning around the club’s fortunes will be straightforward for whomever is placed in charge heading into the 2016-17 campaign.
While Martinez and David Moyes before him have between them put together a squad that is, on paper, the best seen at the club this century, this is set to be the summer where it is most likely to be dismantled as its biggest names go in pursuit of pastures new.
Romelu Lukaku has made no secret of the fact he is keen to play Champions League football, and while his next destination is far from clear, a merry-go-round of strikers will likely take place that will see the Belgium international eventually find himself at a club which more matches his personal ambitions.
John Stones too will have no shortage of suitors despite a campaign that has largely mirrored that of his team and manager. Manchester City remain the favourites to sign the former Barnsley starlet, with England supporters hopeful a boss who is more astute when it comes to coaching defenders will help him reach his undoubted potential. Three Lions team-mate Ross Barkley is less likely to depart, but his departure cannot be ruled out, especially if he can impress for Roy Hodgson at the European Championship.
Elsewhere, a new goalkeeper is desperately required as Tim Howard heads for the MLS and Joel Robles’s performances have suggested he is not at the level required to take up the American’s mantle. Kevin Mirallas’s failure to earn a call-up to Euro 2016 with Belgium is likely to accelerate his 18-month long bid to leave Merseyside while midfield stalwarts Leon Osman and Steven Pienaar have been given no guidance on whether they will be kept on when their contracts end this summer.
And while the increase in television revenue has promised a more competitive Premier League, there is a feeling that Everton have missed the boat when it comes to challenging for honours in the coming years. Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City all have relatively new managers who many predict will lead them back to the top of the table while Manchester United’s malaise cannot go on forever given their financial clout. Tottenham and Leicester have overtaken the Toffees in terms of pulling power while West Ham’s fine form under Slaven Bilic and a new stadium will have turned a few heads when it comes to making signings this summer.
Everton are likely to be left fighting with the likes of Southampton and Stoke City when it comes to rebuilding their squad this summer despite Farhad Moshiri’s promised millions, and even then they may not always be able to succeed. For a club whose fans regard them as the fourth-biggest in the country, Martinez has left them likely to be feeding off scraps.
And while many will rejoice at the fact that the man who has failed massively in his task of taking Everton into the Champions League being removed from his role, the good times will not immediately return to Goodison Park. Martinez’s successor has a long, dark road ahead of him to re-establish this club among both England and Europe’s elite.
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