Martinez Golden Vision Needs Summer Backing by Mark Ellis
[pullquote]”The prospect of entering September with a squad of higher quality than this current one is mouth-watering.”[/pullquote]
With the season reaching a thrilling climax and Everton in the ascendancy in the race for fourth place, thoughts are firmly on the massive opportunity awaiting our football club should we qualify for the Champions League next season.
Whatever happens from now until the end of the season one thought is slowly making its way forward to the front of my mind.
Will this board change the habit of a lifetime and finally back our manager this summer? With no outgoing sales to fund it?
Stating the obvious I know however, the quality has to remain for us to push on next season.
We have been told the money is there and that Roberto has held back spending the money until the summer. If we make the Champions League or Europa, one thing is crystal clear; we need to add to the squad with quality and numbers in equal measure.
This is a huge summer for us and if Martinez is allowed to bring in who he wants, then the future will look arrogantly optimistic.
Martinez has always maintained he wishes to leave each window stronger as a squad than when we have entered it. The prospect of entering September 1st with a squad of higher quality than this current one is mouth-watering.
I personally have never enjoyed a season as much as this one. Years of Moyes and his safety first tactics had washed out the feeling of what brave attacking football tasted like, but under Martinez we have enjoyed a thrilling return to the very heart of our club; School of Science football.
Some of our football has been world-class this season. This was supposed to be a season of transition, for me it has shown Roberto Martinez is here and ready to join Harry Catterick and Howard Kendall on the list of our greatest managers. The football we are playing would not have looked out-of-place amongst the holy trinity or the mid eighties.
Roberto Martinez feels like the long-lost son of Everton football club. Where has he been all our lives?
Apologies about the love-in but the Spaniard has not put a foot wrong since he joined and the future looks nothing other than exciting under Roberto. Words can’t justify the impact he has made on our club and long may it continue.
Evertonians have had a ball this season and being a constant tweeter I have experienced first hand the fans feelings. The feel good factor around the club this season has been truly fantastic.
We haven’t even scratched the surface of our achievements under Martinez but this dream needs the board to be pro-active in the summer. Signing Lukaku has to be the number one priority for me. He represents our future along with Barkley, Stones and McCarthy.
So come on Bill, I’m not your biggest fan and this isn’t me taking a chance to have another rant but the time has come to speculate
to accumulate. No more selling our best to fund incomings.
Liverpool Echo: £50m Champions League Jackpot
We have to keep this squad together and build on it. The board simply can’t sit on their hands over this. It is time to deliver and give Roberto a chance to put this team on the wall at finch farm.
Media Agenda
Martinez should be applauded for finding a way to compete with the obscene wealth of the top four this season. We haven’t done it the ugly way, we have set about gaining a top four place on a budget with a style and class befitting of our football club.
Just imagine a summer where Bobby is allowed to strengthen the squad as he sees fit, and, just to upset the media who have run an appalling agenda against Everton this season, I hope we top off our money purchases with a few more high-profile loans.
Never have I seen such criticism and dummy spitting over something perfectly within the rules of the game.
The Arsenal performance was such an iconic win. Looking back on it, we played with such style, such aggression. It was a performance that perfectly matched the personality of our manager.
The football played belonged in the Champions League. I have huge faith that we will make it there this season. The players are in the groove, they are now expecting to win every game and we have the quality on the pitch and the innovation in the dugout to win all of our remaining games.
The nagging doubt of the boards ambitions still remain and it would be beyond criminal if they were to let Martinez down in the summer. He is a wonderfully talented manager who wants to return us to the top of English football. I don’t think there’s an Evertonian out there who doubts he has the capability to do it.
So Bill, give the man what he needs and watch history unfold in front of you.
Feel Good Factor
The season ticket news in which Everton revealed the number of fans buying for very first time has risen by 202 per cent compared to 2013 is not surprising. We are on the verge of a special era under Martinez.
This demonstrates perfectly the optimism and excitement around the fans. The feel good factor has to be continued from the boardroom in the summer.
Let’s hope the board (for once) match the fans’ amazing commitment to Everton Football Club.
The confidence from the fans is well placed. Five defeats in 32 games is a phenomenal run and the players and Martinez have been a credit to us. Our season deserves to end with fourth place minimum or even higher. The Champions League anthem could soon be echoing around Walton Road.
The next six games will determine our destiny for next season but what happens over the summer will send out a statement if the board are committed to fulfilling the Martinez golden vision – and every Evertonians’ dream – a return for Everton to the summit of English football.
As a club we deserve it, as fans we deserve it. The Champions League venues will be enhanced by the presence of the best away support in the business.
For the chairman and his board of directors, the time for excuses is over, the time to make history is here.
Sin Miedo
Mark Ellis