So Roberto has gone according to the majority of media sources. But embarrassing if that’s not actually true and Bobby turns up tonight for the Awards thing. Awkward glances AOTS. “Weren’t you meant to tell him Bill?” “Don’t look at me lad…”
In the end it all seemed inevitable with the press hawking replacements all week and Frank De Boer resigning from Ajax putting even further pressure on him this morning. Personally I presumed we’d bottle it like we normally do and wait for us to be 17th in November and for it to get really nasty like it did for Mike Walker for example.
Someone somewhere though had the balls to do the right thing and sack Martinez which must have been like kicking a puppy, but he’d lost the fans and the players some time ago. Some of the performances in the last couple of games made it very obvious that they didn’t want to fight for the team or the manager any more.
Even the performances in the cup seemed like they were more for the players than the manager. Could it be that the first half of the FA Cup final was under manager instruction and the second half more about the players doing things for themselves? Who knows but it wouldn’t surprise me. Be interesting to see what comments are leaked out of Goodison in the coming days.
The timing is curious too. The Awards ceremony is tonight and it could be that the club are trying to protect the manager from further abuse. If that’s true then I agree with it. Hopefully this will lighten the mood though and possibly persuade some of our better players to stay as opposed to jumping ship this Summer. I know some of them have been poor in the last few weeks but we should buy better players before selling them now that we have some cash in our pockets!
Whichever manager comes in, we need to improve our fitness for starters but also our mental strength. That mad stat from last night about us 11 times letting in a goal within 6 minutes of conceding a first is crazy along with the fact that we’ve not won any points after going behind since December.
Someone who plays nice football, doesn’t mind getting consistent support for a striker going forwards and plays less balls sideways (the occasional free-kick and corner into the box even) would be welcomed like a hero. Especially if they aren’t ginger.
Oh, and someone who speak honestly and doesn’t talk utter rubbish would be good. First sign of a ‘phenomenal’ and he’s out of the door.
Adios Roberto. It was fun for a while.
Good luck in your next job; sure it won’t be long before you get another chance. Just try not to talk nonsense, eh?