from the guardian -
Martínez may leave Everton in better position than he found them
Look at the league table and Everton have regressed on Roberto Martínez’s watch. David Moyes’s long reign ended in sixth place and, while his successor initially took them up to fifth, back-to-back lower-half finishes now beckon for the first time since 2002. And yet, in some respects, the Spaniard’s legacy will be better than his inheritance. Admittedly, his successor will have to tighten up the defence and a reliance on thirty-somethings such as Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka and Gareth Barry is an issue that requires addressing. Yet many of Moyes’s other ageing stalwarts have either left – in the cases of Sylvain Distin, Nikica Jelavic and Marouane Fellaini – or have been phased out, with Steven Pienaar, Leon Osman and Tim Howard fringe figures now. Martínez has switched the focus to a younger generation. Ross Barkley had started only four top-flight games before his appointment and John Stones none. Now the latter, along with Romelu Lukaku, could bring in more than £100m. Everton’s results have been underwhelming for the last two seasons but Martínez has recruited players whose careers are on the up, in James McCarthy, Muhamed Besic, Gerard Deulofeu and, perhaps, Ramiro Funes Mori. He also has a generation of young defenders, in Matthew Pennington, Brendan Galloway, Tyias Browning, Luke Garbutt and Mason Holgate, some of whom could break through. What he has not done, over the last two years, is to harness the considerable potential of his side. But, assuming he departs this summer, his replacement may find much to his liking at Goodison Park. Richard Jolly
agree with alot of this, the manager we needed at the time..now time to move to the next level and to get results
