Sunday Supplement: Roberto Martinez overly positive on Everton's season
Sunday 1 May 2016 18:18, UK
Roberto Martinez is guilty of being overly positive about Everton's season, according to Sunday Supplement panellist Jonathan Northcroft, who described recent comments from the Spaniard as "nonsense".
Martinez was the subject of fan protests on Saturday, when a number of Everton supporters remained behind after their 2-1 win over Bournemouth to demand his removal.
The Everton boss had given an interview to the Daily Mail on Saturday morning where he defended his record in the job, but Northcroft was not impressed.
"I can't avoid using the word nonsense," he said on the Sunday Supplement. "To me it was full of more nonsense, and it sounds very harsh, but there's a huge gap between what Roberto Martinez says and what his team has been delivering on the pitch.
"He spoke in that interview about the intensity that he sees, but if you speak to Evertonians then intensity is the last thing they are seeing in their home performances in particular. I think he would do more credit for himself if he said this season's been a disaster.
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"He made some odd claim about how in a way they are more competitive because it's not always about average league position as sometimes it's about being able to beat bigger clubs. I'm not sure if that is what a club should be aspiring to.
"It sounds like I'm being very harsh, and he's a man who has great attributes, intelligence being one of them, but he over-spins it."
A section of Arsenal fans also called for a change of manager at the Emirates on Saturday, with calls to remove Arsene Wenger during their 1-0 win over Norwich.
But Northcroft believes the staged nature of both demonstrations stripped them of credibility.
"I think what you don't do is protest during the game and what you don't do is do something that is rehearsed," he added. "I think there was a plane that was flown over Goodison Park which just looks so cheesy these days and so preconceived.
"I think protests almost have to be organic, you don't plan for them. There was a demo outside the ground that seemed to me to be more meaningful and probably the most meaningful fan protest lately has been the Liverpool fans walking out over ticket prices.
"Looking at the Emirates yesterday, the biggest comment made by supporters was the number of empty seats.
"There were probably about 10,000 empty seats and that to me said more about where Arsenal are and the underwhelming nature of their season than a few blokes holding up bits of paper.
"I feel for the sentiment and I understand why those supporters are so unhappy about this season of all seasons being one where Arsenal have faltered, but they don't seem to know what they're calling for."
