Nil Statis Nisi Optimum.
That statement – nothing but the best is good enough – is an attitude that Everton Football Club has built its foundations on for some 138 years.
In this, the 138th year, the club’s very identity is under serious threat and is crumbling before our very eyes as the Toffees languish in 12th position, now at severe risk of finishing in the bottom-half of the table for the second season running.
And it simply is not good enough. What is more worrying than the results, however, is that the people that matter appear willing to accept mediocrity.
This club needs to make its push for elite status, but the current state of play suggests a willingness to accept the ‘little old Everton’ tag.
Their 2015-16 season has been a roller-coaster. A roller-coaster with a severe case of whiplash at the end of a very, very bumpy ride.
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There have been positives. One needs only to look as far as the form of the front line; only three teams have scored more than Everton’s 40 goals, thanks largely to the form of 15-goal striker Romelu Lukaku, aided by Gerard Deulofeu and Ross Barkley.
The lone fact that the Blues have scored only two goals less than top of the table Leicester makes their plight all the more astounding and confusing. Of course, defending has been the overwhelming undoing at an alarming frequency that does not seem likely to die down any time soon.
But unless you are one to always look at the brighter side of life, the negatives are what rise to the top. Everton have won just six times – three of those wins have come against the bottom three sides, another two against teams sitting between 13th and 17th and another at Southampton, a team that has spent the majority of the season struggling for form and consistency, propping up the top half.
The amount of points dropped, and from positions in which they have looked undroppable, has been nothing short of incredible, so much so that you would have to count on your feet how many have been squandered.
The worst of those were 3-3 draws at Bournemouth and then Chelsea, when goals were conceded in the last play of either match.
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Why those errors continued to happen has been a point of discussion for some time. Was it a mental thing or a style thing, something that can be fixed on the training ground?
After watching Everton’s insipid home defeat against Swansea, the conclusion has to be the latter. John Stones’ thoughtless pass to a flat-footed Tim Howard could easily have been the overlay to Benny Hill theme music but it suggested a style-borne lapse from Roberto Martinez’s possession tactics.
Given Stones’ importance to the team, it is highly unlikely he will pay for the blunder with his spot alongside Phil Jagielka.
Have any of his team mates in more interchangeable positions been made accountable?
Without picking an easy target and scapegoating, let’s use a standout case-in-point: Tim Howard.
The American, put simply, has had an inconsistent campaign fraught with shaky moments. Those mishaps need no recounting; they have not gone unnoticed. His involvement in Swansea’s opener cannot be ignored. Though Stones made the wrong choice with his pass, the goalkeeper was on his heels and should have anticipated the possibility of a bailout ball to get there ahead of the incoming Andre Ayew.
After Everton’s defeat to Arsenal, in which Howard committed two costly gaffes, did he pay the price? No. Is he likely to pay the price here? No. Some may applaud Martinez’s loyalty to his goalkeeper, but it is a show of complacency. Joel Robles has not been afforded a single minute of Premier League action all season.
Does that mean those efforts were acceptable?
Everton's last five Premier League home games:
DLLDL
Points: 2
Goals: 8
Conceded: 11
Clean sheets: 0 pic.twitter.com/P78OunZa8m— Squawka Football (@Squawka) January 24, 2016
The manager himself, and the board, must shoulder a great deal of the responsibility. Martinez has had the chance to build his own squad – an excellent squad at that – and implement his philosophy. Yet the same mistakes have continued and deficiencies have clearly not been addressed. His team is capable of some of the best attacking play in the league, but remains horribly susceptible to comedy capers at the other end.
In the previous 61 matches in all competitions, Everton have won only 18 matches and, at present, have just one win in their past nine league matches, a late 1-0 triumph at St James’ Park. Without drawing on the past too much, the Merseysiders encountered their worst run of results in a decade around this time last campaign, losing five in a row.
In anyone’s book, the aforementioned figures could easily warrant a sacking and, in the harsh environment of the Premier League, Martinez should consider himself lucky to still be in a job.
So, is a 29% win ratio okay?
Perhaps his saving grace is the five-year deal that is now into its second season. That contract was offered after Martinez’s excellent maiden campaign at the helm – Everton came within a whisker of the Champions League qualifying stages.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but maybe Bill Kenwright is now lamenting the length of the deal. Five additional years for a coach is a monumental vote of confidence. But the results have not come and the silence at boardroom level has been deafening.
Everton are now at a critical juncture. Their current crop of talent is the best it has been in years, maybe even forever, but to continue on the current path with little accountability is dangerous.
The League Cup semi-final second leg at the Etihad Stadium is now all the more important. Everton have not won a major trophy since 1995 – something that is not good enough – and given the club does not even appear likely to finish in the top half, triumph in this competition could be the only thing standing between their young stars and the exit door.
Sackings are not entirely necessary, not yet at least. But one thing is for sure: this current scenario is far from good enough. It is not acceptable, and some honesty is required at Goodison Park to make Everton a challenger rather than a battler.
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