Make no mistake, the Spaniard’s Everton tenure will not be forgotten any time soon – for all the wrong reasons.
After a bright start to life on Merseyside in 2013 that had fans dreaming, the remainder of Roberto Martinez’s time in charge of Everton was reminiscent of an Olympic slope skier.
Since finishing fifth in 2013-14, the Toffees have not even stagnated – they have simply plummeted further. 49 points and 11th last season was their worst tally in a decade, only to be worsened this season regardless of the weekend’s result against the already relegated Norwich City.
Now Martinez is gone. Once a symbol of hope, his name will go down in Everton history as a symbol of mediocrity and complacency, a manager that oversaw the erosion of his club’s values.
Everton Football Club has never been one to accept sub-standard performance – it is engraved in the club’s crest. Evertonians will need little reminding of what Nil Satis Nisi Optimum means, but for those not familiar, it translates into ‘nothing but the best is good enough’.
Think of the 2015-16 season as a dominant, unrelenting boxer. Now think of Nil Satis Nisi Optimum as the opposition, cowering on the ropes and praying for the finish line. This campaign has done considerable harm to that value.
Initially, Martinez seemed a perfect fit. Champions League football was promised and he made a strong case of chasing it. Everton narrowly missed out three years ago and have not come close since.
Martinez is not solely liable for the damage caused to the Toffees’ core value, but he shares plenty of the responsibility. He finally had ‘his’ team and ‘his’ players, yet could never get the best out of his team on a consistent basis. The one constant was poor errors, which never appeared close to being remedied. The Blues have conceded 55 goals this season with one game still to play – only the bottom five have conceded more goals.
What is worse is that Martinez was constantly willing to accept poor results. Speaking after Everton’s abysmal loss to Sunderland midweek, which turned out to be the former Wigan boss’ last match in the hot seat, the Spaniard offered a stunning – mind-boggling even – assessment of his team’s performance that would have left supporters wide-eyed in amazement.
“I wouldn’t say the performance was disappointing,” he told the press after the match.
“The result was very tough for us to take because I thought we started the game really well. The effort and intent were there but goals play a very big part.”
Not disappointing? A 3-0 loss to a team that has spent more time in the drop zone than Aston Villa this season is not disappointing? Despite controlling the ball in large part, Everton were simply awful at the Stadium of Light and never even looked like stopping the determined Black Cats from completing their survival mission.
For fans, those comments would have left the sourest of tastes in their mouths and come as an insult.
Chairman Bill Kenwright too must cop his share of the blame. This Everton team is the strongest the club has seen in years – ever, even – and after three years of planning, Martinez still could not extract their best. The fact that he maintained the 42-year-old for so long, seemingly as a ‘mate’ rather than a manager, shows he too was not up to the challenge of championing Everton’s proud expectations.
Perhaps he will learn a key lesson – never tie down a manger for a further five seasons after a solitary successful one.
In the end, new investor Farhad Moshiri made the decision to fire Martinez, highlighting what has been, lately at least, Kenwright’s passive influence. Made worse is the fact that the arts tycoon never seemed to listen to the fans. Those barracking for the ‘people’s club’ called for change and were ignored, despite tolerating just five home league wins for the season.
Axing Martinez is just the first step in healing the wounds of a devastating campaign. Many more remain as a critical 2016-17 campaign awaits Moshiri and the future gaffer.
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