Boakye Frimpong K Appiah gives us his opinion on why it could be time for Martinez to go:

An embarrassingly one-sided 4-0 derby defeat to Liverpool on Wednesday night left the season well and truly over with Everton rooted to 11^th place in the premier league with four games remaining. Roberto Martinez’s side are without a win in their last seven games- form befitting candidates, not the upwardly mobile, ambitious side they are supposed to be.

Roberto Martinez had an excellent season in his first year at the Goodison Park, a team which his predecessor David Moyes had already done most of the job. The only significant change was bringing in Romelu Lukaku to lead the attacking line. Roberto Martinez made no attempts to disguise Everton’s aim for his second season, which was just as well, as 6ft 3in club record signing was sitting alongside the Catalonian while he spoke of a heightened ambition. “This is a key moment in that it makes it clear where our focus is set”, was how the Everton manager described the permanent transfer of Romelu Lukaku two years ago. After the successes of the season before, Evertonians everywhere were confident that Martinez could even push the Toffees towards a Champions League place. Almost everything went downhill and Everton could not even sit in the top-half of the table. Everton ended the campaign in 11^th place.

This was meant to be the best Everton squad in decades, but the Toffees have hit new lows under Roberto Martinez’s management. Everton have the sixth worst defence in the league this season. An average of 1.4 goals conceded per game is unacceptable. Inconsistent performances from the backline have been the bone of contention for Everton’s poor run of form. The haphazard backline have made seven errors that have directly led to goals this season. That’s fourth most defensive errors made this season. Roberto Martinez’s side has won only four games and amassed seventeen points from a possible fifty-one points at Goodison Park. Only Aston Villa have won fewer home games. Solving any issues at the back was a priority for Roberto Martinez during the pre-season. He has failed in attempt to build a formidable partnership between John Stones and Phil Jagielka. These are two world class defenders who can enter into the starting line-up of the top six teams in the premier league. Everton have a dodgy defence, their goal conceding rate is high as a result they find it difficult to keep clean sheets. The manager is to be blamed for the lacklustre defending.

The Manager’s over-reliance on Romelu Lukaku has been a major problem for the Toffees. Lukaku has scored or assisted forty five percent of Everton’s league goals in 2015/2016 season. However, Everton have struggled to win matches in which the young Belgian striker was kept at bay. Ross Barkley who has also been another key performer for Everton this season has been struggling to find his rhythm in the second round. Although he has been nominated for PFA Young Player of The Year award. Injuries to some the key players like Leighton Baines, Seamus Coleman and Muhamed Besic have played a role in their poor performance. Martinez substitution have a habit of leaving those in the stands stunned. Especially when he decided to bring on Oumar Niasse against West Ham. That was the main reason for the 12-minute capitulation in which they went from 2-0 up to lose 3-2 last month.

The stats and figures shows Everton have been underperforming and the fans’ calls for Martinez to be sacked is clearly understandable. Martinez league finish with Wigan Athletic after 11^th place finish; 16^th, 16^th, 15^th, 18^th in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 respectively. The Toffees’ season by numbers shows Roberto Martinez is not the man for the job and the Everton board should start looking elsewhere.

Winning The Emirates FA Cup is the only factor that will give Martinez a glimmer of hope whether Bill Kenwright and the Board should give him a second bite of the cherry. Between Roberto Martinez and the FA cup trophy is a semi-final tie with Manchester United which seems to be a catch 22 situation for the Manager. Gareth Barry, Phil Jagielka and Seamus Coleman are doubtful for the semi-final clash with United at Wembley on Saturday. John Stones will need to be assessed and Funes Mori is on suspension. About as grim as it could get for Martinez.

Sacking Roberto Martinez should not be a conundrum for Bill Kenwright and the decision makers.

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