Grounded Everton ease flying fans’ unrest

With hawks swirling over Everton’s young players as transfer deadline day edges nearer, manager Roberto Martinez has reiterated his determination to keep his squad together following Saturday’s hugely impressive victory over Southampton.

Everton’s victory at St Mary’s was arguably the result of the weekend, inspired by two goals from Romelu Lukaku but built on the creativity of Ross Barkley and the defensive qualities of John Stones and Brendan Galloway, all players aged 23 or under. Ironic, then, that Everton supporters chose this game to hire a plane to fly over the ground carrying a banner which read ‘Kenwright and Co, Time to Go’ — a reference to owner Bill Kenwright, whose tenure at the club since 1999 has failed to produce a trophy or a top-three finish.

Martinez, who took Everton to fifth in the league in his first season before enduring a difficult second campaign, understands the sentiment but has called for trust and unity after outlining his club’s vision for achieving success.

“I can understand that,” he said when asked to discuss the controversial banner which appeared pre-match in Southampton. “I would be the same. If I’m watching a sports channel 24 hours a day and judging your team on the names that come and the figures that are spent, I can see that. But remember every transfer window I’ve been at at Everton, we ended up stronger. There needs to be a level of trust. We have an incredible chairman — all he has is Everton at heart. If we play like we did this weekend, we’ll be able to match those expectations. That’s why we’ve worked so hard to keep the core of the team that two years ago finished fifth in the league. We know if they stay and are allowed to develop we will get the benefit.”

The challenge, of course, is how to react when the Premier League’s richest clubs begin to ripple their financial muscles in a bid to buy Everton’s next great young hope. Manchester United and Manchester City have long been linked with Barkley, while the most recent storyline is Chelsea’s chase of Stones, now rated at more than €40 million with City reportedly ready to join the race.

“It’s very important to keep players,” stressed Martinez. “This performance shows why we want to keep our best performers. We are a big club, we don’t have a Champions League budget but it’s important we keep going from season to season to get there.” That’s a lesson Southampton have had to learn quickly having lost so many star names in the last two years, including Nathaniel Clyne to Liverpool and Morgan Schneiderlin to Manchester United this summer.

Fans at St Mary’s will hope Saturday’s performance was just a bad day at the office. They were second best for all but the opening 15 minutes. Lukaku was unplayable at times, scoring two superbly-taken goals in the first half — after lightning-quick counter-attacks — while Barkley ran the game from midfield, eventually scoring a deserved third. The test for Martinez’s side is whether they can keep their young players and achieve their potential. Southampton’s aim is more short-term — recover for Thursday’s Europa League tie against Danish side FC Midtjylland and get their season back on track.

SOUTHAMPTON:

Stekelenburg 6, Cedric 6, Yoshida 5, Fonte 7, Targett 5, S. Davis 6 (Ward-Prowse 80), Wanyama 7, Tadic 5 (Romeu 46; 5), Mane 7, Long 6 (Rodriguez 72; 6), Pelle 6.

EVERTON:

Howard 7, Coleman 7, Stones 7, Jagielka 7, Galloway 6 (Browing 89), Barry 6, Cleverley 6, Barkley 8, McCarthy 7, Kone 7 (Naysmith 80), Lukaku 8 (Deulofeu 89)

Referee:

Michael Oliver