Match preview: EFC v WHUFC 5th March 2016

It is not often when Everton prove me wrong that it is met with joy! Usually because I am little miss positive where my beloved blues are concerned but on this occasion I was dubious with our normal form for playing relegation destined teams. But thankfully on this occasion it was not to be, although we did gift them one goal but I won't go on about that! 

I saw many of our fans felt we didn't play particularly well on Tuesday night but as Martinez said Aston Villa had a lot of fight. As they normally do when they play Everton! Teams at that end of the table will play with a different type of passion and one that thankfully our 'confidence' was able to overcome. You do have to wonder how games like that change the way we play, a goal from a corner, never one of our strongest points. It does always make me wonder why we get so pumped up about winning a corner when we usually don't do anything with it! And then an assist from man of the match Mirallas, his first according to BBC Sport in 454 days. Could it be the effect of the positive news we have had at the club, or just that as many have said Aston Villa were particularly poor? I am not sure we are giving the boys the credit they then deserve if we were to go with the latter. There is no question that the third of our goal scorers was acting any differently in this game than any other this season with his 17th Premier League goal of the term! 

So a needed win under our belts and we are back to it once more on Saturday but this time back home. After a game that saw us take our away record to eight successive games without defeat we return home where the form isn't quite so good with 50% of the games in the last eight being defeats. One of those granted was against top of the table Leicester but of the others they came from West Brom (13th), Swansea (16th) and Stoke before that who sit above us at the seventh place. Interestingly though our upcoming competitor seems to have the opposite results in terms of home and away with their away record lacking very much in comparison to that of their home one. 

The home record is so points rich they have not lost since August and have only seen two defeats at home this entire season compared to our six defeats at home. Like us it's the draws that seem to be the source of pain for a West Ham side sat in sixth place currently in the Premier League table, with a total of ten draws compared to our eleven, albeit more evenly split across their home and away games 50/50.  They have not won on the road since the 12th of January when they beat Bournemouth 3-1. Drawing one and losing two of the three games they have played away since. 

Could it be a good season to play West Ham at home then? Or could we both play to our usual downfall and end up with a draw. I think that's where my money would be going if I was a betting girl! Sadly I am not otherwise my prediction of Man City winning on Sunday could have been even more of a bonus than just them lot being beat! 

Match preview: AVFC V EFC 1st March 2016

What a lovely feeling when the rest of the Premier League is playing and we get some respite for a weekend. I am not sure if it's the players or the fans who will be more grateful of the rest but I think it will probably be the fans! Although I do wonder what some of the usually moaning fans will be finding to moan about! I am sure they will find something. Not only have we got a nice break from being on tenterhooks all weekend until the final whistle blows but we have dodged the Derby bullet! What an absolute win! Feels like a three pointer! 

Joking aside I really can't say I ever enjoy the Derby game. Funnily enough last season I was awarded a ticket in the People's Club lounge for the Derby game for a project I had undertaken at work. At the time it did feel slightly more like a punishment than a reward especially as the four of us who had received the reward were two blues and two reds! We actually had a really good day and thank god it was a draw so nobody had any bragging rights for the journey home. Don't get me wrong I would have happily taken a Derby at Wembley, but sadly that wasn't to be so I will take no Derby at all as the alternative. 

Looking at our upcoming fixtures I am actually slightly nervous about our next game! I always think we look upon the bottom part of the table and being such a nice side gift teams either a point or most of the time three. Take last season for example. We drew with relegated Hull City FC 1-1 in December then just under a month later we go to the KC stadium and get beat 2-0! It's like we felt the one point just wasn't enough to help them so we gave them three more. 

Of the other 14 defeats we encountered last season three of them came from teams teetering on the edge of relegation, you could say our three points saved them, well obviously it didn't but we can think it did. Aston Villa and Sunderland were both three points from the drop zone at the end of the season and both beat us successively in May 2015. Sunderland's local rivals Newcastle also snuck three points from the blues in December 2014 and ended up four points off a visit to the Championship. 

We saw it the season before with an out of form Sunderland who turned up to Goodison Park on a particularly dreary Boxing Day and managed to walk away with a gift wrapped three points bows and all! With Aston Villa's current form the fixture on St David's Day does not fill me with any positivity. I am sure most of my usual readers will know I am normally the positive Evertonian but it feels a little bit like history repeating itself. 

As I write this however, there has been some particularly positive news for the blues with the takeover by Farhad Moshiri. Maybe this could put some positivity into the team after the long break and we don't gift a team three points who are definitely in need! 

EFC v SCFC January 2016

I would say we underestimated Swansea today but I am not sure you can underestimate another penalty decision that went against us. There is no coincidence in the fact that our goalkeeper has conceded more than any other in this league and it's Romelu I feel so sorry for, how must it feel to bang in goal after goal and see the opposition go and bang one in at the other end of the pitch? 

After my water breaking incident the day after an emphatic Welsh Cup Final I was advised to try and stay away from live matches which has sort of put me off taking my usual level of interest when I'm not able to see it in real life. However, today the hubby was home so I decided to tune in. I am not convinced in my fragile state that it was one of my best ideas but they do say something about once Everton has touched you....

So my verdict on the game? I am not sure I am with the majority of fans I have seen on Twitter who wish to see the back of Mr Martinez. So maybe I am being a big girl but I would be sad to see the back of him. He has brought us amazing players like Romelu and Gerard, who was outstanding today, team members I do not think would have come to Goodison Park if Mr Moyes was still at the helm. Let's not also forget about the fact we are in a semi-final of a cup I've felt so disappointed over many seasons that we never seem to be able to do anything with. Maybe the pressure of the cup game on Wednesday was more on our minds than a league game against a team we were all expecting to beat. But sadly the Welsh side needed and wanted the three points more. I am always frustrated when we play Swansea, although this was our first defeat against the side I have walked away from Goodison Park feeling defeated against the Swans on more than one occasion after nil nil draws that felt so unjust. I bet a lot of people felt like that today. 

We must not forget today that we lost the fire and threat of a Mo Besic who has felt like he has torn up that midfield area, only 48 hours after my favourite Scot was sold to Norwich who I personally feel would have helped in that situation. Closely followed by Mirallas having to come off due to injury. I am not sure how many cards that left Roberto to use when we really needed it. Is it not a compliment to the team that he had the confidence in the team that we would beat a side we have never been beaten by? Everyone saw how much improved the ever lambasted Tim Howard had turned his game around in the City game, who would have envisaged him giving away a penalty today? 

Am I being naive? Maybe I am but I just don't think we should do what other clubs do and shoot a bullet in Roberto's direction. Yes we need a new goalkeeper and as I've heard many an Evertonian say why does he keep playing him. But anyone that knows anything about Howard, especially those who have read his book will know he is not going to take Bob dropping him lying down. He is still our first team goalkeeper and I can't imagine him going to that dug out spot without a fight, he has given us a lot of good service which many an Evertonian needs to keep in mind. 

But what do we do from here? With no Besic and Mirallas Wednesday's game is going to be a bit more of a challenge. With our away fans behind the team do I think we can seal the deal? I really hope so. I know I wasn't at the game today but I know how passionate we get as fans and you can feel it in the air when things aren't going well. It can't be an easy task to remain positive and calm with thousands of Evertonians breathing down your neck. We saw our Ross Barkley playing at his best when we got behind him, you could see the mistakes creeping back in for the first half but after the fans started to sing at the Gwaldys Street end you could see his crossing improved which then led to what I was expecting to see was a fine goal scoring opportunity. 

I do feel rather like I have done nothing but defend my beloved Everton in this piece, but why wouldn't I? I was so disappointed to see us stoop to United fan behaviour booing the team at half time like the Old Trafford tourists did yesterday at full time. I am sure we are as frustrated as they are with our current performance but I am a firm believer that we are called supporters because we are there to show support. That does not come from booing our team. Rant over.