With the 226th Merseyside derby on the periphery and the season’s end looming near, the blue half of Liverpool find themselves with a sense of déjà vu.
For the second season running, the Toffees have underachieved and with a growing sense of dissatisfaction amongst their fan base and an expanding contingent calling for his head, Roberto Martinez is still searching to rediscover his winning formula.
Now two seasons on from the free-scoring side that narrowly missed out on Champions League football, Everton have slowly slipped down the table to the doldrums of the bottom half.
The Goodison natives have fell befoul of injuries, defensive lapses and have even in recent times been let down by an impotent attack (two goals in their last five league games) which have amalgamated into the story of Everton’s season. If that wasn’t enough, Roberto Martinez now faces a daunting, quick jaunt to their local rivals where they have yet to escape with three points in 17 years. It is also a match which could well mark the beginning of the end of his managerial tenure.
Nevertheless, it wouldn’t be the first time that a Merseyside manager’s performance in a derby has signalled that they are running on borrowed time. There is a precedent of managers on both sides where an unfavourable result meant that their end was nigh.
The most recent case was that of Brendan Rodgers earlier this season. The former Liverpool manager was relieved of his duties within hours of a 1-1 draw against their bitter rivals as his Liverpool side surrendered their fifth 1-0 lead in Rodgers’ final six games. The result compounded a year of disappointment for the Reds and Rodgers was shown the door in October after three years and three months at the helm.
Going further back on the red half of Merseyside and perhaps more famously, Kenny Dalglish left his managerial position following one of the highest scoring derbies in history. Having already played one league derby and drawing the original FA Cup fifth-round tie 0-0, Liverpool took the lead on four separate occasions only to be pegged back each time in an FA Cup replay, all taking place in the space of one month. Two days later Dalglish would hand in his resignation as the pressure of management and the Hillsborough disaster took its toll.
Meanwhile at Goodison Park, two of the 21 permanent managers in Everton’s long history have left their position within four games of a Merseyside derby since 1990.
Everton legend Colin Harvey was relieved of his duties in October 1990 as his side sat 18th in the old First Division following a 1-1 draw away at Luton Town and their worst ever start to a season. Four games earlier, Harvey’s Everton had lost a home game 3-2 at the hands of their arch rivals and their form did little to improve prior to the end of Harvey’s tenure.
More recently, Walter Smith found himself in the unwanted position of just one win in 10 games heading into a Merseyside derby in 2002. The Toffees would come out of that bout with an extra point to their tally following a Tomasz Radzinski strike but another draw and a defeat in the league before being unceremoniously dumped out of the FA Cup by Middlesbrough meant that Smith was placed on the chopping block and replaced by another Scotsman in David Moyes.
So while the tensions run high in the present day, there is a sense of immediate danger that history can repeat itself on tonight for Roberto Martinez. The battle between Liverpool and Everton is often referred to as the ‘friendly derby’ yet it could be anything but for the optimistic Spaniard without a positive result.
