Everton grey skies could clear, or darken, for Roberto Martinez amid Liverpool and Manchester United games

FOOTBALL MATTERS: A Merseyside derby and FA Cup semi-final are not well timed for Everton's under pressure manager - and even if the Toffees emerge victorious, it may be too late for some

Roberto Martinez (Getty)

For a club whose leading fanzine goes by the name ‘When Skies are Grey,’ Roberto Martinez should know by now that his ceaseless brand of blue sky thinking does not sit too comfortably with those Evertonians who are approaching their team’s next two games with a mixture of dread and anticipation.

Martinez may also be battling similarly contrasting demons as Everton prepare to face Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday before the FA Cup semi-final encounter with Manchester United at Wembley on Saturday evening, but if he is, the Spaniard is hiding the fear incredibly well.

Yet if the whispers around the blue half of Merseyside prove to be more substantial than idle gossip, Martinez will be out of a job before too long if Everton suffer successive defeats this week.

The brave new era of attacking, confident football which Martinez heralded following his arrival as David Moyes’s successor in the summer of 2013 has now been replaced by exasperation, frustration and a demand for more than the 42-year-old’s seemingly weekly insistence that the sun will come out tomorrow.

And the next four days threaten to bring it all to a head, with not just one, but two elephants straying into the room just when Martinez and his team require the breathing space to deliver on the promise shown in his early days as manager.

Everton have not beaten Liverpool at Anfield since September 1999, while their wait for silverware has been a ticking clock since Paul Rideout’s goal won the FA Cup at United’s expense in 1995.

So the 21st century has been a barren wasteland for Everton. No trophies and no victories across Stanley Park to boast about. No wonder the natives are restless.

Everton fans show their frustration with Roberto Martinez (Getty)

Which is why the next two fixtures have become a complex situation for those Evertonians who believe the time has come for a change of manager.

Winning one, or both, of this week’s fixtures would go a long way to saving Martinez, but many Everton supporters have already had enough and are now having to battle with their emotions of being prepared to forego success simply to bring about change.

Leighton Baines, the Everton and England left-back, apologised to Martinez earlier this month after suggesting that the ‘chemistry’ in the team was not right, but his comments were backed by supporters who sang the player’s name as a display of defiance towards the manager.

When he replaced Moyes three years ago, many Evertonians regarded Martinez as a breath of fresh air after too many years of being told that Everton were doing well to challenge for the top six.

With only United, Liverpool and Arsenal boasting more than Everton’s nine league titles, it is a club steeped in history and tradition, but the silverware at Goodison Park has long since turned to rust.

Nonetheless, Evertonians expect and demand more and Martinez is now regarded as not being up to the job of delivering on their expectations.

But the difficult question for Everton is who could restore the glory days?

With the club set to benefit from an anticipated financial injection from new majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri, there is a sense that those grey skies may finally have a silver lining, but not for Martinez.

He is regarded as failing to progress Ross Barkley’s development, having thrust him into the spotlight three years ago, and is now viewed as allowing John Stones to make recurring mistakes at centre-half, rather than coaching him into becoming a more disciplined defender.

Three years ago, Martinez benefited from inheriting a defence which had been built and organised by Moyes, but now that defence is in need of renewal, the cavalier approach further forward is repeatedly compromised by failings at the back.

It is why Everton have won just three league games in 2016, why they have posted the worst home record in the club’s history this season and why Martinez is now fighting to save his job.

But having won nothing for 21 years, should Martinez be treated so ruthlessly this summer if Everton once again fail to deliver silverware?

Have the lessons of Charlton Athletic and Bolton Wanderers, who parted company with Alan Curbishley and Sam Allardyce respectively due to a demand for more than merely finishing in the top half of the Premier League, been forgotten?

Roberto Martinez (Getty)

Sometimes a manager needs to fail before he learns how to succeed, but it is increasingly rare for those managers to be given the time to bounce back at the clubs they are perceived to have let down.

Bill Kenwright, the Everton chairman, described Martinez as a ‘great manager’ following the FA Cup quarter-final victory against Chelsea last month, so he can at least count on some influential support in the boardroom.

But the next four days will ultimately be those which decide Martinez’s fate and a failure to emerge with at least one victory will see him join all the other managers who have hit a slump and not been afforded the time to climb out of it.

If Barcelona can falter, surely Leicester can too?

The mental strength of Leicester City’s players and their ability to so far withstand the pressure of the title run-in have been overlooked amid the soft-focus fairytale that has carried Claudio Ranieri’s team to the brink of a remarkable achievement.

But this stage of the season is never easy, even for the best teams and those most accustomed to success.

Barcelona, majestic and invincible a month ago, have now lost four of their last six games and conceded an eight-point lead in La Liga and crashed out of the Champions League in the process.

So do not under-estimate Leicester’s steely nerve.

In it for the long haul...

Aston Villa’s relegation from the Premier League does little to diminish the sense that the Championship has now become the football equivalent of a dinosaur graveyard and the biggest beasts rarely come back.

Leeds United (12 years since relegation), Sheffield Wednesday (16 years) and Nottingham Forest (17 years) were all too big to go down, but they should all be a warning to Villa that it could be a long road back.