Tim Howard takes a swipe at Everton’s critics

Tim Howard has angrily hit back at Everton’s critics and denied that the club is in any danger of being relegated.

The American goalkeeper has also rubbished suggestions that boss Roberto Martinez is just “too nice” to cope when the going gets tough.

“We’re not in a relegation fight,” he insists. “I have been in England for over a decade and it has become clichd for teams near the bottom.

“It’s traumatic and I get that. People have a beer in the pub and it is all about how dangerous it all is.

“It’s not! We get two wins on the bounce and we are straight up there. It’s a tough league and teams below us have it all to do as well. So, no, we’re not worried.

“I think: ‘To hell with the criticism’. I give my heart and soul to this club and to my career and that’s what is important.

“I am not fussed what people say about me, this team or the coaching staff. Morale has been great within the dressing-room so it’s not a concern.

“I don’t think that character has been missing. It’s easy to judge from the outside but inside there has been no rifts, nobody has been slacking off, nobody has quiet conversations and secret meetings.

“Roberto is indeed very nice. But outside of the 23 guys in the dressing room, people haven’t heard him give a team talk or a half-time talk.

“I think it’s out of turn for people to judge him. He may be a very nice guy, but don’t cross him. He gets it across, that’s for sure, and we certainly understand the message.”

Everton take on Newcastle this afternoon having collected only two points from the last 15. In contrast, they’ve had three wins out of three in the Europa League in that period and take a 2-1 advantage to Kiev on Thursday.

“People talk about the Europa League being a distraction but I don’t think it is,” says Howard.

“It’s hard to put your finger on why we’ve not done as well in the League but when I look back to last season there were times when we had the rub of the green.

“There were things that went our way that haven’t gone our way this year. If you get one or two things going for you on the bounce, you carry momentum and if you don’t, things go the other way.”