To protest, or not to protest?

Sometimes in life you have to do things you don’t want to do, sometimes you have to do things that won’t cover yourself in glory and sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture. There will be a protest on the hallowed ground of Goodison Park on Saturday. A protest that will be headline news on the days sports news and a protest that’ll be picked through by pundits and experts who do or do not know the club, and by players who are or who are no longer in touch with the fans.

Whether fans should be protesting or not has been a fevered debate amongst Evertonians since losing the FA Cup semi-final. Some fans want to try their best to usher in a change at the top, some fans hate the idea of a protest and some are either content with the current situation at the club or are apathetic to it.

I will be protesting, i’ll be singing ‘Martinez out’ songs and i’ll be taking part of the stay behind protest after the match. The reason for this is because I want change and believe our collective actions as fans during the match can help bring about change. I want change and I see no indication from the board that they are on the same wavelength as the majority of Evertonians in regards of wanting a new manager for next season. I am not protesting because i’m a bigger Evertonian than those who aren’t, I strongly oppose that view. Fans on both sides of the protest debate are being named 'so called’ Evertonains or similar. I may disagree with someone in regards to their view on the situation at the club, but that doesn’t make anyone more or less of an Evertonian.

The protest outlined is for anti-Martinez songs, banners and flags and staying behind after the match to make the point. There is no tennis ball throwing as some seem to think, that was a joke, but I wouldn’t be surprised if someone hasn’t got the memo. It will hopefully make it clear to the board that the managerial position held by Martinez is an untenable one, and hopefully they act on it. If they don’t then i’ll be happy in the knowledge that I at least tried to play my part.

I see the protest as a chance to be part of something important and a chance for fans to have a rare voice in the future running of our club. If the manager is sacked next week and Everton go from strength to strength next season then I know I will have taken part in something that has positively influenced the history of a football club that I hold so dearly. As a football fan there can be no greater 'support’ than that. Some people say that we should get behind the team instead, but that’s missing the bigger picture, Saturday’s game is a dead one in terms of achieving anything and the result is irrelevant to our future. The protest is relevant to our future.

I miss the hostile Goodison Park, I miss putting the fear into the opposition and being a part of that 'bear pit’ that our grand old lady has been called when we’re at our best. Unfortunately before that happens the hostility will be directed at an employee of the club. An employee who by all accounts is a nice man but one that has failed in his attempts to manage Everton Football Club.

I didn’t want it to come to this and I don’t want to protest, but I feel that I have to. Bill Kenwright should currently be searching for a new manager but instead it seems like he is still besotted with the current one. A man whose charming persona and endless optimism seems to sill have Kenwright eating out of the palm of his hand.

To protest or not to protest? For me it’s the lesser of two evils, which is making my voice heard instead of standing idly by hoping a change will happen. It shouldn’t have come to this, but it has. I don’t want to have to protest, but I will.