Everton manager defends former Wigan boss over racism

Roberto Martínez living by his values as Everton combine to see off West Ham

• Everton manager defends his former boss at Wigan
• Martínez’s forwards worth more than sum of their parts



Everton's manager, Roberto Martínez, believes in the good character of his former chairman at Wigan, Dave Whelan. 

Roberto Martínez has a capacity to see the best in everyone and that certainly extends to the man who launched his career in English football and gave him the chance to manage in the Premier League.

The Wigan owner, Dave Whelan, has vowed to resign as the Championship club’s chairman if the Football Association punishes him for making racist remarks about Chinese and Jewish people but the Everton manager is adamant that his old ally does not discriminate against anyone.

Martínez, whose relationship with Whelan dates back almost 20 years since he was signed as a 21-year-old midfielder, said: “He is a special person who has never had a problem with the way he has helped communities, and as a football man the record is there for everyone to check.”

Whelan made Martínez Wigan’s first foreign manager in 2009 and the Spaniard rewarded him by winning the FA Cup 18 months ago. He defended the 77-year-old, adding: “You need to understand the person and also that Wigan Athletic has very strong values. Everyone is welcome there. The chairman has a career to show that.”

Yet Wigan’s values have been questioned after Malky Mackay, the subject of an ongoing investigation for exchanging allegedly racist, sexist and homophobic texts with the former Cardiff City head of recruitment Iain Moody, was named their manager last Wednesday. Whelan’s comments have been condemned by organisations in both the Chinese and the Jewish communities, while Lord Ouseley, chairman of the anti-racism body Kick It Out, said on Sunday yesterday it was up to the FA to decide whether he was a fit person to run a club. Martínez has no doubts Whelan is suitable. He explained: “He really is a good-natured person. You need to look behind the situation at the person. You have a chairman who just wants to support his new manager.”

Less controversially, Martínez’s ability to see things in a different light extended to his strike force. He almost doubled Everton’s previous transfer record, the £15m Marouane Fellaini cost, to spend £28m on Romelu Lukaku but the Spaniard believes he has acquired a potent forward line for a bargain price.

The Belgian set Everton on their way to victory against West Ham while he and the influential substitute Samuel Eto’o combined to supply Leon Osman for his winner, following an equaliser from Mauro Zárate. “We bring Samuel Eto’o in on a free then Romelu on £25m plus £3m [in add-ons],” Martínez added. “To get those two for that money, I think, is very, very cheap.”

It is an indication of football’s changing economics but as the Manchester clubs, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool can all field a more expensive attacking duo, Martínez’s maths are not as outlandish as they may appear. Moreover, he insisted, the profitable sale of Fellaini for £27.5m and his cost-free additions enable him to balance the books, even with the outlay on Lukaku. He said: “Sometimes it’s, how do you produce the finances? We produced our money by selling some players and by signing some on a free.”

Meanwhile, another embodiment of the sums strikers can fetch made an encouraging first start of the season in the visitors’ attack. Andy Carroll’s previous two transfers amount to over £50m yet the man who remains both Liverpool and West Ham’s record signing was only playing because Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia were injured. “They have put big pressure on Andy,” his manager, Sam Allardyce, said. The target man may have commanded ample fees but cuts a slimline figure. “He has had so much work done on his life,” Allardyce added. “He has got a fiancee who is the owner of a yoga gym.” Carroll, then, may yet be a striker for the new age, even if Whelan’s words this week were sadly antiquated.